Gen 7 Godzilla (Tyranitar) [GP 0/1]

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Deranged_Lime

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[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 4 onwards

**Price Range**: 13-14 points

**Overview**: With the stellar Sand Stream ability and a near-limitless movepool, Tyranitar has a lot going for it. A massive Attack stat combined with great STAB moves and coverage as well as solid defenses boosted further by the sand it summons allows it to easily hit the field and dish out huge damage. Alternatively, it can act as support for its team, whether it be setting up Stealth Rock, simply summoning sandstorms for teammates such as Excadrill or wielding a fierce Pursuit to trap and eliminate foes. But Tyranitar is not immovable, as its typing also grants it many weaknesses, including a x4 weakness to Fighting-type moves. Vulnerability to all forms of entry hazards and status does not help, which when combined with its low speed requiring it to take extra hits, leaves it worn down rather quickly. Finally, it faces competition from Gigalith, an alternate user of Sand Stream that is much cheaper and has fewer weaknesses thanks to a pure Rock typing.


[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Support**: Using its high natural defenses and a good supporting movepool with options such as Taunt and Thunder Wave, Tyranitar finds lots of opportunities to help out its teammates. Its a fantastic user of Stealth Rock that can threaten many users of Defog to continually set it up over the course of a game.

**Wallbreaker**: 134 Attack along with powerful STAB moves in Stone Edge and Crunch lets Tyranitar wallbreak effectively. Choice Band is usually the item of choice, boosting its damage to ridiculous levels and helping it break through Fighting-types. The sand it summons and entry hazard chip damage help to push its targets into more favourabe KO ranges.

**Special Lure**: Wielding 95 Special Attack and a large special movepool with options such as Ice Beam and Fire Blast, Tyranitar makes for an excellent lure for physically defensive foes such as Landorus-T and Ferrothorn that attempt to tank its usual physical assault.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Crunch, Pursuit, Dark Pulse

**Setup Moves**: Dragon Dance, Rock Polish, Curse, Power-Up Punch

**Utility Moves**: Substitute, Dragon Tail, Protect, Roar, Stealth Rock, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Toxic

**Coverage**: Aerial Ace, Aqua Tail, Avalanche, Brick Break, Earthquake, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Iron Head, Iron Tail, Low Kick, Superpower, Thunder Punch, Earth Power, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Focus Blast, Ice Beam, Surf, Thunderbolt

Niche Moves
========
**Rock Tomb**: A weaker STAB move that is more accurate and has the benefit of dropping the Speed stat of the foe, helping to offset Tyranitar's low Speed or slowing them down for its teammates.

**Counter**: Tyranitar often invites many Super Effective hits due to a somewhat compromised defensive typing, however it usually has the bulk to live many of them. This can enable Counter as a retaliation attack, baiting opponents to hit it hard with physical attacks and often returning a KO.

**Foul Play**: When choosing to invest in its incredible defensive stats as opposed to its Attack stat, Tyranitar can opt to run Foul Play as a STAB attack, taking advantage of powerful opposing Pokemon's Attack stats while tanking their attacks in return.

Common Items
========
**Smooth Rock**: Often used for the benefit of its team rather than itself, Tyranitar can use Smooth Rock to extend the duration of sandstorms to enable deadly sand sweepers.

**Chople Berry**: A nasty x4 weakness to Fighting-type moves paints a very big target on Tyranitar's back. A Chople Berry combined with its impressive bulk can allow to survive even through such a big weakness and retaliate.

**Assault Vest**: With an already impressive Special Defense stat boosted further by sandstorms, Assault Vest can be used to increase it even further, allowing Tyranitar to live many Special Attacks, even ones that are Super Effective.

**Leftovers**: This aims to give Tyranitar some extra longevity due to lacking reliable recovery. The nature of being immune to its own sandstorms allows it to continue healing whilst most of its foes will not or simply take extra chip damage. As a result, this can combo very well with Protect.

**Choice Band**: If there's no need for other utility items, Choice Band can be used to boost Tyranitar's Attack to even greater heights. The spammable nature of its STAB moves helps to get around the move lock limitation.

Niche Items
========
**Choice Scarf**: An inviting item due to its low Speed stat, Tyranitar can use this to get the jump on many of its foes. This combos well with Pursuit, ensuring the target is punished or KO'd no matter what they do.

**Other Resistance Berries**: Other resist berries aside from Chople Berry can be used to give Tyranitar an extra turn against certain foes. Shuca, Passho and Rindo Berries are some examples that aim to allow it to tank one of the many Super Effective attacks often aimed at it.

**Pinch Berries**: Lacking reliable recovery and often surviving even powerful attacks leaves Tyranitar as a good candidate for using Pinch Berries, giving it a massive burst of health when activated.

**Life Orb**: Life Orb allows Tyranitar to reliably boost its damage whilst being able to switch moves. This sees great use on mixed or special sets which otherwise would not benefit as much from other boosting items such as the considerably more risky Choice Specs.

**Weakness Policy**: With the bulk needed to live Super Effective attacks and many natural weaknesses, Tyranitar can make use of Weakness Policy to either slam a target in retaliation or attempt to sweep after also acquiring enough boosts to its Speed stat.

**Eject Button**: This allows Tyranitar to quickly get the sand up and immediately pivot out, after taking damage, to teammates that benefit from it such as Excadrill, allowing them to hit the field safely and quickly.

**Lum Berry**: Tyranitar may find itself facing status moves such as Toxic and Will-O-Wisp that can end up crippling it, giving Lum Berry a small niche by allowing Tyranitar to cure itself once.

Draft Strategy
========
Tyranitar is a powerhouse that can fulfill many roles on a team, whether it be throwing out massive damage or allowing its teammates to do the same, primarily through its Sand Stream ability that pairs very well with sand sweepers. That being said, it has a few but glaring shortcomings that require appropriate support in order to get the most out of it.

**Excadrill**: Tyranitar and Excadrill make perfect partners, with Tyranitar providing endless support alongside the obvious Sand Stream for Excadrill to take advantage of, where it uses doubled speed alongside its massive attack stat to sweep the opposition.

**Defensive Synergy**: Especially if it is drafted alongside Excadrill, which shares the same weaknesses, Tyranitar's many common weaknesses should be accounted for through the use of Pokemon that can cover them effectively, such as Tapu Fini, Rotom-Wash and Uxie.

**Fast Attackers**: As a naturally slow Pokemon, Tyranitar appreciates teammates other than Sand Rush sweepers that have naturally high Speed stats to handle faster Pokemon that threaten it. Pokemon such as Mega Lopunny, Tornadus-T and Tapu Koko boast superb Speed stats that allow them to get the jump on many foes.

**Entry Hazard Removal**: Being vulnerable to all entry hazards, Tyranitar can find itself worn down quickly throughout a game, and thus appreciates hazard removal to allow it clean entry onto the field. Excadrill yet again provides great synergy in this role, though may struggle to fit the move if it goes all out as a sweeper, thus alternate options such as Blastoise and Tentacruel can provide reliable hazard removal instead.

**Sand-resistant Teammates**: Sandstorm will be almost always present when Tyranitar is used, so its a good idea to draft teammates that can handle this often damaging weather condition. This constitutes a wide array of Pokemon, with offensive partners in Garchomp and Kartana who won't be easily worn down whilst on the field, as well as defensive partners in Skarmory and Reuniclus, who boast amazing defensive utility that isn't held back by sandstorms.

Checks and Counters
========
**Fighting-type Pokemon**: Resisting both of its STAB types and hitting it for x4 Super Effective damage, Fighting-types are the bane of Tyranitars existence. Keldeo, Mega Gallade and Infernape can switch into one or both of Tyranitar's STAB attacks and easily force it out.

**Faster Physically Offensive Foes**: Being naturally slow, Tyranitar finds itself often outspeed and forced out by a myriad of faster foes that often boast Super Effective coverage. Naturally faster Pokemon such as Kartana threaten Tyranitar on their own, while others such as Zeraora outspeed it even at +1 Speed.

**Weather Changing Strategies**: Tyranitar and its teammates often rely on the sand it provides, leading opponents to try and shut it down by changing the weather. Torkoal and Pelipper, while weak to Rock-type STAB attacks, can naturally change the weather simply by switching in, whilst manual setters can utilize Rain Dance or Sunny Day to shut off the sand and leave Tyranitar more vulnerable to Special Attacks.

**Residual Damage**: Entry hazards threaten to hurt Tyranitar every time it hits the field, on top of the fact that it is vulnerable to all types of status, from burns to poison, all of which can compromise its health despite its great bulk. Hazard setters such as Skarmory and status spreaders such as Rotom-Wash can be a great source of irritation for Tyranitar.

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Last edited:
[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 3 4 onwards

**Price Range**: 13-14 points

**Overview**: With unique typing, the stellar Sand Stream ability and a near-limitless movepool, Tyranitar has a lot going for it. A massive Attack stat combined with solid defenses boosted further by the sand it summons allows it to easily hit the field and dish out huge damage, threatening everything in its path with a powerful STAB combination and the coverage needed slam its resists. Alternatively, it can act as support for its team, whether it be setting up Stealth Rock, simply summoning sandstorms for teammates such as Excadrill or wielding a fierce Pursuit to trap and eliminate foes. But contrary to its Godzilla-like appearance, Tyranitar is not immovable, as its typing also grants it many weaknesses, including a x4 weakness to Fighting-type moves. It is also slow, leaving it outpaced by many foes and often forced out. Finally, it is vulnerable to all forms of entry hazards and status, which when combined with its low speed requiring it to take extra hits, leaves it worn down rather quickly. Mention how It faces tough competition with the much cheaper Gigalith as a sand setter


[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Support**: Using its high natural defenses and a good supporting movepool with options such as Taunt and Thunder Wave, Tyranitar finds lots of opportunities to help out its teammates. Its a fantastic user of Stealth Rock that can threaten many users of Defog to continually set it up over the course of a game.

**Wallbreaker**: 134 Attack and Rock/Dark typing gives Tyranitar highly spammable STAB moves in Stone Edge and Crunch, allowing it to wallbreak effectively. Choice Band is usually the item of choice, boosting its damage to ridiculous levels. The sand it summons and entry hazard chip damage help to push its targets into more favourabe KO ranges.

**Pursuit Trapper**: Tyranitar is one of the best users of Pursuit in the game. While slow, it has a much higher Attack stat than other users of the move and can easily switch into many foes threatened by it such as Latias and Latios. A Choice Scarf is recommended on this set, allowing Tyranitar to outpace and punish its foes whether they switch out or not.

**Set-up Sweeper**: Set-up moves in Dragon Dance and Rock Polish combined with a massive movepool make Tyranitar a dangerous win condition. A naturally low Speed stat leaves it wanting to acquire as many boosts as possible in order to outpace all of its foes. One should be cautious and scout out potential opposing Choice Scarf Pokemon as they may still outpace Tyranitar even after setting up.

**Special Lure**: Wielding 95 Special Attack and a large special movepool with options such as Ice Beam and Fire Blast, Tyranitar makes for an excellent lure for physically defensive foes such as Landorus-T and Ferrothorn that attempt to tank its usual physical assault.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Crunch, Payback, Pursuit, Dark Pulse

**Setup Moves**: Dragon Dance, Rock Polish, Curse, Hone Claws, Power-Up Punch

**Utility Moves**: Dragon Tail, Roar, Stealth Rock, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Toxic Add Substitute, Protect

**Coverage**: Aerial Ace, Aqua Tail, Avalanche, Brick Break, Earthquake, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Iron Head, Iron Tail, Low Kick, Superpower, Thunder Punch, Earth Power, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Focus Blast, Ice Beam, Surf, Thunderbolt

Niche Moves
========
**Rock Tomb**: A weaker STAB move that is more accurate and has the benefit of dropping the Speed stat of the foe, helping to offset Tyranitar's low Speed or slowing them down for its teammates.

**Block/Whirlpool**: An alternate form of trapping than Pursuit, Tyranitar can potentially trap a desirable target and eliminate them from the match. Block is fully accurate unlike Whirlpool, which can also damage the opponent and help KO them faster. This feels a bit too niche since the mons ttar wants to trap are already weak to pursuit

**Sandstorm**: While it seems pointless to run Sandstorm on a Pokemon whose ability automatically summons it, it may be favourable to run it for the purpose of winning weather wars against opposing weather setters, allowing Tyranitar to maintain its sand without having to switch. This works even better if running the Smooth Rock item to extend its duration. TTar is a bit too slow to run this Idea reliably

**Counter**: Tyranitar often invites many Super Effective hits due to a somewhat compromised defensive typing, however it usually has the bulk to live many of them. This can enable Counter as a retaliation attack, baiting opponents to hit it hard with physical attacks and often returning a KO.

Add Foul Play for physically defensive sets

Common Items
========
**Choice Band**: A go-to item that boosts Tyranitar's Attack to even greater heights. The spammable nature of its STAB moves helps to get around the move lock limitation.

**Choice Scarf**: An inviting item due to its low Speed stat, Tyranitar can use this to get the jump on many of its foes. This combos well with Pursuit, ensuring the target is punished or KO'd no matter what they do.

**Smooth Rock**: Often used for the benefit of its team rather than itself, Tyranitar can use Smooth Rock to extend the duration of sandstorms to enable deadly sand sweepers.

**Assault Vest**: With an already impressive Special Defense stat boosted further by sandstorms, Assault Vest can be used to increase it even further, allowing Tyranitar to live many Special Attacks, even ones that are Super Effective.

**Leftovers**: This aims to give Tyranitar some extra longevity due to lacking reliable recovery. The nature of being immune to its own sandstorms allows it to continue healing whilst most of its foes will not or simply take extra chip damage. As a result, this can combo very well with Protect.

**Chople Berry**: A nasty x4 weakness to Fighting-type moves paints a very big target on Tyranitar's back. A Chople Berry combined with its impressive bulk can allow to survive even through such a big weakness and retaliate.

Niche Items
========
**Resist Berries**: Other resist berries aside from Chople Berry can be used to give Tyranitar an extra turn against certain foes. Shuca, Passho and Rindo Berries are some examples that aim to allow it to tank one of the many Super Effective attacks often aimed at it.

**Super Pinch Berries**: Lacking reliable recovery and often surviving even powerful attacks leaves Tyranitar as a good candidate for using Super Berries, giving it a massive burst of health when activated.

**Life Orb**: Life Orb allows Tyranitar to reliably boost its damage whilst being able to switch moves. This sees great use on mixed or special sets which otherwise would not benefit as much from other boosting items such as the considerably more risky Choice Specs.

**Weakness Policy**: With the bulk needed to live Super Effective attacks and many natural weaknesses, Tyranitar can make use of Weakness Policy to either slam a target in retaliation or attempt to sweep after also acquiring enough boosts to its Speed stat.

Draft Strategy
========
Tyranitar is a powerhouse that can fulfill many roles on a team, whether it be throwing out massive damage or allowing its teammates to do the same, primarily through its Sand Stream ability that pairs very well with sand sweepers. That being said, it has a few but glaring shortcomings that require appropriate support in order to get the most out of it.

**Sand Sweeping Teammates**: Tyranitar summons sand simply by entering the battle, granting easy access to sandstorms for its teammates to take advantage of. Excadrill is the prime sand sweeper of choice, though other options such as Stoutland and Lycanroc can also be considered.

**Defensive Synergy**: Adding to the above, Tyranitar often overlaps weaknesses with sand sweeping Pokemon such as Water, Ground and Fighting. These common weaknesses should be accounted for through the use of Pokemon that can cover them effectively, such as Slowbro, Rotom-Wash and Uxie. Replace It with Fini since Slowbro is not drafted enough to be used as an examole

**Fast Attackers**: As a naturally slow Pokemon, Tyranitar appreciates teammates other than Sand Rush sweepers that have naturally high Speed stats to handle faster Pokemon that threaten it. Pokemon such as Mega Lopunny, Tornadus-T and Tapu Koko boast superb Speed stats that allow them to get the jump on many foes.

**Entry Hazard Removal**: Being vulnerable to all entry hazards, Tyranitar can find itself worn down quickly throughout a game, and thus appreciates hazard removal to allow it clean entry onto the field. Excadrill yet again provides great synergy in this role, though may struggle to fit the move if it goes all out as a sweeper, thus alternate options such as Blastoise and Tentacruel can provide reliable hazard removal instead.

**Teammates that can handle Sandstorms**: Sandstorm will be almost always present when Tyranitar is used, so its a good idea to draft teammates that can handle this often damaging weather condition. Naturally immune Pokemon such as Garchomp or Clefable on top of Regenerator Pokemon such as Slowbro and Slowking make for Pokemon that can stick around even in perpetual sandstorms. Instead of mentioning the regen synergy which feels very niche, divide this into offensive and defensive partners that are unaffected by the sand, like Garchomp and Kartana for offensive and Skarmory and Reuniclus for defensive.

Checks and Counters
========
**Fighting-type Pokemon**: Resisting both of its STAB types and hitting it for x4 Super Effective damage, Fighting-types are the bane of Tyranitars existence. Keldeo, Mega Gallade and Infernape can switch into one or both of Tyranitar's STAB attacks and easily force it out.

**Faster Offensive Foes**: Being naturally slow, Tyranitar finds itself often outspeed and forced out by a myriad of faster foes that often boast Super Effective coverage. Naturally faster Pokemon such as Serperior and Mega Medicham threaten Tyranitar on their own, while others such as Kartana may also wield a Choice Scarf, allowing them to revenge kill even Speed boosting sets.

**Weather Changing Strategies**: Tyranitar and its teammates often rely on the sand it provides, leading opponents to try and shut it down by changing the weather. Torkoal and Pelipper, while weak to Rock-type STAB attacks, can naturally change the weather simply by switching in, whilst manual setters can utilize Rain Dance or Sunny Day to shut off the sand and leave Tyranitar more vulnerable to Special Attacks.

**Residual Damage**: Entry hazards threaten to hurt Tyranitar every time it hits the field, on top of the fact that it is vulnerable to all types of status, from burns to poison, all of which can compromise its health despite its great bulk. Hazard setters such as Ferrothorn and status spreaders such as Toxapex can be a great source of irritation for Tyranitar. For Hazards setters use Skarmory as an example and for residual damage use Rotom-Wash for status.

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QC 1/2
 
qc 2/2
add remove comments
[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 4 onwards

**Price Range**: 13-14 points

**Overview**: With unique typing, the stellar Sand Stream ability and a near-limitless movepool, Tyranitar has a lot going for it. A massive Attack stat combined with great STAB moves and coverage as well as solid defenses boosted further by the sand it summons allows it to easily hit the field and dish out huge damage, threatening everything in its path with a powerful STAB combination and the coverage needed slam its resists. Alternatively, it can act as support for its team, whether it be setting up Stealth Rock, simply summoning sandstorms for teammates such as Excadrill or wielding a fierce Pursuit to trap and eliminate foes. But contrary to its Godzilla-like appearance, Tyranitar is not immovable, as its typing also grants it many weaknesses, including a x4 weakness to Fighting-type moves. It is also slow, leaving it outpaced by many foes and often forced out. basically covered in the next sentence Vulnerability to all forms of entry hazards and status does not help, which when combined with its low speed requiring it to take extra hits, leaves it worn down rather quickly. Finally, it faces competition from Gigalith, an alternate user of Sand Stream that is much cheaper and has fewer weaknesses thanks to a pure Rock typing. removed some fluff since this overview was really long


[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Support**: Using its high natural defenses and a good supporting movepool with options such as Taunt and Thunder Wave, Tyranitar finds lots of opportunities to help out its teammates. Its a fantastic user of Stealth Rock that can threaten many users of Defog to continually set it up over the course of a game.

**Wallbreaker**: 134 Attack and Rock/Dark typing gives Tyranitar highly spammable along with powerful STAB moves in Stone Edge and Crunch, i wouldnt call them spammable - edge is very unreliable and it doesnt do much to fighting types, which do a ton back to it allowing it to lets Tyranitar wallbreak effectively. Choice Band is usually the item of choice, boosting its damage to ridiculous levels and helping it break through Fighting-types. The sand it summons and entry hazard chip damage help to push its targets into more favourabe KO ranges. can mention pursuit here if you want

**Pursuit Trapper**: Tyranitar is one of the best users of Pursuit in the game. While slow, it has a much higher Attack stat than other users of the move and can easily switch into many foes threatened by it such as Latias and Latios. A Choice Scarf is recommended on this set, allowing Tyranitar to outpace and punish its foes whether they switch out or not. this is pretty common on most sets anyway, doesn't really need to be its own set imo (scarf is mentioned later anyway)

**Set-up Sweeper**: Set-up moves in Dragon Dance and Rock Polish combined with a massive movepool make Tyranitar a dangerous win condition. A naturally low Speed stat leaves it wanting to acquire as many boosts as possible in order to outpace all of its foes. One should be cautious and scout out potential opposing Choice Scarf Pokemon as they may still outpace Tyranitar even after setting up. too unreliable to be considered a common role

**Special Lure**: Wielding 95 Special Attack and a large special movepool with options such as Ice Beam and Fire Blast, Tyranitar makes for an excellent lure for physically defensive foes such as Landorus-T and Ferrothorn that attempt to tank its usual physical assault.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Crunch, Payback, move to niche or remove completely Pursuit, Dark Pulse

**Setup Moves**: Dragon Dance, Rock Polish, Curse, Hone Claws, Power-Up Punch

**Utility Moves**: Substitute, Dragon Tail, Protect, Roar, Stealth Rock, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Toxic

**Coverage**: Aerial Ace, Aqua Tail, Avalanche, Brick Break, Earthquake, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Iron Head, Iron Tail, Low Kick, Superpower, Thunder Punch, Earth Power, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Focus Blast, Ice Beam, Surf, Thunderbolt

Niche Moves
========
**Rock Tomb**: A weaker STAB move that is more accurate and has the benefit of dropping the Speed stat of the foe, helping to offset Tyranitar's low Speed or slowing them down for its teammates.

**Counter**: Tyranitar often invites many Super Effective hits due to a somewhat compromised defensive typing, however it usually has the bulk to live many of them. This can enable Counter as a retaliation attack, baiting opponents to hit it hard with physical attacks and often returning a KO.

**Foul Play**: When choosing to invest in its incredible defensive stats as opposed to its Attack stat, Tyranitar can opt to run Foul Play as a STAB attack, taking advantage of powerful opposing Pokemon's Attack stats while tanking their attacks in return.

Common Items
========
**Choice Band**: A go-to item that boosts Tyranitar's Attack to even greater heights. The spammable nature of its STAB moves helps to get around the move lock limitation. move to bottom of common and reword to something like "if other utility items are not needed, choice band ..."

**Choice Scarf**: An inviting item due to its low Speed stat, Tyranitar can use this to get the jump on many of its foes. This combos well with Pursuit, ensuring the target is punished or KO'd no matter what they do. move to top of niche

**Smooth Rock**: Often used for the benefit of its team rather than itself, Tyranitar can use Smooth Rock to extend the duration of sandstorms to enable deadly sand sweepers.

**Assault Vest**: With an already impressive Special Defense stat boosted further by sandstorms, Assault Vest can be used to increase it even further, allowing Tyranitar to live many Special Attacks, even ones that are Super Effective.

**Leftovers**: This aims to give Tyranitar some extra longevity due to lacking reliable recovery. The nature of being immune to its own sandstorms allows it to continue healing whilst most of its foes will not or simply take extra chip damage. As a result, this can combo very well with Protect.

**Chople Berry**: A nasty x4 weakness to Fighting-type moves paints a very big target on Tyranitar's back. A Chople Berry combined with its impressive bulk can allow to survive even through such a big weakness and retaliate. make this the second most common behind smooth rock

Niche Items
========
**Other Resistance Berries**: Other resist berries aside from Chople Berry can be used to give Tyranitar an extra turn against certain foes. Shuca, Passho and Rindo Berries are some examples that aim to allow it to tank one of the many Super Effective attacks often aimed at it.

**Pinch Berries**: Lacking reliable recovery and often surviving even powerful attacks leaves Tyranitar as a good candidate for using Pinch Berries, giving it a massive burst of health when activated.

**Life Orb**: Life Orb allows Tyranitar to reliably boost its damage whilst being able to switch moves. This sees great use on mixed or special sets which otherwise would not benefit as much from other boosting items such as the considerably more risky Choice Specs.

**Weakness Policy**: With the bulk needed to live Super Effective attacks and many natural weaknesses, Tyranitar can make use of Weakness Policy to either slam a target in retaliation or attempt to sweep after also acquiring enough boosts to its Speed stat.

Add eject button - good for quick pivoting to excadrill

add lum berry - good vs willowisp on offensive sets

Draft Strategy
========
Tyranitar is a powerhouse that can fulfill many roles on a team, whether it be throwing out massive damage or allowing its teammates to do the same, primarily through its Sand Stream ability that pairs very well with sand sweepers. That being said, it has a few but glaring shortcomings that require appropriate support in order to get the most out of it.

**Sand Sweeping Teammates Excadrill**: normally we dont single out mons here but excadrill is an exception. reword to something like "tyranitar is a perfect teammate for excadrill, allowing it to take full advantage of sand stream and providing utility for it" Tyranitar summons sand simply by entering the battle, granting easy access to sandstorms for its teammates to take advantage of. Excadrill is the prime sand sweeper of choice, though other options such as Stoutland and Lycanroc can also be considered.

**Defensive Synergy**: Adding to the above, Tyranitar often overlaps weaknesses with sand sweeping Pokemon such as Water, Ground and Fighting. These Especially if it is drafted alongside Excadrill, which shares the same weaknesses, Tyranitar's common weaknesses should be accounted for through the use of Pokemon that can cover them effectively, such as Tapu Fini, Rotom-Wash and Uxie.

**Fast Attackers**: As a naturally slow Pokemon, Tyranitar appreciates teammates other than Sand Rush sweepers that have naturally high Speed stats to handle faster Pokemon that threaten it. Pokemon such as Mega Lopunny, Tornadus-T and Tapu Koko boast superb Speed stats that allow them to get the jump on many foes.

**Entry Hazard Removal**: Being vulnerable to all entry hazards, Tyranitar can find itself worn down quickly throughout a game, and thus appreciates hazard removal to allow it clean entry onto the field. Excadrill yet again provides great synergy in this role, though may struggle to fit the move if it goes all out as a sweeper, thus alternate options such as Blastoise and Tentacruel can provide reliable hazard removal instead.

**Teammates that can handle Sandstorms Sand-resistant Teammates**: Sandstorm will be almost always present when Tyranitar is used, so its a good idea to draft teammates that can handle this often damaging weather condition. This constitutes a wide array of Pokemon, with offensive partners in Garchomp and Kartana who won't be easily worn down whilst on the field, as well as defensive partners in Skarmory and Reuniclus, who boast amazing defensive utility that isn't held back by sandstorms.

Checks and Counters
========
**Fighting-type Pokemon**: Resisting both of its STAB types and hitting it for x4 Super Effective damage, Fighting-types are the bane of Tyranitars existence. Keldeo, Mega Gallade and Infernape can switch into one or both of Tyranitar's STAB attacks and easily force it out.

**Faster Physically Offensive Foes**: Being naturally slow, Tyranitar finds itself often outspeed and forced out by a myriad of faster foes that often boast Super Effective coverage. Naturally faster Pokemon such as Serperior and Mega Medicham Kartana threaten Tyranitar on their own, while others such as Kartana Zeraora may also wield a Choice Scarf, allowing them to revenge kill even Speed boosting sets outspeed it even at +1 Speed.

**Weather Changing Strategies**: Tyranitar and its teammates often rely on the sand it provides, leading opponents to try and shut it down by changing the weather. Torkoal and Pelipper, while weak to Rock-type STAB attacks, can naturally change the weather simply by switching in, whilst manual setters can utilize Rain Dance or Sunny Day to shut off the sand and leave Tyranitar more vulnerable to Special Attacks.

**Residual Damage**: Entry hazards threaten to hurt Tyranitar every time it hits the field, on top of the fact that it is vulnerable to all types of status, from burns to poison, all of which can compromise its health despite its great bulk. Hazard setters such as Skarmory and status spreaders such as Rotom-Wash can be a great source of irritation for Tyranitar.

[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/deranged_lime.272077/
Quality checked by:
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add remove highlight comment

[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 4 onwards

**Price Range**: 13-14 points

**Overview**: With the stellar Sand Stream ability and a near-limitless movepool, Tyranitar has a lot going for it. A massive Attack stat combined with great STAB moves and coverage as well as solid defenses boosted further by the sand it summons allows it to easily hit the field and dish out huge damage. Alternatively, it can act as support for its team, whether it be setting up Stealth Rock, simply summoning sandstorms sand for teammates such as Excadrill, (AC) or wielding a fierce Pursuit to trap and eliminate foes. But Tyranitar is not immovable, as its typing also grants it many weaknesses, including a x4 weakness to Fighting-type moves. Vulnerability to all forms of entry hazards and status does not help, which, (AC) when combined with its low Speed requiring it to take extra hits, leaves it worn down rather quickly. Finally, it faces competition from Gigalith, an alternate user of Sand Stream that is much cheaper and has fewer weaknesses thanks to a pure Rock typing.


[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Bulky Support**: Using its high natural defenses and a good supporting movepool with options such as Taunt and Thunder Wave, Tyranitar finds lots of opportunities to help out its teammates. Its It's a fantastic user of Stealth Rock that can threaten many users of Defog to continually set it up over the course of a game.

**Wallbreaker**: Base 134 Attack along with powerful STAB moves in Stone Edge and Crunch lets Tyranitar wallbreak effectively. Choice Band is usually the item of choice, boosting its damage to ridiculous levels and helping it break through Fighting-types. The sand it summons and entry hazard chip damage help to push its targets into more favourabe favorable KO ranges.

**Special Lure**: Wielding base 95 Special Attack and a large special movepool with options such as Ice Beam and Fire Blast, Tyranitar makes for an excellent lure for physically defensive foes such as Landorus-T and Ferrothorn that attempt to tank its usual physical assault.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Crunch, Pursuit, Dark Pulse

**Setup Moves**: Dragon Dance, Rock Polish, Curse, Power-Up Punch

**Utility Moves**: Substitute, Dragon Tail, Protect, Roar, Stealth Rock, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Toxic

**Coverage**: Aerial Ace, Aqua Tail, Avalanche, Brick Break, Earthquake, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Iron Head, Iron Tail, Low Kick, Superpower, Thunder Punch, Earth Power, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Focus Blast, Ice Beam, Surf, Thunderbolt

Niche Moves
========
**Rock Tomb**: A weaker STAB move that is more accurate and has the benefit of dropping the Speed stat of the foe, helping to offset Tyranitar's low Speed or slowing them down for its teammates.

**Counter**: Tyranitar often invites many super effective ("super effective" is never capitalized) hits due to a somewhat compromised ("Compromised" would imply that something has been damaged or weakened, but a Pokemon's typing can't be that in most cases. Change this to a different adjective.) defensive typing; (RC, ASC) however, (AC) it usually has the bulk to live many of them. This can enable Counter as a retaliation attack, baiting opponents letting Tyranitar bait foes to hit it hard with physical attacks and often returning return with a KO.

**Foul Play**: When choosing to invest in its incredible defensive stats as opposed to its Attack stat, Tyranitar can opt to run Foul Play as a STAB attack, taking advantage of powerful opposing Pokemon's Attack stats while tanking their attacks in return.

Common Items
========
**Smooth Rock**: Often used for the benefit of its team rather than itself, Tyranitar can use Smooth Rock to extend the duration of sandstorms sand to enable deadly sand sweepers.

**Chople Berry**: A nasty x4 weakness to Fighting-type moves paints a very big target on Tyranitar's back. A Chople Berry combined with its impressive bulk can allow it to survive even through such a big weakness those attacks (A Pokemon can survive an attack it's weak to, not a weakness.) and retaliate.

**Assault Vest**: With an already impressive Special Defense stat boosted further by sandstorms sand, Assault Vest can be used to increase it even further, allowing Tyranitar to live many special attacks, even ones that are super effective.

**Leftovers**: This aims to give Tyranitar some extra longevity due to it lacking reliable recovery. (Leaving the prepositional phrase as is may read as Tyranitar having a bad recovery move, instead of having no recovery move at all.) The nature of being immune to its own sandstorms sand (Although the phrasing here is fine, why not just say "Its sand immunity"?) allows it to continue healing whilst most of its foes will not or simply take extra chip damage. As a result, this can combo combine very well with Protect.

**Choice Band**: If there's no need for other utility items, Choice Band can be used to boost Tyranitar's Attack to even greater heights. The spammable nature of its STAB moves helps to get around the move lock limitation.

Niche Items
========
**Choice Scarf**: An inviting item due to its low Speed stat, Tyranitar can use this to get the jump on many of its foes. This combos combines well with Pursuit, ensuring the target is punished or KO'd KOed no matter what they do.

**Other Resistance Berries**: Other resist resistance Berries aside from Chople Berry can be used to give Tyranitar an extra turn against certain foes. The Shuca, Passho and Rindo Berries are some examples that aim to allow it to tank one of the many super effective attacks often aimed at it.

**Pinch Berries**: Lacking As it lacks reliable recovery and often surviving survives even powerful attacks, (AC) leaves Tyranitar as is a good candidate for using pinch Berries, giving it a massive burst of health when activated.

**Life Orb**: Life Orb allows Tyranitar to reliably boost its damage whilst being able to switch moves. This sees great use on mixed or special sets, (AC) which otherwise would not benefit as much from other boosting damage-boosting items such as the considerably more risky Choice Specs.

**Weakness Policy**: With the bulk needed to live super effective attacks and many natural weaknesses, Tyranitar can make use of Weakness Policy to either slam a target in retaliation or attempt to sweep after also acquiring enough boosts to its Speed stat.

**Eject Button**: This allows Tyranitar to quickly get the sand up and immediately pivot out (RC) after taking damage (RC) to teammates that benefit from it such as Excadrill, allowing them to hit the field safely and quickly.

**Lum Berry**: Tyranitar may find itself facing status moves such as Toxic and Will-O-Wisp that can end up crippling it, giving Lum Berry a small niche by allowing Tyranitar to cure itself once.

Draft Strategy
========
Tyranitar is a powerhouse that can fulfill many roles on a team, whether it be throwing out massive damage or allowing its teammates to do the same, primarily through its Sand Stream ability that pairs very well with sand sweepers. That being said, it has a few but glaring shortcomings that require appropriate support in order to get the most out of it.

**Excadrill**: Tyranitar and Excadrill make perfect partners, with Tyranitar providing endless support alongside the obvious Sand Stream for Excadrill to take advantage of, where it uses its doubled Speed alongside its massive Attack stat to sweep the opposition.

**Defensive Synergy**: Especially if it is drafted alongside Excadrill, which shares the same weaknesses (RC) Tyranitar's many common weaknesses should be accounted for through the use of Pokemon that can cover them effectively, such as Tapu Fini, Rotom-Wash Rotom-W, (AC) and Uxie, (AC) especially if it is drafted alongside Excadrill, which shares the same weaknesses.

**Fast Attackers**: As a naturally slow Pokemon, Tyranitar appreciates teammates other than Sand Rush sweepers that have naturally high Speed stats to handle faster Pokemon that threaten it. Pokemon such as Mega Lopunny, Tornadus-T, (AC) and Tapu Koko boast superb Speed stats that allow them to get the jump on many foes.

**Entry Hazard Removal**: Being vulnerable to all entry hazards, Tyranitar can find itself worn down quickly throughout a game (RC) and thus appreciates hazard removal to allow it a clean entry onto the field. Excadrill yet again provides great synergy in this role, though it may struggle to fit the move if it goes all out as a sweeper; (RC, ASC) thus, (AC) alternate options such as Blastoise and Tentacruel can provide reliable hazard removal instead.

**Sand-resistant Teammates**: Sandstorm Sand will be almost always present when Tyranitar is used, so its it's a good idea to draft teammates that can handle this often damaging weather condition. This constitutes a wide array of Pokemon, with including offensive partners in like Garchomp and Kartana who that won't be easily worn down whilst on the field, as well as defensive partners in like Skarmory and Reuniclus, who which boast amazing defensive utility that isn't held back by sandstorms sand.

Checks and Counters
========
**Fighting-type Pokemon**: Resisting Fighting-types are the bane of Tyranitar's existence, resisting both of its STAB types and hitting it for x4 super effective damage (RC) Fighting-types are the bane of Tyranitars existence. Keldeo, Mega Gallade, (AC) and Infernape can switch into one or both of Tyranitar's STAB attacks and easily force it out.

**Faster Physically Offensive Foes**: Being naturally slow, Tyranitar finds itself often outspeed outsped and forced out by a myriad of faster foes that often boast super effective coverage. Naturally faster Pokemon such as Kartana threaten Tyranitar on their own, while others such as Zeraora outspeed it even at +1 Speed.

**Weather Changing Weather-changing Strategies**: Tyranitar and its teammates often rely on the sand it provides, leading opponents to try and shut it down by changing the weather. Torkoal and Pelipper, while weak to Rock-type STAB attacks, can naturally change the weather simply by switching in, whilst manual setters can utilize Rain Dance or Sunny Day to shut off the sand and leave Tyranitar more vulnerable to special attacks.

**Residual Damage**: Entry hazards threaten to hurt Tyranitar every time it hits the field, on top of the fact that it is vulnerable to all types of status, from burns to poison, all of which can compromise its health despite its great bulk. Hazard setters such as Skarmory and status spreaders such as Rotom-Wash Rotom-W can be a great source of irritation for Tyranitar.

[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/deranged_lime.272077/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/odinrm.613514/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.400000

GP Check 1/1

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