[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 7 onwards
**Price Range**: 4 - 5 points
**Overview**: Skuntank offers versatile role compression as a utility Pokémon and a revenge killer with decent priority. Sporting one of the best type combinations in the game, Skuntank bolsters several useful resistances, including Ghost and an immunity to Psychic. Its status as a grounded Poison-type allows it to absorb Toxic-Spikes while putting them up for its teammates. Although Skuntank is meant to progress the game state with its support options and significant STAB attacks, its lackluster base stats sometimes negate its usefulness.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Support**: Skuntank is meant to use its resistances to come in on its opponents and cripple them with Knock Off. Added bulk allows for more turns to set up Toxic-Spikes, use Taunt on status moves, and inflict residual damage through one of its Poison moves. Alternative options (besides Taunt) to prevent set-up sweepers, such as Haze, Foul Play, and Memento, should be considered for this role.
**Offensive Check**: Pairing Skuntank with priority Sucker Punch and Fire-type coverage allows it to check common attackers. Items like Heavy-Duty Boots and Sitrus Berry enable Skuntank to switch in more frequently with less risk of fainting. Aftermath is its preferred Ability, as it can chip or take down physical sweepers without a pivot.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Knock Off, Sucker Punch, Foul Play, Crunch, Gunk Shot, Poison Jab
**Setup Moves**: N/A
**Utility Moves**: Taunt, Toxic Spikes, Toxic, Memento, Haze, Protect, Roar, Scary Face
**Coverage**: Temper Flare, Special Fire Attacks, Play Rough, Super Fang, Trailblaze
Niche Moves
========
**Burning Jealousy**: This move is helpful on Assault Vest sets to punish faster set-up sweepers or Rapid Spin users with a burn. It also punishes terrain seed users like Snealser who want to switch into an incoming Knock Off.
Common Items
========
**Sitrus Berry/ Black Sludge**: Sitrus Berry enables Skuntank to turn common 2HKOs into 3HKOs, giving it more chances to disrupt your opponent with its utility options, while Black Sludge can do the same and provide more recovery in less common situations.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: This item provides longevity for Skuntank against teams with more prominent ways to set up hazards.
**Rocky Helmet**: Can be used against physical Dark and Grass types for chip damage on top of Aftermath.
**Expert Belt/ Dark Glasses/ Life Orb**: A colorful move-pool allows Skuntank to abuse the item Expert Belt without inflicting self-damage. However, a powerful Sucker Punch is sometimes needed to improve its ability to revenge kill. Black Glasses or Life Orb are alternative options, with Life Orb giving up some HP to fill both roles of the other items.
Niche Items
========
**Assault Vest**: With beneficial typing against common special move sets, the Assault Vest buffers neutral special coverage, providing longevity, with its status inflicting STAB attacks.
**Choice Band**: A more powerful option in Choice Band allows Skuntank to wall break and revenge kill better but limits its support options.
Tera
========
Skuntank should not be a Tera Captain or used for Tera. Its main perk is its typing, so changing it would undermine Skuntank's strengths. If Tera had to be considered, Flying to provide immunity to Ground attacks or Dark to boost its primary offensive attacks would be okay options.
Draft Strategy
========
Skuntank performs well as a versatile utility Poison/Dark type that provides a valuable resistance to the strong offensive type, Ghost, while being able to Knock Off items and absorb Toxic-Spikes. Skuntank should only be considered as a late draft pick if previously drafted Pokémon do not fill at least one of its more useful attributes.
**Hazard Vulnerable Teams**: One of the reasons Skuntank stands out as a great Taunt user is because Pokémon that prefer to switch into it, such as Steel, Poison, and Ground types, also commonly carry entry hazards. Skuntank shuts these down, creating time for offensive teammates to wear down the opponent's defensive options.
**Strong Walls**: While Skuntank provides great resistances, its lack of natural bulk leaves it vulnerable to strong neutral and super-effective attacks. Some great defensive partners include Gholdengo, Latias, and Slowking, who work well by covering each other's weaknesses and progressing the game state uniquely.
**Fighting Types**: In the early game, Fighting types like Iron Valiant, Annihilape, and Blaziken can struggle to fire off powerful STAB attacks without losing momentum. Skuntank makes a good partner for these Pokémon, being a decent check versus common switch-ins such as Ghost, Poison, and Psychic types while carrying out a progressive game state by knocking off items and preventing status moves with Taunt. With the use of Sucker Punch, Skuntank also eliminates these switch-ins late game creating win conditions for Fighting types.
Checks and Counters
========
**Strong Offensive Threats**: Skuntank cannot take strong alternate STAB attacks well despite its primary role as an offensive check. Choice Specs Gholdengo destroys all variants of Skuntank with its powerful steel attack, making its position as a Ghost check very weak. Its resistances fall flat for a lot of Pokémon, with the most notable being Chi-Yu, Roaring Moon, and Iron Moth.
**Common Ground Types**: Very common and powerful draft picks are Ground types. Notably, Great Tusk, Garchomp, Landorus-Incarnate, Landorus-Therian, and Excadrill are all naturally faster hazards setters that threaten a 1HKO on Skuntank.
**Alternate Coverage**: Dark, Psychic, and Ghost types usually run Fighting-type coverage to hit Steel and Dark-types. A draft opponent may switch to Ground-type coverage if they wish to hit Skuntank super-effectively, limiting its checking potential.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/daspoofy.116190/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user2.200000
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.300000
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.400000
**Draft Order**: Round 7 onwards
**Price Range**: 4 - 5 points
**Overview**: Skuntank offers versatile role compression as a utility Pokémon and a revenge killer with decent priority. Sporting one of the best type combinations in the game, Skuntank bolsters several useful resistances, including Ghost and an immunity to Psychic. Its status as a grounded Poison-type allows it to absorb Toxic-Spikes while putting them up for its teammates. Although Skuntank is meant to progress the game state with its support options and significant STAB attacks, its lackluster base stats sometimes negate its usefulness.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Support**: Skuntank is meant to use its resistances to come in on its opponents and cripple them with Knock Off. Added bulk allows for more turns to set up Toxic-Spikes, use Taunt on status moves, and inflict residual damage through one of its Poison moves. Alternative options (besides Taunt) to prevent set-up sweepers, such as Haze, Foul Play, and Memento, should be considered for this role.
**Offensive Check**: Pairing Skuntank with priority Sucker Punch and Fire-type coverage allows it to check common attackers. Items like Heavy-Duty Boots and Sitrus Berry enable Skuntank to switch in more frequently with less risk of fainting. Aftermath is its preferred Ability, as it can chip or take down physical sweepers without a pivot.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Knock Off, Sucker Punch, Foul Play, Crunch, Gunk Shot, Poison Jab
**Setup Moves**: N/A
**Utility Moves**: Taunt, Toxic Spikes, Toxic, Memento, Haze, Protect, Roar, Scary Face
**Coverage**: Temper Flare, Special Fire Attacks, Play Rough, Super Fang, Trailblaze
Niche Moves
========
**Burning Jealousy**: This move is helpful on Assault Vest sets to punish faster set-up sweepers or Rapid Spin users with a burn. It also punishes terrain seed users like Snealser who want to switch into an incoming Knock Off.
Common Items
========
**Sitrus Berry/ Black Sludge**: Sitrus Berry enables Skuntank to turn common 2HKOs into 3HKOs, giving it more chances to disrupt your opponent with its utility options, while Black Sludge can do the same and provide more recovery in less common situations.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: This item provides longevity for Skuntank against teams with more prominent ways to set up hazards.
**Rocky Helmet**: Can be used against physical Dark and Grass types for chip damage on top of Aftermath.
**Expert Belt/ Dark Glasses/ Life Orb**: A colorful move-pool allows Skuntank to abuse the item Expert Belt without inflicting self-damage. However, a powerful Sucker Punch is sometimes needed to improve its ability to revenge kill. Black Glasses or Life Orb are alternative options, with Life Orb giving up some HP to fill both roles of the other items.
Niche Items
========
**Assault Vest**: With beneficial typing against common special move sets, the Assault Vest buffers neutral special coverage, providing longevity, with its status inflicting STAB attacks.
**Choice Band**: A more powerful option in Choice Band allows Skuntank to wall break and revenge kill better but limits its support options.
Tera
========
Skuntank should not be a Tera Captain or used for Tera. Its main perk is its typing, so changing it would undermine Skuntank's strengths. If Tera had to be considered, Flying to provide immunity to Ground attacks or Dark to boost its primary offensive attacks would be okay options.
Draft Strategy
========
Skuntank performs well as a versatile utility Poison/Dark type that provides a valuable resistance to the strong offensive type, Ghost, while being able to Knock Off items and absorb Toxic-Spikes. Skuntank should only be considered as a late draft pick if previously drafted Pokémon do not fill at least one of its more useful attributes.
**Hazard Vulnerable Teams**: One of the reasons Skuntank stands out as a great Taunt user is because Pokémon that prefer to switch into it, such as Steel, Poison, and Ground types, also commonly carry entry hazards. Skuntank shuts these down, creating time for offensive teammates to wear down the opponent's defensive options.
**Strong Walls**: While Skuntank provides great resistances, its lack of natural bulk leaves it vulnerable to strong neutral and super-effective attacks. Some great defensive partners include Gholdengo, Latias, and Slowking, who work well by covering each other's weaknesses and progressing the game state uniquely.
**Fighting Types**: In the early game, Fighting types like Iron Valiant, Annihilape, and Blaziken can struggle to fire off powerful STAB attacks without losing momentum. Skuntank makes a good partner for these Pokémon, being a decent check versus common switch-ins such as Ghost, Poison, and Psychic types while carrying out a progressive game state by knocking off items and preventing status moves with Taunt. With the use of Sucker Punch, Skuntank also eliminates these switch-ins late game creating win conditions for Fighting types.
Checks and Counters
========
**Strong Offensive Threats**: Skuntank cannot take strong alternate STAB attacks well despite its primary role as an offensive check. Choice Specs Gholdengo destroys all variants of Skuntank with its powerful steel attack, making its position as a Ghost check very weak. Its resistances fall flat for a lot of Pokémon, with the most notable being Chi-Yu, Roaring Moon, and Iron Moth.
**Common Ground Types**: Very common and powerful draft picks are Ground types. Notably, Great Tusk, Garchomp, Landorus-Incarnate, Landorus-Therian, and Excadrill are all naturally faster hazards setters that threaten a 1HKO on Skuntank.
**Alternate Coverage**: Dark, Psychic, and Ghost types usually run Fighting-type coverage to hit Steel and Dark-types. A draft opponent may switch to Ground-type coverage if they wish to hit Skuntank super-effectively, limiting its checking potential.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/daspoofy.116190/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user2.200000
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.300000
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.400000
Last edited:
