Pokemon of the Week DP: Aerodactyl
Sets
Choice Band Sweeper
- Item Held
- Choice Band
- Ability
- Pressure
- Nature
- Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)
- Effort Points
- 252 Attack - 252 Speed - 6 HP
- Rock Slide / Stone Edge
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
One of the best Choice Banders of Advance is here again with some new moves to play. Stone Edge can be used now over Rock Slide for that extra power but with Aerodactyl's 130 base Speed, having a move that can flinch your opponent isn't bad. Ice Fang takes care of Ground-types, especially Garchomp.Earthquake does what it did in Advance, hitting hard Jirachi and Metagross among other Steel-types. Fire Fang is here for having a move that can actually do something to Skarmory and Bronzong, which will otherwise laugh at you. Beware though of Stealth Rock as those annoying pointed rocks take away 25% of Aerodactyl's HP every time you switch in. Having a Pokémon with Rapid Spin on your team won't hurt.
Life Orb Sweeper
- Item Held
- Life Orb
- Ability
- Pressure
- Nature
- Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)
- Effort Points
- 252 Attack - 252 Speed - 6 HP
- Stone Edge / Rock Slide
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
As mentioned in the previous set, Aerodactyl's weakness to Stealth Rock won't favor the hit-and-run style of a Choice Bander. So, sacrificing the 1.5x boost for a 1.3x one and the ability to use a different move without having to switch is not a bad idea. The concept is pretty much the same. The only difference between this set and the CB one is in the Fire-type move of the last move slot. Fire Blast gets boosted by Life Orb and guarantees a 2HKO on Skarmory unlike Fire Fang.
Other Possible Options
Pursuit is a great move that Aerodactyl can get but its use on the CB moveset will be really limited. Crunch is your best option against Claydol and Cresselia but Ice Fang and Stone Edge will do the job whatsoever. Aerial Ace is Aerodactyl's most powerful Flying-type move in case you want to take advantage of a second STAB. Thunder Fang, Dragon Claw, Iron Head and Double-Edge are its only other noteable Physical moves but they do not offer something to Aerodactyl's type coverage.
Since Aerodactyl's trait is Pressure, a stalling moveset with Roost, Fly, Toxic and Protect would be possible but the Defenses of the flying fossil are not that good. Finally, Substitute is an option in the Life Orb set and it can prove quite useful if you are not good at prediction wars but be careful as passive damage from Stealth Rock, Life Orb and Substitute will stack up really quickly.
Counters
Claydol and Bronzong are probably the best Aerodactyl counters in the game. Both of them are immune to Earthquake and resist Rock Slide/Stone Edge while they can hit back with Ice Beam and Gyro Ball respectively. Hippowdon and Donphan can also take some hits and survive but Donphan's lack of a recovery move hurts it. Rhyperior with its massive Defense and Solid Rock won't have a problem getting an Earthquake and OHKOing Aerodactyl with Stone Edge.
Bulky Water-type Pokémon can stop Aerodactyl, recover off any damage they receive and KO it with Surf. Weezing is also a quite awesome counter, being immune to Earthquake and carrying Will-O-Wisp. Finally, an unexpected Stone Edge by a Choice Scarf Heracross will OHKO Aerodactyl.
Opinion & Notes
More or less, Aerodactyl has remained the same in D/P. The additions of Life Orb and Ice Fang are what it got while Stealth Rock and Choice Scarf are what makes it wish it could go back in Advance. Certainly, many new Physical Sweepers have been added to the metagame, such as Garchomp and Infernape, but Aerodactyl is still a pretty strong Pokémon with a Speed that other Sweepers would die for.
Note that Aerodactyl's second trait, Rock Head, doesn't block Life Orb's recoil damage so there's no reason to use it in the second set.
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xlxlxlxl @ 19/01/2008, 04:42:12 am
Aerodactyls are almost as annoying as crobats.
ham @ 19/01/2008, 10:13:43 pm
yeah it's good with both it's abillities but my favourite is pressure
Altema @ 20/06/2008, 10:40:23 am
Can I just say something? I love the choice band sweeper, but Fire Fang actually has less power on Skarmory than Stone Edge, but it still has more power on Bronzong though so it's probably still a pretty good idea. Also, Ice Fang may not be necessary because Aerodactyl would probably be able to deal with Ground types rather well without it.
jacob frahm @ 26/06/2008, 11:36:05 pm
lol its wicked
pokemon master @ 26/06/2008, 11:39:12 pm
its 1 of my faverite pokemon
Peter @ 30/06/2008, 05:43:36 am
Life Orb Sweeper Aerodactyl better with Naive nature? Jolly is going to take some SP. ATT and Fire Blast needs everything of it…
Even though Naive is going to take some SP. DEF, Scarmory and Bronzong is definitely going to use Steel Wing and Gyro Ball which uses physical attack…
Adamant nature is a bad idea, since Aerodactyl most not take hits and those who are faster than Aerodactyl is definitely strong enough KO it, like Garchomp, Weavile and Alakazam…
Peter @ 03/12/2008, 03:30:32 pm
But what about Electric Pokemon? Electric Pokemon are Aerodactyl Counters. I heard that Electric Pokemon are not great Water/Flying Pokemon counters. Aerodactyl is part Flying because Flying Pokemon is weak against Electric attacks. I also confirm that Electric Pokemon cannot resist Water attacks. Grass Pokemon does though. Electric Pokemon only resist Flying/Electric/Steel attacks. That's it. No Water resistances. So therefore, Aerodactyl's Earthquake is for covering Electric Pokemon.
Peter @ 11/07/2009, 04:14:57 pm
Another counter For Aerodactyl is using a Jolteon. However, Electric Pokemon are terrible Aerodactyl counters. That's because an Electric Pokemon can get easily beaten by Aerodactyl's Rock Slide/Stone Edge much easier than other types that are good against Aerodactyl despite Electric attacks are good against Aerodactyl's part Flying. Grass Pokemon and Fighting Pokemon are both weak against Aerodactyl's Flying attacks/Ice Fang. Zapdos is also weak against Aerodactyl's Rock attacks. Do yourself a favor, NEVER EVER EVER use Electric Pokemon against Aerodactyl. Electric Pokemon is the worst Super Effective based Aerodactyl counter. Stay away from using Electric Pokemon against Aerodactyl. Especially Magnezone, Zapdos, and even Lanturn. DO NOT use Electric Pokemon against Aerodactyl as a counter. Use a Water, Ground, Rock or Steel Pokemon against Aerodactyl as a counter instead. For example, Swampert is a very good counter because Swampert resist Rock Slide/Stone Edge and the lack of Swampert's Ice or Water weakness is also a welcome. So therefore, Swampert is a very good counter. Use that instead of using you Electric type.
dragon master red @ 19/01/2008, 04:01:12 am
finally aerodactyl is a dp pokemon of the week! ty very much! but isnt aerodactyl with an adamant nature fine too?