Aerodactyl

Flying

Mega Aerodactyl finds itself on Flying-type teams as a role compressor that can act as a fast offensive threat, a Pursuit trapper, and a Stealth Rock setter. Due to Mega Aerodactyl's great natural Speed and coverage, it offensively checks many key Pokemon such as Tapu Koko and Weavile with its combination of Earthquake and Stone Edge, which can aid in difficult matchups such as Electric and Ice. Thanks to its Rock-type STAB and access to Ice Fang, Mega Aerodactyl is also one of the best offensive answers to Dragon teams, which can threaten the slow Flying teams that favor Mega Aerodactyl. Due to Mega Aerodactyl's offensive presence it forces many switches against Pokemon such as Latios and Blacephalon, which it can take advantage of with Pursuit. Mega Aerodactyl can put pressure on Defoggers like Mandibuzz and Zapdos because they are threatened by Aerodactyl's Rock-type STAB attacks. Because Mega Aerodactyl forces out many Pokemon, it gets ample opportunities to set Stealth Rock. Even though Mega Aerodactyl has a decent Attack stat, it has trouble breaking through walls such as Hippowdon, Skarmory, and Porygon2, which all can easily shrug off the damage Mega Aerodactyl does with their recovery moves. Mega Aerodactyl also faces competition for the coveted Mega slot by Mega Charizard Y, which is an amazing special wallbreaker with limited switch-ins that can help Flying-type teams in difficult matchups such as Steel-, Ice-, and Ground-type teams. Focus Sash Aerodactyl is a staple on hyper offense Flying teams because of its great base 130 Speed and access to utility moves like Taunt and Stealth Rock. Its Speed lets it outspeed a good portion of the metagame, making it the fastest lead entry hazard user after Deoxys-S. Additionally, its ability to stop common Stealth Rock users like Garchomp and Jirachi with Taunt is helpful, as Flying-type teams dislike Stealth Rock, and it can also stop common Defog users like Zapdos and Rotom-W from clearing its own Stealth Rock. Access to Tailwind makes it a perfect choice for offensive Flying teams, where it can provide fast offensive support to powerful wallbreakers like Mega Charizard Y and Dragonite to beat threats like Mega Diancie, Tapu Koko, and Mega Gallade. However, in its regular forme it is one-dimensional and extremely predictable to the point where Choice Scarf users like Krookodile and Nihilego can easily set Stealth Rock against Aerodactyl, as it cannot block Stealth Rock with Taunt against a Choice Scarf user. Aerodactyl also faces trouble against teams with Magic Bounce users like Mega Diancie and Mega Sableye, as it will struggle to perform its role against them.