Toxic Spikes absorbers

 Alright, so here's a 2nd blog. Let's talk about Toxic Spikes absorbers.

In terms of mechanics, Toxic Spikes absorbers must be grounded Poison types (AKA can't have a Ground-immunity) and they remove Tspikes. Note that Tspikes absorption happens at the SAME time as when other entry hazards are applied, so you can keep your 1HP Sashed Poison type and switch it in later to absorb Tspikes even if Rocks or Spikes are up.

Things that benefit from Toxic Spikes absorption tend to be bulkier setup sweepers or grounded SubPinch berry mons that are not Poison immune. Examples would be:

- Double Dance Groudon with Leftovers

- SubSD Groudon

- Calm Mind Kyogre sets that don't have Rest

- SubCM Giratina-A

- SubSalac Garchomp

- SubDD Kingdra

- SubProtect 2 attacks Palkia

Note there are also certain Pokemon that actually partially benefit from 1 layer of Toxic Spikes specifically - the best example of this is Calm Mind Recover Mewtwo because it can then set up on Blissey and avoid getting Toxic poisoned and lose. This also extends to literally every CM Farceus forme with Recover that isn't Poison, Steel or Flying too.

Before we start - you'll notice that most of these mons (at least the more viable ones) are leads. You'll tend to find that most of the Tspikes setters are also leads. You may end up getting surprised by Tspikes at the back or have Forretress set up at the back, but that is a bit less common so suiciding your Toxic Spikes absorber at the start is usually okay unless you can see that they've preserved their Tspike lead.

So, let's go from most viable to least viable (will get more and more contentious and dubious as we go on) Tspike absorbers:

Qwilfish @ Lum Berry / Mystic Water

Ability: Swift Swim  

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature  

- Spikes / Toxic Spikes

- Explosion / Waterfall

- Destiny Bond / Waterfall

- Taunt / Toxic Spikes

Qwilfish is probably the most viable Tspikes absorber in the metagame currently. The main reason is that it can just do so many things in the one set, although you should not expect to do all of them. You Tspikes absorb just coming in, can speed control things like Darkrai and Mewtwo, trade with Explosion or Destiny Bond and set up Spikes.

Depending on the team and how much you need Toxic Spikes off - but your own goal is to absorb Tspikes and then do 1-2 more things to make a bit of progress then die. That may be a hazard, a boom or kill off a threatening mon like Darkrai. Anything more is a bonus.

I normally use an attacking set for this because I like being able to revenge healthy Darkrai in the rain and do more damage to like Mewtwo and Garchomp, however it's reasonable to run a bit more bulk to maybe live a Dark Pulse or something. Mystic Water Qwilfish hits surprisingly hard if it's against something without box art legendary level defenses anyway.

Move-wise - a hazard is a must, Taunt is not always mandatory. Explosion or Destiny Bond to trade up and Waterfall lets you kill something like Darkrai without having to trade to do it.

Tentacruel @ Lum Berry / Focus Sash / Leftovers  

Ability: Clear Body  

EVs: 200 HP / 16 SpA / 68 SpD / 224 Spe  

Timid Nature  

IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe  

- Toxic Spikes  

- Ice Beam  

- Hidden Power [Fire] / Protect

- Rapid Spin

Previously the king of Toxic Spikes users, this has dropped in viability recently due to most players recognising that unfortunately it's a bit passive and team structures with it tend to be really weak to fat Dialga which is very common.

I think this is probably the modern take on lead Tentacruel. HP Fire lets you 1v1 Forretress better (Hydro Pump does too but is kind of weak in general and gets blunted by sun too). Icy Wind + Hydro Pump used to be go to 2 attacks but to be honest I don't think there was ever a target seeing as it still failed to 2HKO 0/0 Deo-S (not to mention it still outsped you after -1 anyway).

Lum Berry is preferred as Tentacruel is fat enough to live most things anyway, and the things that can kill you tend to be outsped so get your layer of Tspikes up (eg Specs Ogre) and you really don't want to get shut down by lead Darkrai if you can avoid it anyway.

This mon can be used at the back and I think that's not a bad place to run Tentacruel, tbh. Just use Leftovers on a set like that, I feel.

Roserade @ Choice Scarf / Focus Sash

Ability: Natural Cure  

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  

Timid Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Sleep Powder  

- Toxic Spikes  

- Leaf Storm  

- Weather Ball

Roserade @ Leftovers  

Ability: Natural Cure  

EVs: 248 HP / 120 SpD / 140 Spe  

Calm Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Grass Knot  

- Spikes  

- Aromatherapy / Toxic Spikes

- Weather Ball / Leech Seed / Toxic Spikes

Roserade has become pretty meta recently I reckon and for good reason. It has a nice typing and good options. It's a real shame that Sleep Powder is illegal with Spikes but you can't have everything I guess.

Roserade has 2 general options - 1 to go with Sleep Powder and Tspikes, and you can either go with lead or Scarf with this and this would be the set I would lead with if you wanted to lead with it at all, keep in mind that it leads awfully vs Sash Deo-S (it's not as bad vs Scarf because they'll probably try to Trick you and then just die to Leaf Storm). Sleep Powder is great, however Tspikes unfortunately tend not to be as generally impactful as Spikes these days.

The other set is to forgo Sleep Powder and go in with Spikes. I personally like this one a bit more as I value Spikes a bit more. It's a bit more of a bulky set (although don't expect Roserade to live that long). The EVs let you outspeed the Ubers that go for the 250 Spe benchmark. Basically go Grass Knot + Spikes, then pick 2 of Aromatherapy, Tspikes, Weather Ball or Leech Seed, whatever the team needs.

Venomoth @ Focus Sash

Ability: Shield Dust  

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe  

Hasty Nature  

- U-turn  

- Sleep Powder  

- Toxic Spikes  

- Hidden Power Fire / Sleep Talk

I'm pretty sure I've seen this used once or twice before but it was definitely a rarity. Venomoth actually has a few interesting qualities that distinguishes it from Tentacruel that might actually make it more appealing as a Tspikes lead. Firstly, you have a clear plan against Deo-S, and that's just to do the standard U-turn -> priority combo. Even with 60 base Atk, U-turn with STAB hits about as hard as lead Mew/Jirachi's would, which is enough. Against non-Deo-S leads, you can sleep most of them and get up a layer of Tspikes and hopefully U-turn out. Against Forry, you click HP fire to 2HKO them. If you have a Sleep absorber, just go to that when you lead against Darkrai, otherwise you can use Sleep Talk in the last slot. Venomoth can live a Dark Pulse and thanks to Shield Dust you can't get flinched.

Victreebel @ Life Orb / Wide Lens  

Ability: Chlorophyll  

EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe  

Naive Nature  

- Sleep Powder  

- Leaf Storm  

- Weather Ball  

- Sucker Punch / Knock Off / Stun Spore

I had really high hopes for this mon before I tested it out, I really did, but it ended up pretty mediocre. It's okay and usable, but that's about it.

Basically I was hoping this would be like a Qwilfish for sun teams. It doesn't have Spikes or Explosion or Taunt, but it does have Sleep Powder, slightly better coverage and more power, as well as priority/Knock Off. The main issue is that those last 2 things have conditions attached (Sucker Punch) or just don't do enough for the fast paced metagame we have currently (Knock Off).

That being said, Victreebel is okay and serviceable. You can revenge kill Darkrai with it, it's not easy for Steels to come in because Weather Ball destroys them. LO is standard for item but I like Wide Lens just so you miss a bit less.

Theoretically Victreebel can also use an SD set with like SD/Leaf Blade/Weather Ball/Sleep Powder or Sucker Punch but having Grass as your main STAB and your only other physical coverage being conditional in Sucker Punch feels bad. You're way too easily walled by like almost every Dragon which is terrible.

Toxicroak @ Leftovers  

Ability: Dry Skin  

EVs: 248 HP / 188 SpD / 72 Spe  

Careful Nature  

- Substitute  

- Toxic  

- Protect  

- Low Kick

Toxicroak is pretty cool. It can be a bit hard to fit on teams mainly because of its central gimmick but when pulled off well it can work really well. The main issue with this is that it really likes being on rain teams because of how Dry Skin works, but Qwilfish competes heavily against it as a Toxic Spikes absorber and something like a sun team would really appreciate this but can't due to Dry Skin damaging you in the sun. That being said, it has a few pretty unique qualities - it pivots well vs Kyogre using Water moves, can stall pretty efficiently in the rain and soft checks Darkrai.

The idea behind this set is to stall out opponents since each turn you use a Substitute you heal 3/4 of that health back and with Protect you can easily keep making more. Toxic lets stall vs Kyogre, while Low Kick lets you hit Dialga and other Steels decently hard.

Muk @ Lum Berry / Custap Berry  

Ability: Sticky Hold  

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA  

Lonely Nature  

- Payback  

- Explosion  

- Shadow Sneak  

- Fire Blast  

Muk Monday is possible in DPP Ubers! Here we are starting to get into some meme territory. Muk's main claim to fame is Sticky Hold, so you can anti-lead this vs something like Deo-S without fear of getting owned by Trick. You still let in 2 layers vs Colbur though, but you do well vs 2/3 sets so that's pretty good. Muk is also pretty bulky on the special side so you can actually take some pretty powerful special hits like MixRay lead Draco Meteors pretty easily. The only things you can't live are like Specs Dialga Draco, Deo-A Psycho Boost and Kyogre's Water Spouts. Lead with this and it does pretty well.

Payback and Sneak lets you take out Deo forms, Fire Blast lets you hit Forretress leads and Explode on everything else. Lum Berry is preferred so you can always get a guaranteed Boom on Darkrai leads, but if this ever becomes a legit lead option you may even take advantage of the fact that people won't sleep you with Darkrai so you can take advantage of being hit by decently hard attacks like Draco Meteor and Custap boom.

Ariados @ Focus Sash  

Ability: Insomnia

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Adamant Nature  

- Toxic Spikes  

- Bug Bite  

- Shadow Sneak  

- Sucker Punch

This is like one of the original DPP Ubers meme sets, and it's pretty damn bad. That being said, it's not totally useless. Its one niche is the fact that it can hold a Focus Sash and not lose to Darkrai at the same time, so you're pretty much guaranteed to set up a layer Toxic Spikes unless your opponent decides to Taunt you or you get haxed with full para/flinch or something.

Against Darkrai - I'd probably just click Tspikes because unless your opponent doesn't know what Ariados does (which in any serious game they'd at least quickly open up the analysis to see what it does if they don't know) they should never Dark Void you.

Against Deo-S - either Tspikes or Bug Bite is acceptable really. Bug Bite + Sneak has a very low chance to 2HKO 252/0 Deo-S which sucks now (you do 2HKO those silly attacking lead ones). That being said, if they Taunt you, you can pressure them into risking that 2HKO I guess. If they're Scarf, either Tspikes or Bug Bite are not bad to lock into - Tspikes means you get them up, Bug Bite means you threaten a 2HKO, and with the Speed investment and the Tricked Scarf you're fast enough to set up a layer later against a slow base 90 or slower mon at least.

Against everything else - just click Tspikes.

Skuntank @ Choice Scarf  

Ability: Aftermath  

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe  

Naughty Nature  

- Crunch  

- Pursuit  

- Fire Blast  

- Explosion

This Pokemon is almost good. If it had a Fighting-type coverage move (even if it had Brick Break) then it would be pretty good. With a Scarf, you outspeed Deo-A of the corresponding nature, which is pretty respectable. You can use said speed to play mindgames with key mons like Lati@s and Giratina-O (Gira-O not so much because they live Crunch so you may as well just click it for the damage). What is a big bummer is you can't speed control Darkrai without Exploding (which to be honest is not ALWAYS so bad seeing as Qwilfish does the same thing sometimes if not running Waterfall). You will need a separate Scarfer/Speed control for other things though seeing as you're trading this for a few things.

Blackglasses/Life Orb with Crunch/Sucker/Pursuit is probably okay but Skuntank it's hard enough using skunk as is adding more mindgames doesn't help.

Nidoking (M) @ Leftovers

Ability: Poison Point  

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe  

Jolly Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Stealth Rock  

- Earthquake / Head Smash

- Toxic Spikes

- Taunt

Nidoking (and Nidoqueen) are the only Pokemon in DPP that have the option to absorb Toxic Spikes and set up Stealth Rock at the same time. It can also set up Tspikes itself and Taunt things so it's not bad. If your opponent tends to not use Deo-S leads you may even be able to slap on a Focus Sash and lead with this. Head Smash is potentially an option if you're low on health to suicide the Nidoking and deny spin.

Gengar @ Iron Ball  

Ability: Levitate  

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe  

Jolly Nature  

- Trick  

- Explosion  

- Perish Song  

- Mean Look

Ever wanted a spinblocker and a Tspikes absorber at the same time? Well before Cursed Body Gengar and Pecharunt existed, this is the only way to do it. Obviously losing out on Ground-immunity and half your speed is absolutely awful, but hey if you can Trick it away and explode then it's not a total waste... right?

Drapion @ Scope Lens  

Ability: Sniper  

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  

Jolly Nature  

- Swords Dance  

- Night Slash  

- Earthquake  

- Taunt

Drapion is pretty bad. If it had like 20-30 more base Attack it would be usable but 90 Atk is awful. Its typing is pretty cool since you resist Dark, can set up your own Toxic Spikes and Whirlwind stuff, but you can't even check Darkrai with this because +2 Focus Blast just blows you up instantly, not to mention Scarf sets. This set tries to meme with crits and Sniper, but even with a 3x crit, you can't OHKO Bronzing with crit Night Slash which is damn awful. The idea of the above set is probably to Taunt slower teams that depend on Lugia/Giratina-A/Cresselia, but they're often paired with like Scarf Dialga and Groudon, so yea...

Defensive set with Tspikes/Whirlwind/filler/filler is potentially usable but just seems very passive and you can't even check much with it.

Swalot @ Leftovers  

Ability: Sticky Hold  

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD

Careful Nature  

- Encore  

- Explosion  

- Sing  

- Fire Punch

To honest, this probably works a bit better in Farceus because you can threaten to Encore Fightceus, but overall Muk is better for this role. The idea hopefully is to Encore some support mon into something, fish for a sleep with Sing then Explode.

For Farceus, obviously Arceus-Poison is another option. To be fair Tspikes is probably more punishing in Farceus because most of the better Farceus formes are all affected with the exception of Steel. That being said, you have to be aware that getting 1 layer up you need some way to offensively pressure them because Blissey can't Toxic them any more.

Arceus-Poison @ Toxic Plate  

Ability: Multitype  

EVs: 100 HP / 100 Def / 100 SpA / 100 SpD / 100 Spe  

Timid Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Calm Mind  

- Ice Beam  

- Thunder  

- Recover

This is probably the standard Poisonceus set at the moment - popularised by Highlord. It doesn't use a STAB move, but that's okay because Poison moves don't really hit anything in Ubers anyway. This set lets you absorb Tspikes and have a really good MU vs Fightceus which is pretty important. It's a bit passive to start with though, and it's also pretty weak as it's not even strong enough to OHKO Blissey with a +6 Thunder crit. It's still decent utility though and is probably the easiest set to use on Poisonceus if you wanted to go down that way.

Arceus-Poison @ Toxic Plate  

Ability: Multitype  

EVs: 100 HP / 100 Def / 100 SpA / 100 SpD / 100 Spe  

Timid Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Ice Beam

- Will-O-Wisp  

- Perish Song

- Recover

This is probably the other way of using Poisonceus. Support Farceus sets in general are all pretty good because they're pretty self-sufficient. Ice Beam and Wisp lets you punish the majority of physical attackers in the tier (with the exception of Garchomp). Perish Song is a nice move for last mon CM Farceus formes, especially Fightceus. The main drawback of this set is the fact you can't use a more threatening Farceus forme (like Fight and Ekiller) but other than that it does its job pretty well.