Talonflame

[gamieTG]

(Once upon a time...)

Type:

Stats: 78 HP / 81 Atk / 71 Def / 74 SpA / 69 SpD / 126 Spe (BST: 499)
Abilities: Flame Body / Gale Wings (Hidden)
Notable Moves: Brave Bird, Bulk Up, Defog, Flare Blitz, Hurricane, Overheat, Roost, Taunt, U-turn, Will-O-Wisp

Moves Gained & Lost

Moves Gained:
Air Cutter
Air Slash
Take Down

Moves Lost:
Attract
Confide
Double Team
Dual Wingbeat
Hone Claws
Incinerate
Rain Dance
Round
Snore
Swagger
Tackle
Tera Blast
Toxic
Work Up

Pros:

• One of the fastest pokemon in UU
• Fire/Flying typing provides useful resistances
• Flame Body can punish U-turns with burn
• Great utility with Defog, Taunt and Will-O-Wisp

Cons:

• Frail bulk and middling offenses
• HATES Stealth Rock, thus relying on Heavy-Duty Boots
• Shallow movepool with no good coverage moves

Tera Potential:

• Tera Ghost can let it block Rapid Spin and grants it Normal and Fighting immunites, allowing it to check Extreme Speed Lucario.

Sets:

Defensive Utility (Talonflame) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Timid Nature
- Brave Bird / Flare Blitz / Hurricane
- Roost
- Defog / Will-O-Wisp
- U-turn / Taunt

Heavy-Duty Boots is required to ignore Stealth Rock, and losing it will be detrimental to Talonflame. Brave Bird is the preferred attack, but Flare Blitz can be used to hit Tinkaton, and Hurricane can hit specially frail pokemon, though Talonflame's nature should be Timid instead of Jolly in this case. Roost is for reliable and fast recovery. the rest of the moves are utility: Defog clears hazards and screens, which is useful on Hyper Offense teams. Will-O-Wisp provides consistent burn spread and makes Talonflame annoying for most physical attackers. U-turns gives it a fast pivoting option, though Taunt can be used instead to cripple setup sweepers.

Other Options:

• A Swords Dance / Bulk Up set can be experimented, but Talonflame's shallow movepool means it needs to rely on Tera Blast for coverage, and Gale Wing's nerf since Gen 7 severely limits its offensive potential.

Conclusion:
Despite Talonflame's great offensive prowess back in Gen 6, the nerf to Gale Wings has neutered its offenseive potential quite a bit. However, with its great speed, Flame Body and good typing in the current meta (after it puts on a pair of boots), Talonflame has become a prominent burn spreader and Defog user in the tier. Right now, Talonflame has a important role in UU, but as we enter 2023 and new pokemon come and go, Talonflame may have to deal with more threats in the future. But in my opinion, it's going to take more than a few Rock-Types to let Talonflame drop to the lower tiers.

 

[STEELDRAGON]

One of the most reliable defoggers in UU. Its close to unmatched speed and Roost make it able to defog multiple times through out the match. It is also able to pivot out preserving your momentum. Priority flying moves can be a emergency stop to threats like Shell Smash Poltergeist. I love using the sweeping set, it is a nuke late game. Overall one of the best Pokémon in the tier.