Type: Bug
Stats: 60/79/92/52/86/35
Abilities: Swarm/Stakeout
Notable Moves:
Spikes
Sticky Web
Toxic Spikes
First Impression
Sucker Punch
U-Turn
Block
Counter
Circle Throw
Rock Tomb
Taunt
Leech Life
Memento
Silk Trap
X-Scissor
Tera Blast
Substitute
Giga Drain
Low Kick
Trailblaze
Substitute
Brick Break
Lunge
Pros:
- Spidops is blessed with unique access to the combination of Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Sticky Web while having access to Taunt and Memento that would allow something much faster than Spidops to have a valuable niche as a suicide lead on Hyper Offense teams.
- Spidops also has the rare Stakeout ability, which would allow something with better coverage and offensive stats than Spidops to severely punish forced switches.
- First Impression is a very strong priority move that Lokix utilizes to its fullest potential, and Spidops shares this move (and virtually every other attacking move it gets) with Lokix.
- Your opponent may genuinely run the timer and lose because they're too preoccupied with laughing at the fact that you're using Spidops on your OU team.
Cons:
- The unique combination of Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Sticky Web supported by moves like Taunt or Memento is cursed by being attached to Spidops.
- Stakeout, despite being an incredibly powerful ability, is tied to threats that are generally mediocre at best to make up for it. Spidops makes every other fully-evolved Stakeout user seem Ubers-worthy by comparison, as it is hard-pressed to force any sort of switches to abuse said ability.
- Mono-Bug is an awful defensive typing, and Spidops's lack of reliable recovery and its pitiful base 60 HP ensure that it is almost completely incapable of utilizing its surprisingly decent 92 Defense and 86 Special Defense.
- Spidops's low 79 Attack and its abysmal 35 Speed ensure that Spidops is both incapable of OHKOing the few bulky fully-evolved threats it outspeeds and incapable of outspeeding the majority of the long list of offensive threats it could possibly OHKO. Its abysmal Speed also ensures that it will have a hard time Taunting an opposing hazard setter or a Corviknight trying to Defog its hazards away, although Spidops cannot touch Corviknight in any meaningful way anyway.
- Anything Spidops can do offensively is done much, much better by Lokix, which has almost every attacking move Spidops has and more while having the incredible Tinted Lens ability, superior offenses, and access to STAB Sucker Punch. Slither Wing, too, is a far superior offensive Bug-type with extremely good coverage, setup in Bulk-Up, and reliable recovery in Morning Sun while boasting a great defensive typing and better stats in many respects to back up said typing.
- You're using Spidops instead of almost anything else.
Terastalization Potential:
No. Don't do it. Spidops has five other teammates of your choosing that are potential Tera recipients. All of them are probably going to be superior to Spidops. Check out their analyses instead.
You could attempt to make Bug work to give Spidops a much stronger First Impression that may genuinely force a switch against something OHKOed by it after some chip damage (which would activate Stakeout), but at that point just use Slither Wing or Lokix. Similarly, Dark is functional by giving it STAB Sucker Punch or Assurance, which can produce some hilarious results.
Potential Sets:
Suicide "Lead"
Spidops @ Focus Sash
Ability: Insomnia
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Sticky Web / Memento
- Memento / Toxic Spikes
This Spidops set functions as the closest thing it could get to an effective suicide lead (let's be real; if you're running Spidops, there is no "lead") on Hyper Offense teams. With full Speed investment and a Speed-boosting nature, Spidops reaches 185 Speed, which outpaces defensive teams and allows it to get a quick Taunt off against them while it stacks up Spikes. Sticky Web can be used against more offensive teams, which Spidops will likely only be able to stack a single entry hazard against if the opponent isn't running Great Tusk or Iron Treads to lead against Spidops. Memento allows Spidops to instantly KO itself, allowing it to block Defog or a slow Rapid Spin attempt in a pinch and allowing something with an actual offensive presence to enter the field quicker. Toxic Spikes can be run instead, but there are many better Toxic Spikes users. A Jolly nature with max Attack investment and Lunge can be used to give Spidops an attacking move so it isn't completely shut down by Taunt. Counter with a Hasty Nature and zero Defense IVs can also be run to punish a physical attacker trying to KO Spidops by OHKOing it in return, which has the added benefit of giving you bragging rights because you KOed one of your opponent's threats with Spidops.
"Offensive"
Spidops @ Life Orb / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Stakeout
Tera Type: Bug / Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- First Impression
- Sucker Punch
- Taunt / U-Turn / Leech Life
- Assurance
This Spidops set pretends to have offensive capabilities, and it can inflict somewhat respectable amounts of damage to the switchins Spidops is mostly incapable of forcing. First Impression salvages Spidops's poor Speed by allowing it to utilize a hard-hitting priority move that can revenge kill weakened threats, and thanks to Stakeout it can punish attempted switchins quite hard as well due to how massive the Stakeout multiplier is. Sucker Punch can hit faster threats that resist Bug (some of which also resist Dark, though) for moderate damage, and it would have good synergy with Taunt if Spidops had a Speed stat worth writing home about. U-Turn allows Spidops to punish switchins it isn't really capable of forcing with a hard-hitting U-Turn, while Leech Life hits harder than U-Turn and gives Spidops a limited amount of sustainability. Assurance is an interesting option, especially with Tera-Dark, to punish switch attempts that probably won't happen anyway if entry hazard support is provided by something else. STAB, Stakeout-boosted Assurance with entry hazard support hits incredibly hard and is even capable of putting Dark resists into Sucker Punch KO range. Unfortunately, though, Spidops's poor Speed and bulk ensure that it'll have a difficult time forcing switches outside of very specific scenarios where Lokix would probably be the far superior First Impression user.
Overall:
Spidops is an atrocious Pokemon, and realistically has no place in competitive play. Early-route Bug-types tend to have a poor track record, and Spidops makes several of them seem good by comparison. Use Lokix or Slither Wing if you want an offensive Bug-type, or use any of the extremely long list of Spikes or Toxic Spikes users this generation brought if you want an entry hazard setter. Glimmora is particularly excellent in this role. Don't use Spidops.
