Marowak-Alola [QC: 1/2]

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MDK

MDK

a-marowak.png




[OVERVIEW]

- One of the deadliest physical attackers in the metagame.
- Hampered by a low base HP stat, but its bulk is respectable when its high base Defense is accounted for.
- Lightning Rod provides valuable team support by redirecting and voiding damage from Electric-types moves.
- A low base Speed makes it perfect for use under Trick Room.
- Stellar typing enables it to counter and check a huge part of the current meta such as Celesteela, Alola Ninetales, Alola Raichu, Pheromosa, Buzzwole, Xurkitree and any Tapu not ending in Fini
- Is hard countered by Rain teams.

[SET]
name: Attacker
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Shadow Bone
move 3: Bonemerang
move 4: Protect
item: Thick Club
ability: Lightning Rod
nature: Adamant / Brave
evs: 252 HP / 180 Atk / 4 Def / 68 SpD / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

- Flare Blitz, absolute nuke, anything that doesn't resist it will take massive damage, downside is this puts Marowak on a timer because recoil will wear it down tremendously.
- Shadow Bone, amazing move and obligatory STAB for A-Marowak
- Bonemerang, coverage for Pokemon which would otherwise wall Alolan Marowak if it relied only on Flare Blitz and Shadow Bone, such Pokemon popular in the meta like Arcanine, Alola Muk and Toxapex and unlike Earthquake can be used to break through Focus Sash, Substitute, and Sturdy for critical OHKOs
- Protect, common staple in VGC, allows for scouting, protecting and so forth

Set Details
========

- Thick Club is the only item you should be using as it doubles A-Marowaks already respectable base 80 Attack stat.
- EVs maximize its stats, even without full attack investment, Adamant + Thick Club Marowak will still hit incredibly hard it's not even funny.
- EVs also give bulk, Alolan Marowak is still a stellar physical defense mon, but even with bulk it doesn't enjoy special hits...
Here are examples of what these EVs provide:
252+ Atk Gyarados Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Marowak-Alola: 134-162 (80.2 - 97%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Marowak-Alola: 116-140 (69.4 - 83.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 68 SpD Marowak-Alola in Psychic Terrain: 141-166 (84.4 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 68 SpD Marowak-Alola: 152-180 (91 - 107.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
- As you can see Alola Marowak can survive quite a bit of the meta even a Psychic Terrain boosted Psychic from a fully invested Tapu Lele, if you are running a Trick Room team less EVs can be invested in Attack and more into SpD for more staying power (with a recommended spread of 252 HP / 140 Atk / 116 SpD)with 116 SpD EVs, the same Gengar Shadow Ball only has a 12.5% chance to OHKO a 252 HP/116 SpD Alolan Marowak, Marowak even with only 140 EVs in Attack and Thick Club will always OHKO Gengar, Tapu Lele and Celesteela with respective super effective moves

Usage Tips
========

- Save Marowak for once all the threats to it have been dealt with, this means Water types, rain setters etc, so it can pick off threats other Pokemon may not be able to OHKO such as Celesteela
- Do not abuse Flare Blitz, Marowak can pretty much take out anything it is a threat against with one Flare Blitz, but it will suffer immense recoil.

Team Options
========

- Electric-types such as Tapu Koko and Alola Raichu, Marowak HATES water with a passion, especially the likes of Gyarados and Pelipper, it appreciates Electric types to help ward them off, HOWEVER, Marowak has Lightning Rod so it's important to remember it can play against its own teammates, Discharge walks around this somewhat.
- Celesteela, A-Marowak helps Celesteela too with Lightning Rod
- Water-types such as Gyarados, Milotic, and Gastrodon are valuable for dealing with opposing Fire-, Rock-, and Ground-types. Marowak supports Water-type comrades with his ability to deter Electric attacks, his Flare Blitz also deters Grass-types which threaten your Water-types
- Trick Room setters, Alolan Marowak is very slow, with Trick Room it becomes blazingly fast.
-Drought setters, A-Marowak does not enjoy Sand damage and the Pokemon that make use of Sand teams such as Garchomp, Gigalith and Gastrodon and it especially hates the likes of Rain teams to which it cannot do much against such as Pelipper and Politoed. Therefore weather control and Sun would be ideal for A-Marowak

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

- Fire Punch, not as strong as Flare Blitz and the damage tradeoff is very noticeable, but it has no recoil and so gets points for improving longevity.
- Earthquake, more accurate than Bonemerang but can be blocked by Wide Guard and doesn't focus damage on a single target like Bonemerang does
- Will-O-Wisp, punishes physical attackers
- Perish Song, a last resort method or to force switchs.
- Rock Slide, ideal for Trick Room sets for spread damage and flinching

Checks and Counters
===================

**Ground-type Pokemon**: Garchomp, combination of Rough Skin and Earthquake will be lethal for Alolan Marowak and there is not much it can do to take Garchomp out before the latter takes Marowak out, Mudsdale has a high defense stat in combination with Stamina that allows it to be a significant problem for A-Marowak.
Krookodile's typing makes it a nightmare for A-Marowak and can Pursuit trap, Crunch it, EQ it.

**Rock-type Pokemon** Nihilego and Gigalith pose a threat to A-Marowak but both must beware of incoming Bonemerang. Finally, Aerodactyl is another rocky threat but unlike the former two does not fear Bonemerang.

**Water-type Pokemon**: Water types specifically Tapu Fini, Politoed, Pelipper, Gastrodon, and Gyarados which are popular choices in the metagame at the moment.

**Alolan Muk**: Alola Muk threatens Alolan Marowak with STAB Knock Off, not only is it Super Effective it removes Marowak's Thick Club which is absolutely critical to what makes Marowak such a heavy hitter, and then pick it off with a Shadow Sneak. Muk does not like taking Bonemerang or Earthquake, however.

**Gengar**: Gengar can pick off a weakened Marowak with Shadow Ball
 
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Overview
  • "Incredible physical bulk" - Remove this. Low base HP means its physical bulk is relatively average. Wouldn't be a useful statement anyway, as readers can already look at Marowak's base stats in the SmogDex.
  • "Can run Rock Head..." - Can, but shouldn't; remove this. The overview is metagame analysis, not theorymon.
  • Mention how its low base Speed is ideal for Trick Room, but typing and Lightning Rod mean it can function without.
  • Cite some common Pokemon/archetypes it loses against. For example, Rain is common and can force a bench.
Set
  • Use the proper Analysis Format. The set name should be "name: __" and the first words shouldn't be capitalized.
  • Use Detect over Protect. Helps against Imprison, and lower PP isn't an issue on an offensive Pokemon. (See Post 4/5)
  • Switch the move order to Flare Blitz > Shadow Bone > Bonemerang > Detect.
Moves
  • "Protect... no more need be said" - Actually it does. Not all readers of the SmogDex will be familiar with VGC conventions. For example, say that it allows Marowak to shield itself while a partner eliminates a threat or switches.
  • "Bonemerang, coverage..." - For what? Mention some Pokemon/types it hits and why that's useful.
Set Details
  • Make a note somewhere that reducing the amount of Attack EVs, while undesirable anyway due to being an offensive set, is especially so here, as Thick Club means that each Attack point is worth double what it normally is.
  • The EVs aren't for general bulk, they're used to ensure Marowak's survival against a Modest Tapu Lele Psychic.
  • Mention the item first.
Usage Tips
  • "Save Marowak for... threats..." - Threats like what? Which Pokemon specifically should it avoid, and which should it be brought out for?
  • This section, as it stands, is telling the reader very little. What role does Marowak play on teams? Should it be brought out early/late game? Does it work well as a lead? Should you be switching it into attacks, or only safely after a KO? etc...
Other Options
  • Add Rock Slide.
Checks and Counters
  • Again, use the proper Analysis Format. You need headers for each section.

In general: try to cut down on the informal language. You're just giving yourself more work, as you'll need to remove it by the GP stage. Tag me when you're done with implementation and I'll give it another look-over before stamping.
 
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I'm not part of QC, but I think Jolly might be worth a mention in Other Options or the main set (really up to QC to decide that tho). It lets Alolan Marowak outspeed some Pokemon that don't always invest in Speed such as Metagross and Celesteela, which can come in handy. Of course it also makes Alolan Marowak a lot more frail.
 
Detect is only reachable through an egg move when breeded with Sceptile, which is not in the Pre-Bank meta, so it should be replaced with Protect.
 
Morning guys, was about to tag you Carbonific since back from Christmas hijinks

Here is my corrected A-Marowak set, lemme know if anything further needs changing
 
Overview
Usage Tips
  • Remove the last bullet point. It applies to literally every Pokemon.
Checks and Counters
  • Expand Garchomp out into 'Ground-type Pokemon' with Krookodile and Mudsdale.
  • Add a header for 'Rock-type Pokemon' including Gigalith, Nihilego, and Aerodactyl. Make a note that the former two must still be wary of Bonemerang though.

1/2 QC
 
Carbonific said:
Overview
  • All this still needs to be added:
Usage Tips
  • Remove the last bullet point. It applies to literally every Pokemon.
Checks and Counters
  • Expand Garchomp out into 'Ground-type Pokemon' with Krookodile and Mudsdale.
  • Add a header for 'Rock-type Pokemon' including Gigalith, Nihilego, and Aerodactyl. Make a note that the former two must still be wary of Bonemerang though
1/2 QC
Click to expand...


Done :)
 
You say Alolan Marowak is hard-countered by Rain teams. Why not add Torkoal or other weather setters in Team Options to mitigate that weakness?
 
Oh, something I forgot: you can only list one EV spread on the set. Use the first one and just include a mention of the second in Set Details.
 
MDK I know I just stamped this, but I now regret that decision and have decided to reassign it. I've been doing stealth edits to this analysis for the past few days, but I'm now coming to terms with the fact that I need to be more upfront with how I feel given how important Marowak's analysis is. Mimimalist content in areas, poor conformation to the Spelling and Grammar Standards and Analysis Format, and half-baked implementation of checks (ex. If you're told to remove Rock Head from the Overview twice, then I shouldn't be contemplating doing it a third time) are the main reasons. Sorry if you feel strung-along; I'm partially to blame for not making this clear earlier.

Locking this thread. Please PM me if you'd like to discuss it further.
 
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