Pokémon Alolan Muk

[nameless90]

Alolan Muk with the additional Dark typingis really tasty for a couple of reasons.

First of all, it is a good thing defensively speaking because now Muk is weak only to Ground attacks, but Earthquake is quite predictable.

Poison Touch, even though it isn't as good as Regenerator for an AV pokemon, it is nice when it poisons the foe because some check/counters i.e. Garchomp and Landorus-T don't have reliable recovery, so they dislike having a timer onto themselves. This makes STAB Poison Jab/Gunk Shot even more appealing.

Last, but not least, STAB Knock Off/Pursuit are welcome to punish some monsters unable to kO this rainbow Muk.

 

[onlyheretocomplain]

Gunk Shot/Poison Jab are your choices of Poison STAB, with Gunk Shot packing significantly more power at the cost of accuracy and PP. What's great though is that due to Poison Touch, both moves have a 50% chance to poison whatever you're hitting.

I don't think Gunk Shot benefits from Poison Touch, as it's not a contact move.

 

[Joe Career]

What do you guys think about paring this thing with Tapu Bulu? Grass Terrain halves the ground weakness and provides Muk with recovery, while Muk can absorb those pesky Poison types easily, and do some damage to Steel types thanks to Knock Off.

 

[heavylobster43]

What do you guys think about paring this thing with Tapu Bulu? Grass Terrain halves the ground weakness and provides Muk with recovery, while Muk can absorb those pesky Poison types easily, and do some damage to Steel types thanks to Knock Off.

Can confirm this works well. Also Fire Blast is an interesting option this thing has for Mega Scizor, who walls this thing otherwise, and can't be poisoned/Knock Offed. FB also helps work around King's Shield with Aegislash. 44 SpAtk EVs on a neutral nature guarantees the 2HKO on 248HP/252SPDef MegaZor.

 

[aaditmshah]

Can confirm this works well. Also Fire Blast is an interesting option this thing has for Mega Scizor, who walls this thing otherwise, and can't be poisoned/Knock Offed. FB also helps work around King's Shield with Aegislash. 44 SpAtk EVs on a neutral nature guarantees the 2HKO on 248HP/252SPDef MegaZor.

Indeed, Alolan Muk and Tapu Bulu are an excellent pair. I've been running a more physically defensive set though and it works wonders for me:

Muk-Alola @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Fang
- Sleep Talk
- Rest

Here's a replay which shows the synergy between Alolan Muk and Tapu Bulu (http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-484660047):

+2 252 Atk Kommo-o Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Muk: 170-200 (41 - 48.3%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery and Grassy Terrain recovery

This shows just how bulky Alolan Muk is which is why I prefer running a more defensive set than an offensive one. Although Poison Fang is inferior to Gunk Shot and Toxic separately yet I found that it's better than both of them in practice since it can be used to both nab KOs as well as put a timer on setup sweepers and walls.

 

[TURBODERP]

Can confirm this works well. Also Fire Blast is an interesting option this thing has for Mega Scizor, who walls this thing otherwise, and can't be poisoned/Knock Offed. FB also helps work around King's Shield with Aegislash. 44 SpAtk EVs on a neutral nature guarantees the 2HKO on 248HP/252SPDef MegaZor.

This is interesting to slash, simply because Aegislash is everywhere and Scizor/Ferrothorn/Skarm/Celesteela are the best available switchins to Alolan Muk (even if nothing likes being Knocked except Mega Scizor). Fire Blast can at least prevent you from being setup bait for the first 3.

You 2HKO the standard mixed Ferro spread, and after SR you 2HKO PhysDef Skarm (although you're outsped and can be Roosted on.

 

[chimpact]

ye i also like the defensive EV spread as well. I've used a 4 attack set with both 252 hp / 252 atk and 252 hp / 252 def spreads and the defensive spread was generally better thanks to poison touch and its great typing. I've paired this up with magnezone to trap pesky steel types that aren't poisoned and can still pivot against toxapex

knock off is really cool with magnezone as it can knock off shed shell so magnezone can trap skarm

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 48 Def / 252 SpA / 208 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon

 

[heavylobster43]

This is interesting to slash, simply because Aegislash is everywhere and Scizor/Ferrothorn/Skarm/Celesteela are the best available switchins to Alolan Muk (even if nothing likes being Knocked except Mega Scizor). Fire Blast can at least prevent you from being setup bait for the first 3.

You 2HKO the standard mixed Ferro spread, and after SR you 2HKO PhysDef Skarm (although you're outsped and can be Roosted on.

Also note that Bulu really appreciates being rid of all those mons you listed, if you're running them together. Banded set in particular is hard to switch into when you're down your primary Bulu check.

 

[latinoheat]

Does poison Jab definitely stack; barely ever poisons. I am not talking about just bad luck, literally 3 poisons in 60+ hits.

 

[ProjectTitan313]

Does poison Jab definitely stack; barely ever poisons. I am not talking about just bad luck, literally 3 poisons in 60+ hits.

Stack with Poison Touch? Yes it does, it first rolls the 30% Poison Chance of Poison Jab, then if that fails it rolls the 20% Poison Touch chance.
It is a beautiful plague.

 

[onlyheretocomplain]

Can't check in game, but Poison Touch works as expected in Showdown:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-486875198

 

[viol and bass]

Does poison Jab definitely stack; barely ever poisons. I am not talking about just bad luck, literally 3 poisons in 60+ hits.

You don't have Tapu Fini on your team / play against lots of people who use Tapu Fini, do you?

 

[Pyukumu-kukuku]

So I'm just gonna say, if this thing comes in with an air balloon and power of alchemy when you have a Shedinja faint, it will be basically unkillable. I must play around with this and see if there is some way to get it to work because that would be sooooo busted.

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

So I'm just gonna say, if this thing comes in with an air balloon and power of alchemy when you have a Shedinja faint, it will be basically unkillable. I must play around with this and see if there is some way to get it to work because that would be sooooo busted.

Power of Alchemy doesn't function in singles. I'm also not positive that PoA can copy something like Wonder Guard.

 

[Mr. Querty]

So I'm just gonna say, if this thing comes in with an air balloon and power of alchemy when you have a Shedinja faint, it will be basically unkillable. I must play around with this and see if there is some way to get it to work because that would be sooooo busted.

Power of Alchemy (and Receiver) can not copy Wonder Guard.

 

[GDK]

Power of Alchemy (and Receiver) can not copy Wonder Guard.

Thanks god or else the meta would be a bunch of final gambit shedinja with scarf with air ballon muk to the side.

 

[Pyukumu-kukuku]

Power of Alchemy (and Receiver) can not copy Wonder Guard.

Kinda figured, whelp back to the drawing board. I still feel like there might be some weird way to trigger PoA, like U-Turn into a Rocky Helmet KO or something crazy like that.

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

It's probably really dumb but has anyone tried a CurseTalk set yet?

I think it has the tools to make it work:
-REALLY spammable move in Poison Touch Knock Off
-mono-weakness that can be, for the most part, nullified with Grassy Terrain
-big special bulk (with full investment, it has a chance to live Y-zard fire blast after Black Sludge and Grassy Terrain recovery)
-Tapu Koko, who prevents rest, can't really do anything to you (LO Electric terrain boosted thunderbolt can't even 2HKO and its LO will get knocked off.) Tapu Fini also prevents rests but non-CM sets are so weak they can't kill you before their terrain expires

 

[Mr. Querty]

Power Of Alchemy can still trigger some busted, if gimmicky, combos. Pair it with a Huge Power Azumaril, (Sitrus Belly Drum?), and watch your opponent choose whether to knock out the Azumaril while it is a threat and trigger crazy Muk, knock out Muk first leaving time for Azumaril to hit hard, or try to KO them at the same time and take longer to knock them out. Either way provides a situation to capitalize on, as long as Azumaril can safely set up Belly Drum.

 

[Muhznit]

It's probably really dumb but has anyone tried a CurseTalk set yet?

I think it has the tools to make it work:
-REALLY spammable move in Poison Touch Knock Off
-mono-weakness that can be, for the most part, nullified with Grassy Terrain
-big special bulk (with full investment, it has a chance to live Y-zard fire blast after Black Sludge and Grassy Terrain recovery)
-Tapu Koko, who prevents rest, can't really do anything to you (LO Electric terrain boosted thunderbolt can't even 2HKO and its LO will get knocked off.) Tapu Fini also prevents rests but non-CM sets are so weak they can't kill you before their terrain expires

In-game, I've been experimenting with

Alolan Muk w/ Figy Berry
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 252 HP, 40 Atk, something Defense. (see details)
Adamant Nature
- Curse
- Poison Fang
- Knock Off
- Rock Tomb

If I recall, I had it EV'd to get 2HKO by a Mega Metagross Crit EQ and Alolan Marowak's Bonemerang. He probably has no business sitting out against either of those. The idea was to lower Maro's speed with Rock Tomb, then AT LEAST get it down to the red with no Thick Club. I can't say I'm good at making super-specific spreads. <_< I chose Figy Berry because it's incredibly easy for most unboosted SE attacks against him to fall into a sweetspot of 37.5-50% and trigger the berry on the second hit.

Recently however, I've been considering a Zoom Lens set. He's definitely slow enough to pick up the boost and get a 96.5% Gunk Shot out of it.

 

[NestorKennard]

It's probably really dumb but has anyone tried a CurseTalk set yet?

I've tried it a little (in a team just to test few things) with Rest-SleepTalk-Curse-Crunch, max HP - max SpDef.
And surprisingly, I wasn't disappointed (it's sometimes my MVP).
Of course, I'm not a top player, so it wasn't high ladder, but for a Poke with "random" teammates, I think it's not too bad. I guess in an adapted team, it could be viable.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-487877285
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-487130594

 

[Skankovich]

It's probably really dumb but has anyone tried a CurseTalk set yet?

I think it has the tools to make it work:
-REALLY spammable move in Poison Touch Knock Off
-mono-weakness that can be, for the most part, nullified with Grassy Terrain
-big special bulk (with full investment, it has a chance to live Y-zard fire blast after Black Sludge and Grassy Terrain recovery)
-Tapu Koko, who prevents rest, can't really do anything to you (LO Electric terrain boosted thunderbolt can't even 2HKO and its LO will get knocked off.) Tapu Fini also prevents rests but non-CM sets are so weak they can't kill you before their terrain expires

I have a lot! It's really great, it answers to so many mons (aegislash who?) while being a really threatening wincon on its own terms, and the basic utility of knock off + poison touch is so good.

This team's only answer to Cromuck is a Zydog, but it's scared to switch in since it will lose the band and consequently not be able to check me in future and Muk would sweep. Unfortunately, a crit Heavy Slam kind of ends it for poor Muk.: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-483664101

Muk vs. Muk, but nothing really special here besides Muk walling like 2/3 of their team: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-482388490

What would have been muk 6-0'ing a team without the forfeit: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-482384097

Sub Aegi gives me some trouble here but Muk outspeeding it surprises at the end and wins the game for me: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-481131935

Muk walls everyone and sweeps etc: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-481083285

 

[the voice of reason]

[Gunk Shot/Poison Jab are your choices of Poison STAB, with Gunk Shot packing significantly more power at the cost of accuracy and PP. What's great though is that due to Poison Touch, both moves have a 50% chance to poison whatever you're hitting.

Extremely minor math correction: It's a 51% chance to poison. The chances to poison are best calculated as the chance to not poison during two consecutive 30% checks, or (.7 * .7) = .49 = 49% chance to not poison the target after poison touch enhanced poison jab.

Also, Gunk Shot is still 30%, because it doesn't make physical contact.

 

[Flarowak]

Muk is really cool now, and actually can be super useful to help out a lot of really popular mons like tapu fini or bulu. Bulu and muk in particular. Those two with a lati make a really great core.

 

[LeNorm]

What do people think about a sweeping set with Air Ballon and Rock Polish, something like:

Muk-Alolan @ Air Balloon
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Brick Break
- Gunk Shot/Poison Jab
- Rock Polish

Muk's excellent defensive typing means it only has one (2x) weakness to ground, which Air Balloon covers nicely. So with it's excellent natural bulk, it is almost guaranteed an opportunity to set up rock polish, and between its stab moves and brick break has (near?) perfect coverage.

With Adamant it sits just below 400 speed, and with Jolly 436, allowing it to outspeed most of the unboosted metagame. So a jolly set outspeeds the entire unboosted meta, other than Mega-Zam, Mega-Aerodactyl, and Phero, and of those only Aerodactyl is really a worry as it can one bang the other two.