Play rough, Moonblast, or Dazzling Gleam for Altaria?

Question

In season 14 of Legend ZA, I'm using Mega Altaria in order to hit both restricteds for super effective and not being a flying type. I'm using Dazzling Gleam, but wonder if I should use something else. Should I use Moonblast for the extra power, Dazzling Gleam for AOE, or forfeit heat wave coverage and go physical Altaria with Play Rough. The moveset I'm using is Dazzling Gleam, Dragon Pulse because it has no move to boost up before it uses Draco Meteor, Heat wave for sniping and steel coverage, and protect because protect.

Comments

Play rough never misses and is probably the most consistent for killing things like Garchomp. Using play rough also mean you can use moves like Earthquake and dragon dance. I’m not sure if this is satisfactory for an answer so I’ll leave this as a comment for now.

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i made my altaria a special attacker and gave it moonblast just cuz it dealt more damage than dazzling gleam.

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Doesn't Mega Altaria get Pixilate? You should be able to use strong normal moves like Double Edge for Physical sets and Hyper Voice for Special ones.

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Abilities aren’t a thing in Z-A

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I missed that part, mb

Answer 1

I tested all 3 moves while pushing up the ladder and found that a mixed set with play rough worked. Moon blast was by far the worst of the 3 because it’s so easy for the many fast flying types in season 14 to avoid. Dazzling gleam was okay but it doesn’t work well with the other special moves that Altaria learns because Altaria has to run up to something to use gleam and its other dragon moves are long range attacks. It’s also very quite slow which doesn't help the situation at all. Play rough I found worked the best because it always hits meaning Altaria’s slow speed isn’t a problem here. It also works nicely with dragon rush so you have a 2 never miss move combo. I used cotton guard to improve the Rayquaza matchup. Also cotton guard basically lasts forever so thats another nice bonus. Finally I used flame thrower in the last spot to hit Skarmory.

TLDR Play rough is the best fairy move for Altaria

Answer 2

It depends on what you think qualifies as threats. All moves are solid choices with their upsides and downsides- I'll break down my opinions real quick.

Play Rough- This move never misses, which is a big upside. However, Altaria has a larger movepool as a special attacker. This move is handy for quickly dispatching threats like Garchomp.

Dazzling Gleam- An AoE move with a close range, considering it's a special move. It does less damage than Moonblast, but is still a solid choice if you're concerned about physical attackers. Again, it's good against the common Garchomp.

Moonblast- Deals the most damage out of the three and the only one that can cover a distance. However, it's pretty easy to dodge unless you're in close combat. Can pick off special-attacking threats like Froslass and Gardevoir, if they're low HP.

Personally, I would run a Dazzling Gleam Mega Altaria. Here's my set:

Altaria @ Altarianite
EVs: 252 SpA / 64 SpD / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Dragon Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Protect

Since it has Protect, you can guard from physical attackers like Metagross and counterattack with Flamethrower. Dazzling Gleam, as I explained above, is to deal with Garchomp, which can learn Iron Head. Gyarados also pops up in Legends Z-A competitive with Iron Head. Dragon Pulse is STAB.

Hope this answer helps! Opinions vary, so don't just go off of my answer ;)

Comments

Last time I checked Metagross and Garchomp aren’t flying types. The asker specifically mentioned they were using Altaria as a way to avoid being a flying type while still being eligible for this season of ranked.