[OVERVIEW]
Excadrill is a strong sand sweeper thanks to its incredible ability in Sand Rush that allows it to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame under sand, great Ground / Steel typing that aids it offensively and defensively, and access to Swords Dance and Rapid Spin, with the latter helping Excadrill sweep when sand is not set up. Rock Slide also gives Excadrill incredible coverage, enabling it to hit checks like Zapdos and Pelipper. However, as Pokemon like Slowbro and Buzzwole possess the physical bulk to take its moves even after a Swords Dance and threaten it back with their STAB moves, while Pokemon like Corviknight, Skarmory, and Rotom-W can stonewall Excadrill due to their defensive typings. Moreover, even though Excadrill possesses an incredible defensive typing, its lackluster bulk hampers it severely, leaving it weak to a wide variety of Pokemon.
[SET]
name: Sand Sweeper
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Iron Head / Rock Slide
move 4: Rapid Spin
item: Leftovers / Air Balloon
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Thanks to its high Attack stat further bolstered by Swords Dance, solid offensive typing, and access to Sand Rush, Excadrill functions as an extremely dangerous sand sweeper. Swords Dance enables Excadrill to sweep entire teams, allowing it to OHKO Dragapult, Melmetal, and Urshifu-R at +2 with Earthquake. Iron Head, on top of being a STAB move, OHKOes Weavile and Tapu Lele while 2HKOing Clefable, whereas Rock Slide hits Zapdos and Pelipper while OHKOing Volcarona. Rapid Spin lets Excadrill remove entry hazards like Stealth Rock and Spikes, which is particularly notable due to the lack of spinblockers that can stomach Earthquake in the tier, its ability to not activate Defiant from Defog punishers such as Galarian Zapdos and Bisharp, and the moveset flexibility it provides to teammates like Zapdos and Tornadus-T. Rapid Spin also boosts its Speed, letting it sweep without sand and outspeed Zeraora and Dragapult at +1 in conjunction with a Jolly nature. Leftovers heals off chip damage from hazards, allowing Excadrill to take hits from the likes of Dragapult and Weavile in a pinch while checking Electric-types like Tapu Koko and Zapdos without Heat Wave more effectively, whereas Air Balloon lets it set up on Ground-types like specially defensive Garchomp, opposing Excadrill, and Hippowdon in addition to making it immune to Spikes.
Team Options
========
Excadrill is mainly used on sand teams due to its ability Sand Rush, letting it sweep much more easily and provide valuable speed control for sand teams. Tyranitar is an exemplary teammate for Excadrill, as it reliably sets up sand with Sand Stream and can support it in a variety of ways depending on its set; Choice Band variants help pressure stall teams that depend on Corviknight or Skarmory to stave off Excadrill while pressuring shared checks like Buzzwole against other structures, while specially defensive sets help wear down checks like Corviknight, Skarmory, Rotom-W, and Buzzwole with Stealth Rock and status from Thunder Wave or Toxic. Alternatively, Hippowdon is another solid sand setter, allowing Excadrill to fit on bulkier archetypes due to it being a bulky Ground-type with reliable recovery and access to Stealth Rock. Ferrothorn pairs extremely well with Excadrill, as it is a Steel-type that can check threats like Weavile and Tapu Lele, compensating for Excadrill's inability to reliably check those threats due to its lack of bulk. Ferrothorn also provides entry hazard support with Stealth Rock or Spikes, and it can remove items from the likes of Corviknight, Skarmory, and Buzzwole with Knock Off while being one of the better checks in the tier to Rotom-W. Clefable's Magic Guard ability makes it immune to sand chip damage and a good switch-in to Scald users like Slowbro and Gastrodon while also being another option to set Stealth Rock; in return, Excadrill threatens checks to Clefable like Galarian Slowking and Melmetal. Zapdos threatens checks like Slowbro, Buzzwole, Corviknight, and Skarmory for Excadrill, takes hits from Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom and can wear down bulky Ground-types that can trade with Excadrill in a pinch, such as Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Garchomp; in exchange, Excadrill threatens Weavile and Tapu Lele, and its Rapid Spin allows Zapdos to run moves like Heat Wave and Toxic instead of Defog. Tornadus-T aids Excadrill by removing Heavy-Duty Boots and Leftovers from checks like Zapdos, Rotom-W, and Landorus-T, while Excadrill can use Rapid Spin to remove Stealth Rock that Tornadus-T despises without Heavy-Duty Boots, letting it run Assault Vest or Nasty Plot sets. Tapu Lele threatens Rotom-W and Buzzwole, prevents Excadrill from being hit by Weavile's Ice Shard and Urshifu-R's Aqua Jet, offers Future Sight support, and is a solid form of speed control outside of sand if running a Choice Scarf set. In return, Excadrill threatens checks to Tapu Lele such as Heatran and Galarian Slowking. Urshifu-R threatens Landorus-T and Ferrothorn as well as being able to revenge kill Blaziken with Aqua Jet, which can easily tear through sand teams, while Excadrill can threaten Urshifu-R's checks like Clefable and Toxapex. Moreover, they can wear down Slowbro, Corviknight, and Skarmory together.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Excadrill can opt for a Choice Band with Earthquake, Iron Head, Rock Slide, and Rapid Spin, which lets it 2HKO Zapdos outright and 2HKO Ferrothorn and Slowbro after slight chip damage; however, it doesn't appreciate being Choice-locked. Excadrill can also function as a suicide lead, holding a Focus Sash with a moveset of Earthquake, Rapid Spin, Steel Beam, and Stealth Rock, though Landorus-T and Mew typically function better as suicide leads. Excadrill can use Mold Breaker to ignore Levitate on Rotom-W, Unaware on Quagsire, and Multiscale on Dragonite, though it is very niche otherwise. This set is usually specially defensive to check Fairy-types like Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele more effectively, but it is not recommended due to its severe lack of longevity.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Bulky Water-types**: Slowbro can tank hits from Excadrill even after a Swords Dance and can threaten it with Scald or Body Press. Rotom-W is immune to Earthquake, resists Iron Head, and doesn't mind taking Rock Slide while threatening to OHKO Excadrill with Hydro Pump.
**Bulky Ground-types**: Landorus-T takes hits from Excadrill reasonably well thanks to Intimidate, Hippowdon's great natural bulk lets it eat hits from Excadrill, and both of them can threaten it with Earthquake in retaliation.
**Faster Threats**: Threats like Dragapult, Blacephalon, Garchomp, and Urshifu-R all outspeed Excadrill outside of sand and can OHKO it.
**Priority Moves**: Choice Band Urshifu-R can OHKO Excadrill with Aqua Jet after slight chip damage, Rillaboom can OHKO it with Grassy Glide either at +2 or with a Choice Band, and Weavile can take out Excadrill with Ice Shard if it is at very low HP.
**Non-Ground-weak Steel-types**: Corviknight and Skarmory are immune to Earthquake and don't take much damage from Rock Slide. In addition, they can also threaten Excadrill with Body Press. Ferrothorn can use Leech Seed on Excadrill and use attacking moves like Power Whip and Body Press to deal good damage, though it struggles to switch in on +2 Excadrill. Air Balloon Heatran is immune to Earthquake, takes little damage from Excadrill's other moves, and can OHKO it with Magma Storm.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gambit_gamin.652656/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/slowpoke-fan.617219/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/veti.612907/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
Excadrill is a strong sand sweeper thanks to its incredible ability in Sand Rush that allows it to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame under sand, great Ground / Steel typing that aids it offensively and defensively, and access to Swords Dance and Rapid Spin, with the latter helping Excadrill sweep when sand is not set up. Rock Slide also gives Excadrill incredible coverage, enabling it to hit checks like Zapdos and Pelipper. However, as Pokemon like Slowbro and Buzzwole possess the physical bulk to take its moves even after a Swords Dance and threaten it back with their STAB moves, while Pokemon like Corviknight, Skarmory, and Rotom-W can stonewall Excadrill due to their defensive typings. Moreover, even though Excadrill possesses an incredible defensive typing, its lackluster bulk hampers it severely, leaving it weak to a wide variety of Pokemon.
[SET]
name: Sand Sweeper
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Iron Head / Rock Slide
move 4: Rapid Spin
item: Leftovers / Air Balloon
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Thanks to its high Attack stat further bolstered by Swords Dance, solid offensive typing, and access to Sand Rush, Excadrill functions as an extremely dangerous sand sweeper. Swords Dance enables Excadrill to sweep entire teams, allowing it to OHKO Dragapult, Melmetal, and Urshifu-R at +2 with Earthquake. Iron Head, on top of being a STAB move, OHKOes Weavile and Tapu Lele while 2HKOing Clefable, whereas Rock Slide hits Zapdos and Pelipper while OHKOing Volcarona. Rapid Spin lets Excadrill remove entry hazards like Stealth Rock and Spikes, which is particularly notable due to the lack of spinblockers that can stomach Earthquake in the tier, its ability to not activate Defiant from Defog punishers such as Galarian Zapdos and Bisharp, and the moveset flexibility it provides to teammates like Zapdos and Tornadus-T. Rapid Spin also boosts its Speed, letting it sweep without sand and outspeed Zeraora and Dragapult at +1 in conjunction with a Jolly nature. Leftovers heals off chip damage from hazards, allowing Excadrill to take hits from the likes of Dragapult and Weavile in a pinch while checking Electric-types like Tapu Koko and Zapdos without Heat Wave more effectively, whereas Air Balloon lets it set up on Ground-types like specially defensive Garchomp, opposing Excadrill, and Hippowdon in addition to making it immune to Spikes.
Team Options
========
Excadrill is mainly used on sand teams due to its ability Sand Rush, letting it sweep much more easily and provide valuable speed control for sand teams. Tyranitar is an exemplary teammate for Excadrill, as it reliably sets up sand with Sand Stream and can support it in a variety of ways depending on its set; Choice Band variants help pressure stall teams that depend on Corviknight or Skarmory to stave off Excadrill while pressuring shared checks like Buzzwole against other structures, while specially defensive sets help wear down checks like Corviknight, Skarmory, Rotom-W, and Buzzwole with Stealth Rock and status from Thunder Wave or Toxic. Alternatively, Hippowdon is another solid sand setter, allowing Excadrill to fit on bulkier archetypes due to it being a bulky Ground-type with reliable recovery and access to Stealth Rock. Ferrothorn pairs extremely well with Excadrill, as it is a Steel-type that can check threats like Weavile and Tapu Lele, compensating for Excadrill's inability to reliably check those threats due to its lack of bulk. Ferrothorn also provides entry hazard support with Stealth Rock or Spikes, and it can remove items from the likes of Corviknight, Skarmory, and Buzzwole with Knock Off while being one of the better checks in the tier to Rotom-W. Clefable's Magic Guard ability makes it immune to sand chip damage and a good switch-in to Scald users like Slowbro and Gastrodon while also being another option to set Stealth Rock; in return, Excadrill threatens checks to Clefable like Galarian Slowking and Melmetal. Zapdos threatens checks like Slowbro, Buzzwole, Corviknight, and Skarmory for Excadrill, takes hits from Grass-types like Kartana and Rillaboom and can wear down bulky Ground-types that can trade with Excadrill in a pinch, such as Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Garchomp; in exchange, Excadrill threatens Weavile and Tapu Lele, and its Rapid Spin allows Zapdos to run moves like Heat Wave and Toxic instead of Defog. Tornadus-T aids Excadrill by removing Heavy-Duty Boots and Leftovers from checks like Zapdos, Rotom-W, and Landorus-T, while Excadrill can use Rapid Spin to remove Stealth Rock that Tornadus-T despises without Heavy-Duty Boots, letting it run Assault Vest or Nasty Plot sets. Tapu Lele threatens Rotom-W and Buzzwole, prevents Excadrill from being hit by Weavile's Ice Shard and Urshifu-R's Aqua Jet, offers Future Sight support, and is a solid form of speed control outside of sand if running a Choice Scarf set. In return, Excadrill threatens checks to Tapu Lele such as Heatran and Galarian Slowking. Urshifu-R threatens Landorus-T and Ferrothorn as well as being able to revenge kill Blaziken with Aqua Jet, which can easily tear through sand teams, while Excadrill can threaten Urshifu-R's checks like Clefable and Toxapex. Moreover, they can wear down Slowbro, Corviknight, and Skarmory together.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Excadrill can opt for a Choice Band with Earthquake, Iron Head, Rock Slide, and Rapid Spin, which lets it 2HKO Zapdos outright and 2HKO Ferrothorn and Slowbro after slight chip damage; however, it doesn't appreciate being Choice-locked. Excadrill can also function as a suicide lead, holding a Focus Sash with a moveset of Earthquake, Rapid Spin, Steel Beam, and Stealth Rock, though Landorus-T and Mew typically function better as suicide leads. Excadrill can use Mold Breaker to ignore Levitate on Rotom-W, Unaware on Quagsire, and Multiscale on Dragonite, though it is very niche otherwise. This set is usually specially defensive to check Fairy-types like Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele more effectively, but it is not recommended due to its severe lack of longevity.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Bulky Water-types**: Slowbro can tank hits from Excadrill even after a Swords Dance and can threaten it with Scald or Body Press. Rotom-W is immune to Earthquake, resists Iron Head, and doesn't mind taking Rock Slide while threatening to OHKO Excadrill with Hydro Pump.
**Bulky Ground-types**: Landorus-T takes hits from Excadrill reasonably well thanks to Intimidate, Hippowdon's great natural bulk lets it eat hits from Excadrill, and both of them can threaten it with Earthquake in retaliation.
**Faster Threats**: Threats like Dragapult, Blacephalon, Garchomp, and Urshifu-R all outspeed Excadrill outside of sand and can OHKO it.
**Priority Moves**: Choice Band Urshifu-R can OHKO Excadrill with Aqua Jet after slight chip damage, Rillaboom can OHKO it with Grassy Glide either at +2 or with a Choice Band, and Weavile can take out Excadrill with Ice Shard if it is at very low HP.
**Non-Ground-weak Steel-types**: Corviknight and Skarmory are immune to Earthquake and don't take much damage from Rock Slide. In addition, they can also threaten Excadrill with Body Press. Ferrothorn can use Leech Seed on Excadrill and use attacking moves like Power Whip and Body Press to deal good damage, though it struggles to switch in on +2 Excadrill. Air Balloon Heatran is immune to Earthquake, takes little damage from Excadrill's other moves, and can OHKO it with Magma Storm.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gambit_gamin.652656/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/slowpoke-fan.617219/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/veti.612907/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
