Community POTW #130

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon and this week we have another classic!

It's Tyranitar!

https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-sm/248.shtml

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

Tyranitar gained a few tricks with the addition of Z-Moves. Here's one of my favourites:

Tyranitar @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Attack, 4 Def
Brave nature (Speed IV 0 or 1)
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Curse
- Protect

Z-Curse Tyranitar for Trick Room in doubles. With a Brave nature and a low Speed IV, Tyranitar becomes slower than minimum speed base 40s after a single Curse (speed tying with minimum speed Gastrodon), and slower than minimum speed base 30s after two. With Curse boosting its physical defence, Sandstorm boosting its special defence, and maximum HP investment boosting its HP, Z-Curse Tyranitar becomes bulky enough to take most super effective hits without much worry, as long as they're not Fighting hits. Z-Curse gives Tyranitar +2 attack as well, making it like a Swords Dance in power boost, and at +2 Tyranitar hits very hard. Crunch usually KOs most things that don't resist it, and Rock Slide brings a lot of foes into yellow health in one go, hits both opponents, and causes flinching. It has its weaknesses and you need some team members that can eliminate fighting types, but overall it's a very scary powerhouse under Trick Room conditions that isn't that easy to deal with. It is so bulky that it can't be easily revenge killed or eliminated even if an enemy goes first with a super effective hit, yet it still has the power of a Swords Dance sweeper with a 134 base attack stat. Under Trick Room this Tyranitar essentially has everything in raw numbers. Bulk, ability to move first most of the time, and offensive might, and most pokémon only get two of those three.

There are different Trick Room setters you can consider:

Stakataka loves Sandstorm being up, has very low speed, can support with more Rock Slide to ramp up flinching even more, and can even Skill Swap to reset weather and give Tyranitar Beast Boost for a bit of overkill as this Tyranitar Beast Boosts on its Attack stat. It does share several weaknesses with Tyranitar however, notably Water, Ground, and Fighting.

Oranguru is always a solid Trick Room setter, and this is no exception. Oranguru can threaten fighting types and offer Instruct support to Tyranitar to make it even more dangerous.

Reuniclus is very slow, bulky, immune to Sandstorm, and eliminates fighting types with ease. Reuniclus can also use After You which is beneficial under Trick Room conditions with its low speed, especially when you have other members in your team that aren't as slow.

Claydol is immune to Sandstorm, eliminates fighting types with Psychic attacks and Rock and Steel types with Earth Power, is immune to Ground, and can Skill Swap to reset weather and give Levitate to Tyranitar. However its stats are a bit subpar otherwise, and it's quite fast for Trick Room.

Mimikyu is one of the most reliable setters with its Disguise and Fake Out immunity, it can also Psych Up Tyranitar to get its own boost, and eliminates Fighting types with Play Rough. However, it's very fast for Trick Room.

Super Size Gourgeist has reasonable bulk, is immune to Fake Out, can threaten water types, and gets Trick-or-Treat. Trick-or-Treat can be used on Tyranitar to give it an immunity to Fighting (use it after Tyranitar sets up, because Curse can't be used as a setup move once Tyranitar gains the Ghost-type), and also on bulky opponents to make them weak to Tyranitar's Crunch. Gourgeist should ideally hold an item to slow it down so it's slower than Tyranitar for that combo. I'll have to give credit to Serebii for inspiration on the Gourgeist idea, although he didn't use it with Curse.

Eviolite Dusclops has a lot of bulk, is immune to Fake Out, can Frisk the enemy team, and gets Bulldoze. Run Tyranitar with a Weakness Policy over Ghostium Z for this combo, as it allows Tyranitar to go to +3, and Tyranitar at +3 is even scarier than at +2. Ideally you'd set up Curse while setting up Trick Room to reduce the damage Tyranitar takes from Bulldoze, at +1 Defence with a -Atk nature on Dusclops and a 0 Attack IV, Dusclops's Bulldoze only deals 12-16 damage to Tyranitar (out of its 207 HP) and triggers the Weakness Policy.

 

[BillyBobJoe]

Tyranitar gained a few tricks with the addition of Z-Moves. Here's one of my favourites:

Tyranitar @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Attack, 4 Def
Brave nature (Speed IV 0 or 1)
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Curse
- Protect

Z-Curse Tyranitar for Trick Room in doubles. With a Brave nature and a low Speed IV, Tyranitar becomes slower than minimum speed base 40s after a single Curse (speed tying with minimum speed Gastrodon), and slower than minimum speed base 30s after two. With Curse boosting its physical defence, Sandstorm boosting its special defence, and maximum HP investment boosting its HP, Z-Curse Tyranitar becomes bulky enough to take most super effective hits without much worry, as long as they're not Fighting hits. Z-Curse gives Tyranitar +2 attack as well, making it like a Swords Dance in power boost, and at +2 Tyranitar hits very hard. Crunch usually KOs most things that don't resist it, and Rock Slide brings a lot of foes into yellow health in one go, hits both opponents, and causes flinching. It has its weaknesses and you need some team members that can eliminate fighting types, but overall it's a very scary powerhouse under Trick Room conditions that isn't that easy to deal with. It is so bulky that it can't be easily revenge killed or eliminated even if an enemy goes first with a super effective hit, yet it still has the power of a Swords Dance sweeper with a 134 base attack stat. Under Trick Room this Tyranitar essentially has everything in raw numbers. Bulk, ability to move first most of the time, and offensive might, and most pokémon only get two of those three.

There are different Trick Room setters you can consider:

Stakataka loves Sandstorm being up, has very low speed, can support with more Rock Slide to ramp up flinching even more, and can even Skill Swap to reset weather and give Tyranitar Beast Boost for a bit of overkill as this Tyranitar Beast Boosts on its Attack stat. It does share several weaknesses with Tyranitar however, notably Water, Ground, and Fighting.

Oranguru is always a solid Trick Room setter, and this is no exception. Oranguru can threaten fighting types and offer Instruct support to Tyranitar to make it even more dangerous.

Reuniclus is very slow, bulky, immune to Sandstorm, and eliminates fighting types with ease. Reuniclus can also use After You which is beneficial under Trick Room conditions with its low speed, especially when you have other members in your team that aren't as slow.

Claydol is immune to Sandstorm, eliminates fighting types with Psychic attacks and Rock and Steel types with Earth Power, is immune to Ground, and can Skill Swap to reset weather and give Levitate to Tyranitar. However its stats are a bit subpar otherwise, and it's quite fast for Trick Room.

Mimikyu is one of the most reliable setters with its Disguise and Fake Out immunity, it can also Psych Up Tyranitar to get its own boost, and eliminates Fighting types with Play Rough. However, it's very fast for Trick Room.

Super Size Gourgeist has reasonable bulk, is immune to Fake Out, can threaten water types, and gets Trick-or-Treat. Trick-or-Treat can be used on Tyranitar to give it an immunity to Fighting (use it after Tyranitar sets up, because Curse can't be used as a setup move once Tyranitar gains the Ghost-type), and also on bulky opponents to make them weak to Tyranitar's Crunch. Gourgeist should ideally hold an item to slow it down so it's slower than Tyranitar for that combo.

Eviolite Dusclops has a lot of bulk, is immune to Fake Out, can Frisk the enemy team, and gets Bulldoze. Run Tyranitar with a Weakness Policy over Ghostium Z for this combo, as it allows Tyranitar to go to +3, and Tyranitar at +3 is even scarier than at +2. Ideally you'd set up Curse while setting up Trick Room to reduce the damage Tyranitar takes from Bulldoze, at +1 Defence with a -Atk nature on Dusclops and a 0 Attack IV, Dusclops's Bulldoze only deals 12-16 damage to Tyranitar (out of its 207 HP) and triggers the Weakness Policy.

I would imagine that Pursuit would be preferred over Crunch. Pursuit Tyranitar is one of the big things now in the Meta.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

I would imagine that Pursuit would be preferred over Crunch. Pursuit Tyranitar is one of the big things now in the Meta.

It's a doubles set, not a 6v6 singles set. They're vastly different environments. In a 4v4 doubles setting switching isn't as common while 6v6 singles is almost purely switching. This Tyranitar's job is to sweep and destroy enemy teams indiscriminately, not predict and snipe on switches. Pursuit is far too situational. If something flees, that slot just doesn't get a move that turn and whatever comes in takes the heavy hit instead. And whatever fled has to come back in later to be destroyed. Crunch hits just as hard as Pursuit does on a switch.

And besides, if something flees, it's most likely a pokémon that isn't really much of a threat to Tyranitar in the first place (like Gengar). It is often better to let whatever comes in take a heavy hit on the switch in so it's easier to deal with than to Pursuit the Gengar and then let the more troublesome foe come in safely.

 

[Divine Retribution]

Tyranitar is just one of those constants of the metagame. Ever since his release, he's consistently been a top tier Pokemon, and it's not hard to see why. He's got fantastic stats, a great movepool, and solid, unique offensive typing. His ability, Sand Stream, summons a sandstorm which not only chips away at non-Rock/Ground/Steel type opponents' health, but boosts his already quite good Special Defense to a slightly absurd level. Unfortunately however, his typing is a bit of a mixed bag defensively. On one hand, he packs a rare resistance to Ghost, a common attacking type that relatively few viable Pokemon can resist, and unlike other resists such as Greninja or Mega Lopunny, he actually has the bulk to reliably switch in on the Ghost types he checks. It also gives him resistances to Flying and Dark, which are also common offensive types that only a limited number of Pokemon resist. However, it also gives him crippling weaknesses to Fighting, Ground, Bug, Fairy, Water, and Grass, making him quite easy for offensive teams to pressure as they're bound to have multiple threats that can hit him very hard.

In X/Y, he was given a Mega form. While initially it was believed that his Mega form simply wasn't enough of an improvement to justify using over another Mega, it seems people are starting to realize the fact that Mega Tyranitar is stupidly bulky, and that alone just about justifies using it.


252 Atk Kartana Sacred Sword vs. 248 HP / 68 Def Tyranitar-Mega: 340-400 (84.3 - 99.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 12+ SpD Tyranitar-Mega in Sand: 340-400 (84.3 - 99.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Magearna Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 12+ SpD Tyranitar-Mega in Sand: 272-320 (67.4 - 79.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Tyranitar @

Tyranitarite
Sassy - Sand Stream
248 HP, 84 Attack, 68 Defence, 64 Sp. Atk, 12 Sp. Def, 32 Speed
-Stone Edge
-Pursuit
-Fire Punch
-Ice Beam

There are many, many different varieties of Tyranitar you can run, from Choice Scarf to Assault Vest to Chople Berry to Dragon Dance, but this variant is currently my favorite. This is a bulky Mega Tyranitar build fantastic for teams that need a reliable answer to things like Mega Latias, Tapu Lele, Mega Alakazam, and Blacephalon. The EV spread allows him to survive an unboosted Kartana's Sacred Sword from full HP on the physical side, as well as a Focus Blast from Mega Alakazam on the special side. The small Speed investment lets him outpace Assault Vest variants of Magearna, the Sp. Atk investment allows him to OHKO Landorus-Therian with Ice Beam as well as OHKOing Gliscor after rocks and having a decent chance to OHKO Garchomp after rocks, and the rest is dumped into Attack. Stone Edge is his primary STAB, dealing pretty solid damage even without a heavy investment by virtue of Mega Tyranitar's stellar base 164 Attack. Pursuit is useful for trapping Mega Alakazam, Latias, Blacephalon, and Choice locked Tapu Lele, if your team really needs them gone. Fire Punch rounds out coverage a bit, notably OHKOing Kartana and dealing a solid amount of damage to Magearna and Ferrothorn. Ice Beam is used for luring Landorus-Therian, as well as Gliscor and Garchomp. If luring these threats isn't useful to your team, you can move the Sp. Atk investment to Attack and run a more conventional option, such as Stealth Rock. You can also run a more conventional spread of 168 HP, 252 Attack, 88 Speed, but this compromises Mega Tyranitar's bulk quite significantly as a tradeoff for power, and many threats like Kartana and Mega Alakazam can now OHKO you.

Teammates Tyranitar appreciates include anything that appreciates powerful Psychic and Ghost types removed. One teammate that I find synergizes particularly well with Mega Tyranitar is Flyinium-Z Gyarados, for several reasons. Tyranitar appreciates Gyarados's ability to lure and destroy bulky Grass types such as Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu, while Gyarados appreciates Tyranitar's ability to check Zapdos and Tapu Koko. Another factor is that Gyarados and Tyranitar's presence on the same team can make it difficult for your opponent to figure out which one is your Mega evolution, as both are quite viable without their Mega forms, and many checks to Mega Gyarados such as Fighting types and bulky Grass types get obliterated by regular Gyarados's Supersonic Skystrike. This can lead to potentially fatal missplays on your opponent's part if they assume Gyarados is the Mega.
​

 

[shoz999]

Those baby Larvitars may seem cute... but they grow up...
Tyranitar made it's debut as Gen 2's pseudo-legendary and it became quite the favorite. Unfortunately for many people, the only way to get a Tyranitar in Johto outside of trading was to literally complete the main game and post-game up until Mt. Silver but for some, it was definitely worth it for the competitive scene, especially around the time that VGC started to grow around the release of the HGSS remakes. In the Pokemon Adventures manga, Tyranitar is a terrifying juggernaut of a Pokemon with a level so high that upon it's first appearance, Silver states that he has no control of the berserking Pokemon as it turns out, it's not originally his but a trade from the powerful dragon master Lance. Tyranitar is quite memorable in Adventures but arguably the Tyranitar evolution line's most memorable role in the series for many fans is actually a baby Larvitar hatched by Ash, this Larvitar being a beloved favorite on the show as it was deemed cute and surprisingly powerful for being a Pokemon that's recently hatched, so it was saddening for some fans to see Ash say his goodbyes to Larvitar once it reunited with it's mother.

Well-Known Trainers who caught or befriended the Tyranitar evolution line.
Tyranitar - Lance (Stadium 2, Adventures)
Tyranitar - Grimsley (Games)
Tyranitar - Brock (BW2 World Tournament)
Tyranitar - Roark (Platinum Rematch)
Tyranitar - Iron Masked Marauder (Anime)
Larvitar - Ash (Anime)
Pupitar - Ritchie (Anime)
Tyranitar - Alain (Anime)

Dragonitar
Tyranitar
Item: Tyranitarite
Ability: Sandstream
Nature: Adamant Nature (+ Atk, - Sp. Atk) or Jolly Nature (+ Spe, -Sp. Atk)
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spe
Dragon Dance
Rock Slide/Stone Edge/Fire Punch
Ice Punch
Earthquake/Crunch/Iron Defense/Pursuit/Protect

In the games, Adventures manga and anime, Lance can tame not only dragon-types but draconian-themed Pokemon and what do you know? Tyranitar looks like a dinosaur and has dragon dance. Simple straight-forward set that boosts what Tyranitar does best, smashing things. Do you got your usual rock-type powerful STAB moves, maybe Fire Punch if you think the other moves cover the rock-type basis. Ice Punch against the dragons and the fourth slot, whatever you want it to be. Standard earthquake or STAB crunch? Got it. Maybe extra defenses? Got it. Pursuit against Ghost-types? Got it? Protect? Sure. The fourth slot is whatever you want it to be with dragon dance being in-use.

 

[XaelOstigian]

"How to be the Richest Kid in School in 1999"
Step 1: Beat a copy of Pokemon Gold or Silver
Step 2: Encounter and catch a wild Larvitar
Step 3: Encounter and catch a wild Ditto
Step 4: Using the Pokemon Day-Care, breed said Larvitar and Ditto until you have a large stockade of Eggs
Step 5: Advertise to your classmates that you have these Larvitar Eggs and remind them that hatched Pokemon have the trainer ID of the hatcher (No Badge Lv. Restrictions)
Step 6: Offer to trade to your classmates to give you any random Pokemon of theirs in exchange for one of these Eggs...and their lunch money of course (~_^)
Step 7: Reap the profits as your classmates enjoy a Gold and Silver run with an early psuedo-legendary Pokemon that can easily trounce the first four gyms of the game and go on to be their team's main powerhouse
Step 8: Save your hard earned dough to buy a copy of Pokemon Ruby or Sapphire and repeat steps 1-7 for Bagon and Beldum to build upon your assets before the release of the GTS causes your business stocks to plummet

 

[Kommo-o]

Tyranitar is just one of those constants of the metagame. Ever since his release, he's consistently been a top tier Pokemon, and it's not hard to see why. He's got fantastic stats, a great movepool, and solid, unique offensive typing. His ability, Sand Stream, summons a sandstorm which not only chips away at non-Rock/Ground/Steel type opponents' health, but boosts his already quite good Special Defense to a slightly absurd level. Unfortunately however, his typing is a bit of a mixed bag defensively. On one hand, he packs a rare resistance to Ghost, a common attacking type that relatively few viable Pokemon can resist, and unlike other resists such as Greninja or Mega Lopunny, he actually has the bulk to reliably switch in on the Ghost types he checks. It also gives him resistances to Flying and Dark, which are also common offensive types that only a limited number of Pokemon resist. However, it also gives him crippling weaknesses to Fighting, Ground, Bug, Fairy, Water, and Grass, making him quite easy for offensive teams to pressure as they're bound to have multiple threats that can hit him very hard.

In X/Y, he was given a Mega form. While initially it was believed that his Mega form simply wasn't enough of an improvement to justify using over another Mega, it seems people are starting to realize the fact that Mega Tyranitar is stupidly bulky, and that alone just about justifies using it.


252 Atk Kartana Sacred Sword vs. 248 HP / 68 Def Tyranitar-Mega: 340-400 (84.3 - 99.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 12+ SpD Tyranitar-Mega in Sand: 340-400 (84.3 - 99.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Magearna Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 12+ SpD Tyranitar-Mega in Sand: 272-320 (67.4 - 79.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Tyranitar @

Tyranitarite
Sassy - Sand Stream
248 HP, 84 Attack, 68 Defence, 64 Sp. Atk, 12 Sp. Def, 32 Speed
-Stone Edge
-Pursuit
-Fire Punch
-Ice Beam

There are many, many different varieties of Tyranitar you can run, from Choice Scarf to Assault Vest to Chople Berry to Dragon Dance, but this variant is currently my favorite. This is a bulky Mega Tyranitar build fantastic for teams that need a reliable answer to things like Mega Latias, Tapu Lele, Mega Alakazam, and Blacephalon. The EV spread allows him to survive an unboosted Kartana's Sacred Sword from full HP on the physical side, as well as a Focus Blast from Mega Alakazam on the special side. The small Speed investment lets him outpace Assault Vest variants of Magearna, the Sp. Atk investment allows him to OHKO Landorus-Therian with Ice Beam as well as OHKOing Gliscor after rocks and having a decent chance to OHKO Garchomp after rocks, and the rest is dumped into Attack. Stone Edge is his primary STAB, dealing pretty solid damage even without a heavy investment by virtue of Mega Tyranitar's stellar base 164 Attack. Pursuit is useful for trapping Mega Alakazam, Latias, Blacephalon, and Choice locked Tapu Lele, if your team really needs them gone. Fire Punch rounds out coverage a bit, notably OHKOing Kartana and dealing a solid amount of damage to Magearna and Ferrothorn. Ice Beam is used for luring Landorus-Therian, as well as Gliscor and Garchomp. If luring these threats isn't useful to your team, you can move the Sp. Atk investment to Attack and run a more conventional option, such as Stealth Rock. You can also run a more conventional spread of 168 HP, 252 Attack, 88 Speed, but this compromises Mega Tyranitar's bulk quite significantly as a tradeoff for power, and many threats like Kartana and Mega Alakazam can now OHKO you.

Teammates Tyranitar appreciates include anything that appreciates powerful Psychic and Ghost types removed. One teammate that I find synergizes particularly well with Mega Tyranitar is Flyinium-Z Gyarados, for several reasons. Tyranitar appreciates Gyarados's ability to lure and destroy bulky Grass types such as Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu, while Gyarados appreciates Tyranitar's ability to check Zapdos and Tapu Koko. Another factor is that Gyarados and Tyranitar's presence on the same team can make it difficult for your opponent to figure out which one is your Mega evolution, as both are quite viable without their Mega forms, and many checks to Mega Gyarados such as Fighting types and bulky Grass types get obliterated by regular Gyarados's Supersonic Skystrike. This can lead to potentially fatal missplays on your opponent's part if they assume Gyarados is the Mega.
​

It's good to see a set analysis being detailed like this while having damage calculations to back it up. This is the kind of content that I do enjoy to see and read as it can contribute to other users and not a gimmick you can pull off because you had personal success using it. Just a couple of suggestions:

• Considering that this is a defensive set and due to the benchmarks it has, this Tyranitar should have Stealth Rock as a must on its moveset. I would probably argue that Fire Punch may not be really that useful considering that Tyranitar has a 50% chance to 2HKO Magearna with the coverage (which are bad odds) and Mega Scizor pretty much scares Tyranitar on sight due to the threat of a potential U-turn / Superpower. Kartana is not something you will want to stay into anyways after SR damage, Sacred Sword achieves the OHKO regardless and it would be better to set up hazards as a last resort if T-tar is at full health.

 

[Aduro]

Those baby Larvitars may seem cute... but they grow up...

That baby Larvitar weighs over 70kg. The same as two fully grown alsatians in a pokemon the size of a border collie... I'm impressed Ash isn't lying on the floor, clutching his shoulder in agony.

 

[Divine Retribution]

It's good to see a set analysis being detailed like this while having damage calculations to back it up. This is the kind of content that I do enjoy to see and read as it can contribute to other users and not a gimmick you can pull off because you had personal success using it. Just a couple of suggestions:

• Considering that this is a defensive set and due to the benchmarks it has, this Tyranitar should have Stealth Rock as a must on its moveset. I would probably argue that Fire Punch may not be really that useful considering that Tyranitar has a 50% chance to 2HKO Magearna with the coverage (which are bad odds) and Mega Scizor pretty much scares Tyranitar on sight due to the threat of a potential U-turn / Superpower. Kartana is not something you will want to stay into anyways after SR damage, Sacred Sword achieves the OHKO regardless and it would be better to set up hazards as a last resort if T-tar is at full health.

Thanks for the response!

I often run this particular set along with a rocker such as Clefable or Firium-Z Heatran who can get rocks up in matchups Tyranitar just can't, but putting them on Tar is certainly a valid option. I'd be hesitant to call Fire Punch the most disposable option on that set, however. Ice Beam really only hits about 3 things, and 2 of those 3 things can threaten Tyranitar in return. Furthermore, they require him to invest a fair chunk of EVs into Sp. Atk that could be placed in Attack were he not to run the move, somewhat boosting his overall damage output with his other moves. In my experience, it's the move I get the least mileage out of, but take that only for what it's worth.

I think it largely depends on the rest of your team. If you have other Pokemon who can handle Grounds like Landorus-T and Garchomp (such as Tangrowth or Tapu Bulu) Ice Beam is probably the better option to replace. If you have teammates that can reliably pressure things like Magearna, Mega Scizor, and Kartana (Volcarona comes to mind), Fire Punch probably isn't necessary. Staying in on these threats usually isn't the smartest play, you're right, but with Fire Punch you at least have that option available to you. Getting Stealth Rocks up isn't always the better play, that definitely depends on the rest of your team (and the rest of their team for that matter).