Overview
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When wielding its mMega sStone, Aerodactyl can mMega eEvolve into a powerful Pokemon with a blazing fast Speed stat of 150 and a high Attack stat of 135. Mega Aerodactyl's typing enables it to check Talonflame because itAerodactyl resists itTalonflame's main STAB attacks and can easily OHKO in return with its own STAB moves. Mega Aerodactyl's great Speed and coverage, along with its ability to check many offensive threats, makes it a very good Pokemon. This is quite important for hyper offense teams, which often lack a solid way to stop Talonflame. BirdS spam, in general, is also taken care of quite nicely,; this includemeans Staraptor and Mega Pinsir are dealt with. Mega Aerodactyl has surprisingly good bulk of 80 / 85 / 95, which allows it to sponge some neutral hits, and, with its unique resistances, it has nice sustainability. Its ability is also quite good, boosting its coverage moves to even more powerful levels and acting as a recoilless Life Orb. Its movepool is also quite large and enables it to utilize many options. The combination of Taunt and Roost also allows it to stay healthy throughout the match.
However, Mega Aerodactyl has a few flaws the hold it back from being a top threat. Firstly, it's weakness to the ever -present Stealth Rock is a real damper, as it instantly strippings away 25% of itAerodactyl's health just for switching in. Its typing comes with unfortunate weaknesses to common Water-, Rock-, and Ice-type moves as well. Common priority moves of these types also put a massive thorn in Aerodactyl's side, some priority includes Megauch as Scizor's Bullet Punch and Azumarill's Aqua Jet. Finally, its Speed isn't that great when running Adamant before it mMega eEvolves, leaving it outspeed by quite a lotfew Pokemon.
Stallbreaker
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name: Stallbreaker
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Aerial Ace
move 3: Aqua Tail
move 4: Roost
ability: Pressure
item: Aerodactylite
evs: 244 Atk / 44 Def / 220 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
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Taunt is the main focus of this set, and allows itAerodactyl to shut down many defensive threats, such as Chansey, that rely on status moves, while; it also having haprevents theirm from recovery taken awaying health. Taunt also allows Mega Aerodactyl to beat threats it normally can't, such as Skarmory, Mew, and Hippowdon lacking Stone Edge. Aerial Ace is very good because it hits Mega Medicham, Mega Heracross, and Keldeo super effectively. Running Aerial Ace ensures that Mega Aerodactyl can beat Grass-types that would otherwise wall it, such as Amoonguss, Mega Venusaur, and Breloom. Aqua Tail gets great coverage and hits Ground-types likesuch as Landorus and Hippowdon, while also hitting some other Pokemon such as Terrakion and Heatran for super effective damage. Aqua Tail and Taunt also allow Mega Aerodactyl to beat Skarmory, which it cannot do otherwise. Roost is Mega Aerodactyl's form of recovery, mitigating hazard damage and allowing it to stay healthy throughout the match. This set could also run a coverage move to handle a specific threat to your team,; however, this set usually covers most of the metagame as it is. Rock Slide is a notable option over Aqua Tail because of its ability to OHKO Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, Staraptor, Mega Charizard Y, and Thundurus, which Aerodactyl fails to do otherwise.
Set Details
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44 Defense EVs are very important because they enable to Mega Aerodactyl to avoid the 2HKO from Choice Band Talonflame's Brave Bird 100% ofall the time. 244 Attack EVs allow Mega Aerodactyl to OHKO Keldeo with Aerial Ace and Terrakion with Aqua Tail, while the Speed investment outspeeds Pokemon with base 110s Speed before mMega eEvolving, and anything up to Greninja after Mega Evolving. Theseis spread also allows defensive teams to not be so passive, because Mega Aerodactyl can outspeed and revenge kill many Pokemon thanks to its high Speed. Aerodactylite is chosen over another item such as Leftovers to enable Aerodactyl to mMega eEvolve and gain a lot of bulk, power, and Speed. Speaking of Leftovers, it may seem appealing, but, in the long run, Aerodactylite provides many more probenefits than Leftovers does, and Roost keeps it healthy as it is.
Usage Tips
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Should the opponent carry a Talonflame, it's best to preserve Mega Aerodactyl to wall it. This is also a great idea against BirdS spam teams in general. The focus of this set is to break Sstall, making it much more effective against Sstall, so; always keep this in mind. Stallbreaking quite literally means a Pokemon who is very effective against Sstall teams and can often severely limit them. When facing Sstall teams, Taunt is key. Taunt prevents hazards from being set, status from being spread, and recovery moves from bein generalg used. Taunt is great versus entry hazard leads as well, meaning that leading with Mega Aerodactyl isn't a bad idea either, as it can mega eMgea Evolve early on in the game while keeping hazards off the field. Taunt is generally as wellso to prevent itMega Aerodactyl from being inflicted by status. Roost should be used when Mega Aerodactyl's health is below medium, but it should not be playused recklessly as it has limited PP. Keep in mind that Roost removes Mega Aerodactyl's type temporarily, meaning it can be hit with Earthquake on thise turn it uses Roost, so be cautious.
Team Options
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Firstly, cleric support from the likes of Sylveon or Clefable is always helpful to rid status ailments and keep Mega Aerodactyl alive and healthy. The aforementioned Pokemon also have good synergy with Mega Aerodactyl, which is also an important factor when choosing any teammate. Toxic support is great because Taunt means that any poisoned Pokemon cannot recover theirits health, effectively crippling them. Hazard removal is beneficial because Mega Aerodactyl is weak to Stealth Rock, thus making Rapid Spin support from Excadrill or Defog support from Latios a good idea. Quagsire has nice synergy with Mega Aerodactyl and can wall powerful threats such as Garchomp and Mega Mawile that Mega Aerodactyl struggles against otherwise. Partners to break through Mega Venusaur are much appreciated, such partners include Kyurem-B or Landorus.
Offensive
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name: Offensive
move 1: Stone Edge
move 2: Earthquake / Fire Fang
move 3: Ice Fang
move 4: Aerial Ace
ability: Pressure
item: Aerodactylite
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
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This set takes a more offensively oriented approach than the lastprevious set. Stone Edge is a powerful STAB move, and, although it's not boosted by Tough Claws, still hits quite hard. Earthquake forms the infamous EdgeQuake combo and gets nearly flawless coverage. Fire Fang is also very helpful because it's boosted by Tough Claws and hits Steel-types, while also hitting Skarmory. Ice Fang is further boosted by Tough Claws and is important to hit Landorus and Garchomp, while hitting Hippowdon for decent damage. Aerial Ace is another STAB move boosted by Tough Claws,; it also hits Mega Venusaur and gets decent coverage all around. Aqua Tail isn't listed but is certainly a viable option to hit Hippowdon harder than Ice Fang,; however, Ice Fang gets much better coverage all-around and has the key niche of hitting Garchomp very hard. Hone Claws is Mega Aerodactyl's only way to boost Attack, but it's somewhat subpar compared to other setup sweepers such as Azumarill. Stealth Rock is another option because it provides support for its team and wears down potential switch -ins, although this is better left to a teammate.
Set Details
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The current EV spread maximizes Mega Aerodactyl's power and Speed. The Speed EVs can be readjusted to outspeed certain Pokemon as well,; for example, with 176 Speed EVs, Mega Aerodactyl can outspeed max Speed Greninja after mMega eEvolving and invest more in bulk. 4 Defense EVs ensure Mega Aerodactyl takes minimal entry hazard damage as opposed to running 4 HP. Adamant nature increases Mega Aerodactyl's damage output, while Jolly doesn't allow Mega Aerodactyl to outspeed anything notable. Aerodactylite is used over a Life Orb or a Choice Band to allow Aerodactyl to mMega eEvolve and gain Tough Claws, Speed, bulk, and a lot more probenefits than other items provide.
Usage Tips
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It is best to mMega eEvolve as soon as possible, gaining bulk and Speed, whereas before mMega eEvolving, it's not particularly bulky or fast. This is important because it can be outsped by quite a bit before mMega eEvolution, so be cautious! Using coverage when it is super effective is a given, and this set has plenty of coverage to hit the vast majority of OU. This set plays fairly simply, and there's not much to explain really, only to; attack when appropriate is the main thing to do. Prediction is also a key factor to this set, as if a Pokemon can correctly predict what move Mega Aerodactyl will use, the opponent can gain a free switch-in to a potential check or counter. Mega Aerodactyl can be used either early -game or late -game. When used during early -game, it should focus on wearing down offensive teams so a teammate can sweep a bit later in the match, while it can clean up late game if its partners have worn down bulkier Pokemon. Also, do note that thanks to Mega Aerodactyl's naturally high Speed, it can revenge kill some slower scarfers.
Team Options
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As mentioned previously, Rapid Spin or Defog support is needed, making Latios and Excadrill good partners in this regard. Keldeo offers nice synergy and can break through Hippowdon with ease. Landorus is another wallbreaker that greatly helps by breaking down bulkier teams with ease. Klefki is an interesting partner that gets great synergy with Aerodactyl, can set Spikes to wear down switch -ins, and also paralyzes Choice Scarf users threatening to revenge kill Mega Aerodactyl. Hazard support, in general, is very good to wear down bulkier Pokemon and other switch -ins, meaning Tyranitar and Ferrothorn are also good partners to lay down Stealth Rock, or Spikes, in the latter's case. Hippowdon offers good synergy and provides Sand, which wears down the opponent slowly and boosts Mega Aerodactyl's Special Defense.
Other Options
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Crunch is the first option because it provides nice coverage all-around and is also boosted by Tough Claws. Rock Slide is usable over Stone Edge for accuracy, but the power is greatly missed. Tailwind is a neatuseful option as a last-ditch resort to allow a weakened sweeper to come in after Mega Aerodactyl has fainted and aim to sweep once again. Iron Head is boosted by Tough Claws and hits Fairy-types hard, but has little use aside from this. A lead with Focus Sash and Stealth Rock could be used thanks to Aerodactyl's naturally high Speed. Thunder Fang hits Slowbro and other Water-types, while also being boosted by Tough Claws, but it has little use otherwise. Roar can be used to phasze, but Mega Aerodactyl's not bulky enough to pull it off and is way too fast as well. Fire Blast hits Skarmory and Ferrothorn very hard, but Fire Fang is often a much better choice. Finally, Rock Polish could be used if you really wanted to be super fast, but it's often a wasted moveslot.
Checks & Counters
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**Types iIt's Weak To:** Mega Aerodactyl is weak to common Electric-, Ice-, Rock-, Steel-, and Water-type attacking moves, and it doesn't have the bulk to stomach these hits very well.
**Defensive Walls**: Bulkier Pokemon such as Hippowdon, Skarmory, and Slowbro can live even super effective attacks and can regain health, while slowly wearing down Aerodactyl.
**Bulky Attackers**: Bulkier Pokemon that also have an offensive presence such as Landorus-T, Mega Mawile, and Rhyperior are good checks that can threaten iMega Aerodactyl ummediately in return,.
**Priority**: Mega Aerodactyl is weak to Aqua Jet and Bullet Punch, which both avoid Mega Aerodactyl's high natural Speed and hit it hard.