Battle Spot Dragapult

[Theorymon]

[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Dragon Darts
move 2: Phantom Force
move 3: U-turn / Sucker Punch / Dragon Dance
move 4: Fire Blast / Sucker Punch
item: Life Orb / Choice Scarf / Choice Band
ability: Clear Body / Infiltrator
nature: Jolly / Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Despite its meager physical movepool, Dragapult makes an incredibly effective physical attacker due to its blistering Speed. Dragon Darts is not only a reliable STAB attack, but also ignores Focus Sash thanks to it being a two-hit attack. Phantom Force's one-turn invulnerability can be troublesome when Normal-types are on the foe's team, but it otherwise gives Dragapult a powerful Ghost-type STAB attack that can stall Dynamax turns, and itself becomes a strong Max Phantasm. U-turn makes Dragapult a great scout, while Sucker Punch givers Dragapult a decently powered priority attack against common Choice Scarf Pokemon. Fire Blast may be weak, but it offers Dragapult a way to 2HKO Ferrothorn and deal decent damage to Corviknight.

Dragapult has plenty of viable items to choose from. Life Orb gives Dragapult consistent power without locking itself in, and most notably, allows Dragapult to 2HKO physically defensive Corviknight with Fire Blast. Choice Scarf may seem extreme considering Dragapult's Speed, but it allows Dragapult to outspeed Sand Rush Excadrill. Choice Band gives Dragapult a major boost in power and works particularly well with U-turn. Focus Sash can work well when paired with Dragon Dance, potentially letting Dragapult win with a surprise late-game sweep. A Jolly nature is usually the best option for winning Speed ties against opposing Dragapult (or Naive when using Fire Blast). Clear Body is excellent support against Intimidate users such as Gyarados and Arcanine, but Infiltrator is useful for ignoring Substitute and dual screens as well.

This Dragapult set in particular struggles against Corviknight, which can only be consistently 2HKOed by a Life Orb-boosted Fire Blast. Sets without Fire Blast struggle against Ferrothorn as well, and Dragapult must always be wary of Choice Scarf Pokemon that attempt to revenge kill it, such as Galarian Darmanitan and Hydreigon. And finally, Mimikyu will always pressure Dragapult due to Disguise and it hitting hard with its super effective STAB moves. With these Pokemon in mind, bulky Fire-types such as Rotom-H and Arcanine make fantastic teammates against Steel-types and Mimikyu. A Corviknight of your own can actually help against Steel-types, using Taunt to shut down opposing Corviknight and Ferrothorn, (RC) and being a great Mimikyu check.

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Fire Blast
move 4: Thunderbolt / U-turn
item: Choice Specs / Life Orb / Choice Scarf
ability: Infiltrator
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
This set takes advantage of Dragapult's impressive special movepool. Draco Meteor and Shadow Ball are excellent STAB moves that hit the majority of the metagame, leaving Fire Blast to deal massive damage to Steel-types. Thunderbolt rounds out the set, giving Dragapult a 100% accurate move to hit Corviknight and Gyarados hard. However, since Dragapult's coverage is already good, U-turn can be used over Thunderbolt to scout potential switch-ins.

Choice Specs picks up the most slack for Dragapult's only decent Special Attack stat, but Life Orb actually takes effect while Dragapult is Dynamaxed, making it the better choice for those situations. Choice Scarf may seem absurd with Dragapult's blistering Speed, but it catches other Choice Scarf Pokemon off guard and outpseeds Sand Rush Excadrill even if the sand is up. A Timid nature is recommended for Speed tying with opposing Dragapult and outspeeding Choice Scarf Dracovish and Dracozolt. However, a Modest nature does give Dragapult a much-needed boost in power, and still outspeeds almost every other non-Choice Scarf Pokemon except for Zen Mode Galarian Darmanitan.

This Dragapult set in particular has trouble breaking through Pokemon with high special bulk, such as Gastrodon, specially defensive Corviknight when locked into Ghost- or Dragon-type attacks, and while this isn't a defensive Pokemon, Togekiss can easily set up on Dragapult with Max Airstream. Rotom-C is notable among the Rotom formes for being a great Gastrodon check. while Rotom-H works well against most Togekiss sets and helps against Choice Scarf Galarian Darmanitan. Steel-types of your own such as Corviknight and Ferrothorn provide great aid for taking Dragon-type attacks from Choice Scarf revenge killers, and they help out against Mimikyu as well.

[SET]
name: Dynamax Sweeper
move 1: Dragon Darts
move 2: Phantom Force
move 3: Steel Wing
move 4: Fly / Fire Blast / Sucker Punch
item: Weakness Policy
ability: Infiltrator / Clear Body
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
This Dragapult set takes advantage of its many weaknesses to sweep with Weakness Policy. Steel Wing may be weak, but the defensive boost it gives Dragapult as Max Steelspike is more invaluable for longer term survival than Max Wyrmwind can provide. While Phantom Force isn't the most reliable STAB outside of Dynamax, it's needed to take advatange of Dragapult's higher Attack stat and the defense drops Max Phantasm provides. Fly provides Dragapult Max Airstream while Dynamaxed, which is a great tool against faster Choice Scarf revenge killers such as Galarian Darmanitan and Hydreigon. Fire Blast, while weak until a boost is gained, is Dragapult's best option against Steel-types. Sucker Punch is useful after Dynamax has ended to pick off weakened foes and give it extra revenge killing power otherwise. Inflitrator is the best option for sweeping, since it prevents dual screens from stopping Dragapult's sweep. Clear Body is still useful for preventing stat drops, especially against opposing Max Wyrmwind.

There are a wide variety of EV spreads to choose from for this Dragapult set. The given EV spread allows +1 Dragapult to outspeed Adamant Cloyster after it has used Shell Smash while giving it decent bulk and enough power to OHKO offensive Sylveon with Max Steelspike. Speed investment can go down as low as 44 EVs to outpace Charizard and give Dragapult a notable upgrade in bulk. Alternately, Dragapult can invest in 220 Speed EVs to outspeed Cinderace and Inteleon. For even speedier targets, 204 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature are required to outspeed Sand Rush Excadrill after a Max Airstream boost.

This Dragapult set excels with Reflect and Light Screen support on its side. Grimmsnarl is an excellent teammate for this, especially since it resists the Dark- and Ghost-type attacks Dragapult is weak to. Additionally, while this Dragapult set does very well against offensive teams, defensive Pokemon such as Corviknight, Quagsire, and Toxapex are very problematic for Dragapult to break through. Rotom-C stands out as a great teammate that gives these bulkier Pokemon trouble with Nasty Plot and its STAB moves, while Rotom-W and Rotom-H are more reliable Corviknight checks at the cost of needing Trick and a Choice item to deal with Quagsire. Ironically, your own Corviknight does a great job of shutting these foes down with Taunt, and it puts less pressure on Dragapult to get a Defense boost to defeat Mimikyu.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Theorymon, 29010]]
- Quality checked by: [[Psynergy, 248085], [greilmercenary9, 336524], [marilli, 70760]
- Grammar checked by: [[A Cake Wearing A Hat, 388157]]

 

[Theorymon]

Alright before I start writing this in earnest (I was supposed to yesterday, but hey I've been sick and resting to recover!), we need to sort out Dragapult's messy sets lol.

So obiously we need the Special Attacker and Physical sets somehow. However, since we can have 3 sets for Dragapult, I think we got some options here.

1. We can split physical into physical and Dragon Dance. There's quite a few Dragon Dance Dragapults out there, and those are the ones that usually use Focus Sash and Weakness Policy. This means I don't have to hide it in comments.

2. We talk about the Hex Will-O-Wisp set instead. It's a lot less of a thing than it is in OU, but it's still annoying as hell. However, it's certainly less popular than Dragon Dance.

If anyone else has any other ideas, let me know. I'm leaning towards #1 rather than #2 atm just because Ive only seen Hex Wisp a few times on the high ladder, but maybe I'll ask some C&C dudes for advice too.

 

[Theorymon]

Finally got Dragapult ready! You'll notice there's only two sets. That's because unfortunately, after testing the Hex Wisp set on cart... it wasn't too successful. To be clear, Will-O-Wisp was a great move on it, I just don't think that set in particular was doing too hot because it was a bit too passive for Dragapult imo. If anyone wants me to add it back in though, let me know!

 

[1_TrickPhony]

I think now it is important to get a specialized set for WP only. This thing is a terror and deserves its own slot and spread rather than a slash from the main set imo.

Heres the set.

Dragapult @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Infiltrator
Level: 50
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Def / 12 SpD / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Steel Wing
- Sucker Punch/Fly/Acrobatics
- Phantom Force

 

[Psynergy]

I am pretty okay with how you handled the slashes here, personally I didn't like Dragon Dance when I used it and it seems like Other Options territory but otherwise this represents what I've seen of Dragapult fairly well. Sucker Punch sounds like it would be bad on a Choice Band set but I have had games where I respected that possibility and saw that exact scenario come up, or otherwise seen it when looking at my opponent's team after battle. Also may be worth highlighting that +Speed is often preferred since losing the Dragapult Speed tie every time is lame (except in the case of WP of course).

Speaking of which, while I agree that Weakness Policy is very scary and possibly the scariest sets I've come across, it might be better to wait before making that its own set. I'm not opposed to it if others agree though. Otherwise this seems like a good QC 1/2 to me.

 

[greilmercenary9]

This looks really good. Dragapult is a tough cover since it is so flexible, but I think you represented the most common sets well. I think that at some point we may need to revisit both Weakness Policy and Wisp + Hex sets, but as I've mentioned elsewhere, the more complex bulkier sets tend to be a bit harder to run this early in the meta since we often don't really have a good sense of what the best bulky spreads are for those sets until the meta settles down a little. I agree with Psynergy that +speed is strongly preferred here in most cases since the mirror is quite common and outrunning Scarf Vish/Zolt can be helpful as well.

I definitely agree with keeping Sucker Punch as a slash on the first set, as I've run into it several times myself and it can help tremendously against Scarfers or even in a low health Dragapult mirror. You also already mentioned Corviknight as a major problem for the physical set and a good reason to run Fire Blast, which is important given its current prominence. The Specs set is a lot simpler so that looks optimal already; I tend to prefer U-Turn in the 4th slot for the utility, but the coverage on Gyarados and Togekiss is probably more helpful at this point in the meta, so Thunderbolt should probably stay the primary slash there.

QC 2/2

 

[1_TrickPhony]

So before it gets GP'ed, I think there should be some mention of the bulkier spread for physical attacking weakness policy. I feel how it is currently organized, people will think to use Weakness Policy on a 252Atk/252Spe set, which would honestly suck since Dragapult would die to nearly everything with no bulk if its getting hit Super Effectively by a move. For example, Adamant LO Mimikyu can kill Dragapult with a Play Rough into Shadow Sneak even through Dynamax. Jolly and Adamant LO both have a chance to OHKO if Mimikyu decides to Dynamax as well.

I think the appropriate thing to do is either 1. include a mention of a bulky spread in the comments to pair with WP, or 2. remove weakness policy from the current slashing and include a mention that a bulky physical WP user is an option in the comments.

 

[Theorymon]

Alrighty with the DLC news throwing a wrench into normal C&C plans, TDP has given us permission to go quite beyond the usual set limits for Dragapult (and maybe more later, we gotta figure this out).

So for sure, Weakness Policy is getting its own set, should make the physical set much less messy. It'll have specalized EVs to survive stuff (since yes, I agree it shouldnt be running 252 Atk / Spe).

We can go beyond that though, so here's what I'm currently consideirng.

-Im cosnidering adding Dual Screens of some sort, Ive seen quite a few of those things on the ladder.

- Im considering adding Wisp Hex, Im not a huge fan of the set but they do exist.

-For the two current sets, besides the stuff being split off from them, I don't mind keeping them mostly as is if theres no objection. I was considering giving the choice sets seperate sets, but that'll lead to a MASSIVE amount of sets that I'm not sure people want lol.

If QC has any other suggestions. let me know! However, in light of these recent developments, I'm putting this back in the WIP stage, and will be adding the new sets over the weekend! Also note, we can also add the sets as a different thread too if you guys wish, though I want to get Weakness Policy outta the way now since that one is especially deadly lol

 

[Theorymon]

I'm a day late, but I finished the Weakness Policy set! Not gonna lie, theres a bazillion EV spreads for this thing, so the EV spread on the set comments doesn't have to be the "main one", its just one out of several options that I mention. I also got rid of Dragon Dance on the first set because honestly its not that great and I think its sorta fallen off in usage.

Anyways, this is ready for re-checks!

 

[1_TrickPhony]

For the WP set, infiltrator has consistently been the main ability in all the teams Ive seen.

Steel wing should be slashed where Fire Blast is.

Rest looks good. Ive also seen adamant on the choice band set, with speed to hit 179 spe, rest in HP, designed to beat down bulky teams. Might be worth it to slash adamant in the physical set

 

[Psynergy]

Rechecking this since Theorymon asked, but I don't really have much to add beyond a few typos I've pointed out in bold. I think the WP set is explained fairly well as is, so consider this QC 1/2.

[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Dragon Darts
move 2: Phantom Force
move 3: U-turn / Sucker Punch / Fire Blast
move 4: Fire Blast / Sucker Punch
item: Choice Band / Life Orb / Choice Scarf
ability: Clear Body / Infiltrator
nature: Jolly / Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Despite its meager physical movepool, Dragapult makes an incredibly effective physical attacker due to its blistering Speed. Dragon Darts is not only a reliable STAB, but also ignores Focus Sash thanks to it being a 2 hit attack. Phantom Force's one turn invulnerability can be troublesome when Normal-types are on the foe's team, but it otherwise gives Dragapult a powerful Ghost STAB that can stall Dynamax turns, and itself becomes a strong Max Phantasm. U-turn makes Dragapult a great scout, while Sucker Punch givers Dragapult a decently powered priority attack against common Choice Scarf Pokemon. Fire Blast may be weak, but it offers Dragapult a way to 2HKO Ferrothorn and deal decent damage to Corviknight.

Dragapult has plenty of viable items to choose from. Choice Band gives it a great amount of power, and is especially useful with U-turn. Life Orb gives Dragapult consistent power without locking itself in, and most notably, allows Dragapult to 2HKO physically defensive Corviknight with Fire Blast. Choice Scarf may seem extreme considering Dragapult's Speed, but it allows Dragapult to outspeed Sand Rush Excadrill. Focus Sash cna (typo) work well when paired with Dragon Dance, potentially letting Dragapult win with a surprise late game sweep. A Jolly nature is usually the best option for winning speed ties against opposing Dragapult (or Naive when using Fire Blast). Clear Body is excellent support against Intimidate users such as Gyarados and Arcanine, but Infilitrator (typo) is useful for ignoring Substitute and Dual Screens as well.

This Dragapult in particular struggles against Corviknight, who can only be consistently 2HKOed by a Life Orb boosted Fire Blast. Sets without Fire Blast struggle against Ferrothorn as well, and Dragapult must always be warry of Choice Scarf Pokemon that attempt to revenge kill it, such as Galarian Darmanitan and Hydreigon. And finally, Mimikyu will always pressure Dragapult due to Disguise and it hitting hard with its super effective STABs. With these Pokemon in mind, bulky Fire-types such as Rotom-H and Arcanine make fantastic teammates against Steel-types and Mimikyu. A Corviknight of your own can actually help against Steel-types, using Taunt to shutdown opposing Corviknight and Ferrothorn, and being a great Mimikyu check.

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Fire Blast
move 4: Thunderbolt / U-turn
item: Choice Specs / Life Orb / Choice Scarf
ability: Infiltrator
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
This set takes advantage of Dragapult's impressive special movepool. Draco Meteor and Shadow Ball are excellent STABs that hit the majority of the metagame, leaving Fire Blast to deal massive damage to Steel-types. Thunderbolt rounds out the set, giving Dragapult a 100% accurate move to hit Corviknight and Gyarados hard. However, since Dragapult's coverage is already good, U-turn can be used over Thunderbolt to scout potential switch-ins for Dragapult.

Choice Specs picks up the most slack for Dragapult's only decent Special Attack stat, but Life Orb actually takes in effect while Dragapult is Dynamaxed, making it the better choice for those situations. Choice Scarf may seem absurd with Dragapult's blistering speed, but it catches other Choice Scarf Pokemon off guard, and outpseeds Sand Rush Excadrill even if the sand is up. A Timid nature is reccomended (typo) for speed tying with opposing Dragapult, and outspeeding Choice Scarf Dracovish and Dracozolt. However, a Modest nature does give Dragapult a much needed boost in power, and still outspeeds almost every other non Choice Scarfed Pokemon except for Zen Mode Galarian Darmanitan.

This Dragapult in particular has trouble breaking through Pokemon with high special bulk, such as Gastrodon, Specially Defensive Corviknight when locked into Ghost- or Dragon-type attacks, and while this isn't a defensive Pokemon, Togekiss can easily set up on Dragapult with Max Airstream. Rotom-C is notable among the Rotom formes for being a great Gastrodon check. while Rotom-H works well against most Togekiss sets, and helps against Choice Scarf Galarian Darmanitan. Steel-types of your own such as Corviknight and Ferrothorn provide great aid for taking Dragon-type attacks from Choice scarf revenge killers, and help out against Mimikyu as well.

[SET]
name: Dynamax Sweeper
move 1: Dragon Darts
move 2: Phantom Force
move 3: Steel Wing
move 4: Fly / Fire Blast / Sucker Punch
item: Weakness Policy
ability: Clear Body / Infiltrator
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
This Dragapult takes advantage of its many weaknesses to sweep with Weakness Policy. Steel Wing may be weak, but the defensive boost it gives Dragapult as Max Steelspike is invaluable for longer term surviability (typo) than Max Wyrmstorm (should be Wyrmwind) can provide. While Phantom Force isn't the most reliable STAB outside of Dynamax, it's needed to take advatange (typo) of Dragapult's higher Attack stat and the defense drops Max Phantasm provides. Fly provides Dragapult Max Airstream while Dynamaxed, which is a great tool against faster Choice Scarf revenge killers such as Galarian Darmanitan and Hydreigon. Fire Blast, while weak, is Dragapult's best option against Steel-types. (Probably worth noting that Fire Blast becomes not so weak after WP boosts too, which is another reason it's still worth considering here) Sucker Punch is useful after Dynamax has ended to pick off weakened foes, and give it extra revenge killing power otherwise. Clear Body is usually the best option, preventing Dragapult from suffering Attack drops from opposing Max Wyrmstorms (Wyrmwind). However, Inflitrator is notable for not being worried about Dual Screens.

There are a wide variety of EV spreads to choose from for this Dragapult. The given EV spread allows Max Airstream Dragapult to outspeed Adamant Cloyster after it has used Shell Smash, while giving it decent bulk and enough power to OHKO offensive Sylveon with Max Steelspike. Speed can go down as low as 44 EVs to outpace Charizard and give Dragapult a notable upgrade in bulk. Alternately, Dragapult can invest in 220 Speed EVs to outspeed Cinderace and Inteleon. For even speedier targets, 204 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature are required to outspeed Sand Rush Excadrill after a Max Airstream boost.

This Dragapult excels with Reflect and Light Screen support on its side. Grimmsnarl is an excellent teammate for this, especially since it resists the Dark- and Ghost-type attacks Dragapult is weak to. Additionally, while this Dragapult does very well against offensive teams, defensive Pokemon such as Corviknight, Quagsire, and Toxapex are very problematic for Dragapult to break through. Rotom-C stands out as a great teammate that gives these bulkier Pokemon trouble with Nasty Plot and its STABs, while Rotom-W and Rotom-H are more reliable Corviknight checks at the cost of needing Trick and a choice item to deal with Quagsire. Ironically, your own Corviknight does a great job of shutting these foes down with Taunt, and put less pressure on Dragapult to get a Defense boost to defeat Mimikyu.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Theorymon, 29010]]
- Quality checked by: [[Psynergy, 248085], [greilmercenary9, 336524]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]

 

[marilli]

Seems all good, but CB should not be the first slash, DD should be mentioned as an option on physical. other than that, push this quickly QC 1/2

 

[Theorymon]

This is finally ready for GP again, thanks everyone!

 

[A Cake Wearing A Hat]

Dibs

 

[A Cake Wearing A Hat]

Hide

[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Dragon Darts
move 2: Phantom Force
move 3: U-turn / Sucker Punch / Dragon Dance
move 4: Fire Blast / Sucker Punch
item: Life Orb / Choice Scarf / Choice Band
ability: Clear Body / Infiltrator
nature: Jolly / Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Despite its meager physical movepool, Dragapult makes an incredibly effective physical attacker due to its blistering Speed. Dragon Darts is not only a reliable STAB attack, but also ignores Focus Sash thanks to it being a 2 hit two-hit attack. Phantom Force's one turn one-turn (compound adjectives should be hyphenated when preceding the noun; note that adverbs preceding adjectives do not count for this) invulnerability can be troublesome when Normal-types are on the foe's team, but it otherwise gives Dragapult a powerful Ghost STAB Ghost-type STAB attack (stab is not a noun that refers to moves, it's just the bonus) that can stall Dynamax turns, and itself becomes a strong Max Phantasm. U-turn makes Dragapult a great scout, while Sucker Punch givers Dragapult a decently powered priority attack against common Choice Scarf Pokemon. Fire Blast may be weak, but it offers Dragapult a way to 2HKO Ferrothorn and deal decent damage to Corviknight.

Dragapult has plenty of viable items to choose from. Life Orb gives Dragapult consistent power without locking itself in, and most notably, allows Dragapult to 2HKO physically defensive Corviknight with Fire Blast. Choice Scarf may seem extreme considering Dragapult's Speed, but it allows Dragapult to outspeed Sand Rush Excadrill. Choice Band gives Dragapult a major boost in power, (RC, no comma before and/but if following clause does not state a subject, generally) and works particularly well with U-turn. Focus Sash can work well when paired with Dragon Dance, potentially letting Dragapult win with a surprise late game late-game (early/mid/late-game is always hyphenated and should never be preceded by "in the") sweep. A Jolly nature is usually the best option for winning speed Speed (always capitalize exact stat names unless using the term "speed control") ties against opposing Dragapult (or Naive when using Fire Blast). Clear Body is excellent support against Intimidate users such as Gyarados and Arcanine, but Infiltrator is useful for ignoring Substitute and Dual Screens dual screens as well.

This Dragapult set in particular struggles against Corviknight, who (don't call mons who) which can only be consistently 2HKOed by a Life Orb boosted Orb-boosted Fire Blast. Sets without Fire Blast struggle against Ferrothorn as well, and Dragapult must always be warry wary of Choice Scarf Pokemon that attempt to revenge kill it, such as Galarian Darmanitan and Hydreigon. And finally, Mimikyu will always pressure Dragapult due to Disguise and it hitting hard with its super effective STABs STAB moves. With these Pokemon in mind, bulky Fire-types such as Rotom-H and Arcanine make fantastic teammates against Steel-types and Mimikyu. A Corviknight of your own can actually help against Steel-types, using Taunt to shutdown shut down opposing Corviknight and Ferrothorn, (RC) and being a great Mimikyu check.

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Fire Blast
move 4: Thunderbolt / U-turn
item: Choice Specs / Life Orb / Choice Scarf
ability: Infiltrator
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
This set takes advantage of Dragapult's impressive special movepool. Draco Meteor and Shadow Ball are excellent STABs STAB moves that hit the majority of the metagame, leaving Fire Blast to deal massive damage to Steel-types. Thunderbolt rounds out the set, giving Dragapult a 100% accurate move to hit Corviknight and Gyarados hard. However, since Dragapult's coverage is already good, U-turn can be used over Thunderbolt to scout potential switch-ins for Dragapult.

Choice Specs picks up the most slack for Dragapult's only decent Special Attack stat, but Life Orb actually takes in effect while Dragapult is Dynamaxed, making it the better choice for those situations. Choice Scarf may seem absurd with Dragapult's blistering speed Speed, but it catches other Choice Scarf Pokemon off guard, (RC) and outpseeds Sand Rush Excadrill even if the sand is up. A Timid nature is recommended for speed Speed tying with opposing Dragapult, (RC) and outspeeding Choice Scarf Dracovish and Dracozolt. However, a Modest nature does give Dragapult a much needed much-needed boost in power, and still outspeeds almost every other non Choice Scarfed non-Choice Scarf Pokemon except for Zen Mode Galarian Darmanitan.

This Dragapult set in particular has trouble breaking through Pokemon with high special bulk, such as Gastrodon, Specially Defensive (don't capitalize stats if it ends in "ive") specially defensive Corviknight when locked into Ghost- or Dragon-type attacks, and while this isn't a defensive Pokemon, Togekiss can easily set up on Dragapult with Max Airstream. Rotom-C is notable among the Rotom formes for being a great Gastrodon check. while Rotom-H works well against most Togekiss sets, (RC) and helps against Choice Scarf Galarian Darmanitan. Steel-types of your own such as Corviknight and Ferrothorn provide great aid for taking Dragon-type attacks from Choice scarf Scarf revenge killers, and they help out against Mimikyu as well.

[SET]
name: Dynamax Sweeper
move 1: Dragon Darts
move 2: Phantom Force
move 3: Steel Wing
move 4: Fly / Fire Blast / Sucker Punch
item: Weakness Policy
ability: Infiltrator / Clear Body
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
This Dragapult set takes advantage of its many weaknesses to sweep with Weakness Policy. Steel Wing may be weak, but the defensive boost it gives Dragapult as Max Steelspike is more invaluable for longer term survival than Max Wyrmwind can provide. While Phantom Force isn't the most reliable STAB outside of Dynamax, it's needed to take advatange of Dragapult's higher Attack stat and the defense drops Max Phantasm provides. Fly provides Dragapult Max Airstream while Dynamaxed, which is a great tool against faster Choice Scarf revenge killers such as Galarian Darmanitan and Hydreigon. Fire Blast, while weak until a boost is gained, is Dragapult's best option against Steel-types. Sucker Punch is useful after Dynamax has ended to pick off weakened foes, (RC) and give it extra revenge killing power otherwise. Inflitrator is the best option for sweeping, since it prevents dual screens from stopping Dragapult's sweep. Clear Body is still useful for prevent preventing stat drops, especially against opposing Max Wyrmwind.

There are a wide variety of EV spreads to choose from for this Dragapult set. The given EV spread allows Max Airstream +1 Dragapult to outspeed Adamant Cloyster after it has used Shell Smash, (RC) while giving it decent bulk and enough power to OHKO offensive Sylveon with Max Steelspike. Speed investment can go down as low as 44 EVs to outpace Charizard and give Dragapult a notable upgrade in bulk. Alternately, Dragapult can invest in 220 Speed EVs to outspeed Cinderace and Inteleon. For even speedier targets, 204 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature are required to outspeed Sand Rush Excadrill after a Max Airstream boost.

This Dragapult set excels with Reflect and Light Screen support on its side. Grimmsnarl is an excellent teammate for this, especially since it resists the Dark- and Ghost-type attacks Dragapult is weak to. Additionally, while this Dragapult set does very well against offensive teams, defensive Pokemon such as Corviknight, Quagsire, and Toxapex are very problematic for Dragapult to break through. Rotom-C stands out as a great teammate that gives these bulkier Pokemon trouble with Nasty Plot and its STABs STAB moves, while Rotom-W and Rotom-H are more reliable Corviknight checks at the cost of needing Trick and a choice Choice item to deal with Quagsire. Ironically, your own Corviknight does a great job of shutting these foes down with Taunt, and put it puts less pressure on Dragapult to get a Defense boost to defeat Mimikyu.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Theorymon, 29010]]
- Quality checked by: [[Psynergy, 248085], [greilmercenary9, 336524], [marilli, 70760]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]

1/1

 

[Theorymon]

Now that I'm on Winter Break till Tuesday, I finally had the time to implement the checks, thank you very much!

Psynergy , this is now FINALLY ready for upload!