In Pokémon Sword & Shield, Marnie is the edgy young girl with a leather jacket and a devoted fan club known as the villainous team yell. Despite her close connection to the supposed villains of the generation, Marnie starts out as one of the friendly rivals of the player. Through the course of the game, she shows immense growth in herself as well as her Pokémon team, eventually succeeding her older brother, Piers as the new Spikemuth Gym Leader.
By the end of the game, Marnie is able to show off her team in its final and most powerful form at the Champion Tournaments held in Wyndon Stadium. Her team consists of Grimmsnarl, Morpeko, Scrafty, Toxicroak, and Liepard, who can all serve as great assets in different battling scenarios. However, it is very clear that some of her team members outshine the others in the context of the one-on-one championship battles.
5 Liepard
Marnie’s Liepard is by no means a terrible Pokémon, but it’s ranked as the lowest in her party due to the fact that it’s not well-suited for any of the one-on-one battles that Marnie partakes in. Rather, it would have much more viability in double battles with a supportive role.
Fake Out and Snarl are two very useful moves in double Battles as Fake Out makes one of the opponents flinch on the first turn, and Snarl lowers the Special Attack of both opponents along with a little bit of damage. However, when Liepard is on its own in a single battle, the most it can do is a little bit of chip damage before being taken down with its frail defenses. It would be more of a threat if it had a more offensive move such as Foul Play, which punishes Pokémon with high Attack stats.
4 Scrafty
Scrafty is a cool Pokémon with a lot of potential, but Marnie isn’t using hers to the best of its abilities. For starters, just changing its Ability from Shed Skin to either Moxie or Intimidate would be a great improvement. Moxie would increase its Attack stat when it claims a knockout, and Intimidate would alternatively reduce the opponent’s Attack stat. Shed Skin is not the worst Ability in the world since it can curse status conditions, but Moxie and Intimidate are much better suited for a Pokémon like Scrafty.
Its moveset also gives up a lot of power for coverage, which can be good or bad depending on who its opponent is. Close Combat would be a much stronger option than the likes of Ice Punch or Thunder Punch. And seeing how Scrafty isn’t the fastest Pokémon around, having a priority move like Sucker Punch might be more useful than Crunch.
3 Toxicroak
Toxicroak is an interesting pick for Marnie to have on her team since she is a Dark-type specialist and Toxicroak is clearly not a Dark-type Pokémon. It is assumed to be placed on her team to account for her team’s severe weakness to Fighting and Fairy. While Toxicroak resists Fighting-type attacks, it can dish out massive damage to any Fairy threats. Its one glaring weakness is to Psychic attacks, which can easily be countered by swapping in any of its Dark-type allies who are all immune to Psychic.
In addition, Marnie’s Toxicroak has a pretty powerful moveset. Drain Punch allows it to heal back some HP while dealing damage, Poison Jab is a very reliable attack with a chance to poison the target, Gunk Shot isn’t the most accurate but has a lot of power behind it, and Earthquake is always a good move for coverage.
2 Morpeko
The Pokémon that is most recognized on Marnie’s team is her Morpeko. This could be due to the fact that it was her starter Pokémon that was gifted to her by Piers, and it is often seen outside of its Poké Ball. And believe it or not, the little Morpeko is one of the best members of her team thanks to its signature Ability, Hunger Switch, and signature attack, Aura Wheel.
With Hunger Switch, Morpeko will change between its Full Belly Mode and Hangry Mode at the end of each turn. This Ability goes hand in hand with Aura Wheel, a powerful attack that can be either Electric-type or Dark-type depending on which mode it is in. In addition to having a power of 110, Aura Wheel is also 100% accurate and raises Morpeko’s Speed each time it’s used, making it an overall incredible move.
1 Grimmsnarl
As great as the rest of Marnie’s team is, they just can’t compete with a Gigantamax Grimmsnarl. In its Gigantamax form, Grimmsnarl gains access to its exclusive move, G-Max Snooze. On top of being a powerful Dark-type attack, G-Max Snooze comes with the added effect of Yawn, which will put the opponent to sleep in the next turn if they do not switch out. This is great for disrupting the opponent’s strategy because it can either leave the sleeping opponent in a very vulnerable state or force them to swap out into a different Pokémon.
Outside of its Gigantamax form, Grimmsnarl carries the Prankster Ability, which it can use with Bulk Up to beef up its Attack and Defense prior to being attacked. It can then use Spirit Break, Play Rough, or Darkest Lariat all for pretty good damage output.
NEXT: Pokémon: The 10 Scariest Dark-Types, Ranked
