Staraptor
Pro's:
Excellent Abilities in Intimidate and Reckless -
Intimidate lowers the opponent's Attack Stat by 1 Stage.
Reckless increases the base power of moves which cause recoil or crash damage by 20%, this is exceptionally good with Brave Bird and Double Edge.
Good Attack and Speed Stats, at 120 and 100 respectively.
Two immunities, to Ghost and Ground respectively.
Two resistances, to Bug and Grass respectively.
Can learn some decent moves such as Close Combat, Steel Wing, Roost, Brave Bird, Double Edge, Quick Attack, U-turn etc.
Doesn't take damage from Spikes, Sticky Web and Toxic Spikes due to it being a Flying type.
Con's:
Three 2x weaknesses, to Electric, Ice and Rock respectively.
Not the best moveset.
Takes 25% damage from Stealth Rock's.
Frail Defense and Special Defense, at 70 and 60 respectively.
Counters:
>Aegislash: Due its great typing, Aegislash is one of the only offensive Pokemon in the game capable of avoiding a 2HKO from any of Staraptor's moves. It also has access to King's Shield, allowing it to deter Staraptor from staying in and attacking it. However, it cannot switch into Choice Band Brave Bird more than two times, especially as it lacks reliable recovery.
>Skarmory: Skarmory is by far the best defensive counter to Staraptor, if not the only one. It cannot be 2HKOed by any of Staraptor's moves and can easily stall it out with Roost.
>Fast Offensive Pokemon: As Staraptor is pitifully frail, the best way to deal with it is often to attack it with a faster Pokemon or ones with priority. Almost any attack will do huge amounts of damage to Staraptor.
>Rocky Helmet, Iron Barbs, and Rough Skin: Staraptor gets worn down incredibly easily, and Pokemon with Rocky Helmet exacerbate this issue by forcing it to take massive amounts of damage when it attacks. Garchomp and Ferrothorn are notable holders as they can use Rocky Helmet in conjunction with their damage-dealing abilities, Rough Skin and Iron Barbs, respectively.
Talonflame
Pro's:
Fantastic Abilities in Flame Body and Gale Wings -
When a Pokémon with Flame Body is hit by a move that makes contact, there is a 30% chance that the attacking foe will become burned. Flame Body also halves the number of cycles it takes for an Egg to hatch. Both the Pokémon with Flame Body and the Egg must be in the party in order for this to work.
Gale Wings increases the priority of Flying-type moves by one, which is excellent considering Talonflame has access to Brave Bird, Acrobatics, Roost etc.
Good Speed Stat at 126 respectively, moderate Attack Stat of 81.
One immunity, to Ground types respectively.
Six resistances, to Bug, Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Grass and Steel types respectively.
Can learn some good moves such as Flare Blitz, Brave Bird, U-turn, Swords Dance, Roost, Acrobatics, Steel Wing, Quick Attack, Bulk Up, Tailwind etc.
Doesn't take damage from Spikes, Sticky Web and Toxic Spikes due to it being a Flying type.
Con's:
Two 2x weaknesses, to Electric and Water types respectively and one 4x weakness to Rock types.
Not the best moveset.
Takes 50% damage from Stealth Rock's.
Frail HP, Defense and Special Defense Stats, at 78, 71 and 69 respectively.
Counters:
>Physical Defensive Pokémon: Physically defensive Gyarados, Slowbro, Zygarde, Hippowdon, Landorus-T, Gliscor, Mandibuzz, Vaporeon, and Krookodile all have excellent physical bulk and take neutral damage from Talonflame's STAB moves, and thus can wall it while Talonflame wears itself out through recoil damage (and takes damage from sandstorm in Hippowdon's case). Some of them can even OHKO it, namely Rock Slide Hippowdon, Gyarados, and Landorus-T.
>Pokemon that resist Talonflame's STABs: Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Rotom-W, Heatran, Rotom-H, Zapdos, and Mega Aerodactyl fall into this category.
>Passive Damage: Stealth Rock is Talonflame's biggest enemy. As long as you manage to keep Stealth Rock on the field, you have managed to keep Talonflame in check. Additionally, because both of Talonflame's STAB moves induce recoil damage, forcing Talonflame to KO or weaken itself is another way to deal with it. The best way to do this is with Rocky Helmet Garchomp, which between a high HP stat, Rough Skin, and its item, causes Talonflame to take tons of recoil damage when it attacks. The fact that Garchomp has enough bulk to take a couple of hits from Talonflame helps too. Ferrothorn, especially with Rocky Helmet, is another Pokemon that can almost KO Talonflame through passive damage alone, though it must sacrifice itself to do so.
Conclusion
I really like both these Pokémon but for me I'd say Talonflame is definitely better imo because of it's Ability Gale Wings, but it all depends what you need in your team.
>Staraptor is one of the best partners to Talonflame, as it has the raw power to easily break through the walls that Talonflame struggles to get past on its own.
