Laga
Forever Grande
Take a break.
[Overview]
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Return
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Night Slash
move 4: Pursuit / Retaliate
item: Choice Band
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
[Other Options]
[Checks and Counters]
- Insane bulk and Attack, and useful speed tier.
- Access to good coverage moves, and has nice utility in Pursuit.
- Then you see Truant - a major let-down.
- Truant will make it lose to anything with Protect, and it becomes massive setup fodder after using an attack.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Return
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Night Slash
move 4: Pursuit / Retaliate
item: Choice Band
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- Because of Truant, it won't stay in for long, making Choice Band allows it to become a hit and run pokemon.
- Return for solid STAB damage.
- Earthquake is to hit annoying Rock- and Steel-types for super effective damage.
- Night Slash is the best option to hit Ghost types such as Misdreavus, Golurk and Haunter.
- Pursuit will checkmate Jynx, a huge threat in NU, and the same goes for Haunter.
- Retaliate is good for super crazy revenge damage.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- EV spread and item for as much Attack as possible.
- Jolly is important to outspeed the base 95 Speed tier (Jynx)
- Slaking is giant setup fodder; teammates that can deal with setup pokemon such as Swords Dance Scolipede or Shell Smash Gorebyss are great partners to have, otherwise said sweepers could take out your entire unprepared team.
- Liepard with Encore deals extremely well with setup sweepers, as it can lock them into a setup move or Substitute.
- Choice Scarf Jynx and Rotom-S make great partners, since they can deal with Scolipede, Carracosta, and Gorebyss.
- Musharna and Misdreavus make for good partners, as they can switch into Fighting-type attacks that threaten a Slaking the turn that it is immobilized.
- Pivots such as Eelektross and Musharna can help build up momentum and allow Slaking to come in and hit stuff hard more easily.
[Other Options]
- Hammer Arm could be used for hitting Normal- and Steel-types harder, but Earthquake is usually more appealing due to it's higher accuracy, and the coverage is basically the same.
- Toxic to hit Alomomola and Tangela on the switch-in.
- Other STAB options; Double-Edge is a good move, since it hits notably harder than Return, and Slaking does not take much recoil due to high HP.
- Body Slam for paralysis chance, but Return's extra damage is usually preferred.
- Giga Impact for last minute super damage, but forcing you to stay in makes you extreme setup fodder.
- Sucker Punch is nice for picking off weakened Pokemon, but will make Slaking that much more of a setup fodder.
- Bulk Up + Slack Off would work well, but Truant makes it near impossible to pull off.
- Choice Scarf fits Slaking's hit and run nature, and can outspeed and checkmate Choice Scarf Jynx and Haunter.
- Encore could be a good move for stopping a deadly sweeper, but is extremely redundant with Truant and even more so with Choice Band.
[Checks and Counters]
- Pokemon with Protect will completely shut it down, and Guts Pokemon like Swellow and Ursaring will take advantage of its presence.
- Setup sweepers, especially with Substitute, will utilize Slaking's immobility turn to set up in its face, since Truant really makes it a liability the turn after hitting something hard.
- Alomomola
- Defensive Tangela
- Rock types that can take a hit; most notably Armaldo
- Strong special attacks will threaten Slaking, as its base SpD stat of 65 is unappealing.
- Misdreavus is not hit by anything but Night Slash.
[Overview]
<p>With an Attack stat higher than that of Groudon, Zekrom, and Rayquaza, a respectable Speed tier, and a beefy base 150 HP stat combined with awesome coverage moves such as Earthquake and Night Slash, Slaking looks like a top-tier Uber threat. That is, until you spot the ability Truant; it is probably the single worst ability in the entire game. Because of Truant, Slaking becomes huge setup fodder for dangerous sweepers. It also has no way of sweeping any team, even late-game. With such a letdown of an ability, Slaking is rather challenging to use. That said, it can and will KO at least one of your team members if it gets a free switch in and you don't have a counter up your sleeve.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Return
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Night Slash
move 4: Pursuit / Retaliate
item: Choice Band
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Even though Slaking's ability lets it down quite a bit, it can still fill a role with its flagship hit-and-run strategy. This is because BW2 NU is a fast-paced metagame, so even though staying in more than a single turn is usually a terrible idea for Slaking, it can still effectively use that turn to deal out massive damage with a Choice Band-boosted hit. Thanks to its powerful STAB move alongside its coverage moves, there are not many Pokemon in the NU tier that appreciate taking a hit from a Choice Banded Slaking, and with Pursuit, it can even outspeed and checkmate Jynx and Haunter.</p>
<p>Return is, more often than not, the STAB move of choice, as it has stellar Base Power combined with no drawbacks. Earthquake is the main coverage move, as it hits Rock- and Steel-types, which resist Return, for super effective damage. Night Slash rounds off the simple, yet efficient coverage. Without Night Slash, Ghost-types such as Misdreavus, Haunter, and Golurk would easily be able to switch into Slaking safely. When it comes to choosing a move for the last spot, Pursuit is by far the preferred option, even though Retaliate might be more effective for Slaking's hit-and-run strategy. Pursuit will swiftly take out fleeing Psychic- and Ghost-types, most notably Jynx, which is outsped. Retaliate is great for revenge killing, as very few Pokemon can switch into a boosted Retaliate and live to tell the tale.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Using a Jolly nature is important to outpace common NU Pokemon such as Jynx, Kangaskhan, and Primeape. An alternative to Choice Band would be Choice Scarf, as it can deal with Choice Scarf variants of said Pokemon, as well as outpacing faster Pokemon such as Scolipede and Serperior.</p>
<p>Considering how easy it is to set up on an immobilized Slaking, it is important to carry counters to common NU setup sweepers, as they could otherwise just sweep you. Choice Scarf Jynx and Rotom-S are great teammates for Slaking, as they can deal with Carracosta, Scolipede, and Gorebyss even after said Pokemon have used their setup moves. Liepard is another solid choice, as it can switch in on the predicted Substitute or stat-boosting move and force the opponent to switch with its Prankster Encore. Musharna and Misdreavus have good defensive synergy with Slaking, and they can switch into Fighting-type moves that threaten it. Offensive and defensive pivots, such as Eelektross and Musharna, are great to build up momentum and potentially give Slaking a free switch-in to dish out huge amounts of damage.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Slaking really does not have many other notably great items or moves. It has three alternative STAB options;: Double-Edge, Body Slam, and Giga Impact. Double-Edge is very similar to Return but has higher Base Power, and because Slaking has such a huge HP stat, the recoil will not be doing all that much to it. However if you run Double-Edge, you will have to run Shadow Claw over Night Slash, as Double-Edge and Night Slash are illegal on the same set. Body Slam is nice for extra utility alongside Pursuit, as the 30% paralysis chance could win you the game. Unfortunately, it could also lose you a game if it fails to KO a Pokemon that Return or Double-Edge would. Giga Impact might seem to fit perfectly with Slaking's ability and item, but it forces Slaking to stay in after attacking, making it an extremely risky option, and should therefore almost never be used.</p>
<p>For coverage moves, Sucker Punch is a neat option, but it is also a risky one, especially when playing around potential Substitutes or setup moves, as it makes Slaking even easier to set up on. Other than that, Slaking has many coverage moves that it really does not need; Fire Punch, Low Kick, and Ice Punch are all options, but Slaking's main coverage moves will usually do the job much better. A few special attacks will help Slaking break through tough physical walls; most notably, Thunderbolt and Fire Blast help it get past Alomomola and Tangela, respectively. Encore could be an option to deal with slower setup sweepers, such as Swords Dance Pinsir. When it comes to different sets, the only real other one that might work would be a set with Bulk Up and Slack Off, but due to Slaking's horrible Special Defense stat and an ability that makes it hard to stay in even two turns, it is almost impossible to pull off successfully.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The single best way to deal with Slaking is Protect. If you have a Pokemon with Protect against a Slaking, it is impossible for it to hit you at all. Guts Pokemon, such as Swellow and Ursaring, can freely take advantage of Slaking's presence to activate their status orbs while Slaking does nothing. In addition to this, Tangela and Alomomola are ridiculously bulky on the physical side and can easily avoid the OHKO from any of Slaking's moves. They can then put it to sleep or stall it, respectively. Rock- and Steel-types such as Golem and Metang can easily take any STAB move but should be afraid of Earthquake. Misdreavus is immune to Slaking's STAB moves and Earthquake, but Night Slash threatens it.</p>
<p>A different way of playing effectively around a Slaking is simply sacrificing an expendable Pokemon. After doing so, you receive a completely free turn that you can easily use to your advantage to set up for a sweep or place Stealth Rock. Be aware of Slaking's partners though, as the user should, and will often, be prepared for dangerous setup sweepers.</p>
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