Dracovish, The Fossil Pokémon. Powerful legs and jaws made it the apex predator of its time. Its own overhunting of its prey was what drove it to extinction. Its mighty legs are capable of running at speeds exceeding 40 mph, but this Pokémon can't breathe unless it's underwater.
Overview
Science has gone too far to the point where the laws of nature have been defied:
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 75-89 (47.7 - 56.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
Dracovish is one of the new Pokemon introduced in Sword/Shield boasting an excellent typing with decent bulk. While its Attack stat is good, but nothing outstanding either, what makes this abomination of nature so dangerous is its signature move Fishious Rend. With a 1.5 boost from Strong Jaw and its power being doubled when it moves first (or when the opponent switches in) it becomes a 170 powered STAB capable of even denting resists. As a matter of fact, it strains defensive teams so much that players need a water immunity (Gastrodon, Seismitoad, Jellicent, Vaporeon, etc) or stockpile water resists just to prevent Dracovish from destroying their teams. Dracovish's only drawbacks are on its low Speed stat and the fact that you somehow find it funny to use something that's not even happy to be alive. However, Dracovish doesn't needs to breathe or carry out its other biological functions to destroy teams.
Positives
It's signature move, Fishious Rend is a blessing for Dracovish allowing it to hit with a base 170 powered STAB with a Strong Jaw boost when it moves first or when the opponent switches into something on the same turn. This move is what allows Dracovish to viciously dent walls.
Strong Jaw not only makes Fishious Rend incredibly powerful, but it also boosts most of its other physical moves such as Psychic Fangs, Crunch and Ice Fang. All notable coverage moves able to hit hard the Pokemon that resist Fishious Rend, like Toxapex.
Solid 90 / 100 / 80 bulk allows Dracovish to switch into moves coupled with a decent typing that gives it plenty of opportunities to switch and spam Fishious Rend.
Negatives
Base 75 Speed is poor and even with a Choice Scarf, Dracovish finds itself being outspeed by Dragapult and faster Scarf users.
Somehow this thing is alive. How does it even breathes? We don't know...
Movesets
WHERE IS YOUR GOD?
- Fishious Rend
- Psychic Fangs
- Crunch
- Outrage / Ice Fang
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs and Nature:
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
Admit it, 90% of the time you will just end up pressing the A button on Fishious Rend, as it doubles in power when Dracovish moves first or when foes switch into it. It's so ridiculously powerful that it is even able to 2HKO sturdy walls such as Toxapex and Ferrothorn. You read that right. Psychic Fangs allows Dracovish to crunch Toxapex into smithereens until kingdom comes with the added bonus of being able to break screens. Crunch is for Jellicent exclusively and sends it back to the egg it hatched from. Finally, Outrage is the strongest move Dracovish can use against Seismitoad / Vaporeon and overall a good secondary STAB to round up the coverage. Ice Fang, on the other hand, lets Dracovish hit Appletun, Rillaboom and other Grass types for significant damage while still hitting super-effectively its Dragon kin without the drawback of locking Dracovish into a move for several turns.
DYNAMAX:
Dracovish should never Dynamax unless you are on a dire situation where you need the increase in bulk to prevent the opponent from sweeping you. Banded Fishious Rend outdamages what Max Geyser can pretty much do and it misses out on the boosts from Strong Jaw, Band and Fishious Rend itself.
EV and Item Description:
An Adamant nature with 252 EVs in Attack is required to maximize Dracovish's wall-breaking power while max Speed is there to let it outspeed as many walls as possible and hit them with boosted Fishious Rends.
Partners
Pelipper: If you thought that Fishious Rend's damage calculations were ridiculous, wait until rain is added into the field as this will pretty much overkill anything that does not have a water immunity. It also has U-turn to create momentum for Dracovish and bring it safely with the threat of rain boosted Banded Fishious Rends.
Ferrothorn: Its ability to set up Spikes and Stealth Rock allows it to set up hazards on the opponent's side of the field, which further bolsters Dracovish's wall breaking power.
Gyarados: With both Pokemon sharing common checks in Rotom-Wash, Toxapex and opposing Ferrothorns, Dracovish can help Gyarados start a sweep by breaking its mutual checks allowing it to snowball with Moxie and Max Airstream boosts.
Corviknight: Its ability to remove hazards is greatly appreciated for Dracovish as it allows it to switch in more freely and spam its fearsome Fishious Rends. Also, if using U-turn, it builds up momentum for Dracovish.
Dragapult: Its fantastic Speed tier allows it to outpace the Pokemon on more offensive teams that will usually be able to hit Dracovish first and it benefits greatly from Dracovish's wallbreaking power if the opponent's walls have been sufficiently weakened.
Rotom-Heat: Its great typing and access to Volt Switch allows it to bring in Dracovish safely with great momentum while having the ability to pose a immediate threat to Ferrothorn.
STOP BREATHING
- Fishious Rend
- Psychic Fangs
- Crunch / Leech Life
- Ice Fang / Outrage / Sleep Talk
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs and Nature:
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
With a Choice Scarf, Dracovish becomes able to fire more boosted Fishious Rends at the expense of the raw power the Choice Band set can offer. However, don't be fooled by this as a 170 base power Fishious Rend is still a very strong move capable of denting defensive Pokemon in balanced builds. Psychic Fangs is Dracovish's best option to 2HKO Toxapex as otherwise due to its lower power input, it can wall this set. Crunch is to prevent Jellicent from switching in freely while Leech Life deserves a mention for being able to dent Celebi.* Finally, Ice Fang is the best coverage move on this set to hit Dragon types like Hydreigon and Flapple for super-effective damage. Outrage is still a valid option, as it remains as a good secondary STAB, however, due to the drop in power, it's unable to get past Gastrodon and Seismitoad. Sleep Talk is worth mentioning on this set as it allows Dracovish to absorb sleep.
DYNAMAX:
Dracovish has no business with Dynamax as while it can have some surprise value on letting Dracovish pick a move against a foe when locked into the wrong move, losing the Speed boost from Scarf is not worth it for Dracovish to even bother on missing out its Strong Jaw boosted Fishious Rends which have more chances to be 170 base power thanks to Choice Scarf.
EV and Item Description:
An Adamant nature is recommended since if you have Rain on the field, Dracovish's Fishious Rend becomes just as powerful as the Band set and it becomes now able to 2HKO Toxapex and Ferrothorn with it. With max Speed and a Choice Scarf, Dracovish hits 373 Speed which allows it to outspeed Dugtrio, Hawlucha and Adamant Barraskewda. Jolly is also a valid option as it gets the jump on +1 Gyarados and Weavile at the expense of power.
Partners
Pelipper: Due to the lower damage output, Rain is a must as otherwise Dracovish will be unable to get past Toxapex and Ferrothorn. U-turn also creates momentum for Dracovish to switch in safely.
Ferrothorn: Its ability to set up Spikes and Stealth Rock allows it to set up hazards on the opponent's side of the field, which further bolsters Dracovish's sweeping potential.
Hawlucha: Its ability to set up on Pokemon like Ferrothorn is something that Dracovish greatly appreciates while it can pose a threat to balanced and offensive teams with Swords Dance and STAB Brave Bird & Close Combat.
Corviknight: Its ability to remove hazards is greatly appreciated for Dracovish as it allows it to switch in more freely and spam its fearsome Fishious Rends. Also, if using U-turn, it builds up momentum for Dracovish.
Hydreigon: With Nasty Plot, Hydreigon is a fearsome wallbreaker that appreciates Dracovish's ability to deal good damage and weaken some of its checks to start a sweep.
Rotom-Heat: Its great typing and access to Volt Switch allows it to bring in Dracovish safely with great momentum while having the ability to pose a immediate threat to Ferrothorn.
Other Options
Dragon Rush is a viable alternative on Ranked Singles since it has the extra benefit of being able to ignore evasion boosts and hit for double damage against these Pokemon. However, its horrible accuracy against anything else makes it incredibly unappealing.
Earthquake is also another move Dracovish gets access to and while it may hit Toxapex a bit harder than Psychic Fangs, it doesn't really achieves anything else.
Dracovish also gets Rock Slide which hits Frosmoth assuming that is a target for you. Other than that, not worth mentioning considering that Fishious Rend will outdamage for any use you can come up with this move.
Funnily enough, Dracovish also gets Low Kick which is the only move on its pool that hits Ferrothorn super-effectively. However, taking into account that a 170 base power Fishious Rend almost does the same, it becomes redundant.
VGC & Double Battle Options
Dracovish is the kind of Pokemon you think would never hold up in a Doubles setting, and in some ways this is true now that everyone and their mother is using Gastrodon. However, Fishious Rend is an incredibly strong tool that needs to be respected, especially if not using Gastrodon. However, Dracovish is a Pokemon that lives and dies by Fishious Rend and the player's ability to utilize it ultimately determines how effective it will be. The fact that its stat spread essentially forces it to run a choice item is also problematic, as the opponent can easily take advantage of Dracovish if they have any Storm Drain or Water Absorb Pokemon. Speed control options also complicate things. While you can simply give Dracovish a Choice Scarf to outspeed foes, this doesn't stop the foe from setting Tailwind or lowering your Speed via other means, meaning you need to manage your Speed options to ensure Dracovish does the most amount of damage. All this doesn't change the fact that Dracovish is a threat though, so you should always be prepared to deal with it.
Playful Bite
- Fishious Rend
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs
- Ice Fang / Dragon Rush
Item Attached: Choice Scarf / Choice Band
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs and Nature:
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant
When it comes down to it you're just clicking Fishious Rend most of the time, this needs no further explanation. However, Crunch is useful for hitting Jellicent which otherwise walls Dracovish completely. Psychic Fangs doesn't hit much of anything relevant in Doubles but it's a solid move with the utility of breaking screens from the likes of Grimmsnarl or G-Max Lapras. Ice Fang hits Rotom-Mow, though Dragon Rush provides a stronger option against Dragapult and Hydreigon while generally being a decent secondary STAB for the Dracovish mirror. You can choose any three coverage options of your choice though, ultimately Dracovish is going to be using Fishious Rend most of the time anyway and you will never want to Dynamax it to utilize the other moves.
Dracovish only cares about Attack and Speed, there's no real need to compromise its offense since it needs all the offense it can get off of its middling stat spread. Jolly nature ensures it outspeeds as much as possible though Adamant can also be used to boost its damage output. Choice Scarf is the preferred item choice though since Dracovish wants to be able to outspeed as much as possible without relying on speed control to do so. However, Choice Band lets Dracovish deal huge amounts of damage so it is still a valid item choice.
Other Options & Team Ideas
-There's very few other notable options for Dracovish to utilize. Rock Tomb can be used solely for the Speed control, though Dracovish is usually better off attacking with Fishious Rend anyway.
-Dracovish really wants speed control as much as possible, so Tailwind Whimsicott is a natural teammate to ensure it can attack before most foes. Other Tailwind Pokemon such as Braviary are also an option here.
-Dragapult will always outspeed Dracovish assuming equal levels of speed control, so having teammates that can scare Dragapult away is important. Duraludon, Grimmsnarl, and Tyranitar are all strong choices that provide different kind of support here. Duraludon has fantastic offensive coverage including Solar Beam for Gastrodon, Grimmsnarl provides Thunder Wave support and screens, while Tyranitar can enable sand sweeping with an Excadrill teammate.
-As hinted by Duraludon, teammates that can deal with Water Absorb and Storm Drain Pokemon are crucial teammates. Rotom-Mow is the most valuable teammate for this role as the only one that can effectively threaten it is Lapras.
-Arcanine is a very flexible option on most teams and it notably stands out as an answer to Ferrothorn, which Dracovish struggles to break through on its own. Other Fire-types such as Charizard can also be useful for this role.
Countering Dracovish
Dracovish is one of those Pokemon that don't really have counters due to its ability of being able to hit its checks and switch-ins very hard with its STAB Fishious Rend or coverage moves. Even the Pokemon that are able to carry an immunity to Fishious Rend such as Gastrodon, Seismitoad, Jellicent and Vaporeon are 2HKO'd by Outrage or in Jellicent's case by one of its coverage moves. However, as long as they can avoid getting caught off-guard, they can handle Dracovish at some extent.
The best way to deal with Dracovish is by offensive pressure and revenge killing it. Even with a Scarf, base 75 Speed is slow for the metagame's standard and there's plenty of Pokemon that will be able to OHKO with a super-effective STAB on Hydreigon's, Mimikyu's and Dragapult's case. Pokemon like Hawlucha are also able to revenge kill it if it has sustained enough damage.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Not in game
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game
Colosseum/XD:
Not in game
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
EvenNot in game
Black/White:
Not in game
Black 2/White 2:
Not in game
X/Y:
Not in game
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Not in game
Sun/Moon:
Not in game
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Not in game
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game
Sword/Shield:
Restore Fossilized Fish & Fossilized Drake in Route 6
Animé Appearences
