[OVERVIEW]
Steel
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Stakataka's high Attack, abysmal Speed, and access to Trick Room make it a great Trick Room sweeper for Steel teams. Its secondary Rock typing offers useful coverage in important matchups such as Flying and Fire and grants it a neutrality to Fire that helps it set up on Fire-types such as Victini locked into V-create. Stakataka boasts the strongest Gyro Ball in the metagame, limiting the number of Pokemon that can switch into it. Under a Trick Room, Stakataka outspeeds nearly every single Pokemon in the game, making it an instant offensive threat once it sets up. Because of this, Stakataka also shines against more offensively oriented types such as Dragon and Psychic, which do not have many Pokemon that can constantly switch into it. This is complemented by its Beast Boost ability, which allows it to quickly snowball against many teams after gaining an Attack boost by KOing a Pokemon. Stakataka makes excellent use of STAB Stone Edge in tandem with Rockium Z, as it can allow it to blow past defensive Pokemon such as Celesteela and Skarmory after a boost. On top of its great offensive prowess, Stakataka has a very respectable 61 / 211 / 101 bulk, giving it plenty of opportunities throughout the game to set up with Trick Room. Its bulk is less great than it initially seems, however, as Stakataka is required to run 15 Defense IVs and a Lonely nature in order for Beast Boost to increase its Attack instead of its Defense. While Stakataka has a decent offensive typing, it suffers defensively, with two quadruple weaknesses to very common offensive typings in Fighting and Ground, which Steel teams do not appreciate stacking a weakness to. Outside of Trick Room, it is very easy to check, as many Pokemon can outspeed it and take advantage of its common weaknesses and average special bulk. Despite being a dangerous threat to offensive teams, Stakataka finds itself checked by common defensive walls such as Ferrothorn and Swampert. Stakataka also often finds itself overly reliant on Continental Crush in order to obtain an Attack boost, as it has little wallbreaking power before a boost. Additionally, Stakataka is very predictable and can usually be played around, as the foe will likely know when it will set up with Trick Room. Stakataka's dependence on Trick Room can also make it detrimental to faster teammates such as Excadrill, making Stakataka hard to fit on certain teams.
[SET]
name: Trick Room Sweeper (Steel)
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Gyro Ball
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Earthquake
item: Rockium Z
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Lonely
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
ivs: 15 Def / 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Trick Room enables Stakataka to outpace nearly every Pokemon for five turns, making it an instant threat to offensive teams. Gyro Ball is Stakataka's main STAB move, as its consistently high Base Power thanks to Stakataka's very low Speed makes it very spammable against most teams. Stone Edge acts as a secondary STAB move and allows Stakataka to hit Flying-types such as Zapdos and Mega Charizard Y. It can also be used as a powerful Continental Crush, which can damage many Pokemon that can otherwise switch in, such as defensive Landorus-T. Earthquake is the preferred coverage move, as it can hit Pokemon that otherwise wall Stakataka, namely Toxapex, Magnezone, and opposing Stakataka.
Set Details
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Maximum Attack investment is necessary in order for Stakataka to hit as hard as possible. Maximum HP gives Stakataka more bulk and opportunities to set up Trick Room. 15 IVs in Defense alongside a Lonely nature are required in order for Beast Boost to raise Stakataka's Attack stat every time it obtains a KO. 0 IVs in Speed make Stakataka as slow as possible in order to maximize the damage output from Gyro Ball and the number of Pokemon it can outpace under Trick Room. Rockium Z allows Stakataka fire off its powerful Z-Move, maximizing its offensive capabilities and limiting defensive switch-ins. Beast Boost allows it to be an even deadlier sweeper, further limiting defensive checks after just one boost.
Usage Tips
========
Use Stakataka's bulk and typing to set up with Trick Room against threats such as Zapdos, Latios, and Choice-locked Victini. With this in mind, however, do not recklessly allow Stakataka to take unnecessary damage, as it has no way to recover HP. Stakataka often forces switches thanks to its immediate offensive power, so it appreciates entry hazards such as Stealth Rock and Spikes being up before setting Trick Room in order to wear down switch-ins. Stakataka can easily be lured and taken out by by Ground- and Fighting-type coverage from the likes of Earthquake Celesteela and Focus Blast Victini, so it is important to keep this in mind and scout for these moves before attempting to set up on these Pokemon. Additionally, burns from the likes of Scald and Will-O-Wisp can severely limit Stakataka, as the halved Attack stat will make it much easier to counter defensively. Use Stakataka's Z-Move in situations where a regular attack lacks the power to dent the foe, such as against Celesteela and Mega Scizor after an Attack boost. Additionally, while Stakataka can easily set up Trick Room against most physical walls, it struggles to break past many of them without prior chip damage. Generally speaking, Gyro Ball's consistently high power and 100% accuracy mean that it's easily spammable in most scenarios. Lastly, preserve Stakataka in matchups such as Flying and Dragon, as Stakataka's STAB combination in tandem with the lack of defensive answers on these types makes it a great sweeper in these matchups.
Team Options
========
Since Stakataka functions as a late-game sweeper, it appreciates bulky teammates that can stack entry hazards in order for Stakataka to sweep more effectively and wear down its switch-ins. Ferrothorn boasts a resistance to Water, a neutrality to Ground, and the ability to set up hazards for Stakataka to wear down opposing Pokemon. Ferrothorn's very low Speed also goes in hand with Stakataka's use of Trick Room. Celesteela is a great teammate that provides a defensive check to many Pokemon that threaten Stakataka such as Greninja and Ground-types such as Garchomp. Skarmory functions as a check to various Ground- and Fighting-types that Stakataka cannot take on, such as Landorus-T and Heracross. Unlike Celesteela, Skarmory can compress the roles of a hazard setter and a hazard remover, making it a suitable teammate. Mega Scizor's bulk and ability to help keep faster foes in check even under Trick Room thanks to its access to strong priority also make it a great teammate for Stakataka. Its U-turn support also allows Stakataka to be brought in safely, giving it more setup opportunities. While Heatran shares common weaknesses with Stakataka, it's a premier special attacker that can easily deal with defensive Pokemon as well as offensive threats such as Volcarona and Mega Charizard Y thanks to its useful Fire immunity. Klefki's dual screens support benefits Stakataka by providing it with even more opportunities to safely set up with Trick Room. Jirachi is a decent offensive teammate that can break past problematic Pokemon such as Toxapex thanks to its useful Psychic typing. Lastly, Bronzong is an alternative Trick Room user that shares a low Speed stat and a typing that complements Stakataka and the rest of the team thanks to its Ground immunity and neutrality to Fighting, giving it setup opportunities against types that Stakataka may have more trouble with, such as the aforementioned Fighting and Ground.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Life Orb can be run instead of Rockium Z on teams that already have a Z-Move user such as Bisharp.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-types**: Just about any Ground-type such as Excadrill, Landorus, or Garchomp can outspeed Stakataka outside of Trick Room and KO it with their STAB moves.
**Fighting-types**: Similarly, Fighting-type Pokemon such as Keldeo, Terrakion, and Heracross find it easy to take advantage of Stakataka's quadruple weakness and KO it with their STAB moves. Mach Punch users such as Breloom and Infernape can also effectively deal with Stakataka even under Trick Room.
**Water-types**: Water-types such as Swampert and Hydro Pump Greninja can safely break past Stakataka with their super effective STAB moves. Additonally, Stakataka fears burns from Scald users such as Toxapex and Suicune, allowing these Pokemon to force it out.
**Physically Defensive Pokemon**: Certain physically defensive walls such as Porygon2, Ferrothorn, and Mega Slowbro can safely come in on Stakataka and wall it.
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