National Dex Suspect Coverage: Dragapult
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Art by wixi.
Introduction
Dragapult has a controversial past in National Dex as a terrifying Dragon Dance sweeper that can instantly obliterate foes thanks to its access to Z-Moves. An insane Speed tier also makes it nigh impossible to revenge kill without a priority user like Mega Lopunny, Weavile, or Mega Mawile. It is far from frail, as its solid defensive typing lets it set up Substitute on foes like Blissey, Slowbro, and Amoonguss to use them as setup fodder. When paired up with other traits like its ability to run offensive special sets like Choice Specs and Z-Thunder + Hex as well as how restraining it was on the builder, due to the small range of checks it had, it eventually got banned in late 2020. However, recently, the playerbase felt that the meta had shifted enough to where a retest for Dragapult was justified, and the council agreed to suspect it.
Sets
- Dragapult @ Ghostium Z
- Ability: Clear Body
- EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Dragon Dance
- - Phantom Force
- - Dragon Darts
- - Substitute
This is Dragapult's most notorious set: SubDD. Dragon Dance is what makes Dragapult stand out in National Dex, as its high Speed and incredible typing make it near unstoppable once it sets up. Substitute lets Dragapult use status-reliant Pokémon like Blissey, Rotom-W, and Toxapex, as well as Choice-locked Pokémon like Kartana and Greninja, as setup fodder. A Jolly nature is preferred to outspeed foes like Ash-Greninja, Mega Lopunny, and Tapu Koko. However, using an Adamant nature also works, as Dragapult doesn't need the extra Speed to sweep once it sets up.
Other Options
Special sets like Choice Specs and Hex began to emerge to take advantage of the physically defensive Pokémon that check Dragapult's Dragon Dance set, like Melmetal, Unaware Clefable, and Ferrothorn. Special sets were typically paired up with teammates like Kartana, Mega Lopunny, and Weavile that benefit from these walls being weakened. The fact that Fairy- + Normal-type cores like Chansey + Clefable and Tapu Fini + Mega Lopunny could wall Dragapult if its Z-Move had been used inspired players to run Infestation over Substitute; Dragapult can afford to do this, as Pokémon it'd usually use as setup fodder like Toxapex and Slowbro started to run moves like Knock Off and Ice Beam to prevent Dragapult from setting up on them.
Sample Team
- sober (Victini) @ Choice Scarf
- Ability: Victory Star
- EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - V-create
- - Final Gambit
- - U-turn
- - Trick
- fast (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Focus Sash
- Ability: Intimidate
- EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Swords Dance
- - Stealth Rock
- - Earthquake
- - Explosion
- novacane (Weavile) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
- Ability: Pressure
- EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Swords Dance
- - Triple Axel
- - Knock Off
- - Ice Shard
-
- cayman (Dragapult) @ Ghostium Z
- Ability: Clear Body
- EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Substitute
- - Dragon Dance
- - Phantom Force
- - Dragon Darts
- sos (Volcarona) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
- Ability: Flame Body
- EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Timid Nature
- IVs: 0 Atk
- - Quiver Dance
- - Fire Blast
- - Bug Buzz
- - Giga Drain
- probably (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
- Ability: Technician
- EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 220 Spe
- Adamant Nature
- - Swords Dance
- - Bullet Punch
- - Sand Tomb
- - Roost
This hyper offense team, built by Avery, was used by a plethora of people during their suspect laddering runs. It's built around Dragapult and is a great showcase of why this phantom menace is such a threat. Lead Landorus-T and Choice Scarf Final Gambit Victini should be able to take out a Pokémon each on their own, forcing your opponent to face the rest of your team with only 4 Pokémon. Weavile, Volcarona, and Mega Scizor are able to further weaken Dragapult's checks, like Melmetal, Mega Tyranitar, and Clefable, allowing it to sweep opposing teams.
Arguments
Ban
- Dragapult has very few offensive checks, as it's faster than the entire tier at +1, including Choice Scarf users like Tapu Lele, Kartana, and Greninja.
- A lot of its checks, like Melmetal, Landorus-T, Clefable, and Tapu Fini, cannot survive a +boosted Z-Move, and as a result, opponents are forced to sack a Pokémon to check it.
- The limited pool of Pokémon that are able to consistently handle Dragon Dance variants makes it super restrictive on the builder, as you're forced to run one of them or lose to it on Team Preview.
- Alongside dual screens support, Dragapult can set up on way more Pokémon, namely Heatran, Gliscor, and Magnezone. It's also harder to revenge kill, especially by weaker priority moves.
- Lastly, its set diversity makes it unpredictable, because Choice Specs and Hex sets can beat the Dragon Dance set's checks.
Do Not Ban
- Many common defensive Pokémon like Melmetal, Clefable, and Tapu Fini are able to handle it after it's used its Z-Move.
- It's not an instant win if you manage to set it up, as Dragapult can still get outplayed if it expends its Z-Move on the wrong target, leaving it unable to break the opposing team.
- Common priority users like Mega Mawile, Weavile, Mega Lopunny, and Mega Scizor are able to revenge kill it.
- A lot of common offense teams do not allow Dragapult to find the free turns it needs to set up.
Results
In the end, Dragapult was considered too difficult to handle because of its insane Speed tier, hard-to-switch-into STAB moves, and set diversity. As such, it ended up staying banned with a vote of 71-20.
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