Dragonite
#149
Dragon/Flying
91 HP / 134 Atk / 95 Def / 100 SAtk / 100 SDef / 80 Spe
Abilities: Inner Focus (Prevents Flinching)
Hidden Ability: Multiscale (Reduces damage by 50% when full HP)
Confirmed new (TM) moves:
Round
Confide
Power up Punch
Complete TM and HM compatibility lists can be found in the research thread (Not much has changed from 5th generation)
Overview:
Dragonite hasn't gotten much in the way of direct buffs in Generation 6, but to some degree he can count himself lucky, as his legendary versatility and durability have been even further improved through access to some new items. Weakness Policy in particular is a very strong item, and he is one of the few pokemon below Ubers with enough durability to take full advantage of it. Merely the presence of the Weakness Policy set, which many have encountered, makes Dragonite a more intimidating threat than he previously was, forcing enemies to tread carefully when flinging ice shards at the friendliest dinosaur. Assault Vest is another potentially interesting item for Dragonite to take advantage of, however unlike other users such as Goodra and Tyranitar, Dragonite has a very deep support movepool which it loathes to lose access to.
The nerf to Drizzle has negatively impacted some rain focused Dragonite sets, especially those running Hurricane/Thunder. Goodra has also emerged as a second defensive rain loving Dragon. But rain is not dead, and I imagine we'll still see some Dragonite presence wherever rain is preset.
As far as new moves go, Dragonite will likely have to wait for the next game to have a whack at getting something nice. Power Up Punch is an interesting move, but not very useful on a pokemon who already has both excellent options for fighting type moves and solid set up moves.
Potential NEW Sets (Most BW2 OU sets are also still viable, and can be found here)
WeakNite (I do not claim to have invented this set)
Dragonite, Adamant/Jolly Nature, 252atk/252spe/4hp @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
Dragon Dance
Outrage/Dragon Claw
Fire Punch/Fire Blast
Extremespeed/Earthquake/Roost/Thunderpunch/Iron Head
This is basically a DDnite set, something that wasn't the most common set in BW2, except exchanging the leftovers for a Weakness Policy, an item which sharply boosts Atk/Sp.Atk upon being attacked with a supereffective move. The set works in a fairly straightforward way, switch in against something that can't touch you, DD on their switch out, then either get another DD while Weakness Policy is triggered, or potentially go for an attack or roost against priority users.
I'd like to take a moment to say that Extremespeed has gained a pretty respectable boost to its relevance this generation, with Talonflame running around throwing out +1 120BP attacks, having such strong higher priority move on your side is VERY nice, though an unboosted Talonflame isn't particularly threatening to Dragonite it's always nice to have something which will ALWAYS outspeed it on your team. Unfortunately working it into this set does kinda hurt your coverage, or your staying power.
Weakness Policy, I feel, will be best taken advantage of with a secondary setup move, but it could also make some of the old special/mixed rain sets very interesting. Agility is another potential option for a Weakness Policy set, though it is a bit redundant to use both it and Extremespeed on the same set.
AssaultNite
Dragonite, Careful Nature, 252hp/252sdef/4def @ Assault Vest
Ability: Multiscale
Fire Punch
Extremespeed/Earthquake
Dragon Claw/Outrage/Dragon Tail
Iron Head/Thunderpunch
Though I don't feel Dragonite is the best suited user of Assault Vest due to it limiting use of his numerous supportive moves, special defense investment combined with Assault Vest's damage reduction, and even further enhanced by Multiscale, no one can question the sheer special sponge of a set like this, and even unboosted, physical moves coming out of a pokemon with 134 base Attack are no laughing matter. EVs obviously need to be optimized for new metagame threats (and some old ones as well). A Rain focused version of this set would also be possible, running Mild + Thunder/Hurricane/Draco Meteor/[coverage]. I feel a set like this would work best with wish support, as unfortunately Assault Vest prevents use of both leftovers and recovery moves, which limit the effectiveness of multiscale. A mixed set is also possible, but would probably require running -speed.
Overall, I feel Dragonite actually improved a little this generation, despite the changes to Drizzle, mostly because he has become even more versatile which makes him even harder to predict and counter appropriately. Weakness Policy in particular will cause a huge change in how people attempt to deal with Dragonite, since now it actually welcomes those ice beams with open arms, and nobody wants to help a Dragonite set up to +3/2/1 or +2/2/2.
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offers good cover, Mega Mawille: will eat alive a paralyzed opponent.
