Alolan Marowak



Type: /
Weaknesses: , , , , (X2)
Resistances: , , , , , , (X0,5) and , , (if Lightning Rod is its ability) (X0)


Abilities:

Cursed Body: When a move makes contact with the Pokémon, that move has a 30% chance of getting disabled.

Lightningrod: Electric-type moves are drawn to this Pokémon. Electric-type moves will do no damage and the Pokémon's Sp Atk is raised one stage. If the Pokémon is Ground-type, moves are drawn to it, but it gets no boost.

Hidden Ability:

Rock Head: Does not receive recoil damage from recoil-causing damages.


Base stats: 60 HP / 80 Attack / 110 Defense / 50 Special Attack / 80 Special Defense / 45 Speed



Alolan Marowak is a very unique Pokémon: it has a great typing, which grants it a ton of resistances (and also a bunch of unfortunate weaknesses), a great offensive movepool, but rather unimpressive stats. Luckily, it has access to the item Thick Club, which doubles its Attack stat, but this set won't even be using it, since it's all about an underestimated side of Marowak, that was recently re-discovered with its new typing: defensive Marowak.


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the set




Marowak-Alola @ Leftovers / Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Bone
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake / Bonemerang

This set utilizes Marowak's great typing and ability, which make it a great counter to a lot of powerful threat in this early metagame, such as Tapu Koko and Xurkitree with its Electric immunity due to Lightning Rod and combination of decent special bulk and typing that allows it to take on their coverage moves. It also has some nice natural physical bulk, which is nice since you can also check the likes of Kartana, M-Scizor and Tapu Bulu (though you should be careful and scout for their movesets first since they can run coverage moves to KO it). Will-O-Wisp further enhances Marowak's defensive capabilities by reducing the burned Pokémon's attack by 50%, which allows it to take both physical and special attackers, making it a nice mixed wall/tank. Shadow Bone and Flare Blitz are its two main STAB moves, which are still decently powerful even without attack investment. They are also useful to pick off some of the Pokémon that it can usually check, such as M-Scizor being killed by Flare Blitz. Finally, Earthquake is used to kill the Electric types that are checked by Marowak, such as Tapu Koko and Xurkitree, two big threats at the moment. It is important to acknowledge that while Marowak is decently bulky and is useful to check a lot of common Pokémon, it is still not that bulky compared to other Pokémon, such as Toxapex and Celesteela, so you shouldn't play too recklessly with it; try to bring it only when you have a safe switch-in or on a Pokémon that is completely countered by Marowak to avoid having to take too much damage. It also gets worn down very easily by hazards, especially since it has no recovery and it has a weakness to Stealth Rock, so switching to much without having hazards removed will make Marowak very ineffective quickly, because it can be beaten by the things it should check if it's low enough in HP. Scouting for movesets is always a good thing, especially since Pokémon like Scizor started carrying Dark type moves, such as Brutal Swing and Knock Off, for Marowak and Aegislash.

Notes: While the passive recovery from Leftovers is really appreciated, Thick Club allows it to deal way more damage. It actually became my favourite item to run on it, even though the lack of recovery can sometimes be a pain. Bonemerang is a nice option over Earthquake as it has the same power and the ability to break Substitutes and then attack another time, since it hits twice, but it also has a chance to miss.

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calcs

Defensive:


Offensive:



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good partners


Water/Rock/Ground/Ghost/Dark Checks/Counters: Marowak is weak to those typings, so having partners to cover those weaknesses is always nice.

Water types: Water types really appreciate the support given by Marowak, since it can take on both Grass and Electric, the two only weaknesses of Water types. It's also good to note that you can also form a Fire/Water/Grass core, which is well known for it's nice defensive synergy.

Hazard Control: Since Marowak is weak to hazards, especially Stealth Rock, and you don't want it to get worn down, Rapid Spin of Defog support is always useful.

Clerics: Since Marowak is heavily annoyed by Toxic, clerics are a good team option to cure its status or pass Wishes to keep it healthy.

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threats

Water/Rock/Ground/Ghost/Dark types: Marowak is weak to these types, so be sure to be careful around those.

Strong Attackers: While Marowak is fairly bulky, it's still not the bulkiest thing, and strong attackers can muscle through it with raw power.

Toxic: Like I previously said, it doesn't have any reliable recovery, so Toxic is very detrimental since its longevity is extremely reduced because of the continual damage taken.

Hazards: Once again, because of its lack of recovery and weakness to Stealth Rock, Marowak won't survive a long time if hazards are up.


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other options


An offensive set is very usable under Trick Room, but outside of TR it's really slow and it's pretty frail without investment, so I would only recommend running the offensive set under TR. A good partner for it is (in my opinion) Porygon2, as it sets up Trick Room and absorbs big hits from threatening Pokémon to Marowak, while it appreciates Marowak's immunity to Fighting.

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