POTW Pokémon of the Week #93: Drilbur and Excadrill

MegaPod · Jun 18, 2018

In the World of Pokémon, there lives a vast number and variety of amazing creatures to befriend and collect. Y’all know the drill; every week, we will be focusing on a single one of these Pokémon or evolutionary lines and talking about what makes it special. This week's Pokémon of choice are Drilbur and its evolved form, Excadrill!

Drilbur is a Ground-type Pokémon introduced in Generation V, resembling a mole with large, three-fingered, scoop-like claws for arms. When Drilbur puts these claws together and straightens its body, it can tunnel through the earth by spinning like a drill. At level 31, Drilbur evolves into the tough-looking Excadrill, a Ground/Steel-type. Excadrill gains a metallic, horn-like protrusion above its head to match the shape of its claws, and when Excadrill puts its horn and claws together to tunnel, the resulting drill-like structure completely shields its face as Excadrill bores through materials as strong as steel with ease. Excadrill is known to use its burrowing talents to build elaborate nests 300 feet underground. This behavior can interfere with the underground tunnel construction of humans, but Excadrill may also work with humans in the Pokémon world to provide an advantage.

In the video games, Excadrill has a notable offensive presence with its high physical Attack stat, and like many physically-oriented attackers, access to Swords Dance. It also has good base HP, and while it has less than desirable defensive stats, a decent pool of resistances and immunities due to its typing help compensate for that. Additionally, though Excadrill’s Speed stat may be nothing remarkable on its own, albeit somewhat above average as far as other Steel- or Ground-type Pokémon go, it can be doubled in a Sandstorm with the ability Sand Rush. This gives Excadrill great potential as a speedy physical sweeper when paired with a Sandstorm setter on its team, hitting enemies hard with moves such as Earthquake, Iron Head, or Rock Slide. (Drill Run is a not-exactly-signature Ground-type move that Excadrill also has access to, but for players who don’t wish to bank on its increased critical hit ratio, Earthquake’s greater base power is generally more reliable.) Alternatively, Excadrill can have the ability Sand Force, which bolsters the power of its Rock, Ground, and Steel moves in a Sandstorm (but without the speed bonus that Sand Rush instead provides), or its hidden ability, Mold Breaker. Being able to attack through an opposing Pokémon’s abilities with Mold Breaker gives Excadrill a few useful options, such as using Stealth Rock or Toxic despite being confronted with Magic Bounce, or attacking a Levitating foe with Earthquake.

Clearly, Excadrill can be a valuable member of any trainer’s team, but in its debut generation, you had to know how to find one. Drilbur and Excadrill are found in caves, of course, but in Pokémon Black and White (and their respective sequels), may only be encountered in randomly occurring dust clouds, one of the natural phenomena signature to the Unova games. Sixty percent of the time, these dust clouds will yield an item instead, so a trainer will likely need to look more than once to uncover this mole. If you’re after one of these dust clouds and it spawns tantalizingly just out of reach, you’ll be kicking yourself unless you’ve brought a Repel along.

This Pokémon has had its moments to shine in the Pokémon anime, most notably under the ownership of Iris, one of Ash Ketchum’s Unova companions. Drilbur was the first Pokémon Iris caught, and evolved into Excadrill after the two went on to win 99 consecutive battles together. Iris, confident in Excadrill to make their winning streak a full 100, agreed to a match between her Excadrill and Drayden’s Haxorus. However, it was a match Iris was ill-prepared for as a young trainer, a fact that she realized too late as her Excadrill endured a crushing defeat courtesy of Haxorus. Having completely lost confidence in Iris, Excadrill stopped listening to her altogether. When sent out to battle, Excadrill would remain idle in its curled-up drill position, refusing to help. Excadrill would only battle when personally provoked, and even then refuse to follow Iris’ orders. Only when Iris recognized her mistakes and apologized to Excadrill did her relationship with the Subterrene Pokémon start to mend. The two trained together, and Excadrill mastered the move Focus Blast in time for a second battle against Iris’ new rival Georgia and her Beartic. With their mutual trust restored, Excadrill once more proved to be a dependable powerhouse by Iris’ side.

Here are some questions to consider to get conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.

◦ Do you dig this Pokémon? Why or why not?
◦ How is this Pokémon in-game?
◦ How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
◦ Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
◦ How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
◦ If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
◦ Do you believe that atypical Pokémon encounter methods, such as that of Drilbur and Excadrill in Gen V, are a fun gimmick or more of an annoyance?

Thanks to @CynthiaLover and @PkmnTrainerV for suggesting this Pokémon of the Week!

If you have any suggestions for Pokémon you'd like to discuss in the future just leave your ideas at the bottom of your post. Make sure you give your thoughts about the current Pokémon first!

Previous Pokémon of the Week:

CynthiaLover · Jun 18, 2018

◦ Do you dig this Pokémon? Why or why not?
Oh, I dig this Mon! It's a staple in my Unova teams. Not only is it awesome in design, but it's very practical and useful, too. It's got a good selection of moves to work with, good power and speed (the latter is especially useful for a Ground and Steel type), and just an overall cool Mon.
◦ How is this Pokémon in-game?
This mole really knows how to make a good impression in-game. You do have to baby it a bit at first, but when the time comes, you end up with a stupidly powerful beast that can literally drill holes in the enemy teams. I try to find one as soon as possible, as it becomes a very valuable member of the team. If only its Hidden Ability Mold Breaker was easier to get, as the other two Abilities require Sandstorm setups, something that I don't use, but nevertheless, this mole always burrows its way into my ranks.
◦ How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
I don't do competitive battling, as I feel it sucks the fun out of the games, so I wouldn't know. But, obviously, in Sandstorm Teams it can become a One-Mon Wrecking Ball (at least before weather got nerfed). Mold Breaker is probably the most practical Ability for it, since it can bypass a number of defenses the opponent has and punch holes in their teams like they're made of tissue paper, but all three of its abilities have niches. But, again, I don't do competitive play, so I just like having my good buddy Drillbit drill holes in whoever opposes him in-game.
◦ Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
I avoided the BW anime like the plague, but when I heard that IRIS had Excadrill, I was furious. She didn't deserve such a beast, so I was glad it didn't obey her for a while. I also felt that their "reconcile training" was very shallow and unrealistic. It didn't grip the heartstrings like Ash/Charizard did, and it only further fueled Iris' already overblown ego. So I feel it got a bad representation in the anime because it went to the worst character possible.
◦ How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
Well, like any burrowing animal, it would probably be causing trouble by punching holes in things like man-made tunnels and causing general instability of the ground. But, if it was trained, then it could be a huge asset to miners and construction crews, as it could dig and drill through most everything without breaking a sweat, helping reduce the need of heavy drilling equipment. In that regard, it would probably know the best way to keep the tunnels/foundations it digs for said crews sturdy to reduce events like cave-ins and such, though the crews would have to be mindful of it, as it might overdo its job and cause said problems by accident.
◦ If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Maybe give it a bit more Speed and beef up its defenses, even just slightly, so it would be a bit sturdier. And give it more Steel moves naturally, like Iron Head, since, if memory serves, the only attacking Steel move it learns naturally is Metal Claw (though I'd have to double-check that), which is a rather weak move. But other than that, I'd say it's pretty good to go.
◦ Do you believe that atypical Pokémon encounter methods, such as that of Drilbur and Excadrill in Gen V, are a fun gimmick or more of an annoyance?
Unlike some, I really enjoyed those phenomenon gimmicks, especially the Dust Cloud one. I'd always try to provoke the different encounter gimmick types, as it made Mon-hunting even more fun. Even if I didn't get a Drillbur on the first try, finding items is always fun, especially things like stones and the game-breaking Gems. Granted, you did need readily access to a supply of Repels to make the effort worth it, as those random encounters could very easily screw you up, but it was still a worthwhile, and fun, gimmick, as the rewards you got out of them were often very good. It only got annoying when the rustling grass/dust cloud/rippling water were out of reach, forcing you to either exit/reenter the area to reset it or actually provoke a random encounter to start over. At least there was no real benefit of chaining those encounters like with the Poke Radar, as what you found is what you get, which I was fine with. Just finding what I was looking for is all that I want, and any bonuses along the way are just icing on the cake. So I felt those encounter gimmicks were fun, as the rewards they gave you were very nice regardless of what you were searching for.

Idea for next POTW: Turtwig, Grotle, Torterra

Jinjo · Jun 18, 2018

I'm not crazy over this Pokemon but it's okay. My first game file I played on Black Version, I struggled battling Clay's Excadrill. I used Simipour against Excadrill and Excadrill is weak against water type but Excadrill kept knocking out my Simipour in just one attack and I learned later that the monkey trio have very bad weak defense. I eventually defeated Excadrill with Gurdurr but it took a while. Second file I played on my Black Version, I defeated Excadrill with a Samurott and it went well.

Iris has an Excadrill and it was always curled up like a ball disobeying her and I was always wondering what did it look like when it's not curled up. I don't remember seeing a Drilbur in the anime and I don't remember battling a Drilbur on any Pokemon game. This gimmicky Pokemon is more in between.

Guzma · Jun 22, 2018

◦ Do you dig this Pokémon? Why or why not?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKRUKalbx3s

Now that I got the obvious reference out of the way, I really, really like Drilbur and Excadrill. They're everything I could have wanted out of a mole Pokemon. Sorry, Diglett and Dugtrio; you don't have enough Spiral Power to compare with Excadrill.
◦ How is this Pokémon in-game?
Pretty daggone good.
◦ How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
I haven't really used my Excadrill in competitive despite having a competitive one, but it's pretty OP.
◦ Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
I don't watch the anime, so /shrug
◦ How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
By BEING THE DRILL THAT PIERCES THE HEAVENS!
◦ If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
I'd probably make Exadrill's horn look less like it has a third arm over its head and instead be a "visor" on a hinge that it can cover its face with.
◦ Do you believe that atypical Pokémon encounter methods, such as that of Drilbur and Excadrill in Gen V, are a fun gimmick or more of an annoyance?
It was honestly kind of annoying trying to catch one and blowing over 30 Repels on it.

Camille · Jun 22, 2018

Drilbur is adorable, and Excadrill is tough yet cool. Sand Rush is an amazing ability, even if their movepools aren't huge. I actually did encounter and catch a shiny Drilbur in Chargestone Cave. I liked the fact we finally got Pokemon based on real, actual moles, rather than artificial ones, unlike the Diglett line. I don't think Excadrill needs any changes, honestly.
I liked the new methods of encountering Pokemon in Black/White, and I've never found them to be annoying.

Nicolas721 · Jun 23, 2018

Excadrill is badass, it's one of those Pokemon that blend the artificial with the natural very well and are pleasant to look at. Drillbur on the other hand is a bit boring, but still a decent representation of a mole.

I enjoyed his role in the anime, his battles were very memorable.

POTW Pokémon of the Week #93: Drilbur and Excadrill

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MegaPod

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CynthiaLover

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Jinjo

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Guzma

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Camille

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Nicolas721

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