marilli
With you
[OVERVIEW]
Tyranitar has a great offensive and defensive typing with the stats to back it up. Rock Slide and Crunch together hit most of the tier for consistent damage, and unique resistances and amazing defensive stats enable Tyranitar to check top-tier Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Mega Gengar, Mega Charizard Y, and Hoopa-U. Tyranitar matches up well against speed controllers such as Zapdos and Mega Salamence. Furthermore, Tyranitar's low Speed can be used to its advantage, as it beats the most common Trick Room user, Hoopa-U, with its defensive typing. Tyranitar also has an incredibly diverse movepool that includes premier coverage moves such as Ice Beam, Fire Blast, and Low Kick and can properly utilize them with its good mixed offenses. Tyranitar is also able to effectively use many item options such as Choice Band, Z-Crystals, Assault Vest, resistance Berries, and Weakness Policy; this makes it a truly unpredictable threat. Tyranitar has a lot of utility thanks to Sand Stream; it not only gives Tyranitar a 50% boost in Special Defense but also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, invalidates Focus Sash, and scouts foes' Speed. However, Tyranitar has plenty of weaknesses to common attacking types such as Ground, Water, and especially Fighting, which are carried by common threats such as Landorus-T and Marshadow. Low Speed makes Tyranitar reliant on its bulk and Speed control.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Stone Edge / Ice Punch
move 4: Superpower / Low Kick
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Crunch and Rock Slide are STAB moves with great neutral coverage. Stone Edge is an alternative Rock-type STAB move; it has a shaky accuracy, but it is Tyranitar's strongest attack, heavily punishes Tapu Fini switch-ins, OHKOes Zapdos, and bypasses Wide Guard. Ice Punch targets Pokemon 4x weak to Ice, most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde, but being locked into it can be a momentum sink. Low Kick and Superpower are options for hitting Snorlax, opposing Tyranitar, and Steel-types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn for extra damage. Superpower lowers Tyranitar's Attack and Defense but hits more Pokemon for high damage than Low Kick. Pursuit allows Tyranitar to trap and remove frail Pokemon such as Mega Gengar.
Set Details
========
Choice Band allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible without incurring Life Orb recoil. The above spread maximizes bulk and damage, but there are multiple ways to tweak it to best suit your team. As Speed control is crucial to Choice Band Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Choice Band Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support. In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with an Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-A with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable. It is even possible to simply maximize Speed and Attack with a Jolly nature in order to outspeed Choice Scarf users such as Jolly Landorus-T in Tailwind as well as at least Speed tie with opposing Tyranitar. In Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack. Being Adamant allows Tyranitar to outspeed foes outside of Trick Room, including uninvested base 60 Speed Pokemon like Aegislash and Celesteela, while still being slower than the majority of the metagame. Meanwhile, Brave Tyranitar is slower than opposing Trick Room attackers such as Heatran and Hoopa-U, OHKOing them when Trick Room is active before they do any damage to your team. Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, breaks Focus Sash, and scouts foes' Speed.
Usage Tips
========
Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resistances. Thanks to its power and coverage options, Tyranitar can often surprise Pokemon with an unexpected amount of damage or a coverage move. For instance, it OHKOes Scrafty with Superpower, Landorus-T switch-ins with Ice Punch, and Zapdos with Stone Edge before it can match Tailwind. Such KOs can turn the game drastically. Therefore, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success. Choice Band Rock Slide and Crunch are hard to switch into and let Tyranitar break defensive cores more easily without the need to predict with super effective moves. Due to Tyranitar's low Speed and numerous weaknesses, proper Speed control and positional play with its partner become imperative for Tyranitar to not be dead weight. The lack of Protect on the set makes it even more important to have proper Speed control. Try to bring out Tyranitar with your preferred Speed control already active so it does not have to maneuver around opposing super effective moves before attacking. Also, try to have strong partners on the field so when a Pokemon tries to hit Tyranitar with one of its multiple weaknesses, it is threatened by Tyranitar switching out and the partner going for a super effective move in return. Use Tyranitar's Sand Stream to deny opposing weather sweepers' Speed boosts. Tyranitar also can take advantage of opposing Trick Room teams, against which Tyranitar does not need team support to go first and wreak havoc.
Team Options
========
Speed control like Tailwind from Zapdos or Mega Salamence helps Tyranitar attack first with Rock Slide without getting pinned by super effective moves or double targets. Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room, but be aware that they share weaknesses with Tyranitar. Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini can handle Fighting-types such as Terrakion and Scrafty for Tyranitar. Intimidate support rounds out Tyranitar's terrific bulk, and the common users of Intimidate such as Landorus-T and Salamence also handle Fighting-types for it. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent Intimidate users such as Landorus-T from easily switching in. Electric-types such as Tapu Koko and Zapdos and Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu can threaten opposing Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic. Finally, Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch / Ice Beam / Dragon Dance
move 4: Protect
item: Rockium Z / Darkinium Z / Life Orb
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Crunch and Rock Slide are reliable STAB moves with great neutral coverage. Stone Edge hits Tapu Fini and Zapdos significantly harder than Rock Slide and allows Tyranitar to use a notably stronger Continental Crush. The increase in Base Power of Continental Crush is so worthwhile that Rockium Z Tyranitar can use both Rock Slide and Stone Edge, forgoing alternative third moves entirely. Ice Punch targets Pokemon 4x weak to Ice, most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde. Ice Beam allows Tyranitar to hit the same targets while ignoring Intimidate, preferably chosen for Trick Room Tyranitar that use a Brave nature for higher Special Attack, as Tyranitar would otherwise need to sacrifice bulk with a Lonely nature. Dragon Dance allows Tyranitar to sweep through teams with increased Speed. Finally, Protect helps Tyranitar with positional play. Tyranitar has multiple weaknesses, and the ability to avoid damage from super effective hits while its partner gets a free turn can be very advantageous.
Set Details
========
Maximum Attack allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible. As Speed control is crucial to Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support. In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with an Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-A with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable. A Jolly nature with maximum Speed allows Tyranitar to outspeed notable Choice Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B in Tailwind. On Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack. 68 Special Attack EVs allow Tyranitar to OHKO minimum bulk Landorus-T with Ice Beam. A Jolly nature with maximum Attack and Speed can be used with Dragon Dance as this spread allows +1 Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Metagross. Rockium Z allows Tyranitar to use Continental Crush to decimate most targets. Darkinium Z is an alternative Z-Move that hits Aegislash and has higher Base Power than Continental Crush from Rock Slide. Life Orb allows Tyranitar to output more mixed damage and can be especially devastating in Trick Room. However, this compromises Tyranitar's bulk by making it lose 10% of its HP per attack. Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, breaks Focus Sash, and scouts foes' Speed.
Usage Tips
========
Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resistances, but the Life Orb and Dragon Dance sets have significantly reduced bulk and should refrain from losing too much health while switching in. Thanks to its coverage options and the potential to take a quick KO with Continental Crush, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success. Proper Speed control and positional play with its partner bring out Tyranitar's full potential, as it appreciates moving before it can be taken down by super effective moves. Take advantage of Protect in order to earn free turns for Tyranitar's partner to use Speed control or fire off big damage. Continental Crush is one-time use, so be careful not to waste the move too early. With the Dragon Dance set, set up to either clean late-game or wallbreak with boosted Rock Slide. The Dragon Dance set has less bulk and needs to be at full HP in order to set up effectively, as it sometimes will be forced to take a lot of damage on the turn it sets up. Note that the Dragon Dance set is still slower than Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Mega Salamence, and Shaymin-S after one boost.
Team Options
========
Speed control helps Tyranitar attack first and eliminate targets with Continental Crush before they can retaliate with super effective moves. Zapdos and Mega Salamence can set up Tailwind, while Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room. Terrakion and Scrafty, threatening Fighting-types, can be checked by Fairy-types, such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini, or by Intimidate users, such as Landorus-T and Salamence. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent Intimidate users such as Landorus-T from switching in. Partners to threaten Water-types, such as Tapu Koko, Zapdos, and Amoonguss, allow Tyranitar more freedom to maneuver. Finally, Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross.
Dragon Dance Tyranitar appreciates team support that helps it set up. Fake Out from Scrafty, redirection from Amoonguss and Togekiss, Sky Drop from Assault Vest Tapu Koko, and Wide Guard from Celesteela and Aegislash are good examples. U-turn and Volt Switch from the likes of Landorus-T, Genesect, and Tapu Koko allow the player to scout the opponent and can grant Tyranitar a free switch at an advantageous position to set up.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Tyranitar is such a flexible Pokemon that you can mix and match items, coverage moves, and EVs to suit your team. Tyranitarite can be used on Dragon Dance Tyranitar, as the additional Speed allows Mega Tyranitar to outspeed relevant threats such as Tapu Koko and Shaymin-S after a single Dragon Dance. Assault Vest allows Tyranitar to check the majority of special attackers despite the wide distribution of moves that can hit it for super effective damage. As a result, Assault Vest lets Tyranitar check the likes of Heatran, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B, taking notably less damage in the process. Fire Blast allows Tyranitar to hit Ferrothorn significantly harder than with Fighting-type moves. Holding a Chople Berry or Shuca Berry allows Tyranitar to take Fighting- or Ground-type moves from the likes of Landorus-T, Deoxys-A, and Zygarde to KO them in return with appropriate coverage moves. A Rock Polish + Weakness Policy set allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Tapu Koko, and Deoxys-A as well as common Choice Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Tapu Lele, which it cannot with Dragon Dance. Weakness Policy allows Tyranitar to boost its damage and take advantage of its multiple weaknesses. Maximum Speed investment with a Jolly nature allows +2 Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Deoxys-A, and Tapu Koko as well as Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, and +1 Zygarde.
Assurance and Payback are alternative Dark-type STAB moves that can do significantly more damage than Crunch in the right conditions. Stealth Rock can be used on bulkier sets in order to check Mega Charizard Y and Mega Salamence. Finally, Tyranitar has access to even more alternative coverage options such as Iron Head, which can situationally hit Fairy-types such as Tapu Bulu and Diancie, and Aqua Tail, which offers safer middle-ground plays against Landorus-T. However, they fall short in damage output and general utility and ultimately are highly situational.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-type Pokemon such as Terrakion and Scrafty resist both Rock Slide and Crunch and make short work of Tyranitar with a super effective Fighting-type attack. Marshadow can KO Tyranitar with Close Combat but takes a lot of damage from Crunch. While not Fighting-type themselves, Landorus-T and Deoxys-A commonly use Superpower, and All-Out Pummeling Tapu Lele also downs Tyranitar without Chople Berry.
**Ground-types**: Ground-type Pokemon can hit Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move. Landorus-T has Intimidate to dampen Tyranitar's attacks, while Zygarde resists Rock Slide. However, they are vulnerable to Ice-type coverage moves from Tyranitar.
**Water-types**: Water-type Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Milotic take minimal damage from Tyranitar's attacks bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush. They can wear down Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move or start setting up against it.
**Grass-types**: Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss take minimal damage from Tyranitar bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush and threaten Tyranitar with large damage and Spore. Ferrothorn can also handle Tyranitar, but it needs to be careful of Fighting- and Fire-type coverage moves.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Genesect and Metagross can outspeed Tyranitar and threaten it with plenty of damage. Celesteela can stomach a few attacks from Tyranitar and has Wide Guard to stop Rock Slide.
**Fairy-types**: Despite Tyranitar's high Special Defense, Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini can do significant damage to it with super effective Moonblast.
**Opposing Weather**: Without sand, Tyranitar becomes much easier to handle using special attacks. Pokemon such as Pelipper, Politoed, and Mega Charizard Y have ways to hit Tyranitar for large damage as long as they have the weather control.
Tyranitar has a great offensive and defensive typing with the stats to back it up. Rock Slide and Crunch together hit most of the tier for consistent damage, and unique resistances and amazing defensive stats enable Tyranitar to check top-tier Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Mega Gengar, Mega Charizard Y, and Hoopa-U. Tyranitar matches up well against speed controllers such as Zapdos and Mega Salamence. Furthermore, Tyranitar's low Speed can be used to its advantage, as it beats the most common Trick Room user, Hoopa-U, with its defensive typing. Tyranitar also has an incredibly diverse movepool that includes premier coverage moves such as Ice Beam, Fire Blast, and Low Kick and can properly utilize them with its good mixed offenses. Tyranitar is also able to effectively use many item options such as Choice Band, Z-Crystals, Assault Vest, resistance Berries, and Weakness Policy; this makes it a truly unpredictable threat. Tyranitar has a lot of utility thanks to Sand Stream; it not only gives Tyranitar a 50% boost in Special Defense but also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, invalidates Focus Sash, and scouts foes' Speed. However, Tyranitar has plenty of weaknesses to common attacking types such as Ground, Water, and especially Fighting, which are carried by common threats such as Landorus-T and Marshadow. Low Speed makes Tyranitar reliant on its bulk and Speed control.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Stone Edge / Ice Punch
move 4: Superpower / Low Kick
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Crunch and Rock Slide are STAB moves with great neutral coverage. Stone Edge is an alternative Rock-type STAB move; it has a shaky accuracy, but it is Tyranitar's strongest attack, heavily punishes Tapu Fini switch-ins, OHKOes Zapdos, and bypasses Wide Guard. Ice Punch targets Pokemon 4x weak to Ice, most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde, but being locked into it can be a momentum sink. Low Kick and Superpower are options for hitting Snorlax, opposing Tyranitar, and Steel-types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn for extra damage. Superpower lowers Tyranitar's Attack and Defense but hits more Pokemon for high damage than Low Kick. Pursuit allows Tyranitar to trap and remove frail Pokemon such as Mega Gengar.
Set Details
========
Choice Band allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible without incurring Life Orb recoil. The above spread maximizes bulk and damage, but there are multiple ways to tweak it to best suit your team. As Speed control is crucial to Choice Band Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Choice Band Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support. In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with an Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-A with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable. It is even possible to simply maximize Speed and Attack with a Jolly nature in order to outspeed Choice Scarf users such as Jolly Landorus-T in Tailwind as well as at least Speed tie with opposing Tyranitar. In Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack. Being Adamant allows Tyranitar to outspeed foes outside of Trick Room, including uninvested base 60 Speed Pokemon like Aegislash and Celesteela, while still being slower than the majority of the metagame. Meanwhile, Brave Tyranitar is slower than opposing Trick Room attackers such as Heatran and Hoopa-U, OHKOing them when Trick Room is active before they do any damage to your team. Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, breaks Focus Sash, and scouts foes' Speed.
Usage Tips
========
Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resistances. Thanks to its power and coverage options, Tyranitar can often surprise Pokemon with an unexpected amount of damage or a coverage move. For instance, it OHKOes Scrafty with Superpower, Landorus-T switch-ins with Ice Punch, and Zapdos with Stone Edge before it can match Tailwind. Such KOs can turn the game drastically. Therefore, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success. Choice Band Rock Slide and Crunch are hard to switch into and let Tyranitar break defensive cores more easily without the need to predict with super effective moves. Due to Tyranitar's low Speed and numerous weaknesses, proper Speed control and positional play with its partner become imperative for Tyranitar to not be dead weight. The lack of Protect on the set makes it even more important to have proper Speed control. Try to bring out Tyranitar with your preferred Speed control already active so it does not have to maneuver around opposing super effective moves before attacking. Also, try to have strong partners on the field so when a Pokemon tries to hit Tyranitar with one of its multiple weaknesses, it is threatened by Tyranitar switching out and the partner going for a super effective move in return. Use Tyranitar's Sand Stream to deny opposing weather sweepers' Speed boosts. Tyranitar also can take advantage of opposing Trick Room teams, against which Tyranitar does not need team support to go first and wreak havoc.
Team Options
========
Speed control like Tailwind from Zapdos or Mega Salamence helps Tyranitar attack first with Rock Slide without getting pinned by super effective moves or double targets. Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room, but be aware that they share weaknesses with Tyranitar. Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini can handle Fighting-types such as Terrakion and Scrafty for Tyranitar. Intimidate support rounds out Tyranitar's terrific bulk, and the common users of Intimidate such as Landorus-T and Salamence also handle Fighting-types for it. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent Intimidate users such as Landorus-T from easily switching in. Electric-types such as Tapu Koko and Zapdos and Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu can threaten opposing Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic. Finally, Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch / Ice Beam / Dragon Dance
move 4: Protect
item: Rockium Z / Darkinium Z / Life Orb
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Crunch and Rock Slide are reliable STAB moves with great neutral coverage. Stone Edge hits Tapu Fini and Zapdos significantly harder than Rock Slide and allows Tyranitar to use a notably stronger Continental Crush. The increase in Base Power of Continental Crush is so worthwhile that Rockium Z Tyranitar can use both Rock Slide and Stone Edge, forgoing alternative third moves entirely. Ice Punch targets Pokemon 4x weak to Ice, most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde. Ice Beam allows Tyranitar to hit the same targets while ignoring Intimidate, preferably chosen for Trick Room Tyranitar that use a Brave nature for higher Special Attack, as Tyranitar would otherwise need to sacrifice bulk with a Lonely nature. Dragon Dance allows Tyranitar to sweep through teams with increased Speed. Finally, Protect helps Tyranitar with positional play. Tyranitar has multiple weaknesses, and the ability to avoid damage from super effective hits while its partner gets a free turn can be very advantageous.
Set Details
========
Maximum Attack allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible. As Speed control is crucial to Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support. In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with an Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-A with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable. A Jolly nature with maximum Speed allows Tyranitar to outspeed notable Choice Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B in Tailwind. On Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack. 68 Special Attack EVs allow Tyranitar to OHKO minimum bulk Landorus-T with Ice Beam. A Jolly nature with maximum Attack and Speed can be used with Dragon Dance as this spread allows +1 Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Metagross. Rockium Z allows Tyranitar to use Continental Crush to decimate most targets. Darkinium Z is an alternative Z-Move that hits Aegislash and has higher Base Power than Continental Crush from Rock Slide. Life Orb allows Tyranitar to output more mixed damage and can be especially devastating in Trick Room. However, this compromises Tyranitar's bulk by making it lose 10% of its HP per attack. Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, breaks Focus Sash, and scouts foes' Speed.
Usage Tips
========
Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resistances, but the Life Orb and Dragon Dance sets have significantly reduced bulk and should refrain from losing too much health while switching in. Thanks to its coverage options and the potential to take a quick KO with Continental Crush, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success. Proper Speed control and positional play with its partner bring out Tyranitar's full potential, as it appreciates moving before it can be taken down by super effective moves. Take advantage of Protect in order to earn free turns for Tyranitar's partner to use Speed control or fire off big damage. Continental Crush is one-time use, so be careful not to waste the move too early. With the Dragon Dance set, set up to either clean late-game or wallbreak with boosted Rock Slide. The Dragon Dance set has less bulk and needs to be at full HP in order to set up effectively, as it sometimes will be forced to take a lot of damage on the turn it sets up. Note that the Dragon Dance set is still slower than Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Mega Salamence, and Shaymin-S after one boost.
Team Options
========
Speed control helps Tyranitar attack first and eliminate targets with Continental Crush before they can retaliate with super effective moves. Zapdos and Mega Salamence can set up Tailwind, while Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room. Terrakion and Scrafty, threatening Fighting-types, can be checked by Fairy-types, such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini, or by Intimidate users, such as Landorus-T and Salamence. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent Intimidate users such as Landorus-T from switching in. Partners to threaten Water-types, such as Tapu Koko, Zapdos, and Amoonguss, allow Tyranitar more freedom to maneuver. Finally, Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross.
Dragon Dance Tyranitar appreciates team support that helps it set up. Fake Out from Scrafty, redirection from Amoonguss and Togekiss, Sky Drop from Assault Vest Tapu Koko, and Wide Guard from Celesteela and Aegislash are good examples. U-turn and Volt Switch from the likes of Landorus-T, Genesect, and Tapu Koko allow the player to scout the opponent and can grant Tyranitar a free switch at an advantageous position to set up.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Tyranitar is such a flexible Pokemon that you can mix and match items, coverage moves, and EVs to suit your team. Tyranitarite can be used on Dragon Dance Tyranitar, as the additional Speed allows Mega Tyranitar to outspeed relevant threats such as Tapu Koko and Shaymin-S after a single Dragon Dance. Assault Vest allows Tyranitar to check the majority of special attackers despite the wide distribution of moves that can hit it for super effective damage. As a result, Assault Vest lets Tyranitar check the likes of Heatran, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B, taking notably less damage in the process. Fire Blast allows Tyranitar to hit Ferrothorn significantly harder than with Fighting-type moves. Holding a Chople Berry or Shuca Berry allows Tyranitar to take Fighting- or Ground-type moves from the likes of Landorus-T, Deoxys-A, and Zygarde to KO them in return with appropriate coverage moves. A Rock Polish + Weakness Policy set allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Tapu Koko, and Deoxys-A as well as common Choice Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Tapu Lele, which it cannot with Dragon Dance. Weakness Policy allows Tyranitar to boost its damage and take advantage of its multiple weaknesses. Maximum Speed investment with a Jolly nature allows +2 Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Deoxys-A, and Tapu Koko as well as Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, and +1 Zygarde.
Assurance and Payback are alternative Dark-type STAB moves that can do significantly more damage than Crunch in the right conditions. Stealth Rock can be used on bulkier sets in order to check Mega Charizard Y and Mega Salamence. Finally, Tyranitar has access to even more alternative coverage options such as Iron Head, which can situationally hit Fairy-types such as Tapu Bulu and Diancie, and Aqua Tail, which offers safer middle-ground plays against Landorus-T. However, they fall short in damage output and general utility and ultimately are highly situational.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-type Pokemon such as Terrakion and Scrafty resist both Rock Slide and Crunch and make short work of Tyranitar with a super effective Fighting-type attack. Marshadow can KO Tyranitar with Close Combat but takes a lot of damage from Crunch. While not Fighting-type themselves, Landorus-T and Deoxys-A commonly use Superpower, and All-Out Pummeling Tapu Lele also downs Tyranitar without Chople Berry.
**Ground-types**: Ground-type Pokemon can hit Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move. Landorus-T has Intimidate to dampen Tyranitar's attacks, while Zygarde resists Rock Slide. However, they are vulnerable to Ice-type coverage moves from Tyranitar.
**Water-types**: Water-type Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Milotic take minimal damage from Tyranitar's attacks bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush. They can wear down Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move or start setting up against it.
**Grass-types**: Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss take minimal damage from Tyranitar bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush and threaten Tyranitar with large damage and Spore. Ferrothorn can also handle Tyranitar, but it needs to be careful of Fighting- and Fire-type coverage moves.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Genesect and Metagross can outspeed Tyranitar and threaten it with plenty of damage. Celesteela can stomach a few attacks from Tyranitar and has Wide Guard to stop Rock Slide.
**Fairy-types**: Despite Tyranitar's high Special Defense, Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini can do significant damage to it with super effective Moonblast.
**Opposing Weather**: Without sand, Tyranitar becomes much easier to handle using special attacks. Pokemon such as Pelipper, Politoed, and Mega Charizard Y have ways to hit Tyranitar for large damage as long as they have the weather control.
[OVERVIEW]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Superpower / Low Kick
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
========
========
========
[SET]
name: Protect Attacker
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch / Ice Beam / Dragon Dance
move 4: Protect
item: Rockium Z / Darkinium Z / Life Orb
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
========
========
Team Options
========
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
===================
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-type Pokemon such as Terrakion and Scrafty resist both Rock Slide and Crunch, and make short work of Tyranitar with a super effective Fighting-type. While not Fighting-type themselves, Landorus-T and Deoxys-A commonly use Superpower, and All-out Pummeling Tapu Lele also downs Tyranitar without Chople Berry.
**Ground-types**: Ground-type Pokemon can hit Tyranitar with a super effective STAB. Landorus has intimidate to further dampen Tyranitar's attacks, while Zygarde resists Rock Slide. However, they are prone to Ice-type coverage moves from Tyranitar.
**Water-types**: Water-type Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Milotic take minimal damage from Tyranitar, bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush. They can chip down Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move, or start setting up.
**Grass-types**: Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss take minimal damage bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush, and threatens Tyranitar with large damage and Spore. Ferrothorn can also handle Tyranitar, but need be careful of Fighting-type and Fire-type coverage moves.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Genesect and Metagross can outspeed Tyranitar and threatens it with plenty of damage. Celesteela can stomach a few attacks from Tyranitar, and has Wide Guard to stop it from using Rock Slide.
**Fairy-types**: Despite Tyranitar's high Special Defense, Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini can do significant damage with super effective Moonblast.
**Opposing weather**: Without Sand, Tyranitar becomes much more manageable to handle using special attacks. Pokemon such as Pelipper, Politoed, and Mega Charizard Y have ways to hit Tyranitar super effectively for large damage, as long as they have the weather control.
- Tyranitar has a great offensive and defensive typing with the stats to back them up.
- Unique resistances and amazing defensive stats enable Tyranitar to check top-tier Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Mega Gengar, Mega Charizard Y, and Hoopa-U.
- Rock- and Dark- are great offensive typing as well: Rock Slide and Crunch hits most of the tier for consistent damage.
- Tyranitar's low Speed can be used to its advantage, as it beats Hoopa-U with its defensive typing.
- Tyranitar has access to an incredibly diverse movepool with premier coverage moves such as Ice Beam, Fire Blast, and Low Kick, with the mixed offenses to properly utilize them.
- Tyranitar is also able to effectively use diverse item options such as Choice Band, Z-Crystal, Assault Vest, Type resist Berries, Weakness Policy, and more.
- Sand Stream has a lot of utility; it not only gives Tyranitar a 50% boost in Special Defense, it also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, removes Focus Sash, and scouts the opponent.
- However, Tyranitar has plenty of weaknesses to common attacking types, such as Ground, Water, and a crippling weakness to Fighting-type moves carried by common threats such as Landorus-T.
- Low speed makes Tyranitar reliant on its bulk and Speed control.
name: Choice Band
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Superpower / Low Kick
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Crunch and Rock Slide are STAB moves with great neutral coverage.
- Stone Edge has a shaky accuracy, but it is Tyranitar's strongest attack and heavily punishes Tapu Fini switch-ins as well as OHKO opposing Zapdos before it can match Tailwind.
- Ice Punch targets Pokemon x4 weak to Ice - most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde.
- Low Kick and Superpower are an options to hit Snorlax, opposing Tyranitar, as well as Steel-types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn for extra damage.
- Superpower lowers Tyranitar's Attack and Defense, but hits more Pokemon for consistent Base Power.
========
- Choice Band allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible without incurring Life Orb recoil.
- Current spread maximize bulk and damage, but there are multiple ways to tweak this set to best suit your team.
- As Speed control is crucial to Choice Band Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Choice Band Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support.
- In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-Attack with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable.
- In Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack.
- Adamant allows Tyranitar to outspeed things outside of Trick Room, letting it outspeed uninvested base 60 Speed Pokemon, notably Aegislash and Celesteela, while still being slower than the majority of the metagame.
- Brave Tyranitar underslow opposing Trick Room attackers such as Heatran or Hoopa-U, taking them out in a single hit when Trick Room is active, before they do any damage to your team.
- Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, removes Focus Sash, and scouts the opponent.
========
- Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resists.
- Thanks to its power and coverage options, Tyranitar can often surprise Pokemon with the surprising amount of damage or a coverage option.
- For instance, OHKOing Scrafty with Superpower, Landorus-T switch-in with Ice Punch, or Zapdos with Stone Edge before it can match Tailwind can turn the game drastically.
- Therefore, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success.
- Choice Band Rock Slide and Crunch are hard to resist, and lets Tyranitar break defensive cores more easily and eases the need to predict with super effective moves.
- Due to Tyranitar's low Speed and numerous weaknesses, proper Speed control and positional play with its partner becomes imperative for Tyranitar to not be dead weight.
- The lack of Protect on the set makes it even more important to have proper Speed control.
- Try to bring out Tyranitar with your preferred Speed control already active, so it does not have to maneuver around opposing super effective moves before attacking.
- Also, try to have strong partners so when a Pokemon tries to hit Tyranitar on one of its multiple weaknesses, they are threatened by Tyranitar switching out and the partner going for a super effective move in return.
- Use Tyranitar's Sand Stream to deny opposing weather sweeper's speed boost.
- Use liberally against Trick Room teams, against which Tyranitar does not need team support to go first and wreak havoc.
========
- Speed control helps Tyranitar attack first with Rock Slide without getting pinned by super effective moves or double targets.
- Tailwind setters such as Zapdos and Salamence-Mega also let Tyranitar attack first.
- Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room, but beware of the defensive non-synergy.
- Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Fini can handle Fighting-types such as Terrakion and Scrafty for Tyranitar.
- Intimidate rounds out terrific bulk for Tyranitar, and the common users of Intimidate such as Landorus-T and Salamence also handles Fighting-types.
- Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent intimidate Pokemon such as Landorus-T from switching in with relative ease. Tapu Fini can support Tyranitar with Heal Pulse or Swagger for more bulk or damage.
- Electric-types such as Tapu Koko and Zapdos, or Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu can also threaten opposing Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic.
- Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross
[SET]
name: Protect Attacker
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch / Ice Beam / Dragon Dance
move 4: Protect
item: Rockium Z / Darkinium Z / Life Orb
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Crunch is a reliable STAB move with great neutral coverage.
- Rock Slide is another consistent STAB move with great neutral coverage.
- Stone Edge hits Tapu Fini and Zapdos significantly harder, and also allows Tyranitar to use a stronger Continental Crush.
- It is possible to use both Rock Slide and Stone Edge, especially if using Rockium Z, simply for the increase in Base Power of Continental Crush.
- Ice Punch targets Pokemon x4 weak to Ice - most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde.
- Ice Beam allows Tyranitar to hit the same targets while ignoring Intimidate, preferably for Trick Room Tyranitar that use Brave nature for higher Special Attack stat, as otherwise it would need to sacrifice further bulk with a Lonely nature.
- Dragon Dance allows Tyranitar boost itself and sweep through teams with increased Speed.
- Protect helps Tyranitar with positional play. Tyranitar has multiple weaknesses, and the ability to avoid damage from super effective hits while its partner gets a free turn can be very advantageous.
========
- Max attack allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible.
- As Speed control is crucial to Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support.
- In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-Attack with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable.
- In Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack.
- 68 Special Attack EVs allow Tyranitar to OHKO minimum bulk Landorus with Ice Beam.
- Jolly nature with maximum Attack and Speed can be used with the Dragon Dance set, which allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Metagross after 1 Dragon Dance boost.
- Rockium Z allows Tyranitar to use Continental Crush capable of crushing most targets.
- Darkinium Z is an alternative Z-Move that hit Aegislash, as well as simply providing a higher Base Power Z-Move than Continental Crush from Rock Slide.
- However, Z-Moves are one-time use only, which can be difficult to use at the right time.
- Life Orb allows Tyranitar to output more mixed damage and can be especially devastating in Trick Room. However, this compromises Tyranitar's bulk by making it lose 10% of its HP per attack.
- Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, removes Focus Sash, and scouts the opponent.
========
- Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resists, but the Life Orb set and Dragon Dance set has signficantly reduced bulk, and should refrain from losing too much health while switching in.
- Thanks to its coverage options and the potential to take a quick KO with Continental Crush, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success.
- Proper Speed control and positional play with its partner brings out full potential of Tyranitar, as Tyranitar appreciates moving before it can be taken down by super effective moves.
- Take advantage of Protect in order to earn free turns for its partner to use its Speed control, or fire off big damage onto the opposing Pokemon.
- Continental Crush is one-time use, so be careful not to waste the move too early.
- With the Dragon Dance set, set up to either clean up late game or wallbreak with boosted Rock Slides.
- The Dragon Dance set has less bulk and needs to be at full HP in order to set up effectively, as it sometimes will be forced take a lot of damage on the turn it sets up.
- Note that Dragon Dance set is still slower than Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Mega Salamence, and Shaymin-Sky even after one boost.
Team Options
========
- Speed control helps Tyranitar attack first with Rock Slide without getting pinned by super effective moves or double targets.
- Tailwind setters such as Zapdos and Salamence-Mega also let Tyranitar attack first.
- Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room, but beware of the defensive non-synergy.
- Dragon Dance Tyranitar appreciates team support to help it set up. Fake Out from Scrafty, Redirection support from Amoonguss and Togekiss, Sky Drop support from Assault Vest Tapu Koko, and Wide Guard from Celesteela and Aegislash are good examples.
- U-turn and Volt Switch from likes of Landorus-T, Genesect, and Tapu Koko also allow the player to scout the opponent and can grant Tyranitar a free switch-in at an advantageous position to set up.
- Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Fini can handle Fighting-types such as Terrakion and Scrafty for Tyranitar.
- Intimidate rounds out terrific bulk for Tyranitar, and the common users of Intimidate such as Landorus-T and Salamence also handles Fighting-types.
- Dragon Dance set can have missing holes in coverage, which requires correct partners for it to sweep.
- Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent intimidate Pokemon such as Landorus-T from switching in. Tapu Fini can Heal Pulse or Swagger Tyranitar for more bulk or damage.
- Electric-types such as Tapu Koko and Zapdos, or Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu can also threaten Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic.
- Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
- Tyranitar is such a flexible Pokemon that you can mix-and-match items, coverage moves, and EVs to suit your team.
- Assault Vest allows Tyranitar to check the majority of special attackers despite the wide distribution of moves that can hit Tyranitar for super effective damage.
- As a result, Assault Vest lets Tyranitar check likes of Heatran, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B taking notably less damage in the process.
- Fire Blast allows Tyranitar to hit Ferrothorn significantly harder than other Fighting-type moves.
- Chople and Shuca Berry allows Heatran to take Fighting- and Ground-type moves from likes of Landorus-T, Deoxys-A, and Zygarde, and KO them in return with appropriate coverage moves.
- Rock Polish + Weakness Policy set allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Tapu Koko, and Deoxys-A, as well as common Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Tapu Lele, which it cannot with Dragon Dance.
- Max speed with Jolly nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Deoxys-A, and Tapu Koko, as well as Scarf Landorus-T, Scarf Tapu Lele, and +1 Zygarde after the Rock Polish
- Weakness Policy allows Tyranitar to boost its damage and take advantage of its multiple weaknesses.
- Assurance and Payback are alternative Dark-type STAB moves that can do significantly more damage than Crunch in the right condition.
- Pursuit, especially with Choice Band allows Tyranitar to checkmate and remove targets by preventing the free switch-out of frail Pokemon such as Mega Gengar.
- Stealth Rock can be used on bulkier sets.
- Alternative coverage options such as Iron Head, Thunderbolt, Aqua Tail, though they are highly situational as none really sticks out due to Tyranitar's obscene neutral coverage already.
===================
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-type Pokemon such as Terrakion and Scrafty resist both Rock Slide and Crunch, and make short work of Tyranitar with a super effective Fighting-type. While not Fighting-type themselves, Landorus-T and Deoxys-A commonly use Superpower, and All-out Pummeling Tapu Lele also downs Tyranitar without Chople Berry.
**Ground-types**: Ground-type Pokemon can hit Tyranitar with a super effective STAB. Landorus has intimidate to further dampen Tyranitar's attacks, while Zygarde resists Rock Slide. However, they are prone to Ice-type coverage moves from Tyranitar.
**Water-types**: Water-type Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Milotic take minimal damage from Tyranitar, bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush. They can chip down Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move, or start setting up.
**Grass-types**: Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss take minimal damage bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush, and threatens Tyranitar with large damage and Spore. Ferrothorn can also handle Tyranitar, but need be careful of Fighting-type and Fire-type coverage moves.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Genesect and Metagross can outspeed Tyranitar and threatens it with plenty of damage. Celesteela can stomach a few attacks from Tyranitar, and has Wide Guard to stop it from using Rock Slide.
**Fairy-types**: Despite Tyranitar's high Special Defense, Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini can do significant damage with super effective Moonblast.
**Opposing weather**: Without Sand, Tyranitar becomes much more manageable to handle using special attacks. Pokemon such as Pelipper, Politoed, and Mega Charizard Y have ways to hit Tyranitar super effectively for large damage, as long as they have the weather control.
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