[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Rapid Spin
move 4: Swords Dance / Stealth Rock
item: Leftovers
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Excadrill is a strong utility presence; it has the ability to function as a wallbreaker with strong physical attacks and potentially a sweeper if it can get a Speed boost under its belt. Excadrill is also capable of setting Stealth Rock while removing opposing entry hazards with Rapid Spin. It does not match up particularly well against most common hazard setters, however. In addition, its Steel typing allows it to temporarily check Fairy-types such as Sylveon and non-Flamethrower Clefable. This makes Excadrill a superb fit on teams that need hazard removal and a great teammate to Pokemon that struggle against Fairy-types such as Conkeldurr, Hydreigon, and Dragapult. With this said, Corviknight tends to wall this set while threatening it with a strong, super effective Body Press. Pokemon that take advantage of Corviknight such as Rotom-H, Rotom-W, and Toxapex can be good teammates for Excadrill as a result of this.
Mold Breaker Earthquake is particularly devastating when you face common threats such as Rotom-H and Rotom-W, which otherwise would be quite problematic to Excadrill. The aforementioned Rapid Spin allows for Excadrill to remove opposing hazards while boosting its Speed, which provides great utility on a consistent basis. Finally, the last move depends on the remainder of your team. Excadrill can make use of Swords Dance, which allows for it to break through teams and even sweep with a Rapid Spin under its belt to increase its Speed. With a Swords Dance, Pokemon like Ferrothorn will take too much damage to check Excadrill. It can also serve as an offensive Stealth Rock setter if you happen to lack an alternative on your team; while it does struggle to handle Defog Corviknight, Excadrill is able to pressure most other forms of removal in the metagame. Both options have a lot of merit, and your team composition will ultimately dictate which you choose.
[SET]
name: Sand Rush
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Swords Dance
move 4: Rapid Spin / Rock Slide
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
A classic use of Excadrill is to pair it alongside a sand setter such as Tyranitar or Hippowdon and gie it the ability Sand Rush. With a sand setters a teammate, you do stack a number of weaknesses, however, which makes Pokemon like Toxapex, Clefable, and Dragapult common teammates to help check Water-types or Fighting-types. On these teams, Excadrill tends to serve the role of a physical sweeper and revenge killer thanks to the doubled Speed. Excadrill is one of the better sweepers in the tier when given sand support because it is already quite strong naturally and has the ability to boost its Attack further with Swords Dance. Unfortunately, the lack of Mold Breaker makes Rotom-W and Rotom-H problematic. In order to combat these threats, keeping Stealth Rock up is important, and using strong Dragon-types like Hydreigon and the aforementioned Dragapult can go a long way. Knock Off users like Zeraora and Toxapex can help Excadrill in the long haul as well.
Rapid Spin is still a superb option, as it can remove entry hazards and provide a Speed boost outside of sand, which can always come in handy. However, if you have another form of removal and wish to do more damage against Rotom-W, Rotom-H, and Mandibuzz, then Rock Slide can be considered, specifically in conjunction with a Life Orb. This is only resorted to sporadically, and teams usually prefer the longevity of Leftovers, which allows Excadrill to check Fairy types such as Wish Clefable and Sylveon, and have other methods of crippling the aforementioned Pokemon. Finally, Swords Dance is used to boost the Attack of Excadrill, which can come in handy when trying to clean opposing teams with Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Seismitoad.
[SET]
name: Suicide Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rapid Spin
move 4: Steel Beam
item: Focus Sash
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Hyper offensive teams tend to appreciate getting up entry hazards during the earlier stages of the game. Excadrill is a premier setter of Stealth Rock from the lead position with this set. You pick it to start off the game, and Excadrill allows you to get up hazards while posing a threat offensively; it also has the ability to keep opposing hazards off the field, which is even more beneficial. It is always going to be short lived, but the positioning it enables will set these teams up with much-needed momentum and hazard control during the initial stages of games. Common teammates for this variant of Excadrill tend to be strong setup sweepers like Cloyster, Hawlucha, and Hydreigon.
Rapid Spin allows for Excadrill to outrun specific targets such as Dugtrio and prevent opponents from setting up their own hazards. Finally, Steel Beam is slotted fourth; this may seem a bit bizarre to some, but it allows for Excadrill to take itself out with recoil when brought down to Focus Sash or below half health. This not only gives you a free switch into a more offensively threatening teammate in any given situation, but it also prevents opposing Defog users such as Corviknight and Mandibuzz from being a nuisance.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Finchinator, 114198]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jordy, 395754], [lyd, 303291]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073]]
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