BAXCALIBUR STRATEGY IN COMPETITIVE POKÉMON

All generations have their own pseudo-legendary. Pokémon with great stats, good abilities, and a good type, usually dragons. Salamence , Dragapult, Tyranitar, or Dragonite are all powerful additions for Competitive Pokémon . Paldea brings us a Dragon/Ice, a true dragon slayer, with a design reminiscent of Godzilla. Today we are going to see the competitive strategy of Baxcalibur .

Will he be able to face all the great dragons and reign in the competitive? Let’s see how you can use it in your equipment.

? STATS FOR BAXCALIBUR

As a good pseudo-legendary Baxcalibur, its statistics add up to 600 points , just like Pokémon like Hydreigon or Tyranitar. . Let’s see how their cast is:

• Health: 115.
• Attack: 145.
• Defense: 92.
• Special Attack: 75.
• Special Defense: 86.
• Speed: 87.

The first thing we see is that outrageous Attack, because with 145 it is among the best, surpassed only by Pokémon like Haxorus or Palafin (in Hero mode). His Speed ​​is a medium amount, at 87 he’s slower than most Dragons, but he’s not slow enough to be a top tier in Trick Room .

Defensively, Baxcalibur is a very solid Pokémon, thanks to its 115 Health it is already very resistant and it also has decent defenses with 92 and 86. Although, since it is not very high, be careful with great, very effective damage. Now let’s see his type and those weaknesses.

TYPE, RESISTANCES AND WEAKNESSES

Baxcalibur is an Ice Dragon-type . Let’s see its resistances and weaknesses:

• It is resistant to Water, Electric and Plant.
• It is weak to Fight, Rock, Dragon, Steel and Fairy.

The Ice type is a defensive problem, as it only resists itself and brings us new weaknesses. But being a dragon it has those 3 very useful resistances.

Let’s see its weaknesses:

• Fight : Even though it is a more common type in coverage than in Pokémon, you must be careful with Pokémon like Pawmot or Quaquaval that can do us very high damage.
• Rock : Again a more common type in coverages, whose clear example of a dangerous Pokémon is the mythical Tyranitar .
• Dragon : Dragons are always dangerous and many of them are faster than our Baxcalibur, some of the most dangerous being Dragapult , Bramaluna  and  Hydreigon .
• Fairy : The natural enemies of dragons have great Pokémon with which to threaten us, good examples are Togekiss or Maneleteo .
• Steel : Be very careful with Pokémon of this type such as Gholdengo and Tinkaton

BAXCALIBUR ABILITIES

2 abilities, being a characteristic of this Pokémon:

THERMOCONVERSION

This is Baxcalibur’s signature ability. It avoids burns and if it receives a Fire Type attack it increases its Attack by one level . It’s a great ability that covers him from those awkward Wisp’s and makes him strong against Fire. The best skill of him.

COLD (HIDDEN ABILITY)

Our Pokémon recovers 1/16 of its maximum Health when the Snow weather is present. It’s not a bad ability, it’s like having a Leftover. But it is inferior to Thermoconversion.

IVS, EVS AND NATURE

The perfect Iv’s and we will use classic EV’s for an attacker:

• EV’s : For Singles we will have 252 in Attack, 252 in Speed ​​and 4 in Defense. However, in Doubles we recommend 252 in Health, 108 in Attack, 4 in Defense, 4 in Special Defense and 140 in Speed ​​(In case you need to increase his Speed ​​to the maximum, you can remove some Health to reach those 252)
• Nature : His best option is Firm Nature (+Attack, -Special Attack), although if we need to increase our Speed ​​we will take Cheerful (+Speed, –Special Attack).

RECOMMENDED ITEM

These are the objects that we recommend for Baxcalibur:

• Pure Amulet : This object prevents the opponent’s movements or abilities from reducing the statistics of our Pokémon. It’s great against Intimidate and the move Last Word.
• Vidasfera : Enhances the damage produced by 30% and damages our Pokémon for 10% of its life. It is a great option that will give us great damage and we will see that we have a way to compensate for the loss of life.
• Tricked Dice : Increases the chance that multi-hit moves like Icicle will hit a high number of times.
• Choice Scarf : Increases the Pokémon’s Speed ​​by 50%, but forces us to use only one movement. Thanks to this object we will compensate his 87 Speed.

SWORDSMAN ASSAULT (GLAIVE RUSH): HIS SIGNATURE MOVE

• Type: Dragon.
• Physical.
• Power: 120.
• Precision: 100.
• Effect: The opponent’s next turn their attacks cannot miss and deal double damage.

This is one of the best Dragon-type moves in terms of damage, but its counter can be very negative. You must also be careful that the opponent places a Fairy type on us to receive this attack, since they are immune.

BEST MOVES FOR BAXCALIBUR

Baxcalibur is pure power, but we must see its coverages and a very important movement for this Pokémon:

• Broadsword Assault : His preferred Dragon STAB. Despite its problem, this move hits really hard, still only being very effective against Dragons. Pokemon like Hydreigon or Garchomp will drop for sure.
• Ice Fang : Ice STAB, Physical, 65 power and 95% accuracy. Has a 10% chance to Freeze the target. It is a safer option, especially for Singles.
• Frost Shard : Ice STAB, 40 power and 100% accuracy. Hit with priority. Even though its damage is not very high, it will still do a lot of damage to Dragon-types, Grass-types, Ground-types, and Flying-types. Our coverage for Pokémon like Gyarados , Meowscarada or Groudon .
• Sword Dance : Normal, State, the Pokémon increases its Attack by two levels. It is our boost move , if we manage to do it safely our Baxcalibur will hit like a dinosaur.
• Icicle : Ice STAB, Physical, 25 per hit power and 100% accuracy. It can hit between 2 and 5 times. In case of taking it with the Tricked Dice, we will have a 50% probability of hitting 4 times and a 50% chance of hitting 5.
• Iron Head : Steel, Physical, 80 power and 100% accuracy. Has a 30% chance to fear the target. It is very effective damage against Fairy, Ice and Rock. Our best option against Pokemon like Fluttermane , Togekiss , or Tyranitar/Rinquills.
• Protection : Normal, Status, high priority. The Pokémon prevents all damage or status moves this turn. It is very important to be able to defend ourselves after using Broadsword Assault.

BAXCALIBUR STRATEGIES

We are going to show you how to play this beast on your teams. We leave you a trick to surprise more than one:

BAXCALIBUR SWEEPER / WALLBRAKER  – THE REX IS ON THE LOOSE (SINGLES)

• IVs: Perfect.
• EVs: 252 Attack, 4 Defense, 252 Speed.
• Nature: Firm.
• Item: Life Orb / Pure Amulet / Choice Scarf.
• Skill: Thermoconversion.
• Movements:
  • Protection / Sword Dance / Frost Shard.
  • Broadsword Assault.
  • Iron head.
  • Ice Fang.

The first thing in this set is the selection of the object. If we carry Choice Scarf, our Baxcalibur will surprise many Dragons, being able to weaken them in one hit thanks to Swordsman Assault, but in the next turn we must change to a Pokémon that can take a big hit, or that we are going to sacrifice. Because of this, Protection gains a lot of value even in Singles , where we can block the turn that our attack boosts the opponent.

Ironhead is great coverage against Fairies (especially if teracrystallized), while the choice of Frost Shard is to be able to hit in matchups against faster Pokemon. Sword Dance turns our Dragon into a destroyer capable of weakening almost anything.

HARD BAXCALIBUR SWEEPER – WITH TRICK (DOUBLES VGC)

• IVs: Perfect.
• EVs: 252 Health, 108 Attack, 4 Defense, 4 Special Defense, and 140 Speed. (if we want to be faster, use 132 Health and 252 Speed)
• Nature: Firm.
• Item: Pure Amulet / Tricked Dice.
• Skill: Thermoconversion.
• Movements:
  • Protection.
  • Greatsword / Icicle Assault.
  • Iron Head / Frost Shard.
  • Dragon Dance.

Again, item choice is crucial for Baxcalibur on this set; If we choose to carry Pure Amulet, Swordsman Assault and Frost Shard are the best options. But if we go for Tricked Dice, Ironhead and Icicle will be great. In doubles the debuff of Broadsword Assault can be devastating for us , so using it correctly will be the most important thing.

BAXCALIBUR TERACRYSTALLIZATION

• Teracrystallization Steel .

Steel is a great type and will give us a defensive option against Fairies, as well as a very strong offense with Iron Head. And if we are hit with Fire, our ability will activate, increasing our Attack.

Although we recommend a defensive teratype, you can also teracrystallize Dragon and boost Dragon Assault with a STAB x2, which will be massive damage.

HOW TO DEFEAT BAXCALIBUR AND COUNTERS

We are facing a Pokémon that is very difficult to eliminate and with options to cover itself. But let’s see some ways to kill it:

• Hit Before, Ask Later – Baxcalibur isn’t a very fast Pokémon, so hitting it before it can is a great option. Pokemon like Gholdengo or Dondozo can do a lot of damage to it, as well as not being at risk from its attacks.
• Fairies : Most of the Fairies hit very hard on the Special side, Baxcalibur’s weakest side (remember that if it has Snow weather it boosts Defense) We recommend Sylveon and Tinkaton.