[OVERVIEW]
[SET]
name: Coil + 3 Attacks
move 1: Coil
move 2: Gunk Shot
move 3: Aqua Tail / Earthquake
move 4: Sucker Punch
evs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
nature: Jolly
item: Black Sludge
ability: Intimidate / Shed Skin
[SET COMMENTS]
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
name: Bulky Coil
move 1: Coil
move 2: Rest
move 3: Gunk Shot
move 4: Aqua Tail / Sucker Punch
evs: 192 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Spe
nature: Adamant
item: Black Sludge
ability: Shed Skin
[SET COMMENTS]
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
[OTHER OPTIONS]
[CHECKS AND COUNTERS]
- Giant purple snake brings cool factor to teams
- Mediocre stats and typing make Arbok often overlooked
- Semi-exclusive move Coil makes Arbok a viable force
- By boosting attack, defense and accuracy of his STAB he becomes hard to take down
- Great coverage including priority
- Two handy abilities
- All in all a very good anti-meta Pokemon
[SET]
name: Coil + 3 Attacks
move 1: Coil
move 2: Gunk Shot
move 3: Aqua Tail / Earthquake
move 4: Sucker Punch
evs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
nature: Jolly
item: Black Sludge
ability: Intimidate / Shed Skin
[SET COMMENTS]
- Coil is Arbok's key to success
- Acts as a Bulk Up while also boosting Gunk Shot's accuracy to 91%
- This gives Arbok a great STAB that tears through anything that doesn't resist it
- Aqua Tail destroys Golurk and hits the flyers and levitators that Earthquake cannot, such as Misdreavus, but Earthquake hits Steel types like Probopass much harder
- Sucker Punch is handy priority and a guard against revenge killers
- Useful on offensive teams needing help against niche threats such as Gurdurr and Ludicolo
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- -Speed EVs to outpace positive base 70s eg Samurott, Ludicolo
- -Max attack to hurt, rest in HP to take hits better
- -Intimidate makes Arbok bulkier and therefore easier to set up on Gurdurr etc, whereas Shed Skin helps against walls like Amoonguss and Alomomola
- -Life Orb can help deal considerably more damage but recoil racks up quickly, and Leftovers helps Arbok stick around longer, making it the better option
- -Licklicky can take special hits for Arbok, while Arbok takes fighting attacks
- -Licki can also support with Wish and Heal Bell, which is paticularly useful if Intimidate is used over Shed Skin
- -If Earthquake is chosen have a counter to Gourk, eg Tangela, and something to take out Misdreavus and Haunter, eg Skuntank
- -If Aqua Tail is chosen have something for Steel-Types, Gurdurr and Sawk are fine choices
- -Carracosta and the rare Relicanth counter this set well, so grass-types work well to deal with these
- -Zangoose and Arbok can help eliminate each other's counters
- -If Sucker Punch is missing then faster sweepers like Ludicolo can run riot, so Paralysis support from the likes of Ampharos or Regirock are good choices
name: Bulky Coil
move 1: Coil
move 2: Rest
move 3: Gunk Shot
move 4: Aqua Tail / Sucker Punch
evs: 192 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Spe
nature: Adamant
item: Black Sludge
ability: Shed Skin
[SET COMMENTS]
- While the previous set works best against offensive teams, this one is a complete stop to many stall teams
- Arbok's immunity to Toxic and partial immunity to status via Shed Skin is brilliant, turning him into a semi-reliable status absorber for the team
- Can turn top walls like the Alomoonguss core into set up bait, and after a few boosts can take physical hits all day
- Wait until Psychic types are removed, then boost up freely
- Coil gives Arbok a pseudo-bulk up boost while also boosting the accuracy of his main STAB
- Impervious to most physical attacks besdies EQ, while also dealing heavy damage
- Rest is a valid option with Shed Skin, enabling Arbok to heal off repeated attacks and absorb status, helping him stall out most Physical threats.
- Gunk Shot is the primary attack, powerful STAB boosted further with Coil
- Aqua Tail is the best coverage move, preventing you from being walled by Steel types or Ghosts, as well as hitting Golurk much much harder than Earthquake. It also benefits from the accuracy boost
- Sucker Punch is still an option to prevent revenge killers like Swellow, Cincinno, Gardevoir and the like from ruining your day but provides little two-move coverage
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- -Speed EVs let Arbok outspeed neutral base 55s such as Torterra and Exeggutor
- -Paralysis support from the likes of Probopass is very helpful to let Arbok outspeed slower threats and gain more boosts
- -Earthquake is an option to hit Steels such as Probopass, Bastiodon and Klang harder as well as something to hit Seismitoad, but AT has generally better 2 move coverage
- -Sucker Punch is an option but teammate support is essential to beat Rock and Steel types, so Sawk and Torterra are ideal choices. They also benefit from Arbok tearing apart Alomomola and Amoonguss.
- -Generally the same team-mates from the previous set work well
[OTHER OPTIONS]
- Arbok has few options other than Coil; it is what gives him a niche
- Choice sets aren't very effective and are outclassed by mon such as Braviary
- Additional coverage moves include the elemental fangs, Seed Bomb and Pursuit
- These are all generally outclassed by any of the listed moves
- Glare is an interesting choice to paralyse ground types, but Arbok has no room for it
- Dragon Tail is an option to deal damage and phase out counters, it could be used over a coverage move, but it gives no worthwhile coverage
[CHECKS AND COUNTERS]
- Psychic types eg Musharna, Gardevoir
- Misdreavus walls sets lacking Aqua Tail
- Alomomola beats the first set with ease
- Rock types eg Regirock, Carracosta, and Golem (non AT variants)
- Bulky Seismitoad takes hits all day and can scare the snake out with Earth Power
- The main key to countering Arbok is forcing him out before he has a chance to rack up several boosts