Slowking [QC 0/3]

[Swamp Link]

Much better fashion sense than Slowbro
Overview
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• Great special bulk
• Regenerator is one of the best abilities in the game
• Access to reliable recovery
• Huge support movepool
• Good special attack stat
• Typing is a mixed bag, giving good resistances but also key weaknesses to Pursuit and U-turn and other common attacking types
• Physical bulk is only decent
• As slow as the name would imply
• His brother is often preferred for better physical bulk
• Very annoying case of slashitis

Physically Defensive
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name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Scald
move 2: Dragon Tail
move 3: Slack Off
move 4: Psyshock/Flamethrower/Ice Beam
ability: Regenerator
item: Leftovers
evs: 248 HP/252 Def/8 SpDef
nature: Relaxed/Bold

Moves
========

• Scald is mandatory as your best water-type STAB with its burn chance
• Dragon Tail is Slowking's main niche over Slowbro, allowing it to phaze
• Slack Off is reliable recovery that makes Slowking very hard to wear down in conjunction with regenerator
• So many options for the 4th slot, do what your team needs
• Psyshock hits the Fighting-types you check and is preferable over Psychic for CM Keldeo
• Flamethrower beats up steel-types that want to come in on you like Scizor, Genesect, and Ferrothorn
• Ice Beam hits Dragon-types harder and can outright KO them instead of shuffling them with Dragon Tail
• Thunder Wave spreads paralysis well, but may interfere with scald's burn if you want that
• Toxic is also helpful status

Set Details
========

• The HP EV's give Slowking a number divisible by 3 for Regenerator
• Despite Slowking's stats, he performs best with a physically defensive EV spread to balance his defenses
• If you desire, an alternative EV spread of 248 HP/236 Def/24 SpDef ensures you will never be OHKO'd by Mega Lucario's +2 Dark Pulse
• If you run this EV spread Fire Blast is necessary to KO the Lucario, although it must be weakened a bit first, since Fire Blast only does 75.4 - 88.9%
• Leftovers are really the only choice for item, although they're less essential because of Regenerator
• A Relaxed nature is better since Slowking is very slow anyway and it makes Dragon Tail a bit stronger
• If, for some reason, you want to speed tie with Slowbro, Snorlax, and Cofagrigus, you don't lose much by having a Bold Nature instead

Usage Tips
========

• Slowking lacks the extreme physical bulk of Slowbro and can't take hits from powerful physical attackers nearly as well
• It works more as a pivot that can check a wider variety of threats but counters fewer ones
• Switching into U-turn hurts, regardless of the fact that it's alleviated by Regenerator
• Be wary of Tyranitar and Scizor trying to ruin your day
• Slowking can't handle very powerful special attackers like Specs Latios either because it doesn't invest in special bulk, but because of Regenerator, it makes a good initial switch-in without as many consequences
• When you have forced a switch, either Dragon Tail to shuffle your opponent or try to predict their switch-in and switch to something that can handle that, gaining health back with Regenerator

Team Options
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• Slowking works well with Ferrothorn, taking both of its weaknesses with impunity
• Slowking makes a good third member of defensive cores that have 2 pokemon that are more extremely physically or specially bulk. Its mixed bulk allows it to shore up many weaknesses.
• Due to its ability, though, Slowking can be fairly self-sufficient and just be helpful on a team that wants a check to a wide spectrum of attackers without much support

Assault Vest
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name: Assault Vest
move 1: Scald
move 2: Dragon Tail
move 3: Psyshock/Ice Beam
move 4: Flamethrower/Ice Beam
ability: Regenerator
item: Assault Vest
evs: 248 HP/252 Def/8 SpDef
nature: Relaxed

Moves
========

• Scald is once again a reliable Water STAB with a burn chance
• Dragon Tail phazes and makes it a more effective Assault Vest user than Slowbro despite the latter's higher defense stat
• Psyshock hits the Fighting-types that you wall
• Flamethrower hits Steel- and Grass-types hard
• Fire Blast is an option for more power, although Flamethrower's reliability should be good enough
• Ice Beam is usable over either one of these moves for stronger coverage on Dragons that you check
• Power Gem can also work to hit Mega Charizard Y extremely hard

Set Details
========

• 248 HP EV's give Slowking a Regenerator number
• With Assault Vest, Slowking has all the special bulk he will need, so a physically defensive spread shores up his weaker side
• Regenerator makes up for the lack of Slack Off, making Assault Vest viable
• A Sassy nature can be used, but is not as helpful as the boost to defense
• An alternate EV spread of 248 HP/252 SpA/8 SpDef is possible to hit significantly harder, but this compromises bulk a bit too much to be the usual spread

Usage Tips
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• A pivot fit for a king, switches in and out to sponge hits over and over without being worn down too much
• Even super effective special attacks like Greninja's Dark Pulse and Gengar's Shadow Ball struggle to leave a lasting impact so you can easily switch into them and only lose a net 20% or less
• U-turn is still a pain
• Pursuit isn't any easier to deal with from Assault Vest

Team Options
========

• Pretty independent
• Status blows without leftovers, so a cleric is appreciated
• Hazards lessen the effect of Regenerator, so a Defog user or spinner is nice
• Heatran has good synergy with Slowking and takes care of Genesect

Offensive Trick Room
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name: Offensive Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Surf
move 3: Ice Beam/Psyshock
move 4: Nasty Plot
ability: Regenerator
item: Life Orb/Leftovers
evs: 248 HP/8 Def/252 SpA
nature: Quiet
ivs: 0 Spe

Moves
========

• Trick Room supports your team and turns Slowking's low speed into an asset, letting him do real damage
• Surf is the best STAB move because he doesn't get Hydro Pump, but Surf is more reliable anyway
• Ice gets the best two-move coverage with Water, hitting everything that resists it neutrally except for other Water-types
• Psyshock is a secondary STAB that lets you break through Blissey after a Nasty Plot
• Nasty Plot is what distinguishes Slowking from Slowbro, as otherwise, Slowbro is better suited to an offensive role with its greater physical bulk
• With Nasty Plot, Slowking can become a very dangerous Pokemon
• Use Belly Drum over Nasty Plot with Aqua Tail and Zen Headbutt if real
• Grass Knot works in the last spot for perfect coverage, but the most-used Water-type, Rotom-W, takes pebbles from it

Set Details
========

• HP EV's give a Regenerator number
• 232 HP EV's can be used instead to take less damage from Life Orb, although you'd have to attack 4 times to make it worth it
• Max Special Attack is used to be a threat under Trick Room as well as supporting the team, hitting a surprisingly high 492 not counting Life Orb
• A Quiet Nature and minimum Speed IV's make Slowking as fast as possible under Trick Room
• Leftovers can be used instead to be a more reliable setter, but Life Orb gives its attacks a great punch

Usage Tips
========

• Works as an early-game pokemon for Trick Room teams that can bust through defensive cores with Nasty Plot, and easily set up a second Trick Room once your lead's wears off
• Don't sac it, though, as it's one of the more reliable setters thanks to Regenerator and its bulk
• This can't really work as a standalone sweeper and is only for Trick Room teams

Team Options
========

• Lots of Pokemon appreciate Trick Room support, among them Conkeldurr, Reuniclus, Escavalier, Azumarill, and Mega Abomasnow
• OTR Slowking struggles with a lot of bulky waters, so a Grass-type is helpful
• Tangrowth especially works really well, being slow, forming a Regenerator core, and destroying any Water-type
• It's important to carry pokemon that can function outside of Trick Room, which is most of the tier. Just don't make a team of 6 pokemon with nothing faster than base 60.

Other Options
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• Slowbro has a gigantic movepool
• Focus Blast hits Tyranitar trying to switch in
• Foul Play has great utility, although it's not STAB
• Seismic Toss deals reliable damage
• Magic Coat works great if you predict correctly and beats Deoxys leads
• Specs isn't awful, but Slowbro does sets that don't utilize Dragon Tail or Nasty Plot better
• Grass Knot works on the defensive sets to hit stuff like Gyarados pretty hard since it might try to just set up on you with a Substitute
• A specially defensive spread takes care of many special threats, but its typing isn't suited for that
• Yawn is a way to deal with lastmon set up sweepers
• Block/Heal Pulse/Recycle/Slack Off with a Leppa Berry if you want to get banned

Checks & Counters
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• Tyranitar's bulky enough to take scalds and traps you, but a burn can screw him
• Scizor also either pursuit traps you or gets momentum with U-turn
• Slowking is overwhelmed by extremely powerful physical attackers like Garchomp, Charizard X, and Azumarill
• Thundurus can set up on it or 2HKO with Thunderbolt
• Mega Venusaur doesn't even fear Psyshock that much, and Celebi will easily take Fire Blast

 

[alexwolf]

The first two sets are wrong. The defensive set should have max Special Defense instead of Defense, to better deal with Mega Charizard Y, one of the main reasons to use Slowking in the first place. However, i don't know if i would use the specially defensive set in this metagame, as Assault Vest is better, so for now i suggest putting it in OO. Even if i did use a specially defensive set, i would rather put Assault Vest on it.

As for the Assault Vest set, use this spread: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD with Modest. Also, make Power Gem a main slash on the set, as it OHKOes Mega Char Y the majority of the time (68% of the time), while also helping vs Mega Charizard X and Mega Pinsir (which you can't switch in against, but preventing it from setting up is always nice), as well as Dragonite, Thundurus, and Tornadus-T if you don't go with Ice Beam. Dragon Tail is not really needed, so put Scald, Ice Beam, Fire Blast, and Psyshock on the other slots (obviously those are 5 moves, so slash second one of the coverage moves).

 

[Swamp Link]

I thought I had responded to this much earlier, but I guess not.

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Slowking: 206-244 (52.4 - 62%) -- 98.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Why would I use a fairly niche pokemon like Slowking specifically to deal with Mega Charizard Y when it's not even a solid counter with max investment? Regenerator lends itself to pivoting, and that's what Slowking likes to do. The best EV spread for that is to have as much mixed bulk as possible, letting it check a wider variety of threats.

As for Assault Vest, my comments above also apply for why I think a physically defensive spread is preferable to the max SpA spread. Although it is holding AV, it's still going to take a lot of physical and special hits, so it's insufficient to just focus on one. And if I'm not using Dragon Tail, what's the point of using Slowking over Slowbro? I'm pretty sure it's not Power Gem. The additional special bulk that Slowking has isn't nearly as relevant as Slowbro's extra physical bulk considering the Assault Vest. Slowking's purpose isn't really to counter Mega Charizard Y, and the moveslots shouldn't be focused around one (admittedly huge) threat.

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Slowking: 186-220 (47.3 - 55.9%) -- 78.5% chance to 2HKO

Assault Vest Slowking fares better against Mega Charizard Y, but I definitely wouldn't build the whole set around doing better against it when all of the pressure of prediction is on me to not switch into Solarbeam and not let any of my other Pokemon switch into Fire Blast.

 

[alexwolf]

You are using Slowking over Slowbro for the added special bulk, simple as that. You don't need any other reason, really. Physically defensive shouldn't exist, as Dragon Tail alone is not big enough to justify using Slowking over Slowbro, so either have two AV sets, one with max SpA + Power Gem and one with max SpD + Dragon Tail, or just one AV set with max SpA + Power Gem and the SpD AV set gets a mention in Set Details.

 

[Swamp Link]

It's not that Dragon Tail is the sole reason, you use Slowking for better mixed bulk, not to be equally polarized. Slowking's typing gives him a lot of common weaknesses to special attackers, and that's why in past generations and this one, his OU spreads are physically defensive.

Looking at usage stats, in the top 20, Rotom-W, Aegislash, Genesect, Greninja, Charizard, Lucario, Heatran, Venusaur, and Gengar are common special attackers. Of these, the only ones that you'd want to switch into, investment or not, are Heatran and Lucario to an extent. The rest will all usually carry an attack that is super effective. You handle Heatran no matter what, and Lucario will lose 1-on-1 whether you invest or not, but will win if you switch in as it Nasty Plots, whether you invest or not.

Physical attackers, on the other hand, consist of Talonflame, Charizard, Lucario, Garchomp, Azumarill, Scizor, Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Conkeldurr, Excadrill, and Dragonite. Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Tyranitar are things that you don't want to switch into anyway, and Azumarill's just too damn strong, but investment makes a difference for the rest, especially since you can carry a super effective attack for most of them. The first calc will be with 248/8 Slowking, and the second with 248/252+ Slowking.

CB Talonflame's Brave Bird: 64.8 - 76.5% vs. 45.2 - 53.4%
Mega Charizard X's +1 Dragon Claw: 77.3 - 91% vs. 53.6 - 63.6%
Mega Lucario's +2 Crunch: 115 - 135.3% vs. 80.4 - 94.6%
Garchomp's +2 Outrage: 118.5 - 139.9% vs. 82.6 - 97.7%
Conkeldurr's Knock Off with item: 74.8 - 88% vs. 51.9 - 61.5%
Conkeldurr's Knock Off without item: 49.8 - 59% vs. 34.6 - 41.2%
Excadrill's +2 Earthquake: 111.7 - 131.5% vs. 77.8 - 91.8%
Dragonite's +1 Outrage: 100 - 117.8% vs. 69.7 - 82.4%

So with Talonflame, you need investment to not be 2HKO'd, with Charizard, you need investment so that being at full health isn't required to Dragon Tail it away, with Lucario, you need investment to beat it 1-on-1, with Garchomp you need investment to not die if you switch in as it Swords Dances, with Conkeldurr you need investment to not be 2HKO'd by Knock Off most of the time, with Excadrill you need investment to not die if you switch in as it Swords Dances, with Dragonite you need investment to not die if you switch in as it Dragon Dances.

Basically, Slowking fares the same against prominent special attackers whether or not it invests because its typing isn't great against many of them, but against many prominent physical attackers, investment turns OHKO's into 2HKO's and 2HKO's into 3HKO's. So physically defensive is better than specially defensive.

 

[Fuzznip]

I would just use Slowbro then because it fares better against physical attackers. It's not like Slowking can beat Thundurus or Greninja any better than Slowbro, while Slowbro does fine against Heatran and Lucario. Just give Slowbro an Assault Vest set for the mixed bulk that you're trying to do here.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

Slowking does not necessarily have better mixed bulk. A 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD Bold Slowking has 393 HP / 284 Def / 258 SpD stats. A 248 HP / 12 Def / 248 SpD Bold Slowbro has 393 HP / 284 Def / 258 SpD stats as well. In fact, you can shift 4 SpD EVs over to Def on Slowbro to hit a Def jump point and have 2 more Def points than Slowking at the cost of just 1 SpD point, so Slowbro can actually be slightly bulkier overall than a physically defensive Slowking.

If you really want great mixed bulk, I don't see why you're not just using Assault Vest Slowbro. It already has great physical bulk, and the Assault Vest brings its special bulk up to similar levels. The reason you are using Slowking is definitely for the extra special bulk, which lets you do things like avoid the 2HKO from Mega Charizard Y's Solarbeam and LO Greninja's Dark Pulse after Stealth Rock with the Assault Vest and SpD investment, neither of which Slowbro is capable of doing.

EDIT: Greninja'd

 

[Swamp Link]

I would be completely fine with that rationale of AV Slowbro being better, but on the Slowbro analysis Assault Vest is just OO, which would suggest that there's a reason Assault Vest wasn't a main set for it (why, I don't know). From what I had gathered, it was that Slowking had access to phazing. If that's wrong, then please explain. And by better mixed bulk, I meant that 248/252/8 Bold Slowking, at the cost of physical bulk, has more special bulk than 248/252/8 Bold Slowbro. More evenly spread out, not necessarily more, although 1 point is pretty meaningless most of the time. Since no one should ever run specially defensive Slowbro.

And I don't know of any other AV pokemon that runs Max HP and Max Special Defense, so why should Slowking? I might as well use Goodra if it's to avoid a 2HKO from Mega Charizard Y.

 

[alexwolf]

Yeah, the mixed bulk is the same really, but Slowbro has better physical bulk which makes it the superior option in this metagame. So, you have to take advantage of Slowking's biggest advantage, it's special bulk.

Also, it's not true that Slowking can deal with only Mega Lucario and Heatran. With Assault Vest you can check many special attackers or beat them on on one, such as Mega Charizard Y, Rotom-W, Tornadus-T, and even more if you go with max HP / max SpD+. Honestly, with AV and max HP / max SpD+ there are almost zero special attackers that you can't check. One of the few reasons to use offensive AV Slowking over AV Slowbro is because it can avoid the 2HKO from Mega Char Y and OHKO back with Power Gem the majority of the time, or just outright wall it if you go with max SpD, so make sure to stress this.

And what's your point about Goodra? Slowking has Regenerator and can wall Lati@s, as well as different STAB options, so i don't get why you compare them. SpD AV Slowking is a good special pivot as it can tank even the strongest super effective hits in the tier. And obviously it walls Mega Char Y all day long, wtf you saying?

 

[Swamp Link]

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Slowking: 186-220 (47.3 - 55.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Sure, you're taking pebbles from Rotom-W's Volt Switch, but you're not going to beat it. I know we're not just taking last gen's analysis and updating it, but it is sort of being worked off of, and Slowking was physically defensive then. If you can explain why AV Slowbro is simultaneously better than physically defensive Slowking and not good enough for a main set, and everyone is dead set on specially defensive, I'll change it, but I'm really not convinced that a specially defensive Slowking is the best set. Slowking's advantage over Slowbro isn't being a special version of it, it's being able to take moderately powerful attackers from both sides of the spectrum. Physically Defensive Slowking can already take stuff as powerful as Landorus with Assault Vest. You shouldn't be using it to try to take every special attack, because even if it has the bulk for it, typing dictates that something else would be better in that role. Use Amoonguss if you want a specially bulky Assault Vest Regenerator pokemon, it's got a much better typing for the role.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

Instead of asking, "Why not go mixed?," you should be asking, "Why go mixed and make Slowking into an okay mixed tank when I could go specially defensive and make it into a phenomenal special tank?" Even with max physical bulk, you still don't really tank physical hits all that well, while you sacrifice your ability to survive 2HKOs from things like Mega Charizard Y and Greninja. You don't even take Landorus on that well contrary to what you're saying. Physically defensive Assault Vest Slowking is easily 3HKO'd by Earth Power and fails to OHKO back with Scald, so unless you're running Ice Beam, you lose outright to it. Heck, Modest variants of Landorus even have a small shot at 2HKOing after Stealth Rock, while a specially defensive Slowking has a small shot at avoiding a 3HKO under the same circumstances. And no, Amoonguss does not necessarily have better typing for a specially defensive Assault Vest set. It gets destroyed by Mega Charizard Y, it can be easily 2HKO'd by Greninja's Ice Beam after Stealth Rock (an equally invested Slowking can take 2 Dark Pulses after Stealth Rock with no issue), and it gets curbstomped by Heatran, and that's just in the top 10. Those Fire and Ice resistances are a big part of Slowking's success as a special tank, and Amoonguss lacks both of them. There's also the Psychic resistance, which I suppose is useful for switching into things like Mega Alakazam (who has a pitiful 1.6% chance to 3HKO with Shadow Ball after Stealth Rock).

 

[alexwolf]

Enough with this, you are just ignoring the arguments we gave you in favor of AV Slowking and you just say ''Why should SpD Slowking with AV have a set when AV Slowbro doesn't''. Btw, you are using the wrong spread, here is the right one:

EVs: 216 HP / 252 SpA / 40 SpD with Modest

With this spread, you have a tiny chance to get 2HKOed by Mega Charizard Y's Solarbeam (like 2%) while you have a ~70% chance to OHKO back with Power Gem. Acting as a great check to Mega Char Y is obviously one of the main reasons to use AV Slowking over Slowbro, so once against make sure to stress this. Personally, i think that an AV set with max HP / max SpD should also be a main one, as it's special bulk is simply ridiculous, and you can still 2HKO many of the special attackers that you check, but i would be ok if we only gave it a Set Details mention. The offensive AV set however should be a main set for sure, as it's Slowking's most effective set atm.

So, completely scrap the physically defensive set, make the first main set the offensive AV set that i posted, and you can add the SpD AV set as a main set so we can discuss it a bit more.

 

[Swamp Link]

If everyone's deadset on specially defensive Slowking, Fuzznip please reassign this. I don't think I am a good person to write the analysis and it would probably go much faster with someone else at the head of it.

 

[Fuzznip]

If you insist. >_>