Pidgeotto Movesets & Competitive Sets

Pidgeotto stands out as a great physical wallbreaker thanks to its great STAB moves in Double-Edge and Aerial Ace, which can 2HKO common walls such as Dustox, Delcatty, and Bayleef, and its good speed tier outpacing Pokemon such as Butterfree, Castform, and Chinchou. Pidgeotto faces competition from another Normal / Flying type, Taillow, who has a better Speed and a useful ability in Guts. However, Pidgeotto has better attack and bulk. It also avoids OHKOs from walls such as Dustox and Delcatty after Double-Edge recoil, as well as outright OHKOs from powerful attacks such Double-Edge from non-Choice Band Aipom and Castform, and Aerial Ace from Choice Band Delibird. Return can be used over Double-Edge to help Pidgeotto stay healthy, but it will be harder to get targets into KO range. STAB Quick Attack revenge kills faster Pokemon such as Aipom, Elekid, and Delibird. Hidden Power Fighting can threaten Pokemon that don't mind Pidgeotto's STAB combination such as Rhyhorn, Magnemite, and specially defensive Lileep. Steel Wing can be used to ease prediction versus Shuppet, or if you are using Hidden Power Flying over Aerial Ace for the power. Here, Steel Wing lets Pidgeotto still threaten Rock-types like specially defensive Lileep and Nosepass. However, without a super effective Hidden Power, Pidgeotto cannot threaten to 2HKO Steel-Types such as Magnemite. Pidgeotto fits very well on balance and offense teams as a wallbreaker. It can remove Pokemon such as Delcatty, Dustox, and Bayleef, which can open up teammates such as Elekid, Staryu, and Rhyhorn. Pidgeotto appreciates Spikes support from Snorunt and Pineco, which helps chip Pokemon like Elekid and Aipom into Quick Attack range over time. Spikes also allows Pidgeotto to 2HKO Pokemon it normally can't like bulky variants of Rhyhorn. Special walls such as Chinchou and Delcatty are excellent checks to faster special attackers such as Elekid and Staryu, with Delcatty also offering cleric support if Pidgeotto gets burned by Pokemon such as Koffing. Rock-types such as Rhyhorn and Nosepass can switch into Aipom and Taillow's STAB moves as they try to revenge kill Pidgeotto. Nosepass has the added benefit of trapping Magnemite, a common Pidgeotto check. Also, Pidgeotto's Grass resistance also helps Rock-types versus Pokemon such as Bayleef and Butterfree. Special attackers such as Elekid and Spoink can remove physical walls such as Rhyhorn, Magnemite, and Koffing, which allows Pidgeotto to use its STAB moves without being punished.