CAN YOU SPOT THE DIFFERENCE?
[OVERVIEW]
* Alolan Marowak's strong STABs and Thick Club make it an extremely powerful physical attacker that 2HKOs almost any switch* in.
* Fire / Ghost typing with Lightning Rod makes it a great check against Electric-types such as Tapu Koko, Magnezone, and Xurkitree. It also makes a fine Pheromosa check due to its typing.
* Decent movepool with moves like Will-O-Wisp and Flame Charge.
* Unfortunately, Alolan Marowak is extremely slow, making it fairly easy to revenge kill.
* While it's bulk isn't bad, since Alolan Marowak often wants to outspeed defensive Pokemon, you have to choose between bulk and speed, which is unfortunate.
* Lack of recovery means that it has a fairly limited shelf life.
* Weak to some important types, such as Water* , Ground* , Ghost* , and Rock* .
* Post Pokebank will give Alolan Marowak a lot of competition in the form of more splashable Fire-types. Most notably, Rotom* H and Mega Charizard X will compete with it at the "Fire* type that checks Electric-types" game. However, its insane power will still likely give it a niche, especially on Trick Room cores with Porygon2 and Mega Mawile.
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Shadow Bone
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Flame Charge / Bonemerang / Stone Edge / Rock Tomb
move 4: Will-O-Wisp / Bonemerang / Brick Break / Swords Dance
item: Thick Club
ability: Lightning Rod
nature: Adamant
evs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Shadow Bone is the most reliable, hard hitting attack from Alolan Marowak, and almost always OHKOing Aegislash. It also isn't a contact move, so feel free to use it against King's Shield.
* Flare Blitz is extremely powerful, but the recoil can make it harder to check Tapu Koko later in the match. It also 2HKOs offensive Porygon2.
* Flame Charge can be used to outspeed bulkier switch* ins, and also defeat faster Substitute + Leech Seed Celesteela. The Speed Boost makes it very unlikely that Aegislash will be able to revenge kill you as well thanks to Shadow Bone.
* Bonemerang lets Alolan Marowak 2HKO defensive Arcanine, who can be a big problem otherwise. This also lets you OHKO Sturdy Magnezone, Focus Sash Tapu Koko, and 2HKO Mega Gyarados switch* ins. If you are worried about Bonemerang's accuracy, Earthquake can still be a reasonable choice.
* Stone Edge does a ton of damage to Gyarados and Salamence, having a small shot of OHKOing both of them. Rock Tomb isn't nearly as powerful, but the Speed drop can make Gyarados and Salamence easier to check.
* Will-O-Wisp cripples Gyarados and Salamence switch-ins.
* Brick Break lets Alolan Marowak deal serious damage to Hydreigon, and also makes it an effective Ninetales* A check because it breaks Aurora Veil.
* Swords Dance lets you OHKO offfensive Porygon2 and 2HKO defensive Porygon2 with Flare Blitz. Also can let Alolan Marowak sweep if you use under Trick Room. Otherwise, do not expect to actually sweep with Swords Dance under normal circumstances.
Set Details
========
* Alolan Marowak needs Thick Club to function. It doubles its mediocre attack into something that hits very hard!
* The given EV spread allows Alolan Marowak to outspeed defensive Celesteela, bulky Porygon2, and Aegislash that don't invest in Speed, while still giving it enough bulk to take 2 shots of Brave Bird from specially based Tapu Koko.
* If you want more bulk, you can run 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe to have a 60% chance of surviving physically based Tapu Koko's Life Orb Brave Bird twice, and an 80% shot of surviving a Mega Salamence Double* Edge.
* If you are desperate to ensure that Alolan Marowak outspeeds threats such as Toxic stalling Aegislash and opposing Alolan Marowak, you can run a Jolly nature, but the power drop can hurt since Alolan Marowak is forced to switch out so much. Note that Jolly can also outspeed paralyzed Mega Gengar with 212 Speed EVs. At maximum Speed, Flame Charge lets Jolly outspeed Modest Tapu Lele and Adamant Mimikyu as well.
* If using Trick Room, Marowak can become a huge threat on those kinds of teams if you use a Brave Nature and a Speed IV of 0. However, you can still use faster spreads if you have good Alolan Marowak checks of your own, since Alolan Marowak still underspeeds a lot of threats anyways.
Usage Tips
========
* Alolan Marowak is best used as a hit-and-run kind of attacker. Switch it into Pokemon that don't threaten it too much such as Tapu Koko, Magnezone, and mixed Celesteela.
* Pay attention to team preview. Alolan Marowak forces a lot of switches against Electric-types, so instead of just trying to slam them, try to harm potential Alolan Marowak switch* ins. For example, if you notice Gyarados in team preview, consider using Will-O-Wisp to cripple it on the switch.
* Unless you have the proper support for it, don't make sweeping with Alolan Marowak your main game plan. Even with Flame Charge, Alolan Marowak won't outspeed many threats. Instead, Flame Charge is better for outspeeding bulkier foes like Aegislash and Celesteela.
* Alolan Marowak has decent bulk, but it's lack of recovery means that it has a very limited amount of times it can switch* in. Leading with Alolan Marowak isn't a bad idea if your team can handle its checks reliably.
Team Options
========
* Celesteela is an incredible teammate with Alolan Marowak. Celesteela takes care of offensive Ground-types such as Garchomp, Mamoswine, and Mudsdale, while Alolan Marowak deals with Electric-types and Fire-types fairly well.
* Gyarados also has great synergy with Alolan Marowak. Gyarados can set up on a lot of physical Pokemon that check Alolan Marowak with Dragon Dance, while Alolan Marowak can take out Tapu Koko provided Mega Gyarados hasn't been able to set up.
* Alolan Marowak hates physical attackers with Ground* type coverage, so consider using Tapu Bulu to help out with Grassy Surge. Tapu Bulu also takes on bulky Water-types fairly well, while Alolan Marowak handles Magnezone and Celesteela.
* Tapu Fini is a great check against Mega Gyarados, and its Misty Surge will make Hypnosis Xurkitree a bit less of a worry. Alolan Marowak helps against Electric-types in general in return.
* Tapu Bulu does fairly well against most Water-types, and as a bonus, its Grassy Surge lets Alolan Marowak survive most Earthquake. Alolan Marowak helps out against Celesteela and Magnezone in return.
* Defensive Porygon2 can be a big help against Mega Salamence and Aegislash that lack Toxic. It can also support Jolly Alolan Marowak with paralysis support, making it much more difficult to check. In return, Alolan Marowak checks Pheromosa.
* For more offensive Porygon2, you can use Trick Room to actually give Alolan Marowak a shot at sweeping teams.
* Pheromosa can be used to revenge kill Garchomp and opposing Porygon2.
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Shadow Bone
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk / Perish Song
item: Thick Club
ability: Lightning Rod
nature: Adamant
evs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Set Details
========
Usage Tips
========
Team Options
========
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Leftovers may seem neat for the Specially Defensive set, but Thick Club is needed too much for the extra power.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Mandibuzz**: Mandibuzz can use Knock Off to cripple Alolan Marowak offensively, and it has Roost to outstall Flare Blitz afterwards.
**Mega Gyarados**: Shadow Bone hits it very hard before it mega evolves, but otherwise, it can switch in and OHKO with Waterfall.
**Mega Salamence**: While 2HKOed by Shadow Bone, it can deal massive damage to Alolan Marowak with Earthquake, and has Roost to heal itself later.
**Offensive Ground* tyes**: Neither Garchomp or Mamoswine can switch in safely, but they can OHKO Alolan Marowak with Earthquake provided that Tapu Bulu hasn't set up its Grassy Surge.
**Hydreigon**: Although Hydreigon is 2HKOed by Flare Blitz and has a shot of getting OHKOed by Brick Break, it can switch into Shadow Bone and OHKO Alolan Marowak with Dark Pulse.
**Tapu Fini**: Shadow Bone 2HKOs it, but offensive Tapu Fini drowns it with Hydro Pump otherwise.
**Faster Ghost-types**: Mega Gengar and Aegislash with Speed investment have no problems OHKOing Alolan Marowak with Shadow Ball. Mimikyu can also be an issue, but Life Orb Shadow Claw doesn't actually OHKO bulkier Alolan Marowak, and its much more vulnerable to Will-O-Wisp.
**Post Pokebank Pokemon**: After Pokebank, plenty of bulky Water-types such as Rotom- W and Suicune will be capable of revenge killing it. While they won't be able to switch in without taking a huge hit, offensive Ground-types such as Excadrill and Landours-T are very capable of revenge killing it.
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