It’s been a while, yes, I know, but I kinda lost interest in this game for a bit and decided to come back and see what else could be done with some of the Deltas.
This time I’m looking at Delta Noivern! As per-usual Delta Noivern has no changes to its BST or Base Stat distribution in any way, so it still has high speed, below average defenses, and a below average Sp. Atk. That aside, it trades off the Flying/Dragon typing for Steel/Grass, which is honestly a huge defensive upgrade that this Pokemon doesn’t mind having. Though on the flip side, it essentially trades off a Ground immunity for a Poison immunity, and instead of being quad weak to Ice, it’s now quad weak to Fire.
As far as what can hit it for super-effective damage, there’s still not a whole lot. If you’re familiar with Ferrothorn, you’re familiar with why this typing is so good.
The other thing to note is that Delta Noivern’s still built as a semi-fragile speedster type who can get the first hit in reasonably often but doesn’t really carry the power to do that much. Normal Noivern at least has some disruptive qualities to it, including the rather rare move known as Boomburst for use in the event that someone tries hiding behind a substitute. I believe it also can pick up Taunt, which this Delta notably lacks.
Its physical attack pool is also pretty much useless, as everything is delivered from a mediocre base 80, and Delta Noivern’s defenses don’t really allow it too many chances to boost. At 85/80/80 defense-wise, it can take a hit or two but even with its Steel typing it doesn’t exactly enjoy it. It does pick up (or will pick up) Swords Dance which means it CAN boost its attack up to usable levels, and admittedly it does have the one-two punch of Stone Edge and Earthquake for coverage should that be your cup of tea, as well as a decent enough STAB movepool to make use of it.
That being said, Delta Noivern requires a boost on its Atk stat to even make use of it, as even moderately physically defensive Pokemon will laugh off its assault otherwise.
Special attack-wise, the news really isn’t that much better. In fact, it’s arguably slightly worse since while its Sp. Atk stat IS better, it’s base 97 as opposed to base 80. Anything specializing in special defense will also laugh this thing right off, though those weak to its moves need to be wary.
The most annoying thing about using it special-wise is that it simply cannot boost its special attack outside of the use of Growth, which in turn requires Sunny Day support to even be worth considering. While it has access to Grass, Steel, Dark, and Dragon special attacks, (as well as the infamous Focus Miss Blast) it’s quite notable that other Steel types will more or less wall it. Granted, they have to fear Focus Blast connecting, but if it’s not running it other Steels have little to fear.
Non-damaging moves include the ever-useful Roost, but outside of Leech Seed the thing starts to fall a little flat. On paper, Grassy Terrain is actually not a bad move for it to have, what with it basically being a Sunny Day for Grass type moves while also reducing the effectiveness of Ground type moves like Earthquake… and Bulldoze, and Magnitude, and that’s about it. It also restores HP of all grounded Pokemon by 1/16th per turn.
Yes. Grassy Terrain can heal the other team. I suspect this is why the move is never used anywhere.
That aside, it can also throw up Reflect and Substitute, and if you want to try a bulkier build Roost can help heal off the damage Substitute incurs. It’s also fast enough to the point where most Taunt leads aren’t going to get the drop on it easily, so unless your luck in terms of opening moves is horrible you can at least get one buff off of some kind. It can also pick up Toxic, which can be nice if you need a fast poisoner.
As far as countering it goes, for the most part Skarmory looks like a pretty solid answer if you want to wall it. Steel/Flying resists the vast majority of what Delta Noivern can dish out, while its high physical defense allows it to laugh off physical variants. Special variants may have a touch more luck, but to be honest the only special attack it’s even remotely worried about is Focus Blast.
It can’t do a whole lot in return, however.
Just like with Ferrothorn, Delta Noivern fears Fire. Anything with halfway decent special attack and a Fire type move will send this thing packing. Burns also turn physical variants into complete jokes unless they somehow have Natural Cure, but even then it’s not that big a deal. Fire types in general will only have to worry about EQ at most.
Fighting types aren’t terribly worried about most of its movepool, taking neutral damage at worst from everything except Aerial Ace and Acrobatics, but those moves are unlikely to be run on Delta Noivern. They may not be faster for the most part, but they can hit back for super-effective damage and just ruin this poor thing’s day.
Movesets? I can’t think of anything that springs to mind.
