|
-
Sturdy
- OHKO moves will fail.
-
Keen Eye
- Pokémon's Accuracy cannot be lowered. Decreases wild encounter rate.
|
Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
65
|
- |
271 |
334 |
- |
| Atk |
80
|
176 |
196 |
259 |
284 |
| Def |
140
|
284 |
316 |
379 |
416 |
| SpA |
40
|
104 |
116 |
179 |
196 |
| SpD |
70
|
158 |
176 |
239 |
262 |
| Spe |
70
|
158 |
176 |
239 |
262 |
Here we have it, the best defensive wall in the game. No weaknesses, 2 immunities, and a whole shit load of resistances. Add to that a sexy 140 base defense and you've got a real monster. The only reason Magneton is used. It is amazingly easy to get Spikes out with this beast in play, not to mention Whirlwind away a plethora of Pokémon. Send this out against random Choice Banders, Metagross, Snorlax, etc., and Spike the opponent's side. The other half of the Skarmory + Blissey combo, abbreviated as Skarmbliss. Hidden Power Flying / Whirlwind there for the added bonus of screwing over Mr. Mime on Baton Pass teams, primarily (Roar doesn't hit Soundproof Pokémon like Mr. Mime).
A variation, obviously you will use Roar with Drill Peck and Whirlwind with Rest / Hidden Power Flying. Instead of just Spike / Whirlwinding, you Taunt all forms of healing such as Rest and Softboiled while Whirlwinding again or Hidden Power Flying to eventually kill them off. Also stops other Skarmory from Spiking up with you.
This Skarmory set serves pretty much the same purpose as the others—Spike up and take physical hits—however, it has some advantages over the other sets. The primary advantage is that it can help scout Fire Blast Snorlax and see if your opponent has Magneton. Secondly, on NetBattle 9.6, with Substitute up, Rapid Spin fails to eliminate Spikes. This significantly reduces the ability of Pokémon such as Donphan and Forretress to remove one of Skarmory's fundamental uses (Spikes). Drill Peck with Roar, Hidden Power Flying with Whirlwind, just like the others. This doesn't work in-game or on Pokémon Competitor though, because it's a glitch caused by NetBattle.
The primary drawback of this set over the old standard is that it lacks a recovery move. For this reason, it benefits from Wish support more than the other sets, but Aromatherapy isn't as important.
This set benefits a lot from the element of surprise, as a Choice Banded Hidden Power Ground OHKOs Magneton, nearly OHKOs Raikou, and does ~40% to Tyranitar (so Skarmory actually can beat Dragon Dance Tyranitar). Choice Banded Rock Slide does massive damage to Zapdos (it's best to save this surprise until you've done about 20% or so to it, so it can be KOed), and helps a lot against things like Hidden Power Rock or Hydro Pump Gyarados, and Salamence. Choice Banded Drill Peck keeps last Pokémon Curselax from entirely destroying you, too. Spikes are there because Steel Wing is really just for 2HKOing Tyranitar instead of 3HKOing, whereas Spikes can do something even if they have a Milotic or the like who walls your attacks easily.
Other Options
Curse / Air Cutter can be used to beat other stat upping users. For instance, Curse up with Snorlax and then get a critical hit with Air Cutter, killing poor Snorlax. Sad Thief can be used with a Chesto Berry on Resting Skarmory, it's a fun alternative. Torment is generally annoying, and Protect + Torment can stop Electric Pokémon and Fire Blast Snorlax from destroying you. Protect on Thunderbolts, Spike on Hidden Power. Toxic can screw over Claydol / Donphan. Counter is good for catching Aerodactyl Rock Slide, Focus Punches, and when their last Pokémon is a Curser like Snorlax. Hidden Power Fighting lets Skarmory stop Taunting Tyranitar, and fares even better against Snorlax, but then it can't do much to Gyarados, and Heracross will have a field day with you when it finds out what Hidden Power you have. Consider pairing Hidden Power Fighting with Drill Peck, or some other such Flying move to surprise any plucky Heracross that think you can't hurt them.
EVs
Always max HP on Skarmory before dropping a single EV into Defense. Because Skarmory's Defense is already so high, EVs add a very small %. You actually get more physical tanking abilities from 4 HP EVs than from 4 Defense EVs. HP EVs also have the added side-effect of allowing Skarmory to take things like Celebi Psychic easier. Impish is a good nature to give a huge boost to that already huge stat. A little bit of Attack can be useful for Gyarados and such, and Speed can help to beat other Skarmory to the Whirlwind and to be faster than some Metagross (but just a few EVs, generally). Taunting versions typically have around 200 Speed.
Opinion
Skarmory is the best physical wall in the game, no questions asked. It has no physical weaknesses at all—in fact, it is neutral to only two physical types: Fighting and Rock. Skarmory has had a large influence on the metagame: it forces things like Salamence, Flygon and Metagross to pack a move that basically only hits Skarmory hard, and it makes people consider using Magneton (who would be nearly worthless otherwise), use a lot of Fliers / Levitators, use a Rapid Spinner, or make every Pokémon able to hurt Skarmory. And even in an environment where people have adapted to him, Skarmory still shines with his great Spiking, walling and phazing abilities.
Counters
Magneton is the best Skarmory counter in existence. Its ability, Magnet Pull, prevents Skarmory from switching out of Magneton. Magneton can then OHKO with STAB Thunderbolt. Forretress, Claydol and Donphan can Rapid Spin off Spikes, but without some novelty like Hidden Power Electric or Zap Cannon they won't really damage Skarmory. Rapid Spinning Starmie, however, can Recover off any damage, cure Toxic with Natural Cure, and hurt Skarmory with a super-effective Thunderbolt or STAB Surf. This makes Starmie the best Rapid Spinner to use against Skarmory. In a similar way, Cloyster shrugs off Drill Peck or Hidden Power Flying, Rapid Spins off Spikes, lays down Spikes by himself and damages Skarmory badly with Surf or Ice Beam. It doesn't like being Toxic though. Nosepass also gets a mention for the same reasons as Magneton, but it can't OHKO, letting Skarmory potentially get three layers of Spikes, and Nosepass has no advantages over Magneton but its pitiful Explosion, and the potential to Mimic Spikes.
Despite the fact that Skarmory is used as a physical wall, strong Fighting and Rock sweepers with Choice Band can break through Skarmory's high Defense. A Focus Punch from a Heracross does 70-82% damage to the standard Skarmory. Machamp's Cross Chop takes out a large chunk of HP (48-57%), while Medicham does over half (50-58%) with Hi Jump Kick. Tyranitar is another physical attacker that has proven to be a good Skarmory counter. Of course, the Tyraniboah set can destroy it with Thunderbolt, but the Dragon Dancing version can do it too by Taunting Skarmory's attempts to Roar / Whirlwind while building up enough Attack to knock it out with a couple of Rock Slides.
Many other Pokémon may also have a surprise Fire or Electric move reserved for Skarmory. Snorlax and Weezing may carry Fire Blast, Metagross may have Thunderpunch, and the occasional Grass Pokémon may have Hidden Power Fire. Of course, a Skarmory with Substitute can nullify this element of surprise, but it also means that it cannot stay in safely to wall or lay down its Spikes.