"[Analysis] Nifty Or Thrifty: Flying Cup...Revisited! (PvP Meta/Budget Review)"

#PokemonGO: Hello again, fellow travelers!The "Nifty Or Thrifty" article series takes a comprehensive look at the meta for PvP Cup formats--Flying Cup, in this case--particularly focused on Pokémon where you can save yourself some stardust. Now I know what you're thinking... didn't this JRE guy already WRITE a big Flying Cup article? Well... yes. Yes I did. And I still recommend giving that a look, because there is some fringy stuff in there that I did NOT include this time. But a number of important things have changed since then--that article was nearly two months ago now--and I also forgot a thing or two last time (like Shadow Dragonite), so consider this a refresher AND a true improvement on the last.So, as is typical for the NoT series, I'll (re-)cover not only the top meta picks, but also some mons where you can save some dust with cheaper second move unlock costs... or don't need a second move at all! I usually dive right in on Pokémon with the cheapest second move unlock cost (10,000 dust) and work my way through from there until finally concluding with the 100,000 dust unlocks (Mythicals and Legendaries), but this time I'm going to start with the "Three Kings" of the format, the ones that most people are buzzing about and that the entire Flying Cup meta really revolves around. And as you will see, there are ways to save yourself some hard-earned dust and candy even with them!FLYING HIGHThese Pokémon are at the very top of this meta. Their importance cannot be understated, to the degree that I feel compelled to cover them before I get into the standard run from 10,000 to 100,000 dust 'mons.AERODACTYLRock Throw | Rock Slide (& Ancient Power?)If you have read anything at all about Flying Cup, surely you have seen talk about Aerodactyl. But perhaps you have wondered why it's the center of everyone's attention. The answer is actually very simple. Ever hear the phrase "killing two birds with one stone"? Well, that's basically Aerodactyl: it hits all the other Flyers with Rocks, and can easily chew through two or even all three Pokémon on an unprepared team. There are only three Pokémon in the entire meta that take neutral damage from Rock... not even resisted damage, just neutral. There are more than three things that take DOUBLE super effective damage, even if you leave out all the Bugs (three Fire types and one Ice). Starting to understand why Aerodactyl is so crazy good here? If not, then maybe this will paint the picture. There are actually a handful more Pokémon that can beat Aerodactyl than that shows, but still... the utter dominance is pretty apparent there, no?If you're feeling bummed about having to invest in one for this short-timeframe meta, though, don't be, because I have good news: you don't need to run a second charge move on Aerodactyl. Seriously, none of the moves other than Rock Slide really matter. Earth Power? Resisted by literally everything in this meta. Iron Head? The only things it hits super effectively are Ice (Articuno), Fairy (Togekiss), and Rock (other Aerodactyls)--all of which Rock moves hit super effectively as well--and it's resisted by all the Waters, Electrics, Fires, and Steels (read as: Skarmory) here. No way you wanna shell out 75,000 dust to unlock Hyper Beam as a second move, so that leaves only Ancient Power, which costs the same energy as Rock Slide but deals 35 damage less, just for the low 10% chance of a self-boost. If you already have a double moved Aero, then sure, go Ancient for the option to finish something off with it when Rock Slide would be overkill and MAYBE get a bonus boost. But if you haven't already invested, this is perhaps the easiest save-your-dust decision ever. Just roll with single moved Aero and you won't miss a beat. Gotta love when you can get "thrifty" like that!And in your search for a good Aerodactyl, don't assume that your standard low Attack/high bulk IVs are what you want in this particular meta. While that will win you the mirror, you may actually better off with a high Attack stat! Reason being is that an Aerodactyl with about 139 Attack (139.4, I think, is the exact target) can beat a #1 IV (0-14-15) Altaria, which is a big result. Yes, that's right... a high rank Altaria can beat Aerodactyl in a slugfest unless Aero has a crazy high Attack stat (to get to 139ish Attack requires something like 13-9-2 IVs... it is NOT easy to achieve). There is also an easier to achieve Attack breakpoint around 137 Attack that allows Aerodactyl to force a tie with Waterfall Gyarados, so if you can't get to the 139 needed for Altaria, at least try and get 137 if you can.And now here's some all-new stuff... let's talk SHADOW AERODACTYL. And as terrifying as regular Aero is, Shadow Aero is even moreso. The only thing regular Aero beats with shields up that Shadow does not is Jumpluff... and Shadow Aero picks up wins against Shadow Pluff, as well as Gliscor, Shadow Gligar, Waterfall Gyarados, and even Air Slash Skarmory. The only things in the entire format that normally beat Shadow Aerodactyl in 1v1 shielding are Gligar, Mantine, Mandibuzz, opposing Aeros, and the Grass pair of Razor Leaf Tropius and (non-Shadow) Jumpluff. That's it... that is the entire list. And while it is not QUITE as dominant with shields down, it's still an overall improvement on regular Aero, picking up relevant wins over Waterfall Gary, Shadow Zapdos, Shadow Dragonite, and even Steel Wing Skarmory! (Though Shadow SW Skarm wins here, but loses to non-Shadow Aero.) And keep in mind that Shadow Aerodactyl once again needs only Rock Slide as a charge move, so even without a chance to TM away Frustration doesn't matter since Slide can be added as a "second" move with no problems.Okay, that's enough about the King Of Flying Cup. There are still a couple others to highlight before we get into the article proper, though....SKARMORYSteel Wing/Air Slash | Sky Attack (& Brave Bird?)If it weren't for Aerodactyl dominating the headlines, we'd probably all be talking about Skarm instead. It also has a crazy high win rate, and is one of few things that has a leg up on Aerodactyl thanks to its Steel typing blunting Aero's attacks (Skarm takes only neutral damage from Rock moves). It can win with that all-Flying moveset, but even better if you REALLY want to bring the pain to Aero is to run the regularly-not-seen-on-Skarmory Steel Wing instead, with which you can beat Aerodactyl with just fast moves, as well as Togekiss and Articuno. In fact, running Steel Wing with just Sky Attack as your only charge move is also a great way to save some dust for this format, as it beats everything that triple Flying does except Murkrow and Dodrio (which you don't care about), Swanna and Pelipper (who you maybe care about), and Waterfall Gyarados (the only big concern). (Remember that Steel moves like Steel Wing are resisted by Waters, so....). But getting those easy wins over Aero, Kiss, and Artie seem like very fair compensation, don't you think? Keep in mind that with Air Slash, you ONLY beat Aerodactyl and Articuno (and Drifblim) if you land a self-nerfing Brave Bird ...Sky Attack alone won't do. (And Steel Wing/Sky Attack wins them all). Brave Bird with Steel Wing wins you the mirror match, but that is literally the ONLY Pokémon that SW Skarm needs Brave Bird to win... all others it can get with Sky Attack only. For my money, I'm rolling with Steel Wing this go-round, and again, if you do that and haven't double moved yet, you really don't need to. Cha-ching!Now a fresh word on [SHADOW SKARMORY], and it's a bit less encouraging than Shadow Aerodactyl was, as it appears to be a step backwards. A small one, perhaps, but backwards nonetheless, with Dodrio, Drifblim, and most damningly, against non-Shadow Skarmory, balanced against only one new win: against Murkrow. Blech. Add that to the fact that Shadow Skarm usually ends up with less HP than regular Skarm in many matchups that really matter (Articuno, Togekiss, Gligar, etc.), and you're probaby better off sticking with regular Skarm. Also keep in mind that you don't even HAVE the option of a second move yet with Shadow, since we've not had opportunity to TM Frustration away, so you're left with just Sky Attack. Not a terrible place to be, granted, but it is more of a downer than it is for Aerodactyl, that's for sure.ZAPDOSThunder Shockᴸ/Charge Beam | Drill Peck & Thunderbolt/ThunderSo first, we need to consider the fast move. Thunder Shock is still only achievable on a Great League Zapdos by way of Elite TM, and yes, it is definitely the move you want. Non-Legacy Charge Beam IS seemingly still viable, but not ideal... you lose out on things like Articuno, Drifblim, Honchkrow, Emolga, Charizard, and even double-weak-to-Electric Shadow Gyarados without Thunder Shock. Honestly, if you can't get Thunder Shock, you may want to consider little Emolga instead (which we'll cover in more detail below). Once you have THAT sorted out, the charge moves you want are Thunderbolt--Thunder is fine too but Bolt alone gets Shadow Articuno and performs slightly better across the board--and then Drill Peck for coverage. As an example of what that coverage gets you, look at the only things in Flying Cup that resist Electric damage: the "Glisboys". With all Electric moves, Zapdos has no shot, but with Drill Peck spam, it can actually defeat Gliscor and Shadow Gligar (and regular Gligar as long as it's not a purified one running Return... more on that later). That's just one (very prominent) example, but you can see up at even a high level how far Zapdos without Drill Peck lags behind. Unlike Aerodactyl and Skarmory, if you're going to run Zapdos, you really do need to shell out for that second move.SHADOW ZAPDOS is overall very slightly worse, losing to Shadow Articuno, Shadow Dragonite, and Emolga, though it does gain regular Dragonite (non-Shadow Zappy can only hope to tie) and Return Gligar just because of the spike in Drill Peck damage. And if you're stuck with Charge Beam, fuhgeddaboudit. Again, Emolga is just waiting in the wings.... 😉And really, you could stop with those three and likely call it a day. That trio essentially is the "B.B.M.L." of Flying Cup. But they're not the ONLY options... not by a longshot. There are plenty of other solid Flyers to cover, some of which can beat down these "Three Kings" of Flying Cup. And so, let's get into a more standard Nifty Or Thrifty review of the rest, starting with the cheapest and working out way on up from there.10,000 Dust/25 CandyALTARIADragon Breath | Sky Attack & Dragon PulseArguably belongs up in the top section, considering its success rate. Altaria remains a Great League beast, taking out basically everything you care about that isn't a Fairy, Aerodactyl, Skarmory, or packing an Ice move (and even that last one is only a sometimes thing. As noted above, [high stat product IVs]() are even better, tacking on Aerodactyl, Pidgeot, and Honchkrow (though you DO tend to lose the mirror due to the opponent's Altaria having higher Attack and winning Charge Move Priority as a result). Altaria is cheap to build too, hitting the right size around Level 28 and with a cheap second move unlock (though in actuality, you don't really need anything here but Sky Attack). The fact that it loses to Aero (sometimes), Articuno, Togekiss, and especially Skarmory are the only things really holding it back. If you have a good one and don't want to invest a lot into this Cup, Altaria is a good, relatively safe team player.MANTINEBubble/Wing Attack | Bubble Beam & Ice BeamListed in this section, even though Mantine's second move unlock costs 75,000 stardust, because you can reap the benefits of the Baby Discount™ here, giving a second move to Mantyke for only 10,000 dust and then evolving and investing another 30,000ish dust to take the resulting Mantine to Great League size. And it's listed this early in the article because Mantine has the potential to be very, very good. If you're not just running with Aero/Skarm/Zapdos, you're looking--most ideally--for things that can handle more than one of them. Altaria can handle Zapdos and tussle with Aerodactyl, and Bubble Mantine is able to take out both Aerodactyl and Skarmory (normal AND Shadow versions). And while Mantine is notoriously bait reliant for some wins, having to snag a shield with Bubble Beam before landing a killing Ice Beam or Aerial Ace, it can beat Aero, Skarm AND one of their biggest counters, Gligar, with just straight Bubble Beam spam. Or without utilizing Bubble Beam at all and going with back to back Ice Beams, you can get Gligar again, as well as Altaria and Togekiss (and even Aerodactyl again with high stat product IVs). And thus the combination of both Beams obviously gets all those, and also potentially Gyarados as well (AND maybe even Articuno with, again, really good IVs). And there's even one MORE wrinkle to consider, as Wing Attack Mantine, while not being quite as oppressive against Aero and Skarm, still beats them both (well, assuming Skarmory is running with Steel Wing), as well as Bubbletine's other wins AND the mirror versus Bubbletine. Choices... you've got a few. Hopefully one of them is to consider some version of ol' Dopefish here. Don't let that vacant smile deceive you... Mantine is a stone cold killer in this meta.GYARADOSWaterfall/Dragon Breath | Aqua Tailᴸ & CrunchAllow me to present the cheapest consistent counter to Aerodactyl… well, if you run Waterfall. Yes, Gary is left without much in the tank, but it gets the job done and then has enough energy to immediately throw a Crunch or Aqua Tail at whatever follows. (Do note, though, that Shadow Aero can just manage to flip that the other way, depending on IVs, so use caution.) Gary also handles sure-to-be-popular Gligar (and Gliscor) this way too. Tacking on the charge moves brings in normal AND Shadow Steel Wing Skarmory and Shadow Articuno, sure to be omnipresent as well. Or you can run with Dragon Breath, and while you give up Skarm, Artie, and unfortunately Aero in the process, you keep Gligar and gain also likely to be popular Altaria and Mantine, as well as opposing Waterfall Garys.SHADOW GYARADOS can beat Air Slash Skarm and Shadow OR regular Articuno, but the hit to Gary's already-shaky bulk means that Aerodactyl is now likely to be just a tie, at best, which is not good. If you're going to run Gyarados at this level and in this meta, probably best to stick with a non-Shadow one.CHARIZARDFire Spin/Wing Attackᴸ/Dragon Breathᴸ | Dragon Claw Blast Burnᴸ/OverheatCharizard loses very hard to Aerodactyl, which both resists Zard's Fire moves AND deals huge damage in return with its Rock moves. And it really can't do much to Zapdos (or Emolga) either, needing an energy lead equivalent to two Fire Spins to even have a realistic shot. So why bother looking into it? Well, there are a number of things Zard does very well. Obviously, Skarmory and Articuno want nothing at all to do with it. But Charizard is also a great Togekiss counter, don't forget, and also finds a way to scratch out a win over Gligar. SHADOW CHARIZARD can tack on Emolga as well. OR, if you have a fancy Legacy Wing Attack Zard, you give up Artie but can get a nice win over Altaria as compensation. Whatever flavor you potentially run, I think Zard could have a legit place in this meta if you don't want to just roll with the big three.EDIT: Dragon Breath Zard can beat Altaria but loses Artie, which MAY help some teams more, perhaps.NOCTOWLWing Attack | Sky Attack & PsychicNoctowl is a flying tank in Great League, and a bit underrated in open Great League play. But for those wondering, unfortunately not even Mr. Owl has enough licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop the Flying Cup meta. It looks good matched up against the entire meta, but where it counts, against the CORE meta, Noctowl falters, out-tanking Togekiss and Gyarados, but that's about all you can expect. I mean, with shields down it's a bit better, but as much as I love Noctowl, I cannot in good conscience really recommend it for competitive Flying Cup play.PIDGEOTGustᴸ/Wing Attackᴸ | Aerial Ace & Brave BirdAnd sadly, I still cannot recommend Pidgeot either. Absolutely evolve a good one or two with Gust during the event hours, as it WILL be good in future formats for sure, but here it just doesn't work out, with Gust or even with Legacy Wing Attack. Shame.EMOLGAThunder Shock | Thunderbolt & Discharge/Aerial AceImportant note: yes, the second move unlock is only 10,000 dust, but Emolga has to be maxed, so it's still not "thrifty"... Zapdos could even end up being cheaper! Anyway, this little flying rodent is not only adorbs 😻, but also quite potent here. I ran that sim with best possible "Lucky trade" IVs (12-15-15), as that's the best way to prep one, and that shows wins against Skarmory, Togekiss (unlike Zapdos, who cannot usually survive all that Charming down), the Flying Waters, Articuno (regular or Shadow), and Shadow Zapdos, among others. But the DREAM is #1 IVs, which has to be super rare for such a rare Pokémon, but IF you have one... holy smokes, folks. Now you get the mirror match AND regular Zapdos too. Can you say "great lead"? About the only thing you DON'T want to face in the leadoff spot is Gligar or Aerodactyl... basically everything else you either beat outright or maim badly. And that's consistent across shieldless scenarios as well (where you get Aerodactyl too!). Just like Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, you too may be left confounded over how to properly dispose of "moose and squirrel"... or, uh, at least squirrel.50,000 Dust/50 CandyTOGEKISSCharm | Ancient Power (& Aerial Ace/Flamethrower?)Charm is obviously resisted by Skarmory, and also the few Fires and Poisons here, but is very widely unresisted. For that reason, Togekiss can beat a very wide swath of Flying Cup with Charm alone, including where it counts most (the core meta), beating Gyarados, Altaria (not surprisingly), and even regular AND Shadow Zapdos (very surprisingly), just smashing through Zapdos' (lack of) bulk before it can muster up a winning Thunderbolt. Also note the tie with Shadow Articuno (also impressive), the ALMOST win against Aerodactyl (soooooooo close!), and the best way to try and win the mirror match: just keep Charming and save that charge move for the next 'mon up. The charge move you likely want the most here is Ancient Power (because it deals super effective damage to darn near everything here), but Aerial Ace is a decent all-arounder for a second move, or perhaps even better would be Flamethrower to at least put the fear of God into Skarmory.What you do NOT want to do, though, is try and outsmart everyone with Hidden Power. Even with the most favorable typing here--Rock--it just does not work on Togekiss. You can kinda-sorta-almost get away with that with TOGETIC, who can at least take out Articuno and Altaria that way (and a decent chunk of the riff raff), but that's probably getting a little too cute.JUMPLUFFBullet Seed | Aerial Ace & Energy Ball/ReturnᴸWell the volume of wins certainly won't wow anyone, but little Pluff can take out Gligar and Gary (and wins big versus the other Waters as long as it avoids Ice Beams, and also gets OH so close to picking off Aerodactyl, especially ones with decently high Attack that some will have grinded for to have a leg up over Altaria... and note that it has time to double Energy Ball, so no baiting required. It DOES manage to overcome Shadow Aerodactyl this way, one of very few things that can handle that Shadowy nightmare. And some new twists with the introduction of SHADOW JUMPLUFF: it can potentially beat Aero, straight up, which is nice. (Though since it's stuck with just one move due to having Frustration at this point still, you will likely need a very slight energy lead or something to guarantee it.) And PURIFIED PLUFF with Return can do some good things against the Electrics, at least provided you have a good one. Pluff isn't great here, I'll admit, but it has enough niches that you may see some here and there.PELIPPERWater Gun/Wing Attack | Weather Ball (Water) & Hurricane/BlizzardSo on the surface, this looks a bit like a subpar Gyarados, getting Skarmory and Gligar but not much else. But there's a little more to it if you peel back some layers. First off, it can ALMOST Water Gun Aerodactyl to death, leaving it at a mere 2 or so HP. (Incidentally, it also pretty easily takes down Gligar this way too.) It can also defeat Togekiss in a battle of high IVs vs high IVs. And one more item of interest: if you run with Wing Attack, you get Gyarados and a potential win now against Aerodactyl. Point is, you have a few options here that can give you wins the opponent may not expect. Like many things not at the very top of the meta, there is more bad here than good, if I'm being honest. But there IS good that you can work to your favor if you want to get spicy.75,000 Dust/75 CandyGLIGARWing Attack/Fury Cutter | Night Slash & Returnᴸ/Aerial AceSay hello to the only Pokémon (well, other than its evolution) that takes no more than neutral damage from Rock (Aerodactyl) AND Electric (Zapdos, Emolga)... and it's actually even better, as it outright resists Electric thanks to Ground's double resistance and Flying's single vulnerability adding up to an overall resistance. That makes Gligar (and Gliscor) the only Pokémon here that resists Electric, by the way. But there's a downside that unfortunately makes it not quite as consistent a counter to Aero/Zap cores as you might like: Gligar's fast moves and half of its charge moves (Flying, Bug, Ground) are resisted by both Aerodactyl and Zapdos. And thus Gligar is left in a much more uncomfortable position than it really should be, essentially having to choose to beat either Aerodactyl (regular AND Shadow, plus Emolga) with Wing Attack, OR Zapdos (Shadow, anyway) with the faster-charging Fury Cutter, hitting them with resisted fast move damage and neutral Night Slashes. OR you can split the difference a bit and run a purified Gligar with Return, and now get Aero AND Zapdos (albeit JUST barely), as well as Emolga still and Togekiss as a bonus. Or go with Fury Cutter again to make it much harder Zapdos counter (getting regular and Shadow) and win the mirror versus WA Gligar. (ALL of these Pokes have so many nuances and options!) There is even the polar opposite of purified to consider, as SHADOW GLIGAR can beat Aerodactyl and both versions of Zapdos with qualifiers except that that's basically all it does... though if you're only going to beat two major Pokémon, those are the two you really want to get most, no? Wing Attack Shadow 'Dos gives up Zapdos, but gains Emolga and Togekiss. Pick your flavor, but however you trick out your Gligar, it is a very solid counter-meta pick in Flying Cup.GLISCOR, by the way, is basically just a worse Gligar. The only remarkable things about it are getting Aerodactyl, or in Shadow form and with Fury Cutter, all the Electrics. But uh... Gligar can do that too, and a bit more on top of it. If you can afford it, just roll with Gligar instead.DRIFBLIMHex | Icy Wind & Shadow BallI've tried not to go TOO far down the IV spread rabbit hole to this point, partly because in many cases it doesn't make much difference, and partly because with this being GO Battle League, you're going to find a very wide range of players and many more Pokémon with "average", non-ideal PvP IVs than you might in, say, The Silph Arena, especially with Flying Cup coming so early in the season before the eventual Rank 10 players have all pulled away from the rest of the pack. That all being said... the IVs are rather important here, it would seem. Because on the surface, with "default" IVs all around, Blim looks pretty average, missing out on Aerodactyl, Zapdos, AND Skarmory and instead just beating some of their counters/off-meta picks (Gligar, Togekiss, Gyarados). However, check what happens when we have a high stat product IV Drifblim... the wins literally double and now include Altaria, Mantine, and Aerodactyl. And if the opponent is ALSO using H.S.P. IVs, Aerodactyl drops out but is replaced by Steel Wing Skarmory. In these scenarios, consider springing a couple of Icy Winds before going for the throat with Shadow Ball, because remember that IW automatically debuffs the opponent, and in some cases, like against Mantine, that can keep things close even when you don't have perfect IVs. I would also be remiss to point out that with shields down, Blim consistently takes out Aero, Alt, Gyarados, and Shadow Zapdos, and can get Gligar and very nearly Togekiss, depending on IVs. And if you are willing to burn both shields, Blim can again get Altaria, Gligar, Gyarados, and either version of Skarmory. This big ball of spooky gas is a real sleeper in this format.TROPIUSRazor Leaf | Leaf Blade & Aerial Ace/StompThis is a niche pick, I'll admit right up front. But yes, Tropius IS viable enough here to actually discuss. Its biggest claim to fame is being able to beat Aerodactyl (and all the Waters) with nothing but fast moves, and then come out with 50+ energy to immediately throw a charge move at the next 'mon up, and very likely reach a second Leaf Blade as well before fainting. And while it may not win, Tropius also puts tremendous pressure on the Electrics and Gligar (which Trop CAN win if it shields at the right time) and even things like Togekiss as well. Trop needs to avoid Skarmory (as any long-time GL player can probably tell you), Dragons, and Articuno, but very surprisingly, in a Cup full of Flyers, this weak-to-Flying banana chin dino is really quite solid as a back end, relatively "safe" swap option to soak up some damage and possibly take some very good things down with it. Leaf Blade, by the way, is the only charge move you really need, but either of the other two charge moves is fine to add on as well: Aerial Ace is solid and pretty widely unresisted, and Stomp is also resisted by very little and comes out cheaper than Ace, which might be more valuable with Razor Leaf generating energy so slowly.DRAGONITEDragon Breath | Dragon Claw & Draco MeteorᴸYes, it works, beating the Electrics, Gary, Gligar, and even able to overpower Steel Wing Skarmory, which is nice. But note: unlike some formats where it can get away with running just Dragon Claw, here Dragonite really needs that second move, and it needs to be Draco Meteor. Without that, there just isn't the same potential. I wouldn't Elite TM Meteor onto Nite just for this format, but if you had the foresight to build one for Great League already, you can dust it off here. There is no denying that it brings tremendous pressure.Now SHADOW 'NITE doesn't really need a second move to beat Gligar, Gary, Shadow Zapdos, and now Mantine too. It also gains wins against things like Drifblim, Lugia, Shadow Zard and a few others... but drops Emolga, Mandi, and most damningly, Steel Wing Skarm to do it. It's viable, but those losses are disheartening.MANDIBUZZSnarl | Foul Play & Aerial Ace/Shadow BallWell I predicted last time that we may see Mandibuzz for this format, and lo and behold, it's here! And yes, Mandi can do good things, at least with the right IVs. Beating Aerodactyl AND Skarmory is not easy, but Mandi can manage that, as well as taking out Gligar, Gyarados, and potentially even Altaria if you get REALLY lucky in trading, and much more on top of that. Forget Noctowl... THIS is the flying tank you want here!100,000 Dust/100 CandyARTICUNOIce Shard | Icy Wind & Blizzard/Hurricaneᴸ/Ancient PowerSo I'm just gonna start with this. Or better still... this. That's right... even an Articuno with raid-level IVs (12-14-15 in that case, but there are many combinations that get there) can beat not only the Dragons, not only Gligar and Gliscor, not only all the Flying Waters, not only Togekiss, but also Skarmory... even with super effective Steel Wing! In fact, if you look across the entirety of Flying Cup, Artie can beat everything that isn't Fire, Electric, or Aerodactyl. Now the downside is that Icy Wind, good as it is, cannot do it all alone... you need a second, closing move to close it out against some things, especially Skarmory. And the best second move would appear to be not Legacy move Hurricane (though that's okay too), not Ancient Power and its attractive Rock typing, but Blizzard, partly because Skarmory resists Hurricane, but NOT Blizzard. Articuno doesn't come cheap, but it DOES bring it if you're able to afford the investment.SHADOW ARTICUNO, before you ask, is just not quite as good... and that's with best possible PvP IVs. Waterfall Gary can overcome it, and more damning, so can SW Skarm. No bueno.LUGIAExtrasensory | Sky Attack & Hydro Pump/Futuresight/AeroblastᴸLugia requires a pretty good (actually BAD) trade for a Research Breakthrough-sized, Level 15 one--it has to end up with pretty low IVs overall--but I know many have pulled that off. (Not me, of course... I've been so unsuccessful that TWO of my attempts became random Lucky trades. RIP. 😵 Anyway....) If you have one ready to rock, then yes, Lugia puts in some work here. It doesn't get any of the big three (well, without some tricks... more on that in a sec), but it makes a decent bodyguard for them by soaking up damage and beating some of their more troublesome counters head to head (Gligar, Gary, Togekiss, Altaria, etc.). And while, no, you cannot expect it to take out Aerodactyl (though it does a remarkable job trying!), SW Skarmory, or the Electrics, Lugia can at least hope for a home run with a well-timed Hydro Pump. That WILL happen to someone this Cup, and it will be glorious.And if by ANY chance we're able to Elite TM the new Aeroblast onto it in time for the Cup (it comes back to raids the day of Flying Cup), do it! It picks up wins against Mantine and Altaria, and becomes much more interesting overall.And gonna end it right here (again!). Hopefully this helps you balance the cost of where to save yourself some hard-earned dust (and candy!).Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter for near-daily PvP analysis nuggets, or Patreon. And please, feel free to comment here with your own thoughts or questions and I'll try to get back to you!Thank you for reading! I sincerely hope this helps you master Flying Cup (now that it's FINALLY here!), and in the most affordable way possible. Best of luck, and catch you next time! via /r/TheSilphRoad https://ift.tt/3epYAdZ