Excadrill
Overview
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Excadrill's good base Attack combined with access to two stellar offensive abilities, Sand Rush and Mold Breaker, allow Excadrill to stand out among the many other viable Steel-types. Sand Rush doubles Excadrill's otherwise mediocre Speed when sand is active, whereas Mold Breaker allows Excadrill to attack through abilities when that would normally be impossible, importantly Levitate on the Rotom formes and Cresselia. While limited, Excadrill's movepool contains some very important moves; Iron Head for instance allows Excadrill to OHKO Sylveon and other Fairy-types that are common in the format. Earthquake when combined with Rock Slide gives Excadrill perfect neutral coverage; this guarantees that Excadrill will always be able to deal damage rather than become dead weight. With a great typing, Excadrill is gifted eight resistances and two immunities, which let it check common Pokemon such as Thundurus and Sylveon.
Excadrill has relatively poor bulk, taking roughly 40% from a spread Hyper Voice from Choice Specs Sylveon, which greatly limits Excadrill's opportunities to switch in. While having what it needs, Excadrill's shallow movepool makes it highly predictable, and this makes playing against Excadrill far easier than other Steel-types. The factor that holds Excadrill back the most is its middling Speed. Without Sand Rush, Excadrill finds itself being outsped by many relevant Pokemon such as Mega Kangaskhan and Landorus-T. Excadrill's Speed issues are compounded by being too fast to reliably be used on a Trick Room team. Excadrill suffers further by being weak to the common offensive types Fire, Fighting, and Ground. Excadrill also does not appreciate being burned by Will-O-Wisp.
Mold Breaker
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name: Mold Breaker
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Protect
move 4: Iron Head / Swords Dance
ability: Mold Breaker
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant / Jolly
Moves
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Earthquake is a spread move and will OHKO most Fire-, Electric-, and Steel-types. This can be useful for clearing the way for sweepers such as Mega Salamence. With Mold Breaker, Excadrill is able to hit Pokemon with the ability Levitate with STAB Earthquake, importantly the Rotom formes and Cresselia. Rock Slide is another spread move which rounds out Excadrill's coverage, hitting the Flying-types which are immune Earthquake for super effective damage. Rock Slide also has a decent chance to cause at least one of the opposing Pokemon to flinch, which, while unreliable, can be beneficial. Protect is not only useful to prevent Excadrill from fainting while its partner takes down the threat, but can also be used to stall out turns of opposing Trick Room, Tailwind, and weather. Iron Head OHKOes Fairy-types such as Sylveon, Gardevoir, and Mega Altaria. Because Iron Head is a single target move, it bypasses Wide Guard to hit Rock-types more reliably than Earthquake. Swords Dance boosts Excadrill's Attack by two stages, giving it a chance to sweep. Swords Dance can be used over Iron Head, as at +2 Excadrill can OHKO Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir.
Set Details
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With Mold Breaker, Excadrill use Earthquake to hit Pokemon with the ability Levitate. A 252 Atk / 252 Spe spread can be used on Excadrill, as it needs to hit as hard and as fast as possible. An Adamant nature will OHKO bulkier Rotom-W with Earthquake, whereas a Jolly nature will outspeed maximum Speed Rotom formes. The 4 EVs in Special Defense keep Excadrill's HP odd; this ensures less damage from Life Orb. A Focus Sash guarantees that Excadrill will survive one attack, which means that Excadrill is almost always able to use at least one attack before fainting.
Usage Tips
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Due to its relatively poor bulk, Excadrill has a hard time switching into attacks. Because of this Excadrill should either be led with or brought in after something has been KOed. If leading with Excadrill, it should be brought alongside the Pokemon that either support it or it supports, such as Togekiss and Mega Salamence respectively. If not leading with Excadrill, it should be kept in the back until Pokemon that are faster and can OHKO it have been taken down, such as Mega Charizard Y.
Team Options
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Togekiss is immune to Earthquake and can provide both Follow Me and Tailwind support. Follow Me allows Excadrill to set up Swords Dance more easily, whereas Tailwind fixes Excadrill's Speed issues. Mega Salamence appreciates Excadrill's ability to take on the Rotom formes and Steel-types with Earthquake. This lets Mega Salamence set up Dragon Dances more easily, as many of its counters are no longer issues. Thundurus can spread Thunder Waves to help with Excadrill's Speed problems, and can check Landorus-T by OHKOing it with Hidden Power Ice. Excadrill can OHKO Tyranitar and the Rotom formes, which allows Talonflame to use Brave Bird more freely. Talonflame also can provide Tailwind support for Excadrill. Because it is part Grass-type, Ludicolo is capable of taking Excadrill's Earthquakes; Ludicolo also helps Excadrill deal with many common Water-types.
Sand Rush
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name: Sand Rush
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Protect
ability: Sand Rush
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
========
Earthquake hits Fire- and Steel-types for super effective damage. Earthquake is also strong enough to deal decent damage to neutral targets. Rock Slide has good coverage alongside Earthquake. Rock Slide can OHKO Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame, both of which Excadrill outspeeds in sand. Iron Head OHKOes Fairy-types and is a reasonably powerful secondary STAB move. Protect lets Excadrill's partner take out a Pokemon that threatens Excadrill. Swords Dance could be used, but wastes a turn of sand; Excadrill is normally better off just attacking.
Set Details
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Sand Rush doubles Excadrill's Speed in sand. Because of this, there is no benefit to running a Jolly nature, as Excadrill reaches 280 Speed with an Adamant Nature. 280 Speed is faster than all relevant threats under normal conditions. Life Orb boosts the power of Excadrill's attacks by 1.3. Focus Sash ensures Excadrill survives one hit, potentially letting Excadrill use two attacks before fainting.
Usage Tips
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Excadrill should be lead with either Tyranitar or Hippowdon, as this lets Excadrill's Speed be doubled on turn one. If Excadrill isn't being lead with, be careful as you switch it in, as Excadrill has relatively poor bulk. Because of Excadrill's high Speed in sand it can easily clean up against weakened teams. When playing against other weather teams it is best to keep Excadrill in the back, as it is likely that the opposing team will lead with their weather inducer to counter sand.
Team Options
========
Either Tyranitar or the more niche Hippowdon are required to set up sand for Sand Rush Excadrill to be worth using. Tyranitar can make use of an Air Ballon to give it a pseudo-immunity to Earthquake. Hippowdon should be EVed to take on common physical attackers, and Ice Fang might be worth using on it in order to take on Landorus-T and Thundurus. Rotom-W is immune to Earthquake and is able to take on both opposing Water-types and physical attackers by burning them. Rotom-W is also able to take on Landorus-T with Hydro Pump. Cresselia is immune to Earthquake, can take on Fighting-types, shut down Trick Room teams, and provide Helping Hand support for Excadrill. Thundurus can OHKO opposing Ground-types with Hidden Power Ice and spread Thunder Waves and Taunts. Thundurus threatens Flying- and Water-types, which trouble Excadrill with its STAB Thunderbolt. Talonflame can OHKO Grass-types which resist Earthquake, and provide useful Taunt and Tailwind support.
Other Options
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Mold Breaker Excadrill can make use of either Choice Band or Choice Scarf. Choice Band hits a lot harder than Life Orb, however, the loss of the ability to switch moves hurts Excadrill a lot. Choice Scarf aims to solve Excadrill's Speed issues, but suffers the same issues as Choice Band. To maintain its usefulness Choice Excadrill must switch out, which is not easy in VGC. Drill Run is a single target Ground-type move, which can be useful if you are concerned about Earthquake hitting Excadrill's partner Pokemon. However, Drill Run is less accurate than Earthquake. Lum Berry cures burn, but Excadrill is more concerned with staying alive or dealing damage. Swagger + Lum Berry can boost Excadrill's Attack two stages for free. Rock Tomb could be used over Rock Slide as a form of speed control, but it is very weak and the Speed drop can be reset by switching out.
Checks & Counters
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**Ground-types**: Landorus-T has Earthquake, which can OHKO Excadrill, is immune to Excadrill's Earthquakes, and has Intimidate to cripple Excadrill. Garchomp can outspeed Excadrill, take any hit, and OHKO with Earthquake.
**Bulky Water-types**: Gyarados has Intimidate, resists Excadrill's STAB types, and can comfortably set up Dragon Dances on it. Ludicolo resists Excadrill's STAB move and can OHKO it with Hydro Pump. Milotic can take any hit and OHKO Excadrill back. Rotom-W beats the Sand Rush set 100% of the time, but must be wary of Mold Breaker.
**Fighting-types**: Hitmontop and Scrafty have Intimidate and can OHKO Excadrill with their Fighting-types STAB moves. Conkeldurr and Hariyama are bulky enough take any hit from Excadrill and OHKO back. Breloom has a good chance OHKO Excadrill with Mach Punch and is guaranteed to OHKO after Excadrill takes one turn of Life Orb damage.
**Opposing Weather**: Both the Sand Rush and Mold Breaker sets have bad match ups against sun and rain. Mega Charizard Y can OHKO Excadrill with Heat Wave, but must be wary of Rock Slide. In rain, Politoed can OHKO Excadrill, Ludicolo resists STAB types and can OHKO, and Mega Swampert has Wide Guard and can OHKO.
**Intimidate and Burns**: Excadrill is a physical attacker, so can be greatly weakened by Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp.
**Wide Guard**: Wide Guard blocks two of Excadrill's main attacks: Earthquake and Rock Slide. Aegislash and Hitmontop are two good users, as neither minds taking Iron Head. Wide Guard should be used to let a partner get the KO on Excadrill.
Overview
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Excadrill's good base Attack combined with access to two stellar offensive abilities, Sand Rush and Mold Breaker, allow Excadrill to stand out among the many other viable Steel-types. Sand Rush doubles Excadrill's otherwise mediocre Speed when sand is active, whereas Mold Breaker allows Excadrill to attack through abilities when that would normally be impossible, importantly Levitate on the Rotom formes and Cresselia. While limited, Excadrill's movepool contains some very important moves; Iron Head for instance allows Excadrill to OHKO Sylveon and other Fairy-types that are common in the format. Earthquake when combined with Rock Slide gives Excadrill perfect neutral coverage; this guarantees that Excadrill will always be able to deal damage rather than become dead weight. With a great typing, Excadrill is gifted eight resistances and two immunities, which let it check common Pokemon such as Thundurus and Sylveon.
Excadrill has relatively poor bulk, taking roughly 40% from a spread Hyper Voice from Choice Specs Sylveon, which greatly limits Excadrill's opportunities to switch in. While having what it needs, Excadrill's shallow movepool makes it highly predictable, and this makes playing against Excadrill far easier than other Steel-types. The factor that holds Excadrill back the most is its middling Speed. Without Sand Rush, Excadrill finds itself being outsped by many relevant Pokemon such as Mega Kangaskhan and Landorus-T. Excadrill's Speed issues are compounded by being too fast to reliably be used on a Trick Room team. Excadrill suffers further by being weak to the common offensive types Fire, Fighting, and Ground. Excadrill also does not appreciate being burned by Will-O-Wisp.
Mold Breaker
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name: Mold Breaker
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Protect
move 4: Iron Head / Swords Dance
ability: Mold Breaker
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant / Jolly
Moves
========
Earthquake is a spread move and will OHKO most Fire-, Electric-, and Steel-types. This can be useful for clearing the way for sweepers such as Mega Salamence. With Mold Breaker, Excadrill is able to hit Pokemon with the ability Levitate with STAB Earthquake, importantly the Rotom formes and Cresselia. Rock Slide is another spread move which rounds out Excadrill's coverage, hitting the Flying-types which are immune Earthquake for super effective damage. Rock Slide also has a decent chance to cause at least one of the opposing Pokemon to flinch, which, while unreliable, can be beneficial. Protect is not only useful to prevent Excadrill from fainting while its partner takes down the threat, but can also be used to stall out turns of opposing Trick Room, Tailwind, and weather. Iron Head OHKOes Fairy-types such as Sylveon, Gardevoir, and Mega Altaria. Because Iron Head is a single target move, it bypasses Wide Guard to hit Rock-types more reliably than Earthquake. Swords Dance boosts Excadrill's Attack by two stages, giving it a chance to sweep. Swords Dance can be used over Iron Head, as at +2 Excadrill can OHKO Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir.
Set Details
========
With Mold Breaker, Excadrill use Earthquake to hit Pokemon with the ability Levitate. A 252 Atk / 252 Spe spread can be used on Excadrill, as it needs to hit as hard and as fast as possible. An Adamant nature will OHKO bulkier Rotom-W with Earthquake, whereas a Jolly nature will outspeed maximum Speed Rotom formes. The 4 EVs in Special Defense keep Excadrill's HP odd; this ensures less damage from Life Orb. A Focus Sash guarantees that Excadrill will survive one attack, which means that Excadrill is almost always able to use at least one attack before fainting.
Usage Tips
========
Due to its relatively poor bulk, Excadrill has a hard time switching into attacks. Because of this Excadrill should either be led with or brought in after something has been KOed. If leading with Excadrill, it should be brought alongside the Pokemon that either support it or it supports, such as Togekiss and Mega Salamence respectively. If not leading with Excadrill, it should be kept in the back until Pokemon that are faster and can OHKO it have been taken down, such as Mega Charizard Y.
Team Options
========
Togekiss is immune to Earthquake and can provide both Follow Me and Tailwind support. Follow Me allows Excadrill to set up Swords Dance more easily, whereas Tailwind fixes Excadrill's Speed issues. Mega Salamence appreciates Excadrill's ability to take on the Rotom formes and Steel-types with Earthquake. This lets Mega Salamence set up Dragon Dances more easily, as many of its counters are no longer issues. Thundurus can spread Thunder Waves to help with Excadrill's Speed problems, and can check Landorus-T by OHKOing it with Hidden Power Ice. Excadrill can OHKO Tyranitar and the Rotom formes, which allows Talonflame to use Brave Bird more freely. Talonflame also can provide Tailwind support for Excadrill. Because it is part Grass-type, Ludicolo is capable of taking Excadrill's Earthquakes; Ludicolo also helps Excadrill deal with many common Water-types.
Sand Rush
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name: Sand Rush
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Protect
ability: Sand Rush
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
========
Earthquake hits Fire- and Steel-types for super effective damage. Earthquake is also strong enough to deal decent damage to neutral targets. Rock Slide has good coverage alongside Earthquake. Rock Slide can OHKO Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame, both of which Excadrill outspeeds in sand. Iron Head OHKOes Fairy-types and is a reasonably powerful secondary STAB move. Protect lets Excadrill's partner take out a Pokemon that threatens Excadrill. Swords Dance could be used, but wastes a turn of sand; Excadrill is normally better off just attacking.
Set Details
========
Sand Rush doubles Excadrill's Speed in sand. Because of this, there is no benefit to running a Jolly nature, as Excadrill reaches 280 Speed with an Adamant Nature. 280 Speed is faster than all relevant threats under normal conditions. Life Orb boosts the power of Excadrill's attacks by 1.3. Focus Sash ensures Excadrill survives one hit, potentially letting Excadrill use two attacks before fainting.
Usage Tips
========
Excadrill should be lead with either Tyranitar or Hippowdon, as this lets Excadrill's Speed be doubled on turn one. If Excadrill isn't being lead with, be careful as you switch it in, as Excadrill has relatively poor bulk. Because of Excadrill's high Speed in sand it can easily clean up against weakened teams. When playing against other weather teams it is best to keep Excadrill in the back, as it is likely that the opposing team will lead with their weather inducer to counter sand.
Team Options
========
Either Tyranitar or the more niche Hippowdon are required to set up sand for Sand Rush Excadrill to be worth using. Tyranitar can make use of an Air Ballon to give it a pseudo-immunity to Earthquake. Hippowdon should be EVed to take on common physical attackers, and Ice Fang might be worth using on it in order to take on Landorus-T and Thundurus. Rotom-W is immune to Earthquake and is able to take on both opposing Water-types and physical attackers by burning them. Rotom-W is also able to take on Landorus-T with Hydro Pump. Cresselia is immune to Earthquake, can take on Fighting-types, shut down Trick Room teams, and provide Helping Hand support for Excadrill. Thundurus can OHKO opposing Ground-types with Hidden Power Ice and spread Thunder Waves and Taunts. Thundurus threatens Flying- and Water-types, which trouble Excadrill with its STAB Thunderbolt. Talonflame can OHKO Grass-types which resist Earthquake, and provide useful Taunt and Tailwind support.
Other Options
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Mold Breaker Excadrill can make use of either Choice Band or Choice Scarf. Choice Band hits a lot harder than Life Orb, however, the loss of the ability to switch moves hurts Excadrill a lot. Choice Scarf aims to solve Excadrill's Speed issues, but suffers the same issues as Choice Band. To maintain its usefulness Choice Excadrill must switch out, which is not easy in VGC. Drill Run is a single target Ground-type move, which can be useful if you are concerned about Earthquake hitting Excadrill's partner Pokemon. However, Drill Run is less accurate than Earthquake. Lum Berry cures burn, but Excadrill is more concerned with staying alive or dealing damage. Swagger + Lum Berry can boost Excadrill's Attack two stages for free. Rock Tomb could be used over Rock Slide as a form of speed control, but it is very weak and the Speed drop can be reset by switching out.
Checks & Counters
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**Ground-types**: Landorus-T has Earthquake, which can OHKO Excadrill, is immune to Excadrill's Earthquakes, and has Intimidate to cripple Excadrill. Garchomp can outspeed Excadrill, take any hit, and OHKO with Earthquake.
**Bulky Water-types**: Gyarados has Intimidate, resists Excadrill's STAB types, and can comfortably set up Dragon Dances on it. Ludicolo resists Excadrill's STAB move and can OHKO it with Hydro Pump. Milotic can take any hit and OHKO Excadrill back. Rotom-W beats the Sand Rush set 100% of the time, but must be wary of Mold Breaker.
**Fighting-types**: Hitmontop and Scrafty have Intimidate and can OHKO Excadrill with their Fighting-types STAB moves. Conkeldurr and Hariyama are bulky enough take any hit from Excadrill and OHKO back. Breloom has a good chance OHKO Excadrill with Mach Punch and is guaranteed to OHKO after Excadrill takes one turn of Life Orb damage.
**Opposing Weather**: Both the Sand Rush and Mold Breaker sets have bad match ups against sun and rain. Mega Charizard Y can OHKO Excadrill with Heat Wave, but must be wary of Rock Slide. In rain, Politoed can OHKO Excadrill, Ludicolo resists STAB types and can OHKO, and Mega Swampert has Wide Guard and can OHKO.
**Intimidate and Burns**: Excadrill is a physical attacker, so can be greatly weakened by Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp.
**Wide Guard**: Wide Guard blocks two of Excadrill's main attacks: Earthquake and Rock Slide. Aegislash and Hitmontop are two good users, as neither minds taking Iron Head. Wide Guard should be used to let a partner get the KO on Excadrill.
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