Aerodactyl

Aero
Dactyl

If you guys want me to include any of the sets mentioned in OO I suppose I could
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[OVERVIEW]

• Really Fast
• Pretty strong
• Weak to Bullet Punch and some common Pokemon can shut it down depending on Aero's set
• Hone Claws is neat

[SET]
name: Hone Claws
move 1: Hone Claws
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Aqua Tail
move 4: Fire Fang / Roost
item: Life Orb
nature: Jolly




evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

• Hone Claws makes Aerodactyl quite powerful and means its moves won't miss unless they have sand veil or something
• Despite being really fast its still revenge killed by Scizor and Excadrill
• Stone Edge for STAB, Aqua Tail 2HKOs Gliscor and Hippowdon at +1 (and OHKOs Tyranitar with prior damage), Fire Fang hits Nattorei and other Steel-types.
• Earthquake + Ice Fang can be used over Aqua Tail + Fire Fang; this lets you his Gastrodon, OHKO Gliscor, and do more damage against Tyranitar. However, you're sunk against Ferrothorn and can't catch Scizor on the switch with Fire Fang. And you can't do as much to Hippowdon.
• Focus Sash can be used as the item

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Earthquake / Aqua Tail
move 4: Roost / Fire Fang / Ice Fang
item: Life Orb
nature: Jolly




evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

• Best used in Sandstorm
• Good late-game cleaner
• Good against stall, beats stuff like SkarmBliss, also best Heatran counter out there
• Aqua Tail makes it easier to beat Gliscor, although it will still usually beat you if it is running Ice Fang. Also hits Air Balloon Pokemon

[SET]

name: Suicide Rocker
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Stealth Rock
item: Focus Sash
nature: Jolly




evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

• Same as from Gen IV but team preview hurts it
• Stronger than Deoxys-S
• Fast Taunt and Stealth Rock ensure rocks on their side, none on yours.

[Other Options]

• Gen IV Suicide Rocker set
• Defensive SubRoost
• Choice Band

[Checks and Counters]

• Depends on the set
• Scizor owns it with Bullet Punch, Excadrill outruns it in the sand and hits it with Rock Slide
• Hippowdon eats everything besides +1 Aqua Tail. So does Gliscor but he doesn't like Ice Fang either
• Ferrothorn wins if Aero lacks Fire Fang
• Most things can take a LO Stone Edge at full health, it's when your team is weakened that Aerodactyl is most dangerous

Why don't you do the old Suicide Lead set?
You know, the Taunt+SR+Focus Sash one
It always beats my BulkBat

Deoxys-S is almost always better as a hazard lead. Fastest taunt in the game, mixed with Stealth Rock, Spikes, and a deep attacking movepool to make switch-ins worry about a suprise HP Fire, Superpower etc.

Aero is cool!

I would suggest Babiri Berry as a possible item on the Hone Claws set. He does obviously miss the power boost from Life Orb but Scizor is gaining popularity like crazy and this would seem as good a lure as any. Could even go Charti to lure Doryuuzu since Adamant Rock Slide does 51% maximum but that seems a bit overly specific for an analysis.

Also, Tension Aero is released but it's generally useless on the Hone Claws set since it's illegal with Aqua Tail and it's arguably inferior to Pressure on the Taunt/Roost set. js.

Ok so I didn't have time to do the full analysis but I still tested bossdactyl a lot and I have opinions too.

Seconding lees suggestion of baribi on the hone claws set. Aero isn't sweeping with that thing on but if you need to lure scizor and kill it nothing does ot better than aero.

Take the aqua tail slash out of offensive, hippowdon is nonexistent and you're not doing shit to gliscor with unbolted aqua tail. Extra power on ttar is way more useful. The only common things in the meta that run balloon are tran and excadrill, exca beats you anyway and aqua tail cant ohko tran iirc, anyway it will probably switch out especially if you are in sand. Terrakion sometimes does (balloon terra is weak anyway) but oh well. Terra is pretty rare anyway.

Also mention ttar as a teammate to everything, extra spdef is useful.

Also I think taunt roost shuffler is better than oo. In sand its really hard to kill and with all the easy ways to get hazards in the meta (deo s, ferro, etc.) if it comes in on something it can force out it can shuffle like michael Jackson.

Yeah the two berries that Lee mentioned will be mentioned in AC. I'll take out Aqua Tail too I guess when I write it up even though I think it's a noteworthy option. TTar will be mentioned as a teammate. I don't really know too much about SubRoost this gen so I'll wait for my other QC friends to weigh in.

Thanks to the above two users

Aqua tail is noteworthy but not worth a primary slash IMO.

I guess I think sub roost is cool if you have nothing to do go test it. If QC rejects it then whatever.

how's this coming along?

Still waiting on the rest of QC to approve or reject it before I write it up

I think a the standard suicide lead Aerodactyl should really be added to this. It is the most popular used Aerodactyl set in OU. It may be outclassed by Deoxys-S in Speed, but there are ways Aerodactyl benefits in a team over over Deoxys-S. Aerodactyl's base 105 Atk vs Deoxys-S' base 95 Atk. Aerodactyl getting access to Earthquake to harm Jirachi (which easily walls Deoxys-S), Jellicent (which Deoxys-S is walled by), Metagross, Chandelure, Ninetales, and a bunch of other Pokemon. While Stone Edge helps with Dragonite, Gyarados (out speeds Adamant Gyarados after Dragon Dance), Volcarona, Ninetales, Thundurus, Salamence, etc. So suicide lead Aerodactyl is quite unique and not entirely outclassed by Deoxys-S.

I use Aerodactyl for my OU team and the Suicide Rocker set should be a staple in almost anyon'es team.

I think the fangs on the Offensive set's last slot should be moved to AC, as Roost is pretty important for fighting against Stall, offsetting SR damage / LO recoil, and of course to keep Aero alive and healthy. But if you want to keep it there you can, it isn't a big deal.

and finally..

QC APPROVED (2/3)

Smack Down could go under OO as a way to get past rival Flying-types. Skarmory comes to mind, as after a Smack Down the armored bird will have to run like a bitch lest it proceed to eat an EQ. Yeah, it's not the same power as classic EdgeQuake, but if used correctly it manages to hit those that resist the combo by virtue of Levitate. I can see it being a novelty at best, but if Aero finds itself spiraling down into the lower tiers it could work.

i have been informed lady salamence is taking over this