Game:

Pokémon Sword and Shield (2019)

Duration: 3:33

580 views

2

I used: Araquanid, Excadrill, and Dragapult
My Opponent used: Galarian Darmanitan, Wash Rotom, and Mimikyu
Stadium: Wyndon
Battle BGM: Rose

I test out some new team members for this battle, like Excadrill and Araquanid, as I do want to try out some different Pokémon in online battles.
Araquanid is one of my favourite Pokémon from Gen 7, and I do remember that thing being really good in Sun & Moon competitive battling due to its Water Bubble Ability, which doubles the damage from Water-type moves, and it reduces the damage it takes from Fire-type moves and prevents it from being burned, and one of its most popular moves was Liquidation, this was all Araquanid needed for offensive, while Leech Life filled in for its Bug-type move.
My Excadrill has Mold Breaker, I know there are people wondering why that over Sand Rush, there is a reason, with Mold Breaker, this will allow Excadrill's Earthquake to damage Pokémon with Levitate, like Rotom, as Wash Rotom is one of the most popular Pokémon in competitive battling thanks to its Electric/Water-type, so Mold Breaker is a good Ability to have on Excadrill.
I saw my opponent had some very good Pokémon, most of which are viable for competitive battling, aside from Umbreon, which I don't recall it being a top tier Pokémon, but I do know that Umbreon is a defensive wall that doesn't have much offensive potential other than Foul Play.
I have heard about Galarian Darmanitan being banned in competitive battling, and I know that Smogon did not make the Pokémon games, it's just one of the most popular sites for competitive battling, and the main Pokémon games don't have tiers, you are free to use whoever you want, I do use sites like Smogon and Pikalytics to get ideas on what the most popular moves and items are on different Pokémon. Back to Galarian Darmanitan, the reason why it is overpowered is due to its Ability, Gorilla Tactics, it's like a free Choice Band where Darmanitan will get an Attack boost, but it will be locked to the first move it picked, and the most common held item for Darmanitan is Choice Scarf, making it an unstoppable threat. Choice Band does stack with Gorilla Tactics, so Darmanitan can deal heavy damage to its opponents, and it also has a wide physical movepool, it can learn Icicle Crash, Flare Blitz, Stone Edge, Earthquake, U-turn, Superpower, and many others. Galarian Darmanitan's Zen Mode is also devastating, as it gains a massive boost to its Attack and Speed, and when paired with Belly Drum, it can sweep entire teams with Icicle Crash and Flare Blitz, although Fire Punch is an alternative if you don't like the recoil from Flare Blitz, this is not a Pokémon you want to take lightly. This isn't like the Unovan Darmanitan, where its Zen Mode was terrible, it swapped Attack and Special Attack, and gains some defenses in exchange for Speed, so it was more of a gimmick.
Mimikyu did get nerfed in this game, where if its Disguise is busted, Mimikyu will take 1/8 of damage, so it can no longer use a Focus Sash, which was a popular item on Mimikyu back in the days of Sun & Moon, where it can survive two attacks, now it can't do it anymore, but it is still a top tier threat with access to Swords Dance, Shadow Claw, and Play Rough.
This was a very quick match, not giving away who ends up winning, but we do have some very powerful top-tier Pokémon, but I do want to give some underused Pokémon a chance in the future.

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