Best Moveset for Garchomp in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

When asked about your favorite pseudo-Legendary Pokémon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the generation-IV classic, Garchomp, easily comes to mind. Competitively, Garchomp is aging like fine wine thanks to its monstrous strength and the diverse move pool it has access to. That said, Garchomp will consistently deliver in singles or doubles unless you don’t know what you’re doing with its moveset.

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Today, we’ll look into some of the best builds and movesets for Garchomp, so you capitalize on its strength in the competitive scene of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Best Garchomp Builds in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Garchomp is currently terrorizing the single and double formats of the competitive scene in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. It’s a physical attacker with decent bulk and a literal jet that flies at mach speeds. As such, we’ll utilize Sword Dance builds for singles and doubles to capitalize on its strong suits.

Sword Dance Garchomp for Singles

With the Sword Dance setup, Garchomp is the definition of a wallbreaker in competitive Pokémon. Most opponents won’t survive one hit from this monstrosity.

Recommended Moveset

1. Earthquake
2. Outrage / Dragon Claw
3. Iron Head
4. Sword Dance

Ability: Rough Skin

EVs: 252 Attack/ 252 Speed/ 4 HP

Nature: Jolly (+Speed, – Sp. Atk)

Item: Rocky Helmet / Focus Sash

Tera Type: Ground

The premise of this set for singles battles is to set up Sword Dance for the attack stat boost as soon as you switch in. Rough Skin is the ability of choice over Sand Veil, just because of the recoil damage to the opponent after using Sword Dance. In combination with Rocky Helmet, getting into contact with Garchomp will leave a nasty scar on opponents.

Players can also run Focus Sash if Garchomp is your lead Pokémon to survive 1 hit KO’s from possible Ice matchups. After Sword Dance, you’ll have to follow with its STAB ground move Earthquake or either Outrage or Dragon Claw against other dragon types.

To overcome Ice and Fairy threats, Garchomp can utilize Iron Head. Given its potent attack stat and excellent speed, Garchomp will not only have priority while attacking but will mostly end the battle against Ice or Fairy types with a single press of Iron Head.

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Sword Dance Garchomp for Doubles

Since it’s doubles we’re talking about now, you’ll want to make quick use of the opponent’s Pokémon with spread damage. That said, It’s mostly the same set with a slight variation in Garchomp’s item and coverage move.

Recommended Moveset

1. Earthquake
2. Dragon Claw
3. Swords Dance
4. Protect

Ability: Rough Skin

EVs: 252 Attack/ 252 Speed/ 4 HP

Nature: Jolly (+Speed, – Sp. Atk)

Item: Clear Amulet

Tera Type: Ground

Your goal is to spam Garchomp’s Earthquake for the spread damage and to ignore moves like Follow Me without damaging your ally Pokémon. Your best bet to avoid that is by having Flying-types or Pokémon with Levitate alongside Garchomp.

For instance, a Flying-type like Murkrow will not only set Tailwind for Garchomp to outspeed threats like Dragapult, but it will also come out unscathed from Garchomp’s Earthquake. After that, you can follow up with Dragon Claw for a potential one-hit KO if you’ve already set Sword Dance.

You can survive Ice and Fairy types by Terastallizing into Ground, as it gives a power boost to Earthquake while reducing the effectiveness of Fairy types and Ice types to ×1 and ×2, respectively. Plus, an ally Gholdengo with its Steel STAB will help you finish off threats as quickly as possible.

The jet-like Pokémon is one that you definitely do not want to sleep on, especially for competitive Pokémon. While these are the two best running sets for Garchomp, you’ll likely see players running a Dragon Dance and Earthquake combo, with a slight variation in its coverage, moves for the Ice and Fairy threats.

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