>>44598871The difference is Garchomp has enough bulk to tank a hit while it Dragon Dances. Dragapult need screens or else it gets toasted by anything with a halfway decent move. Even a neutral hit like Excadrill's Earthquake or Alakazam's Psyshock is usually enoguh to destroy it. And Dragapult gets shit on by Sucker Punch, Garchomp can tank a Sucker Punch for it you predict wrong, so you get a lot more leeway, Dragapult can't. For Dragapult to set up you need either screens or to be up against some really passive shit. Garchomp you can just plop it down against whatever doesn't got Moonblast, Ice Beam, or Will-o-wisp (and even then you could run Lum Berry for extra laughs) and you'd be good to go.
Also of note is that Dragapult doesn't actually have a good physical ghost move for its Dragon Dance set. Phantom Force sucks. Garchomp gets Earthquake, which is actually better than its Dragon STABS. If Z-Crystals were around you could alleviate this a little, much like how Landorus would use Fly for Supersonic Skystrike last gen, but they're not.
