Supersonic Specter: National Dex OU Dragapult Coverage

By nimzowitsch and UT. Released: 2023/10/05.
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Art by Appletun a la Mode

Art by Appletun a la Mode.

Introduction

During its tenure in SV National Dex OU, Dragapult was one of the tier's most feared and defining Pokémon. Dragapult was blessed with possibly the best offensive statline of any pseudo-legendary Pokémon, wielding strong 120/100 offenses and clocking in at a blazing base 142 Speed. The rare Dragon / Ghost typing also gave it a unique set of resistances and immunities and granted it STAB on Ghost-type attacks, which few Pokémon resisted. Dragapult's movepool was similarly excellent, containing useful tools such as Dragon Dance, Dragon Darts, Shadow Ball, U-turn, Sucker Punch, Fire Blast, and Hydro Pump, although it notably lacked a strong and reliable physical Ghost STAB attack. In standard play, this lack of a good physical Ghost move often relegates it to relying primarily on its lower Special Attack. The popularity of the Choice Specs set in standard play is evidence of this fact. However, in National Dex, Z-Moves gave Dragapult a one-time Ghost-type physical nuke option, which greatly remedied its issue of lacking a good physical Ghost move. Z-Moves allowed Dragapult to run a considerably more threatening Dragon Dance set off its higher physical Attack stat, making it a potent setup sweeper. During the early history of Generation 9 National Dex OU, Kingambit was a defining presence in the tier that could leverage its great physical bulk and Dark/Steel typing to effectively check the Ghostium Z Dragon Dance set, easily dispatching Dragapult with Sucker Punch or trapping it with Pursuit. However, once Kingambit was banned, Dragapult lost a major check, and the Ghostium Z Dragon Dance set exploded in popularity. This set had very few effective checks, most of which could be muscled through or worn down over the course of a game. This fact, combined with the potency of Dragapult's alternative sets, rendered counterplay to Dragapult extremely difficult. As a result, the playerbase overwhelming supported a suspect test.

Sets

Dragon Dance

Dragapult

This was Dragapult's flagship set in National Dex and menaced a lethal sweep after checks such as Ting-Lu and Mega Tyranitar were weakened or removed. Ghostium Z was Dragapult's ace in the hole, removing Phantom Force's charge turn and transforming the otherwise mediocre attack into a 175-BP Never-Ending Nightmare, which let Dragapult blow through bulky Dragon-resists such as Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn after slight chip damage as well as immediately remove Fairy-types such as Tapu Lele and Mega Diancie. Dragon Darts was a reliable STAB move with high power and good neutral coverage against most of the metagame. Dragon Darts was also useful for weakening checks such as Ting-Lu early-game as they switched in. Substitute was the most common option in the last slot and helped ease setup by letting Dragapult avoid status from Pokémon such as Toxapex and Rotom-W and take advantage of switches. However, Sucker Punch was a niche alternative that gave Dragapult an advantage against opposing Dragapult. The rare Fire Blast dealt massive damage to bulky Steel-types such as Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn without forcing Dragapult to use its Z-Move. A Jolly nature ensured Dragapult outsped Mega Lopunny and Tapu Koko prior to setting up as well as guaranteed at worst a Speed tie against opposing Dragapult. However, an Adamant nature was also sometimes used for greater power. For example, an Adamant nature guaranteed that Dragon Darts will OHKO Mega Lopunny at +1 after Stealth Rock, which a Jolly nature could not accomplish. If Dragapult used Fire Blast, a Naive or Naughty nature with 4 SpA EVs was preferred. Clear Body was strongly recommended to avoid Attack drops from Intimidate users such as Landorus-T.

Choice Specs

Dragapult

The Choice Specs set was also highly potent, serving as a speedy wallbreaker. Ghost-type STAB is extremely spammable, and Tera Ghost turned up the heat even more. The Choice Specs set was especially effective against many physically defensive Pokémon that checked the Dragon Dance set such as Great Tusk and Dondozo. A Tera Ghost Shadow Ball gave Dragapult an excellent chance to 2HKO most Toxapex variants. Draco Meteor dealt huge damage to most Shadow Ball answers, OHKOing Mega Lopunny and Weavile and dealing over 50% to Garganacl. Tera Dragon enabled Dragapult to 2HKO even specially defensive Garganacl and slightly weakened Mega Tyranitar with consecutive Draco Meteors. U-turn racked up chip damage against checks such as Ting-Lu and Mega Tyranitar while providing momentum for teammates such as Iron Valiant or Sneasler. Flamethrower roasted bulky Steel-types, such as Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor, which otherwise took Dragapult's attacks decently, while Fire Blast could be used instead to secure an OHKO on Kingambit. Hydro Pump was another option that dealt massive damage to Ting-Lu or Garganacl. Infiltrator was the preferred ability to ensure that not even Light Screen or Aurora Veil from Alolan Ninetales or Tapu Koko could save the enemy team from Dragapult's wrath.

Hex

Dragapult

The Hex set traded immediate power for the ability to cripple its checks over the course of a game. Dragapult would use Will-O-Wisp to burn a check such as Ting-Lu or Kingambit (before its ban) as it switched in. Then, it could U-turn out of the unfavorable matchup, with the burn even allowing it to survive Kingambit's Pursuit. Hex reached an astounding 130 Base Power against status-afflicted targets and could be boosted even further with Tera Ghost. Alternatively, Tera Fairy could be used to further reduce damage from Pursuit users. Dragon Darts was a decently strong STAB move that did respectable damage to special attackers such as Mega Charizard Y and Iron Moth. This set was seen on slower teams compared to the first two sets and was especially effective if supported by other status inducers such as Sneasler. Infiltrator let Dragapult inflict burns even against targets behind a Substitute, which was essential to disrupt targets such as Iron Defense Zamazenta.

Other Options

On the Choice Specs set, other coverage moves such as Thunder occasionally saw use to help break through walls such as Toxapex and Tera Water Garganacl. Dragapult also sometimes ran Tera Fighting in conjunction with Tera Blast on both the Choice Specs and Dragon Dance (forgoing the Z-Move) sets, in order to gain a resistance to Sucker Punch and catch targets such as Kingambit and Mega Tyranitar off guard while dealing heavy damage to Ting-Lu. A Choice Band set was occasionally used for immediate power if a team already had another Z-Move user, but the sweeping potential of the Ghostium Z Dragon Dance set was generally more effective.

Playing Against Dragapult

During its time in National Dex OU, counterplay to Dragapult was limited due to the diversity and potency of its sets. Ting-Lu could stave off Dragpult's assault early-game, generating progress with hazards or Ruination as Dragapult switched out. However, Ting-Lu lacked reliable recovery and was prone to being worn down over the course of a game, especially if Dragapult carried U-turn as it so often did on Choice Specs sets. During the time it was allowed, many teams relied on Kingambit to check Dragapult, as Pursuit often put Dragapult in a checkmate situation. After Kingambit was banned, Garganacl was one of the safest answers to Dragapult, as its Purifying Salt ability not only halves the damage of incoming Ghost-type attacks but also makes it immune to status, thereby shutting down the Hex set. It could use Iron Defense to completely wall the Dragon Dance set while keeping itself healthy with Recover. The rare Choice Specs Hydro Pump scored a 2HKO against Garganacl, although Terastallization allowed Garganacl to once again turn the tables. To break through Garganacl, Dragapult usually would need to Terastallize, with Tera Dragon Draco Meteor on the Choice Specs set 2HKOing even specially defensive variants. However, Garganacl could itself Terastallize to Fairy to completely shut down Choice Specs Dragapult. Other Pokémon could check specific sets, although they could still lose to a surprise coverage move. Specially defensive Heatran or Toxapex, Clodsire, or Assault Vest Hisuian Samurott could check the Choice Specs set reasonably well. Dondozo, physically defensive Great Tusk, and Buzzwole could generally handle the Dragon Dance set. Nonetheless, Dragapult's versatility between sets as well as within sets made counterplay to it very difficult.

Pro-ban Reasoning

Dragapult's high offensive stats and wide movepool afforded it great set diversity. Against many teams (especially offensive teams), the sheer power of the Ghostium Z Dragon Dance set virtually forced at least one KO. This set was extremely difficult to revenge kill due to its insane Speed post-setup, as well as a resistance or immunity to many priority moves such as Dragonite's Extreme Speed, Mega Medicham's Fake Out, and Urshifu-R's Aqua Jet courtesy of its typing. It was not uncommon for slightly chipped offensive teams to outright lose to Dragapult if it was allowed to use Dragon Dance. The majority of its checks, such as Ting-Lu and Mega Tyranitar, lacked reliable recovery and were very prone to falling into range for its attacks late-game. Spikes or Stealth Rock support made it especially easy to wear down these checks, as none of Dragapult's best answers are Spikes immune. While it's true that Garganacl could effectively wall most Dragapult sets, it often needed to Terastallize to do so, which not only prevented its teammates from Terastallizing but also could induce weaknesses in a team's defensive core due to the type change. In any case, a Pokémon only having one reliable counter is generally not a sign of a healthy presence in the metagame.

Anti-ban Reasoning

Although the playerbase overwhelming favored a ban, there was a minority who thought Dragapult wasn't unhealthy for the metagame. Some argued that Dragapult offered speed control that kept a variety of dangerous offensive threats, such as Urshifu-R, in check. The anti-ban side also pointed out that Garganacl was a generally excellent Pokémon that also could effectively check almost all Dragapult sets. Ting-Lu was another Pokémon mentioned for its ability to check Dragapult while generating progress itself, with Terastal possibly enhancing its longevity. Finally, a few players also asserted that Pursuit from Mega Tyranitar or Weavile could trap and eliminate Dragapult. All of these options were generally strong Pokémon in the metagame outside of checking Dragapult. Furthermore, bulky teams could rely on cores of Regenerator, Unaware, and specially defensive Pokémon such as Toxapex, Dondozo, and Ting-Lu to keep multiple Dragapult sets in check through concerted means.

Verdict and Final Thoughts

When the votes were counted and the result announced, Dragapult was banned from National Dex OU with a 72.2 percent supermajority, which cleared the 60% threshold needed to ban a Pokémon from National Dex OU. When the result was revealed, most players were not surprised, as Dragapult had already been banned from National Dex in the previous generation for exactly the same reason (Ghostium Z Dragon Dance). It will be interesting to see how the metagame develops without Dragapult's presence. Many offensive mons threatened by Dragapult, such as Urshifu-R, Zamazenta, and Volcarona will likely see more use. Gholdengo is already a very controversial Pokémon in National Dex, and without Dragapult to keep it in check, some players are already pushing for a Gholdengo suspect.

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