PokéBase - Pokémon Q&A
0 votes
2,537 views

Self-explanatory, but please no DLC or trade evo Pokemon

by
edited by
I think it's Excadrill.
Could work
Mamoswine and Flygon are strong for the mid-to-late game, but Excadrill is probably best because it contributes meaningfully before it evolves. Runerigus and Rhyperior are fine if you're okay with slowness and don't mind their evolution methods.
Sword/Shield is a tough game to assess because of its rolling encounter tables, TR cycle that varies by player, and the sheer number of Pokemon available at very early stages of the playthrough.
Excadrill is probably also better for late game because it has higher physical attack (and higher speed than Mamoswine) and learns swords dance.
I find Runerigus to be easy to evolve but I don't have access to trades.

2 Answers

2 votes
 
Best answer

I think Excadrill is the best ground Pokemon in this game (if you don't use DLC). You can catch a Drilbur at a high level. Excadrill has amazing physical attack and can outspeed most opponents, and it learns swords dance. A few Pokemon resist both ground and steel.
source

by
selected by
1 vote

If you don't have the DLC, our fully evolved available Ground Types to use are Steelix (Onix without trade), Rhyperior (Rhydon without trade), Excadrill, Mamoswine, Flygon, Rhyperior, Runerigus, Hippowdon, Gastrodon, Claydol, Dugtrio, Quagsire, Whiscash, Seismitoad, Galarian Stunfisk, Golurk, Diggersby, Mudsdale and Sandaconda.

Dugtrio, Quagsire, Galarian Stunfisk and Diggersby are good in the early game up until the 4th gym but they are outclassed by better Ground types (Not that you want to use them in the first 2 gyms).

Seismitoad, Excadrill, Mudsdale, Whiscash, Gastrodon, Sandaconda, Runerigus, Hippowdon, Mamoswine and Claydol are all available early (Wild Area/Galar Mines) up until the 4th gym and they evolve at level 30s (except for Runerigus, which requires a absurd method for its evolution, by Passing under the Pillar in Dusty Bowl with HP decreased by 49 or more).

The remaining ground types Flygon, Golurk and Rhydon are available early in-game, but they evolve very late at around level 40-50 (note that Flygon is the only Pokemon that is worth using at that level, due to Golurk being mediocre and Rhyperior not being available without a trade)

Also, if you are unable to trade, you will most likely be stuck with an Onix/Rhydon, until you will be able to catch a wild Steelix after you have obtained the 8th badge, which is not recommented since you will most likely already have a full team

For our conclusion, the best Ground types to use are Excadrill, Seismitoad, Mamoswine and Flygon due to how important are their secondary typing:
1) Excadrill is immune to both paralysis and poison, can be a great defensive member due to its Steel typing as well as the fact that it does extremely well against 3 of the gym leaders (Opal, Gordie or Melony and Raihan's 2/4 members)
2) Seismitoad is without a doubt the best Water/Ground type in the game due to the wide selection of moves and coverage, can do well against 3 gym leaders ( Kabu, Alister for Shield, Gordie for Sword and Raihan)
3) Mamoswine is one of the only few Ice-types that do pretty well in the main story, not counting competitive (the others are Froslass, Galarian Darmanitan, Weavile and Lapras) and for a bulky physical sweeper, it does pretty good
4) Flygon is probably one of the earliest Dragon-types that will be available to you (Route 6) and it does well against at least 2 gym leaders per game (Gordie for Sword, Alister for Shield and Raihan)

For the DLC part , the available Pokemon (not counting legendaries) are Kantonian Sandslash and Marowak, Krookodile, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Pallosand, Swampert (DA only) and Garchomp (Shield Only). The best possible DLC Pokemon are clearly Garchomp and Swampert, with secondary/ alternative options being the Nido family and Krookodile

by
I said no DLC but I will stay with Excadrill but thanks for the answer.
Why do you pay so much attention to types and less attention to stats and moves?
like the asker said, they want to know what are the best Ground types in SwSh. Due to my experience with a Monotype Ground type run, I explained shortly  which Ground types were worth using and which Ground types were not worth it. We all know that Statwise, pokemon like excadrill, mamoswine, flygon and seismitoad have 500 around base stat total so it's not even worth mentioning since competitive aspects of Pokemon don't matter in casual plays
The type also affects the moves and weaknesses and I only check the stats that are prominent for the pokemons role.
Even outside of competitive, I find that stats (especially the highest attack stat and also speed) often matter more than types. I don't think any Pokemon's STAB moves are super effective against a majority of opponents, but you'll use your Pokemon's stats in every battle. A good Pokemon should be able to effortlessly defeat regular trainers regardless of type, and win most boss battles with neutral type matchups.