Iron Crown, the Paradox Pokémon. It resembles a mysterious object introduced in a paranormal magazine as a cutting-edge weapon shaped like a Cobalion. There was supposedly an incident in which it launched shining blades to cut everything around it to pieces. Little else is known about it.

Overview

While the Paradox Legendary beasts have been received to incredible acclaim both aesthetically and competitively, the Paradox Swords of Justice have not risen to the same heights, though not for lack of trying. Iron Crown stands out immediately due to the fantastic Steel Psychic typing, a typing whose users are renowned for their durability, a legacy Iron Crown lives up to with its good HP and Defenses. Iron Crown’s true jewel is its offense, however. Base 122 Special Attack is incredible, especially when backed by its signature Tachyon Cutter, cleaving through Focus Sash leads like Ribombee and Glimmora. Quark Drive does a lot to help Iron Crown as well, either boosting its Speed past even the likes of Dragapult, or giving a brutal Special Attack boost, further limiting safe switch ins.

This robot from the future is not without its glitches. Steel Psychic as good as it is defensively is rather poor offensively, resisted by Steel types like Heatran, Kingambit, and Iron Treads lacking the coverage to deal with them outside the unreliable Focus Blast, which doesn’t even handle Gholdengo or the similarly Slowking. If not running Booster Energy, Iron Crown’s Base 98 Speed is rather lacking against many offensive threats. A lack of viable Electric Terrain setters further worsens the situation, meaning if Booster Energy Iron Crown is forced out, something rather easy to do thanks to its poor coverage, its offensive potential is slashed for the rest of the battle. This generation being inundated with excellent Ground and Dark types further worsens matters, giving many teams multiple answers to Iron Crown’s excellent bulk. Iron Crown is far from peerless in Speed and Special Attack, leaving it difficult to justify over other Special Attackers like Walking Wake, Iron Moth, Enamorus, Latios, Keldeo and Sandy Shocks. Iron Crown is still a sight to behold, its fantastic defenses on such an offensive Pokémon allow it to stand tall where others may fall..
Positives
Steel Psychic typing is fantastic defensively, with nine resistances and one immunity, Iron Crown can switch into a wide bevy of attacks.
90/100/108 defenses is above average, giving Iron Crown respectable durability.
Base 122 Special Attack is potent, even more so when bolstered by Calm Mind and a fantastic signature move in Tachyon Cutter.
Quark Drive can make Iron Crown impossibly fast

Negatives
Speed without Quark Drive is unimpressive the limited means of activating Quark Drive can be played around.
Steel Psychic is poor offensively and Iron Crown lacks the coverage to back it up, making it very Tera reliant when on the offense.
Common weaknesses and lack of reliable recovery cut into defenses.

Movesets

Hit and Run

-Volt Switch
-Future Sight
-Tachyon Cutter
-Focus Blast
Ability: Quark Drive
Item: Assault Vest
EVs and Nature:
32 HP / 244 SAtk / 232 Spe
Timid Nature

This Iron Crown set plays offense while on defense, using its fantastic base typing and defenses alongside Assault Vest to repeatedly pivot into attacks and weaken the opponent before pivoting out with Volt Switch. Future Sight is an amazing pivoting tool when coupled with Volt Switch, punishing counter switches with a brutal STAB hit, continuously applying pressure and opening setup opportunities. Tachyon Cutter is a reliable secondary STAB handling key offensive Ice and Fairy threats like Enamorus, Kyurem, Hatterene, Cornerstone Ogerpon, and Weavile, its multi Hit aspect invaluable in getting through Sash's from Weavile and Cornerstone Ogerpon's Sturdy. Focus Blast provides valuable coverage into Steel types that think they can switch into Iron Crown safely especially Kingambit and Heatran, while being a powerful dissuasion tool against Iron Treads and Excadrill looking to stop a Volt Switch.

Tera Types:
While Iron Crown often needs Tera Types to supplement its coverage this Iron Crown set does not rely on Terastalization, making more out its excellent base defensive typing and using its ability to pivot out with Volt Switch to deal with threats it normally can't handle. If you do Terastalize, as with any other Pokémon with excellent base defensive typing, make sure you aren't making yourself vulnerable to your opponent. Tera Fairy is a gold standard for defensive Teras for good reason, given the limited few weaknesses. While it does nothing for Iron Crown's poor Steel matchup, being able to resist Dark and Fighting attacks while maintaining a good matchup against Dragons. Tera Fighting also provides the Dark resistance while bolstering Focus Blast, though it does not offer much else defensively. Tera Dark and Tera Water are other options, each enabling Iron Crown to survive super effective attacks that can otherwise down it.

EVs and Items:
The EV spread outspeeds positive natured Kyurem and avoids a 2HKO from bulky variants of Gholdengo with Shadow Ball, with the rest being dumped into Sp. Atk for a nearly full investment. One can tweak HP and Special Attack investment as they see fit depending on what you want to tank. 84 HP helps prevent 2HKOs from Hisuian Goodra's Fire Blast and OHKO from Boots Meowscarada's Knock Off. Assault Vest is vital for this set, giving Iron Crown incredible hit taking ability against Special Attackers like Enamorus, Glimmora, Hatterene, Kyurem, Primarina, and Latios just to name a few. If considering other items, defensive items such as Leftovers, Heavy Duty Boots and Kolbur Berry all help increase Iron Crown's survivability. Offensive items don't interface with Future sight and are less effective on this set as a result.

Partners:
Teammates that can capitalize on the setup opportunities Iron Crown provides with Future Sight + Volt Switch are the first things you should look for when running this set. Dragon typed sweepers in particular adore Iron Crown for its ability to pivot in and handle Ice and Fairy types, while taking advantage of the Fire types Iron Crown can draw in as well as most possessing coverage for opposing Steel types. Roaring Moon is a clear standout thanks to its ability to absorb Ghost and Dark moves while loving Future Sight for warding off if not eliminating opposing Fighting types. Alternatively, breakers like Raging Bolt and Kyurem take advantage of the free switch in to force the opponent to receive a lot of damage from their powerful STAB attacks and Future Sight. Hisuian Samurott deserves mention, having an extremely synergistic typing with Iron Crown that handles most of its weaknesses while taking advantage of Iron Crown's Fighting warding Future Sight and counter most Fairies. Ceaseless Edge's Spikes also synergize incredibly with the constant pivoting and switching Iron Crown provokes. Other Flip-Turn, Volt Switch and U-Turn users can be considered as well, able to grind down an opponent via constant switching while always maintaining a positioning advantage. Dragapult, and Ogerpon-Wellspring are two such prominent U-Turn users that handle opposing Psychic, and Ground/Fire types respectively while enjoying the one two punch with Future Sight.

DANCING BOT GO BRRR

-Calm Mind
-Agility
-Tachyon Cutter
-Stored Power
Ability: Quark Drive
Item: Weakness Policy
EVs and Nature:
80 HP / 252 SAtk / 176 Spe
Timid Nature

Double Dance Iron Crown pushes its offenses and defenses to the limit, taking advantage of its many resists and good natural bulk to setup safely, while using the successive boosts to roll over the opposing team in a late game scenario. Calm Mind does so much for this set, not only giving Iron Crown badly needed power, and additional special bulk needed to help survive for further setup. Agility remedies Iron Crown’s unimpressive base Speed and can be the go to option against frailer, more offensive teams. Tachyon Cutter is your primary STAB thanks to its reliability and can immediately threaten opponents without setup as well as handle Dark types that its secondary STAB doesn’t. Stored Power is the culmination of this set, taking advantage of multiple boosts to overwhelm even resists but requires either 2 Calm Minds or Calm Mind + Agility to match Tachyon Cutter.

Double Dance Iron Crown is best suited for the mid to late game once opposing Dark and Steel types have been compromised or removed.

Tera Types:
With Double Dance Iron Crown, everything is in service of the game ending sweep. As such, defensive Teras are highly recommended to help guarantee setup. Tera Water is ideal, giving Fire resistance and neutrality to all of Iron Crown’s other weaknesses. Tera Fairy is the other defensive Tera staple, and quite good given the Dark Resistance, but exasperates Iron Crown’s poor matchup into opposing Steel types.

EVs and Items:
This is an aggressive EV spread, with just enough Speed to outrun Sand Rush Excadrill in the sand while maxing out on Special Attack and the remainder thrown into HP. If not concerned about Sand Rush Excadrill, EVs can be adjusted as preferred, though some speed investment is highly recommended to not be outsped after an Agility. 88 Speed with a Timid Nature is enough to outspeed both Speed Booster Energy Roaring Moon and Iron Boulder post Agility. One can also invest more heavily into HP to help ease setup and stomach Super Effective blows. 64 HP EVs can survive Meowscarada’s Knock Off, 112 HP is enough to survive Earthquake from Jolly Max Attack Iron Treads, and 168 HP survives Specs Dragapult’s Shadow Ball. Weakness Policy is incredible for this set, giving an instant +2 in Special Attack and immediately shooting up Stored Power to 100 Base power, greatly accelerating setup and enabling Iron Crown to attack with both STABs instantly. If wanting to ensure the sweep, Air Balloon can be utilized to grant a temporary Ground immunity, making Iron Crown incredibly frustrating to take down. One can also emulate Agility with Booster Energy, dropping Agility for more coverage, though one must run Max Speed investment and only 172 EVs in Special Attack to get the Speed Boost from Booster Energy.

Partners:
Pokémon that can remove Steel and Dark types that can reliably wall Iron Crown's boosted attacks are greatly appreciated, especially. Fighting types like Zamazenta, Iron Valiant, Great Tusk, are greatly appreciated, their Fighting STABs cleaving through most such Pokémon quickly as well as perennial sponge Blissey. Allies that facilitate setup, such as Screens Grimmsnarl or Alolan Ninetales also work well, with Grimmsnarl's Thunder Wave and Alolan Ninetales' Encore doing wonders to further facilitate setup. Such Pokémon can also double as lures, drawing in Steel types only to turn the tables with an advantageous Tera Blast and/or coverage.

Other Options:
If one does not want to require boosts to use their Psychic STAB, Psyshock and Psychic Noise make for acceptable substitutions, having more instant power. Psyshock is slightly stronger but does poorly into high Defense Steel resistant targets like Skeledirge, Dondozo, Gouging Fire and Torkoal. Psychic Noise is slightly weaker but does admirably into targets with incredible recovery, preventing them from using their longevity to outlast Iron Crown and its team. Focus Blast provides valuable coverage into Dark and Steel types, but its unreliability can just as easily cost games.

Doubles and VGC Options

Iron Crown upon its introduction quickly established itself as one of the pre-eminent users of Expanding Force, being the next iteration in PsySpam teams, overwhelming the opposition with repeated boosted STAB attacks. Its base 122 Special Attack may be slightly weaker than other famed PsySpam user Armarouge, Iron Crown easily makes up the difference with Quark Drive + Booster Energy, providing a free Special Attack boost while not having to sacrifice move flexibility and removing its hold item blunting the power of the most popular Dark attack, Knock Off. This fierce offense is backed by Iron Crown’s good defenses, oft requiring significant investment to remove. The shift to the restricted format has not been kind to Iron Crown, with numerous restricted Psychic types running around, including Calyrex Shadow Rider and Lunala who both outclass Iron Crown as an Expanding Force abuser. The proliferation of powerful spread moves has led to a rise in Wide Guard usage, further cutting into Expanding Force’s effectiveness. Incineroar being one of the most popular Pokémon around does not help matters either, as Iron Crown cannot handle it without the unreliable Focus Blast or Terastalizing.

Operation: DEER BLAST

-Expanding Force
-Tachyon Cutter
-Tera Blast
-Protect
Ability: Quark Drive
Item: Booster Energy
Tera Type: Water
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 212 SAtk / 44 SDef
Modest Nature

Iron Crown’s flagship PsySpam set. Get it on the field next to Indeedee Female, select Expanding Force and profit. Expanding Force can’t cover everything of course, between Dark types and Wide Guard, so Iron Crown’s other moves must make up for that. Tachyon Cutter is secondary STAB with a rare multi-hit ability and never misses, great for blasting down Focus Sash users like Chien Pao and Urshifu-Single, as well as eviscerate Flutter Mane. Tera Blast is necessary for handling Incineroar and other Water weak Dark types like Chi-Yu and Ting-Lu. Protect is amazing in Doubles format, stalling for setup, stalling out opposing field conditions, scouting for switches and surprise Terastalizations, its to the point Pokémon without Protect feel noticeably less durable.

This is a bulky set, placing everything into HP, though even without Speed investment, Tailwind is enough to outspeed Calyrex Shadow Rider, though given Indeedee-F is a mandatory partner, you are almost certainly running this set with Trick Room. The HP and Special Defense investment is enough to survive Timid Calyrex-Shadow's Astral Barrage without Terastalizing, while preventing the 2HKO if Terastalized while being incredibly unlikely to be 2HKO'd by unboosted Terapagos' Earth Power. Max Speed Timid still does have its place; naturally outspeeding Urshifu-Single, which Iron Crown can OHKO through Focus Sash thanks to Tachyon Cutter. Tera Water is all but mandatory given the Fire resistance and ability to annihilate Incineroar.

Other Options & Partners:
Indeedee-Female is mandatory as the de facto Psychic Surge setter for enabling Expanding Force and does quite well between redirection support in Follow Me, bolstering with Helping Hand, Trick Room support, etc. Kyogre works well with Iron Crown teams, appreciating the Terrain control protecting it from Rillaboom and Fake Out, while providing Fire dampening Rain and obliterating most Fire and Ground types with its Water STAB, while Iron Crown makes for a good pivot into Grass Attacks and Freeze Dry aimed at Kyogre.

Focus Blast deserves mention for being a non Terastalizing answer for Dark and Steel types, though its horrid accuracy is always a pain point.

Countering Iron Crown

Opposing Steel types are a persistent headache for Iron Crown given they resist both STABs and often carry Super Effective coverage of their own. Gholdengo is particularly nightmarish given its immunity to Focus Blast, Iron Crown’s go to answer for Steel types, though less offensive variants can struggle to break through the Assault Vest or Calm Mind without Nasty Plot and an unboosted Shadow Ball can trigger Weakness Policy on the Double Dance sets. If not running Focus Blast, other Steel types like Heatran, Metagross, and Hisuian Goodra can all handle Iron Crown well. Naturally faster Steel types like Iron Treads and those with Super Effective priority like Kingambit can do well even with Focus Blast, forcing Iron Crown out unless it has a speed boost of its own.

Dark types can also do well into Iron Crown, given their immunity to Psychic attacks and their own Super Effect STAB though are just as fearful of Focus Blast, and need either obscene bulk or a resistance to deal with Tachyon Cutter. Assault Vest Hisuian Samurott does decently into any move not named Focus Blast and threatens a OHKO with Ceaseless Edge on all but the bulkiest of sets. Ting-Lu is possibly the gold standard for Dark type checks, tanking even Focus Blast very well while blocking Volt Switch.

Speaking of Ting-Lu, Ground types are invaluable in dealing with the pivot set, stopping Volt Switch with their built in immunity, forcing either a hard switch or KO, sapping momentum from Iron Crown’s team, though few Ground types have the special defense to handle Future Sight or Tachyon Cutter. Iron Treads gets by thanks to its resistance, as does Specially Defensive Excadrill.

Slowking and Blissey also deserve mention, the former’s typing and the latter’s sheer bulk shrugging off all attacks and winning in a war of attrition, though Slowking can get outpaced by Calm Mind Iron Crown.

Anime Appearences

Iron Crown has yet to make any appearances in the anime # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics