Other Flying Monotype Triples

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I'm a gym leader for a local Pokemon League, and I wanted to be extra mean to the people battling for my badge. As the flying type gym leader, I thought, since people wouldn't be prepared for it and my STAB could hit anywhere on the board, triples would be an interesting choice. I started playing triples this week. I do pretty well at Random Triples, but my team does noticeably worse. I find myself devolving into fire spam and am shut down by bulky waters like Rotom and Azumarill. Team changes are welcome, but bear in mind I need to be able to replicate it fairly well (except the perfect IVs and crap) on the 3DS and I don't have friends who are very willing to part with their magical genies. Here's my team:

Flame (Charizard) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 136 HP / 120 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Protect

Charizard was chosen because Heat Wave in the sun coming off his sky high SpA is nasty. Plus, I get some grass coverage in solarbeam for those pesky Rotom-Ws, Azumarills, and Greninjas after a hydro pump. Focus Blast is there for Tyranitar, who otherwise would wreck my monoflying team, and for the occasional Heatran. Since Charizard is such a threat, Protect helps him soak up damage for free, while my other Pokemon either set up or dish out attacks. I always put 0 atk IVs on special attackers, just so confusion does as little damage as possible. I wanted Charizard to take Rock Slides, Aqua Jets, and other physical attacks more easily, but there's little rhyme or reason to my HP/Def spread. If anyone had any ideas, that'd be fantastic! I tend to lead with Charizard in the middle, so I can put on the offensive pressure early and put some dents in my opponents before Dragonite or Talonflame clean up. Charizard is often taken down by Rock Slides or electric type moves, but makes it to around midgame and oftentimes does what I want him to do.

Jubilee (Togekiss) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Follow Me/???
- Air Slash
- Tailwind
- Helping Hand

Togekiss is built for doubles/triples. Follow Me helps me redirect damaging moves from other pokemon, though I use it less often than I thought I would. Air Slash for the flinch hax and because it hits any pokemon I want it to. Tailwind is the most powerful move in Togekiss's arsenal. Togekiss usually leads and sets up Tailwind while Charizard protects and my third guy does something defensive. I've set everyone's EVs such that they can outspeed under Tailwind at least Mega Manectric (except Togekiss; she gets priority on the moves she'd use against everyone who outspeeds her). I rarely have a problem keeping Tailwind up. Helping Hand is the most used move on Togekiss. She typically helps out the middle pokemon using a spread move, which turns a lot of 2HKOs into OHKOs, giving Togekiss some offensive pressure. 0 atk IVs for confusion and the standard stat spread, so I can take ice type and electric type attacks with ease. I'm not sure if I want to invest in more physical bulk; rock type moves are handled pretty well by Togekiss, but she can't often redirect them with Follow Me, since Rock Slide is a spread move. Maybe switch Follow Me with something that can mitigate rocks? I'm thinking maybe Wide Guard. Togekiss does a good job of speed control outside trick room and bolstering Charizard's monstrous Heat Waves, though Air Slash and Follow Me aren't getting much love.

Fossil (Aerodactyl) @ BrightPowder
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 252 Atk / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Sky Drop
- Rock Slide
- Ice Fang/Wide Guard
- Earthquake

Aerodactyl was originally Skarmory, but Skarmory was often the last pokemon standing, and all he did was set up tailwind (which Togekiss did, too) and use Sky Drop (which Aerodactyl is faster at and does more damage with). Now, Aerodactyl is the fastest Pokemon on the board with Tailwind up, letting him get a pseudo-fake-out once every other turn and letting me take out a Pokemon for a while. Rock Slide is for the flinch hax, plus I felt rock coverage was needed to beat opposing fire types, especially other Charizards. Ice Fang is for opposing dragons and rock/ground types, but I'm thinking that, since I have so many problems with Rock Slide, I can replace Ice Fang with Wide Guard. Earthquake is another spread, which won't ever hurt my own guys (I don't expect to see much gravity). Carrying BrightPowder, because I don't know what else to put on him. I feel like I need to lead with him, but he only really works well once Tailwind has been set up, since he's too frail otherwise. I tried to balance out his def/spd so he can take more hits. Should I go full attack and adamant on him, or go for a bulkier spread, since I'm not looking to sweep with him? Or is this even the right Pokemon to go with? I often see him going down before I can get off too many Sky Drops or Rock Slides. I've yet to use Ice Fang or Earthquake. I'm iffy about Aerodactyl, but I think, if done right, he can really shine.

Dragon (Salamence) @ Yache Berry/Charti Berry/Weakness Policy
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA / 230 Def / 120 SpD
Modest/Quiet Nature
IVs: 0/31 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Protect
- Hydro Pump/Dragon Pulse/Rock Slide

Intimidate doesn't always help, but when it does, it really makes a difference. Draco Meteor is to nuke a particularly threatening enemy. Fire Blast is usually boosted by Charizard's sun, making it a more reliable attack than Draco Meteor. Protect for when I know he'll be targeted. I've been using Hydro Pump, but since the sun is almost always out, I rarely use it. Dragon Pulse may be better, but would I lose coverage? Stone Edge was suggested on the XY page for Salamence, but if I were going physical rock, I'd choose Rock Slide for the accuracy, spread damage, and flinch rate. I just don't know, though, if I want to sacrifice any speed in case tailwind peters out. I have no clue if this is a good defensive spread. Yache is for ice, but I see more rocks than ice. Should I go for Charti? But, since I can oftentimes tank a rock slide with my defensive investment and intimidate, should I go for Weakness Policy to attempt a sweep? Salamence is most often taken down by rocks, but he does a consistently good job of single target elimination.

Scorching (Talonflame) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Def
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Me First
- Protect/???

Honestly, I expected more from OU's most beloved/hated bird. I originally had Life Orb, but I did too little damage with too much recoil, so I slapped on a band. Smogonbird hasn't been much better. Brave Bird is good for its ability to hit anywhere, but it's often forgone for the sun-boosted Flare Blitz. Aside from those two, I don't see many useful moves. Me First is there, since I'll be faster than everyone under Tailwind, and someone else might have a cool move I'd like to use against them. I don't know what the heck to put in slot 4. I went physically bulky, but it doesn't help much against Rock Slides. Should I replace this guy with someone like Gliscor to take rocks and retaliate better? Smogonbird is the closest to the chopping block of all my Pokemon so far.

Dragon (Dragonite) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 156 SpD / 28 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Light Screen/Protect
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance

Dragonite is a potential sweeper on my team. When Weakness Policy activates, he can OHKO most of the metagame, especially with a Dragon Dance and Tailwind under his belt. However, he also gets a bounty on his head. So, sometimes I set up Light Screen to defend against focused fire. However, I might run Protect instead, since I can draw fire away from some of my other pokemon. Earthquake for spread and coverage, Dragon Claw for STAB. Dragon Dance for when Weakness Policy can't be activated or if I feel I can get away with it. 28 spe for Manectric. All out attack for obvious reasons. Special defense and HP to tank some ice beams better. When Weakness Policy doesn't activate, Dragonite is alright, but certainly isn't too threatening. He often goes down thanks to double targeting bypassing his multiscale.

Many of the battles I'm referencing I was too stupid to save the link to. So, here are some more battles to see how my team works:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogontriples-177111166
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogontriples-177113243
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogontriples-177115523
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogontriples-177118112
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogontriples-177120896

 

[NOVED]

Alright, so I've been playing triples for a while, I like your idea of integrating it into a league. Sounds fun. :)

First of all, aside from Togekiss, your EV spreads are really weird/suboptimal and I can't make any sense out of most of them without some more explanation.
Here are some spreads I think are pretty good from experience.

Zard Y
68 HP / 188 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid

You really want timid nature on your zard, hitting that speed tie with other 100s is pretty important. 68 HP lets you live a rock slide from life orb garchomp at -1(salamence comes into play here). Your moveset is perfect, keep it as is.

Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Jolly
-Wide Guard << this is important
-Protect
Aero wants max speed, it's really fast and it appreciates every EV you put into it. It's so frail it's not worth investing bulk into it so you may as well run max attack. Fast rock slide is really great, abuse it! And definitely use Wide Guard to block all the rock slides you're afraid of, it will really come in handy. Run protect instead of EQ as well. You won't need to EQ with Aero, the only attacks you'll need are rock slide and sky drop so might as well use protect just in case you want to preserve your sash or avoid a death or something.

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid
-Draco
-Fire Blast
-Hydro/Rock Slide
-Dragon Pulse/Hydro/Rock Slide/Stone Edge
Okay, so scarf salamence is really good. Outspeeds a lot and does a lot of damage with Dracos. Intimidate is great, use it wisely, switch salamence around to make the most of it. So about the EVs, you can lower the SpA if you want to and invest in more bulk but I like running max speed timid on Scarfmence because scarf is a really common item on salamence and it's nice to outspeed those that might be running modest, or just speed tie at the very least. Draco & fire blast will be your main two moves and the last two moves can be interchanged for whatever you like best. Salamence has a lot of options tbh.

Talonflame @ Life orb or Sharp beak
60 HP / 244 Atk / 68 Def / 4 SpD / 132 Spe
Jolly
-Will-o-wisp
-Protect/Quick Guard
So I know you thought life orb talon was a bit too weak but I really think non choiced talon is the way to go in triples from my experiences. Talonflame has good support options that I think would benefit your team. Will-o-wisp is always really helpful against most physical attackers. Protect is great for talonflame but quick guard is a nice option if you find yourself having a hard time dealing with priority. This EV spread lets you outspeed all Adamant talonflames and it also lives a Brave Bird from all Jolly Talonflames, including banded ones. As for talon being too weak, don't expect this to get OHKOs on neutral hits or anything. It's not good because it's powerful, it's good because the priority can come in really clutch so try to use it wisely.

Dragonite @ Weakness Policy/Lum Berry
68 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 156 SpD / 28 Spe
-Protect
First of all, run protect. Not light screen. Like you said, you'll have a bounty over your head after a DD and protect capitalized on that more than light screen. You can protect as they might double target you and your teammates can have an easier turn while your dragonite is still alive. For the most part, I like what you did with the EV spread here, outspeed manectric and living greninja's ice beam. The only minor change I made is 72 HP to 68 because you're playing on the 3DS so your set to level 50 and you were just wasting some EVs with 72 so you might as well just throw those 4 into defense cause why not. Also, lum berry is another item option that can come in handy against wisps and twaves, but if you really like weaknes policy it's still decent too.


I hope these changes help you out, I think it'll make the team a lot better. Just remember intimidate and wide guard are your best friends in triples. :]