Dragonite Discussion.

Archmaster Mesa

After looking through the Dragonite Analysis I was abit disappointed. The Analysis missed alot of things that Dragonite does really well and didn't do him any justice. Dragonite is alot better than he gets credit for.

First I was disappointed it didn't make any mention of Boltbeaming. Subpunch Boltbeam is an old strategy of Dragonite's that makes him an excellent Skarmbliss counter. Which while declining in use, is still seen often enough to make it a worthwhile set. Hitting everything in the game for at least neutral besides shedinja is also really useful.

Second it makes no mention at all to Choice Scarf. I've been using the Choice Scarf set for awhile on Shoddy Battle and it's been extremely useful. Quick Pokemon like Weavile or those who already have a speed boost under their belt aren't expecting to get be outsped and KO'd by a Dragonite that just came in. With Dragonite's huge movepool he can hit alot of things for Super Effective Damage and those that he can't will just end up taking obscene damage from STAB Outrage. It also makes a great surprise revenge killer because it's not normally all that fast.

Dragonite @ Choice Scarf
Inner Focus
Jolly: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
- Outrage
- Earthquake / Brick Break
- Thunderpunch / Thunderbolt / Stone Edge
- Fire Blast / Surf / Stone Edge / Brick Break


Thunderpunch is for switching in against Gyarados Bulky Variants are OHKO'd about 50% of the time add in Stealth Rock or Sandstorm and its a OHKO. Fire Blast is mostly for Skarmory. Thunderbolt could be used over thunderpunch to try and do both jobs at once but you'd need to use a hasty or naive nature instead of jolly so you can always get a 2HKO against Skarm and to almost gaurantee the OHKO against Bulky Gyara if you have Stealth Rock up. Thunderbolt is special so if you're intimidated you dont lose all hope if KOing it.

Surf is a 2HKO against Rhyperior unless it's running max special defense and HP in a sandstorm.

Stone Edge is an option if you don't want to risk Gyarados switching out to an Electivire.

Currently I'm using Earthquake Thunderpunch and Fire Blast but I'm really thinking about switching Thunderpunch for Thunderbolt and going with a Naive nature(Weavile's Ice Shard is a problem) and then using Brick Break in the last slot.

Anyways... discuss.
 
It's about time someone went and brought up Dragonite in DP. Most of the Dragons like Salamence and Garchomp (only ones with the actual typing listed; not the egg group) are sometimes better and tend to be rather overused. Dragonite is a rude surprise cause of the one thing he does best...*does a dramatic voice* the Dragon Dance of OUTRAGEous Doom. ^_^

His only problem is that most of the things that counter Garchomp and Salamence counter him as well; e.g. Lapras, Starmie, various other Ice-type users that take neutral damage from and can sponge all his attacks.
 
Dragon Dance and then Outrage is something only Dragonite can do in OU and it's a great strategy. I like Choice Scarf version though because it doesn't the set up of the DD version in order to outspeed everything.
 
DD/Outrage/Fire Blast/Sub has been my dragonite set of choice, and if it doesnt sweep, it consistantly kills at least 1 poke and sometimes 2. I dont use draggy that much anymore though because it always magnifies a team's ice weakness, which is a pain to cover. Also, Bronzong is to dragonite what George Bush is to Stem Cell research, and just as omnipresent as said president. But yeah, having the same weaknesses as the strongest pokemon in the metagame while not being as strong really hurts somethings usability*

*see: torterra
 
I never really liked the idea of subpunch boltbeam dragonite being a skarmbliss counter just because so many blisseys carry around icebeam. That being said, I agree that dragonite has a lot of untapped potential. He has base 100 sp atk, which is only 10 less than salamence, making draco meteor still hurt quite a bit. For what it's worth, he doesnt flinch on ambipom's fakeout (which i've seen a TON of). 91/95/100 in the defenses is more than his other 600 bst dragon friends can say (but he doesn't have intimidate). He can haze, ppass, and disable with twave.

What's the point behind all of this rambling? When you see a dragonite, you can't ever be completely sure what he's gonna do until he uses a move. For that reason alone I feel he's worth using.
 
I've loved Dragonite since RB. The thing he has going for him is his variety, a bit like Gengar. Though what Dragon doesn't do that now? He's still pretty hard to kill and is mighty powerful. He definitely is a force to be reckoned with if played right.
 
When using Choice Scarf, be careful of ice sharding weavile. Also if you get caught using Outrage, Weavile will have an easy revenge kill. Weavile can also prevent the other dragons (garchomp and mence) from sweeping. He has nothing to say against gyarados however.(the other common dancer)
 
Just to point it out, Tyranitar and Charizard also get DD-Outrage. (And through Nite).

But tey don't get STAB, so DNite is still the best at it in OU.
 
I've been expirimenting Dragonite @ wide lens and its been working pretty good, especially on mix sets since an accurate Thunder > life orbed Tbolt etc . Dragon rush works marvels with wide lens as well, and u can even use focus blast or blizzard .
 
I forgot that Dragonite had Inner Focus and not a more useful ability :justin2: (Only use I see is no flinch from Fake Out as said.)

I don't think people mention the CS set only because Garchomp can do it so much better most of the time, even if he doesn't get moves like Thunderpunch, STAB Earthquake will hit things not named Bronzong/Skarmory 10 times harder.
 
I personally like

Dragonite @ Life Orb
Lonely Nature
212 ATK / 192 SPD / 104 SPATT
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor

Of course you will have problems with Cresslia and Heatran kinda, but then what are Tyranitar/Weavile for :P
 
I've got a question:

I've got a Physical Draggie, and he's been working pretty well, but I'm wondering if I should scrap one of his moves for Dragon Dance:

Dragonite @ Leftovers (I just threw this on to help cope with the HP loss of Substitute)
-Substitute
-Focus Punch
-Outrage
-Fire Punch

I get good use out of him, and Focus Punch helped me nail this annoying Blissey I encountered (I've only really fought one) but Dragon Dance is tempting. I don't want to take out FP cause it's really useful, but I need Substitute to safely pull that move off (plus, I never know who has an Ice move ready to destroy me)
 
Take out substitute and fpunch for dd and earthquake after a dd he he kills blissy in one hit. Also I would replace leftovers for lum berry
 
Outrage is a bit risky. After 2 turns you may get confused. I dont know how much it does to a full defense skarmory with a single dragon dance but I would say keep it for the later game. The only major thing that makes salamance superior is its ability intimidate.
 
A max Attack positive nature Dragonite can do a maximum of 33% on the standard max HP, max Defense, positive nature Skarmory. It's nothing that Roost can't take care of. I think that Adamant is a better choice over Jolly to give Dragonite that extra punch while still outspeeding Weavile on the Choice Scarf set.
 
I've been using Jolly mainly for the ability to surprise things that have already boosted their speed.

On Shoddy Battle I once encountered a Scizor lead. I tryed to hit it with my Metagross' Earthquake but it didn't do as much as I thought it would. It used Agility on the first turn then Sword Dance on the switch to Draggie. I guess he was expecting to be faster but he was really angry when I outsped it and OHKO'd it with Fire Blast.

It also makes a GREAT Gyarados counter since it outspeeds every version of Gyarados I've seen thus far, even after a Dragon Dance, it can safely come in on any of Gyarados' attacks, except Ice Fang which Gyarados would only be using if you're weak to Ice anyways, and it can usually OHKO even the bulky variants with Thunderpunch. Throw in StealthRock and its gauranteed.
 
Brawlex said:
Take out substitute and fpunch for dd and earthquake after a dd he he kills blissy in one hit. Also I would replace leftovers for lum berry
Click to expand...

Really? OHKO on Blissey? Hm...I'll have try that one out. I didn't think of using Earthquake. I kinda miss the extra 50 power, but I suppose getting the move out without the need of a sub is nice, and I guess DD boosts it.
 
Yea, keeping dnite jolly with 264 speed + life orb + dd + outrage really hurts

I've thought about this set too:

Dragonite + yache berry/life orb
hasty nature
[enough eps to make 264 speed, and split the rest 2/3 to sp attack and 1/3 to attack]
-dd
-dragon claw/rush (face it, dragon rush is worth the power, and is only 5% less accurate than stone edge)
-draco meteor
-fire punch/overheat/fire blast/eq

any thoughts?

With yache berry and dd, all ice users are now rendered useless, especially with draco meteor. This was thought up on the spot here, so it probably does look a bit rough atm, but it looks worth an option.
 
Archmaster Mesa said:
I've been using Jolly mainly for the ability to surprise things that have already boosted their speed.

On Shoddy Battle I once encountered a Scizor lead. I tryed to hit it with my Metagross' Earthquake but it didn't do as much as I thought it would. It used Agility on the first turn then Sword Dance on the switch to Draggie. I guess he was expecting to be faster but he was really angry when I outsped it and OHKO'd it with Fire Blast.
Click to expand...

This is exactly why I EV my Agility users to hit 456 speed after an Agility, to make sure they outspeed everything up to Adamant Scarf Garchomp.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top