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. It deliberately blows itself up, then uses this explosive force to jump from mountain to mountain.

Overview

Named after a legendary guardian, Golem is as archetypal of the Rock type as its namesake is to automatons for both better and worse. For the better, Rock Ground typing offers plenty under the hood offensively with STAB Rock Ground coverage having very few safe switch ins and Golems impressive Base 120 ensures such blows will sting. This impressive offense is complimented by a Rock solid Base Defense of 130, enabling Golem to tank brutal physical blows before retaliating with its own offense or just outright weaponize it with Body Press. Or make the most of Golem’s durability to setup Stealth Rocks and deal even more pain.

However, Golem is just as flawed as its namesake. Golem’s fantastic Defense is contrasted by a horrid Special Defense, leaving it struggling to take blows on the opposite end of the spectrum. This is not helped by the fact that Rock and Ground is a horrid defensive typing with two quadruple weaknesses to Water and Grass along with common weaknesses to Ice, Fighting and Ground. The latter two are especially dire considering how common they are as coverage on physical attackers, leaving Golem to struggle to deal with the threats its stats would imply it to, let alone the fissures in its aegis. The end result is Golem is quite frail, with none of the durability its Defense would imply, to the point that Sturdy becomes a viable option just to ensure that Golem survives a blow. Golem’s abysmal base 45 speed, while as expected of a Rock, is all but the final nail in its coffin. Being slow and frail is a death knell for any Pokémon and Golem is no exception. Even if one were to make the most out of Golem’s fantastic Defense, as the archetypical Rock and Ground type, there is no lack of competition that performs whatever niche’s Golem can fill even better. Rhyperior is probably the most damaging of all having better bulk, power and coverage, while boasting the same crippling typing and downsides as Golem. Even if we were to look past Rhyperior, Garganacl, Iron Thorns, Regirock, Mudsdale, Donphan and more all perform the same roles as Golem if not more while boasting superior Special Defense and a far less crippling typing. Golem is the first Rock of its kind, but the passing ages have worn it away to a relic of the past.
Positives
Base 120 Attack is solid, and with the excellent coverage of its STABs, even an uninvested Golem is far from passive. Base 130 Defense is immense and with good base 80 HP, Golem can tank physical attacks without much issue..

Negatives
Rock Ground is one of the worst defensive types in the game, giving numerous weaknesses including two quadruple weaknesses that leave Golem easily answered by coverage.
Base 65 Special Defense is poor, causing Golem to drop quickly to special attacks.
Base 45 Speed is horrid, forcing Golem to tank attacks before striking back.

Movesets

Boulder Dash

-Rock Polish
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Brick Break
Ability: Sturdy
Item: Weakness Policy
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature

Rock Polish aims to remedy Golem’s pitiful Speed, allowing it to exercise its good Attack and offensive profile to the fullest. Combine this with Weakness Policy and Golem’s many exploitable weaknesses along with its ability to survive any one attack with Sturdy and Golem can easily pseudo Shell Smash and roll over softened teams in the late game. Earthquake is the starring STAB move of choice. Reliable and powerful with wide coverage, there is little bad to say about Earthquake. The fact that Golem gets STAB on Stone Edge as well is just as amazing, obliterating Earthquake immune Flying types and resistant Bug types while still hitting Grass types for neutral, leaving no single type that resists both and few combinations that resist both. Brick Break offers superb Fighting coverage, great for Steel or Tera Steel types with Levitate and just excellent coverage in general.

Tera Types:
Golem’s base typing is horrendous that any type would be better at least from a defensive perspective. However, this changes when considering Weakness Policy, where one wants Golem to tank a super effective attack, which its typing helps immensely with. However, this will likely leave Golem at low health and easy to take out, making it a volatile choice for Terastalizing. If one wants to Terastalize, offensive Tera types are greatly preferred, helping Golem secure knock outs. Tera Fighting is recommended with the given set, pushing Brick Break close to Earthquake and Stone Edge and thus less painful to use. Tera Fire is a good offensive option, with Tera Fire Fire Punch or Tera Blast rocking Ground resistant Grass types and levitating Steels while giving Golem a handy immunity to Burns. Tera Ghost is possibly the only defensive option worth mentioning, given the immunities to priority moves in Extreme Speed, Quick Attack and Mach Punch it provides while Tera Ghost Tera Blast boasts superb neutral coverage and deals with Bronzong, a Levitating Steel type that can take Golem’s STABs with ease.

EVs and Items:
As a sweeper, Max Speed and Attack are recommended. Golem all but needs max Speed investment as its base speed is so horrid that it still falls short even after a Rock Polish, unable to outspeed any opposing Choice Scarfers. The argument between Jolly and Adamant natures still bears some weight. With Adamant nature, Golem only out runs Pokémon up to base 122 Speed. With Jolly nature, after a Rock Polish Golem is only outsped by Dragapult and faster. If unconcerned by the likes of Eiscue and Jolteon, going for Adamant for the extra power, guaranteeing OHKOs on the likes on Rotom-Mow, Spiritomb, Farigiraf, Malamar, and all but doing the same to Shaymin. Weakness Policy is key to this set, and synergizes wonderfully with Golem regarding its many weaknesses and Sturdy acting as a built in Focus Sash guaranteeing that Golem survives the super effective hit while giving Golem enough power to be threatening after the Rock Polish, expanding the window where Golem can start to threaten the opposing team.

Partners:
As this Golem set is heavily reliant on Sturdy to survive the super effective attack, making sure Sturdy stays intact is paramount. As a result this Golem set heavily relies on hazard control to do so. Drifblim is a great example of a supportive Defogger, keeping hazards clear while crippling physical walls like Sandslash, Regirock, and Orthworm with Will-O-Wisp and/or Strength Sap, allowing Golem to turn these would be checks into setup fodder as their STABs/Body Press no longer 2HKO’s Golem. Shiftry is a more offensive Defogger, compromising such targets with Knock Off, Low Kick and Grass STAB. Oricorio is another offensive Defogger, devastating such walls with Special offense. Grass types in general make for a good partner to Golem, their ability to threaten opposing Water types as well as the often Rock and Ground type physical walls is invaluable in opening the way for Rock Polish Golem to sweep. In turn, Golem threatens the Fire, Flying, Bug and Steel types that many Grass types often struggle to break through. Rotom-Mow is an excellent example, not only threatening with its own Grass STABs, but offering utility with Trick and Will-O-Wisp and can even pivot Golem in with Volt Switch.

Other Options:
As alluded to earlier, Fire Punch is excellent coverage against Ground immune Steel types, especially Orthworm who normally tanks Golem’s STABs with ease. Having a reliable option for the Grass type that fueled Golem’s Weakness Policy is always a benefit as well.

Countering Golem

While Golem’s physical prowess both offensively and defensively is laudable, its poor typing, Special Defense and Speed are rather exploitable.

The biggest issue with Golem regardless of set is Sturdy, the built in Focus Sash enabling all sorts of terrifying strategies like Custap Berry Explosion or Weakness Policy, so bypassing Sturdy is the cleanest way of handling Golem. Hitmontop is an excellent example, its Triple Axel capable of OHKOing Golem through Sturdy, while removing Golem’s Stealth Rock with Rapid Spin, and able to tank an unboosted blow with ease while naturally outspeeding. Bullet Seed users like Shiftry, and Leafeon also do well in ending Golem before it can begin to act.

Priority is another excellent way to deal with Sturdy, stopping any shenanigans with Custap Berry or Rock Polish that Golem can try. Banded Floatzel’s Aqua Jet is particularly ruinous given how it threatens a OHKO if Sturdy is broken, but if knocked down to Sturdy any attack will do, such as Hitmontop and Hitmonchan’s Mach Punches, Lycanroc’s Accelrock, Abomasnow and Froslass’ Ice Shard, etc.

Entry Hazards also make Sturdy a non-factor though are not an option for lead Golem.

Otherwise, one must contend with Golem’s prowess to handle it. A Weakness Policy Boosted Golem is truly difficult to endure, though that is balanced by the fact that Sturdy will be broken and Golem will likely be within KO range. Mudsdale is a notable at this, its Sturdy helping weather blows while wiping away boosts with Roar if not knocking out with Earthquake. While Weezing struggles to deal any damage, it is quite capable of surviving a boosted Stone Edge and crippling Golem with Will-O-Wisp or wiping away all its boosts with Haze. Regirock if fully healthy can tank a boosted Earthquake and finish Golem off with Body Press, though it would need significant Defense investment in addition to max HP to survive Adamant Weakness Policy Golem. Orthworm is perhaps the best answer yet, able to switch into anything except Brick Break or Fire Punch, while even recovering Earthquake and slamming Golem down with Body Press. If Golem is lacking a Weakness Policy Boost, the answers expand even further. In addition to the above, Sandslash, Sandaconda, and Porygon2 all can tank hits with ease and compromise if not remove it with ease.

If Sturdy is rendered a non-issue, Golem is rather easy to remove, with many Special Attackers naturally outspeed and taking Golem out before it can act to the point there are too many to list.

Alolan Corner

Alolan Golem, the Megaton Pokémon. It's grumpy and stubborn. If you upset it, it discharges electricity from the surface of its body and growls with a voice like thunder. It fires rocks charged with electricity. Even if the rock isn't fired that accurately, just grazing an opponent will cause numbness and fainting.

Overview

Alolan-Golem looks like a radical departure from Golem in several aspects. Its new Electric subtyping gives Alolan-Golem a much better matchup into Water types than its Kantonian counterpart as retribution for generations of quadruple weakness exploitation. Two excellent abilities in Galvanize and Magnet Pull further differentiate the two Golems. Galvanize allows Alolan-Golem to make the most of its new typing offensively enabling absurdly powerful Electric STAB Body Slams, Double Edges and Explosions for a type renowned for lacking good physical STAB options. Magnet Pull on the other hand allows Golem to fulfill a niche that has otherwise been long dominated by the Magnezone line as an anti-Steel type attacker. With plenty of excellent anti Steel coverage in Earthquake, Fire Punch and Body Press allowing Alolan-Golem to remove any Steel type and eliminate what is often a key piece of the opposing team’s defensive backbone.

However, Alolan-Golem sticks far too closely to its nominate form to truly excel. While this isn’t all bad given the fantastic Attack and Defense Golem is known for the bad vastly outweighs the good. Abysmal Special Defense is a gaping achilles heel that allows for quick removal of Alolan-Golem, while the same slug slow base 45 speed ensures that many such Special Attackers can threaten Alolan-Golem out with ease. Even Alolan-Golem’s Rock-Electric typing doesn’t save it, being only a marginal improvement over Kantonian Golem’s Rock-Ground typing, with numerous weaknesses including a disastrous quadruple weakness to Ground that greatly hinders any physical walling Alolan-Golem wants to do. Alolan-Golem winds up being frequently frailer than Kantonian Golem given how infrequently it runs Sturdy given its other excellent abilities. Alolan Golem tries to shake things up, but is forged from the same flawed clay.
Positives
Base 120 Attack is solid, and with the excellent coverage of its STABs, even an uninvested Golem is far from passive.
Base 130 Defense is immense and with good base 80 HP, Golem can tank physical attacks without much issue.
Magnet Pull and Galvanize are amazing abilities that expand Alolan-Golem’s utility and offense respectively.

Negatives
Rock Electric is a poor defensive type combo in the game, giving numerous weaknesses including a crippling one to Ground
Base 65 Special Defense is poor, causing Golem to drop quickly to special attacks.
Base 45 Speed is horrid, forcing Golem to tank attacks before striking back.

Movesets

Chargestone Lock

-Earthquake
-Fire Punch
-Supercell Slam
-Stone Edge
Ability: Magnet Pull
Item: Choice Band
EVs and Nature:
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature

Choice Band Magnet Pull Alolan-Golem is an excellent counter to defensive Steel types, trapping them in and eliminating them in short succession to enable teammates that would normally struggle against such Pokémon. Earthquake and Fire Punch, while both non-STAB, are vital for this set, giving Alolan-Golem the means to efficiently handle most Steel types regardless of subtyping. Earthquake better handles most Steel types, especially Heatran, and Hisuian Goodra while Fire Punch is invaluable into Ground immune Steels like Bronzong, Air Balloon users and Orthworm. Supercell Slam, while not directly for Steel types, is great into the few that are weak to Electric, namely Skarmory, Corviknight and Empoleon on top of being a great move if the opposing team doesn’t have any Steel types for Alolan-Golem to trap. Stone Edge is here for as a reliable STAB option, being excellent into opposing Fire and Flying types without Supercell Slam’s painful drawback.

Tera Types:
While Alolan-Golem loves to Terastalize to shed its many weaknesses, its specific role as a Steel trapper makes it an unattractive Terastalization target. Alolan Golem is meant to enable teammates by removing a key wall, and is expected to be removed after performing its duty. If one must Terastalize Magnet Pull Alolan-Golem, it is entirely in service to help it beat Steel types. Tera Ground and Tera Fire are key starting points, giving Alolan-Golem the extra muscle needed to muscle through the routinely bulky Steel types. Tera Ground has a much higher high given the greater base power of Earthquake while turning opposing Ground attacks from a weakness to neutral, answering the Earthquake many Steel types carry. Its ability to deny escape with Volt Switch is an added bonus. While Tera Fire keeps the Ground weakness, it is far more consistent given how fewer Steel types resist Fire as opposed to ignoring Earthquake. The actual resistance to Steel STAB on top of Grass moves is a nice bonus. Tera Electric is good for a general power bonus and resistance to Steel while removing and reducing most of Golem’s more prevalent weaknesses. Tera Grass gives Golem vital resistances to Ground and Water, flipping two worrying matchups on their head.

EVs and Items:
Max Attack and Speed are recommended for this set. While Max HP investment does seem attractive, given how Alolan-Golem does have a good Defense to make the most of it, Speed is more important. With max Speed investment, Alolan-Golem can outrun uninvested Corviknight, Registeel, Metagross, Kingambit and Orthworm, all of whom would outspeed Golem normally thanks to its molasses speed. That Speed investment can make all the difference between a successful trap or Alolan-Golem being removed with nothing to show for it. Choice Band is recommended for the set, the extra power vital for breaking through staple walls like Skarmory and Corviknight in a single shot, preventing them from Iron Defense boosting out of the trap. Choice Scarf isn’t without merit either and incredibly handy for dealing with more offensive Steel types like Heatran, Gholdengo, and Lucario, though Jolly nature is needed to outrun the latter two.

Partners:
Attackers that struggle against Steel types love Alolan-Golem’s unique brand of support. Grass types like Quiver Dance Bellossom, Leafeon, and Whimsicott, are all key examples, being unable to handle Steel types on their own and have poor matchups into Fire, Bug and Flying types, of which Alolan-Golem handles readily. Such Grass types also absorb the Ground, Water and Grass attacks that give Alolan-Golem so much trouble, allowing it to pivot out if it still has utility post Steel trapping. Psychic types like Mesprit, Farigiraf, and Oricorio-Pa’u also benefit strongly from such support and barring Farigiraf act as excellent pivots into Fighting attacks for Alolan-Golem.

Other Options:
Brick Break is solid Fighting type coverage, rounding out the anti-Steel trifecta, but only stands out against Kingambit, as most other Steel types are better handled by Earthquake or Fire Punch. If not running a Choice Item, Iron Defense + Body Press can be worthwhile, turning the targets Alolan-Golem traps into setup fodder if they can’t meaningfully damage it.

Countering Alolan Golem

Being molded from the same clay as Golem, Alolan-Golem boasts many of the same strengths and weaknesses.

It is very difficult to stop the Steel type trap of the Magnet Pull sets. Alolan-Golem has the coverage for every Steel type in the game and the few that can escape, like Scizor, and Perrserker with U-Turn, Empoleon with Flip Turn and Magnezone with Volt Switch, most of these Pokémon rarely run Speed investment or are outran by the Choice Scarf variant, forcing them to take a big hit if not be knocked out before escaping. Terastalization does break the trap, but at that point, you have done Alolan-Golem’s job for it by removing the Steel type from your team.

Otherwise, the biggest concern regarding Alolan-Golem is whether it carries Sturdy, as it can pull all the same tricks as its Kantonian counterpart. Multihit moves like Hitmontop’s Triple Axel, and Bullet Seed users like Leafeon and Shiftry along with entry hazards are a good way to outright ignore Sturdy. Priority users are also excellent in limiting the benefit Alolan-Golem gets from Sturdy.

Otherwise, most Ground types are a nightmare for Alolan-Golem. Ground types nullify Electric STAB and resist Rock STAB while most boast the high Defense necessary to tank Alolan-Golem’s attacks, especially given Alolan-Golem has no direct coverage for them. Add in the Alolan-Golem’s quadruple weakness to Ground and most Ground types nearly counter Alolan-Golem. Sandslash, Sandaconda, and Toedscruel (if lacking Fire Punch) all neatly thrash Alolan-Golem without much issue.

If Sturdy is rendered a non-issue, Golem is rather easy to remove, with many Special Attackers naturally outspeed and taking Golem out before it can act to the point there are too many to list.

Anime Appearences

Golem has made a few appearances in the anime. In these, it was under control of a variety of notable trainers including Gary, Flint, Bertha and Giovanni. # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics 36 The Bridge Bike Gang Storm on Cycling Road Pics 42 Showdown at Dark City Showdown! Pokemon Gym! Pics 63 The Battle of the Badge Viridian Gym! The Last Badge! Pics M1 Mewtwo Strikes Back Mewtwo's Counterattack Pics P1 Pikachu's Vacation Pikachu's Summer Vacation Pics 79 Fourth Round Rumble Formidable Rival in Grass Field! Pics 105 Misty Meets Her Match! Trovita Gym Type Battle! 3 vs. 3! Pics M2 The Power of One Revelation Lugia Pics 142 Wired For Battle Battle! Heracross vs. Scizor!! Pics 148 Tricks Of The Trade Wobbuffet and the Pokémon Exchange! Pics 152 Hour of the Houndour The Dark Pokémon Houndour! Pics 164 Type Casting Where is Sudowoodo!? Pics 194 The Wayward Wobbuffet Wobbuffet! Disaster? Pics 196 The Ring Masters Feraligatr Vs. Blastoise! Sumo Match! Pics 239 Cold as Pryce! Piloswine and Pryce Of Winter! Pics 272 Can't Beat the Heat! Rival Confrontation! Charizard VS Blatoise! Pics C5 A Family That Battles Together, Stays Together!! Brock! Save Pewter Gym! Pics 414 Hooked on Onix The Kingdom Of Onix! Pics 453 Grating Spaces Brock & Ash! Defend Pewter Gym in Tag Battle! Pics 514 A-Maze-ing Race Maze Shuffle! Everybody Hustle! Pics 539 Pokémon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu (1) Pokémon Ranger! The Wave-Guiding Riolu! (Part One) Pics 540 Pokémon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu (2) Pokémon Ranger! The Wave-Guiding Riolu! (Part Two) Pics M11 Giratina & The Sky Warrior Giratina & The Bouquet of the Sky - Shaymin Pics M12 Arceus & The Jewel of Life Arceus - Towards Conquering Space-Time Pics 609 Challenging A Towering Figure! Tower Tycoon! That Man, Palmer! Pics 638 An Elite Coverup! Elite Four Bertha! Hippowdon vs Torterra!! Pics 649 Bucking the Treasure Trend! Treasure Hunter - Buck & Claydol! Pics 757 Meloetta and the Undersea Temple Meloetta and the Abyssal Temple! Pics M16 Genesect & The Legend Awakened Extremespeed Genesect: Mewtwo Awakens Pics 1024 A Young Royal Flame Ignites! The Young Flame of Alola! The Birth of Royal Ash!! Pics 1035 Turning the Other Mask! Kukui Up Against the Wall! A Second Masked Royal!! Pics 1038 Sparking Confusion! Wela Volcano: The Golem, the Graveler and the Hikers! Pics 1043 Battling the Beast Within! The Lightning that Blocks Wind! Its name is Zeraora! Pics 1068 A Timeless Encounter! Ash: A Timeless Encounter! Pics 1140 Trials of a Budding Master! The Great Farfetch'd Trial! Pics 1225 These Could be the Start of Something Big! Ash and Goh! Setting Off Anew!! Pics