with permission from tennisace.
Hazards. Well, I really don’t think they need any introduction, or do I? If someone claimed hazards are the soul of competitive Pokemon, I would not even disagree. This holds true for a tier that is especially lacking in Rapid Spinners! This thread is dedicated to everything related to hazards: great hazard platforms, spinners, or even Pokemon that work especially well with hazards! I’ll edit in some basic information on the OP, but really this is not a thread that’s intended for reading. It’s for you guys to get out there and discuss!
Entry Hazard Users:
Stealth Rock: The quintessential hazard. Takes off a sliver of health regardless of its typing, which is pretty cool. Offensive teams need it to turn guarantee 2HKOs or OHKOs. Defensive teams need it to deal extra damage on the switch.
Mesprit: It deserves the usage it gets. Great physical and special defense, and enough offensive presence and coverage to earn the free turn to set up SR. SubCM and other offensive sets are immediately threatening, so opponent has to respond seriously from the get-go. Unique typing for a SR user, too. Psychic and BoltBeam means that it gets all coverage it ever wants. Also has access to Thunder Wave to cripple switches. What could you ask more?
Rhydon: I’m lazy so I’m rolling in other similar Rock-types in this one. This includes Golem, Armaldo, Cradily, etc. Great physical offenses, and really, Edgequake is hard to wall in NU unless you’re utilizing a bulky Water-type or a dominant physical wall such as Leafeon or Tangela. Cradily’s special in that it can counter Water-types with Storm Drain. All of them have great physical bulk as well. Note that Rhydon will leave coming January.
Miltank: Great mon defensively and offensively. Curse set needs immediate response, and early SR is nearly guaranteed thanks to its all-around bulk. It has other great support options in Heal Bell as well. It has three great abilities in Sap Sipper, Thick Fat, and Scrappy. While Scrappy is the best for offensive curse sets, defensive sets really appreciate the extra resistances that Thick Fat bring into play. With Thick Fat, Miltank can also act as a shaky check against BlizzSpam.
Camerupt: Added again due to feedback from multiple people. So basically this thing has Roar along with SR. Its statistical bulk isn’t exactly anything to write home about, and it does have notable weaknesses to water and ground. Still, Solid Rock is a great, Lava Plume’s burn chance is good, and it beats special threats like Magneton, Eeleectross, Rotom-S, Misdreavus, Magmortar, etc. Its STAB coverage is enough to give enough presence offensively.
Spikes:
Roselia: The standard choice for a defensive Spiker. Great special defense and the right typing to set up on Water, Electric, or Grass types. Folds to any strong physical STAB, but hey, can’t have everything, right? Natural Cure’d Rest or Synthesis are both great recovery moves. It has Toxic Spikes as well. Its offensive capabilities are pretty mediocre, though. It also has other supportive options in Leech Seed and Sleep Powder, but that really goes against the whole point of using Roselia because that disallows Spikes due to legality issues! I've heard Heysup trying to promote a 252 hp /252 modest spread with sleep powder and leaf storm, so you shouldn't let your guard against it =p
Scolipede: The standard choice for an offensive Spiker. Great speed, and Megahorn hurts with STAB. Often leads in order to get quick spikes to lead off the game and put on the pressure. Earthquake and Rock Slide rounds off his coverage rather nicely, and he can run a single spikes set with 3 coverage as well. With Swords Dance, he can really be an offensive threat as well, but really hazards are worth it in NU. It has Toxic Spikes as well and most sets will have both hazards. Note that he will leave NU come January.
Cacturne: Interesting Anti-Metagame choice. Threatens waters, and completely walls Slowking unless it has Fire Blast. It has physical power and some staying power, making it ideal for balanced teams that run off bulk and resistances. Pretty slow and frail, but has Sucker Punch to make up for that versus offensive teams. Encore, Focus Punch, etc. he has lots of gimmicky options as well and an interesting choice overall. However, note that he'll be hard pressed to ever survive a strong neutral STAB or a random U-turn.
Smeargle: A great lead with Spore, SR, and Spikes. It can also threaten a baton pass set, but with Smashpass banned, those are not that common. Still, it's able to pass Shift Gear or Quiver Dance, so don't always assume that it's a hazard-based set. Still, Hazard Smeargle is really good, and is the most common set for a reason. Really, it’s impossible to stop this from getting SR and a layer up unless you’re especially prepared for this beast. It's lack of general stats is the only thing that holds it back. Just hit it hard, and it should go die pretty soon. Oh, and Magic Coat & Whirlwind is pretty good too as it prevents setups, but you need good prediction.
Glalie, Garbador, Whirlepede are lesser explored options.
Toxic Spikes: I’d go into more depth, but our top 2 Tspikers are up there already, and seriously Tspikes tend to suck in lower metagames with lots of Poison types to absorb them.
Rapid Spinners:
Armaldo: Already mentioned for its ability to set up SR, but it's also an amazing spinner. It has Swords Dance as an option, and has actual offenses to scare out Frillish, Misdreavus, and other Ghost-types with its STAB Stone Edge. Being weak to SR sucks as a spinner, though. Stone Edge, Earthquake, and X-Scissor give good coverage and Armaldo hits hard enough to differentiate itself from the below weaksauce spinners.
Cryogonal: The specially defensive spinner. Again, it's weak to SR, and that's why it's still NU. It can beat most ghosts 1 vs. 1 as they tend to be special, and Cryogonal can just stall them out with Toxic. Immune to Spikes and Tspikes as well, which is a big plus. It has okay offenses and can really work well in hail, while acting as a check against opposing BlizzSpam. However, do note that Snover is highly likely to be leaving the NU tier come January.
Torkoal: Again, spinner weak to SR. Defensive Fire-types come in pretty rare, but they end up being rather useless anyways. It loses to most Ghost-types 1 vs 1 because it has shitty offenses, and its defensive capability isn't really anything to write home about. Still better than not having a spinner, and can both SR and Spin on the same set. Weak to all hazards, Torkoal will struggle to spin away hazards for multiple times a game.
Wartortle: Finally, Wartortle. It has middling bulk but decent typing, and is the only spinner in NU that is not weak to SR! However, it has no recovery whatsoever, so switching in once in a while and spinning should just kill Wartortle after a while. Oh, and did I mention, Wartortle literally can’t kill anything because its offenses suck even more than Torkoal. I’d like to repeat that it really does suck majorly.
Other options include Staryu and... Delibird ? =(
Oh and spinda. Right.
Spin Blockers:
Misdreavus: Missy is the best balanced spinblocker around. Thanks to its previous fully evolved status, it has okay stats even without eviolite. With Eviolite, its special bulk is massive, and Levitate + Ghost-type + Will-O-Wisp really helps physically. On the offensive, its Shadow Balls aren’t that weak, and you can certainly try a SubCM set. Did I mention Taunt + Will-O-Wisp gives trouble to defensive teams? It has Pain Split for not so reliable recovery, but really it works fine with just pain split. It also has other niche support moves such as Heal Bell.
Haunter: Haunter is the better offensive spinblocker. Haunter has great base 95 speed and base 115 special attack. STAB Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb are hard to wall unless you’re a steel type. Of course, all steels bar Klinklang get 4x hit by Hidden Power Ground, so not like that really matters. Its main problem as a spinblocker is that Haunter is way to frail and a single misprediction will cost Haunter’s life. Also, 95 base speed is fast, but not fast enough for an offensive pokemon.
Other options include… Frillish? It’ll see more use come January, when both Slowking and Lanturn are expected to leave NU. This leaves Frillish and Mantine as the top specially defensive bulky Water-types.
Things that are good with Hazards:
I'll just add the most obvious one.
Swellow: I really don’t know why this wasn’t RU earlier, because it kicks so much ass. Super fast, super strong, and limited counters. You just U-turn early game to wear down the Rock-type counter with spikes, and you’re good to go. It's too bad that Swellow is most definitely going to leave NU come January unless miracle happens.
So go ahead and discuss! I'll gladly add anything on the OP.
Hazards. Well, I really don’t think they need any introduction, or do I? If someone claimed hazards are the soul of competitive Pokemon, I would not even disagree. This holds true for a tier that is especially lacking in Rapid Spinners! This thread is dedicated to everything related to hazards: great hazard platforms, spinners, or even Pokemon that work especially well with hazards! I’ll edit in some basic information on the OP, but really this is not a thread that’s intended for reading. It’s for you guys to get out there and discuss!
Entry Hazard Users:
Stealth Rock: The quintessential hazard. Takes off a sliver of health regardless of its typing, which is pretty cool. Offensive teams need it to turn guarantee 2HKOs or OHKOs. Defensive teams need it to deal extra damage on the switch.
Mesprit: It deserves the usage it gets. Great physical and special defense, and enough offensive presence and coverage to earn the free turn to set up SR. SubCM and other offensive sets are immediately threatening, so opponent has to respond seriously from the get-go. Unique typing for a SR user, too. Psychic and BoltBeam means that it gets all coverage it ever wants. Also has access to Thunder Wave to cripple switches. What could you ask more?
Rhydon: I’m lazy so I’m rolling in other similar Rock-types in this one. This includes Golem, Armaldo, Cradily, etc. Great physical offenses, and really, Edgequake is hard to wall in NU unless you’re utilizing a bulky Water-type or a dominant physical wall such as Leafeon or Tangela. Cradily’s special in that it can counter Water-types with Storm Drain. All of them have great physical bulk as well. Note that Rhydon will leave coming January.
Miltank: Great mon defensively and offensively. Curse set needs immediate response, and early SR is nearly guaranteed thanks to its all-around bulk. It has other great support options in Heal Bell as well. It has three great abilities in Sap Sipper, Thick Fat, and Scrappy. While Scrappy is the best for offensive curse sets, defensive sets really appreciate the extra resistances that Thick Fat bring into play. With Thick Fat, Miltank can also act as a shaky check against BlizzSpam.
Camerupt: Added again due to feedback from multiple people. So basically this thing has Roar along with SR. Its statistical bulk isn’t exactly anything to write home about, and it does have notable weaknesses to water and ground. Still, Solid Rock is a great, Lava Plume’s burn chance is good, and it beats special threats like Magneton, Eeleectross, Rotom-S, Misdreavus, Magmortar, etc. Its STAB coverage is enough to give enough presence offensively.
Spikes:
Roselia: The standard choice for a defensive Spiker. Great special defense and the right typing to set up on Water, Electric, or Grass types. Folds to any strong physical STAB, but hey, can’t have everything, right? Natural Cure’d Rest or Synthesis are both great recovery moves. It has Toxic Spikes as well. Its offensive capabilities are pretty mediocre, though. It also has other supportive options in Leech Seed and Sleep Powder, but that really goes against the whole point of using Roselia because that disallows Spikes due to legality issues! I've heard Heysup trying to promote a 252 hp /252 modest spread with sleep powder and leaf storm, so you shouldn't let your guard against it =p
Scolipede: The standard choice for an offensive Spiker. Great speed, and Megahorn hurts with STAB. Often leads in order to get quick spikes to lead off the game and put on the pressure. Earthquake and Rock Slide rounds off his coverage rather nicely, and he can run a single spikes set with 3 coverage as well. With Swords Dance, he can really be an offensive threat as well, but really hazards are worth it in NU. It has Toxic Spikes as well and most sets will have both hazards. Note that he will leave NU come January.
Cacturne: Interesting Anti-Metagame choice. Threatens waters, and completely walls Slowking unless it has Fire Blast. It has physical power and some staying power, making it ideal for balanced teams that run off bulk and resistances. Pretty slow and frail, but has Sucker Punch to make up for that versus offensive teams. Encore, Focus Punch, etc. he has lots of gimmicky options as well and an interesting choice overall. However, note that he'll be hard pressed to ever survive a strong neutral STAB or a random U-turn.
Smeargle: A great lead with Spore, SR, and Spikes. It can also threaten a baton pass set, but with Smashpass banned, those are not that common. Still, it's able to pass Shift Gear or Quiver Dance, so don't always assume that it's a hazard-based set. Still, Hazard Smeargle is really good, and is the most common set for a reason. Really, it’s impossible to stop this from getting SR and a layer up unless you’re especially prepared for this beast. It's lack of general stats is the only thing that holds it back. Just hit it hard, and it should go die pretty soon. Oh, and Magic Coat & Whirlwind is pretty good too as it prevents setups, but you need good prediction.
Glalie, Garbador, Whirlepede are lesser explored options.
Toxic Spikes: I’d go into more depth, but our top 2 Tspikers are up there already, and seriously Tspikes tend to suck in lower metagames with lots of Poison types to absorb them.
Rapid Spinners:
Armaldo: Already mentioned for its ability to set up SR, but it's also an amazing spinner. It has Swords Dance as an option, and has actual offenses to scare out Frillish, Misdreavus, and other Ghost-types with its STAB Stone Edge. Being weak to SR sucks as a spinner, though. Stone Edge, Earthquake, and X-Scissor give good coverage and Armaldo hits hard enough to differentiate itself from the below weaksauce spinners.
Cryogonal: The specially defensive spinner. Again, it's weak to SR, and that's why it's still NU. It can beat most ghosts 1 vs. 1 as they tend to be special, and Cryogonal can just stall them out with Toxic. Immune to Spikes and Tspikes as well, which is a big plus. It has okay offenses and can really work well in hail, while acting as a check against opposing BlizzSpam. However, do note that Snover is highly likely to be leaving the NU tier come January.
Torkoal: Again, spinner weak to SR. Defensive Fire-types come in pretty rare, but they end up being rather useless anyways. It loses to most Ghost-types 1 vs 1 because it has shitty offenses, and its defensive capability isn't really anything to write home about. Still better than not having a spinner, and can both SR and Spin on the same set. Weak to all hazards, Torkoal will struggle to spin away hazards for multiple times a game.
Wartortle: Finally, Wartortle. It has middling bulk but decent typing, and is the only spinner in NU that is not weak to SR! However, it has no recovery whatsoever, so switching in once in a while and spinning should just kill Wartortle after a while. Oh, and did I mention, Wartortle literally can’t kill anything because its offenses suck even more than Torkoal. I’d like to repeat that it really does suck majorly.
Other options include Staryu and... Delibird ? =(
Oh and spinda. Right.
Spin Blockers:
Misdreavus: Missy is the best balanced spinblocker around. Thanks to its previous fully evolved status, it has okay stats even without eviolite. With Eviolite, its special bulk is massive, and Levitate + Ghost-type + Will-O-Wisp really helps physically. On the offensive, its Shadow Balls aren’t that weak, and you can certainly try a SubCM set. Did I mention Taunt + Will-O-Wisp gives trouble to defensive teams? It has Pain Split for not so reliable recovery, but really it works fine with just pain split. It also has other niche support moves such as Heal Bell.
Haunter: Haunter is the better offensive spinblocker. Haunter has great base 95 speed and base 115 special attack. STAB Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb are hard to wall unless you’re a steel type. Of course, all steels bar Klinklang get 4x hit by Hidden Power Ground, so not like that really matters. Its main problem as a spinblocker is that Haunter is way to frail and a single misprediction will cost Haunter’s life. Also, 95 base speed is fast, but not fast enough for an offensive pokemon.
Other options include… Frillish? It’ll see more use come January, when both Slowking and Lanturn are expected to leave NU. This leaves Frillish and Mantine as the top specially defensive bulky Water-types.
Things that are good with Hazards:
I'll just add the most obvious one.
Swellow: I really don’t know why this wasn’t RU earlier, because it kicks so much ass. Super fast, super strong, and limited counters. You just U-turn early game to wear down the Rock-type counter with spikes, and you’re good to go. It's too bad that Swellow is most definitely going to leave NU come January unless miracle happens.
So go ahead and discuss! I'll gladly add anything on the OP.
