Drakloak [QC: 0/1]

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KamenAlliterator

KamenAlliterator

formerly RodentTamer
Drakloak @ Eviolite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp
- U-turn

Here lies Drakloak, the weaker Dragapult. Gone far too soon away with the winds of Rayquaza, but not without purpose. Despite its fragility, Drakloak is a fast and useful pivot that pressures foes with strong STABs, status, and momentum-grabbing U-turns. Clear Body and Eviolite helps Drakloak keep its Speed against Sticky Web setters like Cutiefly and Charjabug, as well as Intimidate users like Krokorok, making it more reliable as a revenge killer and pivot thanks to its slightly better defensive stats. Draco Meteor is a strong Dragon-type STAB move that can hit Normal-types like Girafarig and Dunsparce that otherwise ignore Drakloak’s Hex and proceed to setup on it. U-turn allows Drakloak to pivot out of very bad matchups and send in an appropriate answer that can help finish its dirty work. Drakloak is frail outside of its Speed, so it relies on Eviolite and partners like Hattrem and its Magic Bounce to let it safely switch in, while Drakloak handles slower Ghost-types for the team.
 
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I'm sorry but I'll have to QC reject this analysis. I highly suggest checking out NFE's resources and joining the NFE discord (click the link on my profile) to get a better understanding of both the metagame and how good Drakloak is (spoiler: it's a very good mon). This isn't to discourage you from writing spotlights or NFE, but to put into perspective why this is happening and hopefully give guidance for future spotlights / analyses. here's an outline:
  • There's a large lack of emphasis on its defensive profile and the benefits it brings to spinblocking teams. Drakloak's Ghost typing is huge given how good residual damage is for the tier. Defensively, its typing is good for stomaching several prominent, high-ranking attackers while still being a reliable spinblocker. There's also a lack of mention for being the fastest Pokemon in the tier, which is huge for teams looking for speed control.
  • Draco Meteor is less so for damaging Normal-types and moreso for threatening out frail attackers and Dragon-types. It's a weak enough move that Dunsparce can use Drakloak as setup fodder anyways and Girafarig can still survive hits from Draco Meteor and do massive damage back anyways, even when it's running Specs.
  • There's a lot of fluff / dex info here. The opening of being the pre-evolution to Dragapult and being a lesser Rayquaza doesn't really mesh well and again, misses out why one would use Drakloak (once again, defensive profile, spinblocking, spreading status, and being the fastest mon in the tier). Krokorok Intimidate shouldn't even be mentioned considering Drakloak's U-turn having lacking damage output and Draco Meteor being good anyways. Clear Body is overemphasized here - the ability is a small bonus to do better against Sticky Web teams, but those archetypes aren't that common and most NFE teams will lack a mon that would really lower Drakloak's stats in the first place. Even Draco Meteor and U-turn talk more what the move does and not on why it's useful to Drakloak.
  • There's a severe lack of emphasis on teammates Drakloak wants to pair up with. Again, as a Ghost-type, there's a lack of hazard setters that can benefit it and wallbreakers/cleaners that can benefit from the statuses it spreads. There's also a lack of other defensive partners that might want to take Knock Offs or otherwise cover Drakloak's other defensive weaknesses from its typing.
  • There is a complete lack of Will-O-Wisp being mentioned. Wisp is its selling point to cripple physical attackers like Thwackey and Piloswine while also whittling down walls that would switch in easily (Tinkatuff, Koffing, Dunsparce), which offsets its need to fire often-lacking Draco Meteors even with full investment.
Here's resources to help you get up to speed of what the metagame is like for NFE:
NFE Viability Rankings
NFE Metagame Discussion
NFE Discord
And here's a website that'll let you check how many characters and word count the analysis has:
Word and Character Counter

Hope this helps.
 
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