Talonflame (QC 2/2) Writing

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I'm probably not doing this right, seeing as it's my first time, so I'd appreciate it if anyone could let me know if I've made an error with something.


[OVERVIEW]

  • Talonflame gets the ability Gale Wings, giving all it's Flying-type moves priority,
  • Talonflame has access to priority Tailwind, which allows it to support its teammates and allow them to outspeed opposing Pokemon.
  • It has also has access to Quick Guard, giving his teammates support against Fake Out and Prankster Pokemon.
  • It can hit hard with Gale Wings STAB Brave Bird and STAB Flare Blitz.
  • It has very little bulk.
  • It is incredibly fast.
  • It has mediocre Attack.

[SET]
name: Tailwinding Kamikaze Bird
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Tailwind
move 4: Quick Guard
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
Evs: 4 HP/ 244 Attack/ 4 Defense/ 4 Special Defense/ 252 Speed

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

  • Brave Bird is Talonflame’s main attacking move, being a high base power STAB Priority move, which hits many things hard on the physical side.
  • Flare Blitz is Talonflame’s other attacking option, also being a high base power STAB move, which is boosted by Harsh Sun created by Groudon, and hits Pokemon that resist Flying harder, as well as Steel types like Mawile.
  • Tailwind allows Talonflame’s teammates to outspeed opposing Pokemon, and comes with Priority due to Gale Wings.
  • Quick Guard protects Talonflame’s teammates from moves like Fake Out, coupled with Talonflame’s high speed, as well as Prankster moves such as Encore and Taunt.

Set Details
========

  • The EVs are simple, allowing Talonflame to move as quickly as possible, and hitting hard. The 4 in Defense is added so that Talonflame is guaranteed to live -1 Jolly Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge.
  • A Jolly nature is run in order to outspeed Fake Out users such as Weavile while using Quick Guard, and to outspeed Prankster Taunt users like Thundurus, however Adamant could be run if you are not worried about those things. An Adamant nature can be used instead if you prefer the boost in power, dependent on how much outspeeding things like Weavile and max speed Thundurus is to you.
  • Life Orb is used in order to boost Talonflame’s attacking power while still being capable of using support moves.
  • Gale Wings is Talonflame's main niche, allowing it to use a priority Tailwind to avoid Taunt, and priority Brave Bird to hit hard before opponents regardless of Speed control.

Usage Tips
========

  • Talonflame’s principal job in most games will be to set-up Tailwind.
  • You will typically want to Quick Guard on predicted early Fake Outs, or on crippling Prankster attacks, then set-up Tailwind whenever possible.
  • After you set-up Tailwind, you will typically want to just click Brave Bird/Flare Blitz until Talonflame goes down and you get a free switch into something in the back.

Team Options
========

  • Primal Groudon. Primal Groudon’s harsh sun boosts the power of Talonflame’s Flare Blitz, and Tailwind can allow Primal Groudon to outspeed opposing Primals.
  • Smeargle. Talonflame can set-up Tailwind so that Smeargle can outspeed things and put them to sleep, and can provide Quick Guard support in order to stop Fake Out and Prankster Taunt/Encore.
  • Mawile. Talonflame can set-up Tailwind, allowing Mawile’s low base speed to become less of an issue.
  • Primal Kyogre. Despite Rain nullifying Flare Blitz, Tailwind allows Primal Kyogre to outspeed opposing Primals and things like Mega Kangaskhan as well as Mega Salamence.
  • Xerneas. Talonflame can protect Xerneas from Prankster Taunt, Encore, and Thunder Wave with Quick Guard.
  • Mega Rayqyaza. Delta Stream allows Talonflame to survive some Rock/Electric moves, and Tailwind allows Rayquaza to beat Mega Salamence. Talonflame can also take care of Steel types that would typically pose a problem for Mega Rayquaza. However, if running both Talonflame and Mega Rayquaza, you need to watch out for Item Clause seeing as they both want to run Life Orb. In this case you could run one of the aforementioned other options for Talonflame, or a Focus Sash on Mega Rayquaza.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

  • There are very few other Talonflame options, seeing as it only has a few jobs.
  • Any bulk will simply be worn down by recoil+LO recoil, and it needs to be able to use all of its moves.
  • Taunt can be run instead of Quick Guard if you wish to stop Dark Voids as opposed to Fake Outs. Protect can also be run instead of Quick Guard to stop leads such as Kangaskhan and Smeargle, or you could run Will-O-Wisp in that slot to cripple Kangaskhan,
  • A Choice Band set could be run to hit harder, however it loses access to support moves like Tailwind and Quick Guard, and as such is rarely the best option.
  • A Lum Berry set can be run if you are not afraid of losing the extra power to block Dark Void.
  • A Sharp Beak could be run if you would like to avoid the LO recoil, however Talonflame will not survive for long anyways.
  • You can run a bulkier spread of 124 HP/ 116 Attack/ 12 Special Defense/ 252 Speed in order to survive attacks like +2 Timid Xerneas Moonblast and opposing LO Adamant Talonflame Brave Bird, at the cost of some power. You could also run 116 Speed as opposed to Attack, however then you sacrifice enough Speed to the point where many faster Pokemon will outspeed you, especially if you run Adamant.
  • You could run Swords Dance as an option to setup on predicted Protects, however you lose another important move by doing so.
  • You could run Snatch to steal opposing Tailwinds and predicted setup moves (however Geomancy is not stolen, so these opportunities will be rarer) however this will most likely infrequently be used.

Checks and Counters
===================

  • **Landorus-Therian**: Landorus-Therian Intimidates Talonflame, and can KO it with Rock Slide.
  • **Crobat**: Crobat can block Brave Bird with Quick Guard, and can match Talonflame’s Tailwind with its own.
  • **Mega Rayquaza**: Extreme Speed out prioritizes Brave Bird, and it resists Fire.
  • **Thundurus**: Thundurus resists Brave Bird, and despite Quick Guard blocking Prankster, Thunderbolt will KO Talonflame.
 
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Take Azelfie

More flags more fun
WHY DOES EVERYONE USE LIFE ORB?!?!?!? USE SHARP BEAK!

edit: this should also be in bullet point form

edit 2: I also use Roost > Flare Blitz a lot so maybe putting a slash next to Flare Blits could be done
 
WHY DOES EVERYONE USE LIFE ORB?!?!?!? USE SHARP BEAK!

edit: this should also be in bullet point form
I did touch on Sharp beak, but I feel like Life Orb is typically better. Thanks for the help, just wondering, how would i put some sections in bullet point form? I put some of them in bullet point form, I'm just wondering how to do the other sections. Thanks!

Edit: I think I did the bullets correctly, just let me know if i didn't.
 
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Rayquaza deserves a mention as a teammate. Cancelling out other weather effects means Talonflame can use Flare Blitz even in the rain, and Strong Winds removing its Flying weaknesses lets it survive things like Rock Slide from P-Don/Lando-T or T-bolts from Thundurus. The two of them put out immense offensive pressure with their high BP STAB Flying moves and strong priority. Ray also appreciates Talonflame removing/crippling Steel types.
 
I think that this is ready for QC, but I'm not sure, so I'd appreciate it if someone could verify this.
 
I think that this is ready for QC, but I'm not sure, so I'd appreciate it if someone could verify this.
Talk about Talonflame's ability in Set Details. You also need to fix the spacing under "Set", "Moves", and "Team Options"; you don't need a line break after every line/bullet point.

Other than that, just switch it whenever you feel it's ready.
 

Jibaku

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Slash Adamant in because outside of Weavile (who can Feint your Quick Guard sometimes anyways) and other Talonflames, Jolly isn't doing much else. Adamant gives you a high chance of OHKOing Mega Gengar.

There are some defensive benchmarks for Talonflame (surviving enemy LO Adamant Brave Bird, surviving +2 Timid Xern Moonblast, I think surviving -1 Double Edge from Kanga?) that don't take too many EVs. I don't remember them off the top of my head but they can work out for you.

Other options: Taunt to stop Dark Voids, Protect to block Fake Out in situations where Quick Guard is not appropriate, such as trying to block Fake Out + Dark Void from the common Kang+Smeargle lead, Will-O-Wisp to cripple Kangaskhan, and a Choice Band set. Lum Berry is also an option if you don't mind losing out on a significant amount of power, relying on priority BB and Tailwind to set itself apart from Crobat. Also note Item Clause issues when running Mega Ray + Talonflame, as they both want Life Orb.
 
Slash Adamant in because outside of Weavile (who can Feint your Quick Guard sometimes anyways) and other Talonflames, Jolly isn't doing much else. Adamant gives you a high chance of OHKOing Mega Gengar.

There are some defensive benchmarks for Talonflame (surviving enemy LO Adamant Brave Bird, surviving +2 Timid Xern Moonblast, I think surviving -1 Double Edge from Kanga?) that don't take too many EVs. I don't remember them off the top of my head but they can work out for you.

Other options: Taunt to stop Dark Voids, Protect to block Fake Out in situations where Quick Guard is not appropriate, such as trying to block Fake Out + Dark Void from the common Kang+Smeargle lead, Will-O-Wisp to cripple Kangaskhan, and a Choice Band set. Lum Berry is also an option if you don't mind losing out on a significant amount of power, relying on priority BB and Tailwind to set itself apart from Crobat. Also note Item Clause issues when running Mega Ray + Talonflame, as they both want Life Orb.
I added these changes. I put the option for a bulkier spread to survive +2 Timid Xern Moonblast and LO Adamant Brave Bird under other options, seeing as it requires a fair bit of bulk investment, however I can move it if you'd like. Is this QC 1/2?
 

Psynergy

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Nah he's not QC, the list of QC members is found here. One thing I'd actually say is worth mentioning is that Sky Plate/Shark Beak is best considered when paired with Mega Rayquaza as it completely negates any item conflicts with Mega Rayquaza (I've never had item conflict there as a result), and also still gets the 2HKO even on Xerneas with investment to take Dragon Ascent assuming Adamant Talonflame.

252+ Atk Sky Plate Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 44 Def Xerneas: 99-117 (49 - 57.9%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO

The only thing you really miss out on is the reliable chance to OHKO Mega Gengar and other Talonflame though so that's probably also worth mentioning, but that's minor chip damage on both that can easily be covered by its teammates.
 
Nah he's not QC, the list of QC members is found here. One thing I'd actually say is worth mentioning is that Sky Plate/Shark Beak is best considered when paired with Mega Rayquaza as it completely negates any item conflicts with Mega Rayquaza (I've never had item conflict there as a result), and also still gets the 2HKO even on Xerneas with investment to take Dragon Ascent assuming Adamant Talonflame.

252+ Atk Sky Plate Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 44 Def Xerneas: 99-117 (49 - 57.9%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO

The only thing you really miss out on is the reliable chance to OHKO Mega Gengar and other Talonflame though so that's probably also worth mentioning, but that's minor chip damage on both that can easily be covered by its teammates.
I'd already listed Sharp Beak as an other option, which was included with Mega Rayquaza, but thanks!
 

Jio

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Need to remove all the spaces in the sets first. Also mention Snatch in OO for stealing opposing Tailwind and other moves (but not Geomancy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), as well as mention Swords Dance in OO

Looks fine though, QC 1/2
 
Need to remove all the spaces in the sets first. Also mention Snatch in OO for stealing opposing Tailwind and other moves (but not Geomancy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), as well as mention Swords Dance in OO

Looks fine though, QC 1/2
Implemented.
 
This looks pretty good. Checks and counters feels a bit empty, but I feel like there isn't really too much that can be added there since Talon does the job of killing it by its own pretty easily, and not a lot of Pokemon have an especially good matchup against it, a lot of Pokemon have a decent matchup and are easily able to knock it out though. So I don't really have anything to add, QC 2/2!
 
This looks pretty good. Checks and counters feels a bit empty, but I feel like there isn't really too much that can be added there since Talon does the job of killing it by its own pretty easily, and not a lot of Pokemon have an especially good matchup against it, a lot of Pokemon have a decent matchup and are easily able to knock it out though. So I don't really have anything to add, QC 2/2!
Alright, thanks! I'm starting the writing now.
 
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