Excadrill

This analysis was written by User:Charizard8888 and uploaded by User:Partys
* Excadrill comes with a great Ground / Steel typing which offers immunity to Electric and Poison while resistance to Normal-, Dragon-, Fairy-, Psychic-, Rock-, and Steel-type attacks which gives it the upper hand against powerful attackers like Tapu Koko, Porygon-Z, Kyurem-B, Magearna, Tapu Lele, Golem, and Magnezone. 
* Mold Breaker is a great ability in 1v1 which allows Excadrill to get past Sturdy Pokemon like Golem and Magnezone, Mimikyu's Disguise, Mega Aggron's Filter, and Dragonite's Multiscale. 
* Excadrill is equipped with a Attack stat and a good movepool with powerful STAB moves and utility moves in Magnet Rise and Swords Dance which is complimented by the usage of Z-Crystals allowing it to KO bulky Pokemon like Kyurem-B, Psychium Z Tapu Lele, Mega Venusaur, Snorlax, Meloetta, and Primarina. 
* Excadrill has scarce Defense and Special Defense stats but that is mostly covered by its high HP and its resistance to common offensive types. 
* Its typing also invites weaknesses to Fire-, Water-, Ground-, and Fighting-type attacks which leaves it vulnerable to both Mega Charizard formes, Mega Gyarados, Garchomp, and Mega Heracross. 
* Its sub-par Speed leaves it outsped by both Mega Charizard formes, Garchomp, Durant, Greninja, and Mega Lopunny which are able to KO it with their moves. However, a Choice Scarf set can be used to check both Mega Charizard formes but that is reliant on prediction. 
* Despite its high Attack stat, Excadrill is unable to KO highly bulky Pokemon like Zygarde-C, Mega Sableye, Mega Slowbro, Mega Swampert, and Mew. 
=Z-Move Attacker=
Excadrill @ Steelium Z / Groundium Z 
Ability: Mold Breaker 
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Adamant Nature 
* Earthquake 
* Iron Head 
* Substitute / Swords Dance 
* Magnet Rise 
==Set Comments==
===Moves=== 
* Earthquake as the Ground-type STAB lets it KO the likes of Tapu Koko, Magearna, Mega Mawile, Magnezone, and Alolan Marowak. Tectonic Rage further boosts its power which makes it capable of KOing bulky Pokemon Defensive Mega Metagross, Snorlax, and Meloetta. 
* Iron Head as the Steel-type STAB hits Fairy-, and Ice-type Pokemon as well as those which resist Ground like Grass- and Bug-type Pokemon like Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Crustle. With Corkscrew Crash, Excadrill can defeat Kyurem-B (Except for Fast Choice Specs Kyurem-B).
* Substitute blocks Sleep-inducing moves from Snorlax and Mega Venusaur; Charm from Mega Venusaur and Chansey; Counter from Crustle and Chansey; potential Smack Down from Landorus-T and Golem and also helps it in scouting the foe's moveset. 
* Swords Dance can be used in the place of Substitute to execute a more powerful Z-Move to defeat Mega Aggron while not giving up the matchup against Chansey and Mega Mawile.
* Magnet Rise allows Excadrill to gain immunity to Ground-type moves and defeat Golem, Donphan, and slower Landorus-T. 
===Set Details=== 
* Steelium Z converts Iron Head into a highly powerful 160 Base Power Corkscrew Crash while Groundium Z turns Earthquake into a devastating 180 Base Power Tectonic Rage. 
* Maximum Attack investment with an Adamant nature lets Excadrill hit as hard as possible and OHKO bulky Kyurem-B with Corkscrew Crash while giving a better chance of defeating Primarina with Tectonic Rage. 
* 252 Speed EVs allow Excadrill to outpace as many Pokemon as possible including non-Jolly or Choice Scarf Sawk, bulky Mega Metagross, and bulky Landorus-T. 
* Mold Breaker as the ability of choice lets Excadrill get past Sturdy, Mimikyu's Disguise, Mega Aggron's Filter, and fire off Tectonic Rage against Levitate users like Latios. 
===Usage Tips===
* Send Excadrill to battle if you predict the opponent to send their bulky offensive like Kyurem-B (If carrying Steelium Z) and Tapu Lele or frail offensive Pokemon like Tapu Koko, Porygon-Z, Mimikyu, or Sturdy Pokemon like Golem and Magnezone as well as some stall Pokemon like Chansey and Blissey. 
* Avoid sending it against physically bulky Pokemon like Mega Slowbro and Zygarde-C as well Pokemon with super-effective moves that outspeed or survive its attacks such as both Mega Charizard formes, Mega Gyarados, Greninja, Naganadel, and Mega Lopunny. 
* Against Pokemon with Ground-type moves like Landorus-T, start with Substitute to scout for and Smack Down before using Magnet Rise. While facong Pokemon that carry Counter like Donphan, set up another Substitute after using Magnet Rise to block Counter and then use the appropriate moves to grab the victory. 
===Team Options=== 
* Excadrill is vulnerable to both Mega Charizard formes and fast attackers with super-effective moves like Mega Lucario, Greninja, and Mega Lopunny. Choice Scarf Archeops can be paired to counter the aforementioned threats as well as Mega Heracross and Buzzwole. In return, Excadrill scares off Steel-type Pokemon like Magearna, Magnezone, and Aegislash and Sturdy Pokemon like Donphan and Sawk which threaten Archeops.
* Semi-bulky Mega Charizard Y with Flame Charge can deal with Mega Gyarados, Mega Heracross, Mega Slowbro, and Jumpluff while Excadrill can eliminate Sturdy Pokemon such as Golem and Magnezone, Mega Tyranitar, Tapu Koko, and Latios which threaten Mega Charizard Y.
* Excadrill discourages the opponent from sending in Pokemon like Tapu Koko, Magearna, Mimikyu, and Sturdy Pokemon like Golem and Magnezone, which opens up the way for team options like Hoopa-U. Choice Specs Hoopa-U with Hidden Power Ice in particular can be a great teammate for Excadrill as it can defeat Zygarde-C, Mega Slowbro, and Naganadel which threaten Excadrill.
=Choice Scarf= 
Excadrill @ Choice Scarf 
Ability: Mold Breaker 
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Adamant Nature 
* Earthquake 
* Iron Head 
* Rock Slide 
* X-Scissor 
==Set Comments== 
===Moves=== 
* Earthquake is its Ground-type STAB which hits Mega Charizard X, Tapu Koko, Magnezone, and Naganadel.
* Iron Head as the Steel-type STAB lets it defeat the likes of Tapu Lele, Mimikyu, and Mega Gardevoir.
* Rock Slide hits Mega Charizard Y, Mega Charizard X which doesn't mega evolve, Mega Pinsir, and Dragonite.
* X-Scissor lets it OHKO Hoopa-U as well as Greninja most of the time. 
===Set Details=== 
* Maximum Attack investment with an Adamant nature lets Excadrill as hard as possible. 
* Maximum Speed investment with Choice Scarf lets Excadrill outspeed both Mega Charizard formes, Mega Pinsir, Terrakion, Archeops, Naganadel, and Greninja. 
* Mold Breaker lets it defeat Magnezone and Mimikyu. 
===Usage Tips=== 
* With the Speed boost provided by Choice Scarf, Excadrill can be sent against Naganadel, Mega Pinsir, Volcarona, Mega Lucario, as well as both Mega Charizard formes.
* With this set's relative lack of power, avoid sending it against bulky Pokemon like Kyurem-B, Primarina, and Chansey as well as some of the Sturdy Pokemon like Donphan and Sawk.
* If you predict Charizard to be Mega Charizard Y or Mega Charizard X and not mega evolve then use Rock Slide but if you predict Mega Charizard X to mega evolve then go for Earthquake. However, highly bulky Mega Charizard X would still be able to survive an Earthquake. 
* Against Pokemon which cannot be OHKOed like Mega Lopunny and Sawk, opt for Iron Head to fish for a flinch.
===Team Options=== 
* Fast Choice Specs Porygon-Z with Ice Beam can be paired to check bulky Pokemon like bulky Kyurem-B, Mega Gyarados, Mega Heracross, Zygarde-C, Tapu Fini, Primarina, and Mega Blastoise.
* Semi Bulky Mega Charizard X with Flame Charge can take on Mega Metagross (With Hammer Arm), Mega Blaziken, Mega Heracross, Sawk, Mega Lopunny, Ferrothorn, Kartana, and Jumpluff which can be troublesome for Excadrill.
* Choice Specs Greninja is another option to scare away the likes of Mega Charizard X, Garchomp, Landorus-T, Zygarde-C, Jumpluff, Mega Slowbro, and Kartana.
=Strategy Comments= 
==Other Options== 
* Rockium Z with Rock Slide can be used to OHKO Dragonite. However it doesn't have any other utility other than that.
* Poison Jab can be used over X-Scissor in the Choice Scarf set to OHKO Whimsicott.
==Checks and Counters== 
* Charizard: Both Mega Charizard formes outspeed and can OHKO Excadrill with their super-effective Fire-type STAB moves, and though Choice Scarf Excadrill can soft check both of them, the matchup is still heavily Charizard's favor due to its ability of having split mega evolutions.
* Water-types: Water-type Pokemon like Mega Gyarados, Mega Swampert, Tapu Fini, and Mega Slowbro are bulky enough to take any hit from Excadrill and can KO it back with their Water-type STAB.
* Fast Attackers: Powerful fast attackers with super-effective moves like Garchomp, Mega Blaziken, Durant, Naganadel, Greninja, and Mega Lopunny outspeed and OHKO Excadrill before it gets a chance to retaliate. However, with Choice Scarf, Excadrill can defeat Naganadel and Greninja. 
* Physically Bulky Pokemon: Physically bulky Pokemon like Zygarde-C and Mega Slowbro can take any attack from Excadrill and KO it back with their own moves.