Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
- Rapid Spin
The differences between this set and the standard Swords Dance one are subtle, but significant. Entry hazards are pretty common among good OU teams, and they can really apply some heavy pressure as far as switching goes. Instead of sweeping, Rapid Spin Excadrill serves more of a support role: it clears away hazards to help out its teammates, revenge kills important threats, and cleans up opposing teams in the endgame.
Excadrill is arguably the best Rapid Spin user available, thanks to its ability to threaten every common spin blocker. Jellicent isn't a safe switch-in, as Earthquake is a potential 2HKO after Stealth Rock. Gengar also takes a large chunk (53.44% - 62.98%) from Rock Slide. Many games can be saved as a result of Excadrill removing troublesome entry hazards from the field.
An Adamant nature and an Air Balloon are used to maximize Excadrill's power and longevity. Earthquake still hits really hard off an Attack stat of 405, even without Swords Dance. Rock Slide provide QuakeEdge-equivalent type coverage and allows the set to revenge kill Thundurus and Volcarona. X-Scissor is a helpful move for handling Celebi, as well as weakened Latios and Latias. Rapid Spin may determine the match against hazard-based teams, as many will fail to apply enough pressure otherwise. Having your side of the field clear of hazards gives you a concrete advantage in momentum and provides more flexibility in terms of switches and predictions.
Rapid Spin Excadrill fits well as a support member on Sand teams. Having the ability to switch around freely is especially helpful for Tyranitar when engaging in weather wars. As such, typical Sand team members work well with this set. Substitute Landorus makes for an excellent offensive partner, while Rotom-W and Celebi provide solid resistances for the team.
In the past I've used this set with SD over X-Scissor, but I'm sure this is much more effective. Excadrill being the best offensive Rapid Spinner in the game, it does its job well.
ReplyDeleteimo if you're going to pair this thing up with a volcarona, it's best if you just run SD over x-scissor since excadrill still remains bronzong setup fodder and the only thing it's gonna be hitting that will benefit you are reuniclus and celebi, both of which are volcarona setup fodder most of the time.
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