Malamar [QC 0/3]

[ForgottenOnes]

Stolen from Orphic

Overview
#######

• Decent 86/88/75 bulk.
• Niche ability contrary allows Malamar to deal solid damage with Superpower whilst boosting it's attack and defense, this gives it an edge over other bulky boosters like Gurdurr and Muk.
• Contrary allows Malamar to benefit from opposing Sticky Web, Intimidate and Defog stat decreases.
• Solid movepool which gives Malamar nice coverage.
• Has no real strong moves from the start, it's most powerful move is unSTABed and has only 8 PP while it's STAB's need boosts to do their job.
• Mediocre speed means Malamar is outsped by a lot of it's counters/checks.

ChestoRest
#############
Name: ChestoRest
Move 1: Rest
Move 2: Superpower
Move 3: Psycho Cut
Move 4: Night Slash
Ability: Contrary
Item: Chesto Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Adamant

Moves
======

• Rest paired with Chesto Berry gives Malamar some longevity to allow it to make the most out of it's Superpowers and stat boosts.
• Psycho Cut grants Malamar a way to smash poison types that check resist Superpower, as well as doing the most damage to fairy types, namely Granbull.
• Night Slash is the other STAB of choice, giving Malamar an option to smack around ghost and psychic types.
• Superpower speaks for itself alongside Contrary giving Malamar the ability to set up large Atk and Def boosts in a matter of turns while also dishing out large damage.
• Rock Slide gives Malamar a way to hit Bug-types such as Scyther and Vivillion who can easily scare out Malamar.

Set Details
=========

• 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def EV spread utilizes Malamar's decent bulk and offensive power and is preferred to speed investment due to it's mediocre speed.
• Contrary is the obvious ability to make use of Superpower.
• Chesto Berry is the chosen item to give Malamar one free rest back to full HP.
• Adamant nature because no speed investment, so maximum power is preferred.

Usage Tips
=========

• Hit faster fighting-resists on the switch with your STAB's, as slower switch-ins can be responded to accordingly with a +1 STAB after Superpower.
• Rest when your HP gets too low for your comfort, if your opponent still looks like they could take down Malamar even with your boosts, get yourself back to full HP. Know who to rest again! Not threats who can 3HKO u!

Team Options
===========

• Hazard support is important for Malamar, with Stealth Rock it has a chance to OHKO Accelgor on the switch with Psycho Cut or Night Slash. As well as Sticky Web to make up for Malamar's lacking speed.
• Malamar needs support from teammates that can switch into bug attacks and fairy attacks so Klinklang makes a nice team mate. Poison types are good as well :D
• Rapid spin / defog support is essential as otherwise Malamar will get worn down too easily and won't have time to rest due to it's speed.
• Fire types such as Magmortar and Flareon to absorb will o wisps that Malamar won't want to take, while it has rest, it's a waste of the chesto berry especially if your opponent keeps their wisper in.

RestTalk
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Name: RestTalk
Move 1: Superpower
Move 2: Night Slash
Move 3: Rest
Move 4: Sleep Talk
Ability: Contrary
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Nature: Careful

Moves
======

• Superpower is the main move here as usual for Malamar to dish out damge whilst boosting stats.
• Night Slash is the STAB of choice, giving Malamar an option to smack around ghost and psychic types.
• Rest gives Malamar a decent recovery move to allow it to set up sweeps easier.
• Sleep Talk paired with Rest means Malamar can reek destruction even while asleep with either of it's two attacking moves.

Set Details
=========

• The EV spread is for maximum special bulk so Malamar can set up and take hits.
• Contrary is the obvious ability to make use of Superpower.
• RestTalk combo allows Malamar to set up Superpowers whilst asleep and recover HP semi-reliably.
• Sleep Talk can also make up for Superpowers lack of PP.
• Careful nature for maximum special bulk.

Usage Tips
=========

• Spam Superpower when possible but don't be wasteful as it only has 8 PP. ONLY WHEN Pokemon who can check Malamar are ded. (or in KO range)
• Only use Rest against Pokemon who cannot 3HKO Malamar, because Malamar wouldn't be able to wake up in time to get an attack off, or Rest again.
• Be sure not to Rest + Sleep Talk on a Pokemon who can set up while tank Malamar's attacks, as the Pokemon would have time to set up while Sleep Talk may not even damage the opposing Pokemon.
• If Malamar runs out of PP for Superpower, remember that Sleep Talk does not take PP off Superpower (im preeee sure)

Team Options
===========

• A banded Sawk or Primeape can be used to soften up fighting resists for Malamar so that it can tear through with Superpower.
• Hazard support is important for Malamar, with Stealth Rock it has a chance to OHKO Accelgor on the switch with Night Slash. It's also important to cripple fighting resists so that Malamar has an easier time taking them down late game.
• Malamar needs support from teammates that can switch into bug attacks and fairy attacks so Klinklang makes a nice team mate.
• Gurdurr makes a good teammate as it lures in Granbull to intimidate Malamar on the double switch.
• Poison-Types such as Garbador can absorb Toxic Spikes and Resist Bug and Fairy-type attacks against Malamar. Which help Malamar immensly by helping to clear off the unwanted toxic (residual damage) damage.

Other Options
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• Lum Berry
• Trick Room
• Hypnosis
• Taunt
• Assault Vest
• Choice Scarf + Switcheroo
• Topsy Turvy
• Rocky Helmet

Checks & Counters
#############

• **Bug types**: Bug-types can easily switch in against a Superpower, while being able to OHKO Malamar with Bug Buzz since Malamar is 4 times weak to Bug.
• **Fairy types**: Fairy-types can switch in on Superpower, and hit back with the likes of Play Rough for super effective damage.
• **Toxic Spikes**: Toxic Spikes can easily cripple Malamar as Malamar is quite frail. Malamar depends on being healthy and being able to used Superpower many times to get as many boosting stats as possible. Also, Toxic Spikes can force Malamar to Rest, prematurely.
• **Stat Resetter**: Malamar's biggest niche in the metagame is its ability to use Superpower along with its ability, Contrary. With Pokemon who can reset stats, Contrary is basically useless as Malamar's boosts are getting reset every turn.

 

[Alfalfa]

Remove mentions of Spiritomb, it is RU by usage.

I think you need better teammates that lure in Granbull. Really, I do not see Gurdurr as a good way to lure in Granbull. Gurdurr is losing to it regardless, so a better lure would be a good idea.

 

[Blast]

Hi so I know you're halfway through writing this but can this be reset to QC 0/3? Orphic's analysis is really old (as noted by mentions of Spiritomb), and the RestTalk set never actually recieved any checks lol, so it would be better if we could check it before straight sending it to GP

 

[ForgottenOnes]

Hi so I know you're halfway through writing this but can this be reset to QC 0/3? Orphic's analysis is really old (as noted by mentions of Spiritomb), and the RestTalk set never actually recieved any checks lol, so it would be better if we could check it before straight sending it to GP

uhhh yeah... Do you want me to leave what I wrote up or back to bullet points?

 

[marilli]

I don't know if it was like that when you first got it, but you haven't touched the RestTalk set comments yet right?

It literally just repeats what you could find on google. "Rest makes you asleep for 2 turns, so make sure to use Sleep Talk for the next 2 turns oh my god!!!!"

We need more than that. For instance, what stuff can you start setting up on? Just sending it out first as your lead and just spamming Superpower and just brute forcing a sweep until you die is obviously not going to work. There must be more to using this thing than "rest if you're about to be knocked out, then use Sleep Talk twice." There's some things that cannot be set up on because Sleep Talking is really unreliable if they can actually hit you hard.

 

[ForgottenOnes]

Amarillo does it look somewhat better? And yeah I got it as it was and was told just to write it up...

 

[marilli]

I agree with dat blast that going through qc again is probably best. I think they're getting more qc checkers so things don't take painfully long to get checked.

Also, Resttalking should be done against something that cannot 3HKO you with lefties, not just OHKO and 2HKO. You get hit twice as you sleep talk, you get hit one more time either before you wake up if you're slower or the turn you fall asleep if you're faster. Sometimes you have to bank on good Sleep Talk rolls, but unless they get 2hkoed by an unboosted malamar with no investment, you're just going to die for nothing.

 

[Punchshroom]

For the record, Poison-types should definitely be listed as teammates since they resist Malamar's weaknesses and can provide hazard support, most notably Toxic Spikes.

 

[ForgottenOnes]

Punchshroom anything else that looks out of place?

 

[Deej Dy]

I'll chime in a bit on Malamar, I've used it quite a bit lately,

1. There is a scarf malamar set with 3 attacks and switcheroo, often used to sweep with superpower once ghosts are dead or trick to hinder incoming resists such as granbull,slurpuff,etc. It is quite viable and should be written up about, not simply mentioned at the end
2. Run speed (8 EVs) on rest talk set to outspeed neutral Seismatoad and other Malamars, which is crucial as Amarillo knows.
3. I don't agree with "Spam Superpower when possible but don't be wasteful as it only has 8 PP". I have never, ever had an issue with PP, I wouldn't recommend risking plays to conserve PP.
4. Rocky helmet Garbodor (Aftermath/ maybe even with clear smog)/ Rocky helmet Granbull and many other rocky helmet mons are great checks to malamar as all its attacks are physical.
5. Never, ever try to lure in Granbull, you are going to lose this battle.(unless maybe you have t spikes/ and already +3 or something)
6. Weezing is a great teammate to take bug/fairy attacks, (as is another poison or fire type)
7. You want to setup on a weakened and slow mon/ a hazard setter (crustle, qwilfish with intimdate boost)/ or a stally mon, which can't deal big damage
8. You can also counter Malamar by also tricking it a scarf/specs/band on its sleep talk set
9. Toxic spikes aren't really a big deal in my experience as you can rest them off and usuall you wont be switching Malamar in and out very many times as it usually comes in to finish the team off.

This is what I can recall at the moment, if any questions don't hesitate to ask, I've played like 100+ games with it the past month ;p

 

[Ares]

ForgottenOnes would you mind putting what you have written back into bullet points. You can save it at the bottom in hide tags if you would like, just make sure to go over it when this gets to 3/3. Deej Dy scarf malamar just seems incredibly weak and not something I would ever consider, as on the offensive set it needs a superpower boost to be doing any damage and locking yourself into non STAB Superpower isn't that great, and night slash / psycho cut are pretty weak, the only possible reason I could see using it is Switcheroo. So that's a no from me on anything more than oo

 

[ForgottenOnes]

implemented ready to get this checked out hopefully :/ Montsegur FLCL

 

[watashi]

i'm not sure if a rest talk set is viable. it's away too weak initially and will most likely be killed off before it can do significant damage.

you also have mentions of sleep talk in the first set

there's two chesto rest sets for some reason. i assume one of them is edited so please put it in hide tags or something

 

[ForgottenOnes]

i'm not sure if a rest talk set is viable. it's away too weak initially and will most likely be killed off before it can do significant damage.

you also have mentions of sleep talk in the first set

there's two chesto rest sets for some reason. i assume one of them is edited so please put it in hide tags or something

srry i completely derped out... :/ I deleted the shit i wrote up.. Probably wasn't quality stuff anyways

 

[Deej Dy]

A rest talk set is hugely viable at the moment FLCL , it is not for its immediate power, but the idea is come in vs a weakened or slow mon, and superpower. This gives it +1 def with max hp and max Spc Def, making it extremely hard to take down, and that's just after one boost. I wrote up on Malamar a bit in more detail in viability rankings, but the Rest talk set is probably its best set.

 

[ForgottenOnes]

bump :/

 

[ForgottenOnes]

bump

 

[Ares]

Your C&C section is quite lacking, you need to outline specific situations that Malamar would face against the things in C&C.

Your Usage Tips for the Chesto Resto really dont tell me anything, except use coverage and rest when my health is low. You need to tell me when to start a sweep, that I should set up at least 1 super power so I can be at least at +1 before attempting to sweep, what I should do in X, Y, and Z situation. etc. etc.

Same thing goes for the resto chesto, you dont really say when to rest what it should be brought in against what hits it can tank etc. etc.

 

[Kiyo]

Rock Slide in moves on ChestoRest gives you a way to hit Bug-types like Scyther and Vivillon that could otherwise come in relatively free and scare out even a boosted Malamar.

Poison-types like Garbodor still need a bigger mention in options as they absorb t spikes while resisting Bug and Fairy-type attacks aimed at Malamar.

Like Montsegur noted, Usage Tips don't really give the reader any tips on how to use these Malamar sets. Try to answer questions like how, on what, why, and when while talking about setting up. The most common mistake people trying to use Malamar make is improper set-up whether it be premature, on the wrong pokemon, or when checks still exist. The more you can help out newer users with your usage tips the better. I'm pretty sure it TO you mention something about baiting Granbull with Gurdurr to get an intmidate 'boost' with Malamar, that's exactly the type of thing you can include in UT.

Rocky Helmet users deserve a mention somewhere here, I saw Deej Dy brought that up a little whlie ago. I'd still like to see more specific examples of things that beat Malamar in C&C and how they do it, i.e. explain what the stat resetters you're referring to are and how they beat Malamar (for example Haze Cryogonal can't switch in and doesn't like taking even a neutral Superpower).

Let me know when this has been updated please, and I'll give you a check.

 

[Ares]

Dropped