[OVERVIEW]
Dragonite stands out as one of the most dominant Pokemon in SV OU, able to wield myriad moves, spreads, items, and Terastallizations to threaten any team with the right set. Dragon Dance stands out as the main move enabling the variety of ways Dragonite can sweep, coupling with any mix of strong physical attacks and crafty utility moves it pleases. Extreme Speed is Dragonite's main attack, blitzing past even the fastest threats in the tier, and often being powered up via Tera Normal. Earthquake is also ubiquitous on Dragonite, chunking neutral targets for solid damage and hitting Gholdengo, Galarian Slowking, Pecharunt, and Cinderace hard. Tera Blast is also often used on Dragonite, with the high-powered STAB Tera Blast Flying and great coverage of Tera Blast Fairy as the most popular sets, but other ideas such as Tera Blast Ghost also being explored. Dragonite also has excellent coverage options for more specific threats, such as Ice Spinner to hit Gliscor, Landorus-Therian, and opposing Dragonite, and Fire Punch to hit Balloon Gholdengo, Balloon Kingambit, and Corviknight. Dragonite can also sometimes lean on its suite of powerful STAB Dragon-type moves, opting for Outrage on Choice Band Sets and Scale Shot on Loaded Dice sets. Least this stunning array of possibility disappoint, Dragonite can also leverage utility moves such as Roost to set up on weaker-hitting or passive opponents and Encore to quickly gain the upper hand in many situations. Dragonite can also take advantage of its robust natural bulk and solid defensive typing to employ a utility-focused phasing set with Dragon Tail to limit the opponent's setup threats. Dragonite can additionally flex a wide variety of Terastallization types, seeing usage of Tera Normal, Ground, Flying, Fairy, Fire, and Ghost. With all this variability, checking Dragonite can be a headache, but physically bulky Pokemon such as Great Tusk, Zamazenta, and Corviknight can often break Dragonite's Multiscale and force it to reveal its set, if not 1v1 it outright. Dondozo also stands out as a particularly good answer, ignoring any boosts from Dragon Dance that Dragonite may have accrued. Even after a Dragon Dance, Dragonite can still be outsped by threats such as Deoxys-Speed, Iron Valiant, Choice Scarf Enamorus, and Booster Speed Great Tusk, with Zamazenta and Dragapult being added to the list if Dragonite is not a plus speed nature. With the wide variety of plausible sets, Dragonite fits on every team composition save for hard stall, but tends to fit best on bulky offence archetypes that appreciate its dual threat of sweeping potential and checking lots of dangerous threats via Multiscale and Extreme Speed.
Other Options
Despite the wide variety of mainstream options, Dragonite's toolkit still manages to leave room for additional creativity. Hurricane can be a flex option on many Dragon Dance sweeper sets to surprise Zamazenta and Great Tusk. Most significantly, with 120 Spa investment, Hurricane will 3HKO physically defensive Dondozo, even after Leftovers, if you manage the miracle of hitting it 3 times in a row. In addition to Stone Edge, Rock Slide can be used as a more accurate alternative in conjunction with either Earthquake or Tera Blast Fairy to surprise Moltres before it can Roar Dragonite away, as well as hitting Tornadus-Therian and Zapdos hard without risking contact. Dragon Claw can be used as a strong STAB option without expending Tera, while also blasting away Kyurem, Dragapult, and Raging Bolt. Iron Head can be used in conjunction with Tera Steel to gain resistances to incoming Ice, Dragon, and Fairy-type attacks while OHKOing Hatterene, Iron Valiant, and Kyurem, as well as potentially cheesing otherwise impossible situations via flinch. Many teams try to limit Dragonite via Will-o-Wisp or Flame Body, so Facade can be used to surprise these teams after they think they're safe once Dragonite is burned. On bulky phasing sets, Roar can sometimes be opted for over Dragon Tail as a way to send away Fairy-types or Pokemon behind a Substitute without the chance to miss. These sets can also opt for Thunder Wave to long-term cripple dangerous threats. When paired with excellent hazard removal, Dragonite can opt for Life Orb on more offensively-oriented teams to blow its normal checks away, while more defensively-oriented teams can employ Rocky Helmet to punish contact on phasing Dragonite. Both styles could also opt for Red Card, using Dragonite's ludicrous bulk with Multiscale to guarantee forcing a dangerous threat out. Instead of Roost, Rest + Chesto Berry can be used to reactivate Multiscale as well as remove any otherwise crippling status Dragonite finds itself afflicted with.
Dragonite stands out as one of the most dominant Pokemon in SV OU, able to wield myriad moves, spreads, items, and Terastallizations to threaten any team with the right set. Dragon Dance stands out as the main move enabling the variety of ways Dragonite can sweep, coupling with any mix of strong physical attacks and crafty utility moves it pleases. Extreme Speed is Dragonite's main attack, blitzing past even the fastest threats in the tier, and often being powered up via Tera Normal. Earthquake is also ubiquitous on Dragonite, chunking neutral targets for solid damage and hitting Gholdengo, Galarian Slowking, Pecharunt, and Cinderace hard. Tera Blast is also often used on Dragonite, with the high-powered STAB Tera Blast Flying and great coverage of Tera Blast Fairy as the most popular sets, but other ideas such as Tera Blast Ghost also being explored. Dragonite also has excellent coverage options for more specific threats, such as Ice Spinner to hit Gliscor, Landorus-Therian, and opposing Dragonite, and Fire Punch to hit Balloon Gholdengo, Balloon Kingambit, and Corviknight. Dragonite can also sometimes lean on its suite of powerful STAB Dragon-type moves, opting for Outrage on Choice Band Sets and Scale Shot on Loaded Dice sets. Least this stunning array of possibility disappoint, Dragonite can also leverage utility moves such as Roost to set up on weaker-hitting or passive opponents and Encore to quickly gain the upper hand in many situations. Dragonite can also take advantage of its robust natural bulk and solid defensive typing to employ a utility-focused phasing set with Dragon Tail to limit the opponent's setup threats. Dragonite can additionally flex a wide variety of Terastallization types, seeing usage of Tera Normal, Ground, Flying, Fairy, Fire, and Ghost. With all this variability, checking Dragonite can be a headache, but physically bulky Pokemon such as Great Tusk, Zamazenta, and Corviknight can often break Dragonite's Multiscale and force it to reveal its set, if not 1v1 it outright. Dondozo also stands out as a particularly good answer, ignoring any boosts from Dragon Dance that Dragonite may have accrued. Even after a Dragon Dance, Dragonite can still be outsped by threats such as Deoxys-Speed, Iron Valiant, Choice Scarf Enamorus, and Booster Speed Great Tusk, with Zamazenta and Dragapult being added to the list if Dragonite is not a plus speed nature. With the wide variety of plausible sets, Dragonite fits on every team composition save for hard stall, but tends to fit best on bulky offence archetypes that appreciate its dual threat of sweeping potential and checking lots of dangerous threats via Multiscale and Extreme Speed.
Other Options
Despite the wide variety of mainstream options, Dragonite's toolkit still manages to leave room for additional creativity. Hurricane can be a flex option on many Dragon Dance sweeper sets to surprise Zamazenta and Great Tusk. Most significantly, with 120 Spa investment, Hurricane will 3HKO physically defensive Dondozo, even after Leftovers, if you manage the miracle of hitting it 3 times in a row. In addition to Stone Edge, Rock Slide can be used as a more accurate alternative in conjunction with either Earthquake or Tera Blast Fairy to surprise Moltres before it can Roar Dragonite away, as well as hitting Tornadus-Therian and Zapdos hard without risking contact. Dragon Claw can be used as a strong STAB option without expending Tera, while also blasting away Kyurem, Dragapult, and Raging Bolt. Iron Head can be used in conjunction with Tera Steel to gain resistances to incoming Ice, Dragon, and Fairy-type attacks while OHKOing Hatterene, Iron Valiant, and Kyurem, as well as potentially cheesing otherwise impossible situations via flinch. Many teams try to limit Dragonite via Will-o-Wisp or Flame Body, so Facade can be used to surprise these teams after they think they're safe once Dragonite is burned. On bulky phasing sets, Roar can sometimes be opted for over Dragon Tail as a way to send away Fairy-types or Pokemon behind a Substitute without the chance to miss. These sets can also opt for Thunder Wave to long-term cripple dangerous threats. When paired with excellent hazard removal, Dragonite can opt for Life Orb on more offensively-oriented teams to blow its normal checks away, while more defensively-oriented teams can employ Rocky Helmet to punish contact on phasing Dragonite. Both styles could also opt for Red Card, using Dragonite's ludicrous bulk with Multiscale to guarantee forcing a dangerous threat out. Instead of Roost, Rest + Chesto Berry can be used to reactivate Multiscale as well as remove any otherwise crippling status Dragonite finds itself afflicted with.
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