Doubles Tyranitar

marilli

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[OVERVIEW]

Tyranitar has a great offensive and defensive typing with the stats to back it up. Rock Slide and Crunch together hit most of the tier for consistent damage, and unique resistances and amazing defensive stats enable Tyranitar to check top-tier Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Mega Gengar, Mega Charizard Y, and Hoopa-U. Tyranitar matches up well against speed controllers such as Zapdos and Mega Salamence. Furthermore, Tyranitar's low Speed can be used to its advantage, as it beats the most common Trick Room user, Hoopa-U, with its defensive typing. Tyranitar also has an incredibly diverse movepool that includes premier coverage moves such as Ice Beam, Fire Blast, and Low Kick and can properly utilize them with its good mixed offenses. Tyranitar is also able to effectively use many item options such as Choice Band, Z-Crystals, Assault Vest, resistance Berries, and Weakness Policy; this makes it a truly unpredictable threat. Tyranitar has a lot of utility thanks to Sand Stream; it not only gives Tyranitar a 50% boost in Special Defense but also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, invalidates Focus Sash, and scouts foes' Speed. However, Tyranitar has plenty of weaknesses to common attacking types such as Ground, Water, and especially Fighting, which are carried by common threats such as Landorus-T and Marshadow. Low Speed makes Tyranitar reliant on its bulk and Speed control.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Stone Edge / Ice Punch
move 4: Superpower / Low Kick
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========

Crunch and Rock Slide are STAB moves with great neutral coverage. Stone Edge is an alternative Rock-type STAB move; it has a shaky accuracy, but it is Tyranitar's strongest attack, heavily punishes Tapu Fini switch-ins, OHKOes Zapdos, and bypasses Wide Guard. Ice Punch targets Pokemon 4x weak to Ice, most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde, but being locked into it can be a momentum sink. Low Kick and Superpower are options for hitting Snorlax, opposing Tyranitar, and Steel-types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn for extra damage. Superpower lowers Tyranitar's Attack and Defense but hits more Pokemon for high damage than Low Kick. Pursuit allows Tyranitar to trap and remove frail Pokemon such as Mega Gengar.

Set Details
========

Choice Band allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible without incurring Life Orb recoil. The above spread maximizes bulk and damage, but there are multiple ways to tweak it to best suit your team. As Speed control is crucial to Choice Band Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Choice Band Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support. In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with an Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-A with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable. It is even possible to simply maximize Speed and Attack with a Jolly nature in order to outspeed Choice Scarf users such as Jolly Landorus-T in Tailwind as well as at least Speed tie with opposing Tyranitar. In Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack. Being Adamant allows Tyranitar to outspeed foes outside of Trick Room, including uninvested base 60 Speed Pokemon like Aegislash and Celesteela, while still being slower than the majority of the metagame. Meanwhile, Brave Tyranitar is slower than opposing Trick Room attackers such as Heatran and Hoopa-U, OHKOing them when Trick Room is active before they do any damage to your team. Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, breaks Focus Sash, and scouts foes' Speed.

Usage Tips
========

Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resistances. Thanks to its power and coverage options, Tyranitar can often surprise Pokemon with an unexpected amount of damage or a coverage move. For instance, it OHKOes Scrafty with Superpower, Landorus-T switch-ins with Ice Punch, and Zapdos with Stone Edge before it can match Tailwind. Such KOs can turn the game drastically. Therefore, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success. Choice Band Rock Slide and Crunch are hard to switch into and let Tyranitar break defensive cores more easily without the need to predict with super effective moves. Due to Tyranitar's low Speed and numerous weaknesses, proper Speed control and positional play with its partner become imperative for Tyranitar to not be dead weight. The lack of Protect on the set makes it even more important to have proper Speed control. Try to bring out Tyranitar with your preferred Speed control already active so it does not have to maneuver around opposing super effective moves before attacking. Also, try to have strong partners on the field so when a Pokemon tries to hit Tyranitar with one of its multiple weaknesses, it is threatened by Tyranitar switching out and the partner going for a super effective move in return. Use Tyranitar's Sand Stream to deny opposing weather sweepers' Speed boosts. Tyranitar also can take advantage of opposing Trick Room teams, against which Tyranitar does not need team support to go first and wreak havoc.

Team Options
========

Speed control like Tailwind from Zapdos or Mega Salamence helps Tyranitar attack first with Rock Slide without getting pinned by super effective moves or double targets. Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room, but be aware that they share weaknesses with Tyranitar. Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini can handle Fighting-types such as Terrakion and Scrafty for Tyranitar. Intimidate support rounds out Tyranitar's terrific bulk, and the common users of Intimidate such as Landorus-T and Salamence also handle Fighting-types for it. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent Intimidate users such as Landorus-T from easily switching in. Electric-types such as Tapu Koko and Zapdos and Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu can threaten opposing Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic. Finally, Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch / Ice Beam / Dragon Dance
move 4: Protect
item: Rockium Z / Darkinium Z / Life Orb
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========

Crunch and Rock Slide are reliable STAB moves with great neutral coverage. Stone Edge hits Tapu Fini and Zapdos significantly harder than Rock Slide and allows Tyranitar to use a notably stronger Continental Crush. The increase in Base Power of Continental Crush is so worthwhile that Rockium Z Tyranitar can use both Rock Slide and Stone Edge, forgoing alternative third moves entirely. Ice Punch targets Pokemon 4x weak to Ice, most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde. Ice Beam allows Tyranitar to hit the same targets while ignoring Intimidate, preferably chosen for Trick Room Tyranitar that use a Brave nature for higher Special Attack, as Tyranitar would otherwise need to sacrifice bulk with a Lonely nature. Dragon Dance allows Tyranitar to sweep through teams with increased Speed. Finally, Protect helps Tyranitar with positional play. Tyranitar has multiple weaknesses, and the ability to avoid damage from super effective hits while its partner gets a free turn can be very advantageous.

Set Details
========

Maximum Attack allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible. As Speed control is crucial to Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support. In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with an Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-A with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable. A Jolly nature with maximum Speed allows Tyranitar to outspeed notable Choice Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B in Tailwind. On Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack. 68 Special Attack EVs allow Tyranitar to OHKO minimum bulk Landorus-T with Ice Beam. A Jolly nature with maximum Attack and Speed can be used with Dragon Dance as this spread allows +1 Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Metagross. Rockium Z allows Tyranitar to use Continental Crush to decimate most targets. Darkinium Z is an alternative Z-Move that hits Aegislash and has higher Base Power than Continental Crush from Rock Slide. Life Orb allows Tyranitar to output more mixed damage and can be especially devastating in Trick Room. However, this compromises Tyranitar's bulk by making it lose 10% of its HP per attack. Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, breaks Focus Sash, and scouts foes' Speed.

Usage Tips
========

Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resistances, but the Life Orb and Dragon Dance sets have significantly reduced bulk and should refrain from losing too much health while switching in. Thanks to its coverage options and the potential to take a quick KO with Continental Crush, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success. Proper Speed control and positional play with its partner bring out Tyranitar's full potential, as it appreciates moving before it can be taken down by super effective moves. Take advantage of Protect in order to earn free turns for Tyranitar's partner to use Speed control or fire off big damage. Continental Crush is one-time use, so be careful not to waste the move too early. With the Dragon Dance set, set up to either clean late-game or wallbreak with boosted Rock Slide. The Dragon Dance set has less bulk and needs to be at full HP in order to set up effectively, as it sometimes will be forced to take a lot of damage on the turn it sets up. Note that the Dragon Dance set is still slower than Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Mega Salamence, and Shaymin-S after one boost.

Team Options
========

Speed control helps Tyranitar attack first and eliminate targets with Continental Crush before they can retaliate with super effective moves. Zapdos and Mega Salamence can set up Tailwind, while Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room. Terrakion and Scrafty, threatening Fighting-types, can be checked by Fairy-types, such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini, or by Intimidate users, such as Landorus-T and Salamence. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent Intimidate users such as Landorus-T from switching in. Partners to threaten Water-types, such as Tapu Koko, Zapdos, and Amoonguss, allow Tyranitar more freedom to maneuver. Finally, Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross.

Dragon Dance Tyranitar appreciates team support that helps it set up. Fake Out from Scrafty, redirection from Amoonguss and Togekiss, Sky Drop from Assault Vest Tapu Koko, and Wide Guard from Celesteela and Aegislash are good examples. U-turn and Volt Switch from the likes of Landorus-T, Genesect, and Tapu Koko allow the player to scout the opponent and can grant Tyranitar a free switch at an advantageous position to set up.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Tyranitar is such a flexible Pokemon that you can mix and match items, coverage moves, and EVs to suit your team. Tyranitarite can be used on Dragon Dance Tyranitar, as the additional Speed allows Mega Tyranitar to outspeed relevant threats such as Tapu Koko and Shaymin-S after a single Dragon Dance. Assault Vest allows Tyranitar to check the majority of special attackers despite the wide distribution of moves that can hit it for super effective damage. As a result, Assault Vest lets Tyranitar check the likes of Heatran, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B, taking notably less damage in the process. Fire Blast allows Tyranitar to hit Ferrothorn significantly harder than with Fighting-type moves. Holding a Chople Berry or Shuca Berry allows Tyranitar to take Fighting- or Ground-type moves from the likes of Landorus-T, Deoxys-A, and Zygarde to KO them in return with appropriate coverage moves. A Rock Polish + Weakness Policy set allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Tapu Koko, and Deoxys-A as well as common Choice Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Tapu Lele, which it cannot with Dragon Dance. Weakness Policy allows Tyranitar to boost its damage and take advantage of its multiple weaknesses. Maximum Speed investment with a Jolly nature allows +2 Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Deoxys-A, and Tapu Koko as well as Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, and +1 Zygarde.

Assurance and Payback are alternative Dark-type STAB moves that can do significantly more damage than Crunch in the right conditions. Stealth Rock can be used on bulkier sets in order to check Mega Charizard Y and Mega Salamence. Finally, Tyranitar has access to even more alternative coverage options such as Iron Head, which can situationally hit Fairy-types such as Tapu Bulu and Diancie, and Aqua Tail, which offers safer middle-ground plays against Landorus-T. However, they fall short in damage output and general utility and ultimately are highly situational.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-type Pokemon such as Terrakion and Scrafty resist both Rock Slide and Crunch and make short work of Tyranitar with a super effective Fighting-type attack. Marshadow can KO Tyranitar with Close Combat but takes a lot of damage from Crunch. While not Fighting-type themselves, Landorus-T and Deoxys-A commonly use Superpower, and All-Out Pummeling Tapu Lele also downs Tyranitar without Chople Berry.

**Ground-types**: Ground-type Pokemon can hit Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move. Landorus-T has Intimidate to dampen Tyranitar's attacks, while Zygarde resists Rock Slide. However, they are vulnerable to Ice-type coverage moves from Tyranitar.

**Water-types**: Water-type Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Milotic take minimal damage from Tyranitar's attacks bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush. They can wear down Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move or start setting up against it.

**Grass-types**: Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss take minimal damage from Tyranitar bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush and threaten Tyranitar with large damage and Spore. Ferrothorn can also handle Tyranitar, but it needs to be careful of Fighting- and Fire-type coverage moves.

**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Genesect and Metagross can outspeed Tyranitar and threaten it with plenty of damage. Celesteela can stomach a few attacks from Tyranitar and has Wide Guard to stop Rock Slide.

**Fairy-types**: Despite Tyranitar's high Special Defense, Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini can do significant damage to it with super effective Moonblast.

**Opposing Weather**: Without sand, Tyranitar becomes much easier to handle using special attacks. Pokemon such as Pelipper, Politoed, and Mega Charizard Y have ways to hit Tyranitar for large damage as long as they have the weather control.

[OVERVIEW]
  • Tyranitar has a great offensive and defensive typing with the stats to back them up.
  • Unique resistances and amazing defensive stats enable Tyranitar to check top-tier Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Mega Gengar, Mega Charizard Y, and Hoopa-U.
  • Rock- and Dark- are great offensive typing as well: Rock Slide and Crunch hits most of the tier for consistent damage.
  • Tyranitar's low Speed can be used to its advantage, as it beats Hoopa-U with its defensive typing.
  • Tyranitar has access to an incredibly diverse movepool with premier coverage moves such as Ice Beam, Fire Blast, and Low Kick, with the mixed offenses to properly utilize them.
  • Tyranitar is also able to effectively use diverse item options such as Choice Band, Z-Crystal, Assault Vest, Type resist Berries, Weakness Policy, and more.
  • Sand Stream has a lot of utility; it not only gives Tyranitar a 50% boost in Special Defense, it also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, removes Focus Sash, and scouts the opponent.
  • However, Tyranitar has plenty of weaknesses to common attacking types, such as Ground, Water, and a crippling weakness to Fighting-type moves carried by common threats such as Landorus-T.
  • Low speed makes Tyranitar reliant on its bulk and Speed control.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Superpower / Low Kick
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========
  • Crunch and Rock Slide are STAB moves with great neutral coverage.
  • Stone Edge has a shaky accuracy, but it is Tyranitar's strongest attack and heavily punishes Tapu Fini switch-ins as well as OHKO opposing Zapdos before it can match Tailwind.
  • Ice Punch targets Pokemon x4 weak to Ice - most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde.
  • Low Kick and Superpower are an options to hit Snorlax, opposing Tyranitar, as well as Steel-types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn for extra damage.
  • Superpower lowers Tyranitar's Attack and Defense, but hits more Pokemon for consistent Base Power.
Set Details
========
  • Choice Band allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible without incurring Life Orb recoil.
  • Current spread maximize bulk and damage, but there are multiple ways to tweak this set to best suit your team.
  • As Speed control is crucial to Choice Band Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Choice Band Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support.
  • In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-Attack with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable.
  • In Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack.
  • Adamant allows Tyranitar to outspeed things outside of Trick Room, letting it outspeed uninvested base 60 Speed Pokemon, notably Aegislash and Celesteela, while still being slower than the majority of the metagame.
  • Brave Tyranitar underslow opposing Trick Room attackers such as Heatran or Hoopa-U, taking them out in a single hit when Trick Room is active, before they do any damage to your team.
  • Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, removes Focus Sash, and scouts the opponent.
Usage Tips
========
  • Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resists.
  • Thanks to its power and coverage options, Tyranitar can often surprise Pokemon with the surprising amount of damage or a coverage option.
  • For instance, OHKOing Scrafty with Superpower, Landorus-T switch-in with Ice Punch, or Zapdos with Stone Edge before it can match Tailwind can turn the game drastically.
  • Therefore, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success.
  • Choice Band Rock Slide and Crunch are hard to resist, and lets Tyranitar break defensive cores more easily and eases the need to predict with super effective moves.
  • Due to Tyranitar's low Speed and numerous weaknesses, proper Speed control and positional play with its partner becomes imperative for Tyranitar to not be dead weight.
  • The lack of Protect on the set makes it even more important to have proper Speed control.
  • Try to bring out Tyranitar with your preferred Speed control already active, so it does not have to maneuver around opposing super effective moves before attacking.
  • Also, try to have strong partners so when a Pokemon tries to hit Tyranitar on one of its multiple weaknesses, they are threatened by Tyranitar switching out and the partner going for a super effective move in return.
  • Use Tyranitar's Sand Stream to deny opposing weather sweeper's speed boost.
  • Use liberally against Trick Room teams, against which Tyranitar does not need team support to go first and wreak havoc.
Team Options
========
  • Speed control helps Tyranitar attack first with Rock Slide without getting pinned by super effective moves or double targets.
  • Tailwind setters such as Zapdos and Salamence-Mega also let Tyranitar attack first.
  • Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room, but beware of the defensive non-synergy.
  • Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Fini can handle Fighting-types such as Terrakion and Scrafty for Tyranitar.
  • Intimidate rounds out terrific bulk for Tyranitar, and the common users of Intimidate such as Landorus-T and Salamence also handles Fighting-types.
  • Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent intimidate Pokemon such as Landorus-T from switching in with relative ease. Tapu Fini can support Tyranitar with Heal Pulse or Swagger for more bulk or damage.
  • Electric-types such as Tapu Koko and Zapdos, or Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu can also threaten opposing Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic.
  • Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross

[SET]
name: Protect Attacker
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch / Ice Beam / Dragon Dance
move 4: Protect
item: Rockium Z / Darkinium Z / Life Orb
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========
  • Crunch is a reliable STAB move with great neutral coverage.
  • Rock Slide is another consistent STAB move with great neutral coverage.
  • Stone Edge hits Tapu Fini and Zapdos significantly harder, and also allows Tyranitar to use a stronger Continental Crush.
  • It is possible to use both Rock Slide and Stone Edge, especially if using Rockium Z, simply for the increase in Base Power of Continental Crush.
  • Ice Punch targets Pokemon x4 weak to Ice - most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde.
  • Ice Beam allows Tyranitar to hit the same targets while ignoring Intimidate, preferably for Trick Room Tyranitar that use Brave nature for higher Special Attack stat, as otherwise it would need to sacrifice further bulk with a Lonely nature.
  • Dragon Dance allows Tyranitar boost itself and sweep through teams with increased Speed.
  • Protect helps Tyranitar with positional play. Tyranitar has multiple weaknesses, and the ability to avoid damage from super effective hits while its partner gets a free turn can be very advantageous.
Set Details
========
  • Max attack allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible.
  • As Speed control is crucial to Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support.
  • In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-Attack with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable.
  • In Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack.
  • 68 Special Attack EVs allow Tyranitar to OHKO minimum bulk Landorus with Ice Beam.
  • Jolly nature with maximum Attack and Speed can be used with the Dragon Dance set, which allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Metagross after 1 Dragon Dance boost.
  • Rockium Z allows Tyranitar to use Continental Crush capable of crushing most targets.
  • Darkinium Z is an alternative Z-Move that hit Aegislash, as well as simply providing a higher Base Power Z-Move than Continental Crush from Rock Slide.
  • However, Z-Moves are one-time use only, which can be difficult to use at the right time.
  • Life Orb allows Tyranitar to output more mixed damage and can be especially devastating in Trick Room. However, this compromises Tyranitar's bulk by making it lose 10% of its HP per attack.
  • Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, removes Focus Sash, and scouts the opponent.
Usage Tips
========
  • Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resists, but the Life Orb set and Dragon Dance set has signficantly reduced bulk, and should refrain from losing too much health while switching in.
  • Thanks to its coverage options and the potential to take a quick KO with Continental Crush, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success.
  • Proper Speed control and positional play with its partner brings out full potential of Tyranitar, as Tyranitar appreciates moving before it can be taken down by super effective moves.
  • Take advantage of Protect in order to earn free turns for its partner to use its Speed control, or fire off big damage onto the opposing Pokemon.
  • Continental Crush is one-time use, so be careful not to waste the move too early.
  • With the Dragon Dance set, set up to either clean up late game or wallbreak with boosted Rock Slides.
  • The Dragon Dance set has less bulk and needs to be at full HP in order to set up effectively, as it sometimes will be forced take a lot of damage on the turn it sets up.
  • Note that Dragon Dance set is still slower than Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Mega Salamence, and Shaymin-Sky even after one boost.

Team Options
========
  • Speed control helps Tyranitar attack first with Rock Slide without getting pinned by super effective moves or double targets.
  • Tailwind setters such as Zapdos and Salamence-Mega also let Tyranitar attack first.
  • Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room, but beware of the defensive non-synergy.
  • Dragon Dance Tyranitar appreciates team support to help it set up. Fake Out from Scrafty, Redirection support from Amoonguss and Togekiss, Sky Drop support from Assault Vest Tapu Koko, and Wide Guard from Celesteela and Aegislash are good examples.
  • U-turn and Volt Switch from likes of Landorus-T, Genesect, and Tapu Koko also allow the player to scout the opponent and can grant Tyranitar a free switch-in at an advantageous position to set up.
  • Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Fini can handle Fighting-types such as Terrakion and Scrafty for Tyranitar.
  • Intimidate rounds out terrific bulk for Tyranitar, and the common users of Intimidate such as Landorus-T and Salamence also handles Fighting-types.
  • Dragon Dance set can have missing holes in coverage, which requires correct partners for it to sweep.
  • Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent intimidate Pokemon such as Landorus-T from switching in. Tapu Fini can Heal Pulse or Swagger Tyranitar for more bulk or damage.
  • Electric-types such as Tapu Koko and Zapdos, or Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu can also threaten Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic.
  • Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
  • Tyranitar is such a flexible Pokemon that you can mix-and-match items, coverage moves, and EVs to suit your team.
  • Assault Vest allows Tyranitar to check the majority of special attackers despite the wide distribution of moves that can hit Tyranitar for super effective damage.
  • As a result, Assault Vest lets Tyranitar check likes of Heatran, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B taking notably less damage in the process.
  • Fire Blast allows Tyranitar to hit Ferrothorn significantly harder than other Fighting-type moves.
  • Chople and Shuca Berry allows Heatran to take Fighting- and Ground-type moves from likes of Landorus-T, Deoxys-A, and Zygarde, and KO them in return with appropriate coverage moves.
  • Rock Polish + Weakness Policy set allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Tapu Koko, and Deoxys-A, as well as common Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Tapu Lele, which it cannot with Dragon Dance.
  • Max speed with Jolly nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Deoxys-A, and Tapu Koko, as well as Scarf Landorus-T, Scarf Tapu Lele, and +1 Zygarde after the Rock Polish
  • Weakness Policy allows Tyranitar to boost its damage and take advantage of its multiple weaknesses.
  • Assurance and Payback are alternative Dark-type STAB moves that can do significantly more damage than Crunch in the right condition.
  • Pursuit, especially with Choice Band allows Tyranitar to checkmate and remove targets by preventing the free switch-out of frail Pokemon such as Mega Gengar.
  • Stealth Rock can be used on bulkier sets.
  • Alternative coverage options such as Iron Head, Thunderbolt, Aqua Tail, though they are highly situational as none really sticks out due to Tyranitar's obscene neutral coverage already.
Checks and Counters
===================

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-type Pokemon such as Terrakion and Scrafty resist both Rock Slide and Crunch, and make short work of Tyranitar with a super effective Fighting-type. While not Fighting-type themselves, Landorus-T and Deoxys-A commonly use Superpower, and All-out Pummeling Tapu Lele also downs Tyranitar without Chople Berry.

**Ground-types**: Ground-type Pokemon can hit Tyranitar with a super effective STAB. Landorus has intimidate to further dampen Tyranitar's attacks, while Zygarde resists Rock Slide. However, they are prone to Ice-type coverage moves from Tyranitar.

**Water-types**: Water-type Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Milotic take minimal damage from Tyranitar, bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush. They can chip down Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move, or start setting up.

**Grass-types**: Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss take minimal damage bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush, and threatens Tyranitar with large damage and Spore. Ferrothorn can also handle Tyranitar, but need be careful of Fighting-type and Fire-type coverage moves.

**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Genesect and Metagross can outspeed Tyranitar and threatens it with plenty of damage. Celesteela can stomach a few attacks from Tyranitar, and has Wide Guard to stop it from using Rock Slide.

**Fairy-types**: Despite Tyranitar's high Special Defense, Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini can do significant damage with super effective Moonblast.

**Opposing weather**: Without Sand, Tyranitar becomes much more manageable to handle using special attacks. Pokemon such as Pelipper, Politoed, and Mega Charizard Y have ways to hit Tyranitar super effectively for large damage, as long as they have the weather control.
 
Last edited:

marilli

With you
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Former Other Tournament Circuit Champion
This is out of WIP and in QC.


AV, CB, Protect + 3 Attacks (with either Z move, or resist berry, or even Life Orb mostly for TR), Weakness Policy Rock Polish, Z-Move Dragon Dance are the main options I'm considering for the main sets.

Talking on discord or PS after I'm done with work would be nice to sort exactly what sets to combine and such.

I combined everything in 1 for now cuz I don't want to have to write up a ton then get rid of it later, but I think honestly this is still fine. If you feel we have to divide up everything to stop it from being a slashfest (though I think it's a fairly valid representation of Tyranitar), I think a good option would be to do just do 3 main sets: AV / CB / Protect + 3 Attacks, then put the setup sets in OO. If you guys can decide on it, then I'll divide up the comments correctly for each set.
 
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Pocket

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Yea, I agree that your 2 sets pretty much sums everything... you just have to explain all the different alternative ways in using TTar in the set explanation.

The one thing I would do is slash Dragon Dance with Rock Polish and name the set "Speed-boosting Sweeper" or something similar imo. DD isn't as bad as people make it out to be, esp when the frequency of Scarf Landorus-T is relatively reduced compared to xy; after a DD, TTar's +0 Black Hole Eclipse does a min of 91% damage to 4 Def Lando-T. Mega TTar is a great option for DD, too, as it has enough Speed to even be faster than neutral Spe Deoxys at +1, too, and has enough bulk at min HP to survive Lando-T's Superpower with Intimidate support. I honestly think Mega TTar is superior to Mega Gyarados in terms of sweeping with DD, as it is 1) far more bulky with a 2) strong spread move that 3) makes it harder to wall. Mega Gyarados's meager Speed advantage is also irrelevant, as it is still slower than Scarf Lando-T and other common scarfers.

OO mention Assurance and Payback as alternative STAB moves that can potentially deal significantly more damage than Crunch.
 

marilli

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Yeah actually Mega Ttar gets outsped by Rash Deoxys-A by a few points because Mega Tar hits 265, which hits 397 after +1. Rash Deoxys-A hits 399. The part that drives people away from DD Tar isn't the getting outsped by Scarf Lando part, but the fact that Ttar after +1 cannot outspeed M-Mence / Tapu Koko / M-Gar speed tier unless it's using a Mega Stone. I suppose Tyranitar still has the ability to tank hits from those anyway.
 

Pocket

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Oops, my b. But yea, that's enough Speed to be faster than the big 3 you mentioned, not that it really cares about outspeeding the two megas as much as Tapu Koko I suppose. Although less common, I think being faster than Shaymin-S and Weavile are also helpful. The overall jump in bulk is useful in general, too.
 

marilli

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[22:18:49] GenOne: Aight, cool. We (the QC team) did chat about that earlier this week. Lemme know your thoughts on this, but the consensus we kinda came to was
[22:20:13] GenOne: Set #1 should be Choice Band (move AV to high OO). Set #2 should be Protect + 3 Attacks with Rock Slide / Stone Edge; Crunch; Ice Punch / Ice Beam / Dragon Dance; Protect. With Life Orb and Rockium Z as the items, and everything else as high OO
[22:20:43] marilli: ok
[22:20:51] marilli: that sounds ok too
[22:20:52] GenOne: does that seem logical to you?
[22:20:56] GenOne: ok, cool.
[22:21:17] marilli: can i shift
[22:21:30] marilli: crunch as move no. 1 if its the only move without a slash
[22:21:36] marilli: i think that makes sense
[22:21:41] GenOne: i'll give this a full check then. since ttar is so versatile, and you obviously know how to use it, feel free to let me know if you disagree with any of the edits I mention when I do this
[22:21:47] GenOne: and ye crunch can go in slot 1
 

GenOne

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Hey Marilli, thanks for getting this started! As we discussed over PS, the QC chatted about how the Tyranitar sets should look. Set #1 should be Choice Band. Set #2 should be Protect + 3 Attacks, with the attacks being Crunch, Rock Slide/Stone Edge, Ice Punch/Ice Beam/Dragon Dance + Protect; and the items being Life Orb and Rockium Z - you've already implemented those which is great.

Some other things:
  • [OVERVIEW] When you mention Sand Stream, also emphasize that it gives Tyranitar a 50% buff in Special Defense.
  • [OVERVIEW] When you talk about its weaknesses mention that it has a crippling 4x weakness to Fighting-type attacks from threats like Landorus-T, etc.
  • [OVERVIEW] Add a mention of how Tyranitar's low speed, combined with its Dark typing, makes it a good check to Trick Room teams and TR setters like Hoopa-U, etc.
  • [Set Details - Choice Band] With the first bullet, I don't understand how having more power (aka via Choice Band) makes you benefit more from speed control than any other set with equivalent speed? It might be better here just to mention that Choice Band lets TTar hit as hard as possible without incurring Life Orb recoil damage.
  • [Set Details - Choice Band] I assume you'll wordsmith this when you write this up, but make it clear that you want to run Brave nature when on a Trick Room team, and explain how that's the scenario where you want to underspeed Hoopa-U.
  • [Usage Tips - Choice Band] Fourth bullet down: It's a bit of a stretch to say "most" Tyranitar sets don't carry Protect. I get what you're saying, that the opponent might be able to take an educated guess that TTar might not be running Protect, but just rework this sentence a bit so it doesn't overgeneralize what people run on TTar.
  • [Team Options - Choice Band] Give specific examples of the Fighting-types the four island guardians can handle. Also, Bulu doesn't technically count since it never runs Fairy STABs.
  • [SET - Protect Attacker] Although I'm not super picky what the name of this set is, Protect Attacker sounds kind of weird. What about something like Protect + 3 Attacks? That's just a bit more in line with what another analyses have for names.
  • [SET - Protect Attacker] Item order should be Rockium Z / Darkium Z / Life Orb. I meant to mention Darkium Z in the PS chat we had.
  • [Moves - Protect Attacker] Mention how Stone Edge > Rock Slide makes for a stronger Z Move (180 BP vs 140 BP)
  • [Set Details - Protect Attacker] Chople Berry and Shuca Berry should be moved to high OO.
  • [Usage Tips - Protect Attacker] Since this set is sometimes a bit frailer, especially if running Life Orb as the item, mention that TTar should avoid excessively pivoting into attacks as it wants to keep its health up as best as possible. It still makes a good pivot, but do it more sparingly.
  • [Usage Tips - Protect Attacker] Your second-last bullet is a bit unclear to me. What are you trying to say when you say: "For this reason, instead of switching in to take advantage of its defensive typing, use it to earn free turns after it safely switches in." How is TTar earning free turns?
  • [Team Options - Protect Attacker] Where you mention Intimidate / Fake Out / Redirection / Sky Drop support, give examples of Pokemon that use these moves.
  • [Team Options - Protect Attacker] Where you mention U-Turn and Volt Switch attackers, give specific examples.
  • [Other Options] Fire Blast should be a standalone OO mention, explaining how it hits Ferrothorn, etc. You don't need AV to run Fire Blast.
  • [Other Options] Give examples of the alternative coverage options that are highly situational
  • [Other Options] If we're gonna keep Choice Scarf in OO, we need to say more than "it sucks" :)
  • [Checks and Counters] **XX-type** should be **XX-types** (pluralize the tags)
  • [Checks and Counters] Where you mention Fighting-types, also make a note of Fightnium Z Tapu Lele.
  • [Checks and Counters] Even though TTar has really high SpD under sand, stronger Fairy-type attacks like Tapu Lele / Fini Moonblasts can still do pretty decent damage to TTar, especially if it isn't veiled under a sandstorm. Therefore, **Fairy-types** should be added as a tag, but after the other four Type tags you have.
Just because there's so much to cover in this analysis, please implement these changes above and tag me so I can give this one last check before stamping with QC 1/2. Thanks again for all your work on this!
 

Pocket

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Yea, Protect Attacker should be re-named. Also you need to mention that if you're going mixed with Ice Beam it needs to either go slow by going Brave or be a bit more brittle by going Lonely.

It's also worth mentioning that that you can run both Rock Slide and Stone Edge if you're running Rockinium Z. Rock Slide for the reliable spread damage; Stone Edge for the enormous Z power. When Continental Crush from -1 Stone Edge does 74% minimum to 4 Def Landorus-T, Ice Punch's utility is limited to beating Zygarde.

Great start, marilli!
 

Pocket

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i would personally slash Stone Edge on the 3rd slot - Rock Slide is mandatory IMHO. Esp on a CB Tar, it's more important to be throwing out hard STAB moves boosted by CB than being locked into a weak Ice Punch; having both options to go spread with Rock Slide or bypass WG and hit harder with Stone Edge is more valuable.
 

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Really not much to say here, this is as close to a perfect analysis as I have ever seen.

[Overview]
- Add a little piece about how effectively Tyranitar can deal with the ever common defensive core of FiniZap, as well as almost all common speed control setters, since you already mentioned tr hoopa

that's about it. 2/2
 

Pocket

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Life Orb should be replaced for Tyranitarite imho. Less power, but increased tankiness makes it worth it. Mega TTar is seeing more usage lately and needs to be mentioned in the analysis at the very least.

I would also replace Ice Beam for Low Kick imo. Get more mileage for dealing with Heatran, Snorlax, Ferrothorn, and opposing Tyranitar. The common usage of AV Lando-T makes Ice Beam a lot less appealing.

Thanks, marilli!
 

talkingtree

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You bring up decent points, but in favor of getting *something* uploaded sooner, I'm going to ask that marilli leaves this as-is for now. Also, Tyranitarite is currently the very first thing in OO, so it's not like it's going entirely unmentioned.

Later, we'll add a 3rd set, focusing on Dragon Dance. This set will have Tyranitarite and Rockium as slashes, and we'll change DD to Low Kick on the "Offensive" set when it's uploaded and make the appropriate edits. I think changing to 3 sets will help the flow a bit more, but as I mentioned above, I don't want to make this take any longer than it already has.
 

Pocket

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sounds good to me. why not Darkium > Rockium tho? 160 vs 140 is a big diff in power.
 

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either (or both, more likely) is fine, though i agree that Z-Crunch is better tbh but both have merits
 

GP 1/2
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[OVERVIEW]

Tyranitar has a great offensive and defensive typing with the stats to back them up. Unique resistances and amazing defensive stats enable it to check top-tier Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Mega Gengar, Mega Charizard Y, and Hoopa-U. Rock- and Dark- are Rock / Dark is a great offensive typing as well:; (semi) Rock Slide and Crunch together hits most of the tier for consistent damage. Tyranitar matches up well against other speed controllers setters such as Zapdos or and Mega Salamence. Furthermore, Tyranitar's low Speed can be used to its advantage, as it beats the most common Trick Room user, Hoopa-U, with its defensive typing. In addition, Tyranitar also has access to an incredibly diverse movepool with that includes premier coverage moves such as Ice Beam, Fire Blast, and Low Kick, (comma) with the mixed offenses to and can properly utilize them with its mixed offenses. Tyranitar is also able to effectively use diverse many item options such as Choice Band, Z-Crystals, Assault Vest, Type resistance Berries, Weakness Policy, and more; this makes it a truly unpredictable threat. Tyranitar also has a lot of utility thanks to Sand Stream; it not only gives Tyranitar a 50% boost in Special Defense, but also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, removes invalidates Focus Sash, and scouts the opponent foes' Speed. However, Tyranitar has plenty of weaknesses to common attacking types, (comma) such as Ground, Water, and a crippling weakness to Fighting-type moves especially Fighting, which are carried by common threats such as Landorus-T and Marshadow. Low Speed makes Tyranitar reliant on its bulk and Speed control.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Stone Edge / Ice Punch
move 4: Superpower / Low Kick
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========

Crunch and Rock Slide are STAB moves with great neutral coverage. Stone Edge is an alternative Rock-type STAB move; it has a shaky accuracy, but it is Tyranitar's strongest attack, (comma) and heavily punishes Tapu Fini switch-ins, (comma) as well as OHKOes opposing Zapdos, (comma) and bypasses Wide Guard. Ice Punch targets Pokemon x4 4x weak to Ice, (comma) - (hyphen) most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde, but being locked into it can be a momentum sink. Low Kick and Superpower are an options to for hitting Snorlax, opposing Tyranitar, as well as and Steel-types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn for extra damage. Superpower is an alternative Fighting-type coverage that lowers Tyranitar's Attack and Defense, but hits more Pokemon for consistent high Base Power than Low Kick. Pursuit allows Tyranitar to checkmate trap and remove targets by preventing the free switch-out of frail Pokemon such as Mega Gengar.

Set Details
========

Choice Band allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible without incurring Life Orb recoil. The above spread maximizes bulk and damage, but there are multiple ways to tweak this set it to best suit your team. As Speed control is crucial to Choice Band Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Choice Band Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support. In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-Attack with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable. It is even possible to simply maximize Speed and Attack with a Jolly Nature in order to outspeed Choice Scarf users such as Jolly Landorus-T in Tailwind, (comma) as well as at least Speed tying tie with opposing Tyranitar. In Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack. Being Adamant allows Tyranitar to outspeed things outside of Trick Room, letting it outspeed including uninvested base 60 Speed Pokemon, (comma) notably like Aegislash and Celesteela, while still being slower than the majority of the metagame. Brave Tyranitar underslow is slower than opposing Trick Room attackers such as Heatran or and Hoopa-U, taking them out in a single hit OHKOing them when Trick Room is active, (comma) before they do any damage to your team. Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, removes breaks Focus Sash, and scouts the opponent's foes' Speed.

Usage Tips
========

Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resists resistances. Thanks to its power and coverage options, Tyranitar can often surprise Pokemon with the surprising an unexpected amount of damage or a coverage option. For instance, OHKOing it OHKOes Scrafty with Superpower, Landorus-T switch-ins with Ice Punch, or and Zapdos with Stone Edge before its can match Tailwind can turn the game drastically. Therefore, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success. Choice Band Rock Slide and Crunch are hard to resist, switch into and lets Tyranitar break defensive cores more easily and eases without the need to predict with super effective moves. Due to Tyranitar's low Speed and numerous weaknesses, proper Speed control and positional play with its partner becomes imperative for Tyranitar to not be dead weight. The lack of Protect on the set makes it even more important to have proper Speed control. Try to bring out Tyranitar with your preferred Speed control already active, (comma) so it does not have to maneuver around opposing super effective moves before attacking. Also, try to have strong partners on the field so when a Pokemon tries to hit Tyranitar on with one of its multiple weaknesses, they are it is threatened by Tyranitar switching out and the partner going for a super effective move in return. Use Tyranitar's Sand Stream to deny opposing weather sweeper's speed boost sweepers' Speed boosts. Tyranitar also can take advantage of opposing Trick Room teams, against which Tyranitar does not need team support to go first and wreak havoc.

Team Options
========

Speed control helps Tyranitar attack first with Rock Slide without getting pinned by super effective moves or double targets. Tailwind setters such as Zapdos and Mega Salamence-Mega also let Tyranitar attack first. Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room, but beware of the defensive non-synergy as be aware that they share weaknesses with Tyranitar. Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini can handle Fighting-types such as Terrakion and Scrafty for Tyranitar. Intimidate support rounds out terrific bulk for Tyranitar, and the common users of Intimidate such as Landorus-T and Salamence also handles Fighting-types. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent intimidate Pokemon Intimidate users such as Landorus-T from switching in with relative ease. Also, Electric-types such as Tapu Koko and Zapdos, (comma) or and Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu can also threaten opposing Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic. Finally, Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross. (per)

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch / Ice Beam / Dragon Dance
move 4: Protect
item: Rockium Z / Darkinium Z / Life Orb
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========

Crunch is a and Rock Slide are reliable STAB moves with great neutral coverage. Rock Slide is another consistent STAB move with great neutral coverage. Stone Edge hits Tapu Fini and Zapdos significantly harder than Rock Slide, (comma) and also allows Tyranitar to use a notably stronger Continental Crush. The increase in Base Power of Continental Crush is so worthwhile that Rockium Z Tyranitar can use both Rock Slide and Stone Edge, forgoing alternative third moves entirely. Ice Punch targets Pokemon x4 4x weak to Ice, (comma) - (hyphen) most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde. Ice Beam allows Tyranitar to hit the same targets while ignoring Intimidate, preferably for Trick Room Tyranitar that use a Brave nature for higher Special Attack stat, as otherwise it Tyranitar would otherwise need to sacrifice further bulk with a Lonely nature. Dragon Dance allows Tyranitar to boost itself and sweep through teams with increased Speed. Finally, Protect helps Tyranitar with positional play. Tyranitar has multiple weaknesses, and the ability to avoid damage from super effective hits while its partner gets a free turn can be very advantageous.

Set Details
========

Maximum Attack allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible. As Speed control is crucial to Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support. In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with an Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-Attack with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable. A Jolly nature with maximum Speed allows Tyranitar to outspeed notable Choice Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B. (under what conditions?) In Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack. 68 Special Attack EVs allow Tyranitar to OHKO minimum bulk Landorus with Ice Beam. A Jolly nature with maximum Attack and Speed can be used with the Dragon Dance set, which allows +1 Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Metagross after 1 Dragon Dance boost. Rockium Z allows Tyranitar to use Continental Crush capable of crushing to decimate most targets. Darkinium Z is an alternative Z-Move that hits Aegislash, (comma) as well as simply providing a and has higher Base Power Z-Move than Continental Crush from Rock Slide. Life Orb allows Tyranitar to output more mixed damage and can be especially devastating in Trick Room. However, this compromises Tyranitar's bulk by making it lose 10% of its HP per attack. Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, removes breaks Focus Sash, and scouts the opponent foes' Speed.

Usage Tips
========

Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resists resistances, but the Life Orb set and Dragon Dance sets has have signficantly reduced bulk, (comma) and should refrain from losing too much health while switching in. Thanks to its coverage options and the potential to take a quick KO with Continental Crush, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success. Proper Speed control and positional play with its partner brings out Tyranitar's full potential of Tyranitar, as Tyranitar it appreciates moving before it can be taken down by super effective moves. Take advantage of Protect in order to earn free turns for its partner to use its Speed control, (comma) or fire off big damage onto the opposing Pokemon. Continental Crush is one-time use, so be careful not to waste the move too early. With the Dragon Dance set, set up to either clean up late-(hyphen)game or wallbreak with boosted Rock Slides. The Dragon Dance set has less bulk and needs to be at full HP in order to set up effectively, as it sometimes will be forced take a lot of damage on the turn it sets up. Note that Dragon Dance set is still slower than Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Mega Salamence, and Shaymin-S even after one boost.

Team Options
========

Speed control helps Tyranitar attack first and delete eliminate targets with Continental Crush before they can even retaliate with super effective moves. Tailwind setters such as Zapdos and Mega Salamence-Mega also let Tyranitar attack first, while Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room. While non-Choice Band Tyranitar plays differently, the set also appreciates similar teammates for type synergy. Terrakion and Scrafty, (comma) threatening Fighting-types, can be checked by help of Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini, or by Intimidate users such as Landorus-T and Salamence. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent intimidate Pokemon Intimidate users such as Landorus-T from switching in. Partners to threaten Water-types, such as Tapu Koko, Zapdos, and Amoonguss, (comma) allow Tyranitar more freedom to maneuver. Finally, Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross.

Dragon Dance Tyranitar appreciates team support to that helps it set up. Fake Out from Scrafty, redirection support from Amoonguss and Togekiss, Sky Drop support from Assault Vest Tapu Koko, and Wide Guard from Celesteela and Aegislash are good examples. U-turn and Volt Switch from the likes of Landorus-T, Genesect, and Tapu Koko also allow the player to scout the opponent and can grant Tyranitar a free switch-in at an advantageous position to set up.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Tyranitar is such a flexible Pokemon, (comma) that you can mix-and-match mix and match items, coverage moves, and EVs to suit your team. Tyranitarite can be used on Dragon Dance Tyranitar, as the additional Speed allows Mega Tyranitar to outspeed relevant threats such as Tapu Koko and Shaymin-S after a single Dragon Dance. Assault Vest allows Tyranitar to check the majority of special attackers despite the wide distribution of moves that can hit Tyranitar for super effective damage. As a result, Assault Vest lets Tyranitar check likes of Heatran, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B, (comma) taking notably less damage in the process. Fire Blast allows Tyranitar to hit Ferrothorn significantly harder than other Fighting-type moves. Holding a Chople Berry or and Shuca Berry allows Tyranitar to take Fighting- and or Ground-type moves from the likes of Landorus-T, Deoxys-A, and Zygarde, (comma) and to KO them in return with appropriate coverage moves. A Rock Polish + Weakness Policy set allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Tapu Koko, and Deoxys-A, (comma) as well as common Choice Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Tapu Lele, which it cannot with Dragon Dance. Maximum Speed with a Jolly nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Deoxys-A, and Tapu Koko, (comma) as well as Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, and +1 Zygarde after the Rock Polish. Weakness Policy allows Tyranitar to boost its damage and take advantage of its multiple weaknesses.

Assurance and Payback are alternative Dark-type STAB moves that can do significantly more damage than Crunch in the right conditions. Stealth Rock can be used on bulkier sets in order to check Mega Charizard-(hyphen)Y and Mega Salamence. Finally, Tyranitar has access to multiple even more alternative coverage options such as Iron Head, which can situationally hit Fairy-types such as Tapu Bulu and Diancie, or and Aqua Tail, (comma) which offers safer middle-ground plays against Landorus-T. However, they fall short in damage output and general utility, and ultimately are highly situational.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-type Pokemon such as Terrakion and Scrafty resist both Rock Slide and Crunch, (comma) and make short work of Tyranitar with a super effective Fighting-type attack. Marshadow can KO Tyranitar with Close Combat Tyranitar, but takes a lot of damage from Crunch. While not Fighting-type themselves, Landorus-T and Deoxys-A commonly use Superpower, and All-Out Pummeling Tapu Lele also downs Tyranitar without Chople Berry.

**Ground-types**: Ground-type Pokemon can hit Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move. Landorus-T has Intimidate to further dampen Tyranitar's attacks, while Zygarde resists Rock Slide. However, they are prone vulnerable to Ice-type coverage moves from Tyranitar.

**Water-types**: Water-type Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Milotic take minimal damage from Tyranitar, Tyranitar's attacks bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush. They can chip wear down Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move, (comma) or start setting up.

**Grass-types**: Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss take minimal damage from Tyranitar bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush, (comma) and threatens Tyranitar with large damage and Spore. Ferrothorn can also handle Tyranitar, but needs to be careful of Fighting-type and Fire-type coverage moves.

**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Genesect and Metagross can outspeed Tyranitar and threatens it with plenty of damage. Celesteela can stomach a few attacks from Tyranitar, (comma) and has Wide Guard to stop it from using Rock Slide.

**Fairy-types**: Despite Tyranitar's high Special Defense, Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini can do significant damage with super effective Moonblast.

**Opposing Weather**: Without sand, Tyranitar becomes much more manageable easier to handle using special attacks. Pokemon such as Pelipper, Politoed, and Mega Charizard Y have ways to hit Tyranitar super effectively for large damage, (comma) as long as they have the weather control.
 
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frenzyplant

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2/2 marilli :)

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[OVERVIEW]

Tyranitar has a great offensive and defensive typing with the stats to back them it up. Rock Slide and Crunch together hit most of the tier for consistent damage, and unique resistances and amazing defensive stats enable it Tyranitar to check top-tier Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Mega Gengar, Mega Charizard Y, and Hoopa-U. Rock / Dark is a great offensive typing as well; Rock Slide and Crunch together hit most of the tier for consistent damage. (these changes are essentially to match the order of your discussion of Tyranitar's offensive/defensive traits to the order of the first sentence ("offensive and defensive", not "defensive and offensive") so you can forgo these changes and just change the first sentence to "defensive and offensive") Tyranitar matches up well against speed controllers such as Zapdos and Mega Salamence. Furthermore, Tyranitar's low Speed can be used to its advantage, as it beats the most common Trick Room user, Hoopa-U, with its defensive typing. Tyranitar also has an incredibly diverse movepool that includes premier coverage moves such as Ice Beam, Fire Blast, and Low Kick and can properly utilize them with its good mixed offenses. Tyranitar is also able to effectively use many item options such as Choice Band, Z-Crystals, Assault Vest, resistance Berries, and Weakness Policy, and more; (this is implied by "such as") this makes it a truly unpredictable threat. Tyranitar has a lot of utility thanks to Sand Stream; it not only gives Tyranitar a 50% boost in Special Defense, (remove comma) but also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, invalidates Focus Sash, and scouts foes' (opposing weather setters'?) Speed. However, Tyranitar has plenty of weaknesses to common attacking types such as Ground, Water, and especially Fighting, which are carried by common threats such as Landorus-T and Marshadow. Low Speed makes Tyranitar reliant on its bulk and Speed control.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Stone Edge / Ice Punch
move 4: Superpower / Low Kick
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========

Crunch and Rock Slide are STAB moves with great neutral coverage. Stone Edge is an alternative Rock-type STAB move; it has a shaky accuracy, but it is Tyranitar's strongest attack, heavily punishes Tapu Fini switch-ins, OHKOes Zapdos, and bypasses Wide Guard. Ice Punch targets Pokemon 4x weak to Ice, most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde, but being locked into it can be a momentum sink. Low Kick and Superpower are options for hitting Snorlax, opposing Tyranitar, and Steel-types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn for extra damage. Superpower lowers Tyranitar's Attack and Defense, (remove comma) but hits more Pokemon for high Base Power damage than Low Kick. Pursuit allows Tyranitar to trap and remove frail Pokemon such as Mega Gengar.

Set Details
========

Choice Band allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible without incurring Life Orb recoil. The above spread maximizes bulk and damage, but there are multiple ways to tweak it to best suit your team. As Speed control is crucial to Choice Band Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Choice Band Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support. In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with an Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-A with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable. It is even possible to simply maximize Speed and Attack with a Jolly Nature nature in order to outspeed Choice Scarf users such as Jolly Landorus-T in Tailwind as well as at least Speed tie with opposing Tyranitar. In Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack. Being Adamant allows Tyranitar to outspeed things foes outside of Trick Room, including uninvested base 60 Speed Pokemon like Aegislash and Celesteela, while still being slower than the majority of the metagame. Brave Tyranitar (maybe add a transition here like "meanwhile" or "on the other hand" to make the comparison to Adamant clearer) is slower than opposing Trick Room attackers such as Heatran and Hoopa-U, OHKOing them when Trick Room is active before they do any damage to your team. Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, breaks Focus Sash, and scouts foes' Speed.

Usage Tips
========

Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resistances. Thanks to its power and coverage options, Tyranitar can often surprise Pokemon with an unexpected amount of damage or a coverage move. option. For instance, it OHKOes Scrafty with Superpower, Landorus-T switch-ins with Ice Punch, and Zapdos with Stone Edge before it can match Tailwind. Such KOs can turn the game drastically. Therefore, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success. Choice Band Rock Slide and Crunch are hard to switch into and let Tyranitar break defensive cores more easily without the need to predict with super effective moves. Due to Tyranitar's low Speed and numerous weaknesses, proper Speed control and positional play with its partner become imperative for Tyranitar to not be dead weight. The lack of Protect on the set makes it even more important to have proper Speed control. Try to bring out Tyranitar with your preferred Speed control already active so it does not have to maneuver around opposing super effective moves before attacking. Also, try to have strong partners on the field so when a Pokemon tries to hit Tyranitar with one of its multiple weaknesses, it is threatened by Tyranitar switching out and the partner going for a super effective move in return. Use Tyranitar's Sand Stream to deny opposing weather sweepers' Speed boosts. Tyranitar also can take advantage of opposing Trick Room teams, against which Tyranitar does not need team support to go first and wreak havoc.

Team Options
========

Speed control like Tailwind from Zapdos and Mega Salamence (use "or" if you wouldn't use both of these Pokemon together) helps Tyranitar attack first with Rock Slide without getting pinned by super effective moves or double targets. Tailwind setters such as Zapdos and Mega Salamence also let Tyranitar attack first. (combined with the previous sentence, as you're essentially saying the same thing) Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room, but be aware that they share weaknesses with Tyranitar. Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini can handle Fighting-types such as Terrakion and Scrafty for Tyranitar. Intimidate support rounds out Tyranitar's terrific bulk for Tyranitar, and the common users of Intimidate such as Landorus-T and Salamence also handle Fighting-types for it. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent Intimidate users such as Landorus-T from easily switching in with relative ease. (if you mean that the Water-types easily prevent the Pokemon from switching in, put "easily" before "prevent") Electric-types such as Tapu Koko and Zapdos and Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu can threaten opposing Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic. Finally, Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Crunch
move 2: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
move 3: Ice Punch / Ice Beam / Dragon Dance
move 4: Protect
item: Rockium Z / Darkinium Z / Life Orb
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========

Crunch and Rock Slide are reliable STAB moves with great neutral coverage. Stone Edge hits Tapu Fini and Zapdos significantly harder than Rock Slide and allows Tyranitar to use a notably stronger Continental Crush. The increase in Base Power of Continental Crush is so worthwhile that Rockium Z Tyranitar can use both Rock Slide and Stone Edge, forgoing alternative third moves entirely. Ice Punch targets Pokemon 4x weak to Ice, most notably Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Zygarde. Ice Beam allows Tyranitar to hit the same targets while ignoring Intimidate, preferably chosen for Trick Room Tyranitar that use a Brave nature for higher Special Attack, as Tyranitar would otherwise need to sacrifice further bulk with a Lonely nature. Dragon Dance allows Tyranitar to boost itself and sweep through teams with increased Speed. Finally, Protect helps Tyranitar with positional play. Tyranitar has multiple weaknesses, and the ability to avoid damage from super effective hits while its partner gets a free turn can be very advantageous.

Set Details
========

Maximum Attack allows Tyranitar to hit as hard as possible. As Speed control is crucial to Tyranitar's success, one most important factor to consider is whether you want to use Tyranitar with Tailwind or Trick Room support. In Tailwind teams, 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe with an Adamant nature allows Tyranitar to outspeed Rash Deoxys-A with Tailwind support, but the loss in bulk is noticeable. A Jolly nature with maximum Speed allows Tyranitar to outspeed notable Choice Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B in Tailwind. In On Trick Room teams, simply maximize HP and Attack. 68 Special Attack EVs allow Tyranitar to OHKO minimum bulk Landorus-T with Ice Beam. A Jolly nature with maximum Attack and Speed can be used with the Dragon Dance set, which as this spread allows +1 Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Metagross. Rockium Z allows Tyranitar to use Continental Crush to decimate most targets. Darkinium Z is an alternative Z-Move that hits Aegislash and has higher Base Power than Continental Crush from Rock Slide. Life Orb allows Tyranitar to output more mixed damage and can be especially devastating in Trick Room. However, this compromises Tyranitar's bulk by making it lose 10% of its HP per attack. Sand Stream allows Tyranitar the Special Defense boost to take on most special attackers. It also removes opposing weather, deals chip damage, breaks Focus Sash, and scouts foes' Speed.

Usage Tips
========

Tyranitar can easily switch into attacks using its natural bulk and resistances, but the Life Orb and Dragon Dance sets have signficantly significantly reduced bulk and should refrain from losing too much health while switching in. Thanks to its coverage options and the potential to take a quick KO with Continental Crush, good information management and successful predictions are crucial to Tyranitar's success. Proper Speed control and positional play with its partner brings bring out Tyranitar's full potential, as it appreciates moving before it can be taken down by super effective moves. Take advantage of Protect in order to earn free turns for its Tyranitar's partner to use Speed control or fire off big damage. Continental Crush is one-time use, so be careful not to waste the move too early. With the Dragon Dance set, set up to either clean up late-game or wallbreak with boosted Rock Slide. The Dragon Dance set has less bulk and needs to be at full HP in order to set up effectively, as it sometimes will be forced to take a lot of damage on the turn it sets up. Note that the Dragon Dance set is still slower than Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Mega Salamence, and Shaymin-S even after one boost.

Team Options
========

Speed control helps Tyranitar attack first and eliminate targets with Continental Crush before they can retaliate with super effective moves. Zapdos and Mega Salamence can set up Tailwind setters such as Zapdos and Mega Salamence let Tyranitar attack first, while Pokemon such as Hoopa-U and Porygon2 can reliably set up Trick Room. Terrakion and Scrafty, threatening Fighting-types, can be checked by Fairy-types, (comma) such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini, or by Intimidate users, (comma) such as Landorus-T and Salamence. Water-types such as Tapu Fini and Milotic prevent Intimidate users such as Landorus-T from switching in. Partners to threaten Water-types, such as Tapu Koko, Zapdos, and Amoonguss, allow Tyranitar more freedom to maneuver. Finally, Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcanion can threaten opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela and Mega Metagross.

Dragon Dance Tyranitar appreciates team support that helps it set up. Fake Out from Scrafty, redirection from Amoonguss and Togekiss, Sky Drop from Assault Vest Tapu Koko, and Wide Guard from Celesteela and Aegislash are good examples. U-turn and Volt Switch from the likes of Landorus-T, Genesect, and Tapu Koko allow the player to scout the opponent and can grant Tyranitar a free switch at an advantageous position to set up.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Tyranitar is such a flexible Pokemon, (remove comma) that you can mix and match items, coverage moves, and EVs to suit your team. Tyranitarite can be used on Dragon Dance Tyranitar, as the additional Speed allows Mega Tyranitar to outspeed relevant threats such as Tapu Koko and Shaymin-S after a single Dragon Dance. Assault Vest allows Tyranitar to check the majority of special attackers despite the wide distribution of moves that can hit Tyranitar it for super effective damage. As a result, Assault Vest lets Tyranitar check the likes of Heatran, Tapu Lele, and Kyurem-B, taking notably less damage in the process. Fire Blast allows Tyranitar to hit Ferrothorn significantly harder than with Fighting-type moves. Holding a Chople Berry or Shuca Berry allows Tyranitar to take Fighting- or Ground-type moves from the likes of Landorus-T, Deoxys-A, and Zygarde to KO them in return with appropriate coverage moves. A Rock Polish + Weakness Policy set allows Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Tapu Koko, and Deoxys-A as well as common Choice Scarf Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Tapu Lele, which it cannot with Dragon Dance. Maximum Speed investment with a Jolly nature allows +2 Tyranitar to outspeed Mega Salamence, Deoxys-A, and Tapu Koko as well as Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, and +1 Zygarde after Rock Polish. Weakness Policy allows Tyranitar to boost its damage and take advantage of its multiple weaknesses. (move this to just before the sentence about the rock polish + weakness policy set)

Assurance and Payback are alternative Dark-type STAB moves that can do significantly more damage than Crunch in the right conditions. Stealth Rock can be used on bulkier sets in order to check Mega Charizard Y and Mega Salamence. Finally, Tyranitar has access to even more alternative coverage options such as Iron Head, which can situationally hit Fairy-types such as Tapu Bulu and Diancie, and Aqua Tail, which offers safer middle-ground plays against Landorus-T. However, they fall short in damage output and general utility, (remove comma) and ultimately are highly situational.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-type Pokemon such as Terrakion and Scrafty resist both Rock Slide and Crunch and make short work of Tyranitar with a super effective Fighting-type attack. Marshadow can KO Tyranitar with Close Combat, (remove comma) but takes a lot of damage from Crunch. While not Fighting-type themselves, Landorus-T and Deoxys-A commonly use Superpower, and All-Out Pummeling Tapu Lele also downs Tyranitar without Chople Berry.

**Ground-types**: Ground-type Pokemon can hit Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move. Landorus-T has Intimidate to further dampen Tyranitar's attacks, while Zygarde resists Rock Slide. However, they are vulnerable to Ice-type coverage moves from Tyranitar.

**Water-types**: Water-type Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Milotic take minimal damage from Tyranitar's attacks bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush. They can wear down Tyranitar with a super effective STAB move or start setting up against it. (optional)

**Grass-types**: Tapu Bulu and Amoonguss take minimal damage from Tyranitar bar Choice Band Stone Edge or Continental Crush and threaten Tyranitar with large damage and Spore. Ferrothorn can also handle Tyranitar, but it needs to be careful of Fighting- and Fire-type coverage moves.

**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Genesect and Metagross can outspeed Tyranitar and threaten it with plenty of damage. Celesteela can stomach a few attacks from Tyranitar and has Wide Guard to stop it from using Rock Slide.

**Fairy-types**: Despite Tyranitar's high Special Defense, Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini can do significant damage to it with super effective Moonblast.

**Opposing Weather**: Without sand, Tyranitar becomes much easier to handle using special attacks. Pokemon such as Pelipper, Politoed, and Mega Charizard Y have ways to hit Tyranitar for large damage as long as they have the weather control.
 

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