[OVERVIEW]
Alolan Marowak possesses a decent offensive typing and a signature item in Thick Club that doubles its Attack stat, which along with its low Speed make it a really strong Trick Room attacker. Alolan Marowak also boasts a total of three immunities—Normal, Fighting, and Electric—and useful resistances to Fairy, Grass, and Steel, allowing it to fare pretty well against plenty of common metagame threats, including Tapu Koko, Celesteela, and Tapu Bulu. A great ability in Lightning Rod allows Alolan Marowak to support teammates by drawing all Electric-type moves towards it. However, Alolan Marowak's good physical bulk is let down by poor special bulk and Speed, which make Alolan Marowak prone to getting worn down easily when coupled with Flare Blitz recoil. Along with that, Alolan Marowak's typing grants it lots of common weaknesses in Water, Ghost, Ground, Rock, and Dark, allowing common Pokemon like Hoopa-U, Landorus-T, Milotic, and Volcanion to threaten it outside of Trick Room.
[SET]
name: Trick Room Attacker
move 1: Shadow Bone
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Low Kick / Bonemerang
move 4: Protect
item: Thick Club
ability: Lightning Rod
nature: Brave
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Shadow Bone is the primary STAB move despite its average Base Power because it lacks recoil and has great coverage. Flare Blitz is the strongest attack of the set; it is able to achieve feats like OHKOing Celesteela, though it is accompanied by nasty recoil. Low Kick scores a KO on Tyranitar, which resists both of Alolan Marowak's STAB moves, and has the added advantage of hitting Snorlax hard without Flare Blitz's recoil. Bonemerang is an option that allows Alolan Marowak to break past Substitute Heatran. Protect allows Alolan Marowak to scout for moves and, most importantly, allows another teammate to set up Trick Room, allowing Alolan Marowak to safely attack the next turn.
Set Details
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Thick Club raises Alolan Marowak's otherwise mediocre Attack stat to terrifying levels. 252 Attack EVs allow Alolan Marowak deal the maximum amount of damage in Trick Room, while the rest of the investment goes into HP to allow Alolan Marowak to take Flare Blitz recoil better. Lightning Rod allows Alolan Marowak to support its teammates by drawing all Electric-type moves to itself.
Usage Tips
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Alolan Marowak is best used as an attacker inside Trick Room, since it destroys common walls like Celesteela, Bronzong, and Cresselia and dents a significant portion of the metagame with only its STAB moves due to its huge Attack stat. Even though Alolan Marowak boasts three immunities, its low Special Defense means it should only be pivoted into predicted Electric-type attacks or into Pokemon it is supposed to counter like Tapu Koko, whose STAB moves it resists. Usage of Protect is recommended outside of Trick Room, as it allows an ally to successfully set up Trick Room. Inside Trick Room, Alolan Marowak should try to spam its STAB moves as much as it can because very few Pokemon resist them and the ones that do can be picked off using appropriate coverage.
Team Options
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Since this set focuses on working inside Trick Room, reliable setters like Bronzong and Hoopa-U are mandatory; Bronzong and Hoopa-U in particular benefit from Low Kick variants of Alolan Marowak, which are able to lure in and KO Tyranitar. Strong Grass-types like Shaymin-S, Kartana, and Tapu Bulu are good partners, as they break through opposing bulky Water-types. Tapu Bulu deserves a special mention due to having low Speed, allowing it to be used inside Trick Room, and providing Grassy Terrain, which gives Alolan Marowak some much needed recovery and halves the damage from Earthquake. Generally Milotic serves as a good teammate due to its Competitive ability deterring Intimidate users from switching in, and Alolan Marowak deals with the Electric- and Grass-types that threaten Milotic. Because Volcanion is a threat, Gastrodon makes a good partner for Alolan Marowak too, drawing Water-type moves towards itself. Tapu Fini also serves as a decent partner that supports Alolan Marowak with Heal Pulse and Swagger, allowing Alolan Marowak to get past its usual counters like Mega Salamence. Psychic-type attackers appreciate Alolan Marowak's ability to break Steel-types such as Metagross and Celesteela. Tapu Lele synergizes especially well with non-Low Kick Alolan Marowak, as Tapu Lele breaks through Dark-types such as Hydreigon and Tyranitar with its STAB Fairy-type moves.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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A set with maximum Speed investment can be run with Tailwind support to outspeed threats like Mega Gengar, but doing so causes Alolan Marowak to lose a considerable amount of bulk. Will-O-Wisp is a good utility option that allows Alolan Marowak to punish switch-ins like Landorus-T, Gyarados, and Salamence, which otherwise can take a hit due to Intimidate, but Alolan Marowak misses out on important coverage by running it. Thunder Punch is a good option too, since it allows Alolan Marowak to cleanly 2HKO Tapu Fini. Rock Head is a viable option if your team isn't vulnerable to Electric-type moves, as it makes Flare Blitz easier to use repeatedly while increasing Alolan Marowak's longevity.
Checks and Counters
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**Bulky Water-types**: Most bulky Water-types, such as Tapu Fini and Milotic, easily beat Alolan Marowak one-on-one due to their bulk and superior Speed; however, Milotic has to be careful under Trick Room, as Shadow Bone has a chance to 2HKO it.
**Opposing Weather**: Rain makes Alolan Marowak essentially deadweight, since Alolan Marowak's strongest attack, Flare Blitz, is weakened and most rain sweepers outspeed and easily KO it outside of Trick Room; however, all of the common rain sweepers take considerable amount of damage from Shadow Bone inside Trick Room.
**Tyranitar and Hydreigon**: Tyranitar and Hydreigon, by virtue of their typing, can freely switch into any of Alolan Marowak's STAB attacks and proceed to KO it in return; however, they have to be careful of Low Kick variants.
**Intimidate**: Intimidate users like Landorus-T and Scrafty can easily defeat Alolan Marowak one-on-one due to their ability to take a hit from it and KO it in return. Bulky Mega Salamence sets can easily take on Alolan Marowak due to their extremely good physical bulk and access to Intimidate.
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