Community POTW #031

[Serebii]

Once again, apologies for the delay, but I was at the UK Nationals and just spent five hours on a train back with spotty signal

This week, the RNG has spat out a good one!

It's Slaking, the amazing Pokémon that is so powerful, it has a natural hindrance

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-xy/289.shtml

Go nuts

 

[Pokeman Man]

Oh man this guy

Mega(?)-Primeape
- Retaliate / Return
- Hammer Arm / Earthquake / Fire Punch
- Night Slash / Pursuit
- Sucker Punch / Rock Slide
Item Attached: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
Ability: Truant
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant or Jolly Nature

This guy is almost the perfect Choice user. He literally can pretty much be useful for one move, and then switch out. If he didn't have the ability... all hell would break loose.
Retaliate is awesome for revenge killing. It's STAB and powerful as hell. Return is still very nice and reliable. Hammer Arm is for the Steels and Rocks that resist your STAB. Earthquake and Fire Punch are also for that, but each move hits it's own specific target / Pokemon (Like Fire Punch would hit Ferrothorn/Scizor harder than Earthquake would, but Earthquake also hits Tentacruel). Hammer Arm's speed drop doesn't matter since you should be switching out anyway. Night Slash is for the Ghosts that take Normal and Fighting moves all day long. Pursuit is fun to punish a scared opponent when this beast comes out. Sucker Punch is simply priority and always good to have in case they outspeed you or you're fighting other priority users. Rock Slide is just extra coverage, and it can get pretty annoying with the Flinches. Definitely you need a Choice item on this guy. Choice Band 160 base Attack hits hard. Slaking's speed isn't even that bad, so Jolly Scarf is also viable.

When it comes to Slaking, it's pretty much one usable set. Not many other Choices. (get it?)

Partners
Cofagrigrigirigriigrus guy because if you can get a Mummy on the opponent and Mummy off your Truant, you could really punch dents in their team.

 

[Ironthunder]

Stats
160 Atk is the figurehead here, one of the highest attack stats on a non legend/mega. 150 HP is awesome as well. 100 spd is surprising, and 100 def is good. 65 SpDef is awful though. SpAtk? Who cares? Anyone who runs special Slaking is evidently rather stupid.

Ability
Truant is awful, but you're stuck with it. Something this powerful is evidently going to have a catch somewhere, so look no further. It's here.

Movepool
Physically, it gets Return, Facade, Giga Impact, Gunk Shot, the elemental punches, Sucker Punch, Shadow Claw, EQ, Rock Slide and Hammer Arm. Awesome, but fairly limited. Setup-wise, Bulk Up and Slack Off are the main things here. Heal and Atk/Def boost will be a cause for concern, but Truant is a right pain in the backside.

Set
Lord of the Sloths
Slaking@Life Orb
252 Atk/252 HP/4 Spd
-Giga Impact
-Sucker Punch
-One of the elemental punches
-EQ/Rock Slide/Shadow Claw/Slack Off
Simple enough set. Giga Impact is awesome due to the fact that you'll miss the turn due to Truant. The rest just allow for a coverage festival, or healing.

Doubles/Triples
Slaking is extremely viable here, especially with Cherrim support. Anything who can get rid of its ability is a huge boost, not to mention a cause for ragequits. Just run the right set, and you'll be A-Inkay.

Slaking-Kong
Slaking@Life Orb
252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spd
-Bulk Up
-Return
-Sucker Punch
-Slack Off
OK, ability switch early on, and then Bulk Up and hit anything hard. Slack Off the damage for LO and any surviving enemies that hit you. Slaking without Truant is a sweeper of such power, nothing can really handle it. Six pokemon hard wall this set, namely Lucario, Cobalion, Carbink, Tyranitar, Bisharp and Mawile. Anything else gets hit neutral by that Atk, or Ghost/Psychic gets SE from Sucker Punch.

Counters
Anything Special based will hurt the King hard. Also, be wary of that speed, it could ruin you. Aside from special, Fighting type moves are the way to go. Focus Blast/Aura Sphere will probably one-shot it. Mega Mewtwo will kill him, provided Sucker Punch doesn't OHKO. Lucario hits hard as well, but Fire Punch and EQ will devastate it.

Pros/Cons
+Awesome Atk/Def/HP/Spd
+Decent physical movepool
+It gets Bulk Up
-Awful SpDef

 

[Kraleck]

Slaking. Get past the negative Ability and you've got a menace. A great target for Worry Seed, Simple Beam, Entrainment, Gastro Acid, and several other Moves.

Stats:
-HP - Incredible - Base 150 hits the magic 101+ HP Substitute Point without any EV investments.
-Attack - Incredible - Base 160 hits like a truck full of nitroglycerin.
-Defense - Great - Base 100 makes you tank Physical Moves rather well.
-Sp.Atk - Good-bordering-Great - Not that you'd use it, but Base 95 isn't too bad.
-Sp.Def - Mediocre - Base 65 is a sticking point for defensive Pokémon, but Slaking is more about offense.
-Speed - Great (non-Trick Room) - Base 100 is the ballpark average for many competitive Speed-sters

Abilities:
-Truant - You know what...I'm not going to put the Abilities header on single-Ability Pokémon anymore. Let's try that again in a different way...

Truant:
Slaking gets the booby prize of Abilities. It's a great hindrance on its own, but Protect, Endure, and Detect exploit it to no end. However...Slaking can change the rules in its favor by making Contact with Mummy Ability Pokémon or getting hit by a plethora of Moves like Worry Seed, Gastro Acid, and Skill Swap.

Overall, Slaking is a beast-and-a-half once it gets past Truant by boasting a huge Attack Stat and monstrous levels of HP, being Normal Mono-Type, and presenting a great distraction in Doubles/Triples if they decide to focus-fire Slaking down. The drawback of Truant Ability is obvious, but not breaking, and the low Sp.Def makes you cannon fodder for a lucky Focus Blast. However, the good points outweigh the bad more than Groudon outweighs Flabébé.

 

[Clone™]

One of the only sets for Slaking is one that does a crapload of damage, and watches as hes set up on or killed.

Slaking @ Choice Band
Adamant Nature
Huge Power Truant
252 HP 252 Atk 4 Spe
-Giga Impact
-Earthquake
-Hammer Arm
-Night Slash

The main appeal to this set is the Nuclear Powered Giga Impact. Itll OHKO anything that doesnt resist it, an even a few things that do. Earthquake is for Steels, while Night Slash is for ghosts. Hammer Arm is for anythign else that doesnt like a Fighting type Move.

252+ Atk Choice Band Slaking Giga Impact vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 624-735 (88.6 - 104.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

'Nuff said.

 

[Razor Shiftry]

No no no! Giga Impact should never be used as the primary STAB attack! sure, you may think that because of Truant, if has to skip a turn anyway, but Giga Impact FORCES you to stay in battle, whereas using Return or another move allows you to switch after you attack.

So basically, only consider Giga Impact a SERIOUSLY last resort move if you expect not to last to the end of the turn. Return, Body Slam and even Retaliate (since Slaking is often used as a really hard hitting revenge killer with a scarf) are better STAB choices.

Also, I hope there's going to be a little section on Vigoroth as well?

 

[Clone™]

No no no! Giga Impact should never be used as the primary STAB attack! sure, you may think that because of Truant, if has to skip a turn anyway, but Giga Impact FORCES you to stay in battle, whereas using Return or another move allows you to switch after you attack.

So basically, only consider Giga Impact a SERIOUSLY last resort move if you expect not to last to the end of the turn. Return, Body Slam and even Retaliate (since Slaking is often used as a really hard hitting revenge killer with a scarf) are better STAB choices.

Also, I hope there's going to be a little section on Vigoroth as well?

This would imply that you would use Slaking in serious play to begin with. Go big or go home.

 

[KillerDraco]

Giga Impact is awesome due to the fact that you'll miss the turn due to Truant.

This same thing came up during Slaking's PotW last generation, too. The idea that since you'll miss a turn with Truant, you can use Giga Impact without having to worry about its recharge turn is something of a false equivalency. Truant, at the very least, allows you to switch, whereas with Giga Impact, you'll be stuck in due to the Recharge turn regardless. So Giga Impact is still a risk; it may pack an absurd amount of power, but it guarantees they get a free turn, whereas with Truant, you can at least attempt to switch to a counter.

Mega Mewtwo will kill him, provided Sucker Punch doesn't OHKO.

Let's not cite Uber Pokemon as counters to NU Pokemon. No one's ever going to use Slaking in Uber

The one true counter to Slaking is Protect. Any Pokemon with Protect can and will abuse Truant to an absurd degree. Protect on the attacking turns, while you attack on the Truant turns. Entry hazards are also a pain in Slaking's furry butt; it very rarely ever stays in for more than a single turn, so entry hazards can really rack up the damage on those switches in and out.

A great target for Worry Seed, Simple Beam, Entrainment, Gastro Acid, and several other Moves.

However...Slaking can change the rules in its favor by making Contact with Mummy Ability Pokémon or getting hit by a plethora of Moves like Worry Seed, Gastro Acid, and Skill Swap.

Not quite. Worry Seed, Entrainment, and Simple Beam will fail on a Truant user. Gastro Acid will work, and Worry Seed can work only after Gastro Acid, but it ends up being sort of moot at that point.

However, the good points outweigh the bad more than Groudon outweighs Flabébé.

That's debatable. I'd say the bad points very much outweigh the good, or it wouldn't be mucking around as a bottom of the barrel Pokemon. It's the same thing that happened to Regigigas, and Archeops. It doesn't matter how good a Pokemon's stats are, or how good its movepool is; a crappy ability can and will screw it over big time. It's pretty much completely unusable, due to the fact that, while powerful, it guarantees you'll give your foe free setup turns. You absolutely HAVE to predict perfectly with Slaking, making it a very high risk Pokemon.

 

[NeohopeSTF]

Slaking @ Choice Scarf
Adamant/Jolly Nature
Truant
252 Atk 252 Speed 4 HP
-Retaliate
-Punishment
-Earthquake
-Giga Impact

Revenge killer? I guess it can work! Punishment helps if the Opponent is setting up a lot. very situational of course

 

[Black Murder Heavangelon]

Not quite. Worry Seed, Entrainment, and Skill Swap will fail on a Truant user. Gastro Acid will work, and Worry Seed can work only after Gastro Acid, but it ends up being sort of moot at that point.

Almost there, but Skill Swap DOES still work. It worked like that in 3rd and 4th Gen, I'd see no reason to think it doesn't work now.

A famous strategy is partnering Slaking with Cofagrigous in Singles, with Cofagrigous holding an Eject Button and switching in on a physical attack. But this strategy has holes of problems.

Firstly, Eject Button triggers on any attack, and it needs to be a physical attack in order for this to work. Time it wrong, or predict wrong, and the Eject Button goes to waste. Secondly, on the turn you switch in your Slaking after the Eject Button, Slaking is still vulnerable to Protect. The only feasible way to prevent this is to have Taunted the opponent the turn before you switched into your Cofagrigous. It helps that Protect is seldom used in Singles, but if the opponent does have it, you're screwed. It's too bad the Slaking doesn't get Feint, but that might also be a good thing, as having Pursuit in the moveslot already robs Slaking of a Dark attack in Night Slash, he wouldn't want Feint to be his only STAB move.

One other interesting thing is that Cofagrigous should be discussed alongside Slaking for this combination, as otherwise Slaking is a one trick pony without him. That is not to say that it's any better with Cofagrigous as it's a two-person magic box trick that'll only work once, unless the opponent also happens to own a Cofagrigous.

 

[venom1950]

One of my least favourite pokemon. Slakoth and Vigoroth are awesome,but slaking...ugh...
but let's analyze it.

Pros:
-massive base HP
-massive base attack
-great base defense
-surprisingly high base speed
-wide movepool
-normal type
-funny jap. name

Cons:
-awful ability
-sp def not to brag about
-traunt
-its ability


Singles set

Top Kekking
item: life orb
nature: Adamant
ability: Truant

-Giga Impact
-Slack Off
-Bulk up
-Knock off/Power-up punch/hammer arm

EVs: 252 HP 252 Atk 4 Spe

As Cloneblazer wrote, Slaking can OHKO one of the best walls. If it can OHKO Chansey it can OHKO anything. It will be uber if not of its ability


Doubles set

Simply the best
item: life orb
nature: Adamant
ability: Truant

-Hammer Arm
-Crash Claw/Return
-Bulk up
-Knock off

EVs: 252 HP 252 Atk 4 Spe

Pair it with Heal Pulse,Simple Beam Audino and Slaking becomes a rampaging monster!

 

[Natural]

I used slaking once. Here's what I used on it

Adamant

Yawn
Focus punch
Slack off
Earthquake

It's outdated, and I'm sure there are better options. However, it worked decently well in link cable battles
Not sure how it would fair nowadays

Edit: I would recommend switching focus punch for power up punch. And giving it a life orb.
Ivs: max attack, max hp, max defense, max speacil defense
Evs: 250 attack, 250 hp, the rest in defense

 

[KillerDraco]

Almost there, but Skill Swap DOES still work. It worked like that in 3rd and 4th Gen, I'd see no reason to think it doesn't work now.

You're absolutely right. That was actually a mistake on my part.

I was actually thinking of Simple Beam, rather than Skill Swap. I have adjusted the original post accordingly. Guess we all have our random derp moments.

One other interesting thing is that Cofagrigous should be discussed alongside Slaking for this combination, as otherwise Slaking is a one trick pony without him. That is not to say that it's any better with Cofagrigous as it's a two-person magic box trick that'll only work once, unless the opponent also happens to own a Cofagrigous.

The problem is that attempt to "unshackle" Slaking from Truant are very unreliable. Even with Cofagrigus (who is in a different tier, by the way), there are many ways for it to go wrong. I'd file it under gimmicks, but then again, Slaking as a whole tends to be a gimmick. Most people will know you're attempting something like that if they see Slaking in RU (or higher), and go out of their way to make sure it doesn't work. Things like U-Turn, status, or special attacks kind of stifles any attempts to do a Mummy -> Slaking transfer.

Plus Cofagrigus appreciates the HP recovery from Leftovers, as well.

 

[Natural]

Although...if only slaking could learn skill swap

 

[Mestorn]

Slaking… the one Kong to rule them all… or so it wishes.

Slaking is the main reason that the second normal-type gym leader is almost as bad as the first. Slaking is one of the first fully-evolved 3 stage pokemon you face in Hoenn, and is extremely powerful, and making for an extremely difficult fight. Unfortunately this difficulty comes from lack of options (like special based fighting moves). Fast forward 3 generations and place Slaking in battles where trainers have every option in existence at their fingertips. Slaking falls faster than that monkey off a skyscraper.

King of Indolence
Slaking (Truant)
Item: Choice Band/Choice Scarf
-Return
-Sucker Punch/Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Hammer Arm/Yawn/Pursuit/Rock Slide
Nature: Adamant (+ATK, -SATK) or Jolly (+SPD, -SATK)
EVs: 252 ATK/252 SPD/4 SDEF

This set allows Slaking to do what it does best: wreck stuff. Choice Band sends Kong’s attack skyscraper high, while Choice Scarf turns Slaking into a shadow assassin, picking off weakened teams (and making it as fast as Sloth from FMA ). Return for STAB, Sucker Punch for priority, EarthSlide for great coverage, Hammer Arm for even more coverage, Yawn to shift momentum, and Pursuit to punish the switches Slaking triggers.

Other Options

-Assault Vest
Helps patch Slaking's greatest weakness, but Slaking rarely sticks around long enough to use it.

-Elemental Punches
Weak coverage, but except during 4x weak, is out-damaged by Return.

-Slack Off
Delaying the Inevitable

-Night Slash
For Skarmory and Bronzong

-Reversal
Right before the Inevitable. Ridiculously hard to time correctly

-Special moves
Slaking’s special attack is viable and its special move pool expansive, but why waste that attack?

-Body Slam
Because paralysis chance is worth a note.

 

[Nutter t.KK]

Looking at the stats, I'd thought Slaking be in Ubers, but the Ability Truant really hurts it.

You first fight one in Ruby/Sapphire against Norman, and he can wipe out your party, if you don't know how to counter it. Two turn moves like Dig, Dive and Fly, where you avoid the hit, work well as moves like Protect and Detect, on the turns where it attacks. While you're maxed out 16 turns using Protect, alot of Pokémon will have got rid of Slaking by that time.

Vigoroth doesn't have the hindering ability but a semi useful one with Vital Spirit. It's 80 Attack with a possible Defense boost with Evolite, is doesn't mean it going to clear out team quickly like most sweepers.

Slakoth, also having the Truant ability, ruins it's chances in the Little Cup. Teddyursa probably can sweep better.

The Best way to run Slaking is to get rid of the Ability, so Doubles is where Slaking has a better chance at fighting. In Pokémon Colosseum, we have a Slowking who opening move is to Skill Swap with Slaking, and if unchecked Slaking will wipe your party. A neat thing with Skill Swap, the swapped Ability won't be kept when you switch party members.

 

[Mestorn]

Countering Sloth

While Slaking's Truant leaves it open to all sorts of strategies (Protect, Endure, Substitute, etc.) it also helps create even bigger vulnerabilities in an already screwed over pokemon. Truant causes a lot of Switching, thus allowing entry hazards to rack up a sizable amount of damage. Secondly, statuses brutally cripple Slaking even more than other pokemon. With Truant, every move you pull off is precious to a Slaking, so even the 25% hindrance of Paralysis can significantly screw you over, let alone the Flinch rates from Serene Grace, confusion and attraction whiffs. Sleep means Slaking is usually out for 2 turns, maybe even 4 depending on your luck. Burn dismembers every Slaking (bar the freak special Varients) of their fighting ability. Fake out is also a real hindrance to Slaking, with another 2 turns gone just like that. And when push comes to shove, special attacks down Slaking faster than gravity.

 

[Kraleck]

Not quite. Worry Seed, Entrainment, and Simple Beam will fail on a Truant user. Gastro Acid will work, and Worry Seed can work only after Gastro Acid, but it ends up being sort of moot at that point.

Huh...when did that change?

Anyhoo...Slaking sees best usage in Doubles and Triples where it can get some assistance with Truant. Then again, few people expect Zoroark as backup to Slaking, believing their initial Protect/Detect has thwarted Slaking's assault. Mummy Ability can also help in Singles if the opponent tries to capitalize with something like Archeops, only to face a free smash to the face of Archeops or a replacement when forced to decide between sacrifice or GTFO.

Serious use of Slaking looks into making your opponent do the work of wearing themselves out. On its own, Slaking is a huge target; getting your team involved in forcing switches to catch them off guard is the key. Prediction is a huge part of Battles, almost moreso than Speed or Power. If Slaking got U-Turn or Feint, for examples, there would be a ban in a hummingbird's heartbeat and Truant would be a nearly-moot point; Truant keeps Slaking from total domination on its own. Eject Button on Slaking can be rather useful, if you can swing it.

The problem with switching Slaking out frequently is one we all know and dread: Stealth Rock. Any Trainer worth his Badges knows how maddeningly unhelpful it is to face an opponent without Stealth Rock removal. A huge HP Stat doesn't help when you're constantly hemorrhaging it. Slack Off and Rest are more trouble than they're worth and Substitute is the equivalent of using chewing gum to seal a leaky pipe...that's the size of a blimp.

 

[TheMegaJedi]

Slaking is one of those Pokemon that are so powerful, they had to get a terrible ability.
King Kong
Slaking@Choice Band
-Giga Impact
-Sucker Punch
-Earthquake
-Hammer Arm
Nature: Adamant or Jolly
EVs: 252 ATK/252 SPD/4 SDEF
Giga Impact negates Truant. Its STAB and base 150. Just use this only, unless there's a Ghost.

 

[AquaRegisteel]

Slaking is one of those Pokemon that are so powerful, they had to get a terrible ability.
King Kong
Slaking@Choice Band
-Giga Impact
-Sucker Punch
-Earthquake
-Hammer Arm
Nature: Adamant or Jolly
EVs: 252 ATK/252 SPD/4 SDEF
Giga Impact negates Truant. Its STAB and base 150. Just use this only, unless there's a Ghost.

It has been said that Giga Impact is actually a bad move compared to Return or Retaliate, as it PREVENTS you from switching Slaking out due to the recharge turn. Giga Impact does NOT negate Truant.