Overview
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Venipede is a great Pokemon that acts as a suicide lead on offensive Spike-stacking teams, but it has a lot of competition from other Spikes setters in the tier. Having access to both Toxic Spikes and Endeavor makes it a really good alternative to them and brings a lot of utility to a team already, but with Speed Boost, Venipede becomes the fastest entry hazard setter in the tier, preferred over Roselia on fast-paced offensive teams that want Spikes on the field as soon as possible. However, it has pretty bad defensive stats making it unviable on defensively oriented teams. It also has to rely on Endeavor to do damage, which gives Venipede more utility than consistent damage, limiting its effectiveness.

Suicide Lead
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name: Suicide Lead
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Toxic Spikes
move 3: Protect
move 4: Endeavor
ability: Speed Boost
item: Focus Sash
evs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly

Moves
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Spikes and Toxic Spikes are mandatory on Venipede and every Spikes-stacking team, as they serve to pressure the enemy team by putting some damage on foes every time they switch in. Protect lets Venipede get a Speed Boost safely and then proceed to quickly set up layers of Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Endeavor is the best damaging move that Venipede can use, letting it bring an enemy to 1 HP if played well with Speed boost and Focus Sash.

Set Details
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Maximum Speed and Defense investment with a Jolly nature allows Venipede to set up Spikes as soon as possible and to stay alive as long as possible against physical attackers, especially against defensive Rock Blast users, and also lets it deal more damage with Endeavor if it can't get to 1 HP. Speed Boost is one of the reasons why Venipede is used, as it makes it the fastest Spikes setter in the tier after it gets some boosts. Focus Sash lets Venipede take any hit without being OHKOed and set up more entry hazards or use Endeavor to take an enemy to 1 HP.

Usage Tips
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Venipede's potential as a suicide lead can only be fully used in the early stages of a game. Laying down layers of Spikes and taking one of the opponent's Pokemon down to 1 HP from the start is really easy thanks to Endeavor and Focus Sash, so try to use this tactic as much as you can when using Venipede, but take care against Pokemon with Rock Blast, or status moves, as well as Ghost-types, as they can nullify your strategy most of the time. Always look to the opponent's team when you decide what you want to set up on the field first; for example, if the opponent has a Poison-type, you will want to set up your Spikes before Toxic Spikes, so that they will not be removed. Be careful against setup sweepers, especially if they carry Substitute, as Venipede's weak against them, having next to zero offensive presence. Venipede also relies a lot on using Protect on the first turn to set up layers of Spikes when against decently fast Taunt users and popular Choice Scarf users such as Mr. Mime and Haunter, which outspeed it at +2 but not at +3. Because Venipede is pretty slow without boosts, Protect should also used when Venipede is at 1 HP to gain another Speed boost after setting up a layer of Spikes, which allows it to become faster than every Taunt user and also scout if the opponent switches into a Ghost-type predicting your Endeavor. When Venipede is at 1 HP, also consider placing another layer of Spikes, if you feel you really need it and the opponent doesn't have a reliable way to get rid of them, because they could also switch out to a Ghost-type, making Endeavor useless.

Team Options
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Venipede's strategy is supported well by a Stealth Rock setter such as Carracosta or Probopass to keep up the pressure on the opponent's team when against Pokemon with immunities to Ground and Poison. Defiant users such as Pawniard and Purugly are appreciated when using Venipede to pressure or even KO the enemy's Defog user while gaining a +2 Attack boost, which is always appreciated. Spinblockers such as Misdreavus and Haunter are also good teammates, as they can prevent your Spikes from being removed by the enemy spinner most of the time. Poliwrath can be a good teammate because it effectively checks or even counters Rock- and Fire-types and can also make good use of Venipede's entry hazards to clean up the enemy team if using the Swift Swim set. Venipede appreciates Pokemon such as Taunt + Will-O-Wisp Misdreavus or Rotom-F, which can stall out walls such as Lickilicky, Gourgeist-XL, and Tangela. Sweepers such as Sneasel and Dodrio enjoy Spikes support to weaken their counters.

Other Options
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Venipede can successfully perform only one role, as its niche is being slightly faster than Whirlipede, so any bulky set is outclassed. Venipede can utilize Toxic to pressure Ghost-types, Defoggers, and spinners, all of which it outspeeds after a Speed boost.

Checks & Counters
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**Rock-types**: Rock-type leads such as Golem, Armaldo, and Barbaracle can easily KO Venipede right off the bat, especially if they carry Rock Blast, which makes its Focus Sash useless.

**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Ninetales, Flareon, Torkoal, Rapidash, and Heatmor don't really appreciate switching in on entry hazards but can still KO or set up on Venipede without any fear, breaking its Focus Sash with Will-O-Wisp or any weak move.

**Ghost-types**: Levitating Ghost-types such as Haunter and Misdreavus don't take any damage from Spikes and can just switch in on Venipede as they please because they are also immune to Endeavor and take next to no damage from Poison Jab.

**Setup Sweepers**: Setup Sweepers such as Leafeon and Simipour are a big threat to Venipede, as it can't really pressure them, having little to no damage output, especially if they carry Substitute, putting your whole team in a dangerous position.

**Entry Hazard Control**: Pokemon that can remove entry hazards, such as Togetic and Armaldo, can mess up Venipede's entire strategy if it's not supported well.

**Priority Users**: Strong priority users such as Basculin and Carracosta can limit Venipede's utility as they will let it place a maximum of one layer of Spikes before KOing it, not even letting it set up another one or use Endeavor.

**Taunt Users**: Taunt users such as Floatzel can take away almost all of Venipede's utility, being faster even if it's at +1 Speed and forcing it to switch, dealing a lot of damage to the rest of your team.