Pretty birdy
So, Altaria's other sets look pretty good and are pretty up-to-date, but there's a set missing I feel, and the other parts to the analysis apart from the sets are really outdated.
[Overview]
<p>Dragon is a fantastic typing in RU, and Altaria offers a unique Flying typing to go along with it. This nice typing offers a Fighting resistance and, more importantly, a Ground and Spikes / Toxic Spikes immunity. The Stealth Rock weakness sucks, but the advantages that the Flying typing presents Altaria can make up for it at times. While Druddigon outclasses Altaria in most regards due to its amazing power and bulk, Altaria offers a lot of diversity. Its special attacking set is its main niche, sporting the strongest Draco Meteor in the tier alongside a wide movepool and a great Speed stat compared to the other Dragons in the tier. Natural Cure + Heal Bell is another fantastic niche Altaria holds in RU, and with its great defenses, it can utilize defensive sets very well. In the end, Altaria can certainly hold its own in RU, but you should always consider Druddigon before choosing Altaria, as its pure Dragon typing and super high Attack stat are better suited for most teams.</p>
[SET]
name: Defensive Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Dragon Claw
move 3: Roost
move 4: Safeguard / Heal Bell
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 192 SpD / 64 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Altaria's Flying typing, great natural bulk, and the ability to straight up not care about status gives it a niche over Dragonair as a defensive Dragon Dance user. This set is super easy to set up when used on a team with Magneton support, as it ensures that Steel-types are out of the picture before sweeping the other team. This set also easily fits on stall-based teams as a win condition to sweep late-game, since it offers a ton of resistances, an immunity to Toxic Spikes, and great coverage in just Dragon Claw. Dragon Claw is used over Outrage so that Altaria can come in and tank, as it limits Altaria's susceptibility to being revenge killed since it can immediately switch out if need be. Plus, it takes a few boosts for Altaria to get very threatening anyway, so it can afford the drop in power. Safeguard or Heal Bell lets Altaria set up on Pokemon like Slowking, Qwilfish, and Amoonguss without worrying about status. Safeguard is preferred because it totally blocks paralysis and sleep, though Hell Bell helps the whole team and allows Altaria to switch into status (other than sleep) and heal it off. It should be noted that Safeguard does not prevent the confusion from Outrage as well should you choose to go with that.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>64 Speed EVs lets Altaria outpace positive-natured base 95s after a boost, and the specially defensive spread lowers the chance that Altaria is 2HKOed by Ice Beam from Slowking and Lanturn if it Roosts and then sets up. As stated before, Outrage can go over Dragon Claw, but the point of this set is to be able to sweep without anything getting in its way, so the confusion side effect is not wanted; an offensive Dragon Dance set makes better use of Outrage anyway. Magneton support is amazing for this set since it uses mono-Dragon coverage, and having Steel-types out of the way makes the sweep easier. Magneton can also leave a nice dent in Tangrowth, Alomomola, and other bulky Pokemon that can tank a couple Dragon Claws.</p>
<p>Altaria will never get so obscenely strong that it'll OHKO the opponent with Dragon Claw, even at +6. However, that isn't a problem for Altaria as it can simply out-tank a huge portion of the tier. While it won't OHKO many opponents, it easily 2HKOes most of the tier after a couple of boosts, and is rarely even 4HKOed in return by most defensive Pokemon. When beginning to set up, Safeguard should be used first to block status, followed by Dragon Dance. Use Roost when necessary, and begin the onslaught once Altaria outspeeds the entirety of the opponent's team. Be wary of bringing out Altaria too early though, as it can be revenge killed by most physical Rock-type moves, most notably Stone Edge from Choice Band Entei and Rock Blast from Crustle and Rhydon.</p>
<p>Teams that have a bit of a problem with Fighting-types should choose Altaria over Dragonair as a defensive Dragon Dance user. The Ground-type, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes immunities are also other perks that Altaria offers over other Dragon-types in RU. Rapid Spin support is needed for Altaria, and Kabutops is probably best to provide it, though Cryogonal works better on more defensive teams. Altaria absolutely demolishes Fire / Water / Grass cores, so teams that benefit from that will love Altaria. It provides a nice defensive backbone in the early- and mid-game, and a formidable sweeper in the late-game once Steel- and Rock-type Pokemon are out of the way.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>While Altaria's movepool is truly gigantic, most of what it's capable of doing in RU has been covered by the sets above. Fire Blast can be used on the physical sets to help with Escavalier, Ferroseed, and Tangrowth, though Earthquake, Outrage, or Dragon Claw is usually enough to break them down if it's brought in late-game. A Choice Band set is usable as it offers immediate power backed by a really nice Speed stat, but it's largely outclassed by Druddigon, which offers much more power, and Gabite, which is even faster and has STAB Earthquake to go along with it. Cotton Guard is a neat option on defensive sets, but defensive boosting sets are just begging to be ruined by critical hits and the moveslot is usually better relegated to something else. Finally, Cloud Nine makes Altaria a hard stop to nearly every weather-based team, but they're actually extremely rare in RU, and Altaria gets far more mileage out of Natural Cure.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Almost nothing in the tier can easily switch into a Choice Specs-boosted Draco Meteor without taking some major damage, although Steel-types, particularly Escavalier, Steelix, and Aggron, are a good answer to Altaria, but they need to be extremely wary of Fire Blast and Earthquake, as well as the possible Magneton teammate. Slowking and other special walls like Clefable and Cryogonal are a great stop to the special attacking and support sets, though they're in trouble if they end up switching into the physical sets. Druddigon makes a good check since it can OHKO any Altaria set with Outrage, but Altaria is faster and will probably KO it first unless it's locked into something like Fire Blast. Cinccino is a good offensive check to Altaria as it really puts the hurt down with Rock Blast. Rhydon, Aerodactyl, Archeops, and Kabutops all easily OHKO with Stone Edge and can usually find a way to switch into Altaria between Fire Blast or a weak Dragon Pulse / Dragon Claw. Anything with Ice Beam or another Ice-type attack is an immediate check to Altaria, Cryogonal in particular being a full stop to the special attacking set even with Fire Blast. Stealth Rock is another huge damper to its otherwise fantastic natural bulk. Usually it comes down to what set Altaria is using as to how to play around it, but Altaria has a way around nearly every check or counter it could have, which makes it hard to immediately switch into. Also, once Altaria is at -2 from Draco Meteor or confused from Outrage, almost anything in the tier can use it as setup bait.</p>
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