Shadow Marowak
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Marowak is a very weak, borderline useless version of Rhydon and Golem. Marowak has a pitiful attack stat, and a pitiful health stat. His Defense is okay, but the low health leaves him with below-average tankiness. There is no place for Marowak in the current metagame.
Offense
- Mud Slap benefits from STAB and is the best Fast Move available for offense.
- Rock Smash is a poor move.
- Earthquake is the best Charge Move and synergizes well to fulfill a Ground-type role.
- Bone Club is a poor move, likewise Dig is also quite terrible.
Defense
- Rock Smash and Mud Slap are on a par with each other despite the former lacking STAB due to different coverage.
- Rock Slide is the best Charge Move for defense due to its fantastic coverage.
- Bone Club can be spammed on defense as a 3-bar move, but its damage is laughable.
- Earthquake and Dig have very long animations, making them easy to dodge.
Mud Slap is an excellent STAB Fast Attack with high damage and a moderate energy gain. Rock Smash is a poor move.
Bone Club is a solid low cost STAB Charged Attack, functioning as Marowak's bread and butter. Rock Slide provides coverage against most opponents that resist Ground. Earthquake and Dig are just outclassed by Bone Club overall, especially since Marowak already deals immense Ground-type damage with Mud Slap and Bone Club.
In Season 20, starting on September 2024, Marowak finally received major buffs to both Mud-Slap and Bone Club. In addition to that, the overall nerf to Mud Shot pushed aside many other Ground-type Pokemon. For the first time, Marowak finally found itself being a great pick thanks to a powerful moveset and good bulk. While other strong Ground-type options like Clodsire and Diggersby still exist, Marowak's consistent damage output allows it to set itself apart from them.
Shadow Marowak is generally preferred to increase the consistency of its Ground-type damage.
