Crustle

As far as appearances go, Crustle's hardened exterior is just about as deceptive as they come. Despite its reasonable defensive stats and typing, too many negative traits offset these positives for Crustle to effectively fill a defensive role. Its typing, in addition to offering a very limited pool of resistances to capitalize on, leaves it highly susceptible to entry hazards, making it far too high-maintenance to effectively play a role on defensive teams. Rather, Crustle actually functions at its best on hyper offense teams where it can make the most of its unique attributes. Access to both Stealth Rock and Spikes is a wonderful commodity in the RU tier, which, in tandem with its Sturdy ability, makes it an effectual lead for teams requiring speedy hazard support. What's more, access to Shell Smash allows Crustle to bring a whole new dimension to this role, allowing it to effectively anti-lead a great deal of the metagame. However, even within this role, Crustle faces competition from other Pokemon such as Smeargle and Omastar, both of which can fill very similar, if not identical, roles as Crustle, even going on to outclass it at times depending on the team structure. Furthermore, low Speed and lack of useful resistances consistently restrict Crustle, preventing it from maintaining a more consistent offensive presence and leading it to get "played around" at times. While by no means an appropriate Pokemon for any team, Crustle is a strong choice for any offensive team seeking a flexible lead, capable of providing excellent team support under most circumstances.