[Overview]
Tyranitar's unique defensive typing and solid bulk under sand allow it to check prominent special attackers in the tier like Dragapult, Heatran, Tornadus-T, and Volcarona. Alternatively, Tyranitar can use its great Attack stat, amazing offensive typing, strong coverage options, and Choice Band to become a fearsome wallbreaker. Sand Stream allows Tyranitar to support sand sweepers like Excadrill, Dracozolt, and Sand Veil Garchomp. However, Tyranitar's typing leaves it vulnerable to common Pokemon in the metagame such as Landorus-T, Rillaboom, and Tapu Lele. Tyranitar's lack of reliable recovery makes it easy to wear down and hurts its ability to check Pokemon repeatedly throughout the game. Additionally, Tyranitar's low Speed leaves it susceptible to faster foes like Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Rillaboom. Finally, many Pokemon that Tyranitar is supposed to check like Tornadus-T and Kyurem run super effective coverage moves to overwhelm it.
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Rock Blast
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Thunder Wave / Toxic
item: Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Tyranitar's ability to pressure common forms of entry hazard removal such as Tornadus-T, Zapdos, and Mandibuzz makes it a great Stealth Rock user. Rock Blast is the STAB move of choice, as it has higher PP and accuracy than Stone Edge. Also, it helps against Substitute users like Kyurem. Earthquake OHKOes Heatran while dealing good damage to Toxapex, Bisharp, and opposing Tyranitar. Thunder Wave cripples defensive switch-ins like Corviknight and Clefable, while Toxic can be used to put Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Hippowdon on a timer. Leftovers provide passive recovery, increasing Tyranitar's longevity; on the other hand, Heavy-Duty Boots can be used to prevent Tyranitar from being worn down by entry hazards.
Flying-types like Corviknight and Skarmory can deal with Grass- and Ground-types like Rillaboom, Kartana, Landorus-T, and Garchomp for Tyranitar, and both of them enjoy Tyranitar checking Heatran and Volcarona. Corviknight provides Defog support to prevent Tyranitar from being worn down by entry hazards, while Skarmory can set Spikes to form a hazard-stacking core with great defensive synergy. Nasty Plot Tornadus-T is noteworthy, as it can lure in Zapdos and smack it with a Rock-type Weather Ball under sand, which helps Tyranitar to keep Stealth Rock on the field. Slowbro can deal with Ground-, Water-, and Fighting-types that plague Tyranitar, such as Landorus-T, Barraskewda, and Urshifu-R, and it can bring Tyranitar in safely via Teleport. Similarly, Slowking can check some threats that Tyranitar can't such as Tapu Lele and Clefable while providing a secondary check to Heatran. Both Slowbro and Slowking enjoy Tyranitar's ability to check Dragapult and Volcarona. Moreover, they can bring in sand wallbreakers like Excadrill and especially Dracozolt safely with Teleport, and also both of them can use Future Sight, which is great to wear down opposing Pokemon for said wallbreakers. Tangrowth checks Ground-, Grass-, and Water-types like Landorus-T, Garchomp, Rillaboom, and Barraskewda, and it lures in Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Zapdos, which Tyranitar can set Stealth Rock on or cripple with status effects. Sand sweepers like Excadrill, Dracozolt, and Sand Veil Garchomp appreciate Tyranitar's sand and Stealth Rock support to wear down their checks for a late-game sweep. Excadrill also provides Rapid Spin to remove entry hazards and boost its own Speed simultaneously.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Stone Edge
move 2: Crunch
move 3: Fire Punch
move 4: Ice Punch / Heavy Slam
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Tyranitar's high Attack stat further supported with Choice Band and solid coverage options makes it a great wallbreaker. Additionally, its fantastic special bulk under sand gives it defensive utility and allows it to check certain Pokemon like Heatran and Volcarona. Fire Punch allows Tyranitar to hit Steel-types like Ferrothorn, Kartana and Scizor, threatening them with an OHKO, while also providing another option to 2HKO Corviknight and Skarmory if Stone Edge PPs or its accuracy is a concern. Ice Punch nails Landorus-T and Garchomp on the switch while hitting Hippowdon for decent damage. Heavy Slam can be used to OHKO Clefable.
Choice Band Tyranitar pairs well with pivots like Slowbro, Slowking, Tornadus-T, and Corviknight that can give it free switches to attack. Slowbro checks Ground- and Water-types like Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Urshifu-R, while Slowking can check Tapu Lele and Clefable. Both of them offer Teleport to bring in Tyranitar safely and also provide Future Sight support, which makes Tyranitar far harder to switch into. Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Corviknight can deal with Grass- and Ground-types such as Rillaboom, Kartana, and Landorus-T, and they can bring Tyranitar in safely with U-turn against their own checks such as Zapdos and Heatran. Bulk Up Corviknight is a great teammate, as it appreciates Tyranitar's ability to deal with its checks such as Zapdos, Heatran, and Volcarona for a late-game sweep. Sand sweepers like Excadrill, Dracozolt, and Sand Veil Garchomp enjoy Tyranitar's sand and ability to weaken their checks such as Landorus-T and Corviknight, allowing them to clean late-game. Outside of sand teams, Pokemon such as Zeraora, Swords Dance Scizor, and Swords Dance Landorus-T benefit from Tyranitar weakening opposing Landorus-T and Corviknight, which gives them more opportunities to set up and break through opposing defensive cores or clean late-game.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
The specially defensive set can run Ice Beam to serve as a lure to Landorus-T and Garchomp, dealing a ton of damage on the switch, but it has limited uses outside of that, and running Thunder Wave is more useful to permanently cripple Pokemon like Corviknight and Clefable. Chople Berry allows Tyranitar to survive Fighting-type moves from the likes of Tornadus-T and Kyurem and KO them back with its Rock-type STAB move or cripple them with status conditions; however, it is a single-use item and Tyranitar prefers the longevity provided by Leftovers or Heavy-Duty Boots. A Dragon Dance set with Weakness Policy alongside dual screens support could be used on hyper offense teams, as dual screens allow Tyranitar to survive strong super effective moves like Garchomp's Earthquake and Tapu Lele's Moonblast while setting up. However, it has a mediocre Speed tier even after a boost, and it is outsped by threats like Zeraora, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and Kartana, which can revenge kill it easily after some chip damage. The Choice Band set can use an EV spread of 40 HP / 252 Atk / 48 SpD / 168 Spe to withstand a Moonblast from Choice Specs Tapu Lele while still outspeeding Azumarill and Skarmory. Choice Band Tyranitar can also use Superpower to almost OHKO Ferrothorn if rain weakens Fire Punch while also OHKOing Heatran. Nevertheless, Tyranitar doesn't have enough room for it in this set, and it is also forced out by the stat drop, which can give free turns to dangerous threats.
Checks and Counters
====
**Ground-types**: Offensive Ground-types like Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Excadrill threaten to KO Tyranitar with their strong STAB Earthquakes. They can set up Stealth Rock or boost with Swords Dance as Tyranitar is scared out. However, they are worn down quickly if they switch into Choice Band Tyranitar's attacks. Albeit uncommon, physically defensive Hippowdon can take on any Tyranitar set lacking Toxic and set up Stealth Rock or hit it with its STAB Earthquake.
**Grass-types**: Offensive Grass-types like Rillaboom and Kartana can OHKO Tyranitar with their Grass-type STAB moves. However, they dislike being paralyzed by Thunder Wave, and they don't take hits from Choice Band Tyranitar very well. Tangrowth's great bulk coupled with Regenerator allows it to switch into Tyranitar with relative ease. However, it can be crippled by Thunder Wave or Toxic from the specially defensive set. Ferrothorn can switch into the specially defensive set almost unharmed, and it can set Spikes or cripple Tyranitar with Leech Seed. However, it must be wary of Fire Punch from the Choice Band set.
**Water-types**: Urshifu-R and Barraskewda threaten Tyranitar with their STAB attacks. Also, they can gain momentum with U-turn or Flip Turn. However, they hate being hit with Thunder Wave or Toxic. Bulky Water-types like Toxapex and Swampert can tank a hit and threaten it with a Scald burn or just pivot out.
**Fighting-type Pokemon and Coverage**: Though they must be wary of Thunder Wave, strong Fighting-types like Urshifu-R and Galarian Zapdos force out Tyranitar with their STAB moves, and they can gain momentum with U-turn as Tyranitar switches out. Pokemon that Tyranitar is supposed to check such as Tornadus-T, Kyurem, and Reuniclus usually run Fighting-type coverage to break past it.
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Clefable and Tapu Fini can take on the specially defensive set fairly well, and they can chip at Tyranitar's health with their STAB moves. Nevertheless, they can't switch into Choice Band Tyranitar reliably. Offensive Fairy-types like Tapu Lele and Tapu Koko can threaten Tyranitar with their STAB moves. None of them can switch into Choice Band attacks though, as they lack the bulk to do so.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Lando-San, 398969]]
- Quality checked by: [[Katy, 415305], [curiosity, 443485]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [Milak, 262594]]
Last edited:
Give it a last run to check it out^^
