Skuntank
[Overview]
<p>Skuntank makes a great Ghost- and Psychic-type killer. With two great STAB moves, Pursuit and Sucker Punch, you can easily play mind games with the opponent. The recent reduction in Explosion's power makes Skuntank a less effective threat to most Pokemon, but it remains a substantial threat to spinblocking Ghost-types and frail Psychic-types. Skuntank has great typing, being weak only to Ground-type moves, forcing many of the Pokemon it threatens to use Ground-type moves to even damage it. Skuntank's stats give it the ability to run both a physical and mixed move set, possibly taking your opponent by surprise. Skuntank is not extremely fast, which hampers its offensive presence, but Sucker Punch makes up for this misgiving. The Poison typing is useful for absorbing Toxic Spikes, especially with the lack of rapid spinners in the Neverused tier.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Physical Attacker
move 1: Sucker Punch
move 2: Pursuit
move 3: Poison Jab
move 4: Taunt / Crunch
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Aftermath / Stench
nature: Adamant
evs: 224 HP / 252 Atk / 32 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set aims to take as many hits as possible while retaining offensive effectiveness against the aforementioned Ghost- and Psychic-types. Sucker Punch makes up for Skuntank's mediocre Speed stat and is very important for removing faster Psychic- and Ghost-types. Poison Jab is another strong STAB attack that can hit Pokemon resistant to Dark-type attacks. Taunt is used to stop various support and status moves that may cripple Skuntank, such as Will-O-Wisp from Frillish. Crunch fills a niche and can be used over Taunt if it is a better fit on the team, but it is usually redundant to have three Dark-type attacking moves on the same Pokemon. Finally, the item you choose can change the way Skuntank is played dramatically. With Life Orb, Skuntank's survivability decreases due to the recoil and entry hazards. It does gain the ability to hit bulkier Psychic-types, like Mesprit, harder with Sucker Punch, creating a stronger offensive presence. Leftovers trades that offensiveness for survivability. The main reason to use Leftovers is to cover multiple frail Psychic-types the opponent may be using, but Leftovers is also useful when using Skuntank as a Ghost-type resist, allowing it to tank more hits and switch in more frequently.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>For Skuntank's ability, either Stench or Aftermath can be used, as both have their advantages. Aftermath activates only when Skuntank is defeated by a physical move, while Stench can trigger a flinch when Skuntank uses any move. Explosion is still usable, but with the power reduction it is rarely a guaranteed kill if something switches in at full health, although a Normal Gem can help it be more effective. If you need to rid yourself of faster, bulkier Pokemon such as Mesprit, Gardevoir, or Drifblim, a faster EV spread can be used, which will also aid in Taunting fast supporting Pokemon.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Sucker Punch
move 2: Crunch
move 3: Fire Blast
move 4: Sludge Bomb
Item: Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Aftermath / Stench
Nature: Lonely
evs: 252 Atk / 112 SpA / 144 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
If you have large problem with Steel-types, a mixed attacking Skuntank can help you by running Fire Blast. It may come as a surprise to your opponent, as many Skuntanks are bulky attacking trappers, allowing you to predict the switch and at least 2HKO. With a base 80 Speed stat, 144 Speed EVs beats neutral nature fully invested base 70s and uninvested base 100s. Similarly to the physical set, this Skuntank runs max Attack to make sure it can still defeat Ghost- and Psychic-types while also taking advantage of its special movepool. Crunch and Sucker Punch are used to stop the aforementioned Pokemon while also allowing Skuntank to get some kills on frail Choice Scarf users, such as Magmortar. Skuntank can hit hard from the special side with Sludge Bomb, which will threaten opponents if they have nothing to resist Poison-type attacks. This set's downfall is the sacrifice of Skuntank's bulk to increase power on both sides of the attacking spectrum. Many opposing bulky Pokemon that can take a hit can KO Skuntank with one attack or cripple it with a status move. The item choice here is also highly debatable. This set is more offensively oriented and Life Orb gives power on both special and physical fronts. Leftovers does less here, as there is no bulk invested, making survivability a limited factor.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>If you want to make a more specially oriented attacker, Dark Pulse is useable over Crunch and has a nice chance to flinch. Flamethrower, with its higher accuracy, is another attacking option if consistency is more important than power. These moves are avoided on this set, as it values raw power over consistent damage. A specially dedicated set would also lack investment in Sucker Punch, losing valuable KOs. Some good teammates for special Skuntank include hazard layers like Cacturne, and paralysis support from a Pokemon such as Regirock.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Skuntank learns a wide selection of supporting moves not found in the main sets. Haze is a useful move to use against setup sweepers. If you can out-predict your opponent's Gorebyss after they Shell Smash, thinking you will switch, you can Haze instead and possibly KO the Gorebyss. Explosion was mentioned in the physical set but it can be used on any concoction of moves, especially as it can take your opponent by surprise if they don't resist it. On a bulkier set Toxic can be viable. It can cripple an opposing wall, allowing you to clean up later; this works especially well on the mixed set due to its frailty. Bastiodon can wall Skuntank to no end due to its Rock typing, but if Skuntank has Rock Smash then Bastiodon become much less effective. Memento is another highly intriguing option to experiment with. After you are finished with the Psychic-types, use Memento and switch to a setup sweeper. This gives ample time for the sweeper to boost, but be wary of walls that come in trying to stop the sweep. A unique and unexpected item to use is Choice Band. With base 93 Attack and two offensively oriented STAB types, the only thing holding Skuntank back is its speed. Sucker Punch can remedy this with its priority effect, but that is only one move.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Bastiodon is the premier wall against Skuntank. The Rock- and Steel-type combination makes its defenses impenetrable if Skuntank doesn't have Rock Smash, which very few sets carry. Steel-types wall physical Skuntank with a resistance to Dark and immunity to Poison; be wary of the special version as it will probably carry a Fire-type move to deal with Steel-types. Many Rock-types, like Golem, carry Earthquake and resist Poison- and Fire-type attacks, so they can switch in and KO back. Fighting-types resist Dark-type STAB while being able to hit back reasonably hard, but watch out for Poison Jab's secondary status effect.</p>
