Been using something very similar to the above six for a few weeks and really been liking it.
Basically, I think spinblocking is super underrated in BW. I think we largely dismiss things like Gengar and other frail Ghost-types because the spinners in Gen 5 are all so good - Analytic Starmie and Sand Force Excadrill are impossible to consistently spinblock in the literal meaning, as they have the potential to OHKO-2HKO (almost...) every Ghost in the game. As a result, people don't even consider spinblockers on the vast majority of Spikes teams. However, I think on offensive structures, even the power of sacrificial spinblocking is incredibly potent to keep hazards up and generate momentum with fast, spinner-threatening partners.
(note i'm not gonna mention MB Excadrill at all here really cos its a niche presence in the meta currently)
The obvious example of structures that abuse this is Psyspam, which follows a typical structure of:
Tyranitar
Ground-type Rocker
Steel-type Spiker
"filler"
Latios
Alakazam
Latios / Alakazam really like hazards support and ideally want them to stay up. In the absence of a spinblocker, certain Excadrill and Starmie+Volcarona structures can be rough MUs. This is an issue that the Ttar / Glisc / Ferro / Reun / Latios / Alakazam teams suffer most notably. Further, Alakazam is a near perfect partner for a KOd spinblocker as it can strongly threaten all the viable spinners with Psyshock (OHKO on 252 / 0 Tenta), Focus Blast (minimal chip on Excadrill) and Grass Knot / Signal Beam / Shadow Ball (minimal chip on Starmie). You
can fit in Jellicent in the filler slot, though only really alongside Skarmory as the spiker. However, after some messing around I think Ferrothorn + fast/sacrificial Ghost can be super solid.
Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Will-o-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Structure:
Shared some replays of this around discord and Gamer1234556 has done a solid write-up above. The set here is what I think is optimal on the Ferrothorn Psyspam teams I mentioned above. Consistency is the name of the game, as even with a bulky EV spread (and you should go
very bulky) Gengar is not fat enough to afford Focus / Wisp misses on critical turns. Trick is a reliable way to remove Chople Berry from Tyranitar at the very least, making this far more consistent than classic Focus Blast-based Gengar. Sludge also ruins the likes of SDef Skarmory and SDef Jirachi, two problematic mons for a lot of PsySpams. Will-o-wisp is still on the set but you rely on it far less than the old SubWisp sets - its a really scary move to be able to click on "free" turns and the potential crippling power of sludge + wisp onto something like Jirachi is nuts. Shadow Ball and Hidden Power [Ice] feel like the most consistent options, covering off two of BWs best Wisp switch-ins (Reuniclus and Gliscor) whilst Gengar's natural traits cover the third perfectly already (Breloom). Hidden Power [Ice] also makes great use of Gengar's underrated role as a hard Landorus-T answer, which is really appreciated on Psyspam that opts for Ferro over Skarmory.
Speaking of Ferrothorn support, I think now is a good time to mention that getting consistency out of spinblockers is super dependent on teambuilding in a way that makes predicting the Ghost switch-in a really risky play. An issue with (Leftovers) Skarmory + Gengar is that its not really risky at all for SF Excadrill to click Iron Head or Starmie to click Thunderbolt in the face of Skarmory, so there are strong midground plays available for the spinner that cover Gengar coming in. Skarm/Gengar feels like you'll never get the most out of Gengar as a result and will just use it as death fodder often which, whilst passable, is not ideal. Ferrothorn/Gengar is a different dynamic as SF Excadrill clicking Iron Head or Starmie opting for Hydro in the face of Ferrothorn takes grandes cojones, so it shifts way more risk onto the spin user by removing the midground options.
Rotom @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Structure:
Hold on a minute, hear me out. Base Forme Rotom looks diabolically bad, but on specific structures it might just be the best Ghost available. I had initially looked into Rotom for tournament prep as the Gengar team I had been using had been shared around a bit, and I felt like the surrounding structure of that team was so solid that I still wanted to use it if possible. Rotom stands out among the Ghosts as the only one to resist both Iron Head and Earthquake from Excadrill, therefore making it the only Ghost capable of avoiding the 2HKO from SF Excadrill (make it fast enough to hit 303 and then loooooads of bulk). This niche seems small but has huge ramifications for Psyspam: Tentacruel and Starmie are relatively easy to checkmate with offensive Ghosts as if they do KO something like Gengar, Alakazam in the back can pick up the scraps with Psyshock or GKnot/Shadow/Signal. Excadrill is another matter as it is regularly EVd to tank an Alakazam Focus Blast and thanks to Leftovers + Protect, can feasibly stay out of Focus range and make the sacrifice + revenge kill plan impossible. Not only that, but there's nothing worse than blocking a spin, then missing Focus as it spins on your Zam - ugh. Rotom helps address this issue by more directly dealing with Excadrill itself. Well EVd base Rotom can switch-in on Adamant SF Iron Head (for around 40%, shit is frail af) and immediately threaten with Will-O-Wisp. Rocky Helmet was a clutch suggestion made by
BKC to hard punish attempts by Excadrill to brute-force its way through Rotom, every time chipping it into Alakazam Focus Blast range or, preferably, Latios Surf range for an easy pick-off. In addition to doing all this, Rotom can still be played as a sacrifice spinblock option into Starmie and Tentacruel with the right supporting cast behind it. All-in-all, Rotom + Alakazam is a shockingly consistent way of denying the 3 major spinners in BW OU, as mad as that sounds!
Beyond spin-blocking, Rotom brings some other small but important roles. Some teams are forced to deal with Rotom via Tyranitar which gets crippled by Will-O-Wisp + Rocky Helmet, helping out the Psychics. Rotom is also naturally strong against most variations of SDef Skarmory and Jirachi. Defensively, Rotom can be a clutch answer to SD Scizor on Smurf, which can be a real issue to the Psyspam cores above - Wisp + Rocky Helmet goes a long way to limit the impact Scizor can have on the game. Finally, Volt Switch is always appreciated with Alakazam to allow it to hit the field safely.
Rotom is an
incredibly niche Pokemon, but is for sure an interesting option on some of these structures to really shut down spinning attempts. Will update this with Rotom replays in the near future.
