Lisia & Altaria grace the battling stage with a sync grid that gives them a strange hybrid of Tank/Strike or Tank/Tech. The sync pair desires to be hit and play a dangerous game with their health in order to power up their attacks. Your options are to focus on raw damage or to stagger opponents with flinching effects. As we see more use of terrain and field effects, Defog is more likely to come into use.
The best Sync Grid Builds for Lisia & Altaria are Eye of the Storm, Ice Tornado, and To the Brink.
Eye of the Storm (2/5) focuses on flinching opponents in order to deal more damage with the more powerful move, Moonblast, and is a good generalist build. Ice Tornado (3/5) is meant for a Hail team with Alolan Sandslash capitalizing on keeping opponents flinching. To the Brink (3/5) sets up Mega Altaria as the main tank and striker with Dragon Pulse blasting opponents harder the closer she is to fainting.
Universal Upgrades
HP +30
Defense +10
Sp. Atk +20
Sp. Def +5
Speed +5
Twister Move Gauge Refresh 3
Natural Remedy
Universal Lucky Skill Recommendation:
Vigilance, Critical Strike 2
Twister Move Gauge Refresh 3 will help reduce the costs of the move by returning one bar to the move gauge after a successful attack 40% of the time. Natural Remedy helps keep Altaria in prime condition by removing all status conditions when she is first inflicted by one.
Vigilance is a good lucky skill for Altaria because you do not want opponents cutting through her raised defenses. She benefits from her HP being low, but you still want her to be able to withstand most attacks. With another sync pair raising her critical-hit rate, Altaria would also benefit from Critical Strike 2.
Sync Grid Builds
Eye of the Storm Build (Sync Level 3/5)
Total Sync Orb Cost: 738
Total Energy Used: 59
Unique Upgrades:
Defense +20
Speed +5
Moonblast Power +9
Moonblast Move Gauge Refresh 3
Moonblast On a Roll 1
Harry 3
Without plans to use her sync move and Mega evolve, this build focuses on alternating between Twister and Moonblast to flinch and capitalize on flinch for the most damage.
Twister provides the chance for an opponent to flinch and Harry 3 will power up moves against flinching opponents. Since Twister targets all opponents, targetting the center opponent is best since you’ll likely want to leave the sides alone. When the center opponent is flinching, using Moonblast on them will deal much more damage.
To help keep up the attacks, Moonblast Move Gauge Refresh 3 has a 40% chance to return one bar to the move gauge after a successful attack. Additionally, Moonblast On a Roll 1 will add another chance for an opponent’s Sp. Atk to be lowered–meaning the opponent could lose two stacks in one hit. Using Moonblast against a side opponent is also not a bad option since they typically have far fewer HP and could be a thorn in your side.
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Ice Tornado Build (Sync Level 3/5)
Total Sync Orb Cost: 750
Total Energy Used: 60
Unique Upgrades:
Twister Power +8
Twister Aggravation 1
Moonblast Power +3
Harry 3
HP Trade-Off 4
Snow Shelter
Sync Level 2:
Not recommended
Best centered around a team that also wants opponents to flinch, Altaria will provide the flinching and will only get stronger as the battle wears on and her health lowers.
Twister gains +8 power as well as Aggravation 1, which raises the chances of an opponent flinching by 10%. Once an opponent is flinching Harry 3 activates and raises a move’s power against that opponent by 30%.
As the battle wears on and Altaria takes damage, her moves will deal more damage with HP Trade-Off 4. The less health she has remaining, the more it will power up moves. It will be a fine line between keeping her at low health for maximum damage and an opponent being able to take her out with the next attack.
On a team with a sync pair like Summer Steven & Alolan Sandslash, Altaria will want to know Snow Shelter, which will protect her from hail damage.
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To the Brink Build (Sync Level 3/5)
Total Sync Orb Cost: 738
Total Energy Used: 59
Unique Upgrades:
Twister Power +4
Moonblast Power +4
Dragon Pulse Move Gauge Refresh 3
Dragon Pulse Acumen 9
Spotlight, Please! Durable 9
HP Trade-Off 4
Sync Level 2:
Not recommended
Functioning as both Striker and Tank, this build would love support to max out Altaria’s defenses as well as reduce opponent attack stats, plus healing. It uses Dragon Pulse to deal out the damage and try to keep its health as low as possible.
Altaria begins to really shine after using her first sync move and reaching her Mega form, unlocking Dragon Pulse. Dragon Pulse gains Move Gauge Refresh 3 to help reduce the three-bar cost by returning one bar to the move gauge 40% of the time. Combine this with the passive skill Revenge Boost 9 and it will be much easier to keep up the attacks. HP Trade-Off 4 will increase Altaria’s move power the more her health is low.
To keep Altaria on the battlefield, Dragon Pulse Acumen 9 will always raise Altaria’s Sp. Def by +1 after a successful attack. Additionally, Spotlight, Please! Durable 9 will allow her to endure a single attack that would reduce her to zero HP after the Trainer move is successful.