Analysis taken over from Lord Ninjax, permission from Jukain.
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GP: /
Overview
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- Buffed with a powerful Mega-Forme in Generation 6.
- Terrifying stats on the overall that allows it to fulfill several different roles in the metagame.
- Finds good coverage moves in its wide movepool. (i.e Iron Head to hits both Fairy-types and Ice-types, Dragon STAB attacks against Dragon-types)
- Access to Stealth Rock that breaks Focus Sash and hurts Pokemon on the switch-in, and is one of the best users thanks to great stats on the overall.
- Good ability in Rough Skin that hurts on the opponent's contact attacks.
- Mega has lower Speed, meaning it's outsped by most Dragons in the tier with an exception for Dragonite.
- Garchomp is also threatened by many Pokemon in the tier, ones that outspeed it such as Greninja and Latios/Latias, and ones that just wall it, such as Sylveon and Clefable.
Offensive Stealth Rock
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name: Offensive Stealth Rock
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Dragon Claw / Outrage
move 4: Fire Blast / Swords Dance
ability: Rough Skin
item: Rocky Helmet / Focus Sash / Lum Berry
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Naive / Jolly
Moves
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- Stealth Rock is the main move on this set, hurting any opponent on the switch-in regardless their type.
- Earthquake is Garchomp's most powerful Ground-type STAB, and offers good coverage against several types.
- Dragon Claw is another STAB that is Dragon-typed and allows Garchomp to beat slower Dragon-types.
- Outrage can be used over Dragon Claw for more power here, but being trapped into Outrage when the opponent is able to remove your hazards and KO Garchomp right away isn't good.
- Fire Blast hits more targets that resist Earthquake, and hits Ferrothorn and Skarmory way better, as they would wall Garchomp's offensive options otherwise.
- Swords Dance can be used to boost up Garchomp's attack and allows it to sweep.
Set Details
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- Rough Skin hurts opponents on contact, that boosts Garchomp's damage output a bit, that can be boosted further by the use of Rocky Helmet.
- Focus Sash can be used to guarantee the setup of Stealth Rock, though Lum Berry is an option to prevent Garchomp from being crippled by burn directly or from being confused by Outrage.
- Attack EVs boosts up Garchomp's attack a bit more.
- Maximized Speed and a boosting nature allows Garchomp to set up Stealth Rock as fast as possible, and allows it to outspeed max Speed Mega Charizard.
- Either a Jolly or Naive nature can be used depending on if Fire Blast is ran or not.
Usage Tips
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- This set is best used as a lead, setting up Stealth Rock early-game allows it to draw out as much damage as possible.
- When predicting the opponent to switch, when Garchomp has an advantage over their Pokemon, for example, make sure to use Swords Dance to boost up.
- Make sure to use Stealth Rock on forced switches on the opponent's side.
Team Options
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- Pokemon that can absorb burns well, such as Charizard, make very good partners, as Garchomp is crippled by burns.
- Pokemon that take advantage of an eventual Defog that drops evasion, such as Bisharp, are really good partners.
- Spinblockers that can prevent Stealth Rock from being spinned away are quite good, too.
- Wallbreakers that can take advantage of a Stealth Rock in order to gain a KO earlier, such as Kyurem-Black and Mega-Charizard, make good partners too.
- Magnezone is a really good partner with Garchomp, as it able to form the excellent DragMag core with it.
Choice Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Outrage
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 4: Dragon Claw / Fire Blast
ability: Rough Skin
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly / Naive
Moves
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- Outrage is Garchomp's most powerful STAB attack, and as it's being locked into Choice Scarf already, being locked into Outrage brings a little difference.
- Earthquake is Garchomp's second best STAB and hits a variety of Pokemon.
- Rock Slide can be used for more accuracy and the flinch, but Stone Edge hits harder, especially Togekiss that is immune to Garchomp's dual STAB.
- Dragon Claw is a more accurate option than Outrage, but offers less power in addition.
- Fire Blast hits Ferrothorn and Skarmory most importantly, that wall its other moves.
Set Details
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- Rough Skin is standard, deals a decent 12.5% damage to the opponent using a contact move on it.
- Choice Scarf allows Garchomp to outspeed quite a lot more Pokemon, such as Greninja, Latios, Latias and Mega-Pinsir.
- Either a Jolly or Naive nature with maximized Speed can be used, depending in running Fire Blast or not. They both, however, allow Garchomp to outspeed Choice Scarf Hydreigon.
Usage Tips
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- Garchomp can be brought in as a revengekiller, as it does that job really well.
- Switch Garchomp out of possible threats that may outspeed it, or just competely wall it.
- This set is used best to threaten weakened Pokemon, because Garchomp isn't able to sweep with this set.
Team Options
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- Again, Pokemon that take burns very well, especially those who take their advantage from it, such as Heatran, are good as they prevent Garchomp from losing usefulness by burns.
- Pokemon that can set up Stealth Rock help to achieve Garchomp to get a KO off easier, such as Heatran or Ferrothorn.
- Partners that beat Fairy-types that can beat Garchomp with ease, such as Bisharp or Venusaur, are great.
Mixed
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name: Mixed
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Draco Meteor
move 3: Fire Blast
move 4: Stone Edge
ability: Rough Skin
item: Garchompite
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Naughty
Moves
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- Earthquake is Garchomp's semi-strongest physical STAB attack and has terrifying coverage on the overall.
- Draco Meteor is Garchomp's strongest special STAB attack, but Garchomp suffers from the Special Attack drop.
- Fire Blast hits Ice-types super effectively, and Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Skarmory.
- Stone Edge also has good coverage and hits Bug- and Flying-types harder that resist Garchomp's main physical STAB, Earthquake.
Set Details
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- Rough Skin is surpassed by Garchomp's Mega-Evolution but functions best on switch-ins.
- Garchompite as item to Mega-Evolve Garchomp during battle.
- Because the difference between Garchomp-Mega's Attack and Special Attack, there are max EVs invested in Special Attack in order to balance it a bit more.
- Speed EVs allows Mega Garchomp to outspeed max Speed unboosted Dragonite that could otherwise hurt it badly with Outrage.
- A Naughty nature is chosen just to boost the Attack a bit more, because there are only 4 EVs invested.
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- When facing a slower Ice-type, hit it with either Fire Blast or Stone Edge depending on the lowest Defense stat.
- This Garchomp is designed as a wallbreaker, so make sure to switch it in on opposing walls.
- Draco Meteor should be used sparingly, as both Draco Meteor and Fire Blast will be weakened quite a lot after use.
Team Options
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- Sticky Web or paralysis support is very useful, as the Speed drop of Garchomp-Mega is really crucial for it as it's outsped by way more Dragon-types that threaten it.
- Pokemon that take care of hyperoffensive special attackers such as Greninja, make good partners, as these can easily beat it.
- Teammates that can get rid of bulkier Fairy-types, such as Venusaur or Bisharp, are really good, as they help Garchomp clean up without having to fear a Fairy-type to switch in.
- Hazard support is very good too for Garchomp in order to get a KO off earlier.
Mega Swords Dance
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name: Mega Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Dragon Claw
move 4: Substitute / Fire Blast
ability: Rough Skin
item: Garchompite
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly / Naive
Moves
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- Swords Dance boosts Garchomp's Attack by two stages and allows it to sweep more Pokemon.
- Earthquake is the best STAB option without any effects for Garchomp, and hits a variety of types.
- Dragon Claw has less power than Outrage but still hits very effectively, especially when Garchomp has a boosted Attack.
- Substitute can be used to avoid burns and works great because Garchomp forces quite some switches. It also allows it to set up safely.
- Fire Blast is a good option because this way it isn't completely walled by bulky Steel-types such as Skarmory.
Set Details
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- Rough Skin is standard to hurt opponent contact on the switch, but is surpassed after Mega Evolution.
- Garchompite allows Garchomp to Mega-Evolve.
- The invested EVs max Garchomp's damage output and boosts its Speed further.
- Either Jolly or Naive can be ran, depending on Fire Blast being ran or not.
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- This Garchomp breaks through many physical walls and is used against most of these that don't threaten it much.
- Garchomp functions as a mid-game sweeper when it's checks and counters have been beaten.
- Use Substitute when predicting a switch, this way Garchomp can safely set up a Swords Dance.
Team Options
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- Sticky Web or paralysis support is great as Garchomp-Mega loses Speed during Mega-Evolving, meaning it's outsped by a lot of other Pokemon.
- Pokemon that can absorb burns make real good partners too, as Mega-Garchomp is really crippled by burns without a Special Attack.
- Sand support by Pokemon such as Tyranitar with a Smooth Rock may be good too, as Sand Force boosts Garchomp's physical Ground STAB by 1.3x.
Other Options
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- Fire Fang can be used over Fire Blast as Garchomp has a better base Attack and it can be boosted further by Swords Dance, but because of its low Base Power, lack of STAB and many Pokemon that it actually hits run Rocky Helmet, its not very useful.
- Sand Veil can be used on a sand team to avoid more attacks and set up Swords Dance more safely, but this is based on luck so it's not very dependable.
- Hone Claws can be used over Swords Dance to boost the accuracy, but because it is basically only used for Stone Edge it is not really worth it.
- Dual Chop is an option to possibly break Substitute because of its ability to hit twice, but lacks real power and though is unviable.
- Iron Head to hit Fairy-types way harder, but Garchomp shouldn't stay in on Fairy-types because they can easily OHKO it.
Checks & Counters
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**Burn**: Every physical variant of Garchomp is crippled by burn, and can be considered good checks.
**Bulky Fairy-types**: Bulky Fairy-types, such as Sylveon and Clefable, can take one of Garchomp's hit and defeat it with one of their STABs.
**Physical walls**: Physical walls, such as Slowbro and Ferrothorn, can easily check Garchomp by stalling it out or just inflict a ton of damage, though the latter one needs to be wary of Fire Blast.
**Faster threats**: Faster Pokemon with good coverage, such as Greninja or Latios, can easily revenge kill Garchomp with one of their STABs.
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