Statistics
|
Stat |
| HP |
60
|
323 |
| Atk |
80
|
258 |
| Def |
110
|
318 |
| SpA |
50
|
198 |
| SpD |
80
|
258 |
| Spe |
45
|
188 |
This is a very deadly sweeper and is often the target of Baton Passed stats (namely boosts in Speed or a Substitute). After a Swords Dance, basically everything folds to whatever attack does the most damage. Rock Slide is for Flying-types, and Hidden Power Bug is for Grass-types. If you want more than one shot at it, you can put Rest over Hidden Power; while you lose the versatility of hitting Grass-types, you have the chance to try again if things don't work the first time.
Make sure to set Marowak's Attack DV to 13. Otherwise, if you use Swords Dance, Marowak's Attack will actually roll over past 1000 to something like 33 thanks to a glitch in GSC, and you're not going to hit much with an Attack score of 33. If you use the set with Hidden Power Bug though, do not worry; it will set the Attack DV to 13 for you, so you'll be ready to go.
This is the basic Sleep Talking Marowak. Since it has no Leftovers, the Sleep Talk idea is really put into good use here to help Marowak stay around. Rock Slide is for the Ground-immune Fliers. Another option that you can note on this set is Body Slam. Body Slam can be wonderful for the paralysis chance it gives, making things that counter it (Exeggutor, Suicune, Starmie for example) a lot easier to take down. The paralysis can also be effective if you pair Marowak up with another sweeper that can also take out Marowak's counters, because even if you use Rock Slide, Skarmory will still counter Marowak all day. Body Slam is useful to paralyze a Water and finish it off with Earthquake.
Other Options
Bonemerang is an interesting choice; it hits twice in one turn, 50 base power each hit, meaning it equals Earthquake's base power. The two hits idea will also help if you're battling something with Substitute—the first hit will break the Substitute, the second will actually hit the Pokémon behind it, ruining the strategy. Keep in mind, however, that not many things in GSC use Substitute regularly, and Bonemerang also has 90% accuracy, meaning you could miss at a crucial point in the game. As far as other options go, if you're really desperate to hit Skarmory, you can try Fire Blast, but considering Marowak's Attack score with Thick Club, Fire Blast seems a waste. There's also Double-Edge—while you will undoubtedly suffer some nasty recoil, Double-Edge will hit general things resistant / immune to Earthquake (e.g. both Exeggutor and Zapdos). Rock Slide will cover most of those Pokémon better, however.
Opinion
Marowak is certainly something to consider using with the GSC advent of Thick Club. This guy is one hard-hitting Pokémon, that's for sure. Thick Club gives Marowak the highest attack in the game (516), and that along with STAB on Earthquake is good enough in itself to make Marowak a good cleaner (Sleep Talk set is a good example of this) or sweeper (a set with Swords Dance). If you can paralyze the opponent's team, best believe Marowak will take out something.
Counters
Skarmory is an excellent counter with its Ground immunity and high Defense; it can Roar out the Swords Dance set and Thief away Marowak's Thick Club, leaving it horribly mutilated. It can proceed to bludgeon Marowak to death with Drill Peck. Suicune takes a lot of damage from Earthquake, but just misses being 2HKOed, and strikes back with STAB Surf. Heracross resists Earthquake and possesses a strong Megahorn. If Marowak doesn't have Hidden Power Bug, Meganium and Exeggutor are effective too.
The JoltWak Combo
The combination of Jolteon and Marowak was very popular in early GSC, and it's still viable enough to warrant mention in this review. The premise is actually pretty simple: use a Jolteon to Baton Pass Agility (or more recently, Substitute) to Marowak, who will in turn Swords Dance and proceed to sweep. The best Jolteon set for this is probably the one listed in its analysis.
