Garchomp Pokkén Tournament DX Guide

Dec 14

Written By Kamaal

This written guide was organized/edited by BadIntent but the text and information was overwhelmingly provided by Kamaal.

-Overview
-Attributes
-Move List

How to play Garchomp in Pokkén - Overview

Garchomp’s mixups, combos, and high damage output are what it is known for, but it can be played defensively once it has the life lead. With the fastest walk speed in field phase, 660 HP, and some of the highest damage grab crush options, opening it up takes a lot of risk. In contrast to other characters with that much health, it has excellent approach options vs zoners such as Dig.

The trade off is many of these moves are unsafe on Counter Attacks, so it must be very precise when timing its attacks to deal with them. When pressuring, it can consistently get frame advantage on block with moves such as running stance X and low j ]X[. It has some cool moves from Bryan Fury and Dragunov from the Tekken series too.

Attributes

HP: 660
Synergy Gauge: 250 CC
Burst Duration: 12 Seconds

Move List

Burst Attack

i15. -16 on block (but still causes a guard break). Red armor frame 1. Invincible frame 9. Counter pierces and grab crushes.

Grab

i15. 80 damage in field phase. 90 damage in duel phase.

Counter Attack

i35/55. Mid low. -4/+12 on block. Due to its slow speed, it’s not the greatest reversal tool, but it works like a parry in neutral, because it can cancel its CADC into running stance, from which it can rX, 2A, jRLX, or 5A.

]X[

i15, -28. Mid-high. Frame 1 high and mid high invulnerability. This is Garchomp's primary anti air and combo finisher.

j]X[

i15. Mid high. Often referred to as “drill”. This attack has two different versions. One when done low to the ground and one higher up. When done higher up it does a downward spiral with an unsafe followup. Doing that makes it around -61 on block. Doing it lower to the ground is what you really want.

Low height ]X[ is Garchomp's best move. In addition to being its most powerful launcher, it's +4 on block with huge pushback and has high priority with multiple hits, allowing it to beat CAs late in their animation (it's unsafe on CAs done instantly, however). It can even be up to +9 on block when done from a Dig jump cancel. The downside to this attack is in its input. Holding X makes Garchomp tough to control, and locks it out of some of its other strongest moves like Running Stance X and jX. Mastering Garchomp requires learning when and when not to hold X for this move.

(Low height release X is often called TK Drill as it functions like aerial attacks done low to the ground in other fighting games with a Tiger Knee or similar motion)

Running Stance

This is a duel phase only stance, and is done by inputting 66[6] or from certain moves. Running stance has two moves native to it (really one) listed below and can also be canceled with Burst Activation, Jump, ]X[, and special moves.

Running Stance X

i23. +4. Mid. A very high reaching true mid that's plus on block, in exchange for being unsafe on CA. In lieu of a traditional anti air, this is one of Garchomp's main methods of challenging airborne opponents. This leads to a juggle against opponents in the air. For Tekken fans, this is Dragunov’s Running 2!

Running Stance Y

i19. -16Functionally the same move as 6Y listed in the duel phase section. Can also cancel into 6YY.

Pokémon Moves

Dragon Claw 5A

i19 (field), i23 (duel). -8 on block, but +12 on block when canceled into Running Stance by holding A. Mid low. Long range, high hitting mid low that can catch some jumps. Good for chasing down people backing away. Running stance version can combo into TK drill. Regular version can combo into jY only on tall characters (Mewtwo, Shadow Mewtwo, Machamp, Charizard, Blastoise, Blaziken).

Dig 6A

i35. Mid. -24. Garchomp Burrows under the ground and pops out. The burrow is immune to highs frame 1, projectiles frame 9, and all other physical attacks frame 17. This can be canceled with R, or canceled into jump with B. The uppercut is fully projectile immune, but very unsafe on block. As a whole, the move is good for approaching through projectiles and is the main reason Garchomp generally can't be zoned for long.

Stone Edge 4A, [4A]

Command counter active frame 5. Only has a hitbox if triggered with an attack. Launches on both normal hit and critical hit, but gives Garchomp a large amount of bonus synergy if it crits. Can be charged after triggering, which depletes the opponent's shield health to red, counter pierces, and leads to guaranteed guard breaks at the wall (+12 on block and 8Y can break shields). Unlike most command counters, this attack can’t be outlasted or have its vulnerable frames poked through. Meaning, even though it technically only has armor from frames 5-54 once it’s been activated it gains invincibility until it gains a hitbox.

Sand Tomb 2A/2[A]

i23/i43. Command Grab. Combos only at the wall or on crit. -12 on throw tech. Can be charged, and the charged version hits airborne opponents. This attack and running X prevent opponents from simply jumping out of the corner.

Dragon Rush 8A

i39. Special Mid. -4. 8A - long range throw crush that leads to a special cinematic and massive damage on critical hit. Garchomp has better throw crushes such as jX, jA, and TK drill, but 8A is notable for giving Garchomp a sizable amount of synergy on crit.

Earthquake jA

i27 +4 on block. Low. An aerial that hits low, meaning the attack portion can't be anti aired, only the startup. This lasts long enough to poke through CAs if done too early, making jA a very tricky move approach from the air with.

jR is another option to mix this up, as it visually looks like the startup of Earthquake and has the same audio cue, but does not have a hitbox unless manually canceled into jA.

Field Phase Moves

nY

i15. -16. Special Mid. Special cancelable but doesn't combo into anything up close on normal hit and only into Dragon Claw from far away or on critical hit. nY is okay at slowing down people running straight at you, and nY into 5A is decent at poking counters from far away.

sY

Special Mid. Variable frame data. Uncharged version is special cancelable, but travels on a narrow path that only hits opponents very far away. Charged version is not special cancelable, but hits closer to Garchomp as well as coming back towards him afterwards. Very plus on block, but fairly easy to avoid except on oki.

fY

i19. -8. Shifts on hit. Fast, safe, high hitting true mid projectile based normal. Garchomp's best field phase move as well as one of the best field phase moves in the game period. This is even safe on CAs when done meaty. Most of Garchomps's field strategy revolves around using its fast field phase movement to whiff punish with fY.

bY/b[Y]

i27/i47. Mid. Uncharged is -8. Charged is +8 on block. The uncharged version is - mostly a combo tool following a b[Y] launch. Charged version is a piercing, launching true mid, best used on oki or out of a wallsplat from jRLX.

jY/j[Y]

i17/i62. Mid. Uncharged is about -20 on block point blank. Charged is around +57 on block. (As aerials, the frame data changes based on the active frame they connect). Uncharged version stuns for a very long time and wallsplats for even longer, allowing for half screen wall combos. Charged version drags the opponent in towards Garchomp with enough blockstun that Garchomp has time to charge bY for a blockstring.This is avoidable with CADC if done in the open, and it has very weak projectile priority so it loses to most other projectiles in a trade.

jX

Mid-high. Variable frame data, but can be safe on block if done instantly out of a a point blank jump but is otherwise at least grab punishable. Good for punishing other aerials as well as projectiles from far away because it tracks and has a massive hitbox.

Duel Phase Moves

5Y

i15. -12/-8/-16. All 3 hits of the string are mid-low. First hit has stubby range and is unsafe on block, but can be canceled into 4A or 6A on reaction to armor. 5YY is safe on block and has huge pushback if you don't cancel into a special move. The third hit is a tail swipe that is unsafe on block, but it should only take 2 hits to hit confirm.

6Y

i19. -16. Mid. The second hit (6YY) is -12 unless canceled into running stance. 6YY is a true block string and can go into running stance by holding the second Y. It is a true mid, but has a low hitbox so isn't that great at catching people jumping. If the opponent has a lot of phase shift points on them, and are about to be shifted, this is the most damaging option.

4Y

i19. -8 if not canceled. can Cancel into running stance and net a full combo, one of Garchomp's longer range normals. Good for hitting people dashing in.

8Y

i11. High. -16 on block. Invincible against highs and mid-highs frame 5. 11f, one of the most damaging 11f moves in the game on normal hit if you combo into drill. It’s not a very good anti air in the traditional sense because it doesn't combo airborne opponents. That said, if you’re not holding X for RL X, this starts up faster than 8Ys.

2Y

i11. -8. Low. Doesn't low profile and has no extensions, but can be canceled into high stance with down, up during the move.

5X

i23. -16. Mid-high. Long range, unsafe high launcher. Can punish niche moves like Libre 8Y on block but otherwise is outclassed by TK drill.

4X

i19. -4. Mid-high. Looks extremely similar to 5X. but it is safe on block and launches only on air hit instead of ground hit. Has a decent amount of range comparable to 4Y and can swat people out of the air intending to jump over 4Y.

2X

i15. Low. -8. Invincible against highs frame 1. This is Garchomp’s only low profiling attack aside from Dig. Has two hits and can launch if you only hit with the second (outer) hit.

jY

High. About 0 on block. A very quick and long lasting aerial that can cancel into jA, jR, or jX (although a heavily scaled version of jX). Good for poking through counters because of the extensions: jA pokes through CAs early in their animation, while jX pokes through CAs late in their animation.

jX

Mid-high. an evasive divekick that's only -6 on block and +16 on hit. Usually can't be crit if it lands on a CA, making it very spammable vs certain characters that don't have a long range anti air. Also juggles airborne opponents, making it a powerful air-to air.

Kamaal