[Virizion]

Originally Posted by Fat NoCheese

Thinking about all of the sturdy and focus sashed pokemon in the subway, I wonder if it might actually make sense to consider a stealth rock lead for singles. Seems crazy in a 3 on 3 environment when the AI hardly ever switches, but a bulky lead who sets up rocks would pretty much ensure that a subsequent sweeper won't have to worry about sashes, and (though I'd need to run the calculations) will turn a few 2HKOs into OHKOs.

My current idea for such a lead is:

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Impish/Careful
Sturdy

-Stealth Rock
-Drill Peck
-Toxic
-Roost

Set up rocks unless you fear a strong fire or electric attack (if you do, switch to Garchomp), and then either toxic stall the opponent out or switch to an appropriate sweeper. Also have to be aware of which pokemon can run taunt, as that will mess up rocks as well. With Skarmory's durability, you'll typically be able to get value from it later on in the match, although this setup unfortunately leaves it unable to do much damage to other steels.

I considered Tyranitar for automatic sandstorm as another alternative, but most of the sturdy pokemon are immune to sand, and even where sand finishes off a sashed pokemon, it does so at the end of the turn, meaning that the sashed pokemon will still get one attack off before dying to the sand. Far fewer things are immune to Abomasnow's hail, but it still has the problem of doing damage at the end of turn, and it doesn't synergize well with my own pokemon.

For a more offensive alternative, there's also the possibility of using sashed infernape with fake out, stealth rock, close combat, and u-turn/flare blitz. Fake out gives it the advantage of breaking any sash on the opponent's lead, and not just its second and third pokemon.

Am I just being foolish, or is there potential in this?

There is potential there, so I'm going to try it out after my current streak ends. I think, however, that it should have Whirlwind in case there are setup Pokes though.