In progress.
Changes (in progress):
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/altaria
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Dragon Claw
move 2: Roost
move 3: Heal Bell
move 4: Perish Song / Roar / Haze
item: Leftovers
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Altaria's great typing and access to rare supporting moves make it a valuable addition to any defensive team. Few Pokemon in UU can boast resistances to Fire-, Water-, Grass-, and Bug-type attacks, some of the most commonly used special attacking types in the tier, while also having the Base Stats to back them up. Altaria does that and more - it also has a resistance to Fighting and an immunity to Ground, an instant recovery move in Roost, status invulnerability because of its Natural Cure ability, and almost exclusive supporting moves that benefit its entire team.</p>
<p>In order to be able to support its team as best it can, Altaria only really has space for a single attacking move on this set. It makes sense to utilize its Dragon STAB, which gets excellent neutral coverage, but both of Altaria's attacking stats are equally low. While Dragon Pulse has a higher Base Power than Dragon Claw, the latter is the recommended choice because of the simple reason that the vast majority of the Pokemon that Altaria would be taking on have much lower physical Defense than Special Defense: Roserade, Houndoom, Mismagius, Espeon, and Sceptile will all be taking more damage from Dragon Claw than Dragon Pulse.</p>
<p>Roost grants Altaria a way of keeping its health up, while also letting reduce its quadruple Ice weakness to a double weakness and gain a resistance to Electric-type attacks for a turn. Heal Bell supports the entire team by healing all status afflictions, including self inflicted sleep from Rest. Perish Song is very helpful on stall teams for dealing with the last Pokemon scenario, when the foe can no longer be phazed and take repetitive entry hazard damage. Perish Song can also be used earlier on in a battle to force a Pokemon that might have gained too many stat boosts, for example Calm Mind Mismagius or Nasty Plot Houndoom, to switch, and helps the weakening process in conjunction with entry hazards.</p>
<p>There are few viable clerics in UU, but there are even fewer viable users of Perish Song, and Altaria can accomplish both very well. Alternatively, Roar can be used in place of Perish Song to let Altaria act as a more standard fare phazer. Roar has its advantages in that it gets rid of stat up sweepers quickly before they can really start to hurt Altaria, and can pile up entry hazard damage faster, but it is useless if the opponent has no other Pokemon left. Another option to consider is Haze - out of the three, it is the best and most reliable way of destroying opponent's stat boosts, but does little to encourage switching and so won't result in the opponent taking as much residual damage. All three moves are viable options for the last slot, so it is really up to your team's needs as to which one you should use.</p>
<p>The EVs and nature focus on Altaria's ability to take special attacks, since that is what it does best, and because there are several other Pokemon suited to taking Ground- and Fighting-type attacks better than Altaria. With this heavy investment in its Special Defense, Altaria can take a serious beating on the special side - it survives a Life Orb Nasty Plotted Dark Pulse from Houndoom after Stealth Rock damage; takes only 40% on average from a Life Orb Roserade's Sludge Bomb; a maximum of 49% from a Choice Specs Tinted Lens Yanmega's Bug Buzz; can easily alternate between Dragon Claw and Roost to defeat a once Calm Minded Mismagius (who does only 36% on average in return with a +1 Shadow Ball); and can switch in on any combination of the standard Mixed Blaziken's attacks and beat it one on one (although it has to be wary of Stone Edge and Hidden Power Ice, some of Blaziken's lesser used options).</p>
<p>Registeel resists all three of Altaria's weaknesses, and so makes an ideal partner on a defensive team. It can provide paralysis support to let Altaria stall foes until they are fully paralyzed with Roost, and can set up Stealth Rock to help make the most of Altaria's shuffling moves. In return, Altaria resists the Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-type attacks than can plague Registeel, and possibly even more valuably, allows Registeel to use Rest to keep its health up without having to sacrifice a further slot to Sleep Talk, since Altaria can wake it up with Heal Bell. This means that Registeel can use moves such as Stealth Rock, which would be highly unviable on a Sleep Talk set, with a lot more freedom. While Altaria can take on almost all of the special attackers of UU one on one, it needs a field clear of Stealth Rock to be able to do its job properly. It cannot afford to be losing 25% of its health on every switch in - that would mean Life Orb Roserade and Tinted Lens Specs Yanmega 2HKO Altaria with their STAB Sludge Bomb and Bug Buzz, respectively. Hitmontop is a good candidate as Altaria's supporting spinner. Its Intimidate helps patch up for Altaria's lower defensive stat, it resists Rock, it can bypass spin blockers with Foresight, and it can keep itself healthy with Rest courtesy of Altaria's Heal Bell.</p>
[SET]
name: Defensive Dancer
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Dragon Claw
move 3: Roost
move 4: Heal Bell / Safeguard
item: Leftovers
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 176 SpD / 64 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Solid defenses allow Altaria to set up on many of UU's weaker attackers and get several Dragon Dances under its belt before smashing through teams with its nearly unresisted STAB Dragon Claw. This Altaria set has twofold uses: it can serve as a cleric with Heal Bell and as a check to many of UU's threatening special sweepers throughout the match, and then set up for itself near the end of the match to sweep.</p>
<p>Dragon Claw is chosen over Outrage as the attacking move since it allows Altaria to alternate between attacking and healing to bring down foes without recovery. This Altaria set is expected to get multiple Dragon Dances so the power loss between Dragon Claw and Outrage is not as detrimental to Altaria's sweeping chances as the confusion that Outrage will cause. Heal Bell lets Altaria support its team very well, curing all status afflictions, but Safeguard is the better choice if you don't care for a cleric on your team and would rather guarantee Altaria's own set up even further. Safeguard protects from sleep attacks, such as Sleep Powder from Roserade and Venusaur and Uxie's Yawn, and doesn't need to be used repeatedly. Heal Bell's 8 PP can be stalled out quite easily by the likes of Substitute Toxic Moltres, or any clever opponent that predicts your Heal Bell and just repeats their status move that turn, but Safeguard does not have this problem. Do note that Safeguard doesn't protect from Outrage's self-induced confusion, so don't be tempted to use them in tandem.</p>
<p>Max HP and 176 Special Defense EVs, along with a Special Defense boosting nature, allow Altaria to set up on most of UU's Ice Beam-wielding bulky Waters, something more offensively inclined sets cannot do. For example, the standard Milotic's Ice Beam only manages 31.6% on average against a Roosting Altaria. With Leftovers healing an additional 6.25% of your health every turn, as well as UU's general lack of sandstorm and hail, it is not too difficult to alternate between Dragon Dance and Roost to set up here. If you have Safeguard in place you don't need to worry about Ice Beam's freeze chance either, and a critical hit will only take you out if it occurs on your non-Roosting turn. 64 Speed EVs let Altaria hit 318 Speed after one Dragon Dance, outspeeding everything up to and including +Speed natured base 95s such as Drapion and Houndoom. This is a good Speed benchmark to hit - any faster and it detracts too much from Altaria's defensive capabilities; any slower and you cannot check the likes of Houndoom and Roserade as effectively. The remaining 16 EVs are placed in Attack to bring Altaria's unboosted stat to a well rounded 180.</p>
<p>Toxic Spikes support is excellent for setting up on bulky Waters, since Altaria won't need to actually attack them with Dragon Claw at all but can just alternate between Dragon Dance and Roost as the increasing poison damage takes out the foe. Omastar gets plenty of opportunities to set up Toxic Spikes, has a high Defense stat to compliment Altaria's lower one, and resists Ice. In return, Altaria provides an immunity to Ground, a 2x resistance to Fighting and a 4x one to Grass. Having means to remove Registeel and Steelix from Altaria's path makes it a lot easier when the time comes for it to finally sweep. Both Dugtrio and Magneton can trap and take out the Steel-types, but both need to be wary when switching in. Magneton cannot risk being hit by an Earthquake and does not appreciate switching in on Thunder Wave, while Dugtrio needs to watch out for STAB Steel-type attacks that will 2HKO it. Removing Stealth Rock from the field is greatly beneficial if you plan on using Altaria as a team player with Heal Bell, as otherwise the 25% damage from just switching in will greatly compromise its defensive capabilities. Safeguard versions that are designed to be played as a lone sweeper in the end game don't need Stealth Rock gone quite as much, as Altaria can Roost off the damage from a single switch in quite easily before proceeding to set up and sweep.</p>
Changes (in progress):
- Added new "Support" set.
- Added new "Defensive Dancer" set.
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/altaria
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Dragon Claw
move 2: Roost
move 3: Heal Bell
move 4: Perish Song / Roar / Haze
item: Leftovers
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Altaria's great typing and access to rare supporting moves make it a valuable addition to any defensive team. Few Pokemon in UU can boast resistances to Fire-, Water-, Grass-, and Bug-type attacks, some of the most commonly used special attacking types in the tier, while also having the Base Stats to back them up. Altaria does that and more - it also has a resistance to Fighting and an immunity to Ground, an instant recovery move in Roost, status invulnerability because of its Natural Cure ability, and almost exclusive supporting moves that benefit its entire team.</p>
<p>In order to be able to support its team as best it can, Altaria only really has space for a single attacking move on this set. It makes sense to utilize its Dragon STAB, which gets excellent neutral coverage, but both of Altaria's attacking stats are equally low. While Dragon Pulse has a higher Base Power than Dragon Claw, the latter is the recommended choice because of the simple reason that the vast majority of the Pokemon that Altaria would be taking on have much lower physical Defense than Special Defense: Roserade, Houndoom, Mismagius, Espeon, and Sceptile will all be taking more damage from Dragon Claw than Dragon Pulse.</p>
<p>Roost grants Altaria a way of keeping its health up, while also letting reduce its quadruple Ice weakness to a double weakness and gain a resistance to Electric-type attacks for a turn. Heal Bell supports the entire team by healing all status afflictions, including self inflicted sleep from Rest. Perish Song is very helpful on stall teams for dealing with the last Pokemon scenario, when the foe can no longer be phazed and take repetitive entry hazard damage. Perish Song can also be used earlier on in a battle to force a Pokemon that might have gained too many stat boosts, for example Calm Mind Mismagius or Nasty Plot Houndoom, to switch, and helps the weakening process in conjunction with entry hazards.</p>
<p>There are few viable clerics in UU, but there are even fewer viable users of Perish Song, and Altaria can accomplish both very well. Alternatively, Roar can be used in place of Perish Song to let Altaria act as a more standard fare phazer. Roar has its advantages in that it gets rid of stat up sweepers quickly before they can really start to hurt Altaria, and can pile up entry hazard damage faster, but it is useless if the opponent has no other Pokemon left. Another option to consider is Haze - out of the three, it is the best and most reliable way of destroying opponent's stat boosts, but does little to encourage switching and so won't result in the opponent taking as much residual damage. All three moves are viable options for the last slot, so it is really up to your team's needs as to which one you should use.</p>
<p>The EVs and nature focus on Altaria's ability to take special attacks, since that is what it does best, and because there are several other Pokemon suited to taking Ground- and Fighting-type attacks better than Altaria. With this heavy investment in its Special Defense, Altaria can take a serious beating on the special side - it survives a Life Orb Nasty Plotted Dark Pulse from Houndoom after Stealth Rock damage; takes only 40% on average from a Life Orb Roserade's Sludge Bomb; a maximum of 49% from a Choice Specs Tinted Lens Yanmega's Bug Buzz; can easily alternate between Dragon Claw and Roost to defeat a once Calm Minded Mismagius (who does only 36% on average in return with a +1 Shadow Ball); and can switch in on any combination of the standard Mixed Blaziken's attacks and beat it one on one (although it has to be wary of Stone Edge and Hidden Power Ice, some of Blaziken's lesser used options).</p>
<p>Registeel resists all three of Altaria's weaknesses, and so makes an ideal partner on a defensive team. It can provide paralysis support to let Altaria stall foes until they are fully paralyzed with Roost, and can set up Stealth Rock to help make the most of Altaria's shuffling moves. In return, Altaria resists the Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-type attacks than can plague Registeel, and possibly even more valuably, allows Registeel to use Rest to keep its health up without having to sacrifice a further slot to Sleep Talk, since Altaria can wake it up with Heal Bell. This means that Registeel can use moves such as Stealth Rock, which would be highly unviable on a Sleep Talk set, with a lot more freedom. While Altaria can take on almost all of the special attackers of UU one on one, it needs a field clear of Stealth Rock to be able to do its job properly. It cannot afford to be losing 25% of its health on every switch in - that would mean Life Orb Roserade and Tinted Lens Specs Yanmega 2HKO Altaria with their STAB Sludge Bomb and Bug Buzz, respectively. Hitmontop is a good candidate as Altaria's supporting spinner. Its Intimidate helps patch up for Altaria's lower defensive stat, it resists Rock, it can bypass spin blockers with Foresight, and it can keep itself healthy with Rest courtesy of Altaria's Heal Bell.</p>
[SET]
name: Defensive Dancer
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Dragon Claw
move 3: Roost
move 4: Heal Bell / Safeguard
item: Leftovers
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 176 SpD / 64 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Solid defenses allow Altaria to set up on many of UU's weaker attackers and get several Dragon Dances under its belt before smashing through teams with its nearly unresisted STAB Dragon Claw. This Altaria set has twofold uses: it can serve as a cleric with Heal Bell and as a check to many of UU's threatening special sweepers throughout the match, and then set up for itself near the end of the match to sweep.</p>
<p>Dragon Claw is chosen over Outrage as the attacking move since it allows Altaria to alternate between attacking and healing to bring down foes without recovery. This Altaria set is expected to get multiple Dragon Dances so the power loss between Dragon Claw and Outrage is not as detrimental to Altaria's sweeping chances as the confusion that Outrage will cause. Heal Bell lets Altaria support its team very well, curing all status afflictions, but Safeguard is the better choice if you don't care for a cleric on your team and would rather guarantee Altaria's own set up even further. Safeguard protects from sleep attacks, such as Sleep Powder from Roserade and Venusaur and Uxie's Yawn, and doesn't need to be used repeatedly. Heal Bell's 8 PP can be stalled out quite easily by the likes of Substitute Toxic Moltres, or any clever opponent that predicts your Heal Bell and just repeats their status move that turn, but Safeguard does not have this problem. Do note that Safeguard doesn't protect from Outrage's self-induced confusion, so don't be tempted to use them in tandem.</p>
<p>Max HP and 176 Special Defense EVs, along with a Special Defense boosting nature, allow Altaria to set up on most of UU's Ice Beam-wielding bulky Waters, something more offensively inclined sets cannot do. For example, the standard Milotic's Ice Beam only manages 31.6% on average against a Roosting Altaria. With Leftovers healing an additional 6.25% of your health every turn, as well as UU's general lack of sandstorm and hail, it is not too difficult to alternate between Dragon Dance and Roost to set up here. If you have Safeguard in place you don't need to worry about Ice Beam's freeze chance either, and a critical hit will only take you out if it occurs on your non-Roosting turn. 64 Speed EVs let Altaria hit 318 Speed after one Dragon Dance, outspeeding everything up to and including +Speed natured base 95s such as Drapion and Houndoom. This is a good Speed benchmark to hit - any faster and it detracts too much from Altaria's defensive capabilities; any slower and you cannot check the likes of Houndoom and Roserade as effectively. The remaining 16 EVs are placed in Attack to bring Altaria's unboosted stat to a well rounded 180.</p>
<p>Toxic Spikes support is excellent for setting up on bulky Waters, since Altaria won't need to actually attack them with Dragon Claw at all but can just alternate between Dragon Dance and Roost as the increasing poison damage takes out the foe. Omastar gets plenty of opportunities to set up Toxic Spikes, has a high Defense stat to compliment Altaria's lower one, and resists Ice. In return, Altaria provides an immunity to Ground, a 2x resistance to Fighting and a 4x one to Grass. Having means to remove Registeel and Steelix from Altaria's path makes it a lot easier when the time comes for it to finally sweep. Both Dugtrio and Magneton can trap and take out the Steel-types, but both need to be wary when switching in. Magneton cannot risk being hit by an Earthquake and does not appreciate switching in on Thunder Wave, while Dugtrio needs to watch out for STAB Steel-type attacks that will 2HKO it. Removing Stealth Rock from the field is greatly beneficial if you plan on using Altaria as a team player with Heal Bell, as otherwise the 25% damage from just switching in will greatly compromise its defensive capabilities. Safeguard versions that are designed to be played as a lone sweeper in the end game don't need Stealth Rock gone quite as much, as Altaria can Roost off the damage from a single switch in quite easily before proceeding to set up and sweep.</p>
