[OVERVIEW]
* Excadrill can fit onto many offensive teams thanks to its stellar Attack and flexibility to function as a wallbreaker, suicide lead, or late-game sweeper.
* Its access to Swords Dance and two great abilities in Mold Breaker and Sand Rush overpower the majority of OU;
* Rapid Spin complements Excadrill's offensive sets well while allowing it to fill more utility-based roles when paired with Stealth Rock.
* Its decent Speed quickly rises to the top of the metagame thanks to boosts from Sand Rush or Rapid Spin and immunity to Thunder Wave.
* Moreover, Excadrill is able to pressure the common Fairy-types in the tier such as Clefable, Sylveon, and Hatterene.
* Mold Breaker threatens Rotom-H, Rotom-W, and Mimikyu, which pose problems when running Sand Rush set variants, and allows lead Excadrill to set up Stealth Rock over Magic Bounce.
* However, Excadrill's bulk is subpar, and its typing leaves it weak to common Water-, Ground-, Fire-, and Fighting-type moves, making it prone to OHKOs and major chip damage. In particular, Dugtrio leaves Excadrill lacking Focus Sash helpless.
* Excadrill is also severely crippled by burn from, for instance, Rotom-H on the switch, greatly impeding its offensive presence.
* Opting to run an ability over the other sacrifices specific matchups; say, Sand Rush sets cannot bypass Levitate and Disguise, while Mold Breaker sets are susceptible to faster offensive threats.
[SET]
name: Mold Breaker
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Rapid Spin
item: Leftovers
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
========
* Excadrill is a top-tier wallbreaker with Mold Breaker and Swords Dance, which bolsters its Attack to incredible levels to OHKO Toxapex, as well as physically defensive variants of Sylveon and Clefable after a boost.
* Earthquake is the go-to move that dents the majority of neutral targets and OHKOes Rotom-H and Bisharp without a boost, while Iron Head overpowers common Fairy-types such as Mimikyu and Hatterene.
* Rapid Spin provides offensive utility in order for Excadrill to outspeed Choice Scarf variants of Rotom-H and -W, as well as Dragapult and Cinderace, and become one of the tier's premier entry hazard control.
* Leftovers gives passive recovery to allow Excadrill to safely switch into resisted attacks and heal off entry hazard damage.
* Maximum Speed is important to outspeed Togekiss and non-Choice Scarf Rotom-H and -W, as well as to Speed tie opposing Excadrill.
Usage Tips
========
* Excadrill can set up Swords Dance on forced switches in order to more reliably accomplish its role, as well as to counteract burn.
* It is primarily used to tear through teams during the early- and mid-game as a wallbreaker, but Rapid Spin's Speed boost also allows it to occasionally function as a setup sweeper.
* Since Excadrill also doubles as a spinner, use Rapid Spin to prevent more sweeping-oriented teammates from being chipped or slowed down by entry hazards.
* Be wary of Choice Scarf variants of Rotom-H and -W, as they can outspeed unboosted Excadrill and OHKO it with their respective super effective STAB moves.
Team Options
========
* Excadrill fits well on most balance and offense teams with its ability to break through Fairy-types and the likes of Toxapex and Rotom-W, opening up sweep opportunities for faster offensive teammates such as Dragapult, Choice Scarf Dracovish, and Hawlucha.
* It appreciates free switches from Corviknight and Mandibuzz via slow U-turn. Excadrill pressures Rotom-H, Rotom-W, and Toxtricity that they invite, as well as taking care of Fairy-types that cause problems.
* Similarly, Volt Switch users like Rotom-H may be used in the same interest and form VoltTurn cores with the aforementioned teammates; these cores appreciate Excadrill's entry hazard control and allow them to afford not running Heavy-Duty Boots.
* Specially offensive Pokemon such as Toxtricity and Clefable supplement Excadrill's physical wallbreaking well. They also take care of Pokemon that it has problems dealing with such as Corviknight and Mandibuzz.
[SET]
name: Offensive Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Rapid Spin
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Steel Beam
item: Focus Sash
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Hasty
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
========
* Excadrill is a premier dedicated lead with its ability to set up Stealth Rock even on Magic Bounce users like Hatterene and Xatu thanks to Mold Breaker and keep entry hazards away with Rapid Spin.
* Moreover, Rapid Spin is crucial to outrun common opposing leads such as Ribombee, non-Red Card Mew, and foe Excadrill; it is also a reliable way to break their Focus Sash.
* Earthquake is Excadrill's primary offensive tool, dealing major damage to most foes and pressuring Taunt users.
* Steel Beam is mainly used in a pinch for a one-time nuke and to sacrifice itself off for a free switch to a teammate and to prevent Rapid Spin and Defog.
* Focus Sash almost always guarantees Excadrill will be able to set up Stealth Rock.
* Mold Breaker is also used for Rotom-H and -W, as well as Substitute + Nasty Plot Hydreigon, which are situationally sent out first to try to pivot and set up.
* The given spread is required to at least Speed tie foe Excadrill while having as much offensive presence to pressure opposing leads.
Usage Tips
========
* Use Rapid Spin first to break the Focus Sash of foe leads like Ribombee and outspeed them next turn. If they are faster turn 1 and try to set up hazards, you get to freely click Stealth Rock next turn. If they break Excadrill's Focus Sash instead, it can either finish them off with an attack or sacrifice itself off to set up Stealth Rock.
* Against certain setup and attacking leads, a similar approach may be used if it is outsped. Excadrill can set up Stealth Rock if the opportunity allows, but it is important to be aggressive as well to not be setup fodder. The mirror matchup is mostly a coinflip situation and is decided by Speed ties.
* Be wary of priority moves from lead Conkeldurr and lead Mamoswine that can finish Excadrill after breaking its Focus Sash.
Team Options
========
* Excadrill fits well into most hyper offense teams as a dedicated lead.
* Grimmsnarl and Mew are great dual screeners that complement Excadrill's Stealth Rock and entry hazard control to help more offensively oriented teammates to sweep. They can potentially stop defoggers with Taunt as well.
* Spinblocking from Dragapult and Mimikyu is helpful to keep Stealth Rock on the opposing side of the field as long as possible; they are also great offensive threats that appreciate the utility Excadrill and the aforementioned teammates provide. On a similar vain, Defiant from Bisharp and Braviary take advantage of opposing defoggers.
* Entry hazard stacking with Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Toxapex is another option to create more pressure should opportunities arise.
[SET]
name: Sand Rush
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Rock Slide / Rapid Spin
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
========
* Sand Rush skyrockets Excadrill's Speed tier to near the top of the metagame, outspeeding even common Choice Scarf users and allowing it to sweep through teams.
* Swords Dance amplifies its sweeping potential, and the combination of Earthquake and Iron Head dispatch the metagame's prevalent threats such as Dragapult, Toxapex, and Life Orb Clefable.
* Rock Slide is the best option against Corviknight, Gyarados, and Rotom-H, while Rapid Spin may be used to supplement Excadrill's team.
* Maximum Speed is necessary to Speed tie foe Excadrill and outspeed +1 neutral-natured Substitute + Dragon Dance Dragapult and +2 Gyarados.
* Life Orb significantly boosts Excadrill's damage output and is crucial versus Togekiss; however, running it with Rapid Spin wears Excadrill down very fast, so it should only be used on Rock Slide set variants.
* Leftovers is the superior option on spinner sets to give Excadrill more sustainability.
Usage Tips
========
* Excadrill should ideally only be sent out to clean up with set-up sand and weakened checks, so try to keep sand setters for as long as possible and let its teammates chip down threats first.
* Its bulk is not amazing, so it should not really be switched into attacks to not get worn down easily by Life Orb and have a chance to set up with Swords Dance.
* Swords Dance can be used on predicted switches, as well as against passive Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Choice-locked Dracozolt and Toxtricity.
* When running Rapid Spin, use it in anticipation of sand turns running out, but it is generally best to try to give Excadrill as many sand turns for sweeping as possible.
Team Options
========
* Sand Rush Excadrill is a staple on sand teams as a late-game sweeper; it requires support to weaken its checks to finish off teams reliably.
* Sand Stream users such as Tyranitar and Hippowdon are mandatory; they also set up Stealth Rock to assist its cleanup.
* Corviknight and Ferrothorn are competent options on sand teams as defensive backbones, as well as providing necessary chip damage to Mandibuzz and Seismitoad.
* Excadrill struggles with Corviknight, Mandibuzz, and Ferrothorn, so specially offensive Pokemon such as Hatterene, Hydreigon, and Rotom-H are strong partners.
* Fairy-types such as Clefable and Sylveon help deal with Fighting-types that it has problems with such as Hawlucha and Conkeldurr. A more offensive approach is to pair Excadrill with Ghost-types such as Dragapult and Gengar; they also help against Galarian Corsola.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Adamant nature may be run for stronger damage output. However, Mold Breaker variants lose out on outspeeding Rotom-A, Adamant Mimikyu, and foe Jolly Excadrill, Focus Sash lead Excadrill becomes less reliable on doing its role, and Sand Rush sets gets revenge killed by the mirror match.
* Choice Scarf set variants with Mold Breaker can be run to outpace Dragapult, Cinderace and Choice Scarf Rotom-A.
* Running Rocky Helment on lead Excadrill allows it to beat opposing lead Excadrill that try to break its supposed Focus Sash with Rapid Spin. However, the set is highly unreliable versus other lead matchups.
* Excadrill can also make use of Lum Berry to prevent being burned by Rotom-H and -W, as well as Dragapult. Shuca Berry may be used to tank an Earthquake from Ditto and opposing Excadrill that try to revenge kill it.
* On a similar interest, Substitute may also be run to block status, while Air Balloon is a better Shuca Berry if it can be preserved.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-type Immunity**: Corviknight resists both of Excadrill's STAB moves, making it one of the most solid defensive checks to Excadrill. Other bulky Flying-types such as Mandibuzz and Pelipper cause problems to sets lacking Rock Slide. Sand Rush Excadrill is helpless against Levitate users such as Rotom-W and Hydreigon, although Mold Breaker bypasses their ability.
**Bulky Water-types**: Certain Water-types such as Seismitoad and Jellicent can stomach a hit from +2 Excadrill and fire back with super effective STAB moves or burn it with Will-O-Wisp. Pelipper and Rotom-W can be dealt with depending on the set variant Excadrill is running.
**Faster Pokemon**: Mold Breaker sets of Excadrill as well as Sand Rush Excadrill outside of sand are easily revenge killed and overwhelmed by faster offensive threats such as Dragapult, Cinderace, and Gengar. However, with Sand Rush, they pose less problems. Choice Scarf Rotom-W is a specific example that counters all set variants, while the mirror match is dependent on set variants and Speed tie rolls.
**Priority**: Conkeldurr almost always OHKOes Excadrill with Mach Punch, while Sucker Punch from Bisharp deals major chip damage. Lead Excadrill has to be wary of Mamoswine and other leads with priority moves that can finish it off after breaking its Focus Sash.
[CREDITS]
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