Trapper Araquanid
Araquanid @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Bubble / Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spider Web
- Soak
- Rest
- Toxic
Araquanid @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Bubble / Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spider Web
- Soak
- Rest
- Toxic
I noticed how completely awful the Poison and Water matchups can be for Bug teams, being able to block off most of Bug's offensive threats with their incredibly fat defensive cores(with most of the problems arising from Toxapex). Then I saw Eien using this set once and began to try it for myself. With its already fantastic Special Defense, Araquanid can easily switch into bulky Pokemon and proceed to trap them with Spider Web, Soak to remove their Poison or Steel typing if necessary, then put them on a timer with Toxic and watch them slowly die in front of you. The long list of defensive Pokemon that this set can switch into and remove include Toxapex, Mantine, Ferrothorn, Celesteela, Slowbro, Mega Venusaur, Chansey, Porygon2, Heatran without Taunt, the list goes on. In most cases, Water Bubble is the best ability, letting Araquanid deal with the aforementioned Heatran, as well as Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona. However, Water Absorb is still an option to avoid being trapped by Azumarill, and if predicted correctly, you can trap and remove it with its own Perish Song.
Here are a few replays:
Vs Water: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-789928596
After trapping Mantine, Sticky Web was guaranteed, and Volcarona had the door opened for it to run train, even though it ended up not needing to. The moment Suicune got Toxiced on the switch-in, the game was over, since Araquanid could effectively 1v1 the whole rest of the team.
Vs Poison: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-789941758
With Toxapex trapped and removed, Heracross's only consistent switch-in was Mega Venusaur, who was still always scared out by Araquanid. The removal of Toxapex also meant that with Sticky Web up and some chip damage on Alolan Muk, Volcarona was free to carry the late-game.
Vs Normal: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-789955203
Despite losing Mega Scizor relatively early into the game(which was pretty stupid tbh), Araquanid was able to trap and remove Chansey, essentially granting Volcarona with no reliable switch-ins. It was also helpful to keep away Stealth Rock for the rest of the game, giving Volcarona the health it needed to survive a hit from Porygon-Z in the late game.
After trapping Mantine, Sticky Web was guaranteed, and Volcarona had the door opened for it to run train, even though it ended up not needing to. The moment Suicune got Toxiced on the switch-in, the game was over, since Araquanid could effectively 1v1 the whole rest of the team.
Vs Poison: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-789941758
With Toxapex trapped and removed, Heracross's only consistent switch-in was Mega Venusaur, who was still always scared out by Araquanid. The removal of Toxapex also meant that with Sticky Web up and some chip damage on Alolan Muk, Volcarona was free to carry the late-game.
Vs Normal: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7monotype-789955203
Despite losing Mega Scizor relatively early into the game(which was pretty stupid tbh), Araquanid was able to trap and remove Chansey, essentially granting Volcarona with no reliable switch-ins. It was also helpful to keep away Stealth Rock for the rest of the game, giving Volcarona the health it needed to survive a hit from Porygon-Z in the late game.