[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Iron Head / Rock Slide
move 4: Rapid Spin
item: Leftovers
ability: Sand Force / Mold Breaker
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe or 32 HP / 252 Atk / 32 SpD / 192 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Swords Dance turns Excadrill into a dangerous wallbreaker that can tear through slower-paced teams, especially with the sand provided by Tyranitar or Hippowdon. Earthquake threatens key targets like Jirachi, Heatran, and Tyranitar, and smashes neutral targets like Ferrothorn and Politoed, especially after a boost. Iron Head is a valuable second STAB option that targets many Pokemon, either resistant or immune to Earthquake, such as Celebi, Latios, and Dragonite. Iron Head's ability to hugely damage Landorus-T and Gliscor deserves special mention, thanks to their physical resiliency and reliability at answering Excadrill in the short term. Rock Slide complements Earthquake, providing near-perfect neutral coverage and targeting Rock-weak Flying-types such as Thundurus-T and Dragonite for huge damage, while more effectively damaging Skarmory and Rotom-W. Lastly, Rapid Spin allows Excadrill to compress its role and provide its team with a method of keeping entry hazards off the field. Excadrill can struggle to immediately threaten its usual answers, such as Rotom-W, Skarmory, and Gliscor, so Rapid Spin can reliably undo the foe's progress by supporting hazard-weak teammates. Sand Force is the preferred ability thanks to the peerless wallbreaking it provides to Excadrill when active, but Mold Breaker invalidates Rotom-W as a check and eases prediction against Latios and Latias, both of which may try to switch in on an Earthquake.
Set Details
========
The given EV spread with an Adamant nature lets Excadrill hit as hard as possible and cleanly OHKO Ferrothorn at +2 after activating Sand Force. Alternatively, Excadrill can run 192 Speed EVs to outpace Adamant Mamoswine and Dragonite, allowing it to invest more EVs in bulk. Jolly is an option to guarantee the Speed tie for opposing Excadrill, as well as outrun less common positive Speed nature Pokemon above Adamant Excadrill's range, such as Mamoswine, Dragonite, and Heatran. Leftovers is preferred to extend Excadrill's longevity.
Team Options
========
This Excadrill set is most commonly used on sand teams, where it benefits from the extra power provided by the sand, and its team can benefit from its role compression of a Swords Dance sweeper and a hazard remover in one team slot. Tyranitar and Hippowdon are great partners for Excadrill, as the sand they provide boosts the power of Excadrill's STAB options. Both sand setters greatly appreciate having entry hazards kept off the field, allowing them more opportunities to come back in and maintain the sand should it be replaced by a different weather condition. Additionally, Tyranitar provides support for Excadrill in other ways, such as paralysis support with Thunder Wave to cripple faster foes like Keldeo and Alakazam, trapping and eliminating Latios with Pursuit, and/or setting up Stealth Rock for its team. Hippowdon has better longevity and solidly answers Ground-types like Landorus-T and opposing Excadrill, allowing it to reliably set up Stealth Rock over longer games, and its access to Whirlwind can foil setup sweepers that attempt to overcome the rest of their team. Hippowdon can also choose to run Toxic, which severely cripples Rotom-W and Landorus-T's ability to answer Excadrill. Pivot support from Landorus-T, Gliscor, and Rotom-W is very beneficial, as they can bring Excadrill in safely via U-turn and Volt Switch. Landorus-T and Rotom-W are especially notable as Landorus-T handles Terrakion, Rotom-W threatens Skarmory and Starmie, and both pivots take on Ground-types that threaten Excadrill, like Gliscor and opposing Landorus-T; in return, they appreciate Excadrill keeping hazards off the field so that they can chain momentum without Stealth Rock getting in the way. Psychic-types like Reuniclus, Alakazam, and Latios complement Excadrill very well, as they can handle Rotom-W and Fighting-types like Keldeo, Breloom, and Terrakion. Alakazam can also preserve its Focus Sash to check hyper offense threats like Dragonite and Starmie, while Latios switches into Fire- and Water-, and occasionally Ground- and Fighting-type attacks aimed at Excadrill. Excadrill, in turn, can easily take Dark-type attacks aimed at Latios, making an ideal defensive pairing. Fighting-type partners like Keldeo and Terrakion are also solid teammates for Excadrill, as they appreciate the removal of entry hazards, can solidly answer the likes of Volcarona, and aid Excadrill in pressuring its checks like Scizor, Politoed, and Thundurus-T. Ferrothorn and Skarmory provide Spikes support, digging into Pokemon that attempt to answer it like Garchomp and Politoed, and allowing Excadrill to more easily overwhelm teams after its answers are weakened or eliminated. Ferrothorn also has the benefit of pressuring Starmie and providing Knock Off support to remove important items like Leftovers from Thundurus-T and Rocky Helmet from Skarmory, while Skarmory switches into Ground-type attacks aimed at Excadrill, reliably answering and wearing down Landorus-T and Gliscor over a longer game. Magnezone traps and eliminates Skarmory, taking a lot of pressure off of Excadrill. Heatran sets up Stealth Rock and can bait in and eliminate Politoed and Rotom-W with Magma Storm and either Hidden Power Grass, Toxic, or Sunny Day and Solar Beam, removing a major roadblock for sand teams that Swords Dance Excadrill finds itself on. Bulky Grass-types like Celebi and Amoonguss also form a solid partnership with Excadrill, as they can handle Water- and Fighting-types that give Excadrill trouble like Politoed, Keldeo, and Breloom. Celebi also has the benefit of switching into Scald and shrugging off the burn thanks to Natural Cure, and it sends Tentacruel packing with Psychic, while Amoonguss provides paralysis support with Stun Spore to cripple faster targets like Thundurus-T. Additionally, both Grass-types, especially Amoonguss, greatly appreciate the removal of entry hazards, allowing them to continue sticking around to handle the aforementioned Water- and Fighting-types.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/favmon-garchomp.653095/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/monai.482455/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/magialice.624724/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.103/
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Iron Head / Rock Slide
move 4: Rapid Spin
item: Leftovers
ability: Sand Force / Mold Breaker
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe or 32 HP / 252 Atk / 32 SpD / 192 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Swords Dance turns Excadrill into a dangerous wallbreaker that can tear through slower-paced teams, especially with the sand provided by Tyranitar or Hippowdon. Earthquake threatens key targets like Jirachi, Heatran, and Tyranitar, and smashes neutral targets like Ferrothorn and Politoed, especially after a boost. Iron Head is a valuable second STAB option that targets many Pokemon, either resistant or immune to Earthquake, such as Celebi, Latios, and Dragonite. Iron Head's ability to hugely damage Landorus-T and Gliscor deserves special mention, thanks to their physical resiliency and reliability at answering Excadrill in the short term. Rock Slide complements Earthquake, providing near-perfect neutral coverage and targeting Rock-weak Flying-types such as Thundurus-T and Dragonite for huge damage, while more effectively damaging Skarmory and Rotom-W. Lastly, Rapid Spin allows Excadrill to compress its role and provide its team with a method of keeping entry hazards off the field. Excadrill can struggle to immediately threaten its usual answers, such as Rotom-W, Skarmory, and Gliscor, so Rapid Spin can reliably undo the foe's progress by supporting hazard-weak teammates. Sand Force is the preferred ability thanks to the peerless wallbreaking it provides to Excadrill when active, but Mold Breaker invalidates Rotom-W as a check and eases prediction against Latios and Latias, both of which may try to switch in on an Earthquake.
Set Details
========
The given EV spread with an Adamant nature lets Excadrill hit as hard as possible and cleanly OHKO Ferrothorn at +2 after activating Sand Force. Alternatively, Excadrill can run 192 Speed EVs to outpace Adamant Mamoswine and Dragonite, allowing it to invest more EVs in bulk. Jolly is an option to guarantee the Speed tie for opposing Excadrill, as well as outrun less common positive Speed nature Pokemon above Adamant Excadrill's range, such as Mamoswine, Dragonite, and Heatran. Leftovers is preferred to extend Excadrill's longevity.
Team Options
========
This Excadrill set is most commonly used on sand teams, where it benefits from the extra power provided by the sand, and its team can benefit from its role compression of a Swords Dance sweeper and a hazard remover in one team slot. Tyranitar and Hippowdon are great partners for Excadrill, as the sand they provide boosts the power of Excadrill's STAB options. Both sand setters greatly appreciate having entry hazards kept off the field, allowing them more opportunities to come back in and maintain the sand should it be replaced by a different weather condition. Additionally, Tyranitar provides support for Excadrill in other ways, such as paralysis support with Thunder Wave to cripple faster foes like Keldeo and Alakazam, trapping and eliminating Latios with Pursuit, and/or setting up Stealth Rock for its team. Hippowdon has better longevity and solidly answers Ground-types like Landorus-T and opposing Excadrill, allowing it to reliably set up Stealth Rock over longer games, and its access to Whirlwind can foil setup sweepers that attempt to overcome the rest of their team. Hippowdon can also choose to run Toxic, which severely cripples Rotom-W and Landorus-T's ability to answer Excadrill. Pivot support from Landorus-T, Gliscor, and Rotom-W is very beneficial, as they can bring Excadrill in safely via U-turn and Volt Switch. Landorus-T and Rotom-W are especially notable as Landorus-T handles Terrakion, Rotom-W threatens Skarmory and Starmie, and both pivots take on Ground-types that threaten Excadrill, like Gliscor and opposing Landorus-T; in return, they appreciate Excadrill keeping hazards off the field so that they can chain momentum without Stealth Rock getting in the way. Psychic-types like Reuniclus, Alakazam, and Latios complement Excadrill very well, as they can handle Rotom-W and Fighting-types like Keldeo, Breloom, and Terrakion. Alakazam can also preserve its Focus Sash to check hyper offense threats like Dragonite and Starmie, while Latios switches into Fire- and Water-, and occasionally Ground- and Fighting-type attacks aimed at Excadrill. Excadrill, in turn, can easily take Dark-type attacks aimed at Latios, making an ideal defensive pairing. Fighting-type partners like Keldeo and Terrakion are also solid teammates for Excadrill, as they appreciate the removal of entry hazards, can solidly answer the likes of Volcarona, and aid Excadrill in pressuring its checks like Scizor, Politoed, and Thundurus-T. Ferrothorn and Skarmory provide Spikes support, digging into Pokemon that attempt to answer it like Garchomp and Politoed, and allowing Excadrill to more easily overwhelm teams after its answers are weakened or eliminated. Ferrothorn also has the benefit of pressuring Starmie and providing Knock Off support to remove important items like Leftovers from Thundurus-T and Rocky Helmet from Skarmory, while Skarmory switches into Ground-type attacks aimed at Excadrill, reliably answering and wearing down Landorus-T and Gliscor over a longer game. Magnezone traps and eliminates Skarmory, taking a lot of pressure off of Excadrill. Heatran sets up Stealth Rock and can bait in and eliminate Politoed and Rotom-W with Magma Storm and either Hidden Power Grass, Toxic, or Sunny Day and Solar Beam, removing a major roadblock for sand teams that Swords Dance Excadrill finds itself on. Bulky Grass-types like Celebi and Amoonguss also form a solid partnership with Excadrill, as they can handle Water- and Fighting-types that give Excadrill trouble like Politoed, Keldeo, and Breloom. Celebi also has the benefit of switching into Scald and shrugging off the burn thanks to Natural Cure, and it sends Tentacruel packing with Psychic, while Amoonguss provides paralysis support with Stun Spore to cripple faster targets like Thundurus-T. Additionally, both Grass-types, especially Amoonguss, greatly appreciate the removal of entry hazards, allowing them to continue sticking around to handle the aforementioned Water- and Fighting-types.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/favmon-garchomp.653095/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/monai.482455/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/magialice.624724/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.103/
Last edited:
