Garchomp Movesets and Best Builds

Garchomp Movesets in Other Games
SV	SWSH

This is a guide to movesets and best builds for using Garchomp in competitive play for the games Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, Tera Type, and Held Items to use with Garchomp, as well as its strengths and weaknesses.

Garchomp - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Moveset for Ranked Battle	Tera Raid Build

Garchomp Base Stats, Type, Ability and Weakness

Paldea #128 Kitakami #166		Type
Garchomp
		Abilities
		Sand Veil Rough Skin (Hidden)
Weak to:	(4x)
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Immune to:	(0x)

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

Best Nature for Garchomp

What are Natures?

Singles Movesets for Garchomp

Loaded Dice Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Jolly (+Spe, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spe 252
Final Stat Values	HP 184 / Atk 182 / Def 115 / Sp.Def 105 / Spe 169
Ability	Rough Skin
Tera Type
Held Item	Loaded Dice
Moveset	・ Earthquake ・ Scale Shot ・ Swords Dance ・ Iron Head

Summary

Boasts great coverage with just Earthquake and Scale Shot. Rough Skin can help break full HP items and abilities like Focus Sash and Multiscale. Natural bulk allows it to shrug off weak or neutral attacks.

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Rough Skin	Loaded Dice

Rough Skin causes opponents to receive residual damage when hitting Garchomp with a physical contact move, and can potentially break Focus Sash or Multiscale.

Loaded Dice allows Scale Shot to hit a minimum of four times and makes it Garchomp's strongest Dragon-type STAB move.

Moves Breakdown

Earthquake is Garchomp's main Ground-type STAB move and has great neutral coverage.

Scale Shot is its strongest Dragon-type STAB move and also has great neutral coverage. With Loaded Dice, this move hits for a minimum of four times turning it into a 100BP attack.

Swords Dance allows for Garchomp to heavily boost its Attack stat, and combined with the Speed boosts from Scale Shot, makes it a threatening sweeper.

Iron Head is its last move and allows Garchomp to threaten Fairy-types and prevent them from staying on the field.

Best Tera Type: Steel

Steel Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Immune to:	(0x)

Steel Tera Type turns all of Garchomp's weaknesses into resistances. It also boosts the damage dealt by Iron Head.

Best Steel Type Pokemon

EV Spread and Nature

A full 252 EVS are put into its Attack and Speed to make Garchomp hit as hard and fast as possible. The extra 4 EVs are placed into its HP to help round out its bulk.

A Jolly nature is preferred to help Garchomp outspeed any non-Speed boosted Pokemon after one Scale Shot.

Key Damage Calculations

The following calculations take into account Garchomp's given EV spread with a Jolly Nature.

Damage Dealt by Garchomp
87 HP｜95 Def No Defensive EV Investment (Modest) Item: Choice Specs	Earthquake 180-212 (111.1 - 130.8%) Guaranteed OHKO
91 HP｜95 Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP (Adamant) Item: Rocky Helmet	4-Hit Scale Shot 168-196 (85.2 - 99.4%) Approx. 2HKO 5-Hit Scale Shot 216-252 (109.6 - 127.9%) Guaranteed OHKO
55 HP｜55 Def No Defensive EV Investment (Timid) Item: Booster Energy	Iron Head 146-174 (112.3 - 133.8%) Guaranteed OHKO

Game8's Competitive Damage Calculator

Choice Band Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Jolly (+Spe, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	Atk 252 / Def 4 / Spe 252
Final Stat Values	HP 183 / Atk 182 / Def 116 / Sp.Def 105 / Spe 169
Ability	Rough Skin
Tera Type
Held Item	Choice Band
Moveset	・ Earthquake ・ Outrage ・ Brick Break ・ Iron Head

Summary

Garchomp's flagship Choice Band set is still effective in the current metagame, boasting great coverage with just its main STAB moves alone.

Boasts great coverage with just Earthquake and Outrage. Brick Break allows it to remove Reflect, Light Screen, and Aurora Veil. Natural bulk allows it to shrug off weak or neutral attacks.

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Rough Skin	Choice Band

Rough Skin causes opponents to receive residual damage when hitting Garchomp with a physical contact move, and can potentially break Focus Sash or Sturdy against leads.

Choice Band increases Garchomp's Attack stat by 50% at the cost of only being able to use the first move it used on that turn.

Moves Breakdown

Earthquake is Garchomp's main STAB move and has great neutral coverage. Outrage is its strongest move and also has neutral coverage, but locks Garchomp into the move for two to three turns, and inflicts confusion on the last turn.

Brick Break is a great utility move that allows Garchomp to remove Reflect, Light Screen, and Aurora Veil, while also providing Fighting-type STAB.

Iron Head is its last move and allows Garchomp to threaten Fairy-types and prevent them from staying on the field.

Best Tera Type: Stellar

Stellar Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:	(4x)
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Immune to:	(0x)

Stellar Tera Type further boosts the damage of whatever move Garchomp uses, potentially getting a quick OHKO.

Although there are are times where it prefers to uses a more defensive Steel Tera, but a Stellar Tera is still strong especially when combined with a Choice Band.

Stellar Tera Type Explained

EV Spread and Nature

We're using a straightforward offensive EV spread with full investment in Atk and Spe with a Jolly Nature, with the remaining 4 EVs placed in HP to round off its bulk.

Other Viable Moves

Choice Scarf Garchomp Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
EV Spread	252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Final Stat Values	183 HP / 200 Atk / 115 Def / 106 SpD / 154 Spe (231 with Choice Scarf)
Ability	Rough Skin
Tera Type
Held Item	Choice Scarf
Moveset	・ Outrage ・ Earthquake ・ Stone Edge ・ Liquidation

Choice Scarf Garchomp is a quick and powerful Pokemon that few Pokemon can safely switch into thanks to its high Attack and blazing Speed. A combination of Outrage and Earthquake provides great neutral coverage, while Stone Edge can give Garchomp a little boost to its damage output at the cost of accuracy.

Other Viable Moves

Doubles Movesets for Garchomp

Choice Scarf Garchomp Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Jolly (+Spe, -Sp. Atk)
EV Spread	252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def / 252 Spe
Final Stat Values	183 HP / 182 Atk / 115 Def / 106 SpD / 169 Spe (253 with Choice Scarf)
Ability	Rough Skin
Tera Type
Held Item	Choice Scarf
Moveset	・ Earthquake ・ Dragon Claw ・ Rock Slide ・ Stomping Tantrum

Garchomp's spread move is Earthquake, which is able to deal massive damage to opposing Armarouge or Gholdengo. Because it is a Spread Move, it ignores the effects of Follow Me. Dragon Claw is good for dealing neutral damage to most Pokemon, and against other Dragons that it may outspeed during Tailwind.

Stomping Tantrum allows Garchomp to do damage to a single target, without the risk of damaging its teammates if they are not Flying-types.

Rock Slide is an absolutely necessary addition, as it pairs nicely with its Choice Scarf and speed.

Tera Ground boosts the power of Garchomp's Earthquake while eliminating its weaknesses to Dragon and Fairy, and reducing its weakness to ice to x2 instead of x4.

About Garchomp's Held Item

Choice Scarf allows Garchomp to outspeed the likes of Flutter Mane and Iron Bundle if they do not have speed boosts. Being the fastest Pokemon on the field lets Garchomp repeatedly use Rock Slide to fish for flinches or put the opponents' HPs into KO range for its teammates.

Other Viable Moves

How to Use Garchomp Effectively

Beware of Faster Pokemon

Garchomp can bully slower Pokemon, or set up Swords Dance in front of them, but it must be wary of faster Pokemon. Good players know how to pick their battles and retreat when necessary.

Use it as a Late Game Sweeper

Garchomp has been around for a while and can be predictable to seasoned players. It is best played when all its checks and counters have been knocked out or dealt with.

How to Build a Team with Garchomp

A team with a good mix of resistances and meaningful STAB moves are a good fit for Garchomp. Pokemon who can deal with Garchomp's natural predators are great teammates for it to have.

Sample Singles Team

Bulky Offense	Physical Attacker	Special Attacker
Urshifu Rapid-Strike Style	Garchomp	Gholdengo

While Garchomp can function as an Offensive Lead, it can also work well as a late-game sweeper. Its high Speed and Attack Stats allow Garchomp to easily go head-to-head against most non-Speed-boosted Pokemon.

Gholdengo is used to cover for Garchomp's weaknesses, while Urshifu Rapid-Strike is used to cover for Gholdengo's weaknesses.

Sample Doubles Team

Support	Physical Attacker
Murkrow	Garchomp
Special Attacker	Special Attacker
Gholdengo	Hydreigon

Murkrow can set up Tailwind for Garchomp, allowing it to outspeed Pokemon like Dragapult who outspeed it regularly. Hydreigon has Levitate, which can protect it from Garchomp's Earthquakes, however, Gholdengo may have to use Protect.

Counters for Garchomp

Outspeed or Outlast Garchomp with Fairy Pokemon

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Flutter Mane	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Garchomp needs two Speed boosts to outspeed Flutter Mane. ・Covers for Steel Tera with Mystical Fire. ▶️Flutter Mane Best Movesets
Urshifu Rapid-Strike Style	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Punching Glove ignores Rough Skin's chip damage. ・Close Combat OHKOs Steel Tera Garchomp. ▶️ Urshifu Rapid-Strike Best Movesets
Dragapult	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Outspeeds Garchomp before it can get a Speed boost. ・Forces Garchomp to Terastallize so it doesn't get OHKO'd. ▶️ Dragapult Best Movesets

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