LC Bagon [DONE]

Bagon

Banned deucer.

QC Checks: TCR / macle / Heysup

Final QC Check: Rowan

GP Checks: horyzhnz / Calm Pokemaster

Overview
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Bagon is blessed with a great ability in Sheer Force, boosting the power of moves with a secondary effect. It also has access to Dragon Dance and Hone Claws, two great setup moves that complement Sheer Force, and great coverage moves to take advantage of it as well. Bagon maxes out at 18 Attack, equaling prominent threats such as Timburr and Jolly Pawniard. There are several negative qualities about Bagon, however. It has mediocre Speed and defenses, and requires turns to set up to be useful. Lastly, it is forced out by Fairies with no way of dealing any reasonable damage to them, which is detrimental to its use.

Dragon Dance
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name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Dragon Claw
move 3: Rock Slide / Zen Headbutt
move 4: Fire Fang / Crunch
ability: Sheer Force
item: Life Orb / Eviolite
evs: 196 Spe / 236 Atk / 76 Def
nature: Adamant

Moves
========

Dragon Dance is the move of choice to set up and sweep, allowing Bagon to outspeed many threats and gain an Attack boost. Dragon Claw is the preferred STAB move for this set, but it is not boosted by Sheer Force and causes Bagon to take recoil damage from Life Orb. Rock Slide is a great coverage move that deals with Flying- and Fire-types such as Vullaby, Fletchling, Archen, Ponyta, Larvesta, and Houndour. Zen Headbutt hits Fighting-types such as Mienfoo and Timburr and Poison-types such as Koffing, Grimer, and Trubbish super effectively. Fire Fang allows Bagon to hit Bug-, Steel-, and Grass-types including Cottonee, which otherwise beats it. Crunch is for Ghost-types, and with a boost Bagon outspeeds and OHKOes Misdreavus.

Set Details
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Maximum Attack investment is preferred to hit as hard as possible, and 196 Speed EVs allow Bagon to outspeed the whole unboosted tier. An Adamant nature allows it to hit extra hard while still being able to reach 21 Speed at +1. Life Orb allows Bagon to hit hard without taking damage thanks to Sheer Force, while Eviolite gives it some bulk and improves its longevity. Keep in mind that Eviolite gives Bagon less offensive prowess and may leave it underwhelming damage-wise.

Usage Tips
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Bagon appreciates entry hazards, to get past pesky Sturdy + Berry Juice users or other Pokemon with Sturdy that can stop a sweep in its tracks. A slow pivot such as Magnemite works well with Bagon, as Volt Switch allows it to get into battle unscathed. Setting up on a support Pokemon is recommended, as a Dragon Dance boost or two is crucial for Bagon to outspeed threats and improve its sweeping capabilities. Fairy-types should also be eliminated before setting up, as they stop Bagon dead in its tracks.

Team Options
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As far as team options go, Bagon needs lots of support. Bagon appreciates entry hazards to KO threats that would otherwise survive an attack, especially Sturdy users. Ferroseed makes a great teammate, as it takes hits for Bagon very well and can also set up entry hazards. Staryu is a good specially based spinner which ensures that Bagon's HP isn't whittled down by entry hazards. Bagon still struggles against Spritzee, so it appreciates a teammate like Pawniard or Croagunk to take care of it. Pawniard also can also deter the use of Defog and gets rid of threats like Fletchling for Bagon.

Other Options
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There are a few other options for Bagon. It can run a specially based set with Hydro Pump, Dragon Breath / Draco Meteor, Fire Blast, and a Hidden Power. A support set consisting of Wish / Protect / Dragon Claw / Toxic is also viable. Rock Head can be used in tandem with Double-Edge on an alternative Dragon Dance set. Brick Break can be used to deal with Steel-types such as Aron and Pawniard. Finally, Hone Claws can be used as Sheer Force helps with the inaccurate moves, but Bagon does not have enough Speed or bulk to pull this off effectively. Dragon Rush works especially well in tandem with Sheer Force, Life Orb, and Hone Claws.

Checks & Counters
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**Fairy-types**: Spritzee always forces a switch, unless it is at low health. Cottonee can come in and Encore either Dragon Dance or Dragon Claw to force a switch. They can also hit Bagon with Dazzling Gleam for super effective damage.

**Ice-types**: Ice-types such as Choice Scarf Snover and Smoochum can easily come in and KO Bagon, provided it hasn't set up a Dragon Dance yet. Bear in mind that they only check Bagon, as a Rock Slide or Fire Fang will KO with a boost.

**Steel- and Rock-types**: Shieldon and Aron take little damage even from boosted attacks, so they force a switch and can set up Stealth Rock in the process.

**Status**: All forms of status hinder Bagon. Poison whittles it down and can cut short a sweep, paralysis renders its Speed boosts useless, and a burn halves its Attack.
 
Last edited:

Goddess Briyella

Banned deucer.
Hello. I'll fix it for you this time, but perhaps you should read the guidelines on how to make these analysis threads before you post them. You should always change the title tag to WIP when you first begin, and you should at least start with a skeleton before you post it and leave it alone.
 

tcr

sage of six tabs
is a Tutor Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Hey man, I was afk when you pmed me but I''ll do my best (even if im not entirely sure Bagon deserves an analysis, as it is kinda poopy, even if it is cute af).



Remove the mention of setting up on Ferroseed. Ferroseed easily paralyzes it, thus crippling it.

Definitely add in stuff for OO and Usage tips for DDancer.

you can add in a Wishtect set for OO, as it DOES get that, although mention that it is outclassed by many other Pokemon.

When you add those in (usage and OO) tag me and I will finish this QC, either with more suggestions, a QC, or both.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

tcr

sage of six tabs
is a Tutor Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Fix the Checks and Counters section; it should read "Fairy-types" etc. also mention that only hone claws Bagon is beaten by Misdreavus, as Dragon Dance outspeeds and KOes with Crunch. Ice-types do not counter Bagon, and should specifically say they check the set only, as snover cannot take a fire fang.

QC 1/3
 
i feel like eviolite should be slashed on the sets because bagon really would have trouble setting up otherwise, but i've never used bagon before, so take it with a grain of salt
 

Rowan

The professor?
is a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
I really don't wanna accept Hone Claws... it's way too slow, will never be able to set up with a life orb, will be painfully weak with eviolite, has no way round spritzee or cottonee. Even Dragon Dance is dubious, seemingly outclassed by Axew.

Wish/Protect is outclassed and doesn't wall anything significant that lickitung doesn't... i really can't think of a set worth accepting

Dragon Dance is probably the best bet, Sheer Force + Life Orb with moves llike ZenButt and Fire Fang /could/ give it a niche. needs a hell of a lot of support though, including stuff like dual screens, memento, or wynaut with encore.
 

Bagon

Banned deucer.
With proper support, and given that it's checks like Spritzee, Flying types, and Misdreavus are taken care of, it hits like a truck, and provides amazing damage. It is a good late game cleaner, and with something like memento support and sticky web, with the aforementioned checks and counters taken care of, there is nothing stopping it from OHKO everything in it's path.
Heysup Rowan what would you like me to do before a qc is final?
 
Even with Sticky Web you're going to get destroyed by birds and Scarfers (even -1 Spe Scarf Pawniard is faster). I think I would limit sets to DD with Hone Claws mentioned, and I could easily see a Scarf set.
 

Bagon

Banned deucer.
Rowan and Heysup, so would you like me to just remove the HC set and add it to OO. I may add the scarf set too as it is pretty decent when I've tested it.
 

Bagon

Banned deucer.
I edited out all mentions of Hone Claws, except in OO. I didn't feel like choice scarf was needed as its horribly outclassed by the likes of axew or other dragons. Heysup and Rowan, focusing on the DDance set.
 
This really needs at least an OO mention that Dragon Rush benefits from Sheer Force. Its 75% accuracy is still iffy but its damage output far outstrips Dragon Claw on average.

80 BP * 100% acc = 80 output
100 BP * 1.3 * 75% acc = 97.5 output
 

Rowan

The professor?
is a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
woah make sure your font is all the same size

remove the first sentence, it's just fluff with obvious bias

mention fire fang is its only option vs. cottonee

'At +2, can almost KO the whole tier with stealth rocks in play, bar spritzee.' remove this, since no opponent will let bagon get to +2 unless they're dumb - it just encourages people to try and set up twice which isn't advisable

'Cottonee can always come in and encore either a Hone claws, or Dragon Rush, and force the switch.' - change to encore a Dragon Dance or Dragon Claw since they're the moves on the set

Scarf Smoochum still outspeeds +1 Bagon so mention that.

make these changes then 4/3 :)
 

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