Surskit [QC 2/ω]

[ryan]

Overview
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• Has always been a GARBAGE mon, but STICKY WEB makes it usable/even viable now!
• Still pretty weak even w/ Hydro Pump for Water STAB
• Can threaten Gligar, the most common user of Defog
• Has no bulk so if the opponent has a Defog user/spinner, you're kind of forced to keep it around until that mon has died
• There are tons of Flying-types/Levitate mons, so Sticky Web in general isn't always the best

SET NAME
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name: Sticky Web
move 1: Sticky Web
move 2: Hydro Pump
move 3: Signal Beam
move 4: Baton Pass / Ice Beam
ability: Swift Swim
item: Focus Sash
evs: 36 HP / 20 Def / 196 SpA / 20 SpD / 236 Spe
nature: Timid

Moves
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• Sticky Web is kind of the whole reason to use it
• Hydro Pump for strong STAB
• Signal Beam for weak STAB but it doesn't get Bug Buzz soooo
• Baton Pass is totally just filler, but cool for scouting I guess
• Ice Beam is also totally just filler but gives you a guaranteed hit against Gligar and other Flying-types w/o having to risk missing Hydro!
• The last slot is really flexible and will rarely see much usage, so put whatever you want there

Set Details
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• EVs are the epitome of efficiency
• Timid because Speed is the most important factor of the set
• Sash because it's not very strong or bulky, so getting nearly guaranteed Sticky Web is really, really nice

Usage Tips
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• Unless you have a dedicated counter to Pawniard, if the opponent is using Pawniard, do not set Sticky Web until it dies because Defiant will give it a +2 Atk boost and it will destroy you
• Similarly, if the opponent has a Defog user or spinner that can easily come in and get rid of Sticky Web, it's best to hang onto Surskit until later
• And of course, if you look at Team Preview and see that Sticky Web won't be very important in the match, feel free to hang onto Surskit as a way of revenge killing stuff thanks to Sash!

Team Options
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• Moderately slow but super strong stuff makes for the best kind of Surskit partner; Life Orb Bunnelby, Life Orb Meditite, Life Orb Mienfoo, Swords Dance Pawniard, etc. are all great Pokemon for this role
• Because Defiant Pawniard shits all over Sticky Web teams, bulky Fighting-types are also nice to use alongside Surskit, especially Timburr and Croagunk who have STAB Fighting priority
• Misdreavus is a solid spinblocker to keep the opponent from spinning away your Web
• Pawniard can also take advantage of Defog from Vullaby (and Gligar if you're willing to risk it!) by getting a +2 Atk boost thanks to Defiant
• Smash Dwebble can set up all over Surskit and then kill it, so Eviolite Mienfoo and Gligar are really nice to help deal with it

Other Options
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• Offensive Swift Swim set, but it's outclassed by, oh, pretty much every other Pokemon that has Swift Swim lol
• Giga Drain, Scald, Icy Wind, Struggle Bug for alternate STABs/coverage moves
• Can set up Rain Dance as well for a rain team, but rain + Sticky Web is kind of overkill @_@
• Protect can be used as filler to keep Fake Out users from breaking Sash
• Haze can be another filler, but most boosters just kill it before it can pull it off anyways

Checks & Counters
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• Checking/countering Surskit really isn't about walling it, but either preventing it from setting up Sticky Web/getting rid of its Sticky Web
• Meowth can prevent it from setting up Sticky Web with Fake Out + any attack and outspeeds it
• Vullaby and Tentacool can get rid of Sticky Web without really fearing much from Surskit
• Pawniard can take advantage of Sticky Web in order to get +2 Atk w/ Defiant and can even set up a Swords Dance against Surskit
• Lead Smash Dwebble can set up against Surskit and either tank a Hydro and get back to full w/ BJ or not care about web being set up and keep bj + sturdy intact and KO through sash w/ Rock Blast
• Inkay gets a +1 Speed boost upon switching into Sticky Web
• A lot of top threats just don't generally care about/are immune Sticky Web, including Yanma, Murkrow, Tangela, and Gligar

 

[Electrolyte]

I think you should slash Ice Beam with Signal Beam, and then slash Rain Dance before Baton Pass.

The reason for the former is because Water / Ice is much better coverage than Water / Bug. Signal Beam literally hits only Tangela (which we're not support to talk about), Ferroseed, Abra, and Water-types harder than Hydro / Ice Beam (Bug hits Dark / Psychic / Water / Grass; no Dark-types are weak to Bug; Grass-types are few and hit by Ice Beam anyway; Psychic-types are few and hit by Hydro; Water-types can't do anything to ya) Ice Beam nails the fuck out of Murkrow and Flying-types but not really much that makes it that much better than Signal Beam, so slash them together.


As for the latter, Rain Dance Hydros smack shit like crazy. It's supposed to act as a suicide lead that sets web and rain and blasts the living hell out of everything with stab boosted, rain boosted Hydro Pump. wahoo.



Other than that, everything looks good. Might want to explain dry passing a bit more but idk that's up to you. Nice job with this

 

[ryan]

We are supposed to talk about Tangela.

Also STAB Hydro Pump hits almost as hard as Ice Beam, so even when I ran Ice Beam, I pretty much never used it except against dumb Gligar leads. I'd rather be able to hit Tangela and Slowpoke (especially because both of them tend to wall the shit out of common Pokemon on Sticky Web teams), than have Ice Beam. Plus, confuse hax is clutch.

I don't really want to add Rain Dance either because let's be honest, there is going to be like 1 time out of every 500 games when you'll have the chance to set up Sticky Web, set up Rain Dance, and be able to deal actual damage with Hydro Pump. To put into perspective how laughably weak even rain-boosted Hydro Pump is:

196 SpA Surskit Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Meditite in Rain: 15-18 (78.9 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I'd rather just Sticky Web then either die or dry pass.

Obviously I can make these changes if QC wants me to. I just don't really think they are superior to what's already there.

 

[Raseri]

one move that should be mentioned as well is Protect. Protect allows you to set up on Fake Out leads, like Meditite, Mienfoo, and Meowth. Without taking extra damage.

The last slot for Surskit is really flexible, so I would make it really clear that you can put whatever your team needs most there. Protect / Toxic / Baton Pass / Rain Dance / Ice Beam are all valid in some way or another.

 

[Goddess Briyella]

I'd mention in the Checks & Counters how Lead Dwebble with Shell Smash + Berry Juice + Sturdy can totally screw this set by setting up as Surskit puts down Sticky Web. After that, Sash can be broken easily by Rock Blast from Dwebble and then it can proceed to sweep early-game without having to suffer Sticky Web's Speed drop. You might mention Gligar or Eviolite Mienfoo as ideal teammates to deal with this problem.

Apart from that, QC 1/3

 

[Ray Jay]

I agree with Bri! QC 2/3!

 

[ryan]

thx bbies

 

[macle]

3/3

 

[Goddess Briyella]

This analysis is outdated, and TCR has been given permission by myself and Treecko to revamp the analysis, so I'll be locking this one.