by Well, today we have the almighty Garchomp , a Pokémon that has not only gained a lot of popularity since its inclusion in the fourth generation due to its appearance; but also for his very good performance in Competitive.
Garchomp is already a classic in the competitive, since in all generations it has always been very present in it. And what does it usually mean for a Pokémon to be seen a lot in Competitive? Well, it usually means that it is very worthwhile.
And it is that this Dragon has a lot to offer and that is something that I will show you as you progress in this post. Let’s go there!
? GARCHOMP STATS
His stats add up to a total of 600 points , an outrage, as happens with all pseudo-legendaries:
- Health: 108.
- Attack: 130.
- Defense: 95.
- Special Attack: 80.
- Special Defense: 85.
- Speed: 102.
Well, you see that things are quite good, right? 600 points are always noticeable and he also has them quite well distributed. Offensively he is a monster on the physical side with nothing more and nothing less than 130 points, so we are going to enhance that side. Special Attack as such doesn’t have it that low, 80 is decent, but we’re going to ignore it given his raw talent in Physical Attack.
One problem it has offensively is that while it’s a fast Pokémon, it’s not that fast. There are many Pokémon that happen to him and that can get him into serious trouble, such as Dragapult (which has been banned from comp, but hey), Weavile or Eiscue without the ice mask.
In the defensive field, for not being a wall Pokémon as such, it is very good. 108 Health is pretty good, 95 Defense is also pretty good, as is 85 Special Defense. Together they make us have a Pokémon that, despite being an offensive player that hits very hard, is quite resistant; He is not the typical offensive player on paper, he knows how to defend himself. Except that the ice destroys him… now let’s go with that hahaha.
TYPE, RESISTANCES AND WEAKNESSES
Garchomp is an Earth Dragon-Type , which gives it the following weaknesses and resistances:
- It is immune to Electric and Sandstorm damage.
- It is resistant to Poison, Rock and Fire.
- It is weak to Dragon and Fairy.
- It is very weak to Ice.
We start as always with the good and as it happens with the Ground type they have the great virtue of being immune to Electric Type, something that is always fantastic to take out our Garchomp before a foreseeable Electric Type attack from the rival (and more now with Pokémon like Regieleki and Tapu-Koko on stage). Sandstorm’s damage immunity isn’t much to throw a party at, but hey, it’s still appreciated, isn’t it? Above all because now the climates are almost a constant.
Resistances as such do not have many and they are not to shoot rockets either, the Rock Type is always cool due to the high presence of Rock Trap in singles, in doubles also by Avalanche… the Fire one is also appreciated, but the great threat of Fire was Cinderace and he’s been banned (F for the flaming footballer rabbit) and the Poison Type…it’s a bit meh, but there it is.
And now we go with the bad, its weaknesses:
- Dragon : Not an excessively dangerous weakness, more so without so many important Dragons out of the meta in 8th gen (and on top of that they ban Dragapult). Also, Dragon-Type moves aren’t very common for coverage. So a great danger for Garchomp will be Garchomp himself, because I am convinced that as soon as he is in Sword and Shield he will be used a lot… so it would be better for you to be faster.
- Fairy : Fairies, like Dragons, are rare not to have on the opposing team, but again it’s not one of the biggest weaknesses. The problem is that the Fairies on top are immune to Dragon moves and that’s not cool.
- Ice : A weakness x4 and Garchomp’s Achilles’ heel, if you receive an ice hit you’d better make a good prayer… avoid facing Ice Pokémon and be careful with Water Pokémon (which almost always have Ice coverage) and typical Dragons that have elemental coverage of almost everything (Example Dragonite , which is not at 8a but good).
GARCHOMP’S ABILITIES
Let’s now see his abilities and which ones could become interesting:
COARSE SKIN
Tremendous ability that does the same thing as Ferrothorn’s Steeltip . Rough Skin will make it so that when we are hit with contact attacks, the opposing Pokémon will lose 1/8 of its total health , something that is always very cool and that gives us that certain advantage over physical ones and whether or not you want extra damage that is always thanks.
And if you combine it with Serrated Helmet… cloth.
SAND VEIL
Very good skill of dubious morality in competitive more than anything because it affects the evasion and that is considered a bad practice (that you are going to look like a bit of a cheat and such hahaha).
While there is a Sandstorm weather, we will have a 20% chance to avoid the attacks they launch at us; which comes from pearls and more with the possibility of summoning the weather in Dinamax… It will also immunize you to the damage of the Sand Storm, but Garchompo already is due to being a Ground-Type.
It’s kidding, but we’re honorable competitors here, so I don’t recommend it.
IVS, EVS AND NATURE
The perfect Iv’s, seldom will it be like that… let’s get to the interesting thing, which are the EV’s and Nature:
- EV’s : We want it to be as fast and lethal as possible, so all in Attack and Speed, the rest in Defense.
- Nature : One that lowers our Special Attack (which we don’t care about) and improves Attack or Speed, which is what we really want to boost. Steady (+Attack -Special Attack) or Cheerful (+Speed -Special Attack). This will depend on what you prefer and the strategy you are looking for, we will see below.
RECOMMENDED ITEM
These are the items I recommend for Garchomp:
- Choice Ribbon : Increases physical damage by 50% but when we use a move we will be forced to continue using it (until we return it to the Pokeball, this happens with all “Choice” objects. That restriction is not cool at all, but for bursting walls there is nothing better than this.
- Choice Scarf : Same as the ribbon but increases Speed by 50%, if you want to be the fastest this is your item, ideal for “sweeper” and “avenger” strategies.
- Lifesphere : My favorite for offensive, it increases damage by 30% but we will lose 10% of our total health when making offensive attacks. It may not seem like the health loss is cool, but it’s a significant increase in damage and we won’t have the restriction of the Choice, so we gain coverage, essential in physicals.
- Insurance Weakness : The one I recommend for Dinamax in addition to the Lifesphere. Increases our Attack and Special Attack by 2 levels when receiving a hit to which we are weak.
- Jagged Helmet : The opposing Pokémon will lose 1/6 of its health when making a contact attack. Together with Tosca Skin spreads fabric.
BEST MOVES FOR GARCHOMP
The movements that I recommend the most for Garchomp:
- Sword Dance : Another tremendous boost, this will increase Attack by 2 levels.
- Earthquake : STAB Ground, Physical, 100 power and 100% accuracy. Brutal movement in both singles and doubles that hits hard. But beware, in Grass Field it causes half the damage. Also keep in mind that the Ground Type hits Steel, Electric, Rock, Poison and Fire hard… tremendous coverage.
- Sharp Rock : Rock, Physical, 100 power, 80% accuracy, and has a higher chance to deal a critical hit. Mostly as coverage against Flying, Bug and Ice.
- Avalanche : Rock, Physical, 75 power, 90% accuracy, and a 30% chance that the opposing Pokemon will knock back. Alternative to Sharp Rock with more precision but less power, in doubles it spreads much more.
- Dragon Claw : STAB Dragon, Physical, 80 power and 100% accuracy. To take advantage of Dragon’s STAB, which is actually one of the least resistant Types, and to destroy other Dragons.
- Rock Trap : Almost a constant in singles, we will be able to trap the rival team that will damage the Pokémon that enter the field. The damage will be higher or lower depending on its resistance or weakness to Rock. This movement is tremendous, if you do not have other Pokémon that can put it, you should take it.
GARCHOMP STRATEGIES
Now I will assemble some strategies that I consider to be very worthwhile, you can assemble yours with all the data that I have given you, but it can serve as examples:
GARCHOMP ELECTION SCARF
- IVs: Perfect.
- EVs: All in Attack and Speed, remaining in Defense.
- Nature: Cheerful.
- Item: Election Handkerchief.
- Ability: Rough Skin.
- Movements:
- Dragon claw.
- Earthquake.
- Sharp Rock.
- Rock trap.
We’ll easily be the fastest Pokemon on the field regardless of boosts (watch out for faster Pokemon who are also wearing Bandanas and have maxed out Speed like us).
We have very good coverage, speed, powerful attacks… everything necessary to burst and perform very well, especially with the role of Avenger or Sweeper. That is, entering just when a Pokémon is killed to “revenge” or use it when the game is more advanced to sweep the opposing team thanks to our speed and power (if we are the fastest and their Pokémon are weak, victory will be ours). ).
WALLBREAKER GARCHOMP
- IVs: Perfect.
- EVs: All in Attack and Speed, remaining in Defense.
- Nature: Firm.
- Item: Lifesphere.
- Ability: Rough Skin.
- Movements:
- Sword dance.
- Earthquake.
- Sharp Rock.
- Fire Fang.
Very resistant Pokémon like Toxapex or Snorlax are usually quite slow, so we will pass them in Speed just the same. Instead, we’ll power up the offense so they can go down. We have very strong moves, good coverage, Sword Dance to boost us… few wall Pokémon will withstand this .
Fiery Fang is for bursting Ferrothorn.
GARCHOMP PHYSICAL WALL TROLL
This is going to be a very special and unusual set (I don’t recommend it very much, but you can have a laugh), if you try it, tell me:
- IVs: Perfect.
- EVs: All in Defense and Health, remaining in Special Defense.
- Nature: Agitated.
- Item: Jagged Helmet .
- Ability: Rough Skin.
- Movements:
- Earthquake.
- Sharp Rock.
- Rest.
- Rock trap.
Nobody is going to expect you to come out with this, so you can surprise more than one. We will hold up very well on the physical side and on top of that every time we are hit with contact movements the enemy will lose 1/8 health + 1/6 health, which is almost 30% of life hahahaha. As you take out the typical Pokémon with moves that hit multiple times, you kill it without doing anything.
Quite a troll strategy, because you will make life impossible for the Pokémon that hit on the physical side and they expect you to use another strategy. The good thing is that on top of that we can heal ourselves with Rest in case some offensive person gets “intense”, so they will lose all hope when they see how we heal life hahahaha.
Rock Trap will also help with that extra damage and is also super annoying.
GARCHOMP DYNAMAX
- IVs: Perfect.
- EVs: All in Attack and Speed, remaining in Defense.
- Nature: Cheerful.
- Object: Insurance Weakness.
- Ability: Rough Skin. Velo Arena would be cool, but you know…
- Movements:
- Earthquake.
- Sharp Rock.
- Air strike.
- Dragon claw.
I don’t think it’s the best Pokémon for Dinamax, it would spread more with Velo Arena, but you know… Which doesn’t mean that with Dinamax we will have a more resistant Pokémon (double life) and we will also hit very hard with the blows in Maxi version.
This is how the set would look in Dinamax (you know, more powerful shots with pretty cool extra effects):
- Maxitemblor : That will increase our Special Defense.
- Maxiroca : That invokes the Sandstorm weather (remember that it does not affect us). With Velo Arena it would be cool, but anyway… evasion is for cowards, what are we going to do hahaha.
- Maxicyclone : Increases Speed.
- Maxidraco : Reduces the opponent’s attack.
Tremendous coverage, we can boost our Speed and Special Defense, we can reduce the Attack of enemies… and on top of that, if the Weakness Insurance jumps, it’s a “free” boost of 2 levels in Special and Physical Attack. Of course, be careful that even if you have double the health, as you eat an ice attack by a very powerful Pokémon it can knock you down; and if it doesn’t, it will leave you shivering… so I insist, there are better Pokémon for Dynamax; Garchomp is already very good without the need for this ability.
HOW TO DEFEAT GARCHOMP AND COUNTERS
And now the opposite, what to do to defeat a Garchomp and some of its counters:
- Ice Attacks : A x4 weakness is a x4 weakness, any Pokémon that has a good Ice move and is faster than it will take it down easily. Examples: Sneasel or Eiscue.
- Burn : It is a physical offensive, if you burn it (wisp, scald, fire movements…) it will cause 50% less physical damage and therefore you will render it almost useless.
- Ferrothorn : If we don’t take it with a Fire attack it will be completely impossible for us to defeat Ferrothorn.
