Heatran

Steel

Heatran is one of, if not the, best Pokemon on Steel-type teams due to its unbelievable versatility, being able to run an offensive, defensive, or trapper set well, and its ability to check Fire-types such as Mega Charizard Y, Volcarona, and opposing Heatran with its Flash Fire ability while gaining a power boost off their attacks. Due to its base 130 Special Attack, Heatran can be an effective special attacker, something Steel-type teams generally lack. Its Fire / Steel typing allows it to check a plethora of foes, such as Zapdos, Skarmory, and Mew, while giving it key resistances to Flying-, Psychic-, Steel-, and Bug-type moves; it also prevents it from being crippled by burn or poison, although it can still be hit with sleep or paralysis. Heatran can also support and defend quite well with its 91 / 106 / 106 bulk, being able to set entry hazards with Stealth Rock and spread burns or poison with Lava Plume and Toxic.

Unfortunately, many of the Fire-types Heatran is supposed to check often carry coverage or even STAB moves that hit it super effectively, such as Focus Blast on Mega Charizard Y, Close Combat on Infernape, Steam Eruption on Volcanion, and Earth Power on other Heatran. Furthermore, its mediocre base Speed of 77 leaves it outsped by threats such as Mega Gallade, Mega Medicham, and Infernape. A lack of reliable recovery is another huge detriment to Heatran, since its team will want it to be around for as long as possible to absorb Fire-type moves. Heatran's typing also is a double-edged sword, coming with weaknesses to Water-, Fighting-, and Ground-types, all of which are quite common and hard for Steel-type teams to reliably check. Despite these flaws, however, Heatran remains one of the most solid picks for Steel-type teams, being able to check Fire-types, trap walls, break holes in the opponent's team with powerful special attacks, and, with its defensive set, provide fantastic utility.

Fire

Heatran's neutrality to Rock and resistance to Psychic and Dragons thanks to its part-Steel typing allows it to better take on Pokemon like Aerodactyl, Latios, and Dragonite. With Magma Storm + Taunt, Heatran can trap and stallbreak bulky Pokemon such as Porygon2, Latios, and Chansey. Taunt also allows Heatran to deter slower Stealth Rock setters like Clefable and Cradily, which is essential for Fire teams. While Heatran's Speed lets it outpace slower threats such as Adamant variants of Excadrill, Diggersby, and Dragonite, it leaves it vulnerable to faster threats such as Nidoking, Manaphy, and Kyurem-B.