All right. So I've been tinkering around, trying to find a reason NOT to use Snorlax in GSC, and the best reason I can think of is that you already have 3 Fighting-weaks, like the support that each of those uniquely provides, and do not want to get rid of one for Snorlax. More than 3 Fight Weaks makes you go from "threatened by Machamp" to "absolutely destroyed by Machamp", so you really don't want more than 3 (ideally no more than 2, but most of the best GSC mons are Fighting-weak so that can be tough). The team below is nothing revolutionary or anything, it's my attempt at building more or less a standard team that (hopefully) stands up on par with teams that run Snorlax without using Snorlax itself.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
-Thunder
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
Standard Sleep Talk Zapdos, it's my lead but actually the last thing I added to the team. It absorbs sleep for the team, makes a good mixed tank for a lot of threads (including Nidoking, who can really threaten the team otherwise), and acts as one of two checks to Vaporeon on this team. Not much to say, Zapdos patches holes and hits things hard, it's the ultimate splashable Pokemon.
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
-Rock Slide
-Fire Blast
-DynamicPunch
-Pursuit
Standard Pursuit Tyranitar, except maybe for DynamicPunch over Earthquake. One of the three non-Lax Fight-weaks. DPunch is inaccurate and means I miss out somewhat on damage against Raikou/Nidoking, but I consider relevant damage against Miltank, Umbreon, and (especially) Snorlax to be more important, plus confusion coupled with Thunder paralysis thanks to Zapdos can allow me to weasel my way into kills I have no business getting otherwise. Other than that, it can kind of sort of help me to take Exeggutor and Ghosts out of the picture, although I in no way want to rely on it because Tyranitar is vulnerable to status and simply being worn down. Regardless, Pursuit is a unique bit of support that Tyranitar provides and Snorlax cannot.
Admittedly, my description betrays the fact that I'm not terribly high on Tyranitar, and Pursuit isn't game-breaking support or anything, so a Snorlax here might improve the team. Regardless, Ttar is a little more effective at luring opposing Cloys so I can damage them and win the Spikes war, in addition to actually killing (instead of switching into and forcing out) opposing Ghosts to permit the use of Rapid Spin, and less obviously being able to get chip damage on fliers (Zapdos and Skarmory) that are otherwise invulnerable to Spikes. Plus, he resists Explosion, so it makes life tougher on Gengar and Exeggutor trying to break my defenses open, all while providing the offensive presence that Snorlax would. Also, Ttar provides a second Normal resist, thereby allowing me to reliably check Lovely Kiss Drumlax.
Cloyster @ Leftovers
-Surf
-Toxic
-Spikes
-Rapid Spin
Standard Spiking Cloyster, with Rapid Spin support. Toxic will nail Starmies and Snorlax, against whom I otherwise have no recourse, with eventually-crippling residual damage. The second of three non-Lax Fight-weaks. Obviously, its main purpose is getting Spikes down, and Spikes is something that Snorlax cannot do for me. Rapid Spin makes it much more effective at fighting opposing Cloyster and allows me to actually punish other Cloys for being reckless about switching into Toxics, as without Rapid Spin there's little reason for Cloyster to keep switching in and eventually die to poison damage, and there's certainly no way to "win" the Spikes war, I'm fighting instead to at best draw at +1/+1.
Miltank @ Leftovers
-Body Slam
-Growl
-Milk Drink
-Heal Bell
Standard Heal Bell Miltank, it offers Heal Bell which Snorlax cannot do. Thanks to Tyranitar, its lack of coverage moves to dissuade dangerous Ghost-type switch-ins less scary. Heal Bell helps my Ttar and especially Cloyser in return by allowing them to play a bit more recklessly around potential Toxics. I also have a Pokemon below that appreciates Heal Bell support to wake it up from Rests. This Pokemon is one of my checks to Curselax (Ttar doesn't quite count, he can't switch into a Curse because DPunch does not do enough to +1 Lax), and also against Rhydon/Steelix/CurseTar, who can otherwise be somewhat problematic, and of course is my main switch-in to Nidoking once Zapdos has taken Sleep.
Raikou @ Leftovers
-Thunder
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Roar
-Rest
Roar Raikou lets me do work with Spikes down. Thunder is for extra damage against Lax (a Poisoned Lax switching into Spikes is guaranteed to be KOed by two straight Thunder hits at 70% health, Thunderbolt only guarantees this at 59%), Hidden Power Ice stops me from wasting Thunder PPs against Zapods while also giving me Ground coverage and Exeggutor, too. Exeggutor is more immediately threatening, whereas Steelix generally requires a favorable endgame to really get going, so I prioritize hitting the former with HP Ice over hitting the latter with HP Water. Also, note Double Electrics. They form my anti-Vaporeon core and, of course, without Lax, I may as well use the clear #2 and #3 together to keep up with the Joneses. Plus, double-electrics stop random Waters like Starmie and Suicune from actually being a threat, which is ridiculous.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
-Drill Peck
-Toxic
-Whirlwind
-Rest
Counters Snorlax, counters Marowak, counters Exeggutor, checks Rhydon/CurseTar somewhat with Toxic. Without Curse, it can't wall last-Poke Lax, but I have GrowlTank for that if it ever materializes as a threat (the aim is to kill it with Toxic + SpikesRoar at some point anyway), so I prefer Toxic so that I can make some semblance of progress when Skarm goes active. Skarm is pretty necessary on SpikesRoar centric teams like this, imo, so that Cloyster can set up on a Cursing Curselax and then duck out to let Skarm Phaze it right out. Even Fire Blast Laxen can't KO it on the spot (without a crit, of course) if it uses a +3 DE on the switch, so Cloy can even afford to switch in, toss out Spikes, and even using Toxic to wear down the Lax before going out to Skarm.
There's obviously issues with the team, but what do people think of the concept? Is this team on par with teams that use Lax (or does it at least offer something significant that just slapping a Lax on top of it would mess up), or does it still fall short in important ways? If Lax would improve the team, who would you replace for it? And what do you think would be a better way to go about making a no-Lax team to compete with Lax-using teams?
Zapdos @ Leftovers
-Thunder
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
Standard Sleep Talk Zapdos, it's my lead but actually the last thing I added to the team. It absorbs sleep for the team, makes a good mixed tank for a lot of threads (including Nidoking, who can really threaten the team otherwise), and acts as one of two checks to Vaporeon on this team. Not much to say, Zapdos patches holes and hits things hard, it's the ultimate splashable Pokemon.
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
-Rock Slide
-Fire Blast
-DynamicPunch
-Pursuit
Standard Pursuit Tyranitar, except maybe for DynamicPunch over Earthquake. One of the three non-Lax Fight-weaks. DPunch is inaccurate and means I miss out somewhat on damage against Raikou/Nidoking, but I consider relevant damage against Miltank, Umbreon, and (especially) Snorlax to be more important, plus confusion coupled with Thunder paralysis thanks to Zapdos can allow me to weasel my way into kills I have no business getting otherwise. Other than that, it can kind of sort of help me to take Exeggutor and Ghosts out of the picture, although I in no way want to rely on it because Tyranitar is vulnerable to status and simply being worn down. Regardless, Pursuit is a unique bit of support that Tyranitar provides and Snorlax cannot.
Admittedly, my description betrays the fact that I'm not terribly high on Tyranitar, and Pursuit isn't game-breaking support or anything, so a Snorlax here might improve the team. Regardless, Ttar is a little more effective at luring opposing Cloys so I can damage them and win the Spikes war, in addition to actually killing (instead of switching into and forcing out) opposing Ghosts to permit the use of Rapid Spin, and less obviously being able to get chip damage on fliers (Zapdos and Skarmory) that are otherwise invulnerable to Spikes. Plus, he resists Explosion, so it makes life tougher on Gengar and Exeggutor trying to break my defenses open, all while providing the offensive presence that Snorlax would. Also, Ttar provides a second Normal resist, thereby allowing me to reliably check Lovely Kiss Drumlax.
Cloyster @ Leftovers
-Surf
-Toxic
-Spikes
-Rapid Spin
Standard Spiking Cloyster, with Rapid Spin support. Toxic will nail Starmies and Snorlax, against whom I otherwise have no recourse, with eventually-crippling residual damage. The second of three non-Lax Fight-weaks. Obviously, its main purpose is getting Spikes down, and Spikes is something that Snorlax cannot do for me. Rapid Spin makes it much more effective at fighting opposing Cloyster and allows me to actually punish other Cloys for being reckless about switching into Toxics, as without Rapid Spin there's little reason for Cloyster to keep switching in and eventually die to poison damage, and there's certainly no way to "win" the Spikes war, I'm fighting instead to at best draw at +1/+1.
Miltank @ Leftovers
-Body Slam
-Growl
-Milk Drink
-Heal Bell
Standard Heal Bell Miltank, it offers Heal Bell which Snorlax cannot do. Thanks to Tyranitar, its lack of coverage moves to dissuade dangerous Ghost-type switch-ins less scary. Heal Bell helps my Ttar and especially Cloyser in return by allowing them to play a bit more recklessly around potential Toxics. I also have a Pokemon below that appreciates Heal Bell support to wake it up from Rests. This Pokemon is one of my checks to Curselax (Ttar doesn't quite count, he can't switch into a Curse because DPunch does not do enough to +1 Lax), and also against Rhydon/Steelix/CurseTar, who can otherwise be somewhat problematic, and of course is my main switch-in to Nidoking once Zapdos has taken Sleep.
Raikou @ Leftovers
-Thunder
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Roar
-Rest
Roar Raikou lets me do work with Spikes down. Thunder is for extra damage against Lax (a Poisoned Lax switching into Spikes is guaranteed to be KOed by two straight Thunder hits at 70% health, Thunderbolt only guarantees this at 59%), Hidden Power Ice stops me from wasting Thunder PPs against Zapods while also giving me Ground coverage and Exeggutor, too. Exeggutor is more immediately threatening, whereas Steelix generally requires a favorable endgame to really get going, so I prioritize hitting the former with HP Ice over hitting the latter with HP Water. Also, note Double Electrics. They form my anti-Vaporeon core and, of course, without Lax, I may as well use the clear #2 and #3 together to keep up with the Joneses. Plus, double-electrics stop random Waters like Starmie and Suicune from actually being a threat, which is ridiculous.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
-Drill Peck
-Toxic
-Whirlwind
-Rest
Counters Snorlax, counters Marowak, counters Exeggutor, checks Rhydon/CurseTar somewhat with Toxic. Without Curse, it can't wall last-Poke Lax, but I have GrowlTank for that if it ever materializes as a threat (the aim is to kill it with Toxic + SpikesRoar at some point anyway), so I prefer Toxic so that I can make some semblance of progress when Skarm goes active. Skarm is pretty necessary on SpikesRoar centric teams like this, imo, so that Cloyster can set up on a Cursing Curselax and then duck out to let Skarm Phaze it right out. Even Fire Blast Laxen can't KO it on the spot (without a crit, of course) if it uses a +3 DE on the switch, so Cloy can even afford to switch in, toss out Spikes, and even using Toxic to wear down the Lax before going out to Skarm.
There's obviously issues with the team, but what do people think of the concept? Is this team on par with teams that use Lax (or does it at least offer something significant that just slapping a Lax on top of it would mess up), or does it still fall short in important ways? If Lax would improve the team, who would you replace for it? And what do you think would be a better way to go about making a no-Lax team to compete with Lax-using teams?
