[Overview]
- Marshadow is one of the most potent physical wallbreakers in the tier thanks to its many amazing qualities.
- Its 125 base Speed allows it to get the jump on many of the best Pokemon in the tier and its typing grants it an unresisted STAB combination and a decent amount of defensive utility, such as an Extreme Speed immunity and a Stealth Rock resistance.
- Spectral Thief's ability to steal the opponents stat boosts can thwart setup sweepers, thus giving Marshadow a chance at its own sweep as well as providing it with great team support.
- A Technician boost to Shadow Sneak gives Marshadow good priority and lets it counter Pokemon that would normally out-speed it. Rock Tomb also provides it with speed control and recieves a Technician boost.
- However, Marshadow's low bulk makes it very vulnerable to many attacks and it is OHKOd by nearly all supereffective moves.
- It is also heavily reliant on Choice Band to deal the amount of damage it does, which can be exploited by a smart player.
- Defensive teams can also deal with Marshadow relatively well by crippling it with any form of status and setting entry hazards which further cut into its low longevity.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Spectral Thief
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Shadow Sneak
move 4: Rock Tomb / Ice Punch / Poltergeist
item: Choice Band
ability: Technician
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- This is Marshadow's most standard set. Spectral Thief is a strong STAB move and its ability to steal stat boosts can be a massive help against setup-based Pokemon.
- Close Combat is Marshadow's strongest STAB move which allows it to always OHKO Pokemon like Blissey, Dialga, and both Kyurem forms.
- A Technician-boosted Shadow Sneak allows Marshadow to threaten the few Pokemon that can out-speed and OHKO it, such as Calyrex-Shadow and Mewtwo.
- Rock Tomb provides crucial coverage for Flying-types and gives Marshadow a form of speed control, further bolstering its team support capabilities.
- Choice Band gives Marshadow the power it needs to break through offensive threats.
- Because of Marshadow's fragility and lack of recovery, it should be relegated to revenge killing purposes or brought in from switch moves, otherwise it loses momentum against the defensive teams it can struggle against.
- Its immunity to Normal-type moves can give it an opportunity to switch in safely and threaten the opposition, however.
- Marshadow should be reserved for the late-game as a cleaner after its checks are removed from the match.
- As such, Pokemon like Necrozma-Dusk-Mane and Dialga can be used to deal with Fairy- and Flying-types.
- Special attackers such as Palkia can check Pokemon like Toxapex, which can cripple Marshadow with Knock Off.
[SET]
name: Offensive Attacker
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Shadow Sneak
move 3: Spectral Thief / Poltergeist
move 4: Bulk Up / Rock Tomb / Ice Punch
item: Life Orb / Spell Tag
ability: Technician
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- This set is focused exclusively on late-game cleaning. Life Orb is used over Choice Band to allow Marshadow to switch moves, especially crucial in the late-game, at the cost of recoil damage.
- Spell Tag can be used instead of Life Orb to remove recoil damage while still maintaining a power boost to Marshadow's Ghost-type moves.
- Close Combat is generally a powerful STAB move
- Shadow Sneak allows Marshadow to get the jump on other fast late-game Pokemon like Mewtwo and Pheromosa.
- Poltergeist is usually preferred over Spectral Thief due to Spectral Thief's ability to steal stat boosts usually not being important late-game, as well as Poltergeist's higher base power. However, Spectral Thief is still a viable option mostly due to its 100% accuracy, potentially providing a crucial safety net for Marshadow.
- Bulk Up takes advantage of Pokemon switching out, allowing Marshadow to grab a free Attack and Defense boost to aid in the team-cleaning effort.
- Rock Tomb also punishes switch-ins by lowering their speed.
- Ice Punch can be used to deal with the tier's many Dragon-types and may significantly hamper the other team's ability to deal with Marshadow due to its freeze chance.
- Life Orb's recoil means that Marshadow can struggle in its role as a late-game cleaner if it is used too much in the early- and mid-game stages.
- If one absolutely needs to use Marshadow to muscle through an offensive threat before the late-game, it should be brought in with switch moves or after a teammate is KO'd and only for as few turns as possible.
- Spell Tag somewhat alleviates this problem, but Marshadow loses power on its non-Ghost-type moves, making Bulk Up all but required if one chooses to use Spell Tag.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
- Iron Head can be run in the fourth move slot for Fairy-type coverage and the flinch chance, which goes well with Marshadow's high speed, but it does not have much usage other than attempting to flinch Fairy-types into Shadow Sneak range. It is also fairly weak compared to Marshadow's other moves, as it does not recieve STAB or a Technician boost.
- Drain Punch can be used over Close Combat to increase Marshadow's longevity on the Offensive Attacker set with Life Orb, but it is significantly weaker than Close Combat, losing the ability to OHKO Pokemon like defensive Kyurem-Black and Dialga.
- Expert Belt is a choice for the item slot on the Offensive Attacker set, boosting all of Marshadow's moves and removing recoil, but this makes Marshadow struggle against neutral switch-ins.
Checks and Counters
====
**Buzzwole**:
- Buzzwole can take any of Marshadow's hits very easily and recover with Roost. It can also neuter Marshadow's attacking power with Lunge or use it as setup fodder for Bulk Up.
**Bulky Dragon-types**:
- Pokemon like Eternatus and Zygarde also tank Marshadow's attacks decently well, with Eternatus hitting it with a 100% accurate Toxic and Zygarde paralyzing Marshadow with Glare and setting up with Coil.
- Zygarde can also take advantage of a Choice Band-locked Close Combat to potentially take over 50% damage, activating Power Construct.
**Xerneas**:
- Xerneas easily OHKOs Marshadow with Moonblast and can easily set up a Geomancy, outspeeding Marshadow afterwards.
- Xerneas does not want to switch in on Spectral Thief or Poltergeist on either set, however.
**Status**:
- Marshadow very much dislikes any form of status.
- Toxic cuts into its already fringe longevity, burns heavily cripple its offensive potential, and paralysis removes its ability to out-speed a vast majority of the metagame.
**Priority**:
- Marshadow's immunites to Extreme Speed, Mach Punch, and Vacuum Wave are nice traits, though it is still vulnerable to other priority moves, which is exaggerated by Close Combat's defense drop. This can make Marshadow somewhat prone to revenge killing.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Pietrym, 554573]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
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