I still prefer Tyranitar over Hippowdon, for a number of reasons. The first is its obvious superior special bulk. It can counter Lati@s, but can also effectively counter many other things, such as slower Ghost- and Psychic-types, and Celebi, which is a boon for things that struggle with them, like Keldeo. Tyranitar also has Pursuit. The Choice Band set makes the best use of Pursuit, as it can be effectively used even against things that are neutral to it, and hits them for massive damage, many times OHKOing them. On my opinion no other Pokémon makes better use of Pursuit than Tyranitar. Not even Scizor (since the latter tends to attract some Ghost-types like Jellicent, instead of scaring away them). Tyranitar has much better offensive prowess, and even if it does not like facing Fighting-types, it can always catch them on the switch (or if they are slower) with Superpower, which does massive damage to most of them (in case of Terrakion, it's even an OHKO, due to its weakness to Superpower).
Thanks to its massive special bulk, you can be assured that you will neet a Fighting-type attack or a STAB super-effective attack to take Tyranitar down.
I am pretty experienced with Tyranitar - of all the Pokémon that I've used, Tyranitar is peharps the pokémon that I've been using for longest time. I've used all possible sets that it can (or could) run effectively, like Dragon Dance, Choice sets, TyraniBoah, Tank (mixed attacking, specially defensive), Tank (physically attacking, specially defensive), and even a pure specially defensive set. My favorite set used to be the Scarf set. Paired with Landorus, they could revenge kill every relevant threat on OU. However, I fell like this combo is not very effective nowadays. Instead, my favorite set now is the Choice Band set:
Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower / Aqua Tail / Earthquake / Fire Punch
Stone Edge 2HKOes even physically defensive Skarmory, as well as being Tyranitar's most powerful move, keeping Volcarona at bay, for example. Crunch is the most reliable though, and it kills most Ghost- and Psychic-types, as well as hitting hard a few things that resist Stone Edge, like Gastrodon and Jirachi. Peharps Choice Band Tyranitar is the set that makes the better use or Pursuit. Pursuit OHKOes most Lati@s, even if they stay in. In adittion, anything that switchs and takes at least neutral damage from Pursuit takes massive damage, as long as it isn't too bulky physically. For example, I've managed to trap and kill some Thundurus-T that were locked on Electric-type moves. Superpower is the best coverage move. It defeats almost all Steel-types that resist both of its STABs, as well as doing massive damage to its biggest nemesis: Fighting-types. In fact, some of them, like Keldeo and Breloom, take around 80% from Superpower. The latter is even OHKOed many times. Terrakion and Lucario are also OHKOed if they switch on Superpower.
However, there are some coverage moves that can be used instead; none of them are as effective as Superpower, though. Aqua Tail 2HKOes Hippowdon and Gliscor, as well as still hitting Air Balloon users and Terrakion reliably. However, it leaves Tyranitar walled by Breloom, Keldeo, and Ferrothorn (though the latter still takes massive damage from Stone Edge even though it resists it). Earthquake is like a Superpower that has slighty different coverage and doesn't lower your defenses. It's only good if your team has weakness to Jirachi and/or Metagross, through, since Superpower is always the better option otherwise. Not to mention that Earthquake leaves Tyranitar helpless against Breloom and Ferrothorn. Fire Punch is able to reliably 2HKO Skarmory, without relying on Stone Edge's shaky accuracy. It also takes care of the aforementioned Ferrothorn (much better than Superpower) as well as taking care of Breloom, Scizor, and Bronzong. This makes Fire Punch seems better than Superpower. However, the reality is that Superpower is still better. Fire Punch leaves Tyranitar walled by Fighting-types that are not weak to Fire (especially Keldeo and Terrakion). In adittion, Superpower already OHKOes Breloom, Stone Edge has a great chance to OHKO Scizor after Stealth Rock, and Ferrothorn already takes massive damage from Superpower.
Choice Band Tyranitar does not disappoint and does its job well. In adittion, in case you face a stall team (which is unlikely on this metagame, but still possible), CB Tyranitar takes care of most physical walls, except Hippowdon. It's not necessary to say that Tyranitar massacres any special wall that dares switching on him. Even Politoed will not like switching-in on this beast, as it is 2HKOed by Stone Edge, as well as OHKOing max HP (without investiment in Defense) Politoed (and always 2HKOing with Crunch). Ninetales will be OHKOed by Stone Edge even if Tyranitar is burned, and has 84% chance to be OHKOed by Pursuit if it dares switching out. So the only weather starter that really threathens Tyranitar is Hippowdon, and even then, is easy to pack a Grass- or Water-type, or Lati@s, to take care of Hippowdon.
