This set is displayed first as it is probably the most useful for the metagame. Spiritomb can switch into every Psychic Pokémon, including and especially Azelf, with impunity, and hit them back hard with Sucker Punch or Pursuit. Pain Split heals damage and works well with Spiritomb’s low HP stat, and Will-O-Wisp messes around with physical Pokémon who think they can switch in and hit you from the physical side, only to get burned. This set is good for a starter Spiritomb, since it has the defenses to survive most opening attacks, and cripple starting physical attackers like Weavile by burning them. It can also survive a Choice Specs Draco Meteor from Salamence and Pain Split away most of the damage, reducing Draco Meteor’s precious PP by 2 in the process because of Pressure. 140 Attack EVs give Spiritomb a slight chance (1/13) of OHKOing Azelf with Sucker Punch. The problem with this set is that any non-Psychic special based Pokémon that can boost its Special Attack can switch in and setup on Spiritomb. To correct this, you can replace Sucker Punch or Pursuit with Taunt.
This is an attacking Spiritomb. Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting hit everything in the game for neutral damage at least. Dark Pulse instead of Shadow Ball is not recommended, since Spiritomb would then need to watch out for Toxicroak and Heracross, and Shadow Ball has that nice chance of getting even more oomph by lowering the foe’s Special Defense stat by one level whereas Dark Pulse's flinch rate is nearly useless on a Pokémon with 35 base Speed. By putting the opponent to sleep, Spiritomb usually gets a free turn to use Nasty Plot or Calm Mind, and then use whichever damaging attack is best.
This is a bit of a gimmick set, but it could work. Spiritomb is easily the most defensive user of Spite. In Diamond and Pearl, Spite always reduces the PP of the opponent’s last used move by 4, and, coupled with Pressure, means that the opponent will be losing 6 PP from the move he or she last used in total, which is quite a lot. This set’s main aim is to cut as much PP of your opponent’s moves as possible. The opponent will inevitably switch against this strategy, which is why Pursuit is there. Rest and Sleep Talk are there for Spiritomb to continue with this strategy for longer.
This is a variation of the popular Suicune set that uses Calm Mind, Rest, Sleep Talk, and Surf. This set makes a great status absorber and an even better Rapid Spin blocker. The idea is to boost up and stall with Calm Mind, and use Dark Pulse when you need to attack. Rest helps keep Spiritomb at high health, and is much more reliable than Pain Split. This set attempts to allow Spiritomb to tank and stall as long as possible, but the weakness of this set is the single attack. It is recommended that you set Toxic Spikes on the field when employing this strategy to prevent Tyranitar and Garchomp from getting a free switch in. It should also be noted that you lack a way to hit Lucario with this set. However, this Spiritomb is an effective counter to Starmie, Jirachi, and Gengar, and is an effective staller with Pressure as well. Other OptionsDark Pulse gets STAB and is a nice move, but Shadow Ball is usually better for the reasons mentioned in the second set. Ominous Wind, having a 10% chance to boost all its stats, is an option, but its 60 base power will inevitably put off a lot of people, even though it gets STAB. Still, if the boost in all stats is activated, Spiritomb would become a very hard Pokémon to KO. Snatch and Psych Up could spring surprises if your opponent is not prepared for either. Confuse Ray is an okay disabling move, especially coming from a Pokémon that has no weaknesses and nice defenses. Spiritomb also learns Psychic, but its type coverage is a bit limited. EVsIf you’re going for a defensive Spiritomb, you’d want to pump up its low HP first, then Special Defense and Defense. To be certain of an OHKO on Azelf via Sucker Punch, you'll need 299 Attack, which is achieved by 208 Attack EVs and a nature that boosts Attack. This will make Spiritomb unable to survive a Draco Meteor from Choice Specs Salamence, but if you've got that covered by another Pokémon in your team, then go ahead and use those EVs in Attack. If you’re using Spiritomb as a special attacker, just maximize its Special Attack and HP. OpinionSpiritomb is a very interesting Pokémon. Its base defenses (50 HP / 108 Defense / 108 Special Defense) may seem above average at best, but when you factor in the fact that there is absolutely no move that can deal super effective damage to it, you’ll discover that Spiritomb can take quite a beating before going down. Being immune to three types (Normal, Fighting, and Psychic) adds to its durability. The way it counters Azelf, Alakazam, Gengar, Mismagius and (to a lesser extent) Starmie, especially Choice Specs versions, is almost ridiculous. It is arguably the best out of all Azelf counters, since, unlike most of them, it is also immune to its Explosion, and so Azelf cannot even consider the option of blowing up its counter. It is also not weak to Pursuit, something that most other Ghost types (notably Dusknoir) would dearly love to have. However, it has to compete with other Pokémon for its place in the team. As a tank, it has a very specific use, and some teams would want something that counters a wider range of Pokémon. Still, if you have a marked weakness to Azelf or Gengar in your team, using Spiritomb is highly recommended. CountersAgainst the starter set, Heracross is the most menacing counter, since it resists Dark and likes to be burned due to its Guts ability. Guts Machamp and Guts Hariyama are also counters for the same reason. The special version of Lucario also counters it, as do Houndoom and Heatran due to their Flash Fire trait and being resistant to Dark moves. Breloom is immune to Will-O-Wisp because of Poison Heal and resists Sucker Punch and Pursuit. Substitute Tyranitar can also switch in easily on anything but Will-O-Wisp, and then it can Substitute before Spiritomb to render it useless. Against the attacker set, Heracross is again the best counter especially if it has Sleep Talk. Anything with Taunt also counters the attacker set, since Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting won’t deal too much damage if they are unboosted. Miltank and Kangaskhan with Scrappy can easily deal more than 50% damage with a Fighting move, so beware of them as well. You can also predict Hypnosis by switching to a Natural Cure Pokémon like Starmie and then switch to a special wall like Blissey. Ice Beam Blissey should be able to prevent Spiritomb from maximizing its Special Attack (otherwise it would take a minimum 57% from Hidden Power Fighting when Spiritomb has maximized its Special Attack), and is thus also a viable counter. |
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