[OVERVIEW]
- Tyranitar has a monstrous Attack stat and even a decent Special Attack stat as well as great coverage. These things pool together to make it a great attacker.
- Its dark typing is useful for checking things such as Cresselia and Aegislash, but also hinders it with its weakness to Fairy-types and four times weakness to fighting.
- Sand Stream allows it to battle weather wars, and with its low speed, it usually wins them. It's also a great pick against Pelipper and Mega Charizard Y, assuming it can play in the Sandstorm.
- With it's relatively low base power moves, Tyranitar is very susceptible to Intimidates from Pokemon such as Mega Salamence and Landorus-T.
- Tyranitar's glaring weakness to fighting means it can't take Fighting-type attacks well at all, and this is very exploitable given most Fighting-types are faster than Tyranitar.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Rock Slide
move 2: Crunch
move 3: Ice Punch / Ice Beam
move 4: Superpower / Low Kick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Naive / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Satk / 252 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Rock Slide is Tyranitar's most consistent Rock STAB attack. Even though it lacks the power of Stone Edge, it hits both Pokemon on the field and is 10% more accurate. Rock Slide also increases Tyranitar's luck factor with a 30% chance to flinch either target with each use.
- Crunch is Tyranitar's strongest attack on this set. The main reason to select Crunch over Rock Slide on a given turn would be to either hit Pokemon weak to Dark-type attacks such as Cresselia or to circumvent Wide Guards.
- Ice Beam is used to have a way to outspeed non Choice Scarf Landorus-T and do lots of damage to it, as well as chunking Mega Salamence. Ice Punch fills the same role, and allows Tyranitar to be ran with a Jolly nature, but is more susceptible to Intimidate.
- Superpower and Low Kick are both used for hitting targets such as Mega Kangaskhan and opposing Landorus-T for fast, super effective damage. Superpower does more damage to a majority of Pokemon, but Low Kick doesn't lower any of Tyranitar's stats.
Set Details
========
- Choice Scarf ensures Tyranitar gets off strong damage before anything else in the field gets a chance to attack. This is most notable in the case of Mega Charizard Y, who Tyranitar can use Rock Slide against and pick up a knock out before Charizard can attack Tyranitar with Solarbeam.
- Sand Stream summoning a Sandstorm at the beginning of the turn increases Tyranitar's Special Defense, and breaks the Focus Sash of any Pokemon that is affected by the Sandstorm.
- The EV spread allows Tyranitar to both maximize its offensive power and Speed, which are the two main roles of the set.
- A Jolly nature combined with the EV spread allows Tyranitar to outrun Mega Metagross.
Usage Tips
========
- If Tyranitar were to find itself in a weather war, it is advised not to lead with it, as it outspeeds all other weather setters with its Choice Scarf. It is better to switch-in after they have brought the hail, rain, or sun.
- Choice Scarf Tyranitar has to think very wisely about which move it locks into, as the wrong move could cost it in an endgame scenario. In this situation, it is usually wise to lock into a STAB move unless Tyranitar can sweep through the opposing team without one.
- With no item to boost its offensive pressure, Choice Scarf Tyranitar is very weak to Intimidate. When playing with Tyranitar, it is recommended to remove any users of Intimidate before it enters the field, so that it can deal as much damage as possible and make full use of its high Attack stat.
Team Options
========
- Excadrill is Tyranitar's partner in crime, and Choice Scarf Tyranitar only supports Excadrill more. The two together form one of the metagame's most offensive duos, and with the introduction of Z-moves, it only got more offensive and powerful. Excadrill can also cover Fairy-types, such as Sylveon, that Tyranitar struggles against.
- Amoonguss can absorb Fighting-type attacks aimed at Tyranitar by using Rage Powder, tanking those attacks with ease. It can also use Spore against certain threats before Tyranitar enters so the battlefield, so that Tyranitar can prioritize what it has a good matchup against.
- Mega Salamence can support Tyranitar by being another fast and offensive Pokemon that pairs nicely with it, and Mega Salamence and Tyranitar have more coverage than Tyranitar and Excadrill do. With Aerilate boosted Double-Edges, Mega Salamence can easily prioritize and remove Fighting-types such as Conkeldurr that Tyranitar does not enjoy facing.
- Milotic provides a very intimidating check to Landorus-T and Mega Salamence, which can Intimidate Tyranitar and lower its Attack. With a potential Adrenaline Orb boost, Milotic can outspeed both of the aforementioned Pokemon.
[SET]
name: Standard Attacker
move 1: Rock Slide
move 2: Crunch
move 3: Dragon Dance / Low Kick / Ice Punch / Ice Beam
move 4: Protect
item: Weakness Policy / Life Orb / Darkinium Z
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant / Brave
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Rock Slide is Tyranitar's most reliable rock STAB attack. Stone Edge is too inconsistent and in the fast paced environment of doubles, a miss can be game defining. Rock Slide still does enough damage to 2HKO bulky Flying-types, such as Zapdos.
- Crunch, like Rock Slide, is the most reliable STAB dark move. It just does so much damage to anything that takes super effective damage, and even Pokemon that take neutral damage from Crunch are going to lose a fair chunk of health.
- Ice Beam can be used to punish Landorus-T or Salamence switch-ins, and means Tyranitar can still do some damage after an Intimidate.
- Low Kick covers the option of steels and Mega Kangaskhan, most of the time giving a 2HKO on any Steel that takes super effective damage.
- Dragon Dance can be used to punish passive turns from the opponent, such as double Protects. With said boost, Tyranitar can then increase its damage output and really set up sweeps. It should be noted, however, that without an EV spread that focuses more on Speed, Tyranitar will not outspeed base 100s such as Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Charizard Y.
- Tyranitar is a Pokemon that draws lots of attention to itself with the enormous amount of pressure that it emits. Protect can be used to shift momentum or switch-in a Pokemon that can cover the ones that are threatening Tyranitar at that given moment.
Set Details
========
- Weakness Policy takes advantage of the fact that Tyranitar takes little damage from super effective special attacks such as Dazzling Gleam, and then punishes those attacks with a massive damage increase. Combined with Dragon Dance, Tyranitar can turn into a win condition in a matter of one turn.
- Life Orb boosts overall damage output and helps negate the Intimidate drops that Tyranitar is likely to receive over the course of the battle. It also ensures that, with a neutral nature, Tyranitar can pick up a knock out on Landorus-T and Salamence with Ice Beam.
- Darkinium Z allows Tyranitar to have a one time nuke in the form of Black Hole Eclipse, which can pick up a knock out on even Cresselia and Aegislash, as well as many neutral targets.
- The EV spread, in conjunction with a boosting nature, maximize Tyranitar's attacking potential. With it, Tyranitar becomes an even more threatening damage dealer than it would with something like a Jolly build.
Usage Tips
========
- When using this Tyranitar, it's especially important to note what Intimidates your opponent has. With a build this offensive, Intimidate lowering your damage output does all but make your role as a bulky damage dealer useless. Prioritizing these Pokemon and then bring Tyranitar will be the most optimal gameplan in the average situation.
- Remember your Speed tiers. With this set, Tyranitar will underspeed every common Weather setter, which means you win weather wars. However, you're slower than Aegislash, Amoonguss and Araquanid, which can bite you in Trick Room in the case of the latter two Pokemon.
- As was stated earlier, it is highly recommended to run an EV spread that focuses more on Speed when using the Dragon Dance set. With one Dragon Dance and 252 EVs with a neutral nature, you're already outspeeding base 100s and even Garchomp.
- With the Weakness Policy build, taking advantage of cheap switch-ins on weak super effective attacks to easily gain a +2 boost in both attacking stats can be momentum swinging. If Tyranitar switches into a Tapu Fini's Dazzling Gleam, for example, and then does over three quarters of its health in damage the next turn with boosted attacks, Weakness Policy has been successfully utilized.
Team Options
========
- Trick Room is an amazing option to support Tyranitar. Tyranitar's worse weakness is generally its Speed. However, with Trick Room, its low Speed stat can become one of its greatest weapons. Being able to fire off Rock Slides before your opponent's Pokemon can attack increases your luck factors on that turn, and having the ability to use a strong Black Hole Eclipse to pick up certain KOs on bulky Pokemon before they can attack can be crucial.
- Mega Salamence is a great partner for Tyranitar, with Intimidate only increasing Tyranitar's physical bulk. In addition, Salamence can use Aeriliate boosted Double-Edges which will instantly dispatch any Fighting-type Pokemon in Tyranitar's path.
- Heatran has the unique role of being a Steel-type that serves as a check to other Steel-types. In this case, its best role is blowing up said steels so Tyranitar is free to use Rock Slide until its heart is content.
- Tapu Fini prevents Tyranitar from being burned, and can switch into Fighting-moves with ease. It can then severely chunk said Fighting-type Pokemon with a Moonblast. It should be noted that these two do stack a grass weakness.
- Excadrill is one of Tyranitar's most classic partners. Sand Stream gives it a two times boost two its speed, and with the introduction of Z-moves, allows Excadrill to fire off a strong, fast Tectonic Rage.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
- Assurance can be utilized in tandem with faster Pokemon to do more damage than Crunch, but it is weaker than Crunch without a boost and is hard to position effectively.
- Stone Edge is an option on either set to both play around Wide Guard and do more damage than usual, turning certain 3HKOs into 2HKOs such as Rock Slide + Stone Edge onto Mega Kangaskhan.
- A Special Attacking set with Dark Pulse and Fire Blast/Ice Beam can be utilized if Tyranitar is especially afraid of Intimidates on certain teams.
- Assault Vest increases Tyranitar's Special Defense on top of the increase from Sandstorm, turning Tyranitar into a special tank.
- Fire Punch and Thunder Punch, while both filling very niche roles, can be used to tech for certain Pokemon. For instance, Fire Punch can be used to play against Ferrothorn or Kartana, and Thunder Punch does slightly more damage than Crunch to bulky Water-type Pokemon.
- Fire Blast fills a niche role of hitting Kartana and Ferrothorn, however those are two decently common Pokemon that greatly threaten Tyranitar.
- Dragon Tail is a way to phase out set up strategies like Eevee or Trick Room users.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-type Pokemon completely wall Tyranitar, taking not very effective damage from both of its STAB attacks. Pokemon such as Conkeldurr, Terrakion, or Scrafty can easily absorb these attacks and OHKO Tyranitar with ease. There are also Pokemon who commonly carry Fighting-type attacks that aren't Fighting-types themselves, such as Mega Kangaskhan, opposing Tyranitar, and Landorus-T.
**Bulky Ground-types**: Pokemon like Landorus-T and Garchomp can switch-in and take very little damage from Tyranitar's STAB attacks, and then fire off a strong Earthquake or even Tectonic Rage. Tyranitar can fight back in this scenario if it gets the opportunity to use Ice Beam.
**Intimidate**: Tyranitar doesn't have very powerful attacks outside of Stone Edge to begin with, so when Tyranitar's damage output is even further reduced, it begins to just sit on the field, easily exposed to super effective attacks.
**Fairy-types**: Mega Mawile, Sylveon and the Guardian Deities are still around and can use their strong Fairy STAB attacks to chunk Tyranitar for large amounts of damage. Since most of the attacks are special, Tyranitar can usually survive them thanks to the Special Defense boost Rock-types receive from Sandstorm.
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