- SS
- SV
Dracovish
In-battle formes
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| HP: | 90 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Attack: | 90 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defense: | 100 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sp. Atk: | 70 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sp. Def: | 80 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Speed: | 75 |
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Overview
At first glance, Dracovish's mediocre stats are unimpressive at best when compared to other Ubers Pokemon. However, it has one of the strongest moves in the game, Fishious Rend, and an incredible ability in Strong Jaw. These factors combined make it a potentially dangerous wallbreaker. Dracovish preys on common defensive staples such as Necrozma-DM, Blissey, and Ho-Oh with Fishious Rend. However, its weakness to status and lackluster defensive stats make it difficult to switch in and give it mediocre defensive utility, only really being able to check Kyogre and offensive Necrozma-DM in a pinch. This means that while Dracovish can be a scary wallbreaker against slower teams, it offers little utility against faster, more offensive teams. Finally, without any recovery, Dracovish is vulnerable to getting worn down quickly and needs to be played carefully to make use of its capability throughout the game.
Choice Item
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Fishious Rend is the primary source of Dracovish's power and OHKOes common defensive Pokemon such as specially defensive Necrozma-DM with Choice Band. Choice Band-boosted Outrage OHKOes specially defensive Eternatus, which can switch into Fishous Rend. Dracovish can choose to run Dragon Rush over Outrage on the Choice Band set, giving it a favorable chance to OHKO specially defensive Eternatus without locking it into Outrage. Psychic Fangs serves as a solid mid-ground attack, dealing heavy damage to Eternatus without fear of being locked into a move or missing. Crunch outdamages Roost on defensive Lunala, which Fishious Rend is unable to do, and prevents Shedinja from walling Dracovish. Strong Jaw gives a 1.5x damage boost to Fishious Rend, Crunch, and Psychic Fangs. Choice Band allows Dracovish to crush bulky teams and gives it OHKO potential against many threats, while Choice Scarf lets it outspeed defensive Pokemon such as Yveltal and defensive Eternatus, maintain Fishious Rend's power, and gain more opportunities to clean faster teams. An Adamant nature is crucial for certain damage rolls against its common checks such as Eternatus. On the other hand, a Jolly nature allows Dracovish to outspeed certain threats such as fast Eternatus and Jolly Marshadow with Choice Scarf or Sticky Web support.
Dracovish fits on teams that appreciate its wallbreaking abilities and can offer the necessary support for it to thrive. Kyogre's rain boosts Dracovish's power and reduces the need to predict, as even switch-ins like Eternatus cannot safely take Fishous Rend in rain; in return, Kyogre appreciates Dracovish taking advantage of Blissey and helping to overwhelm Water-resistant foes such as Eternatus and Ferrothorn. Pivot support is crucial for Dracovish; while it has decent bulk and a defensive typing, its lack of recovery and weakness to status make pivot support crucial to give Dracovish opportunities to wallbreak. As such, pivots like Teleport Blissey, U-turn Yveltal, and U-turn Landorus-T are great teammates for Dracovish. Clerics such as Calyrex-S, defensive Xerneas, and Blissey give Dracovish more leeway in absorbing status. Choice Band Dracovish should be used as a wallbreaker, specializing in defeating slower, bulkier teams. Therefore, a team with Choice Band Dracovish should be built to allow it multiple opportunities to break down defensive cores, and the player must use smart double switches and pivots to get in Dracovish against a Pokemon it is able to threaten. Due to Choice Band Dracovish's poor defensive profile and low Speed, it finds itself struggling to keep pace with faster, more offensive teams. As such, it appreciates fast teammates that can outspeed and beat offense teams, such as Choice Scarf Calyrex-S. Meanwhile, Choice Scarf Dracovish is better utilized as a strong cleaner. Lacking Choice Band's OHKO potential against bulkier teams, Choice Scarf Dracovish in particular appreciates other offensive teammates like Marshadow, Dragon Dance Zygarde, and Choice Specs Calyrex-S to break down defensive cores and entry hazard support, such as Spikes from Ferrothorn, to compensate the lack of power.
Other Options
A Sand Rush set running Earthquake instead of Psychic Fangs and Low Kick over Crunch can be used on dedicated sand teams to bypass Dracovish's low Speed. However, Sand Rush Dracovish requires a lot of support, and Dracovish on sand teams faces competition from Excadrill, making this set rather niche. Possible coverage options such as Low Kick and Ice Fang seem appealing at first, but Fishious Rend is nearly as strong as Low Kick and Ice Fang against targets such as Ferrothorn and Zarude, respectively.
Checks and Counters
Water-resistant Pokemon: Water-resistant foes such as Eternatus, Zarude, Ferrothorn, Giratina, and Zekrom make it difficult for Dracovish to make progress. Eternatus tanks Fishious Rend from both Choice Band and Choice Scarf sets without rain active and threatens Dracovish out with its Dragon-type STAB move. However, it must be wary of Dracovish's coverage options. Physically defensive Zarude and the rarer Tangrowth are the best Dracovish answers, but both can be overwhelmed by rain-boosted Fishious Rend, and rain also limits Zarude's ability to heal off repeated attacks. Ferrothorn and Giratina can take Choice Scarf Dracovish's attacks reasonably well, but they can get worn down by repeated attacks and overwhelmed by the raw power of Choice Band Dracovish, especially with rain support. Lunala, although not a Water-resistant Pokemon, can tank Choice Band-boosted Fishious Rend well due to Shadow Shield and threaten Dracovish back with crippling status. However, it must be wary of a Choice Band-boosted Crunch outdamaging Roost's recovery. Zekrom must watch out for Dracovish's Dragon-type STAB moves, but it is able to take Fishious Rend due to its typing and use Dracovish as a setup opportunity.
Residual Damage, Status, and Knock Off: Residual damage, status, and Knock Off cripple Dracovish. Residual damage from entry hazards, Rocky Helmet, Iron Barbs, and status greatly limits its longevity, which is made worse by Dracovish's lack of recovery and resistances to residual damage. Status ailments such as paralysis and burn cripple Dracovish's offensive capabilities, and they are commonly dished out by many of Dracovish's best targets, such as Ho-Oh and Necrozma-DM. Yveltal and Necrozma-DM can remove Dracovish's item with Knock Off, making it easier for Pokemon such as Eternatus to deal with it.
Faster Offensive Threats: Faster offensive threats such as Calyrex-S, Marshadow, offensive Eternatus, Choice Scarf Galarian Darmanitan, and Zekrom can use Dracovish as an opportunity to either wallbreak or set up. Hyper offense teams in particular deserve a mention, as Dracovish has very little utility against them except for stomaching one attack from Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM or Choice Specs Kyogre.
Credits
- Written by FatFighter2
- Quality checked by Fc and Manaphy
- Grammar checked by DC and Astra
