Wednesday 21 September 2016

Featured Pokemon: Snorlax

So contented. Just wait until Sun and Moon!
Greetings trainers!

Snorlax is the envy of every trainer out there. Not only is it stupidly bulky, it's adorably pudgy and makes a great bean bag chair. Everyone knows Snorlax is great, but what is it great at? Attacking? Defending? Both? Is there anything this gargantuan, 800lb-a-day food guzzling creature can't do? Short answer: yeah.. no it really is absolutely fantastic. But what is your Snorlax best at? Find out below!

Recommended movesets
Personally... I'm scared
Attacking
Lick + Hyper Beam or Body Slam
(honestly, Zen Headbutt is good too)

 I prefer Lick on Snorlax because of its short cooldown time, which allows you to dodge incoming attacks better. But if you look on paper, Zen Headbutt actually has the higher DPS. Hyper Beam also technically has a slightly worse DPS on paper compared to Body Slam, owing to its long cooldown time. However both attacks are similar in DPS, and when attacking, I prefer to charge up one move only and then let loose. If I am forced to break my tapping to try and get my phone to register using a charge move, sometimes it will falter and I will just sit there doing nothing. Body Slam's shorter charge time opens up more chances for this to occur, which cuts into its slight DPS advantage. But honestly both charge moves are good.

Defending
Zen Headbutt + Body Slam

Zen Headbutt's higher base damage makes it the obvious choice for defence. Lick is inferior and better saved for attacking Snorlax. As far as Body Slam vs. Hyper Beam goes, Body Slam's incredibly short attack animation makes it extremely hard to dodge. Hyper Beam has the problem of putting all your eggs in one basket and hoping they don't dodge, so while it's a solid attack, I'd recommend a Snorlax with this moveset be used for defence.

Base stats
Snorlax has... interesting eyes
Attack: 180
Defence: 180
Stamina: 320

Fwoo! Look at that Stamina! Snorlax's Attack and Defence are solid, but its HP is where it really shines. Because of the 2x boost to HP on defence, coupled with its Normal typing, Snorlax is the best defender in the game. Few things hit Snorlax super effectively, and few things can trade favourably with that HP boost.

Popular Pokemon Snorlax deals with
omg friggin' Hypno fml

Snorlax's matchups are solid all around, but some troublesome Pokemon Snorlax is especially good at dealing with are:

  • Hypno
  • Exeggutor
  • Slowbro
  • Lapras
  • Anything weak to Zen Headbutt

The above list assumes a Lick Snorlax, which is one of the best ways to hit Hypno super effectively. Hypno is incredibly strong for its relative CP, which makes it one of the worst Pokemon to face when trying to level up a friendly gym. One of the only Pokemon in the game that can reliably take on an opposing Hypno while having a lower CP than the Hypno is Snorlax. This is one of the best reasons to hold on to your middling Snorlax!

Snorlax also just trades favourably with practically anything, but this is especially useful for facing Lapras. In my Lapras article, I mention that Vaporeon's high HP and strong charge moves let it duel with Lapras for the purposes of levelling up a friendly gym. Snorlax functions like this, except that its quick attack isn't resisted.

Checks and counters

HA!

Final say

But seriously, I guess I use a Vaporeon to deal with Snorlax, and Dragonites are also great at hitting anything neutrally. Machamp is a bit disappointing, as are Rhydon and Golem as a result of not resisting Snorlax's quick attacks. Machamp also can't beat Zen Headbutt Snorlax, while Rhydon and Golem have to watch out for errant Earthquakes.

Snorlax is simply one of the best Pokemon in the game and you're lucky to get one. If I had a good Snorlax, it'd for sure be my Buddy Pokemon. Heck... I don't have a good Snorlax worth walking with and I still made it my Buddy for a bit just so when i did get a good Snorlax I'd have more candies to level it up immediately.

Cheers,
Let's GO!

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