[OVERVIEW]
Excadrill is an incredibly versatile Pokemon, with a typing laden with useful resistances and immunities to pivot around and check various Electric- and Fairy-types, great Attack stat and STAB combination to hit large swaths of the tier and consistently clean up games, and a utility movepool that allows it to play both sides of the entry hazard game. It works great with fabled partner Tyranitar or other alternative sand setters like Hippowdon, acting as the star player of teams within the consistent sand archetype. It makes great use of Z-Moves to overcome would-be checks like Landorus-T, Rotom-W, and Zapdos, of course depending on the choice of Z-Crystal. Excadrill is far from limited to just sand teams, as it can put in a good shift as a specially defensive pivot on bulkier teams and even a dedicated lead, both making use of Excadrill's coveted combination of Stealth Rock + Rapid Spin and helpful ability in Mold Breaker. However, Excadrill's offensive presence can often be two-dimensional, with Skarmory, Rotom-W, and Zapdos acting as consistent annoyances to it outside of its less consistent lure Z-Moves. Excadrill has plenty to worry about in terms of faster attackers, as it has overall unimpressive bulk, and sand can't always be up to patch its middling Speed. Additionally, Excadrill struggles in longer games against opposing hazard setters due to its lack of reliable recovery.
[SET]
name: Sand Rush
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Rapid Spin / Rock Slide
item: Steelium Z / Leftovers / Rockium Z
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
With Swords Dance, Excadrill can take full advantage of its typing and reasonable bulk to set itself up to punch through walls. With the combination of Swords Dance and Steelium Z, Excadrill can bust through the likes of Landorus-T and Gliscor with +1 and +2 Corkscrew Crash, respectively. Outside of its usage as a strong Z-Move, Iron Head is a great complement to Earthquake that hits Ground-immune foes like Mega Latias and Tornadus-T and Grass-types like Serperior and Tapu Bulu. Earthquake is Excadrill's stronger STAB option, an obvious inclusion to hit Steel-types and other neutral targets. Rapid Spin gives Excadrill some valuable role compression to open up more team options due to the reduced need for other entry hazard removal. Rock Slide gives Excadrill a way to threaten Flying-types that otherwise wall it, like Zapdos, pre-Mega Charizard and Mega Charizard Y, Pelipper, and Gyarados.
Set Details
========
Steelium Z is Excadrill's most consistent wallbreaking tool, patching up Iron Head's lower power to punch through temporary checks like Landorus-T. Leftovers is the best non-Z-Crystal option for Excadrill, giving it better longevity and staying power and making it a more respectable spinner. An Adamant nature is preferred for the power boost, letting Excadrill OHKO Hippowdon with +2 Corkscrew Crash, though Jolly can also be used to outspeed the likes of Kommo-o, base 95 Speed Pokemon with a neutral nature like Modest Tapu Lele, and common variants of Gliscor as well as base 100 Speed Pokemon with a neutral nature like Mega Medicham and Volcarona outside of sand while at worst Speed tying with opposing Excadrill. Rockium Z is a niche option for a Z-Crystal, with its niche over Normalium Z being that Continental Crush gives Excadrill an option against Celesteela and hits ideal targets like Zapdos and Gyarados hard even before setting up. Additionally, it is used with Rock Slide, which is a better move than Giga Impact outside of their Z-Move uses.
Usage Tips
========
Excadrill has plenty of entry points during a game, mostly through Tapu Koko and Magearna, which Excadrill can conveniently block Volt Switches from, as well as the likes of Mega Latias, Clefable, and Cresselia that can't hit Excadrill very hard. When it's holding a Z-Crystal over Leftovers, however, this defensive usage is limited to fewer occasions, so aim to have your sand up when you get Excadrill in, (AC) so you can make the most of the limited opportunity by setting up and breaking through the opposing team. Having Stealth Rock on the field early helps with this, digging into common Flying-type answers like Zapdos while also incrementally chipping Rotom-W alongside sand damage. In matchups where Excadrill is walled, you should not bother setting up, though Excadrill can still be plenty helpful by chasing out threats like Calm Mind Magearna and by spinning away entry hazards, especially in the face of setters like Chansey, Clefable, and Skarmory once it loses its Rocky Helmet. It shines in late-game situations where you can afford to sacrifice your sand setter to give Excadrill the maximum amount of turns to clean up.
Team Options
========
Sand Rush Excadrill is logically only used on sand teams, fitting snugly into both the offensive and defensive core and making use of Sand Rush to become an elite revenge killer and late-game cleaner. Mega Tyranitar is by and large the most common sand-setting teammate, working well with Excadrill offensively by pressuring Flying-types via either trapping them with Pursuit or just obliterating them with Stone Edge if they get overconfident. It additionally makes great use of its Special Defense boost from sand to check Heatran and find opportunities to set Stealth Rock to support Excadrill. Hippowdon is the other option; what it lacks in offensive presence, it aims to make up for by being better at sticking around via Slack Off, making it a much better Stealth Rock setter and better at setting sand, even having the option to run Smooth Rock, though the defensive overlap and relative passivity does not go unnoticed. Toxapex fits snugly onto sand teams because of its crucial resistance to Water and its incredible longevity. On top of this, it absorbs Toxic Spikes, giving relief to Excadrill on teams where it is relied upon as the entry hazard setter, and can also carry Toxic Spikes itself to ease the matchup against Mega Medicham and rain teams. Celesteela is a very solid answer to both Mega Alakazam and Tapu Lele as well as improving the matchup against offense teams with its Leech Seed + Protect shenanigans. Zapdos answers Kartana, Mega Lopunny, and Hawlucha handily, threatening Static paralysis along the way. Kartana fits well onto sand teams, having respectable Speed that gives the team an option to revenge kill the likes of Mega Medicham and Garchomp outside of sand. Choice Band is the best for immediate power and therefore revenge killing, though Swords Dance can be useful to lure Zapdos and Skarmory with Normalium Z and Fightinium Z, respectively, with both variants doing the job of threatening out Water-types. Mega Garchomp can be used on teams featuring Hippowdon or non-Mega Tyranitar as the sand setter, with it benefitting greatly from Sand Force to wallbreak; mixed sets can prey on annoyances like Rotom-W and Skarmory with its coverage, and Swords Dance sets work away at shared checks with Excadrill. For non-Z-Move variants of Excadrill, offensive Z-Move variants of Landorus-T and Garchomp can make for interesting teammates, with Rockium Z variants of both being able to puncture Rotom-W, Zapdos, and Celesteela. Additionally, they provide solid defensive utility, with Landorus-T bringing an immunity to Ground and Garchomp being able to help against Heatran and Mega Charizard Y with its resistance to Fire. Mega Latias appreciates Excadrill's proficiency at handling Fairy-types like Magearna and Tapu Koko; in return, Mega Latias provides a solid answer to threats like Mega Charizard Y and Landorus-T, can take chunks out of the likes of Celesteela and Zapdos with Thunder and Ice Beam, and act as a secondary wincon with Calm Mind. Tornadus-T can remove important items like Rocky Helmet from Skarmory and Zapdos and Leftovers from Celesteela while also providing a check to Mega Medicham. Serperior feasts on Rotom-W and can work together with Excadrill against shared checks like Celesteela and Zapdos, even having the niche option of Knock Off to improve its competency at this role further.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Choice Scarf can be used on Mold Breaker sets to give Excadrill better prowess as a revenge killer for frail attackers like Greninja and Mega Medicham. Leftovers Sand Rush variants of Excadrill can drop Swords Dance for Stealth Rock on bulkier teams. Giga Impact can be used alongside Normalium Z to give Excadrill a weapon against Rotom-W while still hitting the same targets as Rock Slide, though Giga Impact is a very inconsistent move outside of its Z-Move.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-immune Pokemon**: Steel-types like Skarmory and Celesteela are the top of the pile when it comes to Excadrill answers, shrugging off Excadrill's Steel- and Normal-type attacks and being fine for the most apart against its Rock-type attacks. Rotom-W is gifted with an ideal typing to handle Excadrill, with a 4x resistance to Steel and great physical bulk to boot, though Excadrill can adapt with Normalium Z + Giga Impact to lure it. Heat Wave Zapdos provides a solid answer to the most common variants of Excadrill, punishing it for even daring to use Iron Head or Rapid Spin, though it falls victim to Rock Slide and Breakneck Blitz. Pelipper and Mega Charizard Y handle Iron Head and Earthquake well and clear Excadrill's sand, with Mega Charizard Y then outspeeding it and threatening it with an OHKO. However, Excadrill can deal with Mega Charizard Y and Pelipper with the same tech mentioned previously, and Mega Charizard Y needs to already be Mega Evolved before initially switching into Excadrill in order to outspeed it, as Sand Rush will still be active until the end of the turn if the weather is changed mid-turn by Charizard gaining Drought.
**Physically Defensive Walls**: Slowbro can survive any hit from +2 Excadrill and threaten it back with Scald; Mega Slowbro is even more consistent at this task with its absurd bulk and better Special Attack. Buzzwole can near enough offer the same promise, though against Adamant Steelium Z sets, it has to rely on being at full health or having Excadrill waste its Z-Move prior to coming in.
**Passive Damage**: Excadrill commonly runs a Z-Crystal, removing any form of healing it may have and dooming it in longer games where it has to act as a spinner. Spikes are the most horrible entry hazard to face by far, digging into Excadrill dramatically more than Stealth Rock's paltry 3.25%. No matter what hazard is on the field, spinning can always be a pain, especially against contact punishers like Rocky Helmet Zapdos and Landorus-T and Iron Barbs Ferrothorn.
**Faster Attackers**: Despite the sky-high number Excadrill's Speed hits in sand, Unburden Hawlucha and Trace Mega Alakazam can one-up it and threaten to OHKO Excadrill with High Jump Kick and Focus Blast, respectively. Mega Charizard Y throws out Excadrill's sand to be able to outspeed it in sun; however, the Speed change does not happen on the same turn, meaning that if Charizard Mega Evolves in front of Excadrill in sand, Excadrill will still attack first on that turn. Mega Medicham and Mega Lopunny prey on Excadrill outside of sand and can waste crucial sand turns with Fake Out. Ash-Greninja can threaten Excadrill both inside and outside of sand with Water Shuriken and Hydro Pump, though it must be said that, before Battle Bond is activated, Water Shuriken is severely inconsistent at OHKOing Excadrill and should be used to finish it off after chip damage instead.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zinnias.569291/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/diyusi.519886/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/skypenguin.462413/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
Excadrill is an incredibly versatile Pokemon, with a typing laden with useful resistances and immunities to pivot around and check various Electric- and Fairy-types, great Attack stat and STAB combination to hit large swaths of the tier and consistently clean up games, and a utility movepool that allows it to play both sides of the entry hazard game. It works great with fabled partner Tyranitar or other alternative sand setters like Hippowdon, acting as the star player of teams within the consistent sand archetype. It makes great use of Z-Moves to overcome would-be checks like Landorus-T, Rotom-W, and Zapdos, of course depending on the choice of Z-Crystal. Excadrill is far from limited to just sand teams, as it can put in a good shift as a specially defensive pivot on bulkier teams and even a dedicated lead, both making use of Excadrill's coveted combination of Stealth Rock + Rapid Spin and helpful ability in Mold Breaker. However, Excadrill's offensive presence can often be two-dimensional, with Skarmory, Rotom-W, and Zapdos acting as consistent annoyances to it outside of its less consistent lure Z-Moves. Excadrill has plenty to worry about in terms of faster attackers, as it has overall unimpressive bulk, and sand can't always be up to patch its middling Speed. Additionally, Excadrill struggles in longer games against opposing hazard setters due to its lack of reliable recovery.
[SET]
name: Sand Rush
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Rapid Spin / Rock Slide
item: Steelium Z / Leftovers / Rockium Z
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
With Swords Dance, Excadrill can take full advantage of its typing and reasonable bulk to set itself up to punch through walls. With the combination of Swords Dance and Steelium Z, Excadrill can bust through the likes of Landorus-T and Gliscor with +1 and +2 Corkscrew Crash, respectively. Outside of its usage as a strong Z-Move, Iron Head is a great complement to Earthquake that hits Ground-immune foes like Mega Latias and Tornadus-T and Grass-types like Serperior and Tapu Bulu. Earthquake is Excadrill's stronger STAB option, an obvious inclusion to hit Steel-types and other neutral targets. Rapid Spin gives Excadrill some valuable role compression to open up more team options due to the reduced need for other entry hazard removal. Rock Slide gives Excadrill a way to threaten Flying-types that otherwise wall it, like Zapdos, pre-Mega Charizard and Mega Charizard Y, Pelipper, and Gyarados.
Set Details
========
Steelium Z is Excadrill's most consistent wallbreaking tool, patching up Iron Head's lower power to punch through temporary checks like Landorus-T. Leftovers is the best non-Z-Crystal option for Excadrill, giving it better longevity and staying power and making it a more respectable spinner. An Adamant nature is preferred for the power boost, letting Excadrill OHKO Hippowdon with +2 Corkscrew Crash, though Jolly can also be used to outspeed the likes of Kommo-o, base 95 Speed Pokemon with a neutral nature like Modest Tapu Lele, and common variants of Gliscor as well as base 100 Speed Pokemon with a neutral nature like Mega Medicham and Volcarona outside of sand while at worst Speed tying with opposing Excadrill. Rockium Z is a niche option for a Z-Crystal, with its niche over Normalium Z being that Continental Crush gives Excadrill an option against Celesteela and hits ideal targets like Zapdos and Gyarados hard even before setting up. Additionally, it is used with Rock Slide, which is a better move than Giga Impact outside of their Z-Move uses.
Usage Tips
========
Excadrill has plenty of entry points during a game, mostly through Tapu Koko and Magearna, which Excadrill can conveniently block Volt Switches from, as well as the likes of Mega Latias, Clefable, and Cresselia that can't hit Excadrill very hard. When it's holding a Z-Crystal over Leftovers, however, this defensive usage is limited to fewer occasions, so aim to have your sand up when you get Excadrill in, (AC) so you can make the most of the limited opportunity by setting up and breaking through the opposing team. Having Stealth Rock on the field early helps with this, digging into common Flying-type answers like Zapdos while also incrementally chipping Rotom-W alongside sand damage. In matchups where Excadrill is walled, you should not bother setting up, though Excadrill can still be plenty helpful by chasing out threats like Calm Mind Magearna and by spinning away entry hazards, especially in the face of setters like Chansey, Clefable, and Skarmory once it loses its Rocky Helmet. It shines in late-game situations where you can afford to sacrifice your sand setter to give Excadrill the maximum amount of turns to clean up.
Team Options
========
Sand Rush Excadrill is logically only used on sand teams, fitting snugly into both the offensive and defensive core and making use of Sand Rush to become an elite revenge killer and late-game cleaner. Mega Tyranitar is by and large the most common sand-setting teammate, working well with Excadrill offensively by pressuring Flying-types via either trapping them with Pursuit or just obliterating them with Stone Edge if they get overconfident. It additionally makes great use of its Special Defense boost from sand to check Heatran and find opportunities to set Stealth Rock to support Excadrill. Hippowdon is the other option; what it lacks in offensive presence, it aims to make up for by being better at sticking around via Slack Off, making it a much better Stealth Rock setter and better at setting sand, even having the option to run Smooth Rock, though the defensive overlap and relative passivity does not go unnoticed. Toxapex fits snugly onto sand teams because of its crucial resistance to Water and its incredible longevity. On top of this, it absorbs Toxic Spikes, giving relief to Excadrill on teams where it is relied upon as the entry hazard setter, and can also carry Toxic Spikes itself to ease the matchup against Mega Medicham and rain teams. Celesteela is a very solid answer to both Mega Alakazam and Tapu Lele as well as improving the matchup against offense teams with its Leech Seed + Protect shenanigans. Zapdos answers Kartana, Mega Lopunny, and Hawlucha handily, threatening Static paralysis along the way. Kartana fits well onto sand teams, having respectable Speed that gives the team an option to revenge kill the likes of Mega Medicham and Garchomp outside of sand. Choice Band is the best for immediate power and therefore revenge killing, though Swords Dance can be useful to lure Zapdos and Skarmory with Normalium Z and Fightinium Z, respectively, with both variants doing the job of threatening out Water-types. Mega Garchomp can be used on teams featuring Hippowdon or non-Mega Tyranitar as the sand setter, with it benefitting greatly from Sand Force to wallbreak; mixed sets can prey on annoyances like Rotom-W and Skarmory with its coverage, and Swords Dance sets work away at shared checks with Excadrill. For non-Z-Move variants of Excadrill, offensive Z-Move variants of Landorus-T and Garchomp can make for interesting teammates, with Rockium Z variants of both being able to puncture Rotom-W, Zapdos, and Celesteela. Additionally, they provide solid defensive utility, with Landorus-T bringing an immunity to Ground and Garchomp being able to help against Heatran and Mega Charizard Y with its resistance to Fire. Mega Latias appreciates Excadrill's proficiency at handling Fairy-types like Magearna and Tapu Koko; in return, Mega Latias provides a solid answer to threats like Mega Charizard Y and Landorus-T, can take chunks out of the likes of Celesteela and Zapdos with Thunder and Ice Beam, and act as a secondary wincon with Calm Mind. Tornadus-T can remove important items like Rocky Helmet from Skarmory and Zapdos and Leftovers from Celesteela while also providing a check to Mega Medicham. Serperior feasts on Rotom-W and can work together with Excadrill against shared checks like Celesteela and Zapdos, even having the niche option of Knock Off to improve its competency at this role further.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Choice Scarf can be used on Mold Breaker sets to give Excadrill better prowess as a revenge killer for frail attackers like Greninja and Mega Medicham. Leftovers Sand Rush variants of Excadrill can drop Swords Dance for Stealth Rock on bulkier teams. Giga Impact can be used alongside Normalium Z to give Excadrill a weapon against Rotom-W while still hitting the same targets as Rock Slide, though Giga Impact is a very inconsistent move outside of its Z-Move.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-immune Pokemon**: Steel-types like Skarmory and Celesteela are the top of the pile when it comes to Excadrill answers, shrugging off Excadrill's Steel- and Normal-type attacks and being fine for the most apart against its Rock-type attacks. Rotom-W is gifted with an ideal typing to handle Excadrill, with a 4x resistance to Steel and great physical bulk to boot, though Excadrill can adapt with Normalium Z + Giga Impact to lure it. Heat Wave Zapdos provides a solid answer to the most common variants of Excadrill, punishing it for even daring to use Iron Head or Rapid Spin, though it falls victim to Rock Slide and Breakneck Blitz. Pelipper and Mega Charizard Y handle Iron Head and Earthquake well and clear Excadrill's sand, with Mega Charizard Y then outspeeding it and threatening it with an OHKO. However, Excadrill can deal with Mega Charizard Y and Pelipper with the same tech mentioned previously, and Mega Charizard Y needs to already be Mega Evolved before initially switching into Excadrill in order to outspeed it, as Sand Rush will still be active until the end of the turn if the weather is changed mid-turn by Charizard gaining Drought.
**Physically Defensive Walls**: Slowbro can survive any hit from +2 Excadrill and threaten it back with Scald; Mega Slowbro is even more consistent at this task with its absurd bulk and better Special Attack. Buzzwole can near enough offer the same promise, though against Adamant Steelium Z sets, it has to rely on being at full health or having Excadrill waste its Z-Move prior to coming in.
**Passive Damage**: Excadrill commonly runs a Z-Crystal, removing any form of healing it may have and dooming it in longer games where it has to act as a spinner. Spikes are the most horrible entry hazard to face by far, digging into Excadrill dramatically more than Stealth Rock's paltry 3.25%. No matter what hazard is on the field, spinning can always be a pain, especially against contact punishers like Rocky Helmet Zapdos and Landorus-T and Iron Barbs Ferrothorn.
**Faster Attackers**: Despite the sky-high number Excadrill's Speed hits in sand, Unburden Hawlucha and Trace Mega Alakazam can one-up it and threaten to OHKO Excadrill with High Jump Kick and Focus Blast, respectively. Mega Charizard Y throws out Excadrill's sand to be able to outspeed it in sun; however, the Speed change does not happen on the same turn, meaning that if Charizard Mega Evolves in front of Excadrill in sand, Excadrill will still attack first on that turn. Mega Medicham and Mega Lopunny prey on Excadrill outside of sand and can waste crucial sand turns with Fake Out. Ash-Greninja can threaten Excadrill both inside and outside of sand with Water Shuriken and Hydro Pump, though it must be said that, before Battle Bond is activated, Water Shuriken is severely inconsistent at OHKOing Excadrill and should be used to finish it off after chip damage instead.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zinnias.569291/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/diyusi.519886/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/skypenguin.462413/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
Last edited:
