Following the survey results and an internal vote the council has decided to suspect Dragonite! Dragonite boasts an impressive 134 attack stat with access to STAB Aerilate Extreme Speed, making it the strongest user of +2 priority, the highest bracket in the meta. Dragonite can use Dragon Dance to further enhance this already high damage output, and become one of the scariest set-up sweepers in the process. Alongside its offensive prowess, it possesses a great defensive typing, good bulk in 91/95/100, and access to immediate recovery in roost; allowing it to have longevity and multiple opportunities to come in during a game. Dragonite can run multiple sets, making it sometimes hard to tell exactly what your opponent has until it is too late.
On top of having access to a strong STAB priority move for one of the most potent offensive typings in the game; the real strength in Dragonite comes from its diverse movepool and plethora of options in dealing with its checks. Full physical sets can run Fire/Thunder Punch, Earthquake, Ice Spinner, and/or Stone Edge to hit checks such as Intimidate/Fluffy Corviknight, Pecharunt, Psychic Terrain Azelf/Deoxys-Speed, and Primordial Sea Zapdos respectively. Dragon Dance can be used alongside these options to muscle past the aforementioned checks even easier and become a powerful breaker/lategame cleaner. Dragonite also runs mixed sets with Flamethrower or Thunderbolt to take advantage of Corviknight’s weaker special defense.
What makes Dragonite even more problematic is that it can be hard to tell what a Dragonite is on preview, and can punish the player heavily if they do not have the proper checks and/or guess wrong on what coverage the Dragonite is sporting. On top of this, even with the proper checks, it can become especially difficult for teams to handle a Dragonite after a +1, as a vast majority of mons get OHKO’d or 2HKO’d by Extreme Speed and its coverage moves. Dragonite can find multiple opportunities to come-in and set-up, as it can usually invest near max HP due to Extreme Speed's priority bracket. This does not take into account Dragonite’s teammates, who can weaken its limited number of checks and let it come in to clean easier than ever lategame.
However, Dragonite is not a perfect Pokemon. It cannot run coverage for all its checks and is usually limited to only running one to two coverage moves due to the near auto-includes of Extreme Speed and Roost, which is further limited if one opts for Dragon Dance as well. These coverage moves can be scouted for to find out its full set, reducing its potency and surprise factor. Extreme Speed only has 8 PP, meaning against bulkier teams it can be stalled out. Mixed sets taking advantage of Intim/Fluffy Corviknight can instead be blocked out by the rarer Well-Baked Body or Volt Absorb Corviknight. Dragonite can have its priority blocked completely with Psychic Terrain and/or the Dazzling ability, preventing it from using key STAB damage and speed control. Although Dragonite’s typing allows for multiple resistances and even an immunity, it is rocks weak and 4x weak to ice, with multiple top tiers such as Great Tusk, Manaphy, and Swampert commonly running ice coverage. Finally, Dragonite has to choose on what item to run: with Life Orb providing crucial damage amp for OHKO’s at +0/+1 but in-turn a weakness to rocks and lorb chip. Heavy-Duty Boots provides greater longevity but reduced damage output. This makes other Pokemon such as Pixilate Scream Tail, physdef Manaphy, and Earth Eater/Choice Scarf Gholdengo better checks.
Due to all these reasons and the consistent discussion around this Pokemon, we have decided to open it to the community to decide its fate in the tier once again!
HOW:
During a Suspect Test, each player must climb the ladder until they’ve acquired the GXE necessary to participate in voting. Primarily, everyone that participates needs to make an alt account following guidelines.
- Every game must be played on the official Pokemon Showdown! site
- Create a new account (creation date no earlier than today, August 14th) with "AAAITE "--for example, I could create one called "AAAITE Your Mom" to ladder with. Having the prefix at the beginning of your alt name is mandatory, AKA not in the middle (e.g. The AAAITE Man) and not at the end (e.g. The AAAITE).
- To qualify for voting, your alt must meet the required GXE and games played threshold; it starts at 78% GXE at 25 games, down to 75% GXE at 40+ games.
- Dragonite will be allowed on the ladder during the suspect.
- The suspect test will go for eleven days and end on August 25 at 10:00pm GMT -5
- When posting proof of meeting reqs, feel free to use this thread as a means to disseminate topical opinions regarding whether or not Dragonite should be banned.(Optional)
- It is mandatory to provide proof of ownership of the alt account as well. (Post a picture of your reqs with your smogon name featured)
