Alolan Marowak (Singles) (QC 1/3)

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Theorymon

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CAN YOU SPOT THE DIFFERENCE?


[OVERVIEW]

* Alolan Marowak's strong STABs and Thick Club make it an extremely powerful physical attacker that 2HKOs almost any switch* in.

* Fire / Ghost typing with Lightning Rod makes it a great check against Electric-types such as Tapu Koko, Magnezone, and Xurkitree. It also makes a fine Pheromosa check due to its typing.

* Decent movepool with moves like Will-O-Wisp and Flame Charge.

* Unfortunately, Alolan Marowak is extremely slow, making it fairly easy to revenge kill.

* While it's bulk isn't bad, since Alolan Marowak often wants to outspeed defensive Pokemon, you have to choose between bulk and speed, which is unfortunate.

* Lack of recovery means that it has a fairly limited shelf life.

* Weak to some important types, such as Water* , Ground* , Ghost* , and Rock* .

* Post Pokebank will give Alolan Marowak a lot of competition in the form of more splashable Fire-types. Most notably, Rotom* H and Mega Charizard X will compete with it at the "Fire* type that checks Electric-types" game. However, its insane power will still likely give it a niche, especially on Trick Room cores with Porygon2 and Mega Mawile.



[SET]

name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Shadow Bone
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Flame Charge / Bonemerang / Stone Edge / Rock Tomb
move 4: Will-O-Wisp / Bonemerang / Brick Break / Swords Dance
item: Thick Club
ability: Lightning Rod
nature: Adamant
evs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========

* Shadow Bone is the most reliable, hard hitting attack from Alolan Marowak, and almost always OHKOing Aegislash. It also isn't a contact move, so feel free to use it against King's Shield.

* Flare Blitz is extremely powerful, but the recoil can make it harder to check Tapu Koko later in the match. It also 2HKOs offensive Porygon2.

* Flame Charge can be used to outspeed bulkier switch* ins, and also defeat faster Substitute + Leech Seed Celesteela. The Speed Boost makes it very unlikely that Aegislash will be able to revenge kill you as well thanks to Shadow Bone.

* Bonemerang lets Alolan Marowak 2HKO defensive Arcanine, who can be a big problem otherwise. This also lets you OHKO Sturdy Magnezone, Focus Sash Tapu Koko, and 2HKO Mega Gyarados switch* ins. If you are worried about Bonemerang's accuracy, Earthquake can still be a reasonable choice.

* Stone Edge does a ton of damage to Gyarados and Salamence, having a small shot of OHKOing both of them. Rock Tomb isn't nearly as powerful, but the Speed drop can make Gyarados and Salamence easier to check.

* Will-O-Wisp cripples Gyarados and Salamence switch-ins.

* Brick Break lets Alolan Marowak deal serious damage to Hydreigon, and also makes it an effective Ninetales* A check because it breaks Aurora Veil.

* Swords Dance lets you OHKO offfensive Porygon2 and 2HKO defensive Porygon2 with Flare Blitz. Also can let Alolan Marowak sweep if you use under Trick Room. Otherwise, do not expect to actually sweep with Swords Dance under normal circumstances.

Set Details
========

* Alolan Marowak needs Thick Club to function. It doubles its mediocre attack into something that hits very hard!

* The given EV spread allows Alolan Marowak to outspeed defensive Celesteela, bulky Porygon2, and Aegislash that don't invest in Speed, while still giving it enough bulk to take 2 shots of Brave Bird from specially based Tapu Koko.

* If you want more bulk, you can run 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe to have a 60% chance of surviving physically based Tapu Koko's Life Orb Brave Bird twice, and an 80% shot of surviving a Mega Salamence Double* Edge.

* If you are desperate to ensure that Alolan Marowak outspeeds threats such as Toxic stalling Aegislash and opposing Alolan Marowak, you can run a Jolly nature, but the power drop can hurt since Alolan Marowak is forced to switch out so much. Note that Jolly can also outspeed paralyzed Mega Gengar with 212 Speed EVs. At maximum Speed, Flame Charge lets Jolly outspeed Modest Tapu Lele and Adamant Mimikyu as well.

* If using Trick Room, Marowak can become a huge threat on those kinds of teams if you use a Brave Nature and a Speed IV of 0. However, you can still use faster spreads if you have good Alolan Marowak checks of your own, since Alolan Marowak still underspeeds a lot of threats anyways.

Usage Tips
========

* Alolan Marowak is best used as a hit-and-run kind of attacker. Switch it into Pokemon that don't threaten it too much such as Tapu Koko, Magnezone, and mixed Celesteela.

* Pay attention to team preview. Alolan Marowak forces a lot of switches against Electric-types, so instead of just trying to slam them, try to harm potential Alolan Marowak switch* ins. For example, if you notice Gyarados in team preview, consider using Will-O-Wisp to cripple it on the switch.

* Unless you have the proper support for it, don't make sweeping with Alolan Marowak your main game plan. Even with Flame Charge, Alolan Marowak won't outspeed many threats. Instead, Flame Charge is better for outspeeding bulkier foes like Aegislash and Celesteela.

* Alolan Marowak has decent bulk, but it's lack of recovery means that it has a very limited amount of times it can switch* in. Leading with Alolan Marowak isn't a bad idea if your team can handle its checks reliably.

Team Options
========

* Celesteela is an incredible teammate with Alolan Marowak. Celesteela takes care of offensive Ground-types such as Garchomp, Mamoswine, and Mudsdale, while Alolan Marowak deals with Electric-types and Fire-types fairly well.

* Gyarados also has great synergy with Alolan Marowak. Gyarados can set up on a lot of physical Pokemon that check Alolan Marowak with Dragon Dance, while Alolan Marowak can take out Tapu Koko provided Mega Gyarados hasn't been able to set up.

* Alolan Marowak hates physical attackers with Ground* type coverage, so consider using Tapu Bulu to help out with Grassy Surge. Tapu Bulu also takes on bulky Water-types fairly well, while Alolan Marowak handles Magnezone and Celesteela.

* Tapu Fini is a great check against Mega Gyarados, and its Misty Surge will make Hypnosis Xurkitree a bit less of a worry. Alolan Marowak helps against Electric-types in general in return.

* Tapu Bulu does fairly well against most Water-types, and as a bonus, its Grassy Surge lets Alolan Marowak survive most Earthquake. Alolan Marowak helps out against Celesteela and Magnezone in return.

* Defensive Porygon2 can be a big help against Mega Salamence and Aegislash that lack Toxic. It can also support Jolly Alolan Marowak with paralysis support, making it much more difficult to check. In return, Alolan Marowak checks Pheromosa.

* For more offensive Porygon2, you can use Trick Room to actually give Alolan Marowak a shot at sweeping teams.

* Pheromosa can be used to revenge kill Garchomp and opposing Porygon2.

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Shadow Bone
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk / Perish Song
item: Thick Club
ability: Lightning Rod
nature: Adamant
evs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Set Details
========

Usage Tips
========

Team Options
========


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

* Leftovers may seem neat for the Specially Defensive set, but Thick Club is needed too much for the extra power.

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

**Mandibuzz**: Mandibuzz can use Knock Off to cripple Alolan Marowak offensively, and it has Roost to outstall Flare Blitz afterwards.

**Mega Gyarados**: Shadow Bone hits it very hard before it mega evolves, but otherwise, it can switch in and OHKO with Waterfall.

**Mega Salamence**: While 2HKOed by Shadow Bone, it can deal massive damage to Alolan Marowak with Earthquake, and has Roost to heal itself later.

**Offensive Ground* tyes**: Neither Garchomp or Mamoswine can switch in safely, but they can OHKO Alolan Marowak with Earthquake provided that Tapu Bulu hasn't set up its Grassy Surge.

**Hydreigon**: Although Hydreigon is 2HKOed by Flare Blitz and has a shot of getting OHKOed by Brick Break, it can switch into Shadow Bone and OHKO Alolan Marowak with Dark Pulse.

**Tapu Fini**: Shadow Bone 2HKOs it, but offensive Tapu Fini drowns it with Hydro Pump otherwise.

**Faster Ghost-types**: Mega Gengar and Aegislash with Speed investment have no problems OHKOing Alolan Marowak with Shadow Ball. Mimikyu can also be an issue, but Life Orb Shadow Claw doesn't actually OHKO bulkier Alolan Marowak, and its much more vulnerable to Will-O-Wisp.

**Post Pokebank Pokemon**: After Pokebank, plenty of bulky Water-types such as Rotom- W and Suicune will be capable of revenge killing it. While they won't be able to switch in without taking a huge hit, offensive Ground-types such as Excadrill and Landours-T are very capable of revenge killing it.
 
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bobochan

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Set Details/Moves
The bulkier spread (252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe) also allows Marowak-A to live a max attack Double-Edge from Mega Salamence 80% of the time. As Flame Charge won't be doing much in helping you outspeed on the bulky spread, you may want to consider slashing coverage options like Bonemerang or Stone Edge here. Stone Edge has a low chance (18%) to OHKO Gyarados and Salamence after Intimidate, while Rock Tomb is also an option which slows, to help switch-in's more manageable and is very accurate. Don't forget to explain briefly on why Thick Club is the only viable item on Marowak-A (Set Details).

Team Options
Pheromosa is a killer teammate. It's fast and with HJK and Ice Beam alone, solves a lot of your problems. Mega Gyarados isn't too bad as well, pretty much anything that takes out Marowak-A will have to switch out after Gyarados comes in with Intimidate, so that's pretty much a free DD/sub.

Other Options
If you decided not to slash Rock-type moves on the set, they can go in Other Options I guess.

Checks and Counters
Ground-types like Garchomp and Mamoswine both cannot switch safely into Marowak-A (the former is crippled by burn and the latter is OHKO'ed by Flare Blitz even with Thick Fat), however they do outspeed and threaten to OHKO with STAB Earthquake.

1/3
 

Hulavuta

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Yeah Theorymon, I think a Specially Defensive set should be put under the main offensive one. Jhon has been using it and it's pretty effective, a good teammate for Celesteela. Will-o-Wisp cripples physical attackers and Perish Song takes down those annoying Eevee teams and other set-uppers.
 
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Shadow Bone
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
- Perish Song

Is the set in question.
I've been using it on status M-Gengar stall as a check to special M-Lucario, Pheromosa, Xurk/Koko (Elec stuff in General) and of course Eevee setups.
Shadow Bone is just reliable stab, ohkoes M-genger and Aegi Blade (does ~70% min to shield 252/0) and This maro takes a Shadow Ball from both if it needs to, 252 SpA Mega Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Marowak-Alola: 138-164 (82.6 - 98.2%)
Will-o for general burns, spreading status for M-gengar Hex or just allowing Blissey and co to take hits better whil slowly wearing down opponents
Rest lets it stay healthy, only recovery option so we work with what we have.
Perish Song ruins Eevee, forces switches and can prevent something like sub-seed Celest from making a 1v3 comeback. In general after 2 KOes have been taken, using this (hopefully) ends the game.
 
Theorymon, Been keeping an eye on this thread for my own Marowak play and I noticed Tapu Bulu was mentioned in the first set's Team Options twice with the same reasons; just worded differently. Looking forward to the finished product. :)

*mostly the same reason. One mentions water resistance for Marowak. Maybe consolidate the points?
 
You could add Thunderbolt and Ice Beam in Other Options maybe.. With 188 EVs in SpA, thanks to its ability when Wak goes +1 it OHKOes Mence/Chomp and Gyarados. I think that those moves could be pretty useful tools since the presence of cores made with those mons and Tapu Koko or Magnezone.
Even Substitute could an option for the Physical Attacker set
 

Theorymon

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So I've decided to drop this. Not only is the land of prebank done, but fact is: Alolan Marowak was the standard that got hit BY FAR the hardest from the Pokebank changes. So much so that I feel like I'd have to rewrite the entire thing. I won't move this right away in case QC disagrees, but yeah postbank was really unkind to marowak lol.

It might still be usable (probably is in doubles), but I think there's much bigger fish to fry at the moment!
 
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