[SET]
Bulk Up (Marshadow) @ Life Orb / Spell Tag
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Tera Type: Ghost
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Spectral Thief / Poltergeist
- Low Kick
- Shadow Sneak
[SET COMMENTS]
- With Bulk Up increasing its already great Attack stat; a STAB combination no viable Pokemon resists; great STAB options in Poltergeist, Low Kick, Spectral Thief; and a strong priority move in Shadow Sneak further boosted by Technician, Bulk Up Marshadow is an incredible mid- to late-game wallbreaker and cleaner that can threaten a great majority of the metagame.
- Spectral Thief is a fantastic tool that not only steals boosts from common boosted threats such as Coil Zygarde, the many Calm Mind Arceus variants, and slow Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM variants but also threatens these targets for huge damage. Alternatively, Poltergeist can be used for its higher Base Power; this comes in handy with Tera Ghost, as it can OHKO defensive Primal Kyogre at +1 after Stealth Rock damage for example.
- Low Kick perfectly complements Marshadow's Ghost-type attacks and forms a nearly unresisted STAB combination. Due to the heavy weight of Pokemon in Ubers, Low Kick is preferred to Close Combat because it has no drawbacks while still having 120 Base Power against common targets like Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, Arceus, and Arceus-Dark.
- Shadow Sneak is a powerful tool that can eliminate Speed-boosted and naturally faster targets such as Deoxys-A, as well as weakened Dragon Dance Arceus-Ground and Ultra Necrozma.
- Tera Ghost is the premier choice because it further amplifies Marshadow's damage output. In particular, it allows Poltergeist to OHKO defensive Necrozma-DM at +1, OHKO Dragon Dance Zygarde at +1 and—after Stealth Rock damage—almost always 2HKO defensive Arceus-Fairy when unboosted. Turning into a pure Ghost-type also comes in handy in order to tank one hit from the likes of Arceus-Fairy and Ultra Necrozma.
- Life Orb is the best item in order to maximize the damage Marshadow can deal. Spell Tag can also be used, granting its Ghost-type attacks a 20% damage boost with no drawbacks. The drop in power is significant, however; for example, Spell Tag Marshadow is not guaranteed to 2HKO defensive Primal Groudon at +1 with Poltergeist.
- A Jolly nature is generally recommended in order to ensure that Marshadow always outspeeds Arceus formes as well as Mega Salamence. An Adamant nature further boosts Marshadow's Attack, giving it a chance to OHKO defensive Necrozma-DM at +1 with Poltergeist.
- Marshadow likes entry hazards for their ability to hinder common switch-ins such as Arceus-Fairy, Primal Groudon, and Zygarde-C; thus, Spikes support from Primal Groudon and Toxic Spikes support from Eternatus are welcome.
- Marshadow hates switching in on entry hazards, as their damage racks up quickly when factoring its poor bulk, lack of recovery, and the possible Life Orb recoil. Thus, a Defogger like Ho-Oh or Giratina-O fits well with Marshadow. On top of that, Ho-Oh and Giratina-O can easily spread status and cripple the likes of Arceus-Fairy and Primal Groudon.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/eledyr.415367/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/bobsican.434487/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/adorluigi.528364/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rose.511181/
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