Gen 1 Snorlax [QC 2/2] [GP 3/2]

[NotVeryCake]

[OVERVIEW]
Snorlax is the single most centralizing and defining Pokemon in the tier; the addition of a reliable sleep move to its already wide movepool pushes it to even further heights than before, as nothing can reliably block its Lovely Kiss with paralysis. Nothing switches into Snorlax with complete safety; even Pokemon that resist or are immune to its STAB moves, such as Rhydon and Gengar, are at the mercy of one of its many coverage moves. Snorlax is also incredibly bulky, being one of the few Pokemon that can take a hit from the likes of Tauros and Starmie and hit back even harder with a powerful STAB Body Slam or Hyper Beam; it can also use its STAB Self-Destruct, which demolishes non-resistant foes. Snorlax is on nearly every single serious team and cannot afford to be dropped.

However, Snorlax has an abysmal base 30 Speed, tying it with Slowbro for slowest Pokemon in the tier. Its reliance on Rest for recovery makes it exploitable and easily forced out by Pokemon with high critical hit rates such as Alakazam, Starmie, and Tauros. This poor base Speed also saddles Snorlax with a measly 5.86% critical hit rate. That isn't Snorlax's only issue though, as while it has many different options to cover a wide array of matchups, it has to either give up longevity or coverage to do so, meaning there is always something to exploit no matter what set Snorlax runs.

[SET]
name: Offensive Sleeper
move 1: Lovely Kiss
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Earthquake / Hyper Beam
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
This is the defining set of RBY Tradebacks, combining utility and raw power in a way that completely restructures the rest of the metagame. With just two moves, Body Slam and Lovely Kiss, Snorlax exerts a tremendous amount of pressure on the opposing team the moment it hits the field, threatening to deal significant damage to most of the tier and incapacitating anything that attempts to check it with Lovely Kiss before continuing on its rampage. Earthquake is Snorlax’s best coverage option, dealing heavy damage to Rhydon and Gengar—two of the few Pokemon not threatened by its Body Slam—and allowing Snorlax to scout for Counter on Chansey and opposing Snorlax while still doing serviceable damage. Hyper Beam is the other common choice, allowing Snorlax to threaten KOs against many common Pokemon, such as Chansey, Persian, Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno, after only one or two hits. Self-Destruct rounds out this moveset, allowing Snorlax to threaten extreme damage while low on health or when its team needs it to force immediate progress. It OHKOes physically frail foes such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam and does heavy damage to even physically bulky threats, doing a minimum of 72.2% to Slowbro and 64% to Cloyster. However, Snorlax is usually forced to use Self-Destruct rather early due to its awful base Speed.

This set single-handedly influences the tier in numerous ways, making the tier faster paced compared to standard OU. With this Snorlax set, it is far less risky for teams to focus on spreading paralysis early, since its physical moves let it reliably push sleep past common sleep blockers, such as Alakazam, Chansey, and Starmie This set makes Snorlax extremely difficult to check because it can rely on allies to paralyze physically frail foes, and it can then put the physically defensive foes that would otherwise withstand its attacks to sleep. After Snorlax has put a foe to sleep, it still is extremely threatening and can continue battering away at the enemy team due to its raw damage output.

Despite these upsides, this Snorlax set requires team support due to its lack of defensive utility. Without any form of recovery, Snorlax is not able to reliably switch into physical attackers throughout the game, necessitating it be paired with teammates such as Starmie and Cloyster, which can help cover these roles traditionally filled by Snorlax. This set’s lack of recovery also makes Snorlax vulnerable to getting worn down, as it is often forced to take a hit before it can land an attack or Lovely Kiss due to its poor base Speed. Snorlax benefits greatly from teammates that can spread paralysis, such as Chansey, Alakazam, Starmie, Zapdos, and Exeggutor, which alleviate some of this pressure. This Snorlax set also works well on fast-paced hyper offensive teams that attempt to mow down the foe with multiple Explosion users.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker (Amnesia)
move 1: Amnesia
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Blizzard / Ice Beam
move 4: Lovely Kiss / Self-Destruct / Rest

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Amnesia can not only let Snorlax perform as a threatening mixed attacker, but it can also give it a decent defensive profile depending on the moves it uses, allowing it to either play the role of wallbreaker or a less immediately threatening but longer-lasting mixed attacker. The offensive variant uses Blizzard and either Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct to mow down foes quickly. +2 Blizzard OHKOes Rhydon and Golem, 2HKOes Zapdos, Persian, and Exeggutor, and has a 76.2% chance to 2HKO Tauros. It also 3HKOes Gengar and opposing Snorlax, which allows it to break through opposing Reflect Snorlax. Lovely Kiss allows Snorlax to put a foe it might otherwise struggle against, such as Cloyster or Starmie, to sleep; it also gives Snorlax a good opportunity to set up Amnesia, which it may otherwise struggle to do. Self-Destruct lets it KO or heavily damage a foe once it has been worn down, and it also gives Snorlax a good way to free itself from dire situations. The more defensive variant forgoes Blizzard for Ice Beam and runs Rest in place of Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct. Ice Beam is much weaker than Blizzard; at +2 it 3HKOes Tauros, Exeggutor, and Zapdos and 4HKOes opposing Snorlax, but it allows Snorlax to stick around for longer and attempt to freeze a foe.

Amnesia Snorlax requires paralysis support to make significant progress for its team, as foes such as Chansey and Starmie may thwart it if they are left unparalyzed. Body Slam is also usually not sufficient enough to handle a healthy Cloyster. Offensive Amnesia Snorlax should try to switch in on either a Pokemon using a recovery move or an attack that will deal minimal damage, as it needs to be at or near full HP to pressure the opposing team. Defensive Amnesia Snorlax should attempt to do the same, but it can afford to switch into a stray special attack from the likes of a paralyzed Starmie or Exeggutor if need be. The defensive set can also attempt to get past the likes of Starmie and Reflect Chansey by freezing them.

[SET]
name: Reflect
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Reflect
move 3: Rest
move 4: Earthquake / Hyper Beam / Self-Destruct / Lovely Kiss

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Reflect lets Snorlax take full advantage of its good physical bulk, allowing it to shrug off hits from the likes of Tauros, Rhydon, and opposing Snorlax while still being offensively threatening itself. The fourth move on Reflect sets can change depending on what coverage is required for Snorlax's team. Earthquake 2HKOes Gengar and Jolteon, 3HKOes Rhydon, and scouts for Counter on Chansey and opposing Snorlax, although it lacks the offensive power of Hyper Beam or Self-Destruct. Hyper Beam is Snorlax's best move against chipped foes; it also allows it to feasibly beat Cloyster and Slowbro one-on-one, but Hyper Beam leaves Snorlax walled by Rock-types and Gengar and has a limited amount of PP. Self-Destruct allows Snorlax to remove or heavily damage a foe after it has fulfilled its role as a wall. It is also a good option to KO a foe in an emergency, and it makes Reflect Snorlax less reliant on its teammates to force progress, although it shares similar issues to Hyper Beam. Lovely Kiss allows Reflect Snorlax to push sleep past paralyzed Chansey, Alakazam, and Starmie to remove foes it may have trouble breaking otherwise, such as Cloyster. However, it leaves Snorlax with only Body Slam as an attacking move, giving it limited PP to threaten things and leaving it walled by Rock-types and Gengar.

Reflect allows Snorlax to be a durable check to the tier's best physically offensive threats. Reflect is crucial to Snorlax's longevity, as it allows it to reliably use Rest to heal off damage and paralysis; without Reflect, Snorlax's bulk is not good enough to reliably wake up. Reflect Snorlax is one of the tier's best switch-ins to most opposing Snorlax sets if an ally has already been put to sleep. It's also a decent switch-in to Tauros, though Tauros's high critical hit rate makes any switch-in somewhat unsafe. Snorlax has to utilize its HP carefully to balance its role as an offensive powerhouse with its use as a durable physical tank that can last throughout the game. While it doesn't love getting paralyzed, it is much more willing to take it than sets lacking Rest, as it can reliably cure itself at a later point in the game; Snorlax also still pressures the vast majority of the tier even when it's paralyzed.

[SET]
name: PhysLax (All-Out Attacker)
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Hyper Beam / Counter
move 3: Earthquake / Counter
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Snorlax's good bulk and amazing Attack allow it to function well as an all-out physical attacker, being able to go one-on-one against nearly every single foe with the combination of Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, and Self-Destruct. Hyper Beam threatens KOs against many common threats after only one or two hits, such as Chansey, Persian, Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno. Earthquake is Snorlax’s best coverage option, threatening heavy damage on Rock-types and Gengar, which aren't threatened by its STAB moves. Earthquake also has the advantage of being able to scout for Counter on Chansey and opposing Snorlax, with Earthquake still putting Chansey into Hyper Beam KO range. Earthquake or Hyper Beam can be dropped in favor of Counter to catch opposing Snorlax and Tauros off guard—landing Counter against Tauros's Body Slam leaves it in Hyper Beam range, and landing Counter on opposing Snorlax's Body Slam deals at least 48.4% to it. Once Snorlax is low on HP, it can use Self-Destruct to punch another hole in the opposing team; physically frail threats such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam are OHKOed and even physically bulky threats such as Cloyster and Slowbro take heavy damage.

PhysLax, much like Lovely Kiss Snorlax, is on a timer to get things done due to its lack of recovery and poor Speed. It also needs to play around the threat of paralysis, losing much of its offensive pressure and struggling to break many foes without using Self-Destruct if it takes paralysis. PhysLax can be used on teams that already have a reliable sleeper, such as Exeggutor or Jynx, that also want the extra utility of an additional attack. To make full use of PhysLax, it's vital to know when to preserve it and when to sacrifice it with Self-Destruct; it usually wants to use Self-Destruct when it's either backed into a corner or relatively low on HP. This Snorlax set greatly enjoys heavy paralysis support, so Pokemon such as Starmie, Chansey, and Exeggutor make great teammates to it. This set also pairs well with other Explosion users, such as Exeggutor and Golem, on fast-paced hyper offense teams that aim to overwhelm the opponent. Starmie and Cloyster make good partners to this set, as it lacks defensive utility; without recovery, Snorlax is not able to reliably switch into physical attackers throughout the game, which Starmie and Cloyster can do well in Snorlax's place. This set’s lack of recovery also makes it prone to getting worn down quickly and being forced to use Self-Destruct quite early, as it is often forced to take a hit before it can land an attack due to its poor base Speed.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ice Punch can be used over Ice Beam on Amnesia sets, as it has more PP, which allows Snorlax to stick around for even longer and take more chances to attempt to freeze a foe; however, it is weaker than Ice Beam. Ice Punch can also be used on Reflect sets, as it can freeze opposing Reflect Snorlax and Reflect Chansey and also 3HKOes Rhydon; however, it does negligible damage to even neutral targets. A set consisting of three attacks + Rest can be used to give Snorlax the extra utility of a third attacking move over Reflect while still being able to last longer, but it is difficult to wake Snorlax up without Reflect, as many Pokemon threaten to KO it while it's asleep. A set consisting of two attacks, Lovely Kiss, and Rest can also be used to let Snorlax threaten sleep and preserve itself without falling short in the coverage department. Thunderbolt can be used on Amnesia sets, with a +4 Thunderbolt OHKOing Cloyster and being favored to OHKO Starmie. However, it's generally preferred to run another move, as it doesn't do much else; Body Slam, Self-Destruct, and Snorlax's various utility options all tend to be more useful. Thunderbolt can also replace Amnesia Snorlax's Ice-type move, as Amnesia Snorlax doesn't need the Ice-type coverage to have a decent matchup against most foes. However, this is generally inadvisable, since Snorlax is then walled by Rhydon and Golem. Amnesia can be used in conjunction with Reflect to wall foes both physically and specially. However, this leaves Snorlax with only one attacking move. Headbutt can be used against paralyzed foes to attempt to paraflinch them, but it is unreliable and weaker than Body Slam.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Snorlax**: Snorlax is on every competitive team, meaning it will usually end up facing itself. The most important factor in the matchup is whether Sleep Clause has been activated for either side, as Lovely Kiss Snorlax threatens to instantly remove its opposition. A paralyzed Lovely Kiss Snorlax can switch into a Snorlax using Lovely Kiss to deny sleep and threaten it in return. If neither Snorlax threatens Lovely Kiss, Reflect Snorlax can switch into offensive Snorlax sets bar Amnesia and beat them quite comfortably when healthy. If Reflect Snorlax is paralyzed, it struggles to consistently switch into opposing Snorlax, as the chance to lose a turn to full paralysis can cost the game. Amnesia Snorlax can catch a Reflect Snorlax off-guard (RH) and threaten it with boosted special attacks.

**Cloyster**: Cloyster switches into Snorlax's Body Slam relatively safely thanks to its staggering base 180 Defense; it also walls most variants of Amnesia Snorlax thanks to its 4x resistance to Ice. Cloyster is also able to tank Snorlax's Self-Destruct decently, as it only does 75.5% maximum. Cloyster 4HKOes Snorlax with Blizzard and can chip it with Clamp. Cloyster can also use Explosion on Snorlax if it's weakened to put Snorlax into KO range of a revenge killer, doing 60% minimum. However, Cloyster must be wary of Lovely Kiss as well as Body Slam paralysis. Cloyster is particularly wary of Hyper Beam Snorlax, as if it is paralyzed by Body Slam, it is at serious risk of being put into Hyper Beam's KO range.

**Slowbro**: Slowbro switches into Snorlax's Body Slam with relative ease, as it is 4HKOed most of the time and threatens Snorlax with paralysis and Amnesia-boosted Surf. Slowbro can also set up Reflect to become even better at tanking Snorlax's hits. However, Slowbro can quickly get worn down into Hyper Beam's KO range and fears Lovely Kiss.

**Special Attackers**: While there aren't many special attackers that enjoy taking a Body Slam, many special attackers, such as Alakazam, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Zapdos, can 3HKO Snorlax with their STAB attacks, applying significant pressure. This is especially true if Snorlax has used Rest, often forcing it out while it's still asleep.

**Gengar**: Gengar walls non-Amnesia Snorlax without Earthquake, although Gengar risks getting frozen if Snorlax has an Ice-type move. Gengar is a great Lovely Kiss absorber, as even if it's asleep, it can freely attempt to wake up in front of Snorlax without Earthquake.

**Porygon**: The passive and unassuming Porygon finds a niche in completely stonewalling non-Amnesia variants of Snorlax once Sleep Clause is activated, as it is 3HKOed by Body Slam and stalls Snorlax out of attacking PP with Recover. Snorlax can OHKO it with Self-Destruct, but trading Snorlax for Porygon is an awful trade for the Snorlax user in most circumstances. Even if Sleep Clause is not activated, Porygon's generally low value makes it a good choice to absorb sleep.

**Chansey**: Unparalyzed Chansey switches into Snorlax and sets up Reflect once Sleep Clause is active, while Counter Chansey can OHKO Snorlax by correctly predicting Body Slam. If Chansey is paralyzed, it finds it much harder to reliably check Snorlax, as unparalyzed Snorlax now outspeeds it, and the full paralysis chance makes it unreliable even against paralyzed Snorlax. Once it's paralyzed, Chansey is also extremely susceptible to Hyper Beam, even if Snorlax is paralyzed. Snorlax can also choose to use Self-Destruct to OHKO Chansey without Reflect set up to enable its special attacking teammates.

**Rock-types**: Rock-types wall Snorlax lacking coverage, as they take negligible damage from Snorlax's STAB attacks. Rock-types without Rest are, however, prone to getting worn down over time and hamstrung by Body Slam paralysis.

**Persian**: Persian can switch into a Snorlax that has used Rest and put it under major pressure, as two Slashes followed by either a critical hit Body Slam or Body Slam and another Slash KO Snorlax. Persian can also threaten Snorlax and its teammates with Hypnosis.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/notverycake.625260/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/shellnuts.491544/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/

 

[Shellnuts]

Since I am somewhat constrained on time and since I know that a lot of sections will be heavily revised after this, I'm focusing this right now on covering the set descriptions giving pointers for describing how they work in game and what roles they fill. I haven't looked at the introduction or checks and counters section very much yet, so expect me to review those parts more in the future.

[OVERVIEW]

Snorlax is the single most central and defining Pokemon in the tier, with the addition of a reliable sleep move to its already wide movepool pushing it to even further heights than before. Nothing switches into Snorlax with complete safety, with even Pokemon that resist or are immune to its STAB such as Rhydon and Gengar being at the mercy of one of its many coverage moves. Its also incredibly bulky, being able to shrug off hits from the likes of Tauros and Starmie with ease, and being able to hit back even harder with an awe inspiring STAB Body Slam or Hyper Beam. It can also explode on the opposing Pokemon with its STAB Self-Destruct, which demolishes non-resists. Snorlax is on nearly every single serious Tradebacks OU team and can not afford to be dropped in most circumstances.

However Snorlax isnt flawless, it has an abysmal base 30 speed, tying it with Slowbro for slowest Pokemon in the tier, combined with having to rely on Rest for recovery makes it exploitable and easily forced out by Pokemon with high crit rates such as Alakazam, Starmie, or Tauros. It also lacks enough moveslots to hit everything that it wants to, with Snorlax lacking Hyper Beam struggling to break Cloyster and unparalyzed Chansey, and Snorlax lacking coverage being walled by Rock-types and Gengar.

[SET]
name: Offensive Sleeper
move 1: Lovely Kiss
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Earthquake/Hyper Beam
move 4: Self-Destruct/Hyper Beam

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Lovely Kiss is a terrifying new addition to Snorlax's arsenal, being able to push sleep past usual sleep blockers such as Chansey, Alakazam, and Starmie with ease. Body Slam 2HKOes Alakazam and Jynx, 3HKOes Chansey and Starmie, and does good damage to the likes of Tauros, Exeggecutor, and Zapdos. [I think you should probably connect these two things together since you really can't explain why Lovely Kiss is such a good move on Snorlax without talking about how strong Snorlax can follow up it's own sleep with Body Slam]. Earthquake is Snorlax's best coverage option, 2HKOing Gengar and Jolteon, 3HKOing Rhydon, aswell as scouting for Counter on the likes of Chansey and opposing Snorlax while still doing serviceable damage. Hyper Beam is an amazing finisher, allowing Snorlax to KO Chansey with only one Body Slam beforehand, and allowing it to KO foes such as Tauros, Exeggecutor, and Zapdos after only two Body Slams. Self-Destruct allows Snorlax demolishing non-resists, OHKOing physically frailer foes such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam, and heavily chipping even physically bulky threats, doing a minimum of 72.2% to Slowbro, and 64% minimum to Cloyster. It allows Snorlax to punch a major hole in the opposing team, even when heavily chipped. [It should probably be a good idea to note how Snorlax often is forced to boom rather early since it's forced to take a hit before it's able to explode unless the target is paralyzed, which is very important when deciding whether or not to pull the trigger.]

When covering how this set is used in practice, I'd personally emphasize how it single-handedly makes the tier much faster, it's influence on the lead metagame, it's value as a wallbreaker, etc. Covering how it pairs well with teams that are able to aggressively paralyze the opposing team early on, and how it needs other teammates to cover it's role as checks to physical attackers is important as well in my view.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Amnesia
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Blizzard/Ice Beam
move 4: Self-Destruct/Rest/Lovely Kiss

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Amnesia doubles Snorlax's meager 60 special in a single turn, which can let it perform not only as a good special wall, but also an amazing mixed attacker, with a +2 Blizzard OHKOing Rhydon and Golem, 2HKOing Zapdos, Persian, and Exeggutor, and having a 76.2% chance to 2HKO Tauros. It also 3HKOes opposing Snorlax, which allows it to break through enemy Reflect Snorlax. +2 Blizzard also does good damage to other foes such as Gengar and Jolteon [Probably should mention that Body Slam is a much better option against Jolteon]. Ice Beam hits much weaker than Blizzard, 3HKOing Tauros, Exggecutor, and Zapdos, and 4HKOing opposing Snorlax at +2, but has more PP and higher accuracy, which allows Snorlax to fish for freeze against foes it may otherwise struggle breaking with Blizzard such as Starmie and Slowbro. Rest should be used if you are using Ice Beam over Blizzard, as it allows Snorlax to make full use of the higher PP. Rest also allows Snorlax to wall Slowbro, with a Snorlax at +6 being 5HKOed by a +6 Surf, while Body Slam has an 82.3% chance to 4HKO. Self-Destruct lets Snorlax go off with a bang, breaking nearly any foe even if Snorlax is at low HP, letting it go two or even three for one. [Where is Body Slam and Lovely Kiss??? Lovely Kiss is especially important for this set I'd say, probably should be the first option listed, since it has a much harder time getting into a position where it's able to use Amnesia and start running over the enemy team if it isn't able to actually get that free turn to boost that Lovely Kiss grants it].

Just as a more broad suggestion for the above paragraph, it might be a good idea once the first two moves of Body Slam and Amnesia are covered to then maybe split it into two paragraphs, one covering the more aggressive wall-breaking set which uses Blizzard and Lovely Kiss/Boom, and the other covering the slower but longer lasting set which uses Ice Beam and Rest, since they tend to play quite different and work on different structures.

When discussing how this set is used in practice, I'd probably discuss how this set tends to be very snowbally, it's hard to get it into a position where it can set up, but once it does get going it can just win the game on it's own. Make sure to cover how to set up those conditions, what Pokemon you should focus on removing so it can sweep (eg: ensuring Chansey is para'd or KOed, Cloyster, Starmie, etc), how to get it onto the field safely so it has enough HP to make use of Amnesia's damage boost, etc. Also would be a good idea to cover the other way this set is used, playing with Rest and focusing on being a consistent source of progress over the course of the whole game.

[SET]
name: Reflect
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Rest
move 3: Reflect
move 4: Earthquake/Hyper Beam/Ice Beam/Self-Destruct/Lovely Kiss

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Reflect lets Snorlax take full advantage of its great physical bulk, allowing it to shrug off hits with ease from the likes of Tauros and opposing Snorlax, allowing Snorlax to take up to seven Body Slams from Tauros before being KOed by Hyper Beam [Make sure to mention that this is neglecting crits], opposing Snorlax also 7HKOes a Snorlax with Reflect up with Body Slam, and Rhydon 6HKOes Reflect Snorlax with Earthquake, which allows it to Rest off the damage from these foes with ease. The 4th move on Reflect sets can change depending on what coverage a team needs their Snorlax to have. Earthquake covers Gengar, Rhydon, and Jolteon, aswell as scouting for Counter on Chansey. Hyper Beam is an amazing finisher against chipped foes. Ice Beam threatens freeze on opposing Reflect Snorlax and Reflect Chansey, it also 3HKOes Rhydon. Self-Destruct is a good suprise factor and is also a good option to KO something in an emergency. [Should really be worth mentioning that Boom provides an alternate option for wallbreaking which makes Snorlax less reliant on it's teammates/itself paralyzing it's target, while also letting it act as a defensive check to physical attackers] Lovely Kiss can help Snorlax get sleep onto foes it may have trouble breaking otherwise such as opposing Reflect Snorlax, Cloyster, Gengar, and Rhydon. [Maybe should mention that Lovely Kiss ReflectLax really needs for it's sleep to hit those targets since if it isn't able to get sleep on them, I find it struggles to get stuff moving when it only has 3 moves.]

Also, in general for the moves section, I'd recommend also covering the downsides each of it's 4th moves provides, in addition to their benefits. Just listing off what the moves do without covering where and where not to use them feels like it's missing some rather important details.

When covering how this set is used in practice, explain why some teams would prefer this set over the more aggressive sets listed above, which teams prefer the benefits of having a more durable defensive check to physical attackers over it's more immediately threatening ones, covering how to balance using Snorlax as a defensive piece with Rest and Reflect with it's role as an offensive wallbreaker, how to get into positions where Snorlax can wake up from Rest safely, etc.

[SET]
name: PhysLax
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Hyper Beam
move 3: Earthquake/Counter
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Snorlax's great bulk and amazing attack also allows it to function well as an all-out physical attacker, being able to KO nearly every single foe in the game with the combination of Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, and Self-Destruct. Earthquake can be dropped in favor of Counter to be able to have a much easier time breaking opposing Reflect Snorlax and Tauros, with a Countered Body Slam into a Hyper Beam KO'ing Tauros, and a countered Snorlax Body Slam doing atleast 50% to opposing Snorlax. Once PhysLax is on low HP, it can explode to KO a key foe and punch an even deeper hole in the enemy team.

PhysLax doesnt tend to stick around as long as Rest sets, due to not being able to heal of any hits it may take. It also needs to be play around the threat of paralysis, with a paralyzed PhysLax losing much of its offensive pressure and struggling to break many foes without exploding.

When covering how this set is used in practice, it probably is a good idea to mention which teams prefer this set over the Lovely Kiss set. Also covering the important balance between being greedy with trying to go aggressive with this set and knowing when to simply boom something and cut your losses is something very important to cover as well in my opinion.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

A set with 3 Attacks + Rest can be used to let Snorlax be more offensive than regular Reflect or Amnesia sets and attempt to heal off the damage or paralysis later. Although it is hard to wake Snorlax up without Reflect or Amnesia as many Pokemon such as Tauros, Exeggutor, and Alakazam threaten to KO it while its asleep.

Thunderbolt can be used in the 4th moveslot on Amnesia sets, with a +4 Thunderbolt OHKOing Cloyster and being favored to OHKO Starmie. However its generally preferred to run something else in the 4th slot as it doesnt do much else aside from that. Thunderbolt can also be ran over Body Slam, but without Body Slam Snorlax struggles to break foes such as Alakazam and Chansey.

Amnesia can be used in conjunction with Reflect to make a Snorlax that is an amazing wall both physically and specially, however it only has one moves worth of attacking PP.

Headbutt can used on Amnesia sets to re-apply the enemys status and attempt to paraflinch the opponent, however it is unreliable and is weaker than Body Slam.

Checks and Counters
===================

Opposing Snorlax: Snorlax being on every competitive team means it will usually end up facing itself, Reflect Snorlax can stop PhysLax in its tracks, switching into it and setting up a Reflect, however it is forced to Rest quite easily if its switching in, letting it be forced out by a strong special attacker such as Alakazam, Starmie, or Exeggutor. Amnesia Snorlax can break through Reflect Snorlax, with a +2 Blizzard 3HKOing opposing Snorlax.

Cloyster: Cloyster switches into Snorlax's STAB Body Slam and Hyper Beam with ease thanks to its staggering 180 base defense. Cloyster also walls Amnesia Snorlax, taking pitiful damage ftom a +2 Blizzard. However Cloyster has to be weary about getting paralyzed from Body Slam, as it dislikes paralysis.

Slowbro: Slowbro switches into Snorlax's Body Slam with relative ease, being 4HKOed most of the time and threatening it with paralysis and Amnesia boosted Surfs.

Special Attackers: Strong special attackers such as Starmie, Exeggecutor, Zapdos, and Alakazam exploit Snorlax's Rest turns, forcing Snorlax out with the threat of a strong special attack and forcing it to wake up later.

Fast Pokemon: Fast Pokemon with high crit rates such as Tauros, Alakazam, and Starmie can break through Snorlax's Reflect or Amnesia boosts, with a crit Tauros Body Slam doing 44% minimum, and a crit Psychic from Alakazam doing 58% minimum.

Gengar: Gengar hard walls Snorlax without coverage, with it being completely helpless to Gengar and being forced to switch out, Reflect Snorlax with Ice Beam also cant touch Gengar, with it being 7HKOed by Ice Beam, however it has to fear freeze. Gengar is not even close to a perfect Snorlax check though, being 2HKOed by Earthquake, and 3HKOed by a +2 Blizzard.

Porygon: The passive and unassuming Porygon finds itself a niche for completely stonewalling non-Amnesia varients of Snorlax, with it being 3HKOed by Body Slam and stalling Snorlax out of Body Slams with Recover. Snorlax can explode on it to OHKO it with Self-Destruct, but trading a Snorlax for a Porygon is an awful trade in most circumstances.

Reflect Chansey: Unparalyzed Reflect Chansey switches into Snorlax and sets up a Reflect with very little issue, with Body slam rolling to 5HKO a Chansey with Reflect up.

Rock-types: Rock-types such as Rhydon and Golem wall Snorlax without coverage, with Body Slam and Hyper Beam doing measly damage to them. However they are susceptible to Ice-type coverage and Earthquake.

Persian: Persian forces Reflect Snorlax into a Rest loop, with Slash having a slim chance to 3HKO Snorlax. Persian can Slash three times and Body Slam to fish for crits with its 22.46% crit rate as Snorlax Rests again, with a crit Body Slam after 3 Slash's KOing Snorlax.


[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/notverycake.625260/
Quality checked by:
Grammer checked by:

 

[Shellnuts]

The suggestions I made in the previous post were implemented, so here is some additional stuff to improve on for this.

This set single handedly makes the entire tier much faster-paced, with paralysis being able to be exchanged with minimal risk at the start of the game with a lead such as Starmie or Alakazam as Snorlax can guarantee pushing sleep past any usual sleep blocker such as Chansey, Starmie or Alakazam with ease thanks to its hard hitting STAB Body Slam and Hyper Beam making these Pokemon completely unable to switch in and block it. Snorlax is also incredibly hard to switch into after it sleeps something, with nothing switching into it with complete safety.

I think your really underselling how valuable Snorlax's offensive value after it puts stuff to sleep is. Getting sleep past the common blockers is valuable in its own right, but the main reason why it's so metagame defining is because this can now be done by Snorlax — a Pokemon whose offensive capabilities are only rivalled by Tauros and is capable of taking out 2 other pokes once it sleeps something before it goes down— which is what really makes this set so important.

Amnesia Snorlax requires decent paralysis support to sweep effectively, with foes such as Chansey, Exeggutor, and Starmie threatening to thwart its sweeping plans if left unparalyzed. The immediatly threatening wall-breaking Amnesia Snorlax set should try switch in on either a Pokemon using a recovery move or an attack that will deal minimal damage, as it needs to be at or near max HP to sweep effectively. The longer lasting one should also attempt to do the same, but can afford to switch into a stray special attack from the likes of a paralyzed Starmie or Exeggutor if needs be. Amnesia Snorlax is quite hard to get moving, but once the ball starts rolling, its incredibly hard to stop and can end games on the spot if positioned well.

I'm surprised Cloyster hasn't been mentioned yet, but it absolutely should here (I'm also less sure really about putting Starmie on there since Snorlax can also just para it with Body Slam, but the increase in time to kill definitely is notable when it's not paralyzed beforehand which gives Starmie a few extra chances to just crit it into Tauros range, but I digress). I should also note that vs Chansey and Starmie, the Rest-Ice Beam set can also try to get past them by fishing for freezes, which is notable.

Reflect Snorlax is appreciated on over the more offensive sets on some teams because of its ability to switch into the likes of opposing Snorlax, Chansey, and Tauros if needs be and be able to reliably recover off the damage and paralysis, although Tauros' high crit make switching into it unreliable. Teams that lack a sturdy physical wall will potentially want to use Reflect Snorlax. Though by no means is Reflect Snorlax passive, hitting incredibly hard with STAB Body Slam posing a threat to most foes. Reflect Snorlax should still try and avoid paralysis by any means necessary, as if paralyzed it losses much of its offensive pressure and is more unreliable at switching into the likes of Snorlax and Tauros due to the 25% chance for full paralysis, and while Snorlax may be able to heal off the paralysis with Rest, it can easily be forced out while resting by a strong special attacker such as Starmie, Alakazam, or Exeggutor.

I think this section could use a lot of work in explaining how ReflectLax is used, using ReflectLax well is often quite hard since you need to balance keeping Snorlax healthy with reflect and rest while also putting out enough damage to not just be a blob that gets crit through or forced out by special attackers, and I think this part needs to better emphasize that (it's not just paralysis forcing it to rest that does this, as it currently does).

Another thing about this section I'd probably change is how much it stresses avoiding paralysis when really it's a lot more complicated than that, it doesn't like paralysis but it isn't really ruined by it unlike the Physlax and LK sets are — which should be mentioned in their set descriptions as well.

I also think that it should really re-word why this set is preferred over more offensive ones, since it really just makes Reflect seem useful as a tool to let Snorlax switch into stuff. Reflect (with Rest) is what lets Snorlax be a durable check (which doesn't mean it's a switchin since it doesn't like doing that very much) to physically attacking threats over a long period of time, and isn't afraid of taking hits or status while dealing damage unlike it's other sets, which allows it to pressure and weaken the opposing team for longer than other sets, which can overall be more valuable to a team than the more immediately aggressive sets. It needs to emphasize that it's the combination of these which is what makes this set good.

Opposing Snorlax: Snorlax being on every competitive team means it will usually end up facing itself, Reflect Snorlax can stop PhysLax in its tracks, switching into it and setting up a Reflect, however it is forced to Rest quite easily if its switching in, letting it be forced out by a strong special attacker such as Alakazam, Starmie, or Exeggutor. Amnesia Snorlax can break through Reflect Snorlax, with a +2 Blizzard 3HKOing opposing Snorlax.

I think this part really needs to elaborate and explain more about the different matchups between these sets and how they vary depending on whether something has been slept or not (which heavily changes how the ReflectLax vs LK set matchup goes, for example), whether these sets are paralyzed, etc.

Cloyster: Cloyster switches into Snorlax's STAB Body Slam and Hyper Beam with ease thanks to its staggering 180 base defense. Cloyster also walls Amnesia Snorlax, taking pitiful damage ftom a +2 Blizzard. However Cloyster has to be weary about getting paralyzed from Body Slam, as it dislikes paralysis.

This section should also probably mention how Cloyster is able to respond to Snorlax with Clamp and Blizzard and potentially boom as well.

Fast Pokemon: Fast Pokemon with high crit rates such as Tauros, Alakazam, and Starmie can break through Snorlax's Reflect or Amnesia boosts, with a crit Tauros Body Slam doing 44% minimum, and a crit Psychic from Alakazam doing 58% minimum.

I really don't think this should be listed as a check or counter really. Starmie and Alakazam should be moved up into the special attackers section (which also needs work but I will elaborate on that in the next QC given this is decently long as is), and relying on Tauros to threaten out a ReflectLax which isn't very chipped and has Reflect up is not very good for Tauros odds-wise at all.

Reflect Chansey: Unparalyzed Reflect Chansey switches into Snorlax and sets up a Reflect with very little issue, with Body slam rolling to 5HKO a Chansey with Reflect up.

I definitely think this part could use some more elaboration to explain why Chansey has to be unparalyzed, and also should probably mention the threats that other Chansey sets have against Snorlax (Counter mainly) and how those play out in more detail.

Checks and Counters
===================

Something else that I noticed while going through the checks and counters section which definitely needs to be addressed is that almost all of these focus solely on the Reflect and maybe the Amnesia sets, but despite how important the Lovely Kiss set is, it barely even talks about it in this part which is something that definitely needs to be addressed.

This seems like a good spot to leave this QC check at right now, please notify when your done these changes.

 

[Shellnuts]

Sorry about the delay, been very busy.

This set single handedly makes the entire tier much faster-paced, with paralysis being able to be exchanged with minimal risk at the start of the game with a lead such as Starmie or Alakazam as Snorlax can guarantee pushing sleep past any usual sleep blocker such as Chansey, Starmie or Alakazam with ease thanks to its hard hitting STAB Body Slam and Hyper Beam making these Pokemon completely unable to switch in and block it. Snorlax is also incredibly hard to switch into after it sleeps something, with nothing switching into it with complete safety.

I think this bit could be worded to better to emphasize how Snorlax truly is unparalleled at forcing progress with sleep + it's insane damage output (if played well it can consistently get a 2 for 1 trade or better in most games), though that's more of a stylistic thing I'd guess.

On a more substantive note however, I think it should mention how Snorlax can get worn down a ton when trying to go for sleep due to it's speed tier. Since it's sleeping after anything else gets to move first, this means that often Snorlax is going to be forced to take a hit in exchange for sleep, which does put it on a bit of a timer to get stuff done.

Also, I think it would be worth mentioning how the lower risk to spreading early game paralysis helps this Snorlax set in particular out a ton (since it can come in against something paralyzed and that issue of needing to take hits to get off sleep and getting worn down in the process which I mentioned isn't as much of an issue, though I guess it does maybe lead to some mindgames about whether the para'd target stays in as you use Lovely Kiss and does damage to you).

It's imperative to have a contengency plan of some sorts for when the opposing Tauros hits the field, as it hits the field and you dont have one, it can KO a member of your team with very little recourse.

I really don't think this sentence is at all necessary, the previous sentence covers this already and makes this rather redundant.

However, it does negligable damage to even neutral targets and is generally useful after it freezes something.

Minor mistake in wording (and also a minor spelling error), it should be "However, it does negligible damage to even neutral targets and is generally useful after it freezes something."

Lovely Kiss can help Snorlax get sleep onto foes it may have trouble breaking otherwise such as opposing Reflect Snorlax, Cloyster, Gengar, and Rhydon. It also lets Snorlax' team play more immediatly aggressive, with reliable physical sleep. However, Snorlax with Lovely Kiss only has Body Slam as an attacking option, making it run out of PP quite quickly, it also struggles to break foes such as Cloyster and Starmie if it doesnt manage to sleep them. Its also walled by Gengar and Rhydon.

There are a few problems with this section.

Firstly, I think it needs to not put Gengar (and maybe Rhydon, especially if it has Rest) on the list of Pokemon which it can attempt to break past using Lovely Kiss at the start of this section. Once Snorlax uses Lovely Kiss on either of them, Snorlax is nearly dead weight for the rest of the game since it can't pressure either of them without any coverage moves, so they can just come in for free and burn sleep turns while taking nothing from Snorlax's only attacking move.

The other major change that is needed is a re-wording of why Reflect Snorlax might want to run Lovely Kiss. As it currently is worded, it makes it hard to distinguish why you would run it on ReflectLax instead of just running one of the two previous sets. The main reason why you run Lovely Kiss on ReflectLax is because the team needs to be able to get sleep past a paralyzed Chansey, Alakazam, or Starmie, but also can't afford to give up the defensive backbone that ReflectLax provides. It is definitely a sacrifice in the builder and definitely can't force progress anywhere near as well as the standard offensive sleeper set can, but for some teams that sacrifice is necessary.

Lastly, I think the ending bit definitely could be cleaned up and worded in a way that flows better.

On a more general note, I think this whole section about ReflectLax's 4th moveslot could be maybe split up into 2 different paragraphs since it's really wordy as is. One suggestion I have for doing this would be to split up the options for Snorlax's last moveslot between the more offensive options (Earthquake and Hyper Beam) which let Snorlax lean into it's role as a tank which can take and deal a ton of damage over the course of a match, and the more utility focused options (Ice Punch and Lovely Kiss) which let Snorlax perform specific tasks that its team needs which can't be covered by it's teammates (eg: if the team really needs a way to threaten freezes against opposing Reflect Normals or needs a way of getting sleep past opposing sleep blocks/sacks). I could see arguments for Self Destruct belonging to either category and am unsure which one I would put it in.

Reflect Snorlax is one of the tiers best switchins to most opposing Snorlax sets

I do think it should specify that this definitely depends on whether the opposing Snorlax can put it to sleep or not, and that this becomes a far riskier option when ReflectLax is paralyzed, especially against more offensive sets with Hyper Beam or Self Destruct, and that doing this can force Snorlax to Rest a lot. This could also be covered in more detail in the Checks and Counters section instead.

A set with 3 attacks + Rest can be used to let Snorlax be more offensive than regular Reflect or Amnesia sets and attempt to heal off the damage or paralysis later. Although it is hard to wake Snorlax up without Reflect or Amnesia as many Pokemon such as Tauros, Exeggutor, and Alakazam threaten to KO it while its asleep.

Also might be worth mentioning a 2 Attack Lovely Kiss Rest set here as well as another option for similar reasons.

**Snorlax**: Snorlax being on every competitive team means it will usually end up facing itself. Snorlax with Lovely Kiss can induce sleep on opposing Snorlax if something else has not already been slept. If something else has already been slept, Lovely Kiss Snorlax losses much of its means to pressure Reflect Snorlax unless it has Amnesia. Reflect Snorlax with Lovely Kiss only has 24 attacking PP, so it has to be weary of getting stalled out by opposing Reflect Snorlax if something else has already been slept. Reflect Snorlax switches into all Snorlax sets aside from Amnesia varients. However, Reflect Snorlax is forced to Rest to recover off the damage if switching in frequently, letting it be exploited by and forced out by strong special attackers. Amnesia Snorlax can break through Reflect Snorlax, with a +2 Blizzard 3HKOing opposing Snorlax while opposing Snorlax can only 4HKO Snorlax with Body Slam.

This section feels very disjointed in how it's worded and is rather hard to parse at points.

One suggestion I have for a better way to structure this would be to first talk about how the most important factor in most Snorlax matchups is whether or not either Snorlax set can put the other to sleep with Lovely Kiss or not (do note that this does include HP and paralysis as well). If you can put their Snorlax to sleep, then their Snorlax can't check your own Snorlax very well and either is disadvantaged (eg: they used sleep or don't have Lovely Kiss, or if they aren't on the field) or goes even with your own Snorlax (both Snorlaxes have Lovely Kiss and are on the field and it's a game of chicken as to who pulls the trigger first).

Once that is done, next I would then preface the remaining part by specifying that the rest of the discussion is for the case when sleep is off the table. When sleep is off the table, Reflect Snorlax is a very consistent answer to most opposing Snorlax sets (barring Counter on Physlax sets or Amnesia sets) and then getting into how it can struggle at this if paralyzed and how it's different choices for it's last move might change this matchup (though this might already be included in how the analysis covers the ReflectLax section) and stuff about how it needs to Rest somewhat often when doing this. Then I would go into some of it's other sets such as Amnesia and the Physlax/Offensive Sleeper sets from there.

Checks and Counters

Just doing this to cover a lot of sections, but the rest of the checks and counters section feels a bit disjointed and lacks details in some places. It doesn't need to be long, but just a bit more detail into them. As an example for the special attackers section, I would recommend something along the lines of:

"While there aren't many special attackers which enjoy taking a Body Slam, many special attackers — such as Alakazam, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Zapdos — can 3HKO Snorlax with their STAB attacks, applying significant amounts of pressure on the giant bear. This is especially true if Snorlax has used Rest, since it will not be able to retaliate while it is forced to burn turns of sleep."

 

[Shellnuts]

Content wise it seems good.

Lovely Kiss is a terrifying new addition to Snorlax's arsenal, as it allows it to push sleep past common sleep blockers such as Chansey and Starmie with ease thanks to its powerful STAB Body Slam that 2HKOes Alakazam and Jynx, 3HKOes Chansey and Starmie, and does good damage to the likes of Tauros, Exeggutor, and Zapdos. Earthquake is Snorlax's best coverage option, as it 2HKOes Gengar and Jolteon and 3HKOes Rhydon. Earthquake also allows Snorlax to safely scout for Counter on the likes of Chansey and opposing Snorlax while still doing serviceable damage. Hyper Beam is an amazing finisher, allowing Snorlax to KO Chansey and Persian with only one Body Slam beforehand, and allowing it to KO foes such as Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno after only two Body Slams. Self-Destruct allows Snorlax to demolish non-resists and explode when in a pinch or when its team requires it to force immediate progress. It OHKOes physically frailer foes such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam, and does heavy damage to even physically bulky threats, doing a minimum of 72.2% minimum to Slowbro and 64% minimum to Cloyster. However, Snorlax is usually forced to explode rather early, due to normally having to take a hit before it can explode due to its awful base Speed.

This set single handedly makes the entire tier much faster-paced, with paralysis being able to be exchanged with minimal risk at the start of the game with a fast Psychic-type lead such as Starmie or Alakazam as Lovely Kiss Snorlax can guarantee pushing sleep past common sleep blockers with ease thanks to its hard hitting STAB attacks, which makes these Pokemon completely unable to switch in and block it. Snorlax is also incredibly hard to switch into after it lands Lovely Kiss, as very few Pokemon can switch into it safely. This set needs to be paired with some type of defensive backbone, such as Starmie or Cloyster, due to it not normally sticking around long enough to be able to check opposing physical attackers such as Tauros and opposing Snorlax. Lovely Kiss Snorlax is put on a timer to get things done, as it usually needs to take a hit before it can land an attack or Lovely Kiss due to its poor base Speed, meaning this set needs to make every turn on the field count.

The only major issue I have with this analysis is how this part is worded, it comes across as very disjointed and hard-to-read. I would recommend phrasing this a bit differently to make it clearer why this set is so good and how it works, in a more cohesive way. Here is a suggestion I have for how this part could be re-done to make it clearer to understand,

Suggestion for the set description.

This is the defining set of RBY Tradebacks, combining utility and raw power in a way that completely restructures the rest of the metagame. With just two moves, Body Slam and Lovely Kiss, Snorlax exerts a tremendous amount of pressure on the opposing team the moment it hits the field; threatening to deal significant damage to most of the tier while incapacitating anything that attempts to check it with Lovely Kiss, before continuing on it’s rampage. This deadly combination can be made even more potent through appropriate choice of Snorlax’s second attacking move. Earthquake is Snorlax’s best coverage option, dealing heavy damage to Rhydon and Gengar — two of the few Pokemon that can comfortably switch into it’s Body Slam — and allowing Snorlax to scout for Counter on opposing Chansey and Snorlax while still doing serviceable damage. Hyper Beam is the other common choice for Snorlax’s second attacking move, allowing Snorlax to threaten KOs against many common Pokemon — such as Chansey, Persian, Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno — after only one or two Body Slams. Self-Destruct rounds out this Snorlax’s moveset, allowing Snorlax to threaten extremely high amounts of damage even while low on health or when it’s team needs it to force immediate progress. It OHKOes physically frailer foes such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam, and does heavy damage to even physically bulky threats, doing a minimum of 72.2% minimum to Slowbro and 64% minimum to Cloyster. However, Snorlax is usually forced to explode rather early, due to normally having to take a hit before it can explode due to its awful base Speed.

This set single-handedly influences the tier in numerous ways, making the tier much faster-paced. Right from the first turn it’s effects can be felt with how it influences lead choice and early-game strategy. With this Snorlax set, it is far less risky for teams to focus on spreading paralysis early-on, since it is able to reliably push sleep past common sleep blockers with ease thanks to its hard hitting STAB attacks, which makes these Pokemon completely unable to switch in and block it (**could re-word this part**). Another major effect this Snorlax set has on the metagame is what gets slept (**could improve transition here**), since the Pokemon that are able to withstand it’s assault — making them more likely to get put to sleep by it’s Lovely Kiss — are often key pieces in the defensive stability of the opposing team, making the impact of sleep much more pronounced. And even when Snorlax has put something to sleep, it still is extremely threatening and can continue battering away at the enemy team due to it’s raw damage output.

Despite these upsides, this Snorlax set does have it’s fair share of flaws which it’s teammates need to compensate for. Without any form of recovery, this Snorlax set is not able to reliably switch into physical attackers throughout the game, necessitating it be paired with teammates such as Starmie or Cloyster which can help cover these roles traditionally filled by Snorlax. This set’s lack of recovery also makes this Snorlax set liable to getting worn down, as it is often forced to take a hit before it can land an attack or Lovely Kiss due to it’s poor base speed. This makes Snorlax benefit greatly from teammates that can spread paralysis — such as Chansey, Alakazam, Starmie, Zapdos, and Exeggutor — helping to alleviate some of this pressure.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker (Amnesia)
move 1: Amnesia
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Blizzard / Ice Beam
move 4: Lovely Kiss / Rest / Self-Destruct

Maybe could cover Ice Punch in this set or in other options? This set description also feels a bit awkward in how it's structured (the first paragraph is way too short, I'd recommend either merging it with the next one or elaborating on it) but it's much less severe than the Lovely Kiss sleeper set.

[SET]
name: Reflect
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Reflect
move 3: Rest
move 4: Earthquake / Hyper Beam / Ice Punch / Self-Destruct / Lovely Kiss

I think the section on 4th moveslots for this set needs a bit of work, some of the descriptions for the 4th moves feel like they are way too short (especially Hyper Beam) or lacking some information on the downsides (Lovely Kiss being walled by Rhydon and Gengar, for example).

This likely is the last QC check I'll need to do on this one. Ping me when it's done so (hopefully) I can give this a QC 1/2.

 

[Shellnuts]

Yeah, seems good to me.

QC 1/2

 

[gastlies]

amqc, I can't give stamp but u should still implement, very good overall

zzzzz

[OVERVIEW]

Snorlax is the single most central and defining Pokemon in the tier; the addition of a reliable sleep move to its already wide movepool pushes it to even further heights than before. I think it's worth a sentence in the overview explaining WHY lovely kiss is so important. Nothing switches into Snorlax with complete safety, even Pokemon that resist or are immune to its STAB such as Rhydon and Gengar are at the mercy of one of its many coverage moves. Snorlax is also incredibly bulky, shrugging off hits from the likes of Tauros and Starmie with ease, Snorlax doesn't really 'shrug off these attacks with ease'. It doesn't take a ton but Starmie can force lax out, and so can Tauros if reflect isn't up. Both these mons also have high critrates. and being able to hit back even harder with an awe-inspiring STAB Body Slam or Hyper Beam; it can also explode on the opposing Pokemon with its STAB Self-Destruct, which demolishes non-resists. Snorlax is on nearly every single serious team in the tier and cannot afford to be dropped in most circumstances. Tbh I think you should just flat-out say it's undroppable. Especially since this is geared towards new players who should in no way be experimenting with any kind of laxless team.

However, Snorlax isn't flawless, it has an abysmal base 30 Speed, tying it with Slowbro for slowest Pokemon in the tier, combined with having to rely on Rest for recovery makes it exploitable and easily forced out by Pokemon with high crit rates such as Alakazam, Starmie, or Tauros. Would also mention that this speed means Lax seldom crits. It also lacks enough moveslots to hit everything that it wants to, with Snorlax lacking Hyper Beam struggling to break Cloyster and unparalyzed Chansey, and Snorlax lacking coverage being walled by Rock-types and Gengar.

[SET]
name: Offensive Sleeper
move 1: Lovely Kiss
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Earthquake / Hyper Beam
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
This is the defining set of RBY Tradebacks, combining utility and raw power in a way that completely restructures the rest of the metagame. With just two moves, Body Slam and Lovely Kiss, Snorlax exerts a tremendous amount of pressure on the opposing team the moment it hits the field; threatening to deal significant damage to most of the tier while incapacitating anything that attempts to check it with Lovely Kiss, before continuing on it’s rampage. This deadly combination can be made even more potent through appropriate choice of Snorlax’s second attacking move. Earthquake is Snorlax’s best coverage option, dealing heavy damage to Rhydon and Gengar—two of the few Pokemon that can comfortably switch into are not threatened by it’s (delete apostrophe). Also, replaced the previous bit cuz I wouldn't say Rhydon can comfortably switch into slam cuz of the para chance. Body Slam—and allowing Snorlax to scout for Counter on opposing Chansey and Snorlax while still doing serviceable damage. Hyper Beam is the other common choice for Snorlax’s second attacking move, allowing Snorlax to threaten KOs against many common Pokemon—such as Chansey, Persian, Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno—after only one or two Body Slams. Self-Destruct rounds out this Snorlax’s moveset, allowing Snorlax to threaten extremely high amounts of damage even while low on health or when it’s team needs it to force immediate progress. It OHKOes physically frailer foes such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam, and does heavy damage to even physically bulky threats, doing a minimum of 72.2% minimum to Slowbro and 64% minimum to Cloyster. However, Snorlax is usually forced to explode use Self-Destruct rather early, due to normally having to take a hit before it can explode use the move due to its awful base Speed.

This set single-handedly influences the tier in numerous ways, making the tier much faster-paced compared to standard OU. Right from the first turn it’s (apostrophe) effects can be felt with how it influences lead choice and early-game strategy. With this Snorlax set, it is far less risky for teams to focus on spreading paralysis early-on, since it is able to reliably push sleep past common sleep blockers—such as Alakazam, Chansey, and Starmie—with ease thanks to its hard hitting STAB attacks physical moves, i feel like the fact that the moves are physical is what makes Chansey and Zam bad at sleepblocking which denies any chance for these foes to switch in safely. It can also flat-out force them out. This set also affects the metagame by forcing the opponent to decide who which Pokemon gets put to sleep, since the Pokemon that are able to withstand it’s (apostrophe) assault—making them more likely to get put to sleep by it’s Lovely Kiss—are often key pieces in the defensive stability of the opposing team, making the impact of sleep much more pronounced. I'm not sure if I fully understand what's being said here? I think you're saying that the mons that switch into lax are more likely to be slept by it, and these mons are generally also good at checking other things? If this is what you mean, I think it can be worded better. I suggest deleting the things between the EM dashes and trying to fit that somewhere else, i could help u with this if necessary just shoot me a ping on discord. And even when Snorlax has put something to sleep, it still is extremely threatening and can continue battering away at the enemy team due to it’s raw damage output.

Despite these upsides, this Snorlax set does have it’s fair share of flaws which it’s teammates need to compensate for. Without any form of recovery, this Snorlax set is not able to reliably switch into physical attackers throughout the game, necessitating it be paired with teammates such as Starmie or Cloyster which can help cover these roles traditionally filled by Snorlax. This set’s lack of recovery also makes this Snorlax set liable to getting worn down, as it is often forced to take a hit before it can land an attack or Lovely Kiss due to it’s poor base speed. This makes Snorlax benefit greatly from teammates that can spread paralysis—such as Chansey, Alakazam, Starmie, Zapdos, and Exeggutor—helping to alleviate some of this pressure. This lax also fits well on Boomspam teams. Think of the teams that traditional Physlax fits on (egg + cloy stuff)

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker (Amnesia)
move 1: Amnesia
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Blizzard / Ice Beam
move 4: Lovely Kiss / Rest / Self-Destruct nitpick but I would swap rest and boom, since Blizz + Rest and IB + Boom aren't sets, the slashes should line up (offensive moves first on both slots, defensive moves last on both slots)

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Amnesia can not only let Snorlax perform as a threatening mixed attacker, but also as a competant competent special wall depending on the moves it uses, allowing it to either play the role of offensive wall-breaker, or the role of a less immediatly immediately threatening, but longer lasting defensive mixed attacker depending on what moves set it's (apostrophe) running. The offensive set uses Blizzard and either Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct to mow down foes quickly. +2 Blizzard OHKOes Rhydon and Golem, 2HKOes Zapdos, Persian, and Exeggutor, and has a 76.2% chance to 2HKO Tauros. It also 3HKOes Gengar and opposing Snorlax, which allows it to break through opposing Reflect Snorlax. Lovely Kiss allows Snorlax to put to sleep a foe it might otherwise struggle against, such as Cloyster or Starmie; it also gives Snorlax a good opportunity to set up an Amnesia, which it otherwise struggles to find opportunities to do so. Self-Destruct can allow Snorlax to do heavy damage to something in a dire situation. I feel on this set Boom is more of a "grand finale" move than a bailout move. You set up, fire off blizzards as you slowly get worn down, then blow up once you get worn down enough.

The more defensive set forgoes Blizzard for Ice Beam and runs Rest in place of Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct. Ice Beam is much weaker than Blizzard; at +2 it 3HKOes Tauros, Exeggutor, and Zapdos and 4HKOes opposing Snorlax, but it trades this raw power in exchange for more PP and higher accuracy, which allows Snorlax to stick around for longer and allows it to attempt to freeze a foe.

Amnesia Snorlax requires decent paralysis support to make significant progress for its team, as foes such as Chansey and Starmie threaten to thwart its attempts to do so if left unparalyzed. Cloyster also poses a major threat to most variants of Amnesia Snorlax, meaning it has to be thoroughly dealt with beforehand. The offensive Amnesia Snorlax set should try switch in on either a Pokemon using a recovery move or an attack that will deal minimal damage, as it needs to be at or near max HP to pressure the opposing team. The defensive Amnesia Snorlax set should also attempt to do the same, but can afford to switch into a stray special attack from the likes of a paralyzed Starmie or Exeggutor if needs be. The defensive set can also attempt to get past the likes of Starmie and Reflect Chansey by attempting to freeze them.

[SET]
name: Reflect
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Reflect
move 3: Rest
move 4: Earthquake / Hyper Beam / Ice Punch / Self-Destruct / Lovely Kiss

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Reflect lets Snorlax take full advantage of its good physical bulk, allowing it to shrug off hits—from the likes of Tauros, Rhydon and opposing Snorlax—while still being offensively threatening itself.

The 4th move on Reflect sets can change depending on what coverage is required depending for Snorlax's team. Earthquake 2HKOes Gengar and Jolteon, and 3HKOes Rhydon, as well as and scouting scouts for Counter on Chansey and opposing Snorlax, although it lacks the offensive power of Hyper Beam or Self-Destruct. Hyper Beam is Snorlax's best move against chipped foes, it also allows it to feasibly beat Cloyster and Slowbro one-on-one, which it can not do otherwise, however Hyper Beam leaves Snorlax walled by Rock-types and Gengar, and has a limited amount of PP. Ice Punch can freeze opposing Reflect Snorlax and Reflect Chansey; it also 3HKOes Rhydon, however, it does negligible damage to even neutral targets. Mention why Ice Punch over Ice Beam (PP). Self-Destruct is a good suprise factor and is also a good option to KO something in an emergency; it also provides an alternative method of wallbreaking, making Reflect Snorlax less reliant on its teammates to force progress, however, it much of the same issues as Hyper Beam. Lovely Kiss allows Reflect Snorlax to push sleep past paralyzed Chansey, Alakazam, and Starmie without giving up the defensive capability and longevity of Reflect. It also allows it to put to sleep along with foes it may have trouble breaking otherwise, such as Cloyster. However, it leaves Snorlax with only Body Slam as an attacking move, giving it limited PP to theeaten threaten things and leaving it walled by Rock-types and Gengar.

Reflect Snorlax is appreciated over the more offensive sets on teams because it allows Snorlax to be a durable check to the tiers best physically offensive threats. To me this implies that reflect is the best set, which idt is true in tradebacks. Reflect is crucial to Snorlax's longevity as it gives it a cushion to be able to reliably use Rest to heal off damage and paralysis; without Reflect it is much harder to find opportunities to wake up safely as while Snorlax's bulk is good, it's not good enough in most situations to reliably wake up and pressure the opponent offensively without Reflect. Reflect Snorlax is one of the tier's (apostrophe) best switchins to most opposing Snorlax sets if something else has already been put to sleep, it's also a decent switchin to Tauros, although its high crit critical hit rate makes it unreliable at switching in consistently. Specify who each "it" is in the previous sentence. Reflect Snorlax has to perform a careful balancing act of still being an offensive powerhouse that threatens foes with hard hitting physical attacks while also being a durable physical tank that can last throughout the game. It is important to keep up offensive pressure even with Reflect Snorlax's durability. this is kinda the exact same thing as the last sentence While Reflect Snorlax doesn't love getting paralyzed, it is much more willing than sets lacking Rest to take it if needs be as it can reliably Rest it off later point in the game; Snorlax also still pressures the vast majority of the tier even when paralyzed.

[SET]
name: PhysLax (All-Out Attacker)
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Hyper Beam / Counter
move 3: Earthquake / Counter
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Snorlax's good bulk and amazing Attack also allows it to function well as an all-out physical attacker, being able to KO nearly every single foe in the game with the combination of Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, and Self-Destruct. Earthquake or Hyper Beam can be dropped in favor of Counter to catch Snorlax and Tauros off guard, with a countered Body Slam into Hyper Beam KO'ing (apostrophe) Tauros, and a countered Snorlax Body Slam doing at least 48.4% to opposing Snorlax. Once PhysLax Snorlax is low on HP, it can explode to KO whatever has come in to attempt to handle it to punch an even deeper hole in the opposing team. Tbh I like how you worded the boom description in the first set a lot better than this, you could lowkey just copypaste that one here since it's fundamentally the same move.

PhysLax, much like Lovely Kiss Snorlax, is put on a timer to get things done due to its lack of recovery and poor Speed. It also needs to be play around the threat of paralysis, with a paralyzed PhysLax losing much of its offensive pressure and struggling to break many foes without exploding.

PhysLax can be used over the Offensive Sleeper set on teams that already have a reliable sleeper, such as Exeggutor or Jynx, that also want the extra utility Hyper Beam, Earthquake, or Counter brings. To make full use of PhysLax to it's vital to know when to preserve your PhysLax and when to cut your losses and explode. PhysLax usually wants to explode when it's either backed into a corner or when its relatively low on HP.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ice Punch can be used over Ice Beam on Amnesia sets as it has more PP, which allows Snorlax to stick around for even longer and gives it more chances to attempt to freeze a foe, however, it is weaker than Ice Beam. Isn't punch on the set for amnesia lax? Think you wanna swap some stuff here. A set consisting of 3 attacks + Rest can be used to give Snorlax the extra utility of a third attacking move over Reflect while still being able to stick around for longer and and attempt to heal off the damage or paralysis later, however, it is difficult to wake Snorlax up without Reflect as many Pokemon threaten to KO it while it's resting asleep. A set consisting of 2 attacks, Lovely Kiss, and Rest can also be used to let Snorlax be a threatening sleeper and also heal off the damage later while not falling short in the coverage department unlike Reflect + Lovely Kiss, although this set shares the same issues as 3 attacks + Rest. Thunderbolt can be used in the 4th moveslot or over Body Slam on Amnesia sets, with a +4 Thunderbolt OHKOing Cloyster and being favored to OHKO Starmie. However, it's generally preferred to run something else in the fourth slot as it doesn't (apostrophe) do much else aside from that, and without Body Slam Snorlax losses its ability to be immediatly threatening or pressure Alakazam and Chansey meaningfully. Is there not also amnesia bolt slam rest? It's decent into anything not named rhydon. Amnesia can be used in conjunction with Reflect to make a Snorlax that can wall foes on the physical and special side. However, this leaves Snorlax with only one attacking move. Headbutt can be used against paralyzed foes to attempt to ParaFlinch them, however, it is unreliable and weaker than Body Slam.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Snorlax**: Snorlax being on every competitive team means it will usually end up facing itself. The most important factor that determines which Snorlax has the upper hand is if sleep clause has been activated, as Lovely Kiss Snorlax completely denies a Snorlax that can not threaten Lovely Kiss, even a paralyzed Snorlax that threatens to inflict sleep can switch into a Snorlax using Lovely Kiss and deny it comfortably if it has no chip. If neither Snorlax threatens Lovely Kiss, Reflect Snorlax can switch into offensive Snorlax sets bar Amnesia and beat them quite comfortably when healthy. If Reflect Snorlax is paralyzed it struggles to consistently switch into opposing Snorlax as the chance to fluff a turn to full paralysis can cost the game. Amnesia Snorlax can catch a Reflect Snorlax off guard and threaten it with boosted special attacks.

**Cloyster**: Cloyster switches into Snorlax's Body Slam with ease, does it? Cloy really hates para. Everything else here is good but I wouldn't say it switches in with ease. thanks to its staggering 180 base Defense; it also walls most variants of Amnesia Snorlax thanks to its 4x resistance to Ice-type attacks. Cloyster 4HKOes Snorlax with Blizzard, and can chip it with Clamp. However, Cloyster has to be weary about getting slept by Lovely Kiss, as well as repeatedly switching in on Body Slam, as it hates getting paralyzed.

**Slowbro**: Slowbro switches into Snorlax's Body Slam with relative ease, as it is 4HKOed most of the time and threatens Snorlax with paralysis and Amnesia boosted Surfs. Slowbro can also set up a Reflect to become even better at tanking Snorlax's hits. However, Slowbro has to fear getting worn down into Hyper Beam KO range and getting slept by Lovely Kiss.

**Special Attackers**: While there aren't many special attackers which enjoy taking a Body Slam, many special attackers—such as Alakazam, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Zapdos—can 3HKO Snorlax with their STAB attacks, applying significant amounts of pressure on it. This is especially true if Snorlax has used Rest, since it will not be able to retaliate while it is forced to either switch or or burn sleep turns.

**Gengar**: Gengar walls non-Amnesia variants Snorlax without Earthquake, with it being nigh helpless and forced to switch out, although Gengar has to fear getting frozen by Ice Punch. Gengar is a great absorber of Snorlax's Lovely Kiss, as even if it's asleep it can freely attempt to wake up in front of Snorlax without Earthquake.

**Porygon**: the passive and unassuming Porygon finds itself a niche for completely stonewalling non-Amnesia variants of Snorlax if sleep clause is activated, as it is 3HKOed by Body Slam and stalls Snorlax out of attacking PP with Recover. Snorlax can explode on it to OHKO it with Self-Destruct, but trading a Snorlax for a Porygon is an awful trade for the Snorlax user in most circumstances. Even if sleep clause isn't active, your opp is wasting sleep on a porygon.

**Chansey**: Unparalyzed Chansey switches into Snorlax and sets up a Reflect with very little issue if sleep clause is activated, while Counter Chansey can OHKO Snorlax by countering Body Slam. If Reflect or Counter Chansey is paralyzed, it finds it much harder to reliably switch check Snorlax, as it can no longer switch in safely as unparalyzed Snorlax now outspeeds it and the chance to be full paralyzed makes it unreliable.

**Rock-types**: Rock-types with Rest wall Snorlax lacking specific coverage, as they take negligable damage from Snorlax STAB attacks. Rock-types without Rest still check Snorlax lacking specific coverage, although they are prone to getting worn down over time and are crippled by Body Slam paralysis.

Would give Persian a mention for sure, can do the Slash Slash Slam thing on reflectlax that it does in OU, while also having Hypnosis. Also Hypno can be added to special attackers, or u could group it with slowbro and make that section "amnesia users"

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/notverycake.625260/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/shellnuts.491544/
Grammar checked by:

 

[Sabelette]

QC 2/2 after I double check it when suggestions are implemented

Gonna stack mine on top of gastlies, credit both; I'll use lighter red/blue and darker purple for my feedback. In general I would suggest focusing on brevity, a lot of sentences have too many extra words to them and are run-ons that could be split into 2 or 3 sentences. Also holy shit this took me like a week because I also did a ton of GP

Spoiler

[OVERVIEW]

Snorlax is the single most central and defining Pokemon in the tier; the addition of a reliable sleep move to its already wide movepool pushes it to even further heights than before. I think it's worth a sentence in the overview explaining WHY lovely kiss is so important. Agree, the fact it can't be para blocked is scary Nothing switches into Snorlax with complete safety; (semicolon) , (RC) even Pokemon that resist or are immune to its STAB moves, (AC) such as Rhydon and Gengar, (AC) are at the mercy of one of its many coverage moves. Snorlax is also incredibly bulky, shrugging off hits from the likes of Tauros and Starmie with ease, Snorlax doesn't really 'shrug off these attacks with ease'. It doesn't take a ton but Starmie can force lax out, and so can Tauros if reflect isn't up. Both these mons also have high critrates. Agree, this is an overstatement; I'd say it's one of the few Pokemon that can take a hit from these foes and being able to hit back even harder with an awe-inspiring this is hyperbolic, it's barely stronger than Tauros and Bslam is weaker than Don EQ by a good margin STAB Body Slam or Hyper Beam; it can also explode on the opposing Pokemon with its STAB Self-Destruct, which demolishes non-resists non-resistant foes. Snorlax is on nearly every single serious team in the tier and cannot afford to be dropped in most circumstances. Tbh I think you should just flat-out say it's undroppable. Especially since this is geared towards new players who should in no way be experimenting with any kind of laxless team. seconding

However, Snorlax isn't flawless, it has an abysmal base 30 Speed, tying it with Slowbro for slowest Pokemon in the tier. (period) , combined with having to rely Its reliance on Rest for recovery makes it exploitable and easily forced out by Pokemon with high critical hit rates such as Alakazam, Starmie, or and Tauros. Would also mention that this speed means Lax seldom crits. It also lacks enough moveslots to hit everything that it wants to, with Snorlax lacking Hyper Beam struggling to break Cloyster and unparalyzed Chansey, and Snorlax lacking coverage being walled by Rock-types and Gengar. I'd rephrase this whole sentence and name that it has lots of options to pick its matchups but it's giving up longevity or coverage so there's always something to exploit

[SET]
name: Offensive Sleeper
move 1: Lovely Kiss
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Earthquake / Hyper Beam
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
This is the defining set of RBY Tradebacks, combining utility and raw power in a way that completely restructures the rest of the metagame. With just two moves, Body Slam and Lovely Kiss, Snorlax exerts a tremendous amount of pressure on the opposing team the moment it hits the field, (AC); (remove semicolon) threatening to deal significant damage to most of the tier while incapacitating anything that attempts to check it with Lovely Kiss, (RC) before continuing on it’s its rampage. This deadly combination can be made even more potent through appropriate choice of Snorlax’s second attacking move. Earthquake is Snorlax’s best coverage option, dealing heavy damage to Rhydon and Gengar—two of the few Pokemon that can comfortably switch into are not threatened by it’s (delete apostrophe). Also, replaced the previous bit cuz I wouldn't say Rhydon can comfortably switch into slam cuz of the para chance. Body Slam—and allowing Snorlax to scout for Counter on opposing Chansey and Snorlax while still doing serviceable damage. Hyper Beam is the other common choice for Snorlax’s second attacking move, allowing Snorlax to threaten KOs against many common Pokemon, (AC) —such as Chansey, Persian, Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno, (AC) —after only one or two hits Body Slams. Self-Destruct rounds out this Snorlax’s moveset, allowing Snorlax to threaten extremely high amounts of damage (same idea but brevity) even while low on health or when it’s its team needs it to force immediate progress. It OHKOes physically frailer foes such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam, (RC) and does heavy damage to even physically bulky threats, doing a minimum of 72.2% minimum to Slowbro and 64% minimum to Cloyster. However, Snorlax is usually forced to explode use Self-Destruct rather early, (RC) due to normally having to take a hit before it can due to its awful base Speed.

This set single-handedly influences the tier in numerous ways, making the tier much faster-paced compared to standard OU. Right from the first turn it’s effects can be felt with how it influences lead choice and early-game strategy. (this is redundant/repetitive with what comes before and after) With this Snorlax set, it is far less risky for teams to focus on spreading paralysis early-on, since it is able to reliably push sleep past common sleep blockers—such as Alakazam, Chansey, and Starmie—with ease (redundant/pushing sleep past Mie isn't necessarily the easiest thing either) thanks to its hard hitting STAB attacks physical moves, i feel like the fact that the moves are physical is what makes Chansey and Zam bad at sleepblocking which denies any chance for these foes to switch in safely. It can also flat-out force them out. This set also affects the metagame by forcing the opponent to decide who gets put to sleep, since the Pokemon that are able to withstand it’s assault—making them more likely to get put to sleep by it’s Lovely Kiss—are often key pieces in the defensive stability of the opposing team, making the impact of sleep much more pronounced. This set makes Snorlax extremely difficult to check because it can rely on allies to paralyze physically-frail foes, which cannot safely block sleep, and it can then put the physically defensive foes that would otherwise withstand its attacks to sleep. I'm not sure if I fully understand what's being said here? I think you're saying that the mons that switch into lax are more likely to be slept by it, and these mons are generally also good at checking other things? If this is what you mean, I think it can be worded better. I suggest deleting the things between the EM dashes and trying to fit that somewhere else, i could help u with this if necessary just shoot me a ping on discord. (suggesting a reword, the original is very clunky) And even when After Snorlax has put something to sleep, it still is extremely threatening and can continue battering away at the enemy team due to it’s its raw damage output.

Despite these upsides, this Snorlax set requires team support due to its lack of defensive utility. does have it’s fair share of flaws which it’s teammates need to compensate for. Without any form of recovery, this Snorlax set is not able to reliably switch into physical attackers throughout the game, necessitating it be paired with teammates such as Starmie or Cloyster which can help cover these roles traditionally filled by Snorlax. This set’s lack of recovery also makes this Snorlax set liable it vulnerable to getting worn down, as it is often forced to take a hit before it can land an attack or Lovely Kiss due to it’s its poor base speed Speed. This makes Snorlax benefits greatly from teammates that can spread paralysis, (AC) —such as Chansey, Alakazam, Starmie, Zapdos, and Exeggutor, (AC) —helping to which alleviates some of this pressure. This lax also fits well on Boomspam teams. Think of the teams that traditional Physlax fits on (egg + cloy stuff) Yes, this is definitely worth a mention. Lax can absolute just land sleep and then boom something to keep momentum

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker (Amnesia)
move 1: Amnesia
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Blizzard / Ice Beam
move 4: Lovely Kiss / Rest / Self-Destruct nitpick but I would swap rest and boom, since Blizz + Rest and IB + Boom aren't sets, the slashes should line up (offensive moves first on both slots, defensive moves last on both slots)

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Amnesia can not only let Snorlax perform as a threatening mixed attacker, but also as a competant competent special wall depending on the moves it uses, (not sure I agree with this premise at all - running rest still doesn't make it a great wall when it can be forced out while asleep, esp with the prevalence of Persian) allowing it to either play the role of offensive wall-breaker wallbreaker, (RC) or act as the role of a less immediatly immediately threatening, (RC) but longer lasting defensive mixed attacker (just too many consecutive descriptors and "longer lasting" captures it) depending on what set its running. The offensive set uses Blizzard and either Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct to mow down foes quickly. +2 Blizzard OHKOes Rhydon and Golem, 2HKOes Zapdos, Persian, and Exeggutor, and has a 76.2% chance to 2HKO Tauros. It also 3HKOes Gengar and opposing Snorlax, which allows it to break through opposing Reflect Snorlax. Lovely Kiss allows Snorlax to put to sleep a foe it might otherwise struggle against, such as Cloyster or Starmie; it also gives Snorlax a good opportunity to set up an Amnesia, which it may otherwise struggles to find opportunities to do so. Self-Destruct can allow Snorlax to do heavy damage to something in a dire situation. I feel on this set Boom is more of a "grand finale" move than a bailout move. You set up, fire off blizzards as you slowly get worn down, then blow up once you get worn down enough. Agree with rephrasing this, it takes out something after you've traded hits

The more defensive set forgoes Blizzard for Ice Beam and runs Rest in place of Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct. Ice Beam is much weaker than Blizzard; at +2 it 3HKOes Tauros, Exeggutor, and Zapdos and 4HKOes opposing Snorlax, but it trades this raw power in exchange for more PP and higher accuracy, which allows Snorlax to stick around for longer and allows it to attempt to freeze a foe. (put this at the end of the prior paragraph, there's no reason to have a 1 sentence paragraph)

Amnesia Snorlax requires decent paralysis support to make significant progress for its team, as foes such as Chansey and Starmie threaten to may thwart its attempts to do so if left unparalyzed. Cloyster also poses a major threat to most variants of Amnesia Snorlax, meaning it has to be thoroughly dealt with beforehand. (This isn't really adding anything, you could instead say that Body Slam is not usually sufficient to handle Cloyster) The offensive Offensive Amnesia Snorlax set should try switch in on either a Pokemon using a recovery move or an attack that will deal minimal damage, as it needs to be at or near max full HP to pressure the opposing team. The defensive Defensive Amnesia Snorlax set should also attempt to do the same, but it can afford to switch into a stray special attack from the likes of a paralyzed Starmie or Exeggutor if needs be. The defensive set can also attempt to get past the likes of Starmie and Reflect Chansey by attempting to freeze them.

[SET]
name: Reflect
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Reflect
move 3: Rest
move 4: Earthquake / Hyper Beam / Ice Punch / Self-Destruct / Lovely Kiss (this is way too many slashes, Ice Punch should absolutely be OO with the new threats in this tier, slow frz fish with a lower BP than Ice Beam is absolutely a fish in this tier presently)

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Reflect lets Snorlax take full advantage of its good physical bulk, allowing it to shrug off hits—from the likes of Tauros, Rhydon and opposing Snorlax— (this is an abuse of em dashes, just write it as-is with no commas while still being offensively threatening itself.

The 4th move on Reflect sets can change depending on what coverage is required depending for Snorlax's team. Earthquake 2HKOes Gengar and Jolteon, and 3HKOes Rhydon, as well as and scouting scouts for Counter on Chansey and opposing Snorlax, although it lacks the offensive power of Hyper Beam or Self-Destruct. Hyper Beam is Snorlax's best move against chipped foes; , (RC) it also allows it to feasibly beat Cloyster and Slowbro one-on-one, which it can not do otherwise, however but Hyper Beam leaves Snorlax walled by Rock-types and Gengar, (RC) and has a limited amount of PP. Ice Punch can freeze opposing Reflect Snorlax and Reflect Chansey; it also 3HKOes Rhydon, however, it does negligible damage to even neutral targets. Mention why Ice Punch over Ice Beam (PP). (throw it in OO and remove this sentence from here, just say "Ice Punch is an option on Reflect Snorlax to...") Self-Destruct is a good suprise surprise factor (this is a weird way to word it, I'd just say it allows Snorlax to remove a threat later after it's fulfilled its role as a wall and physical attacker) and is also a good option to KO something in an emergency; it also provides an alternative method of wallbreaking, making makes Reflect Snorlax less reliant on its teammates to force progress, but it shares similar issues to Hyper Beam however, it much of the same issues as Hyper Beam. Lovely Kiss allows Reflect Snorlax to push sleep past paralyzed Chansey, Alakazam, and Starmie without giving up the defensive capability and longevity of Reflect. It also allows it to put to sleep along with to remove foes it may have trouble breaking otherwise, such as Cloyster. However, it leaves Snorlax with only Body Slam as an attacking move, giving it limited PP to theeaten threaten things and leaving it walled by Rock-types and Gengar.

Reflect Snorlax is appreciated over the more offensive sets on teams because it allows Snorlax to be a durable check to the tiers best physically offensive threats. To me this implies that reflect is the best set, which idt is true in tradebacks. (agree + just unnessary words, just say what it does) Reflect is crucial to Snorlax's longevity, (AC) as it gives it a cushion to be able to allows it to reliably use Rest to heal off damage and paralysis; without Reflect it is much harder to find opportunities to wake up safely, (AC) as while Snorlax's bulk is good, it's not good enough in most situations to reliably wake up and pressure the opponent offensively without Reflect. Reflect Snorlax is one of the tier's (apostrophe) best switch-ins (AH) to most opposing Snorlax sets if something else has already been put to sleep. (AP) , it's It's also a decent switch-in (AH) to Tauros, although its Tauros's high crit critical hit rate makes any switch in somewhat unsafe it unreliable at switching in consistently. Specify who each "it" is in the previous sentence. Reflect Snorlax has to perform a careful balancing act of still being an utilize its HP carefully to balance its role as offensive powerhouse that threatens foes with hard hitting physical attacks while also being a with its use as a durable physical tank that can last throughout the game. It is important to keep up offensive pressure even with Reflect Snorlax's durability. this is kinda the exact same thing as the last sentence While Reflect Snorlax doesn't love getting paralyzed, it is much more willing to take it than sets lacking Rest, (AC) to take it if needs be as it can reliably Rest it off later point in the game; Snorlax also still pressures the vast majority of the tier even when paralyzed.

[SET]
name: PhysLax (All-Out Attacker)
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Hyper Beam / Counter
move 3: Earthquake / Counter
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Snorlax's good bulk and amazing Attack also allows (sets are meant to be independent and not require reading through other sets first; I can tell there's a lack of detail here due to stuff being covered above. Add a couple sentences about PhysLax's matchups and KO ranges and it's probably fine.) it to function well as an all-out physical attacker, being able to KO nearly every single foe in the game with the combination of Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, and Self-Destruct. Earthquake or Hyper Beam can be dropped in favor of Counter to catch Snorlax and Tauros off guard, (RC) with —a countered Body Slam into Hyper Beam KO'ing (apostrophe) Tauros landing Counter against Tauros's Body Slam leaves it in Hyper Beam range, and a countered landing Counter on Snorlax Body Slam doing deals at least 48.4% to opposing Snorlax. Once PhysLax Snorlax is low on HP, it can explode use Self-Destruct to KO whatever has come in to attempt to handle it to punch an even deeper another hole in the opposing team. Tbh I like how you worded the boom description in the first set a lot better than this, you could lowkey just copypaste that one here since it's fundamentally the same move. (i gave a rewording but doing what gastlies said is also fine, pick one)

PhysLax, much like Lovely Kiss Snorlax, is put on a timer to get things done due to its lack of recovery and poor Speed. It also needs to be play around the threat of paralysis, with a paralyzed PhysLax losing much of its offensive pressure and struggling to break many foes without exploding using Self-Destruct if it takes paralysis. (merge this with the paragraph below)

PhysLax can be used over the Offensive Sleeper set on teams that already have a reliable sleeper, such as Exeggutor or Jynx, that also want the extra utility of an additional attack Hyper Beam, Earthquake, or Counter brings. To make full use of PhysLax, to it's vital to know when to preserve it and when to sacrifice it with Self-Destruct; it your PhysLax and when to cut your losses and explode. PhysLax usually wants to explode use Self-Destruct when it's either backed into a corner or when its relatively low on HP. (this feels really simplistic, could probably name some examples of targets it might try to remove with boom and what it can enable as well as good teammates for it, which I'm assuming you skipped bc you covered it under Offensive Sleeper, but as mentioned you need every set to be readable independently)

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ice Punch can be used over Ice Beam on Amnesia sets as it has more PP, which allows Snorlax to stick around for even longer and gives it more chances to attempt to freeze a foe, however, it is weaker than Ice Beam. Isn't punch on the set for amnesia lax? Think you wanna swap some stuff here. (throw in that it can be used on Reflect sets here instead of slashing) A set consisting of 3 attacks + Rest can be used to give Snorlax the extra utility of a third attacking move over Reflect while still being able to stick around for longer, (AC) and and attempt to heal off the damage or paralysis later, however, but (we don't have to give the dex info on the move, you can just say "stick around longer" and trust that people know or can look up what Rest does) it is difficult to wake Snorlax up without Reflect, (AC) as many Pokemon threaten to KO it while it's resting asleep. A set consisting of 2 attacks, Lovely Kiss, and Rest can also be used to let Snorlax be a threatening sleeper and preserve itself also heal off the damage later while not without falling short in the coverage department unlike Reflect + Lovely Kiss, although this set shares the same issues as 3 attacks + Rest. Thunderbolt can be used in the 4th moveslot or over Body Slam on Amnesia sets, with a +4 Thunderbolt OHKOing Cloyster and being favored to OHKO Starmie. However, it's generally preferred to run another move, (AC) something else in the fourth slot as it doesn't (apostrophe) do much else; Body Slam, Self-Destruct, and Snorlax's various utility options all tend to be more useful. aside from that, and without Body Slam Snorlax losses its ability to be immediatly threatening or pressure Alakazam and Chansey meaningfully. Is there not also amnesia bolt slam rest? It's decent into anything not named rhydon. This can get a quick sentence about replacing the ice move) Amnesia can be used in conjunction with Reflect to make a Snorlax that can wall foes on both the physical and special side. However, this leaves Snorlax with only one attacking move. Headbutt can be used against paralyzed foes to attempt to ParaFlinch paraflinch them, however, but it is unreliable and weaker than Body Slam.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Snorlax**: Snorlax being is on every competitive team, (AC) means meaning it will usually end up facing itself. The most important factor that determines which Snorlax has the upper hand in the matchup is if sleep clause whether Sleep Clause has been activated for either side, as Lovely Kiss Snorlax threatens to instantly remove its opposition. completely denies a Snorlax that can not threaten Lovely Kiss, even a A paralyzed Lovely Kiss Snorlax that threatens to inflict sleep can switch into a Snorlax using Lovely Kiss to deny sleep and threaten it in return and deny it comfortably if it has no chip. If neither Snorlax threatens Lovely Kiss, Reflect Snorlax can switch into offensive Snorlax sets bar Amnesia and beat them quite comfortably when healthy. If Reflect Snorlax is paralyzed, (AC) it struggles to consistently switch into opposing Snorlax, (AC) as the chance to fluff (???) lose a turn to full paralysis can cost the game. Amnesia Snorlax can catch a Reflect Snorlax off guard and threaten it with boosted special attacks. (overall the first few sentences of paragraph are extremely messy and hard to understand - I did my best to get across "losing Snorlax to sleep is really bad")

**Cloyster**: Cloyster switches into Snorlax's Body Slam with ease, does it? Cloy really hates para. Everything else here is good but I wouldn't say it switches in with ease. ("relatively safely" may work better) thanks to its staggering base 180 base Defense; it also walls most variants of Amnesia Snorlax thanks to its 4x resistance to Ice-type attacks. Cloyster 4HKOes Snorlax with Blizzard, (RC) and can chip it with Clamp. However, Cloyster has to be weary about getting slept by must be wary of Lovely Kiss, (RC) as well as Body Slam paralysis repeatedly switching in on Body Slam, as it hates getting paralyzed. (mention in a new sentence, not a run-on, that Hyper Beam is the big threat after Bslam para, and that paralysis forces Cloyster to use Rest before it can reasonably use Clamp again. Also probably talk a tiny bit about the boom calc in each direction)

**Slowbro**: Slowbro switches into Snorlax's Body Slam with relative ease, as it is 4HKOed most of the time and threatens Snorlax with paralysis and Amnesia boosted Surfs. Slowbro can also set up a Reflect to become even better at tanking Snorlax's hits. However, Slowbro has to fear getting can quickly get worn down into Hyper Beam KO range and getting slept by fears Lovely Kiss.

**Special Attackers**: While there aren't many special attackers which enjoy taking a Body Slam, many special attackers—such as Alakazam, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Zapdos—can 3HKO Snorlax with their STAB attacks, applying significant amounts of pressure on it. This is especially true if Snorlax has used Rest, often forcing it out while still asleep since it will not be able to retaliate while it is forced to either switch or or burn sleep turns. (changed dex info to something more practical)

**Gengar**: Gengar walls non-Amnesia variants Snorlax without Earthquake, with it being nigh helpless and forced to switch out, although Gengar has to fear getting frozen by Ice Punch risks freeze if Snorlax has an Ice-type move. Gengar is a great absorber of Snorlax's Lovely Kiss absorber, as even if it's asleep it can freely attempt to wake up in front of Snorlax without Earthquake.

**Porygon**: the The passive and unassuming Porygon finds itself a niche for in completely stonewalling non-Amnesia variants of Snorlax once Sleep Clause if sleep clause is activated, as it is 3HKOed by Body Slam and stalls Snorlax out of attacking PP with Recover. Snorlax can explode on it to OHKO it with Self-Destruct, but trading a Snorlax for a Porygon is an awful trade for the Snorlax user in most circumstances. Even if sleep clause isn't active, your opp is wasting sleep on a porygon. (Honestly can't imagine that you wouldn't sack Pory to sleep anyway, it's still the least useful Pokemon on almost any team, no?)

**Chansey**: Unparalyzed Chansey switches into Snorlax and sets up a Reflect with very little issue if sleep clause is activated once Sleep Clause is active, while Counter Chansey can OHKO Snorlax by countering correctly predicting Body Slam. If Reflect or Counter Chansey is paralyzed, it finds it much harder to reliably switch check Snorlax, as it can no longer switch in safely as unparalyzed Snorlax now outspeeds it and the full paralysis chance to be full paralyzed makes it unreliable even against paralyzed Snorlax. (Hyper Beam again needs a mention, once paralyzed Chansey will inevitably fall to Hyper Beam even vs paralyzed Lax. Also probably worth mentioning that Lax can OHKO boom it and enable special attackers on some teams)

**Rock-types**: Rock-types with Rest wall Snorlax (If we're going to say Gengar walls Icelax when it's 5-6HKOed, then Rhydon walls Monolax) lacking specific coverage, as they take negligable negligible damage from Snorlax's STAB attacks. Rock-types without Rest still check Snorlax lacking specific coverage, although they are, however, prone to getting worn down over time and are crippled hamstrung (preference but slightly ableist + I think "crippled" implies they're worse off than they are) by Body Slam paralysis.

Would give Persian a mention for sure, can do the Slash Slash Slam thing on reflectlax that it does in OU, while also having Hypnosis. Also Hypno can be added to special attackers, or u could group it with slowbro and make that section "amnesia users" (fully agree with Persian as a check, Hypno I don't think is a big deal for it. Persian threatens the same physical sleep problem that stops Chansey from sleep blocking it while Hypno doesn't, but Hypno could be mentioned under special attackers for forcing lax out if sleep clause isnt active + setting up free if it comes in on rest. Tauros is also a notable issue for non Reflect Rest Lax between the solid damage and huge crit rate; even with Rest, Tauros just needs to get in on the Rest turn to either force Lax out or make it commit to getting a single move off before going down, which can force boom predictions)

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/notverycake.625260/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/shellnuts.491544/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:

 

[a blue banana]

add remove highlight comment

Spoiler

[OVERVIEW]

Snorlax is the single most central and defining Pokemon in the tier; the addition of a reliable sleep move to its already wide movepool pushes it to even further heights than before, as nothing can reliably block its Lovely Kiss with paralysis. Nothing switches into Snorlax with complete safety; even Pokemon that resist or are immune to its STAB moves, such as Rhydon and Gengar, are at the mercy of one of its many coverage moves. Snorlax is also incredibly bulky, being one of the few Pokemon that can take a hit from the likes of Tauros or and Starmie and hit back even harder with a powerful STAB Body Slam or Hyper Beam; it can also explode on the opposing Pokemon with use its STAB Self-Destruct, which demolishes non-resistant foes. Snorlax is on nearly every single serious team and cannot afford to be dropped.

However, Snorlax has an abysmal base 30 Speed, tying it with Slowbro for slowest Pokemon in the tier. Its reliance on Rest for recovery makes it exploitable and easily forced out by Pokemon with high critical hit rates such as Alakazam, Starmie, and Tauros. This poor base Speed also saddles Snorlax with a measly 5.86% critical hit rate. That isn't Snorlax's only issue though, as while it has many different options to cover a wide array of matchups, it has to either give up longevity or coverage to do so, meaning there is always something to exploit no matter what set Snorlax runs.

[SET]
name: Offensive Sleeper
move 1: Lovely Kiss
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Earthquake / Hyper Beam
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
This is the defining set of RBY Tradebacks, combining utility and raw power in a way that completely restructures the rest of the metagame. With just two moves, Body Slam and Lovely Kiss, Snorlax exerts a tremendous amount of pressure on the opposing team the moment it hits the field, threatening to deal significant damage to most of the tier while incapacitating anything that attempts to check it with Lovely Kiss before continuing on its rampage. Earthquake is Snorlax’s best coverage option, dealing heavy damage to Rhydon and Gengar—two of the few Pokemon that not threatened by its Body Slam—and allowing Snorlax to scout for Counter on opposing Chansey (reader can assume that Chansey is a foe here) and opposing Snorlax while still doing serviceable damage. Hyper Beam is the other common choice, allowing Snorlax to threaten KOs against many common Pokemon, such as Chansey, Persian, Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno, after only one or two hits. Self-Destruct rounds out this moveset, allowing Snorlax to threaten extreme damage while low on health or when its team needs it to force immediate progress. It OHKOes physically frail foes such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam and does heavy damage to even physically bulky threats, doing a minimum of 72.2% to Slowbro and 64% to Cloyster. However, Snorlax is usually forced to use Self-Destruct rather early due to its awful base Speed.

This set single-handedly influences the tier in numerous ways, making the tier much faster-paced compared to standard OU. With this Snorlax set, it is far less risky for teams to focus on spreading paralysis early, since it is able to reliably push sleep past common sleep blockers, (replace em-dash w/ comma) such as Alakazam, Chansey, and Starmie, (replace em-dash w/ comma) thanks to its hard-hitting (AH) physical moves, which denies any chance for these foes to switch in safely. This set makes Snorlax extremely difficult to check because it can rely on allies to paralyze physically (RH) frail foes, which cannot safely block sleep, and it can then put the physically defensive foes that would otherwise withstand its attacks to sleep. After Snorlax has put something a foe ("something" is too broad of a word, Pokemon aren't just things) to sleep, it still is extremely threatening and can continue battering away at the enemy team due to its raw damage output.

Despite these upsides, this Snorlax set requires team support due to its lack of defensive utility. Without any form of recovery, Snorlax is not able to reliably switch into physical attackers throughout the game, necessitating it be paired with teammates such as Starmie or and Cloyster, (AC) which can help cover these roles traditionally filled by Snorlax. This set’s lack of recovery also makes it Snorlax vulnerable to getting worn down, as it is often forced to take a hit before it can land an attack or Lovely Kiss due to its poor base Speed. Snorlax benefits greatly from teammates that can spread paralysis, such as Chansey, Alakazam, Starmie, Zapdos, and Exeggutor, which alleviates some of this pressure. (I moved this sentence here because it seems to be in response to the previous sentence.) This Snorlax set also works well on fast-paced (AH) hyper (RH) offensive teams that attempt to mow down the foe with multiple Explosion users.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker (Amnesia)
move 1: Amnesia
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Blizzard / Ice Beam
move 4: Lovely Kiss / Self-Destruct / Rest

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Amnesia can not only let Snorlax perform as a threatening mixed attacker, but it can also gives (parallelism) it a decent defensive profile depending on the moves it uses, allowing it to either play the role of wallbreaker or act as a less immediately threatening but longer-lasting (AH) mixed attacker. The offensive set variant (these are two variants of the same set) uses Blizzard and either Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct to mow down foes quickly. +2 Blizzard OHKOes Rhydon and Golem, 2HKOes Zapdos, Persian, and Exeggutor, and has a 76.2% chance to 2HKO Tauros. It also 3HKOes Gengar and opposing Snorlax, which allows it to break through opposing Reflect Snorlax. Lovely Kiss allows Snorlax to put to sleep a foe it might otherwise struggle against, such as Cloyster or Starmie, (AC) to sleep; it also gives Snorlax a good opportunity to set up Amnesia, which it may otherwise struggle to do. Self-Destruct allows Snorlax to KO or heavily incapacitate a foe after once it has been worn down, and it also gives Snorlax a good way to free itself from dire situations. (AS) The more defensive set variant forgoes Blizzard for Ice Beam and runs Rest in place of Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct. Ice Beam is much weaker than Blizzard; at +2 it 3HKOes Tauros, Exeggutor, and Zapdos and 4HKOes opposing Snorlax, but it allows Snorlax to stick around for longer and attempt to freeze a foe.

Amnesia Snorlax requires paralysis support to make significant progress for its team, as foes such as Chansey and Starmie may thwart it if they are left unparalyzed. Body Slam is also usually not sufficient enough to handle a healthy Cloyster. Offensive Amnesia Snorlax should try to switch in on either a Pokemon using a recovery move or an attack that will deal minimal damage, as it needs to be at or near full HP to pressure the opposing team. Defensive Amnesia Snorlax should attempt to do the same, but it can afford to switch into a stray special attack from the likes of a paralyzed Starmie or Exeggutor if needs be. The defensive set can also attempt to get past the likes of Starmie and Reflect Chansey by attempting to freeze them.

[SET]
name: Reflect
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Reflect
move 3: Rest
move 4: Earthquake / Hyper Beam / Self-Destruct / Lovely Kiss

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Reflect lets Snorlax take full advantage of its good physical bulk, allowing it to shrug off hits from the likes of Tauros, Rhydon, (AC) and opposing Snorlax while still being offensively threatening itself.

The 4th fourth move on Reflect sets can change depending on what coverage is required depending for Snorlax's team. Earthquake 2HKOes Gengar and Jolteon, 3HKOes Rhydon, and scouts for Counter on Chansey and opposing Snorlax, although it lacks the offensive power of Hyper Beam or Self-Destruct. Hyper Beam is Snorlax's best move against chipped foes; it also allows it to feasibly beat Cloyster and Slowbro one-on-one, but Hyper Beam leaves Snorlax walled by Rock-types and Gengar and has a limited amount of PP. Self-Destruct allows Snorlax to remove or heavily incapacitate a foe after it has fulfilled its role as a wall. Self-Destruct is also a good option to KO something a foe in an emergency; (RC, ASC) it also makes Reflect Snorlax less reliant on its teammates to force progress, although it shares similar issues to Hyper Beam. Lovely Kiss allows Reflect Snorlax to push sleep past paralyzed Chansey, Alakazam, and Starmie to remove foes it may have trouble breaking otherwise, such as Cloyster. However, it leaves Snorlax with only Body Slam as an attacking move, giving it limited PP to threaten things and leaving it walled by Rock-types and Gengar.

Reflect Snorlax allows Snorlax to be a durable check to the tier's (AA) best physically offensive threats. Reflect is crucial to Snorlax's longevity, as it allows it to reliably use Rest to heal off damage and paralysis; without Reflect, (AC) it is much harder to find opportunities to wake up safely, as Snorlax's bulk is not good enough to reliably wake up. Reflect Snorlax is one of the tier's best switch-ins to most opposing Snorlax sets if something else an ally has already been put to sleep. It's also a decent switch-in to Tauros, although Tauros's high critical hit rate makes any switch in somewhat unsafe. Reflect Snorlax has to utilize its HP carefully to balance its role as an offensive powerhouse with its use as a durable physical tank that can last throughout the game. While Reflect Snorlax doesn't love getting paralyzed, it is much more willing to take it than sets lacking Rest, as it can reliably Rest cure itself off at a later point in the game; Snorlax also still pressures the vast majority of the tier even when it's paralyzed.

[SET]
name: PhysLax (All-Out Attacker)
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Hyper Beam / Counter
move 3: Earthquake / Counter
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Snorlax's good bulk and amazing Attack allow it to function well as an all-out physical attacker, being able to go one-one-one against nearly every single foe with the combination of Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, and Self-Destruct. Hyper Beam allows Snorlax to threaten KOs against many common Pokemon, such as Chansey, Persian, Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno, after only one or two hits. Earthquake is Snorlax’s best coverage option, dealing heavy damage to Rhydon and Gengar—two of the few Pokemon that not threatened by its Body Slam—and allowing Snorlax to scout for Counter on opposing Chansey and opposing Snorlax while still doing serviceable damage; Earthquake still puts Chansey into Hyper Beam KO range. (Reword these sentences, as directly copying from another set analysis (the offensive sleeper set in this instance) is not allowed.) Earthquake or Hyper Beam can be dropped in favor of Counter to catch opposing Snorlax and Tauros off guard&mdashlanding Counter against Tauros's Body Slam leaves it in Hyper Beam range, and landing Counter on opposing Snorlax's (AA) Body Slam deals at least 48.4% to opposing Snorlax it. Once Snorlax is low on HP, it can use Self-Destruct to punch another hole in the opposing team; It it OHKOes physically frail foes such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam and does heavy damage to even physically bulky threats, doing a minimum of 72.2% to Slowbro and 64% to Cloyster. However, Snorlax is usually forced to use Self-Destruct rather early due to its awful base Speed. (Reword these sentences for same reasoning.)

PhysLax, much like Lovely Kiss Snorlax, is on a timer to get things done due to its lack of recovery and poor Speed. It also needs to play around the threat of paralysis, losing much of its offensive pressure and struggling to break many foes without using Self-Destruct if it takes paralysis. PhysLax can be used on teams that already have a reliable sleeper, such as Exeggutor or Jynx, that also want the extra utility of an additional attack. To make full use of PhysLax, it's vital to know when to preserve it and when to sacrifice it with Self-Destruct; it usually wants to use Self-Destruct when it's either backed into a corner or relatively low on HP. This Snorlax set requires team support due to its lack of defensive utility. Without any form of recovery, Snorlax is not able to reliably switch into physical attackers throughout the game, necessitating it be paired with teammates such as Starmie or Cloyster which can help cover these roles traditionally filled by Snorlax. This set’s lack of recovery also makes it vulnerable to getting worn down, as it is often forced to take a hit before it can land an attack due to its poor base Speed. This Snorlax set also works well on fast paced hyper-offensive teams that attempt to mow down the foe with multiple Explosion users. Snorlax benefits greatly from teammates that can spread paralysis, such as Chansey, Alakazam, Starmie, Zapdos, and Exeggutor, which alleviates some of this pressure. (Reword these sentences for same reasoning.)

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ice Punch can be used over Ice Beam on Amnesia sets, (AC) as it has more PP, which allows Snorlax to stick around for even longer and gives it more chances to attempt to freeze a foe; (RC, ASC) however, it is weaker than Ice Beam. Ice Punch can also be used on Reflect sets, (AC) as it can freeze opposing Reflect Snorlax and Reflect Chansey; it also 3HKOes Rhydon, however, it does negligible damage to even neutral targets. A set consisting of 3 three attacks + Rest can be used to give Snorlax the extra utility of a third attacking move over Reflect while still being able to stick around for last longer, but it is difficult to wake Snorlax up without Reflect, as many Pokemon threaten to KO it while it's asleep. A set consisting of 2 two attacks, Lovely Kiss, and Rest can also be used to let Snorlax threaten sleep and preserve itself without falling short in the coverage department. Thunderbolt can be used on Amnesia sets, with a +4 Thunderbolt OHKOing Cloyster and being favored to OHKO Starmie. However, it's generally preferred to run another move, as it doesn't do much else; Body Slam, Self-Destruct, and Snorlax's various utility options all tend to be more useful. Thunderbolt can also replace Amnesia Snorlax's Ice-type move, (AC) as Amnesia Snorlax doesn't need the Ice-type coverage to be have a decent matchup into against most foes. (reworded for clarity) However, this is generally inadvisable, (AC) as since Snorlax is then walled by Rhydon and Golem. Amnesia can be used in conjunction with Reflect to wall foes on both the physically and specially side. However, this leaves Snorlax with only one attacking move. Headbutt can be used against paralyzed foes to attempt to paraflinch them, but it is unreliable and weaker than Body Slam.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Snorlax**: Snorlax is on every competitive team, meaning it will usually end up facing itself. The most important factor in the matchup is whether Sleep Clause has been activated for either side, as Lovely Kiss Snorlax threatens to instantly remove its opposition. A paralyzed Lovely Kiss Snorlax can switch into a Snorlax using Lovely Kiss to deny sleep and threaten it in return. If neither Snorlax threatens Lovely Kiss, Reflect Snorlax can switch into offensive Snorlax sets bar Amnesia and beat them quite comfortably when healthy. If Reflect Snorlax is paralyzed, it struggles to consistently switch into opposing Snorlax, as the chance to lose a turn to full paralysis can cost the game. Amnesia Snorlax can catch a Reflect Snorlax off guard and threaten it with boosted special attacks.

**Cloyster**: Cloyster switches into Snorlax's Body Slam relatively safely thanks to its staggering base 180 Defense; it also walls most variants of Amnesia Snorlax thanks to its 4x resistance to Ice. Cloyster is also able to tank Snorlax's Self-Destruct decently, as it only does 75.5% maximum. Cloyster 4HKOes Snorlax with Blizzard and can chip it with Clamp. Cloyster can also explode use Explosion on Snorlax if it's weakened to put it Snorlax into KO range of one of a revenge killer, doing 60% minimum. However, Cloyster must be wary of Lovely Kiss as well as Body Slam paralysis. Cloyster is particularly wary of Hyper Beam Snorlax, as if it is paralyzed by Body Slam, (AC) it is at serious risk of being put into Hyper Beam's (AA) KO range.

**Slowbro**: Slowbro switches into Snorlax's Body Slam with relative ease, as it is 4HKOed most of the time and threatens Snorlax with paralysis and Amnesia-boosted (AH) Surf. Slowbro can also set up Reflect to become even better at tanking Snorlax's hits. However, Slowbro can quickly get worn down into Hyper Beam's (AA) KO range and fears Lovely Kiss.

**Special Attackers**: While there aren't many special attackers which that enjoy taking a Body Slam, many special attackers, (replace em-dash w/ comma) such as Alakazam, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Zapdos, (replace em-dash w/ comma) can 3HKO Snorlax with their STAB attacks, applying significant pressure. This is especially true if Snorlax has used Rest, often forcing it out while it's still asleep.

**Gengar**: Gengar walls non-Amnesia Snorlax without Earthquake, (AC) although Gengar risks freeze getting frozen if Snorlax has an Ice-type move. Gengar is a great Lovely Kiss absorber, as even if it's asleep, (AC) it can freely attempt to wake up in front of Snorlax without Earthquake.

**Porygon**: The passive and unassuming Porygon finds a niche in completely stonewalling non-Amnesia variants of Snorlax once Sleep Clause is activated, as it is 3HKOed by Body Slam and stalls Snorlax out of attacking PP with Recover. Snorlax can OHKO it with Self-Destruct, but trading Snorlax for Porygon is an awful trade for the Snorlax user in most circumstances. Even if Sleep Clause is not activated, Porygon's generally low value makes it a good choice to absorb it.

**Chansey**: Unparalyzed Chansey switches into Snorlax and sets up Reflect once Sleep Clause is active, while Counter Chansey can OHKO Snorlax by correctly predicting Body Slam. If Chansey is paralyzed, it finds itself much harder to reliably switch check Snorlax, as unparalyzed Snorlax now outspeeds it, (AC) and the full paralysis chance makes it unreliable even against paralyzed Snorlax. Once it's paralyzed, (AC) Chansey is also extremely susceptible to Hyper Beam, even if Snorlax is paralyzed. Snorlax can also choose to use Self-Destruct to OHKO Chansey without Reflect set up to enable its special attacking teammates.

**Rock-types**: Rock-types wall Snorlax lacking specific coverage, as they take negligible damage from Snorlax's STAB attacks. Rock-types without Rest are, however, prone to getting worn down over time and are hamstrung by Body Slam paralysis.

**Persian**: Persian can switch into a resting Snorlax that is sleeping from using Rest and put it under major pressure, as two Slash's Slashes into followed by either a critical hit Body Slam or two Slash's into Body Slam into and another Slash KOes Snorlax. Persian can also threaten Snorlax and its teammates with Hypnosis.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/notverycake.625260/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/shellnuts.491544/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:

GP Check 1/2

 

[Tbolt]

GP 2/2

add remove comment

[OVERVIEW]
Snorlax is the single most central centralizing and defining Pokemon in the tier; the addition of a reliable sleep move to its already wide movepool pushes it to even further heights than before, as nothing can reliably block its Lovely Kiss with paralysis. Nothing switches into Snorlax with complete safety; even Pokemon that resist or are immune to its STAB moves, such as Rhydon and Gengar, are at the mercy of one of its many coverage moves. Snorlax is also incredibly bulky, being one of the few Pokemon that can take a hit from the likes of Tauros and Starmie and hit back even harder with a powerful STAB Body Slam or Hyper Beam; it can also use its STAB Self-Destruct, which demolishes non-resistant foes. Snorlax is on nearly every single serious team and cannot afford to be dropped.

However, Snorlax has an abysmal base 30 Speed, tying it with Slowbro for slowest Pokemon in the tier. Its reliance on Rest for recovery makes it exploitable and easily forced out by Pokemon with high critical hit rates such as Alakazam, Starmie, and Tauros. This poor base Speed also saddles Snorlax with a measly 5.86% critical hit rate. That isn't Snorlax's only issue though, as while it has many different options to cover a wide array of matchups, it has to either give up longevity or coverage to do so, meaning there is always something to exploit no matter what set Snorlax runs.

[SET]
name: Offensive Sleeper
move 1: Lovely Kiss
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Earthquake / Hyper Beam
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
This is the defining set of RBY Tradebacks, combining utility and raw power in a way that completely restructures the rest of the metagame. With just two moves, Body Slam and Lovely Kiss, Snorlax exerts a tremendous amount of pressure on the opposing team the moment it hits the field, threatening to deal significant damage to most of the tier while incapacitating anything that attempts to check it with Lovely Kiss before continuing on its rampage. Earthquake is Snorlax’s best coverage option, dealing heavy damage to Rhydon and Gengar—two of the few Pokemon that not threatened by its Body Slam—and allowing Snorlax to scout for Counter on Chansey and opposing Snorlax while still doing serviceable damage. Hyper Beam is the other common choice, allowing Snorlax to threaten KOs against many common Pokemon, such as Chansey, Persian, Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno, after only one or two hits. Self-Destruct rounds out this moveset, allowing Snorlax to threaten extreme damage while low on health or when its team needs it to force immediate progress. It OHKOes physically frail foes such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam and does heavy damage to even physically bulky threats, doing a minimum of 72.2% to Slowbro and 64% to Cloyster. However, Snorlax is usually forced to use Self-Destruct rather early due to its awful base Speed.

This set single-handedly influences the tier in numerous ways, making the tier much faster-paced compared to standard OU. With this Snorlax set, it is far less risky for teams to focus on spreading paralysis early, since it is able to reliably push sleep past common sleep blockers, such as Alakazam, Chansey, and Starmie, thanks to its hard-hitting physical moves, which denies deny any chance for these foes to switch in safely. This set makes Snorlax extremely difficult to check because it can rely on allies to paralyze physically frail foes, which cannot safely block sleep, and it can then put the physically defensive foes that would otherwise withstand its attacks to sleep. After Snorlax has put a foe to sleep, it still is extremely threatening and can continue battering away at the enemy team due to its raw damage output.

Despite these upsides, this Snorlax set requires team support due to its lack of defensive utility. Without any form of recovery, Snorlax is not able to reliably switch into physical attackers throughout the game, necessitating it be paired with teammates such as Starmie and Cloyster, which can help cover these roles traditionally filled by Snorlax. This set’s lack of recovery also makes Snorlax vulnerable to getting worn down, as it is often forced to take a hit before it can land an attack or Lovely Kiss due to its poor base Speed. Snorlax benefits greatly from teammates that can spread paralysis, such as Chansey, Alakazam, Starmie, Zapdos, and Exeggutor, which alleviates alleviate some of this pressure. This Snorlax set also works well on fast-paced hyper offensive teams that attempt to mow down the foe with multiple Explosion or Self-Destruct users.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker (Amnesia)
move 1: Amnesia
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Blizzard / Ice Beam
move 4: Lovely Kiss / Self-Destruct / Rest

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Amnesia can not only let Snorlax perform as a threatening mixed attacker, but it can also give it a decent defensive profile depending on the moves it uses, allowing it to either play the role of wallbreaker or act as a less immediately threatening but longer-lasting mixed attacker. The offensive variant uses Blizzard and either Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct to mow down foes quickly. +2 Blizzard OHKOes Rhydon and Golem, 2HKOes Zapdos, Persian, and Exeggutor, and has a 76.2% chance to 2HKO Tauros. It also 3HKOes Gengar and opposing Snorlax, which allows it to break through opposing Reflect Snorlax. Lovely Kiss allows Snorlax to put a foe it might otherwise struggle against, such as Cloyster or Starmie, to sleep; it also gives Snorlax a good opportunity to set up Amnesia, which it may otherwise struggle to do. Self-Destruct allows Snorlax to KO or heavily incapacitate a foe once it has been worn down, and it also gives Snorlax a good way to free itself from dire situations. The more defensive variant forgoes Blizzard for Ice Beam and runs Rest in place of Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct. Ice Beam is much weaker than Blizzard; at +2 it 3HKOes Tauros, Exeggutor, and Zapdos and 4HKOes opposing Snorlax, but it allows Snorlax to stick around for longer and attempt to freeze a foe.

Amnesia Snorlax requires paralysis support to make significant progress for its team, as foes such as Chansey and Starmie may thwart it if they are left unparalyzed. Body Slam is also usually not sufficient enough to handle a healthy Cloyster. Offensive Amnesia Snorlax should try to switch in on either a Pokemon using a recovery move or an attack that will deal minimal damage, as it needs to be at or near full HP to pressure the opposing team. Defensive Amnesia Snorlax should attempt to do the same, but it can afford to switch into a stray special attack from the likes of a paralyzed Starmie or Exeggutor if need be. The defensive set can also attempt to get past the likes of Starmie and Reflect Chansey by attempting to freeze them.

[SET]
name: Reflect
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Reflect
move 3: Rest
move 4: Earthquake / Hyper Beam / Self-Destruct / Lovely Kiss

[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description
=========
Reflect lets Snorlax take full advantage of its good physical bulk, allowing it to shrug off hits from the likes of Tauros, Rhydon, and opposing Snorlax while still being offensively threatening itself.

The fourth move on Reflect sets can change depending on what coverage is required for Snorlax's team. Earthquake 2HKOes Gengar and Jolteon, 3HKOes Rhydon, and scouts for Counter on Chansey and opposing Snorlax, although it lacks the offensive power of Hyper Beam or Self-Destruct. Hyper Beam is Snorlax's best move against chipped foes; it also allows it to feasibly beat Cloyster and Slowbro one-on-one, but Hyper Beam leaves Snorlax walled by Rock-types and Gengar and has a limited amount of PP. Self-Destruct allows Snorlax to remove or heavily incapacitate a foe after it has fulfilled its role as a wall. Self-Destruct is also a good option to KO a foe in an emergency; it also makes Reflect Snorlax less reliant on its teammates to force progress, although it shares similar issues to Hyper Beam. Lovely Kiss allows Reflect Snorlax to push sleep past paralyzed Chansey, Alakazam, and Starmie to remove foes it may have trouble breaking otherwise, such as Cloyster. However, it leaves Snorlax with only Body Slam as an attacking move, giving it limited PP to threaten things and leaving it walled by Rock-types and Gengar.

Reflect Snorlax allows Snorlax to be a durable check to the tier's best physically offensive threats. Reflect is crucial to Snorlax's longevity, as it allows it to reliably use Rest to heal off damage and paralysis; without Reflect, it is much harder to find opportunities to wake up safely, as Snorlax's bulk is not good enough to reliably wake up. Reflect Snorlax is one of the tier's best switch-ins to alto most opposing Snorlax sets if an ally has already been put to sleep. It's also a decent switch-in to Tauros, although though Tauros's high critical hit rate makes any switch in switch-in somewhat unsafe. Reflect Snorlax has to utilize its HP carefully to balance its role as an offensive powerhouse with its use as a durable physical tank that can last throughout the game. While Reflect Snorlax doesn't love getting paralyzed, it is much more willing to take it than sets lacking Rest, as it can reliably cure itself at a later point in the game; Snorlax also still pressures the vast majority of the tier even when it's paralyzed.

[SET]
name: PhysLax (All-Out Attacker)
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Hyper Beam / Counter
move 3: Earthquake / Counter
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Snorlax's good bulk and amazing Attack allow it to function well as an all-out physical attacker, being able to go one-on-one against nearly every single foe with the combination of Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, and Self-Destruct. Hyper Beam threatens KOes KOs against many common threats after only one or two hits, such as Chansey, Persian, Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno. Earthquake is Snorlax’s best option to hit the most amount of foes, threatening heavy damage on Rock-types and Gengar, who both which aren't threatened by its STAB moves. Earthquake also has the advantage of being able to scout for Earthquake on Chansey and opposing Snorlax (EQ on Chansey?), with Earthquake still putting Chansey into Hyper Beam KO range. Earthquake or Hyper Beam can be dropped in favor of Counter to catch opposing Snorlax and Tauros off guard&mdashlanding Counter against Tauros's Body Slam leaves it in Hyper Beam range, and landing Counter on opposing Snorlax's Body Slam deals at least 48.4% to it. Once Snorlax is low on HP, it can use Self-Destruct to punch another hole in the opposing team; physically frailer threats such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam are OHKOed and even physically bulky threats take heavy damage, with Slowbro taking 72.2% minimim minimum and Cloyster taking 64% minimum. (IMO, you don't need to include the numbers here because you already mention them in )

PhysLax, much like Lovely Kiss Snorlax, is on a timer to get things done due to its lack of recovery and poor Speed. It also needs to play around the threat of paralysis, losing much of its offensive pressure and struggling to break many foes without using Self-Destruct if it takes paralysis. PhysLax can be used on teams that already have a reliable sleeper, such as Exeggutor or Jynx, that also want the extra utility of an additional attack. To make full use of PhysLax, it's vital to know when to preserve it and when to sacrifice it with Self-Destruct; it usually wants to use Self-Destruct when it's either backed into a corner or relatively low on HP. This Snorlax set greatly enjoys heavy paralysis support, so Pokemon such as Starmie, Chansey, and Exeggutor make great teammates to it. This set also pairs well with other Explosion users such as Exeggutor and Golem on fast paced hyper-offense fast-paced hyper offense teams that aim to overwhelm the opponent. Starmie and Cloyster make good partners to this set, (AC) as it lacks defensive utility (RC); (ASC) as without recovery, (AC) Snorlax is not able to reliably switch into physical attackers throughout the game, which Starmie and Cloyster can do well in Snorlax's place. This set’s lack of recovery also makes it prone to getting worn down quickly and being forced to use Self-Destruct quite early, as it is often forced to take a hit before it can land an attack due to its poor base Speed.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ice Punch can be used over Ice Beam on Amnesia sets, as it has more PP, which allows Snorlax to stick around for even longer and gives it take more chances to attempt to freeze a foe; however, it is weaker than Ice Beam. Ice Punch can also be used on Reflect sets, as it can freeze opposing Reflect Snorlax and Reflect Chansey (RSC) it and also 3HKOes Rhydon (RC); (ASC) however, it does negligible damage to even neutral targets. A set consisting of three attacks + Rest can be used to give Snorlax the extra utility of a third attacking move over Reflect while still being able to last longer, but it is difficult to wake Snorlax up without Reflect, as many Pokemon threaten to KO it while it's asleep. A set consisting of two attacks, Lovely Kiss, and Rest can also be used to let Snorlax threaten sleep and preserve itself without falling short in the coverage department. Thunderbolt can be used on Amnesia sets, with a +4 Thunderbolt OHKOing Cloyster and being favored to OHKO Starmie. However, it's generally preferred to run another move, as it doesn't do much else; Body Slam, Self-Destruct, and Snorlax's various utility options all tend to be more useful. Thunderbolt can also replace Amnesia Snorlax's Ice-type move, as Amnesia Snorlax doesn't need the Ice-type coverage to have a decent matchup against most foes. However, this is generally inadvisable, since Snorlax is then walled by Rhydon and Golem. Amnesia can be used in conjunction with Reflect to wall foes both physically and specially. However, this leaves Snorlax with only one attacking move. Headbutt can be used against paralyzed foes to attempt to paraflinch them, but it is unreliable and weaker than Body Slam.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Snorlax**: Snorlax is on every competitive team, meaning it will usually end up facing itself. The most important factor in the matchup is whether Sleep Clause has been activated for either side, as Lovely Kiss Snorlax threatens to instantly remove its opposition. A paralyzed Lovely Kiss Snorlax can switch into a Snorlax using Lovely Kiss to deny sleep and threaten it in return. If neither Snorlax threatens Lovely Kiss, Reflect Snorlax can switch into offensive Snorlax sets bar Amnesia and beat them quite comfortably when healthy. If Reflect Snorlax is paralyzed, it struggles to consistently switch into opposing Snorlax, as the chance to lose a turn to full paralysis can cost the game. Amnesia Snorlax can catch a Reflect Snorlax off guard off-guard and threaten it with boosted special attacks.

**Cloyster**: Cloyster switches into Snorlax's Body Slam relatively safely thanks to its staggering base 180 Defense; it also walls most variants of Amnesia Snorlax thanks to its 4x resistance to Ice. Cloyster is also able to tank Snorlax's Self-Destruct decently, as it only does 75.5% maximum. Cloyster 4HKOes Snorlax with Blizzard and can chip it with Clamp. Cloyster can also use Explosion on Snorlax if it's weakened to put Snorlax into KO range of a revenge killer, doing 60% minimum. However, Cloyster must be wary of Lovely Kiss as well as Body Slam paralysis. Cloyster is particularly wary of Hyper Beam Snorlax, as if it is paralyzed by Body Slam, it is at serious risk of being put into Hyper Beam's KO range.

**Slowbro**: Slowbro switches into Snorlax's Body Slam with relative ease, as it is 4HKOed most of the time and threatens Snorlax with paralysis and Amnesia-boosted Surf. Slowbro can also set up Reflect to become even better at tanking Snorlax's hits. However, Slowbro can quickly get worn down into Hyper Beam's KO range and fears Lovely Kiss.

**Special Attackers**: While there aren't many special attackers that enjoy taking a Body Slam, many special attackers, such as Alakazam, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Zapdos, can 3HKO Snorlax with their STAB attacks, applying significant pressure. This is especially true if Snorlax has used Rest, often forcing it out while it's still asleep.

**Gengar**: Gengar walls non-Amnesia Snorlax without Earthquake, although Gengar risks getting frozen if Snorlax has an Ice-type move. Gengar is a great Lovely Kiss absorber, as even if it's asleep, it can freely attempt to wake up in front of Snorlax without Earthquake.

**Porygon**: The passive and unassuming Porygon finds a niche in completely stonewalling non-Amnesia variants of Snorlax once Sleep Clause is activated, as it is 3HKOed by Body Slam and stalls Snorlax out of attacking PP with Recover. Snorlax can OHKO it with Self-Destruct, but trading Snorlax for Porygon is an awful trade for the Snorlax user in most circumstances. Even if Sleep Clause is not activated, Porygon's generally low value makes it a good choice to absorb it sleep.

**Chansey**: Unparalyzed Chansey switches into Snorlax and sets up Reflect once Sleep Clause is active, while Counter Chansey can OHKO Snorlax by correctly predicting Body Slam. If Chansey is paralyzed, it finds itself much harder to reliably switch check Snorlax, as unparalyzed Snorlax now outspeeds it, and the full paralysis chance makes it unreliable even against paralyzed Snorlax. Once it's paralyzed, Chansey is also extremely susceptible to Hyper Beam, even if Snorlax is paralyzed. Snorlax can also choose to use Self-Destruct to OHKO Chansey without Reflect set up to enable its special attacking teammates.

**Rock-types**: Rock-types wall Snorlax lacking specific coverage, as they take negligible damage from Snorlax's STAB attacks. Rock-types without Rest are, however, prone to getting worn down over time and hamstrung by Body Slam paralysis.

**Persian**: Persian can switch into a Snorlax that is sleeping from using Rest and put it under major pressure, as two Slashes followed by either a critical hit Body Slam or Body Slam and another Slash KOes KO Snorlax. Persian can also threaten Snorlax and its teammates with Hypnosis.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/notverycake.625260/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/shellnuts.491544/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/

GP Team done

 

[Sabelette]

gonna add a third check in a bit because i spotted some things wrong, NotVeryCake implement and tag me so i can catch the rest of it

 

[Sabelette]

Here you go

Spoiler

[OVERVIEW]
Snorlax is the single most centralizing and defining Pokemon in the tier; the addition of a reliable sleep move to its already wide movepool pushes it to even further heights than before, as nothing can reliably block its Lovely Kiss with paralysis. Nothing switches into Snorlax with complete safety; even Pokemon that resist or are immune to its STAB moves, such as Rhydon and Gengar, are at the mercy of one of its many coverage moves. Snorlax is also incredibly bulky, being one of the few Pokemon that can take a hit from the likes of Tauros and Starmie and hit back even harder with a powerful STAB Body Slam or Hyper Beam; it can also use its STAB Self-Destruct, which demolishes non-resistant foes. Snorlax is on nearly every single serious team and cannot afford to be dropped.

However, Snorlax has an abysmal base 30 Speed, tying it with Slowbro for slowest Pokemon in the tier. Its reliance on Rest for recovery makes it exploitable and easily forced out by Pokemon with high critical hit rates such as Alakazam, Starmie, and Tauros. This poor base Speed also saddles Snorlax with a measly 5.86% critical hit rate. That isn't Snorlax's only issue though, as while it has many different options to cover a wide array of matchups, it has to either give up longevity or coverage to do so, meaning there is always something to exploit no matter what set Snorlax runs.

[SET]
name: Offensive Sleeper
move 1: Lovely Kiss
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Earthquake / Hyper Beam
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
This is the defining set of RBY Tradebacks, combining utility and raw power in a way that completely restructures the rest of the metagame. With just two moves, Body Slam and Lovely Kiss, Snorlax exerts a tremendous amount of pressure on the opposing team the moment it hits the field, threatening to deal significant damage to most of the tier while and incapacitating anything that attempts to check it with Lovely Kiss before continuing on its rampage. Earthquake is Snorlax’s best coverage option, dealing heavy damage to Rhydon and Gengar—two of the few Pokemon that not threatened by its Body Slam—and allowing Snorlax to scout for Counter on Chansey and opposing Snorlax while still doing serviceable damage. Hyper Beam is the other common choice, allowing Snorlax to threaten KOs against many common Pokemon, such as Chansey, Persian, Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno, after only one or two hits. Self-Destruct rounds out this moveset, allowing Snorlax to threaten extreme damage while low on health or when its team needs it to force immediate progress. It OHKOes physically frail foes such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam and does heavy damage to even physically bulky threats, doing a minimum of 72.2% to Slowbro and 64% to Cloyster. However, Snorlax is usually forced to use Self-Destruct rather early due to its awful base Speed.

This set single-handedly influences the tier in numerous ways, making the tier much faster-paced (RH) compared to standard OU. With this Snorlax set, it is far less risky for teams to focus on spreading paralysis early, since its physical moves let it is able to reliably push sleep past common sleep blockers, such as Alakazam, Chansey, and Starmie, thanks to its hard-hitting physical moves, which deny any chance for these foes to switch in safely. (this is like 5 commas ignoring the list, way too much for one sentence so I reworded) This set makes Snorlax extremely difficult to check because it can rely on allies to paralyze physically frail foes, which cannot safely block sleep, (redundant since you already covered why they can't block sleep) and it can then put the physically defensive foes that would otherwise withstand its attacks to sleep. After Snorlax has put a foe to sleep, it still is extremely threatening and can continue battering away at the enemy team due to its raw damage output.

Despite these upsides, this Snorlax set requires team support due to its lack of defensive utility. Without any form of recovery, Snorlax is not able to reliably switch into physical attackers throughout the game, necessitating it be paired with teammates such as Starmie and Cloyster, which can help cover these roles traditionally filled by Snorlax. This set’s lack of recovery also makes Snorlax vulnerable to getting worn down, as it is often forced to take a hit before it can land an attack or Lovely Kiss due to its poor base Speed. Snorlax benefits greatly from teammates that can spread paralysis, such as Chansey, Alakazam, Starmie, Zapdos, and Exeggutor, which alleviate some of this pressure. This Snorlax set also works well on fast-paced hyper offensive teams that attempt to mow down the foe with multiple Explosion or Self-Destruct users. (I think you can cut this, every single boom user bar lax uses Explosion)

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker (Amnesia)
move 1: Amnesia
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Blizzard / Ice Beam
move 4: Lovely Kiss / Self-Destruct / Rest

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Amnesia can not only let Snorlax perform as a threatening mixed attacker, but it can also give it a decent defensive profile depending on the moves it uses, allowing it to either play the role of wallbreaker or a less immediately threatening but longer-lasting mixed attacker. The offensive variant uses Blizzard and either Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct to mow down foes quickly. +2 Blizzard OHKOes Rhydon and Golem, 2HKOes Zapdos, Persian, and Exeggutor, and has a 76.2% chance to 2HKO Tauros. It also 3HKOes Gengar and opposing Snorlax, which allows it to break through opposing Reflect Snorlax. Lovely Kiss allows Snorlax to put a foe it might otherwise struggle against, such as Cloyster or Starmie, to sleep; it also gives Snorlax a good opportunity to set up Amnesia, which it may otherwise struggle to do. Self-Destruct allows Snorlax to lets it (reducing repetition) KO or heavily incapacitate damage (incapacitate implies status or a KO) a foe once it has been worn down, and it also gives Snorlax a good way to free itself from dire situations. The more defensive variant forgoes Blizzard for Ice Beam and runs Rest in place of Lovely Kiss or Self-Destruct. Ice Beam is much weaker than Blizzard; at +2 it 3HKOes Tauros, Exeggutor, and Zapdos and 4HKOes opposing Snorlax, but it allows Snorlax to stick around for longer and attempt to freeze a foe.

Amnesia Snorlax requires paralysis support to make significant progress for its team, as foes such as Chansey and Starmie may thwart it if they are left unparalyzed. Body Slam is also usually not sufficient enough to handle a healthy Cloyster. Offensive Amnesia Snorlax should try to switch in on either a Pokemon using a recovery move or an attack that will deal minimal damage, as it needs to be at or near full HP to pressure the opposing team. Defensive Amnesia Snorlax should attempt to do the same, but it can afford to switch into a stray special attack from the likes of a paralyzed Starmie or Exeggutor if need be. The defensive set can also attempt to get past the likes of Starmie and Reflect Chansey by attempting to freeze freezing them. (you already said attempt)

[SET]
name: Reflect
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Reflect
move 3: Rest
move 4: Earthquake / Hyper Beam / Self-Destruct / Lovely Kiss

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Reflect lets Snorlax take full advantage of its good physical bulk, allowing it to shrug off hits from the likes of Tauros, Rhydon, and opposing Snorlax while still being offensively threatening itself. Merge this with the below paragraph, this is only a single sentence

The fourth move on Reflect sets can change depending on what coverage is required for Snorlax's team. Earthquake 2HKOes Gengar and Jolteon, 3HKOes Rhydon, and scouts for Counter on Chansey and opposing Snorlax, although it lacks the offensive power of Hyper Beam or Self-Destruct. Hyper Beam is Snorlax's best move against chipped foes; it also allows it to feasibly beat Cloyster and Slowbro one-on-one, but Hyper Beam leaves Snorlax walled by Rock-types and Gengar and has a limited amount of PP. Self-Destruct allows Snorlax to remove or heavily incapacitate damage a foe after it has fulfilled its role as a wall. Self-Destruct It is also a good option to KO a foe in an emergency, and it ; it also (reducing repetition) makes Reflect Snorlax less reliant on its teammates to force progress, although it shares similar issues to Hyper Beam. Lovely Kiss allows Reflect Snorlax to push sleep past paralyzed Chansey, Alakazam, and Starmie to remove foes it may have trouble breaking otherwise, such as Cloyster. However, it leaves Snorlax with only Body Slam as an attacking move, giving it limited PP to threaten things and leaving it walled by Rock-types and Gengar.

Reflect Snorlax allows Snorlax to be a durable check to the tier's best physically offensive threats. Reflect is crucial to Snorlax's longevity, as it allows it to reliably use Rest to heal off damage and paralysis; without Reflect, it is much harder to find opportunities to wake up safely, as Snorlax's bulk is not good enough to reliably wake up. Reflect Snorlax is one of the tier's best switch-ins alto to (no clue what "alto" is) most opposing Snorlax sets if an ally has already been put to sleep. It's also a decent switch-in to Tauros, though Tauros's high critical hit rate makes any switch-in somewhat unsafe. Reflect Snorlax (you don't have to say "Reflect Snorlax" to start every sentence) has to utilize its HP carefully to balance its role as an offensive powerhouse with its use as a durable physical tank that can last throughout the game. While Reflect Snorlax it doesn't love getting paralyzed, it is much more willing to take it than sets lacking Rest, as it can reliably cure itself at a later point in the game; Snorlax also still pressures the vast majority of the tier even when it's paralyzed.

[SET]
name: PhysLax (All-Out Attacker)
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Hyper Beam / Counter
move 3: Earthquake / Counter
move 4: Self-Destruct

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Snorlax's good bulk and amazing Attack allow it to function well as an all-out physical attacker, being able to go one-on-one against nearly every single foe with the combination of Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, and Self-Destruct. Hyper Beam threatens KOs against many common threats after only one or two hits, such as Chansey, Persian, Tauros, Exeggutor, and Hypno. Earthquake is Snorlax’s best coverage option to hit the most amount of foes, threatening heavy damage on Rock-types and Gengar, which aren't threatened by its STAB moves. Earthquake also has the advantage of being able to scout for Counter on Chansey and opposing Snorlax, with Earthquake still putting Chansey into Hyper Beam KO range. Earthquake or Hyper Beam can be dropped in favor of Counter to catch opposing Snorlax and Tauros off guard—landing (missed a semicolon on the em dash) Counter against Tauros's Body Slam leaves it in Hyper Beam range, and landing Counter on opposing Snorlax's Body Slam deals at least 48.4% to it. Once Snorlax is low on HP, it can use Self-Destruct to punch another hole in the opposing team; physically frailer threats such as Chansey, Starmie, and Alakazam are OHKOed and even physically bulky threats such as Cloyster and Slowbro take heavy damage.

PhysLax, much like Lovely Kiss Snorlax, is on a timer to get things done due to its lack of recovery and poor Speed. It also needs to play around the threat of paralysis, losing much of its offensive pressure and struggling to break many foes without using Self-Destruct if it takes paralysis. PhysLax can be used on teams that already have a reliable sleeper, such as Exeggutor or Jynx, that also want the extra utility of an additional attack. To make full use of PhysLax, it's vital to know when to preserve it and when to sacrifice it with Self-Destruct; it usually wants to use Self-Destruct when it's either backed into a corner or relatively low on HP. This Snorlax set greatly enjoys heavy paralysis support, so Pokemon such as Starmie, Chansey, and Exeggutor make great teammates to it. This set also pairs well with other Explosion users, (AC) such as Exeggutor and Golem, (AC) on fast-paced hyper offense teams that aim to overwhelm the opponent. Starmie and Cloyster make good partners to this set, as it lacks defensive utility; without recovery, Snorlax is not able to reliably switch into physical attackers throughout the game, which Starmie and Cloyster can do well in Snorlax's place. This set’s lack of recovery also makes it prone to getting worn down quickly and being forced to use Self-Destruct quite early, as it is often forced to take a hit before it can land an attack due to its poor base Speed.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ice Punch can be used over Ice Beam on Amnesia sets, as it has more PP, which allows Snorlax to stick around for even longer and take more chances to attempt to freeze a foe; however, it is weaker than Ice Beam. Ice Punch can also be used on Reflect sets, as it can freeze opposing Reflect Snorlax and Reflect Chansey and also 3HKOes Rhydon; however, it does negligible damage to even neutral targets. A set consisting of three attacks + Rest can be used to give Snorlax the extra utility of a third attacking move over Reflect while still being able to last longer, but it is difficult to wake Snorlax up without Reflect, as many Pokemon threaten to KO it while it's asleep. A set consisting of two attacks, Lovely Kiss, and Rest can also be used to let Snorlax threaten sleep and preserve itself without falling short in the coverage department. Thunderbolt can be used on Amnesia sets, with a +4 Thunderbolt OHKOing Cloyster and being favored to OHKO Starmie. However, it's generally preferred to run another move, as it doesn't do much else; Body Slam, Self-Destruct, and Snorlax's various utility options all tend to be more useful. Thunderbolt can also replace Amnesia Snorlax's Ice-type move, as Amnesia Snorlax doesn't need the Ice-type coverage to have a decent matchup against most foes. However, this is generally inadvisable, since Snorlax is then walled by Rhydon and Golem. Amnesia can be used in conjunction with Reflect to wall foes both physically and specially. However, this leaves Snorlax with only one attacking move. Headbutt can be used against paralyzed foes to attempt to paraflinch them, but it is unreliable and weaker than Body Slam.

Checks and Counters
===================
**Snorlax**: Snorlax is on every competitive team, meaning it will usually end up facing itself. The most important factor in the matchup is whether Sleep Clause has been activated for either side, as Lovely Kiss Snorlax threatens to instantly remove its opposition. A paralyzed Lovely Kiss Snorlax can switch into a Snorlax using Lovely Kiss to deny sleep and threaten it in return. If neither Snorlax threatens Lovely Kiss, Reflect Snorlax can switch into offensive Snorlax sets bar Amnesia and beat them quite comfortably when healthy. If Reflect Snorlax is paralyzed, it struggles to consistently switch into opposing Snorlax, as the chance to lose a turn to full paralysis can cost the game. Amnesia Snorlax can catch a Reflect Snorlax off-guard (RH) and threaten it with boosted special attacks.

**Cloyster**: Cloyster switches into Snorlax's Body Slam relatively safely thanks to its staggering base 180 Defense; it also walls most variants of Amnesia Snorlax thanks to its 4x resistance to Ice. Cloyster is also able to tank Snorlax's Self-Destruct decently, as it only does 75.5% maximum. Cloyster 4HKOes Snorlax with Blizzard and can chip it with Clamp. Cloyster can also use Explosion on Snorlax if it's weakened to put Snorlax into KO range of a revenge killer, doing 60% minimum. However, Cloyster must be wary of Lovely Kiss as well as Body Slam paralysis. Cloyster is particularly wary of Hyper Beam Snorlax, as if it is paralyzed by Body Slam, it is at serious risk of being put into Hyper Beam's KO range.

**Slowbro**: Slowbro switches into Snorlax's Body Slam with relative ease, as it is 4HKOed most of the time and threatens Snorlax with paralysis and Amnesia-boosted Surf. Slowbro can also set up Reflect to become even better at tanking Snorlax's hits. However, Slowbro can quickly get worn down into Hyper Beam's KO range and fears Lovely Kiss.

**Special Attackers**: While there aren't many special attackers that enjoy taking a Body Slam, many special attackers, such as Alakazam, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Zapdos, can 3HKO Snorlax with their STAB attacks, applying significant pressure. This is especially true if Snorlax has used Rest, often forcing it out while it's still asleep.

**Gengar**: Gengar walls non-Amnesia Snorlax without Earthquake, although Gengar risks getting frozen if Snorlax has an Ice-type move. Gengar is a great Lovely Kiss absorber, as even if it's asleep, it can freely attempt to wake up in front of Snorlax without Earthquake.

**Porygon**: The passive and unassuming Porygon finds a niche in completely stonewalling non-Amnesia variants of Snorlax once Sleep Clause is activated, as it is 3HKOed by Body Slam and stalls Snorlax out of attacking PP with Recover. Snorlax can OHKO it with Self-Destruct, but trading Snorlax for Porygon is an awful trade for the Snorlax user in most circumstances. Even if Sleep Clause is not activated, Porygon's generally low value makes it a good choice to absorb sleep.

**Chansey**: Unparalyzed Chansey switches into Snorlax and sets up Reflect once Sleep Clause is active, while Counter Chansey can OHKO Snorlax by correctly predicting Body Slam. If Chansey is paralyzed, it finds it itself much harder to reliably switch check Snorlax, as unparalyzed Snorlax now outspeeds it, and the full paralysis chance makes it unreliable even against paralyzed Snorlax. Once it's paralyzed, Chansey is also extremely susceptible to Hyper Beam, even if Snorlax is paralyzed. Snorlax can also choose to use Self-Destruct to OHKO Chansey without Reflect set up to enable its special attacking teammates.

**Rock-types**: Rock-types wall Snorlax lacking specific coverage, as they take negligible damage from Snorlax's STAB attacks. Rock-types without Rest are, however, prone to getting worn down over time and hamstrung by Body Slam paralysis.

**Persian**: Persian can switch into a Snorlax that is sleeping from using has used Rest and put it under major pressure, as two Slashes followed by either a critical hit Body Slam or Body Slam and another Slash KO Snorlax. Persian can also threaten Snorlax and its teammates with Hypnosis.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/notverycake.625260/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/shellnuts.491544/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/