What is a good moveset for Drapion?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Drapion, 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.

Drapion Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

I've seen this set before and it seems fun to use, so here it is:
Gen 8 NU

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def or 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Impish or Careful Nature (If investing in Special Defense, Careful Nature)
- Knock Off
- Acupressure
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Drapion's defensive typing can allow it to stay in the game longer. Knock Off is STAB and removes the opponent's item. Acupressure raises your stats. If it raises your Defense and Special Defense, Battle Armor helps it not to be knocked out by a crit hit, meaning it can be hard to take out. Rest is for healing. Sleep Talk is to either attack or raises your stats further while sleeping.

Answer 2

Gen 8 NU

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 192 SpD / 68 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Toxic Spikes / Toxic
- Protect
- Poison Jab / Earthquake

Bulky Toxic Spikes / Toxic + Protect set. Knock Off removes item from opposing Pokemon. Toxic Spikes is to set a hazard that poisons grounded Pokemon switching in. Toxic can be used instead to poison opposing Pokemon directly. Protect is for scouting and allows a free turn of Black Slude recovery. Poison Jab is for coverage. Earthquake can be used instead to deal with steel and poison types. 248 HP is to help maximize bulk. 68 Speed EVs is to allow you to outspeed max speed Jolly Tyrantrum so you can knock off item. You also outspeed max +speed Decidueye with 68 speed EVs. The remaining EVs are dumped into special defense to help your special bulk. An EV spread of 248 HP / 76 SpD / 184 Spe with a Jolly Nature can be used to speed creep max speed non scarf Rotom-C if you use this on a team that is weak to Rotom-C.

Answer 3

I would go for the first EV option that Pokemaster posted since I use Hyper Offence as a strategy and Drapion is perfect for that

Drapion @ Razor Claw
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Cross Poison
- Night Slash
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake / Swords Dance

Cross Poison and Night Slash both benefit from Sniper and Razor Claw.
Ice Fang is for those annoying Ground-types that can(usually) OHKO Drapion, also covers the common Dragon-, Grass- and Flying-types.
Earthquake is a powerful coverage move, but Swords Dance can boost Drapion's already powerful Attack to really get into sweeping

Answer 4

This is my set. Ofc it will need Wish support and stuff, but y'know. It's good to have Focus Energy passed to this; it makes it a whole lot better.

Drapion @ Scope Lens / Razor Claw (whatever floats your boat)
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 100 HP / 156 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Cross Poison
- Night Slash
- Fell Stinger
- Earthquake

So yeah with Sniper you can destroy stuff, and thanks to Fell Stinger raise your Attack too.

Answer 5

One of my favorite Pokemon. Here's a cool moveset. The last two moves are for whatever you wanna give it. Alot of options for the items as well. The item depends on the moves you give it.

Drapion @ Scope Lens / Razor Claw / Black Sludge / Choice Band / Assault Vest / Air Balloon
Ability: Sniper / Battle Armor
EVs: 8 HP / 248 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Cross Poison / Poison Jab
- Night Slash / Crunch / Knock Off
- Slash / Aqua Tail / Earthquake / Toxic Spikes / Swords Dance / Hone Claws
- Slash / Aqua Tail / Earthquake / Toxic Spikes / Swords Dance / Hone Claws

• Cross Poison / Poison Jab: (Cross poison for critical hit ratio (goes good with Sniper), or Poison Jab for more power and a chance to poison (is useless with Sniper)

• Night Slash / Crunch / Knock Off (Night Slash has a high crit ratio, Crunch has more power and a chance to lower defense, and Knock Off removes held items.)

For the last two moves, pick some of these:
- Slash / Aqua Tail / X-Scissor / Earthquake / Brick Break / Iron Tail / Fire Fang / Ice Fang / Thunder Fang / Pursuit / Bulldoze / Retaliate / Giga Impact / Substitute / Toxic Spikes / Swords Dance / Hone Claws / Screech / Agility / Scary Face / Whirlwind / Roar / Confuse Ray / Taunt / Torment

I'm not going to explain every single move. However I recommend you give it Slash, Aqua Tail, Earthquake, Toxic Spikes, Swords Dance, or Hone Claws for its 3rd and 4th move. Either way they are all good moves. I'm glad Drapion has a large variety of moves to choose from.

Answer 6

Heres a unique move set for Drapion.

Option #1: Physical Wall

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Toxic / Toxic Spikes
- Infestation
- Venoshock
- Dark Pulse

• Toxic / Toxic Spikes (To poison Pokemon)
• Infestation (Residual damage and trapping)
• Venoshock (STAB, doubles in power when opponent is poisoned)
• Dark Pulse (STAB, can flinch)

Option #2: Special Wall

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Toxic / Toxic Spikes
- Infestation
- Venoshock
- Dark Pulse

• Toxic / Toxic Spikes (To poison Pokemon)
• Infestation (Residual damage and trapping)
• Venoshock (STAB, doubles in power when opponent is poisoned)
• Dark Pulse (STAB, can flinch)

Other move options (to replace Dark Pulse):

• Sludge Bomb (STAB, can poison)
• Struggle Bug (Coverage)
• Shadow Ball (Coverage, can decrease special defense)

Answer 7

I heard about this set on a video and it worked well

Drapion @ Lansat Berry (Basically a Focus Energy that activates at <25% HP)
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Cross Poison
- Night Slash
- Fell Stinger

I did not come up with this set. Credit goes to this video.

Answer 8

This is a Moveset I'm planning on using.

Drapion @ Scope Lens / Razor Claw
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Cross Poison
- Night Slash
- Aerial Ace / X-Scissor / Ice Fang
- Swords Dance / Hone Claws

• Cross Poison: STAB, and has a high critical hit ratio. It has a 10% chance of poisoning the opponent. Add the Scope Lens, and this move should have about a 1/2 critical hit ratio. With the ability Sniper, Cross Poison will do a large amount of damage.

• Night Slash: Like Cross Poison, STAB, high critical hit ratio. Add the Scope Lens, and this move will have a 1/2 critical hit ratio. With the ability Sniper, Night Slash will do a large amount of damage.

• Aerial Ace / X-Scissor / Ice Fang: Aerial Ace has infinite accuracy and is decently powered. X-Scissor is more powerful than Aerial Ace but has regular accuracy. Ice Fang covers Ground-, Grass-, Dragon-, and Flying-types, and is more powerful than Aerial Ace, has low accuracy.

• Swords Dance (If you chose Aerial Ace) / Hone Claws (if you chose X-Scissor or Ice Fang): Swords Dance increases the Attack Stat by two stages. Hone Claws increases both Attack stat and Drapion's Accuracy by one stage.

Answer 9

Role: Physical Tank

Drapion @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Atk / 128 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Night Slash / Knock Off
- Cross Poison / Poison Fang
- Leech Life
- Brick Break

• Night Slash / Knock Off: Night Slash for STAB and high Critical-hit-ratio; Knock Off for STAB, and getting rid of the opponents item.
• Cross Poison / Poison Fang: Cross Poison for STAB and high Critical-hit-ratio; Poison Fang for STAB, and 50% chance of badly poisoning
• Leech Life: Coverage, restores lost HP
• Brick Break: Coverage, gets rid of Reflect and Light Screen

Answer 10

Gen 8 NU

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Taunt / Substitute
- Toxic Spikes
- Whirlwind

Knock Off is STAB that removes items from opposing Pokémon. Taunt is to stop Pokémon from setting up hazards of using moves like Swords Dance. You could use Substitute instead of Taunt. Toxic Spikes is for an entry hazard. Whirlwind is to Phaze and expose more opposing Pokémon to Toxic Spikes.

Answer 11

Keen Eye Drapion

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Cross Poison
- Knock Off
- Iron Tail
- Leech Life

Alright, so, Keen Eye allows its accuracy to not be lowered, which can be somewhat useful against players using accuracy lowering moves or held items. Knock Off of course for getting held items off, and Iron Tail can possibly raise Defense. Cross Poison to increase crits, and Leech Life for some HP.

Comments

Suggestion: You can try slashing the Leech Life with Hone Claws for more accuracy, knowing you use Iron Tail. Swords Dance works too btw!

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Suggestion: don't run keen eye

Answer 12

Gen 8 SwSh Monotype (Poison)

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Whirlwind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Despite Drapion's base 75 special defense, Drapion is used on Poison teams due to its Poison/Dark typing that helps with the Psychic matchup, which can be problematic for Mono Poison teams. This is a specially defensive set. Knock Off is STAB that removes item from opposing Pokemon, and most Pokemon don't enjoy switching into Knock Off. Whirlwind allows you to force setup sweepers off of the field. Rest is for healing so you can stay in the match longer. Sleep Talk allows you not to be passive during the two turns of Rest.

Answer 13

Gen VIII

Drapion @ Razor Claw
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Cross Poison
- Swords Dance
- Crunch
- Earthquake

This build is an offensive approach to Drapion. I think more people should be using Drapion's combo of Speed and Attack in a sweeper build. What do you think?

Answer 14

Gen 8 SS NU Taunt + Swords Dance

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Taunt
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

This is the Swords Dance set Drapion uses in SS NU, but without Aqua Tail or Earthquake. That coverage slot is replaced with Taunt. Usually, itemless Vileplume can beat Drapion with Growth + Strength Sap. However, Taunt can stop this, as Vileplume can't use those two moves when it gets hit by Taunt. This allows Drapion to 1v1 Vileplume. The rest of the moveset is self-explanatory. Swords Dance is to boost your attack stat, which allows Drapion's Knock Off and Poison Jab to hit a lot harder.

Answer 15

cmon this guy is a crit master

Drapion @ scope lens
spe: 252 atk: 252 HP: 4
Ability: Sniper
Nature: Jolly
-Cross poison
-Night slash
-fell stinger/X-scissor
-Earthquake

This is the moveset I like to use for my Drapion. Cross poison and night slash are both moves that have boosted crit chances and with the scope lens as the used item you have more chances for critical hits and with the ability sniper those critical hits will become even stronger. If you want you can go for fell stinger or X-scissor I went for these moves since fell stinger can increase your attack or you can go for X-scissor if you want something stronger and earthquake is just for coverage.

Comments

Your EV spread is above the max of 508.

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HP EVs can't be 10, even if you use vitamins. You can only fit 4 HP EVs in this set. Critical hits are not based on Speed, that only happened in Red / Blue, and Drapion was made before Red / Blue.

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EVs should be in multiples of 4. This means that if you waste 2 EVs on Atk and 2 on Spe, you are wasting 4 EVs, a whole stat point. 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP is a superior spread.

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my fault about the evs i’m still getting used to explaining the number spread