[Overview]
<p>Marowak shows a good example by wearing a skull as a helmet, because it is recommended other Pokémon do the same when he's around; his attacking power is right up there with giants like Slaking and Medicham. Sadly, a Pokémon with such great Attack must have drawbacks. Marowak is unable to utilize Leftovers, has very lackluster HP and Special Defense, and is not the quickest Pokemon out there. However, with paralysis, Trick Room, or Baton Pass support, Marowak can be a real wrecking ball.</p>
[SET]
name: SubWak
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Double-Edge
move 4: Fire Punch / ThunderPunch
ability: Rock Head
item: Thick Club
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With Thick Club doubling Marowak's Attack stat, the only thing stopping him from absolutely destroying the competition is his poor Speed and low defenses. So, in order to allow him to wreak havoc on the other team, Marowak needs some support from his teammates. The most effective form of support is paralysis. With a majority of the opposing team paralyzed, Marowak is free to come in on opponents who pose little threat to him, such as support Pokemon like Chansey or Registeel, set up a Substitute, and proceed to OHKO the opposition with the appropriate move. Earthquake is Marowak's strongest move when factoring in STAB and is a force to be reckoned with. Double-Edge makes an appearance on this set thanks to its high base power and great coverage alongside Earthquake, and as an added bonus, Marowak suffers no recoil from using it thanks to his Rock Head ability. The last slot is mostly filler. Fire Punch allows Marowak to hit Torterra and Tangrowth super effectively, which is very useful as they avoid a 2HKO from his other moves. ThunderPunch can also be useful as an opening move to scout for counters, and hits most Flying-types coming in to sponge an Earthquake for heavy damage.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>When using Marowak, the main goal is to come in on someone who you can force out, such as Registeel or Steelix, and set up Substitute as they switch. It should be noted that Marowak should not be revealed until late-game when the majority of the opposing team is gone, KOed, or paralyzed. This is important as it allows him to easily pick off foes without having to constantly switch out as the opponent reveals their Marowak counters. With the lack of Leftovers and no form of recovery availible to him, Marowak cannot afford to switch out very often. Substitute is the first move you should use because it allows Marowak to scout the opponent's supposed Marowak counters while blocking him from status conditions and priority moves. Once safely behind a Substitute, Marowak is free to wreak havoc upon the opponent with the appropriate moves.</p>
<p>Running Jolly is a must for this set, as otherwise Marowak has nothing to separate himself from the likes of Rhyperior. With Jolly, Marowak is able to outpace and 2HKO 8 Speed Milotic, something his competition cannot boast. Adamant may be tempting for the higher damage output, but Jolly already ensures the necessary KOs mentioned and Adamant offers no other notable ones.</p>
<p>Stone Edge can be used in the last slot to give Marowak the awesome QuakeEdge combination, and a stronger means to hit Rotom and Mismagius, but he cannot afford to miss with Stone Edge's shaky accuracy. Double-Edge hits many of the Pokemon Stone Edge does for more damage and retains perfect accuracy. Stone Edge may seem tempting to guarantee the kill on Pokemon like Moltres and Articuno, but they are already KOed with a combination of Stealth Rock and Double-Edge/ThunderPunch. Focus Punch can be used in the last slot as well, but Fighting and Ground have a lot of overlapping coverage, and Earthquake will be hitting Pokemon for OHKOs and 2HKOs anyway. Focus Punch also requires that Marowak be behind a Substitute, which is not always possible, especially with his low defenses and Speed. However, the ability to OHKO Chansey, Clefable, and Kangaskhan can be welcome.</p>
<p>Swords Dance can be used on this set in the last slot as well. At +2 Attack, Marowak has no trouble OHKOing most of the UU tier (bar Rotom and Mismagius if using Earthquake and Double-Edge or Torterra and Claydol if using QuakeEdge) but it is incredibly difficult to accomplish without paralysis support or Trick Room, as Marowak is slow and will very rarely get more than one free turn to set up.</p>
<p>As previously stated, this set thrives on paralysis support. Good teammates to provide said paralysis include Slowbro, Chansey, and Registeel. Slowbro draws Electric attacks which Marowak can switch on for free, and in return Slowbro sponges the Water- and Ice-type attacks aimed at Marowak. Chansey and Registeel take special attacks like champs and can easily absorb the Grass-, Water-, and Ice-type attacks that Marowak will encounter. The lack of any form of recovery really hurts this set's effectiveness, so Marowak usually only has one shot to deal massive damage or remove a problem Pokemon; however, this can be remedied with a Wish passing partner such as Clefable, who can also provide Heal Bell support in case Marowak gets burned or poisoned. U-turn abusers such as Scyther, Ambipom, and Swellow make good partners to Marowak as they can lure out the Steel-types who he can easily set up on.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Slowbro, Registeel, and Chansey make good teammates for Marowak as they can absorb the Water-, Ice-, and Grass-type attacks aimed at him and can also provide Marowak with paralysis support. If you're using Marowak on a Trick Room team, Pokemon who can reliably set up the field effect such as Slowbro, Exeggutor, and Uxie make the best teammates for him. The Psychic-types listed above can also set up Reflect and Light Screen, which can help Marowak take a few hits and let him show off his power.</p>
<p>Marowak can usually switch into the Steel-types of UU without much worry, so Pokemon who can lure them out, like Swellow and Scyther, make good teammates for him, as after luring the Steel-types out they can proceed to U-turn to Marowak. Marowak doesn't require Stealth Rock or Spikes support as he hits like a train, but with it, a lot of his 2HKOs will turn into OHKOs, so Pokemon who can get Stealth Rock up reliably, such as Omastar, make good partners to Marowak.</p> <p> Marowak misses out on 2HKOs on a couple of notable Pokemon, such as Tangrowth, Claydol, Uxie, and Torterra, so Pokemon who can dispose of them easily make good partners for him. Ironically, Tangrowth with Hidden Power Ice makes a good partner to Marowak, removing 3/4 of the Pokemon listed. Dark-type Pokemon like Absol can easily remove of Uxie.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Marowak is a rather infamous Trick Room sweeper. In Trick Room, Marowak can invest more in Attack and HP, and also has room for another attacking move in place of Substitute; however, when Trick Room ends, Marowak is a sitting duck and can be easily OHKOed. He has access to a plethora of Fighting-type attacks, such as Focus Punch, Brick Break, and Low Kick, but they offer redundant coverage alongside Earthquake, and are rather inferior when compared to Double-Edge or Stone Edge. Bonemerang can be used to allow Marowak to break Substitutes, but most of the Pokemon who will be using Substitute against him aren't affected by Ground-type attacks anyway. Marowak has access to Stealth Rock and Toxic, but he makes a much more effective attacker than a supporter.</p>
<p>Marowak also has access to Belly Drum if you're crazy enough to try it. With a Belly Drum boost alongside Thick Club and an Adamant nature, Marowak reaches an almost unimaginable Attack stat of 2,272; however, even with a Salac Berry boost, he will usually find himself outpaced and KOed by faster enemies before he can even land a hit, and his lack of a priority move doesn't help. Marowak also has access to a plethora of special options such as Fire Blast and Ice Beam, but his Special Attack stat is low, and the aforementioned moves have little use outside of hitting Torterra and Tangrowth for more damage than his other moves if he invests fully in Special Attack.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Marowak is rather defenseless if he isn't behind a Substitute, so Pokemon who can outpace and OHKO him make great checks. However, most Pokemon will be hard-pressed to switch into any of Marowak's attacks. Pokemon such as Venusaur, Sceptile, and Feraligatr all have no problem outrunning and OHKOing a Substitute-less Marowak. Tangrowth, Torterra, and Claydol can all avoid a 2HKO from any of Marowak's attacks (although Tangrowth and Torterra must be wary of Fire Punch) and can break his Substitutes and proceed to KO him.</p>
<p>If Marowak is in Trick Room, the best plan is to hit him with priority attacks. Azumarill can OHKO Marowak with Aqua Jet, while TechniTop can maim him with a combination of Fake Out and Mach Punch. Marowak also hates getting statused, especially burned, so Pokemon like Mismagius and Rotom can outrun Marowak and proceed to cripple him with Will-O-Wisp. However, neither can withstand getting hit by Fire Punch or Stone Edge, so this is a rather unreliable way of stopping Marowak, especially when both can easily 2HKO Marowak with Shadow Ball instead.</p>