Garchomp
OK, I've finished this. Garchomp pretty much stayed the same, and not many 5th generation Pokemon seem to help it that much. If you feel I missed anything feel free to post/PM me/tell me on IRC.
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[Overview]
<p>In the generation shift Garchomp gained no noteable moves; its basically the same Garchomp. This is not a bad thing by any means, however, as Garchomp is still as threatening as ever with its great base 102 Speed, which allows it to outspeed nearly every Dragon-type Pokemon, and great base 130 Attack. Garchomp is also helped along since the greatest enemies of the non-Choice Scarf sets, Latias and Latios, have lost their Soul Dew; they are almost never seen in now. Garchomp also has great dual STABs, Dragon and Ground, that allow it to hit nearly everything in the game for neutral damage. It does have its short comings though. Its defenses, while still great, pale in comparison to many cover legendaries. Also, its great STABs can only carry it so far, and it will sometimes find itself walled quite easily.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Outrage
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Dragon Claw
move 4: Stone Edge
item: Choice Scarf
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Set Comments
- can revenge tons of stuff
- seems even more useful this generation with the 2 cover legendaries being vunerable to it revenge killing them
- Outrage lets it easily revenge kill stuff with its massive power (Reshiram, Zekrom, Palkia, Latias, Latios, ect., Outrage does 83%-98% to max HP Zekrom so its an OHKO roughly 50% of the time after SR)
- Earthquake combats Steel-types that resist Outrage
- Dragon Claw lets Garchomp use its Dragon STAB without locking itself into Outrage
- Stone Edge can let it pick off weakened Lugia
- Fire Fang/Fire Blast can be used to roast Skarmory and Nattorei
- Toxic can be used to poison walls it would struggle with (Lugia, Groudon)
- Sand Veil can be abused for annoying effects
- Tyranitar can help it abuse Sand Veil. In this case, Doryuuzu also loves to abuse SandStorm and resists Dragon for Garchomp
- Stealth Rock support is useful for obtaining KOs on Rayquaza and Palkia with Dragon Claw, so Deoxys-S maybe a good lead to pair it with (or even Tyranitar to kill 2 birds with one stone, although SandStorm may be hard to maintain)
- Steel-types to take Dragon- and Ice-type attacks coming from the opponent are helpful
- Kyogre can also be a nice teammate, although you can't use Tyranitar alongside it too efficiently. Kyogre can easily check Deoxys-D, Skarmory, Lugia, and Groudon who all give this set trouble. Garchomp can also take Thunders for Kyogre and Kyogre can take Ice Beams for Garchomp.
- Magnezone can trap and kill Steel-types
- Steels can switch into choiced Dragon-type attacks but must watch out for Earthquake
- Skarmory can easily take Garchomp on
- Lugia can set up Reflect, heal up with Roost, and Whirlwind Garchomp away; or hit it with Ice Beam
- Groudon takes little from any attack with its massive defense and can either hit Garchomp with Dragon Claw or phaze it away
- Deoxys-D takes under 50% from Outrage, so it has no problem walling this set
- Nattorei and Scizor can both take a hit or two (bar Fire Fang/Fire Blast) and set up Spikes/do some damage respectively.
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Stone Edge / Fire Fang
item: Life Orb / Haban Berry
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Set Comments
- Severly intimidating with its great Speed and ability to double its Attack in one go
- Outrage and Earthquake provide near perfect coverage, with Stone Edge there to hit the stuff they don't
- Fire Fang is useable to hit Skarmory if you don't trust Stone Edge's 80% accuracy
- Life Orb can be used for a noticeable amount of extra power (you will always 2HKO 252/252+ Groudon for example)
- Haban is useful to give you a chance against things like Scarf Palkia or Scarf Zekrom
- Dragon Claw is useable over Outrage, but the loss of power is huge
- Sandstorm support from Tyranitar can be useful, buts its hard to maintain it for the most part
- If you opt for Life Orb, Garchomp loves paralysis support from something like Kyogre, as it can easily lure out and paralyze things like Scarf Palkia
- Wobbuffet can not only aid Garchomp in setting up Swords Dances with Encore, but it can also trap and kill things like Scarf Palkia with ease
- Tickle Wobbuffet + a Pursuit user can also put an end to Lugia
- Garchomp, as most other offensive Pokemon, likes Stealth Rock support, especially for Lugia. Deoxys-S is a great lead to set them up.
- Magnezone can make it easier to spam Outrage by trapping and killing Steel-types
- Steel-types resist all of Garchomp's weaknesses
- Lugia is sometimes 2HKOed by +2 Outrage from behind Reflect, but it outspeeds Garchomp and hit it with Ice Beam or phaze it out (although either way it takes a major beating)
- Steel-types can switch into Outrage and cause some trouble
- While it can't switch directly into Garchomp, Mewtwo easily outspeeds it and can crush it with Ice beam
- Skarmory can cause some problems with immunity/resistance to both of Garchomp's STABs, and to a lesser degree, Bronzong can do the same
- While it can't switch into anything either, Furijio can outspeed and hit Garchomp with Ice Beam
name: Choice Band
move 1: Outrage
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge / Fire Fang
move 4: Dragon Claw
item: Choice Band
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Set Comments
- Great power back by Garchomp's great Speed
- Garchomp has great dual STABs to work with
- Stone Edge lets you hit Lugia switch ins hard
- Fire Fang lets you do a decent amount of damage to Skarmory, who otherwise nearly completely walls Garchomp
- Dragon Claw lets Garchomp use its Dragon-type STAB without locking itself into Outrage
- Toxic can be used to hit troublesome walls on the switch in and cripple them
- Fire Blast can be used to take a decent chunk out of Skarmory if you dislike Fire Fang
- Wobbuffet can be a great way to deal with Scarf Pokemon, as well as Lugia
- Once agains, Sandstorm support can make Garchomp even more annoying thanks to Sand Veil
- Paralysis support is useful to remove Pokemon able to revenge kill Garchomp via higher Speed out of the equation
- Kyogre is great at providing said paralysis support because its a great lure for Palkia
- Nattorei is a great counter for Zekrom and Palkia
- Steel-types can switch into Outrage with ease. Skarmory in particular gives Garchomp trouble as it resists or is immune to both of its STABs
- Lugia can switch in and set up Reflect
- Its slightly vunerable to revenge killing from Pokemon such as Scarf Zekrom and Scarf Palkia
- Faster Pokemon like Mewtwo can also cause Garchomp some problems, although in most cases they can't switch directly into it
- Steel-types resist all of Garchomp's weaknesses
- Magnezone can trap and kill Steel-types so Garchomp can spam Outrage without fear
- Wobbuffet can trap and kill faster Pokemon in most cases (especially opposing scarfers). It can also use Tickle, alongside a Pursuit user, to put Lugia out of commission
- Tyranitar is a great Pursuit user alongside the aforementioned Wobbuffet and Garchomp because it also provides Sandstorm so Garchomp can abuse Sand Veil.
- Nattorei can handle Scarf Palkia and Scarf Zekrom, as well as set up Spikes
- Kyogre can provide paralysis support and check many Pokemon that threaten Garchomp
- A SubSalac set may be useable, buts it's a fairly unreliable strategy
- A Mix set may also be useable, but Garchomp has fairly poor Special Attack and its often best to stick to physical sets
- Crunch is useable to hit Psychic-types, but there are better options
- Lugia can outspeed all but Choice Scarf Garchomp and set up Reflect in its face, then proceed to use Ice Beam
- Groudon can wall the Scarf set to a degree, but it struggles with the other sets
- Steel-types can switch into an Outraging Garchomp
- Wobbuffet can revenge the Choice Band and the Choice Scarf sets with ease
- Mewtwo can outspeed and kill all but Scarf Garchomp with Ice Beam
- If its not equiped with a Choice Scarf, Scarf Palkia can outspeed and KO Garchomp (needs to watch out for Haban)
- Skarmory can switch in and wall most Garchomp with ease
- Garchomp gets Rough Skin as its Dream World ability, which may be useful for a few different things
- It may be able to use a lead set with Rough Skin breaking Sashes while it sets up Stealth Rock
- If you don't have a Tyranitar or Hippowdon, you may want to just use Rough Skin to rack a little bit of extra damage
- Nearly all priority attacks are physical, so not even they get off for free, taking around 25%, assuming neutrality to Stealth Rock, from a revenge kill
