Windsong
stumbling down elysian fields
[Overview]
<p>Skuntank is one of the most overlooked Pokemon in the RU tier. It possesses decent offenses, wielding base stats of 93 Attack and 71 Special Attack. It has access to a number of useful moves, such as Pursuit, Explosion, Fire Blast, and Taunt. Unlike many of the other Dark-types in the tier, it is only hit neutrally by Fighting-type moves, allowing it to trap nearly all of the common spinblockers in RU. Finally, Skuntank's typing allows it to absorb Toxic Spikes. However, all of these boons aren't quite enough to outweigh Skuntank's shortcomings. Being a significantly weaker attacker than many of the other Dark-types in RU significantly hurts Skuntank, as it's usually incapable of destroying as many teams as Pokemon such as Honchkrow and Krookodile can. In addition, Drapion has the same resistances, along with an arguably better movepool and stats. Explosion's nerf this generation also was damaging to Skuntank, as one of its key moves was left almost unusable. However, despite these shortcomings, Skuntank is still quite an effective Pokemon, capable of handling a variety of common threats.</p>
[SET]
name: Trapper
move 1: Pursuit
move 2: Taunt
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Crunch / Poison Jab
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Aftermath / Stench
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With Pursuit and Taunt at its disposal, Skuntank is capable of beating nearly all of the Psychic- and Ghost-types in RU, which paves the way for a number of dangerous sweepers, and also allows most Rapid Spin users to spin freely. Pursuit is the crux of the set, as it prevents Pokemon such as Rotom and Dusknoir from freely switching out of Skuntank. Taunt works very well in conjunction with Pursuit, as it prevents Pokemon from hitting Skuntank with Will-O-Wisp, which would effectively kill Skuntank's usefulness. Sucker Punch is the best option available for Skuntank's third moveslot, as in addition to being one of the few moves that separates it from Drapion, it is incredibly useful in letting Skuntank beat some faster threats, such as Gardevoir and Rotom. Finally, either Crunch or Poison Jab can fit into Skuntank's fourth moveslot, both being useful for an outright STAB attack when Pursuit and Sucker Punch aren't effective.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Max Attack with a positive nature allows Skuntank to hit hard as possible, while max Speed lets it outpace neutral base 80s. Explosion is an option in Skuntank's last moveslot, but due to its mechanics this generation, it's not very useful. Flamethrower and Fire Blast are viable options, as they let Skuntank beat down the many Steel-types that can wall it. However, since this set's main job is to eliminate Ghost- and Psychic-types, it should be paired with Fighting-types easily capable of breaking through Steel-types, so using a Fire-type attack is usually unnecessary. Finally, both Aftermath and Stench are usable with this set. Aftermath is the slightly more reliable option, damaging anything that KOs Skuntank with a contact move, while the occasional flinch that Stench provides can get Skuntank out of some scrapes.</p>
<p>Skuntank pairs very well with Pokemon that enjoy having bulky Ghost- and Psychic-types removed. This means that most offensive Fighting-types make good partners for Skuntank, thanks to their ability to fire off high-powered STAB Fighting-type moves without fear of being walled by one of the many Ghost-types of RU. In addition, many Rapid Spin users, such as Claydol and Sandslash, also make good partners for Skuntank, as they gain the ability to spin freely with the removal of Ghost-types. Some other good partners are Pokemon that are hit hard by entry hazards, such as Moltres and Articuno, since spinners are able to remove entry hazards without fear of being blocked. Finally, Flying-types and Pokemon with Levitate make good partners for Skuntank, as they are immune to Ground-type attacks.</p>
[SET]
name: Wallbreaker
move 1: Sucker Punch
move 2: Taunt
move 3: Poison Jab / Pursuit
move 4: Fire Blast
item: Life Orb
ability: Aftermath / Stench
nature: Naughty
evs: 252 Atk / 104 SpA / 152 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Due to its useful offensive typing, along with its unique stat distribution and movepool, Skuntank can effectively use a moveset capable of breaking down stall teams and a number of common walls. Fire Blast is the most important move on this set, letting Skuntank break through a number of Pokemon that would otherwise wall it, such as Steelix, Ferroseed, and Tangrowth. Fire Blast is also one of the advantages that Skuntank has over Drapion, who can use a similar set but lacks the ability to easily break through bulky physical walls. Taunt protects Skuntank from Will-O-Wisp while also preventing the opponent from setting up against Skuntank easily. Sucker Punch lets Skuntank hit Pokemon that outspeed it, and is useful in conjunction with Taunt. Finally, either Poison Jab or Pursuit can be used in Skuntank's last moveslot. Poison Jab gives Skuntank decent neutral coverage and is more reliable than Sucker Punch, whereas Pursuit allows Skuntank to do more damage to stall cores by hitting fleeing Pokemon.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Max Attack allows Skuntank to tear through Pokemon such as Slowking, Rotom, and Cryogonal with Sucker Punch and Pursuit, while 104 Special Attack EVs let Skuntank easily 2HKO Steelix, Ferroseed, and offensive Aggron. 152 Speed EVs are necessary in order for Skuntank to outspeed neutral-natured max Speed Honchkrow. Both Aftermath and Stench are viable abilities for Skuntank; Aftermath damages the opponent significantly if Skuntank is KOed by a contact move, whereas Stench gives all of Skuntank's offensive moves a 10% flinch chance, which can be extremely helpful in getting Skuntank out of some sticky situations. Skuntank also has a few other useful moves that can be used on this set. Explosion lets it deal the finishing blow on a number of walls that aren't hit hard enough by Sucker Punch, Poison Jab, or Pursuit, but is generally an inferior option due to its power drop compared to previous generations. Crunch is another useable move for this set, but is somewhat redundant with Sucker Punch.</p>
<p>In terms of partners, anything that provides entry hazard support can pair nicely with Skuntank, who forces a fair amount of switches. Excellent options for setting up Stealth Rock include Uxie, Mesprit, and Claydol, while decent choices for Spikes and Toxic Spikes support include Omastar, Smeargle, and Crustle, all of whom pair nicely with Skuntank defensively as well. Pokemon that can spin away opposing entry hazards also partner well with Skuntank, due to its ability to trap and break down many common spinblockers. Good choices for spinners are Claydol, Cryogonal, and Sandslash. For offensive partners, any Pokemon that has trouble breaking through full stall teams can be helpful, as Skuntank can easily weaken most stall cores. Offensive Fighting-types pair well with Skuntank too, since they have trouble breaking through the Ghost- and Psychic-types that Skuntank can easily defeat.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Although it has a relatively sparse movepool, Skuntank has a few other options available to it. Hidden Power Ground or Hidden Power Fighting can be a more reliable alternative over Fire Blast in terms of accuracy, but although they give more power against Aggron, the loss of power against other threats makes them less viable. Screech can be combined with Pursuit to force and take advantages of switches, but is hard to pull off effectively and is a gimmicky strategy at best. Thanks to Skuntank's decent physical movepool, Choice Band sets are somewhat viable, although Drapion can pull those off much more effectively. Skuntank also has access to Night Slash, but it is usually inferior to Crunch. Punishment hits stat boosters hard, but isn't very useful in most situations. Return is the final competitive option in Skuntank's movepool, but doesn't provide Skuntank with any helpful additional coverage.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p> Bulky Steel-types are capable of countering Skuntank easily, as they resist every move it commonly carries, barring Fire Blast. Bulky Rock-types, such as Rhydon, are in a similar vein, even though they do not resist Dark-type attacks, as Skuntank can't really hurt them much. Many strong offensive Ground-types can do a lot of damage to Skuntank, due to their ability to hit it for super effective damage with Earthquake while avoiding Aftermath, as Earthquake is not a contact move. Krookodile and Drapion are especially effective counters, as they resist almost all the attacks Skuntank commonly carries, and can hit it hard with Earthquake. Most Ghost-types are capable of luring in Skuntank and hitting it with Will-O-Wisp on the switch-in, although they're not outright reliable counters. Pokemon such as Poliwrath, Gligar, Qwilfish, and Alomomola, however, can outright wall Skuntank with ease.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Skuntank receives Keen Eye via the Dream World, but it's inferior to both Aftermath and Stench, and is situational at best.</p>