PokéBase - Pokémon Q&A
0 votes
142 views

I'm wondering if I should hone claws abuse iron tail stone edge and dual wingbeat or just go for dragon dance for a speed boost. Probably hone claws, since it's already fast. On a side note, why is Mega Aerodactyl in RUBL and not higher? It's pretty good except being kinda frail.

by
Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite  
Ability: Pressure  
Tera Type: Rock  
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Iron Tail  
- Stone Edge  
- Dual Wingbeat  
- Hone Claws


Original set btw
You'll probably get a better answer if you ask here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/national-dex-ou-simple-questions-simple-answers.3710683/
My guess is that it's outclassed by stuff like Hawlucha or Iron Boulder, which can set up faster and don't take up the mega slot.
alright I'll try. Thanks

1 Answer

1 vote
 
Best answer

Guess I'll answer since I already asked about on Smogon. I'll start off with the question on why Mega Aerodactyl is RUBL and not in NatDex OU and UU. Here is the response I got for why Mega Aerodactyl isn't in OU or have some sort of niche there:

Rocks weakness, unreliability in breaking, no real defensive niche besides checking heatran, horrible typing, and as such can’t set up if you ever wanted to use dd/hclaws

Source

As for why Mega Aerodactyl isn't in NatDex UU, it's because it's not used enough on the NDUU ladder (and NDUU ladder doesn't always reflect the meta, so....). It's B+ on the NDUU Viability Rankings as of now, but that may change since Iron Boulder exists, which makes priority moves more common. If you want to use Mega Aerodactyl, use it in NatDex UU where it has viability.


As for whether you should use Hone Claws or Dragon Dance, Dragon Dance is better since Mega Aerodactyl wants to have a speed boost(s) to outspeed faster Pokemon. I get the idea of Hone Claws to boost accuracy since boosting and having a chance to miss can be frustrating, but Dragon Dance is much better. Iron Tail also doesn't really provide much coverage that Mega Aerodactyl's other moves don't already hit. Here's the Dragon Dance set uses in NDUU:

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dual Wingbeat / Roost
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Earthquake provides good coverage alongside Stone Edge to hit Steel-types not named Celesteela. Roost can be used instead of Dual Wingbeat for HP recovery.

TL;DR Mega Aerodactyl should use Dragon Dance since it wants to have the speed boosts to outspeed faster Pokemon. Mega Aerodactyl is in RUBL since its typing doesn't help it in NatDex OU, and it doesn't get enough usage in NDUU, with its usage may being lowered due to Iron Boulder being in the tier.

Hope this helps!

by
selected by
TYSM! What's the best base ability for Aero?
I'd say Pressure since there aren't much Pokemon who use a berry for the item in NDUU.