Pokémon Dracozolt

[TURBODERP]

This definitely looks to be the most optimal set. It makes good use of Dracozolt’s typing and accomplishes something besides spamming a 170 BP move (which Dracovish does better due to less viable immunities and synergy with rain).

I think this would pair very well with Toxic Spikes since fat grounds like Gastrodon/Seismitoad/Hippowdon will no longer be an answer, especially since Dracozolt prevents Corviknight from using Defog and scares Pex away from switching in to absorb them. No more pivoting around against this unholy abomination. Dragon Claw over Outrage since the extra power is no longer necessary.

Really excited to try this mon out.

Once Rillaboom gets Grassy Surge it'll be one of the best partners possible IMO (okay theorycrafting but still). Knock Off to get rid of Lefties/Helmet on Corviknight/Pex/Ferrothorn/[FatGrounds] make them less good answers in the long run, Grassy Terrain gives very appreciated recovery and weakens EQ, Drum Beating slows down stuff so Dracozolt has a better shot of powering up Bolt Beak, Taunt stops Ferro/Pex from setting up hazards or Toxic-ing/Leech Seeding Dracozolt on the switch, and U-Turn is a great pivoting option (Rillaboom isn't very fast but not particularly slow, which can be pretty darn useful).

Sure, there's a stacked Ice-weakness, but there are still 4 other teamslots available, and Zolt and Boom (TRADEMARKING THIS CORE NAME NOW) still have good type synergy.

 

[JTD783]

I’ve played around with the Sub + 3 attacks set and I’m pretty confident that it will remain the most consistently effective set. This thing is great at forcing switches and rarely has trouble getting kills with Rend despite the lack of a boosting item and not being fully invested in attack. Toxic Spike support is cool, sadly opposing Toxapex and Toxtricity can absorb them.

The biggest downside to this mon, by far in my experience, is ironically what makes it strong enough to be useable: Hustle. I can’t say no to the power boost since it won’t be any good in OU without it, but the accuracy drop is a huge pain. Seriously every move that’s 100% accurate is now the same as trying to land Stone Edge constantly, and that’s the most optimal situation it has. Too many times I’d switch into something passive, force it out, then end up behind a Sub as something like Excadrill switches in. Drill uses EQ to break the sub, Dracozolt goes for Fire Fang and misses, and now I lost HP from Sub for no reason and have to switch out. And if Fire Fang lands, this set might not be strong enough to get the OHKO sadly.

Dracozolt is fun and can seriously mess up bulky teams, don’t get me wrong. But the accuracy issue makes it too unreliable for me to consider it viable in OU, at least not outside of certain matchups. Depending on how the meta develops it could end up pretty good, like if Dynamax gets banned and Ferro/Pex/Corv cores become even more common.

 

[TURBODERP]

I’ve played around with the Sub + 3 attacks set and I’m pretty confident that it will remain the most consistently effective set. This thing is great at forcing switches and rarely has trouble getting kills with Rend despite the lack of a boosting item and not being fully invested in attack. Toxic Spike support is cool, sadly opposing Toxapex and Toxtricity can absorb them.

The biggest downside to this mon, by far in my experience, is ironically what makes it strong enough to be useable: Hustle. I can’t say no to the power boost since it won’t be any good in OU without it, but the accuracy drop is a huge pain. Seriously every move that’s 100% accurate is now the same as trying to land Stone Edge constantly, and that’s the most optimal situation it has. Too many times I’d switch into something passive, force it out, then end up behind a Sub as something like Excadrill switches in. Drill uses EQ to break the sub, Dracozolt goes for Fire Fang and misses, and now I lost HP from Sub for no reason and have to switch out. And if Fire Fang lands, this set might not be strong enough to get the OHKO sadly.

Dracozolt is fun and can seriously mess up bulky teams, don’t get me wrong. But the accuracy issue makes it too unreliable for me to consider it viable in OU, at least not outside of certain matchups. Depending on how the meta develops it could end up pretty good, like if Dynamax gets banned and Ferro/Pex/Corv cores become even more common.

Yea 70% accuracy has definitely backfired hard plenty of times. I think that maaaaybe it's worth running Scope Lens once Rillaboom gets out, and then slap Boom with a Terrain Extender and run the same Sub set.

 

[GaileOxstain]

Dynamax is now banned, so boosting attack and speed with Max Fighting and Max Flying is out. This also means Dracozolt can't abuse Dynamax's accuracy bypass to get around Hustle's drawbacks. Despite this, I still feel confident that Dracozolt will remain a top OU threat thanks to the damage boost from Hustle even at the cost of accuracy. It's still no Dracovish, but a Hustle boosted Beak Bolt when outspeeding the target still hits like a monster.

 

[Gravelmouse]

Dynamax is now banned, so boosting attack and speed with Max Fighting and Max Flying is out. This also means Dracozolt can't abuse Dynamax's accuracy bypass to get around Hustle's drawbacks. Despite this, I still feel confident that Dracozolt will remain a top OU threat thanks to the damage boost from Hustle even at the cost of accuracy. It's still no Dracovish, but a Hustle boosted Beak Bolt when outspeeding the target still hits like a monster.

While dracovish is possibly better and more reliable overall, dracozolt has a couple qualities above it, mainly the fact that its dragon STAB hits waaaaay harder then dracovish's dragon STAB. This lets dracozolt break down the ground types that switch into it much easier then dracovish can break down gastrodon or seismitoad

 

[TURBODERP]

While dracovish is possibly better and more reliable overall, dracozolt has a couple qualities above it, mainly the fact that its dragon STAB hits waaaaay harder then dracovish's dragon STAB. This lets dracozolt break down the ground types that switch into it much easier then dracovish can break down gastrodon or seismitoad

The issue with that is locking into Outrage never really feels good (unless behind a Sub, and even then), and Hustle makes that proposition scarier since missing even one Outrage means fat grounds like Hippo can wall you or do huge damage with EQ. IMO, Dracozolt's niche is probably as a Substitute user (with Lefties or Life Orb) that can wallbreak but is partnered with stuff that breaks fat Grounds (and ideally Ferro too since Fire Fang is a 2HKO at best no matter what the set, and Protect can stall it out well let alone Hustle misses).

Do we know when Grassy Surge Rillaboom will be released? It'd be a perfect partner, and since Gyarados will likely run EQ over Bounce, it's kinda needed to help Sub+Lefties Dracozolt check Gyarados.

 

[Gravelmouse]

The issue with that is locking into Outrage never really feels good (unless behind a Sub, and even then), and Hustle makes that proposition scarier since missing even one Outrage means fat grounds like Hippo can wall you or do huge damage with EQ. IMO, Dracozolt's niche is probably as a Substitute user (with Lefties or Life Orb) that can wallbreak but is partnered with stuff that breaks fat Grounds (and ideally Ferro too since Fire Fang is a 2HKO at best no matter what the set, and Protect can stall it out well let alone Hustle misses).

Do we know when Grassy Surge Rillaboom will be released? It'd be a perfect partner, and since Gyarados will likely run EQ over Bounce, it's kinda needed to help Sub+Lefties Dracozolt check Gyarados.

We do not know when it will be released.

Do you really think Gyarados will retain usage?

 

[TURBODERP]

We do not know when it will be released.

Do you really think Gyarados will retain usage?

Awww.

Yes, absolutely. Power Whip is a stupid (good) addition, letting Gyarados muscle past stuff like Seismitoad and Quagsire (the latter of which walls Gyarados with ease otherwise).

 

[Gravelmouse]

I simply feel the loss of bulk, flying STAB, and speed boosts will be too much for it, not to mention it can't even run adamant because timid dragapult would outspeed it at +1, as well as jolly gyarados being slower then the ever-present scarf darmanitan

 

[Finchinator]

Keep in mind this is the Dracozolt thread, not a Gyarados thread. I would advise moving any future discussion of it to the metagame discussion thread.

 

[Y2Kay]

Now that Darmanitan is gone, what will you guys be using to cover ground types for Dracozolt?

 

[Rotten]

Water types like Dracovish and Seismitoad are good options