[Overview]
<p>Drilbur is one of the premier sandstorm sweepers, since both of his abilities, Sand Rush and Sand Force, can be used for sweeping. In sandstorm, Sand Rush doubles his Speed, whereas Sand Force makes his Rock Slide and STAB Earthquake more powerful. Sand Rush is generally superior as the power is more readily available with 19 Attack and a Life Orb boost. Drilbur also has access to a wide physical movepool, and even Swords Dance, which boosts his already impressive Attack. Once set up in a sandstorm, Drilbur can easily sweep with a wide variety of options.</p>
[SET]
name: All-Out Offense
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Shadow Claw
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Substitute / Swords Dance
item: Life Orb
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 212 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With good Attack and Speed stats, as well as access to Swords Dance, Drilbur is begging to be used as a sweeper. This set also takes advantage of Sand Rush, which will double Drilbur's Speed in sandstorm. With 212 EVs, he will reach 32 Speed, which outspeeds every single Pokemon in the metagame, even those with a Choice Scarf. An Adamant nature is used to raise Drilbur's Attack because he already has more than enough Speed. Earthquake is his obvious STAB attack. Shadow Claw is used to hit Gastly, who is immune to Earthquake, for super effective damage. In the third slot, Rock Slide is favored for its power against Bug-types such as Shelmet, as well as Flying-types such as Doduo and Taillow.</p>
<p>The debate between Substitute and Swords Dance is dependent on how comfortable you are with prediction. Swords Dance gives Drilbur the potential to set up and sweep entire teams; Substitute allows easier prediction and is more suited to picking one Pokemon off at a time. They both help deal with Sucker Punches too.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Hippopotas is an obvious partner to set up a permanent sandstorm. Beyond that, Drilbur appreciates entry hazard support. This makes Ferroseed a great partner because he can lay down both Stealth Rock and Spikes. Ferroseed also resists Water- and Grass-type attacks, and has a high enough Special Defense to take Ice-type attacks as well. Even though Ferroseed is a great partner for Drilbur, he is also one of Drilbur's biggest threats. Ferroseed will wall Drilbur's attacks and can use Seed Bomb to hit for super effective damage or set up entry hazards. Magnemite is another good partner for Drilbur because he can remove Ferroseed and Bronzor, two of Drilbur's biggest headaches.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Sweeper
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Rapid Spin / X-Scissor / Shadow Claw
move 4: Swords Dance
item: Eviolite
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 Atk / 116 Def / 76 SpD / 52 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set aims to take advantage of the deadly combination given by Eviolite and a boosting move. With enough bulk to survive a plethora of weak attacks, including priority, Drilbur can easily set up a Swords Dance and plow through a team. Another great advantage to this set is that if one of Drilbur's counters switches in, Drilbur can simply Rapid Spin away entry hazards instead of risking a misprediction. Shadow Claw can be used to more reliably hit Ghost-types while X-Scissor is the best way to get around Bronzor and Grass-types. Protect is also a viable option on most Drilbur sets as it blocks annoying Fake Outs from Pokemon such as Mienfoo.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With much less power, Drilbur will not be given much of a chance to do anything without setting up, and at that point he should be sweeping. To accommodate this heavy switching strategy, it is recommended that you bring a Pursuit user to get rid of Ghosts if not using Shadow Claw. This will allow Drilbur to Rapid Spin more easily and prevent residual damage to him and the rest of the team.</p>
[SET]
name: Stalling Sweeper
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Protect
item: Oran Berry / Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 212 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set is meant to stall out the opponent's HP by racking up residual damage from entry hazards and weather effects until the opponents drop into KO range. For example, you can send in this set to revenge kill Eviolite Staryu by Protecting and Substituting, then using Earthquake when Staryu's HP is low enough.</p>
<p>The choice between Life Orb, Leftovers, and Oran Berry depends on whether you prefer an approach with an offensive or defensive nature. Life Orb raises Earthquake's KO range and also makes Drilbur less reliant on the Protect and Substitute repetition. Oran Berry increases Drilbur's longevity and lengthens the stalling time, which can be even more interesting with something such as Toxic Spikes support. Leftovers does the same, but actually gives you more returned HP after ten turns. This is quite possible with Substitute and Protect.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Toxic Spikes support works incredibly well with this Drilbur set. The amount of health an opponent will drop simply in the first round of turns will be enough to beat almost anything that isn't immune to sandstorm and/or Toxic Spikes. Great Toxic Spikes users include Omanyte and Tentacool, both of whom are pretty easy to fit on sandstorm teams.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Sand Force is a viable option as it will raise the power of both Earthquake and Rock Slide. If Drilbur uses this ability, he should use a Jolly nature instead of Adamant so that he hits 17 Speed. Drilbur has a good movepool that he can work with. X-Scissor can be used to hit Grass-types. Brick Break can be used as well, but Earthquake generally does more damage.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The biggest counter that Drilbur has is Snover. When Snover switches in, it takes away the sandstorm that Drilbur needs for sweeping. Snover is also commonly seen with a Choice Scarf, so it will outspeed Drilbur and OHKO with Blizzard. Bronzor is very good at taking all of Drilbur's attacks, but it needs to carry something to hit Drilbur back with, otherwise it might have trouble with a Swords Dance-boosted Shadow Claw or X-Scissor. Slowpoke can take hits pretty well and hit Drilbur with a super effective Surf or Scald, but will fall to a Life Orb-backed Earthquake after a Swords Dance. Koffing laughs at everything Drilbur can dish out and threatens him with Will-O-Wisp and can remove potential boosts with Clear Smog. Drilbur is also weak to priority attackers such as Croagunk, unless it has Eviolite.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Mold Breaker isn't as good as either one of Drilbur's regular abilities. If Drilbur isn't running Sand Rush for the Speed boost, it is using Sand Force for the Earthquake and Rock Slide power boost. Mold Breaker isn't a bad ability, but it is outclassed by both of Drilbur's other abilities for sweeping.</p>
<p>Drilbur is one of the premier sandstorm sweepers, since both of his abilities, Sand Rush and Sand Force, can be used for sweeping. In sandstorm, Sand Rush doubles his Speed, whereas Sand Force makes his Rock Slide and STAB Earthquake more powerful. Sand Rush is generally superior as the power is more readily available with 19 Attack and a Life Orb boost. Drilbur also has access to a wide physical movepool, and even Swords Dance, which boosts his already impressive Attack. Once set up in a sandstorm, Drilbur can easily sweep with a wide variety of options.</p>
[SET]
name: All-Out Offense
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Shadow Claw
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Substitute / Swords Dance
item: Life Orb
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 212 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With good Attack and Speed stats, as well as access to Swords Dance, Drilbur is begging to be used as a sweeper. This set also takes advantage of Sand Rush, which will double Drilbur's Speed in sandstorm. With 212 EVs, he will reach 32 Speed, which outspeeds every single Pokemon in the metagame, even those with a Choice Scarf. An Adamant nature is used to raise Drilbur's Attack because he already has more than enough Speed. Earthquake is his obvious STAB attack. Shadow Claw is used to hit Gastly, who is immune to Earthquake, for super effective damage. In the third slot, Rock Slide is favored for its power against Bug-types such as Shelmet, as well as Flying-types such as Doduo and Taillow.</p>
<p>The debate between Substitute and Swords Dance is dependent on how comfortable you are with prediction. Swords Dance gives Drilbur the potential to set up and sweep entire teams; Substitute allows easier prediction and is more suited to picking one Pokemon off at a time. They both help deal with Sucker Punches too.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Hippopotas is an obvious partner to set up a permanent sandstorm. Beyond that, Drilbur appreciates entry hazard support. This makes Ferroseed a great partner because he can lay down both Stealth Rock and Spikes. Ferroseed also resists Water- and Grass-type attacks, and has a high enough Special Defense to take Ice-type attacks as well. Even though Ferroseed is a great partner for Drilbur, he is also one of Drilbur's biggest threats. Ferroseed will wall Drilbur's attacks and can use Seed Bomb to hit for super effective damage or set up entry hazards. Magnemite is another good partner for Drilbur because he can remove Ferroseed and Bronzor, two of Drilbur's biggest headaches.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Sweeper
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Rapid Spin / X-Scissor / Shadow Claw
move 4: Swords Dance
item: Eviolite
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 Atk / 116 Def / 76 SpD / 52 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set aims to take advantage of the deadly combination given by Eviolite and a boosting move. With enough bulk to survive a plethora of weak attacks, including priority, Drilbur can easily set up a Swords Dance and plow through a team. Another great advantage to this set is that if one of Drilbur's counters switches in, Drilbur can simply Rapid Spin away entry hazards instead of risking a misprediction. Shadow Claw can be used to more reliably hit Ghost-types while X-Scissor is the best way to get around Bronzor and Grass-types. Protect is also a viable option on most Drilbur sets as it blocks annoying Fake Outs from Pokemon such as Mienfoo.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With much less power, Drilbur will not be given much of a chance to do anything without setting up, and at that point he should be sweeping. To accommodate this heavy switching strategy, it is recommended that you bring a Pursuit user to get rid of Ghosts if not using Shadow Claw. This will allow Drilbur to Rapid Spin more easily and prevent residual damage to him and the rest of the team.</p>
[SET]
name: Stalling Sweeper
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Protect
item: Oran Berry / Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 212 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set is meant to stall out the opponent's HP by racking up residual damage from entry hazards and weather effects until the opponents drop into KO range. For example, you can send in this set to revenge kill Eviolite Staryu by Protecting and Substituting, then using Earthquake when Staryu's HP is low enough.</p>
<p>The choice between Life Orb, Leftovers, and Oran Berry depends on whether you prefer an approach with an offensive or defensive nature. Life Orb raises Earthquake's KO range and also makes Drilbur less reliant on the Protect and Substitute repetition. Oran Berry increases Drilbur's longevity and lengthens the stalling time, which can be even more interesting with something such as Toxic Spikes support. Leftovers does the same, but actually gives you more returned HP after ten turns. This is quite possible with Substitute and Protect.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Toxic Spikes support works incredibly well with this Drilbur set. The amount of health an opponent will drop simply in the first round of turns will be enough to beat almost anything that isn't immune to sandstorm and/or Toxic Spikes. Great Toxic Spikes users include Omanyte and Tentacool, both of whom are pretty easy to fit on sandstorm teams.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Sand Force is a viable option as it will raise the power of both Earthquake and Rock Slide. If Drilbur uses this ability, he should use a Jolly nature instead of Adamant so that he hits 17 Speed. Drilbur has a good movepool that he can work with. X-Scissor can be used to hit Grass-types. Brick Break can be used as well, but Earthquake generally does more damage.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The biggest counter that Drilbur has is Snover. When Snover switches in, it takes away the sandstorm that Drilbur needs for sweeping. Snover is also commonly seen with a Choice Scarf, so it will outspeed Drilbur and OHKO with Blizzard. Bronzor is very good at taking all of Drilbur's attacks, but it needs to carry something to hit Drilbur back with, otherwise it might have trouble with a Swords Dance-boosted Shadow Claw or X-Scissor. Slowpoke can take hits pretty well and hit Drilbur with a super effective Surf or Scald, but will fall to a Life Orb-backed Earthquake after a Swords Dance. Koffing laughs at everything Drilbur can dish out and threatens him with Will-O-Wisp and can remove potential boosts with Clear Smog. Drilbur is also weak to priority attackers such as Croagunk, unless it has Eviolite.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Mold Breaker isn't as good as either one of Drilbur's regular abilities. If Drilbur isn't running Sand Rush for the Speed boost, it is using Sand Force for the Earthquake and Rock Slide power boost. Mold Breaker isn't a bad ability, but it is outclassed by both of Drilbur's other abilities for sweeping.</p>
