[OVERVIEW]
Excadrill suffers greatly from the presence of Landorus-T, as the two share many similarities and their few differences make the latter a more reliable pick on most teams. Excadrill's only real niche over Landorus-T is its Sand Rush ability. Sadly, this leaves Excadrill reliant on sand, a field effect that only has one viable setter in Tyranitar. Tyranitar's and Excadrill's similarities leave many holes to be filled by their remaining teammates, so the duo needs lots of support to function effectively. When granted adequate support, Excadrill is a quite threatening cleaner with high offensive stats, decent coverage, and a helpful immunity to Thunder Wave. Its access to two powerful spread moves in Earthquake and Rock Slide allows Excadrill to take full advantage of the limited turns of sand by dealing large amounts of damage to both foes. Unfortunately, if its attack fails to KO its target, Excadrill may be in trouble due to low defensive stats and a poor defensive typing that leaves it weak to common attacking types such as Ground, Fire, Fighting, and Water. If the opposing team is able to remove Excadrill's Speed advantage through speed control or a change in weather, Excadrill's pitiful defenses often prevent it from effectively using its offensive prowess.
[SET]
name: Sand Rush Attacker
move 1: Earthquake / Drill Run
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Earthquake is Excadrill's main Ground-type STAB attack, used for dealing as much damage as possible to the opposing team. Drill Run is a decent alternative to Earthquake that gets around Wide Guard and doesn't hit Excadrill's partner, which is often Tyranitar. However, Excadrill that are using Drill Run must watch out for Aegislash using King's Shield because, unlike Earthquake, Drill Run makes contact. Iron Head is Excadrill's secondary STAB move, which hits bulky Fairy-types such as Sylveon and Ice-types such as Kyurem-B, with a convenient chance to flinch that pairs nicely with Excadrill's high Speed under sand. Rock Slide hits Flying-types like Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y that are immune to Earthquake and deals decent spread damage, which is especially important if Excadrill runs Drill Run instead of Earthquake. Protect shields Excadrill from attacks while its teammate deals with a threat, stalls out opposing field conditions, and gives it safety while attaining the Sand Rush boost by switching in Tyranitar.
Set Details
========
Sand Rush is Excadrill's main niche and is essential to its success. Maximum Attack and Speed investment should be used to help Excadrill hit hard and fast, thus taking advantage of the limited turns of sand. Alongside those EVs, an Adamant nature is chosen over a Jolly one, as Adamant Excadrill already outspeeds nearly everything under sand, including Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and certain Tailwind-boosted threats such as Bisharp and Volcanion. Life Orb makes Excadrill far more threatening, but a Focus Sash can be used to ensure Excadrill survives any one hit.
Usage Tips
========
Bring Excadrill in as soon as possible to when sand is set so that it starts hitting the foes hard with attacks backed by Sand Rush-boosted Speed. Try to avoid situations where Excadrill needs to use Protect, as this wastes a precious turn of sand. Excadrill typically works best mid- to late-game, to clean up the opposing team after it has taken some damage. Delaying Excadrill's entry into the battle gives the rest of the team time to take out Wide Guard or Intimidate users, as well as problematic Pokemon such as Rotom-W. If running Earthquake, that should be the move Excadrill uses in most cases, with the other attacks used only as needed to supplement its coverage.
Team Options
========
Tyranitar is a required partner for Excadrill to be successful, as it is the only viable setter of sand. Due to the similarity in coverage between standard Tyranitar and Excadrill sets, a lure Tyranitar set with moves such as Ice Beam and Fire Blast can help take out Landorus-T and Ferrothorn, respectively, which would normally be solid answers to the duo. Excadrill has many Pokemon that threaten to cut its rampage short, so it needs teammates that are able to take on those threats before they can cause too much trouble. First and foremost is Rotom-W, which is probably the best Excadrill answer in the metagame due to its typing, ability, and access to Will-O-Wisp. Grass-types such as Amoonguss, Serperior, and Virizion can help Excadrill out here, as they also take on other troublesome Water-type threats including Keldeo and Suicune. Although Grass-types work as decent partners to Excadrill, opposing Grass-types are problematic, so teammates such as Latios, Talonflame, and Mega Gengar are solid choices. Mega Gengar is especially notable, as it is able to trap and remove opposing weather setters, ensuring that Excadrill's sand turns will not be cut short. Finally, teammates that can take on Landorus-T such as Keldeo, Rotom-W, and Kyurem-B are absolutely required due to its prevalence and great matchup against Excadrill. If Excadrill is using Earthquake, it needs teammates that can avoid taking damage from the attack, like Ground-immune Electric-types such as Zapdos and Thundurus. Their Electric-type STAB moves also allow them to take on the two most popular weather setters, Politoed and Mega Charizard Y. Wide Guard support from teammates such as Conkeldurr protects Excadrill from the fairly common spread moves it is weak to, Earthquake and Heat Wave. A teammate with Wide Guard also adds another Pokemon that Excadrill can safely use Earthquake beside. Helping Hand support from a teammate such as Cresselia allows Excadrill's spread attacks to deal far more damage and take fuller advantage of the limited sand turns.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Equipping an Air Balloon allows Excadrill to fear Landorus-T slightly less, although it loses out on the benefits that a Focus Sash or Life Orb could provide. Swords Dance can be run over Iron Head to turn Excadrill into a fearsome sweeper, but it has difficulty finding the time to set up due to its frailty and the limited turns of sand. Substitute may be used to shield Excadrill from harmful status ailments, prevent Intimidate users from lowering its Attack, and withstand attacks that it normally would not be able to. Sadly, it is difficult to justify removing one of Excadrill's attacks for it. A Choice Scarf set utilizing Mold Breaker allows it to work somewhat well outside of sand and turns its usual counters such as Rotom-W into easy targets of Earthquake. Unfortunately, this set is fairly predictable, as it is the only situation in which Excadrill would not be paired with Tyranitar, and it is outclassed by Landorus-T in nearly every way due to the latter's higher Attack, better coverage moves, and access to Intimidate.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fighting-type Pokemon**: Fighting-types such as Keldeo and Virizion resist Rock Slide and can typically OHKO Excadrill with their Fighting-type STAB move of choice. Breloom and Conkeldurr even have the advantage of access to Mach Punch, allowing them to bypass Excadrill's boosted Speed.
**Water-type Pokemon**: Bulky Water-types are resistant to Iron Head, won't take much from spread-reduced neutrally effective attacks such as Earthquake and Rock Slide, and can hit Excadrill hard with their Water-types STAB moves. Some notable examples include Rotom-W, which is immune to Earthquake and can burn Excadrill, and Suicune, which can also set Tailwind to remove the utility provided by Excadrill's Sand Rush.
**Ground-type Pokemon**: Both Landorus formes are at worst affected neutrally by Excadrill's attacks, and they can OHKO back with their STAB Ground-type move of choice.
**Intimidate and Burns**: As a physical attacker, Excadrill is quite threatened by common methods of lowering Attack. The most common of such threats are Intimidate users, such as Landorus-T and Scrafty, and Will-O-Wisp users, such as Gengar and Rotom-W.
**Opposing Weather**: Excadrill needs sand in order to function at its highest capability, and opposing weather setters, such as Politoed, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Abomasnow, remove that field effect. Politoed is the most troubling of them, as Excadrill can outspeed and severely damage standard Mega Abomasnow and Mega Charizard Y sets.
**Tailwind and Trick Room**: Excadrill's best quality is its Speed advantage, which Tailwind setters such as Suicune and Trick Room setters such as Cresselia can remove.
**Wide Guard**: When running Earthquake instead of Drill Run, Excadrill has only Iron Head to get around a potential Wide Guard. Conkeldurr and Aegislash are especially threatening in this case, as Conkeldurr has Mach Punch to get around Excadrill's blazing Speed and Aegislash resists Iron Head.
Excadrill suffers greatly from the presence of Landorus-T, as the two share many similarities and their few differences make the latter a more reliable pick on most teams. Excadrill's only real niche over Landorus-T is its Sand Rush ability. Sadly, this leaves Excadrill reliant on sand, a field effect that only has one viable setter in Tyranitar. Tyranitar's and Excadrill's similarities leave many holes to be filled by their remaining teammates, so the duo needs lots of support to function effectively. When granted adequate support, Excadrill is a quite threatening cleaner with high offensive stats, decent coverage, and a helpful immunity to Thunder Wave. Its access to two powerful spread moves in Earthquake and Rock Slide allows Excadrill to take full advantage of the limited turns of sand by dealing large amounts of damage to both foes. Unfortunately, if its attack fails to KO its target, Excadrill may be in trouble due to low defensive stats and a poor defensive typing that leaves it weak to common attacking types such as Ground, Fire, Fighting, and Water. If the opposing team is able to remove Excadrill's Speed advantage through speed control or a change in weather, Excadrill's pitiful defenses often prevent it from effectively using its offensive prowess.
[SET]
name: Sand Rush Attacker
move 1: Earthquake / Drill Run
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Earthquake is Excadrill's main Ground-type STAB attack, used for dealing as much damage as possible to the opposing team. Drill Run is a decent alternative to Earthquake that gets around Wide Guard and doesn't hit Excadrill's partner, which is often Tyranitar. However, Excadrill that are using Drill Run must watch out for Aegislash using King's Shield because, unlike Earthquake, Drill Run makes contact. Iron Head is Excadrill's secondary STAB move, which hits bulky Fairy-types such as Sylveon and Ice-types such as Kyurem-B, with a convenient chance to flinch that pairs nicely with Excadrill's high Speed under sand. Rock Slide hits Flying-types like Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y that are immune to Earthquake and deals decent spread damage, which is especially important if Excadrill runs Drill Run instead of Earthquake. Protect shields Excadrill from attacks while its teammate deals with a threat, stalls out opposing field conditions, and gives it safety while attaining the Sand Rush boost by switching in Tyranitar.
Set Details
========
Sand Rush is Excadrill's main niche and is essential to its success. Maximum Attack and Speed investment should be used to help Excadrill hit hard and fast, thus taking advantage of the limited turns of sand. Alongside those EVs, an Adamant nature is chosen over a Jolly one, as Adamant Excadrill already outspeeds nearly everything under sand, including Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and certain Tailwind-boosted threats such as Bisharp and Volcanion. Life Orb makes Excadrill far more threatening, but a Focus Sash can be used to ensure Excadrill survives any one hit.
Usage Tips
========
Bring Excadrill in as soon as possible to when sand is set so that it starts hitting the foes hard with attacks backed by Sand Rush-boosted Speed. Try to avoid situations where Excadrill needs to use Protect, as this wastes a precious turn of sand. Excadrill typically works best mid- to late-game, to clean up the opposing team after it has taken some damage. Delaying Excadrill's entry into the battle gives the rest of the team time to take out Wide Guard or Intimidate users, as well as problematic Pokemon such as Rotom-W. If running Earthquake, that should be the move Excadrill uses in most cases, with the other attacks used only as needed to supplement its coverage.
Team Options
========
Tyranitar is a required partner for Excadrill to be successful, as it is the only viable setter of sand. Due to the similarity in coverage between standard Tyranitar and Excadrill sets, a lure Tyranitar set with moves such as Ice Beam and Fire Blast can help take out Landorus-T and Ferrothorn, respectively, which would normally be solid answers to the duo. Excadrill has many Pokemon that threaten to cut its rampage short, so it needs teammates that are able to take on those threats before they can cause too much trouble. First and foremost is Rotom-W, which is probably the best Excadrill answer in the metagame due to its typing, ability, and access to Will-O-Wisp. Grass-types such as Amoonguss, Serperior, and Virizion can help Excadrill out here, as they also take on other troublesome Water-type threats including Keldeo and Suicune. Although Grass-types work as decent partners to Excadrill, opposing Grass-types are problematic, so teammates such as Latios, Talonflame, and Mega Gengar are solid choices. Mega Gengar is especially notable, as it is able to trap and remove opposing weather setters, ensuring that Excadrill's sand turns will not be cut short. Finally, teammates that can take on Landorus-T such as Keldeo, Rotom-W, and Kyurem-B are absolutely required due to its prevalence and great matchup against Excadrill. If Excadrill is using Earthquake, it needs teammates that can avoid taking damage from the attack, like Ground-immune Electric-types such as Zapdos and Thundurus. Their Electric-type STAB moves also allow them to take on the two most popular weather setters, Politoed and Mega Charizard Y. Wide Guard support from teammates such as Conkeldurr protects Excadrill from the fairly common spread moves it is weak to, Earthquake and Heat Wave. A teammate with Wide Guard also adds another Pokemon that Excadrill can safely use Earthquake beside. Helping Hand support from a teammate such as Cresselia allows Excadrill's spread attacks to deal far more damage and take fuller advantage of the limited sand turns.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Equipping an Air Balloon allows Excadrill to fear Landorus-T slightly less, although it loses out on the benefits that a Focus Sash or Life Orb could provide. Swords Dance can be run over Iron Head to turn Excadrill into a fearsome sweeper, but it has difficulty finding the time to set up due to its frailty and the limited turns of sand. Substitute may be used to shield Excadrill from harmful status ailments, prevent Intimidate users from lowering its Attack, and withstand attacks that it normally would not be able to. Sadly, it is difficult to justify removing one of Excadrill's attacks for it. A Choice Scarf set utilizing Mold Breaker allows it to work somewhat well outside of sand and turns its usual counters such as Rotom-W into easy targets of Earthquake. Unfortunately, this set is fairly predictable, as it is the only situation in which Excadrill would not be paired with Tyranitar, and it is outclassed by Landorus-T in nearly every way due to the latter's higher Attack, better coverage moves, and access to Intimidate.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fighting-type Pokemon**: Fighting-types such as Keldeo and Virizion resist Rock Slide and can typically OHKO Excadrill with their Fighting-type STAB move of choice. Breloom and Conkeldurr even have the advantage of access to Mach Punch, allowing them to bypass Excadrill's boosted Speed.
**Water-type Pokemon**: Bulky Water-types are resistant to Iron Head, won't take much from spread-reduced neutrally effective attacks such as Earthquake and Rock Slide, and can hit Excadrill hard with their Water-types STAB moves. Some notable examples include Rotom-W, which is immune to Earthquake and can burn Excadrill, and Suicune, which can also set Tailwind to remove the utility provided by Excadrill's Sand Rush.
**Ground-type Pokemon**: Both Landorus formes are at worst affected neutrally by Excadrill's attacks, and they can OHKO back with their STAB Ground-type move of choice.
**Intimidate and Burns**: As a physical attacker, Excadrill is quite threatened by common methods of lowering Attack. The most common of such threats are Intimidate users, such as Landorus-T and Scrafty, and Will-O-Wisp users, such as Gengar and Rotom-W.
**Opposing Weather**: Excadrill needs sand in order to function at its highest capability, and opposing weather setters, such as Politoed, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Abomasnow, remove that field effect. Politoed is the most troubling of them, as Excadrill can outspeed and severely damage standard Mega Abomasnow and Mega Charizard Y sets.
**Tailwind and Trick Room**: Excadrill's best quality is its Speed advantage, which Tailwind setters such as Suicune and Trick Room setters such as Cresselia can remove.
**Wide Guard**: When running Earthquake instead of Drill Run, Excadrill has only Iron Head to get around a potential Wide Guard. Conkeldurr and Aegislash are especially threatening in this case, as Conkeldurr has Mach Punch to get around Excadrill's blazing Speed and Aegislash resists Iron Head.
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