Dragon-types in the SS OU metagame. A small view on Garchomp, Dragapult, and Kyurem!
Hello, guys, as the title says, I want to talk about the Dragons in SS OU, as they really left their mark in the SS OU metagame, with a ton of different and viable sets; Garchomp, Dragapult, and Kyurem are all scary Dragons to deal with, moreover Kyurem left its mark on the OU metagame again and is back on track within OUs finest and most viable Pokemon.
First of all, I want to talk about our favorite Landshark in
This Dragon has the magnificent dual typing in Dragon and Ground, with plenty of coverage options, that it can use to carry itself even versus the strongest Steel-types in Corviknight and the recent rising Skarmory. Its sweeping set is one of the most powerful sets in the OU metagame, leaving its mark in the lategame, when every opposing Pokemon is weakened. It has the Speed tier to find setup opportunities, as its Speed hits a 333 with Jolly nature and 252 Speed.
Garchomps wide movepool makes it so it can run plenty of viable sets; setup sweeper, mixed attacker, tankchomp, and even with its regular ability in Sand Veil it found itself on sand teams.
The best set in my opinion is the setup one with a pseudo-Dragon Dance in Swords Dance + Scale Shot, which can be used to dent through teams in the later game, with being able to even overcome the sturdiest Pokemon. Furthermore Scale Shot even though it drops its defense by 1 Stage it, in return, gains the +1 in Speed, which makes it harder to deal with. Checks are the Steel-type birds in Corviknight and Skarmory, Landorus-T, and offensie Grass-types such as Rillaboom, which can dent through it with a strong Grassy Glide due to the defense drop. I would call Garchomp one of the most scary sweepers in the metagame right now with cementing itself easily as one of the best Pokemon overall, as it was and is even discussed by some people to go into the S Rank of the SS OU Viability Rankings.
The Set:
Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Scale Shot / Fire Fang
The second Dragon in
, while having a weird concept with shooting its tiny Dreepys like Projectiles at its enemies, has clearly left an impact in the SS OU metagame, its Speed tier alone sets it apart from most Pokemon, as it has a 421 Speed, only being outpaced by Zeraora naturally. Its great dual typing in Ghost / Dragon including strong coverage- and utility-options gives it the edge over most Pokemon in the metagame.
It profits from plenty of viable sets, from Choice Specs to Hex all the way along to even Sub-variants with Sub+Dragon Darts or even Sub+Dragon Dance with Phantom Force and Dragon Darts. Its best set currently is in my opinion its Choice Specs set, which can be utilized however one wishes.
Flamethrower can be used to deal with annoying Steel-types such as Corviknight, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Magnezone, whereas Shadow Ball and Draco Meteor provide a very strong dual-STAB combination. It can even utilize Hex on this set, to demolish teams weakened by status conditions, which makes it very scary to handle. However, Dragapult still has its enemies in Zeraora, which by itself is 1 point faster, Mandibuzz, Blissey, and the recent rising Weavile, as it has strong priority in Ice Shard, but ultimatevly this Dragon is one of the scariest wallbreaker in the metagame with its Choice Specs set, as Shadow Ball offers itself to be a very great spammable move.
The Set:
Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Hex / Flamethrower
If you feel a chillin' cold on the battlefield, you know who has entered to freeze its whole surrounding, it is our strong Ice / Dragon in
. This freezing cold Dragon also left a huge impact, while it was UU for a decent amount of time, it climbed back into the OverUsed tier with its strong Dual-type and its strong stats making it one of the best Pokemon in the tier. It cements itself among the best, as Ice-STABs are always one of the best spammable moves overall and Kyurem forces switches and with it offensive pressure on the opposition is easily given. Rocking great sets with a wide variety ranging from Choice Specs to Sub+Roost all the way to Dragon Dance with Icicle Spear, all these sets have their own individual great potential.
Choice Specs, in my opinion, is one of the best sets as with Ice Beam + Freeze-Dry being spammable moves its very dangerous and threatening to deal with, alongside its great coverage in Focus Blast and Earth Power, and if you will Draco Meteor is still one of the hardest hitting moves in the entire game in conjunction with a boost given by Choice Specs. Kyurem is able to hit a wide range of Pokemon with the said Ice-type STAB and its coverage-options. Where even special walls such as Slowking, Blissey, and Toxapex aren't safe. The same goes to Steel-types such as Magnezone and Melmetal. However, Scizor can give it a bit of trouble, especially the full specially defensive Scizor version, but in overall there only a few Pokemon left, which can reliably switch into Kyurem, making it a fearsome breaker in the OU metagame.
The Set:
Kyurem @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power / Draco Meteor
- Focus Blast
These 3 Dragons established themselves as one of the best Pokemon to use in the metagame right now, which all can serve different purposes for a team, as they have a wide move choice option resulting into great different sets and with that being said, I think we will see more of them in the future, as Dragon-type Pokemon fare really well in the metagame currently and these 3 Pokemon will always have a top place in the OU metagame even in the future!
Thanks for reading and have a great day y'all and have fun trying out these dragons, I can definitely guarantee, it is 100% worth it!