[OVERVIEW]
Tyranitar looks like a great Pokemon at first glance. It's the only viable setter of sand, and it has an extensive movepool and considerably high attacking stats. However, Tyranitar is, simply put, a lackluster Pokemon in DOU; its bad typing leaves it susceptible to a vast majority of common threats, such as Landorus-T, Keldeo, and Amoonguss. Furthermore, as Rock-types, Mega Diancie and Terrakion are generally the better pick with their immediate high Speed and more powerful STAB moves. Tyranitar also faces competition as a Dark-type from the likes of Bisharp and Hydreigon, which aren't totally beaten by Landorus-T and are able to fit on a wider range of team styles. Tyranitar's main saving grace is its ability to set sand, which, despite being the main part of a generally inconsistent team style, can be used to support an adjacent Excadrill and break a foe's Focus Sash. Tyranitar can also become a threatening sweeper when Dragon Dance is used in tandem with its decent STAB coverage, but it is so slow that it can't even outspeed Choice Scarf Landorus-T, its most threatening and most common foe, after a boost.
[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Rock Slide
move 2: Crunch
move 3: Dragon Dance
move 4: Protect
item: Tyranitarite
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Rock Slide is Tyranitar's main attacking move. While relatively weak, it's recommended for its spread coverage and flinch chance, which works notably well after some Speed boosts from Dragon Dance. Crunch functions as Tyranitar's secondary STAB move; it enables Tyranitar to both target a single foe for more damage and threaten the Steel-types that resist Rock Slide, such as Aegislash and Jirachi. Dragon Dance enables Tyranitar to set itself apart from other Rock- and Dark-types by boosting its Attack to impressively high levels, as well as giving it the Speed boost to outpace most Pokemon that would normally threaten it. Protect is a staple move used in doubles formats in order to stall out opposing field conditions such as Tailwind and to scout for enemy attacks.
Set Details
========
Tyranitar needs to be Mega Evolved in order to use this set well, as the Mega forme has the bulk and offenses to utilize Dragon Dance to its fullest extent. Tyranitar should be running Sand Stream in order to disrupt opposing weather conditions on the switch, break Focus Sashes, boost its Special Defense, and potentially support Excadrill. Although Tyranitar cannot outspeed Choice Scarf Landorus-T after just one boost, it can still run maximum Speed in order to outspeed other fast Pokemon when boosted, such as Mega Gengar, Darkrai, and Weavile, while still retaining a potent offensive presence. Adamant can be used over Jolly for more power while also still being able to outspeed base 110 Pokemon such as Mega Diancie and Latios.
Usage Tips
========
In order to make the most use of Mega Tyranitar's bulk, it should start setting up instantly, when it is at a healthy range of HP. That being said, Tyranitar is best used as a late-game sweeper, when its checks are removed and the rest of the opponent's team is weakened. Use Sand Stream to your advantage, as the ability to break an enemy's Focus Sash is incredibly useful.
Team Options
========
Redirection support in order to help Tyranitar grab boosts greatly benefits it. Specifically, redirection users that can both tank Fighting-type attacks and threaten Landorus-T pair the best with Tyranitar. Therefore, Amoonguss, Togekiss, Jirachi, and Clefairy are all viable choices for this role. Excadrill is one of the most advantageous partners for Tyranitar, as it's the only viable user of Sand Rush. Furthermore, its STAB coverage allows it to remove certain checks to Tyranitar, namely Fairy-types such as Sylveon and Mega Diancie. However, Excadrill stacks weaknesses to Fighting- and Water-type attacks. Wide Guard users, mainly Aegislash and Conkeldurr, support Tyranitar by providing an immunity to opposing Earthquake and Pixilate Hyper Voice. Checks to Landorus-T, such as Keldeo and Rotom-W, are also needed on the team in order to allow Tyranitar to function well. Fighting-types pose a massive threat to Tyranitar, so allies such as Latios and Talonflame are valuable to Tyranitar. Bulky Grass-types and Spore users such as Ferrothorn and Amoonguss also stand in Tyranitar's way of sweeping, so checks to those such as Heatran, Infernape, Talonflame, and most Safety Goggles users support Tyranitar well. Bulky Water-types threaten Tyranitar's sweep as well, so Pokemon such as Thundurus, Amoonguss, and Rotom-W provide apt support to Tyranitar.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Tyranitar can utilize the elemental punches to eliminate some of its usual checks, such as Thunder Punch for Keldeo, but this would require removing one of Tyranitar's important STAB moves and is usually not very useful overall. Thunder Wave could be used for speed control, but Thundurus is a much better user of it. The Tyranitarite may be forgone in favor of a Mega that better fits the team; however, Tyranitar can only utilize a Dragon Dance set well when given the extra defenses of its Mega forme. Assault Vest could also be used to increase Tyranitar's already-boosted Special Defense. Tyranitar can run a specially oriented set with Rock Slide and Shuca Berry or Life Orb to surprise its usual checks, such as Landorus-T, with its extensive movepool and to mitigate its weakness to Intimidate while also posing a bigger threat to Aegislash with Dark Pulse rather than Crunch. Weakness Policy could be used when running Dragon Dance, as Tyranitar has many weaknesses and may survive some super effective attacks.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-type Pokemon**: Tyranitar's suboptimal typing leaves it with many exploitable flaws. Landorus-T is a prominent threat to Tyranitar, as the common Choice Scarf set outspeeds it even after a boost and proceeds to 2HKO it while ignoring an ally's redirection with Earthquake.
**Fairy-type Pokemon**: Mega Gardevoir and Sylveon prove to be threatening to Tyranitar with their Pixilate Hyper Voice. Hyper Voice, being a spread move, also cannot be avoided with an ally's redirection.
**Fighting-type Pokemon**: Fighting-types, such as Keldeo and Terrakion, resist both of Tyranitar's STAB types and OHKO it with their own STAB moves.
**Water-type Pokemon**: Bulky Water-types, such as Azumarill and Suicune, can tank Tyranitar's hits and do more damage in return.
**Grass-type Pokemon**: Grass-types such as Ferrothorn, Breloom, and Amoonguss can survive Tyranitar's attacks and OHKO it back or immobilize it with Spore, in Amoonguss's case.
**Intimidate and Burns**: Tyranitar's boosts are mitigated by opposing Intimidate users such as Landorus-T, Gyarados, and Scrafty. A Will-O-Wisp from Rotom-W also halts Tyranitar's sweeping ability.
**Faster Pokemon**: Even after obtaining a Dragon Dance boost, Tyranitar can still be outsped and OHKOed by Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Superpower Deoxys-A, and Choice Scarf Genesect. Tyranitar needs to use Dragon Dance at least twice to outspeed these threats; otherwise, it is OHKOed or takes heavy damage from them.
**Paralysis, Tailwind, and Trick Room**: Dragon Dance Tyranitar relies on being fast to shoot off its powerful STAB moves before it gets smacked, so any of these forms of speed control hampers it significantly. Thundurus, Salamence, and Cresselia all commonly carry one of these forms of speed control.
**Wide Guard**: Wide Guard prevents Tyranitar from consistently spamming Rock Slide. Conkeldurr in particular can use Wide Guard to protect a teammate or OHKO Tyranitar with Mach Punch.
Last edited:
