So... let's get some actual metagame talk.
Araquanid’s a pokemon that has been thought of as mediocre and generally not worth using, but I wanted to try out just to make sure. What I found out is that it’s actually a very usable pokemon, that’s definitely better in practice than on paper. Everyone knows that Araquanid hits like a truck, and that it has great special bulk, but it also lacks coverage and easy is to wear down with Stealth Rocks. However, I’ve found that with the right moveset and with the proper team support it’s not actually that big of a problem.
The great thing about Araquanid is that it is such an amazing tank who is able to 1v1 so many pokemon. Its special bulk, even without investment, is insane, allowing it to take on Nidoqueen, Scarf Gardevoir, Shaymin, Salazzle, and several other relevant special attackers, as well as practically getting a free switch in on Florges and the Slow brothers. In addition, the water-bug typing is fairly useful in tanking hits from certain physical attackers, like Scarf Flygon, Gligar or Scarf Heracross. It’s kind of like Bewear in a lot of ways in that it is hard to kill, but it can one-shot a lot of things in return.
Here’s the set I’ve been using:
Araquanid @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Toxic
- Protect
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
I’ve been using it on a semi-stall team in tandem with Umbreon’s Wish Support and Toxic Spikes, and it regularly manages to get multiple kills per match. Leftovers is by far the best item for Araquanid, as it grants it a very substantial amount of recovery, especially in tandem with Protect and Leech Life. You rarely feel that you are worn down easily if you’re able to play it properly. Toxic obviously works great with Protect, and is necessary if you want to hit Mantine, Milotic, or pretty much any other bulky water-type. You can usually come out on top vs these pokemon if they lack heal bell support on their team, which makes Araquanid almost unwallable except for Venusaur and Toxicroak.
Here are some replays I had with my semi-stall team. I haven't really focused a lot on saving replays, so these ones are not all that great though. I also have recently replaced the Cresselia with a Scarf Gardevoir and its been working a lot better.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rubeta-574057405
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rubeta-574054640
Overall, bubble spider is definitely a pokemon that is worth trying out. It doesn’t fit on every team, and might be a hindrance if you put it on hyper offense or something, but with a strong defensive backbone and some Wish/Heal Bell/Healing Wish support it can be really solid.
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Some other underrated pokemon I’ve been enjoying recently:
I’ve been using an AAA Life Orb set of Knock Off / Drain Punch / Gunk Shot / Bullet Punch on a lot of my teams, and it has performed wonderfully. Although it is overshadowed by Heracross, it has a lot of redeeming factors over Flame Orb Hera and definitely should be seen more. Being able to pivot into Doublade’s SD/Sneak is nice, and it also can threaten hard-switch on Reuni and other slower Psychic-types. It is also cool how it can OHKO fairy-types, and how it does not get worn down as easily due to the Drain Punch recovery.
Shoutouts to
DTC for getting me thinking about this pokemon. Ferroseed is pretty cool as a defensive pokemon since it can do things that other steel-types really can’t do, such as set up Spikes and hard-check Gatr and other water-types with Leech Seed. It has a lot of problems, such as Eviolite reliance and being easy to lure with HP fire, but honestly it puts in a lot of work on certain builds.
Aerodactyl is a very neat offensive pokemon that outspeeds pretty much the entire metagame. Not only is it able to clean offensive teams and harass Swellow and Salazzle with Pursuit, it also threatens a lot of the flimsier balanced cores that you usually see, such as Gligar/Mantine and stuff. I’ve found that it is really nice paired with Zorodark (everything is) and Toxicroak as they can lure a lot of similar checks and counters. It does struggle quite a bit with bulkier pokemon like Doublade, Slowbro, and of course the fat ducks, and Stone Edge misses do suck, but its efficiency vs offensive teams makes it fairly decent.
Whimsicott is a really splashable threat on offensive teams. The primary reason of course, is being one of the few offensive pokemon that can check Flygon and Feraligatr in one slot without being a Choice Scarf user. I’ve seen people complain about its lack of power, which is extremely valid, as predicting wrong with Encore can give the opponent a free switch to Nidoqueen or Doublade or whoever. However, Z-lure sets with Psychium Z or Ghostium Z (shoutouts
Rakan) can surprise a lot of checks, and priority Encore is still just so useful. If you’re fortunate, you can even clean up late-game with Moonblast.
Finally, Hoopa is something that I haven’t used personally, except for one time in Webs, but I’ve found it very hard to play against. Hoopa is a pokemon that thrives when Pursuit is at a low point in a metagame, and that is why it was sort of looked over in ORAS. But now, the usage of Sneasel, Drapion, and Aerodactyl, is quite low and Hoopa has more space to breathe. Hoopa is an absolutely fantastic wallbreaker both with Specs and Nasty Plot sets, with its only real counterplay on defensive teams being Toxic stalling (run Sub+NP or even Lum to avoid this). The great thing is it is not a glass cannon at all, and it can switch in with absolute ease on pokemon like Reuniclus, Cresselia, and Chesnaught. Its special bulk even lets it take on pokemon like Nidoqueen and Gardevoir, so it is basically guaranteed a kill every match. So yeah, definitely a mon that deserves more thought.