Pok�mon of the Week

Tyranitar, The Armor Pok�mon. If it rampages, it knocks down mountains and buries rivers. Maps must be redrawn afterward. Its body can't be harmed by any sort of attack, so it is very eager to make challenges against enemies. Extremely strong, it can change the landscape. It has an insolent nature that makes it not care about others.

Since the generation it was introduced, Tyranitar has been a contender for one of the best Pok�mon in the game. 2nd gen it was great. 3rd gen it got even better with Choice Band and Sandstream. When 4th gen arrived, Tyranitar reached the top of its game. Physical Dark attacks, the boost from Sandstorm, stronger Rock attacks, it really was at its best in 4th gen. Even with competition from Hippowdon, Tyranitar was still the top dog when it came down to Sandstorm. Sadly, with all the new Pok�mon in 5th gen that can threaten Tyranitar, it has lost some of its glory. I'm not saying its bad, just... not as good. It peaked in 5th gen, and you can't climb any higher than the peak.

Sandstream: the only ability you should be running, to be honest. Tyranitar still sets up Sandstorm brilliantly. It adds extra damage and gives Tyranitar a huge Special Defence boost.
Unnerve: uh... if you're scared of... the Dark resist berry... you can use this... over Sandstream... yeah this is pretty much useless, unless you wanted to run Tyranitar without Sandstorm.

- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch / Pursuit
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Sandstream
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 180 HP / 252 Atk / 76 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

The big daddy of Choice Banders. Crunch is arguably its best physical attack as it is strong yet reliable, and has that sick Defence lowering effect, which, when you get lucky, wins you games. Stone Edge is the better version of Rock Slide. Although less accurate, it's much, much stronger, with a high critical hit chance. Earthquake gets awesome coverage with both Crunch and Stone Edge, and is one of the best physical attacks in the game. Fire Punch handles Ferrothorn, Forretress and other Steels that aren't hurt too much by Earthquake. Pursuit, the move that made Tyranitar so boss in 4th gen, gets less use on a Choice Band set now, but its still cool for trapping Ghosts and physically weak Pok�mon.

- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Crunch
- Flamethrower / Ice Beam
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Sandstream
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Atk / 96 SAtk / 52 SDef / 68 Spd
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)

Boah was pretty much the king of 3rd gen. It broke stall teams down like nothing else, being able to decimate every defensive wall used at the same. It has changed a bit now, but with the defensive powerhouses such as Ferrothorn, Forretress, Eviolite Porygon2, Boah is actually pretty useful in 5th gen. Substitute protects you from status, damage, and allows you to use Focus Punch with no fear of being flinched. Tyranitar also gets 101 subs. If it didn't, Boah would not have worked. Focus Punch wrecks Normal Pok�mon like Blissey, which is the punch's main job. Crunch decimates pringles ghost... sorry, Jellicent, which is a popular special sponge. Flamethrower completely destroys Ferrothorn, Forretress and Skarmory, all of which are very popular in 5th gen. However, Ice Beam can beat down common physical walls and Tyranitar switch ins like Gliscor.

- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake / Superpower
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Sandstream
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

The most used Tyranitar nearing the end of 4th gen, and for good reason. Tyranitar's odd base Speed surprisingly gives it a great advantage over a lot of other Pok�mon. If it was one point lower, it wouldn't be anywhere near as useful, especially with this set. Pursuit is the key move of this set, as it allows it to revenge kill pretty much anything. With Choice Scarf, Tyranitar hits 364 Speed, outrunning base 115s Pok�mon like Starmie. Combined with Pursuit, that's brutal. Crunch is your reliable attacking move that is also cool if you want to play some mind games, making the opponent stay in to take a weaker Pursuit. Stone Edge smashes whatever hard, and is always cool on Tyranitar. Tyranitar and Stone Edge are bros. Earthquake hits Steels and what not hard, but so does Superpower, as well as being able to wreck Normal Pok�mon like Blissey, which Stone Edge isn't too good at doing.

- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower / Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
Item Attached: Choice Specs
Ability: Sandstream
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

Dark Pulse is your strongest move thanks to good base power and STAB. Flamethrower beats down Steels, which are often the most common switch ins to Tyranitar. Fire Blast is stronger but a little less accurate. Ice Beam really hurts bulky Ground Pok�mon like Hippowdon, which also love switching into Tyranitar. Thunderbolt handles Skarmory and various bulky Waters, as well as completing the infamous BoltBeam combo.

- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Earthquake / Fire Punch
Item Attached: Life Orb / Lum Berry / Leftovers
Ability: Sandstream
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

Yeah, Dragon Dance on Tyranitar! YOU CAN'T TOP THAT! Well, you can nowadays. It isn't anywhere near as effective as it used to be, and with mole running around outspeeding everything in the world, you might just get revenge killed anyway. Regardless, it can still be effective. Dragon Dance raises your Speed and Attack to pretty high levels, your Attack especially. Stone Edge gets STAB, hits hard, misses at the worst times. Crunch is there for reliability and being awesome. Earthquake sorts out the Steels, but Fire Punch is definitely an option so that you beat Ferrothorn and Forretress before they Gyro Ball you into the ground.

- Rest
- Sleep Talk / Fire Punch
- Curse
- Payback
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Sandstream
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)

Rest keeps you healthy, which is what everyone wants right? Hey, a life lesson in the POTW, bet you didn't see that coming. Sleep Talk stops you from being a sleeping... Rock... dinosaur... and let's you do something as you recover. Curse brings your Attack and Defence up whilst lowering your Speed, perfect in combination with Payback, which doubles in power if you are damaged before you attack. Fire Punch is an option to beat... you know what it beats.

- Crunch / Thunderbolt
- Superpower
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
Item Attached: Life Orb / Expert Belt
Ability: Sandstream
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 60 Atk / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)

MixTar requires good prediction, as the point of the set is to smash Tyranitar's main switch ins with a powerful move. Crunch just happens to be an awesome move and allows you to beat on special sponges a lot more. However, Thunderbolt is cool for bulky Waters. Superpower mugs Normal types like Blissey, as well as Steels and other Tyranitar. Ice Beam can remove Gliscor and bulky Grounds, whereas Flamethrower sorts out any Ferrothorn. Expert Belt can be used over Life Orb as it can trick the opponent into thinking you are running Choice. However, the extra damage from Life Orb is pretty nice.

- Pursuit
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Tail / Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Sandstream
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SAtk
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)

Traps stuff, destroys Ferrothorn, phazes and sets up rocks. Awesome, right? Pursuit traps Ghosts such as Shandera and Gengar. Fire Blast annihilates Ferrothorn and other Steels. Dragon Tail deals damage and forces a switch, but Stone Edge is an option for a strong physical attack. Stealth Rock sets up rocks for some easy extra damage.

Choice Band Tar
Outruns Skarmory with no Speed investment so you can smash it with a Stone Edge before it can Roost. Max Attack so you hit as hard as possible, with 180 in HP as leftovers for general bulk. You can run 252 HP and less in Attack if you wanted, or even 252 HP / 252 Attack and dropped the Speed altogether.

Back to competitive basics
Max HP gives you 101 subs. The Special Attack 2HKOs Skarmory, Ferrothorn and Forretress. The Speed outruns pringles ghost before it can try to burn you, which it may well do if it knows what set you are running. The Attack is enough to 2HKO Blissey, and the left is put into Special Defence so you can use Sandstorm's boost as best as possible. You could drop the Special Defence into Special Attack or Attack if you wanted to hit a little harder.

Fashion conscious Tyranitar
Max Speed so you outrun base 115s and things aiming to outrun base 115s. There's no reason not to run max, the extra 4 HP won't help as much as the Speed. Max Attack hits as hard as possible.

SpecsTar
You could run Speed. I find it pretty pointless though. I like being able to survive random hits with max HP then smash back with a strong Special Attack. If you want to run Speed, you could run max, enough to beat Skarmory, enough to beat Cresselia and Suicune, whatever.

DDTar
Run max Attack and max Speed so you get the most out of Dragon Dance before you are revenge killed by the mole or Conkeldurr.

ResTalk
Curse is raising your Attack and Defence and lowering your Speed, so invest in the other stats. Special Attack isn't being used so... max HP and Special Defence it is!

MixTar
196 Speed outruns base 95s, which is a pretty high number and its always worth beating a Speed number. Max Special Attack so that your special moves have more sting, with the rest in Attack so Superpower does more damage.

General-do-everything-support-Tar
You want to take hits and you want to take names. Max HP takes hits, max Attack takes names. Fire Blast is so strong it doesn't really need investment.

Aqua Tail, Avalanche, Counter, Fling, Hone Claws, Rock Polish, Screech, Taunt, Thunder Wave
Aqua Tail hits bulky Grounds harder than any other physical move.
Avalanche could work on a Curse set not based around ResTalk.
Counter catches moves like Earthquake from bulky Pok�mon and throws it back at them. It can also be used with Focus Sash.
Fling works with Iron Ball to deal damage and mess the Pok�mon up for the rest of the game.
Hone Claws raises Accuracy and Attack, which sounds awesome with Stone Edge. Sadly, it really isn't very good at all.
Rock Polish doubles Tyranitars Speed putting it at over 440 if you run max EVs and a neutral Nature.
Screech is cool with Pursuit, as it forces switches and then BAM! You smack them as they are fleeing.
Taunt can stop other Pok�mon from setting up, from taunting you, stuff like that. It's a shame Tyranitar is so slow, otherwise this would be more useful.
Thunder Wave is a cool status move that I'm surprised Tyranitar can use... oh well. It's there if you want to run a full support Tyranitar.

Tyranitar's main use in doubles and triples is weather control, preventing the opponent from keeping their favourable weather conditions in play with Sand Stream. Sandstorm also gives a nice boost to the Special Defense of Rock types and doubles Excadrill's Speed, but the main advantage to having it in play is the foe won't be able to fire of 100% accuracy Blizzards in Hail or get a huge power and speed boost for most of their sweepers in Rain. Outside of Sand Stream, Tyranitar is still quite powerful. It's main attacks (Rock Slide and Earthquake) are multi target, and backed by 134 base Attack. Under Trick Room it is a real threat thanks to Rock Slide's power and flinch chance, and the fact that it hits all foes it can reach. Tyranitar is severely let down by all its weaknesses, but can run Protect to save itself from an attack while it's teammates finish off the attacker. Tyranitar in doubles or triples should usually invest heavily in HP. Dragon Dance sets don't have time to set up, Rock Slide becomes the main STAB move, and Protect is a very viable option on non-Choiced sets, but otherwise the sets are about the same. Just remember to keep it alive and bring it in often if your opponent relies on weather, and not to use Earthquake if your other Pokemon are vulnerable to it.

Really depends on the set you are running. You definitely want something to have something that takes Fighting Pok�mon like Conkeldurr down. Skarmory, Zapdos, Gliscor, Flying types ideally. Speaking of Zapdos, it takes out Water Pok�mon and resists five out of six of Tyranitar's weaknesses. Gliscor is another great Pok�mon to use with it, thanks to Sandstorm, being resistant to Fighting and immune to Ground, and generally being a good switch in to Tyranitar's counters. Something to switch into Waters is also good, such as another Water type. If you are using a wallbreaking set such as Boah, use Pok�mon that can really take advantage of those Pok�mon going down. What is normally walled by Ferrothorn? Use it alongside Boah and go wild after the thorny force bites the dust. Pok�mon that live for Sandstorm are obviously great parters. Excadrill, Landorus, Cradily (the only time Cradily works at all is in Sandstorm), Gliscor, Reuniclus, Magic Guard Pok�mon, Regirock, Rhyperior, the list goes on and on. Point is, there are plenty of Pok�mon that work well with Tyranitar.

Steels and Grounds are the main switch ins. Ferrothorn, Metagross, Hippowdon, Swampert, bulky Pok�mon that are Steel or Ground can switch into Tyranitar's most used moves with little to fear, then KO it or force it out. Bulky Waters also work. Vaporeon and Suicune are two examples that come to mind. Gliscor is a great Pok�mon for countering Tyranitar as long as it doesn't have Ice Beam. Fighting Pok�mon are amazing counters. Machamp and Conkeldurr are the prime examples, but many others exist like Hitmontop and Breloom, which take Tyranitar out with a single Mach Punch. Low Kick and Grass Knot get maximum power on Tyranitar, so beware of those two moves. Weather messes up Tyranitar pretty badly, and with the introduction of Drizzle and Drought to OU, Sandstorm might not be seen for long, which means Tyranitar loses its awesome Special Defence. Revenge killing Tyranitar is always a great way of taking it out. Mach Punch has been mentioned, but there's Scizor with Bullet Punch, Excadrill with its ridiculous Speed and Attack... actually, there's a lot of Pok�mon that can revenge kill Tyranitar, due to its pretty poor Speed. You just have to hit it hard enough. Two Pok�mon that are definitely worth mentioning are Lucario and Cobalion, as they are Steel/Fighting, meaning they 4x resist both of Tyranitar's STAB moves, and can force it out or KO it. Tyranitar is not as dangerous as it was in 4th gen. It's still really good, it just... its weaknesses have been exposed with 4th gen, and its strengths have been lessened. It's a much better team player with the new Sandstorm support, but on its own... its seen much better days.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Trade from FRLGCXD

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Evolve Pupitar

Colosseum/XD:
Snagged from Cipher Head Evice in Realgam Tower Colosseum (Colosseum)
Evolve Pupitar (XD)

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Evolve Pupitar (Diamond/Platinum)
Trade from FRLGDPtHGSS (Diamond)

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Evolve Pupitar

Black/White:
Route 15