(Apologies for the long post, I'm trying to use the same format as the offical PotW)
OVERVIEW
Skuntank is one of those Pokemon you look at and wonder "What were they thinking when they designed it?" I mean, we've had honey bees, ice cream cones and rubbish bags, but 4th Gen's native skunk is certainly a contender of strangest design. Nonetheless, it made itself a staple in Team Galactic, and proved why it should be considered as a good RU/NU nuisance. However, 4th and 5th Gens weren't kind on it, providing it little to do as it was outclassed by many other Poison types like Toxicroak. In fact, its only real niche was Defog and immunity to Psychics in 5th Gen. 6th Gen changed that, and can seriously be considered for RU and maybe even UU. I actually think it can be a very good Mega Mawile counter if played in the right hands.
Positives
- Decent movepool. It can learn just enough to make a splash and has decent coverage
- Good HP. Base 103 HP gives it 52HP subs.
- Aftermath. The only ability I would consider using on a Skuntank, and if played correctly can turn a seemingly bad situation around by knocking a clean 25% off your opponent... if hit with a Contact Move. Situational.
- Toxic, Roar, Taunt and Defog are good moves. No doubt about it.
- Base 93 Attack means that your attacks will hit harder than a leaf in a gust, but only barely.
- Typing - One of the more unique (yet good) combinations of Poison/Dark. Psychic immunity, 1x weakness to what it counters and only 2x to Ground. Beautiful.
Negatives
- Extremely substandard defences. Base 67 and 61 is not worth considering.
- No good recovery moves. No Recover leaves Skuntank with the classic ChestoRest
- Base 84 Speed. It's not as bad as it looks - it outspeeds the two things it counters best - but everything else is gonna be zooming past you. Too slow to utilise Defog as well.
- Base 71 Special Attack is unusable, despite access to Flamethrower, which would be able to keep it in against Ferrothorn and Klefki.
ABILITIES
Aftermath: Takes off 25% of the opponent's health if KO'd with a contact move. My favourite, and in my opinion, only really usable ability.
Stench: 25% chance of flinching the opponent if they're hit with a contact move. It's okay, but base 84 speed isn't going to help your cause here.
(HA) Keen Eye: Prevents accuracy drops. Useless.
MOVESETS
Note: All these sets will be using Aftermath with the Adamant nature, except the last one
The Tank w/Life Orb
~Crunch
~Poison Jab
~Play Rough
~Taunt/Roar/Explosion
100/252/x/x/x/158
Comments: For me, this set should be what you run if you have something else to sponge hits on the team. It's UU at best, but it's good at what it can do. Crunch and Poison Jab for the STAB bonus plus Fairy/Steel coverage, and Play Rough gives you coverage for anything else that might come in on you, granted it's not a Fire type. You could potentially go for Taunt or Roar, but Skuntank isn't fast enough to use it effectively, where Explosion means that you can dent anything that you know will kill you next turn with a special move or Earthquake. Life Orb is very useful here for bringing you down to Aftermath-territory, which can act as a deterrent, particularly if they know that they'll die if they use something with Sucker Punch. This is an excellent anti-Mega Mawile fodder, as you will only get 3HKO'd with Sucker Punch. Skuntank, who will ALWAYS be faster than a Mega Mawile outside Trick Room, gets OHKO'd by Play Rough and Iron Head, and this works beautifully in your favour, as you will be doing almost 25% damage with Crunch, effectively bringing Mawile down to 50% when you get knocked out, especially since you lose HP from Life Orb recoil.
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I'm going to leave you with this Memento w/ Black Sludge
~Crunch
~Toxic
~Roar
~Memento
252/252/x/x/x/6
Comments: Can be very interesting if used correctly. Crunch will be your only damaging move, because it hits everything in the game. Toxic lets you get anything that isn't Steel or Poison, and Roar gives you another opportunity to get whoever comes in. Memento, however, is your Mega Mawile counter. Crunch will only be doing between 16% and 19% to a Mega Mawile running 252/252/x/x/x/6, but we don't care about that. You will always be faster, which is the key advantage, as it means that you can Memento MM before he can kill you (sadly at the loss of Aftermath), but it means he loses his Huge Power boost, which can turn the tide of a battle as it can force the switch to something else or allow you to KO it before he can hurt you more than he should. Azumarill takes 51% maximum from a -2 Play Rough, and deals a phenomenal 79% with Banded Waterfall.
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Time to fill up the (Skun)Tank w/Chesto Berry
~Crunch
~Rest
~Substitute
~Poison Jab
Impish 252/100/100/x/58/x
Comments: This set is not easy to play. It's no longer the MMawile counter, but a decent UU SubChestoResto user that can take and deal damage to anything not wary. The key to the set is setting up the Substitute if the opponent switches on you, which gives you a clean opportunity to see if you can deal damage. Your ability to make 52 HP subs is useful, and although you won't be killing Azumarill, you'll be dealing almost 67% damage with Poison Jab, as well as outspeeding it. All of Azumarill's moves break your sub, but even if you only manage 1 Poison Jab, and Azumarill KOs you, you've knocked it down to a risky 7% health and no one wants to take the risk with that. This set works nicely against most Fairy types, except for the standard Klefki spread.
(That's all I can think of. Have fun!)
Dark/Poison/Fairy is a perfect neutral coverage over all mono types, because Dark moves hit Steel for neutral damage.