http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/142.shtml
[Overview]
<p>In the past, Aerodactyl was known as one of the fastest Pokemon in the game with its base 130 speed, tying with Jolteon and Crobat and being outsped by only Ninjask. However, the fifth generation looks grim for Aerodactyl, bringing obscenely fast Pokemon such as Deoxys down to OU and giving Whimsicott and Thundurus, among others, Prankster to stop Aerodactyl leads dead with a priority Taunt. But from the Dream World, a faint ray of light shone through: Unnerve. This turns Aerodactyl into the best possible check for leads that rely on stat up or resist berries, giving it a cool niche in gen 5.</p>
<p>Alternatively, Aerodactyl can leave the lead position and run a simple Life Orb set. Its base 105 attack and blistering speed allow it to eliminate a lot of threats, coupled with its small but precise movepool. It can also take advantage of the new boosting move Hone Claws and attempt a sweep with its powerful low-accuracy moves. Although Aerodactyl may not be the first Pokemon you think of when building a team, give it a try and you won't be disappointed.</p>
[SET]
name: Suicide Rocker
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Taunt
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Stone Edge / Rock Slide
item: Focus Sash
ability: Tension
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set, almost directly copied from the 4th Generation with the exception of Unnerve, is a traditional lead set for everyone's favorite Rock bat. Aerodactyl does what it does best here-gets up Stealth Rock on the opponent's side of the field and Taunts opposing leads before they can get up hazards of their own, before the enemy can do the same. Although Aerodactyl may appear outclassed by Pokemon such as Accelgor and Deoxys-S because of their higher Speed stats, Tension gives Aerodactyl the valuable niche of being able to check leads leads that rely on stat up or resist berries (such as Shuca Berry Heatran).</p>
<p>Stealth Rock and Taunt are the bread and butter moves of this set. One attack should always be Earthquake, while the final slot is a toss-up between Stone Edge and Rock Slide for power or accuracy and flinch chance. A simple EV spread of 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd is employed to speed tie with other base 130 speeds and give the maximum power to Aerodactyl's attacking moves.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Outside of the few things it needs to do its job as a suicide lead, Aerodactyl's movepool is rather barren. Only three moves really bear other mentioning, with each possibly replacing one of the current attacking moves (which one is a matter of preference). Crunch can be used to hit all Deoxys leads. Fire Blast can be used to hit Forretress, Ferrothorn and Whimsicott, and Aerical Ace also hits Whimsicott with the added bonus of causing a lot of damage to Conkledurr leads that may attempt to Taunt.</p>
[SET]
name: Life Orb
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Roost
move 4: Taunt
item: Life Orb
ability:Pressure / Unnerve
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Aerodactyl can also be a great surprise Life Orb sweeper. It is immune to Ground-type moves, Spikes, and Sandstorm, providing plentiful switch-ins, although it is vulnerable to Stealth Rock. Aerodactyl has all the tools it needs to be a great stall-breaker: it can Taunt, Roost, and PP stall with Pressure. If you wish to use this set against more offensive teams, Unnerve can be used over Pressure to let Aerodactyl hit through resist berries and stop users of stat-up berries.</p>
<p>The exact same EV spread is utilized for basically the same purposes: hitting fast and hitting hard. If you don't fear fast sweepers, Adamant nature can be used over Jolly to cause a bit more damage. This is not recommended because Aerodactyl really wants to speed tie other base 130 speed Pokemon.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>As previously stated, Aerodactyl's movepool is very small, so almost the same changes may be made to this set as the lead set. Fire Blast may be used to take out Bug, Grass and Steel-types such as Forretress, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory. Alternatively, Crunch can be used to hit Psychic and Ghost types such as Gengar, Latios, and Latias. Aerial Ace is an option for secondary STAB to hit Fighting-types hard, but it has relatively low power so is not a prime option. If Fire Blast is used a Hasty or Naive nature may be employed, but they are not really necessary as even with Aerodactyl's puny Special Attack Fire Blast can easily rip apart Forretress and Ferrothorn, its main targets.</p>
[SET]
name: Hone Claws
move 1: Claw Sharpen
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Earthquake / Aqua Tail
move 4: Ice Fang / Fire Fang
item: Focus Sash / Life Orb
ability:Pressure
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Aerodactyl is one of the best users of the new boosting move Claw Sharpen. It fits perfectly on him-he's already got great Speed to abuse it with, decent Attack that could use a bit of boosting, and lots of high-powered but low-accuracy attacks. The main problem is that Aerodactyl is very fragile, making him hard to set up.</p>
<p>Aerodactyl has the exact same EVs and nature from the Life Orb set; a sweeper set that lets Aero hit fast and hard. There's really no other way to configure them. Focus Sash allows Aero to take one hit and set up, after which he will nearly always be able to outspeed his oppoent and hit them hard with a boosted atack. If really needed Life Orb is used over Focus Sash for extra power, although then Aerodactyl will die in one hit from anything that he doesn't resist. If this is done, more EVs should be moved into HP so Aerodactyl can take a hit during that all-important setup turn. Aerodactyl has the very useful ability of being immune to and thus being able to set upon set up on an Earthquake, especially if it is choice-locked. He also packs a useful Fire resistance, but other than those two types he is very likely to be knocked out when switching in.</p>
<p>Aerodactyl has more options on this set than some of the others, as it can finally abuse its low-accuracy moves. Stone Edge should definitely go in the first slot, as Claw Sharpen fixes its accuracy problems and makes it a great high-powered STAB move for Aerodactyl to abuse. The second slot can be either Earthquake or Aqua Tail-choose the one that provides better coverage for the situation. While both moves can hit Fire and Rock-type Pokemon effectively, Earthquake hits Electric and Steel types but allows switch-ins for Flying-types. The last slot is a toss-up between two elemental fangs-again, choose the one with better coverage for the situation. While Ice Fang can hit Dragon-types such as Hydreigon, Garchomp and Salamence, Fire Fang covers Nattorei and Forretress, two Pokemon that normally wall this set.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>See the comments about Aerodactyl's barren movepool and take them to heart; however, Aerodactyl's usable movepool for this set is actually bigger than that for its other sets. The two main moves that gain extra utility on this set are Thunder Fang and Iron Tail, which both have their accuracy issues fixed. Thunder Fang gives Aerodactyl a viable way to hit Water-types such as Gyarados, while Iron Tail provides coverage on Ice and Rock-types; thus, if Earthquake or Stone Edge are not used for some reason, Iron Tail can assist with coverage. It also has a useful chance of a defense drop. Substitute can be used to ease prediction, but that gives up an attack slot, and Aerodactyl needs all the coverage it can get.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>As discussed above, outside of the essentials, Aerodactyl's movepool is very barren. The only workable moves Aerodactyl can run are already discussed in its sets, namely Crunch, Fire Blast, Aerial Ace, Thunder Fang, and Iron Tail. A Choice Band set can be usable on Aerodactyl, but will be forced to switch far too much due to the fairly large amount of Pokemon that resist EdgeQuake, which coupled with Aerodactyl's Stealth Rock weakness means it won't stay alive for too long.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The main weakness of Aerodactyl's lead set is things that can go before it. Accelgor and Prankster Thundurus work especially well for this purpose. Whimsicott can also priority Taunt it, but may end up taking a super-effective hit to the face.</p>
<p>Similarly, the main weakness of Aerodactyl's Life Orb set is that it is dependent on going first. Fast Pokemon such as Accelgor will do well, and Jolteon OHKOes with Thunderbolt but is reliant on a speed tie, so is very risky to use. Aerodactyl is also weak to some priority moves (Bullet Punch and Aqua Jet), so Pokemon like Scizor will do well against it.</p>
<p>The Hone Claws set has many counters, once again mainly Pokemon that can move before Aerodactyl. Pokemon with Prankster such as Whimsicott and Thundurus can priority Taunt it to stop setup. It is also weak against priority such as Bullet Punch and Aqua Jet, but Steel-types have to be careful against Fire Fang and Earthquake. Because of this, Azumarill makes an amazing counter as it can switch in and OHKO with Aqua Jet.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Aerodactyl gets Unnerve from the Dream World, and has been released with it. This is one of the great niche things about Aerodactyl in the 5th generation, and it discussed in-depth above.
STATUS: Done, ready for QC checks.
