Graveler

Graveler is a staple on balance and defensive teams, thanks to its access to the rare Rapid Spin. Spinning away Spikes makes threats such as Xatu and Dugtrio much easier to handle for the defensive teams Graveler fits on. Graveler's ability to scare away the tier's Spiker, Pineco, and the tier's only spinblocker, Gastly, means that it generally doesn't find it difficult to pull off Rapid Spin. Graveler supplements its spinning ability with terrific defensive and offensive utility. On the defensive side, it checks the likes of Fearow and Weezing while absorbing dangerous Normal-type attacks, including Explosion and Self-Destruct. On the offensive side, it has a powerful Earthquake, a very good complementary STAB type in Rock, and the tier's most powerful Explosion. Its Explosion is especially deadly due to how Graveler threatens every Normal-resistant Pokemon, such as Sudowoodo and Magnemite, with its Earthquake. Graveler can use Explosion on common switch-ins such as Octillery, opening a path for teammates such as Xatu and Ninetales.

However, Graveler is crippled by a 4x weakness to Water, and thus it needs to run away from Octillery and Dewgong, at least one of which is found on almost every serious NU team. This weakness also means that it can be lured in by Pokemon it's supposed to check, as Weezing can use Hidden Power Water and Pineco can use any of Giga Drain, Toxic, and Hidden Power Water, which can prevent Graveler from safely using Rapid Spin. Graveler also has a severe vulnerability to status, namely Toxic, due to not using Rest. Pokemon that it otherwise checks well such as Ninetales and Persian can cripple it with Toxic and Hypnosis, respectively. Graveler's poor special bulk means it struggles to take hits from Xatu and makes it far less reliable at checking Fire-types. Lastly, Graveler faces competition from other Rock-types; Sudowoodo is much bulkier and lacks 4x weaknesses, while Pupitar is faster than Octillery and uses Screech to answer Curse Normal-types such as Wigglytuff far better than Graveler can.