Level 50 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
75
|
- |
150 |
182 |
- |
| Atk |
70
|
81 |
90 |
122 |
134 |
| Def |
90
|
99 |
110 |
142 |
156 |
| SpA |
70
|
81 |
90 |
122 |
134 |
| SpD |
105
|
112 |
125 |
157 |
172 |
| Spe |
80
|
90 |
100 |
132 |
145 |
Overview
Altaria is not a great Pokemon in NU, as even with its 75/90/105 defenses and an interesting Dragon / Flying typing, it sadly finds itself in a metagame that makes it hard for it to succeed. Even with a handy number of resistances, its 4x Ice-type weakness is exploitable and hurts it tremendously, as it prevents Altaria from handling the dangerous Samurott, Ludicolo, and Gorebyss, as well as a slew of Pokemon who use Hidden Power Ice. A Stealth Rock weakness puts a lot of pressure on all of its sets, and Dragon Dance variants face tough competition from Fraxure. Even if Altaria tries to distinguish itself with a bulkier set, its offensive prowess is less than desirable. Altaria's best set, surprisingly enough, utilizes one of its lowest stats, with Choice Specs punching holes in many offensive teams due to the sheer power of Draco Meteor and the lack of Pokemon in the tier that resist Dragon-type attacks. Natural Cure is fantastic on all of its sets, as it allows Altaria to absorb status or turn Rest into a reliable full recovery move. While Altaria certainly has traits that hinder its ability to perform in NU, proper usage of its good defenses and perks such as Natural Cure and its Dragon-type STAB can turn it into a dangerous tool to use against the generally unprepared NU metagame.
This is Altaria's most effective set, which takes advantage of the incredible raw power of Draco Meteor and the lack of Steel-types in NU. While Altaria has a poor base 70 Special Attack, Draco Meteor's high base power makes up for it and gives trouble to many teams due to NU's offensive nature. Unless the opponent has some very bulky Pokemon or a Dragon-type resist, SpecsTaria will hit anything for a clean OHKO or 2HKO at worst with Draco Meteor. For the few Steel-type Pokemon in the tier, namely Probopass, Bastiodon, and Metang, Hidden Power Ground is a clean 2HKO on all but Metang, which still takes solid damage. Fire Blast hits Metang considerably harder than Hidden Power Ground and can even be used against Regice and Grass-type Pokemon such as Tangela, Exeggutor, and Roselia; however, Draco Meteor will get the job done just fine against these targets. Using Fire Blast over Hidden Power Ground also means that Probopass and Bastiodon will have a much easier time countering Altaria. Dragon Pulse is a reliable STAB move used in the cases where Draco Meteor would be overkill or when the Special Attack drop caused by Draco Meteor would hurt Altaria's chances of getting past a Pokemon. It is a fantastic move since it still deals heavy damage against most offensive teams, prevents opponents from taking advantage of Draco Meteor's Special Attack drop, and is an incredibly reliable attack with its 90 Base Power and 100% accuracy.
Max Speed and a Timid nature allow Altaria to outspeed common Pokemon such as Samurott, Ludicolo, and Skuntank, meaning it can hit them hard with Draco Meteor. Other factors that make this set good are Altaria's great 75/90/105 defenses, access to a great ability in Natural Cure, and resistances to the common Fire-, Water-, and Grass-type attacks, giving it multiple opportunities to switch in safely to start spamming Draco Meteors and Dragon Pulses right away. Natural Cure also ensures that Thunder Wave or an unlucky Body Slam paralysis never ruins Altaria's day and that it won't be worn down by Toxic. The ability to cure status on switching makes Rest a viable option for the last moveslot as it recovers all of Altaria's HP in one turn and makes Stealth Rock slightly less annoying.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Entry hazard support is appreciated as it helps Altaria break even some of the bulkier Pokemon in the tier, including Musharna, while making it easier for Altaria's Draco Meteor to OHKO common threats such as Samurott and Ludicolo. While Rapid Spin support is very useful, an alternative way to keep Stealth Rock off the field by using a Taunt user like Samurott or Misdreavus is welcome. Altaria doesn't have the best synergy with most Rapid Spin users, Wartortle being the best choice due to not sharing Altaria's Rock-type weakness. Despite its drawbacks, Wartortle's access to Foresight means it can get a Rapid Spin off at least once to support Altaria. A Modest nature can be used over Timid for the extra power, but then Altaria misses out on outspeeding Timid Samurott and Ludicolo. Cloud Nine can be used over Natural Cure to cancel out weather and allow Altaria to outspeed Exeggutor and Ludicolo, but it's generally not worth giving up the utility of Rest and doesn't come into play very often.
Altaria differentiates itself from other Dragon Dance users with this set, as good defenses and access to a reliable recovery move in Roost allow it to easily set up on common walls like Alomomola and Roselia. With heavy investment in Special Defense and Dragon Dance boosting Altaria's Attack and Speed, this set serves as both an offensive threat and specially defensive pivot. Between Dragon Dance and Roost, Altaria will be trying to set up as much as it possibly can so it can attempt to sweep. Dragon Claw is a somewhat weak, but it's a reliable STAB that, unlike Outrage, doesn't force Altaria to keep attacking. Since Altaria has no Attack investment and Dragon Claw is a measly 80 Base Power move, Altaria will need a lot of boosts under its belt before it can inflict serious damage. The main flaws of this set are status and the inability to dish out good damage whenever Altaria is unboosted, which is often. Thankfully, Substitute and Heal Bell are able to patch up the set's weakness to status such as Toxic and let Altaria stick around as long as possible. Substitute gets the nod over Heal Bell for its ability to help Altaria avoid status long-term as opposed to Heal Bell, which only has 8 PP. It also allows Altaria to effortlessly set up on Alomomola and Roselia while shielded from potential critical hits. Substitute and Roost together can even be used to stall out an opponent's PP; moves such as Stone Edge can be stalled out so Altaria can start boosting without worrying about getting hit with a super effective attack. Heal Bell's advantage over Substitute, however, is that it can not only heal Altaria's status, but also those of its teammates.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The EVs give Altaria as much special bulk as possible, while the 80 Speed EVs allow it to outspeed neutral-natured Rampardos and everything slower, including Adamant Torterra and standard Misdreavus. 80 Speed EVs also allow Altaria to hit 321 Speed at +1, letting it outpace threats such as Timid Haunter, Jolly Sawsbuck, and Adamant Tauros. Sadly, since this set focuses mainly on Altaria's defenses, it lacks offensive power even after multiple boosts. Hazard support is greatly appreciated to help Altaria take out bulky Pokemon more easily. Toxic Spikes in specific are very valuable for Altaria as they let it stall out some of the bulkiest walls such as Alomomola and Musharna while it tries to set up. Garbodor and Roselia make great partners for this, as they can provide both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, although the latter shares a nasty Ice-type weakness with Altaria. Earthquake is a choice to be considered for the last moveslot in order to hit Steel-type Pokemon like Probopass, Bastiodon, Metang, Mawile, and Klang; however, these Pokemon are not common at all, and they get worn down quickly by Spikes. That said, due to Altaria's high Special Defense, it is capable of setting up freely on the most common Steel-type Pokemon, Probopass, and can slowly wear it down with boosted Dragon Claws.
This set tries to take advantage of Altaria's base 105 Special Defense and the resistances afforded by its Dragon / Flying typing. With resistances to Fighting-, Water-, Fire-, and Grass-type attacks, Altaria makes a great pivot switch-in for a lot of dangerous Pokemon. Alongside Roost and Natural Cure, Altaria makes a formidable wall that can be difficult to take down without taking advantage of its Ice-type weakness or hitting its weaker physical side. Sadly for Altaria, a lot of Pokemon that it would be able to switch into, such as Samurott, Ludicolo, Gorebyss, Camerupt, Roselia, Gurdurr, and Sawk, have ways of dealing with it, be it Ice-type coverage or, as in Roselia's case, being able to freely set up Spikes. Even so, Altaria provides something no other Pokemon in NU can offer to a defensive team: the combination of Heal Bell and Roar. While Lickilicky can use Heal Bell and Dragon Tail, Dragon Tail is nowhere near as a reliable a phazing move as Roar is, and Lickilicky is hard pressed to fit both moves in without becoming setup fodder to Pokemon with Substitute. With Natural Cure, Altaria doesn't even have to worry about its own health and can preserve Heal Bell for when its team desperately needs it. Dragon Pulse is a decently powerful STAB attack that, thanks to its Dragon-typing, hits many Pokemon neutrally and prevents Altaria from becoming Taunt bait.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Altaria's EV spread and Calm nature give it as much special bulk as possible to let it switch into even the strongest resisted hits, such as Choice Specs Camerupt's Eruption. Toxic is an option for Altaria to wear down Pokemon, as it can Roost health back and heal status with Heal Bell, but it takes up a moveslot which Altaria cannot give up most of the time. Perish Song can be used over Roar, but lacks the immediacy that Roar has. Perish Song's advantage would lie in in the ability to decide the match in 3 turns in a last-Pokemon situation. Entry hazards, particularly Spikes and Toxic Spikes, are highly recommended to make the most out of Altaria's resilience and Roar. Garbodor is the best partner for this as it has decent synergy with Altaria, unlike Roselia, which compounds an Ice-type weakness. A Rapid Spin user can be used to prevent Altaria from taking Stealth Rock damage on the switch and generally fits well on teams that this Altaria would be most likely to be found on. Wartortle is the best option for a defensive spinner, as it can pull off a guaranteed Rapid Spin thanks to Foresight while also resisting Ice-type attacks aimed at Altaria.
Other Options
Altaria has a variety of options at its disposal; however, due to its lack of any one exceptional stat, it simply cannot use them effectively. Pursuit would allow Altaria to trap Haunter, who cannot deal much damage back; however, due to Altaria's low base 70 Attack, Haunter is capable of surviving Pursuit on the switch. Pursuit also takes the place of moves such as Roar and Heal Bell, which hold much more utility on Altaria's defensive set. Cotton Guard can be used to set up Dragon Dances more easily against a physical attacker, but Altaria would have to forgo Substitute or Heal Bell. Generally speaking, the biggest weakness of Altaria's Dragon Dance set is status, which Substitute or Heal Bell help against, making Cotton Guard a sub-par choice. A Choice Band set works similarly to Choice Specs in that it utilizes a powerful Dragon-type STAB alongside Ground-type coverage, but there's a main difference that makes Choice Band considerably less useful than Choice Specs: its main attack, Outrage, forces Altaria to stay locked into it while not dealing as much damage to Pokemon in general due to the abundance of physically defensive Pokemon in NU compared to the specially defensive ones. Altaria can use its great defenses to set up Sunny Day or Rain Dance, but its general lack of offensive pressure makes it less fit for this role. Altaria can also use a mixed set in the same vein as MixMence with Draco Meteor, Earthquake, Fire Blast, and Roost; however, while this set can deal great damage against its usual checks, it fails to do much damage to Pokemon it can't hit super effectively or that have decent Special Defense. Going mixed also means hindering one of Altaria's defenses, one of the only reasons that give Altaria a niche over other Dragon-type Pokemon.
Checks and Counters
It's difficult to fully counter Altaria with a single Pokemon. Most importantly, it's hard to resist Altaria's STAB Dragon moves, as NU has a significant shortage of Steel-type Pokemon. The Steel-types that exist in NU are easily taken down by a Ground-type coverage move. This restricts you to purely Pokemon with high defenses to beat Altaria. For the Choice Specs set, dedicated special walls such as Lickilicky, Regice, and even Gardevoir can easily take a Draco Meteor and recover their health. As for the Dragon Dance sets, physical walls such as Tangela and Regirock have no problem tanking boosted Dragon Claws and deal with Altaria accordingly. Alternatively, Piloswine has the all-around bulk to take a strong hit at full health and also Ice Shard to revenge Dragon Dance variants if necessary. Regice can easily take Draco Meteors from Altaria's Choice Specs set and retaliate with STAB Ice Beams; any damage taken can also be healed off with Rest or Wish support from a common partner in Alomomola.
The main difficulty in countering Altaria is that the special and physical sets have totally different counters. In fact, the Choice Specs set uses the counters to the Dragon Dance set, such as Alomomola and Tangela, as an opportunity to switch in. The crux of dealing with Altaria is recognizing its moveset according to the way the opponent plays it. All of its sets are unique and each set has a characteristic playstyle that can be easily recognized. It may be hard to switch into Altaria without suffering any losses, but taking down Altaria is not all that difficult. Without a Speed boost, Altaria is outpaced by a majority of the offensive metagame and is easily OHKOed by strong physical attackers such as Sawk and Zangoose. Even with a Speed boost, most Choice Scarf users are still faster than Altaria; Choice Scarf Sawk and Rotom-F have no trouble revenging a boosted Altaria with their Ice-type coverage moves. Most things with Ice Beam can easily KO even the most specially defensive Altaria variants, while Pokemon that rely on Hidden Power Ice are certain to leave, at worst, a big dent. Finally, Stealth Rock cuts down on Altaria's lifespan significantly, so wearing it down should not be very difficult with some smart switches.
