Metagame SV OU Metagame Discussion

[Critaquil]

wanna talk for a moment about dragmag in this meta cause I think it may actually have a place.

with only 2 fairies in ou, one of which being pretty reliably threatened by magnezone, and strong dragons being everywhere between Dragonite, baxcalibur, dragapult, roaring moon, hydreigon, and even more niche things like haxorus. it's not unreasonable to see the potential of dragons + magnezone carving out a niche for itself.

now, of course, gholdengo being as prominent as it is throws a bit of a wrench in things, but the fact of the matter is that ghold struggles to both do everything ghold already does AND check the dragons this stratagy would be spamming, now of course, you wouldn't go overboard with dragons, more likely you'd stick with 2 or maybe 3 if you can fit some serious role compression, that being said, lets look at the basis of any dragmag strategy; the mag.

mag is not without it's flaws, but specs lets it deal massive damage and usually ko most of the things it's tasked with beating, it's main targets may differ depending on it's teammates, but corv and kingambit are the 2 most common threats mag will likely be tasked with bringing down, as such, tera fighting is preferable as to beat king while also resisting it's sucker punch, meaning mag will have more health to be a threat later, tera fighting also helps dramatically against ting-lu, who's massive bulk can be a problem for these dragmag stratagies. mag isn't perfect, but it does what it needs to do with enough efficiency that the drags can go wild, speaking of which:

THE DRAGS:

I'l briefly go over each of the dragons you might consider and why you might want to consider them:

not having to worry about corviknight means dnite has a very open 4th move slot, which can either let it pack roost for longevity or can pack more specialized counterplay to certain checks such as ice spinner or huricane, still struggles with unaware walls, but those can be dealt with through another one of your dragons.

choice band is nice as the only good physical dragon with u-turn, booster energy is similar to dnite's role just far more committal, not a big fan of this one, but has some tools that can make it worth considering.

chain chomp is super scary for sure, but the fact of the matter is that removing steels doesn't really make chomp better at doing chomp things, so while it's a good mon in its own right, I'd say it's not a great partner for dragmag.

speed demon supreme, its stab combo roasts most things, save for corv and king, who can be safely u-turned on to let mag do it's thing. great partner for zone, and it's speed tier gives the team a good deal of utility, making it probably the most splashable of the drags.

choice banded glaive rush kills things. plain and simple. ice stab lets it deal with ting-lu and just about everything else either gets glaive rushed to death or gets mag'd, this is probably the purest dragmag abuser out there.

specs is the strongest draco meteor currently available, its not as outright strong as bax, but its typing is great as it means that skeledirge is much less of a threat to the team (moon isn't as good at this since wisp is far more detrimental), having a decent switchin to choiced gholdengo doesn't hurt, and nasty plot sets are just as threatening while still allowing free move slots, can also provide u-turn for pivoting or stealth rocks for some role compression, both sets have their upsides and downsides, but both are incredibly dangerous, great mag partner.

more niche, but absolutely has a place, albeit one that can be hard to make work, its job is fairly simple, abuse the lack of corv to just set up dragon dances and try to sweep, mold breaker means unaware is a non-factor, meaning the likes of dirge and dozo are unable to effectively check it, pex gets obliterated, amoong needs to be near full (and lum can make spore a non-issue), it's only real issue is dealing with prio, but that doesn't mean it can't be incredibly threatening.

that being said the playstyle has its issues, and can be inconsistant, after all, every stratagy has counterplay, and this one is no different:

Common threats:

a steel that can't be trapped is the very definition of an issue for dragmag, it can be overwhelmed over the course of a game, but that doesn't make it less of a threat. most counterplay will depend on the set, but no set is truly unbeatable. scarf can be scouted, np and specs can be revenged or played arround, recover can be passive and taken advantage of, victory is always possible, it's just a matter of figuring out how.
a fast fairy thats offensively threatening is also a big issue for dragmag, even packing fighting stab for magnezone, a good valiant check is basically required on just about every dragmag. no real way around it.
a physically-bulky unaware mon that doesn't give a rats ass about zone (before tera, that is), this thing is single-handedly half the reason to run hax/hydrei, your best bet against this thing is usually just to keep up the pressure and try to force it to tera if possible, if it teras, zone can force it out reliably if it gets in with a u-turn, fight this thing like you would fight stall with bo, just keep applying pressure.

there are other threats, of course, but these 3 are the most promenent and consistent, just about every other threat to dragmag is more dependent on what drags you pick and what teammates your pairing them with, speaking of which:

Other Teammates:

its tusk. it does tusk things. need I say more?
lumping these two together since they fill mostly the same role, that being, a secondary steel meant to releive defensive pressure off of zone while providing a solid valient check, ghold is ovbiously a good choice, but sciz can provide some nice utilities like u-turn, prio, and defog that give it some niches over ghold.
another decent valiant check that can also reliably help scout gholdengo while also just being a good general utility mon, can run covert cloak to assist greatly in the garg mu or can run a different item like helmet or boots if you think garg isn't a problem for your team
decent spiker that also serves as a good volc/iron moth check, toxic also provides some nice utility that is synergistic with zone removing some common toxic absorbers.
of course, there are other teammates you could run, and probably should run, but a good deal of mons can work on dragmag so listing them all would be a headache so I'l limit it to the few mentioned here. I hope you enjoyed this read!

 

[LadyLynn]

Spidops

View attachment 492173
"Spidops is a covert ambush predator that utilizes its sticky and resilient silk threads to cling upon any surface and move without making a sound. It spins a silk thread from the spinneret on its abdomen, which it uses to hang upside-down from tall places. It then spins a net between its top four legs which it uses to smother its prey, striking before the prey has time to react." - Bulbapedia

"Hehe, mustache spider assassin's Choice Band Stakeout STAB First Impression go brrrrrrr" - Morkal​

BASE STAT	LEVEL 100 STAT RANGE
HP: 60	230 - 324​
Attack: 79​	146 - 282​
Defense: 92	170 - 311​
Sp. Atk: 52	98 - 223​
Sp. Def: 86	159 - 298​
Speed: 35	67 - 185​

Notable Moves

Physical Moves:
Brick Break, Circle Throw, First Impression, Leech Life, Low Kick, Lunge, Poison Jab, Rock Tomb, Shadow Claw, Skitter Smack, Sucker Punch, Tera Blast, Thief, Throat Chop, Trailblaze, U-Turn, X-Scissor

Utility Moves:
Memento, Protect, Rest, Silk Trap, Spikes, Sticky Web, Substitute, Taunt, Toxic Spikes

Introduction​

Spidops evolves from Tarountula, an early game bug. Being an early-game bug usually spells "competitive career death" for most Pokemon, and for a while, it was looking the same for Spidops. However, Spidops has numerous qualities that, with proper support, can leave a sizeable impact on your team composition. In fact, I would go as far as to say that Spidops is now one of my favorite Pokemon to use in OU, and is actually easier than you might think to slip into specific team compositions! So without further ado, let's dive into this post (that is somehow longer than my college world history dissertation last semester) to talk about one of the most stylish Bug-type Pokemon to ever grace the competitive metagame!

Disclaimer: While Spidops has a lot of utility and flexibility, it can be played around if you're not knowledgeable about specific damage and speed tier benchmarks (the latter of which I'll link here). I highly recommend careful team building and looking into speed tiers, running practice calculations, testing Spidops on your various teams, and practicing prediction for switches. I would like to double-stress that understanding switch prediction is key for move choice. If you work Spidops properly and work to increase your contemporary metagame knowledge, he can provide exceptional utility, scary offensive pressure, and even situational defensive prowess for your teams!

View attachment 492184
Spidops Summarized Advantages
This is a "too long, didn't read" section for people who want a quick summary of Spidops's advantages without reading the essay-length post.​

• Spidops has a surprisingly useful defensive profile with HP investment; 60/92/86 with resistances to Fighting, Ground, and Grass means that it resists moves like both of Great Tusk's STABs, Garchomp and Ting-Lu's Earthquake, and more.
• Spidops's Stakeout-boosted STAB First Impression is the single strongest priority move available in the OU meta, and thanks to a bevy of impressive coverage options, it can hit a lot harder than you think with proper investment and item distribution. With Choice Band + Stakeout, STAB First Impression OHKOs Swords Dance Garchomp, has a chance to OHKO Bulky Garchomp, and can 2HKO almost every variant of Garganacl; those are just a few quick examples to show how mind-numbingly dumb Spidops's power can be, (more calculations are in the main post).
• Spidop's Stakeout First Impression also discourages your opponent from switching by punishing players who have lost their double resists and heavily physically defensive single-resist Pokemon, leaving your opponent with the difficult choice of sacrificing frail powerful sweepers like Greninja and Meowscarada or risking taking nuclear levels of damage from the Stakeout boost.
• Spidops's Stakeout additionally boosts all of its coverage moves, meaning that, given the right prediction, not much can reliably switch into Spidops at all.
• Spidops's wide movepool means it can fit a variety of roles suited to your team, meaning that the two movesets I will be talking about below can be tailored to your team's specific needs based on your teammates.
• Spidops can utilize Tera to turn the tables on would-be checks and counters like Skeledirge, Ceruledge, Garganacl, and more!
• Spidops's role compression is very flexible, and its low speed actually works in its favor thanks to slow STAB U-Turn (which can additionally be boosted with Stakeout on switch-ins).

View attachment 492183
Priority Band Stakeout (One Variant - Tera Dark)

View attachment 492239
Spidops @ Choice Band
Ability: Stakeout
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Throat Chop
- U-Turn
- Sticky Web / Brick Break / Circle Throw

Offensive Capabilities​

Spidops Priority Band Stakeout is meant to be an early-mid game menace that weaves in and out of combat by playing mind games with insanely powerful STAB Priority, fantastic coverage in Throat Chop and Brick Break, and a powerful STAB boosted slow U-Turn to keep up the momentum, all complimented by Stakeout's ability to punish switching aggressively. In the late game, First Impression essentially becomes a one-button cleaner nuke that decimates damaged Pokemon. Let's talk about Stakeout and what it does; Stakeout is an ability that doubles the power of Spidops's moves when used against a Pokemon switching in. Now you might be thinking, "why not just switch to a resist" or "wouldn't the opponent just stay in because of Stakeout or because of Spidops's lackluster base stats?" To answer these questions, let's start by demonstrating just how powerful Band STAB Stakeout First Impression is against even double-resisted hits.

Banded STAB Stakeout First Impression Damage Calculations
View attachment 492228

Super Effective Hits (Not really relevant for Stakeout, but I'm still noting because the damage is just kinda hilarious):

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 962-1134 (336.3 - 396.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO (talk about overkill)
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 758-894 (233.2 - 275%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Meowscarada: 1860-2188 (634.8 - 746.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO (okay, I take the Greninja comment back, THIS is overkill)
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Roaring Moon: 918-1082 (261.5 - 308.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ting-Lu: 570-672 (110.8 - 130.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Imagine OHKO'ing Ting-Lu on the physical side)

Neutral Hits:

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Amoonguss: 340-402 (78.7 - 93%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 372-438 (100.2 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Breloom: 417-492 (159.7 - 188.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 228-268 (45.2 - 53.1%) -- 31.6% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Dondozo: 306-361 (60.7 - 71.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 361-426 (101.1 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 361-426 (85.9 - 101.4%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Garganacl: 276-325 (68.3 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 228+ Def Garganacl: 211-249 (52.2 - 61.6%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Grimmsnarl: 489-576 (124.1 - 146.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Hatterene: 270-318 (84.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 248 HP / 116+ Def Hatterene: 292-345 (92.1 - 108.8%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 112 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 297-349 (80.4 - 94.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-Wash: 237-280 (77.9 - 92.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Resisted Hits:

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 116 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 208-246 (56.2 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 208-246 (51.4 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cinderace: 219-258 (72.7 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (OHKO with Chip)
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Clodsire: 258-304 (55.7 - 65.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 219-258 (69 - 81.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 90-106 (27.8 - 32.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def (Multiscale Broken) Dragonite: 180-212 (55.7 - 65.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 144 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 90-106 (25 - 29.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 144 HP / 0 Def (Multiscale Broken) Dragonite: 180-213 (50.1 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Glimmora: 188-222 (61.2 - 72.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Great Tusk: 136-161 (36.6 - 43.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Treads: 148-174 (46.1 - 54.2%) -- 54.7% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Iron Treads: 148-174 (38.5 - 45.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Orthworm: 96-113 (27.9 - 32.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Pelipper: 124-147 (38.3 - 45.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Quaquaval: 207-244 (66.5 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 200 HP / 180+ Def Quaquaval: 154-182 (42.6 - 50.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 236 HP / 0 Def Scizor: 174-204 (51.1 - 60%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Toxapex: 96-114 (31.5 - 37.5%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 248 HP / 108 Def Volcarona: 212-249 (56.8 - 66.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Double Resisted Hits:

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 104-123 (35.7 - 42.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 104-123 (29.3 - 34.7%) -- 8.3% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Moth: 130-154 (43.1 - 51.1%) -- 5.5% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Iron Valiant: 94-111 (32.5 - 38.4%) -- 97.9% chance to 3HKO​

To give you an idea, those calculations were for 32 of 35 OU and OU BL Pokemon. 10 of those 32 listed OU Pokemon are either OHKO'd or have a solid chance to be OHKO'd. 15 of those 32 listed are either 2HKO'd or have a solid chance to be 2HKO'd. This means that 25 of 35 OU Pokemon, roughly a whopping 71% of the entire OU Meta, cannot reliably switch into Banded Stakeout STAB First Impression at full health without being OHKO'd or 2HKO'd or having a very high chance to be OHKO'd or 2HKO'd (100% assured OHKO/2HKO's with chip damage). If you factor in the previously mentioned chip damage, that number becomes somewhere closer to 80%+ and turns some of those 3HKOs into 2HKOs. The numbers are relatively similar for Band Stakeout STAB U-Turn, so I won't post those calculations here. Those who know about Spidops's nuclear power don't want to switch - those who don't know are generally decimated; regular resists are mostly 2HKO'd or 3HKO'd.

So what about First Impression without Stakeout's boost? Well, it's not as impressive for obvious reasons, but still hits some notable OHKO and 2HKO benchmarks which is all that it needs to do to threaten specific targets from your opponent's team. It also hits many neutral threats for a solid 3HKO that can turn into a 2HKO with chip damage.

Banded STAB First Impression Damage Calculations (No Stakeout)
View attachment 492228

OHKOs and 2HKOS:

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 186-220 (50.1 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Breloom: 210-247 (80.4 - 94.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 181-214 (50.7 - 59.9%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 482-570 (168.5 - 199.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Grimmsnarl: 246-289 (62.4 - 73.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 248 HP / 116+ Def Hatterene: 147-174 (46.3 - 54.8%) -- 60.5% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 380-450 (116.9 - 138.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Meowscarada: 928-1096 (316.7 - 374%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Roaring Moon: 458-542 (130.4 - 154.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ting-Lu: 288-338 (56 - 65.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

3HKOs (that can become 2HKOs with chip damage):

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Amoonguss: 171-202 (39.5 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 110-129 (34.7 - 40.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 181-214 (43 - 50.9%) -- 4.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 112 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 148-175 (40.1 - 47.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-Wash: 118-141 (38.8 - 46.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery​

All of this mayhem and chaos is just from one move - so what about Spidop's coverage moves? Let's start with Throat Chop; If you're not clicking First Impression or U-Turn, you will likely be clicking Throat Chop. So what can Throat Chop do? Well, Throat Chop is specifically meant to handle Pokemon such as Skeledirge, Ceruledge, and others that like to switch in on Spidops. With Tera-Dark, Spidops additionally gets rid of the problems of its mono-Bug defensive profile and replaces it with mono-Dark that grants nifty resistances to Dark and Ghost and a Psychic immunity while changing the Fire, Flying, and Rock weaknesses to neutralities. For Throat Chop, we're going to look at calculations both with and without Terastallizing for emphasis here.

Throat Chop (No Stakeout and Stakeout) Calculations (Pre-Tera and Post-Tera)
View attachment 492229

No Stakeout Damage Buff:

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 248-294 (70 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 372-440 (105 - 124.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 108-127 (27 - 31.8%) -- 41.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 260-308 (82 - 97.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 390-462 (123 - 145.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 214-254 (67.9 - 80.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 320-380 (101.5 - 120.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gholdengo: 154-182 (40.7 - 48.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gholdengo: 230-272 (60.8 - 71.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 206-244 (50.1 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 308-366 (74.9 - 89%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Stakeout Damage Buff:

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 496-584 (140.1 - 164.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 744-876 (210.1 - 247.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 214-253 (53.6 - 63.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 520-614 (164 - 193.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 780-920 (246 - 290.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 430-506 (136.5 - 160.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 644-758 (204.4 - 240.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gholdengo: 306-362 (80.9 - 95.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gholdengo: 458-542 (121.1 - 143.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 410-484 (99.7 - 117.7%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 614-726 (149.3 - 176.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO​

The last slot after U-Turn is a toss-up depending on your team's specific needs. I vastly prefer to run Sticky Web for additional speed control and team utility. Hatterene and any other Magic Bounce users will either (A. Be cautious about switching in due to First Impression or B. Switch in because they know Spidops has Sticky Web and don't understand just how hard First Impression can hit). You'll likely want to wait to click Sticky Web until Magic Bounce users are dealt with - otherwise, click First Impression, Throat Chop, or U-Turn if you expect a switch. The second option you could choose is to run additional coverage with Brick Break to nail annoying Rock, Steel, Ice, Normal, and Dark type switch-ins. The reason I prefer Sticky Web over Brick Break is that, without Stakeout, Brick Break's damage output can be a bit lackluster. Let's take a look at some calculations for Brick Break with and without Stakeout so that you can see if these damage benchmarks are right for you.

Brick Break (No Stakeout and Stakeout) Damage Calculations
View attachment 492238

No Stakeout Damage Buff:

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Garganacl: 154-182 (38.1 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 228+ Def Garganacl: 118-140 (29.2 - 34.6%) -- 99.9% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Treads: 166-196 (51.7 - 61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Brick Break vs. 112 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 332-392 (89.9 - 106.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Orthworm: 108-128 (31.3 - 37.2%) -- 81% chance to 3HKO

Stakeout Damage Buff:

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Garganacl: 306-362 (75.7 - 89.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 228+ Def Garganacl: 236-278 (58.4 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Treads: 330-390 (102.8 - 121.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Brick Break vs. 112 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 660-780 (178.8 - 211.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Orthworm: 214-252 (62.2 - 73.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
​

Lastly, you could run Circle Throw - you wouldn't be running this for damage (although Stakeout Circle Throw can still hit quite hard); you would be running this for its phasing capabilities. However, the choice is up to you!

Defensive Capabilities​

So now you're likely thinking, "Okay, I get it; Spidops hits like a truck, but what about its defenses?" Well, with near-max HP investment and just a little bit of Special Defense investment, Spidops is capable of some surprising defensive feats courtesy of its 92/86 Defense and Special Defense. With this EV investment, Spidops's defensive profile is HP - 320, Defense - 220, and Special Defense - 210. Let's take a look at some calculations to see just how much Spidops can live through with the allotted 252 HP, 0 Def, 8 SpD EVs.

Spidops Physical Defense Calculations (Pre-Tera)
View attachment 492228

252+ Atk Amoonguss Foul Play vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 88-104 (27.2 - 32.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 127-151 (39.3 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 147-174 (45.5 - 53.8%) -- approx. 37.1% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Breloom Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 157-186 (48.6 - 57.5%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 79-93 (24.4 - 28.7%) -- 99.7% chance to 4HKO

0 Atk Clodsire Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 46-54 (14.2 - 16.7%) -- possible 6HKO
0 Atk Corviknight Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 248-294 (76.7 - 91%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Def Dondozo Body Press vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 47-56 (14.5 - 17.3%) -- possible 6HKO
0 Atk Dondozo Liquidation vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 99-117 (30.6 - 36.2%) -- 46.9% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Dragapult Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 128-151 (39.6 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
76 Atk Dragapult Dragon Darts (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 146-174 (45.2 - 53.8%) -- approx. 28.1% chance to 2HKO

252+ Atk Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 106-125 (32.8 - 38.6%) -- 99.4% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Dragonite Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 65-77 (20.1 - 23.8%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
252+ Atk Dragonite Fire Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 198-234 (61.3 - 72.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 72-86 (22.2 - 26.6%) -- 21.9% chance to 4HKO
0 Atk Garchomp Dragon Tail vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 87-103 (26.9 - 31.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 88-104 (27.2 - 32.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Dragon Claw vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 141-166 (43.6 - 51.3%) -- 6.6% chance to 2HKO

252 Atk Great Tusk Headlong Rush vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 105-125 (32.5 - 38.6%) -- 98.9% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Great Tusk Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 105-125 (32.5 - 38.6%) -- 98.9% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Great Tusk Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 114-135 (35.2 - 41.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Meowscarada Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 163-193 (50.4 - 59.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Protean Meowscarada U-turn vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 163-193 (50.4 - 59.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Meowscarada Flower Trick vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops on a critical hit: 123-144 (38 - 44.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 Atk Quaquaval Aqua Step vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 133-157 (41.1 - 48.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Quaquaval Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 99-117 (30.6 - 36.2%) -- 58.2% chance to 3HKO

252 Atk Protosynthesis Roaring Moon Crunch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 192-226 (59.4 - 69.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Protosynthesis Roaring Moon Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 80-94 (24.7 - 29.1%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Roaring Moon Crunch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 243-286 (75.2 - 88.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Roaring Moon Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 101-119 (31.2 - 36.8%) -- 77.1% chance to 3HKO

0 Atk Ting-Lu Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 63-74 (19.5 - 22.9%) -- possible 5HKO

Spidops Special Defense Calculations (Pre-Tera)
View attachment 492248

252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 184-217 (56.9 - 67.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
180 SpA Dragapult Hex (65 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 94-112 (29.1 - 34.6%) -- 8.7% chance to 3HKO

0 SpA Gholdengo Hex (65 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 102-120 (31.5 - 37.1%) -- 78.9% chance to 3HKO
0 SpA Gholdengo Hex (130 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 202-238 (62.5 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 150-177 (46.4 - 54.7%) -- 59% chance to 2HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Surf vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 211-249 (65.3 - 77%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 258-304 (79.8 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Greninja Surf vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 231-273 (71.5 - 84.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 282-333 (87.3 - 103%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

0 SpA Rotom-Wash Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 139-165 (43 - 51%) -- 3.1% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Rotom-Wash Volt Switch vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 88-105 (27.2 - 32.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
​

So now we've established that there are some definite switch-in opportunities for Spidops with this defensive profile; what about once it terastallizes into a Dark type? Without those pesky Fire, Flying, and Rock weaknesses, Spidops can suddenly take attacks from a host of threats it really would not like to have switched into before! Let's take a look at some hits that it couldn't take before but can handle now.

Spidops Defensive Calculations (Terastallized)
View attachment 492229

0 Atk Ceruledge Bitter Blade vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 127-150 (39.3 - 46.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Ceruledge Bitter Blade vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 153-181 (47.3 - 56%) -- 80.9% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Ceruledge Shadow Sneak vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 28-33 (8.6 - 10.2%) -- possibly the worst move ever
252 Atk Ceruledge Shadow Sneak vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 34-41 (10.5 - 12.6%) -- possible 8HKO

252 Atk Cinderace Pyro Ball vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 195-229 (60.3 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Corviknight Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 124-147 (38.3 - 45.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 92-108 (28.4 - 33.4%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Dragapult Phantom Force vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 123-144 (38 - 44.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Dragapult Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 64-75 (19.8 - 23.2%) -- possible 5HKO

252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 75-88 (23.2 - 27.2%) -- 59.1% chance to 4HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 112-132 (34.6 - 40.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252+ Atk Kingambit Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 159-187 (49.2 - 57.8%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 84-99 (26 - 30.6%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 69-82 (21.3 - 25.3%) -- 0.2% chance to 4HKO

252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 237-280 (73.3 - 86.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 126-148 (39 - 45.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 104-123 (32.1 - 38%) -- 95.1% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Roaring Moon Crunch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 121-143 (37.4 - 44.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
8 SpA Skeledirge Torch Song vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 106-126 (32.8 - 39%) -- 99.7% chance to 3HKO
+1 8 SpA Skeledirge Torch Song vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 159-187 (49.2 - 57.8%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Volcarona Fiery Dance vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 126-148 (39 - 45.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Team Support + Other Set Option
View attachment 492184
Spidops may be strong, but it does require some solid support to function properly. Let's take a look at some options that will help Spidops successfully function! In addition, we'll look at an additional Spidops set very briefly to explain how it works; while I don't like the following set as much as the Choice Band set, I've had enough success with it that I found it noteworthy enough to mention!

Hazard + Mortal Spin or Rapid Spin

Recommended Partner: Glimmora
View attachment 492250
Not only is Glimmora one of the best leads (arguably one of the best OU Pokemon in general), but it compresses spinning and setting into a single team slot. Glimmora's ability Toxic Debris auto sets Toxic Spikes, its signature move Mortal Spin poisons + clears hazards, and it has access to both Spikes and Stealth Rock! Whenever I use Spidops, I almost always have Glimmora as its partner.

Wish Passing

Recommended Partner: Alomomola

View attachment 492252

Alomomola has been my favorite Gen 9 OU wish passer since the earliest stages of the metagame. It has tremendous bulk, fantastic mono-Water defensive typing, and access to invaluable utility and trapping moves such as Chilling Water and Whirlpool. Alomomola is a Pokemon that I would recommend for most team compositions in general, but especially as a great partner for Spidops!

Spidops Alternative Set Option
View attachment 492173
Anti-Lead Steel Stakeout Bug Utility
View attachment 492254
Spidops @ Leftovers
Ability: Stakeout
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Taunt
- Silk Trap
- U-turn

Set Explanation:
This is a role compression utility set that relies on Spidop's access to its unique move Silk Trap, a variant of Protect for damaging moves that slows a Pokemon's speed by one stage if it hits the Silk Trap with a contact move. Taunt is meant to stop hazard/status/phasing, while First Impression and U-Turn function similarly. The reason we're using Steel as a Tera-type is for its defensive prowess + immunity to Toxic. The 100 Speed EVs are to outspeed Ting-Lu and Hippowdon (allowing you to Taunt them). While I have had quite a bit of success with this set, I feel that the issues with vulnerability and having to sacrifice HP and Special Defense EVs is a really tough call to make.

Conclusion
View attachment 492253

Spidops is one of my new favorite Pokemon to use in OU - it's powerful and varied, and has plenty of other options besides the Choice Band set and the Anti-Lead Utility set that I listed. It has its flaws (having the lowest BST total of all Pokemon introduced in Gen 9 is a bummer), but I've found that it's a valuable team member with a great niche that compliments multiple build styles. So, give Spidops a try today; I promise you won't be disappointed - however, when your opponent's Garchomp goes down in a single hit to an early-game Bug type, they definitely will be disappointed.​

Really cool writeup! I'd been speculating about Spidops myself, though in lower tiers.

Could there be any merit to using Silver Powder to boost U-Turn/First Impressions on the utility set, or something similar to that set? Also, how much have you experimented with some of the other notable utility moves in Spidops' movepool, like Sticky Web, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes?

 

[AM]

Dragmag post

good read. Dragmags main weaknesses beyond what you mentioned is Tera water Hatterene if Mag is out, Roaring Moon, Greninja and both prominent weathers in rain and sun. Late game Kingambit can also be a nightmare. Normally you’re losing outright or you’re losing the sack wars. I’ve tried to make two dragmag teams work but the reality is I think things like Dragon spam cores (Bax + Pult for example) without need or emphasis on Mag are better and allow a bit more freedom in the builder. Knock Tusk + Band Tera Dragon Bax already beats the Corv you would normally trap with Mag anyways.

Greater point, type spam offensive cores are very good in the meta but I feel thats a bit obvious at this point.

 

[Jonbot]

wanna talk for a moment about dragmag in this meta cause I think it may actually have a place.

with only 2 fairies in ou, one of which being pretty reliably threatened by magnezone, and strong dragons being everywhere between Dragonite, baxcalibur, dragapult, roaring moon, hydreigon, and even more niche things like haxorus. it's not unreasonable to see the potential of dragons + magnezone carving out a niche for itself.

now, of course, gholdengo being as prominent as it is throws a bit of a wrench in things, but the fact of the matter is that ghold struggles to both do everything ghold already does AND check the dragons this stratagy would be spamming, now of course, you wouldn't go overboard with dragons, more likely you'd stick with 2 or maybe 3 if you can fit some serious role compression, that being said, lets look at the basis of any dragmag strategy; the mag.

mag is not without it's flaws, but specs lets it deal massive damage and usually ko most of the things it's tasked with beating, it's main targets may differ depending on it's teammates, but corv and kingambit are the 2 most common threats mag will likely be tasked with bringing down, as such, tera fighting is preferable as to beat king while also resisting it's sucker punch, meaning mag will have more health to be a threat later, tera fighting also helps dramatically against ting-lu, who's massive bulk can be a problem for these dragmag stratagies. mag isn't perfect, but it does what it needs to do with enough efficiency that the drags can go wild, speaking of which:

THE DRAGS:

I'l briefly go over each of the dragons you might consider and why you might want to consider them:

not having to worry about corviknight means dnite has a very open 4th move slot, which can either let it pack roost for longevity or can pack more specialized counterplay to certain checks such as ice spinner or huricane, still struggles with unaware walls, but those can be dealt with through another one of your dragons.

choice band is nice as the only good physical dragon with u-turn, booster energy is similar to dnite's role just far more committal, not a big fan of this one, but has some tools that can make it worth considering.

chain chomp is super scary for sure, but the fact of the matter is that removing steels doesn't really make chomp better at doing chomp things, so while it's a good mon in its own right, I'd say it's not a great partner for dragmag.

speed demon supreme, its stab combo roasts most things, save for corv and king, who can be safely u-turned on to let mag do it's thing. great partner for zone, and it's speed tier gives the team a good deal of utility, making it probably the most splashable of the drags.

choice banded glaive rush kills things. plain and simple. ice stab lets it deal with ting-lu and just about everything else either gets glaive rushed to death or gets mag'd, this is probably the purest dragmag abuser out there.

specs is the strongest draco meteor currently available, its not as outright strong as bax, but its typing is great as it means that skeledirge is much less of a threat to the team (moon isn't as good at this since wisp is far more detrimental), having a decent switchin to choiced gholdengo doesn't hurt, and nasty plot sets are just as threatening while still allowing free move slots, can also provide u-turn for pivoting or stealth rocks for some role compression, both sets have their upsides and downsides, but both are incredibly dangerous, great mag partner.

more niche, but absolutely has a place, albeit one that can be hard to make work, its job is fairly simple, abuse the lack of corv to just set up dragon dances and try to sweep, mold breaker means unaware is a non-factor, meaning the likes of dirge and dozo are unable to effectively check it, pex gets obliterated, amoong needs to be near full (and lum can make spore a non-issue), it's only real issue is dealing with prio, but that doesn't mean it can't be incredibly threatening.

that being said the playstyle has its issues, and can be inconsistant, after all, every stratagy has counterplay, and this one is no different:

Common threats:

a steel that can't be trapped is the very definition of an issue for dragmag, it can be overwhelmed over the course of a game, but that doesn't make it less of a threat. most counterplay will depend on the set, but no set is truly unbeatable. scarf can be scouted, np and specs can be revenged or played arround, recover can be passive and taken advantage of, victory is always possible, it's just a matter of figuring out how.
a fast fairy thats offensively threatening is also a big issue for dragmag, even packing fighting stab for magnezone, a good valiant check is basically required on just about every dragmag. no real way around it.
a physically-bulky unaware mon that doesn't give a rats ass about zone (before tera, that is), this thing is single-handedly half the reason to run hax/hydrei, your best bet against this thing is usually just to keep up the pressure and try to force it to tera if possible, if it teras, zone can force it out reliably if it gets in with a u-turn, fight this thing like you would fight stall with bo, just keep applying pressure.

there are other threats, of course, but these 3 are the most promenent and consistent, just about every other threat to dragmag is more dependent on what drags you pick and what teammates your pairing them with, speaking of which:

Other Teammates:

its tusk. it does tusk things. need I say more?
lumping these two together since they fill mostly the same role, that being, a secondary steel meant to releive defensive pressure off of zone while providing a solid valient check, ghold is ovbiously a good choice, but sciz can provide some nice utilities like u-turn, prio, and defog that give it some niches over ghold.
another decent valiant check that can also reliably help scout gholdengo while also just being a good general utility mon, can run covert cloak to assist greatly in the garg mu or can run a different item like helmet or boots if you think garg isn't a problem for your team
decent spiker that also serves as a good volc/iron moth check, toxic also provides some nice utility that is synergistic with zone removing some common toxic absorbers.
of course, there are other teammates you could run, and probably should run, but a good deal of mons can work on dragmag so listing them all would be a headache so I'l limit it to the few mentioned here. I hope you enjoyed this read!

My main issue with drag mag is that most steels running around have a way of escaping magnet pull. Scizor u-turn, iron treads volt switch and gholdengo just being a ghost all make zone trapping an issue, especially since it needs a scarf to outspeed all of them. Zone effectively becomes a corv trapping mon/wall breaker, which while useful, is done better by other mons with more utility

 

[MaahirMomtaz12]

Spidops

View attachment 492173
"Spidops is a covert ambush predator that utilizes its sticky and resilient silk threads to cling upon any surface and move without making a sound. It spins a silk thread from the spinneret on its abdomen, which it uses to hang upside-down from tall places. It then spins a net between its top four legs which it uses to smother its prey, striking before the prey has time to react." - Bulbapedia

"Hehe, mustache spider assassin's Choice Band Stakeout STAB First Impression go brrrrrrr" - Morkal​

BASE STAT	LEVEL 100 STAT RANGE
HP: 60	230 - 324​
Attack: 79​	146 - 282​
Defense: 92	170 - 311​
Sp. Atk: 52	98 - 223​
Sp. Def: 86	159 - 298​
Speed: 35	67 - 185​

Notable Moves

Physical Moves:
Brick Break, Circle Throw, First Impression, Leech Life, Low Kick, Lunge, Poison Jab, Rock Tomb, Shadow Claw, Skitter Smack, Sucker Punch, Tera Blast, Thief, Throat Chop, Trailblaze, U-Turn, X-Scissor

Utility Moves:
Memento, Protect, Rest, Silk Trap, Spikes, Sticky Web, Substitute, Taunt, Toxic Spikes

Introduction​

Spidops evolves from Tarountula, an early game bug. Being an early-game bug usually spells "competitive career death" for most Pokemon, and for a while, it was looking the same for Spidops. However, Spidops has numerous qualities that, with proper support, can leave a sizeable impact on your team composition. In fact, I would go as far as to say that Spidops is now one of my favorite Pokemon to use in OU, and is actually easier than you might think to slip into specific team compositions! So without further ado, let's dive into this post (that is somehow longer than my college world history dissertation last semester) to talk about one of the most stylish Bug-type Pokemon to ever grace the competitive metagame!

Disclaimer: While Spidops has a lot of utility and flexibility, it can be played around if you're not knowledgeable about specific damage and speed tier benchmarks (the latter of which I'll link here). I highly recommend careful team building and looking into speed tiers, running practice calculations, testing Spidops on your various teams, and practicing prediction for switches. I would like to double-stress that understanding switch prediction is key for move choice. If you work Spidops properly and work to increase your contemporary metagame knowledge, he can provide exceptional utility, scary offensive pressure, and even situational defensive prowess for your teams!

View attachment 492184
Spidops Summarized Advantages
This is a "too long, didn't read" section for people who want a quick summary of Spidops's advantages without reading the essay-length post.​

• Spidops has a surprisingly useful defensive profile with HP investment; 60/92/86 with resistances to Fighting, Ground, and Grass means that it resists moves like both of Great Tusk's STABs, Garchomp and Ting-Lu's Earthquake, and more.
• Spidops's Stakeout-boosted STAB First Impression is the single strongest priority move available in the OU meta, and thanks to a bevy of impressive coverage options, it can hit a lot harder than you think with proper investment and item distribution. With Choice Band + Stakeout, STAB First Impression OHKOs Swords Dance Garchomp, has a chance to OHKO Bulky Garchomp, and can 2HKO almost every variant of Garganacl; those are just a few quick examples to show how mind-numbingly dumb Spidops's power can be, (more calculations are in the main post).
• Spidop's Stakeout First Impression also discourages your opponent from switching by punishing players who have lost their double resists and heavily physically defensive single-resist Pokemon, leaving your opponent with the difficult choice of sacrificing frail powerful sweepers like Greninja and Meowscarada or risking taking nuclear levels of damage from the Stakeout boost.
• Spidops's Stakeout additionally boosts all of its coverage moves, meaning that, given the right prediction, not much can reliably switch into Spidops at all.
• Spidops's wide movepool means it can fit a variety of roles suited to your team, meaning that the two movesets I will be talking about below can be tailored to your team's specific needs based on your teammates.
• Spidops can utilize Tera to turn the tables on would-be checks and counters like Skeledirge, Ceruledge, Garganacl, and more!
• Spidops's role compression is very flexible, and its low speed actually works in its favor thanks to slow STAB U-Turn (which can additionally be boosted with Stakeout on switch-ins).

View attachment 492183
Priority Band Stakeout (One Variant - Tera Dark)

View attachment 492239
Spidops @ Choice Band
Ability: Stakeout
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Throat Chop
- U-Turn
- Sticky Web / Brick Break / Circle Throw

Offensive Capabilities​

Spidops Priority Band Stakeout is meant to be an early-mid game menace that weaves in and out of combat by playing mind games with insanely powerful STAB Priority, fantastic coverage in Throat Chop and Brick Break, and a powerful STAB boosted slow U-Turn to keep up the momentum, all complimented by Stakeout's ability to punish switching aggressively. In the late game, First Impression essentially becomes a one-button cleaner nuke that decimates damaged Pokemon. Let's talk about Stakeout and what it does; Stakeout is an ability that doubles the power of Spidops's moves when used against a Pokemon switching in. Now you might be thinking, "why not just switch to a resist" or "wouldn't the opponent just stay in because of Stakeout or because of Spidops's lackluster base stats?" To answer these questions, let's start by demonstrating just how powerful Band STAB Stakeout First Impression is against even double-resisted hits.

Banded STAB Stakeout First Impression Damage Calculations
View attachment 492228

Super Effective Hits (Not really relevant for Stakeout, but I'm still noting because the damage is just kinda hilarious):

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 962-1134 (336.3 - 396.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO (talk about overkill)
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 758-894 (233.2 - 275%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Meowscarada: 1860-2188 (634.8 - 746.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO (okay, I take the Greninja comment back, THIS is overkill)
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Roaring Moon: 918-1082 (261.5 - 308.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ting-Lu: 570-672 (110.8 - 130.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Imagine OHKO'ing Ting-Lu on the physical side)

Neutral Hits:

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Amoonguss: 340-402 (78.7 - 93%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 372-438 (100.2 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Breloom: 417-492 (159.7 - 188.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 228-268 (45.2 - 53.1%) -- 31.6% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Dondozo: 306-361 (60.7 - 71.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 361-426 (101.1 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 361-426 (85.9 - 101.4%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Garganacl: 276-325 (68.3 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 228+ Def Garganacl: 211-249 (52.2 - 61.6%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Grimmsnarl: 489-576 (124.1 - 146.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Hatterene: 270-318 (84.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 248 HP / 116+ Def Hatterene: 292-345 (92.1 - 108.8%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 112 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 297-349 (80.4 - 94.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-Wash: 237-280 (77.9 - 92.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Resisted Hits:

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 116 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 208-246 (56.2 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 208-246 (51.4 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cinderace: 219-258 (72.7 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (OHKO with Chip)
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Clodsire: 258-304 (55.7 - 65.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 219-258 (69 - 81.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 90-106 (27.8 - 32.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def (Multiscale Broken) Dragonite: 180-212 (55.7 - 65.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 144 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 90-106 (25 - 29.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 144 HP / 0 Def (Multiscale Broken) Dragonite: 180-213 (50.1 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Glimmora: 188-222 (61.2 - 72.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Great Tusk: 136-161 (36.6 - 43.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Treads: 148-174 (46.1 - 54.2%) -- 54.7% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Iron Treads: 148-174 (38.5 - 45.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Orthworm: 96-113 (27.9 - 32.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Pelipper: 124-147 (38.3 - 45.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Quaquaval: 207-244 (66.5 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 200 HP / 180+ Def Quaquaval: 154-182 (42.6 - 50.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 236 HP / 0 Def Scizor: 174-204 (51.1 - 60%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Toxapex: 96-114 (31.5 - 37.5%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 248 HP / 108 Def Volcarona: 212-249 (56.8 - 66.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Double Resisted Hits:

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 104-123 (35.7 - 42.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 104-123 (29.3 - 34.7%) -- 8.3% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Moth: 130-154 (43.1 - 51.1%) -- 5.5% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Iron Valiant: 94-111 (32.5 - 38.4%) -- 97.9% chance to 3HKO​

To give you an idea, those calculations were for 32 of 35 OU and OU BL Pokemon. 10 of those 32 listed OU Pokemon are either OHKO'd or have a solid chance to be OHKO'd. 15 of those 32 listed are either 2HKO'd or have a solid chance to be 2HKO'd. This means that 25 of 35 OU Pokemon, roughly a whopping 71% of the entire OU Meta, cannot reliably switch into Banded Stakeout STAB First Impression at full health without being OHKO'd or 2HKO'd or having a very high chance to be OHKO'd or 2HKO'd (100% assured OHKO/2HKO's with chip damage). If you factor in the previously mentioned chip damage, that number becomes somewhere closer to 80%+ and turns some of those 3HKOs into 2HKOs. The numbers are relatively similar for Band Stakeout STAB U-Turn, so I won't post those calculations here. Those who know about Spidops's nuclear power don't want to switch - those who don't know are generally decimated; regular resists are mostly 2HKO'd or 3HKO'd.

So what about First Impression without Stakeout's boost? Well, it's not as impressive for obvious reasons, but still hits some notable OHKO and 2HKO benchmarks which is all that it needs to do to threaten specific targets from your opponent's team. It also hits many neutral threats for a solid 3HKO that can turn into a 2HKO with chip damage.

Banded STAB First Impression Damage Calculations (No Stakeout)
View attachment 492228

OHKOs and 2HKOS:

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 186-220 (50.1 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Breloom: 210-247 (80.4 - 94.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 181-214 (50.7 - 59.9%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 482-570 (168.5 - 199.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Grimmsnarl: 246-289 (62.4 - 73.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 248 HP / 116+ Def Hatterene: 147-174 (46.3 - 54.8%) -- 60.5% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 380-450 (116.9 - 138.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Meowscarada: 928-1096 (316.7 - 374%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Roaring Moon: 458-542 (130.4 - 154.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ting-Lu: 288-338 (56 - 65.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

3HKOs (that can become 2HKOs with chip damage):

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Amoonguss: 171-202 (39.5 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 110-129 (34.7 - 40.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 181-214 (43 - 50.9%) -- 4.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 112 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 148-175 (40.1 - 47.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-Wash: 118-141 (38.8 - 46.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery​

All of this mayhem and chaos is just from one move - so what about Spidop's coverage moves? Let's start with Throat Chop; If you're not clicking First Impression or U-Turn, you will likely be clicking Throat Chop. So what can Throat Chop do? Well, Throat Chop is specifically meant to handle Pokemon such as Skeledirge, Ceruledge, and others that like to switch in on Spidops. With Tera-Dark, Spidops additionally gets rid of the problems of its mono-Bug defensive profile and replaces it with mono-Dark that grants nifty resistances to Dark and Ghost and a Psychic immunity while changing the Fire, Flying, and Rock weaknesses to neutralities. For Throat Chop, we're going to look at calculations both with and without Terastallizing for emphasis here.

Throat Chop (No Stakeout and Stakeout) Calculations (Pre-Tera and Post-Tera)
View attachment 492229

No Stakeout Damage Buff:

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 248-294 (70 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 372-440 (105 - 124.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 108-127 (27 - 31.8%) -- 41.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 260-308 (82 - 97.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 390-462 (123 - 145.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 214-254 (67.9 - 80.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 320-380 (101.5 - 120.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gholdengo: 154-182 (40.7 - 48.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gholdengo: 230-272 (60.8 - 71.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 206-244 (50.1 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 308-366 (74.9 - 89%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Stakeout Damage Buff:

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 496-584 (140.1 - 164.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ceruledge: 744-876 (210.1 - 247.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 214-253 (53.6 - 63.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 520-614 (164 - 193.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 780-920 (246 - 290.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 430-506 (136.5 - 160.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 644-758 (204.4 - 240.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gholdengo: 306-362 (80.9 - 95.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gholdengo: 458-542 (121.1 - 143.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 410-484 (99.7 - 117.7%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Tera Dark Spidops Throat Chop vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 614-726 (149.3 - 176.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO​

The last slot after U-Turn is a toss-up depending on your team's specific needs. I vastly prefer to run Sticky Web for additional speed control and team utility. Hatterene and any other Magic Bounce users will either (A. Be cautious about switching in due to First Impression or B. Switch in because they know Spidops has Sticky Web and don't understand just how hard First Impression can hit). You'll likely want to wait to click Sticky Web until Magic Bounce users are dealt with - otherwise, click First Impression, Throat Chop, or U-Turn if you expect a switch. The second option you could choose is to run additional coverage with Brick Break to nail annoying Rock, Steel, Ice, Normal, and Dark type switch-ins. The reason I prefer Sticky Web over Brick Break is that, without Stakeout, Brick Break's damage output can be a bit lackluster. Let's take a look at some calculations for Brick Break with and without Stakeout so that you can see if these damage benchmarks are right for you.

Brick Break (No Stakeout and Stakeout) Damage Calculations
View attachment 492238

No Stakeout Damage Buff:

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Garganacl: 154-182 (38.1 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 228+ Def Garganacl: 118-140 (29.2 - 34.6%) -- 99.9% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Treads: 166-196 (51.7 - 61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Brick Break vs. 112 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 332-392 (89.9 - 106.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Orthworm: 108-128 (31.3 - 37.2%) -- 81% chance to 3HKO

Stakeout Damage Buff:

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Garganacl: 306-362 (75.7 - 89.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 228+ Def Garganacl: 236-278 (58.4 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Treads: 330-390 (102.8 - 121.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Brick Break vs. 112 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 660-780 (178.8 - 211.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Orthworm: 214-252 (62.2 - 73.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
​

Lastly, you could run Circle Throw - you wouldn't be running this for damage (although Stakeout Circle Throw can still hit quite hard); you would be running this for its phasing capabilities. However, the choice is up to you!

Defensive Capabilities​

So now you're likely thinking, "Okay, I get it; Spidops hits like a truck, but what about its defenses?" Well, with near-max HP investment and just a little bit of Special Defense investment, Spidops is capable of some surprising defensive feats courtesy of its 92/86 Defense and Special Defense. With this EV investment, Spidops's defensive profile is HP - 320, Defense - 220, and Special Defense - 210. Let's take a look at some calculations to see just how much Spidops can live through with the allotted 252 HP, 0 Def, 8 SpD EVs.

Spidops Physical Defense Calculations (Pre-Tera)
View attachment 492228

252+ Atk Amoonguss Foul Play vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 88-104 (27.2 - 32.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 127-151 (39.3 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 147-174 (45.5 - 53.8%) -- approx. 37.1% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Breloom Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 157-186 (48.6 - 57.5%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 79-93 (24.4 - 28.7%) -- 99.7% chance to 4HKO

0 Atk Clodsire Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 46-54 (14.2 - 16.7%) -- possible 6HKO
0 Atk Corviknight Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 248-294 (76.7 - 91%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Def Dondozo Body Press vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 47-56 (14.5 - 17.3%) -- possible 6HKO
0 Atk Dondozo Liquidation vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 99-117 (30.6 - 36.2%) -- 46.9% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Dragapult Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 128-151 (39.6 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
76 Atk Dragapult Dragon Darts (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 146-174 (45.2 - 53.8%) -- approx. 28.1% chance to 2HKO

252+ Atk Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 106-125 (32.8 - 38.6%) -- 99.4% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Dragonite Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 65-77 (20.1 - 23.8%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
252+ Atk Dragonite Fire Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 198-234 (61.3 - 72.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 72-86 (22.2 - 26.6%) -- 21.9% chance to 4HKO
0 Atk Garchomp Dragon Tail vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 87-103 (26.9 - 31.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 88-104 (27.2 - 32.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Dragon Claw vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 141-166 (43.6 - 51.3%) -- 6.6% chance to 2HKO

252 Atk Great Tusk Headlong Rush vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 105-125 (32.5 - 38.6%) -- 98.9% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Great Tusk Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 105-125 (32.5 - 38.6%) -- 98.9% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Great Tusk Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 114-135 (35.2 - 41.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Meowscarada Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 163-193 (50.4 - 59.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Protean Meowscarada U-turn vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 163-193 (50.4 - 59.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Meowscarada Flower Trick vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops on a critical hit: 123-144 (38 - 44.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 Atk Quaquaval Aqua Step vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 133-157 (41.1 - 48.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Quaquaval Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 99-117 (30.6 - 36.2%) -- 58.2% chance to 3HKO

252 Atk Protosynthesis Roaring Moon Crunch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 192-226 (59.4 - 69.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Protosynthesis Roaring Moon Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 80-94 (24.7 - 29.1%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Roaring Moon Crunch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 243-286 (75.2 - 88.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Roaring Moon Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 101-119 (31.2 - 36.8%) -- 77.1% chance to 3HKO

0 Atk Ting-Lu Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 63-74 (19.5 - 22.9%) -- possible 5HKO

Spidops Special Defense Calculations (Pre-Tera)
View attachment 492248

252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 184-217 (56.9 - 67.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
180 SpA Dragapult Hex (65 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 94-112 (29.1 - 34.6%) -- 8.7% chance to 3HKO

0 SpA Gholdengo Hex (65 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 102-120 (31.5 - 37.1%) -- 78.9% chance to 3HKO
0 SpA Gholdengo Hex (130 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 202-238 (62.5 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 150-177 (46.4 - 54.7%) -- 59% chance to 2HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Surf vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 211-249 (65.3 - 77%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 258-304 (79.8 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Greninja Surf vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 231-273 (71.5 - 84.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 282-333 (87.3 - 103%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

0 SpA Rotom-Wash Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 139-165 (43 - 51%) -- 3.1% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Rotom-Wash Volt Switch vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 88-105 (27.2 - 32.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
​

So now we've established that there are some definite switch-in opportunities for Spidops with this defensive profile; what about once it terastallizes into a Dark type? Without those pesky Fire, Flying, and Rock weaknesses, Spidops can suddenly take attacks from a host of threats it really would not like to have switched into before! Let's take a look at some hits that it couldn't take before but can handle now.

Spidops Defensive Calculations (Terastallized)
View attachment 492229

0 Atk Ceruledge Bitter Blade vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 127-150 (39.3 - 46.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Ceruledge Bitter Blade vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 153-181 (47.3 - 56%) -- 80.9% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Ceruledge Shadow Sneak vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 28-33 (8.6 - 10.2%) -- possibly the worst move ever
252 Atk Ceruledge Shadow Sneak vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 34-41 (10.5 - 12.6%) -- possible 8HKO

252 Atk Cinderace Pyro Ball vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 195-229 (60.3 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Corviknight Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 124-147 (38.3 - 45.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 92-108 (28.4 - 33.4%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Dragapult Phantom Force vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 123-144 (38 - 44.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Dragapult Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 64-75 (19.8 - 23.2%) -- possible 5HKO

252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 75-88 (23.2 - 27.2%) -- 59.1% chance to 4HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 112-132 (34.6 - 40.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252+ Atk Kingambit Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 159-187 (49.2 - 57.8%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 84-99 (26 - 30.6%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 69-82 (21.3 - 25.3%) -- 0.2% chance to 4HKO

252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 237-280 (73.3 - 86.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 126-148 (39 - 45.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 104-123 (32.1 - 38%) -- 95.1% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Roaring Moon Crunch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Spidops: 121-143 (37.4 - 44.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
8 SpA Skeledirge Torch Song vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 106-126 (32.8 - 39%) -- 99.7% chance to 3HKO
+1 8 SpA Skeledirge Torch Song vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 159-187 (49.2 - 57.8%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Volcarona Fiery Dance vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Tera Dark Spidops: 126-148 (39 - 45.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Team Support + Other Set Option
View attachment 492184
Spidops may be strong, but it does require some solid support to function properly. Let's take a look at some options that will help Spidops successfully function! In addition, we'll look at an additional Spidops set very briefly to explain how it works; while I don't like the following set as much as the Choice Band set, I've had enough success with it that I found it noteworthy enough to mention!

Hazard + Mortal Spin or Rapid Spin

Recommended Partner: Glimmora
View attachment 492250
Not only is Glimmora one of the best leads (arguably one of the best OU Pokemon in general), but it compresses spinning and setting into a single team slot. Glimmora's ability Toxic Debris auto sets Toxic Spikes, its signature move Mortal Spin poisons + clears hazards, and it has access to both Spikes and Stealth Rock! Whenever I use Spidops, I almost always have Glimmora as its partner.

Wish Passing

Recommended Partner: Alomomola

View attachment 492252

Alomomola has been my favorite Gen 9 OU wish passer since the earliest stages of the metagame. It has tremendous bulk, fantastic mono-Water defensive typing, and access to invaluable utility and trapping moves such as Chilling Water and Whirlpool. Alomomola is a Pokemon that I would recommend for most team compositions in general, but especially as a great partner for Spidops!

Spidops Alternative Set Option
View attachment 492173
Anti-Lead Steel Stakeout Bug Utility
View attachment 492254
Spidops @ Leftovers
Ability: Stakeout
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Taunt
- Silk Trap
- U-turn

Set Explanation:
This is a role compression utility set that relies on Spidop's access to its unique move Silk Trap, a variant of Protect for damaging moves that slows a Pokemon's speed by one stage if it hits the Silk Trap with a contact move. Taunt is meant to stop hazard/status/phasing, while First Impression and U-Turn function similarly. The reason we're using Steel as a Tera-type is for its defensive prowess + immunity to Toxic. The 100 Speed EVs are to outspeed Ting-Lu and Hippowdon (allowing you to Taunt them). While I have had quite a bit of success with this set, I feel that the issues with vulnerability and having to sacrifice HP and Special Defense EVs is a really tough call to make.

Conclusion
View attachment 492253

Spidops is one of my new favorite Pokemon to use in OU - it's powerful and varied, and has plenty of other options besides the Choice Band set and the Anti-Lead Utility set that I listed. It has its flaws (having the lowest BST total of all Pokemon introduced in Gen 9 is a bummer), but I've found that it's a valuable team member with a great niche that compliments multiple build styles. So, give Spidops a try today; I promise you won't be disappointed - however, when your opponent's Garchomp goes down in a single hit to an early-game Bug type, they definitely will be disappointed.​

Legendary

 

[Morkal]

Thank you to everyone for the kind words about my Spidops post; there are so many of you who said such nice things that I can't quote all of you like I usually try to do, or else the post would look as long as the Spidops post itself! I would like to say, though, that I'm working on testing more Pokemon in OU currently!

These are the Pokemon that I've been testing that have shown the most promise so far to have a concrete niche in OU as of writing this reply, and I'll hopefully be able to get another write-up done soon (likely Cacturne or Froslass first).

I'm also working on a complete writeup for Snow teams in OU with a variety of unexpected team options and unique sets, but progress on that is a lot slower as testing multiple team builds + unique Pokemon individually takes a lot more time because of the sheer volume of things I have to work with! Additionally, before the Snow post comes out, I want to do some full writeups on the previously mentioned team options so that I can hyperlink to those posts as a reference for additional detail so the Snow post itself isn't, like, 20k words or some ridiculous number.

Also, of course, I'm working on a Pokemon that I try to make work in every generation that it's in because it's one of my longtime favorites (but might actually have a reliable OU niche for the first time)

Delelelele whooooooooooop

Also, if anyone wants me to share some teams with Spidops on them (since I was asked about that when I put up my OU Luxray post), send me a private message or make a wall post, and I'd be glad to share some with you! (I'd share them here, but half of the last two pages have been entirely Spidops, and I don't want to overstuff forum discussion with the mustache bug assassin)!

Really cool writeup! I'd been speculating about Spidops myself, though in lower tiers.

Could there be any merit to using Silver Powder to boost U-Turn/First Impressions on the utility set, or something similar to that set? Also, how much have you experimented with some of the other notable utility moves in Spidops' movepool, like Sticky Web, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes?

I have tried to work with Silver Powder on the Utility set, and while the additional power boost was nice, I found that Spidops having passive recovery suited the Utility set a little more (especially for situations where my spinner was taken down and I couldn't clear Stealth Rock and had to rely harder on Alomomola to keep Spidops healthy in the mid-late game). On the other hand, though, the utility set having a bit of extra power does turn some 3HKOs into 2HKOs with Stakeout, so there's potential there that I might have missed when testing that item. The Silk Trap utility set would have to be retooled to suit a hazard (one of the problems with that utility set is major 4MSS along with the EV strain). Although if you were to use the utility set with a hazard, my suggestion would be to replace Silk Trap with Sticky Web or Spikes. Toxic Spikes I honestly find to be redundant on any Pokemon that isn't Glimmora right now, but both Sticky Web and Spikes could be slotted in over Silk Trap on that set! I hope this helps a little bit.

 

[DaddyBuzzwole]

Legendary

early-game bug, actually, but it's an easy mistake to make

 

[viivian]

early-game bug, actually, but it's an easy mistake to make

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Calyrex-Shadow: 417-492 (122.2 - 144.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

easy mistake indeed

 

[DaddyBuzzwole]

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Calyrex-Shadow: 417-492 (122.2 - 144.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

easy mistake indeed

we must free calyrex-shadow, spidops counters it

 

[pika pal]

There is something I find humorous about Spidops kind of going the opposite way of most "I'll find SOMETHING to use this for" cases like even our man (correct me if this assumption is off) Morkal has put together: instead of an offensively oriented Pokemon given utility in Role Compression for targets the way Pyroar or Luuxray demonstrated, Spidops just eschewed its assumed "scrape utility" approach in favor of blowing things up with Stakeout.



How do people feel about the fuzzy moth right now? Chien Pao leaving the tier removes a major competitor for strong Priority on the offensive side, and defensively it's got a decent niche of checking-by-burning Great Tusk, Kingambit (HDB +2 Five Faints Sucker Punch needs a max roll to KO offensive after SR/1 Spike before being hit itself, while maxing at 68% on defensive, and nothing short of Max-Roll neutral Iron Head KOs at +0 even as Last Mon) and Bulky Dragonite at the very least, and Meowscarada likely to be on the rise can't touch it without Play Rough.

One immediate teammate that comes to mind (surprise surprise) is Gholdengo, who hates all of the above mons but provides offensive pressure and checking against targets like Tera-Fairy or Un-Tera-ed Garganacl, Iron Valiant, or general Defensive Targets with Damage/Trick against enemies like Amoongus. Forcing the checks to the field only to have their progress impeded by Slither Wing helps rack up chip damage repeatedly to break through later, despite the large amount of pressure they can pose given that turn on the field otherwise (including set up options like BU/SD/DD).

Please I need to find a good structure for this it's the perfect friend shaped bug

 

[viivian]

How do people feel about the fuzzy moth right now? Chien Pao leaving the tier removes a major competitor for strong Priority on the offensive side, and defensively it's got a decent niche of checking-by-burning Great Tusk, Kingambit (HDB +2 Five Faints Sucker Punch needs a max roll to KO offensive after SR/1 Spike before being hit itself, while maxing at 68% on defensive, and nothing short of Max-Roll neutral Iron Head KOs at +0 even as Last Mon) and Bulky Dragonite at the very least, and Meowscarada likely to be on the rise can't touch it without Play Rough.

One immediate teammate that comes to mind (surprise surprise) is Gholdengo, who hates all of the above mons but provides offensive pressure and checking against targets like Tera-Fairy or Un-Tera-ed Garganacl, Iron Valiant, or general Defensive Targets with Damage/Trick against enemies like Amoongus. Forcing the checks to the field only to have their progress impeded by Slither Wing helps rack up chip damage repeatedly to break through later, despite the large amount of pressure they can pose given that turn on the field otherwise (including set up options like BU/SD/DD).

Please I need to find a good structure for this it's the perfect friend shaped bug

honestly a bit mixed on slither wing. it's got solid MUs against quite a few top tiers (great tusk, garganacl, kingambit, etc.) and poor MUs against others (gholdengo, dragonite, iron valiant, etc.). i think it's got a decent place in OU since it does have a few things going for it defensively, namely a resistance-laden typing, respectable bulk, access to reliable recovery and can cripple physical attackers with will-o-wisp, and offensive slither wing sets are as crazy strong as they've always been. the issue is that its typing also gives it some pretty nasty weaknesses and leaves it getting blanked by a lot of the tier unless it has specific coverage for them, and that speed tier can really hurt it when trying to go on the offensive, especially since it can't exactly boost its speed very easily

decent pokemon overall, i think it has some potential in this meta but that typing and speed tier can leave a lot to be desired at times

 

[RoiDadadou]

rain is good, it’s just that there’s some teams that pack 1-2 viable Pokémon that basically shutdown The entire play style unless your double switch game is on point

for example clodsire + kingambit, or Slowking + anything that hits hard, or tusk/hatterene doing a reverse sweep with their clutch Tera water, maybe you steamroll it with well positioned choice banded outrages from a baxcali.

wanna completely shut down rain? Slowking can position in on a minimum of 2 threats - including the most essential pelipper - and immediately change the weather before going to a breaker/fast hitter. Suddenly your rain team is 5-6 because you had to sack something.

rains best selling point rn is the choice specs Hurricanes due to the dearth of strong flying resists in the meta right now. Choice water attacks are amazing on paper, but have the game turned on their head against those clodsires where you’re suddenly making 50/50 predictions on whether it’s switching in or not, or the slowkings that force you to try and bring Peli back in, or the well positioned dondozos, etc.

I’ve seen ejection amoonguss as a great addition because against a lot of teams, you can force them into a losing matchup and then get a 6-5 with your rain team. But the tradeoff it becomes very readable and you don’t get consistent results against experienced players

I mean, you also have a lot of Tera Water shit which completely negate the playstyle. Heck, even some non Water. Tusk Water is great, but you also win the interaction with one of the key rain player, Floatzel CB Wave Crash, by basically Tera'in Ting-Lu, which isn't supposed to deal with this kind of Mon. I just feel like, most of the time, you have to rely on your opponent not making the right play, or not being willing to Tera early in order to shut you down.

 

[Morkal]

There is something I find humorous about Spidops kind of going the opposite way of most "I'll find SOMETHING to use this for" cases like even our man (correct me if this assumption is off) Morkal has put together: instead of an offensively oriented Pokemon given utility in Role Compression for targets the way Pyroar or Luuxray demonstrated, Spidops just eschewed its assumed "scrape utility" approach in favor of blowing things up with Stakeout.

Thank you so much! Spidops does have role compression on the CB Stakeout First Impression set I mentioned with Sticky Web (as it's the only Sticky Web user with an immediate, strong offensive presence, Masquerain requires Quiver Dance boosts to threaten things). Though essentially, yeah, Spidops is primarily meant to be a priority nuke, with Tera backing an already fun situational defensive typing.

How do people feel about the fuzzy moth right now? Chien Pao leaving the tier removes a major competitor for strong Priority on the offensive side, and defensively it's got a decent niche of checking-by-burning Great Tusk, Kingambit (HDB +2 Five Faints Sucker Punch needs a max roll to KO offensive after SR/1 Spike before being hit itself, while maxing at 68% on defensive, and nothing short of Max-Roll neutral Iron Head KOs at +0 even as Last Mon) and Bulky Dragonite at the very least, and Meowscarada likely to be on the rise can't touch it without Play Rough.

One immediate teammate that comes to mind (surprise surprise) is Gholdengo, who hates all of the above mons but provides offensive pressure and checking against targets like Tera-Fairy or Un-Tera-ed Garganacl, Iron Valiant, or general Defensive Targets with Damage/Trick against enemies like Amoongus. Forcing the checks to the field only to have their progress impeded by Slither Wing helps rack up chip damage repeatedly to break through later, despite the large amount of pressure they can pose given that turn on the field otherwise (including set up options like BU/SD/DD).

Please I need to find a good structure for this it's the perfect friend shaped bug

Slither Moth is quite good from what I've played with it. As Real_Corviknight mentioned it has great matchups against several consistently strong meta threats, and if you play it right, you can actually turn the tables on some threats that normally feel safe against Slither Wing. Here's one of my favorite Slither Wing sets -


Slither Wing @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Acrobatics
- Close Combat
- U-turn

Tera Ground Scarf Slither Wing with an Adamant Nature is what I've been having the most consistent OU success with (although, in all fairness, I haven't used it as much as some others, so there's likely a better way to use/optimize Slither Wing that I'm not currently aware of).

Earthquake is a fantastic coverage option; Acrobatics helps Slither Wing's role as a Knock Off absorber (this is also why it has an Adamant nature) - 252+ Atk Slither Wing Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 386-456 (122.5 - 144.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Close Combat and U-Turn are self-explanatory! I think Slither Wing has a lot of untapped OU potential

 

[SpritePony]

There is something I find humorous about Spidops kind of going the opposite way of most "I'll find SOMETHING to use this for" cases like even our man (correct me if this assumption is off) Morkal has put together: instead of an offensively oriented Pokemon given utility in Role Compression for targets the way Pyroar or Luuxray demonstrated, Spidops just eschewed its assumed "scrape utility" approach in favor of blowing things up with Stakeout.



How do people feel about the fuzzy moth right now? Chien Pao leaving the tier removes a major competitor for strong Priority on the offensive side, and defensively it's got a decent niche of checking-by-burning Great Tusk, Kingambit (HDB +2 Five Faints Sucker Punch needs a max roll to KO offensive after SR/1 Spike before being hit itself, while maxing at 68% on defensive, and nothing short of Max-Roll neutral Iron Head KOs at +0 even as Last Mon) and Bulky Dragonite at the very least, and Meowscarada likely to be on the rise can't touch it without Play Rough.

One immediate teammate that comes to mind (surprise surprise) is Gholdengo, who hates all of the above mons but provides offensive pressure and checking against targets like Tera-Fairy or Un-Tera-ed Garganacl, Iron Valiant, or general Defensive Targets with Damage/Trick against enemies like Amoongus. Forcing the checks to the field only to have their progress impeded by Slither Wing helps rack up chip damage repeatedly to break through later, despite the large amount of pressure they can pose given that turn on the field otherwise (including set up options like BU/SD/DD).

Please I need to find a good structure for this it's the perfect friend shaped bug

I've been playing around with the idea of using mof in a team or two, but haven't really found a home for it yet especially since right now I have a Loaded Dice Hera team and I don't want to swap the mof in. Otherwise, I like the idea of mof doing things, but the problem is that it kind of lacks a diverse enough move pool to threaten or answer various Pokemon. Your coverage is effectively this; Close Combat/Low Kick/Superpower, Flame Charge/Flare Blitz, First Impression/Leech Life/U-Turn/Lunge, Trailblaze, Earthquake, Dual Wingbeat (if you randomly want to use this), Zen Headbutt, Wild Charge, and Tera Blast.
Most mofs are going to be something along the lines of First Impression / Close Combat / Wild Charge/X /U-Turn. (I like being a meme with mine and going Leech / CC / Tera Blast Rock / Trailblaze/Flame Charge) This means that you have a really weak matchup vs Dirge, Dnite, Mence, Azu (if you don't have Wild Charge or a good Tera Blast), Tera Bug Ceru, Corvi, possibly Dragapult, Valiant, Bulky Scizor (no Flame Charge), Pex (no EQ/Charge), and a horrible MU vs untera'd Volcarona. You also have a weird speed tier of 81, meaning that a good portion of Pokemon in the OU Tier will be outrunning you unless you're Scarfed or use Flame Charge/Trailblaze.

Side note, how do people feel about SpDef Corviknight? I'm trying it with a pairing of PhysDef Tusk + SpDef Corvi. Not sure how well this will go.

 

[Lobby Eeveee]

wanna talk for a moment about dragmag in this meta cause I think it may actually have a place.

with only 2 fairies in ou, one of which being pretty reliably threatened by magnezone, and strong dragons being everywhere between Dragonite, baxcalibur, dragapult, roaring moon, hydreigon, and even more niche things like haxorus. it's not unreasonable to see the potential of dragons + magnezone carving out a niche for itself.

now, of course, gholdengo being as prominent as it is throws a bit of a wrench in things, but the fact of the matter is that ghold struggles to both do everything ghold already does AND check the dragons this stratagy would be spamming, now of course, you wouldn't go overboard with dragons, more likely you'd stick with 2 or maybe 3 if you can fit some serious role compression, that being said, lets look at the basis of any dragmag strategy; the mag.

mag is not without it's flaws, but specs lets it deal massive damage and usually ko most of the things it's tasked with beating, it's main targets may differ depending on it's teammates, but corv and kingambit are the 2 most common threats mag will likely be tasked with bringing down, as such, tera fighting is preferable as to beat king while also resisting it's sucker punch, meaning mag will have more health to be a threat later, tera fighting also helps dramatically against ting-lu, who's massive bulk can be a problem for these dragmag stratagies. mag isn't perfect, but it does what it needs to do with enough efficiency that the drags can go wild, speaking of which:

THE DRAGS:

I'l briefly go over each of the dragons you might consider and why you might want to consider them:

not having to worry about corviknight means dnite has a very open 4th move slot, which can either let it pack roost for longevity or can pack more specialized counterplay to certain checks such as ice spinner or huricane, still struggles with unaware walls, but those can be dealt with through another one of your dragons.

choice band is nice as the only good physical dragon with u-turn, booster energy is similar to dnite's role just far more committal, not a big fan of this one, but has some tools that can make it worth considering.

chain chomp is super scary for sure, but the fact of the matter is that removing steels doesn't really make chomp better at doing chomp things, so while it's a good mon in its own right, I'd say it's not a great partner for dragmag.

speed demon supreme, its stab combo roasts most things, save for corv and king, who can be safely u-turned on to let mag do it's thing. great partner for zone, and it's speed tier gives the team a good deal of utility, making it probably the most splashable of the drags.

choice banded glaive rush kills things. plain and simple. ice stab lets it deal with ting-lu and just about everything else either gets glaive rushed to death or gets mag'd, this is probably the purest dragmag abuser out there.

specs is the strongest draco meteor currently available, its not as outright strong as bax, but its typing is great as it means that skeledirge is much less of a threat to the team (moon isn't as good at this since wisp is far more detrimental), having a decent switchin to choiced gholdengo doesn't hurt, and nasty plot sets are just as threatening while still allowing free move slots, can also provide u-turn for pivoting or stealth rocks for some role compression, both sets have their upsides and downsides, but both are incredibly dangerous, great mag partner.

more niche, but absolutely has a place, albeit one that can be hard to make work, its job is fairly simple, abuse the lack of corv to just set up dragon dances and try to sweep, mold breaker means unaware is a non-factor, meaning the likes of dirge and dozo are unable to effectively check it, pex gets obliterated, amoong needs to be near full (and lum can make spore a non-issue), it's only real issue is dealing with prio, but that doesn't mean it can't be incredibly threatening.

that being said the playstyle has its issues, and can be inconsistant, after all, every stratagy has counterplay, and this one is no different:

Common threats:

a steel that can't be trapped is the very definition of an issue for dragmag, it can be overwhelmed over the course of a game, but that doesn't make it less of a threat. most counterplay will depend on the set, but no set is truly unbeatable. scarf can be scouted, np and specs can be revenged or played arround, recover can be passive and taken advantage of, victory is always possible, it's just a matter of figuring out how.
a fast fairy thats offensively threatening is also a big issue for dragmag, even packing fighting stab for magnezone, a good valiant check is basically required on just about every dragmag. no real way around it.
a physically-bulky unaware mon that doesn't give a rats ass about zone (before tera, that is), this thing is single-handedly half the reason to run hax/hydrei, your best bet against this thing is usually just to keep up the pressure and try to force it to tera if possible, if it teras, zone can force it out reliably if it gets in with a u-turn, fight this thing like you would fight stall with bo, just keep applying pressure.

there are other threats, of course, but these 3 are the most promenent and consistent, just about every other threat to dragmag is more dependent on what drags you pick and what teammates your pairing them with, speaking of which:

Other Teammates:

its tusk. it does tusk things. need I say more?
lumping these two together since they fill mostly the same role, that being, a secondary steel meant to releive defensive pressure off of zone while providing a solid valient check, ghold is ovbiously a good choice, but sciz can provide some nice utilities like u-turn, prio, and defog that give it some niches over ghold.
another decent valiant check that can also reliably help scout gholdengo while also just being a good general utility mon, can run covert cloak to assist greatly in the garg mu or can run a different item like helmet or boots if you think garg isn't a problem for your team
decent spiker that also serves as a good volc/iron moth check, toxic also provides some nice utility that is synergistic with zone removing some common toxic absorbers.
of course, there are other teammates you could run, and probably should run, but a good deal of mons can work on dragmag so listing them all would be a headache so I'l limit it to the few mentioned here. I hope you enjoyed this read!

Mag is bad. It can’t trap many steels reliably. Corv can U-turn out of it. Treads can volt switch on an attempted revenge and break its air balloon. Gholdengo can’t be trapped like you said. And scizor gets u-turn. The only steel it traps is Kingambit.

 

[viivian]

Mag is bad. It can’t trap many steels reliably. Corv can U-turn out of it. Treads can volt switch on an attempted revenge and break its air balloon. Gholdengo can’t be trapped like you said. And scizor gets u-turn. The only steel it traps is Kingambit.

it's not hard for magnezone to hardswitch into me and either force a tera or fry me with thunderbolt, the whole "just switch/u-turn out" argument doesn't work in this MU when the opponent adapts to it and manages to trap you

iron treads can very easily get destroyed by magnezone if it uses tera, which is not particularly uncommon to see, especially in this matchup. tera fire/fighting magnezone easily OHKOs iron treads and mag can survive anything treads throws at it. it can absolutely trap treads with the right tera type, it just needs a clean switch in order to do so

gholdengo can't be trapped due to its ghost typing but what i said about corviknight and iron treads in this matchup are both applicable to how magnezone fares against scizor

 

[Ctann]

Mag is bad. It can’t trap many steels reliably. Corv can U-turn out of it. Treads can volt switch on an attempted revenge and break its air balloon. Gholdengo can’t be trapped like you said. And scizor gets u-turn. The only steel it traps is Kingambit.

now that you mentioned it..

trapping kingambit is a big deal right now. A much bigger deal than trapping corviknight.

it’s a high impact Pokémon, since the stuff it checks don’t have many other checks. And the obvious “it hits hard, and resists stuff.”

at the very least you might be able to force out its Tera fire/flying and therefore take away its resists for your partnered stuff.

 

[Darlington]

So with Chien-Pao and Espathra gone, how is everything liking the current meta game so far? Is it okay for everyone now until home drops the next month?

 

[Fusion Flare]

well, if magnezone fears volt switch from iron treads, Tera Ground could be a solid solution to that. It actually synergizes quite well with Magnezone’s base typing, and I could definetly see it work on IronPress sets.

As for Specs sets, the surprise power means that Clodsire, a common switchin, can be scared off and you can even smack Kingambits (tera aside lel) as well as catching a greedy Gholdengo trying to get a free Recover or Nasty Plot

 

[Ctann]

Meowscarada might be the only protean/libero user that has such a good STAB (physical dark with knock off and sucker), it might be worth not using it’s hidden ability over the default overgrow/torrent/blaze.

what’s everyone’s thoughts on overgrow meowscarada?

it’s able to do things like use flower trick, and keep STAB knock off / sucker punch. Or vice versa.

there’s lots of examples, such as using knock off on a. Toxapex switch in, and then using flower trick on the turn after.

here’s an example where preserving dark STAB allows it to OHKO dragapult.

In the example above, this wouldn’t be possible without preserving STAB.

252 Atk Black Glasses Meowscarada Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 312-368 (98.4 - 116%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

protean nerf really sucks tho.. wish the user could preserve its regular STAB after the type change. This would work in a similar way to Tera preserving the original STAB.

 

[Athyestic]

Iron Valiant @ Choice Specs
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ghost/Psychic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Future Sight
Got hit by Sash FS Valiant on the ladder, and I thought it might actually be okay kek. FS support + another fighting type breaker (Quaquaval?) sounds absolutely menacing.

 

[UnusualBoy]

Meowscarada might be the only protean/libero user that has such a good STAB (physical dark with knock off and sucker), it might be worth not using it’s hidden ability over the default overgrow/torrent/blaze.

what’s everyone’s thoughts on overgrow meowscarada?

it’s able to do things like use flower trick, and keep STAB knock off / sucker punch. Or vice versa.

there’s lots of examples, such as using knock off on a. Toxapex switch in, and then using flower trick on the turn after.

here’s an example where preserving dark STAB allows it to OHKO dragapult.

View attachment 492414

In the example above, this wouldn’t be possible without preserving STAB.

252 Atk Black Glasses Meowscarada Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 312-368 (98.4 - 116%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

protean nerf really sucks tho.. wish the user could preserve its regular STAB after the type change. This would work in a similar way to Tera preserving the original STAB.

Yeah, it seems that overgrow is the better option since most of the time the only moves her ugly ass uses are dark or grass type.

I do wonder what would’ve happened if they wouldn’t have nerfed protean, imagine if all three users would’ve ended up banned at some point lol.

 

[ayevon]

Gonna disagree here. Orthoworm is plenty good enough to faciliate shed tails, and gets hazards and a ground immunity as to not be entirely deadweight on a team (a la the Revival Blessing mons as an example). With Tera still around, the Shed Tail sub + Tera gives you opportunity for two easy free turns. Combine that with mons that abuse things such as booster energy, or block phazing with their abilties, Orthoworm Shed Tail strats are just as uncompetetive as Cyclizar ones. I think the key word here is uncompetetive. Cycilzar is clearly broken becuase of it's ability to Shed Tail ad infinitum, but the ability to baton pass substitutes in one move still facilitates uncompetetive strategies and I think the council would be doing the playerbase a big disservice by overlooking this just because Cyclizar so obviously more broken. There's tons of top ladder teams using Orthoworm Shed Tail over Cyclizar, but the broken strategies they facilitate remain the same.

bump

 

[Endrism]

Thought I'd share my findings from using Sylveon on a Screens HO team on the OU Ladder.

The biggest problem to tackle with using Sylveon is the abundance of steel types around. Corviknight, Iron Treads, Scizor, even Kingambit due to extremely scary Iron Heads despite being part dark, and of course the absolutely terrifying Gholdengo. This put a Tera Fairy Specs Hyper Voice off the table since I didn't want to get dropped the moment any of these guys get a hit off, so instead I went for a bait-and-switch tactic specifically tailored to slaughter the steels.



Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Tera Blast
- Psyshock

Sylveon was made to lure Gholdengo, its 130 Special Defense means there is no right prediction a Gholdengo can make other than getting the hell out of there as once Tera Fire'd, even a well predicted Shadow Ball only does 38% at most without screens, while Tera Blast wipes Gholdengo off the face of Paldea. Tera Blast Tera Fire Specs Sylveon obliterates any steels that think about clicking their precious steel STAB's. Especially when paired with screens support this thing eats hits like no tomorrow and sends nuclear warheads to take out opponents.

OFFENSIVE CALCS

252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Fire Sylveon Tera Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 414-488 (131.4 - 154.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Fire Sylveon Tera Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Iron Treads: 342-404 (89 - 105.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Fire Sylveon Tera Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Scizor: 916-1084 (266.2 - 315.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Fire Sylveon Tera Blast vs. 112 HP / 0 SpD Kingambit: 440-518 (119.2 - 140.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Fire Sylveon Tera Blast vs. 252 HP / 84 SpD Amoonguss: 416-492 (96.2 - 113.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Fire Sylveon Tera Blast vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Corviknight: 434-512 (108.7 - 128.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Fire Sylveon Tera Blast vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Corviknight: 306-362 (76.6 - 90.7%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Fire Sylveon Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Moth: 386-456 (128.2 - 151.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Fire Sylveon Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Toxapex: 142-168 (46.7 - 55.2%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Fire Sylveon Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Skeledirge: 222-262 (54 - 63.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Fire Sylveon Psyshock vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Clodsire: 382-450 (82.5 - 97.1%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Don't forget about Hyper Voice itself, as a Specs Hyper Voice is terrifying on top of all that.
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Tera Fire Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Garganacl: 199-235 (49.2 - 58.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Tera Fire Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 364-430 (72.2 - 85.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Tera Fire Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Tera Fairy Skeledirge: 223-264 (54.2 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 116 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 312-367 (84.3 - 99.1%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 258-304 (79.8 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

DEFENSIVE CALCS

But with screens up Sylveon also eats so many hits on the special side.
SPECIAL
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Fire Sylveon through Light Screen: 53-63 (16 - 19%) -- possible 6HKO
252 SpA Iron Moth Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Fire Sylveon through Light Screen: 65-77 (19.6 - 23.2%) -- possible 5HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Quark Drive Iron Moth Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Fire Sylveon through Light Screen: 127-150 (38.3 - 45.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO (funny calc)
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Sylveon through Light Screen: 91-108 (27.4 - 32.6%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
+5 4 SpA Skeledirge Torch Song vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Sylveon through Light Screen: 130-153 (39.2 - 46.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Fire Sylveon through Light Screen: 39-46 (11.7 - 13.8%) -- possible 8HKO
+2 252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Fire Sylveon through Light Screen: 105-125 (31.7 - 37.7%) -- 91.7% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Iron Valiant Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Sylveon through Light Screen: 87-103 (26.2 - 31.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Sylveon: 130-154 (39.2 - 46.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO (Infiltrator, but still misses the 2HKO)
0 SpA Rotom-Wash Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Fire Sylveon through Light Screen: 99-117 (29.9 - 35.3%) -- 19.8% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Fire Sylveon through Light Screen: 107-127 (32.3 - 38.3%) -- 97.3% chance to 3HKO

On the physical side it isnt great, but it still can bulk certain hits.
PHYSICAL
252 Atk Great Tusk Headlong Rush vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Sylveon through Reflect: 140-165 (42.2 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Quaquaval Aqua Step vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Sylveon through Reflect: 88-104 (26.5 - 31.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tera Fire Sylveon through Reflect: 111-132 (33.5 - 39.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+4 0 Atk Ceruledge Bitter Blade vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tera Fire Sylveon through Reflect: 124-147 (37.4 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Sylveon through Reflect: 116-137 (35 - 41.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Definitely not gonna set the world on fire but has a niche to be able to swap in on so many special attackers and hit back really hard. Give it a go, I might start messing around with AV or Wish Support soon to see if I can squeeze another niche out of our little fairy boi in hopes of getting Sylveon into the C ranks.

 

[YNM]

emphasis on ugly ass…

Am I the only one that likes the cat? It reminds me of Zorro :(
Anyways, I think that Protean is only really viable with the Banded set, since you're always gonna click one move regardess. Any other set likes having its STABs, as Ctann pointed out, and changing your type defensively to survive one hit doesn't really change much imo considering how garbage its defensive stats are. Paradoxically, what makes this mon good isn't even Protean, it's just the combination of high Speed + movepool, in particular Knock Off and Spikes.