[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Taunt
move 4: Roost
item: Lum Berry
ability: Gale Wings
nature: Careful
evs: 236 HP / 4 Atk / 44 Def / 172 SpD / 52 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Brave Bird is Talonflame's strongest Flying-type STAB move to take advantage of Gale Wings. It will mainly be used to revenge kill weakened Pokemon or finish off foes after stalling burn damage. Will-O-Wisp is great for wearing down Pokemon and hindering physical attackers. Taunt stops defensive Pokemon from using recovery or using Toxic on Talonflame. Roost allows Talonflame to stall Pokemon alongside burn damage, and thanks to Gale Wings, it can Roost on faster offensive Pokemon as well.
Set Details
========
The HP and Defense EVs allow Talonflame to avoid being KOed by a combination of Rock Tomb and Mach Punch from a burned Breloom so you can beat Focus Sash variants. 52 Speed EVs are used to outspeed up to Adamant maximum Speed Mega Kangaskhan, and the remaining EVs are dumped into Special Defense. A Careful nature with a lot of Special Defense investment is used to take on common special attacking walls such as Cresselia and Porygon2. The Special Defense is also helpful to take on some common offensive special attackers such as Mega Gengar and Sylveon. Lum Berry allows Talonflame to switch into defensive Pokemon, such as Cresselia and Chansey, and avoid getting poisoned by Toxic. It also helps to avoid getting put to sleep by Breloom and Mega Venusaur. Gale Wings allows Talonflame to revenge kill weakened Pokemon with Brave Bird or use priority Roost to stall out faster Pokemon, such as Latios and Mega Gengar.
Usage Tips
========
This set should be played defensively, slowly wearing down Pokemon until they get in range of a KO from Brave Bird. Bring Talonflame in against defensive Pokemon such as Cresselia, Porygon2, Ferrothorn, and Mega Venusaur, and wear them down with Will-O-Wisp and Taunt to limit their recovery. Taking these bulky Pokemon out or weakening them can pave the way for Talonflame's more offensive teammates to win the game. After Talonflame's Lum Berry is used, be careful switching directly into defensive Pokemon because Toxic is detrimental to this set. Once you have Pokemon such as Cresselia and Ferrothorn burned and Taunted, you can safely spam Will-O-Wisp to catch switch-ins. Since they will be doing very little damage to Talonflame, Roosting every turn isn't necessary, so you can Roost only when needed and use Will-O-Wisp on other turns. This set is mainly used as a stallbreaker, but thanks to Gale Wings it's very flexible. It can also be used against offensive teams as a check to Pokemon such as Mega Gengar, Aegislash, Blaziken, and Volcarona. Priority Brave Bird can pick up revenge kills on many weakened Pokemon on offensive teams, and Will-O-Wisp is very useful against teams with a lot of strong physical attackers, such as Mega Kangaskhan and Garchomp.
Team Options
========
Talonflame works very well with many physical attackers such as Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Mawile, Tyranitar, Garchomp, and Mamoswine, as it is able to weaken and take care of many physical walls such as Cresselia and Ferrothorn and switch into Will-O-Wisp for them. In turn, many of these physical attackers are able to deal with Thundurus and other Electric-types for Talonflame. Mega Gengar likes taking advantage of the burns Talonflame spreads with Hex. Suicune and Rotom-W like having Talonflame around as a check to Grass-types. Suicune and defensive Rotom-W variants can deal with Garchomp for Talonflame. Rotom-W can also take out bulky Water-types, such as Suicune, and use Volt Switch to get Talonflame in safely against opposing Pokemon so Talonflame doesn't need to risk switching directly in and fear taking an incoming Toxic or Sleep move.
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Taunt
move 4: Roost
item: Lum Berry
ability: Gale Wings
nature: Careful
evs: 236 HP / 4 Atk / 44 Def / 172 SpD / 52 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Brave Bird is Talonflame's strongest Flying-type STAB move to take advantage of Gale Wings. It will mainly be used to revenge kill weakened Pokemon or finish off foes after stalling burn damage. Will-O-Wisp is great for wearing down Pokemon and hindering physical attackers. Taunt stops defensive Pokemon from using recovery or using Toxic on Talonflame. Roost allows Talonflame to stall Pokemon alongside burn damage, and thanks to Gale Wings, it can Roost on faster offensive Pokemon as well.
Set Details
========
The HP and Defense EVs allow Talonflame to avoid being KOed by a combination of Rock Tomb and Mach Punch from a burned Breloom so you can beat Focus Sash variants. 52 Speed EVs are used to outspeed up to Adamant maximum Speed Mega Kangaskhan, and the remaining EVs are dumped into Special Defense. A Careful nature with a lot of Special Defense investment is used to take on common special attacking walls such as Cresselia and Porygon2. The Special Defense is also helpful to take on some common offensive special attackers such as Mega Gengar and Sylveon. Lum Berry allows Talonflame to switch into defensive Pokemon, such as Cresselia and Chansey, and avoid getting poisoned by Toxic. It also helps to avoid getting put to sleep by Breloom and Mega Venusaur. Gale Wings allows Talonflame to revenge kill weakened Pokemon with Brave Bird or use priority Roost to stall out faster Pokemon, such as Latios and Mega Gengar.
Usage Tips
========
This set should be played defensively, slowly wearing down Pokemon until they get in range of a KO from Brave Bird. Bring Talonflame in against defensive Pokemon such as Cresselia, Porygon2, Ferrothorn, and Mega Venusaur, and wear them down with Will-O-Wisp and Taunt to limit their recovery. Taking these bulky Pokemon out or weakening them can pave the way for Talonflame's more offensive teammates to win the game. After Talonflame's Lum Berry is used, be careful switching directly into defensive Pokemon because Toxic is detrimental to this set. Once you have Pokemon such as Cresselia and Ferrothorn burned and Taunted, you can safely spam Will-O-Wisp to catch switch-ins. Since they will be doing very little damage to Talonflame, Roosting every turn isn't necessary, so you can Roost only when needed and use Will-O-Wisp on other turns. This set is mainly used as a stallbreaker, but thanks to Gale Wings it's very flexible. It can also be used against offensive teams as a check to Pokemon such as Mega Gengar, Aegislash, Blaziken, and Volcarona. Priority Brave Bird can pick up revenge kills on many weakened Pokemon on offensive teams, and Will-O-Wisp is very useful against teams with a lot of strong physical attackers, such as Mega Kangaskhan and Garchomp.
Team Options
========
Talonflame works very well with many physical attackers such as Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Mawile, Tyranitar, Garchomp, and Mamoswine, as it is able to weaken and take care of many physical walls such as Cresselia and Ferrothorn and switch into Will-O-Wisp for them. In turn, many of these physical attackers are able to deal with Thundurus and other Electric-types for Talonflame. Mega Gengar likes taking advantage of the burns Talonflame spreads with Hex. Suicune and Rotom-W like having Talonflame around as a check to Grass-types. Suicune and defensive Rotom-W variants can deal with Garchomp for Talonflame. Rotom-W can also take out bulky Water-types, such as Suicune, and use Volt Switch to get Talonflame in safely against opposing Pokemon so Talonflame doesn't need to risk switching directly in and fear taking an incoming Toxic or Sleep move.
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