Tyranitar: Physical or Special Attacker?

Question

I see so many people using a special attacking Tyranitar yet its SpA compared to its Atk is terrible, with an approximate 80 difference. Please include pros, cons and a verdict.

Comments

Well, if you powertrain him hè could be very strong in both...

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Mixed Scarf TTar is superior to all.

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Maybe.

Answer 1

Special

Pros

• It's unexpected. Really, it's not that common. Flamethrower is common enough, but most Tyranitars are physically based.
• Hits physical walls

Cons

• Special Attack isn't that great, so it won't be doing too much damage
• Fails to threaten Pokémon that it usually could
• Tyranitar has a bit of a shallow Special movepool

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Physical

• Makes use of Tyranitar's high Attack stat
• Threatens many Pokémon such as Talonflame
• Pursuit allows it to trap Lati@s
• Good Physical movepool

Cons

• Gets walled by Pokémon such as Skarmory
• Moves are predictable

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I recommend sticking to a physical moveset, Special can be unpredictable, but other than that it doesn't have much utility. Personally, I run a physically based mixed set with Flamethrower for Ferrothorn, the down side is the Speed loss, but it doesn't bother me.

Comments

Tyranitar doesn't have that shallow of a special movepool. It has Earth Power, Dark Pulse, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Surf, Focus Blast, and Dragon Pulse. The only thing it's missing is a good rock-type move, which are scarce to begin with.

Answer 2

Alright, Tyranitar is a pseudo legend with pretty good stats either side.The most used one according to sweepercalc is physical but I will give pros and cons for both.

Special pros.

• His movepool provides great coverage.

• His infamous Assault Vest set has coverage with ice beam and fire blast.

• 95 special attack isn't all that bad y'know.

Special cons.

• No special stat boosting moves.

Physical pros.

• Dragon dance.

• Lolwut 134 attack.

• Endless physical coverage.

Physical cons.

• His moves are not as powerful.(His stats do help cover that)

Verdict

As his attack is higher with better boosting moves, I would go for physical but you can go for whichever helps your team better.

Comments

You can use an Assault Vest with a physical set, so why is it under the pros for special sets? I don't see how Tyrnaitar's physical moves are weaker either, Stone Edge, Crunch and Earthquake all have solid base power.

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I usually do 1 special move that is really powerful like fire blast just to throw people off, 1 stat move for amping up my tyranitar, and 2 physicals.