Altaria

Dragon

Mega Altaria's Dragon / Fairy typing, good bulk, and access to Dragon Dance make it a deadly setup sweeper. Its typing gives a plethora of resistances, including Dark, Fighting, and Water along with a handy immunity to Dragon, making it instrumental in the Dragon matchup. Mega Altaria's solid bulk along with reliable recovery in Roost gives it the ability to repeatedly take powerful attacks from the likes of Latios and Keldeo. Access to utility moves such as Defog and Heal Bell lets Mega Altaria run a supportive set, as Dragon-type teams lack reliable entry hazard removers and are weak to hazards and status. It also has Pixilate to gain unique and powerful Fairy-type attacks, and Earthquake lets it get past some of its would-be checks and counters such as Nidoking and Alolan Muk. However, Mega Altaria has a mediocre base 80 Speed stat, which means it is revenge killed by Sand Rush Excadrill and Choice Scarf Gengar even with a Dragon Dance boost. It is also vulnerable to priority from the likes of Bullet Punch Scizor and Ice Shard Mamoswine, meaning it can be revenge killed if it takes unnecessary damage. Mega Altaria is extremely predictable, so Pokemon such as Skarmory and Ferrothorn can almost always wall it. Its average Attack stat causes it to rely on Dragon Dance boosts to deal significant damage. Altaria is weak to Stealth Rock before Mega Evolving, making it less sustainable. It also faces competition from Mega Latias as a Mega Evolution, because Dragon teams otherwise lack a bulky Defog user and have to rely on Choice Scarf Defog Latios to remove hazards, and from Salamence as a Dragon Dance user, as Salamence is faster and has the ability to wallbreak with Devastating Drake; however, Mega Altaria is considered a better option because of its Fairy-type STAB and better bulk.