[OVERVIEW]
* Dragonite's great overall stats, in particular a base Attack stat of 134, make Dragonite a huge threat in OU.
* It has an excellent defensive ability in Multiscale, which gives it a far easier time setting up and can even be used to stop setup sweepers.
* It has access to a wide range of coverage moves, including Fire Punch, Earthquake, and Iron Tail.
* Its movepool and stat distribution mean it can pull off a variety of sets effectively, being able to function as a wallbreaker or a late-game sweeper and can even run defensive sets, making it unpredictable.
* Dragonite faces a lot of competition from Salamence for a teamslot, with its main niche over Salamence being its better movepool ability to set up more easily thanks to Multiscale; however, unlike Salamence, it may struggle to complete a sweep.
[SET]
name: Flyinium Z
move 1: Fly
move 2: Fire Punch
move 3: Extreme Speed
move 4: Dragon Dance
item: Flyinium Z
ability: Multiscale
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Flyinium Z transforms Fly into a one-time 175-Base Power Flying-type move, allowing Dragonite to break past many of its usual checks and counters, such as Landorus-T, Tapu Fini, Mega Venusaur, and Azumarill.
* Fire Punch breaks through bulky Steel-types, 2HKOing Ferrothorn, bulky Mega Scizor, and Magnezone and OHKOing Kartana.
* Extreme Speed takes care of faster foes, such as Pheromosa and Tapu Koko, as well as certain Choice Scarf users.
* Dragon Dance increases Dragonite's already decent Attack while also boosting its subpar Speed, potentially letting it sweep.
* Earthquake is also an option over Fire Punch, surprising Heatran, Nihilego, and Tyranitar while also smacking Magnezone harder.
Set Details
========
* Maximum Attack investment along with an Adamant nature maximizes Dragonite's sweeping potential.
* 252 Speed EVs are used to make up for Dragonite's relatively low base Speed, notably allowing it to outspeed Weavile and Greninja at +1.
Usage Tips
========
* Dragonite should take advantage of Multiscale to get up a free Dragon Dance as soon as it comes in to sweep.
* Dragonite should avoid switching in while Stealth Rock is on the field if at all possible, as it breaks its Multiscale while taking away a chunk of its HP.
* Removing the Electric-, Rock-, and some Steel-types that can take a boosted Fire Punch is important before Dragonite comes in to sweep.
Team Options
========
* Magnezone and Magneton make great partners for this set because of their abilities to trap and KO the opposing Steel types that threaten Dragonite, in particular Skarmory, which can take even a +3 Fire Punch and phaze Dragonite with Whirlwind.
* Dragonite appreciates Defog and Rapid Spin support to keep its Multiscale intact, so Latios, Excadrill, and Zapdos make for good teammates. Latias is particularly notable for its ability to also provide Healing Wish support.
* Ground-types such as Excadrill and Mamoswine are nice partners because they can get rid of Electric-types like Tapu Koko and Magnezone and Rock-types such as Tyranitar.
* Tapu Fini is a nice partner for this set, as it stops all forms of status, which Dragonite hates, and also provides an Ice-type switch-in.
[SET]
name: Electrium Z
move 1: Dragon Claw / Outrage
move 2: Fire Punch / Earthquake
move 3: Thunder Punch
move 4: Dragon Dance
item: Electrium Z
ability: Multiscale
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Outrage is the strongest STAB move that Dragonite gets access to.
* Dragon Claw can be used over Outrage so that Dragonite can avoid being locked into a Dragon-type move.
* Dragon Dance turns Dragonite into a lethal sweeper, boosting its already excellent Attack and improving its Speed.
* Fire Punch hits Mega Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Kartana, which otherwise wall this set.
* Earthquake beats Heatran, Tapu Koko, and Magnezone.
* Thunder Punch alongside Electrium Z gives Dragonite access to a one-time 140-Base Power Electric-type move, which hits Skarmory, Slowbro, Tapu Fini, Toxapex, Gyarados, Celesteela, Azumarill, Togekiss, and a number of other targets.
Set Details
========
* Maximum Attack EVs allow Dragonite to hit as hard as possible.
* 252 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature let Dragonite Speed tie with maximum Speed Hoopa-U, as well as outspeed maximum Speed Ash-Greninja and Choice Scarf Xurkitree at +1.
Usage Tips
========
* Dragonite should be brought in mid or late-game after it's checks and counters have been eliminated or crippled enough for it to sweep.
* Dragonite should never be sent in while Stealth Rock is up, as it breaks Multiscale, making it far more difficult for it to set up.
Team Options
========
* Excadrill can provide Rapid Spin support for Dragonite and stop Stealth Rock from breaking Multiscale, and also deals with the Fairy-types that are immune to Outrage.
* Latios and Latias are also useful teammates, being able to Defog away Stealth Rock, but they have poor defensive synergy with Dragonite.
* Strong wallbreakers like Mega Charizard Y and Kyurem-B can help weaken the opposing team so that Dragonite can sweep.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* A Choice Band set can be used to hit extremely hard without requiring any setup at all, but such a set can struggle at times, since being locked into a Dragon-type move or Extreme Speed is not great.
* A Fly set with Substitute and Dragon Dance is viable alongside Leftovers, but requires huge amounts of team support as it requires almost all Flying-type switch-ins to first be eliminated.
* Lum Berry + Dragon Dance is a decent option to allow Dragonite to set up on status users, as well as cure it of confusion from Outrage.
* Waterfall alongside Waterium Z can be used to hit the same targets that Fire Punch and Earthquake does, but in one moveslot, such as Tyranitar, Heatran, Nihilego, Skarmory, Landorus-T, Celesteela, and Tangrowth.
* Weakness Policy has a niche on Dragonite thanks to Multiscale allowing it to tank almost all hits, including super effective ones, and potentially sweep at +2.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fairy-types**: Fairy types such as Azumarill, Clefable, and the Tapu Pokemon can easily exploit Dragonite being locked into Outrage and revenge kill it.
**Ice-types**: Ice-types such as Weavile, Kyurem-B, Mamoswine, and Protean Greninja carrying Ice Beam can usually OHKO Dragonite with their strong Ice-type attacks, even factoring in Multiscale.
**Stealth Rock**: Stealth Rock breaks Dragonite's Multiscale, increasing its frailty while also taking away a chunk of its HP.
**Physically Defensive Walls**: Physical walls such as Skarmory, Celesteela, Hippowdon, and Mega Slowbro generally don't take much from Dragonite's attacks, and can Toxic stall it to death, although many of them struggle to survive a Gigavolt Havoc.
**Status**: Status in general severely cripples Dragonite, with burn halving its Attack, paralysis making it much more difficult for it to sweep, and poison putting it on a timer.
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