What is a good moveset for Skarmory?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Skarmory, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for its pre-evolutions, if any, can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Skarmory Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Counter

For Counter, catch Skarmory in gen 3 games and teach this from a move tutor in either FRLG)

Okay a bit odd but the point is first you set up entry hazards. You need a total of 4 turns which is completely possible with his defensiveness and Roost. After he is done setting up he can always come back and destroy physical attackers with Counter. Get hit by a physical move and strike them back and use Roost to recover those damages and repeat this process over and over. Prediction is the only problem here but no one will expect a Counter from a Skarmory.

Answer 2

My competitive moveset, works well in Gen 6 OU and Battle Maison to my knowledge…

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Whirlwind
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Iron Head

Here’s a little explanation for my favorite phazer, Whirlwind Boi. Specially Defensive to counteract mostly special fire and electric moves (only weaknesses), SR to kill that pesky Charizard and Volcarona, Iron Head for very nice coverage, Whirlwind for something you think Iron Head won’t fight well. Tell me what you think!

Comments

Why roost? After Stealth rock it's technically as good as dead

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"After Stealth rock it's technically as good as dead"
What do you mean? Roost recovers HP and can get you back to full HP to activate Sturdy again.

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Skarmory faints after one turn usually on the very rare occasion they lead with an electric type like Magnezone or a fire type like Heatran.

Answer 3

Skarmory (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Drill Peck / Brave Bird
- Night Slash
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor

On the off chance you worked really hard to get a DW Skarmory...

Switch this guy into a move that makes physical contact so that he can start into his sweep with that speed boost already helping him.

Choice Band is also boosting him up by 50%.

Now you have STAB (Drill Peck or Brave Bird) and coverage (Night Slash, Rock Slide, and X-Scissor).

Comments

I like this set, thanks Josh:)

Answer 4

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 68 Atk / 252 Def / 4 SpD / 184 Spe
Impish Nature
- Steel Wing
- Toxic
- Sky Drop
- Roost

Steel Wing: Covers Ice weakness, STAB, raises Defense

Toxic: A combo for Sky Drop.

Sky Drop: Why? works well with Toxic and Leftovers, evades attacks and even stops opponents from attacking and buffing (Bulk Up, Iron Defense etc.)

Roost: For healing purposes

Comments

wow 2013 a little outdated but i use this set in sun and moon :P

Answer 5

Physical Wall Skarmory with a twist:

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Whirlwind/Toxic/Drill Peck (filler move)
- Counter

Counter is the gimmick to this set. Skarmory can wall Mega Pinsir easily, and if it tries to go for a CC, Skarmory's Counter kills it. Oh, and assuming you have Sturdy intact, wave goodbye to your little Talonflame as Skarmory lives Flare Blitz and one-shots with Counter. Shed Shell is to escape from Magnezone.
Only downside is that if you're trying to get it in-game, you're gonna have to do A LOT of transferring.

Answer 6

Skarmory @ Leftovers / Eject Button
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpD / 252 Def
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Roost
- Roar

Stealth Rock and Spikes are when you use Roar so they get damaged. Roost if you are low in HP. Roar to troll them. Eject Button if you get hurt and need to switch. Leftovers to gain more HP.

Answer 7

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind / Brave Bird

Stealth Rock and Spikes are there for setting up hazards, and Whirlwind is a possible choice to continuously force your opponent out and bring another back in to get repetitive damage from the hazards. Roost is for healing purposes. If you want damage, you can substitute out Whirlwind for Brave Bird.

Answer 8

Skarmory (M) @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Whirlwind
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head

Sturdy + Custap Berry enables you to use at least Stealth Rock and one Spikes. After that you have the choice to set up another layer of Spikes, use Whirlwind to damage your opponent one by one or use Iron Head to inflict more damage.

Answer 9

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Roost

Primarily intended to be used in singles as a Toxic wall, though you can lead with it for the Stealth Rock. It's primary purpose is just to use Toxic, Brave Birding whenever it has enough feasible HP to spare, and Roosting when it doesn't. Stealth Rock deters Fire switch ins but accompanying Pokemon probably need Water and Ground type moves to beat Fire and Steel type Pokemon.

Sometimes if you actually don't set Stealth Rock, you get the opportunity to toxic more than one of the enemy team's Pokemon, just remember that Skarmory has limited switch ins due to not being the bulkiest Pokemon around. I find this set fun to use. (Apologies if there's a similar set here already, I couldn't see it.)

Answer 10

Here are some completely viable Skarmory sets that you should definitely be using:

Skarmory @ Fightinium Z / Expert Belt
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Brave Bird
- Iron Head
- Rock Smash

Swords Dance + Weak Armor Skarmory! With Swords Dance, Skarmory's already devastating attack is doubled! Brave Bird and Iron Head are for STAB. Although both stab moves aren't very super effective on steel, Skarmory has an extremely powerful coverage move: Rock Smash! To further increase this moves power, Fightinium-Z can be implemented! If not, however, Expert Belt is great for powering up Rock Smash because the only reason you'll ever use it is if it is super effective, given the fact that its base power is way too high. Opponents will expect a Sturdy Skarmory, but they'll regret it if they try to hit it with a physical attack! At the cost of a defense drop, Skarmory's already amazing speed goes through the roof! Then, proceed to sweep entire teams with your +2 attack and +2 speed Skarmory!

Skarmory @ Expert Belt / Life Orb
Ability: Sturdy / Weak Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Air Slash
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Hidden Power [Ground]
- Agility / Roost

Special Attacker Skarmory! Skarmory's insane special attack stat is underestimated for some reason, and I think should be used more often. Flash Cannon and Air Slash are for STAB. Hidden Power Fire can pick off Pokémon like Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and Skarmory. Hidden Power Ground, however, hits Heatran and is also super effective on electric and fire types. Agility can be used to allow Skarmory to outspeed anything, and Roost can restore Life Orb recoil. However, if you don't want to recoil at all, Expert Belt is a phenomenal replacement.

Comments

“Skarmory’s insane special attack stat”
That’s a joke, right? It has 40 base SpA.

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Insanely BAD huehuehue

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Are you kidding? 40 Base SpA is amazing.

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Please... Just please tell me you're joking about the 40 Base SpAtk being "amazing"

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hes one of those users who wants to make "weird sets" work for some pokemon.

Answer 11

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 128 HP / 128 Atk / 128 SpD / 128 Spe
Careful Nature
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Sky Drop

Special notes: Stealth Rock is the only setup trap to hit Flying types, and only Defog and Rapid Spin can remove it. Toxic is very good for Skarmory as it allows poisoning of opponents plus is immune to Magic Bounce's ability to poison as poison doesn't affect Steel. Roost is a must have for recovery of HP even though it loses its Flying type for a turn making it susceptible to Ground type attacks, like the Earthquake. The strong sealer of this moveset is Sky Frop. This makes this Skarmory a killer. Sky Drop prevents opponents from attacking for a turn and not being able to switch out, which gives Skarmory a chance to further poison foes if already poisoned with Toxic and to regain HP with Leftovers. A truly wonderful Pokemon for any competitive team. Hope my build helps!

Comments

The ev spread is no good. First, your wasting ev's. Secondly, max hp and max in a detensive stat is better for ekarmory than 128 in 4 stats

Answer 12

Entry Hazard Stall Set

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 124 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Sky Drop
- Roost

Comments

In almost every situation, it's better to max HP than to split between each defensive stat. 252 HP EVs are indeed slightly less effective than 252 Def EVs at blocking physical attacks (or 252 SpD EVs for special attacks), but HP EVs affect *both* stats, which makes them almost universal on defensive Pokemon.

Answer 13

Gen 8 OU
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 Def
Impish Nature
- Whirlwind
- Stealth Rock / Spikes
- Roost
- Drill Peck / Steel Wing
Good old Skarmory. Remember having to deal with you and Ferrothorn back in Gen 8(So long ago!). I’m surprised there isn’t more sets for a Pokémon from Gen 2. I thought I would make my own set for this Pokémon, so here’s my totally original set. Leftovers for slow recovery. Evs in SpDef and HP so you’ll survive most unboosted fire and electric special attacks for a Whirlwind or two. Stealth Rock or Spikes for Hazard. If there were more move slots I would have both of them. Whirlwind to force switches into the hazards. Roost for recovery. Drill Peck or Steel Wing to attack if you’re Taunted.

Comments

what do you mean by Whirlpool for forcing switches into hazards?

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Sorry, whirlwind.

Answer 14

Posting a Skarmory set that has Body Press since there aren't any Skarmory sets that have Body Press.

Gen 9 National Dex UU IronPress

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Spikes / Defog
- Roost

This is an IronPress set Skarmory can use in NatDex UU. Iron Defense + Body Press is a nice combination for Skarmory since it allows it to boost its already high defense stat to wall physical wallbreakers, then deal out powerful Body Presses. Spikes allows Skarmory to setup a hazard to chip opposing Pokemon and is useful when Skarmory forces a physical wallbreaker to switch. Defog is an option on Stall teams to let Skarmory role compress as an IronPress user and a Defogger. Roost gives Skarmory a reliable source of HP recovery so it can stay in longer to check physical wallbreakers. Tera Dragon allows Skarmory to check wallbreakers such as Blaziken, Cinderace, and Victini more easily. 184 Speed EVs is an option on Stall teams with Tera Fighting to allow Skarmory to outspeed and beat Choice Band Tyranitar.

Answer 15

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet / Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Atk
- Spikes / Roost.
- Iron Defence
- Brave Bird
- Body Press

Typical Skarmory set.
I decided Spikes over roost, as once Spikes have been used, he's pretty much fodder.