Kyurem Duo Guide
Kyurem is an alright attacker. Base 246 Attack is pretty good, but its movepool is very underwhelming. Dragon Breath/Dragon Claw or Draco Meteor puts its Dragon-type performance below Latios, and just above Hydreigon and Alolan Exeggutor. As an Ice-type attacker, it lacks an Ice-type Fast Move, and is incomparable to Mamoswine, Glaceon, or Weavile.
So why bother raiding Kyurem? The answer is that Kyurem will (most likely) share candy with its two forms, Kyurem-Black and Kyurem-White. Kyurem-White is a decent enough Dragon attacker, but Kyurem-Black is an absolute monster. It has 310 Base Attack, higher than Mewtwo's, and it has the optimal Dragon-type moveset in Dragon Tail/Outrage. If Kyurem-Black is released in its current state, it will have around 10% more DPS than Rayquaza and around 30% more bulk.
The Kyurem duo is fairly restrictive in terms of what Pokemon are viable, but the actual fight itself is very reasonable, since the viable Pokemon are all powerhouses in their own right.
- Dragon Breath is boosted by STAB and hits Dragons for super effective damage, making it generally harder than Steel Wing to go against.
- Draco Meteor is boosted by STAB, hits insanely hard, and will OHKO Dragons (except Dialga) if not dodged.
- Dragons are non-viable against Draco Meteor if you don't dodge.
- Blizzard is boosted by STAB and hits many Dragons for 4x super effective damage, making it just as scary as Draco Meteor Kyurem to face.
- Again, Dragons that are weak to Ice are non-viable against Blizzard if you don't dodge.
- Dragon Claw is boosted by STAB and comes out frequently. Tanking consecutive Dragon Claws is not pleasant, but Dragon Claw is significantly easier than Draco Meteor or Blizzard to go against.
- Icy Wind is boosted by STAB and comes out frequently. However, it has very low Base Power, and even the Dragons that are 4x weak to Ice will be able to survive an Icy Wind, making it the easiest Charge Move to go against.
- Windy boosts the power of your Dragon- and Psychic-type attacks. If you're using Dragon-types, Windy makes the duo much easier, with the exception of Draco Meteor Kyurem.
- Draco Meteor is still impossible to duo with Dragons (except Dialga) in Wind, unless you can dodge.
- Under Wind, Level 40 Psystrike Mewtwo becomes duo-viable.
- Partly Cloudy boosts the power of your Rock-type attacks. With Partly Cloudy, Level 40 Tyranitar, Rhyperior, and Metal Claw/Rock Slide Excadrill become capable of duoing against all movesets.
- Cloudy boosts the power of your Fairy attacks. With Cloudy, Level 35+ Gardevoir and Level 40 Granbull become capable of duoing against any moveset.
- Under Cloudy, Level 35+ Togekiss is capable of duoing against every moveset except Steel Wing/Blizzard. If you can dodge Blizzards, Level 35+ Togekiss becomes capable of duoing Steel Wing/Blizzard.
- Snow boosts the power of your Steel-type attacks, making the duo drastically easier if you're using primarily Metagross, Dialga, Jirachi, or Excadrill.
Viable Counters
Minimum viable levels assume Best Friends, no Weather, no Dodging.
Italics indicate a Legacy move.
Against Icy Wind, Level 40 Smack Down Tyranitar, Metal Claw/Iron Head Excadrill, and Counter/Dynamic Punch Breloom all fall slightly short of duo-viability on their own.
Metagross is king against all Kyurem movesets; the more Metagross you have, the more you can afford to slot in one of the above 3 Pokemon without jeopardizing your chances of winning.
Note that Metagross must have Meteor Mash; without Meteor Mash, Metagross is non-viable for the duo, even at Level 40.
Level 40 Smack Down Tyranitar and Charm/Dazzling Gleam Togekiss are slightly too weak to be duo-viable against Dragon Claw on their own; if you have enough high-level Metagross, you can afford to slot in Tyranitar or Togekiss.
With no Dodging, Rayquaza, Salamence, Dragonite, and Garchomp are all non-viable for the duo, due to being OHKO'd by Blizzard every few seconds.
With dodging, Level 40 Counter/Focus Blast Blaziken, Latios, and Breloom are slightly short of being duo-viable. Same story as the other movesets; if you have enough high-level Metagross, you can afford to put in a few Blaziken, Latios, or Breloom.
If you don't dodge Draco Meteors, Dragons are non-viable due to being oneshot by every Draco Meteor, even at Level 40.
Level 40 Charm/Dazzling Gleam Gardevoir is slightly too weak to consistently duo against Draco Meteor. If you have enough high-level Metagross, you will buy enough time for Gardevoir to be viable.
Even if you can consistently dodge all Draco Meteors, Level 40 Latios, Breloom, and Excadrill fall slightly short of being duo-viable on their own. You know the drill: more Metagross, higher likelihood of being able to slot in Latios, Breloom, or Excadrill without jeopardizing your run.