[Overview]
Excadrill is a unique utility Pokemon that combines the ability to set Stealth Rock and remove entry hazards with Rapid Spin. Thanks to Sand Rush, Excadrill outspeeds nearly the entire metagame and can use its powerful Earthquake to also serve as a potent revenge killer or Swords Dance sweeper. However, lead Excadrill can almost never set Stealth Rock again if they are cleared, heavily diminishing its value as opposed to bulky entry hazards setters such as Necrozma-DM that can come in several times in a battle. This means that lead Excadrill is limited to hyper offense teams that can punish Defoggers. When not being used as a lead, its mediocre bulk means that careful switching is needed to get it into battle. Furthermore, the limited duration of sand means that it usually can only stay in for a few turns before needing to switch out. Running Sand Rush Excadrill means that you are also required to use Tyranitar on your team, which constrains teambuilding.
[SET]
name: Entry Hazard Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Rapid Spin
move 3: Rock Tomb
move 4: Earthquake / Toxic
item: Focus Sash
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Stealth Rock provides invaluable chip damage throughout a game, while Rapid Spin allows Excadrill to clear entry hazards against other leads, improving matchups against other hyper offense leads such as Aerodactyl, Mew, and Shuckle. Keep in mind that Slurpuff can bounce back Stealth Rock with Magic Coat and prevent Excadrill from spinning with Yawn, Froslass can block Rapid Spin and create a guessing game with Taunt while always being able to set a layer of Spikes, and Cloyster can clear Excadrill's hazards while easily taking it out with Icicle Spear after a Shell Smash. The Speed boost also allows Excadrill to threaten Eternatus with Earthquake if it uses Toxic Spikes on the first turn while also dissuading fast threats such as Calyrex-S from coming in. Be careful about spinning on Ferrothorn and Rocky Helmet Necrozma-DM, as hazards are not cleared if Excadrill faints from recoil. Rock Tomb 2HKOes Ho-Oh, preventing it from using Defog, while also deterring sweepers from setting up in front of Excadrill. Furthermore, the Speed drop allows a teammate to outspeed the foe, deterring setup such as Geomancy from Xerneas. Earthquake allows Excadrill to dent other leads such as Necrozma-DM, Eternatus, and Ferrothorn while preventing it from being used as setup fodder by Substitute users such as Zekrom and Zygarde-C, whereas Toxic allows Excadrill to pressure bulky Pokemon such as Yveltal with passive damage. Focus Sash guarantees it can take a hit to set Stealth Rock, and Mold Breaker allows Excadrill to ignore the rare Magic Bounce and and hit Giratina-O through Levitate. A Jolly nature is used to outspeed maximum Speed Necrozma-DM.
Excadrill fits on hyper offensive teams that appreciate its ability to reliably set Stealth Rock while keeping them off your side. Powerful sweepers such as Xerneas, Calyrex-S, Groudon and Zekrom that can punish Defoggers and appreciate walls being chipped are therefore a perfect match. It struggles to spin against Ghost-types such as Calyrex-S, so Yveltal is recommended to both threaten them and prevent Defog with Taunt. Excadrill also often fails to prevent Stealth Rock from Rocky Helmet Necrozma-DM, which can be pressured with Pokemon such as Kyogre, Groudon, and Calyrex-S.
[SET]
name: Sand Rush
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Rapid Spin / Toxic
move 4: Swords Dance / Toxic
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Sand Rush allows Excadrill to outspeed most of the metagame under sand. Rock Slide is vital coverage for Flying-types such as Yveltal and Ho-Oh, while Rapid Spin allows Excadrill to remove entry hazards in a pinch. The Speed boost can also be useful to continue attacking after sand ends. Swords Dance turns Excadrill into a powerful sweeper, though it is limited by sand turns. Alternatively, Toxic allows Excadrill to perform a more support-oriented revenge killing role, letting it cripple Pokemon such as Yveltal, Zygarde-C, Landorus-T, and Lugia. Life Orb allows Excadrill to consistently OHKO threats such as physically defensive Necrozma-DM and specially defensive Yveltal and 2HKO untransformed or offensive Zygarde-C at +2, as well as having a good chance at OHKOing Eternatus and Ho-Oh with slight chip damage without any boosts. On the other hand, Leftovers allows it to play a more slower-paced game and avoid being stalled into defeating itself with recoil by foes such as Tangrowth and Zygarde-C. Though a Jolly nature is preferred to outspeed maximum Speed Necrozma-DM outside sand as well as Adamant Sand Rush Excadrill under sand, Adamant can be used for extra power.
Tyranitar is a mandatory teammate to provide Sand Stream support. It also sets Stealth Rock to help Excadrill pick up KOs and checks both Calyrex-S and Lunala, which can revenge kill and wall Excadrill, respectively. As Excadrill is prone to having its weather replaced by Groudon and Kyogre, Pokemon that can deal with them such as Lunala and Eternatus, respectively, are helpful partners. Pokemon that appreciate Steel-types and Eternatus removed such as Xerneas and Kyogre can benefit from its support. Excadrill can also lure certain walls such as Landorus-T into being poisoned, which helps other Pokemon such as Marshadow KO them.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Steel Beam can be used on the lead set to prevent Defoggers that are slower than Excadrill from using Defog while maintaining momentum.
Checks and Counters
====
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types can block Excadrill's Rapid Spin. Lunala can easily remove Excadrill's entry hazards with Defog, but it's vulnerable to Toxic. Giratina goes one step further by curing itself from Toxic poison with Rest. Choice Scarf Calyrex-S can use Trick on Excadrill to let a teammate easily clear its Stealth Rock and can revenge kill it even under sand.
**Bulky Grass-types**: Tangrowth walls Sand Rush Excadrill, KOes it with Earthquake, and can punish Rapid Spin with Rocky Helmet, though it needs to be wary of Toxic. Zarude can also defeat Excadrill through Bulk Up and Power Whip, and it can cure Toxic poison with Jungle Healing. Physically defensive Ferrothorn can take it out with Body Press.
**Bulky Ground-types**: Groudon, Landorus-T, and Zygarde-C can all withstand a boosted hit from Excadrill and take it out with a Ground-type move. Defensive Zygarde-C is an especially good check to Sand Rush Excadrill, as it can use Rest to remove Toxic poison.
**Skarmory and Corviknight**: Skarmory and Corviknight can withstand all of Excadrill's attacks while taking it out with Body Press. Rocky Helmet whittles down Excadrill if it tries to spin, letting Skarmory keep Spikes up against it. Corviknight's Pressure allows it to stall out Stealth Rock's PP with Defog.
**Resetting Weather**: Kyogre and Groudon can mitigate Excadrill's sweeping capability by changing the weather and can take it out with their STAB moves, though they have to be careful of switching into Earthquake, especially if they're slower.
**Taunt**: Taunt prevents lead Excadrill from using Stealth Rock, though it can punish Taunt users such as Yveltal and Aerodactyl with Rock Tomb.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Mr Geets, 510170]]
- Quality checked by: [[Fc, 511624], [Minority, 222996]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594], [Estronic, 240732]]
Excadrill is a unique utility Pokemon that combines the ability to set Stealth Rock and remove entry hazards with Rapid Spin. Thanks to Sand Rush, Excadrill outspeeds nearly the entire metagame and can use its powerful Earthquake to also serve as a potent revenge killer or Swords Dance sweeper. However, lead Excadrill can almost never set Stealth Rock again if they are cleared, heavily diminishing its value as opposed to bulky entry hazards setters such as Necrozma-DM that can come in several times in a battle. This means that lead Excadrill is limited to hyper offense teams that can punish Defoggers. When not being used as a lead, its mediocre bulk means that careful switching is needed to get it into battle. Furthermore, the limited duration of sand means that it usually can only stay in for a few turns before needing to switch out. Running Sand Rush Excadrill means that you are also required to use Tyranitar on your team, which constrains teambuilding.
[SET]
name: Entry Hazard Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Rapid Spin
move 3: Rock Tomb
move 4: Earthquake / Toxic
item: Focus Sash
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Stealth Rock provides invaluable chip damage throughout a game, while Rapid Spin allows Excadrill to clear entry hazards against other leads, improving matchups against other hyper offense leads such as Aerodactyl, Mew, and Shuckle. Keep in mind that Slurpuff can bounce back Stealth Rock with Magic Coat and prevent Excadrill from spinning with Yawn, Froslass can block Rapid Spin and create a guessing game with Taunt while always being able to set a layer of Spikes, and Cloyster can clear Excadrill's hazards while easily taking it out with Icicle Spear after a Shell Smash. The Speed boost also allows Excadrill to threaten Eternatus with Earthquake if it uses Toxic Spikes on the first turn while also dissuading fast threats such as Calyrex-S from coming in. Be careful about spinning on Ferrothorn and Rocky Helmet Necrozma-DM, as hazards are not cleared if Excadrill faints from recoil. Rock Tomb 2HKOes Ho-Oh, preventing it from using Defog, while also deterring sweepers from setting up in front of Excadrill. Furthermore, the Speed drop allows a teammate to outspeed the foe, deterring setup such as Geomancy from Xerneas. Earthquake allows Excadrill to dent other leads such as Necrozma-DM, Eternatus, and Ferrothorn while preventing it from being used as setup fodder by Substitute users such as Zekrom and Zygarde-C, whereas Toxic allows Excadrill to pressure bulky Pokemon such as Yveltal with passive damage. Focus Sash guarantees it can take a hit to set Stealth Rock, and Mold Breaker allows Excadrill to ignore the rare Magic Bounce and and hit Giratina-O through Levitate. A Jolly nature is used to outspeed maximum Speed Necrozma-DM.
Excadrill fits on hyper offensive teams that appreciate its ability to reliably set Stealth Rock while keeping them off your side. Powerful sweepers such as Xerneas, Calyrex-S, Groudon and Zekrom that can punish Defoggers and appreciate walls being chipped are therefore a perfect match. It struggles to spin against Ghost-types such as Calyrex-S, so Yveltal is recommended to both threaten them and prevent Defog with Taunt. Excadrill also often fails to prevent Stealth Rock from Rocky Helmet Necrozma-DM, which can be pressured with Pokemon such as Kyogre, Groudon, and Calyrex-S.
[SET]
name: Sand Rush
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Rapid Spin / Toxic
move 4: Swords Dance / Toxic
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Sand Rush allows Excadrill to outspeed most of the metagame under sand. Rock Slide is vital coverage for Flying-types such as Yveltal and Ho-Oh, while Rapid Spin allows Excadrill to remove entry hazards in a pinch. The Speed boost can also be useful to continue attacking after sand ends. Swords Dance turns Excadrill into a powerful sweeper, though it is limited by sand turns. Alternatively, Toxic allows Excadrill to perform a more support-oriented revenge killing role, letting it cripple Pokemon such as Yveltal, Zygarde-C, Landorus-T, and Lugia. Life Orb allows Excadrill to consistently OHKO threats such as physically defensive Necrozma-DM and specially defensive Yveltal and 2HKO untransformed or offensive Zygarde-C at +2, as well as having a good chance at OHKOing Eternatus and Ho-Oh with slight chip damage without any boosts. On the other hand, Leftovers allows it to play a more slower-paced game and avoid being stalled into defeating itself with recoil by foes such as Tangrowth and Zygarde-C. Though a Jolly nature is preferred to outspeed maximum Speed Necrozma-DM outside sand as well as Adamant Sand Rush Excadrill under sand, Adamant can be used for extra power.
Tyranitar is a mandatory teammate to provide Sand Stream support. It also sets Stealth Rock to help Excadrill pick up KOs and checks both Calyrex-S and Lunala, which can revenge kill and wall Excadrill, respectively. As Excadrill is prone to having its weather replaced by Groudon and Kyogre, Pokemon that can deal with them such as Lunala and Eternatus, respectively, are helpful partners. Pokemon that appreciate Steel-types and Eternatus removed such as Xerneas and Kyogre can benefit from its support. Excadrill can also lure certain walls such as Landorus-T into being poisoned, which helps other Pokemon such as Marshadow KO them.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Steel Beam can be used on the lead set to prevent Defoggers that are slower than Excadrill from using Defog while maintaining momentum.
Checks and Counters
====
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types can block Excadrill's Rapid Spin. Lunala can easily remove Excadrill's entry hazards with Defog, but it's vulnerable to Toxic. Giratina goes one step further by curing itself from Toxic poison with Rest. Choice Scarf Calyrex-S can use Trick on Excadrill to let a teammate easily clear its Stealth Rock and can revenge kill it even under sand.
**Bulky Grass-types**: Tangrowth walls Sand Rush Excadrill, KOes it with Earthquake, and can punish Rapid Spin with Rocky Helmet, though it needs to be wary of Toxic. Zarude can also defeat Excadrill through Bulk Up and Power Whip, and it can cure Toxic poison with Jungle Healing. Physically defensive Ferrothorn can take it out with Body Press.
**Bulky Ground-types**: Groudon, Landorus-T, and Zygarde-C can all withstand a boosted hit from Excadrill and take it out with a Ground-type move. Defensive Zygarde-C is an especially good check to Sand Rush Excadrill, as it can use Rest to remove Toxic poison.
**Skarmory and Corviknight**: Skarmory and Corviknight can withstand all of Excadrill's attacks while taking it out with Body Press. Rocky Helmet whittles down Excadrill if it tries to spin, letting Skarmory keep Spikes up against it. Corviknight's Pressure allows it to stall out Stealth Rock's PP with Defog.
**Resetting Weather**: Kyogre and Groudon can mitigate Excadrill's sweeping capability by changing the weather and can take it out with their STAB moves, though they have to be careful of switching into Earthquake, especially if they're slower.
**Taunt**: Taunt prevents lead Excadrill from using Stealth Rock, though it can punish Taunt users such as Yveltal and Aerodactyl with Rock Tomb.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Mr Geets, 510170]]
- Quality checked by: [[Fc, 511624], [Minority, 222996]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594], [Estronic, 240732]]
Last edited:
