[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Rock Slide / Stone Edge / Ice Punch
move 2: Pursuit
move 3: Foul Play / Crunch
move 4: Earthquake
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Jolly
evs: 8 HP / 208 Atk / 40 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
Rock Slide synergizes well with Choice Scarf, as it allows Tyranitar to surprise Rock-weak Pokemon that are usually faster than it, like Kyurem-B, Zapdos, Volcarona, and Mega Charizard Y, with huge damage, if not an OHKO. Stone Edge can be used instead for significantly higher power that allows it to accomplish feats such as OHKOing Mega Charizard X, Kyurem-B after Stealth Rock, and Zapdos after Stealth Rock and sandstorm damage, at the cost of lower accuracy. Ice Punch could be used to OHKO Garchomp after Stealth Rock and heavily damage Landorus-T and Gliscor after outspeeding them, but it misses out on the aforementioned benefits of a Rock-type STAB move and makes Tyranitar less effective against the metagame. Pursuit is made even better by Choice Scarf, specializing in picking off weakened foes like Mega Latias, Tapu Lele, and Mega Medicham more consistently, as the extra Speed removes Recover mind games from the Mega Latias interaction and discourages Tapu Lele and Mega Medicham from staying in to attack. Foul Play allows Tyranitar to turn the tables on Swords Dance Garchomp, non-Choice Scarf Kartana, and Swords Dance Landorus-T in one slot; it OHKOes +1 Kartana after minimal chip damage and cleanly OHKOes +2 Landorus-T and Garchomp. It can also work as an emergency answer to +6 Swords Dance Gliscor. Crunch is more effective against special attacking Pokemon like Reuniclus, Mega Latias, and Slowbro, cleanly 2HKOing Reuniclus, and 2HKOing the last two after Stealth Rock. Earthquake rounds out Tyranitar's coverage, letting it OHKO Heatran and 2HKO Assault Vest Magearna and hit Mega Mawile hard.
Set Details
========
The given physical bulk investment allows Tyranitar to always survive a +1 Earthquake from Mega Charizard X, with the rest pooled into Attack and Speed to maximize Tyranitar's offensive capabilities. Alternatively, a spread of 72 HP / 56 Atk / 128 SpD / 252 Spe can be used to survive a +1 Bug Buzz from Quiver Dance Volcarona at the expense of a drop in power. Variants running this spread should always run Foul Play, as it is unaffected by the reduced Attack investment in comparison to the main spread.
Usage Tips
========
One of the best attributes of Choice Scarf Tyranitar is the surprise factor it brings, allowing it to remove Pokemon like Swords Dance Kartana and Kyurem-B with its boosted Speed, so you should delay revealing Tyranitar's item until necessary. It works well as a revenge killer against Pokemon like Swords Dance Landorus-T and Garchomp, especially when paired with Excadrill, as your opponent could misconstrue that you switched in Tyranitar to set sandstorm it rather than to revenge kill. Aside from its excellence as a revenge killer, Tyranitar can be safely thrown directly into Mega Latias to Pursuit trap it and use its Fire resistance and high Special Defense in sandstorm to check Heatran. It can utilize the sandstorm it sets to mess with opposing rain and weather-reliant recovery such as Kartana's Synthesis and Cresselia's Moonlight, as well as pester Pokemon like Chansey and Zapdos with passive damage they need to manually heal off. Once Tyranitar has served its purpose, or in matchups where it is not useful, it can sacrifice itself for chip damage against the likes of Mega Medicham and Tapu Lele, if they are not already weakened enough for Tyranitar to pick off.
Team Options
========
Choice Scarf Tyranitar primarily fits on balance teams that appreciate its ability to Pursuit trap Psychic-types like Mega Latias and heavily weakened Pokemon like Mega Medicham and revenge kill physical attackers like Swords Dance Kartana and Mega Charizard X. Excadrill continues to be the perfect Tyranitar teammate even with Tyranitar's change of role, appreciating its sandstorm and the surprise damage it can inflict on Zapdos. Spikes from the likes of Skarmory and Ferrothorn can work to chip down targets like Mega Medicham and Kartana into range of Tyranitar's attacks, and Rocky Helmet users like Landorus-T, Zapdos, and the aforementioned Skarmory can work towards the same thing as well as check Kartana. Although Sand Stream is useful at disrupting rain teams, Tyranitar still requires Water-resistant teammates such as Toxapex and Ferrothorn to cover its weakness to Water-type attacks. Psychic-types like Reuniclus can help handle Fighting-types like Mega Medicham and Mega Lopunny that cause trouble for Tyranitar.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zinnias.569291/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/skypenguin.462413/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/stupidflandrs48.633500/
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Rock Slide / Stone Edge / Ice Punch
move 2: Pursuit
move 3: Foul Play / Crunch
move 4: Earthquake
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Sand Stream
nature: Jolly
evs: 8 HP / 208 Atk / 40 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
Rock Slide synergizes well with Choice Scarf, as it allows Tyranitar to surprise Rock-weak Pokemon that are usually faster than it, like Kyurem-B, Zapdos, Volcarona, and Mega Charizard Y, with huge damage, if not an OHKO. Stone Edge can be used instead for significantly higher power that allows it to accomplish feats such as OHKOing Mega Charizard X, Kyurem-B after Stealth Rock, and Zapdos after Stealth Rock and sandstorm damage, at the cost of lower accuracy. Ice Punch could be used to OHKO Garchomp after Stealth Rock and heavily damage Landorus-T and Gliscor after outspeeding them, but it misses out on the aforementioned benefits of a Rock-type STAB move and makes Tyranitar less effective against the metagame. Pursuit is made even better by Choice Scarf, specializing in picking off weakened foes like Mega Latias, Tapu Lele, and Mega Medicham more consistently, as the extra Speed removes Recover mind games from the Mega Latias interaction and discourages Tapu Lele and Mega Medicham from staying in to attack. Foul Play allows Tyranitar to turn the tables on Swords Dance Garchomp, non-Choice Scarf Kartana, and Swords Dance Landorus-T in one slot; it OHKOes +1 Kartana after minimal chip damage and cleanly OHKOes +2 Landorus-T and Garchomp. It can also work as an emergency answer to +6 Swords Dance Gliscor. Crunch is more effective against special attacking Pokemon like Reuniclus, Mega Latias, and Slowbro, cleanly 2HKOing Reuniclus, and 2HKOing the last two after Stealth Rock. Earthquake rounds out Tyranitar's coverage, letting it OHKO Heatran and 2HKO Assault Vest Magearna and hit Mega Mawile hard.
Set Details
========
The given physical bulk investment allows Tyranitar to always survive a +1 Earthquake from Mega Charizard X, with the rest pooled into Attack and Speed to maximize Tyranitar's offensive capabilities. Alternatively, a spread of 72 HP / 56 Atk / 128 SpD / 252 Spe can be used to survive a +1 Bug Buzz from Quiver Dance Volcarona at the expense of a drop in power. Variants running this spread should always run Foul Play, as it is unaffected by the reduced Attack investment in comparison to the main spread.
Usage Tips
========
One of the best attributes of Choice Scarf Tyranitar is the surprise factor it brings, allowing it to remove Pokemon like Swords Dance Kartana and Kyurem-B with its boosted Speed, so you should delay revealing Tyranitar's item until necessary. It works well as a revenge killer against Pokemon like Swords Dance Landorus-T and Garchomp, especially when paired with Excadrill, as your opponent could misconstrue that you switched in Tyranitar to set sandstorm it rather than to revenge kill. Aside from its excellence as a revenge killer, Tyranitar can be safely thrown directly into Mega Latias to Pursuit trap it and use its Fire resistance and high Special Defense in sandstorm to check Heatran. It can utilize the sandstorm it sets to mess with opposing rain and weather-reliant recovery such as Kartana's Synthesis and Cresselia's Moonlight, as well as pester Pokemon like Chansey and Zapdos with passive damage they need to manually heal off. Once Tyranitar has served its purpose, or in matchups where it is not useful, it can sacrifice itself for chip damage against the likes of Mega Medicham and Tapu Lele, if they are not already weakened enough for Tyranitar to pick off.
Team Options
========
Choice Scarf Tyranitar primarily fits on balance teams that appreciate its ability to Pursuit trap Psychic-types like Mega Latias and heavily weakened Pokemon like Mega Medicham and revenge kill physical attackers like Swords Dance Kartana and Mega Charizard X. Excadrill continues to be the perfect Tyranitar teammate even with Tyranitar's change of role, appreciating its sandstorm and the surprise damage it can inflict on Zapdos. Spikes from the likes of Skarmory and Ferrothorn can work to chip down targets like Mega Medicham and Kartana into range of Tyranitar's attacks, and Rocky Helmet users like Landorus-T, Zapdos, and the aforementioned Skarmory can work towards the same thing as well as check Kartana. Although Sand Stream is useful at disrupting rain teams, Tyranitar still requires Water-resistant teammates such as Toxapex and Ferrothorn to cover its weakness to Water-type attacks. Psychic-types like Reuniclus can help handle Fighting-types like Mega Medicham and Mega Lopunny that cause trouble for Tyranitar.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zinnias.569291/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/skypenguin.462413/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/stupidflandrs48.633500/
Last edited:
