Golem (QC 0/3)

[Anivia]

Overview
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• Several possible sets.
• Decent HP, good Attack, amazing Defense.
• Afwul defensive typing.
• Horrible Special Defense.
• Really low Speed.
• In comparisson to Rhydon as a SR user it has more sustain, as it doesn't depend on Eviolite it has the ability to use Leftovers.
• Has great potential, just needs to be used correctly.

Stealth Rock Lead
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name: Stealth Rock Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Blast/Stone Edge
move 4: Explosion
ability: Sturdy
item: Lum Berry
evs: 4HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant

Moves
========

• Access to Stealth Rock + Sturdy, almost guaranteed to set them up.
• Earthquake serves as primary STAB move, and hits hard coming from its good attack.
• Rock Blast grants the pseudo EdgeQuake combo, while also breaks Sturdy, Focus Sash and Substitutes.
• Stone Edge is recommended if consistent damage is prefered over utility.
• Explosion is great for opening up opportunities for a teammate to set up, plus really dents anything.
• It's important to know when to use Explosion.

Set Details
========

• Maximizing Attack and Speed focuses on how long this set is supposed to stick around.
• Lum Berry is chosen due to sleep inducing leads, as well asBurn and Poison breaking Sturdy, giving Golem a second chance.
• Lefties can be used if
• Adamant is the nature of choice because it further increases the damage output.

Usage Tips
========

• It's important to know when is the appropiate time to send out Golem, otherwise its efforts may be wasted.

Team Options
========

• Offensive Rapid Spin users remove the hazards that break Sturdy and can take advantage of the hazards laid by Golem (i.e. Kabutops)
• Spinblocking is important to prevent Stealth Rock from being removed, also a Taunt user is necessary due to Defog. (Dusclops, Dusknoir, Misdreavus, and Haunter fit the role.)
• Magic Bounce Xatu can be a great support teammate.

Autotomize
########
name: Autotomize
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Blast/Stone Edge
move 3: Sucker Punch/Fire Punch/Thunder Punch
move 4: Rock Polish
ability: Sturdy
item: Leftovers/Lum Berry/Weakness Policy
evs: 4HP / 252Atk / 252Spe
nature: Jolly

Moves
========

• Earthquake and Rock Blast are Golem's STAB moves, providing neutral coverage around the tier.
• Sucker Punch is the necessary priority, since even after an Autotomize boost Golem's speed is rather subpar, not to mention that other types of priority can stop Golem cold.
• Fire Punch and Thunder Punch are great replacements of Sucker Punch, providing extra coverage alongside Golem's STAB moves.
• Rock Polish is a great set up move to use in conjunction with Sturdy, boosting its speed to usable levels.

Set Details
========

• Offensive stats are maximized, orienting Golem towards a late game sweeping role or even a wallbreaker early to mid game.
• Leftovers give Golem more staying power.
• Lum Berry again saves Golem from Sleep, Poisoning and Burns, but it's a one time use and it stops there.
• Weakness Policy grants Golem a +2 boost to its Attack, making it reach an amazing 638.
• Jolly is chosen over Adamant to outspeed certain threats after a Rock Polish boost (reaches 414 speed after a single boost, outspeeding Archeops, Modest Accelgor and non Scarf Typhlosion and Sceptile).

Usage Tips
========

• Should be sent out once counters are gone, that includes entry hazards and fast Grass and Water types that can ruin Golem's day.
• Should be sent in after a teammate goes down, preferably on a Pokemon Golem counters or checks, granting a Rock Polish boost on the switch.

Team Options
========

• Overall bulky Pokemon that can take a hit or two and retaliate are bound to stop Golem's sweep; therefore strong teammates that can punch holes through there Pokemon are great teammates for Golem. Scarf Mold Breaker Saw for example, has good synergy with Golem, and can take care of Pokemon like Walrein.
• Sceptile also makes a good teammate as Golem can handle Fire types that give Sceptile a hard time, while Sceptile can take care of Water Types.

Other Options
########

• Golem's low speed means that it fits most Trick Room teams, if you want to use it in a Trick Room team, consider an alternate spread of 252HP/4Atk/252SpD/ and a Sassy nature along with Curse.
• Golem can also run an Assault Vest tank set to some success, although it loses the niche Stealth Rock gives it.

Checks & Counters
########

• Bulky Water Types give Golem a hard time, as most can take a hit and return the favor in a 4 times effective fashion, as well as burning it with Scald.
• Grass Types can come in on a predicted EQ and either put Golem to sleep or outright KO it, though they must be careful of switching into Fire Punch or Rock Blast.

 

[boltsandbombers]

Hi, just letting you know that all of your information needs to be in bullet points until you get 3 Quality Control checks, and then you can convert everything into paragraph form.

 

[Anivia]

Hi, just letting you know that all of your information needs to be in bullet points until you get 3 Quality Control checks, and then you can convert everything into paragraph form.

Oh thank you, I thought it was better to jump into paragraphs, fixing it ASAP.

 

[Gourghost]

small change, but
########
name: Stealth Rock Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Blast/Stone Edge
move 4: Explosion
ability: Sturdy
item: Lum Berry
evs: 4HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant

should be

Stealth Rock Lead
########
name: Stealth Rock Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Blast/Stone Edge
move 4: Explosion
ability: Sturdy
item: Lum Berry
evs: 4HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant

 

[tehy]

And should have spaces between slashed moves i.e. Rock Blast / Stone Edge (both sets).

In overview not really sure if defense merits that much mention, more worth noting is sturdy and SR+Automotize, possibly boom and sucker punch

Edit:
Both your items suck. For the first, why would i status golem? Maybe i would burn it but that's about it, even then that sucks for the dmg half, not just sturdy brake. First set wants mental herb, keep lum and emphasize sleep leads. Maybe toss red card/normal gem in there somewhere.

Second set, too offensive for lefties. LO, plates, lum is okay to keep, i recall weak policy as ok gimmick


Double edit: ofc custap is the best, but lum's not second best.

As for second set, eh, i guess lefties is nice for sturdy, just not a fan of how wallable it is.

 

[Anivia]

The problem with the first set is that it's way more effective with a Custap Berry, but since it is unreleased, Lum berry was the best option.

On the second set, LO breaks Sturdy, the plates only boost one STAB move, and Lum isn't exactly the best either.

 

[roxanne]

You could add Trick Room users to possible teammates. I used to play Golem with TR Solrock on a mono rock team to good effects. It's definitely worth a small mention.
I ran it with EQ/Stone Edge/Fire Punch/Stealth Rock set with TR support (such as Xatu), allowing it to hit heavily against most opponents with that crazy atk stat.
Priority steel/ice type still poses a problem, but sturdy can take a hit and allow you to hit a Cryogonal with an FP or stone edge/rock blast.

Should rock slide be included as alternatives to stone edge/rock blast? It's a more accurate, if slightly less powerful, alternative to stone edge.

 

[Anivia]

You could add Trick Room users to possible teammates. I used to play Golem with TR Solrock on a mono rock team to good effects. It's definitely worth a small mention.
I ran it with EQ/Stone Edge/Fire Punch/Stealth Rock set with TR support (such as Xatu), allowing it to hit heavily against most opponents with that crazy atk stat.
Priority steel/ice type still poses a problem, but sturdy can take a hit and allow you to hit a Cryogonal with an FP or stone edge/rock blast.

Should rock slide be included as alternatives to stone edge/rock blast? It's a more accurate, if slightly less powerful, alternative to stone edge.

Thanks, TR is one of the sets I had in mind, although I had trouble figuring out teammates with good synergy.

Also yes, Rock Slide is a good alternative to both moves, consistent damage and good accuracy plus the chance to flinch.

 

[Shadow Man]

OK, so some thoughts:

• On the Autotomize set, slash Sucker Punch for Fire/Thunder Punch due to the fact that Sucker Punch is illegal with Autotomize, and they provide coverage against a lot of Pokemon that otherwise eat up its STABs. Additionally, replace Earth Plate with Weakness Policy for obvious reasons.
• For a Trick Room set, Curse might be interesting.

 

[sickweare]

I fail to see why I should use Golem over other SR setters from this analysis. What sets it apart from Rhydon?

For the first set: What purpose does Lum have? Statusing is cool to wear it down, but most people want to take it down before it sets up, which is why people bring in Mold Breaker Sawk on Golem. Leftovers are a good option, hell even Custap berry is a cool option to get a fast explosion when you're done setting up.

Second Set: Why Autotomize over Rock Polish? Sure it lowers your weight, but Grass Knot and Low Kick aren't super popular (Sneasel vs Golem isn't exactly a common matchup), plus Sucker Punch is legal with Rock Polish, which, while seems kind of dumb to use on a speedy set, is useful due to Golem's low base speed. But even then, I'm not sure how viable Rock Polish Golem is with Rhydon essentially doing that job better.

 

[Ares]

Anivia when will this skeleton be completed?

 

[Anivia]

Anivia when will this skeleton be completed?

Probably Sunday, I haven't been able to do anything lately.

I fail to see why I should use Golem over other SR setters from this analysis. What sets it apart from Rhydon?

For the first set: What purpose does Lum have? Statusing is cool to wear it down, but most people want to take it down before it sets up, which is why people bring in Mold Breaker Sawk on Golem. Leftovers are a good option, hell even Custap berry is a cool option to get a fast explosion when you're done setting up.

Second Set: Why Autotomize over Rock Polish? Sure it lowers your weight, but Grass Knot and Low Kick aren't super popular (Sneasel vs Golem isn't exactly a common matchup), plus Sucker Punch is legal with Rock Polish, which, while seems kind of dumb to use on a speedy set, is useful due to Golem's low base speed. But even then, I'm not sure how viable Rock Polish Golem is with Rhydon essentially doing that job better.

Lum stops sleep inducing leads and prevents sturdy to being broken. Leftovers are kinda pointless in a suicide lead set, but overall are a good option if you're trying to do something late game. CUstap Berry, as mentioned a few posts above, is not released, if it was it'd be the best item for the set.

 

[Punchshroom]

Overview
########

• Several possible sets.
• Decent HP, good Attack, amazing Defense.
• Afwul defensive typing.
• Horrible Special Defense.
• Really low Speed.
• In comparisson to Rhydon as a SR user it has more sustain, as it doesn't depend on Eviolite it has the ability to use Leftovers.
• Has great potential, just needs to be used correctly.

There aren't a lot of possible sets Golem can run at all without receiving significant competition.
Golem's defensive typing isn't terrible since it has useful resistances to Normal & Flying plus an Electric immunity (<- emphasize these), just say it has several weaknesses.
Mention that Sucker Punch can help to offset its low speed.
Stress the competition it faces from Rhydon, as Rhydon has both greater power as well as bulk provided by Eviolite.
Mention Sturdy and Explosion; they're the biggest things separating Golem from Rhydon right now.

name: Stealth Rock Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Blast / Stone Edge
move 4: Explosion
ability: Sturdy
item: Lum Berry
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant

Format changes.

Set Details
========
Maximizing Attack and Speed focuses on how long this set is supposed to stick around.
Lefties can be used if

You need to mention why maximising Speed is useful for Golem. Mention that it allows Golem to outspeed bulkier Pokemon such as (etc.) so that it can set up Stealth Rock and attack them.
I assume you meant to say "Leftovers can be used if longevity is prefered, or to restore Golem's Sturdy after taking Stealth Rock damage"?
I actually think you can add Weakness Policy onto Set Details to let Golem go out with a massive (or even literal) bang. You can even slash Weakness Policy alongside Lum Berry on Golem, since those two items allow Golem to significantly differentiate itself from Rhydon (Leftovers, not so much :/ ).

Usage Tips
========
It's important to know when is the appropiate time to send out Golem, otherwise its efforts may be wasted.

So when is the right time? Questions like 'Can it be used as a lead?', 'When should/shouldn't it be used as lead?', or even 'When would it be alright to sac Golem off with Explosion?' would be asked by would-be players, and need to be answered in the analysis.
To be frank this tells me nothing about how I should use Golem at all. Basic usage tips like setting up SR and then attacking / Exploding are obvious but definitely need to be mentioned. Under what circumstances should Golem change its usual plan?

Team Options
========

Offensive Rapid Spin users remove the hazards that break Sturdy and can take advantage of the hazards laid by Golem (i.e. Kabutops)
Spinblocking is important to prevent Stealth Rock from being removed, also a Taunt user is necessary due to Defog. (Dusclops, Dusknoir, Misdreavus, and Haunter fit the role.)
Magic Bounce Xatu can be a great support teammate.

I'm not sure if Kabutops is the greatest example of a Rapid Spin user to mention alongside Golem due to their poor defensive synergy.
Dusclops and Dusknoir are highly irrelevant in the meta. I would even recommend replace the entire list with more relevant Ghosts such as Mismagius, Rotom, and Gourgeist.
What kind of teammates would benefit from Golem's support? A good example would be offensive teams since they can easily take advantage of Golem's quick support, so offensive attackers such as Typhlosion, Sceptile, Sawk, etc... would make good partners. You can even make note of any defensive synergy Golem has with these Pokemon.

Autotomize
########
name: Autotomize

I am very skeptical about the inclusion of a speed boosting set on Golem's analysis. Almost everything speed-boosting Golem would want to do can be done by Rock Polish Rhydon, which has greater power for sweeping and greater bulk for boosting. Furthermore, Rhydon even has Swords Dance to boost its power further (making its dual STAB that much more dangerous) and has additional coverage in Megahorn. I see Autotomize Golem as OO at best.

Other Options
########
Golem's low speed means that it fits most Trick Room teams, if you want to use it in a Trick Room team, consider an alternate spread of 252HP/4Atk/252SpD/ and a Sassy nature along with Curse.
Golem can also run an Assault Vest tank set to some success, although it loses the niche Stealth Rock gives it.

Eviolite Rhydon > Assault Vest Golem, and Golem's typing leaves it far too vulnerable to safely acquire enough Curse boosts, so you can remove these entirely. Move the Rock Polish set as a mention here while you're at it.

Checks & Counters
########
Bulky Water Types give Golem a hard time, as most can take a hit and return the favor in a 4 times effective fashion, as well as burning it with Scald.
Grass Types can come in on a predicted EQ and either put Golem to sleep or outright KO it, though they must be careful of switching into Fire Punch or Rock Blast.

Pokemon that can bypass Sturdy should be mentioned first and foremost, as they can easily prevent Golem from accomplishing its job(s). Mold Breaker Sawk, as well as Bullet Seed Torterra & Cacturne, can stop Golem from doing much of anything.
Pokemon that can get rid of entry hazards should be mentioned as well, as they can render Golem's presence useless, especially since Golem struggles to outlive these Pokemon to keep Stealth Rock on the field. Sandslash can even spin in Sandslash's face, while Kabutops, Cryogonal, and Pelipper can deal with Golem directly if Sturdy is broken.
Most Grass-types do not worry unduly about Rock Blast, just mention that their Ground resistance and neutrality to Rock makes them good responses, especially those with Sleep Powder (such as?).

 

[Punchshroom]

One more thing, you can mention Sucker Punch in 'Moves' as a possible move to use over Explosion.

 

[marilli]

To add on more to Punchshroom's comments.

You mention that Golem is 'more sustainable' than Rhydon in the overview. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just look at the main EV spreads both Pokemon take. Sturdy allows Golem to invest fully on Attack and Speed. Rhydon invests in HP and Special Defense. It's obvious that Golem's advantage over Rhydon (though very slight) must be its ability to invest fully in attack and speed and still take an Energy Ball from Mesprit and other stuff, not 'better sustainability.' Heck, you're putting Explosion on the main set and talk about sustainability. That's pretty backwards.

Also this 'good potential' stuff is just a filler. What do you even mean? Especially when you don't talk anything about how to unlock that potential you just mentioned. As Punchshroom mentioned, your Usage Tips is incredibly bare and it needs some real content, especially on a simpleton like Golem.

For the set itself and how we'll slash the moves together, I feel Sucker Punch probably needs to be slashed on the main set, but I wouldn't mind it in moves. Also I agree with Weakness Policy getting a set details mention, or even a slash on the main set. Lum Golem in BW NU was mostly used because how dumb Sash LK Jinx was. Golem is immune to Twave, Toxic is least of Golem's worries, so basically you're only worrying about Burn and Sleep. Sleep is a lot more manageable thanks to the mechanic changes, and less people are using sleep as a result. For instance you'd be considered crazy to forgo Sleep Powder on just about anything in BW, but that is no more. This makes Lum a lot more situational item in XY NU. Weakness Policy is equally situational. And certain players are prone to overhyping it because they don't realize Golem Sucker Punch isn't exactly the fastest priority in the world, but it shouldn't mean we should try to underhype it to compensate. The truth is, Golem is basically a consumable Pokemon slot and doubling your damage on the single turn you can attack is a very, very good deal.

Now that we have settled that Golem's only niche lies on its aggression, it's also pretty clear that there are better ways to prevent hazards from popping Golem's Sturdy: offensive pressure. You should use Grass-types to counter stuff like Feraligatr, which also happen to put strong pressure on SR users. Mold Breaker CB Sawk also works well, and so does LO Samurott, etc. It's much easier than trying to dedicate a spinner slot especially when both Kabutops and Sandslash are highly redundant with Golem.

Also I highly doubt the effectiveness of the second set. Anyone care to disagree?

 

[Raseri]

this was taken over in secret