ROW ROW FITE DA POWA
Overview
########
Excadrill still digs in its own niche in the Ubers metagame because its utility as a Rapid Spinner cannot be overlooked. This niche is rare, and the typing and stats that Excadrill is blessed with do not leave it vulnerable to the entry hazards that it removes, as well as paralysis and Toxic, and lets it hold its own in a fight. Though one might turn to a Defogger for hazard removal, the overall decrease in spinblocker usage has made Excadrill more effective at spinning in this generation. Add in useful abilities to take advantage of- and you have the recipe for one of the best Rapid Spinners in Ubers. However, Excadrill has lost its resistances to Ghost and Dark, ironically making spinblockers even better against it. In addition, its typing isn't too sweet defensively, leaving it vulnerable to common types such as Water, Ground, and Fire. In other aspects of its downsides, one of its niches of being a Sand Rush sweeper has been nerfed due to Sand Stream only lasting 5 turns now. Still, Excadrill is an invaluable team supporter, as its niche can cut through both karma and fate, and in turn spin your team to victory!
Sand Rush
########
name: Sand Rush
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide / Swords Dance
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Swords Dance / Rapid Spin
ability: Sand Rush
item: Life Orb
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant / Jolly
Moves
========
When backed by Sand Rush, Excadrill's burning blood will cut through fate, as well as the opposing team. Earthquake is the primary move to spam, and Ground is in general a good STAB type to have when sweeping. Rock Slide completes the psuedo-EdgeQuake combo, and makes Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Yveltal grit their teeth. If you don't care about 5-turn weather, overall vulnerability, or setup sweepers, Swords Dance can prove to be deadly provided that you can find an opportunity to set it up and sweep before sand times out. Iron Head is a necessity when attempting to sweep, as bulky Fairy-types such as Fairy Arceus can stop Excadrill. However, Rapid Spin can let Excadrill have extra utility outside of Sandstorm, and Rapid Spin is Excadrill's greatest niche, after all.
Set Details
========
Life Orb is the preferred item due to the 30% increase in power. If you are looking for another item option, Air Balloon can provide free switch-ins for Excadrill against bulky Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Gliscor. An Adamant nature is the overall best choice, as Excadrill's Speed is more than good enough in sand and it has more power, but a Jolly nature is very useful for overall performance in and out of sand with faster Rapid Spins, in addition to outspeeding standard Xerneas and Modest Kyogre. However, Excadrill has to hold a Life Orb in order to deal consistent damage with a Jolly nature. Leftovers can be another item option if you have an Adamant nature in addition to Swords Dance and Rapid Spin, as Excadrill can still hit hard without Life Orb and can have more longevity to either set up Swords Dance or use Rapid Spin.
Usage Tips
========
A weird strategy that Excadrill can employ on this set is to use its ability to check Geomancy Xerneas. If a weakened Xerneas decides to use Geomancy, you can sacrifice your weather setter and bring in Excadrill in sand to KO Xerneas with an Iron Head. Excadrill cannot afford to be burned on this set due to it losing practically all of its offensive capabilities, so avoid possible Will-O-Wisp users at all costs. For Excadrill's safety, late-game sweeps are recommended. Because this variant of Excadrill thrives in a late-game environment, playing safe or passively with the team's Sand Stream user is the best method until an opportunity to sweep with Sand Rush presents itself.
Team Options
========
Because of Sand Rush's requirements, a Sand Stream user is required. Tyranitar and Hippowdown are the two best users of this, but both of them have drawbacks. Hippowdown doesn't exert too much offensive pressure, while Tyranitar compounds a Ground-type weakness with Excadrill. But, Hippowdon has reliable recovery and Tyranitar can defeat most spinblockers, and both Tyranitar and Excadrill can overwhelm non-Focus Blast Yveltal. Wish-Passing clerics such as Sylveon, Clefable, and Blissey can heal Excadrill of possible burns and any Life Orb recoil that it has sustained. Yveltal can defeat opposing spinblockers as well as Skarmory and Bronzong, opening a chance for a sweep. Palkia and Grass Arceus can deal with Kyogre and Groudon, two big threats to Excadrill. Ironically, Giratina-O, one of Excadrill's worst enemies, can take the Ground and Fighting weaknesses of Tyranitar and Excadrill on itself and defeat those types, making it a solid ally when choosing Tyranitar as your Sand Stream user. Volt Switch users such as Zekrom and Thundurus, in addition to U-turn users such as Landorus-T and Genesect, can also bring Excadrill in safely to instigate a Sand Rush sweep. Mega Gengar can deal with opposing spinblockers and cripple Skarmory and Bronzong with Taunt. Water Arceus can check the Weather Trio for Excadrill, all three of which can disrupt Excadrill's precious weather conditions. Finally, Pokemon that appreciate Excadrill's Rapid Spin are of course good partners. Yveltal, Rayquaza, Lugia, and Kyurem-W all love the support that Excadrill can provide and the ability to utilize the entry hazards that have already been set, such as with Lugia shuffling the opponent and Kyurem-W and Rayquaza scoring extra OHKOs with entry hazards.
Other Options
########
Unfortunately, Excadrill doesn't have much else to use. X-Scissor can hit the Grass-types that resist Earthquake as well as bulky Psychic-types, but it mostly isn't worth the moveslot. Stealth Rock is a good option to let Excadrill remove entry hazards and set hazards of its own, and it can support its team further with this option. Lum Berry can cure burns and possible confusion, but doesn't offer much outside of that, and you could just run a cleric instead. A Choice Band set can show off Excadrill's solid base 135 Attack in terms of wallbreaking, however Excadrill likes to switch moves when supporting its team with Rapid Spin. Assault Vest can capitalize on Excadrill's usable special bulk and let it take a lot more hits when spinning, but Excadrill should not be taking too many hits anyway. Mold Breaker is an option for dealing with Giratina-O, Skarmory, and Bronzong, but Sand Rush offers more offensive utility.
Checks and Counters
########
**Groudon**: Groudon can switch in easily on Excadrill, threaten it with Earthquake, and nullify sand with Drought.
**Gliscor and Landorus-T**: Excadrill cannot do much to Gliscor and Landorus-T due to their extreme physical bulk, and they can scare Excadrill out with the threat of an Earthquake. However, Gliscor cannot touch Excadrill if the offensive set carries Air Balloon, and Excadrill can set up Swords Dances in front of it, albeit at a time limit due to the limited turns of sand.
**Bulky Ghost-types**: Ghost Arceus, Giratina, and Giratina-O can block Rapid Spin and cripple Excadrill with Will-O-Wisp. Giratina-O easily handles the Sand Rush set but has slight trouble with the bulky set due to Mold Breaker negating Levitate.
**Water and Grass Arceus**: Water Arceus and Grass Arceus can burn Excadrill with Will-O-Wisp, and Grass Arceus resists Earthquake while Water Arceus can threaten Excadrill with a Water-type Judgment.
**Skarmory**: Though Skarmory can hard-wall Excadrill with its typing and recovery, Skarmory cannot harm Excadrill back, and thereby cannot prevent it from using Rapid Spin.
**Bronzong**: Bronzong can also wall Sand Rush sets and can threaten Excadrill with a possible Earthquake. However, it loses to the bulkier Excadrill variants due to Mold Breaker bypassing Levitate.
**Kyogre**: Though it cannot switch in safely because of Earthquake, Kyogre can revenge kill Excadrill with a STAB Water Spout, Hydro Pump, or Surf, and it can remove sand from the field, stopping a Sand Rush sweep cold.
**Rayquaza**: Similarly to Kyogre, Rayquaza cannot switch into a Rock Slide or Iron Head, but it is immune to Earthquake, and Air Lock ignores Sand Rush, letting Rayquaza easily KO Excadrill with a V-create.
**Revenge Killers**: Though none of these are good switch-ins to the offensive set, especially under sand, revenge killers such as Palkia, Mega Gengar, Blaziken, and all formes of Mewtwo can outspeed and KO Excadrill outside of a sandstorm with their coverage moves.
ROW ROW FITE DA POWA
Overview
########
- One of the best spinners in the Ubers meta
- Good offensive capabilities; typing does not leave it vulnerable to hazards or most status conditions
- Spinblocker usage has decreased due to Defog
- Sweet abilities
- Lost resistances to Ghost and Dark; spinblockers actually do better against it
- Typing gives it common type weaknesses; Ground, Water, and Fire being the most notable
- No more perma-weather prevents Exca from abusing Sand Rush as much as last gen
Bulky Rapid Spinner
########
name: Use your Spiral Power!
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Stealth Rock / Toxic
ability: Mold Breaker
item: Leftovers
evs: 176 HP / 60 Atk / 252 SpD / 20 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
========
- Rapid Spin=Excadrill's awesomeness in Ubers
- Earthquake is obligatory STAB; Exca can check Klefki, Aegislash, Dialga and Heatran well
- Rock Slide is unslashed due to rise of Ho-Oh and new threat in Ygod; Rock Slide does good damage to both
- Stealth Rock gives Exca even more utility, and can pressure Ho-Oh and Ygod
- Toxic can troll opposing Defoggers, in addition to Ghostceus
- Iron Head can hit Fairies if you feel like it, and 2HKOs standard GeoXern and OHKOs Sylveon after SR
Set Details
========
- EVs round out Exca's special bulk, and 20 Spe can let it outrun uninvested base 90's, most notably Ho-Oh and Kyogre variants
- Mold Breaker is for being able to at worst damage Giratina-O and Bronzong, and can let Exca set up rocks against Magic Bouncers
Usage Tips
========
- Don't get burned, dingus
- Try catching your friend Ghostceus on a possible switch-in and hit it with Toxic
- Attempt to spin on stuff you force out with this set (i.e. Heatran, Ho-Oh, Klefki, etc.) to avoid taking too much damage
Team Options
========
- Kyogre
- SR weak mons (Ygod, Lugia, Ray)
- Dark-types (to beat silly Tina, Ghostceus and MegaGar)
- Pivots and/or tanks (Lando-T, Palkia, Zekrom)
- Klefki (for sweet hazard stacking and can Toxic Defoggers)
- Clerics (Sylveon, Xern, Bliss etc.)
Sand Rush
########
name: Pierce the Heavens With Your Drill!
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Rapid Spin
ability: Sand Rush
item: Life Orb / Air Balloon
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
========
- EQ is best STAB
- Iron Head can OHKO every Fairy in the tier bar Fairyceus, and is your second STAB option
- Rapid Spin can still give you utility to your team outside of sand
- Rock Slide can deal with Ho-Oh, Ygod, and Luigi
- Swords Dance is relatively difficult to set up due to vulnerability and few turns of sand, but it can be devastating if sand is in play
Set Details
========
- LO is for all the sweet powa and Spiral energy, but Air Balloon can give you switch-in opportunities against bulkier Ground-types like Gliscor (except for Donner cuz Sun is douche)
- Adamant is more useful if Exca is used solely for Sand Rush, but Jolly can be used for faster Rapid Spins and more ability to function outside of Sand
Usage Tips
========
- Seriously though, don't get burned
- Aim for late-game sweeps unless Gira-O, MegaGar, or opposing bulky Ground-types are not present
- Play safe with your Sand setter until an opportunity to sweep presents itself (like a Taunted Klefki)
Team Options
========
- Ttar + Hippowdon (duh); Ttar and Exca compound a nasty Ground weakness tho, but it and Exca together can really annoy non-Focus Blast Ygod variants
- Clerics like Sylveon, Clefable, and Blissey to heal LO resid and burns
- Ygod can defeat Skarm and Zong for you
- Grassceus
- Palkia
- Giratina-O can deal with most Ground and Fighting-types, and should be a recommended team member for those who chose Tyranitar as a sand setter
- VoltTurn
- MegaGar
Other Options
########
- X-Scissor
- Lum Berry
- Choice Band
- AssVest
Checks and Counters
########
- Gliscor / Lando-T
- Groudon
- Bulky Ghost-types (Giratina, Gira-O, Ghostceus)
- Waterceus + Grassceus
- Skarmory
- Bronzong (Grouped away from Skarm cuz Mold Breaker)
- Kyogre
- Rayquaza (don't give a shit bout Sand Rush, OHKOs with V-create)
- Revenge Killers
Last edited:
