Air Balloon

[Harsha]

Air Balloon

Description (From Bulbapedia): Gives the holder immunity to Ground-type moves, but pops when the holder is attacked. Indirect damage will not pop the balloon, and neither will Ground-type moves used against the holder. The holder is also not affected by Spikes or Toxic Spikes. The balloon will not work if Gravity is in effect.

Air Balloon is simply one of the most prevalent and practical items in the Dream World OU metagame. Remember the old Standard OU tier when Excadrill ran rampant? Many Pokemon were given usage / not given usage due to their ability to handle the mole. In Dream World, Excadrill is more prevalent than ever, and sand is nearing 60% usage on all teams in 1337 range. Another plus to the use of Air Balloon is the resurgence of Garchomp—a Pokemon banned in Standard OU—as it is arguably one of, if not the, best sweepers in Dream World. I'll attempt to list the uses and head a discussion around one of the best items in the metagame.

Pokemon that Benefit from Air Balloon

Excadrill @ Air Balloon | Sand Rush
Jolly | 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Earthquake | Rock Slide | Rapid Spin | Swords Dance

Excadrill: Yea, this is a bit ironic, but it is really easy to explain the practicality of Air Balloon on Excadrill: the mole gets a temporary immunity to opposing Excadrill and can check opposing sand teams quite well. While it is a one time use item that does not provide the power that Life Orb grants, it does well anyways considering that Excadrill already has a fantastic boosting option in Swords Dance and double its normal Speed under the sand.

Ninetales @ Air Balloon | Drought
Jolly | 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Sunny Day | SolarBeam | Fire Blast | Will-O-Wisp

Ninetales: Ninetales is a good user of Air Balloon due to its ability to switch in on an Excadrill Earthquake and outspeed and OHKO standard Excadrill. I would say that Air Balloon is pretty useful here, no?

Heatran @ Air Balloon | Flash Fire
Timid | 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hidden Power Ice | Earth Power | Fire Blast | Stealth Rock

Heatran: Heatran is an amazing anti-metagame Pokemon for its ability to check Garchomp, Excadrill, and other Pokemon that would normally threaten it. With an Air Balloon, Heatran can switch in on any Earthquake and simply OHKO Excadrill with Fire Blast or OHKO Garchomp with Hidden Power Ice. Additionally, it serves as a great makeshift check to sun teams, though admittedly Blaziken will still mow through it. Also, it works as a great option for teams that need a Chandelure counter, as Chandelure is not going to touch Heatran unless it carries Hidden Power Fighting or Hidden Power Ground, two somewhat rare options (Hidden Power Ground only works when Air Balloon is broken!).

Discuss

What do you guys think about Air Balloon? Discuss possible uses / things I left out / why it's useful or not useful. I think it's one of the best items in the metagame due the prevalence of sand abusers, and with the current metagame, it should remain that way.

 

[Rakan]

How did you forget Blaziken?

Blaziken is one of the premier users of Air Balloon, and probably uses it better than Ninetales. It allows Blaziken to easily set up in the face of Earthquakes, even revenge kill Excadrill under the right conditions. With the boost from sun, Blaziken won't need to worry about being underpowered, as Flare Blitz will OHKO even some resists in the sun. I, for one, never use Blaziken without utilizing Air Balloon simply because of all the setup opportunities it grants. After a Swords Dance, the lack of Life Orb is irrelevant anyway.

 

[Tobes]

For Excadrill, Air Balloon also serves the purpose of preventing Ditto from revenge killing it. Unless Excadrill has Brick Break, as long as Excadrill has its Air Balloon intact Ditto will be forced to use Return / Rock Slide / whatever, while Excadrill can OHKO it back with Earthquake.

 

[alamaster]

I've been using Air Balloon Lucario on one of my many alts and recently hit 1300 (yay) with it. It's pretty cool, it is a 100% check to Excadrill thanks to Inner Focus and makes for a nice sweeper/cleaner with being able to pick off weakened stuff. The power loss from no Life Orb does suck at times but all in all it is a worthy user of Air Balloon.

 

[Taylor]

You could run Adamant on a "double dance" Terrakion set; it worked extremely well in Standard OU when we had the likes of Excadrill, Garchomp and Landorus, all in that tier. You can beat Gliscor too if your Stone Edge does not miss its target.

I sometimes think Focus Sash Ditto, as mentioned in another thread, would be able to take full advantage of the foe whose stats you're copying, and is superior to giving it Air Balloon. If anything, I'd rather just slap Choice Scarf on Ditto because there's really only Excadrill I can see you getting the best out of Air Balloon from.

I think it's safe to say Excadrill is the best user with Blaziken not so far behind. Ninetales really appreciates temporory Ground immunity in Dream World, but one Rock Slide will put you in Chandelure territory.

 

[Harsha]

Double Dance Terrakion is actually really effective in this sand-infested metagame, as it demolishes Excadrill, Tyranitar, Choice Scarf Chandelure, Genesect, and most other Pokemon with less bulk. While TechniLoom still stands out as a strong check, one can simply pair Terrakion with Chandelure to eliminate that problem. I want to see it used more in this metagame, as for some reason, it's not that high in the statistics. With an Air Balloon, it can effectively set up on a lot of Pokemon and wreck.

I think the best abusers of Air Balloon are those that are troubled by Excadrill under the sand, but can take advantage of its lack of a solid coverage move because of its access to only moves such as Earthquake.

 

[Rakan]

Come to think of it, Double Dance Terrakion is really anti-sand... As is Landorus. Both of these two do exceptionally well against sand teams.