[OVERVIEW]
Ghost
========
* As one of the two Ghost Pokemon that get Stealth Rock, Golurk is a reliable hazard setter.
* A base 124 attack allows Golurk to dish out chunks of damage.
* Access to Ground STAB gives it the ability to OHKO threats such as Heatran, Magearna, Alolan Muk, and Excadrill.
* A Focus Sash allows Golurk’s ability to set rocks reliably and check threats to overlap.
* Blessed with the ability No Guard, Golurk can reliably land all its attacks.
* However, its underwhelming 55 Speed leaves it outsped by many Pokemon, as well as opposing leads that can taunt Golurk or set up their own hazards.
* Having Golurk's sash broken will force it to rely on its lackluster defenses to live hits.
* Its Ground typing exposes Grass, Water, and Ice weaknesses, so Golurk has to rely on its team to absorb those attacks.
* Being a one trick pony, Golurk is easy to predict and much easier to check.
[SET]
Name: suicide lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Dynamic Punch
item: Focus Sash
ability: No Guard
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Stealth Rock damages the opposing team a little bit every time they decide to switch out.
* Stone Edge hits Flying types that try to Defog Stealth Rock away, such as Mantine, Zapdos, Mega Charizard Y, and Crobat.
* Earthquake is an attack that is backed up with STAB, and can hit most of the metagame reliably.
* DynamicPunch allows Golurk to break past threats such as Chansey, Hydreigon, Sharpedo and Porygon-2, while also using confusion to buy Golurk some turns.
Set Details
========
* Maximum investment in attack gives Golurk raw power to check many threats.
* 252 EVs in Speed allows Golurk to outspeed uninvested base 80 speed Pokémon.
* A Focus Sash guarantees Rocks, as well as gives Golurk the ability to check a variety of threats.
* No Guard guarantees Dynamic Punch and Stone Edge to hit.
Usage Tips
========
* When facing more offensive teams, mega evolve Sableye early on in the game so that you are able to bounce back hazards, preserving Golurk's sash.
* If there is a defensive threat on the opposing team, use Mega Sableye as your lead instead of Golurk so that you will be able to reflect hazards instead of letting them pile up on you.
* If you do manage to encounter a hazard setter, however, try getting Golurk off the field as quickly as possible to avoid hazard stacking.
* Always set Stealth Rock up on types such as Fire, Ice, Flying, and Bug, as doing so will chip most of their team, pressuring the types to keep their wincons healthy. Volcarona, Charizard, Cloyster, Dragonite, and Pinsir get weakened a lot by stealth rock, getting vulnerable for revenge killers to come in and finish them off.
* If Golurk's sash has somehow gotten broken, find defensive gaps in the opposing team you can use to set up hazards. For example, if Golurk's sash is gone in the ice matchup, try to bring it in on Avalugg so that you may have another shot at getting Stealth Rock up.
* If you see a threat in team preview, such as Volcarona, Sharpedo, or Hydreigon, try to avoid losing Golurk's sash so that Golurk can check those Pokemon.
* Be careful of switching into Electric type Pokemon, as most of them carry coverage options for Ground type Pokemon, such as Grass Knot, Hydro Pump, and Dazzling Gleam.
Team Options
========
* Mega Sableye bounces back Status moves, Taunt, and hazards for Golurk, countering leads such as Deoxys-S, that Golurk cannot set Stealth Rock upon.
* Alolan Marowak's role as a hazard setter is fullfilled by Golurk, allowing it to function as a Trick Room sweeper, or utilize more coverage options. Marowak can also break some physically bulky Pokemon Golurk struggle to handle, such as Skarmory, Scizor, Celesteela, and Venusaur-Mega.
* Chandelure can remove Ice type Pokemon, such as Alolan Ninetails, Weavile, and Mamoswine early on in the game so that Golurk may have a chance to set up Stealth Rock. Chandelure can also remove Grass types, such as Tapu Bulu, and Steel types, such as Mega Scizor and Skarmory, from the game so that Golurk can do its job. In return, Golurk wears the opposing team down using Stealth Rock, allowing Chandelure to revenge kill more easily.
* Gengar appreciates Golurk's ability to get rid of pursuit trappers such as Alolan Muk and Tyranitar, allowing Gengar to do its job freely. Stealth Rock weakens many Pokemon such as Volcarona, Breloom, and Charizard, allowing Gengar to break past it's normal checks. Gengar can take out many Grass type Pokemon for Golurk, namely Tapu Bulu and Venusaur.
* Jellicent can absorb water attacks, namely Scald, for Golurk. Jellicent can also check many offensive threats such as Kingdra and Volcanion.
* Gourgeist can take care of Grass threats such as Tapu Bulu and Breloom. Gourgeist also has the ability to check Mega Scizor if it is running Foul Play.
* Mimikyu can take out Mega Sableye, allowing Golurk get Stealth Rock up.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ghost
--------
* Ice Punch can be used to hit some physically bulky Ground and Dragon Pokemon, such as Dragonite, Gliscor, Landorous, Garchomp and Latios.
* Fire Punch can be used to break past Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Forretress, a few Pokemon that Golurk usually struggle with.
* Shadow Punch can be used if you need the Ghost STAB, but Ghost teams generally do not need the extra STAB.
* Iron Fist can be used over No Guard so that Golurk can use punch moves such as Ice Punch, Fire Punch, and Shadow Punch to a greater effect. However, this is not recommended as using Iron Fist forces Golurk to drop Stone Edge and Dynamic Punch.
* A Choice Band maximizes Golurk's wallbreaking potential, though Golurk heavily relies on the utility of its Focus Sash.
Checks and Counters
===================
Ghost
--------
**Defensive Walls** such as Mega Scizor, Mega Sableye, Mega Venusaur, Skarmory, and Rotom-Wash all beat Golurk one on one as a result of their ability to take any of Golurk's attacks. Mega Scizor and Mega Sableye set up on it, Mega Venusaur and Rotom-Wash knock Golurk out completely, and Skarmory blows Golurk's hazards away while setting up its own.
**Opposing Leads** can Taunt Golurk to prevent Golurk from setting up Stealth Rock, then set up their own hazards or break Golurk's Focus Sash, rendering it useless.
**Hazard Setters** such as Forretress, Skarmory, Shuckle and Ferrothorn can take any one of Golurk's attacks and set their respective hazards.
**Mega Sableye** can bounce back Golurk’s hazards, threaten to burn it, or straight up get rid of it with Foul Play. However, more specially defensive sets have to be careful of switching into Golurk's Earthquake.
**Bulky Water Types** such as Slowbro or Alomomola give Golurk trouble with Scald burns, or in Slowbro's case, uses it as setup fodder.
**Grass Types** such as Breloom and Tapu Bulu can OHKO with Bullet Seed and Horn Leech respectively, if Golurk's Focus Sash is already broken.
**Fast Dark Types** such as Greninja, Hydreigon, and Weavile can all knock Golurk out with their respective STAB moves. However, many Dark types bar Mandibuzz take massive damage from either Dynamic Punch or Earthquake, with Golurk's Focus Sash to prevent it from being OHKO'd.
**Faster Attackers** can knock Golurk out if its Focus Sash has already been used up.
**Burn** halves Golurk's attack, and makes Golurk's offenses useless.
**Chip Damage** gets rid of Golurk’s Focus Sash, and hinders its reliability.
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