Iron Treads
Base Stats: 90/112/120/72/70/106 (570 BST)
Abilities: Quark Drive ( If Electric Terrain is active, or this Pokemon is holding Booster Energy, this Pokemon's highest stat is boosted by 50%. )
Notable Moves:
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Heavy Slam
- Ice Spinner
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Volt Switch
- Tera Blast
Horn Attack @ Lv. 1
Defense Curl @ Lv. 1
Rollout @ Lv. 1
Electric Terrain @ Lv. 1
Bulldoze @ Lv. 7
Rapid Spin @ Lv. 21
Iron Head @ Lv. 28
Stomping Tantrum @ Lv. 35
Knock Off @ Lv. 42
Earthquake @ Lv. 49
Heavy Slam @ Lv. 56
Wild Charge @ Lv. 63
Endeavor @ Lv. 70
Megahorn @ Lv. 77
Giga Impact @ Lv. 84
Steel Roller @ Lv. 91
TM Moves:
Body Slam, Take Down, Hyper Beam, Thunder, Earthquake, Rest, Rock Slide, Substitute, Protect, Scary Face, Mud-Slap, Sandstorm, Facade, Rock Tomb, Iron Defense, Mud Shot, Earth Power, Giga Impact, Thunder Fang, Ice Fang, Zen Headbutt, Flash Cannon, Iron Head, Stone Edge, Stealth Rock, Heavy Slam, Electro Ball, Volt Switch, Bulldoze, Wild Charge, Electric Terrain, Smart Strike, Stomping Tantrum, Body Press, Steel Beam, Tera Blast, Ice Spinner
Defense Curl @ Lv. 1
Rollout @ Lv. 1
Electric Terrain @ Lv. 1
Bulldoze @ Lv. 7
Rapid Spin @ Lv. 21
Iron Head @ Lv. 28
Stomping Tantrum @ Lv. 35
Knock Off @ Lv. 42
Earthquake @ Lv. 49
Heavy Slam @ Lv. 56
Wild Charge @ Lv. 63
Endeavor @ Lv. 70
Megahorn @ Lv. 77
Giga Impact @ Lv. 84
Steel Roller @ Lv. 91
TM Moves:
Body Slam, Take Down, Hyper Beam, Thunder, Earthquake, Rest, Rock Slide, Substitute, Protect, Scary Face, Mud-Slap, Sandstorm, Facade, Rock Tomb, Iron Defense, Mud Shot, Earth Power, Giga Impact, Thunder Fang, Ice Fang, Zen Headbutt, Flash Cannon, Iron Head, Stone Edge, Stealth Rock, Heavy Slam, Electro Ball, Volt Switch, Bulldoze, Wild Charge, Electric Terrain, Smart Strike, Stomping Tantrum, Body Press, Steel Beam, Tera Blast, Ice Spinner
Pros:
- Iron Tread's typing, movepool, and statline is generally reminiscent of Excadrill, a historically solid pokemon in OU.
- Has Rapid Spin alongside an offensive movepool to efficiently utilize it.
- Especially notable is its access to the now-rare Knock Off, meaning it can threaten spinblockers and make progress
- Ice coverage is really efficient and a great offensive Tera type.
- Can pivot, albeit poorly.
Cons:
- Lacks a good boosting move to augment its mediocre Attack stat. In my experience it often misses expected 2HKOes.
- No recovery.
- Special bulk leaves a lot to be desired, especially in a metagame with Flutter Mane.
- 106 Speed is hilariously mediocre in the current meta, but this should be a short-term problem.
Terastallize Potential:
- Ice as a Tera type is probably the best non-STAB offensive choice, given it beats down the Flying- and Ground-types that check it.
- Dark if you really want to spam knock
Potential Sets:
Offensive Utility (Iron Treads) @ Assault Vest / Leftovers
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ice / Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Ice Spinner / Iron Head
- Rapid Spin / Stealth Rock
Don't really see the need to add more sets than the basic offensive utility one, given all of the worthwhile stuff Iron Treads can do is in this set. Maybe some sort of Booster Energy set could get something done, but I'm unsure of how far +1 Attack or Speed could really carry the mon. Regardless, moves are mostly self-explanatory, just want to say that you shouldn't combo Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin, you'll go a lot further with a 3rd attack.
Overall I think this stick in OU throughout the gen, pretty hard to argue against a redux Excadrill not being consistent. How has it been preforming for you guys? It's been solid but the damage output has disappointed me, so I'd like to hear others' experiences.
