NU Golurk Revamp

[OVERVIEW]

Golurk boasts a top-tier offensive STAB combination along with a useful pool of utility moves, making it very difficult to identify the set and safely play around. Additionally, its one of the few viable Ground-types in the tier, letting it check Aerodactyl and Tyrantrum in a pinch as well as block Rotom-C's Volt Switch. Despite Golurk's colorful movepool and great Attack stat, its poor Speed and middling bulk make it quite easy to find midgrounds for once its set is successfully identified. Golurk also faces competition from the much superior Silvally-Ground and Mudsdale for a teamslot because they have significant fewer flaws and are easier to build around; with Golurk, you lose a ton of defensive utility and cannot easily run item displacement such as Knock Off. As a wallbreaker, Golurk is slower than the likes of Exploud and Sylveon while only matching their damage output. Golurk's reliance on Poltergeist and Earthquake, two moves with common immunities in the tier, can make it quite prediction reliant to accomplish the same damage that the aforementioned wallbreakers and others accomplish simply by using their STAB moves.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Poltergeist
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Stone Edge / Heat Crash
item: Choice Band
ability: No Guard
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====

Choice Band Golurk hits like a train and 2HKOes almost everything assuming it locks into the right move, making it incredibly scary. Close Combat pairs perfectly with Poltergeist, nailing defensive Dark-types like Guzzlord and Scrafty as well as Snorlax, which can be 2HKOed even after a Curse boost. The final coverage move is often irrelevant due to the high-Base Power and flawless coverage Golurk's three main moves provide, although Stone Edge can OHKO Talonflame even if Golurk is burned and nails other Flying-types like Mantine and Braviary a little harder than Poltergeist or Close Combat would. Alternatively, Heat Crash hits itemless Grass-types such as Vileplume, Rotom-C, and Dhelmise.

Due to Golurk's poor Speed and bulk, it greatly appreciates the momentum provided by great pivots such as Rotom-C and Choice Scarf Passimian, both of which can also easily clean up teams after Golurk punches holes in them. Despite being a Ground-type, it fails to check many Poison-types such as Toxicroak and Drapion, making alternative defensive pivots like Talonflame and Arcanine very useful. Physical attackers like Tauros and Toxicroak appreciate Golurk weakening physical walls like Mudsdale and Weezing. Tauros also provides a Ghost immunity, and Toxicroak's Dry Skin allows it to pivot into Water-type attacks.

[SET]
name: TrickyBarb
move 1: Trick
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Poltergeist
move 4: Earthquake
item: Sticky Barb
ability: Klutz
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====

Golurk makes use of its Klutz ability and Trick to bestow a nasty surprise upon unsuspecting physical walls such as Weezing, Mudsdale, and Vileplume, which can otherwise serve as a decent midground to Golurk's attacks. Golurk's offensive presence is enough to force switches against common Steel-types to set up Stealth Rock while deterring Xatu from attempting to deflect it for fear of a Poltergeist OHKO.

Golurk's Trick + Sticky Barb combination both helps it wallbreak and supports other physical attackers like Tauros, Passimian, and Drapion that share checks with it. Although Golurk is quite strong without a Choice Band, its certainly noticeably weaker and appreciates stronger teammates like Exploud and Alolan Exeggutor to compensate. Similarly, Golurk's poor Speed makes it easy to take advantage of with faster attackers like Inteleon and Starmie, so good defensive teammates like Mantine and Guzzlord are a must.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

Golurk's middling bulk can be supplemented by an Assault Vest, allowing it to effectively beat Pokemon like Rotom-C and Starmie one-on-one that it would otherwise lose to. The loss of wallbreaking power from not using a Choice Band is often not worth sacrificing Golurk's viability and most of its HP just to beat some special attackers. Just like its Sticky Barb and Assault Vest sets, Golurk can use a Choice Scarf to catch its foes off guard, although this has similar drawbacks to the Assault Vest set. Rock Polish Golurk makes for a solid late-game sweeper, although even after a Rock Polish it can find itself too weak and slower than some Choice Scarf users. Rindo Berry can be used with Rock Polish to always win the matchup against Choice Scarf Rotom-C.

Checks and Counters
====

**Protect Scouting**: Protect users such as Vaporeon, Sylveon, and Mudsdale, defensive pieces that Golurk would typically prey upon, can simply scout to see what Golurk will use and switch into an according check, as all of Golurk's moves, despite their great power, have common type resistances.

**Itemless Pokemon**: Although its Trick set can somewhat bypass this issue, Golurk's heavy reliance on Poltergeist makes it quite vulnerable to common itemless Pokemon such as Dhelmise and Vileplume.

**Faster Wallbreakers**: Golurk is certainly on the slower end, even for wallbreaker standards, and with middling bulk, other wallbreakers such as Choice Specs Sylveon and Exploud coast past it and threaten an easy OHKO on it as well.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Togkey, 400664]]
- Quality checked by: [[Rabia, 336073]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073]]
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Rabia

is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a CAP Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderator
GP & NU Leader
add remove comments
[OVERVIEW]

Golurk boasts what could be considered the most deadly offensive STAB combination in the game along with a Swiss Army knife pool of utility moves at its disposal, making it very difficult to identify the set and safely manage to play around. (might be worth still mentioning that it's a Ground-type here and the benefits that come from that: it still can exploit Scarf Rotom-C and check Aero/Ttrum in a pinch) Despite Golurk's colorful movepool and great Attack stat, its poor speed and middling bulk make it quite easy to find midgrounds for once its set is successfully identified. As a wallbreaker, Golurk is slower than the likes of Exploud and Sylveon, while only matching their damage output, making it often outclassed. Golurk's reliance on Poltergeist and Earthquake, two moves with common immunities in the tier, can make it quite predicition-reliant to accomplish the same damage that the aforementioned wallbreakers and others accomplish simply by clicking their STAB moves.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Poltergeist
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Stone Edge / Heat Crash
item: Choice Band
ability: No Guard
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====

Choice Band Golurk hits like a train and 2HKO's everything at worst assuming it locks into the right move, making it incredibly scary. Close Combat pairs perfectly with Poltergeist, nailing defensive Dark-types like Guzzlord and Scrafty and Normal-types like Snorlax, which can be 2HKO'd even after a Curse boost. The final coverage move is often irrelevant due to the high BP and flawless coverage Golurk's 3 main moves provide, although Stone Edge can OHKO Talonflame even while burned, and nail other Flying-types like Mantine and Braviary a little harder than a respective Poltergeist or Close Combat could. Heat Crash hits itemless Grass-types such as Vileplume, Rotom-C,(worth having here in case it dumps its item on something like itemless plume or mise) and Dhelmise which could otherwise be quite annoying for Golurk.

Due to Golurk's poor speed and bulk, it greatly appreciates the momentum provided by great pivots such as Rotom-C and Talonflame, both of which can also easily clean up teams after Golurk punches holes in them. Unfortunately Golurk's typing and needs make it quite difficult to build around, as two of the best Pokemon in the tier, Mudsdale and Silvally-Ground share its Ground-typing and Golurk's reliance on Poltergeist mean using item removal such as Knock Off or even Corrosive Gas ends up being detrimental for Golurk. This greatly limits which partners pair well with Golurk. (if anything, condense this info into the Overview and have it be there imo) Probably mention here how Golurk's a pretty poor Ground-type defensively given it loses to shit like Toxicroak and Drapion super hard, so you gotta pair other checks to those foes with it. I'd also mention some other Pokemon that appreciate the holes Golurk puts in teams. Toxicroak is particularly worthwhile guy to mention imo because of the Water immunity + likes pressure being put on Weezing and Mudsdale.

[SET]
name: TrickyBarb
move 1: Trick
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Poltergeist
move 4: Earthquake
item: Sticky Barb
ability: Klutz
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====

Golurk makes use of its Klutz Ability and Trick to bestow a nasty surprise upon unsuspecting physical walls such as Weezing, Mudsdale, and Vileplume which can otherwise serve as a decent midground to Golurk's attacks. Golurk's offensive presence is enough to force switches against common Steel-types and set up Stealth Rock while deterring Xatu from attempting to deflect them for fear of a Poltergeist OHKO.

Not only does giving these Pokemon a Sticky Barb make them less reliable answers to Golurk, but also Golurk's partners, especially ones that share checks with Golurk such as Tauros, Passimian, and Drapion. Maybe a quick mention of defensive teammates given Golurk's shitty Speed and worse firepower with this set make it a bit easier to switch around? Definitely does feel like you'd have to just repeat teammates from the previous set here because there's not a whole lot of difference at the end of the day :skull:

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

Golurk's middling bulk can be supplemented by an Assault Vest, allowing it to effectively 1v1 Pokemon like Rotom-C and Starmie that it would otherwise lose to. The loss of breaking power from not using a Choice Band is often not worth sacrificing Golurk's viability and most of its HP just to beat some special attackers. Just like its Sticky Barb or Assault Vest set, Golurk can use a Choice Scarf to catch its opponents off guard, although this has similar drawbacks to the Assault Vest set. Rock Polish deserves a mention here too, not the worst late-game sweeper out there

Checks and Counters
====

**Protect Scouting**: Protect users such as Vaporeon, Sylveon, and Mudsdale, defensive pieces that Golurk would typically prey upon, can simply scout to see what Golurk will use and switch into an according resistance, as all of Golurk's moves, despite their great power, have common type resistances.

**Itemless Pokemon**: Although its Trick set can somewhat bypass this issue, Golurk's heavy reliance on the move Poltergeist makes it quite vulnerable to common itemless Pokemon such as Dhelmise and Vileplume, which lack an item both to take less damage from Knock Off but also specifically for Poltergeist.

**Faster Wallbreakers**: Golurk is certainly on the slower end, even for wallbreaker standards, and with middling bulk, other breakers such as Choice Specs Sylveon and Exploud coast past it and threaten an easy OHKO on it as well.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Togkey, 400664]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]

QC 1/1 when done
 

Rabia

is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a CAP Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderator
GP & NU Leader
add remove comments
[OVERVIEW]

Golurk boasts what could be considered the most deadly a top-tier offensive STAB combination in the game along with a Swiss Army knife useful pool of utility moves at its disposal, making it very difficult to identify the set and safely manage to play around. Additionally, its one of the few viable Ground-types in the tier, letting it check Aerodactyl and Tyrantrum in a pinch as well as blocking block Rotom-C's Volt Switch. Despite Golurk's colorful movepool and great Attack stat, its poor speed Speed and middling bulk make it quite easy to find midgrounds for once its set is successfully identified. Unfortunately Golurk's typing and needs make it quite difficult to build around, as two of the best Pokemon in the tier, Mudsdale and Silvally-Ground share its Ground-typing and Golurk's reliance on Poltergeist mean using item removal such as Knock Off or even Corrosive Gas ends up being detrimental for Golurk. This greatly limits which partners pair well with Golurk. Golurk also faces competition from the much superior Silvally-Ground and Mudsdale for a teamslot because they have significant fewer flaws and are easier to build around; with Golurk, you lose a ton of defensive utility and cannot easily run item displacement such as Knock Off. As a wallbreaker, Golurk is slower than the likes of Exploud and Sylveon (remove comma) while only matching their damage output, making it often outclassed. Golurk's reliance on Poltergeist and Earthquake, two moves with common immunities in the tier, can make it quite predicition-reliant prediction reliant to accomplish the same damage that the aforementioned wallbreakers and others accomplish simply by clicking using their STAB moves.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Poltergeist
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Stone Edge / Heat Crash
item: Choice Band
ability: No Guard
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====

Choice Band Golurk hits like a train and 2HKO's everything at worst 2HKOes almost everything assuming it locks into the right move, making it incredibly scary. Close Combat pairs perfectly with Poltergeist, nailing defensive Dark-types like Guzzlord and Scrafty and Normal-types like as well as Snorlax, which can be 2HKO'd 2HKOed even after a Curse boost. The final coverage move is often irrelevant due to the high BP high-Base Power and flawless coverage Golurk's 3 three main moves provide, although Stone Edge can OHKO Talonflame even while if Golurk is burned (remove comma) and nail nails other Flying-types like Mantine and Braviary a little harder than a respective Poltergeist or Close Combat could would. Alternatively, Heat Crash hits itemless Grass-types such as Vileplume, Rotom-C, and Dhelmise which could otherwise be quite annoying for Golurk.

Due to Golurk's poor speed Speed and bulk, it greatly appreciates the momentum provided by great pivots such as Rotom-C and Talonflame Choice Scarf Passimian, both of which can also easily clean up teams after Golurk punches holes in them. Despite being a Ground-type, it fails to check many Poison-types such as Toxicroak and Drapion, making alternative defensive pivots like Talonflame or and Arcanine very useful pivots. Physical attackers like Tauros and Toxicroak appreciate Golurk's abilities to punch holes in Golurk weakening physical walls like Mudsdale and Weezing. Tauros also provides a Ghost-immunity Ghost immunity,(comma) and Toxicroak's Dry Skin allows it to pivot into Water-type attacks.

[SET]
name: TrickyBarb
move 1: Trick
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Poltergeist
move 4: Earthquake
item: Sticky Barb
ability: Klutz
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====

Golurk makes use of its Klutz Ability ability and Trick to bestow a nasty surprise upon unsuspecting physical walls such as Weezing, Mudsdale, and Vileplume,(comma) which can otherwise serve as a decent midground to Golurk's attacks. Golurk's offensive presence is enough to force switches against common Steel-types and to set up Stealth Rock while deterring Xatu from attempting to deflect them it for fear of a Poltergeist OHKO.

Not only does giving these Pokemon a Sticky Barb make them less reliable answers to Golurk, but also Golurk's partners, especially ones that share checks with Golurk such as Tauros, Passimian, and Drapion Golurk's Trick + Sticky Barb combination both helps it wallbreak and supports other physical attackers like Tauros, Passimian, and Drapion that share checks with it. Although Golurk is quite strong without a Choice Band, its certainly noticeably weaker and appreciates stronger teammates like Exploud or and Alolan Exeggutor to compensate. Similarly, Golurk's poor Speed makes it easy to take advantage of with faster attackers like Inteleon and Starmie, so good defensive teammates like Mantine and Guzzlord are a must. (adding this to help make this section less barren ig)

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

Golurk's middling bulk can be supplemented by an Assault Vest, allowing it to effectively 1v1 beat Pokemon like Rotom-C and Starmie one-on-one that it would otherwise lose to. The loss of wallbreaking power from not using a Choice Band is often not worth sacrificing Golurk's viability and most of its HP just to beat some special attackers. Just like its Sticky Barb or and Assault Vest set sets, Golurk can use a Choice Scarf to catch its opponents foes off guard, although this has similar drawbacks to the Assault Vest set. Rock Polish Golurk makes for a solid late-game sweeper, although even after a Rock Polish it can find itself too weak and slower than some Choice Scarf users. Rindo Berry can be used with Rock Polish to always win the matchup against Choice Scarf Rotom-C.

Checks and Counters
====

**Protect Scouting**: Protect users such as Vaporeon, Sylveon, and Mudsdale, defensive pieces that Golurk would typically prey upon, can simply scout to see what Golurk will use and switch into an according resistance check, as all of Golurk's moves, despite their great power, have common type resistances.

**Itemless Pokemon**: Although its Trick set can somewhat bypass this issue, Golurk's heavy reliance on the move Poltergeist makes it quite vulnerable to common itemless Pokemon such as Dhelmise and Vileplume, which lack an item both to take less damage from Knock Off but also specifically for Poltergeist.

**Faster Wallbreakers**: Golurk is certainly on the slower end, even for wallbreaker standards, and with middling bulk, other wallbreakers such as Choice Specs Sylveon and Exploud coast past it and threaten an easy OHKO on it as well.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Togkey, 400664]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]

GP 1/1 when done

GP Team done
 

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