Week 6 - GARCHOMP

GARCHOMP ( )


Type: Dragon/ Ground

Abilities:

Sand Veil - Gives +1 evasion during a Sandstorm

Rough Skin - Pokémon that uses contact move on the user loses 1/8 of their maximum HP

Sand Force (Mega Ability) - The user's Rock, Ground and Steel moves get 33% increase in Base Power

Stats: (HP/ Atk/ Def/ SpA/ SpD/ Spe)

Garchomp - 108/130/95/80/85/102

Mega Garchomp - 108/170/115/120/95/92
 
Introduction:

Hailed by Cynthia the Sinnoh Champion, Garchomp has always been the monster it was thought to be. In addition to being a 6 foot tall dragon, it possesses a vicious nature, can attack from below, has powerful jaws and claws, and surprisingly, can fly as fast as a jet plane (hence the title 'Mach Pokémon'). Garchomp is arguably the best Pseudo-Legendary out of the 7 introduced and its fantastic typing, almost unresisted STAB, awesome stats and good movepool are what made it Uber in 4th Gen (Sand Veil Garchomp was also Uber in 5th Gen). In 6th Gen, however, Garchomp's might is needed to handle new and fast threats in the OU tier so yeah...
Expect this land shark destroying stuff, a lot.

Positives:
• Dragon/ Ground is an unbelievably amazing offensive typing. Shedinja, Levitate Bronzong, Skarmory, Whimsicott, Togekiss are the only fully-evolved Pokémon that resist both these types. Fortunately, Garchomp has its own ways of handling these.
• 130 Attack and 102 Speed for regular Garchomp makes it a premier offensive threat in any tier it is allowed in. Mega Garchomp's 170/ 120/ 92 offenses are extreme.
• For such an amazing attacker, it has decent bulk that allow it to take important hits: 108/ 95/ 85 for regular and 108/ 115/ 95 for Mega.
• Outrage, Earthquake, Stone Edge, Draco Meteor: Most of Garchomp's common moves have high Base Power.
• Even though Garchomp doesn't get Dragon Dance, its Swords Dance is enough to tear down teams.
• 102 Base Speed makes it naturally able to outspeed a lot of Pokémon, especially other Dragons such as Dragonite, Salamence, Haxorus, Goodra, Mega Charizard X etc. In fact, the only Dragons faster than regular Garchomp are Noivern and the Lati siblings.
• Mega Garchomp's 120 SpA makes it a worthy user of Fire Blast (to take down Skarmory) and Draco Meteor (to lay the hurt on Physical walls).

Negatives:
• A negative for any Dragon in the 6th Gen metagame would be the newly added Fairies. Being immune to Draconian offenses, Fairies can spam Dazzling Gleam/ Moonblast as super-effective damages.
• Garchomp is x4 weak to Ice, making it very prone to being Ice Shard revenge killed.
• Mega Garchomp has 92 Base Speed as opposed to regular Garchomp's 102. This puts it at an awkward speed where it gets outsped by a lot of dangerous threats, especially dragon brethen such as Salamence, Haxorus, Black Kyurem, Hydreigon etc.
• Lacks priority in general so can be checked by faster threats.
• Weather has been nerfed in 6th Gen. This gives Mega Garchomp far less time to abuse the Sand Force boost.
Set #1: UBAHKILLAH

Garchomp @ Garchompite
Trait: Rough Skin ---> Sand Force
EVs: 226 Atk/ 34 SpA/ 252 Spe
Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SpDef)
- Earthquake
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge

With such raw power from both spectrums, you need as much coverage as you can get, thus, you get to use 4 attacking moves with no time to set-up.

Earthquake is STAB, and has fantastic coverage. If you are using a physical Ground-type without Earthquake, you are playing the game wrong. Also, EQ gets Sand Force boost: Giving you a devastating 133 Base Power EQ before STAB!
Draco Meteor may have less Base Power this Generation, but it didn't stop providing ouchies. With STAB and 120 SpA to back up, Mega Garchomp will lay the waste on Physical walls such as Gliscor and Hippowdon.
Fire Blast because Skarmory and Ferrothorn are very annoying.
Stone Edge simply because Togekiss is immune to both Earthquake and Draco Meteor.
Set #2: Uber Yesterday, OU Today

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpAtk)
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Stone Edge
- Poison Jab

I love Garchomp, and this is my fave Garchomp set, simply because it can fit in any team that needs a fast and powerful physical presence.

The moves are self-explanatory. With Choice Scarf, Garchomp gains untouchable Speed, outspeeding even +1 100 Base Speeds with neutral Speed Nature.
Earthquake deals heavy STAB damage and has awesome coverage.
Outrage pairs perfectly with both EQ and Choice Scarf.
Stone Edge for pesky Flying/ Bug types that don't care about EQ, and especially Togekiss, which is a huge problem otherwise.
Poison Jab deals SE damage to other Fairies such as Whimsicott, Azumarill and Sylveon.

This set can be modified by making the Nature into Naive and adding Fire Blast in Poison Jab's place so that Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Scizor doesn't wall you. The same goes for any Garchomp sets you might ever use.
Set #3: Lead With A Victory

Garchomp @ Focus Sash
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw

Even though leads don't technically exist in a WiFi Clause enabled metagame, this set proves itself to be an effective lead nonetheless.

With good Speed, Garchomp can set up a fast Stealth Rock, helping its entire team along the way.
Because Sash ensures that you will be taken down to a minimum of 2 hits (even by Ice Shard), Swords Dance is a good option here; if you keep the Sash intact, you can set up and start sweeping from the get-go.
Earthquake/ Dragon Claw forming the coveted STAB coverage, creating large holes in the opposing team.

Stone Edge/ Fire Blast are also usable here, the latter with tweaked Nature and EVs.
Other Options:

Garchomp can always run a dedicated Swords Dance set with Leftovers attached, with EQ/ Dragon Claw/ Stone Edge as coverage. Fire Fang can also be used here.

Fire Blast, as mentioned a lot of times in this review, is the best answer Garchomp has for Skarmory and Ferrothorn.

If the Outrage confusion/ random burn or paralysis is troubling you, Lum Berry can be an excellent remedy.

Similarly, for Ice Shard troubles, Yache Berry to the rescue.

Choice Band is perfectly usable by any Garchomp.

Iron Head also provides SE coverage on Fairies, but for Azumarill and Whimsicott (and especially Grass-types), Poison Jab is better. Iron Head does provide flinch, though.

Crunch, Brick Break, Aqua Tail are being mentioned here for coverage, though Garchomp gets all the coverage it needs in just a few moves (or even only by its STABs alone).

Substitute is always a great move for both regular and Mega Garchomp as it helps to scout, oppurtunity to set up, and prevent status.

Garchomp is an amazingly versatile Pokémon that can perform offensive roles in various ways simply by tweaking Nature and EVs. This applies even more for Mega Garchomp.

Checks/ Counters:

First and foremost, Ice attacks are Garchomp's bane.
Starmie and Greninja are faster than Garchomp and can OHKO with Ice Beam.
Mamoswine and Weavile has STAB Ice Shard to revenge kill.
Cloyster can break Yache Berry and Focus Sash with STAB Icicle Spear.

Priority is also something Garchomp has trouble against.
Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, Aegislash are common priority attackers and can pick off a weakened Garchomp to a KO.
Whimsicott and Sableye has priority paralysis and burn, which neuters Garchomp's effectiveness.

Choice Scarf users with +Spe Nature/ 102+ Base Speed are very dangerous.
e.g. Choice Scarf Salamence has no problem handling its fellow Dragon-type.

Skarmory/ Levitate Brozong and Togekiss are untouchable without Fire Blast and Stone Edge, respectively.

As far as counters go, Physical Walls seem to be the closest thing. However, enduring repeated unresisted attacks from this ferocious beast, especially on a switch-in, is something no Pokémon can execute perfectly.
Fellow Ground-types Gliscor and Hippowdon has exceptional physical bulk and reliable recovery, with Ice Fang  as attacking options. If Garchomp lacks Swords Dance or Draco Meteor, these two will make Garchomp cry.

While Fairies may seem to be a 'Dragon counter', they generally lack a lot of physical Defense, something Garchomp's Earthquake loves preying upon.

Teammates Suggestions:

The most obvious teammate for Mega Garchomp would be Tyranitar and Hippowdon (especially with Smooth Rock). Sand Stream summons a temporary sandstorm, activating Sand Force and making Mega Garchomp more lethal than ever possible. Assault Vest Tyranitar can also handle Togekiss and Starmie.

Entry hazards are much appreciated by Garchomp.
Stealth Rock and Spikes deal damage to switch-ins, helping both versions of the land shark to chomp enemies down. Ferrothorn is a good candidate for this, so is Forretress for resisting Ice and having STAB Gyro Ball to remove Weavile/ Mamoswine.
Mega Garchomp loves Sticky Web support because its troubling Speed will not be troubling anymore.

Because Gliscor and Hippowdon are always huge hurdles for Garchomp, it loves any teammate that can remove these two walls from the equation.
Rotom-Wash has STAB Hydro Pump and Ground immunity, also can use Rest effectively to handle Ground-types.
Both of these Ground-types are weak to special Water and Ice attacks, so Starmie and Greninja can remove them for Garchomp's pleasure.
Trick ruins both these walls. Rotom-Wash and Starmie, in addition to having STAB Water moves, also can use Trick reliably to ruin them. Plus point: Both the washing machine and the spacestar resists Ice-type moves, though Starmie will have problem with Weavile. Both can also cause burn with Will-o-Wisp/ Scald.

Garchomp has a few checks/ counters which themselves have a lot of checks/ counters. This makes Garchomp easy to fit in any team. Besides, any Pokémon would appreciate the damage Garchomp would leave behind to an opponent.

Damage Calcuations:

Spoiler:

Maybe add physical defensive garchomp in OO as it has good bulk that can take some hits.
LanD SharK! (Garchomp) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock

Never saw Garchomp being used as a Physical wall before. ._.
Besides, using Garchomp as a tank is a waste especially when it has the ability to tear down unprepared teams.

Thank you for the set.   

is physical wall chomp good?
everyone just use it as physica sweeper