TL;DR - Hunt down those Cliffs before Shadow Larvitar goes away!

• L30 Shadow Tyranitar = L50 Hydreigon and all others

• Ideally, both Shadow Dark and Shadow Rock are worth making teams of (rock team mixed with Rampardos), but prioritize Dark.
• Shadow Rock is also #1 non-mega rock, but just barely, and will eventually be outclassed. Keep at least 1 for Rockets though.
• DO NOT PURIFY!

• Why each Tyranitar can't double duty
• Dark/Ghost and Rock-type attacker comparison charts and Mega comparison charts
  • Brief mention of Mega Sableye (it disappoints)
• Is Shadow Tyranitar (dark) the most useful raid attacker of all types? (Strength & Utility metric)
• Pairwise comparisons involving shadow and regular Tyranitar
• Future considerations
  • Shadow Darkrai with Dark Void is the only one that can truly outclass Shadow Tyranitar
• More detailed recommendations on "Dark vs. Rock"
• List of my previous analyses - now in Google Sheets!

Introduction

Unless you missed December CD, relax - 2023 is not 2018. Regular Tyranitar is not a must-have anymore.

1. Tyranitar (Regular, Shadow, Mega) and Mega Sableye as Dark/Ghost-type raid attackers
2. Mega Tyranitar as a Rock-type raid attacker
3. Future Considerations - What else can catch up with Shadow Tyranitar?
4. Verdict: Dark or Rock?

A legacy fast move - why each Tyranitar can't double duty

Part 1: Tyranitar as a Dark Attacker

• Put it another way: Non-shadow Tyranitar with Brutal Swing is as good as Shadow Tyranitar without Brutal Swing.

• Shadow Tyranitar's power gets to Mega Gengar tier, and most people should know how OP Mega Gengar is. (Detailed comparisons later...)
• Everything that we used to call "a top dark/ghost type" gets left WAY behind. This includes: Hydreigon, Shadow Weavile, Shadow Tyranitar without Brutal Swing, Shadow Mewtwo (Shadow Ball), Giratina Origin, Darkrai. Now, Shadow Tyranitar at Level 30 = all these options at Level 50, Hydreigon included.
• For the DPS lovers, here's the ER and DPS table. Indeed, even in raw DPS, Shadow Tyranitar is now the highest among all non-mega dark/ghost types - and it still has good bulk!

• This also means it's better than Giratina-O and Darkrai.
• So, non-shadow Tyranitar isn't meta-defining per se, since Hydreigon already existed. If you had a Hydreigon army from its CD, regular Ttar doesn't do anything extra, aside from typing differences. Put your resources into the shadows.
• (Detailed comparisons later...)

• Mega > Shadow, but DO NOT PURIFY.
• (Detailed comparisons and mega charts later...)

Shadow Tyranitar (Dark)'s Incredible Utility

• One caveat is that this chart only considers utility of a single type. Shadow Mamoswine's utility in either of its types may be lower than Shadow Tyranitar, but its combined utility will likely be higher, at least today.

Comparisons: Mega & Shadow Tyranitar, and Mega Gengar

• Mega Gengar may be better than Mega Tyranitar more often, but it's WAY less consistent.
• This is due to Mega Gengar's fragility and weakness to psychic moves. On the other hand, Mega Tyranitar doesn't fear much, except fighting moves.
• As a result, Mega Tyranitar gets better average Estimator. (Remember the bar chart above doesn't show how much better each option is.) In TTW, Mega Gengar still pulls ahead.

• Same discussion as above, except that Shadow Ttar fares worse than its Mega counterpart.
• Their average Estimators are similar at L40-50, whereas Mega Gengar is ahead in TTW.

• In theory, Shadow Ttar actually out-DPSes Mega Ttar by 2.1%. But Mega Ttar has 54% more TDO, more than enough to make up for it.
• Indeed, in practice, Shadow's tiny DPS advantage almost evaporates. Mega is better.

Comparisons: Regular Tyranitar vs. Hydreigon and others

• Hydreigon has 256 base attack to Tyranitar's 251, but Ttar has more defense and HP. Now that they have the same moveset, Hydreigon naturally has slightly higher DPS, while Tyranitar has higher TDO.
• From the bar chart... Yes, Hydreigon is technically still better.
• However, it's only better by a tiny amount - usually on the scale of 1%.
  • Here's a plot of the extent to which each one is better than the other. In 80% of cases, the difference is really small.
• In practice, what's preferred essentially boils down to typing differences.

Dark and Ghost-type Mega Comparisons

• If you coordinate so that everyone else uses ghost types, then Mega Gengar is better.
• However, if you're not sure what others will bring, Mega Tyranitar is better, often by far.

Part 2: Mega Tyranitar as a Rock Attacker

• It will also have worse solo performance than Mega Diancie, when/if it's released at Go Fest. (Not shown on the chart)
• However, Mega Tyranitar has a massive bulk advantage over Mega Diancie and Aerodactyl, making it the Rock-type Mega of choice due to boosting other players. (More on this in a moment...)

• Shadow Tyranitar is the best non-mega rock type in Estimator, but only barely ahead of Rampardos. In large lobbies (TTW), Rampardos actually catches up.
  • Shadow/Mega Tyranitar are tanks, while Rampardos and Mega Aerodactyl are glass cannons. The latter have higher DPS respectively, but not enough bulk to fully shine when relobbying is a concern.
  • A mixed lobby of, say, 3 Rampardos followed by 3 Shadow Tyranitar may perform even better.
• Non-shadow Tyranitar is worse than several options, and #6 non-shadow non-mega.

Rock-type Mega Comparisons

Part 3: Future Considerations - What else can catch up with Shadow Tyranitar?

Future Dark-type Attackers

• Shadow Hydreigon. Just like their non-shadow forms, their shadows will likely tie each other.
• Darkrai (non-shadow) with Dark Void, if the move is sufficiently OP.
• Shadow Darkrai with its current moves. ^{If Niantic never gives us Dark Void.}
• Calyrex Shadow Rider, if it gets a Game Master moveset change and receives Hex.
• Hoopa Unbound with its signature move.

Future Rock Attackers

Part 4: Verdict - Dark or Rock?

• DO NOT PURIFY! Use another non-shadow for the mega.
• I recommend having at least 1 Shadow Rock for Rocket battles. Smack Down Ttar is awesome especially against flying grunts.

1. Megas for both types are a must.
2. Both Shadow Dark and Shadow Rock are currently #1 non-mega of their types. Both are worth building teams of (though the rock team may be mixed with Rampardos).
3. Shadow Dark fares significantly better among its own type than Shadow Rock, is stronger in raw power, and is also more future proof.
4. I'd try my best not to TM a Shadow Rock to Dark - find a better one from Cliff. But if you really have to, Rampardos and Rhyperior get you covered. Shadow SD Tyranitar is ahead of Rhyperior, but they fulfill the same role: a rock-type tank.
5. Shadow Ttar > Regular Ttar, of course. So ideally, any resources should preferably go into the shadows before the non-shadows (if at all).
6. Regular Dark = Hydreigon, or 1% below. Anyone that has already built a Hydreigon team doesn't need another regular Tyranitar. If you haven't, regular Ttar is awesome, but why not build a Shadow Ttar instead?
7. Regualr Rock < Rampardos, Rhyperior, Terrakion, Tyrantrum, Gigalith. TM'ing Regular Rock to Dark wouldn't be too crazy.

What's next?

Appendix: Past analyses on other types

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