Quality Control Choice Specs Dragapult [QC: 0/2]

[Setsu]

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Flamethrower
move 4: U-turn
item: Choice Specs
tera type: Ghost / Dragon
ability: Infiltrator / Clear Body
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Equipped with Choice Specs, Dragapult combines its great speed and lethal STAB combination, able to hit nearly the entire tier for at least neutral damage, to become one of OU's premier wallbreakers. Flamethrower targets Kingambit, one of the few Pokemon that resists both of Dragapult's STAB moves, and OHKOs the likes of Iron Treads and Scizor. U-turn allows Dragapult to safely pivot on predicted switches, easing the need of prediction while chipping at the likes of Ting-Lu and Blissey in the process. A Timid nature allows Dragapult to get the jump on Zamazenta, Weavile, Darkrai, as well as Speed tie with opposing Dragapult; a Modest nature may be considered to enhance Dragapult's breaking power, with Draco Meteor netting OHKOs against the likes of Tornadus-T and Ogerpon-W. Infiltrator proves effective against Substitute users such as Kyurem and Iron Moth, both of which Dragapult threatens to KO with Draco Meteor, as well as against Aurora Veil and screens teams that often use Pokemon like Darkrai and offensive Gliscor which cant stand Dragapult's attacks. Clear Body may also be used as a countermeasure against Pecharunt's Parting Shot, as well as Sticky Web teams, which often feature the likes of Gholdengo and Great Tusk that are greatly threatened by Dragapult. Tera Ghost boosts Dragapult's Shadow Ball, netting 2HKOs against Clefable and Assault Vest Tornadus-T after Stealth Rock, while removing its weakness to attacks such as Iron Valiant and Enamorus's Moonblast, and Weavile's Ice Shard. Similarly, Tera Dragon boosts Dragapult's Draco Meteor, allowing it to 2HKO Garganacl and heavily chip at Ting-Lu, while removing Dragapult's weakness to Kingambit's Sucker Punch, Darkrai's Dark Pulse, and Ceruledge's Shadow Sneak.

Choice Specs Dragapult often finds itself on bulky offense and offense teams as speed control. Ogerpon-W appreciates Dragapult's ability to scare Dragon-types such as Raging Bolt, Kyurem, and Hydrapple, while in turn, it aids Dragapult against specially defensive walls such as Ting-Lu, Blissey, and Assault Vest Alomomola and Primarina, with both being able to bring each other safely on the field with U-turn. Similarly, Kingambit appreciates Dragapult taking on physical walls such as Dondozo, Great Tusk, and Zamazenta, while it assists Dragapult against Tera Fairy Garganacl, which takes on both of Dragapult's STAB moves. Great Tusk and Landorus-T check Kingambit, which may use a choice-locked Dragapult as an opportunity to set up, provide Stealth Rock support to chip foes such as Assault Vest Tornadus-T and Enamorus to put them in range of Dragapult's attacks, and can either remove or prevent entry hazards from being set up and weaken Dragapult, thanks to Rapid Spin and Taunt respectively. Galarian Slowking and Iron Crown can deal with Fairy-types such as Clefable and Galarian Weezing looking to exploit Dragapult being locked into Draco Meteor. Iron Valiant aids Dragapult against Dark-types such as Hisuian Samurott, Ting-Lu, and Kingambit, weakens shared checks such as Primarina and Assault Vest Tornadus-T, and with Boster Energy it is able to provide extra speed control alongside Dragapult, particularly outspeeding foes faster than Dragapult such as Deoxys-S, Choice Scarf Gholdengo, and Kyurem after a Dragon Dance.

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[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Flamethrower / Fire Blast (Not on the set, but could be worth asking about, it shows up on usage stats this month and has some nice calcs like OHKOing max speed Gambit and 252 HP Treads. Fine to leave off if you think it's just a random aberration. )
move 4: U-turn
item: Choice Specs
tera type: Ghost / Dragon
ability: Infiltrator / Clear Body
nature: Timid / Modest (Modest doesn't show up on usage stats at all. It's very probably fine to have it here, but it could be worth demoting to just a text mention.)
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Equipped with Choice Specs, Dragapult combines its great speed and lethal STAB combination (All Dragapult sets do this, I would remove or reword to focus more on Specs-specific attributes), able to hit nearly the entire tier for at least neutral damage, to become one of OU's premier wallbreakers. (Skipping Shadow Ball is probably fine unless you want to mention spdef drop fishing (see point at end), but may want to briefly touch on using Draco Meteor over other special dragon moves like Dragon Pulse.) Flamethrower targets Kingambit, one of the few (I think Gambit is the only OU-relevant mon to resist both Dragon and Ghost. I guess tera fairy Garg, but that's a tera exception. So I would reword to say "the only") Pokemon that resists both of Dragapult's STAB moves, and OHKOs the likes of Iron Treads (only OHKOs fully offensive variants, which seem popular but are not the only kind of Treads) and Scizor. U-turn allows Dragapult to safely pivot on predicted switches, easing the need of prediction while chipping at the likes of Ting-Lu and Blissey in the process. A Timid nature allows Dragapult to get the jump on Zamazenta, Weavile, Darkrai, as well as Speed tie with opposing Dragapult (+1 Adamant Dragonite may also be worth mentioning as a key thing to outspeed); a Modest nature may be considered to enhance Dragapult's breaking power, with Draco Meteor netting OHKOs against the likes of Tornadus-T and Ogerpon-W. (Is modest + tera dragon a synergy worth mentioning? I see both can mean you have odds to OHKO Zama or Garg after rocks as an example. Not sure how relevant this is.) Infiltrator proves effective against Substitute users such as Kyurem and Iron Moth, both of which Dragapult threatens to KO with Draco Meteor, as well as against Aurora Veil and screens teams that often use Pokemon like Darkrai and offensive Gliscor which cant stand Dragapult's attacks. Clear Body may also be used as a countermeasure against Pecharunt's Parting Shot, as well as Sticky Web teams, which often feature the likes of Gholdengo and Great Tusk that are greatly threatened by Dragapult. Tera Ghost boosts Dragapult's Shadow Ball, netting 2HKOs against Clefable and Assault Vest Tornadus-T after Stealth Rock, while removing its weakness to attacks such as Iron Valiant and Enamorus's Moonblast, and Weavile's Ice Shard. Similarly, Tera Dragon boosts Dragapult's Draco Meteor, allowing it to 2HKO Garganacl and heavily chip at Ting-Lu, while removing Dragapult's weakness to Kingambit's Sucker Punch, Darkrai's Dark Pulse, and Ceruledge's Shadow Sneak.

Choice Specs Dragapult often finds itself on bulky offense and offense teams as speed control (this conflict slightly with the opening statement of the first paragraph, emphasizing how specs pult is a wallbreaker. I think it makes sense to keep the focus on the specific strengths of specs, not Pult in general as speed control. But it is a big part of it anyway, so maybe I'm just nitpicking.). Ogerpon-W appreciates Dragapult's ability to scare Dragon-types such as Raging Bolt, Kyurem, and Hydrapple, while in turn, it aids Dragapult against specially defensive walls such as Ting-Lu, Blissey, and Assault Vest Alomomola and Primarina, with both being able to bring each other safely on the field with U-turn. Similarly, Kingambit appreciates Dragapult taking on physical walls such as Dondozo, Great Tusk, and Zamazenta, while it assists Dragapult against Tera Fairy Garganacl, which takes on both of Dragapult's STAB moves. Great Tusk and Landorus-T check Kingambit, which may use a choice-locked Dragapult as an opportunity to set up, provide Stealth Rock support to chip foes such as Assault Vest Tornadus-T and Enamorus to put them in range of Dragapult's attacks (This is an awkward and confusing transition, Gambit uses Pult as an opportunity to set up but Lando and Tusk can set up rocks. Would reword to make it more clear who is doing what.), and can either remove or prevent entry hazards from being set up and weaken Dragapult, thanks to Rapid Spin and Taunt respectively. Galarian Slowking and Iron Crown can deal with Fairy-types such as Clefable and Galarian Weezing looking to exploit Dragapult being locked into Draco Meteor. (Could add that Glowking also absorbs tspikes which this Pult set needs. Perhaps mention Glimmora, another common teammate, here as well.) Iron Valiant aids Dragapult against Dark-types such as Hisuian Samurott, Ting-Lu, and Kingambit, soften up shared checks such as Primarina and Assault Vest Tornadus-T, and with Booster Energy it is able to provide extra speed control alongside Dragapult, particularly outspeeding foes that outspeed Dragapult (This is phrased extremely awkwardly. It's a valid point, but using "speed" 3 times in 9 words is not great.) such as Deoxys-S, Choice Scarf Gholdengo, and Kyurem after a Dragon Dance. (Specs Pult hates hazard chip, I would definitely emphasize hazard-removing teammates such as Corviknight (one of the most common teammates per usage stats), Hatterene, and Cinderace that also fit well onto team structures specs Pult does.)

(It may not be appropriate for an analysis, but it could be worth mentioning that part of what makes Specs Pult so effective is the possibility of shadow ball spdef drops. Even things that normally may take a hit ok such as Clefable or Heatran suddenly find themselves getting a bit more than they bargained for. So it could be worth emphasizing this and tying it into teammates that can give it chances to fish for these drops via hazard removal and pivoting.)