https://www.smogon.com/dex/dp/pokemon/slowking/
[OVERVIEW]
Slowking is arguably NU's best defensive Pokemon thanks to its excellent mixed bulk, unique set of resistances, and access to a reliable recovery move. It's also capable of going on the attack with a wide special movepool and the ability to boost with Calm Mind and Nasty Plot or even set up its own Trick Room. Slowking's only major flaw is its weakness to Pursuit, particularly from Skuntank; it's risky to build a team that's too reliant on Slowking when it might get trapped and KOed or crippled early in the match. However, as long as you have a contingency plan for dealing with Pursuit, Slowking is one of the very best Pokemon in the tier.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Surf
move 2: Psychic / Fire Blast
move 3: Thunder Wave / Toxic
move 4: Slack Off
item: Leftovers
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Slowking is a natural check to many of NU's top attackers, including Charizard, Medicham, and Jynx, making it a great foundation for a defensive core. Slack Off sets Slowking apart from other defensive Psychic- and Water-types, most of which lack access to an instant, reliable recovery move. Slowking's STAB moves have good coverage and power for a defensive Pokemon, with Surf hitting most of the Pokemon that Slowking wants to counter at least neutrally and Psychic covering some common Water-resistant Pokemon like Poliwrath and Vileplume. Thunder Wave neuters most offensive Pokemon, which makes Slowking difficult for offensive teams to switch in on and ensures that it can turn Pokemon like Tauros and Medicham into non-threats even if it doesn't live to tell the tale. Thunder Wave also gives Slowking a much better chance to escape from or defeat Skuntank by paralyzing it as it switches in. On the other hand, Toxic allows Slowking to take on its defensive switch-ins; without it, Slowking is helpless against walls like Lickilicky, Cradily, Quagsire, and opposing Slowking. You can replace Psychic with Fire Blast in order to surprise and OHKO some of Slowking's most common offensive switch-ins, including Shiftry, Cacturne, and Magneton, at the cost of leaving Slowking completely reliant on Toxic against opposing Water-types.
[ADDITIONAL SET COMMENTS]
The EV spread gives Slowking balanced defenses that allow it to comfortably counter specially attacking Fire-types while also holding its own against most physical attackers, especially with Thunder Wave. Specifically, a Calm nature and 96 EVs in Special Defense ensure that Slowking will never be 2HKOed by Hidden Power Grass from Choice Specs Charizard or Typhlosion or by Thunderbolt from Choice Scarf Magmortar, even after Stealth Rock damage. Feel free to customize the spread based on what your team needs Slowking to counter; if Slowking has a specially defensive Regirock or Lickilicky as a teammate, for example, you may want to put more EVs into Defense to make Slowking a better check to Hitmonchan and Medicham and reduce its vulnerability to Pursuit.
This set can fit on a wide variety of teams, but any team that it's on needs to plan around opposing Skuntank. It's a good idea to have secondary checks to Fire- and Fighting-types to prevent your team from falling apart in case Slowking gets trapped and eliminated with Pursuit. Regirock and Cradily are good teammates to help out against Fire-types, while Gligar and Sableye are solid options on defensive teams to help deal with Fighting-types. Slowking also appreciates teammates that can handle Electric- and Grass-types. Nidoqueen, Vileplume, Meganium, and Camerupt are all decent options to fill in those gaps.
[SET]
name: Offensive Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Surf
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Nasty Plot / Ice Beam
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Slowking is indisputably the best Trick Room user in NU. It has the bulk to reliably set Trick Room up and the power, coverage, and low Speed to take advantage of it. Whether as part of a dedicated Trick Room team or as a standalone sweeper, this set allows Slowking to turn the tables on opponents that expect to be able to force it out with Pokemon like Magneton, Manectric, and Tauros, all of which it can outspeed and OHKO with Life Orb-boosted Surf when Trick Room is active. STAB Psychic provides the best overall coverage, hitting most Pokemon that resist Surf for at least neutral damage. Nasty Plot gives Slowking the ability to sweep through defensive teams, taking advantage of foes that try to stall out Trick Room turns with Protect or recovery moves. However, if you're not worried about the matchup against stall, you can drop Nasty Plot for Ice Beam, Signal Beam, or another coverage move to help against Pokemon like Shiftry, Cacturne, Sharpedo, and opposing Slowking.
[ADDITIONAL SET COMMENTS]
Life Orb is usually the best item for this set, since Slowking's goal is to KO as much of the opponent's team as possible while Trick Room is up, but Leftovers is an option if Slowking has Nasty Plot. It's a good idea to pair this set with at least one other slow teammate that can continue to sweep if Slowking is KOed while Trick Room is still active. Marowak, Camerupt, and Ampharos are some examples of strong Trick Room sweepers that have nice synergy with Slowking. If you're using Slowking on a dedicated Trick Room team, you should have a faster Trick Room setter such as Solrock or Haunter as your lead and ideally at least one other Pokemon that can set Trick Room up mid-game, such as Porygon2 or Gardevoir.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Surf
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Slack Off
item: Leftovers
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
With Calm Mind, Slowking maintains its utility as a wall while also gaining the potential to sweep. Slowking's good all-around bulk and access to instant recovery set it apart from most other setup sweepers in NU and allow it to set up relatively easily against teams that lack Toxic or a disrupting move like Encore or Trick. After a boost, Slowking can comfortably tank even super effective STAB moves from special attackers like Haunter and Manectric, making it very difficult to break directly without a powerful physical attacker.
[ADDITIONAL SET COMMENTS]
Investing 64 EVs in Special Defense ensures that Slowking will never be 2HKOed by Life Orb Charizard's Hidden Power Grass after Stealth Rock damage or by Choice Specs Typhlosion's Hidden Power Grass or Choice Scarf Magmortar's Thunderbolt from full HP, meaning that it remains a solid counter to most specially attacking Fire-types before it sets up. The remaining EVs bolster Slowking's physical bulk, making it more difficult for physical attackers such as Tauros and Medicham to put an end to Slowking's sweep.
Toxic is a major problem for this set as listed, essentially preventing Slowking from accomplishing anything against defensive teams. To counteract this, you can drop one of Slowking's attacks and switch to a mono-attacking set with Rest alongside either Sleep Talk or Slack Off for recovery. Sleep Talk has the advantage of making Slowking more difficult to switch into while it's sleeping and also makes Slowking a fantastic counter to Jynx, but Slack Off gives Slowking more defensive utility before setting up and more flexibility when attempting to sweep. If you choose to make Slowking a mono-attacker, it will need significant team support, since both of its STAB attack options have common Pokemon immune to them. If you choose Surf as Slowking's attack, you will need to ensure that Pokemon with Water Absorb such as Poliwrath, Quagsire, Mantine, and Politoed are eliminated before attempting to sweep, while if you choose Psychic, Slowking will need Dark-types such as Skuntank, Shiftry, Cacturne, and Sharpedo out of the way. The upside of going this route is that Slowking will be very hard for defensive teams to stop once such foes are out of play.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Surf
move 2: Fire Blast / Ice Beam
move 3: Psychic / Grass Knot
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Specs
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
Slowking has the stats and movepool to make excellent use of Choice Specs on bulky offensive teams, especially those that feature paralysis support. The power provided by Choice Specs and full investment in Slowking's Special Attack allows it to OHKO many of its common offensive switch-ins, including Skuntank and Magneton with Surf and Cacturne and Shiftry with Fire Blast. Defensive Grass-types can't switch in safely either, as Fire Blast OHKOes physically defensive Meganium and Vileplume. If Cradily is a bigger concern or you prefer a 100% accurate move to hit Grass-types with, Ice Beam is an alternative that 2HKOes Cradily while still OHKOing offensive Grass-types, though it doesn't quite OHKO Vileplume, Meganium, or specially defensive Cacturne. In the third slot, Psychic is a safe, spammable move once Dark-types are out of the way, and it hits most common Water-resistant Pokemon for at least neutral damage. Grass Knot is actually weaker than Psychic against most Water-types, but it has a good chance to 2HKO opposing defensive Slowking after Stealth Rock and will always OHKO Crawdaunt and Sharpedo, which can otherwise switch in and force Slowking out. Finally, Trick ensures that Slowking has value in matchups against defensive teams containing walls like Lickilicky and Politoed, which could comfortably tank any of its attacks but hate being locked into a single move.
[ADDITIONAL SET COMMENTS]
If your primary goal in using this set is to cripple a defensive switch-in with Trick, you can run Slack Off in the third slot to allow Slowking to act as a tank after ridding itself of its Choice Specs. This will leave Slowking unable to directly harm opposing Water-types, but locking them into a single move is often more impactful than the damage Slowking could deal with Psychic or Grass Knot anyway.
This set has the ability to lure and eliminate Skuntank and most Grass-types, potentially opening up a sweeping opportunity for a teammate. For example, Shiftry and Whiscash both benefit greatly from having the opponent's Grass-types out of the way, and Drifblim and Gardevoir are much happier when they don't have to worry about Skuntank. On the other hand, it's a good idea to have a teammate that can switch into and take advantage of Skuntank or a Grass-type if they manage to come in safely on a resisted move or after a KO. Charizard and other Fire-types are good options to handle Grass-types, while bulky Rock-types such as Rhydon and Regirock can switch in on Skuntank and possibly set up a sweep with Rock Polish. Slowking's life is also a lot easier if its teammates can remove opposing Water-types. Skuntank can do the job if your opponent's Water-type is a Slowking, or you can use a lure like Regirock or Camerupt with Explosion.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
================
Slowking can use Signal Beam or Focus Blast to cover Grass / Dark types like Cacturne and Water / Dark types like Sharpedo with a single attack. Its only other notable coverage move is Hidden Power Grass, which Slowking can use on defensive sets to avoid being walled by Quagsire and Gastrodon or set up on by Whiscash and Crawdaunt. Grass Knot is the better choice when using Choice Specs for its ability to 2HKO opposing Slowking, but defensive sets appreciate Hidden Power Grass's consistent power against lighter targets like Whiscash and Gastrodon.
Colbur Berry is a viable item if you want to improve Slowking's matchup against Skuntank. If Colbur Berry Slowking hits Skuntank with Thunder Wave or Surf on the switch, it has a good chance of winning the matchup without losing much HP at all. Even if Skuntank gets in safely, at worst the Colbur Berry will allow Slowking to switch out without taking too much damage from Pursuit.
Slowking can run an offensive set with Nasty Plot and Slack Off to act as a wallbreaker, especially on a team that focuses on spreading paralysis. On that note, if one of your team's primary win conditions is having Slowking sweep with Calm Mind, Nasty Plot, or Choice Specs, it's not a bad idea to invest some EVs in Slowking's Speed so that it can outspeed paralyzed Choice Scarf users. 44 EVs is enough for Slowking to outspeed paralyzed Choice Scarf Medicham and Gardevoir, while 60 EVs will allow it to outspeed paralyzed Choice Scarf Magmortar and Pinsir as well.
Yawn is an alternative status move that can force switches and build up entry hazard damage, although it's only really worth considering with Spikes support. If you're willing to forgo a coverage move, Protect is a viable option on defensive sets to scout Choice item users like Medicham, block Explosion from Regirock, and rack up extra Toxic damage and Leftovers recovery. Finally, Slowking can use Block alongside Calm Mind and Rest to trap a passive Pokemon, such as an opposing defensive Slowking, set up on it, stall it out of PP, and then attempt to sweep.
Checks and Counters
================
Skuntank is Slowking's biggest obstacle. Slowking can fight back to some extent with a combination of Surf, Thunder Wave, and good prediction, but ultimately it is unlikely to escape from Skuntank without losing most of its HP. This makes Skuntank very popular on teams that Slowking would otherwise excel against, limiting Slowking's overall reliability in the metagame.
Cacturne, Shiftry, Sharpedo, and Crawdaunt can all switch in on either of Slowking's STAB moves and force it out. Cacturne can use this opportunity to set up Spikes, and Shiftry and Crawdaunt can potentially boost and sweep with Swords Dance and Dragon Dance, respectively. Bulky Grass-types without a secondary Poison typing, such as Cradily and Meganium, can switch in and beat most Slowking sets, especially if Slowking lacks Toxic. Similarly, bulky Water-types such as Quagsire, Politoed, and opposing Slowking are all safe switch-ins, although they need Toxic to do meaningful damage to Slowking. Toxic in general is something Slowking desperately wants to avoid, so lures like SubToxic Charizard can be very effective at wearing it down. Manectric and Magneton take a lot of damage from Surf and hate being paralyzed, but they can force Slowking out if they get in safely. Many other offensive Pokemon can force out or KO a weakened Slowking, but be careful not to underestimate its bulk; a healthy Slowking is very capable of absorbing a powerful hit from Pokemon like Life Orb Haunter and Choice Band Tauros and actually coming out on top.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Honko, 42413]]
- Quality checked by: [[Bughouse, 52547], [Oglemi, 40358]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [Empress, 175616]]
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