[Overview]
<p>Part of the new legendary foursome (don't forget
PONY,about Keldeo, people!), Terrakion boasts a unique type combination with Fighting/Rock and some pretty beastly base stats to take advantage of
the great dual STABs.it offensively. The great type coverage granted by
those STABsits STAB attacks alone essentially allows Terrakion to
essentially do whatever it wants with its last two moveslots. Because of these factors, Terrakion can be one of the best
boostersstat-boosters in the game,
it can be one of the best Choice
BandersBand users in the game, and
it can be one of the best
Choice Scarfed revenge killers in the
game.game when equipped with a Choice Scarf. With this offensive diversity, Terrakion is one of the best offensive threats in the game that every team should be prepared for, and everyone should consider using.</p>
[SET]
name: Double Booster
move 1: Rock Polish
move 2: Swords Dance
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Stone Edge
item: Air Balloon / Life Orb
nature: Jolly / Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>As mentioned in the Overview, Terrakion has amazing
dual STABsoffensive typing, and
enough bulk to allow itcombined with its bulk, has the freedom to
most notably do what very few other Pokemon in the game are able to: run a double boosting set. This
givegives Terrakion the versatility to be a fantastic weapon against both offensive and defensive teams. Against offensive teams,
Terrakion'sRock Polish allows Terrakion to use its great
STABs combined withSTAB attacks and the boost from Life Orb
allows it to run through
them after getting the Rock Polish it needs to outspeed everything.them. Against slower, defensive teams, Terrakion can amplify
hisits raw power with a Swords Dance, since it is unlikely to require the Speed boost. Also, it isn't that uncommon to find yourself in a situation where you are able to boost both Speed and Attack.</p>
<p>Air Balloon versus Life Orb is the biggest question you have to ask yourself when using Double Boosting Terrakion. Air Balloon is extremely useful for setting up in those frequent situations where you need to avoid an Earthquake. The two most obvious scenarios are getting an extra boost against Gliscor and serving as somewhat of an Excadrill check that can threaten a late game
sweep, insweep—in the absence of a Rock Slide flinch, of course. Life Orb, on the other hand, adds to Terrakion's raw power, allowing it to nail a number of KOs that it normally wouldn't get. It really comes down to personal preference and which item is best suited for your team. Choose wisely!</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Whether to choose Adamant or Jolly is another difficult
choice.problem. Jolly is preferred for the ability to outspeed plus-Speed Base 100s before a Rock Polish boost, and to tie other base 108s, most prominently Virizion, Infernape, and obviously other Terrakion. The power boost from Adamant is very welcome, however. So if you're fine losing the jump on a few notable Pokemon, feel free to go with that. You could also run a slightly bulkier spread with
LeftiesLeftovers if that floats your boat. However, the standard
4/252/2524 HP /252 Atk / 252 Spe spread generally works
best for Terrakion.</p>best.</p>
<p>Terrakion already has fantastic coverage with its two
STABs,STAB attacks, but you can always drop one of the boosting moves for a coverage move, the best option being X-Scissor. X-Scissor gives you a slightly stronger, 100% accurate move against a few of the
PsychicsPsychic-types that can slow Terrakion down a bit (especially Claydol). Earthquake is generally a terrible
option sinceoption, as its coverage
is extremely redundant
when combined with Close Combat, so don't run that on this set.</p>
<p>Terrakion can function as
botheither the Pokemon that opens holes for the rest of your team, or the Pokemon that takes advantage of the holes opened by other threatening sweepers. Generally, the best sweepers to pair with Terrakion are
other Pokemonthose that fare well in sand. Landorus and Excadrill are the two prominent sweepers that come to mind. Landorus can stick Hidden Power Ice on its set to take out Gliscor or run Swords Dance and Life Orb to absolutely
decimateslaughter Slowbro or Reuniclus.
[COMMENT: Nit-picky I know but decimate literally means to reduce by 10%.] Terrakion itself can muscle its way through
Gliscor to freeGliscor, which allows Excadrill to have a field day.
SinceBecause Terrakion shares a number of weaknesses with either two of those sweepers, you
also should
also consider pairing Terrakion with some sweepers that offer nice
resistance pairing. Something likeresistance-pairing. Choices include Gyarados, which resists
Fighting, Water, Steel,Fighting-, Water-, Steel-, and is immune to
GroundGround-type attacks; or Latios,
whowhich also provides several compatible resistances while potentially baiting
DarkDark-type attacks.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Sacred Sword / Quick Attack
item: Choice Band
nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Stop me if I'm talking too much about how great Terrakion's
STABs are,offensive typing is, but the Choice Band set truly exemplifies just how fantastic
they reallyits STAB attacks are. Choice Band Terrakion essentially boils down
to "clickto, "Click its appropriate STAB
attack for the situation and watch things take massive amounts of damage." Additional
factors likefactors, such as great Speed, a
resistance to Stealth
Rock resistance,Rock, and solid bulk make Terrakion arguably the best Choice
BanderBand user in the OU metagame.</p>
<p>Because of just how
ballingspectacular Terrakion's
STABsSTAB attacks are, the last two moves in the set serve a very limited function. X-Scissor hits the bulky
PsychicsPsychic-types a bit harder than Stone Edge
does, while also having the upside of being 100% accurate. Sacred Sword is a solid option in the fourth moveslot for situations
wherein which you want to
utilizeuse your
FightingFighting-type STAB
attack without being forced to lower your defenses. Quick Attack, normally a terrible option on just about everything that learns it, is somewhat viable on
Terrakion just becauseTerrakion. Because Terrakion doesn't need a coverage move in that last slot,
so Quick Attack becomes a solid
situationalsituational, last resort move if you need to knock that last 15% off Latios.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Earthquake is extremely redundant with Close Combat, but it nails a couple things slightly harder and doesn't lower your defenses. However,
since unSTABbed Choicebecause Choice-locked Earthquake
without STAB is generally a terrible option to lock
yourselfTerrakion into, you're generally better off with Sacred Sword as your situational move of choice. Rock Slide is also a viable
option sinceoption, as it allows you to take advantage of a higher accuracy version of your
RockRock-type STAB
attack while also being able to fish for a flinch if you ever need one.</p>
<p>You generally don't want to lower a non-Rock Polish Terrakion's speed
sincebecause it sits at a number where dropping from Jolly to Adamant will leave it outsped by a good amount of threats (as well as losing the speed tie with Virizion and Infernape), but on Choice Band Terrakion, the extra power can be very welcome against Pokemon
likesuch as Gliscor and Slowbro.</p>
<p>The same Pokemon that pair up well with the Double Boosting set also pair well with Choice Band Terrakion.
The Choice Bander,In this case, however,
Terrakion is generally best suited as the Pokemon that does the damage necessary to open holes in the opponent's team. The sheer damage that even bulkier Pokemon like Gliscor take from Terrakion's
STABs makeSTAB attacks makes it nearly impossible for those defensive Pokemon
to be able to stay around long enough to wall the subsequent Excadrill or Landorus.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Rock Slide / Sacred Sword
item: Choice Scarf
nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Many of the same
reasonsfactors that make Terrakion an amazing Choice
BanderBand user lend themselves to
also making Terrakion one of the best Choice
ScarfersScarf users in the
game.game as well. Its blazing speed allows it to safely revenge
kill some of the biggest threats in the game, including Deoxys-S (but
unfortunately not
Excadrill, what a bummer),Excadrill), a milestone that many viable
ScarfersChoice Scarf users fall short of. The moves are self-explanatory if you read the Choice Band set. The fourth slot
isis, once
againagain, essentially useless, so run whatever you feel like. Rock Slide is the first option merely because the extremely fast flinch is sure to save you more than other options for that last slot could.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Once again, Adamant is an option over Jolly, and even more viable
on the Scarfer.with a Choice Scarf. But still, losing the jump on several
key Pokemon is rarely worth the extra power. Earthquake is a terrible
option againoption, again, for doing slightly more damage to
Jirachi, or Muk,Jirachi or...Muk, or something. You could still run Quick Attack in
thatthe last slot to pick off
thosethreatening Pokemon at low
health Pokemon...I'mhealth...I'm just
kidding pleasekidding. Please don't do that.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>I'm sure you've already looked through Terrakion's moveset and
gone "whoathought, "Whoa, it learns Calm Mind!" Yes, yes it does learn Calm Mind. It's arguably Terrakion's best
set ever,set; however, for some reason, the
C&CQuality Control guys won't let me list it first in this analysis. In a similar, actually serious
this time, vein, Terrakion also learns Work Up. The only use for it would be to lure Gliscor into a +1 Hidden Power Ice. The problem with that
beingidea is that using Work Up
on the switchas your opponent switches to Gliscor is a dead giveaway that
you're rocking HPyou've chosen to use Hidden Power Ice. If you want
Terrakion to act as a Gliscor lure, you're much better just pumping a ton of EVs into Special Attack so that it doesn't see it coming until it's already dead.</p>
<p>Terrakion also learns Taunt, which obviously makes a Taunt/Swords Dance set an option. However, most of Terrakion's counters are simply going to
attack it straight
out attack it,out, meaning there are very few situations
wherein which Taunt would be anywhere near useful. Maybe against
Skarmory I guess?Skarmory? Yeah, I
guess.</p>guess so.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Gliscor and Slowbro are generally your worst enemies. Unless you're using them to counter Terrakion...then they're probably your best friends. The Swords Dance and Choice Band sets can put huge dents into the both of them, and sometimes straight-up beat
them (thoughthem—though oftentimes
youyou'll have to rely on hitting two Stone Edges in a
row).row. That's one of the most frustrating things about countering Terrakion:
sincebecause it has great
STABsSTAB attacks and hits so hard,
that even its "counters" have trouble handling it. Jellicent and Reuniclus can also handle Terrakion to a slight degree. Hippowdon handles it about as well as Gliscor
does and has Slack Off to stick around
longer.</p>for more time.</p>
<p>If you want to reach down
tointo UU, you can actually find a couple Pokemon that shut down Terrakion better than anything in OU can. Nidoqueen and Golurk are just about full stops to Terrakion. Claydol shuts down most Terrakion, though make sure you don't get caught on the wrong end of a Choice
BandBand-boosted X-Scissor.</p>
<p>Terrakion can be hard to check
just because of its great speed. Scizor and Azumarill are two Choice
BandersBand users that can stop any Terrakion set dead in its tracks with their STAB
priority.priority attacks. Latios and Latias both outspeed it before a Rock Polish boost and threaten an OHKO with Psyshock. Excadrill can do the same with Earthquake in
Sand,sand, though make sure you break the potential Air Balloon first!</p>
