Garchomp (QC 2/2)

[TheMantyke]

Overview
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-Most used Pokemon in the format
-forms beastly cores with many of the format's top Pokemon
-STAB spread on 130 attack holy wow
-and it's fast!
-STABs create an unresisted coverage combo. Coverage and STAB form another unresisted coverage combo.
-great answers to Chary and Talonflame with Rock Slide
-hates burn / wow
-partner damaging spread
-every half decent team will have an answer
-when in doubt, put a garchomp on your team

Physical Attacker
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name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Dragon Claw
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Protect
ability: Rough Skin
item: Focus Sash / Rocky Helmet / Lum Berry
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
nature: Jolly / Adamant

Moves
========

• Earthquake is your big devastating spread move
• Dragon Claw is your single target secondary STAB for things immune to Earthquake
• Rock Slide is another great spread move. Does away with CharY and Talonflame easily.
• Protect because Protect reasons and Garchomp is not one of the Pokemon who can afford to skip it.

Set Details
========

• Straightforward EV spread for max Attack and Speed
• Focus Sash allows you to live hits from the increasingly common Pokemon bent on sniping Garchomp ASAP like scarf Salamence, Gardevoir
• Rocky Helmet punishes any enemy Garchomp and particularly Mega Kangaskhan for attacking into him.
• Lum Berry allows Garchomp to take one WoW
• Rough Skin is the preferred ability since this format is super physical / the chip damage is very useful / Tyranitar is not everywhere like it was last gen
• Jolly is preferred since tying at worst with other Garchomp / outrunning Mega Kanga and Charizard are pretty huge.
• Adamant can net a OHKO on enemy Garchomp, however. If you can stomach the speed drop and want the shot at the OHKO, try it.

Usage Tips
========

• Don't stay in on something you can't kill with you + your partner if you don't have a Lum Berry to burn
• Be hesitant with leading with Garchomp if they have something that can snipe you (especially if you lack a Focus Sash).
• You can do a lot of damage early game with Garchomp, but conserving it until all the opponent's pokemon that can snipe it or you can't threaten very much until late game is a pretty great way to set up a win condition.

Team Options
========

• Garchomp is not a Pokemon you need to focus a team around. Just slap it on and you're bound to get some mileage out of it.
• Garchomp likes flying / levitating Pokemon.
• CharY, Talonflame, Salamence, and Gardevoir form very destructive offensive cores.
• Rotom-W and Rotom-H aren't quite as destructive but fuck they're a lot harder to kill.
• A Steel-type to switch into Dragon and Ice type attacks like Mawile is nice.
• Tyranitar is still a pretty decent with it, though EQing with it can be difficult

Choice Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Dragon Claw
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Iron Head
ability: Rough Skin
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 188 Speed
nature: Adamant

Moves
========

• Earthquake for STAB spread
• Dragon Claw for alternate STAB
• Rock Slide for CharY, Talonflame, flinching
• Iron Head OHKOs 4 HP Gardevoir 90% of the time

Set Details
========

• Adamant if preferred since Timid Scarf Salamence is going to be beating you almost all the time as is
• That said, Jolly max speed allows you to outspeed all Salamence but you have a ~80% chance to OHKO neutral nature variants outside of intimidate and only deal ~70% after intimidate so you still can lose to it
• The listed EVs allow you to outspeed max Speed scarf Gardevoir, 252 dumped into attack, then the rest into HP for bulk
• You can switch to Adamant Max Speed which allows you to beat Modest Scarf Salamence with Dragon Claw outside of Intimidate

Usage Tips
========

• Try to have Garchomp in a situation where it's normal speed would have it switching out / OHKOed, then surprise with the extra choice scarf speed and put your opponent on the back pedal
• Outside of the quick surprise, a Garchomp that fast is really useful late game to clean up

Team Options
========

Exact same options as the first set really, just without scarf users


Other Options
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• Garchomp can use a whole lot of other items with his primary set. Life Orb, Choice Band, Yache Berry, Haban Berry, Dragon Fang, and Soft Sand are all very usable options.
• Wherever Rock Slide is listed, Stone Edge can be used in its place to circumvent Pokemon investing just enough to live your Rock Slides and bypass Wide Guard.
• Swords Dance is a good option to circumvent intimidate. It just has fierce competition for a slot.
• Garchomp can Mega Evolve to an impressive Base 700 stat Pokemon, but in the process, it loses its fantastic speed tier and still loses to a lot of the same Pokemon while maintaining power nearly equivalent to a Life Orbed Garchomp. Strong Draco Meteors and Sand Force Boosted Earthquakes are cool so it is decent, but has yet to make any noise so far
• Dual Chop can be used over Dragon Claw on most sets if you want to break through Focus Sashes and don't mind taking extra Rocky Helmet / Rough Skin Damage or occasionally missing
• Only run Sand Veil if you have a Tyranitar somewhere on your team. Even then, having a Tyranitar =/= you must run Sand Veil.
• Fire Blast can be used to deal with bulkier pains like Ferrothorn

Checks & Counters
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• Fast Pokemon with Super Effective hits. IE: Scarf Salamence, Scarf Garde, Scarf Hydreigon, (want to throw scarf cloyster a mention here but it's not really much of a thing anymore :[) occasional Greninja, Noivern, or Weavile.
• Pokemon with Super Effective hits that can take a hit: Mawile, Azumarill, Mamoswine.
• Bulky Pokemon that can take a few hits: Rotom-W, Amoonguss, Ferrothorn. They kind of just impede progress though.
• Random HP Ice - barring a Yache Berry or Focus Sash, random HP Ice can snipe out a Garchomp if the user had moderate Special Attack.
• Other Garchomp if you're lucky enough to win the mirror, but don't count on it

 

[TheMantyke]

okay this is qc ready Biosci lucariojr Audiosurfer Pwnemon Laurel

 

[Laurel]

Looks good

QC Approved: 1/2

 

[R Inanimate]

Garchomp is a pretty straightforward mon. I was going to mention something something about the "199 Garchomp" (Bulky CB Garchomp), but remembered that the creator for that EV spread has said that it's sort of outdated for how the current VGC meta is shaping out, so it's probably better to leave it out in this case.

Probably should mention Gourgeist when naming some bulky mons that counter Garchomp.

Also, I'm not sure if it would go here, but here's a reference table for how much Special Attack is needed to guarantee OHKO 4HP Garchomp with Hidden Power Ice. Goes something like (stat numbers, not EVs needed):

Unboosted: 214 SpA
Wise Glasses: 192 SpA
Icicle Plate/Expert Belt/Nevermelt Ice: 176 SpA
Life Orb: 164 SpA
Choice Specs: 143 SpA

 

[tofucocoa]

for a set without sash, i'd mention a spread of 12 HP / 220 attack / 4 def / 20 SpD / 252 Spe to live timid mega manectric's HP ice about 90% of the time while only sacrificing 4 points of attack.

 

[TheMantyke]

Haven't gotten to implementing anything quite yet, schoolwork has me busy, but spring break is this week.

for a set without sash, i'd mention a spread of 12 HP / 220 attack / 4 def / 20 SpD / 252 Spe to live timid mega manectric's HP ice about 90% of the time while only sacrificing 4 points of attack.

I think you may be doing this calc at level 100 since I'm still seeing a very high chance of an OHKO with that EV spread.

 

[tofucocoa]

252 SpA Mega Manectric Hidden Power Ice vs. 12 HP / 20 SpD Garchomp: 156-188 (84.3 - 101.6%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

?_?

 

[Biosci]

This is pretty clear cut. Make Randy's changes and make a mention in the Useful Tips about lucariojr's EV spread and this should be good to go.

QC 2/2

 

[Martin]

• I'm thinking slashing Yache Berry on the main set as it is just that useful imo
• I feel that, if a Pokémon gets a mega evolution, it is customary to include a mega set. I was thinking maybe a Sand Force Abuse set which I tried in the early days of the format. It is designed to work on Tailwind teams in a core with the Tailwind setter (generally speaking that will be Talonflame or Aerodactyl - most notably the former for its ability to set up Tailwind with its prioroty and then, if it survives the hit, either take itself down with prioroty Brave Bird or U-Turn out into either the sandstorm setter or Garchomp itself) and/or with the sandstorm setter (ie. Tyranitar or, if you prefer greater bulk and to always get your weather up in setter-vs-setter situations at the cost of offensive prowess, coverage and two useful STABs, the rare Hippowdon). The set looked like this, although it can definitely be very easily adapted to suit the current metagame a little better:

Sand Force Abuse (Mega)
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name: Sand Force Abuse
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Dragon Claw / Iron Head
move 4: Protect / Iron Head
ability: Sand Veil / Rough Skin
item: Garchompite
evs: 252 Atk / 36 SpD / 220 Spe
nature: Jolly

The EVs are there to let you outpace max speed neutral Charizard and Mega Kangaskhan. Attack is maxed out and I added 36 in special defense to maximise the chance of surviving Modest Mega Manectric's HP Ice as everything else common that would usually carry Ice-, Dragon- or Fairy-type moves (exc. Azumarill) either a: couldn't KO with 0 defensive investment (Timid Mega Manectric (unboosted), Tyranitar (non-Life Orb varients), Rotom-H (non-Choice Specs varients), Gyarados (before DD), regular Garchomp, Gardevoir, Aromatisse, Florges), or b: always OHKOed with the remaining number of defensive EVs (Tyranitar (Life Orb varients), Rotom-H (Specs varients), Gyarados (after DD), Mega Mawile, Salamence).

Possible Changes
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• Change the EVs to prevent opposing jolly Mega Garchomp from creeping you, although it isn't really that common so not completely necessary
• Change the 3rd slot to Dragon Claw on its own, although it turns it into less of a Sand Force abuser like that
• Change the 4th slot to Protect on its own, although same thing as making the 3rd slot just Dragon Claw
• Swap the EVs to defense to take Mega Gyarados' Ice Fang before a DD a little better, although it'll still OHKO 31.3% of the time

 

[Audiosurfer]

TheMantyke

 

[weird mon]

For defence garchhop i would prefer
fast bulky suporter
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name: fast bulky suporter
move 1: steath rock
move 2: Dragon Claw
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: roar
ability: Rough Skin
item: Focus Sash / Rocky Helmet / Lum Berry
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
nature: Jolly

 

[Cobalt314]

Just a question: Why is Outrage not used? I don't know whether it's due to being illegal, or due to its unpredictability. Can anyone explain the issue to me?

 

[MultX]

Just a question: Why is Outrage not used? I don't know whether it's due to being illegal, or due to its unpredictability. Can anyone explain the issue to me?

Due to its unpredictability (and you can't switch out for 2-3 turns)

 

[Martin]

For defence garchhop i would prefer
fast bulky suporter
########
name: fast bulky suporter
move 1: steath rock
move 2: Dragon Claw
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: roar
ability: Rough Skin
item: Focus Sash / Rocky Helmet / Lum Berry
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
nature: Jolly

That set is just plain bad. Stealth Rock is terrible in VGC and Roar is pointless with so much speed investment due to the negative prioroty - not to mention that it also really sucks in VGC

 

[Unowninator]

Say, what about using Mega Garchomp on a Trick Room team? I mean, Garchompite boosts its Attack (and its other stats), while lowering Speed simultaneously.

 

[Laurel]

Say, what about using Mega Garchomp on a Trick Room team? I mean, Garchompite boosts its Attack (and its other stats), while lowering Speed simultaneously.

Overall its outclassed by Mega Mawile on a Trick Room team, but you make a good point.

 

[Unowninator]

Overall its outclassed by Mega Mawile on a Trick Room team, but you make a good point.

I suppose it is, but let's see what Garchomp has that Mawile doesn't:


-Earthquake to hit both foes
-Rock Slide for the same reason, plus to handle Talonflame & Charizard
-The element of surprise
-Rough Skin pre-mega, should you decide not to mega-evolve right away
-A decent Sp. Atk, along with Draco Meteor, Flamethrower* (I refuse to use Fire Blast), and Surf.
-Resists Fire & Electric attacks
-Much higher HP

And Mawile has:
-Intimidate
-Priority Sucker Punch
-Many more resistances
-Huge Power

Okay, maybe Mawile does outclass it, but Garchomp does have its pluses.

 

[Laurel]

I suppose it is, but let's see what Garchomp has that Mawile doesn't:


-Earthquake to hit both foes
-Rock Slide for the same reason, plus to handle Talonflame & Charizard
-The element of surprise
-Rough Skin pre-mega, should you decide not to mega-evolve right away
-A decent Sp. Atk, along with Draco Meteor, Flamethrower* (I refuse to use Fire Blast), and Surf.
-Resists Fire & Electric attacks
-Much higher HP

And Mawile has:
-Intimidate
-Priority Sucker Punch
-Many more resistances
-Huge Power

Okay, maybe Mawile does outclass it, but Garchomp does have its pluses.

Mawile is also a lot slower, but yeah there are reasons to use Garchomp, sure.

 

[Inspirited]

Laurel, do you still plan on writing this up? I can do some of it later tonight if you aren't.

 

[Laurel]

I'm not going to do anything till Gengar is done so go for it. WreckDra