Community POTW #080

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon of the Week andthis week we're in Unova

Golurk #623 - Serebii.net Pokédex

Golurk Pokémon Serebii.net Pokédex providing all details on moves, stats, abilities, evolution data and locations for Pokémon Sword & Shield

www.serebii.net

 

[KyogreThunder]

Golurk
Adamant nature/Jolly nature
@Choice Scarf
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
Ability: Iron Fist/No Guard
-Earthquake
-Poltergeist
-Close Combat/Dynamic Punch
-Ice Punch/Thunder Punch/Heat Crash

 

[Lucario At Service]

@KyogreThunder : I don't think "Heat Crash" would be much useful, considering the opponent pokemon would have to weight less than 25% of Golurk's weight (aka., around less than 82.5Kg/181.9lbs for 100BP or less than 66Kg/145.5lbs for 120BP), to out-power "Iron Fist boosted Fire Punch" (90BP).

While that weight-range covers majority of Pokemon out there (around 75%), but i think a consistent 90 BP from "Iron Fist boosted Fire Punch" would be better than an off-chance of facing a heavy-weight and being forced to use a 40BP-80BP move.
Plus, "Heat Crash" lacks Burn chance, and fails against Dynamaxed Pokemon.

 

[XaelOstigian]

Probably one of the coolest new Pokemon introduced in gen 5 being based off of a mud golem and a giant robot, and it could even learn Fly of all things! That is freaking awesome!

But despite its design and excellent dual STAB, Golurk was sadly not widely used in the competitive sphere due to its stat spread being too slow to be a sweeper and not sturdy enough to be a tank. It did not even get access to the stat boosts offered by Curse since it is part Ghost type. Granted you can run a psuedo-sweeper set using a Choice Scarf as KyogreThunder mentioned above. I however decided to shore up its speed by making use of the very same move that made him stand out from Ground types, Fly.

SSSS Mudman
Ability: Iron Fist
Item: Life Orb/Leftovers
Nature: Jolly (+Speed -Sp.Attack)
EVs: (HP 4) (Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Earthquake/High Horsepower
Poltergeist
Fly
Drain Punch

Set Details:
Looks like a standard all-out attacker with a gimmick move right? Wrong. Earthquake or High Horsepower serve as your Ground STAB, the former being more powerful but the latter not being nerfed by Grassy Terrain, while Poltergeist does excellent damage against the item holders and has great coverage alongside your Ground STAB, but from here the movepool gets interesting. Fly may seem like a bad idea competitively because it telegraphs your next attack, but if used on a Dynamax attacking set it becomes a single turn Max Airstream that boosts your speed with each use, effectively allowing you to overcome Golurk's base 55 speed after a boost or two. Rounding things out we have Drain Punch which not only gets boosted to base 90 damage with its ability Iron Fist, but also allows Golurk to heal off damage or boost its physical attack while D-Maxed. Invest all your EVs and nature into attack, and Life Orb helps give your some extra damage, though you could opt for Leftovers instead if you wish to prolong Golurk's longevity. I find it kind of funny and fitting that Golurk was finally able ascend to its true potential by basically turning into a literal giant robot.

 

[Mestorn]

Golurk has had an interesting history. While its Ghost Ground type is horrible, being weak to many common types (Dark, Ice, Water, Grass), it also has many important defensive traits. Being immune to 3 types (Normal, Fighting and Electric) is a great start, and having a valuable resistance for Rock and Bug moves means that Golurk can actually blank a good number of Pokémon. Most Electric types lack the coverage to deal with Ground types and a good number of Fighting types usually only have EdgeQuake for coverage, which means Golurk can have use. However with the buff to Knock Off, especially in the generational shift were everything is vulnerable to it (no Z-Crystals/Megastones to blank it), in addition to the wider distrubution of moves like Darkest Lariat, means that most Fighting types have a reliable answer to Golurk now and every team is carrying an answer to Golurk.

Generation 8 has not been all bad to Golurk. Poltergeist is the physical STAB Ghost types have been begging for for years, and Close Combat is a welcome new coverage option over Dynamic Punch which requires No Guard. Heat Crash and Heavy Slam provide strong Fire and Steel options. Golurk has its problems, but its role compression and attributes give it a niche that few others can match.

Emet
Golurk
Ability: Iron Fist
Item: Colbur Berry
-Poltergeist
-Earthquake
-Close Combat
-Stealth Rock/Ice Punch
EVs: 252 HP / 252 ATK /4 DEF
Nature: Adamant (+ATK, -SATK)

This set is meant to have Golurk excel in the early game, coming in on a Fighting or Electric type and smacking it around with its STABs or setting up Stealth Rock. And if your opponent switches to a Dark type or something with Knock Off as coverage? Laugh as the Colbur Berry ruins Knock Off and counter attack with Close Combat. Stealth Rock enables Golurk to have a lasting presence even after it is knocked out, while Ice Punch provides excellent coverage.

252 Atk Krookodile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Colbur Berry Golurk: 178-210 (55.7 - 65.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Drapion Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Colbur Berry Golurk: 222-262 (69.5 - 82.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Guts Obstagoon Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Colbur Berry Golurk: 244-288 (76.4 - 90.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO