DPPt/HGSS My Newest Team member - Skarmory

[KoL]

This is a Skarmory moveset I've been experimenting with. It works well so far, but I'm still a bit unsure if the moveset makes the most of Skarmory's potential. Here it is:

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Keen Eye
Impish

- Drill Peck
- Roar
- Roost
- Stealth Rock

I use Shed Shell instead of Leftovers for two reasons:

- It lets me escape Magnezone's Magnet Pull, and since I have an Electivire with Earthquake on my team...
- My Regice is currently using the Leftovers, and I'm following the "no duplicate items" rule (even though I don't like it much.)

My main questions are:

- Is Steel Wing/Aerial Ace and Whirlwind a better combination than Drill Peck and Roar?
- Should I go for Spikes or Stealth Rock?
- Even though Regice has the Leftovers, is there a better item I could be using than Shed Shell?

That and any other help is greatly appreciated. I'm always open to suggestions.

 

[burp23]

Think about it... Spikes=Ground, Stealth Rock=Rock... You use Spikes instead of Stealth Rock on a trainer's ONLY non-flying type pok

 

[Ruko]

Skarmory's Special attack isn't exactly Special, so I would not use Flash Cannon...

One thing that makes Spikes better than Stealth Rock, You can stack spikes. That is to say, if you use spikes three times, they do triple damage. Stealth rock can't be stacked, and does damage based on the switched in pokemon's resistance or weakness to rock type attacks. Both are good. there is also a third move, Toxic Spikes to consider, it will badly poison if you stack it once.

I think your move set looks good the way it is, but it depends on how you are using Skarmory...
you'll really just have to test it out and see if something else would work better.

Roar and Whirlwind have the same effect... except Whirlwind can hit pokemon using fly (or could in Gold/Silver/Crystal, never really bothered with it since)

Since you don't have Leftovers, Roost is a good idea.

Drill peck, just because of STAB and the lack of any attack can be bad...

 

[burp23]

Ruko does bring up a good point. I've never really used Spikes, so I wasn't aware of its stackability, and I'm so used to using the 3rd Gen movesets I completely forgot about Toxic Spikes.

 

[Plapti]

If you can, breed Whilwind onto the first Skarmory set. If can't don't bother. Very few Pokemon have the ability Soundproof.

Stealth Rock I think is a stepup from Spikes. You only need to set one layer down and it can do anywhere from 6.25% to 50% of one Pokemon's HP. It only takes one turn to set up as well. Layering Spikes takes up to 3 turns to get the most effective damage. And Spikes doesn't hit Flying Pokemon or Pokemon with Levitate, Stealth Rock does.

Shed Shell is perfectly fine, since Skarmory isn't affected by Sandstorm. The only reason why it would need the Shed Shell, is to escape Magnezone.

 

[KoL]

Thanks guys, I forgot that Roar had no effect on Pokemon using Soundproof *facepalm*. Hopefully I will have other means to take out the horrifying Electrode, Mr.Mime and Exploud ;D.

I can breed Whirlwind onto my Skarmory, but since this Skarmory I'm using is already an EV trained lv 100, it would be pretty time-consuming. It is still a possibility though, just depends on whether you guys think it'd be worth the trouble to do so.

As for burp23's suggestion, I probably should have put down what Skarmory's stats were to give a better idea of what we're working with. Here they are:

HP = 321
Atk = 166
Def = 414
Sp.Atk = 81
Sp.Def = 152
Speed = 176