Typing:
Abilities: Inner Focus/Multiscale
Stats:
HP: 91
ATK: 134
DEF: 95
SPA: 100
SPD: 100
SPE: 80
Notable STAB Moves:
Dragon Claw
Outrage
Draco Meteor
Dragon Tail
Fly
Hurricane
Notable Coverage Moves:
Extreme Speed
Earthquake
Fire Punch
Ice Spinner
Iron Head
Thunderbolt/Thunder
Flamethrower/Fire Blast
Ice Beam
Surf
Focus Blast
Utility Moves:
Dragon Dance
Roost
Substitute
+ Dragonite's Multiscale reduces the damage it takes from attacks by 50% provided it's at full health, facilitating its Dragon Dance setup and making it a emergency check to a variety of threats
+ With access to Dragon Dance, a high attack stat, a wide movepool, and the aforementioned Multiscale, Dragonite is strong set up sweeper, differentiating itself from others by the ease at which it finds setup opportunities
+ Being one of the few Pokemon with access to Extreme Speed, Dragonite can use this priority move to check the host of offensive setup sweepers in the early stages of the metagame
+ Dragonite's typing gives it a valuable set of resistances, which in tandem with its solid bulk, allow it to check threats like Volcarona, Mega Charizard Y, and some variants of Palafin depending on the set it chooses to run
Downsides:
- With the absence of Heavy Duty Boots, Dragonite's Multiscale can easily be broken by Stealth Rock, necessitating some form of hazard removal or denial to maximize its effectiveness
- No longer being super boosted by Terastalization, Dragonite's lack of STAB moves outside of its Dragon moves hinders its damage potential on physical sets, being noticeable against bulkier targets and especially Fairy types
- Dragonite's base 80 speed leaves it to being revenge killed quite easily if unboosted. Even at +1 speed, Dragonite requires a Jolly Nature to outspeed Pokemon such as Mega Greninja, Mega Delphox, and Dragapult, which compromises its power. Choice Scarfers such as Meowscarada, Greninja, and Garchomp can outspeed and revenge kill Dragonite at +1, regardless of its nature.
Possible Sets:
Offensive Dragon Dance
Dragonite @ Lum Berry/Silk Scarf/Yache Berry/Haban Berry/Roseli Berry
Ability: Multiscale
Level: 50
EVs: 32 Atk / 2 SpD / 32 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Spinner/Outrage/Dragon Claw/Earthquake
- Earthquake/Fire Punch/Iron Head/Dragon Tail
- Extreme Speed
This set likely fits best on Hyper Offence teams. While I personally value Extreme Speed to check all the setup sweepers that will be running around at the beginning, Dragonite can drop this move for any of the others listed. In the first slot, some sort of coverage for Dragon types is nice, whether it be Dragon STAB or Ice Spinner. Ice Spinner pairs well with Earthquake for good coverage, but Dragon STAB gives Dragonite the ability to KO neutral targets more easily, Rotom-W in particular. Fire Punch is there to beat Skarmory and Corviknight. Iron Head is an option to hit Fairy Types, allowing Dragonite to beat most of them 1v1 provided Multiscale remains intact. Dragon Tail is a very cool option to beat Skarmory and Corviknight, provided you get turns right on Brave Bird vs. Roost vs. Whirlwind (in Skarmory's case)
As for the item choice, since there are no mandatory Heavy Duty Boots, Dragonite has a lot of options. Lum Berry allows Dragonite to shrug off status from Pokemon like Toxapex, Dragapult, and Skeledirge, as well as the confusion from Outrage. Silk Scarf boosts Extreme Speed, which allows Dragonite to find KOs against sweepers at higher HP. The resist berries can all help net an extra boost, or allow Dragonite to tank a hit and KO back even after Multiscale has been broken.
Dragon Dance + Roost:
Dragonite @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
Level: 50
EVs: 32 Atk / 2 SpD / 32 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Spinner/Dragon Claw
- Earthquake/Fire Punch
- Roost
This set works similarly to the offensive Dragon Dance set, just with Roost in the place of Extreme Speed. You'd probably use this on bulkier offence teams that like having Dragonite as a win-condition, but also appreciate its defensive utility. Roost allows Dragonite to stick around and check Pokemon like Volcarona, Mega Charizard Y, Palafin (without Ice Punch), as well as generally being able to play the long game against Pokemon like Hippowdon, Clefable, Skarmory, and Corviknight.
Special Attacker:
Dragonite @ Sharp Beak/Leftovers/Roseli Berry
Ability: Multiscale
Level: 50
EVs: 32 SpA / 2 SpD / 32 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hurricane
- Ice Beam/Draco Meteor
- Thunder/Flamethrower/Surf/Focus Blast
- Roost
The idea of this set is to catch traditional checks to Dragonite off-guard, like bold Clefable, physically defensive Hippowdon, Corviknight, and Skarmory. Ideally you'd run this on a rain team, Gen 5 Style, getting 100% accuracy on those strong Hurricanes and Thunders. I'm not sure how viable rain will be, given that there's no Damp Rock yet, but this set can work on its own too.
Mega Dragonite is almost certainly better at using this set, but regular Dragonite does enough damage without sacrificing the mega slot, which I find valuable given all the other broken megas you could be using.
252+ SpA Sharp Beak Dragonite Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 214-253 (54.3 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
In addition, you can probably break through stall decently well by tacking on Earthquake over something like Ice Beam to hit Slowking-Galar, given Blissey isn't in the game. (Stall probably sucks in this format though)
Defensive Phazer:
Dragonite @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 32 Atk / 2 Def
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake/Low Kick/Flamethrower/Iron Tail
- Roost
This is the standard bulky Dragonite set currently used in SV. While the stat points likely need to be tweaked, the idea is that this set could work on Spikes teams to rack up damage, given that there are no more Heavy Duty Boots. With max HP, Dragonite is quite bulky, being able to more easily check things like Kingambit while also gaining the ability to switch into Pokemon like Mega Delphox, provided Multiscale is intact. Extreme Speed is there to make sure Dragonite still has use in revenge killing faster targets on offence after chip damage. Iron Tail is a suggestion just to smash through Magic Guard Clefable, which could be annoying for the Spikes bulky offences/balances this Dragonite could be found on.
Checks and Counters:
The metal birds beat any variant of Dragonite not carrying a fire move or Dragon Tail; Skarmory and Corviknight can both use Iron Defense, while Skarmory specifically can phaze Dragonite with Whirlwind or use it as setup fodder in its mega forme.
These Rotom appliances will counter any variant of Dragonite not carrying its Dragon STAB. The physical sets can get forced out by Will-O-Wisp, while the special sets need Draco Meteor to break through.
Fairy types pose a problem to Dragonite given its lack of flying STAB. Clefable, Floette, and Mega Floette all beat Dragonite unless it decides to pack Iron Tail. Even with a Roseli Berry, Clefable's Thunder Wave or a well timed Wish from Floette will put a stop to Dragonite's sweep. Unaware Clefable will never lose to Dragonite unless it choses to run Iron Tail. Mega Clefable and Primarina are shakier checks given the former's Ice weakness and the latter's low physical defense and lack of reliable recovery.
If running a Choice Scarf, the first 3 Pokemon can outspeed and KO Dragonite with a super-effective attack. Meowscarada doesn't even need Multiscale to be broken, as it's Triple Axel will break through it. Mega Greninja and Dragapult outspeed Adamant Dragonite at +1 and can KO it with Ice Beam and Dragon Darts/Draco Meteor, respectively. The frailer Pokemon have to watch out for Extreme Speed though even with some slight chip, while Garchomp requires Multiscale to be broken (or 5 hits with Scale Shot LMAO)
Teammates:
With its weakness to Stealth Rock, hazard control is a must for Dragonite to function. Hatterene can block hazards with Magic Bounce, though it must watch out for Mold Breaker Excadrill. All the other Pokemon are Rapid Spinners that I believe will be viable in the metagame; regardless of who you use as a spinner, make sure it can't be spin-blocked by a ghost type.
Hazards are also essential to get the chip necessary for Dragonite to pick up KOs after it has boosted with Dragon Dance, especially for the offensive set that lacks recovery. These are all hazard setters that can either get up Stealth Rock and/or Spikes. Excadrill and Glimmora can additionally compress hazard removal, while Samurott and Aerodactyl can use Taunt to stop opposing hazards or Defog attempts. Clefable and Skarmory are nice defensive supports for the Dragonite sets that run Roost, while also setting up hazards for Dragonite to help break through.
The first two are nice synergies I've noticed while testing. Dragon spam feels quite viable given their ability to overwhelm the limited Fairies in the tier, while also weakening the Steel types that may check Dragonite, allowing it to clean up. The other two Pokemon just beat Fairies outright, making them good partners for Dragonite. (Lucario is definitely getting banned though, use it ASAP)
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It's Dragonite and we're likely in an HO meta to start. It'll be good.
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