1. "It is the Δ, born of the great disturbances in this world."
I already covered how powerful Delta Stream is in my Dragon Master Blog, but since it affects ALL Flying-types, and not just Dragons, I thought I should go into more detail, here.
First of all, Delta Stream negates ALL of the defensive weaknesses of the Flying-type, without actually removing their Flying-type status.
This essentially means that many Flying-types (including all of those Normal/Flying-types) have NO Type weaknesses, as long as Delta Stream is in effect.
(Similar to Sableye and Spiritomb, pre-Gen 6.)
Obviously, this can be quite powerful, especially if used in Triple Battles, and for anyone using an all Flying-type Team, it's DEFINITELY worth having a Mega Rayquaza on it, provided that it's one that includes Major Legendaries.
The way Flying-type Moves should be viewed, is essentially as an improved version of Normal-type Moves (much like Dragon-type Moves once were), as most of their weaknesses are the same.
Like with Normal-type Moves, Rock and Steel-types are a concern, although rather than being unable to hit Ghosts, you need to worry about Electric-types, instead.
Usually they can get Steel Wing, which covers Rock-types, but finding a way of dealing with Steel-types is usually much harder.
Basically, your best bet is to have some Flying-types that CAN learn a wider variety of Move Types, such as those Birds that AREN'T Normal/Flying-type, like Pelipper, Honchkrow, Altaria, etc.
3. Defensive Weaknesses
If you're not using a Mega Rayquaza, this is a MAJOR concern, especially considering many Flying-types aren't that defensive in nature.
As always, the best ways of addressing this are having a wide variety of secondary Types, and using defensive Berries and other Items.
One thing that should always be considered with Flying-types, however, is the Move Tailwind, which doubles your Team's Speed for 4 Turns.
Flying-types usually are heavily dependent on being fast, so teaching one (preferably a sturdier one) Tailwind is DEFINITELY a good idea, and can be quite handy, especially in Double/Triple Battles.
Also, the Move Roost removes your Flying-type status for 1 Turn, and aside from making the user vulnerable to Ground-type Moves for 1 Turn, it ALSO negates the Flying-type's weaknesses for a Turn, as well.
4. Flying-type Moves
In Gen 5, Acrobatics is THE best Flying-type Move, especially when combined with a Flying Gem (which increases it's effective Power to 165, not counting the 1.5× Power boost it gets if used by a Flying-type).
Unfortunately, this technique doesn't work in any other Generations, so what Moves should you use?
Bounce can be a good Move for certain Flying-types as well (such as Gyarados), although not many of them can learn it.
Sky Attack, as powerful as it is, should ONLY be used in conjunction with either a Power Herb, or a Flyinium Z, as it's just WAY too dangerous to be sitting around doing nothing for a Turn.
(I DEFINITELY recommend using it, however.)
As for Special Flying-type Moves, Air Slash is usually best (when it's an option), but Air Cutter, while pretty weak, CAN be a decent Move, IF used correctly.
Also, Hurricane is an AWESOME Move, although it's pretty inaccurate.
This can be addressed, however, by either using Rainy Weather, or by using Accuracy increasing Items (like Wide Lens and Zoom Lens), Moves (like Hone Claws), and/or Abilities (like Vivillon's Compound Eyes, or Mega Pidgeot's No Guard), which can negate this.
Also if you want an acrobatics 1st turn gem spammer: Get an archeops. 400+ Attack when maxed. And 350ish speed. My fav non legendary. (If it weren't for his dang abilityaybe he would be above PU or wherever he is now lol)
I'm obviously into Sweepers (especially Dragons), and Archeops is an AWESOME Sweeper, AND it's a freaking Dinosaur! (Taxonomically speaking, ALL Birds are, although Archeopteryxes certainly look more like one.)
BTW, check out Iris's Challenge Mode Rematch Team.
She has an Archeops like that, and she's a Dragon Master, a Champion, AND (Cosplaying as) a Princess! ^^
(Obviously, I'm a big Fan of Iris's, too, lol!)
pretty much I do hope that, Rampardos,Cradily, Bastiodon and some other fossil pokemon get love though. They have pretty low stats compared to some others and aren't really unique in moves or anything like Omastar with shell smash combo's. Like aerodactyl has a FREAKIN mega. And he was already pretty good.
I also have like 70+ wins on the PWT board lol, so I know what the teams are lol. Maybe I'll send a screenshot when I get back from traveling. Lmao
And yesh, lol, I kinda figured you were as into the PWT as I am.
I actually get away with using a (mostly) all Dragon-type Team in the Champions Tournament, and never really lose anymore.
(My 1 non-Dragon-type is a Gyarados, BTW.)
Other than Cynthia's Glaceon, and (occasionally) Red's Blastoise, there isn't really a whole lot for me to worry about.
Tyrantrum is actually a pretty decent pokemon in the lower UU tier in competitive o believe. I mean yeah he doesn't have legendary stats but I mean his abilities are still really good for his move pool.
Yeah tbf you can own all of the champions after buying a choice scarf lol! I used to have gyrados on my team actually. But EV training in gen5 sucks lol. And I switchex him for t-tar lol.
Honestly for me it's Rng on Cynthia's garchomp, I have a sandstorm team, and her garchomp has a 25% of evading attacks due to her ability.
Yeah, I REALLY want a HA Tyrantrum, actually, although I'd probably prefer Strong Jaw, anyway.
(I like having the versatility of all those different Biting Moves.)
My Main Gen 5 Team is (kind of) a Rainy Weather Team, although I mainly just spam Draco Meteor, Outrage, and (in the case of my Garchomp) Earthquake, with the occasional Dragon Dance or Swords Dance thrown in for good measure.
I lead with an Extreme Speed Dragonite (with a Focus Sash), a Garchomp, and a Salamence, and pretty much just try to Sweep everything with Attack Moves, and if someone goes down, out comes another Sweeper, lol!
It's funny how my Team is like a cross between Lance's Team and Clair's Team, with a few improvements.
(Like doing that Draco Meteor+Outrage thing on all my Dragons besides Garchomp, and throwing in a Gyarados.)
I mean who knows not all HA's are good anyway. I mean yeah dude I've killed like 500 basculine and watchhogs in my day. Just don't really got time lol. I legit just make money use vitamins and then wait everyday for join avenue to reset so I can EV train there. It's still boring to make money lol.
Also all dragon types should have Draco meteor/outrage as part of their moveset lol. They're just too good to pass up.
ALL Flying-type Moves (other than Air Cutter) can hit ANY opponent in a Triple Battle, which is perhaps one of their biggest advantages.
(In Triple Battles, anyway.)
Aeroblast, Oblivion Wing, and Dragon Ascent are all EXTREMELY good Flying-type Moves, although they are exclusive to certain Legendaries.
Flying Press IS a good Move, and even inflicts 4× damage on certain opponents (such as Abomasnow), although it is NOT a good substitute for either Flying-type, nor Fighting-type Moves, as it doesn't work as well against certain Types, such as Bug/Fighting-types, and Steel/Rock-types, which take 4× damage from Flying and Fighting-type Moves, respectively.
Also, for Togekiss, combining Air Slash, Serene Grace, a King's Rock, and Paralysis (such as from the Move Thunder Wave), can be EXTREMELY effective, as it drastically reduces the likelihood your opponent can even do anything.
Although their Type disadvantages are similar, there ARE circumstances in which it makes sense to teach Flying-types a Normal-type Move.
Also, Feather Dance is an AWESOME defensive Move, and is great for faster Flying-types.
And although this Blog is meant for Gens 4-7, I thought I'd mention that a Flying-type Hidden Power can be GREAT for Gyarados in Gens 2 & 3, if you're lucky enough to get one that has one, and that also has decent Power on it's Hidden Power, as well.
(I was fortunate enough to get one like that in Fire Red, which had a Lonely Nature, good Stats, AND a Flying-type Hidden Power, with a Power of somewhere around 60.)
Draconid_Jo
28 Jul 2019 08:17
In reply to Draconid_Jo
Oh yeah!
One other advantage of Flying-types, of course, is their Immunity to Ground-type Moves.
This is particularly beneficial in Double/Triple/Multi Battles, as it allows your Teammates to be able to use Moves such as Earthquake, Magnitude, and Bulldoze, without having to worry about damaging allies.
It's so useful, however, that it's the ONLY Move banned in the PWT.
(I THINK it's banned in other Battling Facilities as well, although I can't remember, lol!)