What is a good moveset for Excadrill?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Excadrill, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for its pre-evolutions, if any, can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Excadrill Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Comments

Likely tier: Underused

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"Likely tier: Underused" 6 months later...

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Real Tier Overused 6 months even later....

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And Uber even later!

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Meh. It wouldn't be there if not for Sand Rush. I use a Mold Breaker Scarf Set.

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Though I use an awesome one I would say OVERUSED

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And back to ou in gen 8.

Answer 1

Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon

Trait: Sand Rush

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

• Swords Dance
• X-Scissor
• Rock Slide
• Earthquake

Comments

My favorite moveset for my favorite Pokemon!!! :D

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Youre a pro a movesets. I am interested in how you do it, and how good you are in the game.
You're awesome, dude.

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Omg I beat the leage for with this pokemon and this moveset!!!! (I didnt mean I deafeted the whole elite 4 with only this pokemon)

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I prefer using brick break over swords dance because I think excadrill is a perfect revenge killer in sandstorm. This allows him to come in and KO through screens, as well as hitting hard against levitating steel types. While swords dance is useful when it can be set up, a choice band excadrill in sand storm can OHKO a large portion of the meta game

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trachy, i know this is an old awnser, but still, please, admins, do not delete it. i just want to tell you can use STAB iron head instead of rock slide which is more powerful, accurate, and has a better or same ( i don't remember) chance of flinching.

Answer 2

Excadrill (M) @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Sandstorm

Comments

Running sandstorm isnt that good because it uses a turn. its better to swap into an existing sandstorm from a pokemon like t-tar

Answer 3

Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Force or Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Hone Claws
- Drill Run
- Rock Slide
- Metal Claw

Most of the time you can get away with running Sand force and fake your opponent into thinking you have Sand Rush.

All moves benefit with either ability. Hone Claws jacks your attack from the start and fixes all of your accuracy issues. Drill run gets STAB and a good crit chance. that crit chance is probably the only reason you would ever consider running it over earthquake. ( excluding the fact that drill run has a cool animation and it's excadrill's signature )

rock slide is coverage. Metal Claw is STAB and a decent chance to boost your attack. between STAB and Sand Force is can actually do some decent damage too!

Comments

why air balloon? it resists ground already. you' be better of with a passho berry or leftovers

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...Excadrill doesn't resist Ground moves. As a matter of fact, Excadrill is weak to Ground moves.

Answer 4

Excadrill
@ Smooth Rock/Expert Belt
Ability: Sand Rush
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Earthquake
Sandstorm
Swords Dance
Shadow Claw

Earthquake is pretty predictable, but that does not stop it from being a powerful move with 100 accuracy.
Sandstorm is to raise speed, you can opt for Smooth Rock to make it last if you want.
Swords Dance is practically icing on the cake, and Shadow Claw hits those Ghosties in the Uber Teir(I'm looking at you, Giratina).
Expert Belt adds more juice to Super Effective moves.

Answer 5

i love this Monty mole with wolverine claws
EV's in speed and attack
adamant nature +attack -SP attack
ability sand rush doubles speed is sandstorm
moves
swords dance
X-scissor
earthquake
iron head.
why no sandstom you might ask. I LOVE TYRANTIAR!

Comments

Isn't it tyranitar?

Answer 6

Wall breaker and sweeper

Ability: Mold Breaker/ Sand rush
Item: Life Orb
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
Moves:
Earthquake
Iron head
Swords dance
rock slide/X-scissor/shadow claw
__\

This thing is really scary. Even without SD, it can do serious damage. Let this thing set-up even one SD, and it'll have a chance of wrecking your entire team. It can be insanely good on sandstorm teams, thanks to the access of Sand Rush. (which outspeeds everything with a Jolly nature),

Answer 7

Excadrill @ Mago Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 64 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 188 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Horn Drill
- Fissure
- Stomping Tantrum Double Damage if horn drill/fissure missed/failed
- Swords Dance/Substitute/Stealth Rock/Rapid Spin/Toxic Depends on what you want

I tried to make something original. Horn Drill and Fissure are OHKO moves with low accuracy, and stomping tantrum does double damage if the last move it used failed.

Comments

I don't get why you would use 2 ohko moves,but cool set!

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2KO moves are for the higher PP, but Lapras does that job far far better, seeing it can Rest of the residual damage, can PerishPool, etc.
Yes Lapras is used it’s good as an OHKO move user.

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you should give it a blunder policy for when it misses the OHKO moves

Answer 8

Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Earthquake
Rock Slide
Brick Break
Swords Dance

Answer 9

excadrill@life orb
ability:sand rush
nature: jolly
ev-252 atk 252 speed 4 hp
moves- sandstorm-upgrades speed with sand rush, 50% increase in sp.def and takes advantage of ground typing

        earthquake- main STAB, 100 base power
        rock slide- takes care of pesky flying types that are immune to earthquake
        swords dance- makes excadrill destroy any Pokemon not immune to its attacks

Answer 10

Excadrill @ Metal Plate/Quick Claw

Ability: Sand Force

EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 Sp. Def

Adamant nature (Atk+/Sp. Atk -)

Moves:

Drill Run: Chance of critical hits, STAB

Metal Claw: Chance for boost of ATK stat, STAB

Swords Dance: Sharp boost of ATK stat

Earthquake: High power, hits mult. foes, STAB

(I would prefer to pair this with a Tyranitar because of the Sandstream ability to utilize the Sand Force ability. Also make sure Tyranitar holds an Air Balloon to prevent damage from Earthquake usage.)

Comments

metal claw over iron head? sand force over sand stream? Why have a steel plate or quick claw when life orb is way better and quick claw is unreliable.

Answer 11

Item: earth plate
Ability: mold breaker
EVs: 4 Sp Atk, 252 Atk, 252 Def

Move set:

Earthquake- STAB most powerful ground move
Rock slide- Coverage
Swords dance- SUPER ATTACK
Rapid spin- This is a competitive excadrill

Comments

Earth plate over anything else that increases damage? Why do you have 4 special attack despite no special attacks. Max defense is inferior to max hp and max speed is better on excadrill.

Answer 12

Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

Good as a lead to get rocks up and prevent other team from getting their hazards up. Earthquake and Iron Head are STAB. Mold Breaker is great for getting super-effective damage on Gengar and Rotom-Wash in OU.

Comments

hp over speed?

Answer 13

Ah, Excadrill, One of my favorite Pokemon!

Pokemon: Excadrill
Item: @Leftovers
Nature: Adamant (+Atk -Sp. Atk)
Ability: Sand rush
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Speed

MOVES

Poison Jab: Poison jab has good power, Takes out Grass types and Fairy types AND has a 30% chance of Poisoning the opponent!,

-Earthquake: GREAT power and its a STAB move,.

-Metal Claw: STAB move and takes care of Ice types, rock types and fairy types, plus it has a 10% chance of Raising your Atk by 6+!.

-Rock Slide/Swords dance: Rock slide for flying types, bug types, ice types and fire types, Or you can go for swords dance, which sharply raises your attack!

Well thats what I have for excadrill, hope this moveset helps.

Comments

metal claw over iron head? Poison jab when you already takes on fairies?

Answer 14

Excadrill@Soft Sand
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 HP/Speed, 4 HP/Speed
Nature: Lonely (+Attack, -Defense) Adamant (+Attack, -Sp. Attack) or Jolly (+Speed, -Sp. Attack)
Role: Physical Sweeper/Sandstorm abuser (is that even a role lol)

Moves:

Sandstorm: Causes a sandstorm. The attack power of Excadrill's Rock, Steel and Ground type move gets boosted 30% by Sand Force. While in effect, it damages all non Rock, Steel or Ground type Pokemon (also some other Pokemon with specific abilities) by 1/16 of their maximum HP.
Earthquake: STAB, high accuracy and power. When Sandstorm is in effect, it's power gets boosted by 30%, and by another 20% (assuming it would stack) because of the soft sand. So the base power, along with STAB, for generation 5 would be (feel free to correct me on my math lol) 100×2.25= 225!!
Drill Run or Swords Dance: Drill Run is STAB, power increased by Soft sand and ability. The base power, along with STAB would be 80×2.25=180. It also has an increased Critical hit ratio. Swords dance increases the users attack stat by 2 stages. But I don't think that it's necessary because of Sand Force/Soft Sand.
Metal Claw/Iron Head or Rock Slide: YOU CHOOSE!!! All gain the boost from Sand Force. Metal claw and Iron Head gain STAB. Metal Claw has a 10% chance to increase the Attack stat, which can be useful for the lack of Swords Dance. Base power with STAB, 97.5(?). Iron Head can only be learned in Black 2/White 2. Iron Head can cause the Opponent to flinch. Base power with STAB, 156. Rock slide is not STAB, but does get a boost by Sand Force. It can cause the Opponent to flinch, and in a double battle can hit both opponents. Base power 97.5.

Comments

why do you have two ground stab? Why are you setting your own sand? Why do you recommend metal claw over iron head? Also iron head can be learned in any game with an iron head tutor. Why are you using soft sand when you can increase all your attacks power with life orb? Why are you using sand force over sand rush?

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The reason I have 2 ground STAB is because of Excadrill's ability, Sand Force. When a sandstorm is in effect, the power of those moves increase by 30%, and with the soft sand, assuming it stacks, would be a 50% increase, so I'm really just trying to make the best out of the soft sand.
Why not set a sandstorm? What if Excadrill is the last Pokemon you have, so you can't set up a sandstorm unless Excadrill has it. Sorry if my grammar was confusing lol.
I'm not exactly recommending Metal Claw over Iron Head. Metal Claw can be learned by level up in every game, while Iron Head can only be taught to Excadrill in Black2/White2, ORAS, and USUM, and not every one has those specific games. I totally think it's better than Metal Claw, but it can't learn Iron Head in the  majority of Pokemon games.
Sure the Life Orb is good, but it doesn't need the Life Orb to really make it's moves really powerful. The Soft Sand is just for a boost of power, without any cost. If you want to use the Life Orb, you can, but I would use the Soft Sand.
Both abilities are great, but in this Moveset, I mostly want to max out the power of Excadrill's moves, so Sand Force was the better choice for that reason.

Now I have a question for you,

CAN YOU JUST STOP BEING SO HYPERCRITICAL?
That's all.

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Ummm.... just some suggestions..... Jolly>Adamant>Lonely, as it could use more speed (or keep the attack boost) and more defense. Also, I’ve gotta ask you, is this for WiFi battles?

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Yeah, now that I think about it, Adamant/Jolly would be much better.
I generally just make Movesets for Pokemon that I'm training in White 2. So it's not necessarily for WiFi battles. Why do you ask?

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Oh just because you said that Iron Head can only be learnt by Excadrill in certain games, though usually people do this stuff on showdown!, so I assumed it might be for in game competitive battling.

Answer 15

Gen 8 Doubles OU

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Horsepower
- X-Scissor
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide/Rapid Spin/Poison Jab

I recommend Sand Stream Tyranitar to battle alongside it, due to the fact that Sand Stream doubles it’s speed. Choice Scarf+Sand Rush allows it to outspeed every unboosted Pokemon in OU (it outspeeds Zacian, if you want to get technical). The EVs allow it to hit hard and fast. Jolly is for the slight speed boost. High Horsepower is STAB, and better in doubles than Earthquake. X-Scissor is coverage. Iron Head is more STAB. The last slot is really your choice. Rock Slide is so it’s not completely walled by Corviknight, Rapid Spin is to get chip damage in and remove entry hazards, and Poison Jab.... it’s just there as a stronger alternative, though STAB Iron Head and X-Scissor cover what it does (Fairy and Grass, respectively).

Answer 16

I overdid the speed last time... :P

Gen 8 OU

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide/Rapid Spin

This set is basically the same, but intended for singles. Mold Breaker allows Earthquake to hit Levitate Pokémon. The Choice Scarf is for the extra speed. Earthquake because it is singles and STAB, X-Scissor for coverage, Iron Head for more STAB, Rock Slide to get a neutral hit on Corviknight, or Rapid Spin to get rid of entry hazards and for the speed boost.

Answer 17

Excadrill@Rockium-Z

Ability:Sand Force
Nature:Jolly
EVs:252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
•Sandstorm
•Earthquake
•Iron Head
•Rock Slide
Use Z-Sandstorm for 1+ Speed and a 30% boost to all of it’s attacks because of Sand Force. The attacks are self explanatory

Answer 18

Gen 7 / Gen 8 OU

Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic

Earthquake is STAB. Stealth Rock is to set up an entry hazard. Rapid Spin clears away entry hazards on your side. Toxic is to poison opponents.

Comments

Toxic?

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Helps pressurise things that otherwise wall it, like Lando-T or Buzzwole I guess.

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Oh (filler)

Answer 19

Excadrill@FocusSash
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spe/4 Def
Adamant Nature
-Protect
-Iron Head
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake

Works great in Gen 8 doubles with Sand Stream Tyranitar. Use earthquake when Ttar uses protect/max guard for massive damage.

Answer 20

Gen 8 AG suicide lead

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Tomb
- Earthquake
(Credit to Smogon for the set)
Excadrill is a very good suicide lead in Gen 8 AG. It’s access to Rapid Spin is incredibly helpful, as it allows it to beat other forms of hyper offense. Rock Tomb provides some speed control. Earthquake is strong STAB.