[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Dragon Darts
move 3: Phantom Force
move 4: Fire Blast / Flamethrower
item: Life Orb / Dragon Fang
ability: Clear Body
nature: Lonely
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Dragon Dance enables Dragapult to get the most out of its superior Attack stat while also boosting its already tremendous Speed to ridiculous heights, foiling would-be revenge killers like Choice Scarf variants of Kartana and Tapu Lele. Dragapult can find free opportunities to use Dragon Dance by taking advantage of Pokemon Choice locked into an unfortunate move, such as Choice Band Urshifu-R locked into Close Combat, as well as using its offensive presence to scare out Pokemon like Slowbro and Ferrothorn. Dragon Darts is a high-powered STAB option that shreds neutral targets like Tornadus-T, Urshifu-S, and Blissey. Phantom Force is Dragapult's other STAB attack, hitting Fairy-types like Tapu Fini and Tapu Lele and overall being much harder to switch into due to the lack of common resistances to Ghost, and even less that can handle Dragon Darts. Life Orb-boosted Fire Blast allows Dragapult to OHKO Ferrothorn and 2HKO specially defensive Corviknight and Melmetal, while Flamethrower trades some of the raw power of Fire Blast for extra consistency. Dragon Fang can be used over Life Orb to avoid the recoil damage from Dragapult, allowing it to still sweep after being significantly chipped down, at the cost of having a comparatively weaker Phantom Force and Fire Blast. Clear Body is chosen to allow Dragapult to ignore Intimidate as well as the rare Sticky Web. A Lonely nature is chosen to maximize Dragapult's damage output on both sides of the spectrum and because, after a Dragon Dance, Dragapult is fast enough to outspeed relevant Choice Scarf users while using a neutral nature.
Team Options
========
This set is generally used on hyper offense sets, with Dragapult providing a good natural Speed tier to threaten out Pokemon like Choice Specs Blacephalon and Swords Dance Kartana, which would otherwise be incredibly threatening to those structures. In return, these teams can support Dragapult with Aurora Veil from Alolan Ninetales or dual screens from setters like Tapu Koko. Dragapult fears priority users like Choice Band Weavile and Choice Band Rillaboom, which can halt Dragapult's sweep with their strong priority moves, so pairing Dragapult with an answer to them like Scizor or Flame Body Heatran can alleviate the problem. Heatran is an especially good teammate for a few reasons: it can trap and remove checks to Dragapult like Clefable and Toxapex with Magma Storm and Taunt; is a fantastic Stealth Rock setter on hyper offense teams thanks to its ability to threaten the tier's best Defoggers in Corviknight, Zapdos, and Tornadus-T; and is a sturdy check to Tapu Lele, particularly Choice Scarf variants, which greatly threaten hyper offense teams. Swords Dance Garchomp is a good partner on hyper offense teams, as it can switch into and threaten physically defensive Heatran, which can threaten a burn on Dragapult using Phantom Force with Flame Body. Additionally, they can overwhelm shared checks like Tapu Fini, Clefable, and Corviknight.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zinnias.569291/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/slowpoke-fan.617219/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/pulsar512b.469728/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Dragon Darts
move 3: Phantom Force
move 4: Fire Blast / Flamethrower
item: Life Orb / Dragon Fang
ability: Clear Body
nature: Lonely
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Dragon Dance enables Dragapult to get the most out of its superior Attack stat while also boosting its already tremendous Speed to ridiculous heights, foiling would-be revenge killers like Choice Scarf variants of Kartana and Tapu Lele. Dragapult can find free opportunities to use Dragon Dance by taking advantage of Pokemon Choice locked into an unfortunate move, such as Choice Band Urshifu-R locked into Close Combat, as well as using its offensive presence to scare out Pokemon like Slowbro and Ferrothorn. Dragon Darts is a high-powered STAB option that shreds neutral targets like Tornadus-T, Urshifu-S, and Blissey. Phantom Force is Dragapult's other STAB attack, hitting Fairy-types like Tapu Fini and Tapu Lele and overall being much harder to switch into due to the lack of common resistances to Ghost, and even less that can handle Dragon Darts. Life Orb-boosted Fire Blast allows Dragapult to OHKO Ferrothorn and 2HKO specially defensive Corviknight and Melmetal, while Flamethrower trades some of the raw power of Fire Blast for extra consistency. Dragon Fang can be used over Life Orb to avoid the recoil damage from Dragapult, allowing it to still sweep after being significantly chipped down, at the cost of having a comparatively weaker Phantom Force and Fire Blast. Clear Body is chosen to allow Dragapult to ignore Intimidate as well as the rare Sticky Web. A Lonely nature is chosen to maximize Dragapult's damage output on both sides of the spectrum and because, after a Dragon Dance, Dragapult is fast enough to outspeed relevant Choice Scarf users while using a neutral nature.
Team Options
========
This set is generally used on hyper offense sets, with Dragapult providing a good natural Speed tier to threaten out Pokemon like Choice Specs Blacephalon and Swords Dance Kartana, which would otherwise be incredibly threatening to those structures. In return, these teams can support Dragapult with Aurora Veil from Alolan Ninetales or dual screens from setters like Tapu Koko. Dragapult fears priority users like Choice Band Weavile and Choice Band Rillaboom, which can halt Dragapult's sweep with their strong priority moves, so pairing Dragapult with an answer to them like Scizor or Flame Body Heatran can alleviate the problem. Heatran is an especially good teammate for a few reasons: it can trap and remove checks to Dragapult like Clefable and Toxapex with Magma Storm and Taunt; is a fantastic Stealth Rock setter on hyper offense teams thanks to its ability to threaten the tier's best Defoggers in Corviknight, Zapdos, and Tornadus-T; and is a sturdy check to Tapu Lele, particularly Choice Scarf variants, which greatly threaten hyper offense teams. Swords Dance Garchomp is a good partner on hyper offense teams, as it can switch into and threaten physically defensive Heatran, which can threaten a burn on Dragapult using Phantom Force with Flame Body. Additionally, they can overwhelm shared checks like Tapu Fini, Clefable, and Corviknight.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zinnias.569291/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/slowpoke-fan.617219/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/pulsar512b.469728/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
Last edited by a moderator: