[overview]
**Draft order**: Late round 2 onwards
**Price range**: 15-16 points
**Overview**: Galarian Slowking is a great defensive pivot that enables the offensive threats on your draft. The combination of Galarian Slowking's great typing, good bulk, and Regenerator allow it to tailor its sets to check a large variety of offensive Pokemon. Its respectable base 110 Special Attack and wide array of coverage moves allow it to threaten said offensive Pokemon; however, the prevalence of strong Dark- and Ground-types in the current metagame means that it's unlikely an opponent's draft will have no ways of breaking past Galarian Slowking.
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Pivot**: Galarian Slowking's good mixed bulk and defensive typing allow it to check strong special wallbreakers while threatening them with its STAB moves or coverage options. The combination of Future Sight and Chilly Reception also allows Galarian Slowking to pivot into strong wallbreakers and pressure their checks while staying healthy thanks to Regenerator.
**Setup Wallbreaker**: Galarian Slowking can utilize Nasty Plot or Calm Mind to act as a strong wallbreaker against more defensively-oriented teams using its STAB moves and coverage options. Galarian Slowking can also use Iron Defense to survive hits from more offensive teams and strike back with its naturally good Special Attack.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Psychic, Psyshock, Future Sight, Psychic Noise
**Setup moves**: Nasty Plot, Calm Mind, Iron Defense
**Utility moves**: Chilly Reception, Toxic, Trick, Thunder Wave, Yawn, Toxic Spikes, Trick Room, Light Screen, Taunt
**Coverage**: Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Focus Blast, Foul Play, Grass Knot, Hex, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Icy Wind, Power Gem, Earthquake, Scald, Surf, Shadow Ball
Niche Moves
========
**Stored Power**: Galarian Slowking's setup moves such as Iron Defense and Calm Mind, alongside its good natural bulk, allow it to live some super effective hits to activate Weakness Policy and sweep with Stored Power.
**Chilling Water and Snarl**: These moves can be used to allow Galarian Slowking to live hits from opposing wallbreakers or prevent them from setting up in front of it when no other better coverage options are available.
**Psych Up**: Psych Up allows Galarian Slowking to potentially beat some setup sweepers like Volcarona.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Entry hazards limit Galarian Slowking's ability to consistently check opposing offensive pokemon, so Heavy-Duty Boots are a great way to avoid them and maximize Regenerator recovery while pivoting.
**Black Sludge / Leftovers**: Galarian Slowking can utilize Black Sludge on setup sets where it does not expect to switch many times throughout the match, or on Trick sets to cripple opposing Pokemon. If Galarian Slowking is a Tera user, Leftovers is the preferred item.
**Assault Vest**: Galarian Slowking's Regenerator allows it to utilize Assault Vest very effectively to be a strong check to opposing special attackers, or to invest more EVs into Defense or Special Attack without sacrificing its special bulk.
**Resistance Berries**: Galarian Slowking's wide range of strong coverage options and good bulk allow it to use a large variety of resistance berries to lure and eliminate or cripple specific threats on an opponent's draft.
Niche Items
========
**Rocky Helmet**: Galarian Slowking can utilize Rocky Helmet to punish physical attackers or pivots such as U-turn Sneasler and Flip Turn Iron Bundle.
**Red Card**: Galarian Slowking's good bulk can allow it to pivot into and force out setup sweepers with Red Card, especially those reliant on one-time consumable items such as Booster Energy Iron Valiant and Unburden Sneasler.
**Eject Button**: Galarian Slowking can utilize its bulk alongside Eject Button to give its teammates a free switch into an opposing Pokemon. Eject Button can also be used to gain momentum against U-turn and Volt Switch users by preventing those moves from switching out the opponent.
**Choice Specs and Lagging Tail**: Both of these items can be used to cripple an opponent's Pokemon when used with Trick. Choice Specs provides Galarian Slowking with a power boost if it does not have to use Trick immediately, while Lagging Tail can be devestating to an offensive Pokemon like Meowscarada or Greninja.
Tera
========
Galarian Slowking normally should not be one of your Tera captains, as its natural typing is what enables it to check a wide array of offensive threats. If Galarian Slowking is one of your Tera captains, your main choices for a Tera type are those that cover its main weaknesses, such as Dark to check opposing Ghost- and Dark-types or Grass to check opposing Ground-types. Galarian Slowking already has a wide array of coverage moves and thus is unlikely to require Tera Blast for specific coverage, although it may Tera offensively for the power boost on setup sets.
Draft Strategy
========
Galarian Slowking is an excellent option if you're looking for a good bulky pivot that can blanket check a variety of opposing physical or special threats and support your offensive Pokemon. Good options for partners you should consider when drafting Galarian Slowking are:
**Strong Wallbreakers**: Galarian Slowking's ability to bring in strong wallbreakers safely through a slow Chilly Reception and support them with Future Sight can provide them with more opportunities to beat their usual checks. Special mention goes to Ice-type wallbreakers and setup sweepers such as Baxcalibur, Kyurem, and Weavile, that can utilize the snow created by Chilly Reception to gain a defense boost and attack or set up safely.
**Speed**: Due to its very low base Speed, make sure to draft faster Pokemon to partner with Galarian Slowing, as it does not enjoy dealing with strong wallbreakers with attack-boosting natures such as Iron Valiant, Sneasler, and Enamorus. Having fast Pokemon allows you to prevent such Pokemon from running attack-boosting natures unpunished or, if they do, revenge kill them.
**Bulky Dark-types**: Dark-type pokemon such as Ting-Lu, Kingambit, and Roaring Moon cover two of Galarian Slowking's main weaknesses, while Galarian Slowking can easily switch into Fairy- and Fighting-type attacks aimed at them, forming a very effective defensive core.
Checks and Counters
========
**Ground-, Dark-, and Ghost-types**: These pokemon all resist or are immune to one of Galarian Slowking's STAB moves and can hit it super effectively, forcing Galarian Slowking to switch out manually instead of pivoting with Chilly Reception.
**Strong Wallbreakers**: While Galarian Slowking has good natural bulk and a great defensive typing, certain strong wallbreakers can still break past it even without super effective STAB mons. Examples of these include Choice Band Urshifu-R, Gouging Fire, and Iron Hands.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/vmnunes.613460/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/abriel.473082/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/jcmshadow.551115/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/ut.523866/
**Draft order**: Late round 2 onwards
**Price range**: 15-16 points
**Overview**: Galarian Slowking is a great defensive pivot that enables the offensive threats on your draft. The combination of Galarian Slowking's great typing, good bulk, and Regenerator allow it to tailor its sets to check a large variety of offensive Pokemon. Its respectable base 110 Special Attack and wide array of coverage moves allow it to threaten said offensive Pokemon; however, the prevalence of strong Dark- and Ground-types in the current metagame means that it's unlikely an opponent's draft will have no ways of breaking past Galarian Slowking.
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Pivot**: Galarian Slowking's good mixed bulk and defensive typing allow it to check strong special wallbreakers while threatening them with its STAB moves or coverage options. The combination of Future Sight and Chilly Reception also allows Galarian Slowking to pivot into strong wallbreakers and pressure their checks while staying healthy thanks to Regenerator.
**Setup Wallbreaker**: Galarian Slowking can utilize Nasty Plot or Calm Mind to act as a strong wallbreaker against more defensively-oriented teams using its STAB moves and coverage options. Galarian Slowking can also use Iron Defense to survive hits from more offensive teams and strike back with its naturally good Special Attack.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Psychic, Psyshock, Future Sight, Psychic Noise
**Setup moves**: Nasty Plot, Calm Mind, Iron Defense
**Utility moves**: Chilly Reception, Toxic, Trick, Thunder Wave, Yawn, Toxic Spikes, Trick Room, Light Screen, Taunt
**Coverage**: Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Focus Blast, Foul Play, Grass Knot, Hex, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Icy Wind, Power Gem, Earthquake, Scald, Surf, Shadow Ball
Niche Moves
========
**Stored Power**: Galarian Slowking's setup moves such as Iron Defense and Calm Mind, alongside its good natural bulk, allow it to live some super effective hits to activate Weakness Policy and sweep with Stored Power.
**Chilling Water and Snarl**: These moves can be used to allow Galarian Slowking to live hits from opposing wallbreakers or prevent them from setting up in front of it when no other better coverage options are available.
**Psych Up**: Psych Up allows Galarian Slowking to potentially beat some setup sweepers like Volcarona.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Entry hazards limit Galarian Slowking's ability to consistently check opposing offensive pokemon, so Heavy-Duty Boots are a great way to avoid them and maximize Regenerator recovery while pivoting.
**Black Sludge / Leftovers**: Galarian Slowking can utilize Black Sludge on setup sets where it does not expect to switch many times throughout the match, or on Trick sets to cripple opposing Pokemon. If Galarian Slowking is a Tera user, Leftovers is the preferred item.
**Assault Vest**: Galarian Slowking's Regenerator allows it to utilize Assault Vest very effectively to be a strong check to opposing special attackers, or to invest more EVs into Defense or Special Attack without sacrificing its special bulk.
**Resistance Berries**: Galarian Slowking's wide range of strong coverage options and good bulk allow it to use a large variety of resistance berries to lure and eliminate or cripple specific threats on an opponent's draft.
Niche Items
========
**Rocky Helmet**: Galarian Slowking can utilize Rocky Helmet to punish physical attackers or pivots such as U-turn Sneasler and Flip Turn Iron Bundle.
**Red Card**: Galarian Slowking's good bulk can allow it to pivot into and force out setup sweepers with Red Card, especially those reliant on one-time consumable items such as Booster Energy Iron Valiant and Unburden Sneasler.
**Eject Button**: Galarian Slowking can utilize its bulk alongside Eject Button to give its teammates a free switch into an opposing Pokemon. Eject Button can also be used to gain momentum against U-turn and Volt Switch users by preventing those moves from switching out the opponent.
**Choice Specs and Lagging Tail**: Both of these items can be used to cripple an opponent's Pokemon when used with Trick. Choice Specs provides Galarian Slowking with a power boost if it does not have to use Trick immediately, while Lagging Tail can be devestating to an offensive Pokemon like Meowscarada or Greninja.
Tera
========
Galarian Slowking normally should not be one of your Tera captains, as its natural typing is what enables it to check a wide array of offensive threats. If Galarian Slowking is one of your Tera captains, your main choices for a Tera type are those that cover its main weaknesses, such as Dark to check opposing Ghost- and Dark-types or Grass to check opposing Ground-types. Galarian Slowking already has a wide array of coverage moves and thus is unlikely to require Tera Blast for specific coverage, although it may Tera offensively for the power boost on setup sets.
Draft Strategy
========
Galarian Slowking is an excellent option if you're looking for a good bulky pivot that can blanket check a variety of opposing physical or special threats and support your offensive Pokemon. Good options for partners you should consider when drafting Galarian Slowking are:
**Strong Wallbreakers**: Galarian Slowking's ability to bring in strong wallbreakers safely through a slow Chilly Reception and support them with Future Sight can provide them with more opportunities to beat their usual checks. Special mention goes to Ice-type wallbreakers and setup sweepers such as Baxcalibur, Kyurem, and Weavile, that can utilize the snow created by Chilly Reception to gain a defense boost and attack or set up safely.
**Speed**: Due to its very low base Speed, make sure to draft faster Pokemon to partner with Galarian Slowing, as it does not enjoy dealing with strong wallbreakers with attack-boosting natures such as Iron Valiant, Sneasler, and Enamorus. Having fast Pokemon allows you to prevent such Pokemon from running attack-boosting natures unpunished or, if they do, revenge kill them.
**Bulky Dark-types**: Dark-type pokemon such as Ting-Lu, Kingambit, and Roaring Moon cover two of Galarian Slowking's main weaknesses, while Galarian Slowking can easily switch into Fairy- and Fighting-type attacks aimed at them, forming a very effective defensive core.
Checks and Counters
========
**Ground-, Dark-, and Ghost-types**: These pokemon all resist or are immune to one of Galarian Slowking's STAB moves and can hit it super effectively, forcing Galarian Slowking to switch out manually instead of pivoting with Chilly Reception.
**Strong Wallbreakers**: While Galarian Slowking has good natural bulk and a great defensive typing, certain strong wallbreakers can still break past it even without super effective STAB mons. Examples of these include Choice Band Urshifu-R, Gouging Fire, and Iron Hands.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/vmnunes.613460/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/abriel.473082/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/jcmshadow.551115/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/ut.523866/
Last edited:
