[SET]
Defensive (HP) (Skarmory) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Fairy / Ghost
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Iron Defense / Whirlwind
- Body Press / Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes / Stealth Rock
[SET COMMENTS]
Skarmory is a prolific defensive Pokemon, it's able to swap into and threaten out many common physical attackers like Zacian-C, Urshifu, and Ogerpon-W. It also has access to entry hazards and can deal with most hazard control options in the tier. Iron Defense lets Skarmory match the boosts from set-up sweepers like Roaring Moon or Calyrex-I to counteract them, while also boosting Body Press, potentially turning it into a late-game sweeper. Brave Bird can be run to more instantly threaten Ogerpon and Great Tusk. With Brave Bird, you should run Whirlwind instead of Iron Defense, as it helps Skarmory wear down foes with hazard chip instead of IronPress damage, while still hindering set up sweepers. Should the team not have a Stealth Rock setter, or have another Spikes setter like Samurott-H or Meowscarada, Skarmory can run Stealth Rock instead. Tera Fairy is used as it's a good defensive type that doesn't overlap with any of Skarmory's weaknesses, letting it handle attackers like Cinderace or Zekrom that have the type advantage over it. Tera Ghost is an alternative that lets Skarmory spinblock Great Tusk and Iron Treads to keep hazards up, while making it more resilient against Fighting-types like Zamazenta. However, the Dark-type weakness does hurt, especially against Urshifu and Weavile.
Skarmory appreciates a HP donation from almost any God. However, it does tend to fit better on bulkier teams, so Gods that usually find themselves on those sorts of teams, like Arceus and Ho-Oh, are great fits. Knock Off support is greatly to Skarmory, as it focuses heavily on entry hazards. Teammates with Knock Off like Weavile, Clefable and Great Tusk the latter two also provide Stealth Rock to complement Skarmory's Spikes. Ghost-types like Arceus-Ghost, Pecharunt, and Gholdengo can spinblock for Skarmory to allow it to keep entry hazards up, the latter also blocks Defog thanks to Good As Gold. Lastly, strong special attackers like Kyogre, Electrode-H and Gholdengo can use Skarmory as a relatively free entry point, so pairing it up with specially defensive Pokemon like Eternatus, Ting-Lu or Dondozo make for a very solid defensive core.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/pannu.517892/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/dragonphoenix333.608218/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.103/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
Defensive (HP) (Skarmory) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Fairy / Ghost
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Iron Defense / Whirlwind
- Body Press / Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes / Stealth Rock
[SET COMMENTS]
Skarmory is a prolific defensive Pokemon, it's able to swap into and threaten out many common physical attackers like Zacian-C, Urshifu, and Ogerpon-W. It also has access to entry hazards and can deal with most hazard control options in the tier. Iron Defense lets Skarmory match the boosts from set-up sweepers like Roaring Moon or Calyrex-I to counteract them, while also boosting Body Press, potentially turning it into a late-game sweeper. Brave Bird can be run to more instantly threaten Ogerpon and Great Tusk. With Brave Bird, you should run Whirlwind instead of Iron Defense, as it helps Skarmory wear down foes with hazard chip instead of IronPress damage, while still hindering set up sweepers. Should the team not have a Stealth Rock setter, or have another Spikes setter like Samurott-H or Meowscarada, Skarmory can run Stealth Rock instead. Tera Fairy is used as it's a good defensive type that doesn't overlap with any of Skarmory's weaknesses, letting it handle attackers like Cinderace or Zekrom that have the type advantage over it. Tera Ghost is an alternative that lets Skarmory spinblock Great Tusk and Iron Treads to keep hazards up, while making it more resilient against Fighting-types like Zamazenta. However, the Dark-type weakness does hurt, especially against Urshifu and Weavile.
Skarmory appreciates a HP donation from almost any God. However, it does tend to fit better on bulkier teams, so Gods that usually find themselves on those sorts of teams, like Arceus and Ho-Oh, are great fits. Knock Off support is greatly to Skarmory, as it focuses heavily on entry hazards. Teammates with Knock Off like Weavile, Clefable and Great Tusk the latter two also provide Stealth Rock to complement Skarmory's Spikes. Ghost-types like Arceus-Ghost, Pecharunt, and Gholdengo can spinblock for Skarmory to allow it to keep entry hazards up, the latter also blocks Defog thanks to Good As Gold. Lastly, strong special attackers like Kyogre, Electrode-H and Gholdengo can use Skarmory as a relatively free entry point, so pairing it up with specially defensive Pokemon like Eternatus, Ting-Lu or Dondozo make for a very solid defensive core.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/pannu.517892/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/dragonphoenix333.608218/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.103/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
Last edited:
