Muk, The Sludge Pokémon. Their food sources have decreased, and their numbers have declined sharply. Sludge ponds are being built to prevent their extinction. After recent environmental improvements, this Pokémon is now hardly seen at all. People speculate that it may go extinct at some point. Because they scatter germs everywhere, they’ve long been targeted for extermination, leading to a steep decline in their population.
Overview
One of the original toxic gang, Muk was one of the lesser Poison types on its release lacking the versatility of Nidoking and Nidoqueen while also lacking the bulk of Weezing due to Special being one stat resulting in Muk's being somewhat frail. However. while never truly shining as much as other Poison types that got better gifts such as Weezing with Will-O-Wisp, Muk made a niche in its tiers for itself as a bulky tank that could dish out damage if needed, which is an achievement for sentient sludge if you ask me.
Positives
Untrickable Curse User - With access to Curse and Sticky Hold, Muk isn't able to be affected by Trick or Switcheroo unlike others such as Spiritomb. Muk also has the stats to work well with Curse, similar to that of Snorlax having 100 Special Defense as well as 105 Health and Attack, while Curse helps to patch up Muk's 75 Defense. This pairs well with Muk's good movepool and can make it a threatening beast if one wants to trade recovery options for coverage or just use Rest since it can be hard to KO.
Negatives
Typing - Muk has a lot going for it in terms of movepool and decent stats, its Attack and Special Defense are just behind Snorlax with better Defense. However, Poison typing hurts Muk and is a big part of what keeps it down, as Psychic will hit the Special Defense most of the time, which fails to get boosted with Curse. Muk's weaknesses to the common move Earthquake makes Muk a bit of an issue overall, especially compared to other users of Curse in lower tiers such as the aforementioned Spiritomb who has only a Fairy weakness with 2 immunities.
Abilities
Poison Touch - 30% chance to Poison the opponent when the user uses a contact move - While not good on this version of Muk, this is a great ability as a passive 12.5% damage is never unwanted.
Stench - All moves have a 10% chance to flinch that can't flinch already - This is more niche and not very consistent. It can be useful but just don't rely on it.
Sticky Hold - Prevents items from being removed from the user - This is nice with Knock Off being common, and it also blocks Trick or Switcheroo which is popular on some potent Pokemon such as Alolan Persian.
Movesets
RestTalk
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Poison Jab
-Curse
Item Attached: Black Sludge
Ability: Sticky Hold
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 4 Atk /252 SpD
Careful Nature
With Curse to boost its Attack and less than stellar Defense while lowering Muk's already bad Speed, Muk can become a durable tank. Poison Jab is the only attack of the set being a STAB move and having a decent poison chance to help rack up some damage. Rest and Sleep Talk round out the set with a form of longevity and Sleep Talk to continue boosting or attacking, neither of which is bad overall.
The specially defensive approach makes Muk very durable on both sides once it begins to set up since it can't boost its Special Defense further. Black Sludge also gives it some extra passive healing so that it can take more hits while setting up.
Choice Band
-Gunk Shot
-Shadow Sneak
-Thunder Punch / Fire Punch
-Explosion
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Poison Touch / Sticky Hold
EVs and Nature:
252 HP /252 Atk / 4 Speed
Adamant Nature
With a Choice Band, Muk becomes a decent wallbreaker in lower tiers with its high base power STAB Gunk Shot. Poison Touch ties well with most of Muk's moves as they will make physical contact and can spread some chip damage around. Shadow Sneak is a key move here as it allows Muk to clean up weakened threats and gets past its low Speed. Thunder Punch and Fire Punch are coverage options, Thunder Punch to get through bulky Waters such as Silvally-Water, Omastar, and Qwilfish while Fire Punch hits Steelix and Silvally-Steel. Explosion rounds out the set as a last ditch resort move as even without the defense halving of past gens, it's still potent. Ice Punch is a nice option as well in place of Explosion for Flying types and Ground types.
Other Options
Curse Attacker - With Curse, Gunk Shot, Shadow Sneak, and an elemental punch for coverage Muk can be a decent cleaner or wallbreaker mid to late game with its decent Attack and bulk from the Curse boost. This makes it less durable in the long run but makes up for it with greater offensive presence.
Partners
Rotom - With difficulty against Ground types and other Poison types, namely Weezing, Rotom is an excellent partner for Muk. Levitate allows Rotom to negate the plethora of Earthquakes that loom in every tier and thus gives a solid match up into most Ground types. This becomes even more useful when combined with Will-O-Wisp to halve damage dealt from physical attacks which is an further boon to Muk.
Countering Muk
Psychic types - With the inability to boost its Special Defense, Muk will lose to Special Attack Psychic types. Claydol is the hardest wall here as not only does it threaten with Psychic, its Ground typing grants resistance to Muk's STAB in exchange for an Ice Punch weakness that can be scouted. Alolan Raichu is another good option with high Special Attack to revenge kill Muk with ease while access to Volt Switch maintains momentum. Finally Metang can't KO Muk as easily do to Curse but is untouchable without Fire Punch which is rare.
Alolan Muk, The Sludge Pokémon. While it’s unexpectedly quiet and friendly, if it’s not fed any trash for a while, it will smash its Trainer’s furnishings and eat up the fragments. There are over a hundred kinds of poison inside its body. Chemical reactions between different poisons are the source of its vitality. What look like fangs and claws are actually crystallized poison that will afflict you at a mere touch, so don’t get too close.
Overview
Like many wayward Gen 1 Pokemon, Muk reserved a new form which unlike most of the others is actually very good. While some Alolan forms like Golem only saw serious testing in regular formats, Alolan Muk was a staple in legendary formats with Ho-Oh on stall teams, and was a key piece in walling most of the metagame. However, Alolan Muk now resides in lower tiers where it's still a fantastic Pokemon and can even appear in standard formats due to its stellar typing.
Positives
Bulky Pivot/Pursuit trapping - Alolan Muk boasts a newfound immunity to Psychic and access to the most reliable Pursuit in lower tiers with the chance to Poison to boot. Alolan Muk can be a key part of balance and bulky offensive teams with its ability to go one on one with Latias and easily come out on top with minimal damage due to its 100 Special Defense.
Negatives
Ground Weakness - While Alolan Muk's typing is actually amazing, it's weak to the ever present Earthquake. In formats with Hydreigon and Nidoking being potent wallbreakers, this can become an issue if not properly dealt with in the team building stage. This creates some issues with balanced teams as it can create the need for 2 special tanks, as Muk loses to Earth Power Hydreigon and Nidoking and is prone to Zygarde 10%.
Abilities
Poison Touch - 30% chance to Poison when making physical contact - Much like how it's great on Muk, it's even better on Alolan Muk due to its other abilities being bad for singles and Pursuit
Power of Alchemy- Copies the ability of a fainted ally - This is just a bad overall as it is never worth your ability do nothing unless your teammate is KOed, and it is also pointless in Singles.
Gluttony - Consumes berries early - This is a very good ability particularly in VGC for Curse Recycle sets, though it competes heavily with Snorlax in Singles who is generally better for this role.
Movesets
Assault Vest
-Knock Off
-Pursuit
-Gunk Shot / Poison Jab
-Fire Punch
Item Attached: Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
With STAB on Pursuit, this is the core move of the set as Alolan Muk excels at trapping Ghosts and Psychics such as Latias and Chandelure. Knock Off getting STAB as well is icing on the cake as Muk can force a switch and potentially cripple something coming such as Nidoking. Gunk Shot is the highest power option Muk has but Poison Jab is more reliable, though both have a 30% chance to poison on top of Poison Touch. Fire Punch rounds the set out to hit Cobalion, Scizor, and Klefki that are a nuisance otherwise.
Assault Vest makes Alolan Muk very durable on the specially defensive side, which can quickly become a pain to deal with since Muk is only weak to Ground-type moves. The heavy focus on Special Defense also makes it reliable for Muk to switch into these special attackers it aims to counter.
Other Options
Explosion - Assault Vest but with Explosion over Fire Punch most often is a potent option as it can just cripple or KO something once Muk has outlived its use to the team. This obviously is a high risk, high reward strategy as any GSC player can tell you, but sometimes a well timed Explosion just wins the game.
Curse Recycle - Alolan Muk is very capable of running a Curse Recycle set with Gluttony in the same way that Snorlax can, and even has a similar stat spread to pull it off. However, Snorlax is still usually better for the job since Fighting-type weakness is less painful to deal with and Normal is a much better neutral STAB with stronger options than than Poison or Dark.
Possible Partners
Fighting types - With the ability to go head to head with most Psychic and Ghosts as well as being a special pivot into Mega Pidgeot, Fighting type sweepers pair well with Alolan Muk. Cobalion is one of the forefront as it struggles with Choice Scarf Chandelure due to its Steel typing, while Alolan Muk can sponge it up and Pursuit it to death. Terrakion also enjoys Muk but to a lesser extent due to being able to handle some Pokemon such as Chandelure, but it still loves Latias being removed.
Checks & Counters
Physical Attackers - Like its Kanto version, Alolan Muk has low Defense and with Dark Typing now negating its Fighting resistance, Pokemon with high Physical Attack, especially Terrakion, can break through Muk. Mixed options are also strong as Infernape can really hurt Muk with Close Combat if Muk goes to sponge a special hit like Overheat. Muk's lacking pool of resistances can also hurt in this regard.
Ground-types - As mentioned before, Alolan Muk still suffers from a Ground-type weakness and as its only weakness, it is a very common one. Earthquake, High Horsepower and Stomping Tantrum are all very common coverage moves on Pokemon with access to them, especially on offensive minded Pokemon, so Alolan Muk needs to be careful even if it gets a chance to boost.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Pokémon Mansion (Red/Blue)
Power Plant, Pokémon Mansion (Yellow)
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Route 16, Route 17, Route 18, Celadon City
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Trade from FireRed/LeafGreen
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Evolve Grimer
Colosseum/XD:
Evolve Grimer (XD)
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/EmeraldFireRed/LeafGreen (Colosseum)
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Evolve Grimer
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Route 16, Route 17, Route 18, Celadon City
Black/White:
Trade from Black/White
Black 2/White 2:
Castelia City Sewers, Route 9
X/Y:
Friend Safari
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Evolve Grimer
Sun/Moon:
Evolve Grimer
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Evolve Grimer
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Power Plant, Pokémon Mansion (Let's Go, Pikachu!)
Trade from Let's Go, Pikachu! (Let's Go, Eevee!)
Animé Appearences
