[OVERVIEW]
Dragonite can also use both Choice Scarf and Choice Band to lure in and defeat Pokemon that would be able to beat Z-Move variants, like Greninja, Tapu Lele, and Magearna, with Choice Band in particular providing almost Z-Move-like power for all moves, in exchange for being more predictable and losing the ability to pick off weakened foes with Extreme Speed.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Outrage
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Fire Punch / Superpower / Iron Head
move 4: Extreme Speed / Superpower / Iron Head
item: Choice Band
ability: Multiscale
nature: Adamant
evs: 108 HP / 232 Atk / 32 Def / 136 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Outrage is Dragonite's main offensive move, blowing back Pokemon like Mega Charizard Y, Porygon-Z, and Meloetta. Earthquake is necessary in order to 2HKO Magearna. Fire Punch is used to beat Pokemon like Genesect and Mega Scizor. Superpower is an option to most reliably beat Heatran and Mega Tyranitar, while Iron Head can be used to beat Mega Diancie and slow Tapu Lele. Extreme Speed allows Dragonite to beat faster frail Pokemon like Pheromosa, Vivillon, and Smeargle, as well as Volcarona, and to avoid confusion after fatigue from Outrage. Fly can be run in order to beat Mega Heracross.
Set Details
========
108 HP EVs and 32 Defense EVs allow Dragonite to tank Choice Band Garchomp's Outrage as well as survive an Ice Beam from Genesect. The 136 Speed EVs are used to outspeed neutral-natured Magearna. The rest of the EVs are invested into Attack, with an Adamant nature, in order to hit as hard as possible. Multiscale is run in order to take super effective attacks like Ice Beam from Porygon-Z and Hidden Power Ice from Magnezone.
Alternatively, one can choose to run a spread of 160 HP / 4 Atk / 208 SpD / 136 Spe in order to also tank Choice Specs Greninja's Ice Beam, alongside still tanking Choice Band Garchomp's Outrage and beating Magearna, but this loses out on the offensive presence that is useful in the Dragonite mirror matchup.
Usage Tips
========
Choice Band Dragonite can be used to lure in and KO Pokemon that normally do well against Dragon-types, like Magearna, Incineroar, and Mega Tyranitar. It is notable that Outrage will always 3HKO bulky Heatran, which removes some of the necessity of running Superpower, although Hidden Power Ice variants may require Superpower anyway to be taken care of. Even though Iron Head hits Togekiss super effectively, Extreme Speed should be used against Choice Scarf variants to 2HKO it while avoiding potential flinches caused by Air Slash. Mega Mawile, although it's weak to Earthquake, should be avoided, as Intimidate will allow it to take an Earthquake and win with Play Rough or Metal Burst followed by Sucker Punch. Choice Band Dragonite can also be used to lure in and beat Choice Scarf variants of Dragonite, as Choice Band-boosted Outrage can OHKO an offensive Dragonite even through Multiscale.
Team Options
========
Dragonite in general appreciates answers to bulky offensive Steel- and Water-types that can easily take its unboosted attacks, like Mega Metagross, Mega Mawile, Mega Aggron, Primarina, Mega Swampert, and Tapu Fini. This hole can be mostly patched up through the usage of certain Steel-types like Ferrothorn, Celesteela, Magnezone, and Genesect, as well as with Mega Charizard Y, which can utilize both Fire- and Grass-type moves to beat both types. In return, they appreciate Dragonite's positive matchups against each of their mirror matchups, as well as Dragonite's ability to beat threats like Naganadel, Heatran, and Victini. Be wary of Sturdy and Mold Breaker users like Donphan, Golem, Crustle, Mega Gyarados, and Haxorus, which can all tank attacks from Dragonite and knock it out with Counter or their offensive options; to counteract them, bulky Water-types like Primarina, Mega Swampert, Manaphy, Tapu Fini, and your own Mega Gyarados can be run, which all have the capability to bypass most of their respective strategies. Magearna can also be used to beat most of these aforementioned threats with its Double Dance Fairium Z set. In return, for the Water-types, Dragonite can win against Pokemon like Kommo-o, Ferrothorn, and faster threats like Smeargle and Vivillon, which threaten most of these Pokemon, and Dragonite can aid Magearna against Mega Charizard Y, Zygarde, and Heatran.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Outrage
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Fire Punch / Superpower
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Multiscale
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 8 HP / 244 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Outrage is Dragonite's go-to move, being used against Pokemon like Greninja, Garchomp, and non-Dragonium Z Zeraora. Iron Head should be used to beat Fairy-types Choice Scarf Dragonite lures in, like Tapu Lele and Mega Diancie. Earthquake is most useful in beating Pokemon like Aegislash and Magnezone. Fire Punch is used to blow back Steel-types that aren't hit super effectively by Earthquake, like Genesect, Ferrothorn, and offensive Celesteela. Superpower can be run in order to beat Steel-types not threatened by Earthquake like Heatran and Ferrothorn, as well as Mega Tyranitar and Mega Lopunny, depending on the nature of Dragonite. Fly can also be run in order to beat Mega Heracross.
Set Details
========
8 HP and 4 Special Defense EVs allow Dragonite to always survive an Ice Beam from Choice Scarf Greninja. The rest are put into Attack and Speed to maximize Dragonite's offensive presence. This specifically allows a Jolly Dragonite to outspeed Zeraora, as well as common threats like Mega Lopunny, Zeraora, and +1 bulky Mega Charizard X. An Adamant nature can also be run in order to more reliably secure KOs against metagame staples like Aegislash, Greninja, Mega Tyranitar, and bulky Tapu Lele. Multiscale is run in order to tank attacks like Moonblast from Tapu Lele and Outrage from Mega Charizard X.
Usage Tips
========
Choice Scarf Dragonite can lure in Pokemon like Greninja, Tapu Lele, Zeraora, and Mega Lopunny, which traditionally have an excellent matchup against Dragonite, and KO them with specific coverage moves. Against Greninja, if you choose to run an Adamant nature, always use Outrage instead of Superpower, as it will OHKO Greninja anyway and also covers the occasional Shadow Sneak + Waterium Z Greninja variants that could avoid damage from Superpower. If Jolly is being run, use Superpower, as Outrage will not OHKO Greninja reliably enough to be worth using to account for Shadow Sneak Waterium Z Greninja. Avoid sending Dragonite out against Zeraora and Mega Lopunny if you are running Adamant, as they will simply outspeed it and win with Fake Out followed by their respective coverage options. If running a Jolly nature, bear in mind that Dragonite will be able to outspeed bulky Mega Charizard X even after a Flame Charge or Dragon Dance and promptly 2HKO it. If you are running Jolly Dragonite and predict your opponent to be running a defensive Normalium Z Porygon-Z variant, use Outrage instead of Superpower, as Superpower has a chance to fail to OHKO in that matchup. However, outside of this specific Dragonite and Porygon-Z scenario, Superpower will always be the correct play; if you are not running Superpower, Outrage will not reliably OHKO Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, allowing it to 2HKO Dragonite back with Uproar or Ice Beam. Mega Gardevoir is an interesting matchup; although Dragonite can use Iron Head to hit it super effectively, regular Gardevoir can Trace Multiscale, giving it the opportunity to use Will-O-Wisp and break Multiscale. However, Mega Gardevoir is still not in the clear; it needs to not only avoid two Iron Head flinches but also hit both Will-O-Wisp and Hyper Beam back to back or use Hyper Beam immediately to perhaps get a good roll and OHKO Dragonite. So, in practice, this matchup is not very reliable on either end, with Dragonite only statistically beating Mega Gardevoir about 60% of the time.
Team Options
========
Dragonite in general appreciates answers to bulky offensive Steel- and Water-types that can easily take its unboosted attacks, like Mega Metagross, Mega Mawile, Mega Aggron, Magearna, Primarina, Mega Swampert, and Tapu Fini. This hole can mostly be patched up through the usage of certain Steel-types of your own, like Ferrothorn, Celesteela, Magnezone, and Genesect, as well as with Mega Charizard Y, which can utilize both Fire- and Grass-type moves to beat both types. In return, they appreciate Dragonite's positive matchups against each of their mirror matchups, as well as Dragonite's ability to beat hyper offensive foes like Mega Lopunny and Zeraora. Stall Pokemon like Mega Slowbro, Type: Null, Kee Berry Mew, Stored Power Necrozma, and Registeel all easily take attacks from Dragonite and quickly overwhelm it defensively. Therefore, stallbreakers like Taunt Mega Gyarados, Fightinium Z Pheromosa, Serperior, and Tapunium Z Tapu Fini can serve as excellent partners. In return, Dragonite can beat Kommo-o, Magnezone, and Tapu Lele, three very common hyper offensive threats that can be run to beat these stallbreaking Pokemon. As Sturdy, Intimidate, and Mold Breaker users, like Donphan, Golem, Crustle, Landorus-T, Incineroar, Mega Gyarados, and Choice Scarf Haxorus, can all tank attacks from Dragonite and knock it out with Counter or their offensive options, bulky Water-types like Primarina, Mega Swampert, Manaphy, Tapu Fini, and your own Mega Gyarados can be run, which all have the capability to bypass most of their respective strategies. Double Dance + Fairium Z Magearna can also be used to beat most of these threats. In return, for the Water-types, Dragonite can win against the aforementioned Tapu Lele and Kartana, which threaten most of these Pokemon, and can aid against Mega Charizard Y and bulky Mega Charizard X for Magearna.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Alakazam, 276708]]
- Quality checked by: [[pqs, 425798], [Osra, 239997], [Nalei, 302951]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [Rabia, 336073]]
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