1v1 Suspect Coverage: Snorlax

By Mubs. Released: 2021/05/12.
« Previous Article Next Article »
art

Art by Litra.

Introduction

Ever since the beginning of DLC2, Snorlax has cemented itself as one of the best Pokémon in the 1v1 metagame. However, the onset of 1v1 Premier League V pushed Snorlax to levels that sparked discussion on its banworthiness. Outside of the regular Belly Drum + Custap Berry set that was being used to a great degree on the ladder, other sets such as Chople Berry + Counter and Choice Band garnered more attention and use, expanding Snorlax's already great array of options. Its great strength and overwhelming versatility relative to the rest of the metagame made it banworthy in the eyes of many in 1v1's community of tournament players, leading to its suspect test.

Sets

Snorlax
  • custap Snorlax @ Custap Berry
  • Ability: Gluttony
  • EVs: 48 HP / 96 Atk / 248 Def / 116 Spe
  • Adamant Nature
  • - Belly Drum
  • - Double-Edge
  • - Encore / Darkest Lariat / Heat Crash / Ice Punch
  • - Earthquake / Encore / Heat Crash / Ice Punch

This is Snorlax's premier set. Custap Berry in conjunction with Belly Drum allows Snorlax to set up to +6 and fire off a powerful attack the next turn, given it's not dropped to under 50% health. Double-Edge is the premier STAB move, being able to be used multiple times in succession as opposed to the more powerful Giga Impact. Encore is a move that can be used to cripple common stall and setup Pokémon such as Chansey, Cresselia, and Carracosta. Moves such as Earthquake, Heat Crash, and Ice Punch serve as coverage options against the metagame's various Steel- and Dragon-type Pokémon such as Aggron, Genesect, and Zygarde. Snorlax is essentially able to pick a variety of its winning and losing matchups by choice of moves on this set.

  • band Snorlax @ Choice Band
  • Ability: Thick Fat
  • EVs: 144 HP / 204 Atk / 160 Def
  • Brave Nature
  • IVs: 0 Spe
  • - Giga Impact / Double-Edge
  • - Heat Crash
  • - Earthquake
  • - Heavy Slam / Gunk Shot / Ice Punch

Snorlax's Choice Band set utilizes its great bulk alongside its power and coverage to hit the metagame as hard as possible, making up for cases in which Custap Berry sets don't do enough, such as Rillaboom and bulkier variants of Togekiss. Choice Band also offers the ability to run more coverage moves as opposed to Custap Berry, with the downside of losing to the bulkier threats that Belly Drum and Encore would take care of, like Cresselia and Kyurem.

  • chople Snorlax @ Chople Berry
  • Ability: Thick Fat
  • EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
  • Impish Nature
  • - Counter
  • - Amnesia
  • - Rest
  • - Rock Tomb / Defense Curl

Chople Berry Snorlax deviates from the previous sets, as it takes more of a stall approach and serves as a lure to physical Fighting-types that would normally be good answers with Counter. Amnesia facilitates this stalling by boosting its Special Defense stat, allowing it to survive various hits from the likes of Primarina and Naganadel. The choice of Rock Tomb or Defense Curl depends on whether one would prefer an attacking move that can lower the Speed of a foe or a Defense boosting option that offers an immense amount of PP for stalling opposing stall Pokémon.

Arguments

Ban Reasoning

Snorlax's great stats coupled with its extensive movepool makes it a menace to deal with and prepare for. Sets such as Endure + Custap Berry and Choice Band utilize this great bulk alongside STAB and coverage options to dominate the great majority of the metagame, while more sets such as Chople Berry + Counter serve to beat traditional counters in Choice item Fighting-types. The sheer versatility of its sets alongside how well they play off each other makes it a menace to deal with at Team Preview. This limits the number of answers to Snorlax to a small pool of Pokémon, many of which have to run moves such as Taunt and Iron Defense to attempt to answer it, such as Tapu Fini, Urshifu-R, and Heatran. Even then, many of the Pokémon in this pool have to attempt to read the Snorlax set in order to beat it, such as Urshifu-S having to either predict a Chople Berry set and use Bulk Up or predict a Custap Berry set and attack.

No Ban reasoning

While Snorlax is a very potent threat in the metagame, the arguments made in favor of banning it underestimate the amount of opportunity cost that comes with running Snorlax's various sets, especially with more niche ones. While trying to prepare for Snorlax's sets may seem daunting in building and at Team Preview, the difference in function between the sets that Snorlax runs makes it much easier than it would look. As Snorlax adapts to the metagame, so does the metagame to it. Moves such as Knock Off on Pokémon such as Rillaboom, Landorus-T, and Incineroar help to scout Snorlax's item while doing damage, making handling the threat much easier.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Snorlax was banned, with 75 percent of eligible voters voting in favor of banning it.

The metagame has changed quite a bit in the weeks after the ban of Snorlax. Urshifu-S and Genesect have grown to be the best Pokémon in the metagame, being able to run more sets without having to worry about catering towards beating Snorlax. Special attackers such as Necrozma, Naganadel, and Volcanion have also risen to prominence alongside answers to them and the likes of Urshifu-S and Genesect such as Zapdos and Assault Vest Arcanine.

Alongside these metagame developments, 1v1's circuit has progressed. 1v1 Premier League V has concluded with the Trojan Porygons as its winner, and now 1v1 Ladder Tournament V's cycles are ongoing. Try it out! As always, thank you for reading and have a nice day.

HTML by Jho | Scripts by Quite Quiet and Toast++.
« Previous Article Next Article »