Altaria, the Humming Pokémon. If it bonds with a person, it will gently envelop the friend with its soft wings, then hum. On sunny days, it flies freely through the sky and blends into the clouds. It sings in a beautiful soprano.
Overview
The fluffiest Dragon of them all, Altaria has had a rather patchwork history in the competitive scene. Altaria does have its strong points, with good 75/90/105 defenses, a rather strong Dragon Flying typing and access to reliable recovery in Roost and Natural Cure enables Altaria to stick around for a while. And it will do so by exercising its breathtaking movepool that in theory can have Altaria run almost any role. Physical and Special Attackers, supporting Wall, even niche strategies like Perish Trapping are all possible for Altaria.
Altaria’s flaws bring it down as much as its positives uplift it. Its great offensive movepool is belied by poor 70 Attack and Special Attack. Good defenses are sabotaged by a crippling Quadruple weakness to Ice and common Fairy and Rock weaknesses. And the generations have not been kind to Altaria, stripping away its Mega Evolution and key moves in Heal Bell and Toxic. And as good as Altaria is, there is often another Pokémon that can perform its role better. Altaria remains a flexible option able to round out a team’s weak points, but our fluffy friend’s flaws keep it from soaring as high as it could.
Positives
70/90/105 defenses make Altaria resilient with access to Roost and Natural Cure making it hard to wear Altaria down.
Altaria has a vast movepool with viable Physical and Special STABs and coverage, as well as amazing Support and Disruptive options including Defog, Will-o-Wisp, Fire Spin and Perish Song
Negatives
Quadruple Ice weakness alongside other common weaknesses prevents Altaria from being as reliable a wall as it would desire.
Base 70 offenses leave Altaria lacking offensively despite its otherwise great coverage.
Movesets
Upon Wings of Cloud
-Defog
-Roost
-Will-O-Wisp
-Hurricane
Ability: Natural Cure
Item: Heavy Duty Boots
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
Altaria plays similarly to Corviknight with this set, acting as a dedicated Wall and Hazard remover. Heavy Duty Boots plus Defog is key to the set's functionality; Altaria pivots in, does not get wrecked by Stealth Rock and clears away Hazards, so attempts at positioning are no longer punished. Roost and Natural Cure work wonderfully with this set, keeping Altaria healthy and and wipes away crippling status so that it can continue to perform its duty. Will-O-Wisp directly helps with Altaria's walling capability, indirectly bolstering its weaker Defense and making Altaria all the harder to break. Hurricane rounds out the set, preventing Altaria from being completely passive. Hurricane and Will-O-Wisp also have nice synergy with Defog whose Evasion dropping effect patches up their poor Accuracy.
Tera Types:
As a Defensive Pokémon, Steel is king for Terastalization. Steel wipes away all of Altaria's weaknesses and gives it a huge plethora of resistances in turn, which can be instrumental in Altaria getting that Defog off against a foe that could normally OHKO it.
EVs and Items:
Max HP and Special Defense to emphasize Altaria's bulk, since we are relying on Will-O-Wisp to account for Altaria's poorer Defense. Investment in Defense is worth consideration, as is Speed investment. Base 80 Speed is fast for a nominally defensive Pokémon. Heavy Duty Boots is Mandatory. Otherwise, Altaria gets damaged by Stealth Rocks when switching in and can be threatened to get KO'd after the Chip damage before it can clear the Hazards away.
Partners:
Defog Altaria finds its place on Balance and Stall teams that appreciate its hazard clearing duties and general bulk. Steel types like Copperajah and Bronzong make for natural partners with Altaria, pivoting into Fairy, Ice, Rock and Dragon moves with ease while Altaria in turns is a safe pivot into the Fighting, Ground and Fire moves they fear.
Setup Sweepers like Cetitan and Iron Thorns also enjoy Altaria's hazard clearing and Will-O-Wisp duties, making it safe for them to switch in and setup
Other Options:
Brave Bird -if you want to go for a Physical STAB instead of a Special. Hits most fairies harder on the switch in.
Haze -for punishing Pokémon that think Altaria is setup bait.
Tailwind -Another stellar setup option that is great for more offensive teams looking to apply pressure.
Cloud Dancer
-Dragon Dance
-Roost
-Brave Bird
-Earthquake
Ability: Natural Cure
Item: Leftovers
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 152 Def / 104 SDef
Impish Nature
Altaria leverages its bulk to accrue multiple boosts for a deadly Dragon Dance sweep with this set. Dragon Dance improves Altaria’s Offenses to viable levels while pushing Altaria’s decent speed to fantastic heights. Roost is necessary to keep Altaria healthy long enough to setup the necessary boosts. Brave Bird is reliable and powerful STAB whose recoil can be offset by Roost, while Earthquake covers the Rock, Steel and Electric types that would attempt to wall it.
Tera Types:
As an offensive set, Tera Flying and Tera Ground are recommended, improving Altaria’s power with attacking moves, while removing troubling Fairy and Dragon weaknesses. Otherwise, Steel is always a good fallback option in case your team wasn’t able to deal with the Ice Attackers.
EVs and Items:
Max HP and a balance of Defense and Special Defense to make Altaria as overall bulky as possible to ease setup of Dragon Dance. Alternatively, one can go for the traditional offensive array of Max Attack and Speed to maximize Altaria’s power, though the drop in bulk does make it more difficult to get multiple Dragon Dances which Altaria needs with its poorer Attack.
Partners:
As with any late game sweeping set, Hazard setters are fantastic partners, applying chip damage all game to facilitate the game ending sweep. Salazzle with its STABs melting opposing Fairy and Steel types, Klefki with its Screen setting making Altaria even more bulky while setting up for the sweep and Toedscruel with their Spore also opening up setup opportunities.
Other Options:
Outrage/Dragon Claw -Alternative STAB options, though Outrage leaves you vulnerable to an Fairy type switching in and that confusing can be game ending while Dragon Claw is reliable, but much weaker.
Play Rough -Hits Dark types while retaining some of the coverage that Flying and Dragon STABs have to offer and is extremely synergistic with Earthquake.
Stormy Clouds
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast
-Moonblast
-Defog
Ability: Natural Cure
Item: Choice Specs
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
Choice Specs Altaria is a bulky attacker on more offensive teams who appreciate a teammate that can tank a hit (or Status) and strike back hard. Specs Draco Meteor is powerful, ripping holes in anything that isn’t too bulky or a Fairy. Fire Blast melts Steel types that think they can switch into a Draco Meteor. Moonblast is further coverage, reliably hitting Dragon, Dark and Fighting types. Defog rounds out the set giving Specs Altaria some utility.
Tera Types:
As Specs Altaria gets most of its utility from the resistances its typing offers, it is not a prime Terastalization target. If you are, Tera Fire and Tera Fairy are good options, buffing Altaria’s coverage moves while having a wide range of resistances that enable Altaria to continue acting as a bulky pivot point.
Partners:
Lucario, and Bisharp appreciate Altaria’s ability to pivot into the Fire, Fighting and moves that all trouble them, while Lucario and Bisharp easily deal with the Fairy and Rock types that trouble Altaria. Lokix and Slitherwing can perform similarly though the shared Fairy weakness is painful.
Rotom Mow and Pawmot reliably answer the often Ice carrying Water types that give Altaria trouble and draw in Earthquakes and Earth Powers that Altaria can pivot into freely.
Other Options:
Hurricane -Another Potent STAB option, but incredibly unreliable.
Ice Beam -offers fantastic coverage though the Dragon slaying competes with Altaria’s own STAB
Countering Altaria
Ice types are excellent at clipping Altaria’s wings. Frosslass, Cryogonal and Weavile do incredibly well, naturally outspeeding Altaria and easily OHKOing, but can’t switch in safely. Lycanroc-Day and Dusk, Gardevoir and many others also fall into a similar situation, able to maim or OHKO with STAB but can’t switch in safely.
Scream Tail is probably the closest to true checks, able to turn Altaria into setup fodder with Encore and has the bulk to tank any move Altaria throws at it comfortably. Rotom Heat gets close, having similar bulk, but can’t really deal with Altaria quickly either.
Otherwise, checks and counters vary by set. Rock types like Iron Thorns and Tyranitar, do well against the Defog set if not running Will-O-Wisp, but dislike taking boosted Earthquakes. Sylveon and Florges do well against Special sets, but crumple against Physical sets and have difficulty stopping the Defogger. Rotom Heat does well especially against the physical variants,
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Not in game
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Sky Pillar
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
Colosseum/XD:
Snagged from Cipher Admin Lovrina in Citadark Isle (XD)
Evolve Swablu (Colosseum)
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Evolve Swablu
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Evolve Swablu
Black/White:
Route 14
Black 2/White 2:
Route 14, Abundant Shrine, Victory Road, Nature Preserve
X/Y:
Route 21
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Evolve Swablu
Sun/Moon:
Trade from Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Ultra Space Wilds
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game
Sword/Shield:
Giant's Bed, Path to the Peak, Giant's Foot, Frigid Sea, Ballimere Lake
Dynamax Adventures
Max Raid Battles: Slippery Slope, Frostpoint Field, Giant's Bed, Giant's Foot, Frigid Sea, Ballimere Lake, Dyna Tree Hill
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl:
Evolve Swablu
Legends: Arceus:
Not in game
Scarlet/Violet:
Casseroya Lake, North Province Area One, North Province Area Two, South Province Area Six, West Province Area Three
Fixed: Casseroya Lake, South Province Area Six, West Province Area One
Tera Raid Battles: 5 Star Raid Battles
Anime Appearences
