The build
Item
Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability
Sword of Ruin
Tera type
Dark
Nature · EVs
Jolly · 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moves
Showdown export
Chien Pao @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Sword of Ruin Tera Type: Dark EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Icicle Crash - Sucker Punch - Throat Spray - Snarl
Overview
Chien-Pao's Sword of Ruin passively lowers all opposing Defense by 25%, then layers on the Ice/Dark STAB attacks. The interesting set: Throat Spray + Snarl combo. Snarl lowers opposing SpA (great for Iron Valiant), and Throat Spray boosts user's SpA by +1 when a sound move is used. After Snarl, your Tera Blast Dark deals special damage from a +1 SpA Pokémon with Sword of Ruin's defensive debuff active.
Move analysis
Icicle Crash is the physical ice STAB with 30% flinch (helpful priority breaker). Sucker Punch for priority KO. Throat Spray triggers on Snarl use, giving +1 SpA. Snarl is the boosted attack/setup move.
Team partners
Great Tusk (Spin), Sinistcha (Matcha Gotcha + Hospitality), Slowking-Galar (Future Sight), Iron Treads (Booster Speed + EQ vs. Steels).
What beats Chien Pao
Tera Fire on Garganacl (resists Ice + immune to Sucker Punch), Iron Hands Drain Punch, Skeledirge Torch Song stacks SpA boosts, Tera Fighting on revengers.
How to use the build
Open our damage calculator and plug in the EV spread above to see what Chien Pao OHKOs and 2HKOs against the current OU/VGC meta. Drop Chien Pao into the team builder to check defensive coverage gaps when paired with your other 5 slots.
Other Dark/Ice options
If you want to run a different Dark-type, browse our competitive builds hub. For more on Tera mechanics, see the damage calculator's Tera explainer and our guide on type matchups.