Malaconda (QC: 0/2)

[heartofgold]

QC: 0/2
GP: 0/1

Overview
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+Insane Special Bulk. 115 HP/130 SpD means even SE hits, without STAB or proper investment, aren’t doing much.
+Solid Attack. While not a titan, Base 100 means it can hit hard when it needs to.
+Harvest. An incredible ability allowing for semi-reliable passive healing.
+Solid Support Movepool. Glare alone is great, but can also use Dragon Tail, Toxic, and Rapid Spin to good effect.
-Terrible Defense. Goes down to most physical attacks.
-Rough Typing. While occasionally helpful, is weak to many common CAP attacking types: Fighting, Flying, Bug, Fire, Ice, and Fairy
-Shallow Attacking Movepool: Malaconda’s lucky Knock Off got a upgrade, because beyond that it’s attack options are scarce.
-Pretty much the slowest thing in the tier.


SPECIAL WALL
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name: Special Wall
move 1: Glare
move 2: Power Whip
move 3: Toxic / Rapid Spin
move 4: Dragon Tail / Knock Off
ability: Harvest
item: Sitrus Berry
evs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Atk
nature: Careful Nature

Moves
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- Glare is a great move, and Malaconda is one of its best users. It’s great for nailing dangerous sweepers looking to exploit Malaconda’s lack of offensive power for a free switch in.
- Power Whip is Mala’s strongest attacking option, and can do good damage even without investment.
- Double Status can be a very effective strategy, and Mala is one of its most efficient users, thanks to its phenomenal bulk. Toxic is great for wearing down walls that’d otherwise stop the snake cold.
- Rapid Spin, meanwhile, provides better team support, especially if you lack hazard control. It also pairs well with Knock Off.
- Dragon Tail is great for status shuffling, especially when paired with rocks or spikes. Meanwhile, Knock Off pairs well with Rapid Spin, allowing it to beat a number of spin blockers.

Set Details
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- Max special bulk makes Malaconda very hard to take down.
- Sitrus Berry is Mala’s best item by far, and allows for solid healing.
- Team needs are very important to consider for this set, opting between double status and hazard control depending on what you already have covered.

Usage Tips
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- You can tank a lot: even non STAB SE attacks, like Flamethrowers from Cyclohm and Stratagem, struggle to OHKO.
- Bug types, however, remain deadly. Aurumoth and Syclant in particular.
- This set gains a lot from weather: sun ups its survivability considerably thanks to Harvest, while Rain eliminates that pesky fire weakness.

Team Options
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- Mega-Zard Y is an excellent partner, able to switch in on a few key resistances and provide sun support, while Mala can manage hazards.
- Has great typing synergy with Heatran - Malaconda can absorb ground and water moves, and Heatran tanks Ice, Fire, and Fairy attacks. Will o’ Wisp can also ease Mala’s Defense issues.


INFINITE REST
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name: Infinite Rest
move 1: Knock Off / Power Whip
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Rest
move 4: Taunt / Power Whip
ability: Harvest
item: Lum Berry / Chesto Berry
evs: 252 Hp / 252 SpD / 4 Atk
nature: Careful

Moves
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- Knock Off is for general damage / item removal. Power Whip can be subbed in if you want to trade coverage and utility for better pure damage.
- Toxic wears down opponents, provides damage while you recover
- Rest is sort of the main event here - providing consistent full recovery, and snapping back from sleep at the end of the turn.
- Taunt shuts down opposing walls, keeping them from recovering and/or curing themselves.

Set Details
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- Max Bulk - for optimal walling abilities.
- Lum vs. Chesto is personal preference. Lum keeps all status off your back, but can leave you stuck if you consume your berry on another status and try to Rest.
- Chesto only activates for sleep, making it better suited to use with Rest, but can leave you vulnerable to other status conditions.

Usage Tips
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- Taunt is extremely valuable here: shut down opposing walls before they can heal themselves.
- A great status sponge in general.
- Timing is key with Rest. Since you’re slower than most everything, keep an eye on your health, and learn to predict your opponent's patterns.
- This set is feast or famine: it can stall some ‘mons near indefinitely, but it can get steamrolled by others. Learn which is which.

Team Options
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- Pretty much the same as above. A physical wall is necessary.
- This has no offensive presence, so a good attacking mon is helpful, particularly a Fire type to beat Steels. Volkraken pairs reasonably well - it can handle nearly any Steel out there, including Heatran, who is otherwise deadly for this set.
- Enemy Taunts, particularly from Tomo, are an issue. A strong, Special Attacking Fairy, like Gardevoir, Sylveon, or Togekiss can help on that front, and provide a Fighting resist as well.


OFFENSIVE SPECIAL TANK
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name: Offensive Special Tank
move 1: Power Whip
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Toxic/Glare/Dragon Tail/U-Turn
ability: Harvest
item: Sitrus Berry
evs: 252 HP / 148 Atk /108 SDef
nature: Careful Nature

Moves
========
- Power Whip is STAB, and hits damn hard. Mainly for taking out opposing Krill and Stratagem
- Knock Off is just a great move, taking off items and generally hurting switch-ins. It also pairs very well with….
- Sucker Punch. With that speed, priority is a must, and SP can pick off a number of threats after some prior damage.
- Fourth move is very much team-dependent. Toxic allows it to beat non-Heal Bell Cyclohm, Glare is good for paralysis support.
- U-Turn and Dragon Tail both make use of its attack stat, and pair well with offensive teams and hazard stackers, respectively.

Set Details
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- Bulky and strong, can still tank all manner of moves and deal damage in return.
- Attack EVs drop standard Cawmodore just on the end of BD range, leaving it crippled if it sets up and without its berry.
- The SpD EVs ensure that Non-Specs Stratagem cannot 2HKO at full HP (thanks to Berry recovery), allowing Malaconda to switch in and OHKO in return with Power Whip. They also allow you to tank multiple Ice Beams from Krillowatt.
- You can opt for more Special Bulk if you feel like the set is going down too quickly.
- Sitrus Berry provides excellent healing, and is PASSIVE, which makes a huge difference.


Usage Tips
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- Malaconda walls a number of things, so use your various support moves (Knock Off/Glare/U-Turn/Dragon Tail) to abuse switches.
- Sucker Punch, while handy, is best saved to pick off weakened ‘mons and grab surprise KOs. Consider keeping it hidden until you have a plump target.
- Priority in general beats Malaconda hard. Avoid its abusers.
- Regardless of typing, Mala should NOT be taking physical hits. Switch out.

Team Options
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- A strong physical wall is absolutely necessary. Tomo or Skarm both mesh well, and can tank incoming U-Turns with ease.
- As above, Heatran remains a good option.
- Togekiss makes an excellent partner as well, quad resisting two of Malaconda’s biggest weaknesses and hitting back hard with Air Slash. Kiss also appreciates Paralysis support.


Other Options
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- Sunny Day, and Sun support in general: It makes Harvest a lot more reliable, turning Malaconda from a tough mon to kill to one that’s near impossible. However, it exacerbates its Fire weakness, and can be a double-edged sword.
- Wild Charge, on attacking sets, can be used to catch Flying types on the switch. It cuts into survivability, though, and is generally less effective than a solid Knock Off.
- Iron Tail: see above, replace Flying types with Fairy types.
- Substitute, when paired with Sitrus Berry, can make Malaconda frustratingly hard to kill.
- Seed Bomb is a more reliable but less damaging attacking option.
- Aromatherapy/Heal Bell is an option for Cleric support, but generally other ‘mons do that job better.


Checks & Counters
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- Tomohawk: Hard walls Malaconda, can use Taunt to shut down its support options, and can Roost off any damage that the snake can dish out.
- Mollux: Has enough attack to punch through Mala's defenses, and can status as well, crippling non-Rest sets.
- Steel Types, specifically: Heatran, Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Skarmory.
- Cawmodore: Merits special mention, as many Malaconda sets are ideal for Caw to switch in and Belly Drum on. That said, Glare cripples its speed, leaving it easily revenged. Play very carefully against opposing Cawmodore.
- Fast, Offensive Bugs: Aurumoth and Syclant both come to mind. Malaconda can beat them with smart play, but both can take a Sucker Punch at full health and OHKO back with Bug Buzz.
- U-Turn Abusers: Mala's typing and poor physical defense essentially leave it OHKO'd even by uninvested U-turns, which a number of mons carry simply for utility. Greninja, the Genies, Scizor, and even Volkraken make use of the move, and can all do serious damage.
- Flyspam: Talonflame and Mega-Pinsir in particular.
- Bulky Fighting Types: Can easily OHKO, and resist Sucker Punch.

 

[Animus Majulous]

Pepsi, this was probably the best analysis so far. It was very thorough and accurate.

 

[HeaLnDeaL]

I think infinite rest should be moved up at the second set, as in general I think it plays both easier and performs better than the offensive sets. I also have just a few minor ticks with your checks/counters list. In regards to Cawmodore, he doesn't want to switch into a glare by any means at all, and glare is a solid move to have on Malaconda to start with and shouldn't be taken lightly. And your mention to Greninja could potentially be changed to U-turners in general, since their are many good users of the move.

Other than that, this is looking quite nice.

 

[heartofgold]

Thanks for the look, HeaLnDeaL. I'll definitely tweak the Greninja mention to all U-Turners, as you're right: that move is essentially what beats Mala, and there's a number of solid users for it. As for Cawmodore, should I edit it out completely or just mention that Glare beats it? As I said, Glare is a great move, and one Malaconda uses extremely well, but it's not on every set, and when it's not the snake really does become some ideal set up bait (especially for the rare-but-viable Intimidate Caw). Thoughts?

As for moving Infinite Rest up....if you say so. Honestly, I feel like that set is WAY harder to use than Offensive Mala - it's got way more counters (Steel types, anything with Heal Bell or Aromatherapy, Magic Guard, etc), and in general can just be overwhelmed by any number of attackers, both physical and special. It requires excellent timing, a great deal of patience, and no small amount of Harvest-based luck. Comparatively, Offensive Mala is just a tank - in the same vein as AV Colo. It whacks stuff, it spreads status, etc. Simple, really.

That said, you're the boss. Tweaking!

 

[HeaLnDeaL]

Comparatively, Offensive Mala is just a tank - in the same vein as AV Colo.

Yeah, but it's a lot harder for Offensive Mala to KO stuff than it is for AV Colo to... I mean, in terms of "ease" of play, Malaconda doesn't have any sets that are particularly hard to use properly. I meant more along the lines of it being harder for offensive Malaconda to KO stuff than it is for Infinite Rest to wall stuff. That said, I suppose the offensive set is still fairly tankish anyway. The main thing that infinite rest has going for it is essentially status immunity, which is really handy since toxic really compromises Malaconda's bulk.

In terms of Cawmodore, I would probably leave him on the list, but move him down a few spaces and of course specifically mention that Glare can mess with him and to be cautious/make sure Malaconda doesn't have Glare before switching in. Of course, you've already added this so hmmmm... Overall, I'll probably wait a bit on this one before QCing. Malaconda isn't a one trick pony, so leaving some time to contemplate and test things out might be a good idea.

 

[HeaLnDeaL]

Alright, enough time of contemplation has passed (finally!)

QC 1/3

 

[Animus Majulous]

This is one of the best ones. Good job Pepsi.

QC 2/3

 

[sparktrain]

Excellent work. The only comment I have is make sure that Harvest+why it's chosen is mention under each Set Details, even if it's super obvious. Also, there's one Greninja mention left in OO. Great job; this is ready to be written up.