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Community POTW #044

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Serebii

And, as if by magic, the webmaster appeared...
Staff member
Admin
Time for the next Pokémon of the Week and we have another Galar favourite!

887.png


It's Dragapult!

https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/dragapult/
 

XaelOstigian

Competitive...kinda
A Pokemon that is a combination of an extinct fossil and a stealth jet, and also happens to fire its little bei-beis like little missiles. I swear GameFreak's psuedo legendaries are getting weirder by the generation.
9d36ab0bf30b97a0733d135151e61048.png

Despite its strange appearance, Dragapult has been a popular choice on competitive teams this generation no thanks to its incredible 142 base speed and excellent offensive stats. It's physical attack is notably higher but its movepool is shallow, while its special attack is lower but offers a wide range of coverage. It's all up to you regarding how you want to play it.

Dragon Dance Drone
Ability: Infiltrator
Item: Life Orb/Sitrus Berry
Nature: Adamant (+Attack -Sp.Attack)
EVs: (HP 252) (Attack 252) (Def 4)

Moves:
Dragon Dance
Dragon Darts
Phantom Force
U-Turn/Body Slam/Acrobatics

Set Details:
Set up Dragon Dance to boost Dragapult's offensive capabilities even higher while supplementing its already insane speed. Thanks to that you can actually invest your EVs into bulk rather than speed since the speed boost has you handled against nearly every threat. Dragon Darts is the strongest and most reliable Dragon STAB it has, and while I normally say this helps break and damage Substitute users, its ability Infiltrator already allows you to bypass that decoy along with Reflect. Phantom Force is sadly the only good Ghost STAB Dragapult really has access to, so you'll have to manage with telegraphing your attacks to your opponent and hope they do not switch in something that resists, is immune to, or just counters Dragapult in general. The last slot is really a bare-bones option given Dragapult's poor physical movepool. U-Turn allows you to yeet out of there while inflicting damage on the switch and scouting, Body Slam offers neutral coverage and possible paralysis support for your team, and Acrobatics is a situational option if you are willing to run a Sitrus Berry instead of a Life Orb in your item slot.

Choice Stealth Fighter
Ability: Infilitrator
Item: Choice Scarf/Choice Specs
Nature: Modest/Timid
EVs: (HP 4) (Sp.Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Draco Meteor
Shadow Ball
Thunderbolt
Flamethrower

Set Details:
A special attack set that is more popular in the metagame than its physical counterpart. Draco Meteor is power incarnate allowing you to take a chunk out of most target's HP and then switch out. Shadow Ball is your most consistent STAB option, Thunderbolt offers excellent neutral coverage and punishes Gyarados, Flamethrower counters the Bug/Steel Pokemon as well as Ferrothorn. Infiltrator is still the best ability allowing you to bypass Substitutes and Light Screen, and your item and nature is up to you depending on if you want a late-game sweeper or a heavier hitter.
 

Pokemon Power

Well-Known Member
I have a request. When the anime airs the Sword/Shield saga in Japan, you should do Zacian, Zamazenta and then Eternatus for the first three weeks. And then, if the Crown Tundra has released at that point, you should end it with Calyrex. Could you please do it?
 

Mestorn

Wandering Battler
Dragapult, the Psuedolegendary of this generation. While previous Pseudolegendaries are all bulky in some way, shape or form, Dragapult goes the other direction and is primarily a Glass Cannon having "poor" defenses and a myriad of weaknesses in contrast to useable offenses and an insanely blistering speed that makes it the 5th fastest pokémon in the current game (and 14th fastest if we go full national Dex) and the best of both movepools from both its Dragon and Ghost typings. Dragapult is a threat that must be accounted for when team building lest it run over your team.

Sabotuer
Dragapult
Item
: Heavy Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
-Will-o-Wisp
-Hex
-U-Turn
-Dragon-Darts/Dragon Pulse/Thunder Wave
Nature: Timid (+SPE, -ATK) or Modest (+SATK, -ATK)
EVs: 252 SATK/252 SPE/4 ATK

Dragapult flexes its Ghost typing with this moveset, spreading status as the situation calls for it (Will-o-Wisp for physical attackers, Thunderwave is an option for speedy threats) and then slams crippled targets with a Base 130 STAB Hex. U-Turn allows Dragapult to scout out a suspected switch or coverage move while final move is up to preference. Thunderwave as mentioned before is great for speed control, but your team may already have options for that in which case a Dragon STAB move (Dragon Darts so you aren't bait for the pink Blobs, or Dragon Pulse for more consistency is speccing your EVs) offers great neutral coverage.

Good teammates include others that can spread status (i.e. Toxic and Toxic Spikes) that make good pivots for U-Turn (Toxapex resists Ice and Fairy moves, spreads Toxic, and enjoys Dragapult crippling physical attackers and scaring off Psychic types) (Mandabuzz resists Ghost and Dark and spreads Toxic) (Togekiss resists Dark and Dragon and enjoys the T-Wave support).

Infiltrator is preferred ability, bypass Substitute and Screens. Clear Body is not as useful in Singles and while Dragapult can abuse Cursed Body due to its typing, it is too frail to take many physical hits.

Other Options
Light Screen/Reflect -Dragapult is a good Dual Screen user, but let's face it, Grimmsnarl is far better.
Substitute -Dragapult tends to attract Thunderwave like furniture attracts cat hair, so Substitute is good for shutting down most attempts

Doubles Options
Clear Body -better in Doubles due to the number of Intimidate users running around, though Dual Screens/Aurora Veil is still a powerful strategy over there.
Ally-Switch -Dragapult has a few immunities and good speed to abuse Ally Switch

Checks and Counters
As fast as Dragapult is, there are several things in the game that are faster. VS a Neutral Nature Max Speed Invested Dragapult, anything that is at +1 Speed (Scarf, Dances) with max investment and at least 80 Base Speed (Neutral Natured) or 68 Base Speed (Positive natured) can outspeed it. Zeraora naturally outspeeds Dragapult and can maim, if not OHKO it with Knock Off (special sets don't have an answer though). Paralyzing it works well, though watch out for Substitute. Really any speed control on a decently fast pokémon enables you to get the jump on Dragapult. Just note that you can't trap it and need to keep that answer alive, lest Dragapult gouge holes out of your team without it.

Countering every Dragapult defensively is near impossible -its movepool is far too varied and can easily run sets all over the spectrum, though Dragapult is lacking in power and/or coverage depending on the set. Grimmsnarl is a good general answer resists Dragapult's STABs, can Paralyze it with a Prankster T-Wave, can reliably OHKO with a STAB Sucker Punch (or just about any STAB) , but is 2HKOd by most coverage moves (and can be OHKOd by Steel Wings) and getting Burned or T-Waved will ruin Grimmsnarl in Turn.

Physical sets can be shutdown by physical walls (Corviknight and Skarmory beware of the occasional Fire Blast) while Special sets can be stymied by defensive Primarina, Clefable, and Blissey.
 
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