Offensive Power
Spidops, contrary to its stats and its normal role being a bulky sticky web setter, is a premier offensive threat in the meta thanks to its access to the move First Impression. That move allows spidops to be the best revenge killer to 2 of the most potent pokemon in the meta that being Krookodile and Starmie. It can also switch in into krookodile eq or knock off while taking a bit of damage. However to guarantee a ko on those mons with First Impression a boosting item is required, like expert belt or silver powder. Spidops also possess an ability that has proved to be powerful already in the history of 35 pokes: Stakeout. Mabostiff in June with Staleout was one of the biggest threats. Spidops with Stakeout can deal massive damage to pokemon trying to switch in like Glowking or Mudsdale Spidops’ coverage options include knock off which is particulary great against the glowking matchup beacuse spidops naturaly outspeeds glowking and the combination of stakeout first Impression and knock off yields a dead slowking. It can also help dealing with Starmie after your First Impression expired. Another option to mention is circle throw, as spidops can punish an incoming sandslash-alola trying to switch on first Impression, as well as phaze out annoying pokemon like mudsdale beartic or set-up sweepers like cm florges or previously mentioned beartic who runs swords dance. Poison Jab is another interesting option, dealing with Spidops’ biggest switchin Florges. It can easily punish Florges trying to take the Stakeout first Impression, dealing massive damage with a chance to poison. Another theoretical coverage on spidops may be aerial ace however its only good into 1 pokemon, Toxicroak, who still takes around 35% to first impression with silver powder. Not to mention its definitly not worth running a move just for one pokemon (calc listed below says its a 93% chance to ko) that can be easily taken advantage of by Spidops’ teammates.
The last move worth mentioning on offensive spidops is U-turn. It allows spidops to safely switch to stronger teammates like Krookodile and Starmie while still doing respectable damage being only 20 points weaker then First Impression.
Trick Room Potential
Spidops can be a great addition on trick room teams which have seen usage in this month. It runs previously mentioned moves, with focus on First Impression which allows it to exist outside of trick room. While in trick room it has an easier time taking advantage of the move Leech Life, making it a threat that’s really hard to get rid off. You can run a trick room Spidops with items like life orb, silver powder, expert belt, or maybe even choice band if you are feeling spicy. Spidops mostly struggles with Mudsdale on trick room teams so running circle throw or another pokemon with it to help with the Mudsdale match up is advised
Defensive Sets
Spidops has an astronomically high defences stat for a bug. A standard example of a defensive set on Spidops is a sleep talk set with circle throw and leech life which is very good with the aid of hazards as well. This set can spread chip damage, wall and phaze threats, and just be a piece of shit.
Sticky Webs
Sticky webs are a rarely used option on Spidops this month. However, they greatly help your rain match up by making pokemon like Starmie, Basculin, Beartic or Armaldo slower and easily managable by your pokemon. Sticky webs also help you deal with Krookodile who has proven himself to be one hell of a threat. Sticky webs aren’t too good in this meta because of the excessive hazard removal present with 0 spin blockers. The most common boots users in the tier include: Glowking (which really doesnt care about webs) Rotom-Fan (which is unaffected by them and will try to defog them away) as well as some Beartic sets (though a lot of Beartics often prefer to run offensive items). The main hazard removers in the tier include: Armaldo (seen on rain never outside of it). Sandslash-Alola, Hatterene, the previously mentioned Fantom, as well as Starmie. So you had better be prepared against them when using webs
In Conclusion:
Spidops is a very interesting pokemon this meta who takes on a role it wasn’t supposed to do and is highly succeding in it. No one could've predicted this child of lokix and mabo would be a good pokemon in this meta but here we are! If you still havent, I highly recommend trying Spidops yourself and keep rocking in the free world Relevant calcs mentioned in the analysis: 252+ Atk Expert Belt Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Starmie: 317-374 (121.4 - 143.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Expert Belt Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Krookodile: 334-396 (100.9 - 119.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Slowking-Galar: 279-328 (70.8 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO -> 252+ Atk Expert Belt Spidops Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Slowking-Galar: 163-192 (41.3 - 48.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Expert Belt Stakeout Spidops Circle Throw vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Sandslash-Alola: 422-499 (119.2 - 140.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Expert Belt Stakeout Spidops Circle Throw vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Beartic: 298-353 (90 - 106.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Expert Belt Stakeout Spidops Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Florges: 449-530 (124.7 - 147.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Hatterene: 240-283 (75.4 - 88.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Silver Powder Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Hatterene: 288-340 (90.5 - 106.9%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Expert Belt Stakeout Spidops Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Hatterene: 341-403 (107.2 - 126.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Silver Powder Stakeout Spidops First Impression vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Toxicroak: 98-116 (31.9 - 37.7%) -- 93% chance to 3HKO
Written by Maszt