[OVERVIEW]
Dragonite is a devastating sweeper with Supersonic Skystrike, capable of breaking through defensive staples like Clefable, Tapu Fini, Ferrothorn, and Gliscor after a Dragon Dance. It can select from great priority, additional coverage, and recovery to best fit its team. Dragonite's ability Multiscale gives it an easy time setting up, but Stealth Rock takes away both Multiscale's effect and a chunk of Dragonite's health, so Dragonite requires good support against entry hazards to function well, either through exerting intense offensive pressure or with an emergency spinner or Defogger. A subpar Speed tier leaves Dragonite easily revenge killed, especially if it's chipped while setting up or if its team is unable to damage revenge killers into the range of Extreme Speed. Additionally, once Supersonic Skystrike is burned, Fly can be played around, leaving Dragonite reliant on non-STAB coverage. Finally, Dragonite faces serious competition from Mega Charizard X and even Gyarados, with both being more consistent options. As a result, Dragonite finds itself relegated to hyper offensive teams, where even there it struggles to find a place by nearly mandating anti-hazard support, constraining its team's builds.
[SET]
name: Flyinium Z Breaker
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Fly
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Extreme Speed
item: Flyinium Z
ability: Multiscale
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Dragon Dance lets Dragonite present itself as a threat, demanding an immediate answer from the opponent to avoid letting it get to +2 Speed and roll through any possible revenge killing options. Fly paired with Flyinium Z lets Dragonite nuke any opposition that's hit neutrally, dropping Pokemon like Tapu Fini, Clefable, and Garchomp after a Dragon Dance. Once Flyinium Z is burned, Fly can still be used as a decently strong STAB attack to threaten Grass-types and force awkward plays, though it does become much easier to play around. Earthquake provides great coverage when paired with Fly, taking on a good number of the Rock-, Electric-, and Steel-types that could try to absorb a Supersonic Skystrike like Tyranitar, Heatran, Magearna, and Jirachi. It also allows Dragonite to hit Toxapex hard without using Supersonic Skystrike, preventing a chipped one from using Scald or Haze without burning Dragonite's Z-Move. Extreme Speed is useful to revenge kill weakened threats and enable Dragonite to sweep should opposing revenge killers like Weavile and Mega Alakazam be sufficiently weakened. Roost is an option to let Dragonite play around Choice Scarf Landorus-T once it has boosted its Speed using Dragon Dance, letting it absorb and burn the PP of Stone Edge or restore Multiscale to ease additional setup to negate Intimidate. It also lets Dragonite boost multiple times against Tapu Koko and threaten Pokemon like Tapu Bulu early-game even in the presence of Stealth Rock, restoring Multiscale and the ability to set up and break or sweep mid- or late-game.
Set Details
========
A Jolly nature is preferred to outspeed Tapu Koko, Ash-Greninja, and Mega Lopunny at +1, Choice Scarf Kartana at +2, and Heatran and neutral-natured Mega Garchomp when unboosted. Multiscale lets Dragonite easily set up on neutral attacks and weaker super effective attacks, and it allows Dragonite to even take strong super effective hits like Mega Latias's Ice Beam and Choice Specs Tapu Lele's Moonblast if need be.
Usage Tips
========
As soon as Team Preview, identify what will let you win the game. Will Dragonite's partners be able to win the game if it's able to punch a hole in an opposing defensive core, or is a +1 or +2 Dragonite devastating enough to do so with a little support? What Pokemon on the opposing team can Dragonite set up on? Keep that target or those targets alive, and don't be afraid to make sacrificial plays or double switches if need be late-game to get Dragonite in against a foe it can exploit to boost and win. If at all possible, scout for status moves before trying to set up against Pokemon like Ferrothorn—paralysis cripples Dragonite and makes it much easier to play around and revenge kill, even with Extreme Speed. Dragonite only gets one shot with Supersonic Skystrike, and since Fly can be played around by strong Flying-resistant Pokemon, Dragonite has to be really careful with using its Z-Move. When against a target that Dragonite needs Supersonic Skystrike to break through, analyze whether you could grab an additional Dragon Dance boost or fire off an Earthquake instead without much risk to punish a switch or double switch from the opponent if they're trying to bait out Supersonic Skystrike early or sacrifice one of their less important Pokemon. Set entry hazards early to get the chip damage Dragonite needs to function and prevent opposing entry hazards either through aggressive removal or Taunt combined with constant offensive pressure. Once Dragonite has weakened a defensive core, do not let up the pressure and allow a defensive Pokemon to heal, undoing the work that Dragonite did.
Team Options
========
Dragonite naturally pairs with dedicated leads that can both set entry hazards to accumulate chip damage and prevent Stealth Rock from the foe. Excadrill is one option to provide both Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin, while Greninja can set Spikes and prevent Stealth Rock with Taunt. Since Dragonite pairs so well with dedicated leads, it becomes a natural fit for hyper offense. Other hyper offense staples thus make good partners. Mega Gyarados and Magearna are two such Pokemon, but because Dragonite requires a Z-Crystal to be effective, it can result in a less effective Magearna set being run. Offensive hazard removal is really nice for maintaining Multiscale. This can come from a number of offensive Pokemon, such as Rapid Spin Excadrill, Defog Kartana, or Defog Landorus-T, but you'll notice that a majority of these Pokemon stack weaknesses or are generally considered subpar options for hazard removal, which definitely contributes to holding Dragonite back in the tier. Another option is to essentially go all-in with offensive type spam. Since most Pokemon that resist Flying lack reliable recovery, one Flying-type Pokemon can break for the other to sweep. Mega Pinsir is an option here, as is Hawlucha, since Dragonite can take down annoyances to it like Clefable or take out chunks of health from Landorus-T or Zapdos.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
An Adamant nature is an option to provide better rolls against bulky Magearna and guarantee OHKOs on Pokemon like Magic Guard Clefable with a boosted Supersonic Skystrike. It's also notable for requiring less chip damage to take out would-be revenge killers with Extreme Speed, but outspeeding the previously mentioned metagame-relevant threats is too important to give up, and the slight boost in damage output often isn't enough to make up for the drop in Speed. Fire Punch can be used to break through Celesteela as well as Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor without requiring the use of Supersonic Skystrike. Losing the additional power of Earthquake and Earthquake's ability to hit Heatran, Tyranitar, Tapu Koko, and Mega Diancie is too detrimental, so Fire Punch should be used over Extreme Speed. However, this leaves Dragonite helpless against Weavile and weakens its matchup against Choice Scarf Greninja, so it should only be used with partners that appreciate Celesteela being weakened like Tapu Lele and with solid answers to the revenge killers that Dragonite becomes weaker against. A set of Substitute, Roost, Dragon Dance, and Fly can be used with Leftovers. It can be effective if teammates spread Toxic around and is able to take advantage of Dragonite's usual weakness to status by setting Substitute, though it has limited PP and can struggle against common walls like Zapdos and Celesteela. Finally, because of Multiscale, a Weakness Policy set is an option, but even at +3 Attack, Dragonite misses OHKOs against many bulky Pokemon like Tapu Fini, Ferrothorn, and Clefable, since it lacks Supersonic Skystrike. This Dragonite set mandates a strong hazard game, both to protect Multiscale and to ensure that Dragonite's attacks will pick up their KOs. While it has potential, relying on your opponent's attacks to set up your sweeper or breaker means that Weakness Policy Dragonite will oftentimes find itself outclassed by more consistent options.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Stealth Rock**: Stealth Rock takes a quarter of Dragonite's HP away and halves its bulk by breaking Multiscale. While a full health Dragonite can set up against nearly any Pokemon in the OU tier, a Dragonite after Stealth Rock damage can barely set up on anything.
**Zapdos and Rotom-W**: Both of these Pokemon can take a boosted Supersonic Skystrike, heal, and retaliate with detrimental status or a Hidden Power Ice in Zapdos's case.
**Status**: All status conditions are crippling to Dragonite. Along with annoying full paralysis chances, Dragonite's subpar Speed causes a wide range of Pokemon to outspeed it after paralysis. A +1 paralyzed Dragonite is outsped by defensive Landorus-T, Tyranitar, Tapu Fini, Magearna, and Zapdos, for instance. Burn breaks Multiscale and halves Dragonite's attack, leaving it relatively worthless as a breaker and making it difficult to try to accumulate multiple boosts. Toxic is probably the least detrimental status for Dragonite, but it still leaves it unable to sweep in many cases, relegating it to a purely wallbreaking role.
**Landorus-T**: Without Roost, Landorus-T can be extremely annoying for Dragonite. Landorus-T can negate its Attack boosts while breaking Multiscale with U-turn chip or threatening it with Hidden Power Ice. Additionally, many sets can set up Stealth Rock, and Choice Scarf sets can revenge kill it with Stone Edge.
**Celesteela and Skarmory**: Unless Dragonite is running Fire Punch, both Celesteela and the rarer Skarmory wall it hard and can chip it down. Dragonite can attempt to take advantage of Celesteela's poor damage output with Roost, but a mistimed Supersonic Skystrike will leave Dragonite essentially useless against Protect.
**Unaware**: Most Unaware walls are capable of inflicting status on Dragonite or severely damaging it, and none are OHKOed by Supersonic Skystrike, leaving Dragonite nearly helpless against them if they prioritize staying healthy.
**Healthy Revenge Killers**: Without enough chip damage, Dragonite will be unable to KO faster Pokemon with Extreme Speed, leaving it susceptible to Pokemon like Weavile and Protean Greninja depending on how much it's boosted.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[GMars, 273636]]
- Quality checked by: [[DKM, 402001], [Leo, 328915], [Jordy, 395754]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Estronic, 240732], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
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