What are some good support Pokémon?

Question

For example Pokémon like Klefki and Hippodon, Pokemon with moves like Light Screen; Reflect; Safegaurd; Heal Pulse; Spikes; Toxic Spikes; Stealth Rock; status inducing moves; etc. (they have to be able to use these moves and be able to pull them off well too).

Answer 1

Sableye

I see that you say that sableye dies too easily.

Consider this: Sableye has one weakness: fairy. It also has Prankster, which enables any non-attack move to go first. Mega-Sableye is rarely used, but it's multipurpose. Regular sableye is used to set up will o wisp, and stalling the opponents to death with various moves, and Mega Sableye is used to bounce back hazards such as leech seed, stealth rock, and more moves such as will o wisp, toxic, and many others. Sableye's my first suggestion. It doesn't need speed due to prankster.

Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Knock Off

Ferrothorn

Ferrothorn is a huge pain to fight on any front.

Running a hazard Ferrothorn works against most physical sweepers. Its ability, Iron Barbs, takes away 1/16 of health on contact, and Rocky Helmet as a held item takes away 1/6. it is also capable of setting up hazards such as spikes.

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Atk / 84 Def
Brave Nature
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion/Protect

Whimsicott

Another prakster runner, but with a more favorable movepool and more weaknesses. Whimsicott is capable of setting up stun spore, leech seed, and substitute, and leftovers+leech seed can be up to 1/5-1/4 HP recovery each turn. Encore in this set can be replaced with moonblast for a counter to any taunters.

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Encore
- Stun Spore

My Personal Favorite: Roserade

Surprisingly, I haven't seen much of Roserade these days, but I use one with almost any setup team. Roserade efficiently sets up toxic spikes and leech seed before being killed. Yes, roserade can only take one or two hits from M-Charizard, but with it's EV spread, it's almost impossible to OHKO it before it sets up toxic spikes. An extra turn to set leech seed in place and you're good.
Roserade is a presonal favorite, and a pretty poor support, so maybe try it but don't rely on it.

Roserade @ Black Sludge
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
- Leech Seed
- Toxic Spikes
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain

There are many more good supports, but these are some of the most common and most used in any type of competitive battle.

Comments

oh, yeah, sableye is also weak against figghting if foe has scrappy (mega loppuny, sableye's #1 weakness) or if they use odor slueth on you

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^ Nobody who has an ounce of competitive knowledge usews Odor Slueth. We can limit the MSableye threat list to just Lopunny, and perhaps Mega Gardevoir is it hasn't Calm Minded.

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Jeez, people didn't give a good answer for why M-Sableye is a good mon. M-Sableye is a key member in any stall team. Its ability to bounce off all taunts/ hazards allows stall teams to execute is job effectively and prevent any tanky pokemon do anything to the team. Furthermore, M-Sableye's good defenses and decent attacking stats allow it to take a calm mind/ dark pulse/ recover/ will-o-wisp which can allow it to sweep entire teams.

However, M-Sableye can function as an effective pivot for any team. Its good typing and support movepool (knock off, willo, taunt, recover) allows it to function on any team.

For these reasons, M-Sableye was even suspect tested by Smogon due to its versatility and unkillability.

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Wow, this still gets comments from a year later. I was actually a part of the MegaSab suspect, and now I know how much that can hurt. I would revise my answer, but it's been a year :D

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roserade with toxic spikes and venoshock. ultimate troll

Answer 2

Alright. My favourite support isn't much of a support, but a big troll instead. Please welcome...
Forretress!!! But, seriously, l'll start now.
Forretress @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Impish (+ Defense, - Sp. Attack)
EV's: 252 Defense, 4 Speed, 252 Sp. Defense

With access to Spikes, Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock, Forretress is an excellent entry hazard abuser. You can give it Sandstorm for more annoyingness, or give it Bug Bite to not be Taunt bait.
Anyway...

Moves:
Spikes
Toxic Spikes
Stealth Rock
Bug Bite/Earthquake/Sandstorm

I'd like to see anyone try to predict that.
Hope this helps!

Answer 3

I think Mandibuzz deserves a spot on here. Being that it has a good team around it. It's defenses are enough to boast about, with speed too boot, plus... Overcoat, need I say more?

My set up I used was

Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Impish/Overcoat
252 Spd/126 Def/126 Sp. Def
Defog
Tailwind
Taunt/Roost
Brave bird

This is more of a removal of stall support.
Defog for screeners, because brick break is okay but it's not close combat or Aura spere, etc.
Tailwind simply because a lot of great Pokemon aren't exactly the fastest, eg. Mudsdale, T-Tar, Farrothorn.
Taunt to remove set up users, that means you Scizor
Roost is there to keep it on the field should you need it that long
Yeah, it plays a vital role in allot of my 2v2 and 3v3 and never let's me down.

Comments

I personally pick Heavy-duty boots over leftovers because he is weak to stealth rock.

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Heavy-Duty Boots weren't a thing in 2018, they were introduced in Gen 8.

Answer 4

Ninetales-Alola is the best support Pokemon.

Ninetales-Alola @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aurora Veil
- Freeze-Dry
- Hypnosis
- Hail

If you want a Pokemon that uses reflect and light screen, use alolan ninetales instead. It has good speed and it can use aurora vail which does both def & sp def. If you want a wall, just use toxapex or mega sableye.

Comments

This set gets countered by any weather summoning Pokemon and any Pokemon with Defog. Or Bullet Punch+Defog Scizor :P

Answer 5

Personally I like to use a scolipede, it can work as a Baton passer and will reliably pass on defense and speed

Scolipede @leftovers
Ability: speed boost
Evs: 252 speed and 252 hp

• Protect, this is used to test the waters of what your fighting, by using protect you can activate speed boost reliably and determine what is an appealing move to the opponent.
• substitute, used to stall out opponents further and collect even more speed, this acts as a second protect, you use this and cycle back to protect.
• iron defense, if your opponent is a physical attacker you can use iron defense to boost defense and reduce damage taken.
  -baton pass, use this when your ready to pass the ability onto another poke, usually one that favors speed and defense is an ideal poke, I like to send the stats to fast sweepers that can independently boost attack power.

NOTE: this setup is not perfect and will get destroyed by taunt, and in some cases infiltrate. another thing to note is that what has worked for me might not work for you so keep that in mind!

Answer 6

I really like to use Smeargle as a support Pokémon. Sure, it has horrible Defense, but that can be easily fixed with the right EV spread.

Consider this: Smeargle only has one weakness, being Fighting, and is immune to Ghost, which is especially good against Pokémon like Gengar or Mega Sableye. Regular Smeargle has two uses; either it has the Moody ability and sweeps, or uses its wide pool of support moves, like Sticky Web, or Toxic Spikes. Smeargle isn't commonly used, even on my teams, but it's still quite a great support Pokémon.

Smeargle @Leftovers
Ability: Moody
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD
Calm Nature
-Sticky Web
-Spore
-Stealth Rock
-Toxic Spikes

Comments

I don’t think Smeargle is taking any more than one hit, no matter how much you EV train it’s defense. I’d say Max Speed and spore would be better.

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That's not how Smeargle functions. It has some of the worst attack stats in the game. You should be running a Max Speed and a Speed boosting nature, preferably Timid to reduce Foul Play damage.

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By the way, smeargle is very common in national dex ag, if you play gen 8, it's just not in the game