Sludge Wave or Sludge Bomb for Toxic Chain Munkidori in Gen 9 OU?

Question

I'm running a set like this:

Munkidori
Ability: Toxic Chain
Tera Type: Normal / Dark
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave / Sludge Bomb
- U-turn
- Psychic

Still deciding on the item. Which of these STAB moves should I choose? They're practically the same but Toxic Chain gives both a high chance of poisoning.

Comments

You'll probably get a better answer if you ask here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/simple-questions-simple-answers-thread.3710772/

Answer 1

What Sludge Wave does:

• Hits all Pokemon on the Field
• 95 BP (Base Power)
• Has 10% Chance of poisoning

What Sludge Bomb does:

• Hits one target
• 90 BP (Base Power)
• Has 30% Chance of poisoning

If your going for Doubles/Triples, use Sludge Wave. If you are going singles and just want a higher poison chance, Sludge Bomb. You still can use Sludge Wave though in Singles, so I would prefer Sludge Wave.

Hope I Helped!

Source: Experience

Comments

The question asked about gen 9 OU, which is a singles format.

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Since it is OU, I think it would really depend on how offensive the team is. If it's more of a balance/bulky offense, then the lower poison rate of sludge wave is better because you want toxic chain to be the one that triggers. If you're leaning more towards HO then sludge bomb would be the better choice because the regular poison damage could put pokemon in trouble for your teammates

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@Sumwun, Thanks for letting me know, I didn't realize until now. Ty!

@Mangy, You're right, it does depend on how offensive the team is. Sludge Wave is the best out of both (Accept for the low poison chance) but Sludge Bomb can work, more so in HO.

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Personally, aside from the 5 extra power, the reason I would choose Sludge Wave is because it comes with the added bonus that you’ll only have a 10% chance of inflicting Poison, which means you’ll trigger Toxic Chain’s effect of Badly Poisoning the enemy more often than if you use Sludge Bomb.

Answer 2

I asked around on Smogon Gen 9 OU chat and I basically got what Mangy Vargant said. It depends.

Normal poison is really good against opponents you expect to switch out a lot, such as Cyclizar and Zapados, so use Sludge Bomb there for a higher chance for normal poison there.

Severe poison is good against Pokémon you expect to be staying in for awhile, such as stallers.

In your case, I would suggest Sludge Bomb since your Munkidori seems to be more offensive and could use the more immediate damage that comes from regular poison, and there’s a 30% chance for it instead of 10% with Sludge Wave. For a bonus, I think Choice Specs or Scarf would be good with your Munkidori.

Comments

I was thinking of Scarf, and the set used to have Scarf Parting Shot.

Answer 3

Sludge bomb is weaker but higher poisoning chance and doesn't hit allies in doubles. Sludge wave has is stronger but lower poisoning and hits your allies in doubles, so it's honestly your choice what you want, but if you are still torn, Sludge wave for singles or if your teammate is a steel type or Sludge bomb if you want a better chance of poisoning or doubles without a steel type. Also I personally think that if you want tera dark, you also might want to have a dark move on Munkidori, although my opinion on dark tera stab is smaller on normal tera with STAB psychic(I actually did this with an Esparthra).

Comments

The question asked about gen 9 OU, which is a singles format.

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Just in case you want to do doubles