BSS Trapper Dragonite

[Tachipoyo]

[SET]
name: Encore
move 1: Roost
move 2: Encore
move 3: Fire Spin / Draco Meteor
move 4: Thunder Wave / Substitute / Draco Meteor
item: Leftovers / Rocky Helmet / Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Multiscale
nature: Timid
tera type: Fairy
evs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Due to Dragonite's offensive presence and high bulk, many opponents choose to either check it defensively or set up against it to break through Roost + Multiscale. Against either option, Encore can turn Dragonite practically invincible allowing it to reside on the field indefinitely in most cases.

* Fire Spin allows Dragonite to defeat almost any Pokemon universally by simply making full use of its longevity. Trapping an Encore locked Pokemon in the field is also highly valuable. Fire Spin is used instead of Wrap because it affects Ghost-types and doesn't trigger chip damage from Rough Skin and Rocky Helmet.

* Encore is most effective against slower foes. Thunder Wave allows Dragonite to lock a much wider variety of Pokemon into their moves, while also giving it more opportunities to keep Multiscale up via potential paralysis.

* Substitute adds to Dragonite's longevity. Baiting a status move such as Toxic or Yawn, blocking it with Substitute, and locking the move in with Encore guarantees Dragonite an active Substitute while defeating the opposing Pokemon. Most notably, managing to leave a Substitute against Garganacl's Salt Cure or Corviknight's U-turn gains a lot of momentum.

* Draco Meteor is a powerful move that can catch opposing Dragon-types off- guard and snatch a surprise KO. This Dragonite set has more than enough capability to run the timer out, so guaranteeing the number advantage is significant. It is also a significantly better offensive option against opposing Dragonite, which can avoid Encore via the use of Extreme Speed, raise its own Speed with Dragon Dance, and ignore Thunder Wave with the common Lum Berry.

Tera Types
========

* **Fairy**: Due to Dragonite’'s low Speed compared to other Dragon-types, it has a difficult time without a Fairy Tera type.

EV Spreads
========

* **252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with Timid**: In order to make the most use of Encore, max Speed is recommended.

* **252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe with Bold**: A more defensive spread lets Dragonite preserve Terastallization against certain physical attackers, which makes it a noteworthy choice. In particular, max Defense Dragonite can use Roost to mitigate the damage from Choice Band Meowscarada without needing to Terastallize, and Substitute can survive Garganacl's Salt Cure.

Items
========

* Generally, Leftovers preserves Dragonite’'s longevity best, as it cancels out the damage from Sandstorm and makes timer stall easier. However, the increased usage of entry hazard setter Garchomp makes Heavy-Duty Boots a strong option.

* Rocky Helmet makes it easier for Dragonite to defeat Pokemon such as opposing Dragonite, Kingambit, and Meowscarada, and its residual damage can be used to execute a win condition, especially for sets that choose not to run Fire Spin.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Tachipoyo, 613881]]
- Quality checked by: [[Thick Fat Azumarill, 330577]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Isaiah, 375662]]

 

[Thick Fat Azumarill]

Nice work Tachi, QC approved!

 

[Theorymon]

Only three things I have to add are:

- I think Bold is good enough to slash it in as a secondary option for Timid.

- I'd give Thunder Wave its own bullet just because its a different topic than Encore.

- I think Fire Spin deserves its own bullet. Its the kind of move that makes people go "WHAT" when they see it, so highlighting its use is worth it. In particular, I think its worth explaining why its used over Wrap (this is actually a question I've gotten several times on the Smogon discord lol, because Wrap is more accurate). Which is basically: it does chip damage to ghosts like Gholdengo and Mimikyu, even if it does not trap them.

Otherwise, this looks good to me! QC Approved 2/1!

 

[Tachipoyo]

Only three things I have to add are:

- I think Bold is good enough to slash it in as a secondary option for Timid.

- I'd give Thunder Wave its own bullet just because its a different topic than Encore.

- I think Fire Spin deserves its own bullet. Its the kind of move that makes people go "WHAT" when they see it, so highlighting its use is worth it. In particular, I think its worth explaining why its used over Wrap (this is actually a question I've gotten several times on the Smogon discord lol, because Wrap is more accurate). Which is basically: it does chip damage to ghosts like Gholdengo and Mimikyu, even if it does not trap them.

Otherwise, this looks good to me! QC Approved 2/1!

Oh, I should already have covered Bold as an option in the EV spreads! If you think a point or two is missing do lmk

I think the Thunder Wave section is fine as-is personally, purely because Thunder Wave is a move that enables Encore and is often used together, so it makes sense to contextualize the two together

I haven't heard the Wrap argument before actually, let me edit it in!

 

[Theorymon]

This looks good to me now!

GP Team

 

[Seclusive Shoujo]

I'm rather new to Smogon and returning to Pokémon in general and was wondering if this set can be used in any other formats?

The set sounds really fun to play, I personally really enjoy "mind game" type builds/play-styles and this set isn't the usual jolly/adamant build that people normally see.

 

[Tachipoyo]

I'm rather new to Smogon and returning to Pokémon in general and was wondering if this set can be used in any other formats?

The set sounds really fun to play, I personally really enjoy "mind game" type builds/play-styles and this set isn't the usual jolly/adamant build that people normally see.

I don't have enough knowledge of OU to make any concrete comments, but if someone brings a defensive check for an offensive Dragonite (Corvi or Dondozo for DD/Extreme Speed), the Fire Spin tends to be a very lethal answer into it. I'd say its worth trying out at least ^^

 

[Isaiah]

GP Check

[SET]
name: Encore Dragonite
move 1: Roost
move 2: Encore
move 3: Fire Spin / Draco Meteor
move 4: Thunder Wave / Substitute / Draco Meteor
item: Leftovers / Rocky Helmet / Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Multiscale
nature: Timid
tera type: Fairy
evs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Due to Dragonite’'s offensive presence and high bulk, many opponents choose to either check it defensively or set up against it to break through the combination of Roost and+ Multiscale. Against either option, Encore can turn Dragonite practically invincible. When combined with Roost as well, it allows Dragoning ite to reside indeon the finitely on the d indefiniteldy in most cases.

* Fire Spin allows Dragonite to defeat almost any Pokemon universally by simply making full use of its longevity. Trapping an Encore locked Pokemon in the field is also highly valuable. While WrapFire Spin is a more accurate alused insternative, due tof Wrap being a contact move that ccause it affects Ghost-types and doesn't trigger chip Multiscale againstdamage from Rough Skin and Rocky Helmet. opponents, and the abundance of Ghost types in the current metagame, Fire Spin is the more popular alternative.

* Encore is most effective against slower foes. Thunder Wave allows Dragonite to lock a much wider variety of Pokemon into their moves, while also giving it more opportunities to keep Multiscale up via potential paralysis.

* Substitute adds to Dragonite’'s longevity. Baiting a status move such as Toxic or Yawn, blocking it with Substitute, and locking the move in with Encore guarantees Dragonite manages to lea active up a Substitute while defeating the opposing Pokemon. Most notably, managing to leave a Substitute against Garganacl’'s Salt Cure or Corviknight’'s U-turn gains a lot of momentum.

* Draco Meteor is a powerful move that can catch opposing Dragon-types off- guard and snatch a surprise KO. This Dragonite set has more than enough capability to run the timer out, so guaranteeing the number advantage is significant. It is also a significantly better offensive option againsto opposing Dragonite, whoich can avoid Encore via the use of Extreme Speed, raise its own sSpeed with Dragon Dance, and ignore Thunder Wave with the common Lum Berry.

Tera Types
========

* **Fairy**: Due to Dragonite’'s low sSpeed in comparisoned to other Dragon-types, it has a difficult time without Tera Fairy Tera type.

EV Spreads
========

* **252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with Timid**: In order to make the most use of Encore, max sSpeed is recommended.

* **252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe with Bold**: A more defensive spread lets Dragonite preserve Terastallization against certain physical attackers, which makes it a noteworthy choice. In particular, max dDefense Dragonite can use Roost offto mitigate the damage from Choice Banded Meowscarada without needing to Terastallize, and let Substitute can survive Garganacl’'s Salt Cure even when being hit for super effective.

Items
========

* Generally, Leftovers has the most synergy withpreserves Dragonite’'s longevity best, as it cancellings out the damage from Sandstorm and makinges timer stall easier. However, the increased usage in Stealth Rock/Spikesof entry hazard setter Garchomp makes Heavy-Duty Boots a strong option.

* Rocky Helmet makes it easier for Dragonite to defeat Pokemon such as opposing Dragonite, Kingambit, and Meowscarada. E, and its residual damage can be used to execute a win condition, especially for sets that choose not to run Fire Spin, Rocky Helmet’s residual damage is a valuable winning condition.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Tachipoyo, 613881]]
- Quality checked by: [[Thick Fat Azumarill, 330577]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Isaiah, 375662]]

GP 1/1
GP Team Done

 

[Isaiah]

Tachipoyo I went back and fixed some apostrophes I missed out on changing, so if you were already implementing the check, please make sure you include:

FROM: curly apostophes ( ’ )
TO: ASCII apostrophes ( ' )

 

[Tachipoyo]

apologies for the wait, changes have been applied

 

[Theorymon]

This is now onsite, sorry for the wait! Real life got in the way today.