Stealth Rock Setters: A Field Guide - SM Ubers Edition
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Art by LifeisDANK.
Introduction
In SM Ubers, the addition of a Stealth Rock setter is a key part of teambuilding and virtually always worth the cost associated with running the move. Entry hazards are an extremely important part of play, and Stealth Rock is by far the most important one due to how it chips away at defensive behemoths for offensive ones, limits offensive Pokémon for balance, and is often the major contributor to residual damage for stalls. With the importance of Stealth Rock stressed, this article serves as a guide to all the viable options an SM builder has when selecting a setter. The kinds of information you'll find below includes what each setter is good at, what kinds of teams they fit on, and how they match up in the hazard war. Use this information to pick out what setter is best for your team or what remaining changes your team will need to ensure good options when playing with Stealth Rock.
Stealth Rock
- The user lays a trap of levitating stones around the opposing team. The trap hurts opposing Pokémon that switch into battle.
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Primal Groudon
- Pros
- - Good at role compressing and able to fit on most team archetypes;
- - Will likely be somewhere on your team anyway more often than not;
- - Decent vs. Magic Bouncers and usually has some kind of punishment option vs. Defoggers.
- Cons
- - Missed opportunity to run strong sets such as Rock Polish and Double Dance;
- - Needs support to have staying power.
Primal Groudon is the standard setter of Stealth Rock in SM Ubers - the metric that many anti-hazard Pokémon and setters alike are compared to. The reason for this, above all else, comes down to role compression. Primal Groudon is able to check a variety of offensive Pokémon while simultaneously holding the potential to bust through some defensive staples too. Thanks to these traits, Primal Groudon finds itself on more Ubers teams than not. Since the utility that Stealth Rock grants is virtually always worth the opportunity cost it takes on a Pokémon's set, Primal Groudon ends up being an extremely common method for teams to relegate Stealth Rock to.
When it comes to the actual task of setting, Primal Groudon is far from ineffectual. Stealth Rock sets end up being rather customizable, especially when compared to other setters. Toxic, Lava Plume, Swords Dance, and Rock Tomb are effective punishment methods that Primal Groudon can inflict on its greatest enemies: anti-hazard Pokémon. With that said, there is still cost associated with relegating Primal Groudon to Stealth Rock duties, as it is now unable to ever reach the height of its offensive capabilities. Rock Polish in particular can be difficult to justify alongside Stealth Rock, and Primal Groudon is far more strained than it would be otherwise looking for opportunities to lay hazards and subsequently set up.
Perhaps even more than this quirk, Primal Groudon is notorious for its lack of staying power. As a setter, it lacks recovery, it is impacted by every type of hazard, and many threats have developed around spitting Toxic at it. As a result, Primal Groudon has a very limited number of times it can lay Stealth Rock, or a team will need to carry support to keep it healthy, specifically Wish and Heal Bell. As a setter, it sits at an intersection between slow resiliency and offensive momentum. If you're looking for a Stealth Rock setter that is easy to integrate onto a team and has options to customize how it handles anti-hazard counterplay, Primal Groudon is the setter for you.
Arceus-Ground
- Pros
- - Fast, bulky, and has Recover, so it has pretty good staying power;
- - Fits onto a variety of defensive teams;
- - Has an edge over bulky offense and balance that use Primal Groudon as their setter.
- Cons
- - Not effective at forcing Ho-Oh out;
- - Can be hard to structure a team to afford the luxury of running Stealth Rock.
Fast, bulky, and reliable, Arceus-Ground has grown in popularity in SM as a setter of Stealth Rock. In addition to these traits, Arceus-Ground is rather effective at checking Primal Groudon and has enough Speed in combination with its good bulk to soft check several physical attackers. For these reasons, Arceus-Ground is able to find its way onto a variety of balance and stall teams, matches up one-on-one pretty well against several of the setters in this article, and tends to have a solid or advantageous lead matchup vs. bulky offense and balance. Its relative high Speed for a support Pokémon in combination with its ability to threaten Primal Groudon is what makes Arceus-Ground so effective in such matchups.
When slotted on a team, Arceus-Ground is often needed or preferred to take on other roles, such as Swords Dance, Defog, and Calm Mind. Only teams that have organized their structure to account for any of these other needs Arceus-Ground can provide can afford the luxury of using it as a Stealth Rock setter. Arceus-Ground is also notorious for not being good at forcing out some Stealth Rock-weak Pokémon, potentially allowing them to switch in on the same turn Stealth Rock is set. Lastly, Arceus-Ground can struggle to set hazards or do much at all against Mega Sableye, especially those that run specially defensive spreads.
Arceus-Fairy
- Pros
- - Fast, bulky, and has Recover, so it has pretty good staying power;
- - Fits onto a variety of bulky offense and balance teams;
- - Excellent vs. Magic Bouncers and strong vs. Pokémon such as Yveltal and Marshadow.
- Cons
- - Tends to let Ho-Oh and Mega Gengar in;
- - Not an easy fit onto hyper offense.
Arceus-Fairy has similar strengths to Arceus-Ground when it comes to functioning as a Stealth Rock setter; it is fast, is bulky, and has Recover. The biggest difference between the two is how teams frequently structure themselves in regards to when Arceus can afford Stealth Rock. Arceus-Fairy trades strong coverage on Primal Groudon in order to cover Pokémon such as Yveltal and Marshadow effectively and gain a much better edge over Mega Sableye. However, Arceus-Fairy doesn't match up quite as well against other Stealth Rock setters when compared to Arceus-Ground and is much more susceptible to Mega Gengar, especially when this set struggles to justify Earth Power. Although Arceus-Fairy is better at forcing out some Stealth Rock-weak Pokémon such as Yveltal, Mega Salamence, and Rayquaza, it can invite Ho-Oh in. The general utility that Arceus-Fairy offers also tends to not be especially worthwhile for stall teams, and it can be hard to justify on a hyper offense team.
Dialga
- Pros
- - Strong, bulky, and able to smack around some anti-hazard Pokémon;
- - Has useful defensive utility as a Steel-type and in checking Primal Kyogre and Mega Salamence.
- Cons
- - Weak to some common offensive threats such as Primal Groudon, Arceus-Ground, and Mega Lucario;
- - Virtually impossible to justify on a defensive team.
An old Stealth Rock standby that has steadily slipped in popularity, Dialga still has a variety of traits that can justify its place on a team. Unlike several of the other Pokémon in this article, Dialga's specialty is setting Stealth Rock. Naturally strong and bulky, Dialga can fill a few important roles on certain hyper offense and bulky offense teams, and it can play with its EVs and moveset to some extent. Dialga is able to smack around some common anti-hazard Pokémon such as Giratina-O, Mega Sableye, Arceus-Water, Arceus-Dragon, and Giratina. For teams that are looking for a Stealth Rock setter, Primal Kyogre check, Mega Salamence check, and offensive Steel-type wrapped into one, Dialga is the perfect fit. Unfortunately, this is a somewhat specific set of needs, so Dialga doesn't find itself on a huge number of teams. Additionally, Dialga is weak to some common offensive threats such as Primal Groudon, Arceus-Ground, and Mega Lucario. Its lack of reliable recovery and general inability to stick around for long pretty much kill all of Dialga's chances to justify itself on defensive teams.
Excadrill
- Pros
- - Pretty effective at leading vs. Primal Groudon, Dialga, and Deoxys-S;
- - Generally good at doing its job - being KOed to ensure Stealth Rock goes up.
- Cons
- - A single Defog from the opponent wins the hazard war;
- - Punishment opportunities vs. some anti-hazard Pokémon are meager, such as Mega Sableye;
- - Can be anti-lead by certain niche offensive Pokémon.
Excadrill functions as a dedicated suicide Stealth Rock setter for hyper offense teams. While it tends to be rather effective in this role, the method in which it deploys hazards is linear and doesn't have much depth behind it. The greatest concern with being a suicide hazard lead is that one Defog from the opponent instantly wins the hazard war. Excadrill is designed to set Stealth Rock against Pokémon such as Primal Groudon, Dialga, and Deoxys-S with the combination of Rapid Spin and strong Ground-type moves. Its remaining moves are dedicated to trying to maximize its options for punishing anti-hazard Pokémon and ensuring that when its KOed, Stealth Rock is up. However, Excadrill can have some problems punishing certain Toxic-immune defensive behemoths and uncommon anti-leads such as Cloyster, Pheromosa, Darkrai, and Mega Kangaskhan.
Deoxys-S
- Pros
- - Fast, hard to KO quickly, and has great support moves;
- - Can also set up Spikes.
- Cons
- - A single Defog from the opponent wins the hazard war;
- - Some defensive teams have very powerful anti-hazard cores;
- - Several of its best offensive partners have lost some edge, especially Darkrai.
Like Excadrill, Deoxys-S is a suicide hazard lead for hyper offense teams. Extremely fast, somewhat difficult to KO in a single turn, and backed up with a great support movepool, Deoxys-S is usually able to ensure Stealth Rock is up. Where Excadrill combats opposing hazard setters with Rapid Spin, Deoxys-S does so with Taunt and Magic Coat. Like Excadrill, Deoxys-S is a shallow Pokémon and can only be justified on certain hyper offense teams, and one Defog from the opponent instantly wins the hazard war. Deoxys-S has been impacted by the fact that offense teams have lost some of their edge in SM, particularly with the nerf to Darkrai. Some anti-hazard Pokémon such as Magic Bouncers can be tough for Deoxys-S to handle, especially without Skill Swap, while some powerful anti-hazard cores such as Mega Sableye + Arceus-Ground are able to get rid of Stealth Rock eventually.
Blissey & Chansey
- Pros
- - Extremely resilient vs. special attackers and defensive Pokémon;
- - Easy to fit on defensive teams.
- Cons
- - Low speed and weakness to physical attackers make it hard to set aggressively vs. Primal Groudon balance;
- - Needs support or some type of punishment method vs. trappers and Mega Sableye;
- - Stealth Rock is a luxury on this Pokémon, and a team might not be able to fit it here.
Blissey and Chansey are bulky and resilient, making them a potential choice as a Stealth Rock setter for certain defensive teams. They're rather easy to justify on defensive teams due to their ability to check a variety of offensive threats and the immense support they can provide. While they're able to do these roles very well, they're especially reliant on defensive teammates to help cover their weaknesses to certain physical and mixed offensive threats. Their low Speed in combination with this fact can make it hard for Blissey and Chansey to set hazards against Primal Groudon bulky offense and balance. Additionally, trappers such as Mega Gengar, Gothitelle, and Dugtrio can have their way with Blissey- and Chansey-based teams, especially if structure is not in place to limit their readiness to come in. Blissey and Chansey are also unable to set hazards against or do much of anything to Mega Sableye. Lastly, Blissey and Chansey can only afford to run Stealth Rock in the first place if their other support options aren't more appealing.
Tyranitar
- Pros
- - Naturally bulky, has Sand Stream, and has a good support movepool;
- - Can check a variety of offensive Pokémon such as Mega Salamence, Ho-Oh, Dark-types, and Lunala.
- Cons
- - Not very effective at actually checking the Pokémon it intends to check;
- - Low speed and weakness to several other Stealth Rock setters make it hard to set Stealth Rock aggressively;
- - Lacks staying power, requiring support if placed on a defensive team.
Somewhat uncommon in SM, Tyranitar is still a potential setter of Stealth Rock for bulky offensive, balanced, or defensive teams. Bulky and with some good support options, Tyranitar is able to check Mega Salamence, Ho-Oh, Dark-types, and Lunala. Unfortunately, Tyranitar is not very effective at actually checking these threats, as it lacks reliable recovery, is vulnerable to status, and can succumb to coverage options. Sand Stream is a rather unique ability, however, and Tyranitar has a variety of potential tricks thanks to its expansive movepool.
Bronzong
- Pros
- - Checks Xerneas, Mega Salamence, and some variants of Swords Dance Arceus and Primal Groudon;
- - Decently resilient despite lacking reliable recovery.
- Cons
- - Easy for Toxic-immune and certain offensive behemoths to take advantage of;
- - Can be blatantly ineffectual vs. Mega Sableye and Mega Gengar.
Able to check Xerenas, Mega Salamence, and some variants of Swords Dance Arceus and Primal Groudon, Bronzong is a niche Steel-type that is able to offer a few different useful defensive traits. Although it lacks reliable recovery, Bronzong is somewhat resilient thanks to its resistances, Leftovers, and ability to fit Protect. Unfortunately, Bronzong can't punish foes very much outside of throwing Toxic around, leaving it vulnerable to Toxic-immune Pokémon and offensive behemoths with immediate power. It's also unable to get by Mega Sableye without Skill Swap and is somewhat vulnerable to Mega Gengar.
Other Setters
[Mega Diancie]: While an effective Pokémon, Mega Diancie is typically running coverage or other utility moves instead of Stealth Rock.
[Landorus-T]: Landorus-T soft checks Swords Dance Arceus and Primal Groudon and has pretty good momentum, but it can be a hard Pokémon to justify on a team.
[Dugtrio]: Dugtrio is able to fit Stealth Rock onto its set rather comfortably, but the list of teams that can effectively run Dugtrio is rather small. Additionally, this is not the type of Pokémon you add later in the building process to provide Stealth Rock.
[Deoxys-A]: Rarely does Deoxys-A bother dropping one of its coverage moves in order to run Stealth Rock, but it is an option.
[Arceus-Rock]: Arceus-Rock is good at forcing out Stealth Rock-weak Pokémon along with having the speed and resilience of Arceus formes; however, it can be hard to slot onto a good structure and usually prefers to run a Calm Mind set anyway.
[Mega Metagross]: Mega Metagross is usually strained with its moveset, but it can opt for Stealth Rock + Explosion.
[Ferrothorn]: It is hard to justify Stealth Rock over or alongside Spikes, and Ferrothorn is weak to many Stealth Rock-vulnerable Pokémon.
[Skarmory]: Like in Ferrothorn's case, it's hard to justify Stealth Rock over or alongside Spikes.
[Landorus]: Landorus is in and of itself not a very good Pokémon. On top of this, it may prefer to run a coverage move in lieu of Stealth Rock.
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