Walk the Dinosaur: Tyrantrum in RU

Tyrantrum was introduced in Generation VI as part of the duo of Fossil Pokémon. Tyrantrum's enormous Attack stat, sky-high Defense, and unique Rock / Dragon typing excited many people initially. Tyrantrum also has Strong Jaw, which boosts the power of its biting moves by 50%. This allows Tyrantrum's coverage moves, such as the Elemental Fangs, to gain a boost. Unfortunately, the XY RU metagame was extremely unkind to Tyrantrum, as its abysmal special bulk and mediocre Speed made it a liability on most teams. To add insult to injury, Tyrantrum was overwhelmed by pertinent threats in XY RU such as Doublade, Rhyperior, and Cobalion.

However, with the introduction of move tutors in ORAS, Tyrantrum gained two great moves in Outrage and Superpower. Though these two moves gave Tyrantrum an increase in viability, it still was not enough. It wasn't until February 17th, when Game Freak blessed Tyrantrum with its Hidden Ability, Rock Head, that it became a threat in the tier. This gave Tyrantrum the ability to freely use its most powerful STAB move, Head Smash, without incurring any recoil damage. These factors, along with the departure of Tyrantrum's biggest counters, Doublade and Cobalion, from the tier almost immediately shot up Tyrantrum's pitiful C+ ranking to an impressive A+ ranking in the RU viability rankings. Thus, Tyrantrum is the perfect example of the underdog that eventually got its well-deserved rise to stardom.

Tyrantrum's Qualities

Perhaps Tyrantrum's best quality is Rock Head, allowing it to use Head Smash without sustaining any recoil damage. Head Smash, when used in tandem with Tyrantrum's gigantic base 121 Attack stat, grants it the ability to be a fearsome wallbreaker. Moreover, Tyrantrum's secondary STAB move, Outrage, forms great neutral coverage with Head Smash and can also hit foes very hard. Tyrantrum also has great coverage moves in Superpower and Earthquake that let it muscle past its Steel-type checks and counters. Possessing a solid base 119 Defense stat, Tyrantrum is able to safely switch in safely on a plethora of physical attacks. This, when coupled with Tyrantrum's useful resistances to Flying-, Electric-, and Fire-type moves, grants it further opportunities to switch into threats. These resistances are indispensable when taking a look at how much of a threat Fletchinder, Jolteon, and Emboar are in this metagame. Tyrantrum is also very versatile, being able to utilize a Choice Scarf set that makes it a powerful revenge killer as well as a late-game cleaner that offensive teams fall victim to, a Rock Polish set that turns it into a threatening sweeper and an important win condition, and a Choice Band set that maximizes its wallbreaking capabilities and threatens defensive teams. One of the few downsides to Tyrantrum is its lackluster Speed, which leaves it outsped by threats in the tier such as Virizion and Meloetta. Even though Tyrantrum carries coverage for Steel-types, a majority of them, such as Mega Steelix and Bronzong, can survive them from full health and heavily damage Tyrantrum. Tyrantrum's extremely low special bulk also makes it very vulnerable to special attackers such as Rotom-C and Seismitoad.

Playing with Tyrantrum

Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf: Ability: Rock Head; EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe; Jolly Nature; - Head Smash; - Outrage; - Dragon Claw; - Superpower

Tyrantrum's Choice Scarf set is its most common set and arguably the best one to use at the moment. With monstrously strong STAB moves in Head Smash and Outrage, Tyrantrum is quite difficult to switch into for offensive teams. Head Smash is Tyrantrum's mandatory STAB move that can punch holes in opposing teams, as it is able to OHKO or 2HKO many Pokémon in the tier that do not resist it. Outrage provides great neutral coverage with Head Smash, as it boasts the ability to heavily damage Scrafty, Rhyperior, and Seismitoad. Dragon Claw provides a safer option over Outrage, which could be crucial when Tyrantrum does not want to risk being knocked out, but it is significantly less powerful. Superpower nails Steel-types that would wall Tyrantrum otherwise, such as Registeel and Mega Steelix, for a decent amount of damage. Tyrantrum has the option to run Earthquake over Superpower if the Attack and Defense drops from Superpower are undesired, as it still has the ability to dent Steel-types. Tyrantrum is primarily used as a revenge killer but can also be utilized as a fearsome late-game cleaner when its checks and counters have been weakened or eliminated.

Tyrantrum @ Life Orb / Stone Plate: Ability: Rock Head; EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe; Adamant Nature; - Head Smash; - Outrage / Dragon Claw; - Rock Polish; - Earthquake

Rock Polish Tyrantrum's purpose is to sweep against offensive teams, as it can outspeed key Pokémon commonly used in these teams after a Rock Polish boost such as Flygon and Jolteon. Head Smash an incredibly powerful STAB move that can heavily damage many Pokémon, especially when boosted by a Life Orb. Stone Plate is a viable alternative over Life Orb, as it allows Tyrantrum to avoid taking recoil damage and gives it the ability to bluff itself being locked into a move, though it loses out on much-needed power. Outrage is a secondary STAB move that lets Tyrantrum nail Pokémon that resist Head Smash such as Flygon and Virizion. Dragon Claw can be used over Outrage to sweep late-game more safely, but Tyrantrum will lose out on much of the power that Outrage possesses. Rock Polish increases Tyrantrum's Speed by two stages, allowing it to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame. Earthquake forms a pseudo-EdgeQuake combination with Head Smash and aids Tyrantrum against Steel-types such as Registeel and Mega Steelix. Tyrantrum's ideal situations to set up Rock Polish are when it faces physical attackers that cannot do too much against it, such as Choice Scarf Braviary locked into Brave Bird, Fletchinder, and Golbat. Tyrantrum can also be used as a wallbreaker if needed due to the raw power that it has to offer with Life Orb.

Tyrantrum @ Choice Band: Ability: Rock Head; EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe; Adamant / Jolly Nature; - Head Smash; - Outrage; - Superpower; - Earthquake

Choice Band Tyrantrum is able to break defensive teams more easily than its two other sets. A Choice Band-boosted Head Smash has gargantuan power and hits even Pokémon that resist it very hard. For example, specially defensive Bronzong has a high chance of being 2HKOed by Choice Band Tyrantrum's Head Smash. Outrage is also used as a high Base Power STAB move that has the ability to OHKO Scrafty and 2HKO Rhyperior, both of which resist Tyrantrum's Head Smash. Superpower hits Mega Steelix and Registeel very hard when boosted with a Choice Band, though it reduces Tyrantrum's Attack and Defense by one stage, which may be a problem. Earthquake is used in the last moveslot to nail targets that Superpower hits without having to risk nasty stat drops. Dragon Claw is an option over Earthquake to have a safer Dragon-type STAB option, which could be crucial. An Adamant nature is used to maximize Tyrantrum's power. A Jolly nature is an alternative to allow Tyrantrum to outspeed Adamant Medicham and Gallade. Choice Band allows Tyrantrum to break defensive teams very well, as a majority of them lack switch-ins to a Choice Band-boosted Head Smash. Tyrantrum benefits from being switched in safely via Volt Switch or U-turn, as it does not like taking unnecessary damage due to its low Speed.

Playing against Tyrantrum

Even though Tyrantrum may seem difficult to play around, doing so is actually quite easier than one may think due to its pitiful special bulk and lackluster Speed, even when boosted with a Choice Scarf. Faster Choice Scarf Pokémon such as Hitmonlee, Flygon, Delphox, and Rotom-C can threaten and revenge kill Tyrantrum easily due to its low Speed. Other Tyrantrum are even more susceptible to revenge killers such as Mega Glalie, Virizion, Jolteon, and Durant, so make sure you are able to play around these threats. Because they resist Tyrantrum's dual STAB moves, Steel-types such as Mega Steelix and Registeel only fear Superpower and Earthquake and can hit Tyrantrum super effectively with their Steel-type STAB moves. Registeel and Mega Steelix are also able to set up on Tyrantrum with Curse. Tyrantrum also struggles against physically defensive Pokémon unless they are facing the Choice Band set, which can 2HKO most of them. Bulky Water-types such as Alomomola, Quagsire, and physically defensive Seismitoad can tank any hit from Tyrantrum and potentially burn it with Scald. Bulky Ghost-types such as Jellicent and Cofagrigus can also take a hit from Tyrantrum and proceed to burn it with Will-O-Wisp, which cripples it for the entirety of the match. Cofagrigus can turn Tyrantrum's ability into Mummy, which forces Tyrantrum to take recoil damage when it uses Head Smash. Hitmontop is able to take a hit from Tyrantrum due to Intimidate and its great physical bulk and can retaliate with a STAB Close Combat. Tyrantrum can also be played around through figuring out what set it runs at Team Preview.

Fitting Tyrantrum onto your Team

Tyrantrum is definitely easy to fit on many offensive teams. Being able to be a revenge killer, a late-game sweeper, and a wallbreaker, Tyrantrum is something that players should use. In general, Water- and Fire-types pair very well with Tyrantrum, as they are able to reliably beat Steel-types such as Mega Steelix and Bronzong, which annoy Tyrantrum. Such Pokémon include Seismitoad, Samurott, Delphox, and Mega Camerupt. For the Choice Scarf set, Tyrantrum generally appreciates Pokémon that can deal with annoying bulky Water-types such as Alomomola and Seismitoad, as it does not have as much firepower as its other sets to threaten defensive teams. Tangrowth, Virizion, and Rotom-C are very reliable switch-ins to bulky Water-types, as their Water-type attacks do very little to them. For the Rock Polish set, Tyrantrum benefits from wallbreakers wearing down the opposing team so that Tyrantrum has a very easy time sweeping later on. Venomoth is able to set up on many Pokémon on defensively inclined teams and can heavily dent them, while Mega Glalie and Meloetta have the immediate firepower to break defensive teams due to their high offensive presence. For the Choice Band set, Tyrantrum generally works well with late-game cleaners that benefit from Tyrantrum's ability to wallbreak. Choice Scarf Emboar, Dragon Dance Scrafty, and Hone Claws Durant are fine examples.

Get Out There!

Without a doubt, Tyrantrum is a top-tier threat in RU that everyone has to prepare for. From hyper offense to bulky offense teams, Tyrantrum can work in many playstyles. Players are heavily encouraged to try using Tyrantrum on a team; they will not regret it. So get on the ladder and start using the behemoth of RU.

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