Garchomp is the Dragon/Ground pseudo-legendary from Sinnoh and arguably the most broken-looking Pokemon of the last decade. Fast, strong, and with incredible coverage, it has been a top tier threat in every format since its debut in 2006.
Why Garchomp Is So Strong
Garchomp\'s 600 BST is distributed perfectly for a sweeper: 108 HP, 130 Attack, 95 Defense, 80 Sp.Atk, 85 Sp.Def, and a terrifying 102 Speed. It outspeeds most of the OU metagame while hitting them with Earthquake, Outrage, or Stone Edge — a three-move coverage set that leaves very few safe switches.
Sand Veil Controversy
Garchomp\'s hidden ability is Rough Skin, but its main ability is Sand Veil, which grants a 20% evasion boost in sandstorm. In Gen 4 this made Garchomp literally banned from Ubers for being too strong with Sand Stream Tyranitar support — a rare honor for a non-legendary.
Best Moveset
Swords Dance, Earthquake, Outrage, Stone Edge. Swords Dance doubles Attack, making one-shot KOs trivial. Earthquake is perfect coverage. Outrage nukes anything that isn\'t Fairy, and Stone Edge handles Skarmory and Levitate users.
Counters
Ice types (Weavile, Mamoswine) and Fairies (Clefable, Togekiss) are the main counters. Bulky Water types like Rotom-Wash can also wall it thanks to Levitate negating Earthquake.