Level 5 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
75
|
- |
24 |
27 |
- |
| Atk |
70
|
11 |
13 |
16 |
17 |
| Def |
90
|
13 |
15 |
18 |
19 |
| SpA |
70
|
11 |
13 |
16 |
17 |
| SpD |
105
|
15 |
17 |
20 |
22 |
| Spe |
80
|
12 |
14 |
17 |
18 |
Overview
Altaria is often known as the "UU Dragon" because it's simply outclassed by Dragonite and other Dragons in OU. While it is outclassed in OU, it has a very interesting niche in the UU metagame. Being able to resist many of the most common attacks that are used in UU (Grass, Fire, Water, and Ground) as well as resisting common priority moves (Aqua Jet, Vacuum Wave, and Mach Punch), Altaria makes a great special wall and bulky Dragon Dance sweeper. Altaria's Special Defense is often high enough to even take Ice-type attacks after a Roost.
While Altaria is a great defensive Pokemon, it's often held back by its mediocre offensive stats. Draco Meteor and Outrage compensate for this to an extent; however, even with these moves Altaria has trouble dealing enough damage to sweep without Dragon Dance boosts. After a Dragon Dance, however, with perfect coverage granted in two moves, decent Speed, and a 120 Base Power STAB attack, Altaria will be able to devastate unprepared teams.
This set moves away from Altaria's defensive prowess and focuses on its decent Speed, movepool, and Dragon Dance. Altaria reaches 388 Speed after a Dragon Dance, which outpaces everything (without a boost) in UU minus Electrode. After a Dragon Dance, Altaria will OHKO a good portion of the metagame as well. For example, Venusaur, who is fairly bulky, is easily KOed by a +1 Outrage.
Earthquake grants Altaria perfect coverage with Outrage, since there are no Skarmory or Bronzong in UU, and it allows Altaria to take out its counters before it lets loose with Outrage. Roost takes advantage of Altaria's natural bulkiness and is especially useful to avoid Sucker Punch. That said, Fire Blast is a decent option to hit Steelix harder than Earthquake would on the switch, but reduces Altaria's long-term viability substantially by cutting out Roost.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
This Altaria set really benefits from Pokemon such as Venusaur who can deal with Steelix and Regirock with its STAB special attacks. Wallbreakers such as Blaziken and Nidoking work quite well too, easily switching into Steel- and Rock-type attacks, respectively, and OHKOing with their STAB special attacks.
Defensively, Altaria appreciates Steel-types who can absorb Ice and Rock attacks. Altaria will also often be forced out by Regirock or Donphan using Stone Edge or Ice Shard, respectively, meaning something that can switch into these Pokemon and threaten them is also greatly appreciated. Bulky Water-types such as Milotic can switch into Regirock and Donphan with ease and OHKO them with Surf, making these Water-types great teammates for Altaria.
Solid defenses allow Altaria to set up on many of UU's weaker attackers and get several Dragon Dances under its belt before smashing through teams with its nearly unresisted STAB Dragon Claw. This Altaria set has two uses: it can serve as a cleric with Heal Bell and as a check to many of UU's threatening special sweepers throughout the match, and also set up a sweep for itself near the end of the match.
Dragon Claw is chosen over Outrage as Altaria's attacking move for several reasons. Altaria is designed to serve as a supporting Pokemon for the majority of a match, but Outrage leaves it vulnerable to revenge kills if it has to attack without any gathered Dragon Dances. Dragon Claw also lets Altaria alternate between attacking and Roosting to bring down foes without recovery. This Altaria set is expected to get multiple Dragon Dances, so Dragon Claw's power loss is not as detrimental to Altaria's sweeping chances as Outrage's confusion. Heal Bell lets Altaria support its team by curing all status afflictions, but Safeguard is the better choice for improving Altaria's chances of setting up. Safeguard protects Altaria from sleep attacks and only needs to be used once every five turns; Heal Bell's 8 PP can be stalled out quite easily by an opponent spamming Toxic.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Max HP and 176 Special Defense EVs along with a Special Defense boosting nature allow Altaria to set up on most of UU's Ice Beam-wielding bulky Waters, something offensively-inclined sets cannot do. For example, the standard Milotic's Ice Beam only manages an average of 31.6% against a Roosting Altaria. With Leftovers healing an additional 6.25% of your health every turn, as well as UU's general lack of sandstorm and hail, it is not too difficult to alternate between Dragon Dance and Roost to set up; Safeguard counteracts Ice Beam's freeze chance, and a critical hit will only KO if it occurs on Altaria's non-Roosting turn. The 64 Speed EVs let Altaria hit 318 Speed after one Dragon Dance, outspeeding everything up to and including +Speed natured base 95s, such as Drapion and Houndoom. The remaining 16 EVs are placed in Attack to bring Altaria's unboosted stat to a well rounded 180.
Toxic Spikes support is excellent for setting up on bulky Waters since Altaria can just alternate between Dragon Dance and Roost as increasing poison damage takes out the foe. Omastar is able to set up Toxic Spikes as well as Stealth Rock and Spikes and has high physical Defense to complement Altaria's high Special Defense. Venusaur and Drapion are also decent choices; Altaria can take Fire attacks for Venusaur and Ground attacks for Drapion, but it must beware of Ice attacks. Altaria cannot sweep when Steel-types such as Registeel and Steelix are alive; both Dugtrio and Magneton can trap and take them out but must beware of switching into Iron Head or Ice Punch for Dugtrio or Thunder Wave or Earthquake for Magneton. Rapid Spin support is also much appreciated, especially since Altaria is designed to act as a cleric and special sponge throughout the match.
Altaria's great typing and access to rare supporting moves make it a valuable addition to any defensive team. Altaria boasts resistances to Fire, Water, Grass, and Fighting, and an immunity to Ground. In addition to this, Altaria has access to an instant recovery move in Roost and pseudo status immunity from its Natural Cure ability.
To maximize its support options, Altaria only has space for one attacking move. Using Altaria's Dragon STAB is recommended due to its excellent neutral coverage. Altaria has equal attacking stats, but Dragon Claw is preferred over Dragon Pulse because most of the Pokemon Altaria prefers to take on, such as Venusaur, Houndoom, Mismagius, Espeon, and Sceptile, have lower Defense than Special Defense. Aerial Ace is another option because it hits Grass- and Fighting-types such as Venusaur and Blaziken for super effective damage.
Roost grants Altaria reliable recovery and lets it reduce its quadruple Ice weakness to a double weakness and gain a resistance to Electric-type attacks for a turn. Heal Bell supports the entire team by healing all status afflictions. If you already have a cleric, Earthquake can be used in the third slot to hit Steel- and Fire-types. In the last slot, there are three options to use against stat-up Pokemon: Perish Song, Roar, and Haze. Perish Song is very helpful on stall teams for dealing with the last Pokemon scenario, when the foe can no longer be phazed. Roar has the advantage of causing the opponent to immediately switch; however, it is useless in a last Pokemon situation. Haze is the most reliable option for eliminating stat boosts, but it doesn't encourage the opponent to switch nearly as much as the other two options (which means less residual damage).
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Registeel resists all three of Altaria's weaknesses and makes an ideal partner on a defensive team. It can provide paralysis and Toxic support and set up Stealth Rock to make the most of Altaria's shuffling moves. In return, Altaria resists the Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-type attacks that plague Registeel and allows Registeel to use Rest without having to use Sleep Talk due to Heal Bell. Altaria needs a field clear of Stealth Rock to be able to do its job properly. Hitmontop is a good candidate due to Intimidate, its resistance to Rock-type attacks, and access to Foresight for an almost guaranteed Rapid Spin.
At first, it may seem odd to attach a Choice Band to a Pokemon with middling Attack and Speed stats. However, Altaria's Attack stat is sufficient to smash through many common defensive Pokemon, while its lower Speed stat is counterbalanced by bulk that frailer, more powerful sweepers can only dream of. Altaria's true strength lies in the excellent neutral coverage of Dragon-type attacks. While it cannot claim to 2HKO every single Pokemon in the tier with "the right attack," this is a strength, not a weakness—for the most part, there is no need to predict which Pokemon the opponent will switch in.
Outrage is Altaria's primary attack, and the one it should be using the majority of the time. Since there are no levitating Steels in UU, Earthquake hits every Pokemon that resists Outrage for super effective damage. Even though there are only three Steel Pokemon in the UU metagame, predicting a switch-in with Earthquake can enable you to more easily spam Outrage later in the game. Sleep Talk makes Altaria a more offensive reaction to Venusaur. If Venusaur puts Altaria to sleep with Sleep Powder, Altaria would ordinarily have to switch out in order to wake up with Natural Cure, which would give Venusaur a free turn to set up or attack. Sleep Talk means that Altaria has a high probability of attacking Venusaur in its sleep, at the very least ensuring a free switch-in for a teammate on the next turn as Venusaur heals with Synthesis. Dragon Claw is usable over Sleep Talk since it gives Altaria a secondary STAB move if you're afraid of locking Altaria into Outrage, but it misses out on many significant OHKOs and 2HKOs. Finally, Rest heals off damage taken from attacks or Stealth Rock, and is particularly effective against stall teams.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The given EVs are designed to maximize offensive potential while still taking advantage of Altaria's natural bulk. 252 Attack investment is a given, while 148 Speed lets Altaria hit 233 Speed, which outpaces Jolly Torterra. The primary Pokemon that resides between 148 Speed and max Speed is Adamant Absol, which isn't an important benchmark since it will just Sucker Punch Altaria anyway. Lowering Speed further is perfectly fine if you aren't concerned about Jolly Torterra; 92 EVs hits 219 Speed, which beats Jolly Aggron, and 64 EVs sits Altaria at 212 Speed, just enough to beat Adamant Torterra. An Adamant nature is necessary to compensate for Altaria's low Attack stat. A Jolly nature is basically worthless because it keeps Altaria from doing enough damage to defensive Pokemon; even worse, it is pointless as Jolly Altaria cannot even OHKO the offensive Pokemon it Speed ties.
This set is, first and foremost, a bulky attacker, not a glass cannon. It doesn't pack the pure power of some other Pokemon, but its Outrage is powerful enough to get the job done, especially with Natural Cure and its multitude of resistances preventing common defensive Pokemon from hitting Altaria effectively in return. A Choice Banded Outrage can be a nasty surprise for Pokemon such as Milotic planning to sponge a weak Dragon Claw, or at worst a Dragon Danced Outrage, due to its abnormally high damage output. Here are some damage calculations that show the fearsome power of 70 base Attack:
- Outrage vs 252/0 Torterra: 52.5% - 61.9%
- Outrage vs 248/252+ Milotic: 45.8% - 54.2%
- Outrage vs 252/200 Milotic: 52.8% - 62.4%
- Outrage vs 252/0 Venusaur: 69.2% - 81.6%
- Outrage vs 252/252+ Spiritomb: 48.4% - 57.2%
- Outrage vs 252/0 Spiritomb: 66.4% - 78.3%
- -1 Outrage vs 252/96+ Hitmontop: 40.5% - 47.7%
- Outrage vs 136/0 Rhyperior: 42.2% - 49.9%
- -1 Outrage vs 252/80 Arcanine: 40.6% - 47.9%
- -1 Earthquake vs 252/80 Arcanine: 45.3% - 53.6%
- Earthquake vs 252/0 Registeel: 46.7% - 54.9%
- Outrage vs 0/0 Venusaur: 83.7% - 98.7%
- Outrage vs 0/0 Mismagius: 124.1% - 146.4%
- Outrage vs 0/0 Moltres: 73.2% - 86.3%
As to be expected, this set mainly has problems with Steel-type Pokemon. Registeel and Steelix are usually more than willing to switch into Altaria, but Aggron lives in fear of a boosted Earthquake OHKOing it. However, once Altaria locks itself into Outrage, Aggron can easily switch in and either KO Altaria outright or set up with Rock Polish or Substitute. This makes Donphan and Hitmontop great teammates for Altaria, since they switch easily into all Steel-type Pokemon and resist Rock-type attacks aimed at Altaria. Cloyster shares a Rock-type weakness with Altaria, but can set up Spikes all day long against the offensively inept Registeel and Steelix. All three of these Pokemon are able to use Rapid Spin to clear the field for Altaria as well. It may be tempting to use Dugtrio to trap these Steel-types, but seeing as Choice Band Altaria is not a win condition, rather a wallbreaker, the downsides and risks associated with using Dugtrio are generally not worth the rewards. Altaria can 2HKO Registeel and Aggron anyway, and both it and Dugtrio have problems with Steelix, so nothing is really gained.
Other than Steel-types, Altaria also has some problems breaking through especially bulky Pokemon that are neutral to Outrage. Tangrowth can easily tank two Outrages, heal with Synthesis, and strike back with Hidden Power Ice. Defensively EVed Rhyperior and Regirock also shrug off Outrage before bringing Altaria crashing to the ground with Stone Edge. Finally, Altaria can be checked by faster Pokemon, but usually only by those with super effective attacks backed up by STAB or a 4x weakness, such as Kabutops and Hidden Power Ice Sceptile. If you try to revenge kill Altaria with a Mismagius, well... congratulations on dealing a little damage with Shadow Ball then getting OHKOed by Outrage.
This set, while functioning similarly to the above set, takes advantage of Altaria's 120 Base Power STAB Outrage and the way it functions with Sleep Talk. If Sleep Talk picks Outrage, the move functions normally, but its negative secondary effects are ignored. This means Altaria can get away with using Outrage without worrying about being locked in or affected by confusion. With Rest over Roost, Altaria can heal and recover from status both in one turn, as opposed to being forced to use Roost then Heal Bell. This gives Altaria a chance to smack the opponent with a hard boosted Outrage on the switch. The premise of this set is simple: use Dragon Dance until you are forced to Rest, then hit the opponent with boosted Outrages.
The EVs on this set are more offensively-oriented because of Altaria's natural bulkiness and because it's important for Altaria to hit hard with Outrage, since the opponent will likely switch to their best counter once Altaria uses Rest. The 36 Speed EVs are all that is needed to outpace all Moltres and other base 90s after a Dragon Dance.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
This Altaria specifically benefits from Aggron being removed, since Aggron completely walls Altaria and is more dangerous than any of the other Steel-types. Swellow will usually lure out the opponent's Aggron if they have one, and Dugtrio can trap and KO it, meaning Altaria would be free to sweep after that. Spikes are also important for this set since with three layers of Spikes, Altaria can 2HKO Registeel at +6 Attack assuming your opponent switches in Registeel after you have set up as a last resort attempt to stop your sweep via Explosion. Ironically, this set also benefits from Aggron as a teammate, since any strong Ice- or Rock-types may come in hoping to KO Altaria before it sets up. As a bonus, Altaria and Aggron resist every type together except for Electric and Steel.
Although Altaria's Special Attack stat is mediocre, it is still strong enough to pull off a Choice Specs set by abusing its Dragon STAB. Since many of Altaria's usual switch-ins, such as Rhyperior and Donphan, are lacking in Special Defense, Altaria can lure them in and crush them with a powerful Choice Specs-boosted Draco Meteor. With opposing physical walls severely damaged, physical sweepers of your own will have a much easier time sweeping.
Draco Meteor is Altaria's main STAB, and even with Altaria's pitiful base 70 Special Attack, it can still punch surprisingly large holes in the opponent's team. Fire Blast hits Steel-types that resist Draco Meteor, capable of 2HKOing Registeel after a layer of Stealth Rock and Spikes. Dragon Pulse is a more reliable STAB option than Draco Meteor, but Sleep Talk allows Altaria to switch into Venusaur's Sleep Powder with ease. Rest is used in the last spot so Altaria can instantly recover any health it has lost, switch out to remove sleep with its ability, Natural Cure, and and come back in later in the battle to continue pounding the opposition.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
To demonstrate Altaria's power, here are some damage calculations:
- Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Donphan: 98.70% - 100%
- Draco Meteor vs 140 HP / 0 SpD Rhyperior: 99.75% - 100%
- Draco Meteor vs 120 HP / 0 SpD Arcanine: 85.75% - 100%
- Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Hitmontop: 75.99% - 89.80%
- Draco Meteor vs 136 HP / 252 SpD Careful Tangrowth: 72.07% - 85.37%
- Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 252 SpD Weezing: 73.95% - 87.43%
- Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 0 SpD Uxie: 64.41% - 76.27%
- Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 4 SpD Slowbro: 76.14% - 89.85%
- Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 220 SpD Careful Regirock: 51.10% - 60.16%
- Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 4 SpD Omastar: 97.09% - 100%
- Draco Meteor vs 252 HP / 100 SpD Calm Clefable: 56.60% - 67.01%
- Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 252 SpD Careful Registeel: 42.86% - 50.55%
- Fire Blast vs 252 HP / 252 SpD Careful Steelix: 76.27% - 89.83%
The given EV spread allows Altaria to hit as hard as possible on the special side, as well as outspeed unboosted Jolly Torterra. The rest of the EVs go into reinforcing Altaria's decent bulk.
Although Altaria is good at taking down walls, it still has problems with Milotic, who can avoid getting 2HKOed by Draco Meteor, heal itself with Recover, and strike back with Ice Beam. Venusaur and Toxicroak can easily switch into Milotic and wreak havoc, while Altaria can take on the Fire-types that threaten the aforementioned Grass- and Poison-types. Since Altaria is weak to Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin support is highly beneficial. Hitmontop and Blastoise are both bulky Rapid Spinners that synergize well with Altaria, and they can both pull off a Rapid Spin on Ghost-types thanks to Foresight.
Since Altaria is good at luring out physical walls and damaging them beyond repair, physical sweepers that can take advantage of this are ideal teammates. Swords Dance Scyther, Swellow, Tauros, and Kangaskhan can all sweep more freely after the removal of Steelix and Registeel, while Dragon Dance Feraligatr, Rock Polish Rhyperior, and Swords Dance Leafeon can easily take advantage of a highly battered Weezing. Swords Dance Drapion also shines when opposing Donphan or Rhyperior are removed from the battle.
Other Options
A mixed set works great for Altaria as well, since it doesn't need to worry about Calm Mind Pokemon setting up on Draco Meteor. However, Altaria simply isn't strong enough to abuse both its Special Attack and Attack with the same set. A Toxic stalling set could also work on Altaria, since Altaria boasts impressive defenses and Roost. However, Moltres outclasses Altaria in this regard with Pressure and a much more powerful Fire-type STAB attack.
Checks and Counters
If Altaria doesn't carry Earthquake or Fire Blast, any Steel-type will have an easy time beating it, though Registeel and Steelix need to be careful when facing the Sleep Talk set because it can heal off the damage they cause and set up Dragon Dance. Altaria also has an easily exploitable 4x weakness, so bulky Water-types who invest in Special Attack should have no trouble walling and KOing Altaria.
Regirock and Donphan make great checks to the Sleep Talk Dragon Dance set, as they don't take much damage from Outrage and can easily 1-2HKO with Stone Edge and Ice Shard, respectively.
