Muk

elchupo

If Ekans is snake backwards, what is Muk?

Spr_5b_089.png


Muk says "haaaaaayyyyy"

Stats
HP:105
Attack:105
Defense:75
Special Attack:65
Special Defense:100
Speed:50
BST: 500

Learnset (Courtesy of Bulbapedia)
muklearn.jpg

Notable TMs/HMs (STAB in bold, most useful in italics, dubious underlined)

Return/ Frustration
Brick Break
Venom Shock
Slime Wave
Flamethrower
Sludge Bomb
Torment
Rest
Fling
Explosion
Payback
Poison Jab
Rock Slide
Substitute

Breeding Moves (STAB in bold, most useful in italics, dubious underlined)
Acid Bomb
Curse
Haze
Imprison
Lick
Mean Look
Scary Face
Shadow Punch
Shadow Sneak
Stockpile
Spit Up
Swallow

Useful moves from Last Gen
Acid Armor
Focus Punch
Sleep Talk
Fire Punch
Ice Punch
Thunder Punch

Overview: Muk, everybody’s favourite...thing, is back for another swing at competitive viability in Gen V. What’s still the same with Muk? Well, its stats, for a start, are excellently distributed for a defensive Pokemon, with 105/75/100 being quite potent, as well as a very nice base 105 Attack stat to abuse. Poison makes quite a good defensive type, resisting arguably the most common attacking type in the game in Fighting, along with Poison, Bug and Grass types. Quite a lot for a single type (ok Steel, whatever). On the offensive side, things are pretty grim. A Gamefreak exec must have drank Bleach as a child, because they have had it in for Poison types since Gen I. Only one type is weakened SE by it, and it is resisted by a pretty hefty 4 types (Poison, Ghost, Rock, Ground), and Steel types are even immune! This means poison types have to rely on auxiliary attacking types to do any damage, and all but loose that essential STAB bonus. But fear not, because Muk has these in spades, having a good physical movepool, and a few status options that allow him to own certain sets. Whats new? Depressingly, very little. Its primary ability in Stench got a minute boost with an added 10% flinch rate when hit by a physical move. It’s no Serene Grace, but still. It also gained a new ability in Underhanded, but seriously, just use Sticky Hold or Stench. Looking over its moves, its seems Muk gained most of his most useful moves last gen, with the elemental punches, Focus Punch and Shadow Sneak helping round of his type coverage.


So, how about some sets?



Curse this Muk!
Muk @Black Sludge
Impish | Sticky Hold
252 HP/ 252 SpDef/ 4 Def
-Curse
-Shadow Sneak/ Shadow Punch
-Brick Break
-Ice Punch/Rest/Mean Look/ Whatever


Arguably Muks best set remains Muks bet set. Curse up to boost his already high Atk, and to build up his Def to allow him to take hits from both sides of the spectrum. Ghost and Fighting make up a combo that, even in Gen V, is unresisted. Shadow Sneak allows Muk to bypass the Spe drops caused by Curse and to hit Psychics that will be itching to get in at the sight of the blob. Shadow Punch, however, allows a higher BP alternative, if using a unSTABed 40BP move as one of your only attacking types makes you feel ill. In most cases, just go with priority. Ice Punch allows you to hit Grounds super effectively, since most have high Def, its better to try and remove them quickly before they can do some serious damage. However, also mentioned is Mean look, which I thought would be useful to allow Muk to come in on something it resists, and keep it in, allowing Muk a few turns set up.


The EV's focus on Muks defensive capabilities, since its going to be boosting its Atk and Def anyway, its better to augment his naturally Special bulk to allow him to do so.
​


Muk this...
Muk @Black Sludge
Adamant | Sticky Hold
212 HP/ 252 Atk/ 44 Def
-Stockpile
-Substitute
-Focus Punch
-Shadow Punch/ Shadow Sneak


Ok, I did try hard to think outside the box with this instead of just a lazy Choice Band set. Think of it as SubPunch with a twist. Already blessed with the ability to make 101HP subs, Stockpile again allows Muk to boost both its defenses, which will hopefully make breaking his subs a very hard task indeed after a few boosts. Again, the Fighting/ Ghost combo is used here, since its STAB sucks and it doesn't need it anyway.


The EVs focus on maxing Atk, since Muk won't be boosting it.
​


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So there we have it. Let me know if anything is amiss, or if I missed anything. Also, I suck at EVs, so if anyone wants to suggest better spreads, go right ahead.










​
 
Dude there is no way your gonna get a decent set up with muk... without running poison jab or gunk shot. His moves are just too weak, even with +6 he wont be able to kill much unless he can hit em super effectively. Poison jab is a must on a curse set, as he can at least do damage to fighting/water/fire/electric/dragon/grass/flying... and then work on the coverage (also, payback >> shadow punch)
 
Assuming Custap Berry is ever released in Gen 5,

Muk @ Custap Berry
Sassy
252 HP / 252 SDef/ 4...Attack? Def? Whatever
Sticky Hold/Stench if using Shadow Sneak

Curse
Rest
Poison Jab
Payback/Brick Break/Shadow Sneak

Simple, switch into something that won't hurt you much, Curse Up as much as you can, use Custap to move first and rest up, then proceed to whale on the opponent. Payback is the strongest secondary move and has nice synergy with Curse, but Brick Break lets you do something to Steels, although it leaves you open to Ghosts. Hope for Poison Jab's poisoning chance? Shadow Sneak + Stench gives you a form of priority and flinch chance at the same time, but is otherwise pretty much outclassed.
 
I like Muk. Hes fun. But he is just... blah. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE underdog pokemon, and at first glance Muk is full of potential. Great stat spread, awesome defenses, and wide move pool. I think the only thing holding Muk back from really being potent is the abilities... If only he got something like... I dont know... intimidate, or regenerate... he would just be amazing. But alas, they gave him poison hand which just... blah. Maybe if it spread toxic or something, but not regular poison...

As I said. I like him.... I just would rather run a Weezing or something (completely different wall and niche, but there are better special walls too).



Chou Toshio said:
The first line of this PO made me . . . laugh . . . really hard
Click to expand...

I must admit I was laughing a bit too at that. Surprisingly more than I probably should have.
 
Muk still suffers immensely from having to rely on a Poison move for most offense, and four-moveslot syndrome. Sticky Hold is still the almost universally better ability for Muk, as one of the main draws of using a Curse Muk is immunity to Trick, which is something Pokemon like Swampert and Hippowdon would kill for. Also, Generation 4 exclusive Punches, which are almost a -MUST- for a Curse set, as well as Sleep Talk being near-Gen4 exclusive means no Muk should even be considered raised up in Black/White.

Poison Hand should have inflicted Toxic Poison, and then it might be considered. Muk is still roughly the same, the problem is that the enviorment in Generation 5 -really- hates him.
 
Another factor that holds Muk back as a wall is lack of reliable recovery. All he has is Pain Split, which doesn't work as well with his high HP as it does on things like Dusknoir/Dusclops/Gengar/etc. that have low HP.
 
Noble Cactus said:
Another factor that holds Muk back as a wall is lack of reliable recovery. All he has is Pain Split, which doesn't work as well with his high HP as it does on things like Dusknoir/Dusclops/Gengar/etc. that have low HP.
Click to expand...

Oh, I forgot to mention that. Seriously, if Muk got Slack Off or Recover, you'd be seeing some serious shit.
 
Does anyone else think that Muk should not be able to breed??? Seriously, You'd leave him in daycare with a poor little ralts, expecting an egg, but when you returned muk would be chillin' by the pond, smoking a cigarette, and the ralts would look like a misused barbie doll that had been thrown into a septic tank and forgotten.

Scary stuff.

Shadow sneak is interesting. it's a pretty rare move, and can keep psychics off your back after a couple of curses. Disable would be good on a tank set. He seems to be somewhat outclassed by weezing and morobareru (the shroom.) Weakness to earthquake is a thorn in his side too.
 
One thing that also hinders Muk is his typing (obviously) weakness. Being weak to a primarily Special type (Psychic) as well as a primarily Physical type (Ground) means that no matter how much Muk invests in one of his defenses, it still leaves him open to hits from the other side of the spectrum. And spliting his defensive EVs just leaves him less potent. This was kinda the reason why I emphasised boosting both defenses.

Anyway, has anyone thought of pairing him with Barujiina (sp?). She is immune to both of his weaknesses, and Muk, being specially bulky, helps take those special Ice and Electric type attacks aimed at her. Together they could make a good defensive core.
 
elchupo said:
OAnyway, has anyone thought of pairing him with Barujiina (sp?). She is immune to both of his weaknesses, and Muk, being specially bulky, helps take those special Ice and Electric type attacks aimed at her. Together they could make a good defensive core.
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Most things that run Ground also run a coverage move like Stone Edge apart from Pokemon like Heatran. Hell, Rock moves alone are going to severely hurt considering Muk's lower defenses unboosted and Barujina's weakness.
 
Just had to comment on this because I've always liked Muk, and try to get a use of him in every now and then. Unfortunately, I've had the same problems already mentioned, whereas even if you stack the curses up, without SE moves he's just not going to hit hard enough against the bulkier things you meet in OU.

I had the most fun employing a set like this:
Muk @ Black Sludge
Adamant/Careful | Sticky Hold
252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4 Atk
- Curse
- Brick Break
- Shadow Sneak / Shadow Punch
- Substitute

Obviously, I went for the perfect coverage. But sadly, the aforementioned inability to hit hard enough was its downfall.

Nonetheless, I would like to back up whomever mentioned how useful Shadow Sneak was, especially with curse. I always found that to be his most useful attribute (launching boosted priority from behind a substitute, with those defenses was great).

Happy Muk'ing!
 
JT Swift said:
Does anyone else think that Muk should not be able to breed??? Seriously, You'd leave him in daycare with a poor little ralts, expecting an egg, but when you returned muk would be chillin' by the pond, smoking a cigarette, and the ralts would look like a misused barbie doll that had been thrown into a septic tank and forgotten.

Scary stuff.

Shadow sneak is interesting. it's a pretty rare move, and can keep psychics off your back after a couple of curses. Disable would be good on a tank set. He seems to be somewhat outclassed by weezing and morobareru (the shroom.) Weakness to earthquake is a thorn in his side too.
Click to expand...

wel its even harder for breeders with Ferrothorn (Iron Barbs ftw). a certain cactus will become a poor little pincushion while passing on Leech Seed and Spikes =P....

anyway, Muk's partner cud b Honchkrow (resisting Earthquake and Psychics), if were going on that direction tier-wise, and Crobat/Weezing could take on EQs as well (beware of Psy's)...Curse needs support (Wishful at best) to avoid moveslot syndrome (Rest's fault -ahem), but could work out nicely to bring out a tank due 2 Poison-typing (eliminate all EQ users tho, for then u lose tha Curses)
 
Thank you for that interesting and informational tidbit PokeMaster7.

Muk's best usage, should you be brave enough, is to use it's slow Substitute. It means it'll always get one off if you did have to absorb an attack. Forget about Cursing, that takes too long while they go to their hard hitter. Just play it Breloom style, switch it in on something that can't do much to it (Blissey), Substitute on the switch as they go to a Steel type, and then just Focus Punch rape it. If Gliscor comes in, Ice Punch the (BAN ME PLEASE).

So basically a simple

Substitute
Ice Punch
Focus Punch
Poison Jab

is fine.

P.S. When you're a grounded poison type, you'll always have at least one useful quality.
 
Well .. Muk is a decent pokemon , I've never used him in a battle , except on Pokemon Online , And he was effective with his gunk Shot .. So I guess that an offensive style will be good ..
 
I'd stick to Subpunch personally and running, in this new environment Muk has no room for setting up however he can still force a few switches and hit hard.

Wish Stench was a little less useless though and gave more flinch chance then 10%.
 
Poison Jab, Focus Punch, Ice Punch, Explosion / Memento @ CBand. With 339 Atk it should kill something right? Something with Pursuit would be its best friend.
 
Muk outclasses swalot in every way possible. lol.
Anyway Muk does have a recovery other than pain split, SWALLOW. Not that anyone would want to use it but meh, it could work in a stockpile set if it didnt were off stockpile's effects.
 
idontusehackedpokes said:
Muk outclasses swalot in every way possible. lol.
Anyway Muk does have a recovery other than pain split, SWALLOW. Not that anyone would want to use it but meh, it could work in a stockpile set if it didnt were off stockpile's effects.
Click to expand...
Honestly, I'd make a set like that just to make jokes about Muk's name and Swallow.

But anyway, this thing STILL doesn't get recover? Oh well. I guess you could throw together stockpile, swallow, and any of his ghost/fighting moves and have a kinda sturdy tank. It's so short of being awesome. Blehh.
 
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