Fire Punch or Earthquake for Dragonite in Gen 8 AG?

Question

This is for Gen 8 Anything Goes. My Dragonite has a usual set of Dragon Dance, Outrage, Dual Wingbeat and, up until now, Extreme Speed. However, I usually come across Crowned Zacian who body my moves and my Dragonite has no counters for it. So I thought Fire Punch or Earthquake. Fire Punch so it can also deal with Ice types (and for the slight chance Zacian might have an Air Balloon) or Earthquake for more power and wider coverage. Which one should I choose?

Comments

Why are you even using Dragonite in anything goes in the first place

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The right way to use Dragonite on AG is to replace it with another dragon type like Rayquaza. But if you do insist on running it, I reccomend EQ to hit Necrozma Dusk Mane harder.

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Zacian Crowned can't run Air Balloon, since it has to hold the Rusted Sword to be Crowned. Also, Dragonite isn't viable in Gen 8 Anything Goes.

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I just like the Pokemon, that's all. Also, that is pretty stupid of me lol, I forgot about the rusted sword. Though I do insist on using it.

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It's not like AG is the only format you're allowed to use Dragonite in. I hope you see why this question is frustrating.

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In that case, why do you want to play AG?

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I'd go EQ for coverage against electric types and as one comment has stated to hit Dusk Necro for more, but why use Dragonite in AG? It's much better off in other tiers like Monotype or OU where it can fight mons its own tier instead of dueling against titans like Zacian-C in AG

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I thought you weren't allowed to ask questions for competitive where the asker clearly did not have winning as his biggest priority?

Answer 1

Dragonite is not viable at all in Gen 8 AG. This is because there are better options for a Dragon Dance sweeper such as Zygarde, Necrozma-DM, etc. All these have better stats that make them more viable than Dragonite. Zygarde and Necrozma-DM are S-rank, while Dragonite is unranked in the AG Viability Rankings.

If you still insist on using Dragonite, I would suggest that you should use it in a tier that it's actually usable and viable. For example, in SS OU and SS Monotype. Dragonite is A-rank in Gen 8 OU and B-rank in Gen 8 Monotype. This is far better than in AG, where it can't keep up with the firepower offered by other Dragon-types.

Gen 8 OU

Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Dual Wingbeat
- Roost

Gen 8 Monotype

Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake / Fire Punch

Earthquake is generally better in OU because without that, you'd be walled by common Pokemon such as Heatran, Toxapex, Tyranitar, etc. While Fire Punch could also be used to hit the omnipresent Corviknight, it is very weak and fails to 2HKO Corviknight at +1 with Leftovers at full HP. Also, instead of Extreme Speed and Outrage you can use Roost, which allows Dragonite to get back to full HP for re-activating Multiscale.

However in Monotype, you can use Fire Punch as:

Outrage is its strongest STAB attack, dealing massive damage to anything that doesn't resist it. It should be used carefully, as it locks Dragonite in for a few turns. Extreme Speed allows Dragonite to pick off weakened Pokemon without taking damage and deal with fast threats such as Weavile and Tapu Koko. Earthquake hits Steel-types that resist its other moves such as Heatran, Aegislash, and Melmetal. Alternatively, Fire Punch can be used to hit Celesteela and Ferrothorn.

Source