Taken over from TheMantyke who is responsible for 95% of the skeleton
Overview
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Garchomp checks a handful of threats with its powerful Rock Slide and STAB Earthquake combination as well as with its STAB Dragon Claw. All of these features mesh well with other Pokemon too, allowing it to form beastly cores with other threatening Pokemon. Its amazing stat spread is rounded off by a stellar base 102 Speed stat, allowing to outrun most of the unboosted format, including notable base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Charizard Y. However, because Garchomp is such a strong Pokemon in VGC 2014, almost every team will have a fairly solid answer for it. It hates the large amount of Intimidate and moves that inflict burn that float around the format. It is also slightly limited by the fact that its STAB spread move, Earthquake, hits its partner as well as the opposition.
Physical Attacker
########
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Dragon Claw
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Protect
ability: Rough Skin
item: Focus Sash / Lum Berry / Rocky Helmet
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
nature: Adamant / Jolly
Moves
========
Earthquake is Garchomp's STAB spread move that is able to dish out a lot of damage in one turn and is Garchomp's primary weapon against metagame-defining Steel-types such as Aegislash and Mega Mawile. Dragon Claw is Garchomp's strongest move against a single target and does loads of damage to the popular Dragon-types in the format. It has very good neutral coverage with Earthquake and is also slightly stronger than a super effective Rock Slide, so keep this in mind against Rotom-H. Rock Slide is an excellent move that allows Garchomp to OHKO Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y while having excellent neutral coverage alongside Earthquake. Additionally, Garchomp's good Speed stat allows it to abuse the 30% flinch chance as well. Protect allows Garchomp to scout for a rogue Hidden Power Ice and give its teammate a turn to KO whatever is threatening Garchomp at the time.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed and Attack investment give Garchomp the ability to hit as hard as possible while still outrunning most of the format. Although Garchomp does have an incredible Speed stat, a Focus Sash is the preferred item, because Choice Scarf users and Speed control methods that aim to take out Garchomp have become extremely common. A Rocky Helmet allows Garchomp to punish Pokemon for attacking it; Mega Kangaskhan especially hates the item because it attacks more than once with Parental Bond and takes a lot of damage from it and Rough Skin as a result. A Lum Berry allows Garchomp to take on bulky Will-O-Wisp users, namely the Rotom-A formes, a little bit better and makes it one of the best answers to bulky Rotom-H. Rough Skin is the preferred ability due to Sand Stream's nerf and Tyranitar's consequent decrease in prominence; it also punishes physically biased attackers, especially Mega Kangaskhan. The nature choice on Garchomp is quite the toss-up. Adamant Garchomp has the ability to OHKO the increasingly popular Hydreigon, has a slight chance to OHKO other Garchomp, and always OHKOes Salamence if Garchomp is unaffected by Intimidate. A Jolly nature allows Garchomp to outrun fully invested, positive-natured base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Charizard and Mega Kangaskhan, and Speed tie, at worst, with other Garchomp. If a Focus Sash or Yache Berry is not used, an EV spread of 12 HP / 224 Atk / 20 SpD / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature can be used to live Mega Manectric's Hidden Power Ice nearly always, and live Zapdos's Hidden Power Ice all the time.
Usage Tips
========
Will-O-Wisp is extremely prevalent and is something Garchomp should stay away from; this is less important if Garchomp is carrying a Lum Berry. Garchomp can perform well at any time during a game, but it will usually do better later in the game when there are less Pokemon that are built specifically to surprise KO or check Garchomp. Finding these surprises and methods of bringing Garchomp down while it is still safe in your party can give Garchomp the knowledge to play around such tactics. Using a Haban Berry or Yache Berry can change Garchomp's playstyle, as KOing Choice Scarf Hydreigon or Mega Manectric can be a real game changer.
Team Options
========
Garchomp is a Pokemon that will fit on a plethora of teams with different goals and strategies. In other words, it is silly to focus a team around it, due to its ability to fit just about anywhere. There are Pokemon that make using Garchomp easier, though, with Levitate users and Flying-types being one of them due to their immunity to Garchomp's Earthquake. Garchomp forms a pretty neat core with Mega Charizard Y or Talonflame, can form a double dragon core with Salamence, and has fantastic offensive synergy with Gardevoir and other Fairy-types. Rotom-H can be used to absorb Fairy-type attacks aimed at Garchomp, while Rotom-W takes Ice-type attacks like they are nothing. Steel-types, such as Mawile and Aegislash, can also take Ice-type moves easily while also resisting Garchomp's weakness to Dragon-type attacks.
Choice Scarf
########
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: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
========
Earthquake is Garchomp's STAB move with impressive damage output and spread effect. It allows Garchomp to heavily damage the opposition before being taken down by other Choice Scarf users such as Hydreigon and Gardevoir. Dragon Claw is Garchomp's secondary STAB move and outdamages any move on the set against a single target when hitting neutrally. Rock Slide's primary targets are Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y, but with Garchomp's already high Speed and the boost from its Choice Scarf, it can easily make use of Rock Slide's nasty flinch chance. Iron Head is the move you will least use on this set, as its only target is Gardevoir, which is OHKOed 90% of the time with no bulk investment.
Set Details
========
An Adamant nature is preferred on this Garchomp because it allows Garchomp to OHKO 4 HP Hydreigon with maximum Attack investment while Timid Choice Scarf Salamence will be beating Garchomp anyways thanks to Intimidate. A Jolly nature can be used to outspeed Salamence if damage on it is crucial, but, as stated before, Salamence will usually beat Garchomp no matter what its nature is. Maximum Speed investment allows Garchomp to outrun max Speed Modest-natured Choice Scarf Hydreigon and gives it the ability to outrun and KO a Modest Choice Scarf Salamence if it comes in after Intimidate.
Usage Tips
========
Choice Scarf Garchomp should be used as a surprise above anything else. It has the ability to damage its faster checks for its team members. The trick is to blindside your opponent with Garchomp's Speed and proceed to outrun and damage their Choice Scarf Hydreigon, Tyranitar, or Gardevoir. When Garchomp's surprise factor has been removed, it will usually take on another form of usefulness with Rock Slide. Using its Choice Scarf to augment its already nice Speed, this Garchomp one of the fastest Rock Slide users in the game and is able to potentially flinch a lot of Pokemon in the format. It can also clean up late-game with one of its STAB moves should the conditions be right. Remember that this Garchomp will be Choice-locked into the first move you pick until it switches. Because very dangerous Pokemon are immune to Garchomp's STAB moves, Garchomp has to be very careful so that it doesn't kill its team's game momentum, potentially letting an opposing threat nab a KO or sweep.
Team Options
========
This particular Garchomp is specialized in nabbing key surprise KOs and damage, so pair it with Pokemon that can take advantage of this. Tyranitar enjoys having Choice Scarf Gardevoir removed and Choice Specs or Life Orb Hydreigon enjoys having Gardevoir and Choice Scarf Hydriegon heavily damaged or KOed. Choice Scarf Garchomp can almost always get a large amount of damage off on opposing Garchomp, so a partnered Mega Kangaskhan only needs to touch Rough Skin once, at worst, to KO the Garchomp.
Other Options
########
Substitute, used alongside Leftovers, turns Garchomp into one of the best ways to deal with bulky Rotom-H. Substitute's ability to block Will-O-Wisp is the main draw to using such a set. Garchomp can use many items to great effect such as a Life Orb, Choice Band, Dragon Fang, and Soft Sand. Rock Slide can always be changed to Stone Edge in order to avoid Wide Guard, but Rock Slide's flinch chance and Garchomp's Speed make Rock Slide worth it a good amount of the time. Swords Dance is a way to counteract Intimidate, but Garchomp will hardly ever find room for it. Garchomp has the ability to Mega Evolve, but it loses its fantastic Speed when doing so while only having power near the level of a Life Orb Garchomp. Sand Veil should only be run on Garchomp if Tyranitar is somewhere on your team, and even then Rough Skin is the better option. Fire Blast cooks Ferrothorn and Scizor should your team have issues with these two.
Checks & Counters
########
**Fast Super Effective Attackers**: Choice Scarf Salamence, Gardevoir, and Hydriegon are the big three checks to Garchomp, while the occasional Noivern, Greninja, and Weavile are also trouble. They all outspeed and KO Garchomp with STAB super effective moves. However, all of these Pokemon need to watch out for Choice Scarf Garchomp to some extent or another.
**Will-O-Wisp**: Gengar, Rotom-A, or Gourgiest will take a hit from Garchomp, or outspeed it in Gengar's case, and burn it so that it is significantly hindered the rest of the battle. However, if Garchomp is holding a Lum Berry, these Pokemon need to hit two Will-O-Wisps in a row in order to check Garchomp.
**Tanks with Super Effective Attacks**: Mega Mawile, Azumarill, Mamoswine, and Sylveon can all take any hit from Garchomp and KO it with their super effective STAB attacks.
**Ice-type Coverage Moves**: Hidden Power Ice is a fairly common coverage move that Garchomp hates. Ice Beam is a move that is distributed fairly well, so Garchomp should be wary of Pokemon with usable Special Attack that get this move, such as Tyranitar.
Overview
########
Garchomp checks a handful of threats with its powerful Rock Slide and STAB Earthquake combination as well as with its STAB Dragon Claw. All of these features mesh well with other Pokemon too, allowing it to form beastly cores with other threatening Pokemon. Its amazing stat spread is rounded off by a stellar base 102 Speed stat, allowing to outrun most of the unboosted format, including notable base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Charizard Y. However, because Garchomp is such a strong Pokemon in VGC 2014, almost every team will have a fairly solid answer for it. It hates the large amount of Intimidate and moves that inflict burn that float around the format. It is also slightly limited by the fact that its STAB spread move, Earthquake, hits its partner as well as the opposition.
Physical Attacker
########
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Dragon Claw
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Protect
ability: Rough Skin
item: Focus Sash / Lum Berry / Rocky Helmet
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
nature: Adamant / Jolly
Moves
========
Earthquake is Garchomp's STAB spread move that is able to dish out a lot of damage in one turn and is Garchomp's primary weapon against metagame-defining Steel-types such as Aegislash and Mega Mawile. Dragon Claw is Garchomp's strongest move against a single target and does loads of damage to the popular Dragon-types in the format. It has very good neutral coverage with Earthquake and is also slightly stronger than a super effective Rock Slide, so keep this in mind against Rotom-H. Rock Slide is an excellent move that allows Garchomp to OHKO Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y while having excellent neutral coverage alongside Earthquake. Additionally, Garchomp's good Speed stat allows it to abuse the 30% flinch chance as well. Protect allows Garchomp to scout for a rogue Hidden Power Ice and give its teammate a turn to KO whatever is threatening Garchomp at the time.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed and Attack investment give Garchomp the ability to hit as hard as possible while still outrunning most of the format. Although Garchomp does have an incredible Speed stat, a Focus Sash is the preferred item, because Choice Scarf users and Speed control methods that aim to take out Garchomp have become extremely common. A Rocky Helmet allows Garchomp to punish Pokemon for attacking it; Mega Kangaskhan especially hates the item because it attacks more than once with Parental Bond and takes a lot of damage from it and Rough Skin as a result. A Lum Berry allows Garchomp to take on bulky Will-O-Wisp users, namely the Rotom-A formes, a little bit better and makes it one of the best answers to bulky Rotom-H. Rough Skin is the preferred ability due to Sand Stream's nerf and Tyranitar's consequent decrease in prominence; it also punishes physically biased attackers, especially Mega Kangaskhan. The nature choice on Garchomp is quite the toss-up. Adamant Garchomp has the ability to OHKO the increasingly popular Hydreigon, has a slight chance to OHKO other Garchomp, and always OHKOes Salamence if Garchomp is unaffected by Intimidate. A Jolly nature allows Garchomp to outrun fully invested, positive-natured base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Charizard and Mega Kangaskhan, and Speed tie, at worst, with other Garchomp. If a Focus Sash or Yache Berry is not used, an EV spread of 12 HP / 224 Atk / 20 SpD / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature can be used to live Mega Manectric's Hidden Power Ice nearly always, and live Zapdos's Hidden Power Ice all the time.
Usage Tips
========
Will-O-Wisp is extremely prevalent and is something Garchomp should stay away from; this is less important if Garchomp is carrying a Lum Berry. Garchomp can perform well at any time during a game, but it will usually do better later in the game when there are less Pokemon that are built specifically to surprise KO or check Garchomp. Finding these surprises and methods of bringing Garchomp down while it is still safe in your party can give Garchomp the knowledge to play around such tactics. Using a Haban Berry or Yache Berry can change Garchomp's playstyle, as KOing Choice Scarf Hydreigon or Mega Manectric can be a real game changer.
Team Options
========
Garchomp is a Pokemon that will fit on a plethora of teams with different goals and strategies. In other words, it is silly to focus a team around it, due to its ability to fit just about anywhere. There are Pokemon that make using Garchomp easier, though, with Levitate users and Flying-types being one of them due to their immunity to Garchomp's Earthquake. Garchomp forms a pretty neat core with Mega Charizard Y or Talonflame, can form a double dragon core with Salamence, and has fantastic offensive synergy with Gardevoir and other Fairy-types. Rotom-H can be used to absorb Fairy-type attacks aimed at Garchomp, while Rotom-W takes Ice-type attacks like they are nothing. Steel-types, such as Mawile and Aegislash, can also take Ice-type moves easily while also resisting Garchomp's weakness to Dragon-type attacks.
Choice Scarf
########
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: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
========
Earthquake is Garchomp's STAB move with impressive damage output and spread effect. It allows Garchomp to heavily damage the opposition before being taken down by other Choice Scarf users such as Hydreigon and Gardevoir. Dragon Claw is Garchomp's secondary STAB move and outdamages any move on the set against a single target when hitting neutrally. Rock Slide's primary targets are Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y, but with Garchomp's already high Speed and the boost from its Choice Scarf, it can easily make use of Rock Slide's nasty flinch chance. Iron Head is the move you will least use on this set, as its only target is Gardevoir, which is OHKOed 90% of the time with no bulk investment.
Set Details
========
An Adamant nature is preferred on this Garchomp because it allows Garchomp to OHKO 4 HP Hydreigon with maximum Attack investment while Timid Choice Scarf Salamence will be beating Garchomp anyways thanks to Intimidate. A Jolly nature can be used to outspeed Salamence if damage on it is crucial, but, as stated before, Salamence will usually beat Garchomp no matter what its nature is. Maximum Speed investment allows Garchomp to outrun max Speed Modest-natured Choice Scarf Hydreigon and gives it the ability to outrun and KO a Modest Choice Scarf Salamence if it comes in after Intimidate.
Usage Tips
========
Choice Scarf Garchomp should be used as a surprise above anything else. It has the ability to damage its faster checks for its team members. The trick is to blindside your opponent with Garchomp's Speed and proceed to outrun and damage their Choice Scarf Hydreigon, Tyranitar, or Gardevoir. When Garchomp's surprise factor has been removed, it will usually take on another form of usefulness with Rock Slide. Using its Choice Scarf to augment its already nice Speed, this Garchomp one of the fastest Rock Slide users in the game and is able to potentially flinch a lot of Pokemon in the format. It can also clean up late-game with one of its STAB moves should the conditions be right. Remember that this Garchomp will be Choice-locked into the first move you pick until it switches. Because very dangerous Pokemon are immune to Garchomp's STAB moves, Garchomp has to be very careful so that it doesn't kill its team's game momentum, potentially letting an opposing threat nab a KO or sweep.
Team Options
========
This particular Garchomp is specialized in nabbing key surprise KOs and damage, so pair it with Pokemon that can take advantage of this. Tyranitar enjoys having Choice Scarf Gardevoir removed and Choice Specs or Life Orb Hydreigon enjoys having Gardevoir and Choice Scarf Hydriegon heavily damaged or KOed. Choice Scarf Garchomp can almost always get a large amount of damage off on opposing Garchomp, so a partnered Mega Kangaskhan only needs to touch Rough Skin once, at worst, to KO the Garchomp.
Other Options
########
Substitute, used alongside Leftovers, turns Garchomp into one of the best ways to deal with bulky Rotom-H. Substitute's ability to block Will-O-Wisp is the main draw to using such a set. Garchomp can use many items to great effect such as a Life Orb, Choice Band, Dragon Fang, and Soft Sand. Rock Slide can always be changed to Stone Edge in order to avoid Wide Guard, but Rock Slide's flinch chance and Garchomp's Speed make Rock Slide worth it a good amount of the time. Swords Dance is a way to counteract Intimidate, but Garchomp will hardly ever find room for it. Garchomp has the ability to Mega Evolve, but it loses its fantastic Speed when doing so while only having power near the level of a Life Orb Garchomp. Sand Veil should only be run on Garchomp if Tyranitar is somewhere on your team, and even then Rough Skin is the better option. Fire Blast cooks Ferrothorn and Scizor should your team have issues with these two.
Checks & Counters
########
**Fast Super Effective Attackers**: Choice Scarf Salamence, Gardevoir, and Hydriegon are the big three checks to Garchomp, while the occasional Noivern, Greninja, and Weavile are also trouble. They all outspeed and KO Garchomp with STAB super effective moves. However, all of these Pokemon need to watch out for Choice Scarf Garchomp to some extent or another.
**Will-O-Wisp**: Gengar, Rotom-A, or Gourgiest will take a hit from Garchomp, or outspeed it in Gengar's case, and burn it so that it is significantly hindered the rest of the battle. However, if Garchomp is holding a Lum Berry, these Pokemon need to hit two Will-O-Wisps in a row in order to check Garchomp.
**Tanks with Super Effective Attacks**: Mega Mawile, Azumarill, Mamoswine, and Sylveon can all take any hit from Garchomp and KO it with their super effective STAB attacks.
**Ice-type Coverage Moves**: Hidden Power Ice is a fairly common coverage move that Garchomp hates. Ice Beam is a move that is distributed fairly well, so Garchomp should be wary of Pokemon with usable Special Attack that get this move, such as Tyranitar.
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