OU Sableye

[Srn]

Such Taunt, Much Recover, WoW

Overview
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Sableye is well-known for stopping physical sweepers in their tracks with its famous Prankster Will-O-Wisp. Almost any non-Fire-type physical attacker without a Lum Berry or priority is shut down by Sableye, and that's a significant number of threats that go home crying thanks to this gem-encrusted Pokemon. But that's only one way Prankster is abused on Sableye; Prankster Taunt can shut down a large majority of defensive Pokemon and stall teams, while Prankster Recover can reliably heal Sableye after taking hits. Sableye also boasts 3 immunities, giving it ample switch-in opportunities on Fighting-, Normal-, and Psychic-type moves.

However, despite this seemingly unbeatable combination of movepool and ability, Sableye has several flaws that hinder its performance. Its pathetic base stats leave it extremely reliant on Will-O-Wisp, which only has 85% accuracy. For the same reason, Sableye cannot stomach a strong special attack either. Mega Charizard Y and Mega Charizard X can often freely switch into Sableye, only fearing the occasional Foul Play, and Sableye can only annoy Heatran with Knock Off. Its only resistance is the rarely used Poison-type, and it even gained a new weakness in Fairy. Sableye is fairly predictable as well and it can be totally shut down by even faster Taunts from Thundurus. Sableye also struggles against physical attackers that can avoid or take advantage of Will-O-Wisp, such as Guts Conkeldurr or Dragonite and Garchomp holding a Lum Berry. Despite these flaws, Sableye can be a huge thorn in the side to both physical attackers and support Pokemon.


Prankster Utility
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name: Prankster Utility
move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Recover
move 3: Taunt
move 4: Knock Off / Foul Play
ability: Prankster
item: Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
nature: Impish

Moves
========

Will-O-Wisp is Sableye's main source of passive damage and way of lessening damage taken. It can stop physical sweepers and wallbreakers as long as they aren't holding a Lum Berry or are immune to burns, all while providing useful passive damage to walls and tanks. Recover offers reliable recovery, and thanks to Prankster, it has priority. Unless you get hit with faster priority, this means that you can use Recover before your opponent even has a chance to attack. Prankster Taunt is very useful for shutting down defensive walls and halting any kind of setup. Since Prankster Taunt goes before Baton Pass, the opponent will not be able to Baton Pass into Espeon to bounce the Taunt back, so it can even be used against Baton Pass teams and stop their momentum. For an attacking option, Foul Play offers the most consistent and reliable damage output. Foul Play is especially useful for nailing the physical Fire-type attackers looking to absorb a Will-O-Wisp, such as Talonflame or Mega Charizard X. Knock Off, however, can cripple several special attackers on the switch that won't mind a burn, such as Keldeo, Latios, and Landorus. While the edge against special attackers is nice, Knock Off offers the least amount of offensive presence for Sableye. Night Shade provides the most consistent and reliable damage, and can be useful against Pokemon with low HP such as Rotom-W. However, keep in mind that Night Shade will not break an opposing Substitute if the user has 404 HP or more. Night Shade also lacks the utility that Knock Off brings, and some sweepers such as Mega Charizard X can just Roost off the damage from Night Shade.


Set Details
========

Full investment in HP and Defense lets Sableye handle physical attackers with ease, before and after burning them. Sableye will often be switching in on physical threats in order to scare them off with the threat of a Will-O-Wisp, and full defensive investment is needed for that. However, a specially defensive spread works very well on Sableye. With full investment in HP and Special Defense instead, Sableye can handle many prominent special attackers once it removes their items with a Knock Off on the switch, such as Keldeo, Thundurus, and even Landorus. However, Sableye will not be able to defeat specially oriented Mega Evolutions with this set, such as Mega Charizard Y and Mega Gardevoir. Leftovers is used for mandatory passive recovery, as Sableye needs all the bulk it can get. Prankster is also mandatory as Sableye loses much of its viability without priority Will-O-Wisp, Taunt, and Recover.

Usage Tips
========

Will-O-Wisp is your main method of dealing damage and reducing the damage taken, so use it often. If a Pokemon like Mandibuzz can Roost off all the damage you can do, use Taunt to stop it. Do not use Taunt on a Pokemon that can threaten Sableye, unless you wish to sacrifice Sableye to make the switch-in easier. Recover can help scout damage and moves, so time it well. Try not to use Will-O-Wisp when a Fire-type is on the opposing side, especially Heatran which can grab a Flash Fire boost. Users of Guts such as Conkeldurr, can also benefit from your Will-O-Wisp. If you can predict these Pokemon switching in, try to use Knock Off or Foul Play instead.

Team Options
========

Sableye is a fairly independent Pokemon but it has low Special Defense, so a partner for taking powerful special attacks is recommended. Tyranitar can beat Latios and Mega Charizard Y for Sableye, and in return Sableye can burn Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Scizor which annoy Tyranitar. Sableye will be spreading burns frequently, so it's a good idea to have a Pokemon such as Gyarados or Azumarill to handle the Fire-types in the tier. Sableye is helpless against Fairy-types, so partners that can take them on, such as Heatran, Scizor, Aegislash, or Ferrothorn, are recommended.

Other Options
########

Sableye has a movepool filled to the brim with cool, albeit situational moves to play with. Sableye can use Toxic to catch common Fire-types on the switch, but it still doesn't let Sableye beat Heatran and other Fire-types such as Talonflame don't mind it too much. Substitute can be used to ease prediction and allows Sableye to beat Latios and Latias. Trick can be used with an Iron Ball to cripple a fast threat such as Thundurus or Greninja, but the loss of Leftovers recovery is undesirable. Spite can be used to burn the PP of moves with very low PP such as Hydro Pump or Stone Edge. Gravity can be used to ground all Pokemon and increase the accuracy of all moves 1.66 times. Rain Dance and Sunny Day allow Sableye to serve as a backup weather setter for rain or sun teams. Confide and Snarl lower the Special Attack of the foe by one stage, with Confide having priority and Snarl being able to do damage.

Checks and Counters
########

**Fire-types**: Heatran and Mega Charizard-Y can absorb a Will-O-Wisp and hit back with strong Fire Blasts. Mega Charizard-X, Entei, and Talonflame can also switch in on Will-O-Wisp, but they must also be more careful of Foul Play.

**Prankster Taunt**: Faster Pranksters with Taunt, such as Thundurus, can completely shut Sableye down. However, Thundurus is 2HKOed by Foul Play.

**Special Attackers**: Any powerful special attacker that doesn't mind a burn too much, like Latios or Greninja, usually does well against Sableye. Fairy-type special attackers also beat Sableye with ease.

**Toxic**: Toxic completely cripples Sableye, although it has to be caught on the switch as Sableye can just use Taunt otherwise.

**Entry Hazards**: Sableye is vulnerable to all entry hazards, especially the rare Toxic Spikes. The residual damage forces Sableye to use Recover much more often.

**Powerful Priority**: Powerful priority moves can strike before Sableye gets a chance to use Recover or Will-O-Wisp.

**Fairy-types**: Sylveon and (Mega) Gardevoir can OHKO Sableye thanks to their STAB moves. Unaware Clefable may not enjoy Will-O-Wisp, but Magic Guard variants can freely switch in and 2HKO with Moonblast.

**Guts**: Guts users such as Conkeldurr, can switch in on Will-O-Wisp and proceed to hit back with powerful boosted attacks.

**Lum Berry**: Physical attackers that are holding a Lum Berry can beat Sableye if they can 2HKO it on the switch or just outright OHKO.

 

[PrototypeX]

Not of any kind of control so take my word with a grain of salt. Instead of taunt I tend to use confuse ray. It then has a chance to damage in three times if its burned and you attack that turn. It knocks down them ptetty quick with it at least in my exprrience.

 

[Magnemite]

All right, so the new strategy dex is going up very soon and there are several Pokemon, including this one, that do not currently have completed analyses. Srn9130, if you could please try to make this look presentable within the next day, that would be helpful. Please contact user darkie once you've made it look presentable (by that I mean "acceptable to be on-site") and refer to and update this pirate pad: https://www.piratepad.ca/p/dex_skeletons

This needs to be done by tomorrow afternoon (GMT -6), so make sure you get it done! If you can't make it look presentable in the next day, please say so in the pirate pad so someone else can make a quick skeleton of it. Thanks!

 

[Swamp Link]

Will-O-Wisp is its main offense and defense, relies on 85 accuracy.

Not really important enough for Overview.

Pathetic base stats.

Can't take powerful neutral hits.

Weak special defense.

These can all be combined into one point about bad stats.

Vulnerable to all hazards.

I don't think this is worth mentioning, especially since Sableye is one of the best Pokemon for keeping hazards off your side of the field.

Knock Off is better than Night Shade in most ways. It should definitely be the second slash. In fact, I would just mention Night Shade in the set comments without slashing it, because its other options have much more utility.

Foul Play punishes physical attackers, Mega Charizard-X in particular.

Clarify that Foul Play will hurt Fire-types looking to switch in for free like Mega Charizard-X.

252 HP and 88 Def with a Bold nature allows you to always survive a Return from a Mega Pinsir.

I don't see why that calc is pertinent. You should be burning Mega Pinsir, so you'll never take a full Return except for a miss anyway, but even if you do tank one with these EVs, it can just finish you off with Quick Attack. It's probably best to just give it maximum Special Defense since Will-O-Wisp helps its physical bulk.

Mention Rocky Helmet in Set Details too.

You can use Recover to scout damage and sets on pokemon, use this to your advantage.

What? Your Recover will always go first, so you'll end the turn having taken significant damage.

Watch out for fire types that can come in for free on a Will-O-Wisp, especially Heatran

Explain that this is because of Flash Fire.

Mention Priority users that can bypass Will-O-Wisp in Checks and Counters. Also, Magic Bounce.

 

[Srn]

Not really important enough for Overview.

I think the fact that his main method of damage and the only reason he can take physical hits is 85 acc is pretty important. Burning stuff is what this guy is all about, I personally think it should stay in the overview just because of how important WoW is to sableye.

These can all be combined into one point about bad stats.

Done

I don't think this is worth mentioning, especially since Sableye is one of the best Pokemon for keeping hazards off your side of the field.

Fair enough, done.

Knock Off is better than Night Shade in most ways. It should definitely be the second slash. In fact, I would just mention Night Shade in the set comments without slashing it, because its other options have much more utility.

Done

Clarify that Foul Play will hurt Fire-types looking to switch in for free like Mega Charizard-X.

I'll mention Talon too.

I don't see why that calc is pertinent. You should be burning Mega Pinsir, so you'll never take a full Return except for a miss anyway, but even if you do tank one with these EVs, it can just finish you off with Quick Attack. It's probably best to just give it maximum Special Defense since Will-O-Wisp helps its physical bulk.

I thought that it would be important to switch into, but then I realized you'd just die to QA anyway and that's pointless, so I'll make that change.

Mention Rocky Helmet in Set Details too.

Done

What? Your Recover will always go first, so you'll end the turn having taken significant damage.

Eh, I guess that makes sense. Changed.

Explain that this is because of Flash Fire.

Done

Mention Priority users that can bypass Will-O-Wisp in Checks and Counters. Also, Magic Bounce.

Done

Threw in a tidbit about fairy type special attackers in the Checks and Counters section.

 

[Swamp Link]

Alright, if you do all of that,

QC 1/3

I'll try to look at Roserade and Gourgeist-S more in-depth later, probably tomorrow.

 

[Ash Borer]

Snarl should be somwhere, probably OO, it seems dumb most teams are going to switch their strong special attakers into Sableye to take minimal damage from Will-O-Wisp. Predicting this and snarling on switch in makes these special attackers easier to deal with, or potentially wallable.

On the topic of other options you can remove offensive Sableye. OO is for decent stuff or situationally useful stuff, not sets that would be useless in PU or something.

 

[Srn]

Alright, if you do all of that,

View attachment 11129

QC 1/3

I'll try to look at Roserade and Gourgeist-S more in-depth later, probably tomorrow.

It's all implemented, thanks!

Snarl should be somwhere, probably OO, it seems dumb most teams are going to switch their strong special attakers into Sableye to take minimal damage from Will-O-Wisp. Predicting this and snarling on switch in makes these special attackers easier to deal with, or potentially wallable.

On the topic of other options you can remove offensive Sableye. OO is for decent stuff or situationally useful stuff, not sets that would be useless in PU or something.

Yeah I was feeling a little bold when I put the offensive set out there lol, I'll be taking that down.
About Snarl, I personally think that Burn+confide is better snarl and it's sad damage.
It would have to be on the switch too, but with confide you don't have to worry too much about predicting.
Regardless, I will mention Snarl in that list of gimmick moves.

 

[Swamp Link]

Yeah, Confide's priority > Snarl's damage. Although both would be OO, nothing more.

 

[Ash Borer]

oh I forgot about that sht, yeah confide is better my bad

 

[Srn]

Change the spread to max special defense like you were asked to last time (252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD Careful Nature). In addition, remove the whole Magic Bounce thing from C&C, Espeon takes a truckload from Knock Off, so it doesn't even want to switch in anyway and Absol takes a large chunk from Foul Play. Mention Magic Guard Clefable instead, as it doesn't care about status, can recover off damage, doesn't take shit from any of Sableye's attacks, and easily 2HKOes. Also mention guts Conkeldurr in C&C for obvious reasons. To follow up, mention in the usage tips to be wary of spamming WoW should the opposing team have Conkeldurr. Fix your spacing, the slashes should be spread out like so, "Foul Play / Knock Off". Remove Embargo, Confuse Ray, Imprison, Metal Burst, and Confide from other options. Do all that and,

QC Approved 2/4

Everything has been implemented, thank you!

 

[BurningMan]

Can somebody explain the reason why the EVs should be put into special defense? Sableye has horrible defensive stats and needs all the defense points it can gets to wall even burned pokemon the only Pokemon it would be useful against is aegishlash which you kinda beat anyway since you can easiely one shot it with foul play. Maybe i am missing something but even with SDef investment Sableye can't really tank special hits due to its terrible base stats.

I also don't get why Magic Bounce should be removed from C&C these pokemon can completly ruin Sableye if they switch into the right move and even though they are hit hard by Foul Play, they can still pressure you not to use Taunt/WoW. They shouldn't be mentioned as full stops like they were last gen, but not mentioning them at all doesn't makes sense to me.

 

[Unowninator]

Espeon can't even do anything to Sableye aside from discouraging Taunt / Wisp and just finds itself 2HKOed.

Dazzling Gleam.

 

[Unowninator]

Try again. The only Espeon used in higher level play does not invest in special attack, meaning dazzling gleam isn't going to 2HKO unless you're absurdly lucky. At least try to be somewhat informed before making a post like that.

It OHKO'd mine somehow. (and no, it wasn't a critical hit). Maybe because we did level 50 instead of 100?

 

[LightningLuxray]

It OHKO'd mine somehow. (and no, it wasn't a critical hit). Maybe because we did level 50 instead of 100?

...It would either have had to been Modest...

252+ SpA Espeon Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Sableye: 272-322 (89.4 - 105.9%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

...Or it was Specs/LO...

252 SpA Choice Specs Espeon Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Sableye: 372-438 (122.3 - 144%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Either way both are shit, and you had to have been running physically defensive in order for this to KO. Otherwise the only way you're getting KO'd at full health is by Modest Specs (which is just shit)

Basically Espeon isn't really doing anything to Sableye at the higher end of the ladder.

 

[BurningMan]

Espeon can't even do anything to Sableye aside from discouraging Taunt / Wisp and just finds itself 2HKOed. Absol on the other hand needs to mega evolve before it can even think about trying to check sableye and even then, it's 2HKOed by Foul Play. They're incredibly shaky switch-ins, and I don't know if discouraging Taunt / Wisp is enough to give them a mention. It doesn't seem like it's worth it to me.

As for the spd investment, most burned physical attackers aren't exactly 2hkoing sableye anyway. Maybe it's just me, but it seems pretty redundant to invest in physical defense when you have priority will-o-wisp of all things to help you deal with physical attackers. You might as well have the liberty of being able to tank a special attack or two as opposed to being at the mercy of almost all of them.

Since Taunt and Will O Wisp are kinda the biggest reason to use sableye a pokemon that discourages you from using it should get a mention. Yes espeon and absol are pretty shitty checks, but there should be a mention to be wary of Magic Bounce users when using WoW/Taunt as they can cripple you/force you out if you mispredict.

IMO the SDef investment doesn't really help anyway Sableye has shit stats so you should focus on tanking one side of the spectrum, run some calcs and you will see that even burned attackers still do a lot, also being able to survive a hit from a physical attacker if WoW misses can be crucial so you can try to burn it again.

 

[Eievui-Nymphia]

About Sableye:
The set is in general ways, fine. Foul Play is the best option against offense in this physical based metagame. it appears like Sableye is make to use that move, receives STAB and staytus from Sableye and the attack stat and the rest of the boosts of the opponent.

One note: Sableye is one of those pokemon that is more useful coming from a KO rather that swtich-in. Note that Sableye requires a lot of prediction to switch in because a lot of physical threats can 2HKO it (counting the 2nd hit burned).

And in Checks and Counters i want to add two that didn't mention.
-Physical Fairy types with Play Rough (basically Azumarill) it's his biggest problem:
252+ Atk Huge Power burned Azumarill Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Sableye: 226-267 (74.3 - 87.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Whuile Sableye do pitful damage with Foul Play.
-Physical Fire types who are entirely inmune to Will-o-wisp meaning that it will have the 100% of his attack. Specially Mega Charizard-X but also Talonflame, Entei, Darmanitan and basically any decent physical Fire threat.

 

[Srn]

About Sableye:
The set is in general ways, fine. Foul Play is the best option against offense in this physical based metagame. it appears like Sableye is make to use that move, receives STAB and staytus from Sableye and the attack stat and the rest of the boosts of the opponent.

One note: Sableye is one of those pokemon that is more useful coming from a KO rather that swtich-in. Note that Sableye requires a lot of prediction to switch in because a lot of physical threats can 2HKO it (counting the 2nd hit burned).

And in Checks and Counters i want to add two that didn't mention.
-Physical Fairy types with Play Rough (basically Azumarill) it's his biggest problem:
252+ Atk Huge Power burned Azumarill Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Sableye: 226-267 (74.3 - 87.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Whuile Sableye do pitful damage with Foul Play.
-Physical Fire types who are entirely inmune to Will-o-wisp meaning that it will have the 100% of his attack. Specially Mega Charizard-X but also Talonflame, Entei, Darmanitan and basically any decent physical Fire threat.

That's not entirely true.
Since the physical threats you come in on will be threatened out by prospect of burn, foul play isn't as useful as you say.
Meanwhile, the opponent will likely go into a special attacker that will not mind the burn, e.g. lati@s or keldeo. Knock Off is much more beneficial for catching the common special attacker switch-ins and crippling them.
Foul Play is still a nice attack, but I honestly prefer Knock Off over it.

Since Taunt and Will O Wisp are kinda the biggest reason to use sableye a pokemon that discourages you from using it should get a mention. Yes espeon and absol are pretty shitty checks, but there should be a mention to be wary of Magic Bounce users when using WoW/Taunt as they can cripple you/force you out if you mispredict.

IMO the SDef investment doesn't really help anyway Sableye has shit stats so you should focus on tanking one side of the spectrum, run some calcs and you will see that even burned attackers still do a lot, also being able to survive a hit from a physical attacker if WoW misses can be crucial so you can try to burn it again.

I can sorta reason with this a little better, mostly because when I use sableye, I find myself hard switching into physical threats. From there, I knock off, WoW, or recover any big damage off, all of which have their own perks. The point is, I won't be switching manually into special attackers, I'm gonna be going into physical attackers to threaten them out. Not to mention that a pathetic 50 base special defense is beyond saving imo.
I support physically defensive for the main set.

 

[Ash Borer]

throw Sub into OO, you can troll the shit out of Latios with it.

QC 3/4

 

[Srn]

Done, and thanks! I'll get to writing this up ASAP.

 

[Srn]

Actually, before I continue writing this up, I wanna get the ev spread outta the way first:
Full sp. def or full def?

My stance on it is full def. Even with full sp. def, you're not switching into many special attacks, and your special bulk is still pretty damn pitiful. 50/50 is simply beyond saving.
From my experience with sableye, i find myself switching it in on physical threats. For this purpose, I think physical defense is just nicer to have. It makes more sense to just try and focus on one end of the spectrum. Also note that some burned attackers are still gonna beat the hell out of you, and physical bulk is necessary to help stall burn damage if need be.

But I do want to hear some QC input on this.

 

[CyclicCompound]

I agree, I thought the exact same thing last time I used Sableye. Literally the only reason to use Sableye outside of Prankster Taunt is Prankster Will-o-Wisp, and you're not doing yourself any favors by making it near-impossible to switch into physical attackers (Sableye already has a hard enough time doing that WITH the defense EVs). So go ahead and shove all of those EVs into Defense.

 

[dice]

i like knock off the best is anyone with me

 

[tehy]

Knock Off is amazing. Firstly, Knock Off pretty much any special threat as it comes in (with the exception of fairies and Mega Charizard Y), and it really struggles to break you. Let's look at some calcs:

252 SpA Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sableye: 169-199 (55.5 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery.

Generally speaking you'll get a miss, letting you burn it. Usually it just Scalds you for a burn, which does lead to Hydro breaking you much more easily, but this is still pretty impressive.

252 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sableye: 135-160 (44.4 - 52.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery.

Heh. You'll likely get t-waved, but that's just the price of doing business.

252 SpA Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sableye: 165-195 (54.2 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

WoW, stall out. The average between that is 59%, which means you take 3% HP max; the max roll takes away 8 and the min roll gives back two. You only need to last for around 5 turns with Knock Off+Rocks damage, so this is definitely doable.

Plus, even if Sableye himself fails to wall them, they're now much easier for the rest of your team to wall.

Next, let's look at an even more amazing calc:

0 Atk Sableye Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 79-94 (20.4 - 24.3%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

Not impressed? Neither am I, but that's not really the point. After you've Knocked off Heatran, it can't heal any more, except with the help of Wish or Healing Wish/Lunar Dance. Which means it can now be stalled out, a huge boon both for sableye and for teams that struggle with him (plenty of defensive teams.) This also applies to a lesser extent to every Pokemon with Leftovers, especially ones like Sylveon and Clefable. In fact, this lets Sableye actually DO something to Magic Guard Clefable, which otherwise is the hardest stop imaginable.

Okay, so the downside here is mostly Mega Pokemon, especially Megazards and Megagard, all of which Foul Play helps against. However, it's mostly just a 20% stronger hit against Y and gard (Y can always take one after rocks, although you can survive a flamethrower and do it again. Then again it might just Roost, or Fire Blast.) With MegazardX, you can turn the tables; it's also theoretically a last-ditch way to prevent setup, but Taunt does that too. Talonflame also rates a mention, but steal its Band and it's a kitten, so you only really prefer Foul Play if you lack a switch-in or versus SD.

Anyhow I guess it's up to QC to decide which of these is better overall, but I've used Knock Off a lot and loved every minute of it;it just has so much utility and surprising power.

SpD Sableye is better, no contest. It's not great at switching in, but what it IS great at is not switching out. It takes apart HO teams who rely on special attackers like Thundurus and Greninja to deal with physically based threats. In general, more physical bulk would be nice, but it comes at the price of being forced out by every special threat under the sun. Don't forget that sableye has 3 immunities to provide it with free switch-ins, too.

 

[Srn]

*Such calcs, much knock off, WoW*

SpD Sableye is better, no contest. It's not great at switching in, but what it IS great at is not switching out. It takes apart HO teams who rely on special attackers like Thundurus and Greninja to deal with physically based threats. In general, more physical bulk would be nice, but it comes at the price of being forced out by every special threat under the sun. Don't forget that sableye has 3 immunities to provide it with free switch-ins, too.

You bring up a pretty good point, which is worth arguing. Your calcs especially prove that once you've knocked off the boosting item, you can actually WoW stall some really big special threats. I didn't expect it to actually take it that well, and while I still do believe physical defense is best, I'm willing to mention a special set. The only big fault I notice is that if special attackers get a FREE switch-in they are still gonna beat the crap out of you, and you're still not switching into any of these guys either.
Only in the specific scenario of sableye being in and a special threat switching in does the sp. def spread work. Granted, this is a rather common scenario, but the advantages the defensive spread give you are way better than winning a few common scenarios with the special spread. Not to mention that the physically defensive spread can still catch special attacking switch-ins with a knock off, it's just not staying after.