Pokémon Dragapult

[The Squash]

Dragapult

Base Stats: 88 HP | 120 Atk | 75 Def | 100 SpA | 75 SpD | 142 Spe

Abilities: Clear Body | Infiltrator | Cursed Body (H)

All Moves

Level Up Moves:
- [00] Dragon Darts
- [01] Dragon Darts
- [01] Dragon Breath
- [01] Sucker Punch
- [01] Astonish
- [01] Infestation
- [01] Quick Attack
- [01] Bite
- [06] Lock-On
- [12] Assurance
- [18] Hex
- [24] Agility
- [30] Double Hit
- [36] U-turn
- [42] Dragon Dance
- [48] Phantom Force
- [54] Take Down
- [63] Dragon Rush
- [70] Double-Edge
- [78] Last Resort

TMs:
- [TM06] Fly
- [TM08] Hyper Beam
- [TM09] Giga Impact
- [TM11] Solar Beam
- [TM14] Thunder Wave
- [TM17] Light Screen
- [TM18] Reflect
- [TM21] Rest
- [TM23] Thief
- [TM24] Snore
- [TM25] Protect
- [TM30] Steel Wing
- [TM31] Attract
- [TM37] Beat Up
- [TM38] Will-O-Wisp
- [TM39] Facade
- [TM40] Swift
- [TM41] Helping Hand
- [TM45] Dive
- [TM55] Brine
- [TM56] U-turn
- [TM58] Assurance
- [TM76] Round
- [TM77] Hex
- [TM78] Acrobatics
- [TM86] Phantom Force
- [TM99] Breaking Swipe

TRs:
- [TR01] Body Slam
- [TR02] Flamethrower
- [TR03] Hydro Pump
- [TR04] Surf
- [TR08] Thunderbolt
- [TR09] Thunder
- [TR12] Agility
- [TR15] Fire Blast
- [TR19] Tri Attack
- [TR20] Substitute
- [TR24] Outrage
- [TR26] Endure
- [TR27] Sleep Talk
- [TR29] Baton Pass
- [TR33] Shadow Ball
- [TR47] Dragon Claw
- [TR51] Dragon Dance
- [TR62] Dragon Pulse
- [TR83] Ally Switch
- [TR84] Scald
- [TR97] Psychic Fangs

Egg Moves:
- Curse
- Grudge
- Confuse Ray
- Double Team
- Disable
- Dragon Tail
- Sucker Punch

By tutor:
- Draco Meteor

[Notable Moves]
- Dragon Darts
- Dragon Dance
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Dragon Pulse
- Phantom Force
- Hex
- Shadow Ball
- Curse
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder
- Flamethrower
- Fire Blast
- Will-o-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Psychic Fangs
- Sucker Punch
- Baton Pass
- U-Turn

[New Move]

Dragon Darts

50 BP
100% Accuracy
16 PP

The user attacks twice using Dreepy. If there are two targets, this move hits each target once.

No added effects.

[Pros]
- Extremely good speed tier, being the third fastest pokemon available in-game.
- Great offensive typing, with good STAB moves on both the physical and special end.
- A pretty expansive movepool with good special coverage, decent physical coverage, and some setup and utility.
- Clear Body and Infiltrator are two incredibly good abilities that aid Dragapult in sweeping.

[Cons]
- Physical movepool is lacking outside of STAB moves.
- While 100 base special attack is serviceable, it leaves a bit to be desired.

[Dynamaxing Potential]
- Dragapult makes a good candidate for Dynamaxing thanks to its strong offenses and ability to wall-break and sweep.
- Physical variants will likely use dynamax for a Ghost STAB more reliable than Phantom Force.

[Potential Sets]

Dragapult @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body / Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature / Adamant Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- Psychic Fangs / Sucker Punch
- U-turn

Dragon Darts is a powerful STAB that doesn't have the downside of causing confusion like Outrage, while also breaking through Focus Sashes. Phantom Force can cost you some momentum, but it can also be used to your advantage by allowing you to essentially skip one of an opponent's dynamaxing turns. Psychic Fangs lets you deal significant damage to Toxapex, while Sucker Punch lets you pick up the KO on boosted sweepers or other speedy Pokemon. U-Turn is used to generate momentum and can also break Focus Sashes. This set can be dynamxed to give Dragapult extra power and be able to use moves its not locked into, but it does lose the attack boost from the Choice Band.

Dragapult @ Choice Specs / Life Orb
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower / Thunderbolt
- U-turn / Thunderbolt

Another basic set for Dragapult, this time taking advantage of its strong special attack and movepool. Draco Meteor and Shadow Ball are powerful STAB, while the other slots are more customizable. Fire Blast is able to achieve some KOs that Flamethrower can't, like OHKOing Ferrothron and Excadrill with Life Orb. Choice Specs allows for more wall breaking power, guaranteeing the OHKO on Ferrothorn with Flamethrower. Thunderbolt allows Dragapult to OHKO Gyarados and lets it break through bulky water-types such as Toxapex. I think U-Turn is the best last move, since it lets you keep up momentum, but Thunderbolt is also good for previously stated reasons.

Dragapult @ Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Clear Body / Infiltrator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- Thunderbolt / Flamethrower / Fire Blast
- U-turn

This set allows Dragapult to take advantage of its strong physical attack and diverse special movepool. It 2HKOs Ferrothorn with Flamethrower and can OHKO uninvested Gyarados with Thunderbolt when holding a Life Orb. Alternatively, an EV spread of 28 Atk / 228 SpA / 252 Spe with a Focus Sash can guarantee the OHKO on Gyarados with Thunderbolt, though it does lose the guaranteed KO on Hydreigon with Dragon Darts. I'm not as sure about the last move for this set, but U-turn is generally good to keep up momentum. I'm sure that having both Fire and Electric coverage would still be good though.

[Concluding Thoughts]
Overall Dragapult has a ton of options beyond what I wrote. I could potentially see it setting up Dragon Dance and sweeping with dynamax, passing Dragon Dance boosts with Baton Pass, or even being a screen setter that uses its great ultility moves. Regardless of what it runs, I think this thing will definitely be one of the most used pokemon this generation.

 

[1_TrickPhony]

I've been playing a lot of Showdown ladder, and Dragapult has been one of the most consist mons for me thus far. Going into Sword and Shield, I knew I wanted to try and use Eject Pack as a pseudo u-turn, and with Dracopult's blistering speed tier, he is definitely the most potent abusers of this strat.

Without further ado, here is the set I've been rocking
Dragapult @ Eject Pack
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 12 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Draco Meteor
- Will-O-Wisp
- Curse

The point of this Dragupult is to help set up a potent sweeper and kill the weaker targets. Like Gengar last gen (who's EVs I've borrowed), this pokemon is one of the best surprise wispers, helping you take down players who mindlessly DD in front of you. And when you are weakened, you can either pivot out with Draco Meteor, saving it for late game, or curse to bring out your sweeper without it getting hit on the switchin.

 

[Solerme]

@ Light Clay
Ability: Cursed Body / Infiltrator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn / Will-O-Wisp
- Curse / Will-O-Wisp
- Reflect
- Light Screen

Superb speed matched with great tools to support the team. The set is pretty straight forward: you set the screens and get out with Curse or U-Turn.
Cursed Body is a great ability to have, but WoW Infiltrator can be awesome at times.

@ Haban Berry / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Baton Pass
- Will-O-Wisp / Substitute
- Dragon Darts

Its decent type and, as already said, superb speed makes it a good DD passer. Clear Body prevent passing negative boosts.
Set up and pass stuff.

 

[lordkira]

I've been seeing TONS of scarf dragapults (most being with dragon darts, phantom force, u-turn, sucker punch). And I think most are speed+ nature. It's insane how the meta is all about speed tie war, especially amongst dragapults (and going as far as scarfed jolly-natured sucker punch) but it seems like quite a few people want to win that mirror matchup. Just pointing what I've been seeing (and honestly...disgusted by it) I've observed.

 

[Theorymon]

Dragapult is EVERYWHERE on cart right now! It's a pretty big threat so far, here's what I've been mostly seeing!

1: Dragon Dance + Sash

Yeah believe it or not, as of reaching Ultra Ball tier, I've been mostly seeing Sash DDers. These are no joke: they tend to be excellent sweepers, especially when Gigantamaxed. I realize haivng Sash on a Gigantamaxer might be silly, but it gives Dragapult enough of a damage boost to be a threat.

2: A lot of Dragapult use Steel Wing

Yeah Steel Wing, silly move right? Not when Dragapult Dynamaxes! Not only does Max Steelspike do a ton to Fairy-types, it also makes Dragapult harder to revenge kill with priority. In particular, in late game, this REALLY helps against Mimikyu's Shadow Sneak! I've been seeing Steel Wing on a pretty large variety of Dragapult: I've mostly seen it on Choice Band, but they also seem to appear on Dragon Dance sets as well.

3: A Lack of Special sets

Shockingly enough, while I've certainly seen Dragapult with Fire-type attacks, I haven't really seen any all out Special Attackers yet, which surprises me a lot! This could easily be something that changes as the metagame progresses on cart, but so far, it's mostly physical attackers of some sort.

 

[BIG BM]

Dragapult’s main strength lies in the amount of sets you need to consider at team preview, rather than going through teams like a thousand degree knife vs. butter you’ve left out on the counter for a couple of hours. Unless the opponent gives you a tell (like switching draga in on ferro is telling you it might have fblast) your guesses as to what set it’s running could be fatal. That’s why I think Master Ball rank players are calling it ‘gaekkul’ - something that’s really, really strong, and people will come to realise just how strong it is (Kelojolly pointed out the term to me on the Discord).
I can’t really add much else in terms of sets - a lot of the common ones have been posted already - but I think as time goes on, Dragapult that play a more supportive role will see a rise in usage, especially the use of curse. It lets Draga annoy fat boys and sets up quite nicely for your own dmax mon.

 

[Solerme]

3: A Lack of Special sets

Shockingly enough, while I've certainly seen Dragapult with Fire-type attacks, I haven't really seen any all out Special Attackers yet, which surprises me a lot! This could easily be something that changes as the metagame progresses on cart, but so far, it's mostly physical attackers of some sort.

This is actually a suprise because on showdown it seems that the special set is the main one, it's interesting when you see the differences between cart and ps

 

[NoStatusPlz]

not much else to say except that this thing is completely broken. Ridiculous base stats for something usable on cartridge and so many different sets there is no way to tell what's coming, it even can dynamax if it wants.

 

[Solerme]

not much else to say except that this thing is completely broken. Ridiculous base stats for something usable on cartridge and so many different sets there is no way to tell what's coming, it even can dynamax if it wants.

You have to wait to truly say what's broken and what's not honestly. The meta needs to adapt, then we will see.
This being said, Dragapult feels like it's going to be solid even after people realize what to do.

 

[Theorymon]

This is actually a suprise because on showdown it seems that the special set is the main one, it's interesting when you see the differences between cart and ps

Oh yeah an update on this: After I got to Master Ball Tier, I started seeing WAY more of them. I still see more physical, but special is clearly a lot more common on the high ladder than low ladder on cart. From what I saw, Special tends to run similar items to the non DDers, so Scarf / Specs / Life Orb mostly.

 

[NoStatusPlz]

You have to wait to truly say what's broken and what's not honestly. The meta needs to adapt, then we will see.
This being said, Dragapult feels like it's going to be solid even after people realize what to do.

What do you think is the proper way to deal with it? It can outspeed your scarf with its own, outspeed almost anything unscarfed and hit hard with a different choice item and then dynamax to switch, it can set screens, it can inflict status with wisp/curse, it even gets u-turn. What do you propose as the correct way to handle seeing dragapult come out in 3s? It's much more managable in 6s but not in this format.

 

[Solerme]

What do you think is the proper way to deal with it? It can outspeed your scarf with its own, outspeed almost anything unscarfed and hit hard with a different choice item and then dynamax to switch, it can set screens, it can inflict status with wisp/curse, it even gets u-turn. What do you propose as the correct way to handle seeing dragapult come out in 3s? It's much more managable in 6s but not in this format.

First thing first keep in mind that Specs Draco Meteor non-dmax dragapult ohkos dmax dragapult (at least for now since there are just standard 252/252 evs spread around).
But since 50/50s aren't win conditions, let's try to figure out something.

- Dragapult's movepool is huge, but on the special side the damage output it's not that impressive when it fires off non-stab stuff. What does this mean? That most of the times another Dmax sweeper, specially the ones which can boost their speed while dmax'd such as Gyarados, would have the upper edge in the 1v1, specially with items such as Wacan berry or Figy berry.

- On the physical side the movepool isn't as wide and it can be stalled by some mons, such Snorlax. Leading to a scenario where your oppo's wasted his dmax and you didn't.

- Dmax vs Dmax Mimikyu beats it most of the times in the 1v1, barring when you switch in into a dmax steel move from draga which boosts its Defense (it is still rare). Without Dmax it helps in stalling the 3 turns.

It is not an easy mon to stop, but when you know its set it looks much more easier to deal with it, because Draga's main strenght is that it is hard to predict.

So tl;dr:

- Draga sweeps though teams due to its wide movepool, but isn't the best in the 1v1 dmax vs dmax.
- It has a lot of options/sets, but when you find out which one is it it will be easier to deal with it.
- Don't just hope to beat it randomly throwing in stuff and saying to yourself "maybe it's not that set", scout as much as you can and then fight back.
- If you don't have a team that's bulky enough to do that, just straightly use the opposing Dragapult as a chance to Dmax and setup.

It is hard to deal with Dragapult but it's not impossible and people tend do waste the dmax on it, meaning that if you manage to make a plan work vs that, you'd have the upper hand afterwards.

 

[lordkira]

Dragapult@weakness policy
Clear Body
Jolly nature
252atk / 252spe / 4 whatever
- dragon darts
- phantom force
- fly
- steel wing

This thing is godsend if you are willing to use Dynamax on it. With Dynamax it can take some hit and if you can run its weakness policy well in conjunction with steel wing to boost defense and/or fly to boost speed, it becomes a deadly sweeper that is nigh unbeatable. The biggest problem is that it is REALLY dependent on Dynamax and your ability properly use weakness policy. It’s a fun and strong set imo

 

[cant say]

I’ve found this thing pretty overwhelmingly good so far, to the point that a lot of the teams I’ve been building get a Grimmsnarl thrown on at the end, but those struggle against the less common Wisp or Steel Wing sets. You can run a Lum or Babiri Berry depending on the set you’re most scared of, but I’ve been liking Sitrus myself.

Curse Snorlax is also really nice. Even if it gets burned, it will always win the 1v1 with Darkest Lariat (quick) / Earthquake (slow), and then you can have Facade in the back to nuke stuff.

(AV) Mamo is also probably nice, I haven’t tried it yet but that’s been a reliable Dragon killer since gen 4, and it looks good on paper in this format.


That being said, I am really missing Porygon2 and Tapu Fini atm...

 

[Ika Ika Musume]

I’ve found this thing pretty overwhelmingly good so far, to the point that a lot of the teams I’ve been building get a Grimmsnarl thrown on at the end, but those struggle against the less common Wisp or Steel Wing sets. You can run a Lum or Babiri Berry depending on the set you’re most scared of, but I’ve been liking Sitrus myself.

Curse Snorlax is also really nice. Even if it gets burned, it will always win the 1v1 with Darkest Lariat (quick) / Earthquake (slow), and then you can have Facade in the back to nuke stuff.

(AV) Mamo is also probably nice, I haven’t tried it yet but that’s been a reliable Dragon killer since gen 4, and it looks good on paper in this format.


That being said, I am really missing Porygon2 and Tapu Fini atm...

Just a note that you can substitute vs. Dragapult which avoids at least WoW if it doesn't WoW on switch and puts the Dragapult in a bad position.

Tapu Fini and Porygon2 and Celesteela, those amazingly annoying defensive mons would be fantastic in this metagame.

 

[JabbaTheGriffin]

This is on just about every team right now but I'm finding it quite underwhelming (to both use and play against). There's also a ton of Mimikyu and most Drag sets are just a liability against it. Seems like the core four right now is Drag/Mimikyu/Rotom-H/Excadrill and I definitely wouldn't want to bring my own Drag against that. Maybe it comes down to finding the right set because it has so many viable sets that it's hard to nail down what's optimal. I'm thinking you want to lean special since its movepool on that side is a lot better (especially if we see ferrotox become core). Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if this starts to dip down in usage a bit as most people I play who both have it and bring it in their three typically get rolled by whatever I bring so I think people are going to start to sour on it a bit.

 

[Theorymon]

I've been liking Specs Dragapult myself, hell I don't even use U-turn on it (even though that's a good idea), I'm just using Draco Meteor / Shadow Ball / Thunderbolt / Fire Blast. This may just be a more team spefic thing for myself, but I really like that Specially based Dragapult tends to bust through Galarian Corsola, Ferrothorn, AND Corviknight, who seem to be the most common defensive Pokemon at the moment. It is a bit weak against more offensive stuff, so I might try Life Orb or Expert Belt later, since Ebelt probabyl deals with those defensive threats just fine (and also is less at risk from Cursed Body from Corsola lol).

I also saw someone in the top 300 use a Wisp + Hex set against me. Gotta admit, it did horribly screw up my Mimikyu! Now granted, Im pretty sure even a burned Mimikyu hits Dragapult pretty hard, so you'd have to pair it with something that can tank its attacks anyways.

I also notcied a few teams in master ball tier using what appeared to be Weakness Policy Dragapult with Steel Wing. They had Dragon Darts and Phantom Force as well, not sure what the last move was (maybe U-turn / Sucker Punch / Dragon Dance?). Basically, these Dragapult Dynamax against super effective stuff, and can usually tank physically based stuff (especially from Mimikyu) due to a defense boost from Steel Wing! I'm pretty interested in trying that set later!

I agree with jabba that I expect Dragapult usage to calm down later, because the Mimikyu problem is pretty big for most sets, and unless you're weakness policy, I don't find Dragapult to be THAT effective of a Dynamaxer. Still, I wonder if later on there will be a shift more towrads Dragapult sets that aren't quite as vulnerable to Mimikyu.

 

[1_TrickPhony]

I've been liking Specs Dragapult myself, hell I don't even use U-turn on it (even though that's a good idea), I'm just using Draco Meteor / Shadow Ball / Thunderbolt / Fire Blast. This may just be a more team spefic thing for myself, but I really like that Specially based Dragapult tends to bust through Galarian Corsola, Ferrothorn, AND Corviknight, who seem to be the most common defensive Pokemon at the moment. It is a bit weak against more offensive stuff, so I might try Life Orb or Expert Belt later, since Ebelt probabyl deals with those defensive threats just fine (and also is less at risk from Cursed Body from Corsola lol).

I also saw someone in the top 300 use a Wisp + Hex set against me. Gotta admit, it did horribly screw up my Mimikyu! Now granted, Im pretty sure even a burned Mimikyu hits Dragapult pretty hard, so you'd have to pair it with something that can tank its attacks anyways.

I also notcied a few teams in master ball tier using what appeared to be Weakness Policy Dragapult with Steel Wing. They had Dragon Darts and Phantom Force as well, not sure what the last move was (maybe U-turn / Sucker Punch / Dragon Dance?). Basically, these Dragapult Dynamax against super effective stuff, and can usually tank physically based stuff (especially from Mimikyu) due to a defense boost from Steel Wing! I'm pretty interested in trying that set later!

I agree with jabba that I expect Dragapult usage to calm down later, because the Mimikyu problem is pretty big for most sets, and unless you're weakness policy, I don't find Dragapult to be THAT effective of a Dynamaxer. Still, I wonder if later on there will be a shift more towrads Dragapult sets that aren't quite as vulnerable to Mimikyu.

From my post above, I have used a lot of wisp-hex, its a dope set! Disclaimer tho: corsola actually walls clear body draga with bulky wisp hex, found that out the hard way on ladder today. That little ghost chicken mcnugget is a bitch to deal with, and strength sap is actually broken.

 

[mie11004]

I bet that Dragapult will get Shadow Claw, given that it already gets Dragon Claw, and there's typically some movepool expansions with the release of every game. Sort of like how Blastoise did get Shell Smash, even if it took a few generations since the move's debut. I think it'll get Crunch, too, given that it gets Bite and Psychic Fangs, but somehow not Crunch in this release. Still, I was thinking of personally going for a mixed set, given that 100 base Sp.Atk still seems nice, and it does get Shadow Ball, as well as some real nice special moves like Surf, Thunderbolt, and Flamethrower. At least, that'd be for singles. Meanwhile, for doubles, I could see Phantom Force actually being pretty good, given the popularity of Protect.

And I don't think Dragapult really needs Dragon Dance with that nutty base speed. At least, in more cases than not. I'm not sure if it'd have much use for Psychic Fangs, either.