Set Description
Offensive Flygon sports a unique combination of speed, power, and defensive utility. Its unique typing, Spikes immunity, and decent bulk allow it to pivot into threatening attacks like Tyranitar's Rock Slide and Zapdos's Thunderbolt at any point in the game, making Flygon one of the few Pokemon that can turn the momentum around against offensive teams. It can be difficult to pivot into, because it punishes physical walls with its powerful Earthquake especially with Spikes on the field and has the appropriate coverage moves for hovering checks. As Flygon outspeeds most of the metagame and can hold its ground against several faster Pokemon like Hidden Power Grass Jolteon and Aerodactyl, it can frequently sweep weakened teams too.
Earthquake can take out most Tyranitar and Metagross variants with a little bit of chip damage. Rock Slide hits Zapdos, Moltres, Salamence, Aerodactyl, and Gyarados hard while also doing relatively solid damage to Gengar as it switches in. Hidden Power Bug does a lot of damage to Celebi and hits Claydol quite hard, preventing these common switch-ins from being totally safe, and also preventing Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi from freely passing boosts. Substitute is preferred in the fourth moveslot, as it punishes switches and certain Choiced-locked Pokemon, lets Flygon evade status from status spreaders like Zapdos and Milotic, and allows it to fire off at least one free attack. Fire Blast can be run over Substitute if Skarmory and Forretress are a bigger concern and denies them from setting up Spikes, which helps against Spikes-centric builds and makes Flygon less reliant on a potential Magneton partner while also doing decent damage to Gengar and Celebi on the switch. A Jolly nature is preferred to outspeed Timid Moltres and offensive Celebi and at worst Speed tie with Zapdos and Jirachi rather than risk being outsped. An Adamant nature lets Flygon threaten the bulky teams it's supposed to more effectively but makes it unable to outspeed a large fraction of offensive Celebi and tie with offensive Jirachi, making it an overall inferior choice on most teams. When using Fire Blast, Naive and Naughty should be used over Jolly and Adamant to preserve the much needed power on Fire Blast.
Team Options
Pursuit Tyranitar is a fantastic partner because it brings sand to wear down Pokemon like Zapdos, Snorlax, Suicune, Celebi, and Gengar so Flygon's damage sticks while also trapping the aforementioned Gengar, which is a massive nuisance to this set, and it can even slam Swampert with Hidden Power Grass so Flygon can more easily take it out. Magneton is another good partner, as it traps Skarmory, Forretress, and Choice Band Metagross not locked into Earthquake, which is a move that Flygon can dissuade thanks to Levitate, so Flygon can more easily threaten teams that rely on Skarmory for handling Ground-types and drop Fire Blast for Substitute more reliably. In return, Flygon can force Skarmory and Forretress to come in so Magneton can come in on a double switch to trap them, as well as handle Tyranitar and come in on many Choice Band Pokemon that rely on Earthquake to take out Magneton, like Metagross, Aerodactyl, and Tyranitar.
Spikes setters like Skarmory and Forretress are great to have, as they make Flygon's attacks sting even more, especially since some of Flygon's best answers, namely Milotic, Swampert, and Blissey, are very vulnerable to Spikes and Spikes synergize well in tandem with the sand likely to be up. These two also bring some much-needed defensive stops to Pokemon like non-Hidden Power Fire Metagross and physical Salamence. This Flygon is also able to threaten spinners like Claydol and opposing Forretress if it has Fire Blast, keeping the Spikes up and letting the Spikes setter on Flygon's team come in less often, helping it stay healthy to check what it needs to. Flygon is also able to wall Pokemon like Aerodactyl and physical Tyranitar in tandem with these Pokemon because they bait Rock Slide from these and let Flygon get safely in, compensating for its lack of bulk. Flygon can even force in a potential Porygon2 so the Spiker can set Spikes on it. Gengar makes for a good partner, since it can spread residual damage through Will-O-Wisp burns and check Salamence, Heracross, and Snorlax while taking advantage of Flygon checking Pursuit Tyranitar lacking Ice Beam. It can even take advantage of the holes Flygon breaks in the opposing team to sweep late-game, and it even fits on many of the same Spikes-based teams that this Flygon is meant to be on. They can also both pivot around many Pokemon with their defensive synergy, namely Choice Band users and weakened Hidden Power Grass Zapdos.
Bulky Water-types like Suicune, Milotic, and Swampert are able to switch into physical attackers like Metagross, MixMence, and Swampert and potentially even spread status for residual damage, while Flygon can break down their checks with its powerful attacks, namely Celebi, Zapdos, Snorlax, and Jolteon. Defensive Swampert, in particular, is a good partner because it can take the pressure off Flygon to handle physical Tyranitar and Aerodactyl, which can often overwhelm this Flygon set due to its lack of bulk investment and Protect. It also helps that all three of these Water-types fit on the same Spikes-based builds Flygon does. Zapdos is able to take on Water-types, Skarmory, Heracross, and spread status so Flygon can have an easier time making damage stick while even having the potential to run Baton Pass to get Flygon in safely. Flygon can also switch into Rock Slides for Zapdos to gain offensive momentum and potentially do a lot of damage to Pokemon like Snorlax and Celebi so Zapdos has an easier time spamming Thunderbolt late-game while also acting as backup Ground-type check so Zapdos isn't as pressured to come into them. Metagross is a great partner for this Flygon because it can elect to run a mixed or bulky physical attacker Leftovers set if Flygon is running Fire Blast, which can help to lure in and remove Skarmory, and more bulk on Metagross means Flygon is relied on less to take on Rock-types. Meanwhile, Choice Band sets can use Explosion on Skarmory or Swampert and wallbreak so Flygon can clean through weakened walls.
Specially defensive Celebi is able to handle Gengar and Water-types while piling on the residual damage to get Pokemon in range of Flygon's attacks with Leech Seed (which can also give Flygon extra longevity that it wouldn't have), while Flygon can offensively handle Metagross and pivot into Rock Slide, Earthquake, or Hidden Power Bug from Aerodactyl or Tyranitar well. Blissey can pivot into many special attackers, including Zapdos, Jolteon, Jirachi, Moltres, certain Gengar variants, and Water-types, while even potentially passing Wishes to keep Flygon healthy so it can threaten the bulky teams it's supposed to. Meanwhile, Flygon can offensively handle Pokemon that wall and use Blissey for free turns, like Tyranitar, as well as come in on some resisted hits that are often targeted at Blissey, namely Rock Slide and Earthquake, to get a chance to fire off a free hit. Moltres can roast Skarmory, Celebi, and Forretress and spread burns with Will-O-Wisp for residual damage so Flygon's damage sticks better, while Flygon can switch into physical Tyranitar, Aerodactyl, and Salamence and start wallbreaking on top of wearing down Water-types with its powerful Earthquake so they're more hesitant to come into Moltres. Moltres also improves the Metagross matchup quite a bit, which teams featuring Flygon over Swampert can often struggle switching into due to Flygon's lack of a Meteor Mash resistance.