How to properly use Talonflame?
FYI: 108 HP, 252 Attack, 96 defense, 52 speed, ADAMANT (not Jolly)Item: Life orb
I have just a few questions:a) Talonflame’s weaknessesSure it’s vulnerable to Rock Slide. However, that can easily be checked by Talonflame’s teammate.Sure it’s frail. However, run it alongside a Rage Powder Amoongus or a Follow me Togekiss, set up swords dance and the opponent is in for a ride.
Some Max-Airstream calcs:
As for defensive:252+ Atk Libero Cinderace Gunk Shot vs. 108 HP / 96 Def Talonflame: 121-144 (72.4 - 86.2%) – guaranteed 2HKObruh252 Atk Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 108 HP / 96 Def Talonflame in Grassy Terrain: 22-26 (13.1 - 15.5%) – possible 7HKORillaboom not a threat
As far as I can see, it has great offensive potential, alongside with some defense against the metagame in Sw/Sh.
b) What are some of Talonflame’s good teammates?Pretty self explanatory.
c) What is the standard way of using Talonflame?Tailwind support? Swords dance sweeper? Wall-breaker?
Pleaselog inorregisterto add a comment.
Hi! I’ll try and answer your questions.
A. Talonflame’s WeaknessesAs you mentioned, Rock Slide is very bad for talonflame. Fake Out is also bad because it removes gale wings and takes away a turn of setup. Another weakness of talonflame is its relatively low base attack, but this can be overcome. A quick glance atPikalytics(A website for Pokémon usage stats, it’s vey helpful) tells me that the common Pokémon that can exploit talonflame’s weaknesses are Tyranitar, Rillaboom and Incineroar.
Of course, Talonflame is very weak to stealth rock, but nobody uses them in VGC anyway.
B. Good Teammates for TalonflameLooking at talonflame’s threats, Rillaboom, as you mentioned, is checked by talonflame anyway, so You need a way to deal with tyranitar and incineroar. Averyniche pick would be Hitmontop. It offers fake out to help setup, wide guard to stop rock slide, and close combat to hit both incineroar and Tyranitar hard, not to mention intimidate. However, Dynamaxing Tyranitar will destroy both fake out and wide guard, so you might be better off with redirection, but keep in mind that rock slide will beat ridirection.
If you’re using an offensive Talonflame, a defiant Pokémon is probably good to scare off incineroar, because talonflame already has low attack. I’d pick Passimian over bisharp or braviary because braviary plus talonflame equals very bad rock slides, and bisharp is weak to incineroar anyway. Passimian, however, counters both incineroar and Tyranitar.
If you’re using a support talonflame, I think that Water Urshifu would be fantastic because priority tailwind means it can outspeed cinderace, and adamant expert belt is a OHKO even when Dynamaxed (no bulk). It also counters Tyranitar.
C. What Talonflame set is commonly used
This question is easy, Pikalytics says that Talonflame’s most common move is tailwind, with taunt being up there as well. Dual wing beat is also used to OHKO whimsicott through sash with priority. This shows that it’s usually support, but it has some offensive usage.Hope I helped!
Talonflame@Life OrbAbility: Gale WingsNature: LonelyEV: 252 Spe/ 252 Atk/ 4 SpA-Swords Dance-Flare Blitz/Flame Charge-Air Slash/Brave Bird-Roost
Swords dance to make Talonflame break through walls (lol). Life Orb so Talonflame can hit hard. Flare Blitz for maximum STAB power, but you can also do Flame Charge to increase your speed. Air Slash to flinch dangerous boost stealers like Marshadow or maybe Pokemon weak to it but still can threaten your Talonflame. You can do Brave Bird instead to access STAB power. Roost to abuse recoil if you chose Flare Blitz, which I highly recommend. A good teammate for it would be Clefable, because it’s pretty bulky and can learn Follow Me. If you have the right teammates, you’re Talonflame will sweep the entire opponent’s team (OK, maybe not all of them.) Use Rapid Spin Torkoal to set up sunnny day and Rapid Spin Sticky Web and stealth rock that would prove a threat for Talonflame. You can also use Excadrill, but I prefer using Torkoal cause Sunny Day makes Talonflame’s Flare Blitz even more powerful.
