SV OU RMT - Staking out the tier - CB Spidops Balance (1750+)

[dune481]

Art by 軍靴​

Introduction

Yes, you read that right. I actually built a team around Spidops in the big OU tier. The kind of "shitmon" people wrote joke analysis about. And yet, I managed to put together a team strong enough to withstand the tier with overall great results.

It all started during my search for my next project, something original to work with when I came back to the tier after taking a break during the first year of ban after ban before the metagame was stablished. It was during that research that I found this glorious post about CB Spidops from 3 years ago by Morkal. I loved Spidops since the begining of the gen and I got interested in the concept of Stakeout + First Impression, not only that but spidops has received significat buffs since the original post was redacted with moves like Knock Off and Low Kick. So I knew I had to actually put this set into practice.

After a couple months of casually playing the game I came up with a team that was actually starting to climb the ladder. Before I could notice, I was already in the 1500+ territory, so I spent the last few weeks optimizing the team and playing until I managed to reach the 1750s, achieving wins against most archetypes and even some top players along the way! That's when I knew I had to share this team with the world to discuss it with others, invite them to give it a try, and work to get this lil spider to never seen heights.

Proof of peak: 1765 (And a great example of Spidops' psychological dmg)​

Note: English is not my first language, so my writting might be a bit hard to read

Art by みちくさマワリ

Ok, but what does Spidops even do?

Spidops fills a very interesting niche as a "reverse trapper". You bring it in front of a target it can easily eliminate with First Impression, like squishy grass or dark types. If the mon stays, it get's KOd, but if it swiches out, the replacement get's smacked by a Stakeout boosted First Impression. Don't get misguided by Spidops' below average Attack stat of 79. When fully invested, and when buffed by its ability, this move can be devastating for even the strongest physical walls.
These are a few examples of the level of dmg that is being discussed here:​

Stakeout First Impression Calcs

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 52 Def Garganacl: 264-312 (65.3 - 77.2%) -- 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. 0 HP / 4 Def Raging Bolt: 373-441 (95.3 - 112.7%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ting-Lu: 570-672 (110.8 - 130.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cinderace: 219-258 (72.7 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
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. 0 HP / 4 Def Kingambit: 295-348 (86.5 - 102%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 288-340 (53.9 - 63.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 219-258 (69 - 81.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

A good portion of the tier is straight up obliterated by this move or, if not, very heavily damaged. And even those who could actually resist it should be wary of Knock off on a predicted switch:

Stakeout Knock Off Calcs

252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 196+ Def Gholdengo: 390-460 (103.1 - 121.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 174-205 (43.6 - 51.3%) -- 6.6% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Heatran: 236-278 (61.1 - 72%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stakeout Spidops Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 248+ Def Moltres: 193-228 (50.3 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Ok but, what if the opposite pokemon stays in? Why would anyone fear the base dmg of its attacks?

Actually, a surprising amount of them! STAB CB First Impression is still incredibly potent on it's own, and the tier is full of pokemon who are extremely threatened by it even at full HP. Coincidentially, a lot of them are also very commonly used in the lead spot as hazzards setters, screen setters, or fast pivots, making them less susceptible to switch out on a lead spidops, fearing Sticky Web.

First Impression OHKO Calcs

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. 248 HP / 8 Def Deoxys-Speed: 374-444 (123.4 - 146.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ogerpon-Wellspring: 402-474 (133.5 - 157.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rillaboom: 378-446 (110.8 - 130.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Barraskewda: 261-307 (99.2 - 116.7%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Darkrai: 380-450 (135.2 - 160.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Weavile: 492-582 (175 - 207.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Samurott-Hisui: 420-494 (130.8 - 153.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Finally, First Impression allows Spidops to finish off many weakened mons in the late game as a reliable win condition for the team

First Impression Calcs

252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 12 HP / 0 Def Walking Wake: 187-222 (54.6 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Tera Normal Dragonite: 180-213 (55.7 - 65.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Moltres-Galar: 190-225 (59.1 - 70%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Kingambit: 148-175 (43.4 - 51.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Kyurem: 189-223 (48.3 - 57%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO

Now that we learned how dangerous can Spidops be in the right situation, it's time to assemble a team capable of bringing the most out of Spidops' unique traits while it still being a valuable assest for the entire team's performance:


Teambuilding Process

I started with Wish Pass physically defensive Alomomola as Spidops best partner in crime. Mola easily walls most physical attackers that want to take advantage of Spidops' passivity after a First Impression while also being a good switch into common Fire and Steel types that threaten to eliminate Spidops. In return, Spidops switches into and eliminates physically offensive Grass types that threaten Mola, like Meowscarada, Rillaboom or any Ogerpon form. Mola also has the ability to heal Spidops back with Wish + Flip Turn in order to keep it healthy through the game and bringing it safely into the field.

Another unortodox choice. I wanted a strong special wallbreaker to weaken mons resistant to Spidops' moves while also being on an average speed tier that could make use of Sticky Web for cleaning potential and had a good defensive profile for the needs of the team. Hydreigon fits the role extremely well, specially after Terastalizing, while also being able to set Stealth Rocks for game progress.

The team demanded a specially defensive juggernaut in order to prevent strong special attackers from cleaning my team. Unaware Clodsire can easily switch into most of these attackers while contributing through Spikes and Toxic. It forms a solid defensive core with Mola and a strong hazards core with Hydreigon, creating a very good Balance structure

An easy fit into any hazards heavy comp. Scarf Gholdengo provides excellent role compression and additional defensive and offensive coverage, giving me a lot of victory options in different scenarios. Against offensive teams, it can act as a late game cleaner or revenge killer alongside Spidops. Against more defensive ones, it can Trick its Choice Scarf on a pasive mon and later attempt to break walls with Nasty Plot.

The glue that keeps the whole squad together. Hazards removals on my own are required in order to win the attrition war against other Balance teams. Additionally, the team was a bit short of physical power, a task a bit too hard for the small Spidops to accomplish alone. Good old Tusk fits the bill perfectly, freeing the team from hazards while being a strong physical menace on its own and rounding up the defensive coverage of the team with its respectable physical bulk.

​

The Spidops Squad:

Spidops

Sticky Fingers (Spidops) @ Choice Band
Ability: Stakeout
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Sticky Web
​

The star of the show! I've already talked about how fundamentally powerful his First Impression is, defining Spidops as both an effective revenge killer or a surprisingly strong wall breaker depending of the opponent's choice, specially targetting fast offensive Grass and Dark types that threatens the team such as

,

,

,

,

or

. Knock Off is another important move against defensive switches into steel or ghost types such as

,

or

, while being an excellent item removal tool. U-turn allows Spidops to safely switch an ally in thanks to it's extremely low speed stat. So low that it can even underspeed common OU pivots such as

,

and

. This synergices perfectly with Stakeout, as whoever comes in will receive the increased dmg from U-turn, which hits pretty hard considering stab and CB. This is particulary powerful against Wish Pass

, as it prevents it from healing teammates reliably.


The last move is much less used in practice than everthing else, and it's mostly a filler that helps the team under very specific situations. I found Sticky Web to be the best one overall, enabling the other offensive mons in the team to outspeed problematic speedy mons that usually don't wear Boots, such as

,

or

. Other interesting option that I found is Low Kick, for extra damage agaisnt steel types and

as well as oneshotting

on a 1v1. Circle Throw is weaker than Low Kick against most of the tier but phases out opposite mons that want to set up on Spidops. Finally, Memento is an option for one last resort against a strong oponent when First Impression is not going to help anymore. I chose Bug as the tera type as an emergency power boost to First Impression when the extra power makes the difference, but normaly I would be choosing others as the tera option instead, as those situations are rare.


Full investment on HP maximizes its durability, which is also surprisingly potent as a mono Bug type with ok 60/92/86 bulk and key resistances to Ground, Grass and Fighting. This helps Spidops being able to switch into the attacks of any Grass type that would otherwise be a problem for my main physical wall,

, and threaten them with a powerful Bug type move afterwards. The bulk also helps it works as a slow pivot, taking hits from physical mons like

,

and

and then switching in something else with U-Turn.​

If you want more proof about its bulk, here is a small list of significant attacks that Spidops resists:

Defensive Calcs

252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Dragon Darts (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 248-294 (76.7 - 91%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Tera Ghost Dragapult Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 266-314 (82.3 - 97.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Iron Crown Tachyon Cutter (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 264-312 (81.7 - 96.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 252-297 (78 - 91.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Wellspring Mask Ogerpon-Wellspring Power Whip vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 119-141 (36.8 - 43.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops in Grassy Terrain: 218-257 (67.4 - 79.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
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 Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 95-112 (29.4 - 34.6%) -- 9.8% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 254-300 (78.6 - 92.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+4 252+ SpA Serperior Leaf Storm vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Spidops: 271-320 (83.9 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Tera Normal Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spidops: 237-279 (73.3 - 86.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Alomomola

Kururun (Alomomola) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Tickle
- Flip Turn
- Wish
- Protect ​

Alomomola's role in the team is to help cover

's main weakness: After a successful kill with First Impression,

will be effectively stunned and forced to switch out, allowing powerful set up sweepers or wall breakers to do whatever they want. Alomomola is there to act as a strong, durable, physical wall, controlling the opponent's dmg and then allowing other team members safely in with Flip Turn. It also serves as a cleric with her unmatched Wish pass, almost fully recovering a teammate when executed propertly. As this team is going to eat a lot of punches during a match, this is a very valuable job. Alomomola also covers

's Fire weakness,

and

's Water weakness and

and

's Ice weakness.

Fully invested in defense for the maximum possible physical bulk in order to withstand the strong physical attackers in the tier, like

,

,

or

. Rocky Helmet punishes those attackers, lowering their HP with each contact move in order to bring them closer and closer into

's range. I chose Tickle over Scald or Chilling Water as a more reliable tool against physical buffers such as

,

,

or

, as well as being able to hit

. It also lowers their defense, making them take more dmg from Flip Turn and the follow up attacks from my

or

. Tera Ghost allows it to sustain Grass and Electric physical attacks more easily and prevens Rapid Spin users to clear hazards from their field. It also helps as an emergency check for Substitute

, which can then be forced out by pp stalling it alongside

, as well as

or

, who might try to set up in front of Alomomola and then attempt to sweep using Rapid Spin's speed boost to surpass my defenses against them.​

Hydreigon

Zeromus (Hydreigon) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Draco Meteor
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock​

Definitely the weirdest face here if it weren't for

. Hydreigon acts as the Special wallbreaker for the team, delivering Choice Specs boosted stab Draco Meteors and dealing heavy dmg to anything that doesn't resist them, dismantling foes like

,

or

. Earth Power allows it to hit Steel types such as

,

,

or

. Flash Cannon is a nice coverage against Fairies like

,

and

and a safer move than Draco Meteor against

. Finally, I chose Stealth Rock as the final slot, as a lot of players will immediately switch into their reliable Special walls such as

,

or

, giving it the chance to set up rocks, which can have a huge impact through the game by slowly damaging everything that is not immune to it.


Its good defensive profile and Dragon/Dark Type combination alongside Levitate makes the team more resistant to common Ghost, Psychic, Grass and Water type attackers the rest of the team struggles with, like

, Non-Play Rough

or

. Countering Psychic moves is specially important as

is devastated against most of them due to Psychic Noise and Psyshock.


This is the pokemon that I will be terastalizing the most in this team, and for very good reasons. Tera Steel turns many dangerous pokemon against hydreigon like Dragon or Fairy types and allows it to hit back with one of it's stab moves, it also combines with Levitate to create a devastating defensive combo that a lot of pokemon in the tier struggles to break through, as they rely on ground coverage in order to hit Steel types, such as

,

,

, and most crucially,

, who otherwise can easily pierce through my team with ease with STAB Freeze Dry and Ice/Ground coverage if fails to stop it. Tera Steel also enhances the power of Flash Cannon, making the team a lot more dangerous against Fairy and Rock types.
​

Clodsire

The Blob (Clodsire) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Spikes
- Recover ​

If

is the response to Physical attackers that want to take advantage of choice locked

or

, Clodsire is her complete opposite as the defensive unbreakable wall against the Special set up sweepers and Wallbreakers in the tier, such as

, Specs

,

,

,

or

. Unaware is very important as defense against set up sweepers like CM or SW

, NP

or Double Dance

. Toxic cripples most of them by putting them on a timer, and EQ hits most things Toxic doesn't while doing chip dmg to special attackers that could easily break through before Toxic takes them out. Clodsire forces a lot of switches, and makes set up sweepers like

or ID

waste a lot of turns, allowing Clodsire free time to set up Spikes. Combining them with

's rocks, opposite mons get seriously injured after every switch.


Heavy-Duty Boots helps clodsire preserve itself in the presence of hazards. Tera Steel allows Clodsire to handle psychic, dragon and water types better without losing Toxic immunity, although I'm considering using Dark tera instead to better counter psychic moves like Psyshock, Psychic Noise or Future Sight, all detrimental to Clodsire's defensive capabilities.​

Gholdengo

Kaclang (Gholdengo) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain
- Trick
- Nasty Plot ​

Possibly one of my favorite sets in the OU metagame at the moment. The role compression it brings to the team is unmatched, and allows a lot of creative thinking. Scarf Gholdengo is my second fast attacker, alongside

, outspeeding and eliminating a lot of weakened fast mons like

,

, +1

, and

, acting as a reliable win condition when all of these mons have been weakened enough through the team's various indirect dmg tools. Shadow Ball hits most things in the game for great neutral dmg with the exception of Dark Types, which are handled by

's First Impression. Make it Rain helps breaking through fairies and rock types without relying on

's tera and gives Gholdengo a strong wallbreaking move when combined with Nasty Plot


Alternatively, if all the fast sweepers have been eliminated, or Gholdengo's attacks are not required to beat them, it can activate the second phase of its game plan. Trick swaps Gholdengo's Scarf with the opponent's item. Completely disabling Set Up sweepers and Walls, and allowing Gholdengo to freely select moves, unlocking its 4th moveslot in Nasty Plot, turning itself into an emergency set up sweeper against slower paced teams like Balance or Stall.


Good as Gold is the cherry on top. Complete status immunity protects Gholdengo and the team from dangerous status such as Will o Wisp, Thunder Wave or Parting Shot. Combined with it's Ghost type, grants the team with complete hazards removal immunity. Keeping

's rocks,

's Spikes or, situationally,

's Webs on the field. I selected Fairy as it's teratype in order to resist Dark types and give my team a much appreciated Dragon immunity.​

Great Tusk

Olberic (Great Tusk) @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
- Temper Flare ​

The last team member and the patch for most of the problems that can't be handled by the other 5. Rapid Spin clears hazards from the user's field, preventing an opposite Balance comp to slowly cook

,

and

while giving itself a nice speed boost for offensive moves. Headlong Rush and Ice Spinner is a great combination of stab and coverage which, combined with an aggresive EV spread and the one time boost of Booster Energy, allows Tusk to deal heavy physical dmg to the opponent's team, which is something my team lacked. Temper Flare is my move of choice for the last slot, as a surprise card against bulky airbone Steel Types such as Air Balloon

,

or

.

is OHKO'd by it if it swaps into Rapid Spin or Headlong Rush, and Both

and

take solid dmg after they dodge a Headlong Rush.


Its good physical bulk and type combination also allows Tusk to serve as an answer to bulky priority sweepers such as

,

, or

forcing them to swap or spend their tera in response. Fire Tera allows Tusk to make better use of Temper Flare as a second stab option, protects it from incomming Fairy attacks and prevents it from being burned.




Usage Tips


This team belongs to the Balance category. Its goal is to wear down the opposite pokemon through entry hazards, toxic, rocky helmet and pivoting moves, as well as strong wall breaking moves from the 4 main attackers in order to bring them down enough for the cleaners to finish them off. Meanwhile, you should use the defensive coverage of the 2 main walls, the resists and immunities of the rest of the team and one defensive Teratype in order to handle the opponent's dmg and then use Wish support to keep the most essential members as healthy as possible, as well as using defensive abilities and rapid spin to protect the team from indirect dmg.

,

and

will try to break through the opposite team while

and

wall their strongest attacks.

prevents the hazards from being removed while bringing fast and hard hitting special attacks to the table plus the option to add even more power with Trick + Nasty Plot against slower teams. As the endgame approaches, you must select which revenge killers will be critical to clean the rest of their team and protect them as much as possible until they get to do their job.


The key is to pinpoint which of the opposite mons are the biggest threat to the comp and what should be the appropiate answer against them, often giving different roles to your own mons depending on the situation. Have all fast threats been eliminated or controlled? That means you no longer need Spidops and Gholdengo as revenge killers, and you should try to use them to protect the rest of the team through Slow turn or Trick, sacrificing themselves if needed. Is their Kingambit at 20% HP and the team is full of fast offensive fairies? Maybe it's time to let Tusk and Mola faint in order to bring in Tera Steel Hydreigon and Scarf Gholdengo.


Even when some pieces start to fall, there are always countermeasures available. If you think a sweeper is going to get out of control, focus on stacking hazards, spaming U-turn and Flip Turn and make defensive switches in order to bring them down enough for Spidops or Gholdengo to revenge kill them. The main walls are so strong that in order for them to be brought down severaly the opponent must make great sacrifices like Terastalizing a wallbreaker, which gives you the opportunity to turn the tides by defensively terastalizing yourself in order to bring it down.



Threats:

- Hardhitting special Water Types

Walking Wake, Primarina and even Pelipper of all things can be very hard to manage as they all hit Clodsire hard while not being bothered by Alomomola and having coverage options against all water-resist mons in the team. Tusk has no way of defending itself against them and while Spidops can take a hit, the presence of rocks can disable this bulk entirely. Gholdengo can take a hit most of the time but in Walkin Wake's case, there is no reliable way to stop it. The best hope against them is to set hazards as soon as possible and to wear them down enough to revenge kill them only losing a mon in the process. If Walking Wake is choice locked it's way easier to handle, but if it's Booster Energy or Boots it can get out of control very hard. The best answer to that would be a defensive Tera. Timing is key there.


- Set up with countermeasures

While rare, defensive options on set up sweepers can completely nullify my walls and start breaking the entire game from there. Substitute in front of alomomola or Earth immune and poison immune tools in front of Clodsire can turn both of them in complete trafic cones. Sub Body Press Zamazenta can be handled by Tera Ghost Alomomola and Clodsire, but stuff like Taunt Gyarados, Sub DD Dragapult or Tera Steel CM Latios can be extremely hard to traspass and could win the game right there.
It's usually not a problem, as most set up sweepers prefer relying on screens or sheer power instead, which are both easier to handle, but if you think one of these mons are going to be problematic in the match, try to hold on your defensive tera as much as possible in order to bring them down by either using it, or pretending you are going to use it. For example, Hydreigon could come into a Sub DD Dragapult, pretending to tera Steel, so Dragapult uses Ghost Terablast instead of Dragon Darts.


- Psychic disruptors

Hatterene, Primarina or Iron Crown all use Psychic Noise in order to prevent Clodsire from healing. Glowking's Future Sight can put you in a terrible spot where one of your mons is basically forced to faint and Psychic Terrain from Indedee can prevent Spidops from revenge killing a dangerous sweeper like Polteageist. In all those cases managing Hydreigon and it's natural psychic immunity is key. Additionally, Gholdengo can sacrifice its Scarf in order to lock these Psychic type users into one move, making them much easier to counter. ​

All of that being said, it's finally time to see Spidops in action:

Replays

Spidops Highlights
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2566944795 Raging Bolt OHKO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2567331274 Clutch endgame clear
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2566547735?p2 Early game destruction with forced tera
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2567207984?p2 Dragapult 1v1 and Tera Steel Hydreigon domination

Regular Balance/Offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2566689599 Against a top 100 player
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2567322870?p2 Insane Gholdengo play
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2567231801 Great Spidops supportive value
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2567221049-wbme4ul1jnk6disss0bjvrk7sarcetcpw Great Tusk gaming
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2555509603
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2565917078
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2566544366
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2566673264
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2566686580?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2506325322?p2

Hyperoffense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2566473589-e0c68jania5necolfpyjcgohivmq4f0pw?p2 Screen(less)

Stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2566697991-w22l7rhggafco3l33n0dnk9m0lxctbypw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2506389740 (Old moveset)

Conclusion:

This was one of the very few times I managed to reach +1750 with a fully original team since I started showdown several years ago, and to think I did it with a mon as silly as Spidops was extremely cool. The team can probably be improved. I feel it's strong enough to beat most teams in the game by just playing better but there are probably more optimizations out there in order to make them go further beyond!
So, is Spidops viable in OU? Maybe not? I'm sure a stronger team could be made by replacing it, but at least this performance proves Spidops is definitely not just an weak early bug but a force to be respected. Who knows, maybe I start losing more in the future because Spidops finally got recognition and people no longer keep their grass types against it haha!
Meta or not, I'm proud of what I achieved here. Time to cook even cooler teams in the future!

 

[porcupine21]

very unique and cool team, insane stuff!

 

[dune481]

Forgot to include the pokepast for the team~
Pokepast

 

[OatIsHere]

this team is rlly cool and i respect the commitment to spidops. some changes i would have to make are to change tusk to sr instead of temper flare as well as HDB/helmet instead of booster as i feel this team isnt weak to corv/skarm at all since you have alo anyways to wish back up and be a wall as well as you can change the hydreigon to be flame/fire blast instead o SR to be more offensively threatening. Also improve the kingambit MU since once tusk goes down theres really nothing stopping a gambit sweep. Would also like to make spidops a little faster so you dont speed tie with hatt/garg/dozo as well

 

[t44Torkoal]

Definitely a team I like! Spidops is certainly a choice I would respect. Few things though

I would personally change the tusk set to the boots utility set. I would go sr over tflare.

For himself, I would run dark pulse or u-turn over stealth rock. I feel like rocks is a wasted slot on choice item users, and dark pulse allows you hit psychics like or while giving you an easier time against choice locked. U-turn gives you momentum and allows you chip fairies like or .

These would be the changes. GL

 

[Highscore59]

Love this. I made a Spidops team a while back that I uploaded here when I first started. Glad to see other people also like Spidops.

 

[Sanesa8724]

Pinkacross your turn lol

 

[OatIsHere]

Pinkacross your turn lol

ur supposed to be 'the child prodigy' buddy i think ur going to have to do ts