Community POTW #71

[wunderkind]

Man, I remember in Crystal, my best Pokemon was my level 72 Pidgeot named Sky....

Weather Bird
Ability: Does it really matter? They're all relatively useless >.>
Item: Heat Rock/Damp Rock/Generic Item
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 252 SpA/252 Spd/4 HP

-Rain Dance/Sunny Day
-Hurricane/Air Slash
-HP-Water/Heat Wave
-Uproar

Pidgeot can use both Rain Dance and Sunny Day, and has moves that can benefit, so why not? Rain Dance is a little more beneficial, because it gives Hurricane 100% accuracy. HP Water also gets a boost from the rain. Uproar is for a Normal STAB. Sunny Day is also usable, powering up the already powerful Heat Wave. However, sun drops Hurricane's accuracy to 50%, so you may want to go with Air Slash or something if you want a Flying STAB.

[Meowmeow]

Pidgeot has pretty evenly distributed stats. It has a movepool that is a bit more colorful than other Normal-Flying types. Pidgeot is not as bad as everyone makes it out. Its still pretty bad. Time for movesets.

Physical Pigeon
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
Ability: Tangled Feet
EVs: 252 attack and speed, 4 hp
@: Life Orb

Brave Bird
Roost
Steel Wing
Quick Attack/Return/Double-Edge

The best thing Pidgeot can do with physical attacks is this: a crappy Staraptor.

Special Pigeon
Nature: Modest
Ability: Tangled Feet
EVs: 252 sp attack and speed, 4 hp
@: Life Orb

Hurricane
Heat Wave
Roost/Quick Attack
Work Up

I personally find this route much more interesting and separates Pidgeot from the rest of the Normal-Flying types. While Pidgeot has an unspectacular special attack stat, its attack stat isn't much higher to begin with, so you don't lose too much power and gain coverage in exchange with Heat Wave, as well as stat boosting with Work Up. The big draw is STAB Hurricane.

Other options:
The only other good option Pidgeot should consider is Pursuit. Then again, what's so scary about an overgrown pigeon?
Realistically, your other options are: Fearow, Dodrio, Swellow, Staraptor, and Braviary.

Just a note, Pidgeot could be so much more if it had Thrash to combine with Tangled Feet. I think we can agree that that would make Pidgeot a more solid option, albeit still pretty poor.

[Serpentine]

It has such a poor DW ability... Actually, pretty much all of its abilities are pointless. Big Pecks and Keen Eye can be fixed by switching out, plus moves that lower accuracy and defense are uncommon competitively. Although Confusion's kind of common, you'll probably hurt yourself to death. It has such a limited move pool and even though it's a first Gen Pokemon it hasn't gained many more attacks. Even the TMs that it learns aren't that great. Even its Move Tutor moves are extremely limited. It does have the stats for a Mixed Sweeper and I guess it is kind of unpredictable. Its stats though are a little less than good.

I guess a Featherdance/Swagger combo works. However, that lowers the confusion damage.
Roost is always a good good since you lose your flying type. It makes fighting moves super effective but you evade the usual common attacks that they'll aim for to hurt you.
Tailwind's kind of helpful.

[Ophie]

Might I be able to suggest detailed tips for Doubles, Triples, and Rotations?

I was pretty annoyed seeing "Don't use Heatmor" for last week's article, as I believe there is always a niche, even if it's very small, for every fully-evolved Pokémon in at least one of the above battling environments.

[Aurath8]

Pidgeot. This thing is fantastically average in almost every possible way. There's not much to set it apart from other Normal/Flying types and as a result has become horribly outclassed by the likes of Swellow and Staraptor. It's not bad just... meh.

Bandgeot
Pidgeot@Choice Band
Jolly
Tangled Feet
252 Atk/252 Speed
-Brave Bird
-Return/Double Edge
-Steel Wing
-U-turn

Pidgeots speed is jut high enough to warrant a CB set. Brave Bird is the only Flying attack worth using. Return is a reliable STAB but Double-Edge's extra power can save your hide in a pinch. Steel Wing is your best way of dealing with Rock types which completely wall you otherwise. I suppose you could find a way to fit in Pursuit.
U-turn compliments the hit-n-run nature of Choice sets. This set is completely walled by Steels but there's not much you can do about that.

Another option is to use a Life Orb and fit Roost in somewhere. That way you can Brave Bird all you want and heal up once you get the chance.

Counters
Steel types. Pidgeot only has 3 damaging moves that could possibly harm Steels. Mud-Slap, Hidden Power and Heat Wave. All of them bar Heat Wave are weak moves coming off an even weaker Base 70 Spatk. If you're a Steel who isn't x4 weak to Fire, you'll fare just fine against Pidgeot.
Rock types also do quite well but you'll have to watch out for Steel Wing. If you're a Rock type neutral to Steel such as Aggron you're be having fried Pidgeon for dinner tonight.
Speaking of Rocks, Stealth Rock takes of 25% of Pidgeot's health.
Electric types that can take a Double Edge will also eat Pidgeot for dinner. Rotom, Magneton, Stunfisk etc.

On the whole Pidgeot isn't really hard to beat. It has mediocre offences, mediocre defence and decent speed. It's movepool is pretty barren and even its design is quite tame. It straddles the line between viable and horrible. It's not something to fear or something to laugh at.
Pidgeot is just an overwhelmingly, incredibly, undoubtedly, supremely, adverbially, hilariously, insurmountably, ridiculously average Pokemon.

[Fluffykitty]

Pidgeot was once decent but the year have not been kind to this flying type. Pick any other flying type that isn't part bug. You'll be must better off.

[Rayofquazar]

Well serebii got one thing right... Pidgeot is defenitely one of my personal pokemon... It remained my favorite Normal-Flying type until generation 4 where staraptor was introduced and for me it outclasses it in usability and overall coolness! So, my now second favorite Normal-Flying type, is a mediocre pokemon litterally having mediocre everything even it's stat repartition! It doesn't shine in any department and is majorly outclassed by every flying pokemon in existance barring farfetch'd and chatot! Despite all this pidgeot will remain my personal favorite flying type pokemon that reminds me of my childhood, the days where I thought pidgeot was so strong it is indestructible!!

5th generation came, it introduced DW abilities and FINALLY I thought, this is the time to let pidgeot shine, I was screaming in joy, Go pidgeot, spread your wings and fly. But nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo, This pokemon got big pecks... Big Freaking Pecks, an ability that prevent defenses from being lowered!!! I don't understand how they make an ability with an effect like this? Pidgeot don't have a large peck anyway? Hyper cutter prevents attack from lowering, wich is useful for physical attackers like pinsir or kingler, White smoke/Clear body prevents all stats from lowering wich is relatively decent. Big pecks only prevents lowering the defenses!! Not only people don't use attacks that lowers defenses much but also there is no abilities that lower defenses to a switching in pokemon like intimidate do to attack! To top it off, they gave this ability to a defenseless pokemon like pidgeot!!! It's like giving hyper cutter to shuckle! So, as most of pokemon that have 3 ablities have at least one useful ability, pidgeot is from the elite rare group of pokemon that have 3 useless ones.

No recoil please... I'm already frail!
Pidgeot@Choice scarf
Ability: Like this matters
Ev: 4 SPD/ 252 ATT / 252 Sp ATT
Moveset:
-U-turn
-Hurricane
-Return
-Heat wave

Ok... Maximize this pokemon averageness with this set. Item increase it's speed to outspeed most of pokemon. Ev investment let pidgeot do some decent damage. U-turn switch you out safely while doing damage and scouting. Hurricane is an awesome move that will always be used under rain. Return is another great stab that doesn't mind weather effects. Heat wave is here in case rain got turned off to do some serious damage to steel types.

Other decent options includes roost for recovery, brave bird and double edge but do recoil, Whirlwind and tailwind for supporting options, Mirror move is pidgeot only thing setting it above other flying types that is only good against ghost or dragon types, or getting some quiver dances, calm minds, nasty plots, swords dances, will-o-wisp, and other good options that pidgeot don't naturally learn.

All in all, pidgeot is an average pokemon outclassed by other normal-flying types but still can be pretty useful. It won't sweep entire teams any time soon but it's not that bad... But the main thing that keeps pidgeot from being used is that it's not that good!

[TheTraininator]

Pidgeot, one of the coolest looking birds to ever have existed, let alone the coolest pidgeon. Unfortunately for it, it is outclassed. Horribly, horribly outclassed. Name one bird Pokemon and it probably outclasses Pidgeot. It can do some things in the lower tiers, but other Pokemon will probably do them better.

Standard Pidgeot
Item: Choice Band/Life Orb
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Whatever
-Return
-Brave Bird
-U-Turn
-Pursuit/Quick Attack/Roost

This is the set found on nearly every Normal/Flying bird Pokemon, but Pidgeot doesn't bring much to it to make it unique. Return and Brave Bird are the usual double STAB, and are totally walled by the Rock and Steel types, which Pidgeot can't do a single thing to. U-Turn allows Pidgeot to switch out safely and avoid confrontation while also dealing decent damage in its own right. The last option is up to you. Pursuit nails the two Pokemon who would switch out against Pidgeot hard, while Quick Attack provides decent STAB priority. Roost should only be used with Life Orb, as it allows Pidgeot to heal off residual damage.

Choice Specs?
Item: Choice Specs
EVs: 252 Special Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Attack
Nature: Naive
Ability: Whatever
-Hyper Beam
-Air Slash/Hurricane
-Heat Wave
-U-Turn

This set, while rather gimmicky, is one of the only ways Pidgeot can define itself from other bird Pokemon, as it has a slightly higher Special Attack than most of the rest. Hyper Beam is there because, let's face it, if you are using Choice Specs Pidgeot, you might as well go all the way and use Hyper Beam. It actually does nice damage due to being 150 base power and getting STAB, and is one way for Pidgeot to guarantee a kill on something. Pidgeot is most likely only going to kill one thing anyway, and so the recharge turn will just allow the opponent to come in and finish Pidgeot off. Just be aware of using it when the opponent has a Pokemon that can set up on you. Air Slash and Hurricane are more reliable STAB options. Air Slash is far less powerful, but more accurate, whereas Hurricane is far more powerful, but less accurate. In rain Hurricane hits perfect accuracy, but this Pidegot does not appreciate rain as much due to the power reduction of heat wave. Heat Wave itself is a nasty surprise for the opponent, as it provides Pidgeot a way of hitting Steel Types hard when it normally wouldn't be able to. U-Turn is once again for switch initiative, and allows Pidgeot to bluff being physical.

[TheTraininator]

Choice Band and Work Up is a bad idea. Do you know what Choice Band does?

[TheTraininator]

Just letting you know, Double Edge is illegal with Brave Bird, since Double Edge is a 3rd Gen move tutor move and Brave Bird is a 4th and 5th gen Egg Move.

[Rayofquazar]

Choice Band and Work Up is a bad idea. Do you know what Choice Band does?

Sorry... It was when I read your comment that I relized my mistake... I meant choice scarf!!

Edited my post... And for double edge/brave bird I was just listing other options and stuff!

[cookies kill you]

Band bird
Nature Jolly
ability big pecks
Uturn
Brave Bird
Steel Wing
Quick Attack/Return/Facade

252 Attack 252 Spe

[Kraleck]

Doubles and Triples are slightly more suited to Pidgeot's liking. Heat Wave hitting in a spread, Flying Type's immunity to Earthquake, Flying Type Moves hitting anywhere in Triples, Featherdance being slightly more useful, plus access to Tailwind, Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Whirlwind, and Uproar mean you're more likely to see usage in Multi over Singles. Whirlwind can really help Stealth Rock chip off damage while forcing switches to erase any buffs your opponent may have used. Sunny Day, Rain Dance, and Tailwind are more team support. Uproar? Preventing anyone from falling asleep is a huge asset if your main damage-dealer is being put into Sleep Status constantly.

[GirlKirbyZombie]

A pokemon that Ash said that he'll come back for, but still hasn't done so yet...

"Right Back At Cha!!"
Nature: Hasty
EVS: 189 Sp. Attack, 63 Attack, and 252 Speed
Ability: Tangled Feet, just in case of confusion
Item: Sitrus Berry
Moves:
Agility/protect
Mirror Move
Feather Dance/Quick Attack/Air Slash/Aerial Ace
Roost

The basic idea is to strike back at your foes with their own moves. This works for a Dragon and ghost counter.
Best used in a Tailwind team and with a Lightning Rod.

Weather Changer
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Sp.Attack, and 252 Speed
Ability: Tangled Feet
Item: Charcoal, Sitrus Berry, or Wise Glasses
Moves:
Defog
Hurricane
Hyper Beam/Heat Wave
Quick Attack

A heavy hitter move-set. Do not use this set if you plan on using stealth rocks and spikes.

[Soperman]

Ah, Pidgeot, the original bird pokemon. It's honestly terribad. It can't do that much, and is outclassed by almost every other bird pokemon. Seriously, the only thing that makes it stand out is... its stats. Anyway, let's check out his absolutely horrendous abilities:

Abilities
Keen Eye: Prevents Accuracy from being lowered. Useless, nobody uses moves like that.
Tangled Feet: Boosts evasiveness when Pidgeot is confuzzled. Useless, nobody uses any attacks that cause confusion.
Big Pecks DW Defense cannot be lowered. Meh, not that helpful for something that has low Defense to begin with.

The Only Moveset
-Brave Bird
-Return
-Pursuit
-Mimic
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Tangled Feet/Big Pecks/Keen Eye
EVs and Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -Sp. Atk)
252 Atk/252 Speed
Essentially his only usable move-set. Brave Bird is epic STAB, Return is high-powered, and Pursuit and Mimic are filler. The end.

No Double or Triple Options. None.

Partners
You're going to need pokemon to counter all of the pokemon the resist and/or have super-effective moves to Pidgeot. That is to say, anyone with Hidden Power.

Countering Pidgeot
Take a pokemon. Teach it Hidden Power Ice, Electric, or Rock. Congrats, you can beat Pidgeot .___.

[Blue Harvest]

Be good if we got actually decent NU pokes.

lol. The RNG was put into place so Reno wouldn't get bored.. I don't really think this makes sense when we get random lines of boring stuff like Pidegot and Heatmor.

On the other hand Pidgeot can sorta use Special Attacks and it's kind of bulky.. Probably the worst normal / flying type in the game though.

[ClefairyRox]

Poor Pidgeot... It's a Pokemon that's horribly outclassed at just about everything it does. The Normal/Flying combo has been done to death, leaving Pidgeot with a lot of competition. Worse yet, besides Farfetch'd, other Normal/Flying types are simply superior. Pidgeot does have a slight niche in that can use Featherdance to greatly increase its walling ability (a technique I've used frequently on my own Pidgeot) and it has decent defenses. Still, it's firmly stuck in the NU tier with little chance of crawling out.

Recommended tier: NU

Keen Eye prevents Accuracy loss. It's basically useless, as the only move you're likely going to encounter that lowers Accuracy is Muddy Water (and it's still an uncommon move).
Tangled Feet raises evasiveness one level when Pidgeot is confused. While this is situational, it can save your Pidgeot in a pinch.
Big Pecks prevents Defense loss. Useful for Crunch.

Pidgeot's best moves are Brave Bird and Hurricane, with Base 120 power each. Some people say this bird is walled by Steels, but Heat Wave (through 4th gen move tutor) melts those troublesome Steels. U-Turn is good for scouting, while Air Slash is more reliable than Hurricane.

Roost keeps defensive Pidgeot healthy. Toxic+Whirlwind can be very annoying to your opponents. Featherdance sharply lowers a foe's Attack, which can really cripple them. Mirror Move is an oddball move that mimics that target's last move.

Double and Triple Options: I use a Pidgeot in a mono-Normal Doubles team with Air Slash, Heat Wave, Featherdance, and Roost. It's immune to Earthquake, but vulnerable to Rock Slide. I think Pidgeot does pretty well in Doubles.

Countering Pidgeot: Stealth Rock chips off 25% of this bird's HP. Plus, Ice and Electric attacks destroy it. It really doesn't take a whole lot to take out Pidgeot.

[jireh the provider]

Don't Get So Worked Up
Pidgeot@Focus Sash
Timid nature
Keen Eye/Tangled Feet
252 Spd/252 Sp. Atk/4 HP
~Work Up
~Uproar
~Hurricane
~Heat Wave

Pidgeot has decidedly average stats, but it's not like it can't make use of them at all. Work Up boosts both of Pidgeot's offensive stats, though Special Attack's the only one what matters here. Uproar and Hurricane are for STAB, and Heat Wave is for additional coverage.

Item is to help ensure at least one Work Up. Ability doesn't actually matter as they all suck.


Bandeot
Pidgeot@Choice Band
Jolly nature
Keen Eye/Tangled Feet
252 Spd/252 Atk/4 HP
~Brave Bird/Aerial Ace/Wing Attack/Pluck
~Return/Double-Edge
~Pursuit
~U-Turn

Pidgeot can also work with a physical set with its superior Attack stat, though its physical movepool is a different story. Pidgeot can learn two powerful STAB moves in Brave Bird and Double-Edge, just not both at once. I'd advise going with Brave Bird, as it still has Return to fall back on as a Normal move. If it goes with Double-Edge, however, the next best options are Aerial Ace, Wing Attack, and Pluck. Yeah. Pursuit and U-Turn give it some semblance of coverage.

Item is obvious, ability, yeah, yeah.


Pidgeospecs
Pidgeot@Choice Specs
Timid nature
Keen Eye/Tangled Feet
252 Spd/252 Sp. Atk/4 HP
~Uproar
~Hurricane
~Heat Wave
~Hidden Power (Dragon)

Pidgeot can also run a specs set, which works like the Work Up set without the risky setup turn. Uproar and Hurricane are for STAB, Heat Wave and HP Dragon are for coverage resisted only by Flash Fire Heatran (which Pidgeot has no business facing in any case).

Item, ability, you know how this goes.

Other options:
*A physical Work Up set is possible, but as two of Pidgeot's best physical moves give recoil, it's very risky.
*Ominous Wind and Hidden Power Fighting provide better coverage on the Specs set, but Ominous Wind is too weak to be really reliable.

Abilities:
*Keen Eye: Pidgeot's Accuracy can't be lowered. Borderline useless, given that nobody bothers with accuracy lowering moves.
*Tangled Feet: When Pidgeot is confused, its Evasion increases one level. Pidgeot's only feasibly useful ability, and even then, nobody's really gonna be reaching for Swagger or Confuse Ray when facing a Pidgeot. If the Evasion boost remained after the confusion wore off, that might be a different story.
*Big Pecks: Pidgeot's Hidden Ability. Currently legal on Pidgeot, but probably the most useless ability it has. Pidgeot's Defense can't be lowered. Nobody bothers with the likes of Leer or Screech, and even with attacking moves that have defense-lowering as a side effect, nothing runs Crush Claw when Return is an option, and the only thing that would possibly run Razor Shell, Cloyster, has much better moves to take on a Pidgeot with.

Partners:
Wish support and Rapid Spin/Magic Bounce are crucial. Smashpassing doesn't hurt, either.

Counters:
Pretty much any super-effective move with sufficient power behind it will thrash Pidgeot into oblivion. Cloyster in particular destroys it with Icicle Spear or Rock Blast, though it really ought to watch out for STAB Hurricane, given its paltry Special Defense. Pidgeot might be easy enough to take down, but all the same, be wary of its attacks. When its attacking stats are boosted by Work Up or an item, it really can make a dent in an unprepared team.

Opinion:
It's impossible to hate on a classic, really. Pidgeot is really cool, but sadly will forever be remembered not as a menace on the battlefield, but as the thing that got us safely across the skies of Kanto.

Prediction for next week:
Plusle AND Minun (both must be present for they're much like a couple with nearly same on everything.)

Same thing to say. with the adds. for me, Staraptor and Braviary and Swellow are the only normal/flying types worth using thanks to their useful moves and abilities (2 Reckless fighting move users or 1 Gutsy facade combo respectively)

[Ttar's stone edge]

I love pidgeot. I really do. It's beautiful. Sadly, someone above stated that it was just used as a transport around Kanto. It was still amazing though. Sadly, 5th gen came, and Pidgeot got the terrible side of the stick. An ability from dream world that prevented it from having it's defense lowered? I cried. It deserves something so much better, and its subpar stats do not assist it in victory.

Potential move set(s)

Basically, go physical or special. Both is kinda bad unfortunately, i tried to use it many times, and to no avail.

Pidgeot@Lifeorb/Choice Band.
Ability: Tangled feet (best one you can get sadly)
Evs: 252 Atk, 252 spd 4 hp or 252 atk 252 hp (little more bulk) 4spd.
Nature: Adamant (+atk - Satk) or Jolly (+spd - Satk)
Moves: Brave bird/Aerial ace
Double Edge/Return
U-Turn
Pursuit
This is about the best it can do physically. Brave bird or Aerial ace if you wanna run double edge. U turn to scout and do a decent lot of damage. Pursuit to try and trap something and make it **** scared of retreating.

Special pidgeot@life orb/choice specs
Ability: Tangled feet
Evs: 252 Satk 252 spd 4 hp or 252 satk 252 hp 4 spd
Nature: Modest (+satk - Atk) or Timid (+spd - atk)
Moves: Hurricane
Heat Wave
Uproar.
Hidden power (whatever gives most coverage)
Same as physical. Which ever hidden power will do most coverage (ice for example)

Other options: A support/bulk can be used with a weather inducing move, Hurricane, roost and maybe toxic. Its a litte strained on moves that are good.

Doubles/Triples: Not bad, it can use heatwave and whirlwind for hazard abuse, but skarm is better for hazard abuse.

Opinion: If it wasn't stated in the start, i love pidgeot. It will always be my favourite normal flying, regardless of how average it is. It doesn't have a lot of options, but can still be used as a fun, joke sorta team. It's a shame it never got anything good form dream world, or it could of been superior.

Next week: Hypno or Froslass

[Ophie]

Whirlwind can really help Stealth Rock chip off damage while forcing switches to erase any buffs your opponent may have used.

Do people even use Stealth Rock in double and triple battles? I'd imagine that outside of forced switching like with Whirlwind and Roar, switching teds to be very rare, and whatever is forced in will continue to battle anyway--leaving a Spikes-family/forced-switch Pokémon into one that just goes last every turn and inflicts 1/16 to 1/2 of a Pokémon's total HP each turn--terribly inefficient when such matches rarely last above 5 or 6 turns.

I'll come up with a few paragraphs for doubles, triples, and rotations each sometime later.