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Description

Now I'm not going to lie; Muk is ranked high on my list of favorite Poison-type Pokémon. While it might not look very good, it is actually a pretty strong Pokémon and in my opinion a very underrated one too. Both its base HP and Physical Attack stats are 105, while its special defense is 100. This means that it can both inflict damage and tank hits pretty well at the same time. I've battled Muk a couple times, and I can tell you from experience that they really are absolute tanks! They can take a lot of hits and always manage to hit back hard somehow. While having a low physical defense stat isn't the best thing to have (especially when it has a weakness to Ground-types meaning an Earthquake can potentially OHKO it), Muk has more than enough tricks up its sleeve to help compensate for this flaw. What's more is that Muk was one of the few Kanto Pokemon to get an Alolan Form in Sun and Moon, and it is actually significantly stronger than its Kantonian variant.

Alolan Muk has an excellent typing dual Poison/Dark typing that provides 4 useful resistances and an immunity to Psychic-types (so it has an immunity to one of regular Muk's weaknesses), which combined with its good 100/105 special bulk makes it a safe switch-in to many Psychic-type Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam. It also has access to a number of moves that regular Muk does not have such as STAB Pursuit, which allows Alolan Muk to effectively trap Psychic-types and either KO or severely cripple them upon the switch. Having a STAB Knock Off also hits very hard and complements Alolan Muk's Poison-type STAB moves by being able to cripple Steel-types. So unlike a lot of other Poison-types, Alolan Muk isn't deterred by Steel-types as it can hit them neutrally with Dark STAB moves. Muk also has a respectable chance to easily spread poison by virtue of Poison Touch (which unlike regular Muk, is one of its regular abilities and not its hidden ability). This allows it to potentially cripple normally safe switch-ins before being forced out. Though it still shares regular Muk's low physical defense stat and is incredibly weak to Ground-types, and has no real way to threaten them outside of removing their items with Knock Off. What's more is that a lack of reliable recovery outside of healing items limits how much Alolan Muk can switch in, which hurts it as a pivot. Needless to say, Alolan Muk is quite formidable and should not be taken lightly in battle.

Here’s my Alolan Muk's summary.
Nature: Adamant or Brave
Held Item: Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Atk / 16 SpDef
-Poison Jab
-Knock Off
-Fire Blast / Curse
-Protect

STAB Knock Off hits very hard when removing an item. Although Pursuit can alternatively trap prominent Psychic-types such as Latios, Starmie, Espeon, Mega Alakazam, and Tapu Lele. Poison Jab is Alolan Muk's secondary reliable STAB and has approximately a 50% chance to poison thanks to Poison Touch. Fire Blast takes out Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, which would otherwise wall Alolan Muk, and threatens Steel-types in general. Though you can alternatively run Curse so you can have Alolan Muk augment its physical stats for higher physical power and survivability, all at only the cost of its already low speed. Lastly, Protect is handy to keep Alolan Muk from being hit by an Earthquake.

The given EV spread maximizes its offense and overall bulk, and an Adamant nature ensures Alolan Muk can hit as hard as possible on its own. Figy Berry allows Alolan Muk to restore half of its HP to prolong its field time. With Gluttony, this can occur as soon as it hits 50%, further decreasing the probability of a 2HKO from the opponent.

*Because of how versatile Alolan Muk is, I actually ended up raising two of them, this one is faster than the previous and better operates outside of Trick Room.

Here’s my other Alolan Muk's summary. Competitive Pokemon: Alolan Muk 2
Nature: Adamant
Held Item: Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Atk / 92 Def / 64 SpDef / 4 Spe
-Poison Jab
-Knock Off
-Shadow Sneak
-Ice Punch / Pursuit

STAB Knock Off hits very hard when removing an item. Poison Jab is Alolan Muk's secondary reliable STAB and has approximately a 50/50 chance to poison thanks to Poison Touch. Shadow Sneak allows Alolan Muk to come in on severely weakened foes to revenge kill (not to mention gives it the chance to Poison an opponent's Pokemon thanks to Poison Touch). Ice Punch hits Ground-types, such as Garchomp, Torterra, and Gliscor, as well as Zapdos and Thundurus harder than any other move Muk has. Though Pursuit can trap prominent Psychic-types such as Latios, Mega Alakazam, and Tapu Lele (and gives Poison Touch gives it an additional chance to poison an opponent's Pokemon as well).

Assault Vest allows Alolan Muk to easily switch in on special hits then cripple or KO the opponent in various ways. Poison Touch is vastly superior to Muk's other abilities and allows all of Alolan Muk's contact moves to potentially poison. 16 Special Defense EVs allow Alolan Muk to avoid the chance of being 2HKO'd by certain special attackers as well as boost its special bulk that much more. The rest of EV's are placed into its HP and physical attack stat, allowing it to maximize its bulk and offensive prowess (which it is able to further utilize thanks to Poison Touch). An Adamant nature should be run unless you want your Alolan Muk to run Flamethrower or Fire Blast, that is where a Brave nature is more beneficial.

Of course Alolan Muk can run a variety of other moves, but a majority of them are pretty much all moves that a regular Muk could use. So it's not worth repeating (refer to my regular Muk's competitive summary to see all its other move options). So I'll only list alternate moves that only Alolan Muk can learn:
-Crunch is another alternate physical Dark STAB move Alolan Muk can run as it is significantly powerful.
-Poison Fang can be run as Alolan Muk's Poison-type STAB move if a high poison chance is desired (and the desire to badly poison foes without having to run Toxic), but it has underwhelming Base Power.
-Stone Edge is a pretty powerful attack option despite its low accuracy. It has overall good neutral coverage though it doesn't cover any of Alolan Muk's weaknesses.
-Power-Up Punch, while a weak move, helps boost Muk's already high physical attack and gives it something to hit Rock and Steel-types with since they otherwise resist or are immune to its other attacks.
-Clear Smog is a decent special Poison STAB option, removing any stat changes your opponent's Pokemon have done. Good for tampering with setup sweepers or defensive tanks.
-Acid Spray is a good support option, while the move itself doesn't do as much damage, it still harshly lowers a foe's special defense stat. Thus leaving them more susceptible to any special attacker that Alolan Muk has as a partner.
-Gastro Acid is always a good move to have especially in the long run of a battle. If your opponent is using a Pokemon that relies heavily on its ability, having that ability removed will make things more difficult for them then they already are (especially since they're going up against an Alolan Muk).
-Alolan Muk now has access to Recycle, which works great with the first set I listed that holds a Figy Berry and runs the ability Gluttony. Recycle essentially functions as a makeshift recovery move for Alolan Muk. With it holding a Figy Berry that restores half of its HP when consumed and having the ability Gluttony which enables it to consume berries earlier than when its supposed to (normally Alolan Muk would consume the Figy Berry when its HP is in a pinch), Alolan Muk can quickly restore its health and Recycle enables it to recover its berry and be ready to repeat the process all over again. I run this strategy on my Snorlax and it works amazingly on it, so Alolan Muk can utilize this strategy as well since it has the same ability.
-Spite is a good option for reducing the PP of your opponent's Pokemon's moves. While it might not seem like much, it is always good for the long run.
-Imprison is a decent move option, as it prevents the opponent from using any of the moves that Alolan Muk is currently running. I'm frankly surprised why this move isn't run more often in competitive battle considering how a grand majority of Pokemon will be running a lot of the same moves. Plus it's great to use if your opponent is running the exact same Pokemon as you are (as there is a very good chance that they'll be running the exact same moveset as your's) and will shut off all of their primary offensive move options, leaving them relatively harmless. Anyways, this move actually works very well at completely shutting down opposing Alolan Muk.
*I should be mention that if you transfer a Kantonian (regular) Grimer from a previous gen. game into Sun and Moon, it will actually end up evolving into Alolan Muk. So you can have an Alolan Muk with any moves that a Kantonian Grimer has access to that its Alolan forme does not. Keep in mind though, it'll be unable to relearn these moves if it forgets them.
Here are all the moves that a transferred Alolan Muk can learn:
-Fire Punch
-Thunder Punch
-Giga Drain
-Thunderbolt and Thunder
-Shadow Punch

Do you have your own Alolan Muk moveset and strategy? Comment below with your moveset!

To see my Competitive summary of Kantonian Muk, click here: Competitive Pokemon: Muk

Description

Now I'm not going to lie; Muk is ranked high on my list of favorite Poison-type Pokémon. While it might not look very good, it is actually a pretty strong Pokémon and in my opinion a very underrated one too. Both its base HP and Physical Attack stats are 105, while its special defense is 100. This means that it can both inflict damage and tank hits pretty well at the same time. I've battled Muk a couple times, and I can tell you from experience that they really are absolute tanks! They can take a lot of hits and always manage to hit back hard somehow. While having a low physical defense stat isn't the best thing to have (especially when it has a weakness to Ground-types meaning an Earthquake can potentially OHKO it), Muk has more than enough tricks up its sleeve to help compensate for this flaw. What's more is that Muk was one of the few Kanto Pokemon to get an Alolan Form in Sun and Moon, and it is actually significantly stronger than its Kantonian variant.

Alolan Muk has an excellent typing dual Poison/Dark typing that provides 4 useful resistances and an immunity to Psychic-types (so it has an immunity to one of regular Muk's weaknesses), which combined with its good 100/105 special bulk makes it a safe switch-in to many Psychic-type Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam. It also has access to a number of moves that regular Muk does not have such as STAB Pursuit, which allows Alolan Muk to effectively trap Psychic-types and either KO or severely cripple them upon the switch. Having a STAB Knock Off also hits very hard and complements Alolan Muk's Poison-type STAB moves by being able to cripple Steel-types. So unlike a lot of other Poison-types, Alolan Muk isn't deterred by Steel-types as it can hit them neutrally with Dark STAB moves. Muk also has a respectable chance to easily spread poison by virtue of Poison Touch (which unlike regular Muk, is one of its regular abilities and not its hidden ability). This allows it to potentially cripple normally safe switch-ins before being forced out. Though it still shares regular Muk's low physical defense stat and is incredibly weak to Ground-types, and has no real way to threaten them outside of removing their items with Knock Off. What's more is that a lack of reliable recovery outside of healing items limits how much Alolan Muk can switch in, which hurts it as a pivot. Needless to say, Alolan Muk is quite formidable and should not be taken lightly in battle.

Here’s my Alolan Muk's summary.
Nature: Adamant or Brave
Held Item: Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Atk / 16 SpDef
-Poison Jab
-Knock Off
-Fire Blast / Curse
-Protect

STAB Knock Off hits very hard when removing an item. Although Pursuit can alternatively trap prominent Psychic-types such as Latios, Starmie, Espeon, Mega Alakazam, and Tapu Lele. Poison Jab is Alolan Muk's secondary reliable STAB and has approximately a 50% chance to poison thanks to Poison Touch. Fire Blast takes out Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, which would otherwise wall Alolan Muk, and threatens Steel-types in general. Though you can alternatively run Curse so you can have Alolan Muk augment its physical stats for higher physical power and survivability, all at only the cost of its already low speed. Lastly, Protect is handy to keep Alolan Muk from being hit by an Earthquake.

The given EV spread maximizes its offense and overall bulk, and an Adamant nature ensures Alolan Muk can hit as hard as possible on its own. Figy Berry allows Alolan Muk to restore half of its HP to prolong its field time. With Gluttony, this can occur as soon as it hits 50%, further decreasing the probability of a 2HKO from the opponent.

*Because of how versatile Alolan Muk is, I actually ended up raising two of them, this one is faster than the previous and better operates outside of Trick Room.

Here’s my other Alolan Muk's summary. Competitive Pokemon: Alolan Muk 2
Nature: Adamant
Held Item: Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Atk / 92 Def / 64 SpDef / 4 Spe
-Poison Jab
-Knock Off
-Shadow Sneak
-Ice Punch / Pursuit

STAB Knock Off hits very hard when removing an item. Poison Jab is Alolan Muk's secondary reliable STAB and has approximately a 50/50 chance to poison thanks to Poison Touch. Shadow Sneak allows Alolan Muk to come in on severely weakened foes to revenge kill (not to mention gives it the chance to Poison an opponent's Pokemon thanks to Poison Touch). Ice Punch hits Ground-types, such as Garchomp, Torterra, and Gliscor, as well as Zapdos and Thundurus harder than any other move Muk has. Though Pursuit can trap prominent Psychic-types such as Latios, Mega Alakazam, and Tapu Lele (and gives Poison Touch gives it an additional chance to poison an opponent's Pokemon as well).

Assault Vest allows Alolan Muk to easily switch in on special hits then cripple or KO the opponent in various ways. Poison Touch is vastly superior to Muk's other abilities and allows all of Alolan Muk's contact moves to potentially poison. 16 Special Defense EVs allow Alolan Muk to avoid the chance of being 2HKO'd by certain special attackers as well as boost its special bulk that much more. The rest of EV's are placed into its HP and physical attack stat, allowing it to maximize its bulk and offensive prowess (which it is able to further utilize thanks to Poison Touch). An Adamant nature should be run unless you want your Alolan Muk to run Flamethrower or Fire Blast, that is where a Brave nature is more beneficial.

Of course Alolan Muk can run a variety of other moves, but a majority of them are pretty much all moves that a regular Muk could use. So it's not worth repeating (refer to my regular Muk's competitive summary to see all its other move options). So I'll only list alternate moves that only Alolan Muk can learn:
-Crunch is another alternate physical Dark STAB move Alolan Muk can run as it is significantly powerful.
-Poison Fang can be run as Alolan Muk's Poison-type STAB move if a high poison chance is desired (and the desire to badly poison foes without having to run Toxic), but it has underwhelming Base Power.
-Stone Edge is a pretty powerful attack option despite its low accuracy. It has overall good neutral coverage though it doesn't cover any of Alolan Muk's weaknesses.
-Power-Up Punch, while a weak move, helps boost Muk's already high physical attack and gives it something to hit Rock and Steel-types with since they otherwise resist or are immune to its other attacks.
-Clear Smog is a decent special Poison STAB option, removing any stat changes your opponent's Pokemon have done. Good for tampering with setup sweepers or defensive tanks.
-Acid Spray is a good support option, while the move itself doesn't do as much damage, it still harshly lowers a foe's special defense stat. Thus leaving them more susceptible to any special attacker that Alolan Muk has as a partner.
-Gastro Acid is always a good move to have especially in the long run of a battle. If your opponent is using a Pokemon that relies heavily on its ability, having that ability removed will make things more difficult for them then they already are (especially since they're going up against an Alolan Muk).
-Alolan Muk now has access to Recycle, which works great with the first set I listed that holds a Figy Berry and runs the ability Gluttony. Recycle essentially functions as a makeshift recovery move for Alolan Muk. With it holding a Figy Berry that restores half of its HP when consumed and having the ability Gluttony which enables it to consume berries earlier than when its supposed to (normally Alolan Muk would consume the Figy Berry when its HP is in a pinch), Alolan Muk can quickly restore its health and Recycle enables it to recover its berry and be ready to repeat the process all over again. I run this strategy on my Snorlax and it works amazingly on it, so Alolan Muk can utilize this strategy as well since it has the same ability.
-Spite is a good option for reducing the PP of your opponent's Pokemon's moves. While it might not seem like much, it is always good for the long run.
-Imprison is a decent move option, as it prevents the opponent from using any of the moves that Alolan Muk is currently running. I'm frankly surprised why this move isn't run more often in competitive battle considering how a grand majority of Pokemon will be running a lot of the same moves. Plus it's great to use if your opponent is running the exact same Pokemon as you are (as there is a very good chance that they'll be running the exact same moveset as your's) and will shut off all of their primary offensive move options, leaving them relatively harmless. Anyways, this move actually works very well at completely shutting down opposing Alolan Muk.
*I should be mention that if you transfer a Kantonian (regular) Grimer from a previous gen. game into Sun and Moon, it will actually end up evolving into Alolan Muk. So you can have an Alolan Muk with any moves that a Kantonian Grimer has access to that its Alolan forme does not. Keep in mind though, it'll be unable to relearn these moves if it forgets them.
Here are all the moves that a transferred Alolan Muk can learn:
-Fire Punch
-Thunder Punch
-Giga Drain
-Thunderbolt and Thunder
-Shadow Punch

Do you have your own Alolan Muk moveset and strategy? Comment below with your moveset!

To see my Competitive summary of Kantonian Muk, click here: Competitive Pokemon: Muk