While Curselax has historically been the epitome of power and durability, it has become far less stable in the highly offensive D/P metagame; however, it still poses a significant threat to unprepared individuals. As expected, Curse is the crux of this set; it boosts Snorlax's mediocre Defense and good Attack while dropping its useless Speed, so that Snorlax is reasonably good at taking attacks from both ends of the offensive spectrum, and can deal decent damage itself. Whether to use Body Slam or Return for its Normal-type STAB is purely a matter of power versus paralysis. Generally, the paralysis is more useful for Snorlax, but if one feels that a bit more power is favorable, Return is available for 20% greater force. One may note that Double-Edge is sadly absent from this set; unlike as in previous generations, Snorlax can't afford to squander as much of its HP on recoil damage. The next choice is whether to attempt to remain alive longer with Rest and risk the opponent setting up while Snorlax is asleep, or to shirk longevity and destroy something on the way out with a STAB Selfdestruct. Prior to D/P, Rest was overwhelmingly more useful, but in D/P, Selfdestruct has risen to a level plane with it, as sleeping for two turns is a significantly greater liability, whereas Selfdestruct is the emergency resource so many teams need in order to combat an unexpected reversal. The last move is also quite variable. Earthquake is often the preferred option to hit Tyranitar, Metagross, and others, but leaves Snorlax completely vulnerable to Mismagius, and to some extent, Gengar (note that without Focus Blast or Perish Song, Gengar will be stalled out of PP by Snorlax if the latter has Rest). Crunch hurts the Ghosts at the expense of being futile against the first group. Fire Punch is the compromise option, which deals well with both the Ghosts and Metagross; Tyranitar still switches in with impunity, however. The EVs on this Snorlax are configured for optimal defensive efficiency; while displacing 4 EVs from Special Defense to HP would provide a slight amount more of overall defenses, that course has not been taken because if it were, Snorlax would have 504 HP, which is divisible by 8 and therefore would make it more susceptible to residual damage than if the current 503 HP spread was utilized. This spread focuses primarily on improving its special defensive capabilities, but also maintains a solidity in its physically defensive sector to make switching in and taking attacks after few Curses easier. While investing some EVs into Attack may seem tempting, the fact is that Snorlax simply can't afford to do so in D/P; even with this spread, Snorlax can take up to 54% from a Choice Specs Modest Salamence's Draco Meteor, 60% from a Life Orb Timid Azelf's Nasty Plotted Psychic, and 83% from a Life Orb Modest Porygon-Z's Nasty Plotted Adaptability Tri Attack. Physical Fighting-type Pokemon stop this set cold. Fighters such as Heracross, Machamp, and Lucario can switch in on Snorlax while it Curses, then scare it away with Close Combat or DynamicPunch. Even at +1 Defense, Fighting-type moves will still do heavy damage to Snorlax. Obviously, Pokemon that resist Fighting moves support Curselax well. Dusknoir, Rotom-A, and Weezing do a good job, as they resist Fighting-type moves and can threaten the Fighters with Will-O-Wisp. While Heracross loves taking Will-O-Wisps, it will not like taking Fire Punch, Overheat, or Flamethrower, respectively. Gliscor is another great counter to these Fighting-types; it can easily counter Heracross and Swords Dance Lucario, provided the latter lacks Ice Punch. In addition, Snorlax resists Ice-type moves, which is one of Gliscor's major weaknesses. Celebi, Suicune, and Swampert also stop Curselax. Each of these Pokemon has high Defense, and they all have the ability to pseudo-haze (Celebi with Perish Song, the latter two with Roar). Heatran, Heracross, and Infernape do well to stop Celebi. However, Heatran and Infernape need to watch out for Thunder Wave and Earth Power (or, in Infernape's case, Psychic). Heracross can obliterate Celebi with Megahorn or Pursuit it as Celebi switches out. Scizor also scares Celebi away if it lacks Hidden Power Fire. Magnezone, Celebi, and Roserade stop Suicune (though Ice Beam does a hefty amount to Roserade and Celebi) because they can hit Suicune with powerful, super effective STAB attacks. The latter two also counter Swampert easily.
As a wall, Snorlax is a bit lackluster in D/P, but as a Choice Bander, it is as stable as Choice Banders come. Instead of fretting over which Pokémon will stop it, Choice Band Snorlax is equipped to handle anything Curselax might not. Body Slam still supersedes Return on this set, as Choice Band Snorlax, being one of the slowest Pokémon available, prefers 30% paralysis over immediate power, unlike many of its Choice brethren. Selfdestruct is Snorlax's best move when it is low on health. Earthquake is standard fare for Metagross and Jirachi. Due to STAB, Selfdestruct is one of the most powerful attacks in the Pokémon franchise; Selfdestruct even has a small chance of OHKOing the standard Skarmory (and OHKOes on average with Stealth Rock). It also prevents Snorlax from being walled by Heatran, a Pokemon that Snorlax can counter well. Crunch is for Ghost-types and Fire Punch is the compromise move that hits both Levitating Ghost-type Pokémon like Gengar, as well as hitting Steel-type Pokémon. Snorlax is outrunning little if anything, so instead of Speed, EVs have been invested in its Special Defense. This way, Snorlax maintains a reasonable degree of special survivability with which to switch in against special attackers; Thick Fat furthers that goal. As is the case with most Choice Banders, prediction is the best and easiest counter. When your opponent predicts Normal-type attacks, they'll switch in a Ghost- or Steel-type. The same goes for when they predict Earthquake (they'll switch in a Flying-type or Levitating Pokemon). Work around this by trying to be a bit unpredictable (but do not take unnecessary risks!). Your team can support your CBLax too. Seeing as you'll be using Return or Body Slam the most, Ghosts will prove to be a pain. To remedy this, use Ghost or Dark attacks of your own, or use Pursuit users. Gengar is a very common switch-in to CBLax because of its immunity to Body Slam, Earthquake, Selfdestruct, and Superpower. Fortunately, a lot of Pokemon can take Gengar pretty easily. Weavile, Tyranitar, Metagross, and Scizor can all trap Gengar with Pursuit (be wary of Focus Blast when using the former two though). Blissey also stops Gengar cold; even Focus Blast isn't doing enough to scare Blissey off. Celebi and Suicune also stop Choice Band Snorlax with their high defenses. Pokemon with high-power Fire- or Bug-type attacks can defeat Celebi with relative ease; Heatran or Heracross make good options. Roserade and Celebi's Leaf Storms do hefty amounts of damage to Suicune, 2HKOing even the bulkiest Suicune.
One of the issues that Choice Band Snorlax faces is that several Pokemon can easily come in on their resists and immunities to one of its moves and force it out while they set up. Even Pokemon that Snorlax can normally wall like Heatran, Gengar, or Zapdos can be quite bothersome if they manage to leave you locked into a move that would be unable to damage them. This set remedies that problem by giving Snorlax the freedom to use any of its moves, while still having a good amount of offensive power. As with the other sets, Body Slam is the preferred option for STAB. Return is more powerful, but generally, the 30% chance of paralysis offered by Body Slam is simply too good to pass up, especially against Scizor or Salamence. Earthquake hits many of the Pokemon who resist your STAB, easily OHKOing Heatran and Magnezone while doing decent damage to Tyranitar. It is also useful against Zapdos, as it can potentially outstall you with Roost. Crunch hits those Ghost-types that are immune to most of your other moves, most notably Gengar and the Rotom appliance formes. With STAB and 200 Base Power, Selfdestruct can even OHKO several Pokemon that resist it, most notably Scizor and minimum HP Tyranitar (with Stealth Rock factored in), so it can be used as a last resort or just to deal serious damage to anything that isn't immune to it. Fire Punch is also a good alternative over Selfdestruct, as it still OHKOes Scizor and 2HKOes Forretress. However, the sheer damage output of Selfdestruct generally makes it the better option. Just like with the Choice Band set, 252 EVs are allocated to Special Defense because it allows Snorlax to sufficiently take hits from most special attackers. As is the case with the Choice Band set, Ghost-types such as Rotom-A and Spiritomb stop this set cold, even more so because of this set's lack of power. In that respect, Heracross pairs well with this Snorlax. Heracross can take Will-O-Wisps from Spiritomb and Rotom-A and threaten them with its powerful attacks. Spiritomb takes neutral damage from Megahorn, and Rotom-A is hit super effectively by Night Slash and Pursuit. Steel-types with high Defense also counter this set well (for example, Skarmory, and Forretress if Snorlax lacks Fire Punch). Magnezone helps in this regard, as it can trap and kill Skarmory and Forretress with ease. Heatran and Infernape also scare away Skarmory and Forretress, though they both need to watch out for Forretress' Earthquake, and the latter has to be wary of Skarmory's Brave Bird.
Sleep Talk Snorlax sacrifices the sweeping potential of Curselax in exchange for improved durability, as it is no longer switch-in bait while it is Resting. Indeed, Snorlax is excellent for absorbing sleep for the rest of its team, as it trumps many sleepers, such as Gengar and Milotic. As this set will likely remain at the 256 Attack it starts out with unless one intends to Baton Pass Attack boosts to it, Body Slam's paralysis chance becomes a greater deterrent to set-up Pokémon than Return's straightforward damage, and consequently it becomes significantly more favored. Earthquake and Crunch still work the same way as on Curselax, but Fire Blast has replaced Fire Punch for hitting Steel-types. As most Steel-types have higher Defense than Special Defense, Fire Punch's lower base power will ultimately do less damage than Fire Blast, despite Snorlax's higher Attack. For example, assuming a Sassy nature in the case of Fire Blast, Fire Punch does a measly 26% at maximum to Skarmory, whereas Fire Blast can do up to 58%. As this Snorlax is used exclusively for walling special attacks and shouldn't be taking any strong physical attacks, it is even more special defensively oriented than Curselax. However, a small dash of Defense is available, feeding off the "just because" philosophy, for taking the occasional weaker physical attack. Sassy nature is required on sets with Fire Blast for the guaranteed OHKO on the standard Forretress; Snorlax isn't going to use its Speed for much anyways. Sleep Talk Snorlax might prove to be set up fodder for several Pokemon (as is the problem with most RestTalkers). Gyarados and Salamence in particular can come in while Snorlax Rests and Dragon Dance while it sleeps; the only thing they need to watch out for is paralysis from Body Slam. Vaporeon and Celebi stop Gyarados cold, even if it gets a Dragon Dance under its belt. DDMence is a bit harder to counter; Porygon2 and Bronzong do a good job, though Bronzong is 2HKOed by Life Orb Fire Blast. Skarmory also does a good job at countering Dragon Dance Salamence, though again, it needs to watch out for Fire Blast. Fighting-types can also switch into a sleeping Snorlax and OHKO it with Close Combat (or any other strong Fighting move). As stated above, Weezing and Dusknoir counter Fighting-types well. Suicune and Celebi also counter Fighting-types nicely, though Celebi cannot defeat Heracross unless it's locked into Close Combat or Stone Edge. Team OptionsSnorlax does well when coupled with sandstorm, provided by Tyranitar or Hippowdon, and Toxic Spikes; this will wear down opposing Pokemon while Snorlax sets up Curse and outstalls them with Rest. As mentioned above, Snorlax has a lot of trouble dealing with Suicune, Celebi, and Hippowdon. Having Pokemon with strong Grass-, Electric-, and Fire-type attacks is helpful when dealing with these Pokemon. All three of these Pokemon are susceptible to Toxic Spikes, especially Celebi and Hippowdon. Roserade is a good option to pair with Snorlax because of this; it can set up Toxic Spikes, absorb them as well, and deal with Suicune and Hippowdon with Leaf Storm or Grass Knot. Being a pure Normal-type, Snorlax only has one weakness - Fighting. Unfortunately, Fighting attacks are very common in Standard play and are usually very powerful. Ghost-types, such as Rotom-A, Dusknoir, or Spiritomb, do well when paired with Snorlax because they are immune to Fighting-type attacks. Snorlax can also fight off opposing Ghost-types; it is immune to Ghost attacks and can threaten Ghost-types with Crunch or Pursuit. Snorlax is one of the few Pokemon that rivals Blissey in special walling. However, like Blissey, Snorlax's Defense is a major weak point. Having Pokemon with Will-O-Wisp, like Rotom-A, is a good idea to cover that weakness. Rotom-A can also threaten Celebi with Shadow Ball and Suicune with Thunderbolt. Choice Band Snorlax is stopped cold by Pokemon like Skarmory and Forretress. Magnezone is a good Pokemon to use in that respect because it can trap Skarmory and Forretress and kill them with Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Fire respectively. When using Curse Snorlax, it is recommended to save Snorlax until mid-late game, after you KO your opponent's Fighting-types. After a Curse or two, your opponent will be hard-pressed to do enough damage to Snorlax to KO it, especially if all of their Pokemon with Fighting attacks have been defeated. Other OptionsPursuit is a very good move to essentially trap Gengar, Mismagius, and many Psychics, who have good reason to fear Snorlax, but is unfortunately illegal with Selfdestruct. Ice Punch significantly hurts Dragons like Salamence, and ThunderPunch annihilates Gyarados, but neither is extremely useful on Snorlax. Zen Headbutt is super effective on Gengar and Weezing, but will not OHKO the latter before it uses Haze and is merely a less accurate Crunch replacement for the former. Focus Punch can deliver a very powerful hit on Rhyperior and Bronzong, and OHKO Tyranitar, but generally it is outclassed by Earthquake or Fire Punch. Instead of attacking Metagross and Tyranitar directly, Snorlax can also make them faint through its massive HP and Counter; Snorlax will usually survive any physical hit that isn't Fighting-type or boosted more than once. Superpower is a nice physical move to be added on the Choice Band set, but it competes for a moveslot when Earthquake does most of its job and Crunch and Fire Punch can help Snorlax handle more Pokemon. Snorlax gets Whirlwind in D/P, but as an offensive wall, it is usually much better suited to killing its opposition than blowing their boosts away. Amnesia and Charm can lighten the hits Snorlax receives, but Snorlax would much rather Curse against physical hits and just attack special attackers; Charm can force a few switches to gain Stealth Rock and Spikes damage, though. Belly Drum is an explosive alternative to Curse, but unfortunately Snorlax is, as already noted several times, extremely slow, and its Defense is just passable. However, along with Block, a timely Belly Drum can be deadly for the opposition once all Ghost-types have been picked off by Pursuit. Yawn is another move that can force switches and works well with Belly Drum. As expected for a Normal-type, Snorlax receives a host of special attacks to use off its pitiful base 65 Special Attack. Other than Fire Blast, Ice Beam and Surf are the only ones that would possibly have any practical application. Ice Beam can score an unexpected KO on Gliscor provided you run lots of Special Attack EVs, but Surf hits Rhyperior decently even in sandstorm conditions and thoroughly guts it if such conditions are nonexistent. However, it does at maximum, assuming Snorlax has no Special Attack EVs, a pathetic 23% on Tyranitar. In general, Thick Fat is the more useful ability, especially when coupled with Rest, as Rest will rid Snorlax of any poisoning it suffers. Thick Fat grants an effective resistance to Ice and Fire, two of the most common special attacking types. Additionally, it is pivotal to countering Heatran, especially when Snorlax doesn't have Earthquake to OHKO it, and is an excellent buffer for a predicted switch-in on Weavile's Ice Punch and such. However, if one elects to forgo Rest, Immunity still has some utility, especially against Toxic Spikes. When using Selfdestruct, Thick Fat is recommended, as Snorlax generally won't mind being poisoned when it is about to blow up. EVsSnorlax should generally focus on buffering its HP and Special Defense, and sprinkle a little bit in Defense on the Curse and Sleep Talk sets. Note that unlike most others, Snorlax doesn't derive its best defensive combination by maximizing HP, as its HP is titanic compared to its Defense and Special Defense. However, the Choice Band and Offensive sets should also maximize Attack, whereas offensive EVs are unnecessary on other sets. If you are more concerned about taking hits from Physical attacks, then you can move some Special Defense EVs into Defense. 44 Defense EVs will allow you to survive a Choice Banded Tyranitar's Stone Edge 100% of the time at full health, even when taking the residual damage from Sandstorm taken into account. 252 EVs in Defense will even allow you to survive an unboosted Superpower (assuming no Swords Dance boosts) from a max attack Scizor with Life Orb. OpinionSnorlax, once among the most dominant Pokémon in the entire game, has taken a dramatic fall from grace in D/P, with the advent of extremely powerful special attackers like Azelf and Porygon-Z that essentially necessitate the use of sturdier special walls like Blissey. Focus Blast or Aura Sphere from competent special attackers Snorlax could previously wall, such as Gengar and Alakazam, has taken it down another notch. With the release of Platinum, a plethora of special attackers also gained access to Trick, which is the final nail in the coffin to nearly every viable Snorlax set. Strong physical attacks responsible for the renewed popularity of Machamp, Heracross, and others have also limited the pool of Pokémon Snorlax can switch in on safely. However, Snorlax still has a place in many teams, as when it is the last Pokémon, it becomes incredibly difficult for stall teams to take down. Paralysis from Body Slam incapacitates many opponents as always, and Thick Fat allows Snorlax to become among the most reliable counters to Fire- and Ice-types, especially Heatran. STAB Selfdestruct behind a high Attack stat is also a great asset. CountersSnorlax is nowhere as impregnable as it was during previous generations, and therefore has many potential counters; note that whatever counters Curselax tends to counter the Sleep Talk set as well. Strong Fighting-types that can survive a Body Slam tend to work excellently. Choice Band Heracross, Machamp, and Gallade's Close Combat will always OHKO the standard Curselax even after one Curse. Hariyama has Cross Chop, which might get a critical hit and strike through Curse; if Hariyama doesn't want to push its luck, it can also Whirlwind Snorlax out. If Curselax doesn't have Crunch or Fire Punch, Gengar, Mismagius, and the Rotom appliance formes are absolutely impervious to its assaults and can Focus Blast, Charge Beam, or Calm Mind up, respectively. If it doesn't have Earthquake or Fire Punch, Metagross can switch in on a Body Slam (beware of paralysis) or Crunch and 2HKO with Choice Banded Meteor Mash, assuming Snorlax uses Curse immediately after the first Meteor Mash. The same follows for Choice Band Tyranitar regarding sets without Earthquake. Rhyperior's high Defense and Solid Rock reduces even unboosted Earthquake damage to less than 20%, allowing it to strike back safely with Earthquake. Regirock doesn't have as much initial power, but doesn't care about Earthquake either, and can match Snorlax with Psych Up or can Curse on its own. Snorlax can also be beaten by special attackers other than Ghosts. If it doesn't have Earthquake or Fire Punch, even Curselax falls to Calm Mind Jirachi, whose high Defense and Steel typing shield it from Crunch. Suicune with Roar can stat up alongside Snorlax and Roar it out whenever it gets too many boosts. Both physical and special Lucario will triumph against Snorlax that elect to have Crunch as the auxiliary move; the physical versions will often OHKO with Close Combat, assuming Snorlax doesn't have any Curses, and the special versions with Choice Specs easily 2HKO with Aura Sphere regardless. Tangrowth and Celebi have high Defense with which to take Body Slam and Fire Punch, and can land a Leech Seed on Snorlax. Although neither is capable of doing much direct damage to Snorlax, Leech Seed will sap Snorlax's high HP, which will help whichever counter comes in next. For example, the standard Snorlax will give 62 HP to the opponent if it is seeded; the residual damage also helps very much. Skarmory's high Defense lets it take on any Snorlax with ease except those carrying Fire Blast while it lays down Spikes or Stealth Rock and Whirlwinds Snorlax out when it becomes uncomfortably laden with Curses, but can't do any real damage against it and therefore loses if Snorlax is the last Pokémon. Weezing, on the other hand, trades reliable healing and field-affecting moves for Haze, which wipes out Snorlax's Curses at any time, and disregard for Fire Blast. Gliscor can Taunt to stop Snorlax from Cursing in the short term; if it has Swords Dance, it can set up and Baton Pass to a more powerful attacker. Trick pretty much shuts down just about every Snorlax set. As such, Snorlax needs to tread much more carefully as several Pokémon it can normally safely switch into, including Gengar, Jirachi, Azelf, and the Rotom appliance formes, have access to Trick. |
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