OU Tyranitar Can't Do It Alone

[MiracleWhipz]

Tyranitar Needs YOUR() Help!

Hello everyone,

When I first got into GSC, one of the first teams I've played was the Nidoking + Gengar Offense sample team from the sample team thread. When I played the team, it felt very inconsistent and it still feels like that to this day. When reflecting back on why it felt so, I tried to remember which teams I lost to. Their were two types, Baton-Pass and teams with Curse Earthquake Snorlax. "Well, shouldn't I have just went to Tyranitar to regain stability?" That's when it hit me that--- Tyranitar isn't a good defensive phazer. Now of course this changes depending on which Tyranitar set you choose to grace your team. Something like a curse Tyranitar should help you well against a +1 Earthquake Snorlax, however the most common set- Rock Slide, Pursuit, Earthquake or Fire Blast, and Roar, gets worn down ridiculously fast by an Earthquake Snorlax. This makes Earthquake Snorlax a huge threat for the rest of your team if you do not have any counter measures. Tyranitar also fails to stop physical and special baton pass due to the recipients being able to hit Tyranitar for super effective damage (take Scizor for instance).

Tyranitar needs a second normal resistant partner or more support to help shoulder the load of its role because its additional roles and typing is at fault. The support for example: When I played the modern version of the Nidoking + Gengar Offense team, it stated in the description that thief had replaced Lovely Kiss on Nidoking because of RestTalk Snorlax becoming more common. When playing, I came to realize that the change actually hurts the team a lot more than it helps it. Tyranitar already handles mono-Normal Snorlax well, and removing Lovely Kiss removed Nidokings option to shut down Curse EQ Lax. Adding Lovely Kiss back to Nidoking made Curse + EQ Lax match up much more manageable as now I had the additional support needed to deal with the Earthquake Snorlax. For additional normal resist, Skarmory and Steelix come to mind. They can absorb toxic, take more abuse from BP recipients like Scizor, and allow Tyranitar to better focus its efforts on pursuiting ghost and other targets. I haven't seen much Golem, but I'd imagine its Rapid Spin would do wonders for Tyranitar's longevity. It seems this structure had gotten popular as the most consistent Tyranitar teams I see that are used in tournaments feature a second phazer for the road.

How do you feel about Tyranitar as the only normal resistant phazer on teams? Do you think Tyranitar delivers? Do you think Tyranitar struggles a bit? Let me know in the replies!

 

[Jorgen]

I feel like Ttar as the sole Phazer made a lot more sense in the pre-Golem era where Monolax was a lot more viable. I'd almost always pair Ttar with Rest + Cursetalk or even LK CurseLax, which importantly have the edge in the ditto vs. a Snorlax that opts for EQ coverage, and thus can function as part of your defensive plan against opposing Snorlax. Without that piece, Ttar is indeed a very wobbly defense.

 

[Big Thicc Blissey]

I agree with a lot of the points above.

I guess Ttar by virtue of it being a strong mon with lots of options makes some Lax (eq-less) swap just so they dont get cursed on/take a rock slide and nothing else really wants to take fireblast/crunch/pursuit etc etc etc.

Ttar is the best solo roar user that resists normal (golem/rhydon lose to hp water, steelix usually cannot threaten zap w/o exploding) so if you were going to use solo norm resist roar, ttar is the way, but having 2 is better

EDIT: Forgot Skarm, but since kou/zap/thorlax exist i think it disqualifies it as well

 

[MiracleWhipz]

I agree with a lot of the points above.

I guess Ttar by virtue of it being a strong mon with lots of options makes some Lax (eq-less) swap just so they dont get cursed on/take a rock slide and nothing else really wants to take fireblast/crunch/pursuit etc etc etc.

Ttar is the best solo roar user that resists normal (golem/rhydon lose to hp water, steelix usually cannot threaten zap w/o exploding) so if you were going to use solo norm resist roar, ttar is the way, but having 2 is better

EDIT: Forgot Skarm, but since kou/zap/thorlax exist i think it disqualifies it as well

I think Tyranitar is better than Rhydon 100%, but as a solo phazer I think Golem, Steelix, and Skarmory are better. Where Tyranitar and Golem are similar in that both come out during non-cursed Snorlax scenarios to use the utility granted to them, I feel Golem's is superior. I'm not saying pursuit is bad (or Tyranitar with Ice/Water coverage, that can be a real jumpscare for your opponent), but what makes Golem so great in my opinion is that its explosion and rapid spin provides the player with more outs if things really get out of hand.

One of these scenarios is the classic "Cloyster is in on a +2/+3 curse EQ Snorlax", where the best course of action normally is to blow up (or to force Snorlax to rest if Snorlax's health is low enough). In that scenario Snorlax is never dying, but that's where Golem comes in to blow up and create an opening for a strong special attacker like Zapdos to defuse the disaster occuring. Steelix's great physical bulk and explosion can emulate something similar, and Skarmory explains itself (just bring something like a Raikou in the team builder).