Spinda

[tubbablubba]

The best spinda I played was an entire team strategy.
Spinda was the lead and was presumably scarfed and had assist. It proceeded to only use moves like v-create and draco meteor. Powerful moves that would normally drop stats used to increase said stats instead. It used v-create turn 1 and draco meteor turn 2 and got to +2 special attack +1 speed +1 def +1 sp. def in two turns while using a base 180 and base 150 attack.

I was impressed and now I'm curious as to what would the ideal whole team spinda assist perversity abuse team look like?

 

[NDenizen]

The best spinda I played was an entire team strategy.
Spinda was the lead and was presumably scarfed and had assist. It proceeded to only use moves like v-create and draco meteor. Powerful moves that would normally drop stats used to increase said stats instead. It used v-create turn 1 and draco meteor turn 2 and got to +2 special attack +1 speed +1 def +1 sp. def in two turns while using a base 180 and base 150 attack.

I was impressed and now I'm curious as to what would the ideal whole team spinda assist perversity abuse team look like?

This is basically the known Spinda gimmick set, though the usual assists can change. I've seen Superpower used too, in case Heatran switches in to V-Create.

It's worth mentioning that, according to Bulbapedia, these moves are not called by assist: Circle Throw, Copycat, Counter, Covet, Destiny Bond, Detect, Dragon Tail, Endure, Feint, Focus Punch, Follow Me, Me First, Metronome, Mimic, Mirror Coat, Mirror Move, Protect, Sleep Talk, Snatch, Switcheroo, Thief, or Trick (Also providing you're fast enough, Whirlwind and Roar are essentially free turns)

So you could still run a ton of strategies alongside the typical Spinda lead, such as bulky phazing, Tricking, Roarolu, and even Wobbuffet can be used (admittedly without Encore, but still). Copycat as a move would work very well against leads that lay hazards. Besides that, you have typical Choice sets to make the most of Draco Meteors and the like. Most people just lead with Spinda and quit when it's going badly, but from what I can see, a better use is to wear down your opponent and bring Spinda out at some point during the battle.

V-Create, Superpower and Draco Meteor make the best combination, covering all stats and being a good offensive combination generally. Leaf Storm, Overheat, Close Combat, Draco Meteor, Psycho Boost also are good to use.

I think Victini, Infernape, Hitmontop, Salamence, Dragonite, Hydreigon, Scizor, Riolu and Wobuffet make good candidates for Assist teams.

 

[Spork]

Sweep like a bro
Careful @ Leftovers
252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Superpower
Return
Sucker Punch
Rest

 

[Vemane]

With a small amount of support, spinda works wonders on a v-create assist team (ninetails, liepard (PRIORITY BANDED V-CREATE!!!), Infernape, Spinda, Victini, Weavile)

Every assist=+1 speed, def, spdef

Soon you are incredibly bulky with a 180bp move in the sun

Paired with toxic/yawn it is nearly unstopabble after set up.

 

[Showsni]

With a small amount of support, spinda works wonders on a v-create assist team (ninetails, liepard (PRIORITY BANDED V-CREATE!!!), Infernape, Spinda, Victini, Weavile)

Every assist=+1 speed, def, spdef

Soon you are incredibly bulky with a 180bp move in the sun

Paired with toxic/yawn it is nearly unstopabble after set up.

I use Purrloin too. Though, using Yawn/Toxic seems a bad idea - you'll just end up assisting it at the wrong time. If Infernape is standing around yawning at things they're just going to kill him. The problem is you're hard countered by any flash fire user. (Well, not necessarily entirely hard countered - you can still use moves like Counter/Mirror Coat/Copycat/Mimic/Metronome to try and take them down - but it's tough work.)

 

[waterwarrior]

The problem is you're hard countered by any flash fire user. (Well, not necessarily entirely hard countered - you can still use moves like Counter/Mirror Coat/Copycat/Mimic/Metronome to try and take them down - but it's tough work.)

Chandelure yes, Heatran no. You can't forget that it got Superpower as well, and if you're getting boosts from V-Create and Superpower, Tran shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Machi]

Chandelure yes, Heatran no. You can't forget that it got Superpower as well, and if you're getting boosts from V-Create and Superpower, Tran shouldn't be a problem.

He can't have both assist and superpower with the ability contrary in one set as its illegal - Superpower is a DW move exclusive while assist is an egg move.

 

[Cheapoman]

He can't have both assist and superpower with the ability contrary in one set as its illegal - Superpower is a DW move exclusive while assist is an egg move.

Just wait down the road till tutors pop up (hopefully...). Having Superpower and assist though does sound a bit too good.

I really want a DW Spinda w/ superpower but the luck gods have not been kind to me. >.<

 

[Fawfulmk-II]

Out of curiosity, would this guy work well in TR teams with negative speed Contrary and Superpower?

if so this might mean Spinda isn't one of the 5 worst pokemon anymore.

 

[NDenizen]

He can't have both assist and superpower with the ability contrary in one set as its illegal - Superpower is a DW move exclusive while assist is an egg move.

The whole point is you're calling it from another pokemon. Obviously this means you become reliant on luck somewhat, but it's there as an option alongside Close Combat that allows you to deal another good offensive type of damage which boosts you. Superpower is there with the assumption that you'll be boosted enough by V-Create that you can afford the turns to wait for it to come along.

 

[Lesser Smaug]

You do realize that you could use Spork's set, but with a few modifications in EVs? I did both sets in C&C style to be easier to read. And yes, I hate putting down the facetious comments.

[SET]

Facetious set

name: Superunderpowered Superpower
move 1: Return / Double-Edge
move 2: Superpower / Superpower
move 3: Sucker Punch / Wild Charge
move 4: Rest / Hypnosis
item: Life Orb
ability: Contrary
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Serious set

name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Double-Edge
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Sucker Punch / Wild Charge
move 4: Rest / Hypnosis
item: Life Orb
ability: Contrary
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[Set Comments]

Facetious comments

• Spam Supperpower while the foe stalls out your pathetic damage output in 8 turns, and by the time a Rock or Steel comes in Spinda gets screwed even more because you ran out of Supperpower PP and now you have to switch out, which permanently removes Spinda's boosts and makes him shit for the rest of the match
• You could replace Superpower with Superpower because you have no choice anyway
• Double-Edge is recommended because Spinda dies anyway and it does 117% as much as Supperpower Return
• Sucker Punch is there for priority so you can punch the hell out of Kadabra whom carry Focus Sash and are at 100% and will kill you anyway
• ...oh wait, the foe used Mach Punch on your "muscular" +6 Defense and Sucker Punch failed
• But who uses Sucker Punch on a Mach Punch user anyway
• Wild Charge is for Empoleon who laugh hard at Spinda, so Wild Charge boosts Spinda's non-existent morale
• Rest merits mention on the set to heal Spinda of toxic, burn, paralysis and HP in return for not doing shit in three turns and dying in peace anyway
• Additionally use Hypnosis and get screwed by a miss because Spinda sucks so hard the hax gods hate him
• If Hypnosis hits, switch out and use your 99 trillion times superior set-up sweepers so Spinda actually does something
• This thing makes a fabulous switch-in to any attack in NU, which do well over 262 HP in damage anyway

Serious comments

• Great new gifts in Superpower and Contrary to abuse Attack boosts
• While the foe laughs, Superpower the stuffing out of them and sweep
• Double-Edge because Spinda is frail anyway
• Sucker Punch if you are slow, or Wild Charge to shock Water-types to death
• Rest since Spinda takes a lot of damage
• Hypnosis grants you and your teammates free turns

[Additional Comments]

Facetious comments

• Your teammates better be awesome because the panda isn't gonna do shit
• Preferably teammates made of muscles instead of paper
• A good teammate is Spinda because they can die to any attack in the universe, even Shuckle's Rollout kills Spinda
• Choose a personality value to customize your spot location, nothing changes except Spinda looks more terrible because that personality value dictates that Spinda's spot is right on its left eye (which isn't even an eye)

Serious comments

• Wish users
• Choice Band / Specs users to punch big holes for Spinda to sweep
• Entry hazard handling and support
• Spinda requires a lot of support but I won't bother jotting it down here

 

[NoUserName]

Double Edge does the same damage as Wild Bolt to all x2 Waters, except Empoleon, Kabutops, Omastar... already covered with Superpower.

 

[Showsni]

Heh, it's things like this that make me love Spinda:

http://pokemon.aesoft.org/replay-Cats-Paw-vs-AznNinja--2011-12-15

That's my "mono attack" team. Being hard walled by Heatran, Arcanine and Ponyta is a small price to pay for winning with only one attack! (Though I do actually use more than just the one.) I could probably make it better by throwing on Close Combat/Superpower/Hammer Arm/something, but eh.

My opponent there, facing a Spinda at +6 Def/Sp Def/Speed and +4 soon to be +6 Sp Att using Draco Meteor every turn, decided to retire gracefully.

 

[Nix_Hex]

That's pretty ballsy man. I was only half paying attention when I saw Infernape using V-create and thought "okay I'm not interested in hack mons"... then I realized you were using Assist, and remembered that PO could not do hack mons to save its life. You got fairly lucky on that Draco Meteor miss, though I don't know how much it would have actually done anyways. I only saw Assist / Copycat / Protect, so couldn't Superpower have been the 4th slot? That would have eliminated some risk against Hydreigon instead of a 90% accurate Draco Meteor, but I'm glad you survived. A+

 

[Showsni]

That's pretty ballsy man. I was only half paying attention when I saw Infernape using V-create and thought "okay I'm not interested in hack mons"... then I realized you were using Assist, and remembered that PO could not do hack mons to save its life. You got fairly lucky on that Draco Meteor miss, though I don't know how much it would have actually done anyways. I only saw Assist / Copycat / Protect, so couldn't Superpower have been the 4th slot? That would have eliminated some risk against Hydreigon instead of a 90% accurate Draco Meteor, but I'm glad you survived. A+

Unfortunately Superpower and Assist are incompatible together, so you're limited to just one. You could of course use other moves like Superpower on different Pokémon to add them to Assist's movepool, but the sheer power of V-Create in the sun is often better than taking a gamble on using the lower powered fighting moves.

The real stars of the team are Purrloin and Liepard - Pranskter Assist means +1 Priority Choice Band V-Creates.

 

[Codraroll]

Just a question, though: How come Assist selects V-create every single time? As far as I'm able to gather from Bulbapedia and the Smogon desk, it will choose a totally random move from somewhere in your team.

Wait... you're not saying that the ONLY move you carry on your entire team, except those who are incompatible with Assist as well as Assist itself, is V-create? That's a risky strategy if I ever saw one. Under the right conditions, you could sweep an entire team composed of various Arceus variants, only to be stopped by Houndoor.

 

[Onicon]

Flash Fire is not the only situation V-Create-Assist struggles; as for Ninetales only having Protect it actually can go wrong when the opponent starts to setup in our face. V-Create need time to initialize so a fast Swords Dancer can ruin the run easily.
Actually, do you think having more stats decreasing moves in the team might hurt? Assist may not target one specific move anymore, but it prevents a full stop by flash fire. Draco Meteor maybe for the near flawless coverage (Heatran) or Superpower?

 

[Nix_Hex]

As he said, Superpower and Assist are illegal together :-/ so unfortunately getting past Flash Fire is a liability. I don't see why running one more attack on some mon would be harmful. Have you considered this situation?

 

[VaporeonIce]

As he said, Superpower and Assist are illegal together :-/ so unfortunately getting past Flash Fire is a liability. I don't see why running one more attack on some mon would be harmful. Have you considered this situation?

The main problem with this is that Spinda really needs those defense boosts (badly), so having a 50/50 chance of NOT boosting Special Defense (because Assist picked Superpower) can be pretty problematic. I'd opt for Close Combat over Superpower for this reason; Spinda will definitely miss the attack boosts, but it can't do much with them if it's dead.

 

[lampeskaerm2]

I have been testing out Spinda in the last couple of days, and I have to say that it really has some potential. Unfortunately, I must say that I can't make that gimmick Assist-V-create-Superpower team work.

Despite of this, I have included Spinda in my brand new Trick Room-team. Here it shines as it CAN take down troublesome mons like Heatran 1 vs 1. Where it really shines, however, is when your Trick Room poke faints, and the opponent's poke only has about 20% left, Spinda can Superpower it and (hopefully) continue sweeping.

I use the following Spinda:

Spinda (F) @ Fist Plate Trait: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd) (0 Speed IV's)

- Superpower
- Frustration
- Trick Room
- Toxic

I know Toxic seems misplaced, but my team has some serious troubles against Jellicent and Quagsire. I have taken down 3-4 mons a couple of times with Spinda (mostly sun teams with no defensive backbone). Here is a replay illustrating this:

http://pokemon.aesoft.org/replay-IonlyusemySPINDA-vs-UntouchableFoxx--02-januar-2012-at-13h09-1

 

[Bruno Magno]

supporters better than it. Blissey>chansey>cresselia>clefable>wigglytuff>xatu>tabunne>musharna>Delibird>spinda. Just saying.

lul

I used Spinda for a lot in Ubers, and Wish + Rapid Spin + Fake Out is damn helpful. I see a for-fun team with V-Create Victini + Draco Meteor Latias, and Assist Contrary Spinda to troll. They should be mentioned as teammates, as Spinda decimated my team lol

EDIT: Should be mentioned that Wish with 60 Base HP sucks too

 

[Vemane]

Stop with the "run more than one move on an assist team" because then it turns from a nice but decent gimmick to simply garbage.

Ideally, you would run...

Tails
Victini
Liepard
Infernape
Weavile/Pinda
Wobuffet (for bitches that v-create can't touch)

spinda, even with v-create support, isn't very good. you get to +6+6 then... what do you do exactly? Banded weavile is a better candidate

 

[TheTraininator]

spinda, even with v-create support, isn't very good. you get to +6+6 then... what do you do exactly? Banded weavile is a better candidate

A. The problem is that Weavile will have to switch out soon, as it can't take any hits with those defense drops, and those speed drops mean that even without priority, (though remember priority OWNS Weavile,) it is easily revenge killed. Spinda, on the other hand, with max HP at +6 Defense and +6 Special Defense, can take all kinds of hits and not have to switch out. That is why Spinda can be used, though Weavile on the same team is perfectly useful.

B. This IS a Spinda thread dude.

 

[TheTraininator]

By the way guys, I haven't seen anyone mention that it gets Sucker Punch and that it is perfectly legal with Superpower, since Sucker Punch is a level up move. Fighting/Dark coverage, right there. Therefore, here is a match on youtube where Spinda actually holds its own weight, (though some of the KOs netted by it were in pinch range and one is probably due to a crit:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn08sdiejjc

Also note it's not really a Spinda "sweep" but whatever, and that due to the pokes this is almost definitely NU, (since Magneton was not banned at the time of the vid.) Still, I think Spinda does have lower tier potential by itself with the set he's running, (definitely NU, maybe RU.) Now if only he gave out the EV Spread!

 

[TheChortler]

You failed to mention Superpower, which is an amazing move on Spinda.