Excadrill
[Overview]
<p>Although the Uber tier has some incredibly powerful Ground-type tanks and sweepers such as Groudon and Garchomp, this newcomer mole cannot be easily overlooked. With a high 135 base Attack and an ability which doubles its decent base 88 Speed in sandstorm, Excadrill is a terrifying sweeper. Swords Dance is the icing on the cake, pumping Excadrill's already high Attack stat to insane levels. It has the perfect typing for a sweeper too, being immune to both Thunder Wave and Toxic while resisting Stealth Rock. Its concise movepool comprises of all it needs to sweep allowing it to act as a decent offensive Rapid Spin user. While Excadrill's bulk is usable, do not expect it to take very hard hits for you, especially with its Water-, Ground-, and Fire-type weaknesses. Furthermore, sandstorm is rather hard to maintain in Ubers due to the ubiquity of Kyogre and Groudon. In spite of all this, one would do well not to underestimate our little mole.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Excadrill
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Swords Dance
move 4: Rock Slide / Shadow Claw
item: Leftovers
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 176 HP / 60 Atk / 252 SpD / 20 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>I know you're thinking that this is probably an April Fool's joke or something of that sort, but it isn't. Bulky Excadrill is quite the viable Pokemon in Ubers, and most players will agree that it is quite more useful than its more offensive variant. Although Excadrill might seem terribly unsuited to the role of a bulky spinner, it has some extremely subtle qualities that help it perform well in this role. First off comes its incredible typing that gives it an immunity to both Toxic and Thunder Wave as well as a lovely Dragon-type resistance. In a metagame where Dragon-types are everywhere, this can be incredibly useful. Apart from that, Excadrill is surprisingly bulky and though its Defense might seem lackluster, its special bulk is greater than that of Forretress, who is popularly used as a Rapid Spinner in Ubers. Lastly, it is an effective check to Pokemon who give most teams nightmares, such Bulk Up Dialga, Giratina-O, and Dark Arceus.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Excadrill is probably the only Rapid Spin user in Ubers capable of giving stall nightmare s, since no Pokemon on a standard stall team apart from Groudon can really beat it. Giratina-O, the most commonly used spinblocker, actually loses to Excadrill, since Hidden Fire will not even 3HKO Excadrill in rain, while Shadow Claw can 2HKO. Earthquake is the obligatory STAB, hitting many threats hard off the bat. Swords Dance can help in certain situations, and even leads to the occasional sweep. Shadow Claw as mentioned makes Excadrill an excellent check to Giratina-O, but Rock Slide also makes a viable option for the last moveslot with its better coverage; Excadrill's excellent offenses allow it to bag easy Rapid Spins since nothing likes taking a boosted Rock Slide in the face.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The EV spread might look like the coefficients on the binomial theorem, but the main purpose is to balance out Excadrill's defenses. The leftover EVs are put mainly in Attack, with the tiny investment in Speed serving to outspeed base 90s such as Kyogre lacking investment in Speed. This EV spread is mainly for use on rain teams, but if you want to use Excadrill on a sand team, an EV spread of 64 HP / 252 SpD / 192 Spe can work as well; it has enough Speed to outspeed Choice Scarf Terrakion, and the rest of the EVs are placed in bulk.</p>
<p>It must be noted that Excadrill is not meant to be used like the standard Uber. It has a distinctive niche and fills that particular niche quite well. Excadrill fills the role of a crucial offensive Rapid Spin user on a rain team. Though Excadrill really likes the boost to its Speed under sand, it has good synergy on a rain team thanks to its Thunder immunity and ability to spin away entry hazards consistently. The rain also diminishes Excadrill's Fire-type weakness, allowing it to walk all over Giratina-O lacking Earthquake. Excadrill also destroys Bulk Up Dialga as well as most Palkia and Zekrom variants, which can be a menace to most rain teams. Since Groudon laughs at all Excadrill can do and crushes it with Earthquake, Kyogre is extremely helpful since it scares off Groudon with its powerful Water-type moves. Grass Arceus is also helpful since it can check both Groudon and Kyogre. Latias can easily stomach a Water Spout from Kyogre, and is also immune to Earthquake; Dragon Pulse wrecks Groudon after a Calm Mind. Apart from these, most offensive Pokemon commonly used on rain teams enjoy Excadrill's spinning prowess, especially Choice Scarf users such as Palkia, since they can keep flitting in and out of battle.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Shadow Claw / Rapid Spin
item: Life Orb / Air Balloon
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>After a Swords Dance, Excadrill reaches a mammoth 738 Attack with a Jolly nature, or 810 with Adamant. Thanks to its excellent ability, Excadrill's Speed doubles in sandstorm, allowing it to outspeed every non-Scarfed Pokemon in the game other than Deoxys-S. If using a Jolly nature, Excadrill hits 604 Speed, while with Adamant, it sits at an impressive 550 Speed, still enough to outspeed Deoxys-S, the fastest unboosted Pokemon in the game.</p>
<p>A +2 STAB Earthquake will dent anything not resisting it, and even Support Groudon takes a hefty 61.6% - 72.8% from Jolly Excadrill, making it a sure 2HKO. Rock Slide hits all Pokemon resistant to Ground-type moves, with the notable exception s of Skarmory and Bronzong. The last move is mainly filler and depends on what Excadrill wants to hit. Shadow Claw will easily 2HKO Giratina-O, who otherwise can check Excadrill quite well,(comma) as Rock Slide will never 2HKO without Stealth Rock. Rapid Spin can also go in the last slot, as Excadrill makes a fantastic offensive Rapid Spin user; its Steel typing gives it a natural immunity to Toxic Spikes and a resistance to Stealth Rock, while Air Balloon leaves it immune to Spikes.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The EV spread is meant to maximize Excadrill's Attack and Speed, while the leftover EVs are put in HP. Air Balloon allows Excadrill to switch into Choice-locked Ground-type attacks and set up a Swords Dance on the switch. On the other hand, Life Orb grants Excadrill a significant amount of power at the cost of 10% recoil damage. However, it must be noted that Excadrill can only 2HKO Groudon with a boosted Earthquake if equipped with a Life Orb. Adamant is the preferred nature, since it allows Excadrill to do insane amounts of damage after only a single Swords Dance. However, while using Air Balloon, Jolly is the preferred nature since Excadrill loses those important KOs without Life Orb anyways. X-Scissor can also be used to check Grass Arceus and Psychic-types such as Mewtwo and Deoxys-S, but its use is pretty situational.</p>
<p>Since Excadrill absolutely needs sandstorm to sweep, Tyranitar is a necessity. It sets up the precious sandstorm, and when equipped with a Choice Band, it can check quite a lot of Pokemon such as Giratina-O thanks to its fantastic Dark-type STAB. Grass Arceus can check Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, and Ground Arceus easily, and therefore makes a good teammate. Lastly, Stealth Rock support is much desired, since it allows Excadrill to OHKO 252 / 0 Kyogre after a boost. Lugia also fails to check Excadrill, only because of Stealth Rock. Deoxys-S can set up Stealth Rock reliably with it blazing Speed. Tyranitar can also set up Stealth Rock reliably.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Excadrill has a rather shallow movepool, so it doesn't have many viable options outside of the ones mentioned. X-Scissor can be used over Shadow Claw to get a harder hit on Psychic-types and Grass Arceus, but Excadrill loses precious coverage against Giratina-O. Toxic can also be used to cripple walls such as Lugia who laugh at most of Excadrill's moves.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Skarmory can wall Excadrill with ease, as it is immune to Earthquake and laughs at Excadrill's other moves. It can then Roost off the damage if required or even phaze out Excadrill with Whirlwind. Bold Lugia can check Excadrill provided Stealth Rock are off the field. Giratina can just burn Excadrill and phaze it out, taking pittance from even boosted Earthquakes. Gliscor can completely wall the mole thanks to Poison Heal, excellent physical bulk, and immunity to Earthquake. Cresselia is rare, but it can stop offensive variants with Reflect.</p>
<p>Offensive Kyogre or Groudon with enough investment in Speed can switch in and remove the sandstorm from play, thus negating Excadrill's Sand Rush ability. They can then proceed to destroy Excadrill with Surf or Earthquake, respectively. Rayquaza ignores Sand Rush thanks to Air Lock, and can OHKO Excadrill with Fire Blast. Fighting, Grass, and Ground Arceus can survive a boosted Earthquake, and destroy Excadrill with Judgement. Defensive Normal Arceus, though rare, survives any attack from Excadrill, and can neuter it with Will-O-Wisp.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Excadrill gets Mold Breaker via Dream World, which ensures that its attacks hit in spite of its opponent's abilities. This means that Levitate users such as Bronzong can no longer wall Excadrill. Unfortunately, its utility stops there, as Excadrill is unable to fully utilize this excellent ability due to its sub-par 88 base Speed, which leaves it prone to being outpaced and KOed by every offensive force in the tier.</p>
