Community Day.
Undoubtedly one of the most exciting aspects of Pokémon Go, this has become a staple for trainers each and every month. While most believe that the concept of a Community Day has lost its prestige over the last year with many underwhelming Pokémon, it goes with saying that every Community Day just brings each of us to our toes!
It is of exceptional interest to note that Niantic follows no thumb rules when it comes to the Community Day Pokémon
2-stage Pokémon? Already released shiny? Baby Pokémon evolutions? Already had its Community Day? Yes, that too. And that’s exactly the premise of this article.
Charizard got its Community Day 2.0 and it rightfully received Dragon Breath to satiate its Dragon type mega evolution.
Guess which Pokémon has had its Community Day but can benefit tremendously from its own second coming?
Tyranitar.
Pokémon’s resident Godzilla isn’t exactly the King of the (Pocket) Monsters. And that has nothing to do with its stats or its huge profile of weaknesses.
It’s the moveset.
What if I told you that Tyranitar has a really bad Dark type moveset? The only reason it does well in the meta is due to its excellent stats. In fact, Tyranitar is the only pseudo legendary along with Goodra that has all its stats above 200.
From the Rock type, while its moveset is good, there’s still room for improvement.
So which moves can turn Tyranitar into a more formidable monster? I will explore the viability of Tyranitar with better Rock and Dark type moves in both PvE and PvP, and take a final call on what would be its best potential Community Day exclusive move.
With that being said, let’s check out this amazing Pokémon is in the meta and see how deadly it can get with a moveset upgrade!
Typing and Match-ups
Tyranitar has a Max CP of 3834 at Level 40 and a Max CP of 4335 at Level 50
It has a dual typing of Rock and Dark and as such, has a plethora of weaknesses that include the Bug, Fairy, Grass, Ground, Steel, Water and a bothersome 4x weakness to Fighting.
While this may appear as a bane to our Godzilla, Tyranitar’s exemplary stats give it huge bragging rights in battles. It can take quite the beating and dish out some devastating damage.
In terms of resistances, Ttar impresses as they include the Psychic, Dark, Fire, , Ghost, Normal and Poison types. Needless to say, that’s quite an impressive set of resistances. Resisting Psychic and Dark while dealing super-effective damage in return is certainly viable in the Pokémon Go meta. And quite honestly, with several legendary Pokémon from these types, a Dark type monster with Ttar’s stats is bound to be viable even in the long run.
I have spoken a great deal on Tyranitar’s stats. High time we check them out, right?
Stats
Tyranitar has the following stat distribution in Pokémon Go:
Tyranitar
RockDark
|
|||||
| Max CP at Level 40 3834 | Max CP at Level 50 4335 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATK 251 | DEF 202 | HP 225 | |||
| Weak to | Strong Against | ||||
| Fighting Bug Fairy Grass Ground Steel Water | Bug Fire Ice Ghost Psychic | ||||
As I had already mentioned, Tyranitar has fabulous stats that have a good showing all across the board. And these stats are exactly why Tyranitar has always been a force to be reckoned with in the Pokémon Go meta.
Let’s see why its current moveset doesn’t justify its prowess.
Moveset
Tyranitar can learn the following moves in Pokémon Go:
| Fast Moves | Charged Moves |
|---|---|
|
|
*denotes a legacy move
From the Rock typing, Tyranitar received Smack Down and it’s really good. In fact, Tyranitar is still one of the best Rock type attackers in a list dominated by the restless Rampardos, who is so powerful that even Mega Tyranitar can’t surpass it.
The problem is Stone Edge. Actually, the problem is the combination of Smack Down and Stone Edge. Let’s see why:
The Problem with Smack Down and Stone Edge
PvE
Straight off the bat, Stone Edge is a 1-bar charged move, making it not so efficient. However, Tyranitar does really well with this moveset in PvE.
PvP
In PvP, the issues with Tyranitar’s current Rock moveset truly comes to light.
Stone Edge has an energy cost of 55 and a really good DMG of 100. In order to nail this move, you would obviously need a fast move (see what I did there?). In other words, it needs a fast move with high energy gains.
But Smack Down? Yes, it’s damaging alright! It deals a DPS of 8 but at a meagre EPS of 5.33 🙁
That EPS? That’s where the trouble began. With Tyranitar’s string of weaknesses, you would expect a Rock type fast move that charges quick enough to reach a Stone Edge quickly.
But hey, we can’t deny that Smack Down is a really good move, right?
So what if we had a better charged move in place of Stone Edge?
The Rock type solution: Rock Slide
PvE
Rock Slide bears 80 DMG and is a 2-bar charged move in PvE.
With Smack Down and Rock Slide, Tyranitar improves by 23.11% when compared to Tyranitar with Smack Down and Stone Edge
PvP
In PvP, Rock Slide deals 75 DMG at just 45 energy in contrast to Stone Edge’s 100 DMG at 55 energy. Let’s see how Rock Slide helps Tyranitar in the Master League Classic, shall we?
With Smack Down paired with Stone Edge and Crunch, Tyranitar has a 59.9% win rate:
With Smack Down paired with Rock Slide and Crunch, Tyranitar has a 60.8% win rate:
Rock Slide verdict
Rock Slide gives Tyranitar a pretty good upgrade in PvE but in PvP, the improvement honestly isn’t much. As such, Rock Slide is acceptable but not ideal.
The Problem with Bite and Crunch
PvE
Here’s some really interesting nugget of info: Bite + Crunch is the worst possible Dark type move combo. Yes, you read that right. This shows how Tyranitar’s phenomenal stats make it rock (no pun intended) even the worst Dark type moveset!
PvP
In PvP, Crunch is a really good move. With 70 DMG at just 45 energy requirement, Crunch not only does quite a number but can also be used to bait shields in certain situations.
Bite, on the other hand, is among the most damaging fast moves that is unfortunately coupled with a poor energy gain. So even with the relatively low energy requirement for Crunch, Bite’s low energy gains simply doesn’t make it ideal.
So unlike the Rock type scenario wherein we had a single charged move (Rock Slide) for us to salvage, the Dark type presents Tyranitar with more possibilities…
The Dark type solution, first option: Foul Play
PvE
Foul Play bears 70 DMG and is a 2-bar charged move in PvE.
With Bite and Foul Play, Tyranitar improves by 16.59% when compared to Tyranitar with Bite and Crunch
PvP
In PvP, Foul Play deals 70 DMG at just 45 energy in contrast to Crunch’s 70 DMG at 45 energy.
Umm, no… I didn’t make a typo. You see, Foul Play and Crunch are clones in PvP.
So let’s see how Bite paired with Foul Play doesn’t improve Bite with Crunch in any way whatsoever in PvP.
With Bite paired with Foul Play/Crunch and Stone Edge, Tyranitar has the following performance in the ML Classic:
Why not Dark Pulse?
In PvE, Dark Pulse has 80 DMG and is a 2-bar charged move, being an affirmative improvement over Crunch.
However, it has a longer cooldown than Foul Play (3s vs 2s) and as such, Dark Pulse has a DPS of 26.67 while Foul Play has a DPS of 35.00
So Foul Play is clearly better than Dark Pulse and therefore, it wasn’t considered.
The reason for picking Foul Play over Dark Pulse becomes more evident in PvP, wherein a Tyranitar with Bite paired with Dark Pulse and Stone Edge has the following performance:
Clearly, Dark Pulse degrades Tyranitar further. So in terms of both PvE and PvP, Dark Pulse is not a viable option at all.
Foul Play verdict
Foul Play gives Tyranitar a decent upgrade in PvE and is just a clone of Crunch in PvP.
The Dark type solution, second option: Snarl
PvE
Snarl has a lower energy gain but also lower damage than Bite. On comparing the two in PvE:
So Snarl technically takes Tyranitar downhill in PvE by 15.54%
PvP
Now, this is where it gets really interesting!
We already know that Tyranitar with Bite paired with Crunch and Stone Edge gives it a 52.4% win rate
So how about Tyranitar with Snarl paired with Crunch and Stone Edge?
Get a load of that! 70.5% win rate?
This is the only scenario where Tyranitar has even more than a 60% win rate. And it’s 70.5%, a spike of 18.1%
That is insane and is definitely Tyranitar’s biggest draw.
Snarl verdict
Snarl brings down Tyranitar’s performance in PvE but is an absolute upward curve in PvP, making Tyranitar more threatening in the Mater League.
To summarise…
Rock Slide
- A good improvement in PvE
- Hardly any change in PvP
Foul Play
- A decent upgrade in PvE
- NO DIFFERENCE in PvP
Snarl
- Lowers its performance in PvE
- A HUGE upgrade in PvP
THE FINAL VERDICT
Tyranitar’s standing as a Rock type raises eyebrows. Even as Mega Tyranitar, it will not surpass Rampardos. So with Rock Slide, Tyranitar won’t be doing something too exceptional in raids. Plus, it hardly makes any difference in the Master League.
However, as a Dark type, Tyranitar gains a lot of viability with Snarl. Not only does Snarl make Tyranitar a bigger monster in the Master League, its high energy gains also helps Tytanitar in reaching Stone Edge sooner.
As such, while Rock Slide only helps Tyranitar in raids as a Rock type, Snarl helps Tyranitar in PvP as both a Dark and Rock type, with quicker access to both of the moves.
The Final Verdict: Snarl
BONUS: Snarl Tyranitar in the Open Master League
Now that Snarl is the clear winner, let’s check out Tyranitar in the deadliest battleground: The Open Master League.
With Bite paired with Crunch and Stone Edge, Tyranitar has a 58.6% win rate:
With Smack Down paired with Crunch and Stone Edge, Tyranitar has a 65.3% win rate:
Now comes the most interesting part!
With Snarl paired with Crunch and Stone Edge, Tyranitar has a whopping 76.1% win rate:
This is all you need to know why Tyranitar desperately needs Snarl in its movepool!
Conclusion
By analysing Tyranitar’s most viable learnset of moves, it turns out that Snarl is the best exclusive move that Tyranitar gets at its wishful Community Day 2.0
Furthermore, the Larvitar Community Day was one of the earliest such events. Consequently, many trainers today don’t have a shiny from the Larvitar family.
A Tyranitar Community Day 2.0 is fun, meta defining and undoubtedly a huge draw with trainers from all over the world.
The Gible Community Day is a good inclusion into the spirit of these events and I am confident that a Larvitar Community Day would be met with great response!
Niantic, you really need to give our King of the Monsters a rerun and this analysis presents you with a perfect exclusive move to do so!
We are keeping our fingers crossed and hopes high.
Until then…
Long Live the King.
