Garchomp

Popular pick

dragon ground

Strategies

What it does

The premier spread attacker under Tailwind. Earthquake hits both opposing Pokémon simultaneously for massive damage, Scale Shot chains Speed boosts, and Dragon Claw threatens opposing Dragon-types. Shows up across Aggro, Hyper Offense, and Setup teams.

Why it's threatening

Under Tailwind, Garchomp is fast enough to outrun nearly the entire meta and powerful enough to KO with a spread Earthquake in two hits or fewer. Scale Shot stacks Speed so it stays ahead even after Tailwind expires. Few Pokémon can safely take a hit and threaten back.

How to stop it

Meta answers

Hatterene

Froslass

Clefable

Altaria

Whimsicott

Ice-type moves are 4× super effective — the single hardest counter in the game. Fairy types resist Dragon moves and hit back 2× (Clefable absorbs Earthquake on the ground; Mega Altaria's Fairy/Flying typing is immune to Earthquake and resists Dragon). Intimidate drops its Attack before it can sweep, buying a turn to respond.

Found in these teams

Aggro

Constant pressure from turn one — win before the opponent gets going.

Hyper Offense

Six attackers, no dead weight — tempo and raw power win games.

Setup

Protect your sweeper for two turns, then nothing survives.