BW Entry Hazard Analysis
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Art by Shadowshocker.
Introduction
The entry hazard metagame is one of the most prominent parts of playing BW OU. For many years, entry hazard setters were numerous and spinners scarce. This ultimately led to the reintroduction of Excadrill into BW OU after spending years in Ubers. In addition, the ban on sleep-inducing moves and the subsequent fall of Smeargle and Roserade also caused the entry hazard metagame to evolve, even years after the generation came to a close. This article aims to teach you about all of the options in BW OU for controlling entry hazards to give you a leg up in your battles!
Entry hazards have many uses in a game of Pokémon. Most notably, they can put large amounts of chip damage onto walls, allowing your sweepers to break through them more easily. Second, they can wear down attackers to leave them more vulnerable to revenge killing. However, one of the aspects most unique to BW OU is that they can help you win the weather war. All weather setters in BW (Politoed, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Ninetales, and Abomasnow) are vulnerable to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, two are weak to Stealth Rock (Ninetales and Abomasnow), one resists Stealth Rock (Hippowdon), and one has reliable recovery (also Hippowdon). Therefore, keeping entry hazards on the other side of the field and off your side can go a long way into making sure your desired weather stays up throughout the entire match.
Entry Hazards
Stealth Rock
As you probably know, Stealth Rock is a mandatory move on any competitive team. It deals damage to Pokémon upon entry in the amount of 12.5% of their total HP adjusted for their weakness to Rock, meaning it can deal from 1/32nd up to half of a Pokémon's HP. This helps nullify dangerous threats such as Volcarona, Thundurus-T, and Tornadus. However, most Pokémon are not weak to Stealth Rock and you may encounter or use teams with no Stealth Rock weaknesses at all, yet they still go a long way in winning a game. While Spikes and Toxic Spikes don't affect Flying-types or Pokémon with Levitate, Stealth Rock does, making it critical for chipping down Pokémon such as Landorus-T and Rotom-W along with many other Pokémon of all shapes and sizes.
Spikes
Spikes are arguably the entry hazard most threatening to grounded Pokémon as a whole, as it does not take type effectiveness into account. Spikes can be stacked up to three layers, dealing a total of 1/8, 1/6, or 1/4 of a Pokémon's HP in damage for one, two, and three layers, respectively. This makes it capable of racking up damage on Pokémon that can be otherwise hard to take down, such as Tyranitar, Ferrothorn, and Jirachi. Spikes can be found on almost all rain teams and many sand teams for their ability to rack up damage on forced switches on offensive teams or in conjunction with sandstorm damage on bulky sand balance teams.
Toxic Spikes
The least common entry hazard in BW OU, Toxic Spikes poison an enemy upon entry if one layer is up and will badly poison them if two layers are up. Poison can make a massive difference over the course of longer games and is particularly notable for quickly wearing down all weather setters in BW. However, they are also the least consistent entry hazard, as many of BW's threats are Steel-types, are not grounded, or are capable of ignoring status via Magic Guard, Natural Cure, or Refresh. They are also quite easy to remove as Tentacruel does not even need to spin to remove them by virtue of its Poison typing, which immediately absorbs them upon entry. Excadrill is immune to Poison as a Steel-type and therefore does not need to worry about the status sticking to it. Starmie has Natural Cure, which allows it to come in, clear the Toxic Spikes, and switch out to recover the status, making it a good option against them as well.
The Setters
Ferrothorn could very well be the most prominent entry hazard setter in the tier, as it checks a large number of Pokémon, can set both Stealth Rock and Spikes, and can deal a reasonably large chunk of damage to the tier's most popular spinners. It finds use on rain and sand teams as a sturdy Steel-type that every team needs to beat Dragon-types and a utility Pokémon through its entry hazards. Thanks to its typing and bulk, it can set entry hazards against Pokémon such as Latios, Starmie, Politoed, Kyurem-B, Rotom-W, and Choice-locked Keldeo. It also has the added benefit of being able to wear down opposing Ferrothorn by removing Leftovers with Knock Off and chip down spinners with Iron Barbs. However, while Power Whip can do significant damage to Tentacruel, Ferrothorn is severely crippled by Scald burns and needs other Pokémon to handle this matchup.
One of the most iconic physical walls in Pokémon history, Skarmory is also an excellent entry hazard setter. Most prominently, it's a fixture on aggressive Spikes-stacking sand teams as a check to BW's powerful Ground-types such as Excadrill, Landorus-T, and Mamoswine and Dragon- and Psychic-types such as Latios, Dragonite, Kyurem-B, and Alakazam. This gives it ample opportunities to set Spikes and shuffle the opponent's team with Whirlwind. Thanks to its typing, Skarmory is also immune to Spikes and sand, making it easy to keep it healthy. However, though Skarmory has an excellent matchup against the best spinner on sand teams in Excadrill, it gets absolutely bodied by Tentacruel. As such, it is almost always paired with a Water-immune Pokémon such as Jellicent, Gastrodon, or Seismitoad, or a Pokémon that doesn't care about burns such as Reuniclus, in order to shut Tentacruel down. In addition, while Skarmory takes little damage from Excadrill, it requires Rocky Helmet to really force Excadrill out. Skarmory can also run a Salac Berry lead set with both Spikes and Stealth Rock to set entry hazards very quickly and retain initiative by getting KOed before they can be removed, but this set is less common.
Landorus-T is one of the best Pokémon in the BW metagame and one of the top Stealth Rock setters. Thanks to its great defensive typing and ability, it can switch in on physical attackers such as Terrakion, Breloom, Tyranitar, and Excadrill and set Stealth Rock as they switch out. Its typing also lends Landorus-T an immunity to Spikes and sand, allowing it to better survive throughout the match. In addition, it is a hard counter to Excadrill, which is one of the most prominent spinners in the tier. Landorus-T can be found carrying Stealth Rock on balance and offensive teams under all weather conditions. You will most often find Stealth Rock on its bulky pivot set, but Stealth Rock can occasionally be found as the fourth move on its Choice Scarf set. One thing to look out for with Landorus-T, however, is that Tentacruel tends to run enough Speed to outspeed almost all Landorus-T variants, allowing them to KO it and spin later to permanently keep Stealth Rock off the field.
Having an excellent defensive typing, ability, and stats, it's no surprise that Gliscor is a great Stealth Rock setter in BW. It can handle Excadrill, arguably the best spinner in BW, with relative ease, allowing it to keep Stealth Rock up reliably against sand teams. Its ability, Poison Heal, grants Gliscor immense longevity when combined with its immunity to Spikes and neutrality to Stealth Rock, and Poison Heal also grants it immunity to status, making Gliscor a good deterrent against status spreaders such as Heatran and defensive Excadrill. Like Landorus-T, it is wise to watch out for fast Tentacruel, though the situation isn't quite as dire for Gliscor.
Garchomp is one of the most capable offensive Stealth Rock setters in BW. Although it ran bulky sets in the past, the most common Stealth Rock Garchomp sets are mixed Life Orb sets on rain and sand teams and Stealth Rock + Swords Dance sets on aggressive offense teams. Mixed Garchomp (also known as ChainChomp) usually runs Stealth Rock + Draco Meteor + Earthquake + Fire Blast, and thanks to this coverage, it threatens many Pokémon and is hard to switch into, giving it ample opportunities to set Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock + Swords Dance sets function differently, as Garchomp can try to set Stealth Rock early and then demolish a foe with a Swords Dance-boosted Outrage, giving it wallbreaking power throughout the match. Thanks to its Speed and powerful Earthquake, Garchomp is capable of offensively forcing out two of the metagame's most prominent spinners in Tentacruel and Excadrill and setting Stealth Rock safely.
Jirachi is the premier Stealth Rock setter on DragMag teams and many other weatherless teams. Jirachi is often paired with Magnezone, as it can lure in Steel-types, pivot into Magnezone with U-turn, and then trap them, and it also serves as the team's primary switch-in to powerful Dragon-types such as Latios. On DragMag teams, Jirachi often runs a variety of coverage moves alongside Stealth Rock and U-turn to target various threatening Pokémon such as Rotom-W, while other weatherless and rain teams sometimes feature Wish sets to support the team. Unfortunately, Jirachi doesn't match up well against Excadrill and Tentacruel, but it can sometimes turn that negative Excadrill matchup into an advantage with the support of Magnezone.
Heatran's unique typing and ability make it an excellent check to Pokémon such as Volcarona, Celebi, Jirachi, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory. This defensive capability gives it ample opportunities to set Stealth Rock. However, that is not the only way Heatran contributes to the entry hazard metagame. Heatran's powerful Fire-type STAB moves allows it to put significant pressure on Ferrothorn and Skarmory, two of BW's most prominent entry hazard setters, to prevent them from setting up their own entry hazards and Excadrill, which can remove Heatran's Stealth Rock. However, it very much dislikes the matchup against Tentacruel if rain is active.
Though not quite as common as other setters in BW, Stealth Rock occasionally finds use on specially defensive Excadrill. Excadrill's defensive typing affords it numerous opportunities to set Stealth Rock on Choice-locked Pokémon such as Latios, Landorus-T, Tornadus, and Tyranitar. Excadrill is also notable as a Stealth Rock setter because it can set Stealth Rock against Xatu, which can otherwise be incredibly annoying for entry hazard setters, because of Mold Breaker. However, it is forced out by the three most common spinners in the tier in Tentacruel, Starmie, and offensive Excadrill.
Celebi sometimes finds itself on bulky sand teams as a solid Water-resistant Pokémon and Stealth Rock setter. A particularly notable aspect of Celebi as a Stealth Rock setter is how well it matches up against rain teams and how easily it can keep Stealth Rock up against them. Not only is it a solid check to common rain Pokémon such as Keldeo, Latios, and Thundurus-T, but it also hard counters what is arguably the metagame's most reliable spinner in Tentacruel, as it doesn't care about Toxic or Scald courtesy of its typing and Natural Cure, threatens Tentacruel with Psychic, and can continue to set Stealth Rock. However, Celebi is vulnerable to all entry hazards as well as sand, and the types of builds that Celebi can be found on are often very weak to hyper offense builds, with Pokémon such as Volcarona being capable of easily demolishing them.
As one of the most common Pokémon in the metagame overall, it's no surprise that Tyranitar is sometimes tasked with setting Stealth Rock for the team. Its solid bulk and ability to check a multitude of threats make it a great setter on paper. However, because Tyranitar is often used to handle all of these powerful threats and vulnerable to entry hazards, it often can't find an opportunity to do that and set Stealth Rock at the same time. As such, it is recommended that you run Stealth Rock Tyranitar alongside another Stealth Rock user. Tyranitar also loses the matchup against Excadrill, making it difficult to keep Stealth Rock up against sand teams. The sand that Tyranitar sets up, however, can make it easier to handle Tentacruel in a matchup against rain teams.
Though it is now rarer than it used to be, lead Terrakion with Focus Sash is sometimes used to set Stealth Rock for offensive teams. Terrakion has powerful STAB moves with good coverage, allowing it to force out many opposing Pokémon and set Stealth Rock on the switch. It also threatens spinners, as it OHKOes Excadrill with Close Combat and can take a good chunk out of Tentacruel and Starmie with Stone Edge.
Hippowdon has quite a few characteristics that make it a good Stealth Rock setter. First of all, it possesses monstrous bulk, particularly on the physical side, allowing it to check and defeat Pokémon such as Excadrill. This bulk is complemented by reliable recovery in Slack Off. Hippowdon also sets up sand for the team, which gives it an easier time pressuing Tentacruel that requires rain to remain healthy. It can also use Whirlwind to rack up damage when entry hazards are up.
Seismitoad is a unique Pokémon that finds itself occasionally setting Stealth Rock for sand teams. It can switch into common Pokémon such as Rotom-W, Tentacruel, bulky Starmie, Jellicent, Choice-locked Keldeo and proceed to set Stealth Rock. This is thanks to its solid typing, immunity to Water-type moves, and ability to remove status using Refresh, which allow Seismitoad to offer significant role compression. It can also pressure Excadrill with Scald and can use Knock Off to deter other switch-ins.
Tentacruel is the best of the few Toxic Spikes setters in the tier. Though they are rather uncommon for reasons mentioned above, they still have their place on some rain teams. Toxic Spikes pairs particularly well with Substitute users such as Thundurus-T, Substitute + Calm Mind Keldeo, and the occasional Tornadus, as they can hide behind Substitute and try to outlast their counters, most of which are grounded Pokémon. As a bonus, Tentacruel can outrun and threaten opposing Excadrill with Scald, making your own entry hazards easier to maintain.
Relatively new to the BW competitive scene, Aerodactyl has become a popular lead on hyper offense teams. Its massive Speed stat allows it to outrun pretty much every lead slot and set Stealth Rock while preventing opposing Stealth Rock with Taunt. This lends itself on teams with Cloyster and Volcarona, which are incredibly threatening when Stealth Rock is up on the opposing side of the team and not your own. Aerodactyl conveniently has Earthquake to threaten spinners such as Excadrill and Tentacruel, and it also possesses the ability to gain momentum by KOing itself with Double-Edge.
Good Entry Hazard Teammates
Basically every Pokémon benefits from having entry hazards on the other side of the field. That said, some benefit more than others. One of the biggest targets for Spikes is Tyranitar, as it usually carries a Chople Berry and has no reliable recovery, meaning it gets worn down easily. Spikes means that Pokémon such as Latios, Alakazam, Reuniclus, Thundurus-T, and Tornadus can often muscle through Tyranitar and wreak havoc on the rest of the team afterwards. It is common to see two or three of these Pokémon on the same team; Tornadus, Thundurus-T, and Latios are all excellent on rain teams, while Latios, Alakazam, and Reuniclus are great options on Spikes-stacking sand teams with multiple Psychic-types. For similar reasons, Dragon-types such as Dragonite, Latios, and Kyurem-B benefit from entry hazards because most Steel-types, such as Ferrothorn, Jirachi, and Heatran, are grounded and lack reliable recovery. As such, they will eventually succumb to repeated attacks and Spikes damage.
Removal and Prevention
Art by Shadowshocker.
In BW, the only way to remove entry hazards for your team is by using Rapid Spin, as Defog only removes them for your opponent in this generation. This results in entry hazard control being severely limited, as there are very few viable users of Rapid Spin. That said, there are still some good options that fit a multitude of team archetypes.
Tentacruel is arguably the most reliable spinner in BW and a fixture on nearly all rain teams. Rain Dish grants Tentacruel extra recovery in rain, making it exceptionally difficult to KO when rain is up in combination with Protect, and its solid bulk and granting it many opportunities to spin. Tentacruel is also notable because it threatens many entry hazard setters, many of which are weak to Water-type moves, and can also sit on Skarmory and spin or spam Scald against it. Conveniently, Tentacruel can remove Toxic Spikes just by coming in, thanks to its Poison typing. Tentacruel's most prominent problem as a spinner is that it is walled by Jellicent, the metagame's only viable spinblocker, but it can use Toxic and attempt to outlast Jellicent.
A fixture on many teams, Excadrill is an excellent Rapid Spin user in BW OU because of its excellent typing and offensive power. Though it is hard walled by Gliscor, Landorus-T, and Skarmory, it can deal significant damage to many entry hazard setters and Jellicent, the metagame's only spinblocker. Excadrill's typing is critical to its role as a spinner, as it grants Excadrill many valuable resistances and chances to spin against Choice-locked Latios, Jirachi, and Celebi. In addition, Excadrill is 4x resistant to Stealth Rock and immune to Toxic Spikes, letting it clear both entry hazards with ease. It does, however, lose to some entry hazard setters such as Toxic Spikes Tentacruel, Stealth Rock Garchomp, and Terrakion.
Though Starmie has seen better days in the past, its still a solid spinner on some teams. Its Water typing allows Starmie to threaten many entry hazard setters, and its Speed and reliable recovery mean it can quickly spin and stick around for much of the game. It's occasionally found on rain teams as an offensive spinner, though the popularity of Ferrothorn makes life difficult for it. Though it has been used on sand teams in the past, bulky Starmie sets are not very good in this metagame. However, weatherless teams such as Volcarona hyper offense and DragMag teams appreciate Starmie's ability to clear Stealth Rock quickly and reliably for Pokémon such as Volcarona, Dragonite, and Kyurem-B.
Magnezone is not a spinner, but it can go a long way in helping you win the entry hazard game. It hard counters Ferrothorn and Skarmory, preventing them from setting up entry hazards and allowing a teammate such as Starmie or Excadrill to remove them. In addition, as Ferrothorn and Skarmory are some of the hardest counters to Starmie and Excadrill, removing them allows for Starmie and Excadrill to be more effective overall.
Not only does Xatu prevent entry hazards from going up, but it also hilariously bounces them back at your opponent. It's also a natural switch-in to common entry hazard setters such as Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Gliscor, and Landorus-T, which can be extremely frustrating for them. Xatu also sometimes runs Heat Wave, allowing it to chip down Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Excadrill.
Keeping Them Up
As the only viable Ghost-type in BW OU, Jellicent is the metagame's best spinblocker. It is most often found on aggressive Spikes-stacking sand teams alongside Pokémon like Skarmory and Alakazam. Its typing and ability grant Jellicent the ability to handle common spinners in Tentacruel and Starmie and counter big metagame threats such as Keldeo and some Breloom sets. One of its largest faults, however, is that Excadrill can do significant damage to Jellicent with its Sand Force-boosted Earthquake, a problem that has been magnified due to Jellicent running more Speed EVs and investing less in Defense.
In addition to its ability to prevent hazards from going up, Magnezone can also trap and remove Excadrill, meaning your own entry hazards will last throughout the rest of the match. When brought in off of a double switch or a U-turn from Jirachi against Excadrill, it can use Magnet Rise to win the one-versus-one against Excadrill, provided Excadrill doesn't cause Magnezone to flinch with Iron Head.
Fringe Stuff
There are a few other Pokémon one might expect to make a splash in the entry hazard metagame, but they fail to live up to that expectation. Forretress initially appears to be a hazard stacker's dream, as it has access to all three types of entry hazards and Rapid Spin, but it is too passive and doesn't really threaten enough entry hazard setters or spinners to be worth using on most teams. Forretress does find some use on the occasional sun team, as it offers role compression and a sturdy Dragon-resistant Pokémon. Donphan seems like a viable option as a Stealth Rock setter and spinner, but it is almost entirely outclassed by Excadrill and lacks the offensive presence or defensive utility to be a common option. Cloyster has access to Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Rapid Spin, but it is held back by its terrible defensive typing and Special Defense stat; it is better off running sweeping sets with Shell Smash anyway. Some teams, however, do run Rapid Spin as the fourth move on Shell Smash Cloyster. Finally, Gengar's Ghost typing would seem to make it a spinblocker, but its frailty and susceptibility to Pursuit make it difficult to justify on many teams.
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