CHOICE BAND TYRANITAR
1) INTRODUCTION
Hello everyone, this is the first team I post here and would like to hear some feedback.
A lot of people might have felt sad seeing Tyranitar, one of the historically most prominent OU pokemon, drop at the start of the generation. After using this team for a bit I think he still can do stuff, even though he doesn't shine as he has in the past. I'm still laddering with this team and I'm currently at 1762 ELO.
2) WHY TYRANITAR?
Recently I was seeing a lot of banded Dragonites on the ladder, so I decided to try it out as well. I ended up getting very little success, which made me abandon the idea of Dragonite, but left me with a need of "Big Banded Damage"; I looked around and guess what? Good ol' Tyranitar has the same base attack as the dragon.
Also, a lot of people had hyped up the return of Excadrill, seeing it as a potential saving grace for TTar, so I kinda wanted to try out sand as a playstyle as well.
3) TEAM DESCRIPTION
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
Item: Choice Band to hit hard.
Tera Type: I have tried running defensive teras like Fairy to patch up some weaknesses, but it was hardly ever useful; Dark allows for extra breaking power.
Nature+EVs: Adamant 252 Atk for maximum power, 244 Spe lets it outrun max speed jolly Kingambit, the rest in HP for general bulk.
Moves: Tyranitar's typing doesn't allow it to switch into a lot of stuff with all the ground, fighting and steel moves thrown around. Knowing this, I decided to go with a CB set because keeping sand up looked way too difficult and I wanted to make the not-so-common switch in opportunities it gets matter.
I went Stone Edge because STAB, even though most of the time I'm just clicking Knock Off, but being able to hit stuff like Kyurem, Alolan Ninetales, Zapdos and the Steel Birds harder after knocking them has sometimes saved me. Knock Off is the more reliable STAB which always guarantees progress even if it ends up hitting a resist. Earthquake is nice to catch stuff like Heatran (fire types in general) or dark resists without risking the miss with Stone Edge.
Fire Punch might seem redundant, but a lot of times it's a nice middleground option as it allows to hit super-effectively steels and grasses at the same time. Also, you have an option to smack steels if your eq is weakened by the ever present grassy terrain.
Excadrill @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sand Rush
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance
Item: Heavy Duty Boots allow for more opportunities to come in and spin, or threaten to.
Tera Type: I initially ran Ground but Flying gives more defensive utility and setup opportunities.
Nature+EVs: Jolly is essential because it allows Excadrill to outrun all Booster Energy mons and relevant scarfers in sand. EVs are pretty self explanatory.
Moves: Earthquake and Iron Head are always a good combination, Rapid Spin allows to remove hazard if needed, Swords Dance allows Excadrill to clean up late game.
Samurott-Hisui @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Razor Shell
- Ceaseless Edge
- Sacred Sword
- Aqua Jet
Item: Choice Scarf for speed control and possible revenge killing or late game cleaning.
Tera Type: I usually run Dark, but since I already have that on Tyranitar I went for Water.
Nature+EVs: Jolly nature is mandatory to outspeed prominent threats such as Dragapult, Scarf Gholdengo, Jolly Dragonite after a DD. EVs complement
the role it fills.
Moves: Razor Shell+Ceaseless Edge are mandatory on Samurott-H, Sacred Sword allows it to hit Kingambit and is Sharpness boosted, Aqua Jet priority can always be useful.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Item: Leftovers for a bit of passive recovery.
Tera Type: Steel allows to flip some matchups and gives a nice Poison immunity if needed. Complements well with Levitate.
Nature+EVs: Rotom is the physical backbone of the team, tasked with dealing with strong physical attackers and neutralising them with a burn. Bold nature and defense investment allow it to fill the role perfectly, with a little bit of speed to outspeed Kingambit.
Moves: Hydro Pump hits grounds, Volt Switch gives some momentum, Will-O-Wisp to deal with physical attackers, Pain Split is a nice new option which gives some much needed extra longevity.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
Item: Toxic Orb to activate Poison Heal.
Tera Type: Water turns the Ice weakness into a resistance and is in general a good defensive type. Also helps into rain.
Nature+EVs: Full SpDef investment allows Gliscor to switch into a lot of special attacks which would normally obliterate it and with its good natural defense it becomes a good mixed wall.
Moves: Earthquake to be able to deal some kind of damage, Stealth Rock because Samurott already has Ceaseless Edge, Toxic to annoy more defensive pokemon and setup sweepers, Protect to get advantage of Poison Heal.
Goodra-Hisui @ Assault Vest
Ability: Gooey
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flash Cannon
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Tail
Item: Assault Vest with Hisuian Goodra's already good special defense allows it to take any special hit easily, even without investment.
Ability: Since this team is a bit weak to grass, there's an argument for Sap Sipper. I overall prefer Gooey over it because it punishes physical attackers with a speed drop and while a Grass immunity is nice, with HP investment and a 4x resistence it can take the hits well enough.
Nature+EVs: HP investment is for general bulk, while SpAtk investment allows to be threatening even as a defensive pokemon. Quiet nature is to have a bit more power and not lower Dragon Tail damage.
Moves: Draco Meteor for a strong hit when needed, Flash Cannon to smack fairies, Fire Blast can catch steels and grasses off guard (kind of like TTar Fire Punch), Dragon Tail to rack up hazards damage or phase out threats.
4) BAD MATCHUPS
There are a few bad matchups I noticed, which will be explained below.
Rillaboom: With Rotom-W being the team's physical backbone and Gliscor being SpDef invested, the threat of strong grass moves force Goodra to switch in. Goodra takes grass hits fine, but problems might occur if the Rilla goes for coverage moves. I recommend to manage carefully Goodra's HP and, if needed, invest tera on Rotom to burn the monkey.
Walking Wake (in sun): Wake in sun can hit very hard, at the point where Gliscor can't keep up. I use TTar to override sun whenever it's up, even at the cost of getting burned by Torkoal (in my exxperience, most Torkoals don't run Body Press), in order to force Wake to commit to Draco or tickle Goodra with a Hydro Steam. Sometimes might be necessary to commit tera to eliminate the Wake. If sun isn't up, Samurott can also outspeed and hit hard with Ceaseless Edge.
Meowscarada: Basically the same issue as Rillaboom, except this also has ice coverage now. If it's a choice set, especially scarf, it is easily be manageable, but CB and Boots sets are a lot more annoying. Tera Steel Rotom still deals with it fine, while Goodra can't withstand Protean Triple Axel multiple times.
Iron Boulder: Boulder usually comes in on Gliscor late game when the opponent gets a free switch. Gliscor can't deal with tera Grass or Flying Substitute SD sets, so I recommend going to Goodra and force them to drop their speed and defences. Sometimes it might even be worthwhile turning Fairy on Goodra. After the speed drop, Samurott outspeeds. Alternatively, if sand is up Excadrill can revenge easily (sometimes at the cost of sacrificing TTar).
Archaludon: Archaludon can be threatening if it runs an offensive set with Body Press, otherwise Gliscor+Goodra can usually deal with it.
The team is generally weak to Fighting.
5) POKEPASTE
Link to Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/2a098536d56fa5a9
6) OUTRO
Thanks for reading, any advice is appriciated.
