VGC 18 Marowak-Alola

[ansena]

[OVERVIEW]

Alolan-Marowak, despite being currently overshadowed by other fire types such as Heatran and Incineroar, as well as other Lightning Rod users such as Manectric and Raichu, Marowak finds its niche in dishing out heavy damage under Trick Room while providing Lightning Rod support.

* Thick Club creates a sky-high Attack stat combined with decent coverage allowing strong attacks on the entire metagame

* Ghost typing allows a pseudo counter to GothLax or CressLax, the most common Trick Room set ups

* 60/110/80 Defensive stats are not terrible, but doubles into Marowak often knock it out; Marowak relies on Snarl to survive many Special Attacks

* Choice Specs Tapu Fini and Landorus Therian can heavily threaten Marowak with Spread Moves

* Generally Trick Room reliant to get massive damage off, however Marowak is still undersped by notable threats such as Amoongus (Spore), Mega Camerupt, and Snorlax

* Marowak lacks item flexibility; without Thick Club Marowak's damage becomes laughable, so it is very weak to Knock Off

[SET]
Name: Offensive Lightning Rod
Move 1: Flare Blitz
Move 2: Shadow Bone
Move 3: Low Kick / Bonemerang / Substitute
Move 4: Protect
Item: Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Nature: Adamant / Brave
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

* Flare Blitz is incredibly powerful netting KO’s on most super effective targets (Metagross, Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Aegislash, Amoongus) even at -1

* Shadow Bone allows for coverage and threatens the common Cresselia, Tapu Lele, Gothitelle, and is especially useful against Aegislash because Shadow Bone is a non-contact move, avoiding King's Shield attack drop

* Low Kick allows Marowak to cover and knock out heavily defensive mons such as Tyranitar, Heatran, Kangaskhan, and Snorlax that might otherwise wall it

* Bonemerang nets KOs on Shuca Berry Heatran, and also breaks sashes. However, Low Kick is a better option in most cases

​

* Other Options for bulkier Marowak variants include Sassy Nature with EVs: 236 HP / 28 Atk / 4 Def / 236 SpD. 28 Atk EVs allow Marowak to still guarantee KO's on bulky Aegislash, Celesteela, and Metagross with Flare Blitz. 236 HP / 4 Def allows Marowak to survive +252 Atk Landorus Earthquake and +252 Atk Tyranitar Crunch. 236 HP / 236+ SpD allows Marowak to survive +252 SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball and +252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Lele Psychic in Terrain. However, after taking these attacks, Marowak will likely faint due to Flare Blitz recoil or weather damage, so be careful

​

* Because Marowak is quite bulky and focused on redirecting attacks, it is often paired with Tapu Fini, Celesteela, or Milotic. These Pokemon provide type coverage against Rock and/or Dark types, meaning that Low Kick and Bonemerang can be replaced with moves such as Substitue which promote Marowak's longevity and Lightning Rod on the field.

* Tapu Fini is almost a requirement for Marowak, as Misty Terrain prevents Amoongus from completely neutering Marowak with Spore. Tapu Fini also threatens Incineroar, Landorus, and Scrafty, three off Marowak’s least favorite matchups

* Alolan Marowak benefits enormously from Trick Room setters such as Cresselia and Porygon2, as they cover weaknesses to Landorus Therian while allowing Marowak to take advantage of its low speed stat. Porygon 2 can also Ally Switch Ghost/Z moves away from Marowak

* Bulkier sets especially love partnering with Landorus deterrents such as Porygon 2 and Milotic, as much of its attack investment has been traded for added bulk

* It is generally not a good idea to lead with Alolan Marowak, as having Alolan Marowak hidden away from opponents provides extra pressure and scares them from using Electric type attacks

* In general, Alolan Marowak should always be the third or fourth Pokemon you select, switching in Marowak only to redirect Electric moves, receive hefty Snorlax Returns, or to resist Fairy / Ice / Fire type attacks. However, against Hard-Trick Room teams, Marowak can be led immediately to put pressure on Trick Room setters and Trick Room sweepers from turn one.

* Because of Alolan Marowak's immunity to both Electric and Normal types, as well as resisting Fairy and Fire types, you can switch Marowak safely into common Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Snorlax, Heatran, and Charizard Y

* Take note that Charizard Y still does hefty damage with Sun Boosted Fire type moves, especially if you are not running bulky Alolan Marowak

* Against the popular pairing of Zapdos and Landorus, it is generally not a good idea to switch Marowak in as the opponent can freely click Earthquake. However, if you are setting up Trick Room on the same turn, Marowak can tank the Earthquake and begin sweeping / pressuring both Landorus and Zapdos the following turn.

* Alolan Marowak also matches up poorly against sand, however with Trick Room up Marowak can easily KO Tyranitar and Excadrill with a Low Kick

 

[blarajan]

As a quick response, I want a mention of a Specially Defensive set so that Marowak can take his from Charizard-Y. Even something as blatantly specially defensive as 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD Adamant/Brave is valuable, since it indicates to the normal user that they do not have to be using Marowak in this way if they don't think it fits their team. I would drop Stone Edge as a slot pretty much in its entirety, and mention it more as an other option. I think Low Kick is much better, and Shadow Bone hits every target that Stone Edge has to. Considering that you don't describe it later, it seems like you don't think it's that valuable either. I also would drop Ally Switch as a move slot and consider it more of an OO. I would also include Bonemerang and Substitute as other options.

Great job on a first one.

 

[ansena]

Thanks for the comments Rajan! Fixed and updated a new, bulkier variant
Edit: Waiting for QC

 

[Carbonific]

You didn't need to create an entirely new set, just include a specially defensive spread in Set Comments. Thick Club enables Alolan Marowak to have a ridiculously high Attack stat even without significant investment, so the idea is to promote flexibility with regards to the EVs. Just cut this down to one set and make it:

name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Shadow Bone
move 3: Low Kick / Bonemerang
move 4: Detect
item: Thick Club
ability: Lightning Rod
nature: Adamant / Brave
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD

The EVs you had on the old first set were inefficient because it could take the moves mentioned in Set Comments better with just max HP. Alolan Marowak has low base HP, so it gains a lot of value from investing into it. In Set Details, you could go as far as Sassy + 236 HP / 28 Atk / 4 Def / 236 SpD which survives attacks such as Aegislash's Shadow Ball, Tapu Lele's Life Orb-boosted Psychic, Landorus-T's Earthquake, and Tyranitar's Crunch, and still has enough firepower to OHKO foes such as Aegislash and Celesteela with Flare Blitz.

Calcs

Offensive

• 28 Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 168-198 (100.5 - 118.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
• 28 Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 228 HP / 116 Def Celesteela: 204-242 (101.4 - 120.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
• 28 Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Thundurus-T: 157-186 (101.2 - 120%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Defensive

• 252+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 236 HP / 4 Def Marowak-Alola: 138-164 (83.6 - 99.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 236 HP / 236+ SpD Marowak-Alola: 140-168 (84.8 - 101.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
• 252+ Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 236 HP / 4 Def Marowak-Alola: 140-168 (84.8 - 101.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
• 252+ SpA Life Orb Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 236 HP / 236+ SpD Marowak-Alola in Psychic Terrain: 140-165 (84.8 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

Remove Ally Switch from the Overview and don't mention Rock Head. Will give a full check once above is done.

 

[ansena]

Carbonific I've implemented all corrections, let me know if I need to change anything else.

 

[Carbonific]

Overview

• Combine the points about its defensive stats with Snarl.
• Combine the points about Tapu Fini and Landorus-T. They share a commonality in being prevalent Pokemon in the metagame that severely threaten Alolan Marowak. The Overview needs to talk about the metagame a lot, so bring up how common these are.
• You allude to this in the sentence right below the word "Overview" (is this part of the analysis?), but I think it'd be useful to spell out the Pokemon Alolan Marowak faces competition from (Incineroar and Heatran are capable Fire-type attackers, Manectric and Raichu faster Lightning Rod users).

Set

• A set name of "Anti-Tapu Koko" is bad because it implies it's the only Electric move user in the metagame (Zapdos, Porygon2, Manectric, Thundurus-T etc..) and that if your team doesn't have major Tapu Koko issues then Alolan Marowak is entirely not worth using. If you want the focus to be on Lightning Rod, then rename it to something like "Lightning Rod" or "Offensive Lightning Rod".

Set Comments

• "Marowak lacks item flexibility;..." - Move this information to the Overview where you mention the same thing.
• Combine the indent points into the above bullet points. These are ok in skeleton points before a full-write up, but that doesn't work for our format.
• I'd like at one point regarding timing with respect to getting Alolan Marowak onto the field. Is it a good idea to lead with Alolan Marowak? When should you bring it in? Are there any moves it does or doesn't like switching into?
• "Generally Trick Room reliant..." - Move this to the Overview. So that the following point still makes sense, rephrase to something along the lines of "Alolan Marowak benefits from Trick Room users such as ___ and ___ because of its low Speed. ___ is especially good because...".
• Move the talk about alternative EV spreads to below the bullet points about moves, but above the ones about teammates.

 

[ansena]

Carbonific I've Implemented all points from above, let me know if there's anything else

 

[Jio]

The write up looks good to me. QC 1/2!

 

[Carbonific]

I made a few minor changes to the point layout myself.

2/2 QC

 

[ansena]

Thanks! Analysis now in the Copyediting phase, GP:0/1

 

[Carbonific]

ansena you forgot to post in the Grammar-Prose Team Queue. Please make a post there asking for a GP check for this analysis.

 

[ansena]

My bad, I completely forgot about this, I'll post ASAP

 

[Fireflame]

Move the sprite above "Overview" or delete it entirely.
Also, there should be a comma after every sentence please.

Remove Add Comments (AC)= add comma (RC)= remove comma (AH)= add hyphen (RH)= remove hyphen

Hide

[OVERVIEW]

* Alolan-(RH)Marowak, despite being currently overshadowed by other Fire-(AH)types such as Heatran and Incineroar,(RC) as well as other Lightning Rod users such as Manectric and Raichu, Marowak finds its niche in dishing out heavy damage under Trick Room while providing Lightning Rod support.

* Thick Club creates a sky-high Attack stat combined with decent coverage allowing lets Alolan Marowak use strong attacks on the entire metagame

* Its Ghost typing allows it to be a pseudo-(AH)counter to GothLax or CressLax Gothitelle + Snorlax and Cresselia + Snorlax, the most common Trick Room set ups compositions.

* 60/110/80 Defensive Its defensive stats are not terrible, but doubles into they result in Alolan Marowak often being knocked it out;(SC),(AC) and it Marowak relies on Snarl to survive many special attacks

* Choice Specs Tapu Fini and Landorus Therian Landorus-T can heavily threaten Alolan Marowak with spread moves

* Generally Although Alolan Marowak is Trick Room reliant to get massive damage off, however Marowak it is still undersped by notable threats such as Amoongus (Spore), Mega Camerupt, and Snorlax

* Alolan Marowak lacks item flexibility; without Thick Club,(AC) Alolan Marowak's damage becomes laughable, so it is very weak to Knock Off

[SET]
name: Offensive Lightning Rod
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Shadow Bone
move 3: Low Kick / Bonemerang / Substitute (it's not explained in the moves section and is only referenced once, so it shouldn't be on the set)
move 4: Protect
item: Thick Club
ability: Lightning Rod
nature: Adamant / Brave
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

* Flare Blitz is incredibly powerful,(AC) netting KO’s KOs on most super effective targets (Metagross, Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Aegislash, Amoongus) such as Metagross, Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Aegislash, and Amoongus, even at -1

* Shadow Bone allows for provides coverage,(AC) and threatens the common Cresselia, Tapu Lele, and Gothitelle, and is especially useful against Aegislash because Shadow Bone is a non-contact move, thus avoiding King's Shield Attack drop

* Low Kick allows Alolan Marowak to cover and knock out heavily defensive mons Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Heatran, Kangaskhan, and Snorlax that might otherwise wall it

* Bonemerang nets KOs on Shuca Berry Heatran,(RC) and also breaks sashes Focus Sash. However, Low Kick is a better option in most cases

* Other Options for bulkier Marowak variants include Sassy Nature with EVs: 236 HP / 28 Atk / 4 Def / 236 SpD. 28 Atk EVs allow Marowak to still guarantee KO's on bulky Aegislash, Celesteela, and Metagross with Flare Blitz. 236 HP / 4 Def allows Marowak to survive +252 Atk Landorus Earthquake and +252 Atk Tyranitar Crunch. 236 HP / 236+ SpD allows Marowak to survive +252 SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball and +252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Lele Psychic in Terrain. An EV spread of 236 HP / 28 Atk / 4 Def / 236 SpD with a Sassy nature allows Alolan Marowak to still guarantee KOs on bulky Aegislash, Celesteela, and Metagross with Flare Blitz and survive maximum Attack Landorus-T's Earthquake, maximum Attack Tyranitar's Crunch, fully invested Aegislash's Shadow Ball, and Life Orb Tapu Lele's Psychic under Psychic Terrain. However, after taking these attacks, Alolan Marowak will likely faint due to Flare Blitz recoil or weather damage, so be careful

* Because Alolan Marowak is quite bulky and focused on redirecting attacks, it is often paired with Tapu Fini, Celesteela, or Milotic. These Pokemon provide type coverage against Rock and/or and Dark types, meaning that Low Kick and Bonemerang can be replaced with moves such as Substitute,(AC) which promotes Alolan Marowak's longevity and Lightning Rod on the field.

* Tapu Fini is almost a requirement for Alolan Marowak, as Misty Terrain prevents Amoongus from completely neutering Alolan Marowak with Spore. Tapu Fini also threatens Incineroar, Landorus (if it is Landorus-T then write Landorus-T instead), and Scrafty, three off Marowak’s of Alolan Marowak's least favorite matchups

* Alolan Marowak benefits enormously from Trick Room setters such as Cresselia and Porygon2, as they cover weaknesses to Landorus Therian while allowing Landorus-T and allow Alolan Marowak to take advantage of its low Speed stat. Porygon 2 can also Ally Switch Ghost/Z moves Ghost moves and Z-Moves away from Alolan Marowak

* Bulkier Alolan Marowak sets especially love partnering with Landorus (again, if this is Landorus-T then say that instead) deterrents such as Porygon 2 and Milotic, as much of its their Attack investment has been traded for added bulk

* It is generally not a good idea to lead with Alolan Marowak, as having Alolan Marowak it hidden away from opponents provides extra pressure and scares dissuades them from using Electric-(AH)type attacks

* In general, Alolan Marowak should always be the third or fourth Pokemon you select, switching in Marowak only to redirect Electric moves, receive hefty Snorlax Returns, or to resist Fairy / Ice / Fire type Fairy,(AC) Ice,(AC) and Fire attacks. However, against Hard-Trick Trick Room teams, Alolan Marowak can be led immediately to put pressure on Trick Room setters and Trick Room sweepers from turn one.

* Because of Alolan Marowak's immunity to both Electric and Normal types, as well as resisting Fairy and Fire types, you can switch Marowak it safely into common Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Snorlax, Heatran, and Mega Charizard Y

* Take note that Mega Charizard Y still does hefty damage with Sun Boosted Fire type sun-boosted Fire-type moves, especially if you are not running bulky Alolan Marowak

* Against the popular pairing of Zapdos and Landorus (same thing here), it is generally not a good idea to switch Alolan Marowak in,(AC) as the opponent can freely click Earthquake. However, if you are setting up Trick Room on the same turn, Alolan Marowak can tank the Earthquake and begin sweeping / pressuring pressuring both Landorus and Zapdos the following turn or sweeping.

* Alolan Marowak also matches up poorly against sand,(RC) teams;(SC) however,(AC) with Trick Room up,(AC) Alolan Marowak can easily KO Tyranitar and Excadrill with a Low Kick

GP 1/1

 

[Carbonific]

This has been sitting unimplemented for a while, and I wanted to make some small tweaks myself, so I went ahead and finished it off.

Uploaded!