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sleeper pick
[OVERVIEW]
Snorlax is one of the foremost setup threats in the SM DOU metagame. Boasting stellar special bulk courtesy of its high HP and Special Defense stats and backed by its solid Attack stat, Snorlax merely has to patch up its poorer physical bulk in order to transform into a huge threat, which it can easily do so with its ubiquitous Curse set. However, this forces it to set up rather slowly, requiring more turns to begin to threaten opponents than other common setup sweepers like Zygarde and Mega Salamence; a lack of resistances besides its immunity to Ghost also means it has fewer opportunities to set up. Its sluggish base Speed of 30, further hampered by Curse, means that it has to rely on Trick Room if it wants to be able to move before foes—if it's not up, Snorlax risks taking sizable amounts of damage from most opposing physical attacks before it can even set up. Furthermore, while using Recycle together with an Iapapa Berry and Gluttony grants it pseudo-recovery, Snorlax is left wide open to status: burns hamper its damage output, poison from Toxic puts it on a timer, and even paralysis can prevent it from getting a crucial Recycle off on the right turn. Its reliance on a Berry to grant it recovery further leaves it vulnerable to Knock Off and the less common Magician and Bug Bite, since the slow nature of its setup means that without access to recovery, it is unable to deal enough damage before it gets KOed to make a decent impact on the battle.
[SET]
name: CurseLax
move 1: Curse
move 2: Recycle
move 3: Return
move 4: High Horsepower
item: Iapapa Berry
ability: Gluttony
nature: Brave
evs: 132 HP / 144 Atk / 124 Def / 108 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Curse is Snorlax's key to making an impact in battles, allowing it to patch up its mediocre Defense stat and boost its already decent Attack stat. This setup is backed up by the use of Recycle, which, in conjunction with Iapapa Berry, allows Snorlax to achieve some semblance of reliable recovery, greatly increasing its ability to stick around in battles and thus making it easier for it to get Curse boosts. Return acts as a strong and consistent STAB move, being Snorlax's main attacking move; backed up by High Horsepower, Snorlax can achieve perfect neutral coverage on almost every relevant Pokemon in the format, save Celesteela.
Set Details
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Gluttony allows Snorlax to consume its Iapapa Berry, restoring half of its HP, at 50% health instead of at 25%, making it much more effective and reliable as a recovery option. The EVs invested into Attack allow Snorlax to OHKO standard Tapu Lele 100% of the time after one Curse boost and 2HKO Landorus-T 100% of the time unboosted. Defensively, Snorlax's EVs allow it to survive a Tectonic Rage from Adamant Landorus-T even before a Curse boost while maximizing Snorlax's special bulk under this constraint, allowing it to survive extremely powerful attacks such as Rash Deoxys-A's Psycho Boost under Psychic Terrain. Finally, a Brave nature is always optimal on Snorlax even if it's not being used on a Trick Room team, as it improves its ability to function under opposing Trick Room, and an Adamant nature doesn't help significantly in any of Snorlax's key matchups.
Usage Tips
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Like most other slower-paced setup Pokemon, Snorlax can't starting boosting right from the start of a game and expect to be unopposed in its efforts to set up completely. It's best brought onto the field in front of two special attackers that can't deal much damage to it, like Heatran and Tapu Fini, allowing it to set up a Curse or two while the opponent tries to adjust their board position. Another good opportunity for Snorlax to come in is during Trick Room, potentially even the opponent's, where it can set up Curse before its foes move and underspeed them on subsequent turns, forcing them to hit into its boosted Defense stat or even switch out in fear of its hard-hitting Return. On the whole, though, due to its lack of common weaknesses, good special bulk, and access to recovery, Snorlax can make a good switch-in in many situations regardless of whether it tends to stick around and boost with Curse or not.
Notably, recovery is very important to Snorlax, as its lack of Protect means it tends to draw double targets from foes, and thus it gets worn down easily. Any moves or abilities that cause Snorlax to lose the use of its Berry or lose the Berry itself can be extremely devastating, especially if Snorlax is not set up, so they should be played around cautiously. The most common are Knock Off and Taunt, but a Snorlax player should also be wary of less common threats like Bug Bite, Magician, and Unnerve. Indeed, sometimes it is better to not use Recycle if Snorlax isn't below 50%, as this would leave its item vulnerable to removal by Knock Off or Magician.
Team Options
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Tapu Fini stands out as perhaps the best partner for Snorlax, protecting it from status that might shorten its time on the field or curtail its offensive presence, as well as using Swagger to boost Snorlax's damage output more quickly than Curse, letting it become an offensive threat far more quickly. In addition, Tapu Fini's access to Heal Pulse allows it to do the healing instead of Snorlax, freeing up more turns for Snorlax to boost or attack, and also allows it to stick around even if it unfortunately loses its Berry.
In more general terms, Snorlax appreciates checks and counters to Celesteela, which is the only relevant Pokemon to resist or be immune to both of Snorlax's common attacking moves. To this end, offensive Fire- and Electric-types are almost mandatory on most teams built around Snorlax; good examples are Heatran, Mega Charizard Y, and Tapu Koko, though Heatran needs to hold a Z-Crystal in order to guarantee a KO on Celesteela.
Apart from mere type synergy, Snorlax appreciates being able to set up its initial few Curse boosts more easily. One way to ease the first few turns of setup is to support Snorlax with Trick Room, allowing it to move first to get Curse's Defense boosts before being attacked, as well as to actually attack first once it's boosted sufficiently. Good choices to fill this role include Hoopa-U, a common Trick Room setter that can cover for Snorlax's lack of offensive presence before boosting, and Bronzong, a more defensive pick with access to the combination of Z-Trick Room and Hypnosis to give Snorlax more free turns to boost while its foes sleep. The use of Intimidate is another way to ease the initial setup, as Snorlax will take less damage from opposing physical attackers before it can raise its Defense with Curse. Mega Salamence, which carries Intimidate before Mega Evolving, threatens most relevant Fighting-type threats to Snorlax and is also able to exert strong offensive pressure on its own to pick up the slack on Snorlax's end while it boosts. Landorus-T, especially Choice Scarf variants, is also an option, as it can switch in and U-turn out to stack Intimidates more easily.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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The use of Belly Drum over Curse is a viable though much more aggressive build, finding its place mainly on Trick Room-oriented teams. Its key advantage over Curse sets is that it allows Snorlax to transform into a huge offensive threat in a single turn instead of over a period of many turns; Snorlax's typical Iapapa Berry also works well here to heal it back to full health after a Belly Drum. Furthermore, Belly Drum allows Snorlax to invest more in its bulk, allowing it to potentially even run a Defense-boosting nature to extend its stay on the field; it could even be run with Stockpile, as the defensive boosts Snorlax gets would let it have a greater chance of successfully using Belly Drum without being KOed.
In terms of Snorlax's offensive coverage, Double-Edge is a strong option over Return, dealing significantly more damage and thus requiring Snorlax to set up for fewer turns. Double-Edge also deals Snorlax recoil damage, which gives the player more control over when Snorlax's Berry of choice activates. Facade is another alternative, allowing Snorlax to take advantage of the burns that opponents may use to attempt to lower its damage output and even stray paralysis that may hit Snorlax; even if Snorlax is not afflicted by a status, near the end of its setup the power difference is insignificant. With regards to High Horsepower, a notable alternative is Fire Punch, allowing Snorlax to hit Celesteela and Ferrothorn more effectively but trading off its ability to damage Heatran at all without significant levels of boosts.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fighting-types**: Marshadow, Terrakion, and Buzzwole all outrun Snorlax and can hit it for heavy damage with their Fighting-type STAB attacks. Marshadow is additionally immune to Snorlax's Return, while Terrakion resists it, and Buzzwole can also accumulate Beast Boosts in Attack to get through Snorlax's Defense boosts from Curse and has a naturally high Defense stat.
**Taunt**: Taunt prevents Snorlax from getting further boosts in, curtailing its ability to become an offensive threat and also cutting off its recovery, making it significantly easier to take out. Good choices of Taunt users include Mega Gengar, with its ability to trap Snorlax to prevent it from resetting Taunt; Terrakion, which can stop Snorlax's setup and follow up with a Close Combat; and Tapu Lele, which can hit Snorlax hard on its unboosted Special Defense stat once Snorlax's ability to recover with Recycle is removed.
**Hyper Offense**: Getting damage into Snorlax before it is able to set up boosts generally results in it having to use Recycle repeatedly to restore its HP and therefore hampering its offensive presence on the field. Z-Moves especially are extremely helpful here, dealing large chunks of damage to Snorlax and setting it up for a KO by an ally.
**Celesteela**: Celesteela is the best Pokemon to resist Snorlax's coverage, and it can use Leech Seed on it for huge amounts of recovery for itself and its team due to Snorlax's large base HP and Snorlax's general unwillingness to switch out once it has boosted up with Curse. In a one-on-one endgame scenario, though, Snorlax can pull ahead as the victor by maximizing its Attack with Curse.
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