Harpp
No rain, no flowers.
[OVERVIEW]
Normal
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Curse Snorlax performs the role of a bulky setup sweeper and a late-game sweeper for Normal-type teams against types such as Fairy and Electric. It is able to take on threatening attackers such as Mega Gallade and Keldeo after a single Curse boost and can be hard to stop once it has sufficient boosts. Its high special bulk lets it handle special attackers such as Tapu Koko and Latios and find opportunities to set up. Gluttony + Recycle allows Snorlax to use a reliable way of recovery without draining much momentum. However, Snorlax's low Defense makes it easily beaten by strong physical attackers such as Dragonite and Tapu Bulu if it does not has sufficient Curse boosts. Its reliance on Curse boosts to act as a sweeper also makes it susceptible to Taunt users such as Gliscor, Heatran, and Mew. Another downside to Snorlax is its inability to cure status conditions. Toxic in particular completely shuts it down.
[SET]
name: CurseLax
move 1: Curse
move 2: Recycle
move 3: Facade
move 4: Fire Punch
item: Iapapa Berry
ability: Gluttony
nature: Careful
evs: 228 HP / 252 Def / 24 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Curse allows Snorlax to patch up its lackluster Defense stat and tank Secret Sword from Choice Specs Keldeo much better. The Attack increase also enables Snorlax to be a potent sweeper against types like Fairy. Recycle allows Snorlax to reuse its Iapapa Berry and acts as a form of recovery, allowing Snorlax to not get worn out in the battle. Facade allows Snorlax to take advantage of burns and paralysis by dealing good damage to defensive status inducers like Will-O-Wisp Rotom-W and Scald Swampert. Fire Punch lets Snorlax deal good damage to Steel-types such as Mega Scizor, Celesteela, and Skarmory.
Set Details
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228 HP investment along with maximum Defense investment allows Snorlax to take on powerful attackers such as Keldeo and Mega Gallade much better after a single Curse boost. The rest of the EVs are dumped into Special Defense along with a Careful nature to allow it to take on powerful special attackers such as Mega Diancie and Tapu Koko. Gluttony allows Snorlax to consume its pinch Berry at 50% HP or less, which is important for keeping it healthy without losing momentum.
Usage Tips
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It is best to utilize Snorlax late-game when its checks, such as strong wallbreakers like Calm Mind Keldeo and Mega Gallade and phazers such as Hippowdon and Mantine, are taken out by its teammates. Snorlax should be wary of potential Toxic users such as Zapdos and Toxapex; scout the sets before attempting to set up Curse. However, Snorlax can act as a burn or paralysis absorber for the team, powering up Facade, and it can even get itself burned by switching into move such as Scald so that it won't be crippled by Toxic. Knock Off users such as Bisharp, Alolan Muk, and Azumarill should be avoided at all costs. Common Taunt users such as Mew, Gliscor, and Heatran can stop Snorlax from setting up and using its recovery move, so they need to be checked before Snorlax can set up safely. Snorlax should find opportunities to set up Curse against special attackers that it can handle such as Nidoking and Hydreigon. When setting up Curse, Recycle should be used to keep Snorlax healthy and gauge the damage dealt by opposing Pokemon; keeping Snorlax in a healthy HP range helps to find more opportunities to set up Curse.
Team Options
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Mega Pidgeot is a great teammate for Snorlax, as it can not only break down and pressure Steel-types like Celesteela, Ferrothorn, and Scizor but also beat Fighting-type Pokemon such as Mega Gallade, Breloom, and Keldeo as well as provide Defog support. Defensive Intimidate Staraptor can take on strong physical attackers such as Mega Gallade and provide pivoting with U-turn. It checks Fighting-type Pokemon thanks to STAB Brave Bird and provides Snorlax with Defog utility. Chansey can provide Stealth Rock support, which will allow Snorlax to weaken Pokemon that can check it such as Choice Band Dragonite. Additionally, Chansey can use its Natural Cure to sponge crippling status moves such as Toxic for Snorlax. Chansey also checks powerful special wallbreakers that Snorlax cannot handle such as Landorus. Swords Dance or Choice Band Diggersby can weaken the opponent's defensive core; the former in particular can pave the way for Snorlax to set up Curse, as it effectively beats out common defensive Pokemon that may be a hindrance to Snorlax such as Mantine, Toxapex, and Mega Venusaur. Similarly, Mega Lopunny can break down shared checks with Snorlax and act as a Knock Off sponge. It also breaks down Steel-type teams due to STAB High Jump Kick. By using a Power-Up Punch + Encore set, Mega Lopunny can beat defensive Pokemon that can check Snorlax such as Toxapex. Due to a diverse movepool, Porygon2 can provide utility support to Snorlax by weakening walls such as Swampert with Toxic, beating stallbreakers like Gliscor with Ice Beam, and pressuring Pokemon such as Mantine and Celesteela with Discharge. It can also punish setup sweepers such as Mega Scizor by using Foul Play. Ditto deters setup sweepers that pose a threat to Snorlax such as Gyarados and Mega Gallade and it acts as a revenge killer by countersweeping Pokemon that try to setup. Porygon-Z is a decent teammate that can blast through defensive threats to Snorlax like Gliscor and Celesteela due to its BoltBeam coverage.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Normal
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Earthquake is an option over Fire Punch to hit Rock- and Electric-types such as Terrakion and Zeraora better, but using Earthquake makes Snorlax suspectible to Steel-types that don't mind it like Mega Scizor, Skarmory, and Celesteela. Snorlax can utilize a Rest and Sleep Talk set with Leftovers to set up Curse boosts without getting crippled by moves such as Toxic and Knock Off, but using a RestTalk set makes Snorlax forgo coverage to hit Steel-type Pokemon.
Checks and Counters
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Normal
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**Physical Wallbreakers**: Strong wallbreakers like Choice Band Dragonite, Swords Dance Diggersby, and Zeraora can break Snorlax relatively easily if it does not has sufficient Curse boosts. Z-Move users such as Gyarados can also break Snorlax by using a powerful move after setting up.
**Fighting-types**: Powerful Fighting-types such as Mega Gallade, Keldeo, and Kommo-o threatren to KO Snorlax with their super effective STAB moves.
**Knock Off**: Prominent Knock Off users such as Alolan Muk, Azumarill, and Mega Sableye can make Snorlax unable to use Recycle and recover.
**Toxic**: Toxic puts non-Rest Snorlax on a timer and renders it unable to win games for the team.
**Taunt**: Stallbreakers such as Gliscor, Mew, and Heatran can use Taunt on Snorlax to stop it from accumulating Curse boosts or using Recycle.
**Phazers and Haze Users**: Phazers such as Skamory, Hippowdon, and Swampert can force out Snorlax with Whirlwind and Roar. Common Haze users such as Toxapex and Mantine can very easily nullify all the Curse boosts accumulated by Snorlax and beat it by wasting PP of its moves.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-type Pokemon such as Mega Sableye and Cofagrigus are immune to Facade and take little damage from Fire Punch due to their good natural bulk.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Harpp, 320110]]
- Quality checked by:[[ Moosical, 215618], [Maroon, 305839], [Eien, 100418]]
- Grammar checked by: [[CryoGyro, 331519],[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
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