Drifloon Movesets & Competitive Sets

This set attempts to fix Drifloon's low Special Attack through Calm Mind and to obtain a Speed stat of 30 while healing with Oran Berry. Calm Mind is Drifloon's only reliable boosting option. It allows Drifloon to reach a Special Attack stat of 24 after one boost and an astounding 32 after two. Drifloon can also set up on weak special attackers and Sucker Punch users with Calm Mind. Shadow Ball is Drifloon's best STAB attack and has perfect neutral coverage when combined with Hidden Power Fighting. In the final slot, Substitute gives Drifloon an easier setup by protecting him from attacks and status. It also eases prediction during Drifloon's sweep, especially against Sucker Punch users. Substitute is also useful for reliably activating Unburden. Thunderbolt can be used to hit Stunky for massive damage and also hits Water- and Flying-types hard. The EVs give Drifloon enough Speed to reach 30 Speed after Unburden, which lets Drifloon outrun all +1 Pokemon in Little Cup except for Diglett, Elekid, and Voltorb. The spread also maximizes Drifloon's low Special Attack while maintaining respectable bulk. Explosion or Destiny Bond can be used in the final spot to let Drifloon go out with a bang. Wynaut is a great partner because he can Encore attacks that Drifloon is resistant or immune to so that Drifloon can set up. Stunky is quite problematic for Drifloon, so using a Gligar is advisable to counter Stunky.

Drifloon is one of the few Pokemon in LC who can set up Rain Dance, take advantage of the rain, and then explode. The EVs of the set are tailored for that purpose, maximizing Drifloon's offensive capabilities. 17 Speed allows Drifloon to outspeed all non-Scarf Snover and almost all non-Scarf Chinchou, two major hindrances to most dedicated rain teams; it can then proceed to OHKO them both with Explosion. While it would be better to not waste Rain Dance turns attacking with Drifloon, this set's attacks allow it to take advantage of the rain itself when you don't want Drifloon to explode right away. Weather Ball becomes a very powerful move in the rain, while Thunder provides decent coverage alongside it, especially with Explosion in the mix. Shadow Ball can be used instead of Thunder to hit Dratini, Paras, Chinchou, and all the other Pokemon that resist the combination of Weather Ball and Thunder a bit harder. It's also super effective against Gastly and opposing Drifloon, which may come in to absorb Drifloon's Explosion. Be wary, though; unless you hit it on the switch, most Gastly will outspeed and OHKO Drifloon first. A bulkier spread of 36 HP / 164 Def / 164 SpD / 116 Spe with a Bold nature can be run, allowing Drifloon to survive almost all attacks. This should allow Drifloon to set up Rain Dance multiple times during a match if necessary. With 15 Speed, it will still outspeed non-Scarf Snover, as well as most Dratini and Croagunk. Even with a Bold nature, Explosion will OHKO Munchlax and Chinchou, two big hinderances to rain teams. This set is meant to be used on a team dedicated to abusing Rain Dance. That said, good partners for Drifloon are obviously Pokemon that can also take advantage of the rain. Powerful Swift Swim Pokemon such as Mantyke, Omanyte, and Kabuto will appreciate the removal of Snover, Chinchou, Croagunk, or Munchlax (all of whom are big threats to Rain Dance teams) via Explosion so they can have an easier time sweeping. Other Pokemon that can set up Rain Dance also make good partners. Both Bronzor and Voltorb are able to use Rain Dance effectively, and have great type synergy with Drifloon, making them excellent partners.

While this set does not have the bulk of the previous two sets, it has a much easier time setting up and sweeping in the end-game. Substitute allows Drifloon to reduce his health by 25% each time, eventually activating Petaya Berry and Unburden at the same time. With this Drifloon reaches 24 Special Attack and 28 Speed, outrunning and hitting hard most of the metagame. Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting provide perfect neutral coverage. Thunderbolt gives Drifloon better coverage, while Calm Mind can allow Drifloon to gain additional boosts if the opportunity arises. The EVs give Drifloon 28 HP, which allows him to activate Petaya Berry in three Substitutes instead of four. Due to the fact that this Drifloon needs to run 28 HP and the IV loss from Hidden Power Fighting, only 14 Speed is run. The only loss is tying with 19 Speed Choice Scarfers, who are rather rare. The remaining EVs are put into Special Attack. Explosion or Destiny Bond can be used in the last slot if you have another sweeper that can greatly benefit from the removal of a troublesome Pokemon. Sucker Punch is also an option to thwart the attempts of opposing Sucker Punch users. Munchlax and Stunky create problems for this set. They can hit Drifloon hard with Pursuit or in the case of Munchlax, Ice Punch as well. A Lure Gastly can significantly help this set, being able to lure out Munchlax and Stunky and use Explosion on them.

This uncommon lead set allows Drifloon to almost always get one kill, and sometimes even two or three. It uses a combination of Unburden and moves such as Destiny Bond, Explosion, and Sucker Punch. Being a Ghost-type, Drifloon is immune to the common Fake Out. In addition, the Focus Sash protects it from Meowth's Bite and Aipom's Shadow Claw. Drifloon can then Destiny Bond or Explode to take out the lead. Additionally, Drifloon can sometimes take out leads on its own using Shadow Ball, Sucker Punch, or Thunderbolt. An example is Kabuto, who is KOed by Thunderbolt followed by Sucker Punch. Drifloon can then get another kill using Unburden and Destiny Bond or Explosion. The EVs and IVs are used to get Drifloon down to his sash by minimizing his defenses. Maximum speed is run to outspeed Kabuto so that it cannot break Drifloon's sash unless he forgoes Stealth Rock. The rest is put into Special Attack to strengthen Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt. One of the troublesome leads for this set is Snover. Snover deals 72% - 96% to Drifloon with Ice Shard. This means that with Protect, hail damage, and Ice Shard, Snover can defeat Drifloon without taking damage except from Sucker Punch, which will not do much to Snover. Most lead Snover run Protect, meaning that Exploding on Snover is no easy task. For this reason, it is best to run a Fire-type such as Ponyta or Growlithe to destroy Snover.

This set attempts to take out two or more Pokemon on the opposition's side by using Trick to cripple the lead and Destiny Bond or Explosion with Unburden to get a KO. Trick allows Drifloon to lock the opposing Pokemon into a move, hopefully a support move. Tricking also activates Unburden, giving Drifloon 30 Speed. With this high speed stat, Drifloon can take out a Pokemon with Destiny Bond or Explosion. Sucker Punch and Shadow Ball are there in case using Destiny Bond or Explosion is not necessary. Sucker Punch guards against the priority that is omnipresent in Little Cup. The EVs give Drifloon maximum bulk while retaining 16 Special Attack and 15 Speed before Unburden. Lead Kabuto causes this lead problems if he Rock Slides on turn one. Drifloon will survive, use the Focus Sash most lead Kabuto have and activate Unburden to Destiny Bond and cause a double KO. However, it will cost Drifloon's life. Kabuto is prevented from accomplishing his main goal, using Stealth Rock. Lead Buneary causes this lead trouble with Klutz and Encore, but is easily worked around by most Pokemon in Little Cup. Snover can cause problems with Protect, but Ice Shard cannot OHKO this Drifloon without a critical hit and Drifloon can use Trick to lock Snover into a move, allowing it to be easily killed by a teammate. However, Snover does appreciate the Choice Scarf and becomes quite a potent revenge killer. For this reason, it is good to run a Fire-type with this Drifloon.

This set takes a more defensive approach to sweeping, allowing Drifloon to burn and cripple his counters early on before sweeping a weakened team with a boost from Unburden. Substitute allows Drifloon to both scout for counters and activate Unburden and Oran Berry. Shadow Ball is Drifloon's STAB attack of choice again. Will-O-Wisp is primarily for Munchlax and Stunky, neither of whom will enjoy a burn. Thunderbolt is the coverage move on this set because unboosted Hidden Power Fighting being very weak. The EVs on this set give Drifloon 28 HP so that Unburden can be activated in two Substitutes instead of three. The Speed EVs allow Drifloon to reach 30 Speed after Unburden, and the rest is dumped into Special Attack. Since this set does not have the power of the first set, it has different counters. Chinchou is a problem since Oran versions only suffer a 3HKO from Shadow Ball while OHKOing back with Thunderbolt. Munchlax comfortably walls Chinchou and can hit back with Earthquake or STAB Return.