Spiritomb Nature/EVs/Moveset

Richard Lynch

Professor Lynch
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    So I'm currently in the works of breeding a Spiritomb for the 6th slot in my team, after being let down numerous times by other Pokes, but there's no sites out there that give preferred nature or movesets, or even EVs. So this is what I, personally, have come up with, and I'd like you to rate it!

    Reminder for base stats:

    HP 50/Attack 92/Defense 108/Sp. Attack 92/Sp. Defense 108/Speed 35

    Spiritomb @ Leftovers
    Sassy Nature (+SpDef, -Speed)
    (Trait: Pressure)
    EVs: 252 HP, 129 Defense, 129 Sp. Defense
    - Dark Pulse/Sucker Punch
    - Toxic/Hypnosis
    - Shadow Ball
    - Pain Split

    With 35 base Speed and high defenses, it's obvious the nature must be -Speed and +one of the defenses. Since he resists several generally physical hits (normal and fighting) and one special (psychic), I decided to go with Sassy (-Speed, +Special Defense). The EVs are there to max out HP, and the rest are spread throughout the Defenses (there's always at least 2 wasted EVs, so pay no attention to those). Possibly a bit more EVs in Defense to match Special Defense. Pretty much, Spiritomb will serve as a dual wall while also having a few sweeping capabilities, even with its insanely low Speed.

    As for the moveset, with his surprisingly high attack stats (both of them), he's able to pack both physical and special hits, capable of hitting both kinds of walls with effectiveness. So Sucker Punch is an option for a STAB physical hit, though slightly unreliable (Dark Pulse is just the Special variation of that, with more reliability), while Shadow Ball serves as a good STAB special hit. Toxic/Hypnosis is there to cause annoyance, and Pain Split is an all around decent move.

    Another combo to just bring up, though it may be more of a novelty, is Pursuit and Destiny Bond: you Destiny Bond, and the opponent is sure to switch out at some point, and you fire with a STABed Pursuit that will surly cause some serious damage. But then you must also switch... so it's a risky combo, but worth a mention.

    What do the experts say?
     
    my suggestion: use will-o-wisp/taunt as a combo or just use hypnosis/pain split. these defensive combos help it survive against those with Stat boosting attacks (a Calm Mind Blissey has fun with this thing). toxic isn't any good on spiritomb considering that walls (like skarmory and blissey) will probably be switched in to take care of it as well.

    next you consider his damage options. it can't really do that much damage, but it is very manageable with Nasty Plot/Calm Mind. nasty plot if you give it considerable Sp Def evs, but if you plant to outgo foes who have Calm Mind as an option as well, then Calm Mind works with a +Def nature. however, there's an issue with it's movepool. Dark Pulse/Shadow Ball are resisted by almost all the same types. so in this case, i'd go for a surprise Water Pulse/Shock Wave for type coverage.

    so here's what i got:

    Spiritomb Defensive Options
    Sassy or Calm/Brave or Bold
    -Hypnosis/Will-o-Wisp
    -Pain Split/Taunt
    -Substitute/Pain Split
    -Dark Pulse/Psychic

    the options on the left are for sassy, right for brave. btw, bold and calm are more ideal especially if you consider going up against another Spiritomb. these are tough acts to go up against. on Sassy, you hypnotize, then substitute to get +Pain Split recovery and whenever you are free from being hit, use Dark Pulse. no type resists Dark Pulse completely, so that STAB is still worthy, especially if you're behind a sub. the Brave moveset is so tricky. Will-O-Wisp anything except for fire types. if the person switched in a pokemon against your Spiritomb, then it either has a status-inflicting move or it has a stat-boosting move, which is what Taunt is for. you let Will-O-Wisp take 1/8th every turn and Taunt away. Psychic hits everything except for dark types, which is why it should fear Umbreon. however, umbreon is useless when you have Taunt keeping it from using anything and Pain Split for the HP steal. no other Dark types can handle WoW + Pain Split + Taunt anyway (well except for Houndoom who will probably try burning you).

    Spiritomb Offensive Options
    Bold/Calm/Modest
    -Nasty Plot/Calm Mind
    -Dark Pulse/Psychic/Shadow Ball
    -Water Pulse/Shock Wave
    -Hypnosis/Pain Split/Will-O-Wisp

    i know water pulse and shock wave are only base 60, but they help you cover more types. with them, you can effectively take out other dark types and steel types. (i highly suggest Water Pulse over Shock Wave). this thing has tons of potential. after just a few Nasty Plots, it even takes care of Blissey. with a few Calm Minds, it outlasts most threats.

    now... for novelties:

    Novelty Spiritomb:
    Impish/Adamant/Careful
    -Swagger
    -Psych Up
    -Faint Attack/Sucker Punch
    -Shadow Sneak/Hypnosis/Will-O-Wisp/Pain Split

    finally a pokemon who can actually pull off the Swagger + Psych Up combo i've always delved on. it works perfectly for those who try boosting Sp Atk with Calm Mind/Nasty Plot. you start of with Swagger, Psych Up, and attack away! Giga Impact is always an option... but that's a whole lotta LOL.
     
    Thanks for the info, Sam!

    I would without a doubt go with the Defensive, since I think that has a lot more possibilities with this bulky ghost type. Perhaps a bit outdone by Dusknoir, though. Spiritomb has more balanced stats anyways.

    I was talking to Born-2-B-Evil, and he reminded me of the Taunt + Sucker Punch combo, which works unless the user switches out. It's great since it doesn't take into account his utterly terrible speed (always strikes first), but may be deemed unreliable, since he'll always get at least one hit in on a switch.

    I do like Will-O-Wisp, though. The Nature and EVs are just there to boost both defenses, I don't think we can be too particular when each defense is above average. But I chose Sassy because I have several physical walls on my team (Metagross could even be a mock-physical wall), and really only one special wall (Bliss) and one pseudo-special wall (Milotic), so a bit more Special Defense could prove useful. I just wish this guy has Levitate... nothing beats a total Ground immunity. But this guy is bulky enough to take a few Earthquakes if you play your cards right.

    But one question... why would you use Brave (+Attack -Speed) when there's no physical attack on the moveset. XD If it were Brave, I'd replace Psychic with Sucker Punch.

    But yeah, SPiritomb has much more potential as a wall, and with Pain Split may be able to out-stall the enemy. How does this sound, with a Sassy nature:

    - Taunt
    - Will-O-Wisp
    - Sucker Punch/Dark Pulse (no type that totally resists Dark)
    - Pain Split

    I'm still torn between the two Dark moves, but I've always found it foolish not to have at least one attacking move on a Poke.
     
    You should take advantage of Pursuit, imo. It's a great counter for Psychic types, and almost all of them will switch out when you switch Spiritomb in. Taunt/Pursuit sounds pretty nice because most people switch out of Taunt anyways. Alternately, you can just run both Sucker Punch and Pursuit if you want to play some mindgames with your opponent. It also make it so that you don't have to split your SAtk and Atk EVs, or sacrifice Speed (despite how slow it is).

    Spiritomb@Leftovers
    Careful
    252 HP/144 Atk/112 SDef
    Pain Split
    Taunt/ Sucker Punch
    Pursuit/Sucker Punch
    Will-O-Wisp

    According to the Smogon Analysis, this makes a great lead. Apparently, 144 Atk EVs (assuming you have flawless Atk) has a 12.5% chance of OHKOing Azelf.
     
    oops did i say Brave? i meant Relaxed.

    i wouldn't go with Sucker Punch with such a low PP. with a defensive set, you really want it to outlast as many hits as it can. Taunt + Sucker Punch and Taunt + Pursuit are two good combos, but they both require some Atk ev input. Fufu is partly right in saying that some will switch if Taunt is used, but if the opponent has a move with Flinch hax or High Crit hit, then you're screwed, which is why you shouldn't depend on that combo with only one potential attacking move. so you either give it enough Atk evs for effective SuckerTaunting or select something with more PP like Dark Pulse/Faint Attack/Pursuit.
     
    Hmmm... either way, what is the best overall nature for a *defensive* Spiritomb? I think he'd work well on my staller team, but I want to make sure I've got the nature just right, with this moveset:

    - Taunt
    - Will-O-Wisp
    - Dark Pulse
    - Pain Split

    I'm feeling Sassy (works well with Will-O-Wisp, being able to cut Physical Attacks while at the same time absorbing Special Attacks), but if anyone thinks anything better (besides Relaxed... I think these two come down to a preference of what kind of attacks you want your Spiritomb to be able to absorb more of), be sure to post it!

    I still think that a -Speed nature is the best, because even with max IVs and EVs, with a beneficial nature, Spiritomb ain't outrunnin' anyone.
     
    No, keep Sassy. It's Defense is already good, and Will-O-Wisp will be hindrering (most) physical sweepers anyways. But if you're only going to use Dark Pulse, why not just use a Calm nature?

    Speed is almost always is important, imo. The only reason people run Brave on Camerupt or Quiet on Tyraniboah is because they are effective mixed sweepers, and they don't to sacrifice the defenses they offer (and they're pretty slow as well). Then again, Spiritomb isn't sweeping, it's just walling. Still, I believe you should run Calm nature if you plan on using Taunt/WoW/Pain Split/Dark Pulse. The Speed may just prove helpful when you're facing something.
     
    ~Fufu3000~ said:
    No, keep Sassy. It's Defense is already good, and Will-O-Wisp will be hindrering (most) physical sweepers anyways. But if you're only going to use Dark Pulse, why not just use a Calm nature?

    Speed is almost always is important, imo. The only reason people run Brave on Camerupt or Quiet on Tyraniboah is because they are effective mixed sweepers, and they don't to sacrifice the defenses they offer (and they're pretty slow as well). Then again, Spiritomb isn't sweeping, it's just walling. Still, I believe you should run Calm nature if you plan on using Taunt/WoW/Pain Split/Dark Pulse. The Speed may just prove helpful when you're facing something.
    Click to expand...

    Not with spiritomb, the only thing he will be outrunning would be snorlax (Actually on second thoughts, does he? It doesn't matter though, spiritomb can wall this guy like the mother-b**** he is), so it's pointless to put any EVs into speed, it's worth it to try and get flawless IVs, but don't waste EVs into stats that won't help him in anyway.

    Now spiritomb, First battle I had with him, and my god I hate him now, OHKO my gengar with sucker punch, and I didn't have a sufficient strategy to take him down, Overall I lost at least 50% HP of any pokemon that faced the dreaded spiritomb, I have trained my own, this is what I run:

    Spiritomb @ Leftovers
    Nature: +Sp. Def -Speed (I forgot)
    Ability: Pressure
    EVs: 252 HP / 150 Def / 108 Sp. Def
    Moveset:
    - Pain Split
    - Will-o
    - Dark pulse
    - Sucker Punch

    Now you may wonder why I didn't bother with attack EVs, that's because they are already decent at, 184 + 25ish, so 209~ Which is decent imo, because I use him as a status giver and annoyer, and seeing how well born 2 be evil was doing with his spiritomb, I implemented him into my new team that I am currently making.
     
    Paranoia said:
    Not with spiritomb, the only thing he will be outrunning would be snorlax (Actually on second thoughts, does he? It doesn't matter though, spiritomb can wall this guy like the mother-b**** he is), so it's pointless to put any EVs into speed, it's worth it to try and get flawless IVs, but don't waste EVs into stats that won't help him in anyway.

    Now spiritomb, First battle I had with him, and my god I hate him now, OHKO my gengar with sucker punch, and I didn't have a sufficient strategy to take him down, Overall I lost at least 50% HP of any pokemon that faced the dreaded spiritomb, I have trained my own, this is what I run:

    Spiritomb @ Leftovers
    Nature: +Sp. Def -Speed (I forgot)
    Ability: Pressure
    EVs: 252 HP / 150 Def / 108 Sp. Def
    Moveset:
    - Pain Split
    - Will-o
    - Dark pulse
    - Sucker Punch

    Now you may wonder why I didn't bother with attack EVs, that's because they are already decent at, 184 + 25ish, so 209~ Which is decent imo, because I use him as a status giver and annoyer, and seeing how well born 2 be evil was doing with his spiritomb, I implemented him into my new team that I am currently making.
    Click to expand...

    Ah lol i remember OHKO on that gengar , fun xD.

    The Spiritomb needs taunt to stop any set up, other than that, its perfect :D
     
    ~Fufu3000~ said:
    No, keep Sassy. It's Defense is already good, and Will-O-Wisp will be hindrering (most) physical sweepers anyways. But if you're only going to use Dark Pulse, why not just use a Calm nature?
    Click to expand...

    True, true, but the thing is, Sassy nature would give the option of rotating Sucker Punch/Dark Pulse (I've got Heart Scales out the whazoo) between battles, to give a little surprise if someone thinks they know him, and send out a specific kind of wall (for example, up against a Gengar, Sucker Punch would probably OHKO, while Dark Pulse probably won't). That way I wouldn't need to breed another Tomby for a physical variation.
     
    Paranoia said:
    Not with spiritomb, the only thing he will be outrunning would be snorlax (Actually on second thoughts, does he? It doesn't matter though, spiritomb can wall this guy like the mother-b**** he is), so it's pointless to put any EVs into speed, it's worth it to try and get flawless IVs, but don't waste EVs into stats that won't help him in anyway.
    Click to expand...

    I never even mentioned about a flawless Speed IV, nor did I mention putting EVs into its Speed. I already know that that Spiritomb is slow, and putting EVs into Speed is useless (unless one were using Competitor, where 4-8 Speed EVs could be used to outrun enemy Spiritomb).

    Richard Steel said:
    True, true, but the thing is, Sassy nature would give the option of rotating Sucker Punch/Dark Pulse (I've got Heart Scales out the whazoo) between battles, to give a little surprise if someone thinks they know him, and send out a specific kind of wall (for example, up against a Gengar, Sucker Punch would probably OHKO, while Dark Pulse probably won't). That way I wouldn't need to breed another Tomby for a physical variation.
    Click to expand...
    Oh. Had I known that, I would've just told you to stick with Sassy.

    Dark Pulse is stronger than Sucker Punch, btw. If Sucker Punch can OHKO Gengar, then Dark Pulse can definitely do it (without a -SAtk nature, of course).
     
    ~Fufu3000~ said:
    Oh. Had I known that, I would've just told you to stick with Sassy.

    Dark Pulse is stronger than Sucker Punch, btw. If Sucker Punch can OHKO Gengar, then Dark Pulse can definitely do it (without a -SAtk nature, of course).
    Click to expand...

    Sucker Punch and Dark Pulse both have the same base power: 80
     
    even if it had base 90 damage, Sucker Punch would do more damage to a Gengar because of its lower Defense.
     
    ~Fufu3000~ said:
    I never even mentioned about a flawless Speed IV, nor did I mention putting EVs into its Speed. I already know that that Spiritomb is slow, and putting EVs into Speed is useless (unless one were using Competitor, where 4-8 Speed EVs could be used to outrun enemy Spiritomb).
    Click to expand...

    Yeah I know I was just saying that speed isn't important on spiritomb, as he is already so slow
     
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