Competitive Pokemon History - Skarmory Quiz

Answer: 140

Skarmory's Defense stat was tied with Forretress and was only beaten by Steelix and Cloyster. Cloyster had a miserable defensive typing, terrible HP stat, and excellent all around offenses, so it wouldn't compete with Skarmory in the slightest. Meanwhile, Steelix somewhat competed with Skarmory for its role, but Skarmory was generally superior. Steelix's weaknesses to Fighting and Ground were heavily detrimental to a physical wall, while Skarmory was immune to the latter and only took neutral damage from the former thanks to its Flying typing.

Answer: Unlike other checks, Skarmory could check Snorlax at all stages of the game most of the time

The only way Snorlax was ever going to defeat Skarmory was if it packed Fire Blast or Thunder. The latter was almost never seen on most Snorlaxes, while the former was more common and stopped Skarmory from being considered a hard counter. Still, Fire Blast does not benefit from any of Snorlax's boosting moves, and really only helps it take on Skarmory, meaning that Snorlax's overall effectiveness suffers in exchange for it being able to beat Skarmory.

A Snorlax without Fire Blast or Thunder is easily checked at all stages of the game; in the mid-game, Skarmory can Whirlwind Snorlax out and stop it from accumulating boosts in its face.

As the feared last-Pokemon Curselax, Skarmory can simply boost with Curse alongside Snorlax and eventually come out on top.

Answer: Whirlwind

Skarmory didn't actually have access to Spikes in its debut generation, which was a shame- it would've easily been the best Spikes setter in the whole game if it did. Access to Whirlwind was a key advantage for Skarmory. Forretress could take hits, but it could do nothing to stop Snorlax from Cursing up against it or Marowak from Swords Dancing to extreme heights, to eventually overcome it. Skarmory's access to Whirlwind punished greedy plays like this, forcing the opponent to switch and potentially take free Spikes damage and reveal hidden team members in the process.

Answer: Magneton

As Magnezone didn't exist yet, Magneton was the correct answer. Shed Shell didn't exist at the time either, and because Magneton's Magnet Pull ability stops Steel types from switching out, Skarmory would assuredly be taken down once Magneton came in. Magneton also boasted a 4x resistance to Drill Peck, the only offensive move Skarmory had room for, meaning it could switch in extremely easily. Even if the Skarmory user predicted this and Whirlwinded Magneton out, Magneton could just simply switch right back in at little expense and ensure that the deed could be done.

Because Magneton oppressed Skarmory so thoroughly, two teammates were pretty much mandatory for Skarmory. Swampert would be able to provide back up, carrying the torch of the team's physical wall duties should Skarmory fall to Magneton. It also offered great type synergy with Skarmory, and could take out many of the Electric types who torched it, namely Magneton. The presence of Dugtrio was also mandatory, as this was the only thing that could make a Magneton user thing twice about blindly switching Magneton in on Skarmory. If the Skarmory user switched to Dugtrio as Magneton came in, Dugtrio's Arena Trap ability could counter-trap Magneton and remove it from play. That said, Dugtrio is immensely frail and difficult to switch in, and it had to be switched in as Magneton itself came in, which required immaculate prediction to pull off. Still, the potential to enter a deadly mind game was the only thing Skarmory could threaten Magneton with, which was often not enough- Magneton was the hardest of hard counters.

Answer: Roost

Skarmory gained access to Spikes in the third generation, and it already had Whirlwind in its repertoire. Roost's instant healing made Skarmory much, much better at walling out threats. It no longer had to expend two moveslots on Rest and Sleep Talk in order to efficiently heal itself, and since it was immune to Toxic poison, actually killing Skarmory was immensely difficult.

The introduction of the Shed Shell item also gave Skarmory a way around Magnezone, and stopped Magnezone from doing whatever it wanted to Skarmory as Magneton had done the previous generation.

Answer: Extreme Killer Arceus

Certain Dialga variants could be checked sometimes by Skarmory, but Dialga would almost always prevail in the long haul, or short term if it was a specially offensive Dialga variant. Kyogre and Palkia would also easily win, as they were both extremely strong special attackers.

In order for Extreme Killer Arceus, the best Pokemon in the whole game, to defeat Skarmory, it has to be running Overheat- a fairly suboptimal move which only serves to defeat Skarmory. In exchange for beating Skarmory, Extreme Killer Arceus has to give up important coverage or healing, which makes it a lot less effective in the overall meta. Without Overheat, Skarmory functions as a hard counter, which is a lofty status to have against the game's best Pokemon, and the Formal God of Pokemon himself.

Answer: Weak Armor

Weak Armor reduces the user's Defense by one stage and boosts their Speed by two stages whenever they are hit by a physical attack. This ability is very clearly terrible for a Pokemon trying to be a physical wall, and for very obvious reasons.

Answer: Sturdy

Previously, Sturdy simply rendered Skarmory immune to OHKO moves, such as Guillotine and sheer Cold. Given that OHKO moves have always been banned from competitive play, this has served to make Sturdy completely useless in the third and fourth generations.

In the fifth generation and onward, Sturdy essentially functioned as a free Focus Sash- allowing Skarmory to always survive an attack from full health regardless of how strong it was. While Skarmory's strong physical bulk meant physical attacks scarcely ever actually activated Sturdy, it had situational merit that made it far more useful than the useless Keen Eye and outright detrimental Weak Armor, giving it the nod as Skarmory's go-to ability.

Answer: No

In the fifth and part of the sixth generation, Skarmory saw viability as a suicide entry hazard setting lead. Thanks to Sturdy's buff, Skarmory could assuredly survive a single attack at the least, letting it set up at least one layer of entry hazards guaranteed. With Taunt, Skarmory could also block other leads from setting their own entry hazards or, at worst, limited them to one layer of entry hazards max. With Brave Bird, Skarmory could KO itself after Sturdy had activated, letting it bring in a teammate for free while also preventing Rapid Spin or Defog if Skarmory was able to use Brave Bird first.

In the fourth generation, Skarmory users sometimes heavily invested in its Special Defense to allow Skarmory to better handle all the Draco Meteors flying around the tier. This let it better check non-Overheat Rayquaza and non-Fire Blast Dialga while still retaining the physical bulk to deal with Extreme Killer Arceus and other physical attackers.

While it may not seem it, Skarmory hasn't entirely been one-dimensional over the course of its existence.

Answer: Corviknight

Corviknight's physical defense stat of 108 pales to Skarmory's, while Corviknight also lacks access to Spikes and Stealth Rock. The significantly lower power levels of the meta allow Corviknight to succeed in eighth generation standard play, but Corviknight has an extremely decorated resume and about seventeen years' worth of work in competition for its typing, so it will never be able to totally replace Skarmory in any way.