|
-
Pressure
- Enemy attacks lose one extra PP. Increases wild encounter rate.
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Level 50 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
50
|
- |
125 |
157 |
- |
| Atk |
70
|
81 |
90 |
122 |
134 |
| Def |
160
|
162 |
180 |
212 |
233 |
| SpA |
70
|
81 |
90 |
122 |
134 |
| SpD |
160
|
162 |
180 |
212 |
233 |
| Spe |
90
|
99 |
110 |
142 |
156 |
Overview
Deoxys-D is an often overlooked Pokemon, and for good reason. While it has great defensive stats, its HP is lacking, and it simply can't stand up to the powerhouses that rampage through the Uber tier. It also receives competition from its sibling formes, most of which can play the support role better. Despite its tragic shortcomings, Deoxys-D can still help a team out with its fairly vast support movepool. However, it will need some assistance itself; do not expect to be able to just throw it onto a team and have it work for you. It may not be the first Pokemon you consider for your team, nor should it be, but it can certainly perform its roles well when given a chance.
While it may not be the best choice for setting up Spikes, Deoxys-D can certainly pull its weight. Though it has great Special Defense and Defense stats, they are unfortunately let down by a rather poor HP stat. The first slot goes to Spikes, allowing Deoxys-D to support the team by limiting the amount of switches the opponent can perform. Deoxys-D faces tough competition from Forretress, Skarmory, and Deoxys-S for a team slot, since all of them are also very competent at setting up Spikes; however, Deoxys-D has some advantages over the other Spikers. Deoxys-D boasts far higher Special Defense than Skarmory, but doesn't have the handy Steel typing that Skarmory does. Forretress is often used over Deoxys-D because it can also learn Toxic Spikes and Rapid Spin, but Deoxys-D has Recover, so it isn't completely outclassed by Forretress either. Finally, Deoxys-S is mainly used as a suicide lead, whereas Deoxys-D's superior bulk allows it to function well throughout the game.
To keep Deoxys-D in tip-top condition, Recover is the preferred move in the second slot. Toxic works great in conjunction with Recover as it allows Deoxys-D to effectively stall out many threats with its decent bulk. The last slot is a bit of a toss-up. Ice Beam is useful to give Deoxys-D some form of offense, and has the ability to hit the multitude of Dragon-type Pokemon in Ubers for a hefty amount of damage. On the other hand, Taunt can be used to prevent Pokemon such as Forretress from setting up on Deoxys-D.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Deoxys-D has a few more viable EV spreads to choose from. A spread of 252 HP / 176 Def / 82 SpD allows it to always survive a +1 Life Orb Outrage from Jolly Rayquaza; if you choose this spread, Ice Beam is obviously recommended over Taunt for the final slot. It is entirely possible to create an EV spread of your own to better fit your team, but it is crucial to remember to always max out Deoxys-D's HP first; since its defenses are so much higher than its HP, investing in HP increases its bulk exponentially more than investing in Special Defense or Defense. Investing more into Speed is also an option, as Deoxys-D has the same base Speed as a large number of Uber Pokemon.
Deoxys-D also has a few other choices in terms of moves. Knock Off can be annoying for opponents, as oftentimes Pokemon will not be able to break through Deoxys-D's defenses without a boost from their item. If you would rather paralyze Pokemon instead of poisoning them, Thunder Wave can be used over Toxic. This comes with the drawback of Deoxys-D inflicting little to no damage to many Pokemon, however. The last move worth considering is Stealth Rock. Deoxys-D is strapped for move slots as it is, but Stealth Rock can be useful in place of another move to help Deoxys-D further support the team.
Deoxys-D easily falls to many of the powerhouses—Choice Specs Dialga and Choice Specs Kyogre are a few that come to mind—that roam the Uber tier, so it is a good idea to use Deoxys-D on a defensively based team where teammates can pick up the slack. Blissey and Lugia are both great options to take powerful special and physical attacks that Deoxys-D can't handle, respectively. Groudon is also a useful partner thanks to its ability to lay down Stealth Rock and handle many physical attackers such as Tyranitar. Forretress can function as a great supporter too, lay down Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock and Rapid Spinning away hazards on your own side. On top of all this, a spinblocker is a crucial teammate for Deoxys-D to prevent it and its teammates' entry hazards from being spun away. Giratina-O and Giratina both fit the bill and can take Bug-type attacks from the likes of Heracross and Scizor that ravage Deoxys-D. Finally, phazers, such as Lugia and Groudon, can successfully capitalize on the entry hazards Deoxys-D sets down.
While it may seem silly on paper, this set can be quite effective and aggravating to an opponent when used correctly. This set functions quite similarly to Mewtwo's Toxic Stalling set, although Mewtwo performs a little bit better due to its superior Speed, which enables it to forgo Agility for either Reflect or Light Screen. Mewtwo also has access to Will-O-Wisp, which it often uses over Toxic and alongside one of the aforementioned screens to shut out attackers of all types. Make no mistake, however, that while this set may be outclassed, Deoxys-D can still hold its own.
Agility is the most important move on this set as, with the given EVs, it allows Deoxys-D to outspeed max Speed Deoxys-S, enabling Deoxys-D to Taunt Deoxys-S before it receives a Taunt in return. Agility also gives Deoxys-D enough Speed to outspeed Choice Scarf Garchomp, the fastest commonly used Choice Scarf user in Ubers. Deoxys-D has extremely poor attacking stats, so Toxic is used to allow Deoxys-D to stall out everything but Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon, the latter of which is almost never seen in Ubers. Taunt protects Deoxys-D from status and prevents opposing walls from recovering health or healing status. It also saves Deoxys-D from being Taunted, as Deoxys-D outspeeds every non-Choice Scarfed Pokemon─and therefore every Taunt user─after an Agility. Recover allows Deoxys-D to constantly heal while the opponents' Pokemon slowly die to poison damage.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
It is crucial to maximize Deoxys-D's HP stat when distributing EVs, but beyond that, it is up to you. It's perfectly feasible to use a Bold nature with some or all of the Special Defense EVs shifted to Defense. You can also lessen the investment in Speed to just hit key benchmarks and distribute the leftover EVs into Special Defense and Defense as you see fit. With no investment in Speed and a neutral nature, Deoxys-D will always outspeed Mewtwo after an Agility, but will be in turn outsped by nearly every common Choice Scarf user in Ubers. With 56 EVs invested in Speed, Deoxys-D will always outspeed all Pokemon with base 90 Speed wielding a Choice Scarf, so this benchmark is usable if your team has other ways of dealing with base 100 Speed Choice Scarf Pokemon. Finally, 136 Speed EVs allow Deoxys-D to outspeed Choice Scarf Garchomp, but at that point you may as well just bump it up to 148 EVs to allow Deoxys-D to outspeed Deoxys-S.
As mentioned earlier, Steel-types have a field day with this set as Deoxys-D can't touch them, meaning it has to resort to either PP stalling (which is plausible with Pressure) or switching out. The latter is usually the best response to the situation, so Deoxys-D needs good teammates to switch into Steel-types, and other Pokemon that threaten it. Giratina makes a decent partner for Deoxys-D as it can Will-O-Wisp all Steel-types, bar Heatran, and proceed to stall them out. Giratina is also a good spinblocker, which is useful as Deoxys-D does best with the opponent's field layered with hazards. Forretress is a great option to set up entry hazards, especially Toxic Spikes, as it can easily set up on most Steel-types. It may seem odd to use Toxic Spikes in conjunction with Toxic, but Deoxys-D will often face the dilemma of using either Recover, Toxic, or Taunt, and having Toxic Spikes doing half the work for it will lessen the prediction needed. Giratina-O is also a good choice for a spinblocker if you are using a more offensively oriented team, as Giratina can slow down many teams. The two aforementioned spinblockers also counter Heracross well, which is a major threat to Deoxys-D, as it can easily crush Deoxys-D with Megahorn. Heatran is also a decent teammate that can eliminate annoying Steel-types with its powerful Fire-type attacks; it also can use Roar to abuse any entry hazards its teammates have laid down. Magnezone, while not often seen in Ubers, can be a great partner to Deoxys-D thanks to its ability, Magnet Pull, which allows it to trap and kill Steel-types.
Unfortunately, Deoxys-D's overall defenses are still only slightly above average, meaning it struggles with powerful attacks from the likes of Kyogre and Dialga. This means that dedicated walls can be great teammates for Deoxys-D. Blissey can easily take almost every special attack thrown at it, making it an ideal partner for Deoxys-D. Lugia is a good choice for taking powerful physical attacks with its access to Roost and Reflect, although it is slightly hampered by its weakness to Stealth Rock. Skarmory can also take most physical attacks extremely well, walls quite a few Steel-types, possesses instant recovery in the form of Roost, can use Whirlwind to abuse entry hazards, and has the ability to set up Spikes to boot. Finally, Groudon can also take physical blows well, and has the ability to use Roar and set up Stealth Rock to further support the team. Groudon also keeps Tyranitar in check, who can cause headaches for Deoxys-D with its STAB Dark-type attacks.
Other Options
Deoxys-D has a few other options not mentioned in the above sets, though most are gimmicky. A lead set is possible, but it is inferior to Deoxys-S in nearly every way. Calm Mind can be used to attempt to create a bulky setup sweeper, but its Special Attack is so low that it barely even scratches the majority of Ubers with its feeble assaults. A CounterCoat set is usable, but is unreliable and Deoxys-D has such low HP that it won't be bouncing much damage back anyway. Cosmic Power is an interesting choice to raise both of Deoxys-D's great defenses, but Deoxys-D is still vulnerable to Taunt and every Steel-type in Ubers. Using Light Clay with Reflect and Light Screen is plausible, but this set is severely outclassed by other dual screens users. Finally, Psycho Shift and Rest are both interesting options to rid Deoxys-D of status, but it usually has better things to do.
Checks and Counters
Heracross can switch into anything Deoxys-D throws at it, especially Toxic thanks to Guts, and proceed to Megahorn Deoxys-D into oblivion. If Deoxys-D doesn't have an Agility boost under its belt, fast Taunt users like Mewtwo and Darkrai beat it and set up with ease. Tyranitar doesn't really care what Deoxys-D does and can do massive damage with STAB Dark-type attacks, notably Pursuit if Deoxys-D tries to switch out.
Deoxys-D cannot stand up to the likes of Choice Specs Dialga or Choice Specs Kyogre. Most Steel-types also wall Deoxys-D, as it has poor attacking stats and relies on Toxic for damage. Scizor can switch in and hit Deoxys-D with a powerful U-turn. Jirachi can paralyze Deoxys-D even when Taunted, thanks to Body Slam, and proceed to flinch it to death with Iron Head. Heatran has a 4x resistance to Ice Beam, the only attack that Deoxys-D ever carries and can torch Deoxys-D with sun-boosted Fire-type attacks. If Deoxys-D lacks Taunt, it can easily be Toxic stalled by Blissey with Aromatherapy. Even without Aromatherapy, Blissey can just heal itself of poison with Natural Cure.
