The advantage Merciless Toxapex has is ignoring stat boosts with crits
And Toxapex doesn't have the Sp.Attack base to pull it off. Honchkrow does, and all it needs is Super Luck and Z-Tailwind.
And of course I'm familiar with team support, that's why I don't get your point of it "not being able to poison Steel, Poison or Immunity Pokemon"
Because on the point of an offensive Pokémon, you need to have more coverage then a stall Pokémon does, and Toxapex doesn't have the coverage required for the specific type of playstyle you're attempting. It needs to Poison something in order to DO something. As a stall Pokémon, it doesn't need coverage. It needs support. Regen, Recover, Scald and Toxic are fantastic support options- especially on Toxapex.
There are better offensive Pokémon who you could be using. Instead you're taking a Pokémon that isn't and trying to force it to be when its not, and it performs terribly in the long run. That's the simple truth.
I'm not saying Regen Toxapex isn't good but that Merciless can be viable as well, looking at SE matchups:
252+ SpA Toxapex Venoshock (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 84+ SpD Clefable on a critical hit: 366-432 (92.8 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Toxapex Venoshock (130 BP) vs. 240 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Goodra on a critical hit: 94-112 (24.6 - 29.3%) -- 99.8% chance to 3HKO after poison damage
Clefable is a poor example as its weak against Poison, so obviously its going to leave a dent. But you got to poison it first, which takes a turn (except Toxic Spikes), and if it has Magic Guard, you just gave it immunity to Paralysis and Sleep. It can then just easily switch out to another Pokémon to avoid the upgraded Venoshock.
Goodra tanks it as it should, and will get a Thunderbolt on Toxapex after Toxapex uses Toxic to first poison Goodra and then another.
See what I'm saying here? You have to POISON the Pokémon first BEFORE you get the applied bonuses, which unless Toxic Spikes are out, forces Toxapex to use a turn to Poison, which Goodra can respond to with Thunderbolt. And Defog/Rapid Spin is everywhere.
Toxic does even more(though Baneful Banker is better against physical attackers)
Use Toxic. Its more dependable. Baneful Bunker is another horrible move on Toxapex and that's explained
here.
Its bulk is more than enough to survive enough hits with a 252 HP/252 Sp.Atk+ distribution, add a Life Orb or Leftovers to how you prefer its durability or power and you've got a 53 base Sp.Atk being able to 3HKO a Pokemon with 150 base Sp.Def
At this point we're going in circles. I'm going to go over once again why this doesn't work, why a 3HKO on Goodra means nothing of Merciless's viability, and leave it at that.
- It doesn't have enough coverage to support an offensive play style. Poison alone will make it a counter magnet. Even if you have team mates who answer Toxapex's weaknesses, if they are KO'd, Toxapex is a wasted slot.
- Its too weak. Again, a 3HKO on Goodra isn't significant when you have to poison it in order to deal effective damage. That takes either an additional turn or requires Toxic Spikes. And Goodra can follow with two-three Thunderbolts.
- Requires Poison. This is much more prominent then you think. From Lum Berry to Immunity, Sub to Taunt, there's a variety of ways to avoid/remove Toxic, and as a result, depending on Poison for attacking is way too risky and doesn't have long term effects because you would have to poison the next target in order to be useful once more. That's why Smellingsalts, Venoshock and such aren't highly used attacks.
For more information (because I'm done discussing this), visit Smogon and get their opinions on it. They are knowledgeable about this kind of thing and they will explain better then I can why Merciless is not the ability to use on Toxapex, and why you should be using it as a tank/wall.
