Competitive Pokemon History - Snorlax Quiz

Answer: Rest

Snore and Sleep Talk did not exist as moves at the time, rendering them incorrect. Snorlax was probably the best Body Slam user in the game, but it wasn't the only one by any remote stretch who partook in "Body Spam" in a meta full of users of the move. Therefore, the correct choice was Rest.

Snorlax was an overall amazing Pokémon in first generation standard play. It had excellent stats, with the exception of Defense and Speed. The former was easily patched up due to how easily Snorlax could fit Reflect in its movepool, completely eliminating the problem in its entirety. The latter wasn't as reparable, but it did have its benefits; Snorlax did not fear paralysis like 95% of the meta did due to its already abysmal speed, meaning it was often a team's go-to for switching into opposing Body Slams and Thunder Waves. Because of this, it was extremely common for the early stages of a typical match to turn into Snorlax mirrors, given that one trainer would bring their Snorlax in, threaten something with a potential Body Slam, which would likely lead to the opponent switching their own Snorlax in to absorb the potential paralysis.

The reasons Snorlax was one of extremely few to viably use Rest were, for one, Rest was not actually a TM, meaning only those who learned the move via level up had access to it. Of course, as Snorlax is... Well, Snorlax, sleeping is something you'd expect it to be able to do, hence how Rest is in its repertoire. The reason Snorlax could effectively use the move was because it had excellent bulk, which not only allowed it to almost always survive the two turns of being asleep, but also meant that Rest could allow Snorlax to be an effective wall, tanking hits for the rest of the team, and Resting off the damage.

Finally, getting STAB on Body Slam and a potential Self Destruct meant that Snorlax constantly hit hard, threatened paralysis, and could go out with a bang, OHKOing pretty much everything not named Gengar and giving the player the potential to trade Snorlax to get rid of a troublesome threat. Having auxiliary moves in its movepool, such as Ice Beam/Blizzard for Rhydon or Golem, Earthquake to take out Gengar and still keep coverage on the rocky behemoths, and Hyper Beam to nuke something while not sacrificing Snorlax itself, was also nice. Snorlax could even somewhat effectively pull off a gimmicky special sweeper set, with Amnesia as a boosting move, a wide and varied special movepool, and definitely having the bulk and access to Rest to boost a few times, Snorlax could potentially be utilized as a team's win-condition in this way.

Due to Snorlax's tremendous potential as both a major offensive and defensive threat, it was top tier in standard play without question. Given how much utility it boasted, it was often a no-brainer addition to teams of all archetypes.

Answer: Curselax

Curselax, a simple but deadly set of Curse + Normal type move + Rest + Sleep Talk/one of bajillions of coverage options, was easily the most meta defining thing in the tier, and will probably go down in history as the most meta defining set in any tier in franchise history. This set was so dominant and renowned that entire teams had to pack half their team, maybe more, of Pokémon who could only even try to check it. It had absolutely zero hard counters, and all of its checks were rather situational, easily failing if the game situation favored Snorlax, if Snorlax's team could support it even slightly, or even better, the ludicrously lethal "last Pokémon Snorlax"- a scenario in which Snorlax, as the last Pokémon standing, can effortlessly boost with Curse with no fear of having its boosts removed due to phasing.

For the Normal move, the choice was between Double Edge, Return and Body Slam. The ultimate decision came down to what type of teambuild the user was looking to put Snorlax on. Body Slam to spread paralysis was preferred for stall teams, Double Edge generated offensive momentum a bit better for those types of teams, and Return was a middle ground- higher damage than Body Slam at the cost of no potential for paralysis, while being less damaging than Double Edge with the benefit of not having any recoil damage like it inflicted. All of them were perfectly viable in their own way, giving Snorlax plenty of variety to work with.

Snorlax had a bounty of coverage moves which kept it from having any consistent checks in the tier. Fire Blast took out Skarmory, Steelix and Forretress, while Thunder kept coverage on Skarmory and targeted Suicune. Earthquake hit Steelix hard, was integral to reliably beating Raikou and Gengar, and notably synergized with the Normal type move of choice amazingly, hitting everything that resisted it for at least neutral, oftentimes super effective, damage. Lovely Kiss was another common option for that fourth moveslot. Putting something to sleep could allow Snorlax to overcome it. At the very least, it offered one of Snorlax's teammates a fairly reliably free switch-in to the threat.

Curselax wasn't the only set Snorlax could pull off, but it was easily its most common, overall effective set. Snorlax could try all-out attacking sets, where it would remove Curse and sometimes Sleep Talk in favor of coverage options to take out its common checks, as to supplement a teammate winning the game later. Notably, Snorlax also had a deadly Belly Drum based set, that could overcome many traditional Curselax checks with extreme ease.

Overall, there was a laundry list of checks to Snorlax as a whole, but there was no singular Pokémon who could consistently check Snorlax at all stages of the game, regardless of Snorlax's movepool/set. There just wasn't.

Skarmory probably stands out as the closest thing to a consistent Snorlax check. However, Snorlax easily prevails if it's running Thunder, Fire Blast, often wins if it has Lovely Kiss, and can defeat Skarmory if it's a Belly Drum variant vs a non-Whirlwind Skarmory. Worse yet, non-Curse Skarmory totally fails as a check to Snorlax in its most dangerous state- as the last Pokémon on its team. However, Curse Skarmory will always prevail against last-Pokémon Snorlax if it doesn't have Thunder or Fire Blast, and has better-than-even odds against Lovely Kiss Snorlax. Still, that's a fairly tall list of ways Skarmory can falter, and when one considers its reputation as the best overall check to Snorlax, it would be foolish to assume Snorlax's teammates, or Snorlax itself, came without a way around the metal bird.

Steelix operated similarly to Skarmory, trading away the weakness to Thunder for a weakness to Earthquake. Still, Earthquake benefits from Snorlax's Curse boosts, so Steelix has to stay healthy and just about immediately be on the battlefield to Roar Snorlax away if it wants to actually check Earthquake Snorlax. This can be taken advantage of by the Snorlax player, who can predict the somewhat obvious Steelix switch-in and simply click Earthquake instead of Curse. This weakens Steelix at no expense to Snorlax. It also allows Snorlax to just click Earthquake again if Steelix uses Rest or Roars Snorlax away, completely turning the tables on Steelix and rather invalidating it as a check. It can, however, succeed against Snorlax with Curse + Normal move + Rest + Sleep Talk, or any move not named Fire Blast or Earthquake.

Snorlax could potentially be offensively pressured, due to its low speed and somewhat of a weakness to entry hazards. Zapdos and Raikou could potentially 2HKO with Thunder if Snorlax switched in to a field with Spikes on it. However, they need a high damage roll to do that, and the strategy as a whole lacks consistency; Forretress was a wonderful option to remove entry hazards, and could rather reliably keep them off the field for Snorlax to always avoid this 2HKO. Additionally, Snorlax could potentially be running Earthquake, which OHKOes Raikou, and when one considers Thunder's meager 70% hit chance, it becomes extremely risky for Raikou to try to hit Snorlax with it twice in a row- an effort that has a chance at not even being fruitful if it fails to 2HKO.

Speaking of Forretress, it too could attempt to employ a Curse set to check Snorlax with. Obviously, Forretress will just get obliterated by Fire Blast Snorlax thanks to its 4x weakness to Fire, meaning this is not a failsafe maneuver at all.

Another common way to try and check Snorlax was through Growl users, of all things, and Charm users. Miltank with Growl had the physical and special bulk to always handle unboosted Snorlax regardless of its coverage moves, and Umbreon was in the same boat with Charm. However, Belly Drum Snorlax would annihilate these two, since Belly Drum maximizes Snorlax's Attack, easily outdoing Growl and Charm. Additionally, Lovely Kiss Snorlax will usually win barring some extremely bad luck on how long Miltank and Umbreon are asleep.

The two premiere Ghost types, Misdreavus and Gengar, could also attempt to check Snorlax. Misdreavus had the bulk to handle unboosted Snorlax, and could semi-reliably trap it with Mean Look, use Perish Song, and eliminate Snorlax with Protect + Rest stalling for the three Perish Song turns. There were a couple problems, though- Misdreavus would have to switch out at the last turn or be KOed by Perish Song, giving Snorlax the potential to hit something else really, really hard as it came in. This idea totally backfired against Self Destruct Snorlax, as it would almost assuredly OHKO whichever of Misdreavus' unfortunate teammates was coming in. Additionally, Belly Drum Snorlax would just brush aside Misdreavus' efforts to do this like a stiff breeze. For Gengar, it could bait Snorlax into KOing it with Destiny Bond, taking Snorlax down as Gengar was KOed. It could also potentially weave its way through with a Dynamic Punch, followed up by an Explosion to KO. Of course, Gengar could only take down Snorlax by eventually KOing itself somehow, and even this failed if Snorlax had Earthquake- a fairly common coverage move for it to run.

Finally, Machamp could actually OHKO Snorlax with a Cross Chop that critically hits. Because critical hits ignored defense boosts, Machamp could possibly do this even in the face of a Snorlax which has used Curse the maximum six times. Still, Machamp could not switch into Snorlax at all without taking tons of damage, being OHKOed by a Double Edge which had been boosted by a single Curse. If Snorlax gets at least two Curse boosts, or one if running the aforementioned Double Edge, Machamp then has to rely on a 25% critical hit chance in order to win at all- clearly not the most reliable "check" one could identify.

Oftentimes, the best check to an opposing Snorlax, was the user's own Snorlax! Belly Drum Snorlax was an excellent Curselax check, outboosting its defense boosts and being faster thanks to Curse reducing the other Snorlax's speed. Any Snorlax set without Sleep Talk would be heavily annoyed by an opposing Snorlax's Lovely Kiss, and such a Lovely Kiss Snorlax could potentially boost with Curse or Belly Drum uncontested. Finally, if all else fails, Snorlax can just Self Destruct to OHKO the other Snorlax with.

Answer: Immunity and Thick Fat

Immunity notably gave Snorlax a key immunity to Poison, meaning Toxic users such as Skarmory could no longer force Snorlax to eventually use Rest anywhere near as quickly as the second generation. Meanwhile, Thick Fat gave Snorlax resistances to Fire and Ice, letting it turn Regice and Moltres into setup fodder.

Both abilities were decently useful, though neither were meta defining, per se. They helped Snorlax to retain its status as a no doubt top ten Pokémon in the meta. That said, with other strong forces such as Salamence, Dragon Dance Tyranitar, Metagross, Jirachi and Celebi (legal in standard play now) entering the mold, Snorlax was threatened by a lot more of the overall meta than it was a generation ago. This means that, while it was a contender for the best in the tier, it was not as absolute as the prior generation; one could make a reasonable debate that any of the aforementioned threats were the new king of the tier.

Answer: The new generation introduced items that made offensive teams much better

Snorlax was still easily viable for the tier as a whole, but the rise of newfound offensive teams served to mostly be to its detriment. Life Orb, Choice Specs and Choice Band based wallbreakers could usually win 1-on-1 with it, while the value of its own power, while still decent, was in decline.

Still, Curselax was unique for how easily it could tank special hits and boost in front of them fairly easily. It was still a potent overall threat, even though it dropped a few notches.

Answer: UnderUsed

Snorlax was still viable in standard play. However, the fifth generation took power creep and smashed it through the ceiling; rain teams, sun teams, the introduction of a handful of excellent Fighting types, and the natural decline of Snorlax's stat build led to it being demoted to UnderUsed.

In UU, Snorlax was once again great- to about the extent that it was in third generation standard play. Counterplay to it was rather clear and easy enough, but Snorlax itself was still immensely threatening on offense and defense. Alongside fellow longtime OU staple Zapdos, Snorlax made sure fifth generation UU players were not bereft of first generation nostalgia.

Answer: Gluttony

Gluttony allows the user to use certain berries earlier than they would be otherwise. For example, the Salac Berry boosts the user's speed when they reach 25% health or lower. Gluttony users widen that to only needing to be at half health or lower.

The ability didn't offer Snorlax too much utility in singles, though it did turn it into an excellent VGC doubles threat.

Answer: Sableye

Snorlax was overall an excellent check to Cresselia, while Curselax easily defeated Spiritomb 1-on-1 if packing a coverage move. Fighting types could generally punch through Snorlax, but none of them actually wanted to switch into its hard hitting STAB moves- even Terrakion and Cobalion, who resisted Normal.

Sableye was the #1 counter to Snorlax, regardless of any coverage moves or sets it might have been running. Sableye's newly found Prankster, responsible for it being viable in the first place, let it Taunt Snorlax to block Curse and Rest/Sleep Talk. Sableye could then burn Snorlax with Will-O-Wisp to cut its offenses in half, stay healthy with Recover, and defeat Snorlax gradually with Foul Play.

Answer: Figy Berry

In conjunction with the Gluttony ability, Snorlax could run Recycle and essentially turn its Figy Berry into a pseudo-Recover. Its Curselax set could now employ a second coverage move, stay healthy, and not put itself out of commission for two turns each time its health got low. It frequently ran Façade and either Earthquake or Fire Punch for coverage moves. Façade was the STAB move of choice due to the fact that Snorlax frequently attracted status moves as a means of checking it, which would power Façade up. It also prevented Snorlax from being totally ruined by status as well.

Sadly, Snorlax was once again demoted this generation, to the RarelyUsed tier. There, it was once again an excellent threat, and it retained a degree of viability in UU still yet.

Answer: Snorlinium-Z

When holding Snorlinium-Z and running Giga Impact for a move, Snorlax gets one-time access to Pulverizing Pancake, a Normal type nuking move. Sadly, this setup is totally unusable in competitive play, as Giga Impact is a horrible move for Snorlax to be running, and it could only benefit from the item + move combo once.

It generally hits hard enough with its Normal STAB move of choice, and does not have to resort to this sad waste of an exclusive item.

Answer: Allows Snorlax to regain a berry it had eaten previously

Sadly, this is not one of the most useful G-Max moves in the game. In fact, Snorlax is usually best off going for a typical Dynamaxed form instead of a Gigantomaxed form- Max Strike's Speed reduction against the target is usually more beneficial than G-Max Replenish. Either way, since a trainer can only Dyna or Gigantomax a Pokémon once, Snorlax is usually not an amazing candidate for the job due to its average unboosted offenses and weak speed.

However, its gargantuan HP grows to obscene heights when Dyna or Gigantomaxed, essentially granting it invincibility while in this form, so it does have slight merit.