SS Monotype Spotlight: Dragapult

By Maple. Released: 2021/07/09.
« Previous Article Next Article »
SS Monotype Spotlight: Dragapult art

Art by Ticken.

Introduction

Meet Dragapult, the...Missile Launcher(?) of Monotype! Anyway, an amazing Speed tier, above average offensive stats along with its one-of-a-kind typing allow Dragapult to cement itself as a consistent offensive presence and a metagame-defining Pokémon of SS Monotype. Contrary to a majority of Pokémon, Dragapult can successfully sport a multitude of different sets, resulting it in its unpredictability while also allowing it to conveniently fit on a preponderance of Ghost and Dragon teams; this is evident by its sky-high usage, exceeding 90% on both Dragon and Ghost. Without further ado, let's dive right into Dragapult's brilliance within the tier, ranging from its most commonly used sets, its best teammates, and last but not least, countermeasures against Galar's pseudo-legend.

Traditional Sets

Dragon Dance

Dragapult

You can't get a more straightforward set than Dragon Dance Dragapult: setup and sweep! However, it's not as simple as it sounds. While Dragapult possesses above average Attack and Speed stats, its extremely limited physical movepool leaves much to be desired. Dragon Dance Dragapult is primarily used on Ghost teams as a late-game sweeper and proves to be extremely threatening against offensively oriented teams such as Electric, Fire, and Dragon, even forcing adaptations like Iron Defense Magnezone on Electric teams to deal with it. On the downside, it is easily dealt with by a majority of defensive walls such as Mandibuzz, Celesteela, and Ferrothorn, to name a few. Leftovers provides passive recovery, but Dragon Fang can be opted for thanks to the extra power it provides against defensive switch-ins like Toxapex. Substitute is crucial on Dragapult, as it blocks status moves from Pokémon such as Toxapex and Rotom-W. Infiltrator most notably helps against prominent Substitute users like Kyurem and Galarian Moltres. On the other hand, Clear Body prevents any Speed drops from Sticky Web and Attack drops from Intimidate, enhancing Dragapult's ability as a reliable late-game sweeper.

Choice Scarf (Physical)

Dragapult

What do you get when you throw a Choice Scarf on a Missile Dragon? That's right, you get the fastest Pokémon in the tier. Choice Scarf Dragapult reaches a sky-high Speed stat with this item, allowing it to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame and some other prominent threats like Excadrill under sand, Kingdra under rain, and slower Choice Scarf users such as Tapu Lele and Latias. Choice Scarf Dragapult is prominent on Dragon teams and continues to surge in usage as it is a significant asset in the mirror Dragon-type matchup. U-turn allows Dragapult to function as a reliable offensive pivot and generate momentum for its teammates, while Will-O-Wisp helps cripple both offensive and defensive threats to Dragapult in the form of Bisharp, Ferrothorn, and Celesteela. Infiltrator is the ability of choice, as it allows Dragapult to deal with prominent and threatening Substitute users in the form of Kyurem and Kommo-o while also ignoring Reflect, Light Screen, and Aurora Veil. However, Dragapult's limited physical movepool leaves players craving for more coverage options.

Choice Scarf (Special)

Dragapult

Similar to the previous set, this Choice Scarf set also makes use of Dragapult's stratospheric Speed stat, except this time it takes advantage of its great special STAB and coverage moves. Specially offensive Choice Scarf Dragapult primarily differentiates itself from its physical counterpart thanks to its reliable Ghost-type STAB move in Shadow Ball, which helps it in matchups like Psychic and Ghost. Draco Meteor is Dragapult's strongest Dragon-type STAB move and dishes out large amounts of damage. Fire Blast provides extra coverage and hits Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Celesteela, which otherwise comfortably switch in to Dragapult. Dragon Darts is sometimes used as a more reliable Dragon-type STAB option than Draco Meteor to pick off weakened threats without a Special Attack drop, which significantly helps in the Dragon matchup. However, the extra coverage provided by Fire Blast is appreciated more often than not. U-turn allows Dragapult to act as a great offensive pivot on expected switch-ins while maintaining offensive pressure. Besides, who doesn't like to pivot around with U-turn!

Choice Specs

Dragapult

Despite Dragapult's base 100 Special Attack being average at best, at the beginning of SS Monotype, Choice Specs was the go-to Dragapult set on both Ghost and Dragon, and rightfully so. Choice Specs naturally complemented Dragapult's access to a range of coverage options along with its great STAB options in Shadow Ball and Draco Meteor. While admittedly the usage of Choice Specs Dragapult has declined significantly since the beginning of SS Monotype, which could be attributed to types like Steel and Flying retaining their immunities to Fire and Electric, respectively, Choice Specs Dragapult makes an occasional appearance on Dragon and Ghost teams and sees respectable usage in Monotype's prominent tournaments: MPL, MWP, and MWCOP. Unlike any of the other sets, Choice Specs Dragapult provides a means of counterplay against Steel teams, mostly due to Fire Blast. At the same time, Thunderbolt aids greatly in the Water and Flying matchups, two of the more prominent and consistent types in the current metagame. While U-turn can be opted for in lieu of Thunderbolt, allowing Dragapult to function as a reliable offensive pivot on expected switch-ins while maintaining offensive momentum, the additional coverage provided by Thunderbolt proves to be too advantageous to sacrifice.

Hex

Dragapult

The final Dragapult set takes a unique approach on an otherwise completely offensive Pokémon and makes use of Dragapult's amazing Speed tier to reliably spread burns and cripple physical attackers in the process. Therefore, Hex pairs up exceptionally well and takes advantage of its ability to spread burns to deal double damage. Substitute is ideal to exploit passive Pokémon like Toxapex, Blissey, and Slowking while also protecting it from troublesome status moves. While Dragon Darts is considered to be the more reliable option due to its higher accuracy, Draco Meteor is generally preferred more due to its higher damage output, despite the downside of forcing Dragapult out more often than not due to the crippling Special Attack drop. Hex Dragapult works exceptionally well against types like Fighting that heavily rely on physical attackers and types such as Ground and Flying outside of Moltres that lack a reliable status absorber. Outside of that, Hex Dragapult proves to be extremely threatening to bulkier and more defensive teams. A Hasty nature is recommended along with Dragon Darts to prevent reduction of damage output from either attacking move at the cost of some Defense.

Cores

Ghost

Dragapult Gengar Mimikyu Aegislash

Unsurprisingly, Ghost features one of the most offensive cores within the metagame, and as a result, regardless of what set it sports, Dragapult fits right in! All the members of the core cover each other's weaknesses, mostly thanks to their typings. As Dragon Dance is its most commonly used set on Ghost teams, Dragapult appreciates Gengar, Mimikyu, and Aegislash being able to dent Steel-types with Focus Blast, Drain Punch, and Close Combat, respectively. Gengar also provides a much needed Toxic Spikes absorber, which mitigates the team's weakness to entry hazards, while also taking care of troublesome Fairy-types like Tapu Lele for Dragapult. Offensive Aegislash further improves this offensive core, and, depending on which set it runs, it can successfully cover a range of different matchups, and most importantly, similarly to Gengar, take care of Fairy-types such as Alolan Ninetales that threaten Dragapult. Mimikyu pairs up well with the aforementioned trio thanks to its Fairy typing, letting it comfortably deal with Dark-types like Hydreigon that threaten the rest of the core.

Dragon

Dragapult Dragalge

Naturally, Dragapult and Dragalge synergize extremely well on Dragon teams due to their types. Dragalge provides a reliable switch-in against Fairy type attacks directed at Dragapult from the likes of Tapu Fini, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Koko while also being able to bring Dragapult safely into the field with a slow Flip Turn. Furthermore, Dragalge also provides Toxic Spikes support, crippling both offensive and defensive Pokémon alike and wearing them down for Dragapult's Dragon Dance sets to take advantage of. Dragapult's Hex set also takes advantage of Toxic Spikes laid down by Dragalge. In return, Dragapult takes care of Psychic-types that threaten Dragalge due to its Poison typing and is also able to take advantage of passive Pokémon like Blissey that deal with Dragalge.

Dragapult Kyurem Kommo-o Latias

This features Dragapult in one of Dragon's most successful and prominent offensive cores, where all Pokémon complement each other extremely well, covering each other's weaknesses to great effect. Kyurem, easily considered to be one of the best Pokémon in the Monotype metagame, single-handedly eases matchups like Water, Ground, Flying, and Grass for the rest of the offensive core. On the other hand, Kommo-o deals with the Dark- and Steel-type matchups, which are otherwise an uphill battle for Dragon teams, while Dragapult in return aids greatly against Psychic-types that threaten Kommo-o. Lastly, Latias rounds off the core, acting as a reliable Choice Scarf user, allowing Dragapult to opt for one of it's other sets. Latias also provides much needed hazard removal and Healing Wish support which complement the rest of the offensive core perfectly. Latias' Psychic-typing also allows it to deal with Poison-type threats such as Galarian Weezing. All in all, this core can and will easily overpower a majority of the defensive cores within the tier. However, it is worth noting that, while this core is excellent against defensive Pokémon, it may struggle against most well-played offensive cores. Due to the significant lack of defensive synergy in this core, it can easily be overpowered by faster threats like Choice Scarf Tapu Lele.

Counterplay

While it is true that playing against Dragapult seems daunting at first, it is by no means impossible to deal with or a broken aspect within the metagame. Its typing leaves it vulnerable to a multitude of types, including priority moves in Sucker Punch, Ice Shard, and Shadow Sneak, and its middling defensive stats balance Dragapult's great offensive factors perfectly and prevent it from being an overpowering Pokémon within the tier. During battle, it is crucial to figure out which Dragapult set your opponent has opted for, as it allows you to strategize your game plan effectively. Faster revenge killers and Choice Scarf users can successfully overpower any non-Choice Scarf Dragapult set. On top of this, its vulnerability to entry hazards and lack of recovery takes a toll on Dragapult in the long run.

Conclusion

Dragapult has been a significant offensive presence within the SS Monotype metagame since its debut in the Pokémon world, regardless of which set it utilizes. So, get out there and make sure to try out these sets if you already haven't and maybe even come up with some new amazing sets that are yet to be discovered!

HTML by Ryota Mitarai.
« Previous Article Next Article »