Kabutops (Offensive Spinner)

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/kabutops

[SET]
name: Offensive Spinner
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Aqua Jet
move 4: Swords Dance / Waterfall
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>The attributes that make Kabutops a successful sweeper—namely, a stellar base 115 Attack and excellent attacking STAB—also make him a great Rapid Spinner. One of the difficulties entailed in Rapid Spinning is eliminating the Ghost-types who switch in to block Rapid Spin, and while most other UU spinners are walled by common spinblockers, Kabutops can hit every Ghost in the UU tier for solid, neutral damage with his STAB Stone Edge. Offensive Ghost-types such as Rotom and Mismagius are KOed by a combination of Stone Edge and Aqua Jet, and even the most defensive Spiritomb is 2HKOed by a +2 Stone Edge. In most cases, an opponent will have to risk losing a Pokemon to Kabutops in order to successfully preserve his or her entry hazards.</p>

<p>Stone Edge is Kabutops's strongest STAB option and is therefore absolutely necessary on this set. Aqua Jet provides excellent additional coverage and is invaluable as a priority move. In addition to finishing off weakened Mismagius and Rotom, Aqua Jet protects Kabutops from Dugtrio and allows Kabutops to pick off weakened or frail Pokemon such as Houndoom. Swords Dance enables Kabutops to beat Dusclops and Spiritomb, who will otherwise drain all of Stone Edge's PP with Pressure. It also lets Kabutops threaten a sweep and prevents other defensive Pokemon such as Milotic from walling him. Waterfall is not as useful without rain support, but it is an option over Swords Dance to hit the likes of Rhyperior, Steelix, and Donphan.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Attack is maximized so that Kabutops can hit Ghost switch-ins as hard as possible, making spinning easier. With a Jolly nature and 252 Speed EVs, Kabutops ties with other +Speed nature base 80s, including Venusaur, Blaziken, and Mesprit, which can be important when trying to sustain a sweep. If one does not wish to risk a tie with these Pokemon, there are a few lower benchmarks that can be aimed for instead. With a Jolly nature and a spread of 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe, Kabutops outruns max Speed, +Speed nature base 70s, such as Cloyster and Ludicolo. With an Adamant nature and a spread of 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe, Kabutops outpaces base 95s who lack Speed investment, such as Uxie. It is possible to go lower than this, although it is not advisable. Kabutops should be able to definitively outrun most Milotic, allowing him to perform a last-ditch Rapid Spin before being KOed should the need arise.</p>

<p>While it may be hard to switch in on Kabutops, it is considerably more difficult for him to switch in than it is for other Rapid Spinners. It is easiest to get Kabutops in after a KO or on a double switch, especially on a Pokemon such as Swellow whom Kabutops can easily threaten and force out. Outside of that, offensively weak Pokemon, including Chansey, Clefable, and Miltank, as well as Fire- and Ice-types who lack super effective coverage moves, such as Arcanine (without Hidden Power Grass) and Articuno, are Kabutops's best opportunities to switch in.</p>

<p>Kabutops is an excellent partner to any Pokemon in dire need of Rapid Spin support. Moltres is a notable example, capable of luring in Chansey, whom Kabutops can switch in on and threaten out, and forcing out many of the Pokemon who give Kabutops trouble, including Registeel, Donphan, Hitmontop, and Venusaur. Scyther also makes a good partner, as he can deal with Venusaur and Hitmontop as well as lure in Arcanine. Scyther can also be paired with Dugtrio in order to immediately get rid of Registeel—who walls both Kabutops and Scyther—by U-turning to Dugtrio as Registeel switches in. Dugtrio also traps and KOes Toxicroak, another Pokemon Kabutops struggles against.</p>

<p>While Kabutops can handle all of UU's spinblockers by himself, doing so requires accurate prediction, not to mention relying on Stone Edge's shaky accuracy. In order to ease prediction (or cushion the blow of a Stone Edge miss), Pursuit Spiritomb can be used alongside Kabutops to trap and KO (or severely damage) most Ghost-types. Spiritomb also handles most Fighting-types, who are prone to switching in on Kabutops, especially if he has yet to Swords Dance.</p>

While I don't play UU much (at all), Waterfall is considerably more powerful than Aqua Jet, so I think it deserves a slash.

Aura Guardian said:

While I don't play UU much (at all), Waterfall is considerably more powerful than Aqua Jet, so I think it deserves a slash.

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Aqua Jet just has more practical application than Waterfall because it is a priority attack. Waterfall's two main targets are just Steelix and Rhyperior. Without rain, Kabutops doesn't really have much business trying to break through Hitmontop, Torterra, and other Pokemon Water hits neutrally. It's much more suited for a pure sweeping set.

I'd slash in Focus Sash as the item, since Grass/Electric attacks on leads are actually quite common, and Kabutops isn't very bulky.

shrang said:

I'd slash in Focus Sash as the item, since Grass/Electric attacks on leads are actually quite common, and Kabutops isn't very bulky.

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This set is different from the Lead set on-site; it's not actually meant to be played as a lead at all.

Used this before, nice set Eo:

-spiritomb as a partner makes an excellent addition. if you feel inclined to spin to your fullest, cb tomb or leftovers tomb with pursuit + sneak places many ghosts in a checkmate scenario. i've pretty much used this set and was guaranteed a free spin the first time. the second time around, you'll need to predict. if it does arise, you can go to tomb to place the ghost in a ohko scenario. with them gone, kabutops can seriously spin on anything as you explained thanks to its high speed. type wise, kabutops draws in fighting-type moves, allowing tomb to soak up attacks directed at it.

-waterfall a slash perhaps over swords dance? i've used this set with 4 attacks -- waterfall over swords dance. its interesting though i guess i've never looked to use sd. waterfall has its use when you need to nail rhyperior and steelix. also lets you hit stuff that resist se for neutral damage. not really a big deal since stone edge will 2hko most tomb anyways even without a boost (most run specially defensive).

Been trolled by this set before, SD Rapid Spin = BL. No but seriously I think Waterfall deserves a slot over SD or Aqua Jet or even Stone Edge, kabutops isn't doing much sweeping with fail edge as the primary STAB. Besides that this should be koffing-worthy.

Waterfall > Swords Dance seems to be the most viable slash to me. Stone Edge is too invaluable (even with the crap accuracy), and Aqua Jet is nice for Houndoom, Blaziken, etc. I'll test it out a bit and make the changes accordingly then.

Slashed Waterfall with Swords Dance.

Two stamps; moving to UU.

Set written; looking for G/P checks.

Grammar-Prose Check 1/2:
orange for prose edits
blue for spelling/grammar edits
comments in green

[SET]
name: Offensive Spinner
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Aqua Jet
move 4: Swords Dance / Waterfall
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>The same attributes that make Kabutops a successful sweeper—namely, a stellar base 115 Attack and excellent attacking STAB—also make him a great Rapid Spinner. One of the difficulties entailed in Rapid Spinning is eliminating the Ghost-types that switch in to block Rapid Spin, and while most other UU spinners are walled by common spinblockers, Kabutops can hit every Ghost in the UU tier for solid, neutral damage with his STAB Stone Edge. Offensive Ghost-types such as Rotom and Mismagius are KOed by a combination of Stone Edge and Aqua Jet, and even the most defensive Spiritomb is 2HKOed by a +2 Stone Edge. In most cases, an opponent will have to risk losing a Pokemon to Kabutops in order to successfully preserve his entry hazards.</p>

<p>Stone Edge is Kabutops's strongest STAB option, and is therefore absolutely necessary on this set. Aqua Jet provides excellent additional coverage and is invaluable as a priority move. In addition to finishing off weakened Mismagius and Rotom, Aqua Jet protects Kabutops from Dugtrio and allows Kabutops to pick off weakened or frail Pokemon, such as Houndoom. Swords Dance enables Kabutops to beat Dusclops and Spiritomb, who will otherwise drain all of Stone Edge's PP with Pressure. It also lets Kabutops threaten a sweep and prevents other defensive Pokemon, such as Milotic, from walling him. Waterfall is not as useful without rain support, but it is an option over Swords Dance to hit the likes of [you've got a tendency to overuse "such as," changed it for variety's sake] Rhyperior, Steelix, and Donphan.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Attack is maximized so that Kabutops hits Ghost switch-ins as hard as possible, making spinning easier. With a Jolly nature and 252 Speed EVs, Kabutops ties with other +Speed nature base 80s, including Venusaur, Blaziken, and Mesprit, which can be important when trying to sustain a sweep. If one does not wish to risk a tie with these Pokemon, there are a few lower benchmarks that can be aimed for instead. With a Jolly nature and a spread of 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe, Kabutops outrun max Speed, +Speed nature base 70s, such as Cloyster and Ludicolo. With an Adamant nature and a spread of 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe, Kabutops outpaces base 95s who lack Speed investment, such as Uxie. It is possible to go lower than this, although it is not advisable. Kabutops should be able to definitively outrun most Milotic, allowing him to perform a last-ditch Rapid Spin if the need arises [slight tendency to overuse the connecting phrase ", so that"].</p>

<p>While it may be hard to switch in on Kabutops, it is considerably more difficult to switch Kabutops in (as opposed to other Rapid Spinners). It is easiest to get Kabutops in after a KO or on a double switch, especially on a Pokemon such as Swellow, whom Kabutops can easily threaten and force out. Outside of that, offensively weak Pokemon, such as Chansey, Clefable, and Miltank, as well as Fire- and Ice-types that lack super effective coverage moves, like Arcanine (without Hidden Power Grass) and Articuno, are Kabutops's best opportunities to switch in.</p>

<p>Kabutops is an excellent partner to any Pokemon in dire need of spin support. Moltres is a notable example, capable of luring in Chansey, who gives Kabutops a free switch, and forcing out many of the Pokemon who give Kabutops trouble, including Registeel, Donphan, Hitmontop, and Venusaur. Scyther also makes a good partner, dealing with Venusaur and Hitmontop, as well as luring in Arcanine. Scyther can also be paired with Dugtrio in order to immediately get rid of Registeel—who walls both Kabutops and Scyther—by U-Turning to Dugtrio on the switch to Registeel. Dugtrio also traps and KOes Toxicroak, another Pokemon Kabutops struggles against.</p>

<p>While Kabutops can successfully handle all of UU's spinblockers by himself, he requires accurate prediction in order to do so, not to mention relying on Stone Edge's shaky accuracy. In order to ease prediction (or cushion the blow of a Stone Edge miss), Pursuit Spiritomb can be used alongside Kabutops to trap and KO (or severely damage) most Ghost-types. Spiritomb also handles most Fighting-types, who are quite keen to switch in on Kabutops, especially if he lacks Swords Dance.</p>

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Very well-written analysis. Only a couple of things: you have a tendency to overuse "such as" and the connecting phrase "so that," so I replaced some mentions of the said words. When using dashes to indicate a statement somewhat separate from the subject of the sentence, make sure you use dashes (—) and not hyphens (-). Other than that, there were barely any errors. Nice job!

I've never used this set, but I've seen it used really well

pink is grammar edits
blue is prose edits

[SET]
name: Offensive Spinner
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Aqua Jet
move 4: Swords Dance / Waterfall
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>The same attributes that make Kabutops a successful sweeper—namely, a stellar base 115 Attack and excellent attacking STAB—also make him a great Rapid Spinner. One of the difficulties entailed in Rapid Spinning is eliminating the Ghost-types who switch in to block Rapid Spin, and while most other UU spinners are walled by common spinblockers, Kabutops can hit every Ghost in the UU tier for solid, neutral damage with his STAB Stone Edge. Offensive Ghost-types such as Rotom and Mismagius are KOed by a combination of Stone Edge and Aqua Jet, and even the most defensive Spiritomb is 2HKOed by a +2 Stone Edge. In most cases, an opponent will have to risk losing a Pokemon to Kabutops in order to successfully preserve his or her entry hazards.</p>

<p>Stone Edge is Kabutops's strongest STAB option and is therefore absolutely necessary on this set. Aqua Jet provides excellent additional coverage and is invaluable as a priority move. In addition to finishing off weakened Mismagius and Rotom, Aqua Jet protects Kabutops from Dugtrio and allows Kabutops to pick off weakened or frail Pokemon such as Houndoom. Swords Dance enables Kabutops to beat Dusclops and Spiritomb, who will otherwise drain all of Stone Edge's PP with Pressure. It also lets Kabutops threaten a sweep and prevents other defensive Pokemon such as Milotic from walling him. Waterfall is not as useful without rain support, but it is an option over Swords Dance to hit the likes of Rhyperior, Steelix, and Donphan.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Attack is maximized so that Kabutops hits Ghost switch-ins as hard as possible, allowing him to spin after they are KOed. With a Jolly nature and 252 Speed EVs, Kabutops ties with other +Speed nature base 80s, including Venusaur, Blaziken, and Mesprit, which can be important when trying to sustain a sweep. If one does not wish to risk a tie with these Pokemon, there are a few lower benchmarks that can be aimed for instead. With a Jolly nature and a spread of 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe, Kabutops outruns max Speed, +Speed nature base 70s, such as Cloyster and Ludicolo. With an Adamant nature and a spread of 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe, Kabutops outpaces base 95s who lack Speed investment, such as Uxie. It is possible to go lower than this, although it is not advisable. Kabutops should be able to definitively outrun most Milotic, allowing him to perform a last-ditch Rapid Spin before being KOed should the need arise.</p>

<p>While it may be hard to switch in on Kabutops, it is considerably more difficult to switch him in in contrast to other Rapid Spinners. It is easiest to get Kabutops in after a KO or on a double switch, especially on a Pokemon such as Swellow whom Kabutops can easily threaten and force out. Outside of that, offensively weak Pokemon, including Chansey, Clefable, and Miltank, as well as Fire- and Ice-types who lack super effective coverage moves, such as Arcanine (without Hidden Power Grass) and Articuno, are Kabutops's best opportunities to switch in.</p>

<p>Kabutops is an excellent partner to any Pokemon in dire need of Rapid Spin support. Moltres is a notable example, capable of luring in Chansey, who gives Kabutops a free switch, and forcing out many of the Pokemon who give Kabutops trouble, including Registeel, Donphan, Hitmontop, and Venusaur. Scyther also makes a good partner, capable of dealing with Venusaur and Hitmontop as well as luring in Arcanine. Scyther can also be paired with Dugtrio in order to immediately get rid of Registeel - who walls both Kabutops and Scyther - by U-turning to Dugtrio on the switch to Registeel. Dugtrio also traps and KOes Toxicroak, another Pokemon Kabutops struggles against.</p>

<p>While Kabutops can handle all of UU's spinblockers by himself, doing so requires accurate prediction, not to mention relying on Stone Edge's shaky accuracy. In order to ease prediction (or cushion the blow of a Stone Edge miss), Pursuit Spiritomb can be used alongside Kabutops to trap and KO (or severely damage) most Ghost-types. Spiritomb also handles most Fighting-types who are prone to switching in on Kabutops, especially if he has yet to Swords Dance.</p>

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Great analysis. Just a few things:

-a couple of who > that things, but thats really minor anyway
-when writing "U-turn", the "t" is lowercase; the same stands in the verb "U-turning"
-you tend to use lots of commas, so I removed a few that werent completely neccessary

As DZ said though, great write-up 9.9

[SET]
name: Offensive Spinner
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Aqua Jet
move 4: Swords Dance / Waterfall
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>The same attributes that make Kabutops a successful sweeper—namely, a stellar base 115 Attack and excellent attacking STAB—also make him a great Rapid Spinner. One of the difficulties entailed in Rapid Spinning is eliminating the Ghost-types who switch in to block Rapid Spin, and while most other UU spinners are walled by common spinblockers, Kabutops can hit every Ghost in the UU tier for solid, neutral damage with his STAB Stone Edge. Offensive Ghost-types such as Rotom and Mismagius are KOed by a combination of Stone Edge and Aqua Jet, and even the most defensive Spiritomb is 2HKOed by a +2 Stone Edge. In most cases, an opponent will have to risk losing a Pokemon to Kabutops in order to successfully preserve his or her entry hazards.</p>

<p>Stone Edge is Kabutops's strongest STAB option and is therefore absolutely necessary on this set. Aqua Jet provides excellent additional coverage and is invaluable as a priority move. In addition to finishing off weakened Mismagius and Rotom, Aqua Jet protects Kabutops from Dugtrio and allows Kabutops to pick off weakened or frail Pokemon such as Houndoom. Swords Dance enables Kabutops to beat Dusclops and Spiritomb, who will otherwise drain all of Stone Edge's PP with Pressure. It also lets Kabutops threaten a sweep and prevents other defensive Pokemon such as Milotic from walling him. Waterfall is not as useful without rain support, but it is an option over Swords Dance to hit the likes of Rhyperior, Steelix, and Donphan.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Attack is maximized so that Kabutops can hit Ghost-type switch-ins as hard as possible, making spinning easier. With a Jolly nature and 252 Speed EVs, Kabutops ties with other +Speed nature base 80s, including Venusaur, Blaziken, and Mesprit, which can be important when trying to sustain a sweep. If one does not wish to risk a tie with these Pokemon, there are a few lower benchmarks that can be aimed for instead. With a Jolly nature and a spread of 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe, Kabutops outruns max Speed, +Speed nature base 70s, such as Cloyster and Ludicolo. With an Adamant nature and a spread of 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe, Kabutops outpaces base 95s who lack Speed investment, such as Uxie. It is possible to go lower than this, although it is not advisable. Kabutops should definitely be able to definitively outrun most Milotic, allowing him to perform a last-ditch Rapid Spin before being KOed should the need arise.</p>

<p>While it may be hard to switch in on Kabutops, it is considerably more difficult to switch him in as opposed to than it is for other Rapid Spinners. It is easiest to get Kabutops in after a KO or on a double switch, especially on a Pokemon such as Swellow whom Kabutops can easily threaten and force out. Outside of that, offensively weak Pokemon, including Chansey, Clefable, and Miltank, as well as Fire- and Ice-types who lack super effective coverage moves, such as Arcanine (without Hidden Power Grass) and Articuno, are Kabutops's best opportunities to switch in.</p>

<p>Kabutops is an excellent partner to any Pokemon in dire need of Rapid Spin support. Moltres is a notable example, capable of luring in Chansey, who gives Kabutops a free switch, and forcing out many of the Pokemon who give Kabutops trouble, including Registeel, Donphan, Hitmontop, and Venusaur. Scyther also makes a good partner, as he can deal with Venusaur and Hitmontop as well as luring in Arcanine. Scyther can also be paired with Dugtrio in order to immediately get rid of Registeel - who walls both Kabutops and Scyther - by U-turning to Dugtrio on the switch to as Registeel switches in. Dugtrio also traps and KOes Toxicroak, another Pokemon Kabutops struggles against.</p>

<p>While Kabutops can handle all of UU's spinblockers by himself, doing so requires accurate prediction, not to mention relying on Stone Edge's shaky accuracy. In order to ease prediction (or cushion the blow of a Stone Edge miss), Pursuit Spiritomb can be used alongside Kabutops to trap and KO (or severely damage) most Ghost-types. Spiritomb also handles most Fighting-types, who are prone to switching likely to switch in on Kabutops, especially if he has yet to Swords Dance.</p>

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Nice writup. Changes are in bold and removals in red.

GP Check 2/2

Some suggestions ...

<p>While it is hard to switch into Kabutops, he is also harder to switch in compared to other Rapid Spinners. It is easiest to get Kabutops in after a KO or on a double switch, especially on a Pokemon such as Swellow whom Kabutops can easily threaten and force out. Outside of that, defensive / support Pokemon, including Chansey, Clefable, and Miltank, as well as Fire- and Ice-types who lack super effective coverage moves, such as Arcanine (without Hidden Power Grass) and Articuno, are Kabutops's best opportunities to switch in.</p>

<p>Kabutops is an excellent partner to any Pokemon which require Rapid Spin support. Moltres is a notable example, capable of luring in Chansey (who gives Kabutops a free switch) as well as forcing out many of the Pokemon that give Kabutops trouble, including Registeel, Donphan, Hitmontop, (delete comma) and Venusaur. Scyther also makes a good partner, as he can deal with Venusaur and Hitmontop as well as lure in Arcanine. Scyther can also be paired with Dugtrio in order to immediately get rid of Registeel—who walls both Kabutops and Scyther—by U-turning to Dugtrio as Registeel switches in. Dugtrio also traps and KOes Toxicroak, another Pokemon Kabutops struggles against.</p>

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Great writeup :)

Uploaded.