Altaria (Analysis)

Altaria



Status: Done!
QC approved: PK Gaming, Snunch, Heysup
GP approved: Aeron Ee1, Oglemi (stamped NixHex's check)


[Overview]
<p>Since its introduction two generations ago, Altaria hasn't changed much, being able to go on the offense while still being defensive quite effectively in each generation's respective UU tier. The key to its success so far lies in its access to Dragon Dance and STAB Dragon-type moves, allowing it to pose as an offensive threat despite its low Attack stat, and its defenses, which allow it to obtain multiple boosts nicely. Altaria also has the Natural Cure ability along with great moves such as Heal Bell and Roost, allowing it to support its team as well. Altaria even receives Cloud Nine from the Dream World, which works quite nicely with sandstorm teams thanks to its resistance to Water- and Ground-type moves. Overall, Altaria is a solid Pokemon in the Underused tier with multiple possibilities that should not be overlooked.</p>

[SET]
name: Offensive Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Outrage
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Roost
item: Life Orb
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Altaria takes quite an offensive approach with this set, aiming to deal damage hard and fast. Dragon Dance is Altaria's choice to boost its stats, reaching 393 Attack and 388 Speed with an Adamant nature after a single use. Outrage deals the most damage out of Altaria's physical Dragon-type moves, making it the primary option. Earthquake is Altaria's best coverage move, getting a good hit on Steel-types that resist Outrage. Finally, Roost is used as Altaria's way to heal damage taken while sweeping, and its ability to take hits and heal off damage shouldn't be underestimated.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Adamant is the preferred nature since Altaria needs all the power it can get, but Jolly is an option for outspeeding base 130 Speed Pokemon such as Aerodactyl and Jolteon after just one Dragon Dance. Fire Blast could be used over Roost to hit Escavalier, who is neutral to Earthquake, but Escavalier isn't common enough to be worth a moveslot. Altaria appreciates other Dragon-types as teammates, as they can wear down their similar counters and allow one another to sweep. Kingdra and Flygon are good Dragon-types to consider. Magneton can trap and KO Escavalier, which can be troublesome otherwise, allowing it to be a good teammate as well. Lastly, Hitmontop can be a good check to Ice-types such as Mamoswine and Weavile who could stop Altaria's sweep with Ice Shard.</p>

[SET]
name: Bulky Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Roost
move 3: Dragon Claw
move 4: Heal Bell / Safeguard
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 176 SpD / 64 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Unlike the previous set, which aimed to deal damage quickly, this set aims to use Altaria's natural defenses to gain multiple boosts before sweeping with a reliable move. Dragon Dance and Roost are the crux of this set, allowing Altaria to set up and heal. Dragon Claw is chosen over Outrage as it is much more reliable, not forcing Altaria to be locked in or become confused. In the last slot, Heal Bell is reliable to heal status that Altaria may take while setting up, but has problems with low PP. Safeguard has much higher PP, and can protect Altaria and its teammates from status for five turns. It can't get rid of a status that's already there though, making it a bit risky. Altaria mostly sets up on Fire- and Grass-type Pokemon here, but can also do so on Fighting-types that lack Stone Edge or even Water-types with low Special Attack, as Altaria can actually heal off their damage by using Roost on an incoming Ice Beam.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Altaria can invest some EVs in Attack at expense of its Special Defense, but this is not recommended due to its defenses being so important on this set. Magneton again makes a solid teammate, trapping and KOing Steel-types which can easily get in Altaria's way with their resistance to Dragon-type moves. Hitmontop works as well, dealing with Ice-types wanting to get in an Ice Shard. Celebi and Shaymin are good teammates as well, providing a bit of backup against bulky Water-types, especially those with Roar, such as Suicune.</p>

[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Dragon Pulse
move 2: Heal Bell
move 3: Roost
move 4: Perish Song / Toxic / Flamethrower
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Altaria reaches 354 HP and 339 Special Defense with the given EV spread, allowing it to wall a variety of special attackers when combined with its unique set of resistances, including Fire- and Grass-type moves. Dragon Pulse is Altaria's most reliable STAB move and has decent neutral coverage, but it won't hit very hard at all. Heal Bell is a very useful move to rid Altaria's team of status, and isn't too widespread, allowing it to fill a useful niche. Roost is Altaria's all-important healing move, letting it stay around for a good amount of time. Perish Song is preferred in the last slot as a way to phaze the opponent, though Altaria itself must switch after use or else it will be KOed. Toxic is another option to inflict deadly poison on bulkier Pokemon, which can be very helpful. Flamethrower can also be used to hit Steel-types that resist Dragon Pulse.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Roar is an alternative phazing move that works immediately if that is desired, although many other Pokemon can use that move to greater effect. Pokemon with Ice-type moves are the biggest threat to this Altaria. Examples of these are Nidoking, Abomasnow, Mamoswine, Weavile, and Froslass. Technician Hitmontop can use Mach Punch on Mamoswine, Abomasnow, and Weavile, which allows it to work well with Altaria. Chansey is another option for a teammate which easily walls Nidoking, as Nidoking is almost always using specially-based sets. It can even take an Earthquake from a mixed set as well. Escavalier is another good teammate, being able to take the moves Froslass uses while KOing with Pursuit. Steel-types in general have great synergy with Altaria, as together they combine to resist every type but Electric.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Cloud Nine is an alternative ability that Altaria can use. Although Natural Cure's status healing is preferred, Cloud Nine Altaria has amazing synergy with sandstorm teams due to its many unique resistances. Cotton Guard is a good move that can greatly raise Altaria's defense, and could be used to try to stall. Sing is a sleep-inducing move, which is always useful, but its terrible accuracy makes it unreliable. Altaria can even set up Sunny Day or Rain Dance for weather-based teams, and it can usually survive long enough to set up multiple times in a match.</p>

<p>Altaria could hit Fighting-types with Aerial Ace, but it is quite weak even with STAB. Agility could also be used for the Speed boost, but Altaria's offensive stats are just too weak to use unboosted attacks. A Choice Specs set could also be used, as Altaria learns Dragon Pulse, Draco Meteor, Fire Blast, Ice Beam, and Hidden Power, but Kingdra and even Flygon hit harder. Altaria gets Featherdance, which can help against physical threats by lowering their Attack. Haze is yet another move that Altaria could use to get rid of stat boosts. Finally, Rest and Sleep Talk could be used nicely together for healing, and Natural Cure makes it much safer as this means that the new sleep mechanics don't hurt Altaria.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Ice-types can threaten to KO Altaria, making them major problems for any set. Weavile, Froslass, Abomasnow, and Mamoswine are all good examples of these. Steel-types can deal with any set without Earthquake or Fire Blast easily. Escavalier makes a better check, taking a neutral Earthquake with ease. Powerful bulky Water-types can take a hit and use Ice-type attacks in return, but need to watch out for a possible Toxic. Lastly, other Dragon-types such as Kingdra and Flygon can outspeed and deal massive damage to Altaria.</p>

OO: Featherdance and Haze

On the defensive DD set, a specially defensive EV spread is definitely more useful than a physically defensive one. Bulky waters like Milotic, Suicune, and Empoleon will fail to do significant damage to a roosting Altaria with Ice Beam, allowing set-up in the face of would-be counters. The dpp standard of 252 HP / 16 Atk / 176 SpD / 64 Spe should work, but the atk and spe evs could be changed to adapt to the metagame. Heal Bell should also be the primary slash in the 4th slot, allowing Altaria to support its team mid-game and dismantle stall late-game.

I think Bulky Dragon Dance is a better name than Defensive Dragon Dance, because it is after all still sweeping, and not being defensive.

Like the last generation, can a Mono-Attacker set be useful?

Okay, I have made the changes mentioned, they look fine. I was honestly unsure of the Bulky DD set more than anything as EV's and nature went so that help is really appreciated.

You may want to mention Rest in the OO, as it helps with more offensive variants to get rid of status while also healing you to full health, and thanks to Natural Cure, you wake up once you switch out. A ResTalk set could also be a possible OO mention too, as you don't have to worry about the Sleep counter resetting in case you have to switch out.

Sure, I actually thought about Rest but didn't remember to list it when I got to OO.

I can't remember who made it, but is last gen's CB Altaria viable?

IIRC it was something like Outrage/EQ/Rest/something I can't recall.

Basically, it gives Altaria a big power boost, which is definitely something that it simply requires to be useful.

I really can't see that being too useful. Under 400 Attack with the Choice Band and Adamant, and remember that Flygon exists in this tier.

Hi

Fire Blast should be removed from the offensive DD set. It seems arbitrary (no levitating steel types) and Excavalier isn't common enough to warrant Fire Blast. Give it an AC mention. Remove Earthquake on the Bulky DD set. You're hitting for peanuts with EQ against the targets that matter (Empoleon, Excavalier) and Registeel will lose 1 vs 1 because +6 Dragon Claw 2HKOes. You want Heal Bell at all times.

Finally Change the set order (Offensive DD > Bulky DD > Support) and you're good to go.

Edit: QC APPROVED (1/3)

All right, changes have been made.

Slash Safeguard with Heal Bell in the Bulky DD set. Getting PP stalled out of Heal Bell is common and Safeguard prevents that.

QC Approved 2/3

Okay, did that but mentioned that Safeguard can't heal a status that's already there (though you'd probably rather not get in that possible situation, I figured it should be mentioned)

Also, if we're talking PP, why not Refresh?

It's been a week and this just needs one more check, also still wondering about Refresh.

What happened to RestTalkDD? The bulky dragon dance set has identical EVs, but the biggest difference is that RestTalk DD gets to use Outrage and gets to take advantage of Natural Cure to gain instant full recovery if needed. The current bulky set isn't bad, but I think RestTalk needs at least a mention, possibly it's own set. Also, Altaria has amazing synergy on sandstorm teams due to typing and Cloud Nine, so you might want to mention that.

I'll mention the Sandstorm synergy but I'll let QC figure out if to use RestTalk DD. If they want it I'll add it.

ok, I've seen people ahve a lot of success with cotton guard altaria. I don't know the evs, but it was like this:

Dragon Claw/Toxic/Roost/Cotton Guard.

I presume that the EVs just maxed special defense.

It's infuriating to go up against, frankly. it can tank ice beams really well, too. you have to get rid of steel types, but it's still really formidable.

I thought about that, to be honest, but thought it would be too prone to critical hits and strong Ice Beams (it's defensive but still) so I didn't make it a dedicated set. I'm sure it could work sometimes but I worry about its ability to do that reliably over multiple games.

I'd make mention of the Power Swap set...consisting of Draco Meteor/Rest/Power Swap and a coverage move or support move depending on your needs for last slot.

Power Swap is incredibly useful move being able to reverse the tide of a sudden setup being non-blockable by subs and has the added benefit of letting Draco Meteor double as a debuff. Rest is generally a better choice along with Natural Cure since you'll be hit and running anyway.

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