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Iron Fist
- Increases the power of punching moves by 20%.
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Klutz
- The wielder both is unaffected by and will not utilize held items.
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No Guard
- All attacks used by and used on the wielder will never miss.
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Level 50 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
89
|
- |
164 |
196 |
- |
| Atk |
124
|
129 |
144 |
176 |
193 |
| Def |
80
|
90 |
100 |
132 |
145 |
| SpA |
55
|
67 |
75 |
107 |
117 |
| SpD |
80
|
90 |
100 |
132 |
145 |
| Spe |
55
|
67 |
75 |
107 |
117 |
Overview
Golurk has had a huge impact on the tier ever since it was relegated from RU. With its huge Attack stat—among the highest in the tier—and respectable bulk, Golurk can switch in many times throughout the match and deal ridiculous amounts of damage each time. Golurk's unique Ground / Ghost typing gives it many handy resistances and immunities, such as an immunity to the ever-common Volt Switch as well as a Fighting-type immunity, which allows it to serve as an excellent offensive check to Sawk. Two solid abilities in Iron Fist and No Guard allow it to keep up offensive pressure, and they both have uses on Golurk. Unfortunately, not all is well for Golurk, as its middling Speed really lowers its staying power. Because of this shortcoming, many offensive threats can outspeed it and take advantage of one of Golurk's many weaknesses to common attacking types such as Water, Ice, Dark or Grass.
Choice Band Golurk is the very definition of a high-risk, high-reward Pokemon. There are zero safe switch-ins for this set in the tier, with even the bulkiest of Pokemon being 2HKOed by the correct move, but each of its attacks can be walled if the opposition predicts correctly. If Golurk predicts correctly, something will die, although a single misprediction can allow Swellow to switch in for free or allow Skuntank to Pursuit it as it flees. Earthquake is the primary STAB attack, 2HKOing even Alomomola with entry hazard support; Shadow Punch is a great secondary STAB attack in tandem with Earthquake, hitting the ever-present Psychic- and Ghost-types in the tier, such as Musharna, Beheeyem, and Misdreavus, very hard. Ice Punch is used to cover Pokemon that aren't dealt enough damage by Golurk's STAB combination, hitting Braviary, Swellow, Cacturne, and Sawsbuck extremely hard. Drain Punch gives Golurk a means of recovery and can be used against the many Normal-types in the tier to do respectable damage whilst gaining back much of the HP that Golurk may have lost.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The EV spread is quite simple, emphasizing power and bulk, while retaining enough Speed to outrun Alomomola and 2HKO it with Earthquake after it has been slightly weakened. Other potential moves that can be used include Stone Edge, which hits Bug- and Flying-types very hard, and ThunderPunch, which hits Water-types slightly harder. Entry hazard users make great teammates for Golurk as it is one of the best spinblockers in NU, with Probopass, Cacturne, and Garbodor all providing the entry hazards that Golurk loves. Specially based Water-types, such as Ludicolo, Mantine, and Samurott make great teammates for Golurk as they can all defeat the Water-types that plague it. Ludicolo has access to Giga Drain, while Mantine and Samurott are just generally not threatened by what Water-types carry. Klang also makes a great partner for Golurk, setting up on common checks to it such as Tangela.
Due to its unique typing, Golurk has many opportunities to set up a Substitute during a match and fire off an Iron Fist-boosted Focus Punch. Resistances or immunities to common multi-hit moves, such as Rock Blast and Tail Slap, make it one of the most viable users of Substitute in the tier, as it will almost always get to use Focus Punch. Earthquake has redundant coverage with Focus Punch, but is a very important move as it allows Golurk to attack without negative priority. Earthquake is used in case setting up a Substitute is impossible, as without Earthquake Golurk would lose to an astonishingly large amount of Pokemon in a one-on-one situation. Earthquake also lets Golurk hit Garbodor, who would otherwise set up all over this set. Shadow Punch has perfect coverage with Focus Punch, is also boosted by Iron Fist, and beats the defeat Psychic- and Ghost-types that would otherwise defeat this set, primarily Musharna and Misdreavus.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The EV spread is designed to outspeed base 65 Speed Pokemon that don't invest in Speed, such as Alomomola and Flareon, with the remaining EVs being allocated to Attack and HP. There are a few other moves that can be used instead of Shadow Punch. Ice Punch hits Flying-types that give this set trouble, such as Rotom-S and Braviary. Toxic can also be used, as many bulky Pokemon would otherwise fear nothing from this set. With Toxic, Alomomola will fear this set much more. This set is not as strong as the Choice Band set, so powerful wallbreakers such as Exeggutor make great teammates. Exeggutor can defeat Alomomola, who would otherwise wall Golurk. Pokemon with Sap Sipper, such as Miltank and Sawsbuck, make great teammates because Golurk lures Grass-types such as Tangela in. Entry hazard setters are great teammates for Golurk, as it forces many switches from behind a Substitute. Garbodor in particular works very well as it can set up on Tangela, Vileplume, and Alomomola—all of which can defeat Golurk handily.
Golurk is the only Ghost-type in the tier with access to entry hazards, and as such it naturally makes a good user of Stealth Rock. Golurk can threaten many common leads, such as Regirock and Golem, with its STAB Earthquake. Shadow Punch allows Golurk to hit the common Psychic- and Ghost-types in the tier, specifically Musharna and Misdreavus. Ice Punch should be used if you choose to run Iron Fist, as DynamicPunch is too unreliable and Ice Punch hits Flying-types such as Swellow and Braviary, as well as Grass-types such as Sawsbuck. DynamicPunch is a very interesting option, as it allows Golurk to function as an anti-lead of sorts, but it needs No Guard to be effective, which makes Golurk miss out on the boost in power to Shadow Punch. DynamicPunch's 100% confusion rate gives Golurk a 50% chance of preventing opposing leads from setting up Stealth Rock, as well as deterring setup from the opposition.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Colbur Berry can be used as the item for this set. It allows Golurk to survive a Dark-type attack from the very common Skuntank and then OHKO it with ease. Stone Edge can be used to hit Armaldo hard, but because Armaldo can't do anything to seriously hurt Golurk, it is not the best choice. Spikes makes this set much more threatening, so Garbodor and Cacturne make great teammates. This is all the more true as Golurk can defeat nearly every Rapid Spin user easily. Acrobatics Drifblim is a great offensive partner for Golurk, threatening Grass-types as well as performing the duty of spinblocker if Golurk fails, nearly guaranteeing that entry hazards will remain up during the match. Regice also helps Golurk immensely, as it can defeat Flying- and Grass-types easily with STAB Ice Beam, and use Thunder Wave to slow down the opposition so Golurk can clean up.
Other Options
Golurk does not have many other options that it can use. No Guard can be used on the first two sets, but it is not as useful as Iron Fist as it doesn't boost as many attacks. Rock Polish should not be used, as Golurk is quite slow even with a boost and is weak to Sucker Punch and Aqua Jet, both very common in NU. Golurk also has the ability to Fly! However, flight does not do much for Golurk, as it prefers to smash things into the ground. Superpower or Hammer Arm can be used to get the OHKO on bulkier Normal-types, but Drain Punch's recovery effect is far superior, seeing as most Normal-types can't harm Golurk much anyways. Gravity and Magic Coat are both interesting options, but offer very little to Golurk. Finally, Golurk has a very expansive movepool of special attacks, but is not strong on the special side and as such should never use them.
Checks and Counters
There are no 100% counters to Golurk, and the best way of handling it depends purely on the set. Alomomola and Tangela can each survive a hit from the Choice Band set, and switch to the appropriate counter depending on the attack chosen. The best way to handle Choice Band Golurk is to predict, as every one of its attacks leaves huge openings, and it can't use its STABs early-game without huge repercussions. Grass-types make very good switch-ins to Golurk, as many of them can survive an Ice Punch and proceed to OHKO back with their STAB move of choice. Bulky Flying-types such as Golbat can survive any hit bar Choice Band Ice Punch and whittle Golurk down with Brave Bird. Pokemon with a Normal / Flying typing such as Swellow and Braviary are immune to both of Golurk's STABs and can hit it with strong Brave Birds. Pokemon with Pursuit, such as Skuntank, can checkmate Golurk providing they can get in safely. Due to Golurk's low Speed, all sets except for SubPunch can be outsped and OHKOed with ease by many threats. Water-types, such as Ludicolo, Samurott, and Mantine, are able to threaten Golurk with their powerful STAB options if they can get in, and can easily OHKO it.
