[Overview]
<p>Excadrill serves two main roles in the Uber tier. Firstly, with a high base 135 Attack and an ability that doubles its decent base 88 Speed in sandstorm, Excadrill is a terrifying sweeper. Swords Dance is the icing on the cake, pumping Excadrill's already high Attack stat to insane levels. Excadrill has the perfect typing for a sweeper too, being immune to both Thunder Wave and Toxic, while resisting Stealth Rock. Its concise movepool contains all it needs to sweep, allowing it to act as a decent offensive Rapid Spin user. Secondly, Excadrill possesses the bulk and typing to run a bulky spinner set in the rain. Its ability, Mold Breaker, allows it to smash the commonly used spinblocker, Giratina-O, with a powerful STAB Earthquake.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Rapid Spin
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Swords Dance
move 4: Rock Slide / Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Adamant
evs: 176 HP / 60 Atk / 252 SpD / 20 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>I know you're thinking that this is probably an April Fool's joke or something of that sort, but it isn't. Bulky Excadrill is quite the viable Pokemon in Ubers, and most players will agree that it is quite a bit more useful than its more offensive counterpart. Although Excadrill might seem terribly unsuited to the role of a bulky spinner, it has some extremely subtle advantages that help it perform well in this role. First of all is its incredible typing, which gives it an immunity to both Toxic and Thunder Wave, as well as a lovely Dragon-type resistance. In a metagame where Dragon-types are everywhere, this can be incredibly useful. Apart from that, Excadrill is surprisingly bulky and, though its Defense might seem lackluster, its invested special bulk is greater than that of Forretress, which is a popular spinner in Ubers. Lastly, it is an effective check to Pokemon that give most teams nightmares, such Bulk Up Dialga, Giratina-O, Substitute + Hone Claws Zekrom, and Dark Arceus. Excadrill can also shakily check Latias and Latios without Surf or Hidden Power Fire; however, a +1 Dragon Pulse 3HKOs Excadrill without fail.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Excadrill is probably the only Rapid Spin user in Ubers capable of threatening stall, as few Pokemon on a standard stall team can beat it. However, Ferrothorn with Power Whip will give Excadrill trouble, as well as the omnipresent Kyogre. Groudon and certain support Arceus formes will also prove problematic for Excadrill. However, mixed Giratina-O, the most commonly used spinblocker, actually loses to Excadrill, because Hidden Power Fire will not even 3HKO Excadrill in rain, while Excadrill's boosted Earthquake can 2HKO back. Earthquake is the obligatory STAB move, hitting many threats hard off the bat. Swords Dance paired with Mold Breaker Earthquake allows Excadrill to bust through the aforementioned Giratina-O, and even leads to an occasional sweep. Rock Slide can also be used to hit Ho-Oh, Rayquaza, and Shaymin-S on the switch-in. Substitute with mono-type coverage is actually viable due to Mold Breaker, and should be considered if Excadrill's only goal is to spin; Substitute eases prediction, blocks Leech Seed and Will-O-Wisp, and prevents Dragon Tail Giratina from phazing Excadrill out.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread might look as unfathomable as the coefficients on the binomial theorem, but their main purpose is to balance out Excadrill's defenses. The leftover EVs are put mainly in Attack, with the tiny investment in Speed serving to outspeed uninvested base 90s, such as Kyogre.</p>
<p>This set can also run Stealth Rock in the last slot, making Excadrill a decent offensive setter of the hazard. It also beats all Deoxys-S without Superpower and can set up Stealth Rock on the many switches that it forces. Mold Breaker also prevents Magic Bounce Pokemon from reflecting Stealth Rock. Iron Head can be used as a coverage move, but bulky Excadrill is too slow to make use of it properly. </p>
<p>It must be noted that Excadrill is not meant to be used like a standard Uber sweeper. It has a distinctive niche and fills that particular niche quite well. Excadrill fills the role of a crucial offensive Rapid Spin user on a rain team. Although Excadrill really likes the boost to its Speed under sand, it has good synergy on a rain team thanks to its immunity to Thunder and ability to consistently spin away entry hazards. The rain also diminishes Excadrill's Fire-type weakness, allowing it to walk all over Giratina-O lacking Earthquake or Will-O-Wisp. Excadrill also destroys Bulk Up Dialga as well as most Zekrom variants, which can terrorize most rain teams. As Groudon laughs at all Excadrill can do and crushes it with Earthquake, Kyogre is extremely helpful as a teammate, because it scares off Groudon with powerful Water-type moves. Grass Arceus is also helpful as it can check both Groudon and Kyogre. Latias can easily stomach a Water Spout from Kyogre, is immune to Earthquake, and has Dragon Pulse to wreck Groudon after a Calm Mind. Apart from these, most offensive Pokemon commonly used on rain teams enjoy Excadrill's spinning prowess, especially Choice Scarf users such as Palkia, because they can keep flitting in and out of battle without having to worry about residual damage piling up.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Slide / Rapid Spin
move 4: Iron Head / Rapid Spin / Shadow Claw
item: Life Orb / Air Balloon
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>After a Swords Dance, Excadrill reaches a mammoth 738 Attack with a Jolly nature, or 810 with Adamant. Thanks to its excellent ability, Excadrill's Speed doubles in sandstorm, allowing it to outspeed every non-Choice Scarf user in the game. If using a Jolly nature, Excadrill hits 604 Speed, while with Adamant, it sits at an impressive 550 Speed, still enough to outspeed Deoxys-S, the fastest unboosted Pokemon in the game.</p>
<p>A +2 STAB Earthquake will dent anything not resisting it, and even support Groudon takes a hefty 61.6% - 72.8% from Jolly Excadrill, a sure 2HKO. Rock Slide hits all Pokemon resistant to Ground-type moves, with the notable exception of Bronzong. The last move is mainly filler and depends on what Excadrill wants to hit. Iron Head is the primary option, as it can OHKO Giratina-O at +2 if it does not invest in bulk, and it also provides a strong neutral move to use against Gliscor and Grass Arceus. Rapid Spin can also go in the last slot as Excadrill makes a fantastic offensive Rapid Spin user, its Steel typing giving it a natural immunity to Toxic Spikes and a resistance to Stealth Rock, and Air Balloon granting it immunity to Spikes. Shadow Claw can be used if bulky Giratina-O is a concern, but even when boosted it can only get the KO on those that only invest in HP, not Defense.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread is meant to maximize Excadrill's Attack and Speed, while the leftover EVs are put in HP. Air Balloon allows Excadrill to switch into Choice-locked Ground-type attacks as well as Gliscor and set up a Swords Dance on the switch. On the other hand, Life Orb grants Excadrill a significant amount of power at the cost of 10% recoil damage. It must be noted that Excadrill can only 2HKO Groudon with a boosted Earthquake if equipped with a Life Orb. Adamant is the preferred nature, as it allows Excadrill to do insane amounts of damage after only a single Swords Dance. Adamant also allows Excadrill to perform as an amazing revenge killer under sandy conditions. However, while using Air Balloon, Jolly is the preferred nature as Excadrill loses several important KOs without Life Orb anyway, such as the KO on Darkrai after Stealth Rock. Substitute can easily go over one auxiliary move to make Dragon Tail Giratina setup bait. A Lum Berry can be used to absorb Will-O-Wisp once and power through several defensive checks that rely on this method to stop Excadrill. X-Scissor can also be used to check Grass Arceus, but its use is pretty situational as it only hits Psychic Pokemon for 10 Base Power harder than a STAB Earthquake, and +2 Iron Head disposes of Latias easily.</p>
<p>As Excadrill absolutely needs sandstorm to sweep, Tyranitar is a necessity. It sets up the precious sandstorm, and when equipped with a Choice Band, it can check quite a lot of Pokemon, such as Giratina-O, thanks to its fantastic Dark-type STAB. Grass Arceus can check Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, and Ground Arceus easily, and therefore makes a good teammate. Lastly, Stealth Rock support is much desired, because it allows Excadrill to OHKO 252/0 Kyogre after a boost, and stops Lugia from checking it. Deoxys-S and Tyranitar can both set up Stealth Rock reliably. Hippowdon can also be paired with Excadrill, as the more defensive of the two Sand Streamers has much greater longevity. Hippowdon also beats Groudon, which Excadrill and Tyranitar both struggle with. Hippowdon is also a decent check to Extreme Killer Arceus and Zekrom, and can also set up Stealth Rock. Wobbuffet can be used to help Excadrill set up, and use Tickle on Giratina for Tyranitar to Pursuit it. However, Wobbuffet does not appreciate the residual damage from sand. Mixed Zekrom, Rayquaza, and mixed Bulk Up Dialga can lure opposing Groudon and smash it, opening up a sweep for Excadrill.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Excadrill has a rather shallow movepool, so it doesn't have many viable options outside of the ones mentioned. X-Scissor can be used over Shadow Claw to get a harder hit on Psychic-types and Grass Arceus, but Excadrill loses precious coverage against Giratina-O. Toxic can also be used to cripple walls such as Lugia that laugh at most of Excadrill's moves.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Skarmory is the best defensive response to Excadrill, as it is immune to Earthquake and resists Excadrill's other STAB. It can then Roost off the damage if required or even phaze out Excadrill with Whirlwind. However, Skarmory can't hurt Excadrill back and has a good chance to be 2HKOed by a boosted Rock Slide after Stealth Rock. Bronzong resists or is immune to all of Excadrill's moves, and with an Earthquake of its own can check it easily. Bold Lugia can check Excadrill provided Stealth Rock is off the field. Giratina can just burn Excadrill and phaze it out, but loses if Excadrill gets a flinch from a boosted Iron Head, as it will then be KOd by Earthquake the next turn. Gliscor can check the mole thanks to Poison Heal, excellent physical bulk, and an immunity to Earthquake; however, it falls to a +2 Iron Head.</p>
<p>Offensive Kyogre and Groudon can switch in and remove the sandstorm from play, negating Excadrill's Sand Rush ability. With enough investment in Speed, they can then proceed to destroy Excadrill with Surf or Earthquake, respectively. Rayquaza ignores Sand Rush thanks to Air Lock, and can OHKO Excadrill with Fire Blast or Earthquake. Grass Arceus can survive a boosted Earthquake, and do 59-70% to Excadrill with Judgment or cripple it with Will-O-Wisp, but will lose if it gets flinched by Iron Head. Defensive Normal Arceus, though rare, survives any attack from Excadrill, and can neuter it with Will-O-Wisp. Landorus-T is immune to Earthquake and has Intimidate; however, it still takes heavy damage from a +1 Iron Head. An opposing Excadrill with Air Balloon or a faster spread can revenge kill Excadrill with an Earthquake of its own, but +2 Iron Head still does a lot of damage, despite being resisted. Air Balloon Terrakion can set up a Rock Polish on Excadrill if it is not using Iron Head, and then outspeed and KO it the next turn. Choice Scarf Ditto can revenge Excadrill without Air Balloon; however, a Choice-locked Earthquake is very easy to predict and take advantage of.</p>
<p>Excadrill serves two main roles in the Uber tier. Firstly, with a high base 135 Attack and an ability that doubles its decent base 88 Speed in sandstorm, Excadrill is a terrifying sweeper. Swords Dance is the icing on the cake, pumping Excadrill's already high Attack stat to insane levels. Excadrill has the perfect typing for a sweeper too, being immune to both Thunder Wave and Toxic, while resisting Stealth Rock. Its concise movepool contains all it needs to sweep, allowing it to act as a decent offensive Rapid Spin user. Secondly, Excadrill possesses the bulk and typing to run a bulky spinner set in the rain. Its ability, Mold Breaker, allows it to smash the commonly used spinblocker, Giratina-O, with a powerful STAB Earthquake.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Rapid Spin
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Swords Dance
move 4: Rock Slide / Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Adamant
evs: 176 HP / 60 Atk / 252 SpD / 20 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>I know you're thinking that this is probably an April Fool's joke or something of that sort, but it isn't. Bulky Excadrill is quite the viable Pokemon in Ubers, and most players will agree that it is quite a bit more useful than its more offensive counterpart. Although Excadrill might seem terribly unsuited to the role of a bulky spinner, it has some extremely subtle advantages that help it perform well in this role. First of all is its incredible typing, which gives it an immunity to both Toxic and Thunder Wave, as well as a lovely Dragon-type resistance. In a metagame where Dragon-types are everywhere, this can be incredibly useful. Apart from that, Excadrill is surprisingly bulky and, though its Defense might seem lackluster, its invested special bulk is greater than that of Forretress, which is a popular spinner in Ubers. Lastly, it is an effective check to Pokemon that give most teams nightmares, such Bulk Up Dialga, Giratina-O, Substitute + Hone Claws Zekrom, and Dark Arceus. Excadrill can also shakily check Latias and Latios without Surf or Hidden Power Fire; however, a +1 Dragon Pulse 3HKOs Excadrill without fail.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Excadrill is probably the only Rapid Spin user in Ubers capable of threatening stall, as few Pokemon on a standard stall team can beat it. However, Ferrothorn with Power Whip will give Excadrill trouble, as well as the omnipresent Kyogre. Groudon and certain support Arceus formes will also prove problematic for Excadrill. However, mixed Giratina-O, the most commonly used spinblocker, actually loses to Excadrill, because Hidden Power Fire will not even 3HKO Excadrill in rain, while Excadrill's boosted Earthquake can 2HKO back. Earthquake is the obligatory STAB move, hitting many threats hard off the bat. Swords Dance paired with Mold Breaker Earthquake allows Excadrill to bust through the aforementioned Giratina-O, and even leads to an occasional sweep. Rock Slide can also be used to hit Ho-Oh, Rayquaza, and Shaymin-S on the switch-in. Substitute with mono-type coverage is actually viable due to Mold Breaker, and should be considered if Excadrill's only goal is to spin; Substitute eases prediction, blocks Leech Seed and Will-O-Wisp, and prevents Dragon Tail Giratina from phazing Excadrill out.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread might look as unfathomable as the coefficients on the binomial theorem, but their main purpose is to balance out Excadrill's defenses. The leftover EVs are put mainly in Attack, with the tiny investment in Speed serving to outspeed uninvested base 90s, such as Kyogre.</p>
<p>This set can also run Stealth Rock in the last slot, making Excadrill a decent offensive setter of the hazard. It also beats all Deoxys-S without Superpower and can set up Stealth Rock on the many switches that it forces. Mold Breaker also prevents Magic Bounce Pokemon from reflecting Stealth Rock. Iron Head can be used as a coverage move, but bulky Excadrill is too slow to make use of it properly. </p>
<p>It must be noted that Excadrill is not meant to be used like a standard Uber sweeper. It has a distinctive niche and fills that particular niche quite well. Excadrill fills the role of a crucial offensive Rapid Spin user on a rain team. Although Excadrill really likes the boost to its Speed under sand, it has good synergy on a rain team thanks to its immunity to Thunder and ability to consistently spin away entry hazards. The rain also diminishes Excadrill's Fire-type weakness, allowing it to walk all over Giratina-O lacking Earthquake or Will-O-Wisp. Excadrill also destroys Bulk Up Dialga as well as most Zekrom variants, which can terrorize most rain teams. As Groudon laughs at all Excadrill can do and crushes it with Earthquake, Kyogre is extremely helpful as a teammate, because it scares off Groudon with powerful Water-type moves. Grass Arceus is also helpful as it can check both Groudon and Kyogre. Latias can easily stomach a Water Spout from Kyogre, is immune to Earthquake, and has Dragon Pulse to wreck Groudon after a Calm Mind. Apart from these, most offensive Pokemon commonly used on rain teams enjoy Excadrill's spinning prowess, especially Choice Scarf users such as Palkia, because they can keep flitting in and out of battle without having to worry about residual damage piling up.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Rock Slide / Rapid Spin
move 4: Iron Head / Rapid Spin / Shadow Claw
item: Life Orb / Air Balloon
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>After a Swords Dance, Excadrill reaches a mammoth 738 Attack with a Jolly nature, or 810 with Adamant. Thanks to its excellent ability, Excadrill's Speed doubles in sandstorm, allowing it to outspeed every non-Choice Scarf user in the game. If using a Jolly nature, Excadrill hits 604 Speed, while with Adamant, it sits at an impressive 550 Speed, still enough to outspeed Deoxys-S, the fastest unboosted Pokemon in the game.</p>
<p>A +2 STAB Earthquake will dent anything not resisting it, and even support Groudon takes a hefty 61.6% - 72.8% from Jolly Excadrill, a sure 2HKO. Rock Slide hits all Pokemon resistant to Ground-type moves, with the notable exception of Bronzong. The last move is mainly filler and depends on what Excadrill wants to hit. Iron Head is the primary option, as it can OHKO Giratina-O at +2 if it does not invest in bulk, and it also provides a strong neutral move to use against Gliscor and Grass Arceus. Rapid Spin can also go in the last slot as Excadrill makes a fantastic offensive Rapid Spin user, its Steel typing giving it a natural immunity to Toxic Spikes and a resistance to Stealth Rock, and Air Balloon granting it immunity to Spikes. Shadow Claw can be used if bulky Giratina-O is a concern, but even when boosted it can only get the KO on those that only invest in HP, not Defense.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread is meant to maximize Excadrill's Attack and Speed, while the leftover EVs are put in HP. Air Balloon allows Excadrill to switch into Choice-locked Ground-type attacks as well as Gliscor and set up a Swords Dance on the switch. On the other hand, Life Orb grants Excadrill a significant amount of power at the cost of 10% recoil damage. It must be noted that Excadrill can only 2HKO Groudon with a boosted Earthquake if equipped with a Life Orb. Adamant is the preferred nature, as it allows Excadrill to do insane amounts of damage after only a single Swords Dance. Adamant also allows Excadrill to perform as an amazing revenge killer under sandy conditions. However, while using Air Balloon, Jolly is the preferred nature as Excadrill loses several important KOs without Life Orb anyway, such as the KO on Darkrai after Stealth Rock. Substitute can easily go over one auxiliary move to make Dragon Tail Giratina setup bait. A Lum Berry can be used to absorb Will-O-Wisp once and power through several defensive checks that rely on this method to stop Excadrill. X-Scissor can also be used to check Grass Arceus, but its use is pretty situational as it only hits Psychic Pokemon for 10 Base Power harder than a STAB Earthquake, and +2 Iron Head disposes of Latias easily.</p>
<p>As Excadrill absolutely needs sandstorm to sweep, Tyranitar is a necessity. It sets up the precious sandstorm, and when equipped with a Choice Band, it can check quite a lot of Pokemon, such as Giratina-O, thanks to its fantastic Dark-type STAB. Grass Arceus can check Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, and Ground Arceus easily, and therefore makes a good teammate. Lastly, Stealth Rock support is much desired, because it allows Excadrill to OHKO 252/0 Kyogre after a boost, and stops Lugia from checking it. Deoxys-S and Tyranitar can both set up Stealth Rock reliably. Hippowdon can also be paired with Excadrill, as the more defensive of the two Sand Streamers has much greater longevity. Hippowdon also beats Groudon, which Excadrill and Tyranitar both struggle with. Hippowdon is also a decent check to Extreme Killer Arceus and Zekrom, and can also set up Stealth Rock. Wobbuffet can be used to help Excadrill set up, and use Tickle on Giratina for Tyranitar to Pursuit it. However, Wobbuffet does not appreciate the residual damage from sand. Mixed Zekrom, Rayquaza, and mixed Bulk Up Dialga can lure opposing Groudon and smash it, opening up a sweep for Excadrill.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Excadrill has a rather shallow movepool, so it doesn't have many viable options outside of the ones mentioned. X-Scissor can be used over Shadow Claw to get a harder hit on Psychic-types and Grass Arceus, but Excadrill loses precious coverage against Giratina-O. Toxic can also be used to cripple walls such as Lugia that laugh at most of Excadrill's moves.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Skarmory is the best defensive response to Excadrill, as it is immune to Earthquake and resists Excadrill's other STAB. It can then Roost off the damage if required or even phaze out Excadrill with Whirlwind. However, Skarmory can't hurt Excadrill back and has a good chance to be 2HKOed by a boosted Rock Slide after Stealth Rock. Bronzong resists or is immune to all of Excadrill's moves, and with an Earthquake of its own can check it easily. Bold Lugia can check Excadrill provided Stealth Rock is off the field. Giratina can just burn Excadrill and phaze it out, but loses if Excadrill gets a flinch from a boosted Iron Head, as it will then be KOd by Earthquake the next turn. Gliscor can check the mole thanks to Poison Heal, excellent physical bulk, and an immunity to Earthquake; however, it falls to a +2 Iron Head.</p>
<p>Offensive Kyogre and Groudon can switch in and remove the sandstorm from play, negating Excadrill's Sand Rush ability. With enough investment in Speed, they can then proceed to destroy Excadrill with Surf or Earthquake, respectively. Rayquaza ignores Sand Rush thanks to Air Lock, and can OHKO Excadrill with Fire Blast or Earthquake. Grass Arceus can survive a boosted Earthquake, and do 59-70% to Excadrill with Judgment or cripple it with Will-O-Wisp, but will lose if it gets flinched by Iron Head. Defensive Normal Arceus, though rare, survives any attack from Excadrill, and can neuter it with Will-O-Wisp. Landorus-T is immune to Earthquake and has Intimidate; however, it still takes heavy damage from a +1 Iron Head. An opposing Excadrill with Air Balloon or a faster spread can revenge kill Excadrill with an Earthquake of its own, but +2 Iron Head still does a lot of damage, despite being resisted. Air Balloon Terrakion can set up a Rock Polish on Excadrill if it is not using Iron Head, and then outspeed and KO it the next turn. Choice Scarf Ditto can revenge Excadrill without Air Balloon; however, a Choice-locked Earthquake is very easy to predict and take advantage of.</p>
