Alolan Formes in Monotype
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Art by BARABOY.
Alolan Formes in Monotype
With the introduction of Generation 7, a group of classic Kanto Pokémon has gotten regional variant formes, known as Alolan formes. These Pokémon, for the most part, received buffs allowing them to be more competitively viable. In this article, I will discuss some of the Pokémon that got these buffs and what they do for their respective types in the current Monotype metagame.
Alolan Raichu
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]Alolan Raichu helps give Electric teams a place in the metagame. This is thanks to Surge Surfer, which doubles Alolan Raichu's Speed under Electric Terrain, allowing it to act as a fantastic setup sweeper and late-game cleaner. This alongside its Psychic typing allows it to be a fantastic addition to any Electric team. The Life Orb all-out attacker set gives Alolan Raichu the most coverage, allowing it to hit a wide range of threats such as Swampert, Gastrodon, Seismitoad, and Hippowdon with Grass Knot. Alternatively, it can run Hidden Power Ice over Grass Knot, which allows it to take on Pokémon such as Gliscor and Garchomp that would otherwise wall it. Life Orb allows Raichu to take on offensively based teams with more ease due to its immediate power boost and the coverage it allows. However, the Nasty Plot set allows Raichu to break through defensive Pokémon such as Porygon2 at the cost of extra coverage. Aloraichium Z alongside Nasty Plot allows Alolan Raichu to break past Alolan Muk in Electric Terrain, which otherwise walls and traps the all-out attacker set. Overall, both sets are viable and have a place on Electric teams, being able to tackle a different array of teams and Pokémon.
There is not a lot to say about Raichu; it has good Speed, but other than that, it lacks in power offensively and has horrible bulk. Raichu has only 90 Special Attack and Attack, which means it struggles to break through much that it outspeeds, making it look awful when compared to other options such as Raikou and Mega Manectric.
Alolan Ninetales
- Ninetales-Alola @ Light Clay [
] - Ability: Snow Warning
- EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Timid Nature
- - Aurora Veil
- - Freeze-Dry
- - Moonblast
- - Encore
]Alolan Ninetales has been a staple on Ice teams since its introduction due to it being able to set up hail and Aurora Veil. This supports Alolan Sandslash by doubling its Speed during hail thanks to Slush Rush while also giving setup sweepers such as Shell Smash Cloyster and Swords Dance Alolan Sandslash an easier time setting up thanks to Aurora Veil. Encore allows it to prevent offensive setup sweepers from collecting too many boosts or lock a wall into recovery, giving Alolan Ninetales's teammates a chance to freely switch in. Its part Fairy typing and access to STAB Moonblast give it the ability to check weakened Fighting- and Dark-type Pokémon such as Keldeo and Mega Sableye while also outright OHKOing Pokémon such as Kommo-o. Freeze-Dry allows it to take on Water / Ground Pokémon such as Swampert. Alolan Ninetales should be preserved so it can set up Aurora Veil multiple times through the match. Alolan Ninetales is a fantastic support Pokémon that, thanks to all these qualities, find itself on all Ice teams.
Although Ninetales wasn't completely unviable in ORAS, as it had access to Drought, it was completely outclassed by Mega Charizard Y in the role of automatic weather. This is because Mega Charizard Y also provided immunity to Ground-type attacks, hit way harder, and had more coverage in moves like Focus Blast, which Ninetales simply could not use. However, thanks to its ability to get up the sun on entry, it did find itself ranked at D in the ORAS Viability Rankings.
Alolan Muk
- Muk-Alola @ Assault Vest [
] - Ability: Poison Touch
- EVs: 248 HP / 12 Def / 248 SpD
- Sassy Nature
- - Poison Jab
- - Pursuit
- - Knock Off
- - Fire Blast
]Alolan Muk plays a key part in forming the defensive core on Poison teams by providing immunity to Psychic attacks. Alolan Muk is also the team's special tank that can switch into attacks such as Latios's Draco Meteor and is able to tank an Earth Power from Landorus and then Knock Off its Life Orb, allowing Mega Venusaur to wall it. Alolan Muk should switch into Psychic-type Pokémon such as Latios and Dual Dance Mew for these reasons, as it is Poison's only check to these offensive threats. Knock Off also allows it to cripple defensive Pokémon such as Suicune, which relies on its Leftovers as its form of recovery, Chansey and Porygon2's Eviolite, and offensive Pokémon's Choice items such as Keldeo's Choice Specs. Alolan Muk can also Pursuit trap annoying Psychic- and Ghost-type Pokémon such as Latios and Blacephalon for its teammates. It can also take on Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor with Fire Blast while also being able to break Alakazam's Focus Sash without having to worry about Counter. Due to these reasons, it provides more valuable niches than the other Pokémon, Drapion, and Skuntank, that share its typing. Overall, its part-Dark typing giving it a Psychic immunity, being a great Special tank, and being able to Pursuit trap Pokémon make it a staple pick on all Poison teams.
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]Alolan Muk has been a staple on Dark teams since its release; due to its part-Poison typing, it provides Dark teams with an invaluable check to Fairy-type Pokémon such as Tapu Koko and Clefable. With the beginning of the generation, the main use of Alolan Muk was pretty much the same on both Dark and Poison teams, being a special tank that can switch into a plethora of attacks such as Tapu Koko's Thunderbolt. However, unlike on Poison teams, Alolan Muk can act as a bulky setup sweeper on Dark teams thanks to Gluttony + Iapapa Berry + Recycle, allowing it to have a semi-reliable form of recovery. This set becomes a Dark team's primary win condition against matchups such as Fairy, which it would otherwise struggle against. However, since this set is heavily reliant on Iapapa Berry and Recycle to keep itself healthy, removing its item with Knock Off severely cripples its ability to act as a bulky setup Pokémon. Muk's EVs allow it to take on a host of threats such as Choice Scarf Victini's V-create after Stealth Rock chip damage and allow Curse Muk to live Choice Band Victini's V-create after Stealth Rock chip damage. In conclusion, Alolan Muk is a mandatory pick for balanced Dark teams because it is able to check Fairy-type Pokémon with its Poison typing, sponge special attacks with its special bulk, remove items with Knock Off, and act as a bulky setup sweeper with Curse.
Muk's best qualities come in its ability to act as a specially defensive tank, which allows it to take multiple neutral special attacks from Pokémon without being KOed. However, due to its single typing of Poison, it is easily checked and countered by multiple types and Pokémon. Alongside its poor offensive presence, Muk suffers as its single Poison typing does not help the team defensively unlike Pokémon such as Skuntank, Crobat, Gengar and Mega Venusaur that all bring a valuable defensive niche to the type. Don't use Muk on any team as there are so many better options to choose from in any role it wishes to play.
Alolan Marowak
- Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club [
] - Ability: Lightning Rod
- EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 228 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Stealth Rock
- - Flare Blitz
- - Shadow Bone
- - Earthquake
]Alolan Marowak, while not as common as the other Alolan Pokémon in their respective types, still provides quite a few valuable niches for Ghost teams. By providing an Electric-type immunity, it can check threats such as Tapu Koko and set Stealth Rock. The EVs invested in Speed allow it to creep most Mega Venusaur variants that outpace Adamant Azumarill. Thick Club doubles its Attack, allowing it to hit hard without needing to set up and making it a great candidate as an offensive Stealth Rock setter. Alolan Marowak can also pressure a large number of common Defog users such as Mantine, Zapdos, and Crobat, making it a good entry hazard setter, as it can punish hazard removers with its powerful STAB attacks. Alternatively, Fire Punch can be run instead of Flare Blitz, as this helps it stay alive longer; however, the power decrease is very noticeable. While running Swords Dance seems like a good option on Alolan Marowak to skyrocket its already great Attack, the reason Alolan Marowak is run is so Ghost teams do not need to run Golurk to set Stealth Rock. Golurk, by comparison, is slower and has a less beneficial dual typing, making Alolan Marowak the better choice of the two for the team's Stealth Rock setter. For these reasons listed above, Alolan Marowak has made its place on Ghost teams and is here to stay for a while.
Marowak has always been quite an underwhelming Pokémon, with it needing Thick Club in order to do well offensively and with no decent moves to take advantage of its Rock Head ability. Due to it being a Ground-type Pokémon, its other ability Lightning Rod was made redundant, and its slow Speed stopped it from being able to take advantage of its boosted Attack with Thick Club. Even defensively, it offered little to nothing for Ground-type teams, having less Defense and HP than other physical walls such as Hippowdon as well as no reliable recovery. This is why it was never ranked in ORAS and should have never been used.
Alolan Golem
- Golem-Alola @ Air Balloon [
] - Ability: Magnet Pull
- EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Stealth Rock
- - Wild Charge
- - Stone Edge
- - Fire Punch
Alolan Golem has always been a staple on Electric teams since the beginning of Generation 7 Monotype due to it being the only viable Pokémon in the type with access to Stealth Rock. However, with the release of Zeraora, Alolan Golem has been forced to compress roles. It used to run Galvanize with Stealth Rock; however, with the decline of Magnezone, it has been forced to pick up the role of Steel-type trapper and run Air Balloon so it can take on, trap, and KO Pokémon such as Choice Scarf Excadrill. Wild Charge and Fire Punch are what it uses to target Steel-type Pokémon such as Celesteela and Ferrothorn, respectively. Stone Edge is an important STAB attack that allows Alolan Golem to target threats to Electric teams such as Volcarona and Mega Charizard X. Overall, due to the role compression, being able to act as a Steel trapper and Stealth Rock setter makes Alolan Golem a staple pick on Electric teams.
- Golem-Alola @ Choice Band [
] - Ability: Magnet Pull
- EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Wild Charge
- - Earthquake
- - Fire Punch
- - Stone Edge
]Alolan Golem is a fantastic tech option on Rock teams, as it is able to take on Steel-type Pokémon for Rock teams such as Celesteela, Mega Scizor, and Excadrill, which they would otherwise struggle against. Thanks to the Sticky Web support from Shuckle, Alolan Golem is able to outspeed a host of threats such as all variants of Mega Scizor and Sand Rush Excadrill outside of sand while being able to naturally outspeed and take out Pokémon such as Celesteela and Ferrothorn. It is able to pull this all off thanks to Magnet Pull, which allows it to trap Steel-type Pokémon and eliminate specific threats for each team. However, while Alolan Golem does seem like a fantastic option to add to Rock teams, it is important to remember that it competes for slots with other Pokémon such as Omastar, which is very useful in a different set of matchups. Overall, Alolan Golem is a solid Pokémon to add to any Rock team and should not be forgotten when building a Rock team.
Golem had a rough time in ORAS, having no real role on a team that wasn't already filled by more viable Pokémon. Due to its low Speed and poor typing, it didn't offer much for either Rock- or Ground-type teams. It has no real niche, as Rhyperior vastly outclassed Golem in every way with its better ability, Attack, and HP stat. As for Ground-type teams, it offered nothing defensively when compared to Gastrodon and Hippowdon and its Speed was too dreadful to offer any offensive presence in the metagame.
Alolan Sandslash
- Sandslash-Alola @ Life Orb [ ]
- Ability: Slush Rush
- EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- IVs: 29 HP
- - Icicle Crash
- - Iron Head
- - Earthquake
- - Rapid Spin / Swords Dance
Alolan Sandslash is a fantastic Pokémon on Ice teams, as it can act as an all-out attacker with Rapid Spin or be a setup sweeper with Swords Dance. With its Speed tier and access to Slush Rush, it can outspeed such threats as Choice Scarf Heracross, Choice Scarf Victini, and Zeraora under hail. It can also force Choice Scarf Nihilego out under hail since it does Speed tie it and can proceed to KO Nihilego. This allows it to take on threats to the team that Ice would otherwise struggle against. Alolan Sandslash can run Rapid Spin so Ice teams do not need to run Avalugg, allowing them to run an extra offensive slot such as Cloyster, which they otherwise would not run. Its part-Steel typing gives it a neutrality to Stealth Rock and immunity to Toxic Spikes, making it a fantastic spinner for the team. However, if Ice teams decide to run Alolan Sandslash and Avalugg, then it can take advantage of hail by becoming a setup sweeper that can break past some of its traditional checks such as Ferrothorn after a Swords Dance boost. Overall, thanks to Hail and Aurora Veil provided by Alolan Ninetales, it can take advantage of its ability to do all of the things above and becomes a great addition to any Ice team.
Sandslash was massively outclassed in ORAS on Ground-type teams by Excadrill, as it tried to play the same role of sweeper in sand. It had the ability Sand Rush and the move Rapid Spin, similar to Excadrill. However, Excadrill outclasses Sandslash offensively in every way, offering more Speed and Attack as well as a better typing. Overall, for these reasons and not having any reasonable defensive niche, Sandslash has never really seen use in Monotype.
Conclusion
Overall, Alolan formes are a fantastic addition to Monotype, giving old and forgotten Pokémon a second chance thanks to their new typings, abilities, and stat spreads. Get out there and use Alolan formes in Monotype!
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