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Shadow Tyranitar

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#248
Default
251
ATK
207
DEF
225
STA
Lvl 50Max CP
4335
Lvl 40
3834
Lvl 25Weather Boost
2739
Lvl 20Raids/Eggs
2191
Lvl 15Research
1643

PvE Analysis

Shadow Tyranitar is a return to form for the tyrant of the early-game raid scene. The Season of Hidden Gems gave it access to Brutal Swing, which catapulted its Dark attacking prowess to beyond anything the game has ever seen. In addition to being an absolutely monstrous Dark attacker, Shadow Tyranitar is an exceptional Rock attacker if it has the Community Day move Smack Down.

Players looking to make a huge impact in raid lobbies should grind for Shadow Larvitars whenever it is available. Many bosses are weak to Rock and Dark, giving Shadow Tyranitar plenty of time to shine. Not only does Shadow Tyranitar boast top tier DPS against them, it also sports respectable bulk. All in all, Shadow Tyranitar is one of the best investments a player can make.

Best PvE Offensive Moveset

Bite + Brutal SwingBest
Smack Down* + Stone EdgeGreat
  • Bite is best paired with Brutal Swing, while Smack Down* should be paired with Stone Edge.
  • Iron Tail is okay against Pokemon weak to Steel but not Rock, but its use cases are narrow.
  • Crunch is okay, but definitely inferior
  • Fire Blast is underwhelming in every aspect.

Best PvE Defensive Moveset

Iron Tail + CrunchBest
  • Iron Tail edges out Smack Down due to not being resisted by Fighting.
  • Bite barely tickles attackers and is resisted by Fighting to boot.
  • Tyranitar faints quickly vs. Fighting-types and needs Crunch to threaten damage.
  • Brutal Swing is okay too, but it is slower on defense.
  • That said, Stone Edge has a very early damage window.
  • Fire Blast is underwhelming in every aspect.

PvP Analysis

Smack Down + Brutal Swing and Stone Edge

Smack Down tends to be a stronger option than Bite due to superior energy generation, which is notable due to Tyranitar's costly charge moves. However, the latter lets Tyranitar become a Ghost- and Psychic-shredding machine. Iron Tail is a poor move. 

Brutal Swing costs the least energy and benefits from STAB. Crunch is slightly more expensive and is therefore the less preferable option, but it can occasionally provide Defense drops. Stone Edge is powerful and provides good coverage, but costs quite a lot of energy to use. Fire Blast demands too much energy to be consistently worthwhile. 

Great League2.5 / 5

Tyranitar’s heavily attack-weighted stat distribution does it no favors down in Great League. A double weakness to Fighting-type damage, in addition to weaknesses against common Water, Grass, and Ground-type attacks, makes it a very risky Pokemon. While it shines in certain limited metagames, its stats combined with the fact that a lot of other things can do its job don't leave it super happy. Smack Down Shadow Tyranitar in particular has a niche in the limited time Halloween Cup, combining its resistances with the metagame's general lack of Rock resists to deal heavy damage.

Ultra League2 / 5

Its Rock/Dark typing gives it a solid matchup against both Giratina forms, but make it much weaker against Fighting-types, in addition to Grass and Water Starter Pokemon.

Master League / 5

Although it boasts impressive stats, Shadow Tyranitar is a niche pick in the Master League due to its rather polarizing strengths and weaknesses. Its key resistances to Ghost, Psychic, and Flying allows Shadow Tyranitar to effortlessly take down common metagame threats such as Ho-Oh, Lugia, Giratina-O, and Mewtwo (if it lacks Focus Blast). On the other hand, Shadow Tyranitar suffers from numerous debilitating weaknesses - there is no shortage of Pokemon in the Master League that make use of Fighting-, Ground-, Water-, and Fairy-type attacks. As a result, Shadow Tyranitar is difficult to place on a team without sacrificing the team's stability.

Shadow Tyranitar is preferred over its regular variant due to the consistency of its Fast Attack pressure. Smack Down is generally preferred due to the ubiquity of Zacian and Flying-type Pokemon, but Bite offers greater pressure against Groudon and Dusk Mane Necrozma.

The nerf to Smack Down in Pokemon GO: Max Out is quite significant for Shadow Tyranitar's viability. For instance, it is no longer able to 100-0 Xerneas with Smack Down's damage alone in the 2s

Purification Cost
5 Candy + 5,000 Stardust
Flee Rate
4 %
Buddy Distance
5 KM
Catch Rate
55 %
Female Ratio
50 %
Male Ratio
50 %