[Overview]
<p>Altaria would seem like a great choice in a tier with few Dragon-type Pokemon. However, past its appealing defensive stats, there is little incentive to use it. Altaria has horrible weaknesses to Rock- and Ice-type attacks which curb its otherwise great bulk immensely. A Dragon Dance set with Altaria seems promising, but then you compare it to Fraxure and Dragonair, and it simply pales in comparison; Fraxure has more power, whilst Dragonair has ExtremeSpeed and isn't weak to Stealth Rock. Still, Altaria does have unique access to supportive and defensive options such as Heal Bell and Roost, as well as Leftovers (since its competition needs Eviolite to function). It's also the only specially based Dragon-type Pokemon in NU, and powerful moves such as Draco Meteor and Fire Blast make up for its poor offensive stats. Overall though, Altaria is still a rather lackluster choice.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Dragon Pulse
move 4: Rest
item: Choice Specs
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Generally considered to be Altaria's best set, Choice Specs allows it to fully utilize Draco Meteor's huge 140 Base Power (210 including STAB) to power through most of the tier. Altaria's good natural bulk allows it to switch in quite easily, forcing switches it can punish with a Choice-boosted attack. The lack of Steel-Types in NU makes Draco Meteor the go-to move early, while Dragon Pulse's reliability makes it useful for late-game cleanup. For the few Steel-types that are around, such as Metang, Fire Blast is used. Rest, while normally odd on a Choice set, works well thanks to Natural Cure and Altaria's good bulk.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Altaria uses a Modest nature to maximize its damage output, and doesn't miss out on outspeeding anything significant with a neutral Speed nature. Modest actually 2HKOes Misdreavus after Stealth Rock and OHKOes Samurott without any prior damage, two dangerous threats in NU. Hidden Power Ground can hit Probopass and Bastiodon, but it misses the 2HKO on the far more common Metang. Cloud Nine can be used to check rain abusers such as Ludicolo, but most of the time Natural Cure is superior. Life Orb can also be used, with Roost over Rest. This allows Altaria to stay in battle longer as it won't be locked into a move, but the loss of power is notable. Steel-types have fantastic synergy with Altaria and they can set up the ever-coveted Stealth Rock. Strong Fighting-type Pokemon such as Sawk and Primeape can help Altaria clear out problematic special walls, and Sawk can also stop the opponent from abusing Altaria's Stealth Rock weakness by OHKOing many hazard setters. Altaria can also support Pokemon such as Swords Dance Samurott and Shell Smash Carracosta, both of which enjoy Altaria clearing out the physical walls that would otherwise block them.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Roost
move 3: Dragon Claw
move 4: Substitute / Heal Bell
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Careful
evs: 248 HP / 196 SpD / 64 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Altaria is rather outclassed at using Dragon Dance, but it still has some advantages, the most apparent being the general bulk that Altaria possesses. Furthermore, it doesn't use Eviolite, but instead uses Leftovers for a little recovery every turn, and also has access to Roost, a more reliable recovery move for when you're in a pinch. Dragon Dance boosts Altaria's low Attack and decent Speed to deadly levels, but it requires quite a lot of setup. As such, Altaria will be forced into Roosting a lot, so Dragon Claw is used rather than Outrage so that Altaria isn't locked into attacks and doesn't get confused. Substitute shields it from status ailments and revenge killing, and also helps Altaria boost more efficiently. Heal Bell also shields both Altaria and your team from status, but it leaves Altaria prone to to being revenge killed.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Before boosting, Altaria can outspeed offensive Torterra, and after a boost it can outspeed base 95 Speed Pokemon, such as Jynx. Everything else is invested into special bulk, Altaria's stronger defense, so that it has more opportunities to set up. A more offensive spread, while possible, would be outclassed by Fraxure. Safeguard is an interesting option to prevent status for a few turns, but Heal Bell and Substitute have more general utility. Earthquake gives fantastic coverage, but there is no room on this set to use it. Toxic lets you set up on walls whilst actually doing damage, but once again, there is no room; this does mean that Altaria loves Toxic Spikes support. Good Toxic Spikes users include Garbodor, Roselia, and Scolipede. Altaria struggles against Rock-type Pokemon, so Pokemon that beat them, such as Alomomola, who provides Wish and Toxic support, and Wartortle, who spins Stealth Rocks away for Altaria, are good partners. Special Samurott is a good offensive partner which not only deals with Rock-type Pokemon, but also Metang. Altaria is also a good win condition on bulkier teams.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>A support set looks good, but Altaria is Stealth Rock weak. Choice Band also looks good, but it is worse than Choice Specs and Outrage locks Altaria into the attack. Mixed attacking also looks viable, but Altaria's stats simply aren't good enough to spread EVs this way. Roar on bulky Dragon Dance looks decent, but you are left very susceptible to status ailments. A gimmicky Draco Meteor with Haze or Power Swap is fun to use but difficult to pull off. Cotton Guard can make Altaria incredibly bulky physically; this can work well with Dragon Dance to give Altaria many setup opportunities, but still leaves its Ice Beam weakness unresolved. Agility isn't as good as Dragon Dance since Altaria doesn't have very good base offense. Tailwind is a good support move, but Pokemon such as Braviary and Charizard are generally better Tailwind users. Similarly, other Pokemon tend to outperform Altaria as a Rain Dance or Sunny Day user. Altaria has access to Pursuit, but that is only useful against Haunter, and even then does not guarantee a kill.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Altaria's counters really depends on which set you are using. Special walls such as Lickilicky and Audino wall Choice Specs, while Physical walls such as as Tangela and Regirock beat the Dragon Dance set. Regice counters both sets well as it is bulky on both sides and swiftly OHKOes with Ice Beam. In fact, any Pokemon that commonly uses Ice-type attacks can be a check to Altaria, such as Jynx and many Water- and Electric-type Pokemon. Rock-type Pokemon wall Altaria well, particularly Regirock who can take a Draco Meteor and KO back with Stone Edge. Golem breaks Substitute with Rock Blast. Steel-types wall Altaria's Dragon-type moves, but Altaria's movesets tends to prepare for them so be careful. Its low offensive stats can be taken advantage of easily, particularly while Altaria is at -2 from a Draco Meteor; Musharna and Braviary set up on it rather easily. Altaria is also weak to Stealth Rock, which often makes its hit-and-run strategies inadvisable.</p>
<p>Altaria would seem like a great choice in a tier with few Dragon-type Pokemon. However, past its appealing defensive stats, there is little incentive to use it. Altaria has horrible weaknesses to Rock- and Ice-type attacks which curb its otherwise great bulk immensely. A Dragon Dance set with Altaria seems promising, but then you compare it to Fraxure and Dragonair, and it simply pales in comparison; Fraxure has more power, whilst Dragonair has ExtremeSpeed and isn't weak to Stealth Rock. Still, Altaria does have unique access to supportive and defensive options such as Heal Bell and Roost, as well as Leftovers (since its competition needs Eviolite to function). It's also the only specially based Dragon-type Pokemon in NU, and powerful moves such as Draco Meteor and Fire Blast make up for its poor offensive stats. Overall though, Altaria is still a rather lackluster choice.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Dragon Pulse
move 4: Rest
item: Choice Specs
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Generally considered to be Altaria's best set, Choice Specs allows it to fully utilize Draco Meteor's huge 140 Base Power (210 including STAB) to power through most of the tier. Altaria's good natural bulk allows it to switch in quite easily, forcing switches it can punish with a Choice-boosted attack. The lack of Steel-Types in NU makes Draco Meteor the go-to move early, while Dragon Pulse's reliability makes it useful for late-game cleanup. For the few Steel-types that are around, such as Metang, Fire Blast is used. Rest, while normally odd on a Choice set, works well thanks to Natural Cure and Altaria's good bulk.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Altaria uses a Modest nature to maximize its damage output, and doesn't miss out on outspeeding anything significant with a neutral Speed nature. Modest actually 2HKOes Misdreavus after Stealth Rock and OHKOes Samurott without any prior damage, two dangerous threats in NU. Hidden Power Ground can hit Probopass and Bastiodon, but it misses the 2HKO on the far more common Metang. Cloud Nine can be used to check rain abusers such as Ludicolo, but most of the time Natural Cure is superior. Life Orb can also be used, with Roost over Rest. This allows Altaria to stay in battle longer as it won't be locked into a move, but the loss of power is notable. Steel-types have fantastic synergy with Altaria and they can set up the ever-coveted Stealth Rock. Strong Fighting-type Pokemon such as Sawk and Primeape can help Altaria clear out problematic special walls, and Sawk can also stop the opponent from abusing Altaria's Stealth Rock weakness by OHKOing many hazard setters. Altaria can also support Pokemon such as Swords Dance Samurott and Shell Smash Carracosta, both of which enjoy Altaria clearing out the physical walls that would otherwise block them.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Roost
move 3: Dragon Claw
move 4: Substitute / Heal Bell
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Careful
evs: 248 HP / 196 SpD / 64 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Altaria is rather outclassed at using Dragon Dance, but it still has some advantages, the most apparent being the general bulk that Altaria possesses. Furthermore, it doesn't use Eviolite, but instead uses Leftovers for a little recovery every turn, and also has access to Roost, a more reliable recovery move for when you're in a pinch. Dragon Dance boosts Altaria's low Attack and decent Speed to deadly levels, but it requires quite a lot of setup. As such, Altaria will be forced into Roosting a lot, so Dragon Claw is used rather than Outrage so that Altaria isn't locked into attacks and doesn't get confused. Substitute shields it from status ailments and revenge killing, and also helps Altaria boost more efficiently. Heal Bell also shields both Altaria and your team from status, but it leaves Altaria prone to to being revenge killed.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Before boosting, Altaria can outspeed offensive Torterra, and after a boost it can outspeed base 95 Speed Pokemon, such as Jynx. Everything else is invested into special bulk, Altaria's stronger defense, so that it has more opportunities to set up. A more offensive spread, while possible, would be outclassed by Fraxure. Safeguard is an interesting option to prevent status for a few turns, but Heal Bell and Substitute have more general utility. Earthquake gives fantastic coverage, but there is no room on this set to use it. Toxic lets you set up on walls whilst actually doing damage, but once again, there is no room; this does mean that Altaria loves Toxic Spikes support. Good Toxic Spikes users include Garbodor, Roselia, and Scolipede. Altaria struggles against Rock-type Pokemon, so Pokemon that beat them, such as Alomomola, who provides Wish and Toxic support, and Wartortle, who spins Stealth Rocks away for Altaria, are good partners. Special Samurott is a good offensive partner which not only deals with Rock-type Pokemon, but also Metang. Altaria is also a good win condition on bulkier teams.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>A support set looks good, but Altaria is Stealth Rock weak. Choice Band also looks good, but it is worse than Choice Specs and Outrage locks Altaria into the attack. Mixed attacking also looks viable, but Altaria's stats simply aren't good enough to spread EVs this way. Roar on bulky Dragon Dance looks decent, but you are left very susceptible to status ailments. A gimmicky Draco Meteor with Haze or Power Swap is fun to use but difficult to pull off. Cotton Guard can make Altaria incredibly bulky physically; this can work well with Dragon Dance to give Altaria many setup opportunities, but still leaves its Ice Beam weakness unresolved. Agility isn't as good as Dragon Dance since Altaria doesn't have very good base offense. Tailwind is a good support move, but Pokemon such as Braviary and Charizard are generally better Tailwind users. Similarly, other Pokemon tend to outperform Altaria as a Rain Dance or Sunny Day user. Altaria has access to Pursuit, but that is only useful against Haunter, and even then does not guarantee a kill.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Altaria's counters really depends on which set you are using. Special walls such as Lickilicky and Audino wall Choice Specs, while Physical walls such as as Tangela and Regirock beat the Dragon Dance set. Regice counters both sets well as it is bulky on both sides and swiftly OHKOes with Ice Beam. In fact, any Pokemon that commonly uses Ice-type attacks can be a check to Altaria, such as Jynx and many Water- and Electric-type Pokemon. Rock-type Pokemon wall Altaria well, particularly Regirock who can take a Draco Meteor and KO back with Stone Edge. Golem breaks Substitute with Rock Blast. Steel-types wall Altaria's Dragon-type moves, but Altaria's movesets tends to prepare for them so be careful. Its low offensive stats can be taken advantage of easily, particularly while Altaria is at -2 from a Draco Meteor; Musharna and Braviary set up on it rather easily. Altaria is also weak to Stealth Rock, which often makes its hit-and-run strategies inadvisable.</p>
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