[OVERVIEW]
* Water-Psychic typing provides Slowking with a plethora of useful resistances to Fighting-, Water-, and Fire-type moves.
* Impressive mixed defenses allows Slowking to switch into popular Pokemon such as Latias, Keldeo, and Volcanion with impunity.
* Slowking is a fairly versatile Pokemon, capable of running both offensive and utility sets effectively.
* Regenerator extends Slowking's longevity throughout a battle and allows it to perform its role with consistency.
* Slowking has access to a bountiful movepool with coverage options such as Fire Blast and Ice Beam, Utility moves such as Thunder Wave and Dragon Tail, and even boosting options in Calm Mind and Nasty Plot.
* Not all shines for Slowking, although Water-Psychic typing provides Slowking with some useful resistances, it also leaves it weak to common Dark-, Electric-, and Grass-type moves.
* Slowking also faces competition from its evolutionary counterpart Slowbro which sports a greater Defense stat, however access to Dragon Tail and superior Special Defense does gives Slowking a significant niche in the UnderUsed metagame.
* Lastly, Slowking's horrendous Speed stat leaves it outsped even by walls such as Forretress, Blissey, and Alomomola.
[SET]
name: Mixed Defensive
move 1: Scald
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Slack Off
move 4: Calm Mind / Thunder Wave
item: Leftovers
ability: Regenerator
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Scald is reliable Water-type STAB with the added benefit of burning the target 30% of the time.
* Psyshock has solid neutral coverage alongside Scald, hitting Poison- and Fighting-types such as Amoonguss, Toxicroak, and Keldeo and for super effective damage.
* Slack Off provides Slowking with reliable recovery and allows it to properly check powerful threats such as Choice Band Entei and Infernape.
* Calm Mind boosts both Slowking's Special Attack and Special Defense, and allows Slowking to shred through unprepared bulkier teams with ease.
* Thunder Wave can also be used to slow down faster threats such as Latias, Cobalion, and Kyurem to help alleviate Slowking's subpar Speed stat.
* Dragon Tail is a useful alternative for racking up hazard damage and also prevents bulky sweepers such as Reuniclus and Suicune lacking Substitute from sweeping.
Set Details
========
* Maximum HP investment is optimal for overall bulk, while 80 Special Defense EV's with a Calm nature allows Slowking to always avoid a 2HKO from Nidoqueen's Sludge Wave. The remaining EV's are poured into Slowking's physical bulk to aid it in combat versus physical attackers such as Entei, Infernape, and Cobalion.
* Leftovers is the selected item in order to maximize Slowking's longevity.
* Regenerator is the ability of choice as the passive recovery it provides is what allows Slowking to preform its role consistently.
Usage Tips
========
* Use Slowking as a pivot into threatening Pokemon such as Keldeo, Latias, and Volcanion.
* Scald is incredibly spammable and should be used often. Even if the opponent has a counter to Slowking such as Celebi or Empoleon, fishing for the burn chance is often beneficial to chip away at these Pokemon. Similarly, using Dragon Tail when predicting the opponent to go out into one of these counters also racks up chip damage which can be very useful.
* Avoid letting Slowking become inflicted with status such as Toxic or Burn as it will greatly decrease Slowking's longevity and ability to consistently perform its role throughout a battle.
* Many Fire- and Fighting-types carry super effective coverage moves for Slowking, such as Chandelure's Shadow Ball or Mienshao's Knock Off, so beware of switching Slowking directly into these attacks.
* When attempting to sweep with Calm Mind, it is often optimal to wait until the later stages of a battle when Slowking's checks and counters have been removed.
* Use Slowking to combat opposing Calm Mind users such as Suicune and Clefable, as Slowking can usually take on these threats due to Psyshock targeting the opponents physical defense.
Team Options
========
* Slowking appreciates partners that can take on powerful Dark-, Electric, and Grass-type Pokemon such as Chesnaught, Amoonguss, and Whimsicott.
* Amoonguss in particular works well in conjunction with Slowking as the two form a potent Regenerator Core. Slowking is adept at handling Fire-, Psychic-, and Ice-type Pokemon that bother Amoonguss, while Amoonguss can combat the Grass- and Electric-types that give Slowking issues.
* Slowking is greatly troubled by status, so Cleric's such as Clefable and Blissey make for excellent partners.
* Pursuit trappers such as Krookodile, Mega Absol, and Mega Aerodactyl are excellent partners alongside Slowking as they can trap Pokemon such as Gengar and Calm Mind Latias who threaten Slowking.
[SET]
name: Assault Vest
move 1: Scald
move 2: Psyshock / Psychic / Future Sight
move 3: Fire Blast / Ice Beam
move 4: Dragon Tail
item: Assault Vest
ability: Regenerator
nature: Modest
evs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Scald is Slowking's primary Water-type STAB with a 30% chance to burn the target.
* Psyshock nails Pokemon such as Toxicroak, Roserade, and Conkeldurr for super effective damage, while also being Slowking's most powerful attack versus specially defensive Pokemon like Blissey and Calm Mind sweepers.
* Psychic can also be used in place of Psyshock for some extra power, however the ability to target the opponents Defense stat is usually more valuable than the added power of Psychic.
* Future Sight is Slowking's most powerful Psychic-type attack, however only damages the opponent two turns after being used, making it somewhat unreliable.
* Fire Blast roasts many Pokemon that threaten Slowking such as Decidueye, Bisharp, and Scizor for super effective damage.
* Ice Beam can also be utilized in this slot to hit Celebi, Hydreigon, and Latias for super effective damage, but is significantly weaker than Fire Blast.
* Dragon Tail deters foes from setting up and allows Slowking to phaze opponents out while racking up chip damage.
Set Details
========
* Maximum HP investment is optimal for overall bulk, while 172 Defense ev's allow Slowking to always survive two Mega Aerodactyl Stone Edges upon switch in. The remaining ev's are dumped into Special Attack alongside a Modest nature so that Slowking can do as much damage as possible while still retaining necessary bulk.
* Assault Vest allows Slowking to take on powerful Special Attacker's such as Primarina, Mew, and Volcanion.
* Regenerator keeps Slowking healthy throughout a battle and has terrific synergy with Assault Vest.
Usage Tips
========
* Switch Slowking into strong Special Attacker's such as Swellow and Nidoqueen, as Assault Vest allows Slowking to avoid a 2HKO from even strong neutral attacks such as Choice Specs Swellows Boomburst.
* When Slowking is low on health, switch it out to activate Regenerator and restore 1/3 of Slowking's maximum HP.
* Although this set has significant Defense investment, avoid switching Slowking into powerful neutral physical attacks such as Haxorus' Outrage or Bewear's Return, as Slowking will be promptly 2HKO'd.
* Use Dragon Tail to phaze out threatening Calm Mind sweepers such as Suicune, Slowbro, and Reuniclus, however be weary of Substitute Suicune and Clefable who is immune to Dragon Tail and thus cannot be phazed out.
Team Options
========
* Slowking despises status and as such, a cleric such as Clefable or Togekiss works very well with Slowking.
* Grass-types such as Celebi, Decidueye, and Tsareena are excellent partners alongside Slowking, as they resist the Grass- and Electric-type attacks that hit Slowking for super effective damage. Conversely, Slowking combats the Fire- and Ice-types that plague these Pokemon with ease.
* Stealth Rock and Spikes support from the likes of Hippodown, Klefki, and Roserade pair excellently in conjunction with Slowking as these hazards allow Dragon Tail to rack up damage quickly.
* If running Future Sight as Slowking's main Psychic-type STAB, Fighting-types such as Bewear, Conkeldurr, and Mienshao make for great teammates as Poison-type Pokemon cannot switch into them in fear of an incoming super effective Future Sight. These Fighting-types are also adept at handling the many Dark-type Pokemon that threaten Slowking.
* Hazard setters such as Klefki, Forretress, and Nidoqueen can set up Spikes and Stealth Rock respectively for Slowking, allowing it to rack up hazard damage more easily with Dragon Tail.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Slowking can venture for a more offensive set consisting of Trick Room / Nasty Plot / Scald / and Psyshock alongside Psychium Z if it so chooses. This set ustilizes Slowking's low Speed stat to it's advantage, however it often struggles to set up both Trick Room and Nasty Plot, and is unable to check powerful attackers such as Entei, Latias, and Cobalion as well as more defensive sets.
* Slowking can also run a Choice Specs set to decent effect, however this set faces great competition from stronger offensive Water-types such as Primarina and Keldeo.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Dark-types**: Dark-types such as Hydreigon, Mega Absol, and Krookodile all threaten Slowking with powerful Dark-type STAB, while the latter two can even Pursuit trap Slowking when it attempts to switch out.
**Grass-types**: Grass-types such as Celebi, Decidueye, and Tsareena all resist Slowking's Water-type STAB and can threaten Slowking out with their super effective Grass-type attacks.
**Status**: Slowking becomes severely crippled when inflicted with status such as Toxic or Burn, and bulkier defensive Pokemon such as Blissey, Empoleon, and Alomomola can switch into Slowking with impunity and proceed to status it.
Last edited:
