Gen 1 Let's use Aerodactyl! [UU]

[Plague von Karma]

With the RBY UU Spotlight Ladder now over and done with and the UU VR is updated, I'm gonna drop a team that EB0LA and I thought up near the end, dubbed "AeroBuzz". The general idea is somewhat similar to how Electric + Pinsir works across tiers, but with the specific aim of exploiting Kadabra, Dugtrio and others to the max. Considering Aerodactyl rose to C on the VR, I'm sure you're curious as to why: let's get into it!

The Process​

So considering we want to use Aerodactyl, naturally, this is the first team member. It's immune to Earthquake, resists Normal-type attacks and is faster than Dugtrio; these qualities all come together to give it a ton of utility. We're going to make the best use of this when teambuilding.
The best way to make use of Aerodactyl is to have a lead that lures Dugtrio, and Electabuzz does this best. Electabuzz aims to paralyze the opposing lead - likely Tentacruel - off the bat, which often leads to the opponent having to bring Dugtrio immediately. This gives us a biased-by-knowledge 50/50 where we can switch to Aerodactyl as a read, or do it after Dugtrio absorbs the Thunder Wave. The prior has the most payoff and doesn't give Dugtrio a chance to Rock Slide (it's a 3HKO anyway, aero still wins), but regardless, both work.
The usual suspect, Tentacruel, is thrown on. Every team needs it or you're actively inhibiting your team. Wrap utility greatly boosts this team's momentum, allowing me to bring in Tentacruel's teammates with impunity.
Another usual suspect, Hypno gives this team its incredible defensive backbone, which helps when I'm on the back-foot. Considering Electabuzz and Aerodactyl can be quite frail, it especially helps this team. Besides, having the best Hypnosis and a way to take a chunk out of Tentacruel can really help.
Chipping things into Dugtrio range is crack, and having an Electric immunity assists Aerodactyl and Tentacruel a ton. This is the tier's undisputed best revenge killer, and it's best to respect it as such.
It was a bit difficult to figure out what I needed last; I originally settled on Kangaskhan, but I didn't really need the offence. I decided on Vaporeon to give this team more defensive backbone, particularly against Tentacruel and Articuno. Its bulk also allows me to PP stall Wrap alongside Aerodactyl, which can prompt alternate pivots in itself. It gets a ton of free turns too, allowing it to spam Body Slam liberally. I think it's a really nice cog in the machine that keeps this team running.

The Team

Electabuzz
Ability: none
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss​

Electabuzz is the lead of the team, allowing it to lure in Dugtrio off the bat. This allows Aerodactyl to come in and make progress for virtually free, as it wins against it every time if no critical hits are involved...which, sod's law, happen to me more often than I'd like to admit. Regardless, Aerodactyl can still win, so it's all good. Outside of this, Electabuzz acts as a switch-in to Tentacruel's Wrap, forcing it out and letting me play 50/50's with its Wrap pivots, and it generally helps against the many Water-types in the tier. This also favours Aerodactyl, as its presence heavily discourages the typical Dugtrio switch-in. I will say that the combination of Electabuzz and Aerodactyl heavily on the presence of Tentacruel + Dugtrio cores though, but Kadabra and Haunter dislike it too. The main issue against the core is Hypno, which will often force me to switch Aerodactyl to Dugtrio early to avoid the paralysis. It's far from the end of the world, though.

Aerodactyl
Ability: none
- Double-Edge
- Hyper Beam
- Fire Blast
- Toxic​

Here's the star of the team and the Pokemon for when you really want Dugtrio to fuck off. So, here are the big calcs that make the strategy work;

• Aerodactyl Double-Edge vs. Dugtrio: 114-134 (41.7 - 49%) -- guaranteed 3HKO (7.8 - 9.2% recoil damage, from full -> 90.8% used once w/max dmg, 81.6% twice)
  • A chipped Dugtrio in this context has a much higher chance to lose the mirror as well;
  • Dugtrio Earthquake vs. Dugtrio: 141-166 (51.6 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
• Aerodactyl Hyper Beam vs. Dugtrio: 170-200 (62.2 - 73.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
• Dugtrio Rock Slide vs. Aerodactyl: 122-144 (33.6 - 39.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO (79.2% with 2 high rolls)

Dugtrio will always die when Aerodactyl follows up Double-Edge with Hyper Beam, forcing it out there and then due to Aerodactyl being faster. In addition, even if Aerodactyl uses Double-Edge twice, Dugtrio still can't KO Aerodactyl, even with high rolls. This leads to an extremely one-sided matchup. One of the issues it has is that it takes one less Rock Slide than Dragonite and Gyarados, but in the context of how it's used here, it's perfectly fine for its early-game use.

But, of course, Aerodactyl's niche isn't just when fighting Dugtrio. I like fishing for switch-ins with Fire Blast due to the 30% burn rate, which cripples Wrap users; this especially applies to Dragonite, which becomes much more manageable. It's...also there so I can actually touch Haunter, but the damage isn't bad there either, and "defusing" its Explosion with a burn can be huge. It's an excellent Explosion absorber against Golem too, and absorbing Hyper Beams from the Normal-type attackers is nice. On top of this, Aerodactyl is excellent against Kadabra, being faster and capable of KOing it from 88.3% onwards with Hyper Beam, or half HP with Double-Edge, which can make it a good switch-in if it Recovers after a beating. Toxic enables it to combat Dragonite when it tries to Agility as well, rather than just fishing for burns.

But god, I haven't gone over Aerodactyl VS Wrap either. Aerodactyl has two big qualities that help it here: it resists Wrap, taking almost nothing from Tentacruel and Dragonite, while also being faster. Being faster makes it a bit more difficult to pin down, and the threat of a Hyper Beam KOing them from 47.3%- and 35.3%- respectively, as well as Fire Blast's 30% Burn chance, forces some very odd pivoting situations. Ideally, a Wrap user shouldn't be getting hit during its chains. Plus, both may opt to go for a Surf or Blizzard to KO Aerodactyl - though only Tentacruel's Surf threatens a remote OHKO - which gives me the opportunity to bring in Vaporeon or Tentacruel and threaten them. Considering that Aerodactyl and Vaporeon can PP stall Wrap with ease considering these factors, forcing them into picking different options, this core works excellently in disrupting the top tiers. It should be noted that Aerodactyl seriously doesn't want to take a Surf or Blizzard against either Tentacruel or Dragonite if Dugtrio is alive though: you will need to use that noggin of your's to pilot this to success. Remember, you have Tentacruel and Vaporeon as the defensive backbone for this purpose: go from there.

In the case of Dragonite or AgiliWrap going away - which is looking likely in current times - I would recommend switching Toxic for Agility, which lets Aerodactyl muscle past paralysis. However, Reflect is also a decent option for stonewalling Normal-types. In this case, it's valid to use alongside Rest, as it allows Aerodactyl to work even better in that respect while shrugging off paralysis. This also plays into the Wrap game I mentioned earlier.

Tentacruel
Ability: none
- Surf
- Blizzard
- Wrap
- Rest​

Tentacruel shouldn't require an explanation...but for players interested in RBY UU, mae'r asiantaeth yn darparu! Tentacruel is long and far the best Pokemon in the tier, with its fast Wrap oppressing everything slower than it (which is a lot of the tier). With a STAB combination only handled well by other Water-types, this leads to it becoming a premier offensive threat on the special end. As mentioned in the Aerodactyl section, Tentacruel further serves as the defensive backbone for it alongside Vaporeon, because of its ridiculous bulk and resistance to its weaknesses. In addition, its fast Wrap allows it to bring Aerodactyl in safely. If you are a newer player, remember that Rest is not filler! It's critical to Tentacruel's success and keeps it out of Dugtrio range! Note that Wrap depletes those Rest turns, it's actually quite easy to wake it up!

Hypno
Ability: none
- Hypnosis
- Thunder Wave
- Psychic
- Rest​

Hypno is our team's

. It gets an obnoxious amount of free turns by virtue of its sheer bulk, and taking it down often requires a concentrated offensive effort coordinated by multiple Pokemon. I cannot stress this enough when playing RBY UU, it really is just like Sing Chansey in OU. It's definitely more punishable than Chansey, especially when paralyzed in that it won't get as many Rest attempts, but it's still nothing short of incredible. Anyway, these free turns can be spent rolling for that Hypnosis, which, overall, is pretty consistent considering those turns. Once that's done, anything coming in on Hypno will usually be taking paralysis for trying to wrestle it down. These qualities make it a staple in UU, and it's why it's on this team: it's why the team works and is where most status is coming from. Oh, and since it can Rest easily, it's a fair option for status absorption. It's not a nightmare to wake up from Sleep in UU considering the aforementioned Wrap infestation in the tier, though I'm pretty sure that's a hot take.

Dugtrio
Ability: none
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Slash
- Toxic​

Dugtrio is UU's revenge killer, and the best one at doing it. Calling it the Tauros of the tier can be considered an overstatement, but considering how you use it, it's really not too different unlike what some say. Dugtrio cores with Aerodactyl and Tentacruel in that it stops Electric-type attacks from overwhelming them, and most Pokemon that use them really hate Dugtrio. Its Earthquake is ridiculous, and many teams are centred around slowly choking teams into range for it to KO. This team is no different overall. Toxic is here to prevent Dragonite from using Agility, but if you don't want two users, you can replace it with Substitute, which can mean an outright win in many cases. Go with your gut!

Vaporeon
Ability: None
- Surf
- Blizzard
- Body Slam
- Rest​

As mentioned before, Vaporeon is the bulky water to go alongside Tentacruel, working alongside Aerodactyl in the team's anti-Wrap efforts. It's still great outside of that, with the sheer bulk giving it (very undeserved) free turns to deny switch-ins with Body Slam. It makes a workable Dugtrio check as well, once again denying it from making progress alongside Aerodactyl. It's definitely the team's weakest link but remains a strong one regardless. I would use Omastar or Haunter to PP stall Wrap harder, but I don't feel comfortable with it due to the Earthquake weaknesses being added to the team. Plus, Articuno screws this team bad without Vaporeon's presence...

Conclusion
​

So there it is! One of the teams that dropped out of my target practice on the RBY UU Spotlight Ladder. All in all, it's a fairly nice team for those looking for an off-meta (or, well, anti-meta) strategy, but I don't think it's something that a beginner can pick up right away. I'm not 100% sure if Vaporeon is the definitive Pokemon for the final slot of the team, but it's worked excellently for me and contributes to the defensive nature of the team. I'm fully open to criticisms on improvement.

Pokepaste for zoomers

Importable

Electabuzz
Ability: none
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss

Aerodactyl
Ability: none
- Double-Edge
- Hyper Beam
- Fire Blast
- Toxic

Tentacruel
Ability: none
- Surf
- Blizzard
- Wrap
- Rest

Hypno
Ability: none
- Hypnosis
- Thunder Wave
- Psychic
- Rest

Dugtrio
Ability: none
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Slash
- Toxic

Vaporeon
Ability: None
- Surf
- Blizzard
- Body Slam
- Rest

 

[Plague von Karma]

For those who aren't quite sure how the team works in practice, I played it in the RoA Spotlight Tour and won a set in 2 here. The first replay illustrates the team's utility pretty well. There's also this prediction-heavy replay from a small UU + Dig/Fly tour I got, but since neither Dig nor Fly was used, it serves the same purpose. You'll notice Aerodactyl constantly maintains the team's momentum; you'll be hard-pressed to find a time this team isn't ahead in many situations.

I've been using Rest in the 4th slot for Aerodactyl, as it's not too hard to wake up from Rest considering it wants to come in on Wrap so much. It doesn't come up too often...but nor does Agility.