Skuntank (QC 0/3)

[jake]

taking this through QC again, it needs it

Skuntank

qc'd:
gp'd:

[Overview]

• quite the unique scent!
• beat them ghost/psychic-types; importantly, beats all spinblockers provided it doesn't get in on a will-o-wisp
• absorb tspikes, which is awesome
• sucker punch + pursuit
• hits fairly hard too, despite only base 93 attack
• just barely outruns magmortar (and in turn underspeeds sawk, pinsir, and rotom-s) but won't be making much use of that speed anyway
• its bulk is decent, base 103 HP is cool but meh defenses
• 71 SpA is just enough to be able to wield a mixed set decently
• only one weakness! but it's pretty easy to be taken advantage of, ground is a pretty common type and golem is everywhere
• it's so cute

[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Sucker Punch
move 2: Pursuit
move 3: Taunt
move 4: Poison Jab / Crunch
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Aftermath / Stench
nature: Adamant
evs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Def / 76 SpD / 32 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• taunt psychics/ghosts
• mindgame them with pursuit/sucker punch
• ???
• profit
• pjab hits grass-types and provides stab, but crunch is often equally useful and offers the strongest hit on missy + friends without having to guess... it's really a 50/50 thing there
• leftovers is preferred, life orb could be used but it hits enough with just lefties and the recovery is v important
• not much else to say

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• ...dat strange ev spread
• faster spread, forgo power for outrunning max mesprit, magmortar, gardevoir, drifblim; however sucker punch does this already and retains power sooo
• aftermath and stench are both useful, explain their usefulness etc
• lum berry
• pair with fighting-types, they have good synergy with skuntank
• gurdurr + duosion
• they also lure these psy/ghost-types
• bring things to beat golem, tangela, alomomola, as skuntank is endlessly beaten by them (toxic spikes? then again all of the users share a weakness with skuntank which is disappointing...)
• hazards are cool because skuntank scares things with its smell
• para support
• things that can switch in on earthquakes are great; skuntank removes ghosties which allow free spins, removing their sr (...i probably won't include that actually)
• rapid spin users, too

[SET]
name: Mixed
move 1: Sucker Punch
move 2: Crunch
move 3: Sludge Bomb
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ground
item: Life Orb
ability: Aftermath / Stench
nature: Lonely
evs: 252 Atk / 224 SpA / 32 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• actually breaks through standard NU walls fairly well
• sucker for being a great move in general and making up for skuntank's meh speed
• crunch hits things hard without needing them to attack
• sludge bomb for bulky grasses, though it sort of struggles with those stupid grass/poison-types (should i slash fire blast behind crunch, for that reason alone?)
• hp grass and hp ground are both useful, but grass moreso imo; it busts bulky water-types (alomomola, quagsire, and wartortle) while hp ground beats probopass, bastiodon, etc
• life orb is much better on this set, helps net a few 2HKOes

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• fire blast, if i don't end up slashing it in - also should use a +SpA nature if fire blast > crunch, prolly
• not entirely sure of the spread, but it outruns 0 spe missy and adamant torterra (do i need to run faster?) and then maximizes power really
• can run mild as well, but maximizing sucker punch's power should be most important imo, though a +SpA nature does help ensure the 2HKO on alom switching in on SR + hp grass (alom is super bulky, hard for skuntank to break through on its own really because wish sucks)
• should obviously be coupled with pokemon that like physical walls to not be there
• likewise should be paired with things that beat alom because it still struggles with it, though it can be beaten
• subsd leafeon is lovely, appreciates tang being destroyed; they do both struggle with grass/poisons
• bring magmortar or something to deal with them, or run fire blast
• man the old skelly isn't helpful at all with this
• hazards ensure several KOs
• twave support, as skuntank doesnt invest in speed

[Other Options]

• haze
• boom
• toxic
• rock smash....
• memento
• cb
• screech
• return

[Checks and Counters]

• bastiodon
• fighting-types; gurdurr + throh
• golem
• other ground-types, camerupt
• alomomola
• mixed set doesn't have a whole lot of counters, though bulky stuff with no weaknesses to any of its moves (altaria) can handle it
• vileplume/amoonguss, though they dont hurt it much in return but wall the hell out of it

Need a little advice on the mixed set especially! I've used that set to decent effect, but not really sure about anything and everything on it.

 

[Molk]

i dunno about running so much HP on skuntank, in fact all the skuntank ive been seeing on the ladder are max speed (or skuntank is just frail idk :/). so if QC agrees with me i guess maybe max attack and speed counld be at least mentioned as a good spread. becuase

faster spread, forgo power for outrunning max mesprit, magmortar, gardevoir, drifblim; however sucker punch does this already and retains power sooo

that hints at removing attack power, some HP does allow it to take eggy more easily tho

mention duosion and gurdurr as teammates, because both like bulky psychics and ghosts removed and can sweep much more easily with it, the three make a great offensive core in fact!

not much else to say really, only competition it gets as a psychic slayer is scraggy and.... parasect? lol so skuntank really gets little competition for its role (not to mention scraggy doesnt get pursuit)

 

[erisia]

Max HP investment on Skuntank is actually quite inefficient, and just makes it more susceptible to Leech Seed and Pain Split users.

Running an EV spread of 88 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Def / 76 SpD / 32 Spe gives you the same physical bulk as before but about 4% more special bulk, while making your HP stat as low as possible (and also giving you a Life Orb number)

You could probably use a Lum Berry alongside Crunch as well, to deal with Will O Wisp users like Misdreavus and Gardevoir. Just mention it in the AC if you don't want it to go further.

 

[jake]

i dunno about running so much HP on skuntank, in fact all the skuntank ive been seeing on the ladder are max speed (or skuntank is just frail idk :/). so if QC agrees with me i guess maybe max attack and speed counld be at least mentioned as a good spread. becuase

faster spread, forgo power for outrunning max mesprit, magmortar, gardevoir, drifblim; however sucker punch does this already and retains power sooo

that hints at removing attack power, some HP does allow it to take eggy more easily tho

mention duosion and gurdurr as teammates, because both like bulky psychics and ghosts removed and can sweep much more easily with it, the three make a great offensive core in fact!

not much else to say really, only competition it gets as a psychic slayer is scraggy and.... parasect? lol so skuntank really gets little competition for its role (not to mention scraggy doesnt get pursuit)

i meant you'd be running jolly > adamant to outrun them, and i will do that

Max HP investment on Skuntank is actually quite inefficient, and just makes it more susceptible to Leech Seed and Pain Split users.

Running an EV spread of 88 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Def / 76 SpD / 32 Spe gives you the same physical bulk as before but about 4% more special bulk, while making your HP stat as low as possible (and also giving you a Life Orb number)

You could probably use a Lum Berry alongside Crunch as well, to deal with Will O Wisp users like Misdreavus and Gardevoir. Just mention it in the AC if you don't want it to go further.

...i've never been good with spreads XD yea, will change all that!

 

[erisia]

On the front of bulky vs fast Skuntank, I've found the bulky spread to be much more useful when I've used Skuntank. It really likes being able to switch into Focus Blasts, Thunderbolts and Hidden Powers with ease, and its Speed stat isn't even used when you're using the most important moves, Sucker Punch and Pursuit.

Imo, the faster spread should go in AC. It's good in that you don't rely on Sucker Punch as much (and are thus less susceptible to Substitute users), but I'd rather use the bulky spread to emphasise its role as a trapper in most cases. Plus Skuntank is kind of weaksauce without an Adamant nature.

 

[metsrule158]

On the Bulky Attacker set, slash Crunch after Pursuit, as you are most likely going to want Poison Jab on that set.

 

[jake]

On the Bulky Attacker set, slash Crunch after Pursuit, as you are most likely going to want Poison Jab on that set.

In all honesty, after other testing, the set should have Crunch slashed before Pursuit and Poison Jab alone in the final slot. EVERY Psychic- or Ghost-type in the tier is either incredibly bulky (Misdreavus, Mesprit, Duosion, kinda Eggy) or ravaged by Sucker Punch (Kadabra). There's little to no reason to use Pursuit at all, and I hardly used it anyway unless I was playing some really hefty mindgames with my opponent. Not that I used Poison Jab much either, but it certainly was used moreso than Pursuit.

Regardless, November Blue really wanted to take this, so I'll let 'em.