As jrrrrrr is currently not present or available, I will be taking over Drapion.
Status: Finished, Proofreading and Adjustments left!
Process log:
~ I removed all Crobat and Shaymin references.
~ I added to the Team Options of Choice.
~ Fixed Counters section.
~ Choice Band set was adjusted to Choice, representing both Choice Scarf and Choice Band sets.
~ Added in all of Xia's and Stellar's edits, updated the Swords Dance.
~ Added a short mention of Aqua Tail in Swords Dance.
~ Write Team Options for Swords Dance and Utility
_______________________________
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/drapion
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Crunch
move 3: Taunt / Poison Jab / Aqua Tail
move 4: Earthquake
nature: Jolly
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
evs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Drapion’s solid typing and above average Speed and Attack make it a prime candidate for a Swords Dancing set. Combine all of that offensive prowess with its impressive bulk, and you have a bulky offensive threat that is extremely difficult to stop in UU. Drapion’s 110 base Defense and its resistances to Grass-, Ghost-, and Dark-type attacks and immunity to Psychic-type are nothing to scoff at in the UU environment where those types are all extremely common. The idea of this set is fairly straightforward: come in on something that doesn’t threaten Drapion, such as Calm Mind Spiritomb, Mismagius, Roserade, or Mesprit and get a Swords Dance boost for free as they either switch out or do a pitiful amount of damage to you. From there, either try to use your defenses to get another boost or simply start utilizing your amazing type coverage to rip holes in your opponent's team. The combination of Poison-, Dark- and Ground-type moves form an attacking type combination that is resisted only by Skarmory, so dealing damage in UU shouldn’t be too difficult. You can also use Aqua Tail in place of Taunt or Poison Jab, allowing you to still damage Honchkrow, but after a Sword Dance, with Stealth Rock on the field, and Life Orb equipped you can OHKO Donphan 100% of the time, beware of its 90% accuracy though!</p>
<p>Crunch and Earthquake form the core of this moveset, taking advantage of Drapion's superior STAB, and using Earthquake to help prevent Drapion from being utterly walled by Registeel, Steelix and physically defensive Regirock. It will also be your best option against Fire-types such as Blaziken and Magmortar. Taunt is a necessary element to this set. Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave are Drapion's bane, as they effectively shut down this set. The former is even more dangerous as it nullifies your Swords Dance boost, while Thunder Wave stops Drapion in its tracks. Posion Jab can be used to take care of Honchkrow which would otherwise use Drapion as set up bait, and other Pokemon who are not dented by either move. With its 30% chance of poison, Poison Jab can also weaken down walls that would otherwise cause a problem, though it would not be recommended to try this against Milotic, since its ability actually makes status effects useful.</p>
<p>The EVs for this set are fairly simple. 216 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature gives Drapion a Speed stat of 308, enough to outpace all +Speed nature Roserade and other base 90 Pokemon, and those that wish to outspeed them by one point. From there, Attack is maximized to give Drapion a bit more fire power, and the rest of the EVs are placed into HP in order for this Drapion to give as much bulk as possible. Drapion’s great 95 base Speed lets it be very flexible in terms of what it can outpace, so the Speed stat can be altered on this set to your choosing. It can outspeed threats like the previously mentioned Roserade, Rotom, and Hitmonlee, or you could lower the Speed a bit more and take a different route if you are not worried about those Pokemon. Hitmonlee cannot outpace you without a Choice Scarf, while you would only be able to outspeed Rotom if it chose to run a Modest nature, or a Timid nature with 244 Speed EVs, although latter is not likely. Rotom can cripple Drapion with Will-O-Wisp for the remainder of the match, and can do a lot of damage so it is recommended you run a Jolly nature, with an EV spread of 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe, which allows you outspeed any Rotom excluding Choice Scarf variants. Should you want this set to become a "bulky Swords Dancer", an EV spread maximizing both HP and either defensive stat can be useful as well. This way, Drapion can serve as an effective counter to Calm Mind Mismagius, Espeon, and Uxie, as well as maintaining its status as a serious threat. As far as abilities go, either one is usable on this set. Sniper can help you do some extra damage in a clutch situation, but Battle Armor could be helpful to prevent an untimely critical hit from ending your sweep.</p>
<p>As with any prominent Swords Dancer, you have to first eliminate all counters the opposing team may have, then try to lure in Pokemon that may give you a free Swords Dance. To set up a free Swords Dance turn, try starting with a Fighting-type Pokemon such as Blaziken or Hitmontop, so you can lure out Pyschic-types like Uxie. Now you can easily switch in on a predicted Psychic and proceed to Swords Dance on the switch. Blaziken is one of the best lures since it has the ability to cause major walls such as Tangrowth and Registeel to switch out after the Pyschic-type has been KOed. Drapion is also vulnerable to Earthquake, which will OHKO more likely then not. Therefore, it is recommended that a Levitate user or a Flying-type be used in conjunction with Drapion. Rotom and Mismagius both can incapacitate or exterminate any physical walls that may get in Drapion's way through the means of Trick (in th case of Rotom) or using them as set up bait (if you opt for Mismagius). As for Flying-types, Gligar can be used to take physical attacks, including Earthquakes, and to set up Stealth Rock which can aid in Drapion's sweep tremendously. Although if you are not afraid of opposing Drapion, Claydol can do all that Gligar can, although it has no means of recovery outside of Rest. For a more offensive combination, Moltres can be used to destroy most of which Drapion cannot, and vice versa. Moltres makes Drapion's life more easier, by taking care of all Grass-types, counters Dugtrio perfectly, though you must be cautious while predicting, and takes care of Regirock whom Drapion cannot do much against until being promptly OHKO'd with Earthquake. Bear in mind that this only holds true if you are running Hidden Power Grass.</p>
<p>While using Drapion you should be cautious of any status moves that might be thrown at you, so running Taunt somewhere in the moveset is recommended. If you cannot find a moveslot for Taunt, it is recommended you invest in something that can absorb status. Milotic can be used to take any status thrown at it and use it to its advantage, thanks to Marvel Scale. It can also work as a reliable physical wall, although it is not impervious to Earthquake. Flash Fire user such as Arcanine and Houndoom can take a Will-O-Wisp and increase their Fire power by 50%. They also take care of pesky Grass-types such as Venasaur, whom Drapion cannot do anything against.</p>
[SET]
name: Sniper Abuse
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Night Slash
move 3: Cross Poison
move 4: Earthquake
nature: Jolly
item: Scope Lens / Life Orb
ability: Sniper
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Sniper is an amazing ability that compliments the Swords Dancing strategy very well, especially since Drapion was blessed with two STAB moves with high chances of scoring a critical hit. Drapion’s great defensive typing and stats will give it plenty of time to set up by using Swords Dance. From there, sweeping should be easy when combining Drapion’s bulk, its good type coverage, and the fact that it is faster than a large portion of UU. Ice Fang can be used if you want to hit Altaria and Grass/Poison-types like Vileplume and Venusaur, but your STAB Cross Poison can usually get the job done in those cases as well. Earthquake is the only move preventing enemy Steel-types from completely walling this set, as Pokemon such as Registeel and Steelix resist Dark and are immune to Poison.<p>
<p>With Sniper, Scope Lens and two STAB moves with high critical hit rates, Drapion will have a whopping 25% chance of dealing three times as much damage as it normally would. When combined with Swords Dance to boost its Attack, this can be a potent threat in the UU metagame, even if you don’t find yourself getting lucky often. To demonstrate how absurdly powerful the Sniper ability can be, consider the following examples. When facing an Uxie with max HP and no defensive investment, Drapion’s Night Slash is a 3HKO at best. If Sniper activates, it OHKOs 100% of the time. Likewise, a Swords Dance boosted Earthquake is barely a 3HKO on Steelix with no defensive investment (the most common kind), but with Sniper, Drapion can OHKO it. These two examples are particularly important in demonstrating Drapion’s power, because these two Pokemon would otherwise cripple Drapion with either Thunder Wave or STAB Earthquake, respectively, now have to play the odds to have a chance of countering it.</p>
<p>The EVs for this set are very straight forward. Since Drapion’s Attack is above average but not outstanding, you will want to maximize it. The most redeeming quality of this set is Drapion’s 95 base Speed, so you will also want to take advantage of that. The choice of natures depends mostly on personal preference. An Adamant nature will give Drapion’s 90 base Attack a little extra punch, but using maximum Speed and a Jolly nature is the better option so that you can always outspeed Pokemon such as Blaziken, Gardevoir, Moltres, Roserade and Nidoking, as well as other Drapion. Jolly is also preferable since the damage generated by Sniper will make the slight power boost from an Adamant nature irrelevant. Scope Lens is a great item to use if you want to abuse Sniper, but Life Orb provides a more reliable power boost.</p>
<p>As with any Swords Dancer, Drapion benefits greatly from the presence of Stealth Rock, Spikes, and, to a lesser extent, Toxic Spikes. Both Uxie and Claydol are immune to Drapion’s only weakness and they can also help set up Stealth Rock. Pokemon that lure out Psychic-type attacks such as Blaziken, Hitmontop and Toxicroak can also be very effective with Swords Dance Drapion. Likewise, Drapion can assist other Pokemon sweep by clearing out their counters. If you manage to hit Registeel with Earthquake (and especially if you get a critical hit), sweeping with Swellow or Mismagius will be much easier later in the match. Drapion’s great typing and good type coverage will help provide a solid offensive punch to any team.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Night Slash / Crunch
move 2: Cross Poison / Poison Jab
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Pursuit / Ice Fang / Fire Fang
nature: Jolly / Adamant
item: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set has the same idea as the Swords Dance sweeper, except it forgoes the extra turn required to set up in exchange for an immediate Attack boost if using a Choice Band, as well as an extra moveslot. With a Choice Band set, it would be more beneficial to run a Jolly nature, since the Speed increase compliments Choice Band's Attack boost. The choice of STAB moves once again comes down to personal preference. Crunch and Poison Jab give you 15 extra Base Power, while Night Slash and Cross Poison will double your chances of getting a critical hit. The loss of Swords Dance opens this moveset up for a useful fourth move. Pursuit benefits from STAB and lets Drapion serve as one of the best Mismagius counters in UU, as well as being able to trap and kill weakened, slower Pokemon. If you opt for the route of Night Slash and Cross Poison, Sniper would be the preferred ability. With Choice Scarf, Drapion finds itself with a 433 Speed stat, outspeeding all base 90 and under Choice Scarf Pokemon, as well as a Rampardos with a Rock Polish boost. If you opt for Jolly, although that is not recommended due to lack in fire power with a Choice Scarf set, you will outspeed Adamant Staraptor, Modest Typhlosion and Charizard while they are equipped with a Choice Scarf of their own. Although you can outspeed them you won't do much to any of them, which is why it's recommended that you stay with an Adamant nature.</p>
<p>The elemental Fangs can prove to be useful here and there, although the low Base Power of the moves is very disappointing. Ice Fang hits Altaria and Grass/Poison-types harder than any of your other moves. Fire Fang can be used to cover Grass- and Steel-types with one move, something that the Ground/Dark/Poison combination can not do. In OU play, the choice is really between Fire Fang and Pursuit, since Drapion will find itself utterly helpless if a Scizor or Forretress were to come in on any of its other moves.</p>
<p>Pursuit is what makes this set unique from the Swords Dancer, so naturally this Drapion would work best with Pokemon that lure out Psychic-types and Mismagius for a free KO. As mentioned before, both Fighting-types and other Poison-types can be used to accomplish this, specifically Blaziken, Hitmontop, and Toxicroak. A mixed Blaziken is especially useful due to its ability to lure out Pyschic-types while being able to break down physical walls that may get in Drapion's way such as Altaria, and Registeel. Because you do not require a turn to boost your Attack and you are not hampered by Life Orb, you can use this Drapion set a bit more liberally than the Swords Dancer. Try to use that extra turn to your advantage.</p>
[SET]
name: Utility Special Defender
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Crunch / Earthquake
move 4: Whirlwind / Toxic Spikes
nature: Careful
item: Leftovers
ability: Battle Armor
evs: 252 HP / 12 Atk / 244 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Drapion's base Special Defense is substantially lower than its Defense, but its typing gives it useful resistances to Dark-, Ghost-, and Grass-type attacks and an immunity to Psychic. Because of its numerous resistances, it can serve your team as a surprisingly effective counter to a number of special-based threats, in both OU and UU. </p>
<p>With the given EVs, Drapion's HP and Special Defense reach 344 and 271 respectively. Timid Gengar can only 4HKO at best with Focus Blast, assuming it deals average damage. Watch out for Life Orb variants, though, which will 3HKO with Focus Blast, although there is only a 34% chance that Focus Blast will successfully hit three times in a row. With just 12 EVs invested into Attack, Drapion's Crunch will OHKO Gengar on average. Drapion also does well against Psychic-types, even OU threats such as Azelf, thanks to immunity to their STAB attacks; Azelf can only manage to deal a maximum of 77% damage after a Nasty Plot from a Life Orbed Flamethrower.</p>
<p>Crunch provides a reliable STAB attack, hits the aforementioned Pokémon for super effective damage and is complimented by Earthquake to provide good coverage. Earthquake also turns Drapion into a good counter for the “Boah” variants of Tyranitar and Calm Mind Jirachi. Furthermore, Earthquake deters Heatran and Lucario. Toxic Spikes and Whirlwind are two options that could replace Earthquake. In the case of the former, Drapion’s list of useful resistances will give it ample time to set up Toxic Spikes for your team, as well as absorbing them from your side of the field. Whirlwind enables Drapion to phaze out bulkier threats like Suicune, and will help you scout your opponent's team.</p>
<p>In UU, this set is just as effective. This set is the best counter to Calm Mind Mismagius, taking a laughable amount of damage from even a boosted, super effective Hidden Power and retaliating with a STAB super effective Crunch. This set also completely beats Uxie leads that are ever so common.</p>
<p>Rest and Sleep Talk provide Drapion with the durability to repeatedly counter the threats for which he is tailored to do so and is also helpful for soaking sleep-inducing attacks from Pokémon in both OU and UU, such as Gengar, Roserade, Hypno, and Venusaur. All of these threats are Pokémon that Drapion can wall relatively easily.</p>
<p>While mentioned before Drapion can be used in OU, it is outclassed by Tentacruel and Roserade. Roserade can set up Toxic Spikes and also take status through means of Natural Cure. Roserade also has the Speed to reliably set up Toxic Spikes on the field as a lead, and has the fire power necessary to still cause havoc with Leaf Storm, or induce sleep with Sleep Powder. Tentacruel can Rapid Spin away entry hazards that your opponent has laid and proceed to set up its own Toxic Spikes while having a base Special Defense stat that is 45 points higher, and a base HP stat that is 10 points higher. Drapion has some things going in its favor, though. In the OU environment, its dual typing is effective in beating threats such as Alakazam, Gengar, and Azelf. It completely ruins the suicidal Roserade lead and can also OHKO Lucario after taking a maximum 78.49% from Close Combat, both of which can be prominent threats to an team especially a stall based.</p>
<p>Drapion's job is done much easier in OU with the aid of Pokemon such as Skarmory, Gliscor, and especially Zapdos. Through the aid of the Toxic Spikes provided by Drapion, SubRoost Zapdos can stall away and proceed to wear down the opposing team. Skarmory helps set up more entry hazards such as Spikes and Stealth Rock, and after that can proceed to pseudo-haze with Whirlwind and rack up entry hazard damage, at the same time scouting the opposing team. Gliscor on the the hand counters Metagross who can deal OHKO any Drapion with Earthquake. Machamp can also be an amazing partner as it deals with Tyranitar, and can be used for the luring strategy. Machamp lures in the opposing teams Pyschic- or Ghost-type and Drapion comes in to set up Toxic Spikes if it has not already done so, or proceeds to make a huge dent with Crunch. Latias also makes a reliable partner, taking care of Infernape who would otherwise be a potent threat, granting an immunity to Earthquake, and having other resistances that Drapion does not have. Drapion also covers Latias' Dark- and Ghost-type weaknesses.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Drapion can use Payback to hit anything that's faster or anything that switches in hard thanks to the Base Power boost plus STAB. Drapion learns Agility, which can be used without a single Speed EV, but it’s generally not a good idea since Drapion would usually prefer to boost its mediocre Attack instead of its already good Speed. Acupressure is a fun move to try that can sharply boost a stat at random, but it is too unreliable of a move to form a moveset around. For what it’s worth, Drapion is very bulky and has access to Taunt, Rain Dance and Sunny Day which could help it support your team. Taunt is one of the best moves in the game, but Drapion will often find itself struggling to find a moveslot for it. Knock Off helps Drapion and its teammates, but is far from a gamebreaking move. Even defensive Drapion sets will often have better options for that moveslot.</p>
<p>Fire Fang is not covered extensively in this analysis since its type coverage is redundant in UU. However, it is extremely useful in OU play, letting Drapion do decent damage against the likes of Forretress, Bronzong and Scizor. Brick Break can be an attractive option since Drapion is almost a perfect counter to dual screeners like Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf and Gardevoir, but its type coverage is outclassed by Earthquake. Aqua Tail can be a useful move on a Choice set for Drapion, providing a “safety move” that can cover things like Claydol and Steelix. Screech is a great move to force switches, especially in conjunction with Whirlwind, but it is very difficult to pull off unless your team can reliably set up entry hazards such as Spikes and Stealth Rock.</p>
[EVs]
<p>Drapion's EV spread optons are pretty simple, really. Drapion doesn’t have any overpowering stats, it is the proverbial jack of all trades. Offensive sets will want to focus on maximizing Attack and Speed, usually with a Jolly nature to take advantage of Drapion’s good Speed. You can even try to combine Drapion’s bulk and movepool by giving up Attack EVs and putting them into HP; this might make you a bit weaker, but that can be made up for with Swords Dance. Defensive sets will always want to maximize HP, then one of the defenses depending on which threats you are attempting to counter.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Uxie, Mesprit and Claydol are immune to Drapion’s only weakness and they can also help Drapion by using Stealth Rock to greatly benefit the sweeping sets. Fighting-types resist Drapion’s main STAB attack and can attack back with powerful STAB Close Combats. The aforementioned Psychic-types can help with that problem, as well as Poison- or Flying-types like Altaria and Nidoqueen. Ludicolo works well with Drapion, resisting Ground and luring out Poison-type attacks for Drapion to switch into. Spiritomb is a common counter to Drapion, and can neuter the Swords Dance sets that lack Taunt by using Will-O-Wisp. Because of that, Flash Fire Pokemon such as Houndoom and Arcanine would benefit from being on a team with Drapion. The other status inducers that give Drapion issues are Venusaur and Tangrowth, who can take a boosted Poison Jab and use Sleep Powder to stop the sweep, although the Utility Special Defender is an exception due to Sleep Talk. Fire-types like Blaziken, Magmortar and Moltres switch in easily against these Pokemon.</p>
<p>From an offensive standpoint, Drapion is incredibly useful on its own. However, like any pokemon, the presence of Stealth Rock and Spikes can greatly increase its potential. Pokemon that lure out Psychic-types are great to pair with Drapion, especially the Choice Bander and Choice Scarfer variants, basically setting Drapion up for a free KO with Pursuit or a free Swords Dance as they switch out. Blaziken, Hitmontop and Toxicroak are good for this, although other Poison-types can do the job too. Water-types like Milotic and Slowbro that tend to draw Grass-type attacks are also helped by the presence of Drapion as a teammate. Drapion benefits greatly from pokemon like Cloyster and Roserade, who can both reliably set Spikes up in OU as well. That extra damage will be extremely useful in case something such as Registeel, Regirock or Quagsire attempt to switch in, take a boosted Earthquake and then use Earthquake, Explosion or Thunder Wave to put Drapion’s sweep in jeopardy.</p>
<p>Being able to set up Toxic Spikes gives Drapion some added team options. Moltres excels in using the SubRoost strategy, which is infinitely better when combined with Drapion’s support. Pokemon like Mismagius and other Substitute users can be helped immensely by Drapion, because it both removes and sets up Toxic Spikes for your team.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>With Sniper, Drapion is a great Pokémon to use when luck is on your side. For the most part, 3x critical hits are going to wipe out even neutral targets. The rest of the story is a bit bleak in OU, however—while Drapion's typing only gives it a single weakness, it only has a combined total of five resistances and immunities, the types are rarely seen alongside each other. However, due to the fact that Drapion is a Poison-type, it will absorb Toxic Spikes on impact. This alone also makes it a solid addition to any OU team that lacks a spinner or another Poison-type.</p>
<p>In UU, however, the story is very different. The significantly more common Poison-, Grass- and Psychic-types will allow many more opportunities for Drapion to switch in and set up. Drapion’s Speed lets it outpace quite a bit within the tier, making the Swords Dance set extremely dangerous. Both the offensive and defensive sets really shine as it is much easier to take advantage of Drapion’s nearly unique typing.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Direct counters in UU for Drapion are hard to come by due to Drapion’s great type coverage and above average defenses. Most teams generally have to rely on predicting properly and wearing it down. Dugtrio can trap and revenge kill Drapion, but cannot directly switch in due to its fragile defenses; however you can play risky and predict when Drapion will Swords Dance, you'll get yourself an opportunity to switch in Dugtrio without any harm. Defensive Steelix, Donphan, and Sandslash make decent counters, as they can 2HKO Drapion with their STAB Earthquakes while Drapion fails to 2HKO any of them even after a Swords Dance; however, a Sniper boosted critical hit would actually OHKO all of them. Registeel also does the same thing, except it lacks STAB on Earthquake. Quagsire also works decently as a Drapion counter, but it has a small chance of being 2HKOed by Life Orb Night Slash after a Swords Dance. Choice Specs Yanmega can easily take care of Drapion with Hidden Power Ground, while Rock Polish Torterra can use Drapion as set up bait, and if unprepared for it, can sweep an entire team. Hariyama and Regirock can both take boosted hits from Drapion and cause serious damage, but at full health, Drapion can get past them. Milotic with Haze can also wall Drapion successfully, taking only 27.72% from Crunch, and 23.10% from Earthquake, and this is only using the 148 HP / 252 Defense spread with a Bold nature. Ironically enough, Drapion can serve as a counter to itself, resisting both of its own STAB moves and packing Earthquake.</p>
Status: Finished, Proofreading and Adjustments left!
Process log:
~ I removed all Crobat and Shaymin references.
~ I added to the Team Options of Choice.
~ Fixed Counters section.
~ Choice Band set was adjusted to Choice, representing both Choice Scarf and Choice Band sets.
~ Added in all of Xia's and Stellar's edits, updated the Swords Dance.
~ Added a short mention of Aqua Tail in Swords Dance.
~ Write Team Options for Swords Dance and Utility
_______________________________
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/drapion
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Crunch
move 3: Taunt / Poison Jab / Aqua Tail
move 4: Earthquake
nature: Jolly
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
evs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Drapion’s solid typing and above average Speed and Attack make it a prime candidate for a Swords Dancing set. Combine all of that offensive prowess with its impressive bulk, and you have a bulky offensive threat that is extremely difficult to stop in UU. Drapion’s 110 base Defense and its resistances to Grass-, Ghost-, and Dark-type attacks and immunity to Psychic-type are nothing to scoff at in the UU environment where those types are all extremely common. The idea of this set is fairly straightforward: come in on something that doesn’t threaten Drapion, such as Calm Mind Spiritomb, Mismagius, Roserade, or Mesprit and get a Swords Dance boost for free as they either switch out or do a pitiful amount of damage to you. From there, either try to use your defenses to get another boost or simply start utilizing your amazing type coverage to rip holes in your opponent's team. The combination of Poison-, Dark- and Ground-type moves form an attacking type combination that is resisted only by Skarmory, so dealing damage in UU shouldn’t be too difficult. You can also use Aqua Tail in place of Taunt or Poison Jab, allowing you to still damage Honchkrow, but after a Sword Dance, with Stealth Rock on the field, and Life Orb equipped you can OHKO Donphan 100% of the time, beware of its 90% accuracy though!</p>
<p>Crunch and Earthquake form the core of this moveset, taking advantage of Drapion's superior STAB, and using Earthquake to help prevent Drapion from being utterly walled by Registeel, Steelix and physically defensive Regirock. It will also be your best option against Fire-types such as Blaziken and Magmortar. Taunt is a necessary element to this set. Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave are Drapion's bane, as they effectively shut down this set. The former is even more dangerous as it nullifies your Swords Dance boost, while Thunder Wave stops Drapion in its tracks. Posion Jab can be used to take care of Honchkrow which would otherwise use Drapion as set up bait, and other Pokemon who are not dented by either move. With its 30% chance of poison, Poison Jab can also weaken down walls that would otherwise cause a problem, though it would not be recommended to try this against Milotic, since its ability actually makes status effects useful.</p>
<p>The EVs for this set are fairly simple. 216 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature gives Drapion a Speed stat of 308, enough to outpace all +Speed nature Roserade and other base 90 Pokemon, and those that wish to outspeed them by one point. From there, Attack is maximized to give Drapion a bit more fire power, and the rest of the EVs are placed into HP in order for this Drapion to give as much bulk as possible. Drapion’s great 95 base Speed lets it be very flexible in terms of what it can outpace, so the Speed stat can be altered on this set to your choosing. It can outspeed threats like the previously mentioned Roserade, Rotom, and Hitmonlee, or you could lower the Speed a bit more and take a different route if you are not worried about those Pokemon. Hitmonlee cannot outpace you without a Choice Scarf, while you would only be able to outspeed Rotom if it chose to run a Modest nature, or a Timid nature with 244 Speed EVs, although latter is not likely. Rotom can cripple Drapion with Will-O-Wisp for the remainder of the match, and can do a lot of damage so it is recommended you run a Jolly nature, with an EV spread of 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe, which allows you outspeed any Rotom excluding Choice Scarf variants. Should you want this set to become a "bulky Swords Dancer", an EV spread maximizing both HP and either defensive stat can be useful as well. This way, Drapion can serve as an effective counter to Calm Mind Mismagius, Espeon, and Uxie, as well as maintaining its status as a serious threat. As far as abilities go, either one is usable on this set. Sniper can help you do some extra damage in a clutch situation, but Battle Armor could be helpful to prevent an untimely critical hit from ending your sweep.</p>
<p>As with any prominent Swords Dancer, you have to first eliminate all counters the opposing team may have, then try to lure in Pokemon that may give you a free Swords Dance. To set up a free Swords Dance turn, try starting with a Fighting-type Pokemon such as Blaziken or Hitmontop, so you can lure out Pyschic-types like Uxie. Now you can easily switch in on a predicted Psychic and proceed to Swords Dance on the switch. Blaziken is one of the best lures since it has the ability to cause major walls such as Tangrowth and Registeel to switch out after the Pyschic-type has been KOed. Drapion is also vulnerable to Earthquake, which will OHKO more likely then not. Therefore, it is recommended that a Levitate user or a Flying-type be used in conjunction with Drapion. Rotom and Mismagius both can incapacitate or exterminate any physical walls that may get in Drapion's way through the means of Trick (in th case of Rotom) or using them as set up bait (if you opt for Mismagius). As for Flying-types, Gligar can be used to take physical attacks, including Earthquakes, and to set up Stealth Rock which can aid in Drapion's sweep tremendously. Although if you are not afraid of opposing Drapion, Claydol can do all that Gligar can, although it has no means of recovery outside of Rest. For a more offensive combination, Moltres can be used to destroy most of which Drapion cannot, and vice versa. Moltres makes Drapion's life more easier, by taking care of all Grass-types, counters Dugtrio perfectly, though you must be cautious while predicting, and takes care of Regirock whom Drapion cannot do much against until being promptly OHKO'd with Earthquake. Bear in mind that this only holds true if you are running Hidden Power Grass.</p>
<p>While using Drapion you should be cautious of any status moves that might be thrown at you, so running Taunt somewhere in the moveset is recommended. If you cannot find a moveslot for Taunt, it is recommended you invest in something that can absorb status. Milotic can be used to take any status thrown at it and use it to its advantage, thanks to Marvel Scale. It can also work as a reliable physical wall, although it is not impervious to Earthquake. Flash Fire user such as Arcanine and Houndoom can take a Will-O-Wisp and increase their Fire power by 50%. They also take care of pesky Grass-types such as Venasaur, whom Drapion cannot do anything against.</p>
[SET]
name: Sniper Abuse
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Night Slash
move 3: Cross Poison
move 4: Earthquake
nature: Jolly
item: Scope Lens / Life Orb
ability: Sniper
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Sniper is an amazing ability that compliments the Swords Dancing strategy very well, especially since Drapion was blessed with two STAB moves with high chances of scoring a critical hit. Drapion’s great defensive typing and stats will give it plenty of time to set up by using Swords Dance. From there, sweeping should be easy when combining Drapion’s bulk, its good type coverage, and the fact that it is faster than a large portion of UU. Ice Fang can be used if you want to hit Altaria and Grass/Poison-types like Vileplume and Venusaur, but your STAB Cross Poison can usually get the job done in those cases as well. Earthquake is the only move preventing enemy Steel-types from completely walling this set, as Pokemon such as Registeel and Steelix resist Dark and are immune to Poison.<p>
<p>With Sniper, Scope Lens and two STAB moves with high critical hit rates, Drapion will have a whopping 25% chance of dealing three times as much damage as it normally would. When combined with Swords Dance to boost its Attack, this can be a potent threat in the UU metagame, even if you don’t find yourself getting lucky often. To demonstrate how absurdly powerful the Sniper ability can be, consider the following examples. When facing an Uxie with max HP and no defensive investment, Drapion’s Night Slash is a 3HKO at best. If Sniper activates, it OHKOs 100% of the time. Likewise, a Swords Dance boosted Earthquake is barely a 3HKO on Steelix with no defensive investment (the most common kind), but with Sniper, Drapion can OHKO it. These two examples are particularly important in demonstrating Drapion’s power, because these two Pokemon would otherwise cripple Drapion with either Thunder Wave or STAB Earthquake, respectively, now have to play the odds to have a chance of countering it.</p>
<p>The EVs for this set are very straight forward. Since Drapion’s Attack is above average but not outstanding, you will want to maximize it. The most redeeming quality of this set is Drapion’s 95 base Speed, so you will also want to take advantage of that. The choice of natures depends mostly on personal preference. An Adamant nature will give Drapion’s 90 base Attack a little extra punch, but using maximum Speed and a Jolly nature is the better option so that you can always outspeed Pokemon such as Blaziken, Gardevoir, Moltres, Roserade and Nidoking, as well as other Drapion. Jolly is also preferable since the damage generated by Sniper will make the slight power boost from an Adamant nature irrelevant. Scope Lens is a great item to use if you want to abuse Sniper, but Life Orb provides a more reliable power boost.</p>
<p>As with any Swords Dancer, Drapion benefits greatly from the presence of Stealth Rock, Spikes, and, to a lesser extent, Toxic Spikes. Both Uxie and Claydol are immune to Drapion’s only weakness and they can also help set up Stealth Rock. Pokemon that lure out Psychic-type attacks such as Blaziken, Hitmontop and Toxicroak can also be very effective with Swords Dance Drapion. Likewise, Drapion can assist other Pokemon sweep by clearing out their counters. If you manage to hit Registeel with Earthquake (and especially if you get a critical hit), sweeping with Swellow or Mismagius will be much easier later in the match. Drapion’s great typing and good type coverage will help provide a solid offensive punch to any team.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Night Slash / Crunch
move 2: Cross Poison / Poison Jab
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Pursuit / Ice Fang / Fire Fang
nature: Jolly / Adamant
item: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set has the same idea as the Swords Dance sweeper, except it forgoes the extra turn required to set up in exchange for an immediate Attack boost if using a Choice Band, as well as an extra moveslot. With a Choice Band set, it would be more beneficial to run a Jolly nature, since the Speed increase compliments Choice Band's Attack boost. The choice of STAB moves once again comes down to personal preference. Crunch and Poison Jab give you 15 extra Base Power, while Night Slash and Cross Poison will double your chances of getting a critical hit. The loss of Swords Dance opens this moveset up for a useful fourth move. Pursuit benefits from STAB and lets Drapion serve as one of the best Mismagius counters in UU, as well as being able to trap and kill weakened, slower Pokemon. If you opt for the route of Night Slash and Cross Poison, Sniper would be the preferred ability. With Choice Scarf, Drapion finds itself with a 433 Speed stat, outspeeding all base 90 and under Choice Scarf Pokemon, as well as a Rampardos with a Rock Polish boost. If you opt for Jolly, although that is not recommended due to lack in fire power with a Choice Scarf set, you will outspeed Adamant Staraptor, Modest Typhlosion and Charizard while they are equipped with a Choice Scarf of their own. Although you can outspeed them you won't do much to any of them, which is why it's recommended that you stay with an Adamant nature.</p>
<p>The elemental Fangs can prove to be useful here and there, although the low Base Power of the moves is very disappointing. Ice Fang hits Altaria and Grass/Poison-types harder than any of your other moves. Fire Fang can be used to cover Grass- and Steel-types with one move, something that the Ground/Dark/Poison combination can not do. In OU play, the choice is really between Fire Fang and Pursuit, since Drapion will find itself utterly helpless if a Scizor or Forretress were to come in on any of its other moves.</p>
<p>Pursuit is what makes this set unique from the Swords Dancer, so naturally this Drapion would work best with Pokemon that lure out Psychic-types and Mismagius for a free KO. As mentioned before, both Fighting-types and other Poison-types can be used to accomplish this, specifically Blaziken, Hitmontop, and Toxicroak. A mixed Blaziken is especially useful due to its ability to lure out Pyschic-types while being able to break down physical walls that may get in Drapion's way such as Altaria, and Registeel. Because you do not require a turn to boost your Attack and you are not hampered by Life Orb, you can use this Drapion set a bit more liberally than the Swords Dancer. Try to use that extra turn to your advantage.</p>
[SET]
name: Utility Special Defender
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Crunch / Earthquake
move 4: Whirlwind / Toxic Spikes
nature: Careful
item: Leftovers
ability: Battle Armor
evs: 252 HP / 12 Atk / 244 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Drapion's base Special Defense is substantially lower than its Defense, but its typing gives it useful resistances to Dark-, Ghost-, and Grass-type attacks and an immunity to Psychic. Because of its numerous resistances, it can serve your team as a surprisingly effective counter to a number of special-based threats, in both OU and UU. </p>
<p>With the given EVs, Drapion's HP and Special Defense reach 344 and 271 respectively. Timid Gengar can only 4HKO at best with Focus Blast, assuming it deals average damage. Watch out for Life Orb variants, though, which will 3HKO with Focus Blast, although there is only a 34% chance that Focus Blast will successfully hit three times in a row. With just 12 EVs invested into Attack, Drapion's Crunch will OHKO Gengar on average. Drapion also does well against Psychic-types, even OU threats such as Azelf, thanks to immunity to their STAB attacks; Azelf can only manage to deal a maximum of 77% damage after a Nasty Plot from a Life Orbed Flamethrower.</p>
<p>Crunch provides a reliable STAB attack, hits the aforementioned Pokémon for super effective damage and is complimented by Earthquake to provide good coverage. Earthquake also turns Drapion into a good counter for the “Boah” variants of Tyranitar and Calm Mind Jirachi. Furthermore, Earthquake deters Heatran and Lucario. Toxic Spikes and Whirlwind are two options that could replace Earthquake. In the case of the former, Drapion’s list of useful resistances will give it ample time to set up Toxic Spikes for your team, as well as absorbing them from your side of the field. Whirlwind enables Drapion to phaze out bulkier threats like Suicune, and will help you scout your opponent's team.</p>
<p>In UU, this set is just as effective. This set is the best counter to Calm Mind Mismagius, taking a laughable amount of damage from even a boosted, super effective Hidden Power and retaliating with a STAB super effective Crunch. This set also completely beats Uxie leads that are ever so common.</p>
<p>Rest and Sleep Talk provide Drapion with the durability to repeatedly counter the threats for which he is tailored to do so and is also helpful for soaking sleep-inducing attacks from Pokémon in both OU and UU, such as Gengar, Roserade, Hypno, and Venusaur. All of these threats are Pokémon that Drapion can wall relatively easily.</p>
<p>While mentioned before Drapion can be used in OU, it is outclassed by Tentacruel and Roserade. Roserade can set up Toxic Spikes and also take status through means of Natural Cure. Roserade also has the Speed to reliably set up Toxic Spikes on the field as a lead, and has the fire power necessary to still cause havoc with Leaf Storm, or induce sleep with Sleep Powder. Tentacruel can Rapid Spin away entry hazards that your opponent has laid and proceed to set up its own Toxic Spikes while having a base Special Defense stat that is 45 points higher, and a base HP stat that is 10 points higher. Drapion has some things going in its favor, though. In the OU environment, its dual typing is effective in beating threats such as Alakazam, Gengar, and Azelf. It completely ruins the suicidal Roserade lead and can also OHKO Lucario after taking a maximum 78.49% from Close Combat, both of which can be prominent threats to an team especially a stall based.</p>
<p>Drapion's job is done much easier in OU with the aid of Pokemon such as Skarmory, Gliscor, and especially Zapdos. Through the aid of the Toxic Spikes provided by Drapion, SubRoost Zapdos can stall away and proceed to wear down the opposing team. Skarmory helps set up more entry hazards such as Spikes and Stealth Rock, and after that can proceed to pseudo-haze with Whirlwind and rack up entry hazard damage, at the same time scouting the opposing team. Gliscor on the the hand counters Metagross who can deal OHKO any Drapion with Earthquake. Machamp can also be an amazing partner as it deals with Tyranitar, and can be used for the luring strategy. Machamp lures in the opposing teams Pyschic- or Ghost-type and Drapion comes in to set up Toxic Spikes if it has not already done so, or proceeds to make a huge dent with Crunch. Latias also makes a reliable partner, taking care of Infernape who would otherwise be a potent threat, granting an immunity to Earthquake, and having other resistances that Drapion does not have. Drapion also covers Latias' Dark- and Ghost-type weaknesses.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Drapion can use Payback to hit anything that's faster or anything that switches in hard thanks to the Base Power boost plus STAB. Drapion learns Agility, which can be used without a single Speed EV, but it’s generally not a good idea since Drapion would usually prefer to boost its mediocre Attack instead of its already good Speed. Acupressure is a fun move to try that can sharply boost a stat at random, but it is too unreliable of a move to form a moveset around. For what it’s worth, Drapion is very bulky and has access to Taunt, Rain Dance and Sunny Day which could help it support your team. Taunt is one of the best moves in the game, but Drapion will often find itself struggling to find a moveslot for it. Knock Off helps Drapion and its teammates, but is far from a gamebreaking move. Even defensive Drapion sets will often have better options for that moveslot.</p>
<p>Fire Fang is not covered extensively in this analysis since its type coverage is redundant in UU. However, it is extremely useful in OU play, letting Drapion do decent damage against the likes of Forretress, Bronzong and Scizor. Brick Break can be an attractive option since Drapion is almost a perfect counter to dual screeners like Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf and Gardevoir, but its type coverage is outclassed by Earthquake. Aqua Tail can be a useful move on a Choice set for Drapion, providing a “safety move” that can cover things like Claydol and Steelix. Screech is a great move to force switches, especially in conjunction with Whirlwind, but it is very difficult to pull off unless your team can reliably set up entry hazards such as Spikes and Stealth Rock.</p>
[EVs]
<p>Drapion's EV spread optons are pretty simple, really. Drapion doesn’t have any overpowering stats, it is the proverbial jack of all trades. Offensive sets will want to focus on maximizing Attack and Speed, usually with a Jolly nature to take advantage of Drapion’s good Speed. You can even try to combine Drapion’s bulk and movepool by giving up Attack EVs and putting them into HP; this might make you a bit weaker, but that can be made up for with Swords Dance. Defensive sets will always want to maximize HP, then one of the defenses depending on which threats you are attempting to counter.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Uxie, Mesprit and Claydol are immune to Drapion’s only weakness and they can also help Drapion by using Stealth Rock to greatly benefit the sweeping sets. Fighting-types resist Drapion’s main STAB attack and can attack back with powerful STAB Close Combats. The aforementioned Psychic-types can help with that problem, as well as Poison- or Flying-types like Altaria and Nidoqueen. Ludicolo works well with Drapion, resisting Ground and luring out Poison-type attacks for Drapion to switch into. Spiritomb is a common counter to Drapion, and can neuter the Swords Dance sets that lack Taunt by using Will-O-Wisp. Because of that, Flash Fire Pokemon such as Houndoom and Arcanine would benefit from being on a team with Drapion. The other status inducers that give Drapion issues are Venusaur and Tangrowth, who can take a boosted Poison Jab and use Sleep Powder to stop the sweep, although the Utility Special Defender is an exception due to Sleep Talk. Fire-types like Blaziken, Magmortar and Moltres switch in easily against these Pokemon.</p>
<p>From an offensive standpoint, Drapion is incredibly useful on its own. However, like any pokemon, the presence of Stealth Rock and Spikes can greatly increase its potential. Pokemon that lure out Psychic-types are great to pair with Drapion, especially the Choice Bander and Choice Scarfer variants, basically setting Drapion up for a free KO with Pursuit or a free Swords Dance as they switch out. Blaziken, Hitmontop and Toxicroak are good for this, although other Poison-types can do the job too. Water-types like Milotic and Slowbro that tend to draw Grass-type attacks are also helped by the presence of Drapion as a teammate. Drapion benefits greatly from pokemon like Cloyster and Roserade, who can both reliably set Spikes up in OU as well. That extra damage will be extremely useful in case something such as Registeel, Regirock or Quagsire attempt to switch in, take a boosted Earthquake and then use Earthquake, Explosion or Thunder Wave to put Drapion’s sweep in jeopardy.</p>
<p>Being able to set up Toxic Spikes gives Drapion some added team options. Moltres excels in using the SubRoost strategy, which is infinitely better when combined with Drapion’s support. Pokemon like Mismagius and other Substitute users can be helped immensely by Drapion, because it both removes and sets up Toxic Spikes for your team.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>With Sniper, Drapion is a great Pokémon to use when luck is on your side. For the most part, 3x critical hits are going to wipe out even neutral targets. The rest of the story is a bit bleak in OU, however—while Drapion's typing only gives it a single weakness, it only has a combined total of five resistances and immunities, the types are rarely seen alongside each other. However, due to the fact that Drapion is a Poison-type, it will absorb Toxic Spikes on impact. This alone also makes it a solid addition to any OU team that lacks a spinner or another Poison-type.</p>
<p>In UU, however, the story is very different. The significantly more common Poison-, Grass- and Psychic-types will allow many more opportunities for Drapion to switch in and set up. Drapion’s Speed lets it outpace quite a bit within the tier, making the Swords Dance set extremely dangerous. Both the offensive and defensive sets really shine as it is much easier to take advantage of Drapion’s nearly unique typing.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Direct counters in UU for Drapion are hard to come by due to Drapion’s great type coverage and above average defenses. Most teams generally have to rely on predicting properly and wearing it down. Dugtrio can trap and revenge kill Drapion, but cannot directly switch in due to its fragile defenses; however you can play risky and predict when Drapion will Swords Dance, you'll get yourself an opportunity to switch in Dugtrio without any harm. Defensive Steelix, Donphan, and Sandslash make decent counters, as they can 2HKO Drapion with their STAB Earthquakes while Drapion fails to 2HKO any of them even after a Swords Dance; however, a Sniper boosted critical hit would actually OHKO all of them. Registeel also does the same thing, except it lacks STAB on Earthquake. Quagsire also works decently as a Drapion counter, but it has a small chance of being 2HKOed by Life Orb Night Slash after a Swords Dance. Choice Specs Yanmega can easily take care of Drapion with Hidden Power Ground, while Rock Polish Torterra can use Drapion as set up bait, and if unprepared for it, can sweep an entire team. Hariyama and Regirock can both take boosted hits from Drapion and cause serious damage, but at full health, Drapion can get past them. Milotic with Haze can also wall Drapion successfully, taking only 27.72% from Crunch, and 23.10% from Earthquake, and this is only using the 148 HP / 252 Defense spread with a Bold nature. Ironically enough, Drapion can serve as a counter to itself, resisting both of its own STAB moves and packing Earthquake.</p>
