Where hard reads and building prep won't get me what I want, a well-timed full para will.
[Overview]
With its high bulk, strong Attack, and expansive movepool, Snorlax is one of the tier's most effective offensive and defensive Pokemon. Curse Snorlax is one of the most difficult Pokemon to check around, being difficult to KO, offensively threatening, and able to customize its set to defeat its potential counters. Defensively, Snorlax is one of the most important checks to Latios and Latias, and it soft checks a variety of other threats including Mewtwo, Deoxys-A, Jirachi, and Regice. Snorlax is also a highly effective wallbreaker, capable of forcing trades with Curse or with STAB Self-Destruct, which is stronger than every Explosion. Immunity and Thick Fat are both useful abilities on an already good defensive Pokemon, blocking one of the most prevalent ways of stalling Snorlax out or making it a highly effective Ice- and Fire-type sponge. However, Snorlax's unboosted physical bulk is not great, and many Pokemon run Fighting-type moves almost exclusively to take advantage of it. Snorlax is also very slow and has no options to rectify this weakness beyond spreading paralysis, meaning that once it is at low health, it is effectively KOed.
[SET]
name: Offensive CurseLax
move 1: Curse
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Protect / Shadow Ball
move 4: Self-Destruct / Rest
item: Leftovers
ability: Immunity / Thick Fat
nature: Careful
evs: 120 HP / 136 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Curse helps Snorlax cover its mediocre physical bulk while simultaneously building enough power to wallbreak or clean late-game. Body Slam for STAB is fairly strong, accurate, and has a high chance to paralyze foes, which can help teammates, allow Snorlax to actually outspeed a threat, or grant Snorlax even more turns to set up or heal. Return is also an option for additional power, which can especially help for muscling through Pokemon such as Groudon, Kyogre, Latios, Latias, and Mewtwo. Protect is a valuable move to increase Leftovers recovery and scout moves, especially from Choice Band users—which teammates can easily handle if they lock into a Fighting-type move—or Pokemon with Explosion or Self-Destruct such as Metagross, Forretress, and Mewtwo. Shadow Ball and Earthquake are both worthy coverage options to combat the Ghost-, Steel-, and Rock-types intent on countering Snorlax such as Metagross, Forretress, Jirachi, Steelix, Omastar, Dusclops, Gengar, Shedinja, Regirock, and Registeel. Shadow Ball is more common because Earthquake leaves Snorlax completely helpless against Gengar and Shedinja. Fire Blast is also notable, especially on sun teams, for blasting Skarmory and Forretress; two common Snorlax switch-ins that seek to lay Spikes. Self-Destruct sacrifices longevity and cleaning ability for maximum wallbreaking potential. Rest allows Snorlax to remove status and continue boosting against Pokemon that are unable to 4HKO it, which form a substantial portion of the tier after a Curse. Rest is most potent against stall teams, and it should typically be run alongside Shadow Ball; no Pokemon is immune to both Ghost and Normal, letting Rest Snorlax eventually break through all foes with enough boosts. Sleep Talk can be used alongside Rest to make the most of its sleep turns.
252 Special Defense EVs with a Careful nature are important to minimize damage from Latios, Latias, and Mewtwo, and because Special Defense is the defensive stat Snorlax cannot increase via setup. 136 Defense EVs allow Snorlax to always avoid being 2HKOed by Groudon's Earthquake after one Curse. The remaining 120 HP EVs further increase Snorlax's overall bulk, but these can also be placed in Attack for additional damage output early on, which can be especially helpful when running Return. A more offensive EV spread of 104 HP / 152 Atk / 252 SpD can be justified on sets with Protect to supplement recovery, and it further increases Snorlax's wallbreaking potential against Kyogre, Latios, and Latias. Immunity or Thick Fat is utilized depending on team needs; Immunity prevents Toxic from debilitating Snorlax or forcing it to use Rest, while Thick Fat helps it tank attacks such as Latios's Ice Beam and Mewtwo's Fire Blast.
CurseLax functions on a variety of teams and archetypes, and it can customize its movepool, EVs, and even ability to meet specific needs of a team. This particular set appreciates cleaners and sweepers that appreciate Snorlax's ability to pressure Groudon, Kyogre, Latios, Latias, and defensive Steel-types. Offensive CurseLax especially appreciates secondary and tertiary Latios and Latias checks, which relieve its pressure to check these threats while allowing it to wallbreak more aggressively. Therefore, Pokemon capable of taking Thunder such as Steelix, Shedinja, Blissey, Groudon, and Swampert, or Dragon Claw such as Metagross, Forretress, Jirachi, or Registeel, are good teammates. Pokemon that pressure Kyogre and Groudon can help Snorlax break through them, such as Mewtwo, Metagross, Ho-Oh, Steelix, and Rayquaza. Spikes support makes offensive CurseLax especially potent, as it wears down several of its major checks, so setters such as Forretress, Skarmory, Deoxys-D, Deoxys-S, Omastar, and Qwilfish are great choices. Trappers such as Magneton and Dugtrio that can remove Steel-types are natural offensive partners.
[SET]
name: Amnesia CurseLax
move 1: Curse
move 2: Amnesia
move 3: Rest
move 4: Body Slam
item: Leftovers
ability: Immunity
nature: Careful
evs: 208 HP / 252 Def / 48 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Curse helps Snorlax cover its mediocre physical bulk while simultaneously building enough offensive power to clean. Amnesia makes it nearly impossible for special attackers to break through Snorlax, being especially helpful for Latios, Latias, Kyogre, and Mewtwo. Importantly, it also lets Snorlax continually threaten several Calm Mind users and use Rest less often. Rest allows Snorlax to remove paralysis and burns, and it keeps Snorlax a long-term threat against Pokemon that are unable to 4HKO it, which form a substantial portion of the tier once it has boosted its defenses. Body Slam for STAB is fairly strong, accurate, and has a high chance to paralyze foes, which can be exploited by teammates, allow Snorlax to actually outspeed a threat, or grant Snorlax even more turns to set up or heal. The EV spread allows Snorlax to check Latios, Latias, and bulky Ho-Oh long-term; it also performs especially well against Groudon and lets Snorlax weather Mewtwo Self-Destruct into Spell Tag Deoxys-A Superpower. Immunity is utilized to prevent Snorlax from needing to use Rest for Toxic.
Like Curse Snorlax as a whole, Amnesia CurseLax is very customizable to a team's needs and fits on many archetypes. It still appreciates a secondary Latios and Latias check to relieve its pressure to check them, especially ones that can take Thunder such as Steelix, Shedinja, Blissey, Groudon, and Swampert, or Dragon Claw such as Metagross, Forretress, Jirachi, and Registeel. Pokemon that can pressure Kyogre and Groudon facilitate Snorlax cleaning through them, such as Mewtwo, Metagross, Ho-Oh, Steelix, and Rayquaza. Spikes support makes CurseLax especially potent, as it wears down several of its major checks, so setters such as Forretress, Skarmory, Deoxys-D, Deoxys-S, Omastar, and Qwilfish are great choices. Trappers such as Magneton and Dugtrio that can remove Steel-types are natural offensive partners.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Focus Punch / Earthquake
move 3: Body Slam
move 4: Self-Destruct
item: Choice Band
ability: Immunity / Thick Fat
nature: Adamant / Brave
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
A Choice Band brings insane power to the most powerful explosion move in the game, and it further boosts Snorlax's coverage options to potentially blow past conventional checks. Shadow Ball allows Snorlax to hit Gengar and Shedinja, which it could otherwise not touch, and also tackles Dusclops. Fire Blast can be used over Shadow Ball with sun support for hitting Skarmory and Forretress. Focus Punch is viable, as it's typically only used when the opponent is forced to switch, and it does major damage to most Normal-resistant foes. Earthquake also hits most Steel- and Rock-types hard, but it has overall lower power than Focus Punch and is potentially easier to exploit with immune foes. Body Slam is a strong and accurate STAB move with a high chance to paralyze foes, which can be exploited by other teammates, allow Snorlax to potentially outspeed a target it's hit, and make Snorlax more difficult to switch into. Alternatively, Return's additional power is great for blasting through many important Pokemon such as Groudon, Kyogre, Latios, Latias, Mewtwo, and Ho-Oh. STAB Self-Destruct with a Choice Band is absurdly powerful, OHKOing any Pokemon that does not resist it and even OHKOing some that do. Immunity allows Choice Band Snorlax to safely switch into Blissey and forces Pokemon such as Lugia and Skarmory to use moves other than Toxic. Thick Fat allows Snorlax to "resist" Ice Beam and Fire Blast, especially from the likes of Mewtwo. A Brave nature should be used if running Fire Blast.
Choice Band Snorlax functions best on offense teams that have several other Latios and Latias checks, thereby allowing Snorlax to take a more offensive role, so offensive checks such as Metagross, Ho-Oh, Steelix, Regice, and Deoxys-A are great picks. Spikes support helps Choice Band Snorlax break through Steel-types, Groudon, Kyogre, and several other foes more easily, so setters such as Forretress, Skarmory, Deoxys-D, Deoxys-S, Omastar, and Qwilfish make good teammates. Trappers like Magneton and Dugtrio can remove Steel-types and serve as great offensive partners. Choice Band and mixed wallbreakers or cleaners such as Groudon, Deoxys-A, Mewtwo, Ho-Oh, Metagross, Rayquaza, and Heracross can help Snorlax to overload defensive cores, especially ones with opposing Groudon and Kyogre.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Snorlax has the bulk to utilize Counter, but it's a high-risk, high-reward choice. Toxic can seriously punish a few conventional Snorlax responses, but most of Snorlax's common switch-ins are immune to this move. Belly Drum boosts Snorlax's Attack to absurd levels and could be paired with Rest and a Chesto Berry for instant recovery, but Snorlax checks and potential revenge killers are very common, so this set is largely outclassed by those already discussed. Sunny Day is a very niche option that can be used to punish Kyogre.
Checks and Counters
====
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types such as Dusclops, Gengar, and Shedinja are immune to Snorlax's most spammable move, and potentially to its entire moveset. Beyond this, each of them also has potential tools to debilitate or defeat Snorlax.
**Skarmory and Forretress**: Skarmory and Forretress have high Defense, resist Snorlax's STAB moves, and are immune and neutral to Earthquake, respectively. They can proceed to set up Spikes, but they, especially Forretress, fear getting caught by Fire Blast in sun. Note Skarmory can also phaze Snorlax, while Forretress may be forced to check it via Explosion after boosts.
**Other Steel-types and Regirock**: Pokemon such as Metagross, Steelix, Registeel, and Regirock have high defenses, resistances to Snorlax's STAB moves, and the power to hit back hard with strong physical moves, but they fear coverage moves such as Earthquake, Focus Punch, or Fire Blast in sun.
**Kyogre and Groudon**: Although they dislike switching into Snorlax and may take heavy damage from its STAB attacks, Kyogre and Groudon have the sheer power to easily beat Snorlax one-on-one or break through its Curse set.
**Defensive Lugia**: Defensive Lugia has the bulk and longevity to pivot into Snorlax and set Reflect or threaten Curse sets with Whirlwind. However, defensive Lugia is also KOed by Self-Destruct, does not like getting hit by Toxic, and cannot threaten Snorlax if Snorlax is the last Pokemon available.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Minority, 222996]]
- Quality checked by: [[SuperEpicAmpharos, 306959], [Inspirited, 127823]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Adeleine, 517429], [Aurora, 109385]]
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