[Pros]
<ul>
<li>Contrary to take advantage of Superpower, enemy Intimidates, Sticky Web, King's Shield from opposing Aegislash.</li>
<li>Strong offensive typing, can hit everything for neutral with STABs and Superpower</li>
<li>Topsy turvy can stop boosters in their tracks.</li>
<li>Above average physical stats: HP, Attack, and Defense.</li>
</ul>
[Cons]
<ul>
<li>Mediocre to average Special Defense and Speed.</li>
<li>Only resistance is Psychic immunity and 4x weakness to bug.</li>
<li>Shallow movepool.</li>
<li>Requires a few turns to really get going.</li>
</ul>
[Set Recommendations]
<p>name: Superpower Booster / Attacker <br />
move 1: Superpower <br />
move 2: Night Slash <br />
move 3: Psycho Cut / Substitute<br />
move 4: Taunt / Topsy Turvy <br />
ability: Contrary <br />
item: Leftovers <br />
evs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 SpD <br />
nature: Adamant </p>
<p>Thanks to Malamar's intriguing ability, Contrary, instead of its attack and defense being lowered after each use of Superpower, those two stats are actually raised. As a result, Malamar's main niche is to use Superpower whenever possible. Night Slash and Psycho Cut provide STAB coverage, but take note: because of Superpower's high base power, a neutral Superpower is stronger than a neutral Night Slash or Psycho Cut and also boosts your stats. Thus, those moves should only be used when Superpower is resisted. </p>
<p>While the offensive combination of Fighting, Dark, and Psychic hits every Pokemon for at least neutral, taking Psychic out of the mix only leaves Malamar unable to hit Fairy-types. Substitute is thus a reasonable alternative to Psycho Cut if your team has other methods of dealing with them. Substitute will help Malamar avoid status and also make it less resistant to critical hits; if Malamar's Substitute is intact, a critical hit will only destroy the Substitute instead of potentially breaking through all of the defense boosts and fainting Malamar. </p>
<p>In the last moveslot, Malamar can use a move that will help it set up. Taunt will help it avoid status, though note that Taunt may feel redundant if you are using Substitute. Topsy Turvy, Malamar's signature move, is also an option because it makes Malamar a good check to physical Aegislash because it can negate Aegislash's Swords Dance boosts and hit back with STAB super effective Night Slash. If Aegislash tries to use King's Shield, Night Slash will increase Malamar's attack by two stages. Other options for the fourth moveslot include Hypnosis, Light Screen, or Rock Slide; the former two options will help Malamar set up while Rock Slide provides coverage against Flying-types.</p>
<p> The given EVs bring Malamar to a Leftovers regeneration number + 1 after maximizing Attack, with the rest in Special Defense to help Malamar take hits while it sets up. Leftovers is Malamar's best item because it helps it stay alive longer, but Assault Vest and Choice Scarf are also viable alternatives. With Assault Vest, move 28 HP EVs to Special Defense and use Psycho Cut and Rock Slide as the last two moves. The Assault Vest can be a good option because it shores up Malamar's Special Defensive weakness. On the other hand, with Choice Scarf, use a spread of 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature. This takes care of Malamar's speed deficiency, but note that the best way to use a Choice Scarf Malamar is to make sure any Ghost-type or other Pokemon that resist Superpower are taken care of first and just spam Superpower as much as possible. </p>
<p>name: Rest + Sleep Talk <br />
move 1: Rest <br />
move 2: Sleep Talk <br />
move 3: Superpower <br />
move 4: Night Slash <br />
ability: Contrary <br />
item: Leftovers <br />
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD <br />
nature: Careful </p>
~ SpD investment helps Malamar tank some hits while it's boosting
~ similar to RestTalking Snorlax, Gyarados, etc., except Malamar's Bulk Up move has 120 BP
~ Becomes very tough to crack after a few turns.
~ Superpower + Night Slash provides good coverage outside of Fairies
~ Good status absorber
[Checks and Counters]
~ Bulky Fairy-type Pokemon are tough for Malamar to crack, while they can just fire super effective Moonblasts or Dazzling Gleams at it.
~ Flying types resist Superpower and Togekiss in particular doubly resists Superpower with its Fairy-typing and can hit back with extremely hard Fairy attacks, or paralyze and then spam Air Slash
~ Skarmory can shrug off hits and force Malamar out with a well-time Whirlwind. It needs to be careful not to use Roost at an inopportune moment though because Superpower then becomes super effective. Hippowdon can wall it similarly with its physical bulk and can Roar it out.
~ Physically bulky pokemon with strong special or Bug-type attacks can switch in pretty easily, such as Vaporeon or Scizor.
~ Faster pokemon sporting special or Bug-type attacks usually can't switch in as easily due to poor defenses, but serve as good checks that can come in after a KO. Greninja and Talonflame outspeed and can kill it easily with U-turn while Volcarona can come in with Bug Buzz and force Malamar to switch out or die
<ul>
<li>Contrary to take advantage of Superpower, enemy Intimidates, Sticky Web, King's Shield from opposing Aegislash.</li>
<li>Strong offensive typing, can hit everything for neutral with STABs and Superpower</li>
<li>Topsy turvy can stop boosters in their tracks.</li>
<li>Above average physical stats: HP, Attack, and Defense.</li>
</ul>
[Cons]
<ul>
<li>Mediocre to average Special Defense and Speed.</li>
<li>Only resistance is Psychic immunity and 4x weakness to bug.</li>
<li>Shallow movepool.</li>
<li>Requires a few turns to really get going.</li>
</ul>
[Set Recommendations]
<p>name: Superpower Booster / Attacker <br />
move 1: Superpower <br />
move 2: Night Slash <br />
move 3: Psycho Cut / Substitute<br />
move 4: Taunt / Topsy Turvy <br />
ability: Contrary <br />
item: Leftovers <br />
evs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 SpD <br />
nature: Adamant </p>
<p>Thanks to Malamar's intriguing ability, Contrary, instead of its attack and defense being lowered after each use of Superpower, those two stats are actually raised. As a result, Malamar's main niche is to use Superpower whenever possible. Night Slash and Psycho Cut provide STAB coverage, but take note: because of Superpower's high base power, a neutral Superpower is stronger than a neutral Night Slash or Psycho Cut and also boosts your stats. Thus, those moves should only be used when Superpower is resisted. </p>
<p>While the offensive combination of Fighting, Dark, and Psychic hits every Pokemon for at least neutral, taking Psychic out of the mix only leaves Malamar unable to hit Fairy-types. Substitute is thus a reasonable alternative to Psycho Cut if your team has other methods of dealing with them. Substitute will help Malamar avoid status and also make it less resistant to critical hits; if Malamar's Substitute is intact, a critical hit will only destroy the Substitute instead of potentially breaking through all of the defense boosts and fainting Malamar. </p>
<p>In the last moveslot, Malamar can use a move that will help it set up. Taunt will help it avoid status, though note that Taunt may feel redundant if you are using Substitute. Topsy Turvy, Malamar's signature move, is also an option because it makes Malamar a good check to physical Aegislash because it can negate Aegislash's Swords Dance boosts and hit back with STAB super effective Night Slash. If Aegislash tries to use King's Shield, Night Slash will increase Malamar's attack by two stages. Other options for the fourth moveslot include Hypnosis, Light Screen, or Rock Slide; the former two options will help Malamar set up while Rock Slide provides coverage against Flying-types.</p>
<p> The given EVs bring Malamar to a Leftovers regeneration number + 1 after maximizing Attack, with the rest in Special Defense to help Malamar take hits while it sets up. Leftovers is Malamar's best item because it helps it stay alive longer, but Assault Vest and Choice Scarf are also viable alternatives. With Assault Vest, move 28 HP EVs to Special Defense and use Psycho Cut and Rock Slide as the last two moves. The Assault Vest can be a good option because it shores up Malamar's Special Defensive weakness. On the other hand, with Choice Scarf, use a spread of 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature. This takes care of Malamar's speed deficiency, but note that the best way to use a Choice Scarf Malamar is to make sure any Ghost-type or other Pokemon that resist Superpower are taken care of first and just spam Superpower as much as possible. </p>
<p>name: Rest + Sleep Talk <br />
move 1: Rest <br />
move 2: Sleep Talk <br />
move 3: Superpower <br />
move 4: Night Slash <br />
ability: Contrary <br />
item: Leftovers <br />
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD <br />
nature: Careful </p>
~ SpD investment helps Malamar tank some hits while it's boosting
~ similar to RestTalking Snorlax, Gyarados, etc., except Malamar's Bulk Up move has 120 BP
~ Becomes very tough to crack after a few turns.
~ Superpower + Night Slash provides good coverage outside of Fairies
~ Good status absorber
[Checks and Counters]
~ Bulky Fairy-type Pokemon are tough for Malamar to crack, while they can just fire super effective Moonblasts or Dazzling Gleams at it.
~ Flying types resist Superpower and Togekiss in particular doubly resists Superpower with its Fairy-typing and can hit back with extremely hard Fairy attacks, or paralyze and then spam Air Slash
~ Skarmory can shrug off hits and force Malamar out with a well-time Whirlwind. It needs to be careful not to use Roost at an inopportune moment though because Superpower then becomes super effective. Hippowdon can wall it similarly with its physical bulk and can Roar it out.
~ Physically bulky pokemon with strong special or Bug-type attacks can switch in pretty easily, such as Vaporeon or Scizor.
~ Faster pokemon sporting special or Bug-type attacks usually can't switch in as easily due to poor defenses, but serve as good checks that can come in after a KO. Greninja and Talonflame outspeed and can kill it easily with U-turn while Volcarona can come in with Bug Buzz and force Malamar to switch out or die
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