Monotype Excadrill (Ground)

maroon

free palestine
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Team Rateris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnus
RMT & Mono Leader
:ss/excadrill:
[OVERVIEW]

Ground
========

Sand Rush alongside its phenomenal Attack stat allows Excadrill to become a potent revenge killer for Ground teams, taking on threats such as Zarude, Keldeo, Barraskewda, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu under sand. Excadrill's decent natural bulk allows it to live attacks such as unboosted Galarian Moltres's Fiery Wrath, Choice Specs Dragapult's Shadow Ball, and Hydreigon's Flamethrower. Excadrill's part-Steel typing allows it to take neutral damage from Ice- and Grass-type attacks such as Weavile's Ice Shard and Tapu Koko's Grass Knot and resist Dragon- and Psychic-type attacks such as Latias's Draco Meteor and Psychic. It also has Rapid Spin, which allows Excadrill to clear entry hazards off the field; this gives Ground teams their only and reliable form of entry hazard removal. However, Excadrill relies on sand to outpace most offensive threats such as Choice Specs Zapdos, Victini, Tapu Lele, Blacephalon, and Nidoking, leaving it easily revenge killed outside of sand.

[SET]
name: Sand Rush (Ground)
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Rapid Spin / Rock Slide
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Earthquake allows Excadrill to take on most Pokemon that are weak or not resistant to Ground-type attacks such as Zeraora, Victini, Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Urshifu-R, and Dragapult. Iron Head targets Ice- and Fairy-types such as Avalugg, Alolan Ninetales, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Lele. X-Scissor is used to take on Zarude and Celebi while also dealing with other Dark- and Psychic-types such as Hydreigon and Slowbro. Rock Slide targets Flying-types such as Zapdos, Galarian Moltres, and Mantine. Sand Rush allows Excadrill to outspeed threats such as Blacephalon, Zeraora, Zarude, and Choice Specs Dragapult under sand. Maximum Speed investment allows Excadrill to outspeed threats such as Tapu Bulu, Adamant Diggersby, and Choice Specs Pelipper. An Adamant nature paired with a Choice Band allows Excadrill to OHKO threats such as Keldeo after Stealth Rock and 2HKO Slowbro with X-Scissor. A Jolly nature can be used to outspeed threats such as +1 Adamant Dragapult and Choice Scarf Weavile in sand. Excadrill should be safely brought in to take advantage of the sand with methods such as Eject Button Hippowdon or by bringing it on resisted attacks such as Latias's Draco Meteor.

All of Excadrill's teammates appreciate its ability to take on Ice-, Psychic-, and Fairy-types, clear entry hazards with Rapid Spin, and act as a revenge killer in sand against threats such as Barraskewda, Choice Specs Dragapult, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu. Hippowdon is a mandatory partner for Excadrill, as it sets sand and Stealth Rock, as well as being able to bring in Excadrill safely with Eject Button. Hippowdon can also take on physical threats such as Dragon Dance Dragapult, Zeraora, and Bisharp for Excadrill. Gastrodon and Seismitoad offer Excadrill an immunity to Water-type attacks such as Mantine's Scald and Barraskewda's Waterfall. Gastrodon offers a more defensive presence thanks to Recover,(period to comma) while Seismitoad checks Azumarill, which would otherwise beat Excadrill. Swords Dance Garchomp wears down shared checks like Celesteela with Fire Fang, takes on Mantine with Stone Edge, and can become dangerous setup sweeper with Scale Shot, which makes handling Pokemon like Spectrier much easier. Landorus-T provides a Ground immunity, allowing it to switch into Hippowdon's Earthquake; it is also a great revenge killer that can take on weakened threats such as Zeraora, Spectrier, and Urshifu-R with its Choice Scarf set. Gravity Landorus-T can threaten Pokemon such as Skarmory, Celesteela, and Corviknight for Excadrill, as well as taking on Steel teams in their entirety if it carries Bulk Up and Substitute. Nidoking can beat Steel-types such as Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Celesteela with Earth Power + Flamethrower or Flying-types such as Mantine, Pelipper, Corviknight, and Dragonite with Thunderbolt + Ice Beam. Mamoswine is a great late-game cleaner that can pick off weakened threats such as Garchomp, Dragapult, and Hydreigon with Ice Shard while also being able to remove items such as Slowking's Heavy-Duty Boots with Knock Off.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Ground
--------
Swords Dance + Rapid Spin can be used on both Sand Rush and Mold Breaker Excadrill. It allows Excadrill to act as a sweeper outside of sand thanks to Rapid Spin allowing it to outspeed Pokemon such as Kyurem. Mold Breaker can be used to target Levitate users such as Rotom-W, Hydreigon, and Latios with Earthquake. A Choice Scarf set can be used on sand less Ground teams to allow Excadrill to act as a revenge killer without the boost from sand or Rapid Spin and take on threats such as Choice Specs Tapu Lele. Shadow Claw can be used to take on Psychic teams, allowing Excadrill to 2HKO Pokemon such as physically defensive Bronzong.

Checks and Counters
===================

Ground
--------
**Ground-immune and -resistant Pokemon**: Pokemon that are immune to or resist Earthquake present a problem to Excadrill. However, Pokemon like Landorus-T, Galarian Moltres, and Zarude have to watch out for its other STAB and coverage moves in Iron Head, Rock Slide, and X-Scissor, respectively. The only Pokemon that truly wall all of Excadrill's coverage are Celesteela, Corviknight, and Skarmory; the former can wall its attacks and wear it down with Leech Seed + Protect, and the latter two can threaten it with Body Press in return.

**Physically Defensive Walls**: Physically defensive walls such as Rotom-W, Porygon2, Galarian Corsola, and Hippowdon can easily take all of Excadrill's attacks and either cripple it with status or threaten it with their STAB attacks.

**Revenge Killers**: Revenge killers such as Spectrier, Garchomp, Cinderace, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu outspeed and revenge kill Excadrill outside of sand. Dragon Dance Dragapult also only needs one Dragon Dance to outpace Excadrill in sand, and Choice Scarf Weavile outspeeds Adamant Excadrill in sand.

**Status**: Being burnt severely hinders Excadrill's performance as a wallbreaker, as it can no longer break past defensive Pokemon such as Mandibuzz and Amoonguss or OHKO offensive threats such as Choice Specs Zapdos, even after Stealth Rock. Whimsicott and Zapdos can paralyze Excadrill with Stun Spore and Static respectively, preventing it from outspeeding threats such as Zarude and Zeraora.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Ground analysis by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Quality checked by: [[Rotten, 491896], [Maple, 473171]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594], [DC, 449990]]
 
Last edited:
additions, removals, (comments)
:ss/excadrill:
[OVERVIEW]

Ground
========

* Sand Rush allows Excadrill to become a phenomenal revenge killer alongside its phenomenal Attack stat for Ground teams taking on threats such as Zarude, Keldeo, Barraskewda, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu.
* Excadrill's decent natural bulk allows it to live a good chunk of attacks such as unboosted Galarian Moltres's Fiery Wrath, Choice Specs Dragapult's Shadow Ball, and non-Choice Specs Hydreigon's Flamethrower. (specs hydreigon OHKOes exca with flamethrower)
* Excadrill's part Steel typing allows it to take neutral damage from Ice- and Grass-type attacks for Ground teams such as Weavile's Ice Shard and Tapu Koko's Grass Knot; as well as resist Dragon attacks such as Latias's Draco Meteor. It also allows Excadrill to take on and OHKO Ice- and Fairy-type Pokemon such as Kyurem, Alolan Ninetales, and Tapu Bulu with STAB Iron Head. (there should definitely be a mention about exca taking on psychic-types too. would mention that exca is helpful for the ice, fairy, and psychic matchups too)
* Excadrill also has fantastic coverage options in X-Scissor allowing it to handle threats such as Zarude (mention celebi / slowbro as well) and Rock Slide to take on Zapdos and Mantine. It also has access to Rapid Spin which allows Excadrill to clear entry hazards off the field for Ground teams, which otherwise does not have reliable entry hazard removal.
* However, Excadrill relies on sand to outpace most offensive threats such as Choice Specs Zapdos, Victini, Tapu Lele, Blacephalon, and Nidoking allowing it to be easily revenge killed outside of sand.

[SET]
name: Sand Rush (Ground)
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Rapid Spin / Rock Slide
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

- Earthquake allows Excadrill to take on most Pokemon that do not resist or are immune to Ground attacks such as Zeraora, Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Urshifu-R, Victini, and Dragapult. (this seems like fluff tbh, could probably remove it)
- Iron Head lets Excadrill to target Ice- and Fairy-type Pokemon such as Avalugg, Alolan Ninetales, and Tapu Lele. (mention tapu bulu)
- X-Scissor mainly is used to take on Zarude and Celebi, as well as other Dark- and Psychic-type Pokemon such as Hydreigon and Slowking Slowbro. (i like slowbro as an example more cuz slowking takes a ton from band eq)
- Rock Slide lets Excadrill target Flying-types such as Zapdos, Galarian Moltres, and Mantine.
- Sand Rush allows Excadrill to outspeed threats such as Choice Scarf Blacephalon, Choice Band Zeraora, Choice Scarf Zarude, and Choice Specs Dragapult under sand.
- While Maximum Speed investment allows Excadrill to take on threats such as Tapu Bulu, Adamant Diggersby, and Choice Specs Pelipper. An Adamant nature paired with a Choice Band allows Excadrill to OHKO threats such as Keldeo and Hydreigon after Stealth Rock chip (mention that it guarantees a 2HKO on Slowbro with X-Scissor). A Jolly nature can be used over Adamant to outspeed threats such as +1 Adamant Dragapult, +2 Volcarona, and Choice Scarf Weavile in sand.
- Excadrill should be safely brought in to take advantage of the sand, methods such as using Eject Button Hippowdon or bringing it on resisted attacks such as Latias's Draco Meteor are ideal.

- All of Excadrill's teammates appreciate its ability to take on Ice-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type Pokemon, clear entry hazards with Rapid Spin, and act as a revenge killer in sand against threats such as Barraskewda, Choice Specs Dragapult, and Tapu Bulu. (pretty nitpicky, but exca outspeeds tapu bulu outside of sand anyway, replace with a different example like alolan ninetales)
- Hippowdon is a mandatory partner for Excadrill, as it sets sand and Stealth Rock, as well as being able to bring in Excadrill safely with an Eject Button set. Hippowdon can also take on physical threats such as Dragon Dance Dragapult, Zeraora, and Bisharp for Excadrill.
- Gastrodon and Seismitoad offer Excadrill an immunity to Water-type attacks switching into attacks such as Mantine's Scald (add more examples like barraskewda and vish). Gastrodon offers a more defensive presence as it can switch into attacks such as Tornadus-T's Hurricane multiple times thanks to Recover. (mention that seismitoad can specifically check azumarill)
- Swords Dance Garchomp can wear down its shared checks with Excadrill such as Celesteela with boosted Fire Fang, as well as take on Mantine with Stone Edge, or become a dangerous setup sweeper with Scale Shot allowing it to take on Pokemon such as Spectrier with more ease.
- Landorus-T is a great revenge killer taking on weakened threats such as Zeraora, Spectrier, and Urshifu-R with its Choice Scarf set. Landorus-T can also run a Gravity set allowing it to take on Pokemon such as Skarmory, Celesteela, and Corviknight for Excadrill, as well as take on Steel teams in their entirety if its it's paired with Bulk Up and Substitute.
- Nidoking can take on Steel-type Pokemon such as Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Celesteela with Earth Power + Flamethrower or Flying-type Pokemon such as Mantine, Pelipper, Corviknight, and Dragonite with Thunderbolt + Ice Beam.
- Mamoswine is a great late-game cleaner and can pick off weakened threats for Excadrill with Ice Shard such as Garchomp, Dragapult, and Hydreigon, while also being able to remove items such as Slowking's Heavy-Duty Boots with Knock Off, allowing Excadrill to always OHKO it with Earthquake after Stealth Rock chip.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Ground
--------
* Swords Dance + Rapid Spin sets can be used on both Sand Rush and Mold Breaker Excadrill. It allows Excadrill to act as a sweeper outside of sand, thanks to Swords Dance, as well as Rapid Spin, allowing it to outspeed Pokemon such as Kyurem. Mold Breaker on this set is used outside of sand teams and can be used to allow Excadrill to target Levitate users such as Rotom-W, Hydreigon, and Latios with Earthquake.
* A Choice Scarf set allows Excadrill to act as a revenge killer without the boost from sand or Rapid Spin, allowing it to act as a more immediate revenge killer taking on threats such as Choice Specs Tapu Lele. (mention that choice scarf + mold breaker exca is used on sandless teams)
- add that shadow claw can be used over x-scissor to 2hko bronzong, which is more commonly seen on psychic teams to check exca


Checks and Counters
===================

Ground
--------
**Ground immunities and resists**: Pokemon that are immune to or resist Earthquake present a problem to Excadrill. However, these Pokemon have to watch out for its other STAB and coverage moves in Iron Head, Rock Slide, and X-Scissor such as Landorus-T, Galarian Moltres, and Zarude respectively. The only Pokemon that truly wall all of Excadrill's coverage are Celesteela, Corviknight, and Skarmory, of which the latter two can threaten it with Body Press in return. (what does celesteela do back to excadrill?)

**Physically Defensive Walls**: Physically defensive walls such as Rotom-W, Slowbro, Galarian Corsola, and Hippowdon can easily take all of Excadrill's attacks and either cripple it with status such as Will-O-Wisp or threaten it with their STAB attacks. (slowbro gets 2hkoed by x-scissor, add that)

**Revenge Killers**: Revenge killers such as Spectrier, Garchomp, Cinderace, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu outspeed and revenge kill it Excadrill outside of sand. Dragon Dance Dragapult also only needs one Dragon Dance to outpace Excadrill in sand and Choice Scarf Weavile outspeeds Adamant Excadrill in sand. However, they all can be taken out by Excadrill under the correct circumstances.

**Burn**: Being burnt severely hinders Excadrill's performance as a wallbreaker, as it can no longer break past defensive Pokemon such as Mandibuzz or Amoonguss, or OHKOing offensive threats such as Choice Specs Zapdos even after Stealth Rock chip.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Ground analysis by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Quality checked by: [[Rotten, 491896], [<username2>, <userid2>]]
- Grammar checked by: [[<username1>, <userid1>], [<username2>, <userid2>]]

qc 1/2!
rotten-QC-small.gif
 

DugZa

Carpe Diem
is a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Former Smogon Metagame Tournament Circuit Champion
NUPL Champion
Add Remove Comment
[OVERVIEW]

Ground
========

Sand Rush allows Excadrill to become a phenomenal revenge killer alongside its phenomenal Attack stat for Ground teams taking on threats such as Zarude, Keldeo, Barraskewda, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu under sand. Excadrill's decent natural bulk allows it to live a good chunk of attacks such as unboosted Galarian Moltres's Fiery Wrath, Choice Specs Dragapult's Shadow Ball, and Hydreigon's Flamethrower. Excadrill's part Steel typing allows it to take neutral damage from Ice- and Grass-type attacks for Ground teams such as Weavile's Ice Shard and Tapu Koko's Grass Knot; as well as resist Dragon- and Psychic-type attacks such as Latias's Draco Meteor and Psychic. Its Steel typing and access to Iron Head allows Excadrill to take on and OHKO Ice- and Fairy-type Pokemon such as Kyurem, Alolan Ninetales, and Tapu Bulu with STAB Iron Head. Excadrill also has fantastic coverage options in X-Scissor allowing it to handle threats such as Zarude, Celebi, and Slowbro, while Rock Slide is used to take on Zapdos and Mantine. It also has access to Rapid Spin which allows Excadrill to clear entry hazards off the field for Ground teams, which otherwise does not have reliable entry hazard removal. However, Excadrill relies on sand to outpace most offensive threats such as Choice Specs Zapdos, Victini, Tapu Lele, Blacephalon, and Nidoking allowing it to be easily revenge killed outside of sand.

[SET]
name: Sand Rush (Ground)
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Rapid Spin / Rock Slide
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Earthquake allows Excadrill to take on most Pokemon that do not resist or are immune to Ground attacks such as Zeraora, Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Urshifu-R, Victini, and Dragapult. Iron Head lets Excadrill to target Ice- and Fairy-type Pokemon such as Avalugg, Alolan Ninetales, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Lele. X-Scissor is used to take on Zarude and Celebi, as well as while also dealing with other Dark- and Psychic-type Pokemon such as Hydreigon and Slowbro. Rock Slide lets Excadrill target Flying-types such as Zapdos, Galarian Moltres, and Mantine. Sand Rush allows Excadrill to outspeed threats such as Choice Scarf Blacephalon, Choice Band Zeraora, Choice Scarf Zarude, and Choice Specs Dragapult under sand. Maximum Speed investment allows Excadrill to take on outspeed threats such as Tapu Bulu, Adamant Diggersby, and Choice Specs Pelipper. An Adamant nature paired with a Choice Band allows Excadrill to OHKO threats such as Keldeo and Hydreigon after Stealth Rock chip [Iron Head doesn't OHKO Hydreigon after rocks damage, if you're talking about X-Scissor then it p much OHKOes from full, use a different example that fits better with the stealth rock mention.] and 2HKOes Slowbro with X-Scissor. A Jolly nature can be used over Adamant to outspeed threats such as +1 Adamant Dragapult, +2 Volcarona [You don't outspeed +2 Volcarona even with Jolly.], and Choice Scarf Weavile in sand. Excadrill should be safely brought in to take advantage of the sand, methods such as using Eject Button Hippowdon or bringing it on resisted attacks such as Latias's Draco Meteor are ideal.

All of Excadrill's teammates appreciate its ability to take on Ice-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type Pokemon, clear entry hazards with Rapid Spin, and act as a revenge killer in sand against threats such as Barraskewda, Choice Specs Dragapult, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu. Hippowdon is a mandatory partner for Excadrill, as it sets sand and Stealth Rock, as well as being able to bring in Excadrill safely with an Eject Button set. Hippowdon can also take on physical threats such as Dragon Dance Dragapult, Zeraora, and Bisharp for Excadrill. Gastrodon and Seismitoad offer Excadrill an immunity to Water-type attacks switching into attacks such as Mantine's Scald and Barraskewda's Waterfall. Gastrodon offers a more defensive presence as it can switch into attacks such as Tornadus-T's Hurricane multiple times [Taunt Tornadus is an L which is a common Torn-T set, just leave it without that mention] thanks to Recover. Seismitoad can also check Azumarill, which would otherwise beat Excadrill. Swords Dance Garchomp can wear down its shared checks with Excadrill such as Celesteela with boosted Fire Fang, as well as take on Mantine with Stone Edge, or become a dangerous setup sweeper with Scale Shot allowing it to take on Pokemon such as Spectrier with more ease. Landorus-T is a great revenge killer taking on weakened threats such as Zeraora, Spectrier, and Urshifu-R with its Choice Scarf set. Landorus-T can also run a Gravity set allowing it to take on Pokemon such as Skarmory, Celesteela, and Corviknight for Excadrill, as well as take on Steel teams in their entirety if it's paired with Bulk Up and Substitute. [Add that Landorus-T also provides a ground immunity for Excadrill.] Nidoking can take on Steel-type Pokemon such as Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Celesteela with Earth Power + Flamethrower or Flying-type Pokemon such as Mantine, Pelipper, Corviknight, and Dragonite with Thunderbolt + Ice Beam. Mamoswine is a great late-game cleaner and can pick off weakened threats for Excadrill with Ice Shard such as Garchomp, Dragapult, and Hydreigon, while also being able to remove items such as Slowking's Heavy-Duty Boots with Knock Off, allowing Excadrill to always OHKO it with Earthquake after Stealth Rock chip. [It's a roll bop]

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Ground
--------
Swords Dance + Rapid Spin sets can be used on both Sand Rush and Mold Breaker Excadrill. It allows Excadrill to act as a sweeper outside of sand, thanks to Swords Dance, as well as Rapid Spin, allowing it to outspeed Pokemon such as Kyurem. Mold Breaker on this set is used outside of sand teams and can be used to allow Excadrill to target Levitate users such as Rotom-W, Hydreigon, and Latios with Earthquake. A Choice Scarf set can be used on sandless Ground teams and it allows Excadrill to act as a revenge killer without the boost from sand or Rapid Spin, allowing it to act as a more immediate revenge killer taking on threats such as Choice Specs Tapu Lele. Shadow Claw can be used to take on Psychic teams, allowing Excadrill to 2HKO Pokemon such as physically Defensive Bronzong.

Checks and Counters
===================

Ground
--------
**Ground immunities and resists**: Pokemon that are immune to or resist Earthquake present a problem to Excadrill. However, these Pokemon have to watch out for its other STAB and coverage moves in Iron Head, Rock Slide, and X-Scissor such as Landorus-T, Galarian Moltres, and Zarude respectively. The only Pokemon that truly wall all of Excadrill's coverage are Celesteela, Corviknight, and Skarmory, the former can wall its attacks and wear it down with Leech Seed + Protect, and the latter two can threaten it with Body Press in return.

**Physically Defensive Walls**: Physically defensive walls such as Rotom-W, Slowbro Porygon2, Galarian Corsola, and Hippowdon can easily take all of Excadrill's attacks and either cripple it with status such as Will-O-Wisp or threaten it with their STAB attacks. However, Slowbro can be 2HKOed by X-Scissor.

**Revenge Killers**: Revenge killers such as Spectrier, Garchomp, Cinderace, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu outspeed and revenge kill Excadrill outside of sand. Dragon Dance Dragapult also only needs one Dragon Dance to outpace Excadrill in sand and Choice Scarf Weavile outspeeds Adamant Excadrill in sand. However, they all can be taken out by Excadrill under the correct circumstances.

**Burn Status**: Being burnt severely hinders Excadrill's performance as a wallbreaker, as it can no longer break past defensive Pokemon such as Mandibuzz or Amoonguss, or OHKOing offensive threats such as Choice Specs Zapdos even after Stealth Rock chip. [Add a mention about paralysis, stun spore, static, and glare can paralyze it.]

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Ground analysis by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Quality checked by: [[Rotten, 491896], [Maple, 473171]]
- Grammar checked by: [[<username1>, <userid1>], [<username2>, <userid2>]]
QC 2/2
 

Milak

Stoïque fierté
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
1/2
[OVERVIEW]

Ground
========

Sand Rush alongside its phenomenal Attack stat allows Excadrill to become a phenomenal revenge killer alongside its phenomenal Attack stat for Ground teams,(AC) taking on threats such as Zarude, Keldeo, Barraskewda, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu under sand. Excadrill's decent natural bulk allows it to live a good chunk of attacks such as unboosted Galarian Moltres's Fiery Wrath, Choice Specs Dragapult's Shadow Ball, and Hydreigon's Flamethrower. Excadrill's part-Steel(AH) typing allows it to take neutral damage from Ice- and Grass-type attacks for Ground teams such as Weavile's Ice Shard and Tapu Koko's Grass Knot;(RSC) as well as and resist Dragon- and Psychic-type attacks such as Latias's Draco Meteor and Psychic. Its Steel typing and access to Iron Head allows Excadrill to take on and OHKO Ice- and Fairy-type Pokemon such as Kyurem, Alolan Ninetales, and Tapu Bulu with STAB Iron Head. Excadrill also has fantastic coverage options in X-Scissor,(AC) allowing it to handle threats such as Zarude, Celebi, and Slowbro, while Rock Slide is used to take on Zapdos and Mantine. It also has access to Rapid Spin,(AC) which allows Excadrill to clear entry hazards off the field for Ground teams, which otherwise does not have reliable entry hazard removal ;(ASC) this gives Ground teams their only and reliable form of entry hazard removal. However, Excadrill relies on sand to outpace most offensive threats such as Choice Specs Zapdos, Victini, Tapu Lele, Blacephalon, and Nidoking allowing it to be ,(AC) leaving it easily revenge killed outside of sand.

[SET]
name: Sand Rush (Ground)
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Rapid Spin / Rock Slide
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Earthquake allows Excadrill to take on most Pokemon that do not resist or are immune are weak or not resistant to Ground-type attacks such as Zeraora, Victini,(AC) Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Urshifu-R, Victini,(RC) and Dragapult. Iron Head lets Excadrill to target Ice- and Fairy-type Pokemon such as Avalugg, Alolan Ninetales, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Lele. X-Scissor is used to take on Zarude and Celebi,(RC) while also dealing with other Dark- and Psychic-type Pokemon such as Hydreigon and Slowbro. Rock Slide lets Excadrill target Flying-types such as Zapdos, Galarian Moltres, and Mantine. Sand Rush allows Excadrill to outspeed threats such as Blacephalon, Zeraora, Zarude, and Choice Specs Dragapult under sand. Maximum Speed investment allows Excadrill to outspeed threats such as Tapu Bulu, Adamant Diggersby, and Choice Specs Pelipper. An Adamant nature paired with a Choice Band allows Excadrill to OHKO threats such as Keldeo after Stealth Rock chip and 2HKOes 2HKO Slowbro with X-Scissor. A Jolly nature can be used over Adamant to outspeed threats such as +1 Adamant Dragapult,(RC) and Choice Scarf Weavile in sand. Excadrill should be safely brought in to take advantage of the sand,(RC) with methods such as using Eject Button Hippowdon or by bringing it on resisted attacks such as Latias's Draco Meteor are ideal.

All of Excadrill's teammates appreciate its ability to take on Ice-, Psychic-, and Fairy-type Pokemon, clear entry hazards with Rapid Spin, and act as a revenge killer in sand against threats such as Barraskewda, Choice Specs Dragapult, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu. Hippowdon is a mandatory partner for Excadrill, as it sets sand and Stealth Rock, as well as being able to bring in Excadrill safely with an Eject Button set. Hippowdon can also take on physical threats such as Dragon Dance Dragapult, Zeraora, and Bisharp for Excadrill. Gastrodon and Seismitoad offer Excadrill an immunity to Water-type attacks switching into attacks such as Mantine's Scald and Barraskewda's Waterfall. Gastrodon offers a more defensive presence thanks to Recover. Seismitoad can also check Azumarill, which would otherwise beat Excadrill. Swords Dance Garchomp can wear down its shared checks with Excadrill such as Celesteela with boosted +2 Fire Fang, as well as take on Mantine with Stone Edge,(RC) or become a dangerous setup sweeper with Scale Shot allowing it to take on Pokemon such as Spectrier with more ease. Landorus-T provides a Ground immunity,(AC) allowing it to switch into Hippowdon's Earthquake,(RC) ;(ASC) it also is a great revenge killer taking that can take on weakened threats such as Zeraora, Spectrier, and Urshifu-R with its Choice Scarf set. Landorus-T can run a Gravity set as well,(AC) allowing it to take on Pokemon such as Skarmory, Celesteela, and Corviknight for Excadrill, as well as take taking on Steel teams in their entirety if it's paired with it carries Bulk Up and Substitute. Nidoking can take on Steel-type Pokemon such as Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Celesteela with Earth Power + Flamethrower or Flying-type Pokemon such as Mantine, Pelipper, Corviknight, and Dragonite with Thunderbolt + Ice Beam. Mamoswine is a great late-game cleaner and that can pick off weakened threats for Excadrill with Ice Shard such as Garchomp, Dragapult, and Hydreigon,(RC) while also being able to remove items such as Slowking's Heavy-Duty Boots with Knock Off.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Ground
--------
Swords Dance + Rapid Spin sets can be used on both Sand Rush and Mold Breaker Excadrill. It allows Excadrill to act as a sweeper outside of sand,(RC) thanks to Swords Dance, as well as Rapid Spin,(RC) thanks to Rapid Spin allowing it to outspeed Pokemon such as Kyurem. Mold Breaker on this set is used outside of sand teams and can be used to allow Excadrill to target Levitate users such as Rotom-W, Hydreigon, and Latios with Earthquake. A Choice Scarf set can be used on sandless Ground teams and it allows to allow Excadrill to act as a revenge killer without the boost from sand or Rapid Spin,(RC) allowing it to act as a more immediate revenge killer taking and take on threats such as Choice Specs Tapu Lele. Shadow Claw can be used to take on Psychic teams, allowing Excadrill to 2HKO Pokemon such as physically Defensive defensive Bronzong.

Checks and Counters
===================

Ground
--------
**Ground immunities and resists Ground-immune and -resistant Pokemon**: Pokemon that are immune to or resist Earthquake present a problem to Excadrill. However, these Pokemon like Landorus-T, Galarian Moltres, and Zarude have to watch out for its other STAB and coverage moves in Iron Head, Rock Slide, and X-Scissor such as Landorus-T, Galarian Moltres, and Zarude ,(AC) respectively. The only Pokemon that truly wall all of Excadrill's coverage are Celesteela, Corviknight, and Skarmory, the former can wall its attacks and wear it down with Leech Seed + Protect, and the latter two can threaten it with Body Press in return.

**Physically Defensive Walls**: Physically defensive walls such as Rotom-W, Porygon2, Galarian Corsola, and Hippowdon can easily take all of Excadrill's attacks and either cripple it with status such as Will-O-Wisp or threaten it with their STAB attacks.

**Revenge Killers**: Revenge killers such as Spectrier, Garchomp, Cinderace, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu outspeed and revenge kill Excadrill outside of sand. Dragon Dance Dragapult also only needs one Dragon Dance to outpace Excadrill in sand,(AC) and Choice Scarf Weavile outspeeds Adamant Excadrill in sand.

**Status**: Being burnt severely hinders Excadrill's performance as a wallbreaker, as it can no longer break past defensive Pokemon such as Mandibuzz or and Amoonguss,(RC) or OHKOing or OHKO offensive threats such as Choice Specs Zapdos even after Stealth Rock chip. Whimiscott Whimsicott and Zapdos can paralyze Excadrill with Stun Spore and Static respectively, preventing it from outspeeding threats such as Zarude and Zeraora.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Ground analysis by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Quality checked by: [[Rotten, 491896], [Maple, 473171]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594], [<username2>, <userid2>]]
 

DC

Kpop Main, No Brain
is a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Remove Add Comments
AC = Add Comma, RC = Remove Comma, AH = Add Hyphen, RH = Remove Hyphen

:ss/excadrill:
[OVERVIEW]

Ground
========

Sand Rush alongside its phenomenal Attack stat allows Excadrill to become a phenomenal potent(repetition) revenge killer for Ground teams, taking on threats such as Zarude, Keldeo, Barraskewda, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu under sand. Excadrill's decent natural bulk allows it to live a good chunk of attacks such as unboosted Galarian Moltres's Fiery Wrath, Choice Specs Dragapult's Shadow Ball, and Hydreigon's Flamethrower. Excadrill's part-Steel typing allows it to take neutral damage from Ice- and Grass-type attacks such as Weavile's Ice Shard and Tapu Koko's Grass Knot and resist Dragon- and Psychic-type attacks such as Latias's Draco Meteor and Psychic. Iron Head allows Excadrill to take on and OHKO Ice- and Fairy-type Pokemon such as Kyurem, Alolan Ninetales, and Tapu Bulu. Excadrill also has fantastic coverage options in X-Scissor, allowing it to handle threats such as Zarude, Celebi, and Slowbro, while Rock Slide is used to take on Zapdos and Mantine.(These sound like set details stuff) It also has access to Rapid Spin, which allows Excadrill to clear entry hazards off the field; this gives Ground teams their only and reliable form of entry hazard removal. However, Excadrill relies on sand to outpace most offensive threats such as Choice Specs Zapdos, Victini, Tapu Lele, Blacephalon, and Nidoking, leaving it easily revenge killed outside of sand.

[SET]
name: Sand Rush (Ground)
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Rapid Spin / Rock Slide
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Earthquake allows Excadrill to take on most Pokemon that are weak or not resistant to Ground-type attacks such as Zeraora, Victini, Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Urshifu-R, and Dragapult. Iron Head lets Excadrill targets Ice- and Fairy-types Pokemon such as Avalugg, Alolan Ninetales, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Lele. X-Scissor is used to take on Zarude and Celebi while also dealing with other Dark- and Psychic-types Pokemon such as Hydreigon and Slowbro. Rock Slide lets Excadrill targets Flying-types such as Zapdos, Galarian Moltres, and Mantine. Sand Rush allows Excadrill to outspeed threats such as Blacephalon, Zeraora, Zarude, and Choice Specs Dragapult under sand. Maximum Speed investment allows Excadrill to outspeed threats such as Tapu Bulu, Adamant Diggersby, and Choice Specs Pelipper. An Adamant nature paired with a Choice Band allows Excadrill to OHKO threats such as Keldeo after Stealth Rock and 2HKO Slowbro with X-Scissor. A Jolly nature can be used over Adamant to outspeed threats such as +1 Adamant Dragapult and Choice Scarf Weavile in sand. Excadrill should be safely brought in to take advantage of the sand with methods such as Eject Button Hippowdon or by bringing it on resisted attacks such as Latias's Draco Meteor.

All of Excadrill's teammates appreciate its ability to take on Ice-, Psychic-, and Fairy-types Pokemon, clear entry hazards with Rapid Spin, and act as a revenge killer in sand against threats such as Barraskewda, Choice Specs Dragapult, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu. Hippowdon is a mandatory partner for Excadrill, as it sets sand and Stealth Rock, as well as being able to bring in Excadrill safely with an Eject Button set. Hippowdon can also take on physical threats such as Dragon Dance Dragapult, Zeraora, and Bisharp for Excadrill. Gastrodon and Seismitoad offer Excadrill an immunity to Water-type attacks such as Mantine's Scald and Barraskewda's Waterfall. Gastrodon offers a more defensive presence thanks to Recover,(period to comma) while Seismitoad can also checks Azumarill, which would otherwise beat Excadrill. Swords Dance Garchomp can wear down its shared checks with Excadrill such as Celesteela with +2 Fire Fang, as well as take on Mantine with Stone Edge or become a dangerous setup sweeper with Scale Shot to take on Pokemon such as Spectrier with more ease. Swords Dance Garchomp wears down shared checks like Celesteela with Fire Fang, takes on Mantine with Stone Edge, and can become dangerous setup sweeper with Scale Shot, which makes handling Pokemon like Spectrier much easier. Landorus-T provides a Ground immunity, allowing it to switch into Hippowdon's Earthquake; it also is also a great revenge killer that can take on weakened threats such as Zeraora, Spectrier, and Urshifu-R with its Choice Scarf set. Gravity Landorus-T can run a Gravity set as well,(RC) allowing it to take on threaten Pokemon such as Skarmory, Celesteela, and Corviknight for Excadrill, as well as taking on Steel teams in their entirety if it carries Bulk Up and Substitute. Nidoking can take on beat Steel-types Pokemon such as Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Celesteela with Earth Power + Flamethrower or Flying-types Pokemon such as Mantine, Pelipper, Corviknight, and Dragonite with Thunderbolt + Ice Beam. Mamoswine is a great late-game cleaner that can pick off weakened threats for Excadrill with Ice Shard such as Garchomp, Dragapult, and Hydreigon with Ice Shard while also being able to remove items such as Slowking's Heavy-Duty Boots with Knock Off.
- There is a lot of repetition of "take on" so I modified them
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Ground
--------
Swords Dance + Rapid Spin sets can be used on both Sand Rush and Mold Breaker Excadrill. It allows Excadrill to act as a sweeper outside of sand thanks to Rapid Spin allowing it to outspeed Pokemon such as Kyurem. Mold Breaker can be used to target Levitate users such as Rotom-W, Hydreigon, and Latios with Earthquake. A Choice Scarf set can be used on sand(space)less Ground teams to allow Excadrill to act as a revenge killer without the boost from sand or Rapid Spin and take on threats such as Choice Specs Tapu Lele. Shadow Claw can be used to take on Psychic teams, allowing Excadrill to 2HKO Pokemon such as physically defensive Bronzong.

Checks and Counters
===================

Ground
--------
**Ground-immune and -resistant Pokemon**: Pokemon that are immune to or resist Earthquake present a problem to Excadrill. However, Pokemon like Landorus-T, Galarian Moltres, and Zarude have to watch out for its other STAB and coverage moves in Iron Head, Rock Slide, and X-Scissor, respectively. The only Pokemon that truly wall all of Excadrill's coverage are Celesteela, Corviknight, and Skarmory;(comma to semicolon) the former can wall its attacks and wear it down with Leech Seed + Protect, and the latter two can threaten it with Body Press in return.

**Physically Defensive Walls**: Physically defensive walls such as Rotom-W, Porygon2, Galarian Corsola, and Hippowdon can easily take all of Excadrill's attacks and either cripple it with status such as Will-O-Wisp or threaten it with their STAB attacks.

**Revenge Killers**: Revenge killers such as Spectrier, Garchomp, Cinderace, and Choice Scarf Tapu Bulu outspeed and revenge kill Excadrill outside of sand. Dragon Dance Dragapult also only needs one Dragon Dance to outpace Excadrill in sand, and Choice Scarf Weavile outspeeds Adamant Excadrill in sand.

**Status**: Being burnt severely hinders Excadrill's performance as a wallbreaker, as it can no longer break past defensive Pokemon such as Mandibuzz and Amoonguss or OHKO offensive threats such as Choice Specs Zapdos,(AC) even after Stealth Rock chip. Whimsicott and Zapdos can paralyze Excadrill with Stun Spore and Static respectively, preventing it from outspeeding threats such as Zarude and Zeraora.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Ground analysis by: [[maroon, 305839]]
- Quality checked by: [[Rotten, 491896], [Maple, 473171]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594], [<username2>, <userid2>]]
GP 2/2. [DC, 449990]
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top