Tyranitar
[Overview]
<p>Tyranitar is one of the most popular Pokemon in the VGC 2012 metagame, and with good reason. It has very impressive stats, the best of which is its massive base 134 Attack. With a base Speed of only 61, however, it is one of the slower Pokemon in the VGC 2012 metagame. This can be taken advantage of by providing it with Trick Room support, or simply by using it to underspeed opposing weather Pokemon. Tyranitar's ability Sand Stream initiates a sandstorm whenever Tyranitar enters the battlefield; when two weather inducers are sent out at the same time (the beginning of the battle, for example), the slower Pokemon's weather is what affects the field. Tyranitar's Rock / Dark typing gives it two very useful STAB attacks, but also provides it with a horrific 4x weakness to Fighting-type moves, a very popular attack type in the VGC 2012 metagame. Furthermore, Tyranitar is weak to Ground-, Water-, and Grass-type moves, all of which are common in the metagame as well. Thankfully, Tyranitar's weakness to Water- and Grass-type attacks is to a certain extent offset by the Special Defense boost that Rock-types receive during a sandstorm. </p>
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Low Kick
move 4: Protect
item: Chople Berry / Focus Sash
nature: Brave
ability: Sand Stream
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes advantage of Tyranitar's low Speed by using a Speed-reducing nature and a 0 Speed IV, allowing it to take control of the weather,<comma> as well as and take advantage of Trick Room. Crunch and Rock Slide are obligatory on every Tyranitar set, as they are the its strongest STAB moves. Tyranitar can choose between any number of attacks for its third move, as it has a very wide movepool. Low Kick is generally preferred, as it does heavy damage to the many Steel-types that resist Rock Slide and Crunch.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs listed maximize Tyranitar's HP so that it can take both special and physical hits well. However, they do not enable Tyranitar to always survive a Close Combat from a max Attack Adamant Hitmontop even should Tyranitar be holding a Chople Berry. You may choose to invest 212 EVs into HP to enable Tyranitar to survive the aforementioned hit, but no amount of investment will allow Chople Berry Tyranitar to survive Life Orb Hitmontop's Close Combat with surety. Lastly, it should be noted that Tyranitar is overwhelmingly unlikely to survive a similar assault from Fighting Gem Hitmontop.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Tyranitar doesn't have many options to deal with opposing Fighting-type Pokemon, which are the biggest threat to it. As such, good teammates for Tyranitar include Pokemon who can comfortably take on Fighting-types, such as Cresselia and Gyarados. Other good teammates for Tyranitar are Pokemon that can take advantage of the sandstorm that Tyranitar summons. The best of these Pokemon are Garchomp, Excadrill, and Landorus, but there are other examples as well. Teammates Pokemon that can eliminate a potential threat to Tyranitar quickly, such as Latios and Porygon-Z, also make great teammates for Tyranitar. If you are looking to provide Tyranitar with Trick Room support, Slowking, Eviolite Dusclops, and Dusknoir are among the best options. These Pokemon can cover Tyranitar's weakness to Fighting-type attackers by hitting them hard with STAB Psychic or Scald, or burning them with Will-O-Wisp, weakening them greatly. The three also have strong defenses and resist or are immune to many of the common attacks directed at Tyranitar, making them excellent teammates. </p>
[Other Options]
<p>Tyranitar has a vast movepool, but many of its moves are not viable in VGC 2012. If your team relies heavily on sandstorm being set up, Tyranitar can hold Iron Ball instead of one of the recommended items to lower its Speed, and take advantage of it by running the move Fling. With an Iron Ball, Fling becomes an immensely powerful 130 Base Power Dark-type move, which is further boosted by STAB. One problem with this strategy is that it can only be pulled off once. Additionally, if the target uses Protect, the Iron Ball is used up and the strategy is rendered useless. In place of Low Kick, Tyranitar can instead use a support move, such as Taunt or Thunder Wave. Taunt can be used to mess with Trick Room teams, but Tyranitar itself generally fares well in Trick Room due to its low Speed. Tyranitar also has a wide selection of powerful special attacks, such as..., but its base 95 Special Attack pales in comparison to its base 134 Attack stat. Stone Edge can be used in place of Rock Slide, but its low accuracy makes it less reliable, and unlike Rock Slide, it can also be redirected by Follow Me and Rage Powder. Nonetheless, one big advantage of Stone Edge is its ability to easily 2HKO Gyarados, which is a big threat to Tyranitar. A number of other moves, such as Iron Head and Aqua Tail, can be run, but are not recommended due to poor type coverage. If you do not care about initiating a sandstorm, or would rather take better advantage of one of your teammate's moves, such as Tailwind or Icy Wind), you can use an Adamant nature and a 31 Speed IV. Another option is utilizing 252 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature along with Choice Scarf, which can catch your opponents off guard. This opens up Tyranitar to being OHKOed by any number of attacks, but the added speed can be helpful in some situations. In particular, Tyranitar can outspeed and OHKO Latios and Thundurus, which may pose a threat to Tyranitar and its teammates.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>As stated before, Fighting-type Pokemon are the bane of Tyranitar's existence. They are able to deal massive amounts of damage to Tyranitar while taking relatively little damage in return. Pokemon with the Intimidate ability also fares well against Tyranitar, as Tyranitar almost always relies on physical attacks to deal damage. Hitmontop and Arcanine are particularly threatening because they pose an imminent threat to Tyranitar, but even Salamence and Gyarados can be switched in relatively safely, as neither is OHKOed by Rock Slide after Intimidate. Other Pokemon that can wall Tyranitar well and dish out heavy damage to it include most Steel-types, such as Metagross and Ferrothorn. </p>
[Dream World]
<p>Tyranitar receives a very interesting ability from the Dream World: Unnerve. This ability prevents opponents from using their held Berries, and therefore has powerful synergy with Pokemon such as Smeargle, Amoonguss, and Parasect, who rely on inflicting status on opponents. It can also be used to negate type-resisting berries, such as Chople Berry and Wacan Berry, which can disrupt your opponent's damage calculations and swing the battle in your favor. Both Sand Stream and Unnerve are very powerful abilities, and each have their uses on Tyranitar. Nevertheless, be aware that your opponent will likely know what ability you are using, as Sand Stream causes a sandstorm to appear when Tyranitar enters the battlefield, so if this does not happen, the opponent will be tipped off to the fact that your Tyranitar has Unnerve.</p>
