Earth Power Garchomp: An In-Depth Meta Analysis

June 6th is Gible Community Day and it has been confirmed that Earth Power will be Garchomp’s Community Day exclusive attack. Earth Power is a useful Ground-type attack to have in both Raids and PvP, as its lower energy cost often gives it an advantage over Earthquake. While this advantage is more clear cut in Raids, it can be a bit more tricky in PvP as Earthquake has more outright KOing powering. 

The article below highlights the advantage Earth Power gives Garchomp and Mega Garchomp in Raids, and also highlights the difference in performance compared to Earthquake in the Master League Classic and the Master League XL. Do note that Mega Garchomp has not been announced at this time, so it is unclear if MegaGarchomp will debut after the Community Day (as Mega Altaria did after Swablu Community Day).

With the addition of Earth Power in Garchomp’s movepool, Garchomp will be the 3rd highest DPS (damage per second) non-Mega, non-Shadow Ground-type attacker for Raids, standing less than 0.2 DPS behind Excadrill and 0.6 DPS behind Landorus Therian Forme. How far behind Garchomp will be in practice will have to be seen, as Garchomp has better TDO (total damage output, a more useful metric for tankiness), better DPS^3*TDO (a useful metric for a Pokemon’s overall Raid utility), and better resistances. Given that Ground-type’s primary target in Raids are Electric-types, Garchomp’s whopping triple resistance will likely pull it leagues ahead compared to Landourus’ diminutive single resistance. All things considered, it’s safe to say that Garchomp is overall the best non-Mega Ground-type Raid Attacker. 

As for Megas, Mega Garchomp was already undisputed as the best Ground-type Mega, even before receiving Earth Power. With it, Mega Garchomp will be that much better. Of course, this title only lasts as long as the future Primal Groudon still receives a 9% nerf or doesn’t receive Precipice Blades on release. Either buff to Primal Groudon will put it ahead of Mega Garchomp. That said, it isn’t even confirmed if we’re getting Mega Garchomp following this event and it’s entirely unknown when we’ll get the Primal Reversions of Groudon and Kyogre, if they’ll be nerfed or not, and if they’ll have their signature moves or not. If nothing else, Mega Garchomp will likely be the best Ground-type Mega for a good while. 

Unlike in Raids, Earth Power isn’t strictly better than Earthquake. In general, it stands to be better due to the lower energy cost, but Earthquake has stood out over the years with its massive closing power. The situation is even trickier, as Garchomp will often carry Sand Tomb instead for greater baiting power. Given the similarity between Earth Power and Earthquake’s playstyle, we will be comparing the matchup changes between these attacks. 

In Master League Classic (level 40), Earth Power has the following advantages based on shields.

• 0-0: Kyogre (Earth Power bait into Outrage)
• 1-1: Dialga
  • Unless Dialga is best buddied and you aren't
• 2-2: Snorlax, Machamp, and Giratina-O
  • Lose Kyogre: Double Outrage Bait into Earthquake KOs
• 0-1 dis: Giratina-O and Metagross
• 1-2 dis: No matchup changes
• 1-0 adv:Kyogre
  • Lose M2: Ice Beam only, like 2-2 Kyogre, Earthquake KOs
• 2-1 adv: Dialga, Zekrom, Giratina-A

In Master League XL (level 50), Earth Power has the following advantages based on shields.

• 0-0: Kyogre and Giratina-O, tie with Landorus-I (where Earthquake loses)
• 1-1: Best buddy Dialga (even when not best buddied yourself)
  • Lose to Conkeldurr and Swampert
• 2-2: Giratina Origin Forme
• 0-1 dis: No new wins
  • Lose to Conkeldurr (Earthquake ties)
• 1-2 dis: Giratina-O
• 1-0 adv: No new wins
  • Lose to Mamoswine
• 2-1 adv: Giratina-A
  • Lose to Mewtwo: Ice Beam only

In the Master League Classic, Earth Power appears to be an overall upgrade for Garchomp, only taking a new loss to Ice Beam Mewtwo in the 1-0 shield scenario while picking up 11 new scenario specific wins (one of which is 1-1 Dialga). To add, all the matchups Garchomp was winning before with Earthquake that Garchomp is now winning with Earth Power suggests that Garchomp could also farm up a little extra energy before the KO. There will be some edge-case situations where the higher base damage of Earthquake will be missed, but in general it appears that Earth Power is strictly better in the Master League Classic. 

In the Master League XL, Earth Power Garchomp appears to have some hiccups, notably against Conkeldurr. That said, Earth Power is picking up 7 new scenario specific wins compared to Earthquake and is still objectively the better move. Compared to the Master League Classic, there appears to be more opportunities for Earthquake to pull ahead in less even scenarios, but Earth Power still has the extra opportunities to farm more energy. All in all, Earth Power Garchomp will be better but you may want to swap to Earthquake based on your team composition and expected meta. 

As a reminder, Sand Tomb Garchomp has many matchup advantages and disadvantages over both Earth Power and Earthquake Garchomp. Sand Tomb Garchomp fundamentally plays differently than the other two moves as it relies on baiting and debuffs to get KOs Earth Power and Earthquake can’t. Therefore, you’re going to want to build an Earth Power and a non-Earth Power Garchomp for Master League PvP. Given Garchomp’s prowess in Raids, Earth Power is a clear candidate for XLing. However, given that Earth Power Garchomp has a clear advantage over Earthquake in Master League Classic you may want to keep it at 40 or build 3 Garchomp instead of 2. 

Earth Power is a solid boon for Garchomp in both Raids and PvP. In Raids, Earth Power Garchomp is arguably the greatest non-Mega Ground-type attacker. In the Master League Classic, Earth Power sports clear advantages over Earthquake on Garchomp. In the Master League XL, Earth Power is still better but gives Garchomp issues against Conkeldurr and Mamoswine. Sand Tomb is still a powerful option in both Leagues, so non-Earth Power Garchomp will still have that utility. It’s hard to say if Earth Power is better than Sand Tomb as their playstyles are significantly different. If anything, the prevalence of Earth Power could make Sand Tomb more useful. 

If you’re curious about Garchomp in the Great League or the Ultra League, it’s not that great in either and Earth Power doesn’t change that.