Drifloon - Pokerealm.com

Endure
Shadow Ball
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power Fighting / Hidden Power Ice

252 Sp Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP

Drifloon makes a decent sweeper after a Petaya boost and a base 360 Special Attack after the Petaya boost, and a blistering 478 Spd thanks to Unburden's Speed boost. Send Drifloon out against one of its usual counters that would normally OHKO it, use Endure to survive the hit, then hit back and sweep with Drifloon's now highly boosted stats. Shadow Ball is your main sweeping attack, while Hidden Power Fighting is usually the better option to give Drifloon a better time OHKOing Dark-type Pokemon such as Houndour and Nuzleaf, while also hitting Steel-types and Rock- types for super-effective damage. Alternatively, you can opt for Hidden Power Ice, which gives you at best a neutral attack against most of the aformentioned types, but allows you to hit Shelgons, Hippopotas', Trapinches and other Ground-types harder. If you're using a Rain Dance or Sunny Day team, Wather Ball is also an option in substitution of Hidden Power.

Although Drifloon has a handy immunity to Normal and Fighting attacks, it is important to watch out for priority attacks from common Pokemon such as Sneasel, Piloswine, Duskull, Metang and Riolu, who can hit with Bullet Punch, Shadow Sneak and Ice Shard, respectively.

252 Speed puts you at a Speed stat of, as mentioned before, 478, which is more than enough to outspeed even a Choice Scarf Kadabra. If you're using Drifloon in UU, it only needs 84 Speed EVs to be able to outspeed a Choice Scarf Mankey after an Unburden boost, although it should be noted that this Drifloon is not designed to take hits, and Drifloon actually needs to have low defenses to allow for it to hit at least 25% so that the Petaya Berry can be activated quicker, which is why this set utilizes maximum Speed.

	Set Name	Nature		Item

Utility

Jolly / Timid

Ability-Aftermath

Wide Lens

Will-O-Wisp
Thunder Wave
Hypnosis
Destiny Bond

168 Def / 88 Sp Def / 252 Spd

This Drifloon serves a nasty surprise for those who suspect the Unburden set. Use Hypnosis on the first turn to put the foe to sleep, and depending on your foe's team (this set works better during mid-game to aid in the decision), either Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave. Drifloon can then be withdrawn, and sent out later for additional status support, or Destiny Bond to take a foe down. With both Will-O-Wisp and Hypnosis, Wide Lens is the preferred item to aid Drifloon in hitting with these low-accuracy moves, although if you don't favor one of them, a substitution of Toxic is an option, lessening the need of Wide Lens. Leftovers is a secondary option to aid in survivability.

Speed is maximized on this set to aid Drifloon in attacking first when using Destiny Bond. Drifloon ties with max Speed Mankey, Onix, Dragonair and Vibrava, and outspeeds anything slower than a neutral-natured, 252 Speed Charmeleon and Skiploom. If you're using Drifloon in OU, the Speed stat is even more imperative, as it allows you to outspeed neutral-natured, 252 Speed Monferno for a KO with Destiny Bond.


	Team Benefit
	Being a Ghost-type, Drifloon pairs well with Normal-types, Steel-types (in particular Aron), and Dark-types due to its immunity to Fighting attacks. With the correct prediction, this will allow you to get a free switch-in to Drifloon. Because of its Flying type, the same goes with Ground attacks, making pairings of Drifloon with Electric, Fire and once again, Steel, viable. Aron is weak to both of these types, making it a great teammate alongside Drifloon. It also resists Ghost, Dark, Rock and Ice, all of which Drifloon is weak to. Despite Drifloon's high HP stat, it cannot take hits very well due to its at-best mediocre defenses. You should instead depend on Drifloon's 3 resistances to switch into it, or to set up. Even after Drifloon does set up, it falls to priority attacks such as Ice Shard, Bullet Punch and Shadow Sneak, so a teammate with resistances to these that can take advantage of such attack users can prove to be useful, as well. Stealth Rock is a huge thorn in Drifloon's side, especially the utility set. Kabuto works somewhat well, as it is weak to Fighting and Ground attacks that Drifloon can switch into, and can be switched-in when faced with Ice Shard, although Kabuto's low HP and Special Defense can be disappointing for a Pokemon who is meant to use Rapid Spin, and take the foe's retaliation attack. Tentacool also works well, attracting Ground attacks, and being able to switch into most Ice attacks, although both fall to Electric moves.
	Counters
	Stealth Rock in itself takes 25% damage away from Drifloon automatically, so having Stealth Rock up makes Drifloon easier to take down. Chinchou is resistant to BoltBeam, and can threaten Drifloon with Sucker Punch. Specially-defensive variants of Phanpy can survive a switch-in into Shadow Ball, and threaten with Ice Shard. Lickitung only fears boosted Hidden Power Fighting, and can attack Drifloon with Ice Beam or Ice Punch for serious damage. If Duskull can switch into any attack other than Shadow Ball, it can immediately threaten a KO with a STAB Shadow Sneak. In OU, Sneasel can usually OHKO Drifloon with Faint Attack, and is at best neutral to most of Drifloon's attacks, which if unboosted, are usually 3HKOs. Even after an Unburden boost, Sneasel can still do a sizeable amount of damage with Ice Shard, but will fall to Hidden Power Fighting-variants of Drifloon. Marshtomp is immune to Thunderbolt, and has enough defenses to weather off a Shadow Ball before a Petaya boost, and can hit back with a super-effective Ice Punch. Piloswine only fears boosted Hidden Power Fighting, and can attack with Ice Shard. If Diglett can switch into Thunderbolt, or sent out after another Pokemon has fainted, it can immediately threaten with Sucker Punch, although Drifloon can freely switch out because of its Flying element.