Blaziken
04-22-2008, 07:41 AM
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Garchomp
Garchomp is the new Dragonite or Tyranitar of the 4th generation and with its appearance comes controversy. Garchomp as you’d expect has an awesome attack power, a heap of HP plus decent speed and special attack backed off with some decent defenses. Plus with its movepool Garchomp is one of those pokemon who can easily rip through sides with ease. Even the best physical walls in the game have to watch out for this menace because Garchomp is just lethal. Garchomp has also been the star of many Sandstorm teams with its Sand Veil ability and that is basically the tip of the iceberg. Many people are claiming that Garchomp is overpowered, too strong in fact for the OU section of battling. It’s been suggested that Garchomp should be moved up to the ubers side of battling but there it would seem that Garchomp gets overpowered. And while this debate carries on whether Garchomp should be moved up to ubers or not, for any side that is unprepared, they might as well call it a day when Garchomp comes around.
Normal Swords Dancer
Item: Life Orb/ Leftovers/ Yache Berry
Nature: Jolly
Attacks:
Earthquake
Fire Fang/ Fire Blast
Dragon Claw/ Outrage
Swords Dance
One of the things that makes Garchomp so threatening is Swords Dance being included in its arsenal of moves. After just one Swords Dance, Garchomp has the potential to reach around 700 attack power so watch out. Earthquake is Garchomp’s main form of attacking, boasting 150 power with the STAB. The next move is to hand steel pokemon who can wall dragon and ground attacks, mainly Skarmory, Bronzong and Forretress who has a x4 weakness to fire which you can exploit. It might seem crazy putting a special attack on a physical set in Fire Blast however when you consider that many steel pokemon have a pretty dismal special defence, Fire Blast isn’t too stupid. However Fire Fang takes advantage of a Swords Dance boost so that’s also something to consider. With the steel type pokemon covered, it’s on to the dragon moves which themselves also cause a bit of indecision. Outrage in the 4th generation has increased to 120 power and become a physical attack making it the most powerful dragon attack in the game excluding Draco Meteor. Obviously it’s the downsides of Outrage that cause some indecision. Once you become locked in Outrage, there’s no way to get out of it until you become confused and then you might take yourself out. Ice pokemon with Ice Shard are one of the most common counters for Outrage stuck Garchomp but that’s where Yache Berry can help, reducing the amount of damage Garchomp takes from an ice attack for just one hit. That’s where Dragon Claw becomes a possible option since it’s just a straightforward offensive move however it does dramatically lack Outrage’s power. However do note that Outrage is a brilliant move for late game sweeping once walls and possible threats to Garchomp are eliminated like pokemon who can outrun it. Basically this set is lethal and shouldn’t be underestimated.
Rating: 9/10
Choice Band/ Physical Sweeper
Item: Choice Band/ Life Orb/ Expert Belt
Nature: Adamant/ Jolly
Attacks:
Outrage/ Dragon Claw
Fire Fang/ Fire Blast
Earthquake
Stone Edge/ Dragon Claw/ Crunch
Choice Band Chomp probably isn’t as lethal as the previous set but once again, it shouldn’t be underestimated. With the instant power boost of Choice Band comes immense power and coverage given by Garchomp. Once again you’ve got Outrage vs Dragon Claw but this time you could have both of them in there, one for early game and one for late game sweeping. Earthquake is basic while the fire attacks are once again for steel pokemon. Choice Band Chomp works best with prediction so don’t immediately think about going straight into an Earthquake attack against a Blissey because Skarmory might be coming out to wall you. That’s when that fire attack comes in handy however if you predict wrong, it might force a switch. Alternatively you can replace the Choice Band with either Life Orb or Expert Belt so you’ve got the freedom to switch which attacks to use without pulling Garchomp back.
Rating: 8.5/10
Revenge
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Adamant
Attacks:
Dragon Claw
Fire Fang/ Fire Blast
Earthquake
Stone Edge/ Crunch/ Outrage
Meet arguably the second best revenge killer in the game (the best being Dugtrio). With Choice Scarf, outrunning many things now is just a gentle stroll through the park. Remember this Garchomp is for taking things that have already been weakened so Dragon Claw is the better move here since you don’t get locked into just 1 attack where you can’t switch. Everything here is basically for coverage so basically send Garchomp in when it can take that thing out and well, take it out. With its final move, because you’ve got the speed boost from Choice Scarf, Adamant becomes it’s nature now and with a potential of a 394 attack, Outrage can be used for late game sweeping. However you do lose coverage.
Rating: 8.5/10
Specs Chomp/ Salamence Wannabe
Item: Choice Specs
Nature: Modest
Attacks:
Draco Meteor
Fire Blast
Surf/ Earthquake
Dragon Pulse
Meet the Salamence wannabe. This is a complete novelty set and should never be used seriously against more experienced players. Basically Draco Meteor can still do some pretty good damage against some opponents like Starmie. Fire Blast for steels while Dragon Pulse so you avoid the special attack deduction of Draco Meteor. Surf is basically the only other “useful” special attack there but Garchomp will still have a good physical attack power so Earthquake can be considered. As I said before, Salamence can function something like this and probably the only thing Garchomp has over Salamence when using this set is Garchomp’s resistance to Stealth Rock.
Rating: 7/10
Bulky Chomp/ Supporter
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Attacks:
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Dragon Claw
Roar
Another novelty set really, making Garchomp a supportive pokemon. It’s quite basic here, Stealth Rock the field then do some damage with Dragon Claw and Earthquake. Roar forces switches, letting you see what pokemon your opponent’s using. Many pokemon such as Hippowdon or Skarmory or Swampert and others can pull this off way better then Garchomp. It’s rather hard to ignore Garchomp’s fantastic attacking prowess but it’s also sort of hard to ignore Garchomp’s fantastic HP and decent defenses so this set was worth a mention, sort of.
Rating: 7/10
Chain Chomp
Item: Life Orb/ Leftovers
Nature: Naughty/ Rash
Attacks:
Draco Meteor
Earthquake
Swords Dance
Fire Blast
To start off, this set or idea was not created by me. This set basically tries to exploit the rather mediocre special attack power of Garchomp to take down physical walls that expect to wall Garchomp such as Hippowdon. With a 140 power base power attack of Draco Meteor and with some proper EVs invested, Garchomp might be tearing through some physical walls without notice. However with this, Gyarados, Ludicolo and other bulky pokemon will fare better against Garchomp. Really, I don’t have too much knowledge on this set because I didn’t come up with the idea or create it but I’ve heard it takes a lot of prediction.
Rating: 7.5/10
Salac Chomp
Item: Salac Berry
Nature: Adamant
Attacks:
Endure/ Substitute
Swords Dance
Earthquake/ Stone Edge/ Crunch/ Fire Blast/ Fire Fang
Dragon Claw/ Outrage
Your basic Salac set really with you trying to get Garchomp’s HP low enough to activate Salac Berry and hopefully attempt a sweep with a Swords Dance. This is better suited for late game sweeping since common walls like Skarmory can wall this set easily and easily phaze you. Of course with this set, you’ll be left completely open to Ice Shard attacks but with all Salac-sweeping pokemon, there’s always going to be one thing in their way. Just one little thing to explain. The reason why I haven’t made Earthquake compulsory is because you’ll want coverage over power and you can’t say that once you’ve gotten a Swords Dance away while in an Adamant nature that Garchomp is weak. Dragon type moves are only resisted by steel pokemon so it’s pretty standard using it. Just choose the other move for coverage. Alternatively, you could try your luck and get rid of Endure or Substitute for another attacking move but that makes it hard to activate Salac Berry.
Rating: 8.5/10
Sand Chomp
Item: Yache Berry/ Leftovers/ Brightpowder
Nature: Jolly
Attacks:
Dragon Claw/ Outrage/ Fire Fang
Earthquake
Swords Dance
Substitute
This is the set that has caused the most controversy and I have to admit, I’ve lost to this set many times. Basically, partner Garchomp up with a permanent Sandstorm and you’ve got trouble. Substitute up until your opponent misses due to Sand Stream and most of the time, they’re bound to miss sometime and that’s when you use Swords Dance. When you can, get another Substitute in and sweep hopefully with you still hiding behind your Substitute. While this seems sort of unlikely, it actually is quite possible and is best saved up to when you’ve gotten rid of all pokemon who use Roar, Whirlwind and so on in your opponent’s side. Then you can sweep and hopefully your opponent misses their attacks while you cause some major mayhem. The reason why this set has caused controversy is because when partnered with either Tyranitar or Hippowdon, Garchomp is incredibly lethal. However use this in ubers with Tyranitar or Hippowdon and you’ll be in for it because then is when Garchomp gets overpowered. Despite this set being as hard as it sounds to beat, you basically need luck on your side or just have guts to tackle this thing head on with your Ice Shard pokemon (if you have one).
Rating: 9/10
Contests
Contest Type: Tough
Moves:
Swords Dance
Dragon Claw
Stone Edge
Earthquake/ Crunch
Your basic contest set with Swords Dance acting as the move that doubles your next round score. Simply set up with Swords Dance and use the appropriate move, Dragon Claw for when you’re going first, Stone Edge for any other position. There’s nothing much to explain here since I’ve basically explained it a few weeks ago already.
Rating: 8.5/10
Type:
Garchomp and its evolutionary chain have had an unique typing of both dragon and ground. This seemingly has brought move pain than blessings. Previously, dragon type pokemon had a resistance against water and grass attacks. Now with its ground type, Garchomp is exposed to the many threats that are now in the 4th generation scene of battling. The ever powerful Leaf Storm plus even strong water users make Garchomp switching in against some opponents more harder. While its ground attribute grants it immunity to electric attacks, it also exposes it to one of its biggest weaknesses, ice and most notably Ice Shard coming from Weavile and Mamoswine. However Ice Shard is quite rare but Garchomp was really the pokemon that made every side have at least one pokemon with a decent ice type attack to take care of it and its fellow dragons.
Now the best counters to this lethal beast is of coarse pokemon who are using Ice Shard. However if you don’t have one of them, you might find Garchomp being locked in an Outrage attack so you might be able to pull something out and take it down before it does too much damage. Some bulky water pokemon like Swampert, Suicune, Milotic and Slowbro perform decently against it and can respond with an ice attack of their own. Cresselia and Uxie are also decent choices but with their lower amount of attacking power, they generally allow Garchomp to set up quite easily. Weezing walls Garchomp quite sort of easily and can respond with Willo-Wisp. Just don’t expect it to do much other than that. Donphan deserves a special mention due to it being able to take an Outrage from Garchomp but it can respond with Ice Shard which can be very helpful. Same goes to Hippowdon except it has Ice Fang. However not even it likes eating up a Swords Dance powered up Outrage.
Celebi and Shaymin are generally also decent counters if they’re in a Bold nature because they can take the fire attack Garchomp throws at them and can, well try to do something back to it. Gyarados is another decent pokemon if Garchomp isn’t using Stone Edge because Gyarados can Intimidate Garchomp and lower its attack while also packing a decent defence and immunity from Earthquake. Skarmory and Bronzong though are probably the number 1 counters for most physical sets due to their high defence and the ability to hurt Garchomp in some way. Skarmory can blow it away with Whirlwind while Bronzong can put it to sleep with Hypnosis. However both need to watch out for powered up fire attacks, more Skarmory against Fire Blast.
Basically anything with an ice attack, packing enough attack power and can outside Garchomp can take it out, bearing in mind that Garchomp hopefully doesn’t hold Yache Berry because if it does, there goes that pokemon. If there’s one word that describes Garchomp besides lethal, ruthless, relentless, powerful, seemingly indestructible (wait that’s two words) its unpredictable. While many people claim Garchomp to be all predictable, it isn’t at all. Switch in your physical wall at the wrong time and you’ll be exposed to Chain Chomp possibly. Fire Blast can decimate Skarmory and Forretress and after one Swords Dance, almost nothing is guaranteed to escape alive against Garchomp if they’re going to take a hit. Just try your best to find out these three things when taking on Garchomp.
1. What moves it has. Once you’ve figured that out, you probably will figure out what kind of version it is whether it’s a Chain Chomp or revenge killer.
2. What item it has. There’s nothing worse then switching in your Weavile and trying to take Garchomp out, only to lose Weavile due to Yache Berry.
3. When your opponent is going to use it. If you’re able to outpredict when your opponent is going to use it, that could spell trouble for Garchomp.
Basically there’s nothing that can counter Garchomp safely in the OU battling scene except maybe the ever-so-cheap Wobbuffet, an ice attack coming from a powerful pokemon or pokemon that can outrun it however what out for Salac Berry. If I had one piece of advice for you when taking on the menace, it’ll be think twice about switching into something.
Ability- Sand Veil
Sand Veil is Garchomp’s only ability and its actually one of the things that’s caused the controversy over the usage of Garchomp. Basically it grants a slight evasion increase when the pokemon is in a sandstorm, permanent or not. Most of the time when someone’s attacking at Garchomp, they’ll miss an attack if they’re taking it on in a sandstorm. This grants Garchomp time to set up Substitute then Swords Dance and essentially, a sweep. This ability is purely a luck thing so don’t blame yourself if you end up losing to this ability. It’s because of it that Garchomp’s become the star it is in the sand, besides it being dubbed the Land Shark.
Overall Rating for Garchomp: 8.5-9/10
Garchomp
Garchomp is the new Dragonite or Tyranitar of the 4th generation and with its appearance comes controversy. Garchomp as you’d expect has an awesome attack power, a heap of HP plus decent speed and special attack backed off with some decent defenses. Plus with its movepool Garchomp is one of those pokemon who can easily rip through sides with ease. Even the best physical walls in the game have to watch out for this menace because Garchomp is just lethal. Garchomp has also been the star of many Sandstorm teams with its Sand Veil ability and that is basically the tip of the iceberg. Many people are claiming that Garchomp is overpowered, too strong in fact for the OU section of battling. It’s been suggested that Garchomp should be moved up to the ubers side of battling but there it would seem that Garchomp gets overpowered. And while this debate carries on whether Garchomp should be moved up to ubers or not, for any side that is unprepared, they might as well call it a day when Garchomp comes around.
Normal Swords Dancer
Item: Life Orb/ Leftovers/ Yache Berry
Nature: Jolly
Attacks:
Earthquake
Fire Fang/ Fire Blast
Dragon Claw/ Outrage
Swords Dance
One of the things that makes Garchomp so threatening is Swords Dance being included in its arsenal of moves. After just one Swords Dance, Garchomp has the potential to reach around 700 attack power so watch out. Earthquake is Garchomp’s main form of attacking, boasting 150 power with the STAB. The next move is to hand steel pokemon who can wall dragon and ground attacks, mainly Skarmory, Bronzong and Forretress who has a x4 weakness to fire which you can exploit. It might seem crazy putting a special attack on a physical set in Fire Blast however when you consider that many steel pokemon have a pretty dismal special defence, Fire Blast isn’t too stupid. However Fire Fang takes advantage of a Swords Dance boost so that’s also something to consider. With the steel type pokemon covered, it’s on to the dragon moves which themselves also cause a bit of indecision. Outrage in the 4th generation has increased to 120 power and become a physical attack making it the most powerful dragon attack in the game excluding Draco Meteor. Obviously it’s the downsides of Outrage that cause some indecision. Once you become locked in Outrage, there’s no way to get out of it until you become confused and then you might take yourself out. Ice pokemon with Ice Shard are one of the most common counters for Outrage stuck Garchomp but that’s where Yache Berry can help, reducing the amount of damage Garchomp takes from an ice attack for just one hit. That’s where Dragon Claw becomes a possible option since it’s just a straightforward offensive move however it does dramatically lack Outrage’s power. However do note that Outrage is a brilliant move for late game sweeping once walls and possible threats to Garchomp are eliminated like pokemon who can outrun it. Basically this set is lethal and shouldn’t be underestimated.
Rating: 9/10
Choice Band/ Physical Sweeper
Item: Choice Band/ Life Orb/ Expert Belt
Nature: Adamant/ Jolly
Attacks:
Outrage/ Dragon Claw
Fire Fang/ Fire Blast
Earthquake
Stone Edge/ Dragon Claw/ Crunch
Choice Band Chomp probably isn’t as lethal as the previous set but once again, it shouldn’t be underestimated. With the instant power boost of Choice Band comes immense power and coverage given by Garchomp. Once again you’ve got Outrage vs Dragon Claw but this time you could have both of them in there, one for early game and one for late game sweeping. Earthquake is basic while the fire attacks are once again for steel pokemon. Choice Band Chomp works best with prediction so don’t immediately think about going straight into an Earthquake attack against a Blissey because Skarmory might be coming out to wall you. That’s when that fire attack comes in handy however if you predict wrong, it might force a switch. Alternatively you can replace the Choice Band with either Life Orb or Expert Belt so you’ve got the freedom to switch which attacks to use without pulling Garchomp back.
Rating: 8.5/10
Revenge
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Adamant
Attacks:
Dragon Claw
Fire Fang/ Fire Blast
Earthquake
Stone Edge/ Crunch/ Outrage
Meet arguably the second best revenge killer in the game (the best being Dugtrio). With Choice Scarf, outrunning many things now is just a gentle stroll through the park. Remember this Garchomp is for taking things that have already been weakened so Dragon Claw is the better move here since you don’t get locked into just 1 attack where you can’t switch. Everything here is basically for coverage so basically send Garchomp in when it can take that thing out and well, take it out. With its final move, because you’ve got the speed boost from Choice Scarf, Adamant becomes it’s nature now and with a potential of a 394 attack, Outrage can be used for late game sweeping. However you do lose coverage.
Rating: 8.5/10
Specs Chomp/ Salamence Wannabe
Item: Choice Specs
Nature: Modest
Attacks:
Draco Meteor
Fire Blast
Surf/ Earthquake
Dragon Pulse
Meet the Salamence wannabe. This is a complete novelty set and should never be used seriously against more experienced players. Basically Draco Meteor can still do some pretty good damage against some opponents like Starmie. Fire Blast for steels while Dragon Pulse so you avoid the special attack deduction of Draco Meteor. Surf is basically the only other “useful” special attack there but Garchomp will still have a good physical attack power so Earthquake can be considered. As I said before, Salamence can function something like this and probably the only thing Garchomp has over Salamence when using this set is Garchomp’s resistance to Stealth Rock.
Rating: 7/10
Bulky Chomp/ Supporter
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Attacks:
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Dragon Claw
Roar
Another novelty set really, making Garchomp a supportive pokemon. It’s quite basic here, Stealth Rock the field then do some damage with Dragon Claw and Earthquake. Roar forces switches, letting you see what pokemon your opponent’s using. Many pokemon such as Hippowdon or Skarmory or Swampert and others can pull this off way better then Garchomp. It’s rather hard to ignore Garchomp’s fantastic attacking prowess but it’s also sort of hard to ignore Garchomp’s fantastic HP and decent defenses so this set was worth a mention, sort of.
Rating: 7/10
Chain Chomp
Item: Life Orb/ Leftovers
Nature: Naughty/ Rash
Attacks:
Draco Meteor
Earthquake
Swords Dance
Fire Blast
To start off, this set or idea was not created by me. This set basically tries to exploit the rather mediocre special attack power of Garchomp to take down physical walls that expect to wall Garchomp such as Hippowdon. With a 140 power base power attack of Draco Meteor and with some proper EVs invested, Garchomp might be tearing through some physical walls without notice. However with this, Gyarados, Ludicolo and other bulky pokemon will fare better against Garchomp. Really, I don’t have too much knowledge on this set because I didn’t come up with the idea or create it but I’ve heard it takes a lot of prediction.
Rating: 7.5/10
Salac Chomp
Item: Salac Berry
Nature: Adamant
Attacks:
Endure/ Substitute
Swords Dance
Earthquake/ Stone Edge/ Crunch/ Fire Blast/ Fire Fang
Dragon Claw/ Outrage
Your basic Salac set really with you trying to get Garchomp’s HP low enough to activate Salac Berry and hopefully attempt a sweep with a Swords Dance. This is better suited for late game sweeping since common walls like Skarmory can wall this set easily and easily phaze you. Of course with this set, you’ll be left completely open to Ice Shard attacks but with all Salac-sweeping pokemon, there’s always going to be one thing in their way. Just one little thing to explain. The reason why I haven’t made Earthquake compulsory is because you’ll want coverage over power and you can’t say that once you’ve gotten a Swords Dance away while in an Adamant nature that Garchomp is weak. Dragon type moves are only resisted by steel pokemon so it’s pretty standard using it. Just choose the other move for coverage. Alternatively, you could try your luck and get rid of Endure or Substitute for another attacking move but that makes it hard to activate Salac Berry.
Rating: 8.5/10
Sand Chomp
Item: Yache Berry/ Leftovers/ Brightpowder
Nature: Jolly
Attacks:
Dragon Claw/ Outrage/ Fire Fang
Earthquake
Swords Dance
Substitute
This is the set that has caused the most controversy and I have to admit, I’ve lost to this set many times. Basically, partner Garchomp up with a permanent Sandstorm and you’ve got trouble. Substitute up until your opponent misses due to Sand Stream and most of the time, they’re bound to miss sometime and that’s when you use Swords Dance. When you can, get another Substitute in and sweep hopefully with you still hiding behind your Substitute. While this seems sort of unlikely, it actually is quite possible and is best saved up to when you’ve gotten rid of all pokemon who use Roar, Whirlwind and so on in your opponent’s side. Then you can sweep and hopefully your opponent misses their attacks while you cause some major mayhem. The reason why this set has caused controversy is because when partnered with either Tyranitar or Hippowdon, Garchomp is incredibly lethal. However use this in ubers with Tyranitar or Hippowdon and you’ll be in for it because then is when Garchomp gets overpowered. Despite this set being as hard as it sounds to beat, you basically need luck on your side or just have guts to tackle this thing head on with your Ice Shard pokemon (if you have one).
Rating: 9/10
Contests
Contest Type: Tough
Moves:
Swords Dance
Dragon Claw
Stone Edge
Earthquake/ Crunch
Your basic contest set with Swords Dance acting as the move that doubles your next round score. Simply set up with Swords Dance and use the appropriate move, Dragon Claw for when you’re going first, Stone Edge for any other position. There’s nothing much to explain here since I’ve basically explained it a few weeks ago already.
Rating: 8.5/10
Type:
Garchomp and its evolutionary chain have had an unique typing of both dragon and ground. This seemingly has brought move pain than blessings. Previously, dragon type pokemon had a resistance against water and grass attacks. Now with its ground type, Garchomp is exposed to the many threats that are now in the 4th generation scene of battling. The ever powerful Leaf Storm plus even strong water users make Garchomp switching in against some opponents more harder. While its ground attribute grants it immunity to electric attacks, it also exposes it to one of its biggest weaknesses, ice and most notably Ice Shard coming from Weavile and Mamoswine. However Ice Shard is quite rare but Garchomp was really the pokemon that made every side have at least one pokemon with a decent ice type attack to take care of it and its fellow dragons.
Now the best counters to this lethal beast is of coarse pokemon who are using Ice Shard. However if you don’t have one of them, you might find Garchomp being locked in an Outrage attack so you might be able to pull something out and take it down before it does too much damage. Some bulky water pokemon like Swampert, Suicune, Milotic and Slowbro perform decently against it and can respond with an ice attack of their own. Cresselia and Uxie are also decent choices but with their lower amount of attacking power, they generally allow Garchomp to set up quite easily. Weezing walls Garchomp quite sort of easily and can respond with Willo-Wisp. Just don’t expect it to do much other than that. Donphan deserves a special mention due to it being able to take an Outrage from Garchomp but it can respond with Ice Shard which can be very helpful. Same goes to Hippowdon except it has Ice Fang. However not even it likes eating up a Swords Dance powered up Outrage.
Celebi and Shaymin are generally also decent counters if they’re in a Bold nature because they can take the fire attack Garchomp throws at them and can, well try to do something back to it. Gyarados is another decent pokemon if Garchomp isn’t using Stone Edge because Gyarados can Intimidate Garchomp and lower its attack while also packing a decent defence and immunity from Earthquake. Skarmory and Bronzong though are probably the number 1 counters for most physical sets due to their high defence and the ability to hurt Garchomp in some way. Skarmory can blow it away with Whirlwind while Bronzong can put it to sleep with Hypnosis. However both need to watch out for powered up fire attacks, more Skarmory against Fire Blast.
Basically anything with an ice attack, packing enough attack power and can outside Garchomp can take it out, bearing in mind that Garchomp hopefully doesn’t hold Yache Berry because if it does, there goes that pokemon. If there’s one word that describes Garchomp besides lethal, ruthless, relentless, powerful, seemingly indestructible (wait that’s two words) its unpredictable. While many people claim Garchomp to be all predictable, it isn’t at all. Switch in your physical wall at the wrong time and you’ll be exposed to Chain Chomp possibly. Fire Blast can decimate Skarmory and Forretress and after one Swords Dance, almost nothing is guaranteed to escape alive against Garchomp if they’re going to take a hit. Just try your best to find out these three things when taking on Garchomp.
1. What moves it has. Once you’ve figured that out, you probably will figure out what kind of version it is whether it’s a Chain Chomp or revenge killer.
2. What item it has. There’s nothing worse then switching in your Weavile and trying to take Garchomp out, only to lose Weavile due to Yache Berry.
3. When your opponent is going to use it. If you’re able to outpredict when your opponent is going to use it, that could spell trouble for Garchomp.
Basically there’s nothing that can counter Garchomp safely in the OU battling scene except maybe the ever-so-cheap Wobbuffet, an ice attack coming from a powerful pokemon or pokemon that can outrun it however what out for Salac Berry. If I had one piece of advice for you when taking on the menace, it’ll be think twice about switching into something.
Ability- Sand Veil
Sand Veil is Garchomp’s only ability and its actually one of the things that’s caused the controversy over the usage of Garchomp. Basically it grants a slight evasion increase when the pokemon is in a sandstorm, permanent or not. Most of the time when someone’s attacking at Garchomp, they’ll miss an attack if they’re taking it on in a sandstorm. This grants Garchomp time to set up Substitute then Swords Dance and essentially, a sweep. This ability is purely a luck thing so don’t blame yourself if you end up losing to this ability. It’s because of it that Garchomp’s become the star it is in the sand, besides it being dubbed the Land Shark.
Overall Rating for Garchomp: 8.5-9/10