Excadrill is a niche but potentially dangerous wallbreaker and sweeper thanks to its Sand Rush ability and high power. However, Excadrill's coverage issues and general frailty make it very high maintenance and hard to get the most out of in practice. Swords Dance allows Excadrill to more easily break through bulky targets like Ferrothorn, Zapdos, and Gliscor. Rock Slide is the preferred last move to hit Moltres, Volcarona, and Zapdos while also dissuading Mega Charizard Y from coming in to change the weather. Rapid Spin allows Excadrill to remove hazards for its team, although Excadrill is a below-average hazard control option thanks to its lack of longevity and mediocre matchup versus common hazard setters like Landorus-T, Ting-Lu, and Garchomp. Steelium Z is the preferred item, as Corkscrew Crash gives Excadrill the ability to smash through bulky Ground-types like Landorus-T, Gliscor, and Great Tusk while retaining a good option to hit Flying-types with Rock Slide. However, Giga Impact alongside Normalium Z allows Excadrill to break through bulky neutral targets such as Zapdos, Slowbro, and Ogerpon-W. A Jolly Nature allows Excadrill to outrun threats like Great Tusk, Gholdengo, and Terapagos unboosted.

Excadrill only fits on sand teams. It needs Sand Rush activated to truly present a threat, as Excadrill is otherwise far too easy for teams to pivot around and revenge kill thanks to its pedestrian Speed tier and prediction-reliant STAB moves. Mega Tyranitar is a standout partner, as it is the most consistent sand setter. It also supports Excadrill's sweeping efforts by setting Stealth Rock, threatening common Flying-types with its STAB moves, and using Knock Off against the opponent's defensive core. Hippowdon is an alternative Sand Stream user that brings superior bulk, longevity, and defensive typing to the table, which lets it stick around to set up sand in a longer game. However, its lack of an offensive presence makes it a more awkward fit. Pivots that can get Excadrill in are fantastic teammates, as it needs to come in safely on passive opponents if it's looking to set up effectively. These teammates can include Alomomola, Slowbro, and Tornadus-T. These three also help out Excadrill by checking Fighting-types, such as Zamazenta, Great Tusk, and Urshifu-R, that can take an unboosted hit and threaten it in return. Excadrill assists these Pokemon by defensively helping out versus Electric-types such as Raging Bolt and Tapu Koko, as Excadrill can switch into them a couple times. Various bulky Flying- and Water-types, such as Zapdos, Slowbro, and Alomomola, are generally Excadrill's biggest obstacle to sweeping many teams, so an Electric-type teammate of its own, such as Zapdos, Raging Bolt, or Tapu Koko, makes for an excellent partner. The aforementioned three are also capable of running pivot moves to get Excadrill in safely.

Excadrill cements itself as a staple on sand teams thanks to its great offensive capabilities with Swords Dance and Sand Rush. After a Swords Dance boost, it can effectively outspeed and break through a large portion of the metagame with its strong STAB moves. Steelium Z allows Excadrill to eliminate chipped switch-ins such as Buzzwole and Tangrowth after a Swords Dance boost. Rapid Spin supports the team while also making sure that Excadrill can beat other Sand Rush Excadrill and Unburden Hawlucha. If a teammate can remove entry hazards, Rock Slide is an alternative that stops Celesteela and Skarmory from stonewalling Excadrill, as well as handling threats such as Thundurus. Leftovers is an alternative option that provides Excadrill with passive recovery, allowing it to keep hazards off more reliably. As a Sand Rush sweeper, Excadrill needs to partner with Tyranitar or Hippowdon to outpace the entire metagame. Strong wallbreakers like Choice Band Tyranitar and Dracozolt form a strong offensive core with Excadrill to help overwhelm its checks such as Slowbro or Skarmory. In return, Excadrill can pressure threats such as opposing Excadrill for them. Additionally, Choice Scarf users such as Mienshao and Hydreigon can help pressure some of Excadrill's checks, such as Buzzwole and Tangrowth, while also acting as secondary speed control options outside of sand. Slowbro and Slowking handle Fighting- and Fire-types for it such as Buzzwole and Victini, as well as providing Future Sight support and safely getting Excadrill on the field with Teleport.

With its plethora of utility options and excellent defensive typing that makes it difficult to wear down via residual damage, Excadrill can function as an effective support Pokemon on a wide variety of team compositions, from providing a sturdy entry hazard removal option to checking attackers such as SubToxic Aegislash, Magnezone, and Mega Latias. Iron Head provides Excadrill crucial coverage against Ground-immune Pokemon such as Mega Aerodactyl and Enamorus and 2HKOes Clefable, allowing Excadrill to better deal with it. Toxic allows Excadrill to cripple a multitude of bulky Pokemon that would otherwise check it, from Slowbro and Hydrapple to Swampert and Hippowdon, notably allowing Excadrill to keep Stealth Rock off the field against the last two more reliably. Additionally, Excadrill can also use Stealth Rock to further support its teammates, most notably being a hazard setter that can consistently threaten Rotom-Wash, one of the most common hazard removal options in the tier. It's worth noting on teams that necessitate the ability to set Stealth Rock, Toxic can be used over Iron Head to ensure Excadrill retains its ability to threaten several of the aforementioned defensive Pokemon. Lastly, Swords Dance is an option that helps Excadrill break past defensive Pokemon such as Amoonguss and Slowking, enabling it to sweep teams late-game in conjunction with Rapid Spin's Speed boost. The first EV spread allows Excadrill to survive a Close Combat from Jolly Zeraora, outspeed Aegislash and Magnezone that run a Speed-boosting nature, and OHKO Choice Scarf Rotom-Wash and 2HKO most variants of defensive Scizor after Stealth Rock with Earthquake, with the rest put into Special Defense to maximize its ability to take hits from special attackers such as Mega Venusaur. On sets using Swords Dance, Excadrill should instead run maximum Attack and Speed investment with a Jolly nature to be as offensively threatening as possible. Pokemon that benefit the most from Excadrill's utility options include offensive threats such as Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Gardevoir, and Iron Boulder, which appreciate not being worn down by entry hazards as well as Excadrill's ability to cripple or take advantage of certain defensive Pokemon such as Clefable, Slowking, and Scizor for them. In return, these teammates can assist Excadrill in overwhelming Celesteela and Skarmory that otherwise completely blank it and help manage faster attackers such as Alakazam and Iron Moth. Similarly, other defensive Pokemon such as Buzzwole, Hydrapple, and Mega Latias benefit from Excadrill's hazard removal and ability to assist against threats such as Aegislash; lessening the first two’s reliance on Heavy-Duty Boots to manage hazards is also a major boon. In return, these Pokemon can help deal with Fighting- and Ground-types such as Mienshao, and Gastrodon and absorb Knock Off from Mega Venusaur and Zeraora that would otherwise cut into Excadrill's survivability. Lastly, certain Pokemon such as Swampert, Clefable, and Celesteela deserve a special mention; their role compression can help free Excadrill from the need to run Stealth Rock or check Pokemon such as Clefable with Iron Head, allowing it to be much more flexible in its moveslots and role compression.

Excadrill can function as a great suicide lead on hyper offense teams, having the unique ability to set up entry hazards against stall teams thanks to Mold Breaker bypassing Mega Sableye's Magic Bounce. Rapid Spin prevents opposing entry hazards from being set. Steel Beam allows Excadrill to go out while generating momentum for its teammates, as well as preventing common Defoggers such as Tapu Fini from clearing its Stealth Rock. Toxic is another option to cripple opposing hazard setters and Mega Sableye long-term. Focus Sash is an important item to ensure that Excadrill can reliably set Stealth Rock. Excadrill can struggle against threats such as Skarmory and Celesteela due to their Ground immunities; strong setup sweepers such as Nasty Plot Thundurus, Meteor Beam Celesteela, and Swords Dance Iron Boulder can pressure them for it. Excadrill's Rapid Spin is especially beneficial for setup sweepers otherwise vulnerable to Stealth Rock, such as Booster Energy Iron Moth and Galarian Moltres.