[OVERVIEW]
Mega Tyranitar is an incredibly potent and forcing threat that more than rounds itself out with its absurd bulk and support capabilities with Sand Stream and its access to Stealth Rock and the strongest unboosted Pursuit in the tier. With its already great bulk bolstered by sand's 1.5x boost to its Special Defense, Mega Tyranitar can terrorise the likes of Heatran, Zapdos, and Tornadus-T, getting up and keeping Stealth Rock and making them count with forced Pursuit damage. It turns common teammate Excadrill into an immediately fast threat that outspeeds the vast majority of the tier. Rather than playing a bulky all-rounder role, Mega Tyranitar can excel as a Dragon Dance sweeper, with its bulk affording it plentiful setup opportunities to use its powerful STAB Stone Edge and its coverage movepool including Fire Punch and Ice Punch to puncture defensive cores. In some cases, it can even shed its Mega Stone, with Choice Scarf as a surprising tech option to remove key targets and act as a solid revenge killer. However, Mega Tyranitar has a litany of weaknesses to very common types within the tier, with Ground, Water, and Fighting just to start the list off. Its longevity is very poor, so it can't carelessly take attacks considering it essentially needs to keep somewhat healthy to keep the option to trade damage open. This is exacerbated by its poor Speed, making Mega Tyranitar quite hard to get the most out of without careful and calculated play.
[SET]
name: Pursuit
move 1: Stealth Rock / Crunch / Ice Punch
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Pursuit
move 4: Fire Punch / Earthquake / Crunch / Ice Punch
item: Tyranitarite
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant
evs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
Mega Tyranitar can function as a fine offensive Stealth Rock setter early game considering the free turns it has while threatening out the likes of Heatran and its natural pressure against Defoggers like Tornadus-T and Mega Latias, and others like Gliscor depending on coverage. However, since conserving HP is a big deal for a bulky, slow attacker like Mega Tyranitar, you may prefer to offload the responsibility of Stealth Rock onto a teammate and run a four attack variant, replacing Stealth Rock with Crunch to neutrally hit hard and accurately and beat down bulky Psychic-types like Cresselia, Reuniclus, and Jirachi. Another option is Ice Punch to catch Landorus-T and Garchomp more immediately and prevent Gliscor and Kommo-o from checking Mega Tyranitar. Stone Edge is an immensely hard neutral hit from Mega Tyranitar's Attack stat, keeping defensive stopgaps like Rotom-W and Tapu Fini on their toes and solidifying Mega Tyranitar's matchup against Fire-types like Volcarona and the Mega Charizard formes and Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Zapdos. Pursuit is perhaps the main draw of this set; it's a perfect fit considering how hard Mega Tyranitar hits and how safely it can trap thanks to its bulk. Fire Punch is an excellent option to complement its STAB moves, hitting Steel-types like Magearna and Mega Mawile and specializing against the likes of Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor. Earthquake is much less flashy, but its increased damage against Magearna, Heatran, Toxapex, Mega Mawile, and Mega Diancie allow Mega Tyranitar to lock down its good matchups to a tee.
Set Details
========
124 Speed EV's are used to outspeed uninvested Rotom-W, while the rest is pooled into bulk to help Mega Tyranitar take on the likes of Heatran and Mega Charizard X and Attack to give it the best breaking power. A bulkier spread of 252 HP / 88 Atk / 120 SpD / 48 Spe can be used to always survive Focus Blast from Timid Mega Alakazam from full health while outspeeding Adamant Alolan Marowak.
Usage Tips
========
Mega Tyranitar finds itself the most menacing early-game, as it is incredibly hard to OHKO from full and can trade damage absurdly well. It can get early Stealth Rock and keep them, and your opponent will need to spend some time and effort scouting out Mega Tyranitar's set due to to vast spread of Pokemon encompassed by its coverage movepool. Although it can be very rewarding, don't throw in Mega Tyranitar too carefully to its targets, since the main ones like Tornadus-T and Zapdos will be looking to proactively pivot out with U-turn and Volt Switch, and this can compound with entry hazard damage to render Mega Tyranitar unable to pose a threat after a while. One of Mega Tyranitar's favourite things to face are Choice-locked attackers; its very presence will logically dissuade Tapu Lele from locking into Psychic-type moves and the likes of Ash-Greninja and Kartana from locking into Dark-type moves. Switching directly in is often unreasonably risky, so its best to scout them out with a pivot first, unless in an already dire situation. Due to the more limited amount of sand turns compared to a setter like Pelipper that works with eight, part of playing with a sand team is anticipating when Excadrill's Sand Rush is soon to be necessary and proactively keeping sand on the field with doubles.
Team Options
========
Mega Tyranitar finds its main habitat on sand teams centred around its superb partnership with Sand Rush Excadrill, though it can be found on bulkier balance teams without Excadrill. Even with little turns to work with, the immense Speed boost that Mega Tyranitar grants Excadrill turn it into an ideal revenge killer and cleaner, keeping fast threats from bearing down on the team. It offers an answer to irritating Fairy-types like Magearna and Tapu Koko and can clear the field of entry hazards with Rapid Spin in some situations, though it's primarily used to smash through offensive threats with Corkscrew Crash. This offensive and utility partnership does stack weaknesses, so sand teams rarely drop the tried-and-true CelePex core. Toxapex can check Water-types and doesn't mind taking Scald, can pivot around Choice-locked attackers like Ash-Greninja and Kartana, and stifles opposing offense teams greatly with Scald burns and Toxic Spikes putting them on a shorter fuse. Celesteela's link-up with Toxapex is incredibly intuitive; it's a very solid Psychic-type check that doubles as an answer to Ground-types like Landorus-T too. Zapdos is great for punishing U-turn and answering Grass-types like Kartana handily, additionally helping to beat Hawlucha, a huge threat to the archetype considering it outpaces even Excadrill in sand. Kartana creates a symbiotic offensive triangle with Mega Tyranitar and Excadrill, benefitting from Mega Tyranitar's Pursuit trapping and entry hazards greatly, beating down it and Excadrill's shared checks, and sticking a knife into mid-Speed offensive threats like Mega Medicham, Kyurem-B, and Manaphy, all huge deals for a typical sand team. Offensive variants of Garchomp also fit well on sand teams, with Dragonium Z smashing through neutral targets and Rockium Z looking to snipe answers like Celesteela. Other ideas for synergistic teammates are Clefable, which can take the burden of Stealth Rock off of Mega Tyranitar, check threats like Hawlucha and Kommo-o handily, and is immune to status and sand, working well with the idea of outlasting the opponent. Ash-Greninja offers Spikes support, consistent revenge killing outside of sand, and strong priority. Tapu Fini has similar defensive utility against Fighting-types, additionally providing a solid check to Water-types like Ash-Greninja and a stopgap against Mega Swampert, even supporting Mega Tyranitar and its teammates with a temporary status immunity to help against stray Scald burns and irritating contact abilities. Tornadus-T and Landorus-T can be used for their pivoting support and as alternative hazard removal options. Rotom-W continues from this on more offensive takes of sand, being a decent pivot and Ground-type check that specializes against opposing weather sweepers. As a brief mention of the balance teams it can fit on, Skarmory is a lovely partner for answering Ground-types and Kartana; Mega Tyranitar's Pursuit support and Stealth Rock can really speed up the hazard war and passive damage game. Swords Dance Gliscor also heavily appreciates the removal of Mega Latias and Cresselia and can make up for Mega Tyranitar's hard time against passive damage-focused teams. Reuniclus and Slowbro can cover up Mega Tyranitar's horrible matchup against Fighting-types, with the former being able to use Magic Guard to similar benefit as Clefable and Slowbro being able to cover Mega Swampert. Mega Tyranitar can find itself on Grassy Terrain teams as well, appreciating the passive recovery from Tapu Bulu's Grassy Terrain and being able to force chunks of damage on Flying-types to support it offensively. Seismitoad and Gastrodon make for nice Ground-types on these teams in place of Excadrill, solidifying the matchup against Water- and Electric-types and even holding Stealth Rock in the case of the former.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Superpower can be used to compress hitting Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Chansey super effectively while being okay into various other Steel-types like Magearna and Mega Mawile. Assault Vest can be used to stack with sand to boost Tyranitar's special bulk to unfair heights, allowing it to trap even Focus Blast Mega Alakazam and Buginium Z Volcarona, however this set is very passive outside of its ideal matchups and is often overkill. Taunt can be a menacing option on Mega Tyranitar to prevent status attempts or healing from slower walls like Chansey, Clefable, and Skarmory.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Rain mainstays Mega Swampert and Manaphy have both the bulk to switch in and the power to threaten Tyranitar out, though it can chunk them nicely with the right attack as they switch in and it isn't something they can do over multiple opportunities. Ash-Greninja can blow through Tyranitar with Hydro Pump, while both Gyarados and Mega Gyarados can deal consistent damage to Mega Tyranitar with Waterfall or Earthquake, though failing to grab a kill and often taking much more in return.
**Fighting-types and Fighting-type Coverage**: Mega Lopunny and Mega Medicham can blow through Tyranitar and can use their resistance to Rock for at least one safe entry, though their low bulk and Mega Medicham's neutrality to Dark makes this easier said than done. Kommo-o has a typically easy time getting in on Tyranitar and can threaten to OHKO it or set up as it switches out, though it can be hit by Ice Punch as it switches in. Hawlucha can set up in Tyranitar's face and plow through it, though this is usually only useful in the endgame due to Hawlucha's committal nature. Mega Heracross is a more niche Fighting-type within the tier but it has great bulk and power to handle Mega Tyranitar for a while. The biggest examples of Fighting-type coverage that can nastily surprise Tyranitar are Fightinium Z Tornadus-T and Focus Blast Mega Charizard Y, both threatening an OHKO to Mega Tyranitar even in sand. Additionally, Protean Greninja and Choice Band Victini can tack on Low Kick and Brick Break, respectively, to surprise Mega Tyranitar on its physical side with an OHKO.
**Ground-types**: Landorus-T and Garchomp can provide fine short term answers to Mega Tyranitar, handling its common moves fine and being able to hit back hard with Earthquake, though their longevity isn't ideal and they need to watch out for an Ice Punch as they switch in. Gliscor can actually wall some variants of Mega Tyranitar due to its solid recovery, but Ice Punch similarly flips this matchup, and it even needs to be careful of Defense drops while taking repeated Crunches. Hippowdon is a niche option that can check Mega Tyranitar quite handily, even Ice Punch variants fail to 2HKO it.
**Passive Damage**: Mega Tyranitar being a grounded and functionally itemless Pokemon without any consistent recovery moves makes it a sitting duck for entry hazard chip to rack up. Even worse, poison from Toxic Spikes or Toxic can compound with other chip damage sources and irritating attacks like Magma Storm to incrementally wear it down. Burn from Rotom-W's Will-O-Wisp or Toxapex's Scald can render Tyranitar near useless, as well.
**Grass-types**: Tapu Bulu can usually come right in to Tyranitar and tank a hit, threatening it out easily with either of its common attacking types, though it shoots itself in the foot by giving Tyranitar a passive recovery with Grassy Terrain. Kartana can come in on Stone Edge or predicted Stealth Rock and cut through Tyranitar with Leaf Blade or Sacred Sword, but Mega Tyranitar can hit it with Crunch or Fire Punch as it switches in and its Synthesis is spoiled by sand.
**Steel-types**: Mega Tyranitar can generally tech itself out to hit Steel-types, but not all of them at once usually. Magearna and Mega Mawile are great answers to Crunch or Ice Punch three attack variants of Mega Tyranitar and Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn do excellently against variants lacking Fire Punch. Skarmory can also just hold on against Mega Tyranitar, avoiding the 2HKO from even Stone Edge and Fire Punch and either taking advantage of Stone Edge's poor accuracy or Fire Punch making contact with its Rocky Helmet to beat it one-on-one.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zinnias.569291/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/diyusi.519886/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
Mega Tyranitar is an incredibly potent and forcing threat that more than rounds itself out with its absurd bulk and support capabilities with Sand Stream and its access to Stealth Rock and the strongest unboosted Pursuit in the tier. With its already great bulk bolstered by sand's 1.5x boost to its Special Defense, Mega Tyranitar can terrorise the likes of Heatran, Zapdos, and Tornadus-T, getting up and keeping Stealth Rock and making them count with forced Pursuit damage. It turns common teammate Excadrill into an immediately fast threat that outspeeds the vast majority of the tier. Rather than playing a bulky all-rounder role, Mega Tyranitar can excel as a Dragon Dance sweeper, with its bulk affording it plentiful setup opportunities to use its powerful STAB Stone Edge and its coverage movepool including Fire Punch and Ice Punch to puncture defensive cores. In some cases, it can even shed its Mega Stone, with Choice Scarf as a surprising tech option to remove key targets and act as a solid revenge killer. However, Mega Tyranitar has a litany of weaknesses to very common types within the tier, with Ground, Water, and Fighting just to start the list off. Its longevity is very poor, so it can't carelessly take attacks considering it essentially needs to keep somewhat healthy to keep the option to trade damage open. This is exacerbated by its poor Speed, making Mega Tyranitar quite hard to get the most out of without careful and calculated play.
[SET]
name: Pursuit
move 1: Stealth Rock / Crunch / Ice Punch
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Pursuit
move 4: Fire Punch / Earthquake / Crunch / Ice Punch
item: Tyranitarite
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant
evs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
Mega Tyranitar can function as a fine offensive Stealth Rock setter early game considering the free turns it has while threatening out the likes of Heatran and its natural pressure against Defoggers like Tornadus-T and Mega Latias, and others like Gliscor depending on coverage. However, since conserving HP is a big deal for a bulky, slow attacker like Mega Tyranitar, you may prefer to offload the responsibility of Stealth Rock onto a teammate and run a four attack variant, replacing Stealth Rock with Crunch to neutrally hit hard and accurately and beat down bulky Psychic-types like Cresselia, Reuniclus, and Jirachi. Another option is Ice Punch to catch Landorus-T and Garchomp more immediately and prevent Gliscor and Kommo-o from checking Mega Tyranitar. Stone Edge is an immensely hard neutral hit from Mega Tyranitar's Attack stat, keeping defensive stopgaps like Rotom-W and Tapu Fini on their toes and solidifying Mega Tyranitar's matchup against Fire-types like Volcarona and the Mega Charizard formes and Flying-types like Tornadus-T and Zapdos. Pursuit is perhaps the main draw of this set; it's a perfect fit considering how hard Mega Tyranitar hits and how safely it can trap thanks to its bulk. Fire Punch is an excellent option to complement its STAB moves, hitting Steel-types like Magearna and Mega Mawile and specializing against the likes of Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor. Earthquake is much less flashy, but its increased damage against Magearna, Heatran, Toxapex, Mega Mawile, and Mega Diancie allow Mega Tyranitar to lock down its good matchups to a tee.
Set Details
========
124 Speed EV's are used to outspeed uninvested Rotom-W, while the rest is pooled into bulk to help Mega Tyranitar take on the likes of Heatran and Mega Charizard X and Attack to give it the best breaking power. A bulkier spread of 252 HP / 88 Atk / 120 SpD / 48 Spe can be used to always survive Focus Blast from Timid Mega Alakazam from full health while outspeeding Adamant Alolan Marowak.
Usage Tips
========
Mega Tyranitar finds itself the most menacing early-game, as it is incredibly hard to OHKO from full and can trade damage absurdly well. It can get early Stealth Rock and keep them, and your opponent will need to spend some time and effort scouting out Mega Tyranitar's set due to to vast spread of Pokemon encompassed by its coverage movepool. Although it can be very rewarding, don't throw in Mega Tyranitar too carefully to its targets, since the main ones like Tornadus-T and Zapdos will be looking to proactively pivot out with U-turn and Volt Switch, and this can compound with entry hazard damage to render Mega Tyranitar unable to pose a threat after a while. One of Mega Tyranitar's favourite things to face are Choice-locked attackers; its very presence will logically dissuade Tapu Lele from locking into Psychic-type moves and the likes of Ash-Greninja and Kartana from locking into Dark-type moves. Switching directly in is often unreasonably risky, so its best to scout them out with a pivot first, unless in an already dire situation. Due to the more limited amount of sand turns compared to a setter like Pelipper that works with eight, part of playing with a sand team is anticipating when Excadrill's Sand Rush is soon to be necessary and proactively keeping sand on the field with doubles.
Team Options
========
Mega Tyranitar finds its main habitat on sand teams centred around its superb partnership with Sand Rush Excadrill, though it can be found on bulkier balance teams without Excadrill. Even with little turns to work with, the immense Speed boost that Mega Tyranitar grants Excadrill turn it into an ideal revenge killer and cleaner, keeping fast threats from bearing down on the team. It offers an answer to irritating Fairy-types like Magearna and Tapu Koko and can clear the field of entry hazards with Rapid Spin in some situations, though it's primarily used to smash through offensive threats with Corkscrew Crash. This offensive and utility partnership does stack weaknesses, so sand teams rarely drop the tried-and-true CelePex core. Toxapex can check Water-types and doesn't mind taking Scald, can pivot around Choice-locked attackers like Ash-Greninja and Kartana, and stifles opposing offense teams greatly with Scald burns and Toxic Spikes putting them on a shorter fuse. Celesteela's link-up with Toxapex is incredibly intuitive; it's a very solid Psychic-type check that doubles as an answer to Ground-types like Landorus-T too. Zapdos is great for punishing U-turn and answering Grass-types like Kartana handily, additionally helping to beat Hawlucha, a huge threat to the archetype considering it outpaces even Excadrill in sand. Kartana creates a symbiotic offensive triangle with Mega Tyranitar and Excadrill, benefitting from Mega Tyranitar's Pursuit trapping and entry hazards greatly, beating down it and Excadrill's shared checks, and sticking a knife into mid-Speed offensive threats like Mega Medicham, Kyurem-B, and Manaphy, all huge deals for a typical sand team. Offensive variants of Garchomp also fit well on sand teams, with Dragonium Z smashing through neutral targets and Rockium Z looking to snipe answers like Celesteela. Other ideas for synergistic teammates are Clefable, which can take the burden of Stealth Rock off of Mega Tyranitar, check threats like Hawlucha and Kommo-o handily, and is immune to status and sand, working well with the idea of outlasting the opponent. Ash-Greninja offers Spikes support, consistent revenge killing outside of sand, and strong priority. Tapu Fini has similar defensive utility against Fighting-types, additionally providing a solid check to Water-types like Ash-Greninja and a stopgap against Mega Swampert, even supporting Mega Tyranitar and its teammates with a temporary status immunity to help against stray Scald burns and irritating contact abilities. Tornadus-T and Landorus-T can be used for their pivoting support and as alternative hazard removal options. Rotom-W continues from this on more offensive takes of sand, being a decent pivot and Ground-type check that specializes against opposing weather sweepers. As a brief mention of the balance teams it can fit on, Skarmory is a lovely partner for answering Ground-types and Kartana; Mega Tyranitar's Pursuit support and Stealth Rock can really speed up the hazard war and passive damage game. Swords Dance Gliscor also heavily appreciates the removal of Mega Latias and Cresselia and can make up for Mega Tyranitar's hard time against passive damage-focused teams. Reuniclus and Slowbro can cover up Mega Tyranitar's horrible matchup against Fighting-types, with the former being able to use Magic Guard to similar benefit as Clefable and Slowbro being able to cover Mega Swampert. Mega Tyranitar can find itself on Grassy Terrain teams as well, appreciating the passive recovery from Tapu Bulu's Grassy Terrain and being able to force chunks of damage on Flying-types to support it offensively. Seismitoad and Gastrodon make for nice Ground-types on these teams in place of Excadrill, solidifying the matchup against Water- and Electric-types and even holding Stealth Rock in the case of the former.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Superpower can be used to compress hitting Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Chansey super effectively while being okay into various other Steel-types like Magearna and Mega Mawile. Assault Vest can be used to stack with sand to boost Tyranitar's special bulk to unfair heights, allowing it to trap even Focus Blast Mega Alakazam and Buginium Z Volcarona, however this set is very passive outside of its ideal matchups and is often overkill. Taunt can be a menacing option on Mega Tyranitar to prevent status attempts or healing from slower walls like Chansey, Clefable, and Skarmory.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Rain mainstays Mega Swampert and Manaphy have both the bulk to switch in and the power to threaten Tyranitar out, though it can chunk them nicely with the right attack as they switch in and it isn't something they can do over multiple opportunities. Ash-Greninja can blow through Tyranitar with Hydro Pump, while both Gyarados and Mega Gyarados can deal consistent damage to Mega Tyranitar with Waterfall or Earthquake, though failing to grab a kill and often taking much more in return.
**Fighting-types and Fighting-type Coverage**: Mega Lopunny and Mega Medicham can blow through Tyranitar and can use their resistance to Rock for at least one safe entry, though their low bulk and Mega Medicham's neutrality to Dark makes this easier said than done. Kommo-o has a typically easy time getting in on Tyranitar and can threaten to OHKO it or set up as it switches out, though it can be hit by Ice Punch as it switches in. Hawlucha can set up in Tyranitar's face and plow through it, though this is usually only useful in the endgame due to Hawlucha's committal nature. Mega Heracross is a more niche Fighting-type within the tier but it has great bulk and power to handle Mega Tyranitar for a while. The biggest examples of Fighting-type coverage that can nastily surprise Tyranitar are Fightinium Z Tornadus-T and Focus Blast Mega Charizard Y, both threatening an OHKO to Mega Tyranitar even in sand. Additionally, Protean Greninja and Choice Band Victini can tack on Low Kick and Brick Break, respectively, to surprise Mega Tyranitar on its physical side with an OHKO.
**Ground-types**: Landorus-T and Garchomp can provide fine short term answers to Mega Tyranitar, handling its common moves fine and being able to hit back hard with Earthquake, though their longevity isn't ideal and they need to watch out for an Ice Punch as they switch in. Gliscor can actually wall some variants of Mega Tyranitar due to its solid recovery, but Ice Punch similarly flips this matchup, and it even needs to be careful of Defense drops while taking repeated Crunches. Hippowdon is a niche option that can check Mega Tyranitar quite handily, even Ice Punch variants fail to 2HKO it.
**Passive Damage**: Mega Tyranitar being a grounded and functionally itemless Pokemon without any consistent recovery moves makes it a sitting duck for entry hazard chip to rack up. Even worse, poison from Toxic Spikes or Toxic can compound with other chip damage sources and irritating attacks like Magma Storm to incrementally wear it down. Burn from Rotom-W's Will-O-Wisp or Toxapex's Scald can render Tyranitar near useless, as well.
**Grass-types**: Tapu Bulu can usually come right in to Tyranitar and tank a hit, threatening it out easily with either of its common attacking types, though it shoots itself in the foot by giving Tyranitar a passive recovery with Grassy Terrain. Kartana can come in on Stone Edge or predicted Stealth Rock and cut through Tyranitar with Leaf Blade or Sacred Sword, but Mega Tyranitar can hit it with Crunch or Fire Punch as it switches in and its Synthesis is spoiled by sand.
**Steel-types**: Mega Tyranitar can generally tech itself out to hit Steel-types, but not all of them at once usually. Magearna and Mega Mawile are great answers to Crunch or Ice Punch three attack variants of Mega Tyranitar and Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn do excellently against variants lacking Fire Punch. Skarmory can also just hold on against Mega Tyranitar, avoiding the 2HKO from even Stone Edge and Fire Punch and either taking advantage of Stone Edge's poor accuracy or Fire Punch making contact with its Rocky Helmet to beat it one-on-one.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zinnias.569291/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/diyusi.519886/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user5.104/
Last edited:
