Wing Attack's Viability for Pokemon
Sept 15, 2010 15:41:46 GMT -8
Post by t3h Icy on Sept 15, 2010 15:41:46 GMT -8
Only four Pokemon (Golbat, Pidgeot, Aerodactlyl, Scyther) learn Wing Attack, and with their already poor movesets, is it even useful for them?
Comparing Flying and Normal attacks, Flying does twice as much as Normal does against Grass, Bug and Fighting, while Flying also hits Ghost. The only type that Normal attacks are stronger against is Electric, but the four Pokemon would want to switch out against an Electric anyway, and fortunately, Electric has a very hard counter, so that point is irrelevant. Also fortunate, Normal and Flying are both Physical, so differences in Defense and Special of the opposing Pokemon are also irrelevant, since both Normal and Flying attacks use the same stats.
So should Scyther (for example) be given Wing Attack?
Wing Attack vs Chansey - 132-113 (19%-16%)
Slash vs Chansey - 350-298 (<50%-42%)
Double-Edge vs Chansey - 249-212 (35%-30%)
So against a Pokemon where Flying and Normal attacks do the same damage type-wise (so also include Rock), Wing Attack is inferior. Both Slash and Double-Edge are stronger, so Scyther has better options whether or not you use Swords Dance.
Now for a Pokemon where Flying attacks are stronger:
Wing Attack vs Exeggutor - 110-94 (28%-24%)
Slash vs Exeggutor - 143-122 (36%-31%)
Double-Edge vs Exeggutor - 101-86 (26%-22%)
In this case, Slash is still the strongest, but after using Swords Dance, Wing Attack is the best choice.
And now, a Pokemon where Flying attacks do 4x. The only combination of Grass, Bug and Fighting is Grass/Bug, which is Parasect.
Wing Attack vs Parasect - 229-195 (71%-60%)
Slash vs Parasect - 148-126 (46%-39%)
Double-Edge vs Parasect - 105-89 (33%-28%)
Wing Attack does significantly more damage than Slash, but overall, it saves Scyther one extra turn. On top, Parasect's main moves (Dig, Mega Drain and Leech Life) are all bad vs Scyther so Parasect resorts to Normal moves, which Scyther can take.
Now, a Flying move would have an advantage against a Pokemon that were Rock combined with Grass, Bug or Flying, but no such Pokemon exists.
And finally, Wing Attack vs Gengar.
Wing Attack vs Gengar - 67-57 (21%-18%)
While Wing Attack hits Gengar whereas the Normal moves don't, it's not very useful, as Gengar takes out Scyther with Thunderbolt, has more Speed, and the damage Scyther does is negligible (not to mention that Gengar often dies due to Explosion).
For Pidgeot, it's no contest as the Normal moves are also STAB. Except against Parasect, Pidgeot always does more damage with the Normal moves. While it does learn Fly and Sky Attack as well, those are unrelated to Wing Attack.
So to conclude, unless you really want every little advantage possible against Gengar and Parasect, and want to do slightly more damage (or take no recoil) against Bug/Grass/Fighting, while refusing to use Slash....Wing Attack is garbage. Peck, which is identical to Wing Attack, is also garbage (in case you get weird ideas with Articuno and Moltres).
Comparing Flying and Normal attacks, Flying does twice as much as Normal does against Grass, Bug and Fighting, while Flying also hits Ghost. The only type that Normal attacks are stronger against is Electric, but the four Pokemon would want to switch out against an Electric anyway, and fortunately, Electric has a very hard counter, so that point is irrelevant. Also fortunate, Normal and Flying are both Physical, so differences in Defense and Special of the opposing Pokemon are also irrelevant, since both Normal and Flying attacks use the same stats.
So should Scyther (for example) be given Wing Attack?
Wing Attack vs Chansey - 132-113 (19%-16%)
Slash vs Chansey - 350-298 (<50%-42%)
Double-Edge vs Chansey - 249-212 (35%-30%)
So against a Pokemon where Flying and Normal attacks do the same damage type-wise (so also include Rock), Wing Attack is inferior. Both Slash and Double-Edge are stronger, so Scyther has better options whether or not you use Swords Dance.
Now for a Pokemon where Flying attacks are stronger:
Wing Attack vs Exeggutor - 110-94 (28%-24%)
Slash vs Exeggutor - 143-122 (36%-31%)
Double-Edge vs Exeggutor - 101-86 (26%-22%)
In this case, Slash is still the strongest, but after using Swords Dance, Wing Attack is the best choice.
And now, a Pokemon where Flying attacks do 4x. The only combination of Grass, Bug and Fighting is Grass/Bug, which is Parasect.
Wing Attack vs Parasect - 229-195 (71%-60%)
Slash vs Parasect - 148-126 (46%-39%)
Double-Edge vs Parasect - 105-89 (33%-28%)
Wing Attack does significantly more damage than Slash, but overall, it saves Scyther one extra turn. On top, Parasect's main moves (Dig, Mega Drain and Leech Life) are all bad vs Scyther so Parasect resorts to Normal moves, which Scyther can take.
Now, a Flying move would have an advantage against a Pokemon that were Rock combined with Grass, Bug or Flying, but no such Pokemon exists.
And finally, Wing Attack vs Gengar.
Wing Attack vs Gengar - 67-57 (21%-18%)
While Wing Attack hits Gengar whereas the Normal moves don't, it's not very useful, as Gengar takes out Scyther with Thunderbolt, has more Speed, and the damage Scyther does is negligible (not to mention that Gengar often dies due to Explosion).
For Pidgeot, it's no contest as the Normal moves are also STAB. Except against Parasect, Pidgeot always does more damage with the Normal moves. While it does learn Fly and Sky Attack as well, those are unrelated to Wing Attack.
So to conclude, unless you really want every little advantage possible against Gengar and Parasect, and want to do slightly more damage (or take no recoil) against Bug/Grass/Fighting, while refusing to use Slash....Wing Attack is garbage. Peck, which is identical to Wing Attack, is also garbage (in case you get weird ideas with Articuno and Moltres).
