Battle Center Discussion #6 - Garchomp

[Synthesis]

Battle Center Discussion #6 - Garchomp

Hey guys, and welcome to the belated sixth instalment of the BCD - the Battle Center's weekly discussion thread for different aspects of the Metagame. New topics will generally be posted whenever the last one dies down, ranging from Pokemon, to moves, abilities, strategies and more. At the end of the week, the old thread will be unstickied, but people are still free to post in it, and a new one will take its place. If you have any suggestions for future discussion topics, post in the thread or PM a Battle Center Moderator.

This week's discussion topic is the possible unbanning of Garchomp. With the release of Rough Skin, Smogon's suspect testing of it and how much the metagame has changed since it was banned mean it could be allowed back in OU. Would you welcome it? What sets would be best? How would it shape the current metagame?
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[Takaki]

I think Garchomp would be great to come back with Rough Skin because it would be a massive asset to balanced teams to give a bit of challenge to weather and volt turn teams.

To be honest I wouldn't really care if Sand Veil came back because even though it shouldn't I like abusing it on the ladder

 

[Affinity]

I think it would be great for Garchomp to be OU. Although its Outrage is weaker than Dragonite and Salamence, I'm going to expect its usage to skyrocket to at least top 10 since it does outspeed all the other pseudo-legendaries plus it doesn't lose out on the Attack stat by a huge margin. I'm guessing it's going to be less difficult to deal with compared to Salamence since it really can't go mixed (barring the Fire Blast variant, which by the way, would likely be popular due to Ferrothorn and Foretress being prevalent), though its STAB attacks are definitely deadly.

I also expect Air Balloon on several Steel types simply because of Garchomp. Perhaps Magnet Rise on Metagross would be more popular too since it's probably the best counter for Garchomp. It has excellent HP, Def, and Sp Def and with Magnet Rise, it becomes immune to Earthquake. It also resists Outrage which is nice, along with other coverage moves like Stone Edge and Brick Break. It has to watch out on Fire Blast though, but I doubt Garchomp can OHKO with its mediocre Sp Attack. Overall, I don't think much can counter this, probably Levitate Bronzong, and Scarf Rachi with a Jolly nature against Banded Chomp, although it definitely would not appreciate an Earthquake if the switch is predicted.

 

[Takaki]

Garhomp coming back will likely make Genesect even better sadly :/

He is such a beast the Choice Band looks like it will work on DragMag to dent some stuff for MoxieMence.

 

[Synthesis]

As with before, I think Skarm will remain its best counter, even though Fire Fang will be a staple on most sets.

 

[Affinity]

Wouldn't Fire Blast be better? It has a much higher BP and hits Skarm's Sp Defence...although Garchomp does have a fairly low Sp Attack.

 

[Lord Clowncrete]

As with before, I think Skarm will remain its best counter, even though Fire Fang will be a staple on most sets.

I hear Bronzong works as well. It resists pretty much every move Chomp carries and whups chomp with hp ice.

I am pumped to try cb chomp. I doubt sd chomp will work without sand veil hax to support it, thanks to the number of scarfers, ice-shard users and faster mons out there.

 

[Synthesis]

Wouldn't Fire Blast be better? It has a much higher BP and hits Skarm's Sp Defence...although Garchomp does have a fairly low Sp Attack.

Its Special Attack is significantly lower, unlike some of the other Dragons. You'd definitely need Special Attack investment and a defense-lowering nature in prder to net a lot of the 2HKOs/OHKOs (haven't ran calcs, mind you). Before, most ran Fire Fang over Fire Blast, but it may change now.

 

[Takaki]

With the commoness of rain it might just be easiest to run Magnezone with it than even bother with the fire type move.

 

[Affinity]

Eh, fair point. Although I honestly think Fire Fang's BP is a bit too low.

 

[The Knights of Wario Land]

It's interesting that I'm actually writing an article for Garchomp as of now.

 

[winstein]

It's interesting that I'm actually writing an article for Garchomp as of now.

This topic can't be viewed unless you registered, right?

That's it for now.

 

[legolover8]

I for one will welcome Chompy. I have used him to a great extent in my SS, I am sure he will be even better in competitive. The metagame has changed since DPP, and some new checks come to rise. Skarmory remains the best counter IMO, I'll run some calcs in a minute. As for switch-ins, Mamoswine can easily dispose of Garchomp thanks to Ice Shard. Even Weavile can out speed non-scarfed and kill with Ice Punch. I think Garchomp will fit into this metagame perfectly now.

 

[Angad]

Chomp is now officially back, but Sand Veil and Snow Cloak are banned.

 

[Takaki]

Really annoyed about the Sand Veil ban. It ruined my team.

 

[Lord Clowncrete]

Really annoyed about the Sand Veil ban. It ruined my team.

I am overjoyed on the other hand. That snow cloak ban is icing.

 

[Takaki]

I'm going to have to come up with yet another plan to reinvent Welcome to Eden to adapt it to the current metagame.

 

[Angad]

Was the Snow Cloak ban necessary, though? Has Snow Cloak ever been broken?

 

[Takaki]

The point of it is that it is in a similar vain to Bright powder. It is a bad option to use but it causes a massive variation in battle results that the opponent has no control over.

Like Moody, it isn't a case of how broken it is.

 

[Angad]

I understand that is really for carpetbanning it, but I still have my hesitance on banning Snow Cloak in regards to practical use.