Pokémon Aerodactyl

[azureleaf17]

Pokedex Number - 142
Type - Rock/Flying
Base Stats - 80 HP / 105 Atk / 65 Def / 60 SpAtk / 75 SpDef / 130 Spe
Base Stats (ME) - 80 HP / 135 Atk / 85 Def / 70 SpAtk / 95 SpDef / 150 Spe

Ability - Rock Head [Protects the Pokémon from recoil damage]
Ability - Pressure [The Pokémon raises the foe's PP usage]
Ability (DW) - Unnerve [Makes the foe nervous and unable to eat Berries]
Ability (ME) - Tough Claws [Powers up moves that make direct contact]

Notable Moves:
Stone Edge
Wing Attack
Earthquake
Iron Head
Ice Fang
Fire Fang
Thunder Fang
Dragon Claw
Roost

Overview
Aerodactyl has undergone a very strange transformation this generation, mostly due to its shiny new Mega Evolution and its accompanying ability, Tough Claws. Unfortunately, this may not be much for the better. Game Freak did something quite trolly here: neither of its primary attacks that make up the coveted EdgeQuake combo are boosted by Tough Claws, making Life Orb Aerodactyl and Mega Evolved Aerodactyl roughly equivalent in terms of power output (in fact, Life Orb actually outdamages the Mega Evolution by a tiny amount). Even in its boosted coverage moves such as Wing Attack and the elemental Fangs, the amount by which Tough Claws and Mega Evolution outdamages Life Orb is almost insignificant.

Life Orb non-Mega Evolution vs Tough Claws Mega Evolution

Tough Claws vs. Life Orb
252 Atk Mega Aerodactyl Aerial Ace (boosted by Tough Claws) vs. 72 HP / 4 Def Venusaur: 283-334 (88.71 - 104.7%) -- 31.25% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Aerodactyl Aerial Ace vs. 72 HP / 4 Def Venusaur: 257-304 (80.56 - 95.29%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Tough Claws and +30 base Attack outdamages Life Orb... barely.

non-Tough Claws vs. Life Orb
252 Atk Life Orb Aerodactyl Stone Edge vs. 232 HP / 0 Def Rotom-W: 173-204 (57.85 - 68.22%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Mega Aerodactyl Stone Edge vs. 232 HP / 0 Def Rotom-W: 159-187 (53.17 - 62.54%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Life Orb outdamages the Mega Evolved form of Aerodactyl when using an attack not boosted by Tough Claws.

So then, what can the Mega Evolution of the prehistoric pteradon possibly offer over its traditional counterpart that could allow it thrive in this metagame? The answer lies in its insane 150 speed. While this seems like overkill, being able to outspeed and OHKO major threats like the Mega Evolutions of Gengar, Alakazam, and Mewtwo-Y (holy crap) gives it a interesting niche. This unfortunately means that Aerodactyl MUST Mega Evolve before they do; however, the prospect of doing so may give it a valuable niche on your team.

Mega Aerodactyl (Mega Counter)
Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure (Tough Claws)
IVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
Nature: Jolly / Adamant
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake / Crunch
- Aerial Ace
- Crunch / Roost / filler (elemental Fang)

Probably the only set you'll see Mega Aerodactyl running, seeing how the only real advantage it has over Life Orb Aerodactyl is lack of recoil and speed (the defenses, while much improved, aren't catered to Mega Aerodactyl's tanking ability). With a Jolly nature, Crunch is a clean OHKO on Mega Alakazam, and has a very high chance of OHKOing Mega Gengar and Mega Mewtwo-Y unless they are HEAVILY invested. In fact, residual damage in the form of sand or Stealth Rock ensures that both of these threats are OHKOed; this puts the user at the unfortunate decision to either Mega Evolve Aerodactyl first, or get up Rocks and the heavily nerfed Sand at the risk of letting the opponent's Mega get up first. An Adamant nature actually helps immensely in the power department at the risk of being outsped by said threats. There is another solution, though...

Mega Aerodactyl (Hone Claws)
Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure (Tough Claws)
IVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
Nature: Jolly / Adamant
- Hone Claws
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake / Crunch / Aerial Ace
- Earthquake / Crunch / Aerial Ace

Using an almost guaranteed boost to its defenses because of its blistering 130 speed, this trades Mega Aerodactyl's ability to switch in and out of battle freely as a Scarf-less revenge killer for the ability to smash things with a perfectly accurate +1 Stone Edge. Essentially, Hone Claws + Mega Evolve gives Aerodactyl boosts to all its relevant stats to the point that nothing would really want to switch in. Unfortunately, it's easily revenge killed by Bullet Punch (Lucario and Scizor say hi) even if set up.

Final Thoughts:
Aerodactyl, unfortunately, will struggle to stay afloat this generation, even with its Mega Evolution. 150 speed is fantastic, but sadly Tough Claws doesn't boost its strongest attacks and the boost in attack power doesn't do much for it even factoring in improved defenses and lack of recoil from Life Orb. It also competes for the Mega Evolution slot on teams, and is mostly outclassed by other Pokemon that received Mega Evolutions. Though it's still a young new game, things don't look too great for Aerodactyl, unless research reveals new toys with which it can play. But please discuss — I'm only one mind, and maybe I'm missing something that could put this Pokemon into contention as a strong OU Pokemon.

 

[Dark_Ruler]

do you know what tough claws boost exactly ? 20% or 30%

 

[Aerodactyl Legend]

Thread's missing prefix.

I'm sorely disappointed. (Still) Shafted ability-wise and didn't get the offensive moves he's been wishing for. I'd still rather use the Mega for the speed (and slightly increased survivability with the raised defenses and no LO recoil), but they could have done way better here.

 

[azureleaf17]

do you know what tough claws boost exactly ? 20% or 30%

I think it's been confirmed that it's 20%, so that's what I made the calculations on. However, if it turns out to be 30%, then that guarantees a OHKO on Mega Gengar with Crunch and gives a much better chance of a OHKO on Mega Mewtwo-Y with Stealth Rock on the field.

 

[Colonel M]

Mega Aerodactyl should be stronger than Life Orb Aerodactyl.

Assuming you go Adamant.

Base 150 Speed reaches a max of 399, assuming neutral. Max +Speed base 130 is 394.

Which is a solid enough benchmark to hit Mega Gengar and such.

Of course going Adamant has its cons, but it definitely can be stronger than regular while still retaining awesome Speed.

 

[99_Problems]

Don't forget about regular Aerodactyl's sash lead. Has a bigger niche due to its ability to beat lead Galvantula and stop sticky web with correct prediction.

Taunt could also fit on mega sets as utility or to help break certain walls.

 

[Zé Capáu]

Life Orb Aerodractil over Mega Aerodractil? That's wasting potential. Life Orb consumes HP so LO Aerodractil won't last long, and Mega Aerodractil has got some bulk to play with.

 

[JayHankEdLyon]

Mega Aerodactyl (Mega Counter)
Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure (Tough Claws)
IVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
Nature: Jolly / Adamant
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake / Crunch
- Aerial Ace
- Crunch / Roost / filler (elemental Fang)

Probably the only set you'll see Mega Aerodactyl running, seeing how the only real advantage it has over Life Orb Aerodactyl is lack of recoil and speed (the defenses, while much improved, aren't catered to Mega Aerodactyl's tanking ability). With a Jolly nature, Crunch is a clean OHKO on Mega Alakazam, and has a very high chance of OHKOing Mega Gengar and Mega Mewtwo-Y unless they are HEAVILY invested. In fact, residual damage in the form of sand or Stealth Rock ensures that both of these threats are OHKOed; this puts the user at the unfortunate decision to either Mega Evolve Aerodactyl first, or get up Rocks and the heavily nerfed Sand at the risk of letting the opponent's Mega get up first. An Adamant nature actually helps immensely in the power department at the risk of being outsped by said threats. There is another solution, though...

Why not both?

Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure (Tough Claws)
IVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
Nature: Jolly / Adamant
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Aerial Ace
- Stealth Rock

Yes, forgoing EQ sucks, but if this is specifically meant to counter MegaZam, MegaMewt and Gen(me)gar (patent pending, even if it's linguistically unsound because the n in "mega" is different from the n in "Gengar"; say it outloud, they're in different areas of the mouth and WHOA this aside is taking awhile) then Megadactyl should probably specialize here. You can have your cake and eat it too by Mega-ing up while Stealth Rocking, if you're really that worried about other players bringing out their queen super early in the match.

 

[Annabeth]

Stealth Rock + Defog combo on Mega-Aerodactyl ?

 

[piikachuu]

Stealth Rock + Defog combo on Mega-Aerodactyl ?

this would be redundant as defog removes hazards from both sides of the field

 

[nikovan]

this would be redundant as defog removes hazards from both sides of the field

You Defog then set up your own rocks. Seems like a strategy that might become quite popular.

 

[piikachuu]

You Defog then set up your own rocks. Seems like a strategy that might become quite popular.

the issue is that hazards are so simple to set up, and to defog you would have to use sr again, spending turns that aero really doesnt have considering its bulk

for example: aero - ferro
sr is up on aero's side
aero defogs, ferro gyro balls / power whips / twaves
aero sets up sr, ferro sets up sr/spikes again
> aero has accomplished nothing other than setting up sr, and cannot defog again without undoing all the work it has done

i'm not saying it's not a viable strategy (i'd assume it usually would not be used against hazard setters), but honestly pokemon such as forretress can do it better with rapid spin and its own hazards

 

[Adamant Jirachi]

can somone run the calculations for an adamant/jolly M aerodactyl (4 hp/ 252 att/ 252 speed) being hit by a Timid starmie's life orb hydro pump (max sp attack for its nature)? before and after stealth rock damage would also be helpful. thanks in advance. i imagine starmie would score a OHKO, going on the fact that starmie can OHKO heatran, which as higher defense and special defense than M Aerodactyl, but confirmation is always nice c:

 

[azureleaf17]

can somone run the calculations for an adamant/jolly M aerodactyl (4 hp/ 252 att/ 252 speed) being hit by a Timid starmie's life orb hydro pump (max sp attack for its nature)? before and after stealth rock damage would also be helpful. thanks in advance. i imagine starmie would score a OHKO, going on the fact that starmie can OHKO heatran, which as higher defense and special defense than M Aerodactyl, but confirmation is always nice c:

These calc really aren't hard to do for yourself, but...

252 SpA Life Orb Starmie Hydro Pump vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Aerodactyl: 445-525 (147.35 - 173.84%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[Adamant Jirachi]

It seems like you pretty much answered your own question. Why do you even need anyone else to do confirm this, barring the fact that it's easy to do calcs yourself? :\ Common sense much?

i wanted confirmation, because M aerodactyl has slightly more bulk. i had a suspicion i was right, i just wanted a second opinion.

 

[nygerman]

The problem with Mega Aerodactyl is that Mega Aerodactyl is too much like normal Aerodactyl for me to choose this over Mega Gengar or Mega Khanskhan. Aerodactyl is suppose to be a suicide lead as it's typing and movepool is not good for an all-out offensive pokemon.

I suppose mega-aerodactyl will have a larger impact in UU.

Adamant Mega-aerodactyl has the same offensive stats as Jolly LO Aerdactyl. It's hardly worth the mega evolution.

 

[Impy]

Megadactyl is disappointing. All he's good for is countering Mega Gengar and Mega Alakazam, which sounds great, but that's... pretty much all the mega is good for. You're doing less damage than life orb and your only relevant boosted move is a fast pseudo-stab crunch. I guess you can always use a boosted Aerial Ace, I guess? Shadow Claw provides better coverage than Crunch, too, and the elemental fangs are a little better on him. Stealth Cocks and Defog are always nice too, so I guess it's not all gloom and doom for Sharp Goatee'd Dragon Thing. But the lack of boosted stab rock moves is a crying shame.

 

[Banryu]

i wanted confirmation, because M aerodactyl has slightly more bulk. i had a suspicion i was right, i just wanted a second opinion.

Opinions aren't relevant when you're dealing with factual information. You know for a fact that Heatran has more bulk than Megadactyl, so it's completely redundant to ask for confirmation as to whether an attack with the same SE multipliers will OHKO the more fragile target. If you REALLY need to confirm such obvious information, it'd be better to do it yourself than to bother someone else about it.

Further adding to my point that overall that ability is wasted on him. Its almost (almost so dont chew my head off no pun intended) like StrongJaw on Tyrantrum but no stab moves to work with it. Either way i can see MegaDactyl is low UU or RU because there are few differences from its normal forms (like megaManectric or Medicham)

Well the difference there is that Strong Jaw actually provides a boost that is effectively STAB (unlike Tough Claws which is... if I recall correctly... less than a LO boost or something), and that Tyrantrum gets a decent quantity of moves to use with it, STAB or no. Elemental fangs essentially become physical versions of flamethrower/icebeam/tbolt, etc.

 

[El Coqui]

Opinions aren't relevant when you're dealing with factual information. You know for a fact that Heatran has more bulk than Megadactyl, so it's completely redundant to ask for confirmation as to whether an attack with the same SE multipliers will OHKO the more fragile target. If you REALLY need to confirm such obvious information, it'd be better to do it yourself than to bother someone else about it.


Well the difference there is that Strong Jaw actually provides a boost that is effectively STAB (unlike Tough Claws which is... if I recall correctly... less than a LO boost or something), and that Tyrantrum gets a decent quantity of moves to use with it, STAB or no. Elemental fangs essentially become physical versions of flamethrower/icebeam/tbolt, etc.

Hence me saying almost lol. Tyrantrum can do much better than Dactyl overall

 

[Banryu]

^ I guess I don't think 'almost useless' is really accurate for Strong Jaw, then. I guess it IS not quite as good as Rock Head. *shrug*

In any case, yeah, it sucks that Stone Edge doesn't get Tough Claws boost and Megadactyl is pretty underwhelming at all, but bitching doesn't really do anything to fix it. I guess Megadactyl should be looked at as more of a successor to LO Aero who doesn't have to worry about the recoil, and be run in the same way. In Gen 5 RU I ran a Hone Claws LO Aero with moves like Aqua Tail and Fire Fang that made a pretty efficient sweeper once priority / faster threats were removed, and I can only imagine that Megadactyl will be better. It'll probably not be strong enough for OU, but it's something.

 

[azureleaf17]

Well the difference there is that Strong Jaw actually provides a boost that is effectively STAB (unlike Tough Claws which is... if I recall correctly... less than a LO boost or something), and that Tyrantrum gets a decent quantity of moves to use with it, STAB or no. Elemental fangs essentially become physical versions of flamethrower/icebeam/tbolt, etc.

Honestly, it's like Game Freak gave Mega Aerodactyl something that fit perfectly flavor-wise (if you could possibly classify those little black spikes all over its body or those pooper-scoopers it calls "feet" as claws xD), but didn't think about the moves it could get. Tough Claws in general affects WAY more moves than Strong Jaw, which explains why it only has a 1.2x boost as opposed to 1.5x, but they just had to decimate its chances of being great by giving it no moves above 80 BP to go with it.

 

[Adamant Jirachi]

Opinions aren't relevant when you're dealing with factual information. You know for a fact that Heatran has more bulk than Megadactyl, so it's completely redundant to ask for confirmation as to whether an attack with the same SE multipliers will OHKO the more fragile target. If you REALLY need to confirm such obvious information, it'd be better to do it yourself than to bother someone else about it.


Well the difference there is that Strong Jaw actually provides a boost that is effectively STAB (unlike Tough Claws which is... if I recall correctly... less than a LO boost or something), and that Tyrantrum gets a decent quantity of moves to use with it, STAB or no. Elemental fangs essentially become physical versions of flamethrower/icebeam/tbolt, etc.

it's useful to have the statistics there. it also allowed me to calculate whether i coulduse ice beam instead, due to the more reliable accuracy, so it had more use than you probably initially saw.

 

[PicardsFlute]

Been playing a lot with Megadactyl, and he's actually not that terrible. The number of Pokemon he can outspeed and OHKO is actually pretty expansive, and with Sand Storm his special bulk is good enough to take anything but an Ice attack or a STAB Hydro Pump.

He's definately not an all star, but carrying Stone Edge, Ice Fang and Crunch, there's quite a lot of pokemon he can surprise one shot, notably just about every Dragon, Fire, Flying, Ghost or Psychic type.

Really the only thing holding him back in my book is that he has no good move to make use of his Flying STAB, though with Tough Claws, Aerial Ace is surprisingly strong.


His problem for me is he gets wrecked by Megakanga's Sucker Punch.

 

[Cabol]

What about a new type of suicide anti-lead Aerodactyl?

Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Taunt
- Hone Claws
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Since SR is illegal right now (Move Tutor or TM from old gens), Taunt first turn to prevent hazards/status, use Hone Claws, start dropping bombs until it dies. If it's an attacking lead, just start off with Hone Claws. Adamant Nature to outspeed base 110 pkmn and get extra dmg or use Jolly Nature to speed tie with Mega Gengar.

 

[SuperMeep]

You guys are underestimating MegaDactyl.
He can outspeed and wreck the Premier Megas, and possibly get in a hone claws and wreck with Stone Edge. The +1 isn't that important, it's the accuracy from hone claws that can make a difference when using Stone Edge. And is there any viability for skydrop? Like, idk, if somebpdy switches in a hard counter, you can outspeed it, then use skydrop and switch? Lots of moves can hit pokemon that are up in the sky, it could see some use there. Some notable moves that hit include: Thunder and Hurricane. That's sadly a generation too late, but if somebody can do it right, they can disable and wreck other pokemon. I'm pretty sure both moves hit for double if the target is in the air.
He can also learn Smackdown which hits a pokemon in the air. He can also use hone claws or just switch out in the free turn.
Something to note, does skydrop lock you into attacking the next turn? if it does, ignore anything involving Dactyl doing something after using it. If it does, in fact work like that, it still have viability in doubles maybe?