Gen 2 Marowak + Whirlwind Zapdos Para offense

[rowrowie]

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 26 Def
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
- Whirlwind
- Hidden Power [Ice]

I chose zapdos as the lead because it can ohko cloyster with thunder, can ohko forretress with a crit or 2hko with full para to prevent it from getting up Spikes, and can attempt to para the common lax, blissey, raikou switch ins. It also helps reveals the ground types the opposing team has. I chose thunder over tbolt for the extra damage. Twave is to spread paralysis. Whirlwind is for extra spikes chip. Hp Ice is for coverage/ getting guaranteed kills at low health. I chose hp ice over hp water mostly because I see it more.

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
- Spikes
- Giga Drain

Forretress is the spiker on my team. I chose it over cloyster for rapid spin + boom as cloyster can't have both and I need spin for marowak. I couldn't use golem for spin because I thought I needed ttar but after using it I'm not 100% sure on ttar but I'll get to that later. I only had giga drain originally for golem and cloyster but it is also useful for rhydon and quagsire. Giga Drain also helps it as a wall which I use it for a lot because my team struggles against physical attackers otherwise. I try not to explode until the opposing teams spikers and spinners are dead.

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Body Slam
- Flamethrower
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

RestTalk lax is on my team for special attackers and status absorbing though I don't like it getting its item stollen. Flamethrower is used for steelix and skarm. I didn't think eq was worth it because gengar has to deal with ttar, the rocks have to either deal with zapdos or marowak and they all have to deal with spikes but skarmory doesn't and my team isn't that good against steelix. body slam is used over return and double edge to spread paralysis. This snorlax feels pretty weak but I have other offensive threats.

Marowak @ Thick Club
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 26 Atk
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Fire Blast
- Swords Dance

Marowak takes advantage of the spikes and paralysis to be an endgame sweeper. It also can revenge kill stuff without sd like paralyzed ttar. Its lack of Leftovers is the reason why I'm using Forretress. I chose fire blast as my last move over rest because my team has no room for heal bell support and over hidden power bug because fire Blast will still hit exeggutor hard but also other stuff like skarmory which hp bug won't hit heracross as hard without an sd boost.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Rock Slide
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Roar

I think that ttar is the pokemon that I might need to change. Roar is basically exclusively for snorlax and for spikes but I barely use it. Crunch and pursuit are for mostly the ghosts and starmie but pursuit can also kill other stuff like raikou. I just use rock slide for zapdos and para flinch

Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Thunder
- Ice Punch
- Explosion
- Dynamic Punch

Gengars primary use is a spin blocker but it also poses an offensive threat with its coverage. I picked thunder as my first move for the rmt but I usually go back and forth with it and tbolt. Ice Punch is for coverage but I don't really click it that much. I try not to explode until the spinner is dead but that usually doesn't happen. I originally had theif in the last slot but I never really felt like it helped so I used dynamic punch instead. Dynamic punch is for ttar switch ins mostly but ot also dents blissey enough. I guess confusion + paralysis also works but I haven't been lucky with that.

 

[Siatam]

Paralysis + Marowak is a time tested and rewarding team archetype. Some of your teambuilding decisions are unique and innovative takes on the playstyle, but I think there's room to improve some of your sets. Overall I think the 6 mons you chose work well together, so I'll just focus on 3 mons.


Snorlax @ Leftovers
- Body Slam
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Body Slam Snorlax is a great paralysis spreader, especially for a physical sweeper like Marowak. Unfortunately Body Slam's paltry 85 base power virtually mandates that it be run with a boosting move. Solo Slam Lax deals underwhelming damage in general, but particularly struggles against Zapdos and other Snorlax. Zapdos is only a 4HKO with Slam, meaning that Rest Zapdos PP stalls Snorlax out of attacks. Reversing the typical Snorlax favored matchup is bad enough, but especially bad on your team since Snorlax is your only Zapdos switch in. The lack of damage against other Snorlax is similarly bad with only a chance to 5HKO. Body Slam Lax without Curse loses to any Double Edge Snorlax not to mention its completely helpless against any Snorlax that does bring Curse. Replacing Flamethrower with Curse makes your Snorlax actually threatening and less of a liability against the 2 most common mons in the metagame. The boosted defenses will also give your Snorlax more opportunities to spread paralysis to better set up Marowak. While this substitution makes your matchup against Steelix and Skarm more difficult, Marowak will usually be your win condition in these situations anyways.


Zapdos @ Leftovers
IVs: 26 Def
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
- Whirlwind
- Hidden Power [Water]

Substituting of Hidden Power Water over HP Ice has one simple reason: Steelix. Removing Flamethrower from Snorlax leaves the team with no good ways to damage or every switch into Steelix without expending precious HP on Marowak. Zapdos is a great switch in to Lix and HP Water gives you a way to deal meaningful damage to it. Dropping HP Ice makes your Exeggutor matchup a little rougher, but Lax + Forre + Tyranitar should manage.


- Thunder
- Ice Punch
- Explosion
- Hypnosis

Gengar is really a mon that you can succeed with using almost any set, but I think on your team Hypnosis makes the most sense in the final slot. Running only one mon with recovery and only having Forretress for Spikes control is a fine line to navigate. Hypnosis Gengar can give this team some much needed free turns against sleeping opponents while retaining the anti-Ttar characteristics of Dynamic Punch.


Some general thoughts on your Forretress set:

Spin + Explosion Forretress is an uncommon choice in modern GSC. Having only one free moveslot on Forre makes it difficult to consistently face off against the meta at large. For example Giga Drain is good against Cloy/Rocks/Quag as you mention, but struggles against other Forretress and ghost types. However, I think this choice on your team makes a lot of sense. With Marowak this team does not need Forretress to match up well against many mons, since Forre's priorities lie as Spin > Spikes > Boom. Non-Marowak teams are inclined to run better coverage on Forretress to help Forre click Spikes more often and not be punished doing so. Explosion and Giga Drain are luxuries to have and are not critical to your Forretress's function. Keep in mind that Giga Drain is very useful when Spiking against Cloyster, but makes it difficult for Forretress to Spin against ghosts. If you find yourself struggling to keep Spikes off the field you may want to experiment with Hidden Power Ghost.

All and all I like this team, great job with the building!

 

[Jorgen]

Cool team!

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 26 Def
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
- Whirlwind
- Hidden Power [Ice]

If you truly want to shoo away spiker leads, HP Fire is always an option. But that’s probably overkill. HP water is worth a look for preventing Golem from spinning on you once Forry has blown up. Plus it might draw in Egg which Marowak wants to see paralyzed.

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
- Spikes
- Giga Drain

Giga Drain also helps it as a wall which I use it for a lot because my team struggles against physical attackers otherwise.

Yep, that’s the Forretress-instead-of-Cloyster experience. Forry’s a pretty mediocre spinner anyway, and Cloy can blow up on Starmie to free up Marowak. Try it out!

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Body Slam
- Flamethrower
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

This snorlax feels pretty weak but I have other offensive threats.

Yep, the old Body Slam Lax experience! On the plus side, it can actually draw in Zapdos and paralyze it. But then what’s shooing it away? Nothing safe, anyway. DE or the Curse suggestion both work here. The latter lets you para Skarm.

Marowak @ Thick Club
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 26 Atk
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Fire Blast
- Swords Dance

Fire Blast doesn’t do what you think. The damage vs. Heracross falls short of a 3HKO, and Wak 2HKOs at +2 in any case. The main point is to give you an extra way to punish Skarm if you can’t para it or it’s one of those pesky curse sleep talkers that requires a little extra juice to get through. Plus still getting a 3HKO without setup on Egg is nice.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Rock Slide
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Roar

I think that ttar is the pokemon that I might need to change.

Sure sounds like the utility Ttar experience to me! You probably need it for reliability vs. Egg and if you go Monolax, though. And it’s unwise to go without a Phazer. And Golem, the main alternative you mentioned, is no less a perfunctory box-checker than Ttar is. C’est la vie.

Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Thunder
- Ice Punch
- Explosion
- Dynamic Punch

If spinblock is what you’re going for here, I’m not sure that’s super thematic for your team. It’s good, sure, but the idea is to punch holes with Marowak, who notoriously don’t need no spikes, unlike needy Nidoking. This is probably a teamslot you can play with. I know I’ve often seen Stun Spore Exeggutor in a slot like this.

In the end, I guess my suggestions would just make the old ParaWak sample team. But maybe there’s some insight now into why that team is built the way it is.

 

[Rubiaa]

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 26 Def
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
- Whirlwind
- Hidden Power [Ice]

I chose zapdos as the lead because it can ohko cloyster with thunder, can ohko forretress with a crit or 2hko with full para to prevent it from getting up Spikes, and can attempt to para the common lax, blissey, raikou switch ins. It also helps reveals the ground types the opposing team has. I chose thunder over tbolt for the extra damage. Twave is to spread paralysis. Whirlwind is for extra spikes chip. Hp Ice is for coverage/ getting guaranteed kills at low health. I chose hp ice over hp water mostly because I see it more.

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
- Spikes
- Giga Drain

Forretress is the spiker on my team. I chose it over cloyster for rapid spin + boom as cloyster can't have both and I need spin for marowak. I couldn't use golem for spin because I thought I needed ttar but after using it I'm not 100% sure on ttar but I'll get to that later. I only had giga drain originally for golem and cloyster but it is also useful for rhydon and quagsire. Giga Drain also helps it as a wall which I use it for a lot because my team struggles against physical attackers otherwise. I try not to explode until the opposing teams spikers and spinners are dead.

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Body Slam
- Flamethrower
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

RestTalk lax is on my team for special attackers and status absorbing though I don't like it getting its item stollen. Flamethrower is used for steelix and skarm. I didn't think eq was worth it because gengar has to deal with ttar, the rocks have to either deal with zapdos or marowak and they all have to deal with spikes but skarmory doesn't and my team isn't that good against steelix. body slam is used over return and double edge to spread paralysis. This snorlax feels pretty weak but I have other offensive threats.

Marowak @ Thick Club
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 26 Atk
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Fire Blast
- Swords Dance

Marowak takes advantage of the spikes and paralysis to be an endgame sweeper. It also can revenge kill stuff without sd like paralyzed ttar. Its lack of Leftovers is the reason why I'm using Forretress. I chose fire blast as my last move over rest because my team has no room for heal bell support and over hidden power bug because fire Blast will still hit exeggutor hard but also other stuff like skarmory which hp bug won't hit heracross as hard without an sd boost.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Rock Slide
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Roar

I think that ttar is the pokemon that I might need to change. Roar is basically exclusively for snorlax and for spikes but I barely use it. Crunch and pursuit are for mostly the ghosts and starmie but pursuit can also kill other stuff like raikou. I just use rock slide for zapdos and para flinch

Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Thunder
- Ice Punch
- Explosion
- Dynamic Punch

Gengars primary use is a spin blocker but it also poses an offensive threat with its coverage. I picked thunder as my first move for the rmt but I usually go back and forth with it and tbolt. Ice Punch is for coverage but I don't really click it that much. I try not to explode until the spinner is dead but that usually doesn't happen. I originally had theif in the last slot but I never really felt like it helped so I used dynamic punch instead. Dynamic punch is for ttar switch ins mostly but ot also dents blissey enough. I guess confusion + paralysis also works but I haven't been lucky with that.

I like this idea, but i think baton pass maro is more rewarding. Check out the fantos sample for reference