POTW: Golem

1/2/2010

Golem, The Megaton Pokémon. It is enclosed in a hard shell that is as rugged as slabs of rock. It sheds skin once a year to grow larger. Its boulder-like body is extremely hard. It can easily withstand dynamite blasts without taking damage. It is said to live in volcanic craters on mountain peaks. Once a year, it sheds its hide and grows larger. The shed hide crumbles and returns to the soil. It sheds its hide once a year. Its boulderlike body is so tough, even dynamite can't harm it.

Overview

Golem is a Pokémon that is far from unique. It has the commonly seen Rock/Ground typing, an obvious movepool, all the standard stuff you'd expect from a Rock/Ground type. However, this doesn't make Golem bad, just predictable. It can still deal a lot of damage in NU and UU if used properly

Ability

Sturdy: OHKO moves are banned in competitive play. Completely useless.

Rock Head: if you are running Double-Edge, this is the ability to choose. Otherwise, it is useless as well.

Move Sets

Choice

- Stone Edge / Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Double-Edge / Fire Punch
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Rock Head
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

In NU and UU, Choice Band Golem is a powerhouse. A great offensive typing, coupled with other high powered moves, it is a beast. Stone Edge or Rock Blast is down to whether you want reliability and a high critical hit chance, or you trust your luck at landing 4 or 5 hits and the ability to murder Substitutes and damage the opponent. Earthquake is one of the best moves in the game. High power, high accuracy, it has no downsides really. Golem gets STAB from it as well, so, use it. Explosion is the take-something-out-before-you-die move. It is ridiculously powerful, but don't use it at the wrong moment or it is a waste. Double-Edge is a strong, reliable attack. The only downside is recoil, but Golem doesn't get that thanks to Rock Head. Fire Punch is Golem's best way of dealing with a certain Grass type.

Rock Polish

- Rock Polish
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Explosion
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Sturdy / Rock Head
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Golem is fat and slow. However, it can actually be made into a pretty fast killing machine with Rock Polish. Use it then let the beast loose. With a doubled Speed, Golem can actually do some sweeping rather than just powerhouse through everything. Stone Edge and Earthquake are really good moves in general, and should pretty much always be included in Golem's sets. Explosion is simply Explosion. With a massive Speed, Golem will be able to explode on a lot more stuff, making it a constant threat to your opponent's team.

Support

- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy / Rock Head
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)

Although Golem hits like a truck, it can take hits like one too. This set focuses on taking hits from the physical end of the spectrum, but also dealing damages with Golem's naturally high Attack. Stone Edge and Earthquake are high powered, reliable STAB attacks that Golem shouldn't be without. Stealth Rock is an amazing move, hitting any Pokémon switching into the game for 3% if they resist Rock 4x, 6% if they resist Rock 2x, 12% if it is neutral, 25% if they are weak to it with one type, and a massive 50% damage if they are 4x weak to Rock. This is all free damage, so get Stealth Rock up as soon as possible. Golem is pretty good at this, as it is a hard hitter, forcing a lot of switches. Toxic helps in breaking down Golem's obvious switch ins, and is a great move in general, as the damage builds up over time.

EVs and Nature:

Choice
Although Golem is slow; it isn't slow enough to not use 252 Speed. 252 Attack is mandatory as it means Golem will be hitting harder. Any leftover goes into HP. You can choose to drop the Speed if you like, and add more bulk.

Rock Polish
All about speed and power. There isn't a point in not running 252 Attack, 252 Speed, leftover in HP.

Support
Geared towards taking serious damage, 252 HP and 252 Defence is ideal for Support Golem. The leftover 4 EVs can go into any stat really, but it will be attacking often, so why not put them there?

Other Options

Counter, Curse, Fire Punch, Fighting move, ResTalk, Sucker Punch

Counter can get a surprise kill on something using Earthquake or what not. Golem is bulky enough to take a hit.

Curse is a move that works with Golem's strengths. It raises his already high Attack and Defence, making him a massive offensive threat. However, due to the amount of Water and Grass types in NU and UU, it is better on paper.

Fire Punch is a good choice to remove Torterra, basically. Other than that, it doesn't have much use, as Earthquake and Stone Edge cover whatever needs to be covered.

A Fighting move is an option for the Choice Band or possible Curse set. Hammer Arm or Superpower are the two best choices. Although the coverage is similar to Earthquake, you do score a massive hit on Normal types who will be wrecked.

ResTalk gives Golem the recovery he craves, but it isn't good enough to warrant a full set, just a mention.

Sucker Punch is an option on most sets. It gives Golem a strong priority move that lets him potentially revenge Pokémon much faster than him. A good choice, but not as good as the moves in the actual sets.

Countering Golem

Bulky Water types, bulky Grass types, and bulky Ground types are the best Pokémon for the job. They can all take hits and ruin Golem with their STAB attacks. Milotic, Meganium, and Donphan all come to mind as pure types, but Gastrodon, Quagsire, and Torterra are possibly even better choices. Claydol is one of the best counters to Golem, as it resists its STAB moves and can ruin it with a special attack. It does have to watch out for Explosion though, as does every other counter; except for the Ghosts. Ghosts with Levitate are great counters to Golem, but they have to be careful of Stone Edge, or they will take a lot of damage. Fighting types, especially Hitmontop thanks to Intimidate, work really well as they can murder Golem with a STAB move, not to mention they resist Stone Edge. Cresselia needs a mention as well. It outspeeds and hurts it a lot with Ice Beam, and takes barely any damage back thanks to having such ridiculous defensive stats. Burn and Toxic both need to be mentioned. If Golem is hit by Will-o-wisp, it is useless. It can't deal enough damage to be of any use. Toxic is less dangerous, but it needs to be mentioned as it will absolutely destroy Support Golem.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald

Evolve Graveler

Colosseum/XD

Trade from RSEFLG

Fire Red/Leaf Green

Evolve Graveler

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum

Evolve Graveler

HeartGold/SoulSilver

Evolve Graveler