[OVERVIEW]
Poison
========
* Alolan Muk's amazing Poison / Dark typing allows it to switch into Psychic attacks with impunity, which is crucial for Poison types. Its amazing bulk makes it the best Poison / Dark type available for this role, and also allows it to function as a special pivot for Poison teams.
* Alolan Muk makes an excellent Pursuit trapper, ensuring that threats like Alolan Raichu are swiftly dealt with.
* Poison Touch allows it to spread poison passively through its contact moves, which is especially effective when using Poison-type moves that can stack poison chance with its ability.
* Alolan Muk's access to Knock Off is crucial for removing critical items like Eviolite, and makes many would-be switch ins think twice about the possibility of losing their item.
* However, Alolan Muk's base 50 Speed is very slow and will result in it getting outsped often.
* Alolan Muk's lack of reliable recovery means that it can be worn down with repeated hits and entry hazard damage, which limit its opportunities to switch in.
* Apart from Poison / Dark moves, it lacks powerful coverage to hit opponents that can threaten it.
* Despite great special bulk, Alolan Muk's Defense stat is middling at best, which hampers its ability to check physical Psychic-types such as Victini.
[SET]
name: Assault Vest (Poison)
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Pursuit
move 3: Poison Jab / Gunk Shot
move 4: Shadow Sneak / Fire Blast
item: Assault Vest
ability: Poison Touch
nature: Careful / Sassy
EVs: 248 HP / 12 Def / 248 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Knock Off is Alolan Muk's most reliable and powerful Dark move and has the added utility of removing items like Choice Scarf and Eviolite that would otherwise prove difficult to deal with.
* Pursuit helps Alolan Muk eliminate Psychic-types from the opposing team, OHKOing Alolan Raichu and heavily damaging Victini and Latios.
* Poison Jab is a STAB move that hits neutral targets hard with 100% accuracy. It also comes with a 30% poison chance that stacks with Poison Touch.
* Gunk Shot can replace Poison Jab for the added power at the cost of a lower poison chance and lower accuracy; it secures the OHKO on Tapu Koko and Azumarill, among other threats.
* Shadow Sneak is mainly for priority, as many of the targets Alolan Muk will trap are faster. This will prevent Alolan Muk from having to take an extra hit trying to finish off weakened threats like Victini and Mega Alakazam.
* Fire Blast with a Sassy nature hits Steel-types for decent damage and 2HKOes Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor, but is held back by Alolan Muk's poor Special Attack stat.
Set Details
========
* 248 EVs in HP and 12 EVs in Defense allow Alolan Muk to avoid the OHKO from Victini’s V-Create after Stealth Rock damage.
* With the HP and Special Defense EVs, a Careful nature, and an Assault Vest, Alolan Muk can switch into many special attacks, specifically avoiding the 2HKO from Mega Charizard Y's Fire Blast after Stealth Rock damage. Alolan Muk can also more reliably cripple Nidoking and Landorus with Knock Off, as it is able to sometimes survive two Earth Powers from Nidoking after Knocking Off its Life Orb.
* A Sassy nature should be used with Fire Blast to preserve power while maintaining Special Defense. Alolan Muk's speed is already poor, so a hindering nature isn't going to affect the set.
* Poison Touch is the ability of choice to help spread poison and rack up residual damage. This stacks with Poison Jab to cause a poison chance rate of about 50%, while moves like Knock Off and Pursuit can now poison the opponent.
Usage Tips
========
* Early in the game, Knock Off should be spammed to remove as many items as possible; removing Eviolite from Porygon 2 and Chansey or Life Orb from Nidoking and Landorus makes them much easier for the rest of the team to handle.
* Walls like Rotom-W or Toxapex that attempt to switch into Alolan Muk should be hit with Knock Off on the switch before Alolan Muk retreats; Alolan Muk cannot dent them otherwise and needs to avoid getting a burn.
* Alolan Muk needs to avoid burns at all costs, as this makes it ineffective at Pursuit trapping, allowing threats like Alolan Raichu to switch out and survive Pursuit.
* Poison Jab should be used to spread status if you anticipate a switch-in that cannot lose its item, such as Mega Sharpedo or Mega Charizard X. Otherwise, the utility of removing items with Knock Off far exceeds that of inflicting Poison status.
* Shadow Sneak helps compensate for Alolan Muk's poor speed, and while it should not be relied upon to deal substantial damage, it should always go for Shadow Sneak before fainting as a way to deal extra chip damage and a chance to poison the opponent thanks to Poison Touch.
* Alolan Muk's main role is to switch into a predicted Psychic attack from huge threats like Alolan Raichu and Mega Alakazam and trap and KO them with Pursuit. This is crucial for the team, since these threats would sweep with Psychic moves otherwise.
* Although Alolan Muk can take a few hits, it lacks recovery and can be worn down if it is not careful. Alolan Muk should also be careful around entry hazards and kept healthy to be able to adequately deal with Psychic-type threats when they are sent out in battle.
* Alolan Muk should focus on trapping Psychic-types that have lower defense such as Alakazam and Latios; others such as Slowbro and Mew will be able to withstand Alolan Muk's attacks and burn it, making it ineffective for the rest of the match.
Team Options
========
* All Poison-types enjoy having Alolan Muk as a teammate because it switches into Psychic attacks and traps Psychic-types with Pursuit.
* Mega Venusaur is perhaps the best teammate for Alolan Muk, as it is very bulky on the physical side and is neutral to Ground moves, which are Alolan Muk's sole weakness. It can also help check many Steel-types with a combination of Hidden Power Fire and Earthquake.
* Crobat is a suitable teammate because it is immune to Ground moves. It also has access to Taunt, U-Turn, and Defog, which all help Alolan Muk by preventing setup, pivoting as needed, and removing hazards that would otherwise wear Alolan Muk down.
* Although Alolan Muk specializes in fighting Psychic-types, it is slower than almost all of them. As a result, it appreciates the support of Gengar, who is a speedy and powerful wallbreaker that can beat the likes of Slowbro and Mew, preventing Alolan Muk from taking unnecessary damage and burns.
* As Alolan Muk will cause many switches, Stealth Rock support from Nidoking and Nidoqueen is appreciated to rack up more damage. Nidoking will also provide offensive support and help KO Steel- and Ground-types that Alolan Muk has trouble with.
* Physical attackers like Scolipede will take pressure off of Alolan Muk by being the main physical threat on the team and helping Alolan Muk conserve its health. In return, Alolan Muk deals massive damage to bulkier Psychic-types such as Mew and Slowbro to assist Scolipede in sweeping.
* Toxapex has amazing bulk and recovery and can soak up physical hits directed at Alolan Muk while using Haze on setup sweepers or Scald to burn physical attackers.
* Choice Scarf Nihilego is a great cleaner and enjoys Alolan Muk's ability to remove items and trap Alolan Raichu, who would otherwise outspeed and KO Nihilego.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Poison
--------
* Alolan Muk has access to Memento to lower stats at the cost of its own life. While there are a few teammates that would appreciate a free turn to setup, like Scolipede, Salazzle, and Toxicroak, ultimately it isn't worth sacrificing the main switch-in to Psychic attacks.
* An Air Balloon can be used to eliminate Alolan Muk's Ground weakness temporarily, but it usually has enough team support to forgo this in favor of more useful items for the team as a whole.
* Alolan Muk can also run an effective Curse set with Rest and Sleep Talk, but this prevents it from utilizing Pursuit to trap opposing Psychic-types, and it offers far less utility for the team in general.
Checks and Counters
===================
Poison
--------
**Magearna**: Magearna can switch in freely against Alolan Muk due to its typing. It risks losing its item to Knock Off if it's not running a Z-Crystal, but after that, Magearna isn't threatened at all and can set up freely with Shift Gear or Trick Room and threaten the rest of the team. If allowed to KO Alolan Muk, it will also garner a +1 Special Attack boost thanks to its ability, which makes it that much more dangerous for the team to face.
**Physical Walls**: Most physical walls that aren't weak to Poison or Dark attacks with recovery can take on Alolan Muk easily, paving the way for a Psychic-type to cause major damage later. Skarmory, Mega Venusaur, and Toxapex all receive special mention, as they are all immune to the poison status and have reliable recovery, with Mega Venusaur also immune to losing its Mega Stone.
**Steel-Types**: Steel-types don't enjoy losing their item to Knock Off, but because they are immune to Poison moves, after losing their item Alolan Muk doesn't have a reliable way to deal large amounts of damage. Pokemon such as Excadrill and Celesteela can switch in with minimal risk and proceed to OHKO Alolan Muk or set up. Mega Scizor is also immune to losing its item and can set up on sets that lack Fire Blast.
**Ground-Types**: Ground-types resist Poison attacks and typically boast sizeable physical bulk while hitting Alolan Muk hard with STAB Ground moves. Excadrill and Mega Garchomp are especially dangerous for Alolan Muk to face, as Excadrill is immune to Poison status, and Mega Garchomp takes reduced damage from Knock Off. In general, however, Alolan Muk is usually forced to switch, as almost all Ground-types outspeed and OHKO it with their main STAB move.
**Physical Attackers**: Alolan Muk will usually be built to sponge special attacks, so it will take heavy damage from most strong physical attackers that can hit Alolan Muk for neutral damage, such as Buzzwole, Dragonite, and Tyranitar. While very few of these can risk losing their item, once on the field, they can either set up or throw out powerful physical moves without fear.
**Burns**: Despite Alolan Muk's special bulk, it does not enjoy switching into Scald or walls like Rotom-W, Mew, and Mega-Sableye known to carry Will-O-Wisp, as a burn will halve Alolan Muk's Attack and make it much weaker. The extra damage caused by a burn also hurts Alolan Muk's longevity.
Poison
========
* Alolan Muk's amazing Poison / Dark typing allows it to switch into Psychic attacks with impunity, which is crucial for Poison types. Its amazing bulk makes it the best Poison / Dark type available for this role, and also allows it to function as a special pivot for Poison teams.
* Alolan Muk makes an excellent Pursuit trapper, ensuring that threats like Alolan Raichu are swiftly dealt with.
* Poison Touch allows it to spread poison passively through its contact moves, which is especially effective when using Poison-type moves that can stack poison chance with its ability.
* Alolan Muk's access to Knock Off is crucial for removing critical items like Eviolite, and makes many would-be switch ins think twice about the possibility of losing their item.
* However, Alolan Muk's base 50 Speed is very slow and will result in it getting outsped often.
* Alolan Muk's lack of reliable recovery means that it can be worn down with repeated hits and entry hazard damage, which limit its opportunities to switch in.
* Apart from Poison / Dark moves, it lacks powerful coverage to hit opponents that can threaten it.
* Despite great special bulk, Alolan Muk's Defense stat is middling at best, which hampers its ability to check physical Psychic-types such as Victini.
[SET]
name: Assault Vest (Poison)
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Pursuit
move 3: Poison Jab / Gunk Shot
move 4: Shadow Sneak / Fire Blast
item: Assault Vest
ability: Poison Touch
nature: Careful / Sassy
EVs: 248 HP / 12 Def / 248 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Knock Off is Alolan Muk's most reliable and powerful Dark move and has the added utility of removing items like Choice Scarf and Eviolite that would otherwise prove difficult to deal with.
* Pursuit helps Alolan Muk eliminate Psychic-types from the opposing team, OHKOing Alolan Raichu and heavily damaging Victini and Latios.
* Poison Jab is a STAB move that hits neutral targets hard with 100% accuracy. It also comes with a 30% poison chance that stacks with Poison Touch.
* Gunk Shot can replace Poison Jab for the added power at the cost of a lower poison chance and lower accuracy; it secures the OHKO on Tapu Koko and Azumarill, among other threats.
* Shadow Sneak is mainly for priority, as many of the targets Alolan Muk will trap are faster. This will prevent Alolan Muk from having to take an extra hit trying to finish off weakened threats like Victini and Mega Alakazam.
* Fire Blast with a Sassy nature hits Steel-types for decent damage and 2HKOes Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor, but is held back by Alolan Muk's poor Special Attack stat.
Set Details
========
* 248 EVs in HP and 12 EVs in Defense allow Alolan Muk to avoid the OHKO from Victini’s V-Create after Stealth Rock damage.
* With the HP and Special Defense EVs, a Careful nature, and an Assault Vest, Alolan Muk can switch into many special attacks, specifically avoiding the 2HKO from Mega Charizard Y's Fire Blast after Stealth Rock damage. Alolan Muk can also more reliably cripple Nidoking and Landorus with Knock Off, as it is able to sometimes survive two Earth Powers from Nidoking after Knocking Off its Life Orb.
* A Sassy nature should be used with Fire Blast to preserve power while maintaining Special Defense. Alolan Muk's speed is already poor, so a hindering nature isn't going to affect the set.
* Poison Touch is the ability of choice to help spread poison and rack up residual damage. This stacks with Poison Jab to cause a poison chance rate of about 50%, while moves like Knock Off and Pursuit can now poison the opponent.
Usage Tips
========
* Early in the game, Knock Off should be spammed to remove as many items as possible; removing Eviolite from Porygon 2 and Chansey or Life Orb from Nidoking and Landorus makes them much easier for the rest of the team to handle.
* Walls like Rotom-W or Toxapex that attempt to switch into Alolan Muk should be hit with Knock Off on the switch before Alolan Muk retreats; Alolan Muk cannot dent them otherwise and needs to avoid getting a burn.
* Alolan Muk needs to avoid burns at all costs, as this makes it ineffective at Pursuit trapping, allowing threats like Alolan Raichu to switch out and survive Pursuit.
* Poison Jab should be used to spread status if you anticipate a switch-in that cannot lose its item, such as Mega Sharpedo or Mega Charizard X. Otherwise, the utility of removing items with Knock Off far exceeds that of inflicting Poison status.
* Shadow Sneak helps compensate for Alolan Muk's poor speed, and while it should not be relied upon to deal substantial damage, it should always go for Shadow Sneak before fainting as a way to deal extra chip damage and a chance to poison the opponent thanks to Poison Touch.
* Alolan Muk's main role is to switch into a predicted Psychic attack from huge threats like Alolan Raichu and Mega Alakazam and trap and KO them with Pursuit. This is crucial for the team, since these threats would sweep with Psychic moves otherwise.
* Although Alolan Muk can take a few hits, it lacks recovery and can be worn down if it is not careful. Alolan Muk should also be careful around entry hazards and kept healthy to be able to adequately deal with Psychic-type threats when they are sent out in battle.
* Alolan Muk should focus on trapping Psychic-types that have lower defense such as Alakazam and Latios; others such as Slowbro and Mew will be able to withstand Alolan Muk's attacks and burn it, making it ineffective for the rest of the match.
Team Options
========
* All Poison-types enjoy having Alolan Muk as a teammate because it switches into Psychic attacks and traps Psychic-types with Pursuit.
* Mega Venusaur is perhaps the best teammate for Alolan Muk, as it is very bulky on the physical side and is neutral to Ground moves, which are Alolan Muk's sole weakness. It can also help check many Steel-types with a combination of Hidden Power Fire and Earthquake.
* Crobat is a suitable teammate because it is immune to Ground moves. It also has access to Taunt, U-Turn, and Defog, which all help Alolan Muk by preventing setup, pivoting as needed, and removing hazards that would otherwise wear Alolan Muk down.
* Although Alolan Muk specializes in fighting Psychic-types, it is slower than almost all of them. As a result, it appreciates the support of Gengar, who is a speedy and powerful wallbreaker that can beat the likes of Slowbro and Mew, preventing Alolan Muk from taking unnecessary damage and burns.
* As Alolan Muk will cause many switches, Stealth Rock support from Nidoking and Nidoqueen is appreciated to rack up more damage. Nidoking will also provide offensive support and help KO Steel- and Ground-types that Alolan Muk has trouble with.
* Physical attackers like Scolipede will take pressure off of Alolan Muk by being the main physical threat on the team and helping Alolan Muk conserve its health. In return, Alolan Muk deals massive damage to bulkier Psychic-types such as Mew and Slowbro to assist Scolipede in sweeping.
* Toxapex has amazing bulk and recovery and can soak up physical hits directed at Alolan Muk while using Haze on setup sweepers or Scald to burn physical attackers.
* Choice Scarf Nihilego is a great cleaner and enjoys Alolan Muk's ability to remove items and trap Alolan Raichu, who would otherwise outspeed and KO Nihilego.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Poison
--------
* Alolan Muk has access to Memento to lower stats at the cost of its own life. While there are a few teammates that would appreciate a free turn to setup, like Scolipede, Salazzle, and Toxicroak, ultimately it isn't worth sacrificing the main switch-in to Psychic attacks.
* An Air Balloon can be used to eliminate Alolan Muk's Ground weakness temporarily, but it usually has enough team support to forgo this in favor of more useful items for the team as a whole.
* Alolan Muk can also run an effective Curse set with Rest and Sleep Talk, but this prevents it from utilizing Pursuit to trap opposing Psychic-types, and it offers far less utility for the team in general.
Checks and Counters
===================
Poison
--------
**Magearna**: Magearna can switch in freely against Alolan Muk due to its typing. It risks losing its item to Knock Off if it's not running a Z-Crystal, but after that, Magearna isn't threatened at all and can set up freely with Shift Gear or Trick Room and threaten the rest of the team. If allowed to KO Alolan Muk, it will also garner a +1 Special Attack boost thanks to its ability, which makes it that much more dangerous for the team to face.
**Physical Walls**: Most physical walls that aren't weak to Poison or Dark attacks with recovery can take on Alolan Muk easily, paving the way for a Psychic-type to cause major damage later. Skarmory, Mega Venusaur, and Toxapex all receive special mention, as they are all immune to the poison status and have reliable recovery, with Mega Venusaur also immune to losing its Mega Stone.
**Steel-Types**: Steel-types don't enjoy losing their item to Knock Off, but because they are immune to Poison moves, after losing their item Alolan Muk doesn't have a reliable way to deal large amounts of damage. Pokemon such as Excadrill and Celesteela can switch in with minimal risk and proceed to OHKO Alolan Muk or set up. Mega Scizor is also immune to losing its item and can set up on sets that lack Fire Blast.
**Ground-Types**: Ground-types resist Poison attacks and typically boast sizeable physical bulk while hitting Alolan Muk hard with STAB Ground moves. Excadrill and Mega Garchomp are especially dangerous for Alolan Muk to face, as Excadrill is immune to Poison status, and Mega Garchomp takes reduced damage from Knock Off. In general, however, Alolan Muk is usually forced to switch, as almost all Ground-types outspeed and OHKO it with their main STAB move.
**Physical Attackers**: Alolan Muk will usually be built to sponge special attacks, so it will take heavy damage from most strong physical attackers that can hit Alolan Muk for neutral damage, such as Buzzwole, Dragonite, and Tyranitar. While very few of these can risk losing their item, once on the field, they can either set up or throw out powerful physical moves without fear.
**Burns**: Despite Alolan Muk's special bulk, it does not enjoy switching into Scald or walls like Rotom-W, Mew, and Mega-Sableye known to carry Will-O-Wisp, as a burn will halve Alolan Muk's Attack and make it much weaker. The extra damage caused by a burn also hurts Alolan Muk's longevity.
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