Xerneas

[New World Order]

Any offensive dragon that anyone uses anymore (lol DDRay) carries moves that Geomancy Xerneas can't afford to switch into, and even most "set up bait" carries a move that will hurt Xerneas on the switch, whether through status or even a relatively weak attacking move (like a neutral Judgment). Add the possibility of SR and suddenly Xerneas risks becoming severely weakened in this process.

1) If your opponent repeatedly makes the same plays, has only 1 Pokemon capable of handling a (likely weakened) Geomancy Xerneas and repeatedly provides Xerneas switchin opportunities, sure. I feel like that's a lot of ifs, but maybe that's just me. Also, something like Aegislash switches into any Xerneas set not carrying HP Fire (or Ground, but lol) for days and still checks it. Handing out free turns also becomes a lot less cool when your opponent turns out to be competent.

2) Prediction is a relatively poor argument to begin with. But sure. This also does not in any way demonstrate why anyone would want to use Geomancy Xerneas; really, any set would perform this role just as well.

3) If your opponent plays poorly, they lose. Indeed. Assuming a set without a solid reason is poor or desperate play. Keeping a MMX or a DDray on a Xerneas that isn't definitely running a Choice Scarf set locked into a resisted move is either poor or desperate play. Moreover, after all these mindgames trying to bluff sets to no end, you used a Geomancy Xerneas to beat out threats against which you would've been better off with Choice Scarf Xerneas in the first place.

None of this has served to convince me of the utility of Geomancy Xerneas. All I'm getting from your arguments is "If you predict successfully a lot and/or your opponent plays poorly Geomancy Xerneas is at times more useful than any of its other sets". Not assuming you outpredict your opponent or that they decide to make poor plays, I see essentially all of its other sets usually accomplishing more than this against any skilled player. Yes, at times you may break through their checks with the rest of your team and find an opportunity to sweep successfully, but the rest of the time one of the other sets would've done more. Like providing a cleric, or having revenge killing utility, or luring and killing Ho-Oh.

After reading your second point, I've come to the conclusion that you're new to competitive Pokemon, so I'm not going to rip apart this misinformed post like I normally would. Choice Scarf Xerneas may be better than Geomancy Xerneas at revenge killing a MMX/DDRay (did you just imply DD Ray was a joke?), but it cannot switch moves, it cannot raise it's special defence, and cannot fire off what's effectively a 190 BP nuke coming off 794 Special Attack that's resisted only by Steel-types and the oh so dominant Poison-type. That kind of power is beaten only by a Specs Ogre Water Spout. Geomancy Xerneas is a late game terror like no other, the number of Pokemon as dangerous as Xerneas late game is about the same as the number of Oscars Leonardo Di Caprio has won (okay maybe that's going too far). The fact that people considered using freaking Metagross in Ubers earlier in this thread tells you all you need to know. Choice Scarf Xerneas and Life Orb Xerneas are viable sets, but they serve completely different roles as Geomancy Xerneas. I think you should take a look at what my actual point is: Geomancy Xerneas can be utilized effectively early game if you know what you're doing, and shouldn't be kept in reserve until 2/3 of the game is already over.

You're just about the first person I ever see questioning the value of what is the without question best special sweeper in the game.
If anything I don't see what else Xerneas is good at. Its movepool is way too sparse and its stats aren't allocated in a way it can try to accomplish anything else.
Scarf? 99 base speed sucks in a tier where 100 is the bare minimum benchmark for that role (unless something has some disgustingly powerful attack like Kyogre's Water Spout).
Physical? Not only does it lack a physical STAB, but its main offensive options have severe drawbacks (Close Combat's defense drops, Megahorn awful offensive type and Outrage locking effect).
Mixed? It lacks the raw power to do that. 130~ attacking stats aren't exactly spectacular in ubers without a boost.
Defensive/support? It has Aromatherapy but lacks a reliable recovery move.

If you're trying to do anything besides Geomancy sweeping with Xerneas you'll quickly find out that Arceus-Fairy is a better option. It's a one-trick deer, but an obscenely good one at that. Not using Geomancy is a huge waste.

What the hell did I just read? Even though it'd love a physical STAB, it has an ocean of coverage moves that can be tailor made to check most of the metagame. 99 Base Speed gives Xerneas more Speed than Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Dialga, Giratina-O, Zekrom, Reshiram, and both Kyurem forms. With a Scarf, the deer also gets a jump on all Mewtwos, Arceus, Palkia, Yveltal, Darkrai, Shaymin-S, and the Latii twins. That's pretty much all of the most dominant offensive forces in Ubers. Not to mention the fact that mono Fairy-typing dominates in a tier ruled by Dragons. And apparently Bug is a bad offensive typing in a tier filled with Psychic and Dark types now, whaa? Even Heracross is considered a legitimate Pokemon in Ubers because of it's access to a Bug-type move.

 

[Blue Jay]

You're just about the first person I ever see questioning the value of what is the without question best special sweeper in the game.
If anything I don't see what else Xerneas is good at. Its movepool is way too sparse and its stats aren't allocated in a way it can try to accomplish anything else.
Scarf? 99 base speed sucks in a tier where 100 is the bare minimum benchmark for that role (unless something has some disgustingly powerful attack like Kyogre's Water Spout).
Physical? Not only does it lack a physical STAB, but its main offensive options have severe drawbacks (Close Combat's defense drops, Megahorn awful offensive type and Outrage locking effect).
Mixed? It lacks the raw power to do that. 130~ attacking stats aren't exactly spectacular in ubers without a boost.
Defensive/support? It has Aromatherapy but lacks a reliable recovery move.

If you're trying to do anything besides Geomancy sweeping with Xerneas you'll quickly find out that Arceus-Fairy is a better option. It's a one-trick deer, but an obscenely good one at that. Not using Geomancy is a huge waste.

May I refer you to this, this, this and this post? All notable players and all, and there are more that agree.

As for Scarf Pokemon, I'm not sure if we've played the same metagame. Even a base 90 Pokemon can outspeed everything relevant unboosted but the rare Deoxys-S (which is not a revenge killing target at any rate) with a Choice Scarf, while speed boosters outside of Blaziken and Xerneas (neither of which are typically or even reliably checked by Scarf Pokemon) are rare and often managed in other ways. Genesect was the premier Scarf Pokemon in the last generation at 99 base speed, and this generation only added two threats (the aforementioned) that Scarf Pokemon of this speed tier cannot handle, which are again not reliably checked by Scarf Pokemon in the first place. I actually struggle to think of any Scarf Pokemon at your alleged benchmark that are effective after the generation shift. Palkia? Lacks the ability to KO so many relevant targets; it was a rather flawed Scarf Pokemon in generation 5, and the shift did it no favours in that part. Garchomp? Again, a mediocre Scarf Pokemon in the past, and now gained an immunity to its other STAB. Terrakion? Its checks are as popular as ever, and Aegislash ruined the coverage of its STABs. It is now regularly forced to lock itself into two moves with immunities. Unless you want to discuss things like Shaymin-S or Mewtwo which were already unpopular with reason in the last generation, I think that covers everything relevant that manages the proposed benchmark.

While it does have its flaws as a Scarf Pokemon (which are entirely different from what you outlined), it does have nice defensive typing and the ability to KO most of the relevant targets and clean nicely with its STAB attack alone.

It also does rather well as an All-Out Attacker. Moonblast is so powerful that it's easy to forget that Xerneas' Special Attack is merely decent, since it rivals Draco Meteor's effective Base Power with a nice 30% chance to reduce the target's Special Attack instead of a 100% chance to reduce that of Xerneas. It also effectively lures (at least with Expert Belt, which feigns Geomancy) and KOs various Pokemon, most notably the magnificent Phoenix that is Ho-Oh. This set can also fit Aromatherapy, which it will often only find one or two opportunities to use in a battle, but even removing all status once or twice can significantly affect games when an opponent is relying on status to handle a threat.

The RestTalk set does have its problems, but nonetheless its Moonblast which has respectable power even uninvested and ability to provide cleric support and a great defensive typing indefinitely are still valuable.

Arceus-Fairy is undoubtedly an excellent Pokemon in this metagame, but functions quite differently, and cannot work as a Scarf Pokemon or as a cleric. It is certainly better at many things than most of Xerneas' sets, but the problem with Arceus-Fairy is the inability to use another Arceus forme, and many teams are loath to give up Arceus-Rock.

 

[Blue Jay]

After reading your second point, I've come to the conclusion that you're new to competitive Pokemon, so I'm not going to rip apart this misinformed post like I normally would. Choice Scarf Xerneas may be better than Geomancy Xerneas at revenge killing a MMX/DDRay (did you just imply DD Ray was a joke?), but it cannot switch moves, it cannot raise it's special defence, and cannot fire off what's effectively a 190 BP nuke coming off 794 Special Attack that's resisted only by Steel-types and the oh so dominant Poison-type. That kind of power is beaten only by a Specs Ogre Water Spout. Geomancy Xerneas is a late game terror like no other, the number of Pokemon as dangerous as Xerneas late game is about the same as the number of Oscars Leonardo Di Caprio has won. The fact that people considered using freaking Metagross in Ubers earlier in this thread tells you all you need to know. Choice Scarf Xerneas and Life Orb Xerneas are viable sets, but they serve completely different roles as Geomancy Xerneas. I think you should take a look at what my actual point is: Geomancy Xerneas can be utilized effectively early game if you know what you're doing, and shouldn't be kept in reserve until 2/3 of the game is already over.

I'm not new to competitive Pokemon. Prediction is to a small extent a valid argument, as there are times when predictions carry low risk and high reward, but many predictions are 50-50 and your opponent may predict your prediction (or even simply misplay and not play as predicted) and it can backfire. Hence why outprediction is rarely a valid argument to demonstrate the effectiveness of anything. I do however wonder how your conception of competitive play works; your third point outlined a strategy relying on the incompetence of your opponent, where I generally hold that the incompetent players are manageable enough while the competent players are the ones to worry about. Moreover, your points also rested on the premise of repeatedly bringing Xerneas into play with no consequences to it whatseover; any player who hands out free turns like this has problems beyond merely checking Xerneas.

Yes, Xerneas manages impressive numbers. Nonetheless, many of the premier players of the tier consistently fail to lose against it and find themselves underwhelmed by it. My point is that using Geomancy Xerneas a lot before it gets a real sweeping opportunity will either prevent it from ever sweeping (because it has taken too much damage to set up or survive random priority users upon setting up) or means the opponent is handing out free turns like every day is Christmas. It cannot comfortably switch into almost any attacks that are not Dragon type (even many resisted attacks will wear it down considerably after a few hits) and hates all status.

And yes, Dragon Dance Rayquaza is a joke. No one uses that anymore, it had already fallen well out of use in high level play in the last generation, and this generation brought new threats and the Fairy type to trouble it. Scarf Genesect is no longer on every team (except the ones with Scarf Terrakion), which helps, but it remains inferior to the other sets, and a less effective mon in general, simply because Dragon became a far worse offensive type and it has no secondary STAB to use, as Zekrom or Palkia do.

 

[Jimmyftw]

Geomancy Xerneas is, like many other set-up sweepers, limited in it's switch in opportunities. For example, Blaziken does not want to switch into even resist hits, Arceus wants to maintain his health as high as possible before attempting a Swords Dance. Despite this, however, set-up sweepers are invaluable to a team success as it oftentimes provides the team's win condition. Geomancy Xerneas is no exception, in fact, it outshines many of Uber best set-up sweepers.

I would like to dispel the notion that Geomancy Xerneas is overrated because it's an "one-off Pokemon." Xerneas is not an one-off Pokemon because it carries superb resistances and an immunity, namely, Fighting, Dark and Dragon. This allows Xerneas to come in on Darkai after sleep clause is activated and also counter Yveltal, a feat not many can claim. Moreover, the very presence of Xerneas on your team will make your opponent hesitant to use Dragon type attacks, meaning if you carry multiple Dragons on you team or is just weak to Dragon spam in general, Xerneas can help to close a wide defensive gap by merely it's presence.

Xerneas speed stat sits at a very respectable 99 which means it can come in after one of your other Pokemon faints and proceed to revenge the many neutral base 90's of the tier with Max SAtk Fairy Aura boosted Moonblast or, if appropriate, one of it's coverage moves.

While it is true that Xerneas' health needs to be preserve most of the time for a successful sweep with Geomancy, one must also note that the opposition must keep their counter to Xerneas in relatively high health as well. For instance, one would not play his Aegislash dangerously or bring it out as much if one sees that his opponent carries a Xerneas.

As a final note, I would like to say that Geomancy Xerneas can fit into several different playstyles. One in particular, is Hyper-Offensive set-up stacking where you stack set-up sweepers to overwhelm your opponent's counters to them.

 

[MMII]

Anything worth using is a "win condition". If it can perform well in the early/mid game it sure as hell can finish things off late game, you don't need a setup move to win. Setup moves just bring the end game earlier, the conditions a team needs to win a game will be generally less with a DD Mega Zard X than one without for the obvious reason that boosting is supposed harder to respond to than none. Getting a single chance to boost isn't even the worst bit as most setup sweepers generally only need that (since again, the boost is to speed up the endgame).

The issue with Geomancy Xerneas is that, because it relies on Power Herb, it becomes significantly ineffective early/mid game and it isn't such a fantastic sweeper (contrary to the hype) that it brings the end game early enough for those flaws to not be noticeable, especially in a metagame as slow as this one.

Power Herb means that it has only 3 moves and no item, on top of often running a spread and coverage geared towards cleaning late game and not performing early/mid game. You can make the eloge (fuck, not sure that is a word) of its fantastic typing, etc, but it's all hype and bad papermoning. Fairy typing is great but you remain only a one time switch-in to threats like Yveltal and no half decent Darkrai player is running the same sets as last gen completely ignoring the important new checks introduced (fairies, ygod) and the buff to its STAB. (in other words, Darkrai is going to be running something like Thunder or Sludge Bomb that Xerneas won't like switching into) Furthermore, the utility of checking these Pokemon is, once again, completely undermined by GeoXern's inability to punish switches early/mid game. Your Xerneas is going to be taking a lot more damage switching into these Pokemon than it is going to be punishing their retreat without an item and mediocre coverage. Especially, when the metagame is swarming with Pokemon that have almost zero issue switching into an unboosted GeoXern like Aegis, Ho-Oh, Gengar, and just about anything else all these bulky teams run that can sponge random special attacks. The threat of Geomancy on potential switches is absolute bullshit. Unlike other setup sweepers, Xerneas can only ever get one chance. Which is all fine and dandy when you only need one to win the game but it does mean that Xerneas can't punish switches like an Ekiller or a Mega Zard X does predicting a sack or a switch into something that can't handle a boosted move. If GeoXern boosts on a switch to Mega Gengar you just sack something or, even more likely to be the case, go to that Aegislash/Ho-Oh/Scizor or whatever else you have on your team that can completely fuck over Xerneas and you won't hear from it again in the late game where that boost might have actually mattered. This, by extension, means that "hesitant to use Dragon type attacks" is bullshit because Xerneas isn't going to be punishing them any more than it does Yveltal or Darkrai. (plus most Ubers dragons have moves like Bolt Strike, Surf/Pump, V-Create, etc)

Saddest part is, on top of being garbo early/mid game, Xerneas isn't actually THAT impressive late game. Aegislash, Ho-Oh, and Scizor are three common Pokemon that are found on teams (for things other than GeoXern) that are substancial cockblocks to it. The list of viable checks/counters does go on (Lugiass, spdef Kyogre, Amoongus, Thundurus, etc) each of which, although niche, are solid Pokemon that do a whole lot more than check GeoXern. Plus, with all of these hype, teambuilders are investing more than they might otherwise into insuring that GeoXern isn't an issue which means that you end up with a mediocre mon in a metagame built against it.

Does that mean I think GeoXern is a garbage mon that should never be used? I personally hate it but it'd be bullshit to say Geomancy isn't a solid niche and potential threat. It's just not much more than that and, even with this niche, I wouldn't attempt to build a team with it in this metagame because of how over prepared teams currently are for it. Maybe once the metagame settles and people catch on to how much hot air was pumped into the set would investing the support it needs pay off with a solid team. In the mean time, I strongly suggest you guys check out LO Xerneas. The number of switches that thing can force with the threat of OHKOs and it's ability to punish those switches is pretty damn sexy. Even Aegislash isn't a hard counter thanks to that clean 3HKO by Night Slash.

Also, guys, if you are going to call people out make sure you know your shit first before writing up a tl;dr, especially if you are going to try to write off a player like Blue Jay as some scrub. I'm glad to see the passion for the metagame but, geez, show some respect. (treat others the way you want to be treated and all that) There are ways to say something is wrong without talking to them like they are dumb, especially when the poster was just explaining what another user was saying. (for obvious reasons this post isn't exactly a good example of this :p)

 

[Garchompi]

Does that mean I think GeoXern is a garbage mon that should never be used? I personally hate it but it'd be bullshit to say Geomancy isn't a solid niche and potential threat. It's just not much more than that and, even with this niche, I wouldn't attempt to build a team with it in this metagame because of how over prepared teams currently are for it.

You just contraddicted yourself. How on earth is GeoXerneas a "niche" pokemon if it's the most dominant pokemon in the metagame and everyone and their mom is prepared for it?
In spite of this, it's extremely common for a match to end with a clean GeoXerneas sweep.
It's essentially the special counterpart of Extremeskiller Arceus, a pokemon that has few checks and it's by no means a "niche" threat.
I'm seriously confused at this anti-hype GeoXerneas seems to be receiving lately, what's the deal about it? Is this some sort of reverse psychology to discourage its use, knowing how dangerous it is?

 

[MMII]

Sorry, but you nitpicked a word choice and completely ignored the rest of the post. I'm talking niche in respects to its actual worth and potential, not ladder usage. The rest of my previous post responds to yours already.

 

[Jibaku]

I don't really want to say this but I feel that the sole reason Geomancy Xerneas appears so dominant on ladder is that it's basically a free win against the majority of the <1900 rating ladderers. It's a great weapon against the more offensive teams which people tend to use to climb the ladder faster (as opposed to the bulkier teams that work better in the current meta), since it has a good amount of set up opportunities and is almost unrevengable. This is much like ExtremeKiller.

With that said, however, Melee Mewtwo is right in that GeoXern is overhyped and is a for the most part a one trick pony. I wish I can say more in this matter but everyone else has covered the topic to death I can't possibly add anything more relevant.

EDIT: What i mean is Xerneas far from being a free win but its kit is perfect for pubstomping.

 

[Player-0]

I don't see how xerneas is a free win? Just copy and paste a lugia or a semi-defensive ho-oh set and you are good to go. I have even read some jank and phased it away with dialga.

I think cleric set is much better in the current meta game. I usually predict the offensive xerneas only to try to inflict status on a xerneas that has aromatheorpy.

 

[cristurtwig]

I've two questions:

1) Why is H-oh so dangerous for Xerneas?
2) What does MMX and DD Ray means?

Anything worth using is a "win condition". If it can perform well in the early/mid game it sure as hell can finish things off late game, you don't need a setup move to win. Setup moves just bring the end game earlier, the conditions a team needs to win a game will be generally less with a DD Mega Zard X than one without for the obvious reason that boosting is supposed harder to respond to than none. Getting a single chance to boost isn't even the worst bit as most setup sweepers generally only need that (since again, the boost is to speed up the endgame).

The issue with Geomancy Xerneas is that, because it relies on Power Herb, it becomes significantly ineffective early/mid game and it isn't such a fantastic sweeper (contrary to the hype) that it brings the end game early enough for those flaws to not be noticeable, especially in a metagame as slow as this one.

Power Herb means that it has only 3 moves and no item, on top of often running a spread and coverage geared towards cleaning late game and not performing early/mid game. You can make the eloge (fuck, not sure that is a word) of its fantastic typing, etc, but it's all hype and bad papermoning. Fairy typing is great but you remain only a one time switch-in to threats like Yveltal and no half decent Darkrai player is running the same sets as last gen completely ignoring the important new checks introduced (fairies, ygod) and the buff to its STAB. (in other words, Darkrai is going to be running something like Thunder or Sludge Bomb that Xerneas won't like switching into) Furthermore, the utility of checking these Pokemon is, once again, completely undermined by GeoXern's inability to punish switches early/mid game. Your Xerneas is going to be taking a lot more damage switching into these Pokemon than it is going to be punishing their retreat without an item and mediocre coverage. Especially, when the metagame is swarming with Pokemon that have almost zero issue switching into an unboosted GeoXern like Aegis, Ho-Oh, Gengar, and just about anything else all these bulky teams run that can sponge random special attacks. The threat of Geomancy on potential switches is absolute bullshit. Unlike other setup sweepers, Xerneas can only ever get one chance. Which is all fine and dandy when you only need one to win the game but it does mean that Xerneas can't punish switches like an Ekiller or a Mega Zard X does predicting a sack or a switch into something that can't handle a boosted move. If GeoXern boosts on a switch to Mega Gengar you just sack something or, even more likely to be the case, go to that Aegislash/Ho-Oh/Scizor or whatever else you have on your team that can completely fuck over Xerneas and you won't hear from it again in the late game where that boost might have actually mattered. This, by extension, means that "hesitant to use Dragon type attacks" is bullshit because Xerneas isn't going to be punishing them any more than it does Yveltal or Darkrai. (plus most Ubers dragons have moves like Bolt Strike, Surf/Pump, V-Create, etc)

Saddest part is, on top of being garbo early/mid game, Xerneas isn't actually THAT impressive late game. Aegislash, Ho-Oh, and Scizor are three common Pokemon that are found on teams (for things other than GeoXern) that are substancial cockblocks to it. The list of viable checks/counters does go on (Lugiass, spdef Kyogre, Amoongus, Thundurus, etc) each of which, although niche, are solid Pokemon that do a whole lot more than check GeoXern. Plus, with all of these hype, teambuilders are investing more than they might otherwise into insuring that GeoXern isn't an issue which means that you end up with a mediocre mon in a metagame built against it.

Does that mean I think GeoXern is a garbage mon that should never be used? I personally hate it but it'd be bullshit to say Geomancy isn't a solid niche and potential threat. It's just not much more than that and, even with this niche, I wouldn't attempt to build a team with it in this metagame because of how over prepared teams currently are for it. Maybe once the metagame settles and people catch on to how much hot air was pumped into the set would investing the support it needs pay off with a solid team. In the mean time, I strongly suggest you guys check out LO Xerneas. The number of switches that thing can force with the threat of OHKOs and it's ability to punish those switches is pretty damn sexy. Even Aegislash isn't a hard counter thanks to that clean 3HKO by Night Slash.

Also, guys, if you are going to call people out make sure you know your shit first before writing up a tl;dr, especially if you are going to try to write off a player like Blue Jay as some scrub. I'm glad to see the passion for the metagame but, geez, show some respect. (treat others the way you want to be treated and all that) There are ways to say something is wrong without talking to them like they are dumb, especially when the poster was just explaining what another user was saying. (for obvious reasons this post isn't exactly a good example of this :p)

But, do you say that you would not use GeoXern or you would not use Xerneas generally?

So... Are there any set that you would use?

And which moveset do you reccomend?

 

[Kejmur]

I've two questions:

1) Why is H-oh so dangerous for Xerneas?
2) What does MMX and DD Ray means?



But, do you say that you would not use GeoXern or you would not use Xerneas generally?

So... Are there any set that you would use?

1) Because Ho-Oh has titanic special bulk, which allow him to tank easily a hit from Xerneas, especially when he resist Moonblast as Fire type. Also he hits really hard back with Sacred Fire. While it's true that Xerneas may carry Thunderbolt/Thunder, it also means that you loose coverage against something else (like Scizor or Pink Blobs).
b) MegaMewtwoX and Dragon Dance Rayquaza

They say that Geomancy Xerneas is overrated, because you only have ONE shot at sweep with it, because if you get phazed after Geomancy, you technically end up with only 3 unboosted attacks to play with (no good player will let you have 1 free turn for Geomancy, as normally without Power Herb it's 2-turn move with 1 round charging it up). Although Xerneas also has other viable sets like Scarf (which allow it to revenge kill lots of stuff with more than solid 99 speed with scarf and just enough power) or RestTalk Cleric (which fits defensive teams, also it's a good option in case you don't want to use your Arceus slot for Fairy one) or Mixed Attacker with Life Orb, which catches many people off-guard which expect Geomancy set. So yeah, in overall in opinion of many good players Geomancy set even if it is most popular set is... overrated and may end up as liability if used poorly (and it's less effective because all decent/good player prepare for it so well, so it's hard to sweep with it against them).

 

[MMII]

Xerneas @ Life Orb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Mild Nature
- Moonblast
- Rock Slide / Thunder
- Focus Blast / Close Combat
- Night Slash

hf

 

[cristurtwig]

Thank you very much. Now, I have to decide about the nature and therefore, about the set.

But I don't know which Xerneas I have to choose.

 

[Ulevo]

Question for you guys. For the Geomancy set, how do you feel about Focus Blast vs HP Fire? I have a really good Xerneas right now in game that I'm debating on keeping, but I don't know if its worth doing so if I have to rely on Focus Miss. Will the -1 speed on Xerneas be important if I go HP Fire?

 

[Manaphy]

Question for you guys. For the Geomancy set, how do you feel about Focus Blast vs HP Fire? I have a really good Xerneas right now in game that I'm debating on keeping, but I don't know if its worth doing so if I have to rely on Focus Miss. Will the -1 speed on Xerneas be important if I go HP Fire?

Just run Focus Blast dude. 70% accuracy sucks but it hits the threats you want it to very hard. HP Fire is pretty sub-par and very weak.

 

[Ulevo]

Just run Focus Blast dude. 70% accuracy sucks but it hits the threats you want it to very hard. HP Fire is pretty sub-par and very weak.

I haven't commonly played Ubers. Is there anything extremely notable that I'll miss out on by going Focus Blast > HP Fire that Focus Blast can't deal with? Aeigislash sure, but doesn't Moonblast 2HKO + Aegislash walks over Xerneas anyway?

 

[clare]

Off the top of my head, HP Fire is a guaranteed OHKO on Genesect and Scizor, whereas you get rather sad if Focus Miss misses (for Scizor, you'd have to hit it on the switch to avoid BP).

 

[Manaphy]

I haven't commonly played Ubers. Is there anything extremely notable that I'll miss out on by going Focus Blast > HP Fire that Focus Blast can't deal with? Aeigislash sure, but doesn't Moonblast 2HKO + Aegislash walks over Xerneas anyway?

The better question is what you miss if you run HP Fire over Focus Blast, which is a lot. Pretty much everything HP Fire hits Focus Blast also hits plus more. Moonblast is also stronger than a supereffective HP Fire anyway.

 

[Paramore_Zelda]

Personally, I love the Life Orb set. So many people switch in their Ho-Oh in order to prevent a Geomancy sweep, and they get KO'd by a LO Rock Slide. It has more trouble with Lugia than the Geomancy set, but I find Ho-Oh to be more common (and more of a threat to my team) than Lugia.

 

[Evisector]

For the Geomancy set how effective is Substitute in place of either Focus Blast/Psycho Shock? On paper, you would obviously get walled harder by some Pokemon depending on your coverage, but in turn when you do go for the set up, you can make yourself immune to priority and status. Has anyone tried it out yet?

 

[ChaosNemesis]

At this moment I simply LOVE this set:

modest @ power herb
152Def 252SpA 104Spe (enough to outspeed scarf terrakion at +2)
Geomancy
Aromatherapy
Thunder
Moonblast

If I'm able to knock down geomancy's counter i'll sweep with it, if it's clear I can't do it I use the deer for aromatherapy and hi unboosted moonblast will still hurt. Focus blast isn't needed in order to sweep, I've used it very few time.

 

[Not a missingno]

Damn shame laddertards try to 6-0 with this mofo.Save it for the lategame,people.

 

[BurningSnake]

What can I do with a Lonely Xerneas? Since you can only catch one and I don't know anyone who'd trade me a Modest one, I'm pretty much stuck with it and want to make the best of it. What set can I use?

 

[cant say]

What can I do with a Lonely Xerneas? Since you can only catch one and I don't know anyone who'd trade me a Modest one, I'm pretty much stuck with it and want to make the best of it. What set can I use?

you can just tinker the all-out attacker set to make a more physical spread. you've got moves like close combat and rockslide to play with. I'd probably chuck in aromatherapy over psyshock/hidden power though. uninvested fairy aura boosted moonblast still does fair damage I guess... but yeah not ideal

 

[Haze Milotic]

Ugh. It needs recovery/earth power/any ground type move and it would be unstoppable