AT A GLANCE
Mega-Tyranitar packs all the tools necessary to be a ferocious threat in the OU tier. It has a frightening base 164 attack stat with access to speed boosting in the form of Dragon Dance and Rock Polish, plenty of bulk to set up, and a fantastic mixed move pool with a deep well of both strength and coverage. Its 700 base stat total is tied for the highest in all of OU, without accounting for sandstream. With sandstream artificially boosting Tyranitar’s special defense from 120 to 180, it boasts a BST of 760 - easily tops in the tier and on par with several box legendaries banned to Ubers. Despite these formidable advantages, Mega-Tyranitar has been slapped with a C grade in the latest viability rankings. I've made it a goal to create a team that can bring out the most of Mega-tar's potential, but I need some help getting there.
Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sandstream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake / Crunch
- Ice Punch
Dragon Dance boosts Tyranitar’s attack to devastating levels after a single boost, and gives it enough speed to beat base 125’s. After two Dragon Dances, Tyranitar becomes nigh unbeatable bar mach punch, intimidate (Landorus), burns, and toxic. Stone Edge is Tyranitar's most powerful STAB attack, and hits neutral targets for demoralizing damage. Earthquake provides coverage that Crunch misses out on. Ice Punch is there to pop the omnipresent Landorus, Garchomp, and Gligars that otherwise wall Tyranitar out. With these walls weakened or removed, Excadrill is often able to clean up whatever mess Tyranitar leaves behind.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
Mega Tyranitar prefers to remain on the field of play throughout its five turns of sand in order to utilize Dragon Dance boosts, which makes it more difficult to pair with Excadrill than a standard Tyranitar that can switch in and out more freely. Still, the threat of Excadrill under sand - particularly late game - is too good to pass up. Excadrill helps eliminate fairy types that beat Tyranitar 1-on-1, and rapid spin can help to remove entry hazards when facing hazard stacking teams. Moves and EVs are standard.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power (Fire)
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
Magnezone traps the steel types that wall Tyranitar and Excadrill and eliminates them with Thunderbolt (Skarmory) or Hidden Power Fire (Ferrothorn, Scizor). If one of these jerks is spotted in team preview, I preserve Magnezone until I find an opportunity take them out. Magnezone rarely beats Bisharp 1 on 1, but it can weaken one enough for the rest of the team to revenge kill. When not abusing magnet pull, Magnezone has still proved useful as a moderately fast and strong special attacker whose volt switch allows it to retain or regain momentum. Notably, Magnezone is one of the only answers to Azumarill. It does a decent job against Rotom-W who is always a pain to deal with.
Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / Def Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
- Thunder wave
Slowbro synergizes well with sand cores by resisting fighting and fire attacks while eating up ground attacks from physical attackers. Bro is an effective pivot thanks to regenerator, and walls a lot of physical threats outright. Thunder wave is very valuable for support, as it allows Excadrill to function outside of sand against faster foes and priority users after they have been paralyzed (Bisharp, Azumarill, Charizard).
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rocks
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Sandstorm
Ferrothorn is a superb defensive wall with access to Stealth Rock and defensive synergy that compliments Slowbro. Ferrothorn resists the electric and grass attacks aimed at Slowbro, while Slowbro resists both fire and fighting attacks aimed at Ferrothorn. Stealth Rocks is among the best moves in the game, while leech seed provides chip damage and bonus recovery. I went with Gyro Ball over Power Whip as an added deterrent to fairies and ground types. Sandstorm is the oddball choice here, and is used to allow Ferrothorn to act as a backup sand generator in order to support Excadrill (Mega-Tyranitar doesn’t like to share his sand).
Latios @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Ice beam
- Trick
Latios is a good choice to bring in against fighting and ground attacks that threaten a majority of my team, and can retaliate extremely hard with choice specs boosted draco meteor coming off a 130 base special attack. Ice beam is included to beat grass types that don’t carry the poison secondary typing. I’ve thought about running a life orb set with roost over Ice beam, but went with a specs variant for extra wall breaking and the ab
Mega-Tyranitar packs all the tools necessary to be a ferocious threat in the OU tier. It has a frightening base 164 attack stat with access to speed boosting in the form of Dragon Dance and Rock Polish, plenty of bulk to set up, and a fantastic mixed move pool with a deep well of both strength and coverage. Its 700 base stat total is tied for the highest in all of OU, without accounting for sandstream. With sandstream artificially boosting Tyranitar’s special defense from 120 to 180, it boasts a BST of 760 - easily tops in the tier and on par with several box legendaries banned to Ubers. Despite these formidable advantages, Mega-Tyranitar has been slapped with a C grade in the latest viability rankings. I've made it a goal to create a team that can bring out the most of Mega-tar's potential, but I need some help getting there.
TEAM BUILDING PROCESS
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I started with Mega-Tyranitar to sweep my opponent and bust through walls.
Excadrill provides hazard control and the ability to check fairies that threaten Tyranitar. With support from Tyranitar’s sandstream, these two physical monsters combine to overwhelm all but a handful of dedicated physical walls and tanks.
Excadrill and Tyranitar are hard-walled by a number of common physically defensive steel types, namely Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Scizor. Magnezone provides a thoughtless method of eliminating these counters, and can help to maintain momentum via volt switch. As a bonus, its steel typing fits well with sand.
At this point, I needed to start shoring up my defenses and patch an atrocious weakness to fighting types. Slowbro is a premier physical wall in OU that beats every common fighting type one on one while helping to chip away at bulky grounds.
I wanted rocks to help deter Talonflames and charizards and help Tyranitar and Excadrill sweep, and needed a grass resist as well as a special wall. Ferrothorn fits the bill nicely, forming a quality defensive backbone with Slowbro.
At this point the team was looking fairly solid, but still had a bad weakness to fighting and ground type attacks and was lacking a strong special attacker with versatility. I experimented with Specs Noivern for a while to act as an additional check to bulky grass types, but ultimately came to the realization that Specs Latios is a superior choice.
I started with Mega-Tyranitar to sweep my opponent and bust through walls.
Excadrill provides hazard control and the ability to check fairies that threaten Tyranitar. With support from Tyranitar’s sandstream, these two physical monsters combine to overwhelm all but a handful of dedicated physical walls and tanks.
Excadrill and Tyranitar are hard-walled by a number of common physically defensive steel types, namely Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Scizor. Magnezone provides a thoughtless method of eliminating these counters, and can help to maintain momentum via volt switch. As a bonus, its steel typing fits well with sand.
At this point, I needed to start shoring up my defenses and patch an atrocious weakness to fighting types. Slowbro is a premier physical wall in OU that beats every common fighting type one on one while helping to chip away at bulky grounds.
I wanted rocks to help deter Talonflames and charizards and help Tyranitar and Excadrill sweep, and needed a grass resist as well as a special wall. Ferrothorn fits the bill nicely, forming a quality defensive backbone with Slowbro.
At this point the team was looking fairly solid, but still had a bad weakness to fighting and ground type attacks and was lacking a strong special attacker with versatility. I experimented with Specs Noivern for a while to act as an additional check to bulky grass types, but ultimately came to the realization that Specs Latios is a superior choice.
DESCRIPTIONS
Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sandstream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake / Crunch
- Ice Punch
Dragon Dance boosts Tyranitar’s attack to devastating levels after a single boost, and gives it enough speed to beat base 125’s. After two Dragon Dances, Tyranitar becomes nigh unbeatable bar mach punch, intimidate (Landorus), burns, and toxic. Stone Edge is Tyranitar's most powerful STAB attack, and hits neutral targets for demoralizing damage. Earthquake provides coverage that Crunch misses out on. Ice Punch is there to pop the omnipresent Landorus, Garchomp, and Gligars that otherwise wall Tyranitar out. With these walls weakened or removed, Excadrill is often able to clean up whatever mess Tyranitar leaves behind.
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
Mega Tyranitar prefers to remain on the field of play throughout its five turns of sand in order to utilize Dragon Dance boosts, which makes it more difficult to pair with Excadrill than a standard Tyranitar that can switch in and out more freely. Still, the threat of Excadrill under sand - particularly late game - is too good to pass up. Excadrill helps eliminate fairy types that beat Tyranitar 1-on-1, and rapid spin can help to remove entry hazards when facing hazard stacking teams. Moves and EVs are standard.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power (Fire)
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
Magnezone traps the steel types that wall Tyranitar and Excadrill and eliminates them with Thunderbolt (Skarmory) or Hidden Power Fire (Ferrothorn, Scizor). If one of these jerks is spotted in team preview, I preserve Magnezone until I find an opportunity take them out. Magnezone rarely beats Bisharp 1 on 1, but it can weaken one enough for the rest of the team to revenge kill. When not abusing magnet pull, Magnezone has still proved useful as a moderately fast and strong special attacker whose volt switch allows it to retain or regain momentum. Notably, Magnezone is one of the only answers to Azumarill. It does a decent job against Rotom-W who is always a pain to deal with.
Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / Def Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
- Thunder wave
Slowbro synergizes well with sand cores by resisting fighting and fire attacks while eating up ground attacks from physical attackers. Bro is an effective pivot thanks to regenerator, and walls a lot of physical threats outright. Thunder wave is very valuable for support, as it allows Excadrill to function outside of sand against faster foes and priority users after they have been paralyzed (Bisharp, Azumarill, Charizard).
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rocks
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Sandstorm
Ferrothorn is a superb defensive wall with access to Stealth Rock and defensive synergy that compliments Slowbro. Ferrothorn resists the electric and grass attacks aimed at Slowbro, while Slowbro resists both fire and fighting attacks aimed at Ferrothorn. Stealth Rocks is among the best moves in the game, while leech seed provides chip damage and bonus recovery. I went with Gyro Ball over Power Whip as an added deterrent to fairies and ground types. Sandstorm is the oddball choice here, and is used to allow Ferrothorn to act as a backup sand generator in order to support Excadrill (Mega-Tyranitar doesn’t like to share his sand).
Latios @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Ice beam
- Trick
Latios is a good choice to bring in against fighting and ground attacks that threaten a majority of my team, and can retaliate extremely hard with choice specs boosted draco meteor coming off a 130 base special attack. Ice beam is included to beat grass types that don’t carry the poison secondary typing. I’ve thought about running a life orb set with roost over Ice beam, but went with a specs variant for extra wall breaking and the ab
