I was battling some guy called DSM01 yesterday, and, quite simply, he destroyed me. 2/3 of my teams were demolished by one Pokemon almost single-handedly. To make this even worse, this Pokemon was not a sweeper. It was not a baton passer. It didn't even boost its stats at all. This Pokemon was Skarmory, a Pokemon I thought relatively harmless outside of a support role. It was not Skarmory itself that was so threatening, but rather its moveset, a moveset which could be transferred to any number of Pokemon.
This moveset revolved around the combination of Spore and Whirlwind. Generation 5 brought with it new sleep mechanics, such that the sleep counter is reset after a Pokemon switches out. Therefore, if a Pokemon is forced out by sleeping, it will have be stay in for several turns straight in order to wake up. Essentially, a sleeping Pokemon, when switched out, is as good, sometimes worse, than a fainted Pokemon. If they come back in, they can be forced straight back out by Whirlwind at no cost, set up on, or simply KOed. Also crucial to the set was Substitute, which would be used to scout switch-ins, prevent opposing Spores, protect against 1-turn sleeps, and to take advantage of sleeping opposition. In the last slot he used a variety of things, including some attacks, and disable, but I considered these somewhat peripheral.
Well then... it appears my secret is out. I was hoping this would remain unknown for just a little while longer, but now that I think about it I suppose my incredible anti-meta Skarm is just what we need to spice things up a bit and hopefully attract some new players to this still-evolving metagame.
Anyway, on to the topic of Skarm itself. Surely you aren't naive enough to believe that the creator of such a revolutionary set was foolish enough to overlook a Pokemon that could potentially do the job better. Contrary to your assessment, I still believe that Skarmory is the most suitable Pokemon for this position. To start off, my Skarmory is more physically bulky than your Jirachi, although why you run so much Speed is beyond me; most major threats in Street Pokemon are quite slow. Despite its lower Speed, Skarm is still fast enough to outrun most important threats without investing in Speed at all (and can always run more Speed if you feel the need to outrun specific threats). Skarm also has superior typing, and with Bonemerang becoming more common, a Ground immunity as opposed to a Ground weakness is a huge boon. The last, and, in my opinion, most important advantage Skarmory possesses over Jirachi is its ability: Sturdy. This allows it to come in on Machoke and Machamp and actually use them as set up fodder. Jirachi can only dream of this, as switching into a Sheer Cold is a death sentence for the Wishmaker. Machoke and Machamp can only DynamicPunch Skarmory for pitiful damage as it proceeds to Spore them and then Whirlwind them away.
On to the set and analysis!
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: My specific EVs are confidential, but 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef works fine
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Spore
- Whirlwind
- Spikes/Disable/Close Combat
jc has already explained most of this, so I won’t go into too much detail. Like he said, get in safely, Spore or Sub depending on the situation, and then proceed to sleep and phaze anything slower. It’s not uncommon for this Skarm to put half your opponent’s team to sleep and still be behind a Substitute. If you have Stealth Rock up, this thing can take down entire teams once it gets rolling; Whirlwind faster Pokes who you suspect have a Lum Berry, re-Sub on a slower Poke or sleeping Poke that will inevitably be forced out, and repeat.
The last move is a toss-up between Disable and Close Combat. At first I had Close Combat, which allows you to take out Ursaring if you don’t have an answer for him. Switch in on Fake Out or ExtremeSpeed, Sub as Ursaring V-Creates, and, if you have enough residual damage (which isn’t hard to get on Ursaring), kill the unsuspecting bear with your mighty Close Combat, which deals 63.6% - 75.4% to a -1 Def 0/252 Ursaring. On my current team, I have Omastar, who uses Ursaring for set up fodder, so it is not necessary to kill it immediately (in fact, it’s preferred that I keep it alive so that Omastar can set up on it). In this case, Disable works phenomenally. Similar to Sub Disable Gengar, not many Pokes have two moves that can break or even hit Skarm’s Substitutes. You can Disable Machoke/Machamp’s DynamicPunch, Ursaring’s V-Create, Groudon’s V-Create/Sacred Fire, or other random attacks from Pokes that you suspect can only hit you with one move, all of which will guarantee you a free Substitute. Use Close Combat only if you have severe issues with Ursaring; otherwise, Disable is the superior option.
EDIT: Spikes should be the primary option in the last slot. This allows you to rack up more entry hazard damage and facilitates your own "sweep." This set can still be used without Spikes if that's what your team calls for, as sleeping half of the opponent's team is still an accomplishment, but additional damage is always appreciated. In this meta, it can be hard to find a slot on your team for hazards; Skarmory is perfect for both setting them up and abusing them to their full extent.
I think it would be hilarious if this Skarm became immensely popular, firstly because it would be absurd to have a defensive Poke be so successful in such a heavily offensive metagame, and also because Magnezone might start running a customized Skarm-killer set, swapping Sturdy and Spore for Magnet Pull and Taunt. Whatever the case, the ability to shut down stally Pokes and set up on top threats is what makes this Skarm so potent and it is definitely something you should be prepared for.
Also, epic first post.