[OVERVIEW]
Drampa's decent bulk, access to Roost, and high Special Attack allow it to secure its niche as a bulky attacker. Because of its Dragon-typing, it gets a rainbow of coverage at its disposal that lets it beat common defensive Pokemon like Stakataka, Copperajah, and Dhelmise, letting it tear open holes in defensive cores for its teammates to take advantage of. However, its low Speed, middling bulk, and weakness to common offensive types in Ice and Fighting hold it back as a wallbreaker, as it can be beaten by opposing wallbreakers with coverage or high base power moves. It also faces competition from Alolan Exeggutor and Tauros. Alolan Exeggutor has all of Drampa's traits, but it takes advantage of Vaporeon way more easily because it threatens to KO it, unlike Drampa, and Tauros has more coverage, being able to hit the entire tier, and is faster than Drampa, but it lacks reliable recovery.
[SET]
name: Roost + 3 Attacks
move 1: Roost
move 2: Hyper Voice
move 3: Surf
move 4: Flamethrower
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Berserk / Sap Sipper
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
ivs: 0 Atk
[SET COMMENTS]
Surf is hits Rock-types like Stakataka and Diancie. Flamethrower nails Steel-types like Copperajah and Escavalier, along with Grass-types like Dhelmise and Decidueye, which could switch in easily otherwise. A Modest nature is preferred, as it gifts you more breaking power and no relevant Pokemon are outsped with Timid. Beserk pairs nicely with Roost giving you a free boost in your Special Attack, making you become an even more menacing wallbreaker, but Sap Sipper can also be helpful with shutting down Grass-types like the aforementioned Dhelmise and Decidueye. Heavy-Duty Boots is useful to not have to Roost constantly.
For teammates, a Steel-type like Stakataka or Ferroseed work well. Stakataka gives Drampa Stealth Rock, Toxic to cripple its checks like Gastrodon, Vaporeon, and Mantine, and a switch-in to its Dragon-, Ice-, and Fairy-weaknesses. Ferrothorn also works well as a partner. It sets up Spikes instead of Stealth Rock and carries Knock Off to remove boots, making it more difficult to switch into Drampa. In return, Stakataka and Ferroseed are given a powerful wallbreaker that can bust through annoying defensive Pokemon. Fast pivots like Talonflame and Choice Scarf Passimian help with bringing Drampa in. In addition to that, the former checks Fighting-types like Sirfetch'd and Machamp while the ladder can help with weakening a shared check in Sylveon. Salazzle is also a terrific partner that can beats Steel- and Fairy-types for Drampa, and it also can cripple its checks with Toxic.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Drampa can also equip a dangerous tool in Calm Mind with Leftovers, letting it beat a would-be counter in Sylveon and become a dangerous late-game cleaner. However, it loses out on one of its fantastic coverage moves, missing out on hitting either Rock-types like Stakataka or Steel- and Grass-types like Copperajah and Decidueye, respectively.
Checks and Counters
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**Faster Wallbreakers**: Faster wallbreakers like Machamp, Indeedee-F, and Tauros all outspeed Drampa and threaten it with either an OHKO or a KO after minimal chip, due to its decent but middling bulk.
**Ice-type coverage**: Inteleon, Blastoise, and Starmie all run super effective coverage in Ice Beam, meaning Drampa isn't a safe switch-in, as they threaten to KO it.
**Specially Defensive Walls**: Specially Defense Pokemon like Vaporeon, Mantine, Gastrodon, and Sylveon all can eat up any hit that comes their way, as all of them, at worst, get 3HKOed by Drampa's Hyper Voice and can just heal off the damage. The former two also pack super effective moves in Ice Beam and Pixilate Hyper Voice, respectively.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[PowerOfMemes, 583607]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
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