Aurorus and Tyruntrum PvP Analysis

Time for some new old Pokémon. That’s right… it’s time for some new Fossil Pokémon, just in time for this year’s Rock-centric Adventure Week. And for those who missed it, the Ultra Unlock for the event now includes an event on Sunday, June 12th, in which our new Fossil Pokémon will be appearing not just in eggs and research as previously announced, but also in the wild, allowing us to hopefully find some with good PvP IVs too… and makes them easier to get in Great League if we want them, as both are above 1500 CP at hatch level. Whew. 😌

So, let’s kick things off with our formal Bottom Line Up Front.

B.L.U.F.

  • Despite a scary defensive typing, Aurorus and even Amaura have such a good PvP moveset (including a pretty snazzy coverage move) that they look likely to make at least a small dent in PvP anyway. They are at least worth scooping up for limited/Cup meta play.
  • Aurorus may even have play in Open Ultra League, with its moveset and typing giving it some unique reach against the meta. And it might even have some play in MLPC, should that ever return in future seasons.
  • Going the other direction, a good sub-500 Amaura is worth grabbing for future Little League formats. It actually has a LOT of potential at that level.
  • While Tyrantrum has more on-paper potential due to significantly higher CP (and thus better on-paper potential in Master League), it just doesn’t have the stats or even the right typing to keep up with most metas. Maybe a decent PvE piece, but its PvP standing looks much shakier.

As you can likely tell from that summary, the bulk of this article will focus on the chilly Aurorus and Amaura. Starting with a full breakdown of stats, their unique typing, and moves. Here we go!

Aurorus Stats

Aurorus RockIce

Great League Stats

Attack Defense HP
114 (112 High Stat Product) 106 (106 High Stat Product) 163 (168 High Stat Product)

(Highest Stat Product IVs: 0-12-13, 1500 CP, Level 20.5)

Ultra League Stats

Attack Defense HP
147 (144 High Stat Product) 135 (138 High Stat Product) 214 (217 High Stat Product)

(Highest Stat Product IVs: 0-15-15, 2500 CP, Level 37.5)

Master League Stats

Attack Defense HP
159 (169 at Level 50) 141 (150 at Level 50) 221 (235 at Level 50)

(Assuming 15-15-15 IVs; CP 2802 at Level 40; CP 3168 at Level 50)

Amaura Stats

Amaura RockIce

Little League Stats

Attack Defense HP
64 (63 High Stat Product) 62 (62 High Stat Product) 96 (101 High Stat Product)

(Highest Stat Product IVs: 0-13-15, 500 CP, Level 14.5)

Great League Stats

Attack Defense HP
114 (113 High Stat Product) 104 (104 High Stat Product) 164 (167 High Stat Product)

(Highest Stat Product IVs: 11-15-15, 1497 CP, Level 50)

I opted to show the stats for both Pokémon this time because it’s the clearest and easiest way to highlight how similar they are in Great League. Aurorus is very slightly bulkier than its pre-evolution Amaura, which has very slightly higher Attack instead. On rare occasions this will lead to Aurorus hitting a bulkpoint or Amaura hitting a breakpoint that the other cannot, but those are indeed rare. (I WILL highlight a couple later.) They are basically the same Pokémon in Great League looking just at stats and typing (and as we’ll soon see, even in terms of moves).

The typing is completely unique aside from the eventual Ice/Rock Hisuian Avalugg released partway through Generation 8. (And the way GO has released things, we’ll probably STILL get that before Kecleon.) That said… it’s not all that great a type combination. Ice famously (or perhaps infamously) has but one resistance — to itself — and four vulnerabilities (Fire, Fighting, Steel, and Rock), while Rock is also rather famously weak to several of the more popular PvP typings — Fighting, Steel, Ground, Grass, and Water — and resists only Fire, Flying, Normal, and Poison.

So the end result of combining Ice and Rock is messy: resistances to Flying, Ice, Normal, and Poison, neutrality to Fire (the one place where one typing helps the other out), weaknesses to Ground, Rock, Grass, AND Water, and DOUBLE vulnerabilities to Fighting AND Steel. Thankfully actual Steel moves are somewhat rare in PvP, but Fighting is obviously quite common across all levels and leagues, so being doubly weak to that PLUS vulnerable to four other very common types of moves is not at all a good place to be.

There are several Pokémon where we could almost stop right there and sound the death knell. But thankfully, these two have some very good moves that keep them interesting despite their inherent flaws. Let’s take a look!

Aurorus and Amaura Moves

Fast Moves

  • Powder SnowIce type, 2.5 DPT, 4.0 EPT, 1.0 CoolDown
  • Frost BreathIce type, 3.5 DPT, 2.5 EPT, 1.0 CD
  • Rock ThrowRock type, 4.0 DPT, 2.5 EPT, 1.0 CD (Aurorus only)

As with the stats, not much difference with the moves. Frost Breath is not nearly as terrible a move as people think, it’s just that anything that has Ice Shard (3.0 DPT, 3.33 EPT) or even better Powder Snow (as is the case here) will basically always prefer them instead. They’re just better moves, exceeding many “average” moves (like Frost Breath) with DPT+EPT equaling a total of 6. Powder is what we want here.

That said, Aurorus is uniquely able to wield Rock Throw if you prefer, which is basically the inverse of Powder Snow (high damage, below-average energy gains). And it may have more use than you may initially think (or even this humble writer initially thought), but for now just stick a pin in this one and we’ll circle back to it later.

Charge Moves

  • Weather Ball (Ice)Ice type, 55 damage, 35 energy
  • Ancient PowerRock type, 45 damage, 45 energy, 10% Chance to Increase User Attack/Defense +2 Stages
  • ThunderboltElectric type, 90 damage, 55 energy
  • Aurora BeamIce type, 80 damage, 60 energy (Amaura only)
  • BlizzardIce type, 140 damage, 75 energy (Aurorus only)
  • Hyper BeamNormal type, 150 damage, 80 energy (Aurorus only)

So assuming we’re running Powder Snow, the combination of that and Weather Ball should be quite familiar to many PvPers already, with both Abomasnow and Alolan Ninetales riding that chilly spam to great success. And like them, Aurorus and Amaura will usually rely on those while carrying a slower but potent coverage move… Energy Ball for Aboma, and usually Dazzling Gleam for PowderTales, and in this case, Thunderbolt. While it’s not the most dazzling move on paper… well, honestly, neither are Energy Ball (same stats as Thunderbolt) or Dazzling Gleam (110 damage, but for a whopping 70 energy). What’s particularly interesting about it is the typing; it’s super effective versus the many Waters out there that would otherwise shred Aurorus/Amaura (resisting their Ice damage and thrashing them with super effective Water damage in return), but it ALSO hits all the other typings these cold fossils are weak to for neutral damage, with the exceptions of Grass and Ground types that their Ice moves hit super effectively anyway. In a sense, Thunderbolt provides near perfect (neutral) coverage while also hitting one of their primary threats for with a potential match-flipping, super effective BOOM. And keep in mind: both Aurorus AND Amaura can run that same Powder Snow/Weather Ball/Thunderbolt moveset, which is (usually) the exact moves you’ll want, and what I’ll be simming through most of this analysis.

Worth noting before we move on, though: Ancient Power is the only Rock damage either of these Rock types can leverage, aside from Aurorus’ alternative fast move Rock Throw. Ancient Power is not usually the sort of move you want to rely on to actually beat things down with, being very underpowered for the cost and more of a Hail Mary play for the potential boost. Somebody may make that work for them, but I don’t recommend it. If it was the cheapest charge move they had or something, that might be different, but with Weather Ball in the fold, that’s a non-issue. And you definitely want Thunderbolt (or perhaps even the massive potential impact of Blizzard, in the case of Aurorus) for closing power, not potential boosts. I may bring Ancient Power in as I peek at Rock Throw later, but that will be more of a footnote than anything.

So, onward with Powder/Ball/Bolt!

GREAT LEAGUE

Starting with Aurorus, here’s how things shake out in the current Great League meta. The good? Basically everything Flying soils itself, even things that you might think could cause issues like Pelipper and Talonflame. Opposing Ice types are mostly positive, aside from ones with problematic coverage like Walrein, Abomasnow, and Lapras. Grasses are also a bit of a mixed bag, with Venusaur and Trevenant going down, but Meganium and the aforementioned Aboma standing firm. Grounds are mostly a negative, with Aurorus felling Nidoqueen and (non-Galarian) Stunfisk but failing versus G-Fisk, Diggersby, and Mud Boys. This is also a Rock that struggles against Fire types, with things like Ninetales and Alolan Marowak dancing around it. There are a few other positives, like wins versus major Charmers (though Ice-resistant Alolan Ninetales is still problematic), Poisons like Drapion (even with Aqua Tail), Galvantula, Umbreon, Sableye, and even Jellicent (thanks, Thunderbolt!). But being an Ice-type that is inconsistent versus Grasses and Grounds and a Rock-type that struggles versus Fires is a weird place to be, and you can just feel Aurorus lagging a bit behind the potential its bulk and moves would imply.

Fortunately, that’s not quite the end of Aurorus’ story. It’s time to revisit a rockier moveset. While the loss of Powder Snow means no more beating Nidoqueen, U-Fisk, or Grass types Venusaur or Trevenant, running Rock Throw DOES mean gaining formerly elusive wins like Shadow Walrein, Lapras, Araquanid, Alolan Marowak, and consistently versus both Ninetales. Even better, bringing in Thunderbolt in place of Ancient Power can actually straight up beat most variants of Azumarill! (Though Araquanid usually slips away.) That’s pretty exciting.

Taking a quick look at Amaura now… and that limits us to Powder Snow, which takes us back to the exact same record as Powder Aurorus. The results are slightly different, with Amaura’s higher Attack allowing to take down Charm Alolan Ninetales (which instead survives with a single HP when facing Aurorus) but its lower bulk leading to a loss against Cofagrigus (whereas Aurorus hits a Shadow Claw bulkpoint and gets to one extra Weather Ball for the win). But overall… yeah, not really a big difference. And considering Amaura has to be maxed right in the ballpark of Level 50… honestly, I see no reason to do that and would instead recommend just sticking with the significantly cheaper Aurorus. But hey, you do you, my friend.

While time is short and I’m not going to go too far down into the weeds, I do want to note that Rock Throw looks overall a bit better than Powder Snow in other shielding scenarios too, with overall similar differences, namely Powder being better versus things like Nidoqueen, Stunfisk, and most Grass types, while Rock Throw continues to bring in wins like Abomasnow, Lapras, Dewgong, Walrein, Galvantula, Araquanid, Froslass, Alolan Marowak, and both Ninetales. Not always consistently in all shielding scenarios, of course, but much more consistently than Powder Snow.

So there you have it. Not what I expected going in, but Rock Throw may actually be THE way to go in Great League, which means Aurorus rather than Amaura. Powder Snow is still fine and may end up being the best play depending on meta (especially those filled with Grass and/or Ground-types that would otherwise prey on Aurorus much more freely, or with Waters that resist Ice damage), but generally it actually seemed a bit less preferred to my eyes.

But that’s not the full extent of it. What about other Leagues?

ULTRA LEAGUE

Now we’re obviously talking only Aurorus, but are we also still talking Rock Throw? Well, once again, it depends on what you want Aurorus to do for you. If you want to ensure wins over Dragons, run with Powder Snow to ensure Altered Giratina and dominate other Dragons as well. If you instead want to ensure you beat Ice types like Alolan Ninetales, Abomasnow, and Lapras, it’s Rock Throw you want instead. Both are decent and Aurorus seems to have a tad more potential at this level than in Great League in general. And note that at Ultra League level, Thunderbolt can take down Walrein, Jellicent, and Talonflame regardless of Aurorus’ fast move, and it also consistently beats the likes of Trevenant and Charmers — and loses to Grasses like Meganium and Venusaur regardless of fast move as well.

MASTER LEAGUE

It may be surprising to learn that something that doesn’t even surpass 3200 CP actually does some work at Master League level, but here we are. Now granted, it obviously doesn’t reach the loftier heights of things like Mamoswine and Avalugg and even lower CP Walrein, but it’s not that far behind. It does fail to beat things that similarly-defensively-challenged Mamoswine (also weak to Grass and Water) can, for example, like Dialga, Zarude, and Magnezone, but on the plus side its spammier Ice damage (at this level, note that we’re better off with Powder Snow and even usually with Blizzard rather than Thunderbolt) means that it beats Dragonite — a traditionally disappointing Mamo loss — and Mamoswine itself in the head to head.

And should Niantic ever decide to bring back Master Premier Classic, Aurorus arguably pulls ahead of Mamoswine thanks to beating ‘Nite and Mamo and more consistently beating Swampert and Garchomp as well (whereas Mamo instead wins Magnezone and sometimes Excadrill). I think if I were to find myself with a hundo Aurorus and somehow enough candy to max it, I’d do so… but only up until Level 40 and hold it there for the hopefully future return of Classic/Premier. 🙏

LITTLE LEAGUE?

Not so much Aurorus (though there are crazier ideas!), but more wanted to highlight the best potential spot for Amarua, IMO. Yes, it fails to beat big bad Bronzor and struggles mightily versus things that throw out Ground, Fighting, Rock, and heavy Grass damage. But there’s a lot more good to scroll through than bad. Get to your own scrolling through that winlist to see what I mean. I think a good Amaura is worth grinding for if you ever intend to play in Little League again. Just sayin’!

THROWING A TYRANTRUM

So mostly good news with Aurorus and Amaura, right? They have an uphill battle but manage to scale it much better than one might expect.

But now the other side of the coin. While a Rock/Dragon might seem good on paper, this is another typing combination that actually has more vulnerabilities (six: Dragon, Fairy, Ice, Fighting, Ground, and Steel) than resistances (five: Electric, Flying, Normal, Poison, and 2x to Fire). And the vulnerabilities, with the sorta exception of Steel, are rather common through all Leagues in PvP, whereas things like Electric and Normal and Fire are around, but generally less common encounters. And that combined with rather shaky bulk (not completely AWFUL, but both Defense and HP are on the short end of the stick as compared to the Attack stat) leaves TYRANTRUM in a bad spot for PvP play. Despite an intriguing move package that includes Rock ThrowDragon Tail, and the weirdest appearance yet of Charm for fast moves, and CrunchStone Edge, and Earthquake for charge moves, Tyrantrum is simply a non-starter in the Great League and Ultra League metas. One might hope its decently high CP (3128 at Level 40, and 3537 at Level 50) would give it play at that level, but uh… yeah, NO. 😱

And that, unfortunately, goes for poor TYRUNT too, even down in Little League.

Told you I’d have significantly less to say about the Tyranuses in this article. I could try and glean out SOME good to say, but I really just don’t think they’re worth the time, especially as Adventure Week has already started in parts of the world as I type this! Get them for the ‘dex entries and MAYBE for PvE, but not much doing with these two for PvP purposes. At least Aurorus/Amaura are a mostly pleasant surprise!

Alright, that’s all I got for today. Adventure Week has already begun, so good hunting, folks. Don’t forget that these new Fossil Dinos will ONLY be in the wild from 11am to 3pm local time on Sunday the 12th, so that is your best and only chance to hunt for ones with ideal PvP IVs. If I have time I’ll try and look into what different IVs means before then (if other IV-centric writers don’t beat me to the punch!), but until then you’re stuck getting these only from eggs and research with their 10-10-10 floor, meaning you’ll be relying on trades. Good luck!

Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter with near-daily PvP analysis nuggets or Patreon.

Thank you as always for your faithful readership, and hope you find yourself a lot of Amaura! Stay safe out there, Pokéfriends, and catch you next time.

Author & tags

JRE47
JRE47
PoGO/PvP Investigative Journalist, GO Hub and Silph Arena/Road Contributor, amateur cook, author of 'Nifty Or Thrifty' and 'Under The Lights' article series and #PvPfacts!

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