[OVERVIEW]
Muk possesses a couple useful traits, including solid bulk, good elemental coverage, and the tier's most powerful Explosion. However, it is held back by its Poison typing, which grants it no useful resistances alongside weaknesses to the common Earthquake and Psychic, and low Speed, which means it'll almost always move last. To make matters worse, it is dominated by Gastly, which is only 4HKOed by Fire Blast and is immune to Explosion. While teams lacking Gastly may have some trouble playing around it, Muk is too easy to overwhelm with common threats like Nidoqueen and Machamp, and thus it's recommended that players avoid using this Pokemon.
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Fire Blast / Hyper Beam
move 4: Explosion
[SET COMMENTS]
Body Slam lets Muk threaten switch-ins with paralysis, making it a decent midground option with its okay power, while also dealing decent damage to physically frail Pokemon such as Abra and Staryu. Thunderbolt hits Water-types and Fearow for super effective damage, notably letting Muk beat Omanyte. Fire Blast 2HKOes Pinsir while threatening Grass-types such as Vileplume and potentially burning physical attackers. It is also Muk's strongest attack against Gastly. Alternatively, Hyper Beam lets Muk OHKO Abra, meaning it need not use Explosion to KO Abra. Explosion is Muk's most powerful attack, OHKOing common threats like Fearow and Rapidash, and it deals a minimum of 72% to Nidoqueen. It also has an 84.6% chance to OHKO Porygon, which is important, since Porygon otherwise stonewalls Muk. However, it must be used carefully, as opposing Gastly, Omanyte, and Graveler can easily switch in and sponge the attack. Alternatively, the opposing player can sacrifice a weakened foe, which stops Muk from removing a crucial piece of their team.
Mega Drain is an option to threaten Graveler, though it only 2HKOing 40.7% of the time means Muk still risks losing one-on-one. It also lets Muk beat Omanyte if it forgoes Thunderbolt. Acid Armor can let Muk survive more hits from physical attackers, especially if it uses it while they switch in, though Fearow can easily bypass Muk's boosts with its high critical hit rate, and Pinsir's Slash will always do so.
Given that it can switch into all of Muk's moves, even Explosion, Gastly is Muk's worst enemy. Thus, Abra and Drowzee are recommended partners. Drowzee has the added benefit of checking opposing Abra, which also gives Muk a considerable amount of trouble. Graveler doesn't fear anything from Muk besides Mega Drain, so Porygon is a good partner. Earthquake users in Machamp and Nidoqueen can outspeed and 2HKO Muk, so checks to them, like Fearow for the former and one's own Machamp for the latter, can be good to handle these threats for Muk.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/adeleine.517429/
Muk possesses a couple useful traits, including solid bulk, good elemental coverage, and the tier's most powerful Explosion. However, it is held back by its Poison typing, which grants it no useful resistances alongside weaknesses to the common Earthquake and Psychic, and low Speed, which means it'll almost always move last. To make matters worse, it is dominated by Gastly, which is only 4HKOed by Fire Blast and is immune to Explosion. While teams lacking Gastly may have some trouble playing around it, Muk is too easy to overwhelm with common threats like Nidoqueen and Machamp, and thus it's recommended that players avoid using this Pokemon.
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Fire Blast / Hyper Beam
move 4: Explosion
[SET COMMENTS]
Body Slam lets Muk threaten switch-ins with paralysis, making it a decent midground option with its okay power, while also dealing decent damage to physically frail Pokemon such as Abra and Staryu. Thunderbolt hits Water-types and Fearow for super effective damage, notably letting Muk beat Omanyte. Fire Blast 2HKOes Pinsir while threatening Grass-types such as Vileplume and potentially burning physical attackers. It is also Muk's strongest attack against Gastly. Alternatively, Hyper Beam lets Muk OHKO Abra, meaning it need not use Explosion to KO Abra. Explosion is Muk's most powerful attack, OHKOing common threats like Fearow and Rapidash, and it deals a minimum of 72% to Nidoqueen. It also has an 84.6% chance to OHKO Porygon, which is important, since Porygon otherwise stonewalls Muk. However, it must be used carefully, as opposing Gastly, Omanyte, and Graveler can easily switch in and sponge the attack. Alternatively, the opposing player can sacrifice a weakened foe, which stops Muk from removing a crucial piece of their team.
Mega Drain is an option to threaten Graveler, though it only 2HKOing 40.7% of the time means Muk still risks losing one-on-one. It also lets Muk beat Omanyte if it forgoes Thunderbolt. Acid Armor can let Muk survive more hits from physical attackers, especially if it uses it while they switch in, though Fearow can easily bypass Muk's boosts with its high critical hit rate, and Pinsir's Slash will always do so.
Given that it can switch into all of Muk's moves, even Explosion, Gastly is Muk's worst enemy. Thus, Abra and Drowzee are recommended partners. Drowzee has the added benefit of checking opposing Abra, which also gives Muk a considerable amount of trouble. Graveler doesn't fear anything from Muk besides Mega Drain, so Porygon is a good partner. Earthquake users in Machamp and Nidoqueen can outspeed and 2HKO Muk, so checks to them, like Fearow for the former and one's own Machamp for the latter, can be good to handle these threats for Muk.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/adeleine.517429/
Last edited:
