Help me make a new Dragonite moveset?

Yoshi King

Yoshi King

I apologize if this is the wrong forum to post this in. If it is, can anyone tell me where to go?

I must ask in advance for patience with me... in terms of competitive battling, I'm still very much a newbie, so I hope these ideas don't seem outright stupid.

With this Physical/special split, Dragonite's been hit pretty hard in some areas but really been buffed in others. My old Dragonite used to run as a mixed sweeper (Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Aerial Ace [for the occasional DTer], and Earthquake) but now I'm sort of wondering what I should use.

I'm not sure how it learns its elemental punches (does it learn them when it evolves from Dragonair?) but regardless, what bugs me is that they're utterly inferior to their special counterparts (Thunderbolt etc.). Here's what I've been thinking:


Non-elemental punches:
Dragonite with: ? (Haven't thought of what to use yet, I want to avoid Life Orbs because Dragonite can take some non-STAB Ice moves, from what I've heard)
Probably a Lonely/Modest/Neutral nature

EV spread:
252 ATK
100 SPD
and either 150 in HP, or special defense- what do you think?

Moves:
Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Aqua Tail/Aerial Ace
Draco Meteor/Dragon Claw

Since Dragonite's attack outclasses its Sp. Attack, I figured I would make a physical sweeper out of it. Dragon Dance, and use appropriate moves. I was thinking Draco Meteor instead of Dragon Claw for situations where I was met with a Physical wall such as Rhyperior, or for taking out other Dragon types and continuing to sweep.

Of course, this moveset is sort of weak against bulky waters with strong defense and special defense, since Thunderpunch isn't there for super effective damage+Paralysis chance. Someone mentioned that Dragonite shouldn't be attacking bulky waters anyways, but if I've DD'd on the turn that they switch in a bulky water, I don't want to waste it with a switchout.


Elemental punches included:
Dragonite with: ? (Haven't thought of what to use yet, I want to avoid Life Orbs because Dragonite can take some non-STAB Ice moves, from what I've heard)
Modest without DM, neutral nature with it.

EV spread: (same as before)
252 ATK
100 SPD
and either 150 in HP, or special defense- what do you think?

Moves:
Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Fire Punch/Thunderpunch
Thunderpunch/Fire Punch/Draco Meteor

Again, DD, and then proceed to sweep. Thunderpunch's power will depend on the opponent's physical defenses because of the split, but with Dragonite's massive attack and a DD behind it, hopefully it will OHKO or at least do massive damage.

The thing that bugs me with this moveset is that without Draco Meteor, I'm open to physical walls and will need to switch out. Likewise, without Fire Punch, I'm open to pure Ice types or something like Abomasnow, however rare it may be. Plus, my team doesn't have other Fire moves at all (not even flamethrower), so that kinda buggers me over.

Of course, I could just cut out Earthquake for Draco Meteor and the punches, but I dunno... it's such a strong move against neutral enemies (such as other ground types), and against something like Steelix, it's going to prove to be much more effective than Fire Punch.

I also posted this moveset on GameFAQs, and while I didn't get many answers, someone asked if a Fire punch with max STR EVs (and either with or without DD) would be more powerful than a Flamethrower, considering its above-average Sp. Attack

EDIT: Upon learning of the Focus Sash and how it protects from an OHKO on full health, I was thinking of giving Dragonite that, and increasing maybe its EVs in speed to the max, or at least putting them in HP. Thoughts?

Please offer suggestions, and tell me which moveset you like more. Thanks!
 
might i suggest this moveset i came up with

Dragonite (F) @ Leftovers * Dragolyrasist
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 164 HP / 88 Atk / 4 Spd / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Focus Punch
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt

Does massive damage to everything and FPs blissey if it thinks it can wall what it thinks is a special version of draggy if u suk at predicting you can replace earthquake with substitute.......but generally EQ is th better choice
 
I am sure no one will like this idea much because of the lack of variety (perhaps) but I do think Dragonite has the ability to last quite a long time

Dragonite@Leftovers
Nature: Impish (Defense+ Special Attack-)
EVs: 252 HP 129 Def 129 SD
-Dragon Dance
-Dragon Claw/Dragon Rush
-Brick Break
-Roost

Full coverage, plus the ability to recover and remove a Rock Weakness in the process while recovering(hi Ryperior).
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys, but I was kind of thinking of staying true with what I've come up with. It just works better for my team, is all. Can you offer suggestions and thoughts regarding practicality with this moveset? As in, does it work well, and what are some counters? And which of the two is better?
 
i would got for this one
Dragonite@Liechi berry
Nature: careful(special defence+ special attack-)
EVs: 128 HP/40Att/76Def/220spd/44Spdef
Dagondance
Earthquake
Dragon claw
focus punce/roost

since dragonclaw is a physical move now, great to make more use of stab and his high attack. earthquake is good alot of stuff. dragondance up attack and speed, then sweep. with that ev spread and careful it can generally live a non stab ice beam, the liechi berry activates. i used that set in ADV worked pretty well(replace dragon claw with hp flying and focus punch with refresh).
 
Generalmeng said:
since dragonclaw is a physical move now, great to make more use of stab and his high attack. earthquake is good alot of stuff. dragondance up attack and speed, then sweep. with that ev spread and careful it can generally live a non stab ice beam, the liechi berry activates. i used that set in ADV worked pretty well(replace dragon claw with hp flying and focus punch with refresh).
Click to expand...

I really don't mean any offense, but I don't think you're getting the point of having Draco Meteor there. I don't want to waste Dragon Dances, if I switch out Dragonite for any reason they'll know what to expect (when I bring him back in, I mean). If I come up against a physical wall (say Donphan) that's neutral to every attack, something like Draco Meteor (without a hindering nature) with Dragonite's 100 base Sp. Attack and STAB is likely to at least do significantly more damage than a base 80 power move with STAB, if not (maybe?) OHKO it. It's also extremely effective against Salamence, who has an average 80 Sp. Defense.

Of course, that's on the second set. The first set would have Aqua tail, but what worries me is that that's redundant with my team, which already have two pokemon that know Surf (Raichu and Blastoise).
 
Dragonite @ Life Orb
+Att -Spa
252 Att / 100 HP/ 25 Def / 75 SDef / 50 Speed
Outrage
Dragon Dance
Fireblast
Roost

get rid of the steel types dragondance and sweep with outrage
 
Dragonite @ Life Orb
4 HP/252 Att/252 Speed Adamant (+Attk, - SAttk)
Outrage
Dragon Dance
Fire Punch/Overheat
Roost
 
Okay, I really don't want to sound like an ass here, but can you guys please comment on the movesets I made instead of posting your own? I mean, it's relatively well layed out, and all I'm asking for are your opinions on which moveset looks better and seems more effective. I also want to find out if a Flamethrower with a neutral nature would do more damage than a fire punch with a positive attack nature
 
Yoshi King said:
Okay, I really don't want to sound like an ass here, but can you guys please comment on the movesets I made instead of posting your own? I mean, it's relatively well layed out, and all I'm asking for are your opinions on which moveset looks better and seems more effective. I also want to find out if a Flamethrower with a neutral nature would do more damage than a fire punch with a positive attack nature
Click to expand...
it depends on the defenses of the oponent but if they are the same (spd/def) than firepunch should do more damage..
 
Both of your movesets look alright... They arent really anything new, they are pretty much just standard DDnite. I would say something like DD/ EQ/ Dragon claw/(fire blast/thunder bolt)

I still like CBnite the best though, because CB stab outrage seriously hurts most things in the game
 
Dragoran said:
it depends on the defenses of the oponent but if they are the same (spd/def) than firepunch should do more damage..
Click to expand...

That's great to hear, thank you very much.

Danyul: I know that my movesets aren't particularly original, but that's alright. I was more concerned if they were effective-looking, but considering it's Dragonite I don't see how they couldn't be. XD

This may be a bit orthodox, but I think I've decided on:

Dragonite @ Focus Sash
Lonely
252 attack/150 speed (won't need more than that after DD, right?)/102 Sp. attack

Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Thunderpunch/Aerial Ace (still haven't decided)
Draco Meteor

Since Fire and Flying take care of mostly the same types, I figured I would go for Aerial Ace over Fire Punch because of STAB (And again, against the occasional DTer). Between Aerial Ace and Thunderpunch, I'm still undecided, because Dragonite will be left wide open without it against a bulky water, which is an obvious counter. However, with the Focus Sash, I should be able to take them out with a 2HKO Earthquake. So probably Aerial Ace.

Think that'll be effective?
 
I, too, support Thunderpunch between those too.

WARNING: Elec + Ground is weak against Grass, so you don't have *complete* coverage... But I guess that's what Meteor is for. But what if it's a CM grass type like Celebi or a special wall/tank?

Ground + Fire is resisted by nothing, so you MAY want to consider Fire Punch instead of Thunderpunch. It still is SE to skarm (the main physical wall threat which laughs at Meteor), is neutral to all other steel/XX walls, and Earthquake or Meteor can handle those bulky waters.
 
Ground + Fire is resisted by any Flyer that resists Fire, mainly Salamence and Dragonite itself, Charizard and Moltres, Aerodactyl and Gyarados, plus a few other UUs.

Ground + Electric is resisted by most Grass Pokemon (all of them except Ludicolo, Jumpluf, Tropius, Cradily, and all the Grass/Poisons) and by Gliscor (who is immune to both).
 
*slaps forhead*

Big oops. I really should read the chart more carefully.

Either way, all those are hit by Draco Meteor, so it's ok, right? I mean, you COULD do Thunderpunch instead... and get that coverage for bulky waters in exchange for having to rely on Meteor for any Grass CMer or special tank/walls.

It's a tradeoff, you decide. What's the bigger threat, those particular fliers and bulky waters taken together? Or nearly every grass pokemon? Which of these contrary threats can be handled better by Meteor?

Meh, I'd say go with Thunderpunch in that case. Just thought I'd bring it up. Either way, I love your set and will use it too, if you approve. I HAD been planning on just a straight-up physical DDer.
 
Cliftor said:
*slaps forhead*

Big oops. I really should read the chart more carefully.

Either way, all those are hit by Draco Meteor, so it's ok, right? I mean, you COULD do Thunderpunch instead... and get that coverage for bulky waters in exchange for having to rely on Meteor for any Grass CMer or special tank/walls.

It's a tradeoff, you decide. What's the bigger threat, those particular fliers and bulky waters taken together? Or nearly every grass pokemon? Which of these contrary threats can be handled better by Meteor?

Meh, I'd say go with Thunderpunch in that case. Just thought I'd bring it up. Either way, I love your set and will use it too, if you approve. I HAD been planning on just a straight-up physical DDer.
Click to expand...

Wow, I'm really glad to have gotten some more replies since I last posted. I agree, using Thunderpunch over Aerial Ace will leave me open to Grass types, but since Dragonite Quadrouple resists Grass I don't see it becoming a large problem unless they're running Hidden Power Ice/Ice Beam, which would probably make my Dragonite's worst enemy a Ludicolo. But, like you guys said, that's what Draco Meteor is for. ^_^

Plus, with the Focus Sash, I'd say my only real worry is any team that makes use of Sandstorm/Hail, or Stealth Rock. My intention is to switch into Dragonite, DD and hope that they switch. If they switch, I'll likely get two free attacks (due to focus sash, hopefully they'll attempt an OHKO), and if they don't switch and Dragonite's still alive, I'll likely just pull off either a DD-boosted Earthquake for some uber damage, or a Draco Meteor as a last-ditch hope (depending on their resistances).

Good to know my set's so viable that someone else is using it, despite its lack of originality. Oh Dragonite, how I love you. T_T
 
I can't think of anything that resists Dragon + Fire. Dragon Claw and Fire Punch. I've been thinking of going the DragonFire combo on my Dragonite. The only that that resists Dragon is Steel, which Fire is super effective on. So neutral damage on everything right? Unlike Ground, flying types and Levitators (Skarmory and Bronzong) won't get out of it.
 
Bronzong and Metagross would be neutral to Brick break, which isn't saying much despite Dragonite's awesome Attack base. Besides that, any ghost type or psychic type with good defense (does that even exist? XD) will wall a Fighting+Dragon combo.

Edit: Oh, and you'll be walled to hell by Skarmory because of its better than average defense.
 
Dragonite @ Leftovers
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Focus Punch

Basically focused attack, would this be moar effective then the boltbeam 3rd gen? Would a bulkier ev varient fair better?
 
In a physical Dragonite, you could try Thunder or Blizzard so you won't get walled by Skarmory, Gliscor, Hippodon and some others.
The old Focus Punch/Substitute/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt still works (I'm too lazy to replace the moves and EVs), maybe Dragon Pulse for STAB.
 
The only thing that resists Dragon/Fighting is a Steel/Ghost. No such pokemon exists. So Dragon/Fighting hits EVERYTHING in the game for at least neutral damage. IF you don't mind having two Dragon moves on asingle poke, you can do Dragon Claw/Brick Break (or Focus Punch if you're good at prediction).
 
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