Tyranitar
PvE Analysis
Tyranitar has a formidable base stat total and pervasive STAB coverage, and has long been a staple Pokemon for players since its release. To begin with, it was best utilized as a Dark Type attacker, where it was the absolute top pick, but once it gained Smack Down via its own community day, it became the top Rock Type attacker as well. The times have changed and Tyranitar lost its "best" title in both types, But in June 2023 the winds of change blew in Tyranitar's favor once again as it was given access to Brutal Swing. With this, Tyranitar towers over much of its competition as a Dark Type, and has long since returned to its glory days as a Dark Type juggernaut.
Best PvE Offensive Moveset
Bite + Brutal Swing | Best |
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Smack Down + Stone Edge | Great |
- 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 + Crunch or Brutal Swing | Best |
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- 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 |
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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 League | 2 / 5 |
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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. | |
Ultra League | 2 / 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 | 3 / 5 |
Tyranitar's not bad, it's just poorly positioned. It's got stats, it's got moves, it's just...it doesn't beat much? It simply suffers from having too many weaknesses, especially its double weakness to Fighting. While incredibly powerful against Mewtwo and the Giratinas, it fails to handle the top Dragons in the format, and it stands no chance against powerful Waters like Kyogre. It's good against, like, Lugia, at least? That's something? 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. |