Set Description
Curselax is the standard Snorlax set, and for good reason. Before using Curse, Snorlax is already hitting hard and can trade hits quite well with the majority of Pokemon. After a Curse boost, Snorlax can dish out 2HKOs against nearly any foe that doesn't resist its STAB Double-Edge or Return or threaten to paralyze the opposing Pokemon with Body Slam and outspeed it. Not only does it become a menace offensively, but it also becomes nigh impenetrable defensively, raising its previously low Defense stat higher than its formidable Special Defense. For Pokemon that resist or are immune to Snorlax's STAB attacks, its diverse pool of coverage attacks has something for every Pokemon—just not all at once. A solid choice for its coverage move is Earthquake, which can be used to get past Rock- and Steel-type phazers like Tyranitar, Steelix, and Rhydon. After a Curse boost, it OHKOes Gengar and sometimes 2HKOes Misdreavus. However, should Curselax hope to get past Skarmory, Earthquake will not be enough. Fire Blast usually 2HKOes Skarmory and OHKOes Forretress while still hitting Steelix hard, although its low PP and imperfect accuracy leave Snorlax susceptible to being PP stalled by a clever opponent. Flamethrower is an alternative that misses the aforementioned benchmarks and is therefore harder to get surprise KOs with, but given its greater accuracy and PP, it is more certain to get the job done in the long run. Unfortunately, these Fire-type moves leave Curselax without a good option against Rock-types such as Rhydon and Tyranitar and can cause it to struggle against Gengar and Misdreavus. Yet another option for Skarmory is Thunder, which also has the major benefit of potentially landing a KO on Cloyster if it switches into Double-Edge and can inflict crippling paralysis on Ghost-types. However, it comes with the major drawback of leaving Snorlax without a useful attack against Steelix, Rhydon, Golem, and Forretress. Lovely Kiss is another option that provides both offensive and defensive utility. Although it comes at the significant cost of coverage, Curselax's ability to muscle its way past common Sleep Talk users like Zapdos and Suicune makes it possible to land crippling sleep on a desirable target, something other sleep move users sometimes struggle to do. Furthermore, despite its lack of coverage, Lovely Kiss Curselax can potentially break through even Normal-resistant Pokemon by chipping away at their health while they sleep. Moreover, to a greater extent than other Curselax variants can, Lovely Kiss Curselax can check opposing Snorlax by putting it to sleep. Finally, Rest is needed to keep Snorlax healthy. Unlike most Pokemon in GSC OU, Snorlax has the defensive stats needed to pull off the turns of passivity required for Rest without Sleep Talk, especially with a Curse boost under its belt.
Snorlax's choice of a STAB attack comes down to the rest of your team and how you intend to use your Snorlax. Double-Edge is considered the default choice due to its high power, reliably 3HKOing Zapdos when unboosted and coming close to a 2HKO on Cloyster at +1 Attack. It is also the optimal choice for facing opposing Curselax in the common mirror match, substantially decreasing the odds that the opposing Snorlax can switch in on Curse and come out the winner and guaranteeing that an opposing Curselax with an equal number of Curse boosts will be KOed in three hits if one of them is a critical hit. However, Return has its merits when trading hits with mixed attackers and strong special attackers, as the recoil from Double-Edge can sometimes turn attacking into a risk. This is especially relevant when Snorlax is using a special coverage attack and therefore only has one powerful physical option against threats like Nidoking and Raikou. Lastly, Body Slam can be incredibly useful with its ability to inflict paralysis, especially when paired with sweepers that benefit from it such as Machamp and Marowak, but it should be kept in mind that it is a substantially weaker option. For example, unboosted Body Slam cannot 3HKO Zapdos. Moreover, Snorlax with Body Slam relies on paralysis to defeat opposing Curselax—unlike Return and Double-Edge, when both Curselax have maxed out their boosts, Body Slam has no chance to 3HKO the opposing Snorlax with just a single critical hit.
One final notable attribute of Curselax is its effectiveness when it is the last remaining Pokemon on one's team. If Curselax is healthy and the opponent is lacking the means to remove it quickly, Pokemon that rely on phazing it to beat it will falter, potentially allowing Curselax to overcome many of its usual counters, such as Skarmory and Tyranitar that don't have Curse, despite lacking a coverage move to hit them with.
Team Options
Being the most popular set on the most popular Pokemon in its tier, Curselax is naturally a very flexible Pokemon and can be used on all kinds of teams. Once its fourth move is revealed, however, it tends to become a lot less threatening against more defensive teams, which tend to ensure Curselax variants are covered thoroughly. Defensive teams also often depend on Snorlax as a major source of offensive pressure, which can lead them to choose to use Snorlax variants that are harder to handle than Curselax. An exception to this is Fire Blast or Flamethrower Curselax, which can theoretically muscle through the majority of its counters, especially with Pursuit support from Tyranitar, Umbreon, or Houndoom and Spikes support from Cloyster or Forretress. Lovely Kiss Curselax similarly appreciates Pursuit support and can potentially help ensure an opposing Ghost-type goes down by putting it to sleep.
When used on more offensive teams, Curselax appreciates being paired with Pokemon that can be used to take Explosions aimed at it, such as Steelix, Tyranitar, and Gengar. It similarly appreciates Pokemon that can take a Cross Chop from Machamp and threaten it in return, such as Zapdos and Exeggutor. Additionally, as Curselax can rarely break a defensive core on its own, it helps to pair it with a Spiker and mixed attackers such as Nidoking, Tentacruel, and Tyranitar, or boosting sweepers such as Machamp, Marowak, and Vaporeon, which can then either help Snorlax become relevant offensively by pressuring Snorlax's checks or fall back on Snorlax's defensive capabilities when they find themselves in an unfavorable matchup. Hidden Power Fire Exeggutor and Fire Blast Machamp also make for good choices when trying to help an Earthquake or Lovely Kiss Snorlax become offensively potent against an opposing team with Skarmory.