[OVERVIEW]
Latios is one of the stronger special attackers in STABmons and is very hard to switch into due to its high-Base Power STAB moves that allow it to hit everything that switches in hard. It also has a decent defensive typing with good resistances to switch in safely on Pokemon such as Keldeo, Heatran, Mega Charizard Y, and Rotom-W. It is very helpful on offensive teams due to providing Lunar Dance support.
However, Latios's STAB moves do not affect the common Fairy- and Dark-type Pokemon, and it is weak to Knock Off, which deals quite a lot of damage and leaves Latios crippled for the rest of the match. It sits at a crowded Speed tier that contains dangerous threats such as Latias, Gengar, and Mega Diancie. Its two most commonly used coverage moves aren't the best, as Hidden Power Fire leaves Latios outsped by base 110 Speed Pokemon and Earthquake gives Flying-type Pokemon, which are fairly common in the format, a free switch in. Finally, Latios is very vulnerable to Pursuit trapping, as well as revenge killers such as Fake Out + Extreme Speed users due to its low physical bulk.
[SET]
name: Life Orb Attacker
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Psystrike
move 3: Defog / Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Lunar Dance / Roost / Defog
item: Life Orb
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Draco Meteor is Latios's most powerful STAB move and deals a lot of damage to most Pokemon that don't resist it, while Psystrike allows it to get around special walls such as Chansey, as well as deal some damage to Fairy-types such as Diancie and Clefable and hit Assault Vest users such as Tornadus-T. Defog provides utility by removing entry hazards for Latios's team, allowing Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock such as Kyurem-B and Thundurus to easily switch in and fire off strong attacks. Lunar Dance allows Latios to sacrifice itself and bring something in to clean up after it punches sufficient holes in the opponent's team. It also gives sweepers such as Mega Tyranitar and Mega Scizor a second shot if they are weakened. Roost allows Latios to stick around throughout the match and keep firing off strong attacks. Hidden Power Fire can be used over Defog to allow Latios to hit Steel-types such as Mega Scizor, Excadrill, and Ferrothorn. However, it lowers Latios' Speed IVs by one, which leaves it outsped by base 110 Speed Pokemon such as Mega Diancie, Gengar, Latias, and other Latios. Earthquake can be used to let Latios lure in and defeat Steel-types such as Heatran, specially defensive Jirachi, and Assault Vest Metagross. Spacial Rend is an option over Draco Meteor. It doesn't lower Special Attack, which means Latios won't have to switch out as much. However, it is weaker and falls short of a lot of KOs.
Set Details
========
Maximum Special Attack investment is used to hit as hard as possible, and maximum Speed investment is used to take advantage of Latios's great Speed tier. If Earthquake is used, move the last 4 EVs to Attack and use a Hasty nature to preserve Latios's better special bulk. Life Orb is the item of choice for a large power boost while still being able to switch moves. A Timid allows Latios to outrun Pokemon with lower than base 110 Speed, such as Terrakion, Keldeo, and Mega Charizard X and Y. Levitate, aside from being Latios's only legal ability, allows Latios to switch into Ground-type moves and not be affected by Spikes and Toxic Spikes.
Usage Tips
========
Latios is best used as an early-game wallbreaker or late-game cleaner, as it is able to hit a lot of threats such as Kyurem-B, Mega Charizard X and Y, and Keldeo very hard, if not outright OHKO them. Ideally, it should be brought in on resisted special hits such as Secret Sword, Blue Flare, and Origin Pulse, as well as Ground-type moves such as Precipice Blades. If Hidden Power Fire is used, beware of Pokemon like Heatran, which is immune to Fire, and special walls such as Porygon2 switching in. You also have to predict with Earthquake, as it will potentially allow Flying-types such as Tornadus-T to switch in. Unfortunately, Earthquake comes off of Latios's lower Attack stat. Latios can be used as a late-game cleaner as well once its checks and counters are weakened or removed. In addition to this, Lunar Dance should be used wisely, as while you only get one chance at using it, it can be used to give a sweeper a second chance at cleaning up the opponent's team after its checks and counters have been removed. It can also be used if Latios risks being Pursuit trapped, bringing in something else and fully healing it to deal with the Pursuit trapper. Use Defog against more passive walls to avoid giving a dangerous boosting Pokemon a free turn or taking more damage than necessary, although it should not be used until Pokemon with Defiant, such as Braviary, physical Thundurus, and Bisharp, have been removed.
Team Options
========
Keldeo is a prime teammate for Latios, as it can easily clean late-game once Latios has sufficiently weakened walls, and it can safely set up with Calm Mind once its counters are removed. It also counters Dark-types such as Tyranitar and Weavile and can set up on them with Calm Mind. Pokemon that appreciate entry hazard removal, such as Gyarados, Mega Charizard X and Y, and Aerodactyl, make for good teammates, as they have a Stealth Rock weakness and appreciate being able to switch in more freely. Steel-types such as Mega Scizor can beat threatening Ice-types such as Weavile as well as Fairy-type Pokemon such as Clefable, Sylveon, and Mega Gardevoir. Late-game sweepers such as Mega Scizor and Belly Drum Ursaring can take advantage of the holes that Latios will break with its powerful attacks, being able to easily set up and clean the opposing team. Offensive entry hazard setters such as Stealth Rock Garchomp can guarantee OHKOs with Draco Meteor and cripple its switch-ins. Klefki and Ferrothorn are good teammates if bulkier hazard setters are preferred. They can easily switch in on the Dragon- and Fairy-type moves that trouble Latios and set up entry hazards that allow Latios to secure the OHKO on Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro and Mega Diancie.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Calm Mind can be used to overpower more defensive teams, despite creating a loss of a coverage move or Defog. On the bright side, it can run through teams late-game with a +1 Psystrike, as well as still deal heavy damage with +1 Draco Meteor. It is also usable on the switch if a passive Pokemon such as non-Mega Diancie switches in. Latios also has a few utility moves to provide team support. Tailwind allows slow Pokemon to have a better matchup versus offense, Thunder Wave cripples fast Pokemon such as Tornadus-T, and Memento, though inferior to Lunar Dance, gives frail Pokemon such as Shift Gear Scizor an easy opportunity to set up. A Choice Scarf set gives Latios a better matchup versus offense and lets it act as a revenge killer due to outspeeding very fast Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Terrakion, Tornadus-T, and Keldeo even after switching in on Icy Wind. It provides some utility as well, including the ability to cripple walls such as Porygon2 with Trick and a very fast Defog. However, Latios's STAB moves aren't good to be locked into because Dark- and Fairy-types, which are immune to them, are common. A Choice Specs set allows Latios to function as a fearsome wallbreaker, as it hits very hard and not many Pokemon can switch in on it. Again, though, common Pokemon are immune to its STAB moves, and it is more vulnerable to Pursuit trapping due to the lack of boosted Speed. Finally, Mega Latios is a horrible waste of your Mega slot and should never be used.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Priority Users**: Due to Latios's poor physical bulk, Fake Out + Extreme Speed users such as Mega Lopunny and Ursaring can deal a lot of damage, which means Latios might fail to check what it's supposed to. Sucker Punch users such as Tyranitar and Weavile can easily OHKO Latios as well.
**Dark-types**: Dark-types such as Weavile and Hoopa-U with Choice Scarf can outspeed Latios and OHKO it with powerful STAB moves. However, Weavile can only switch in on Psystrike, and Hoopa-U can get OHKOed if entry hazards are up. Bisharp is an exception, as it resists Draco Meteor and can set up Shift Gear before OHKOing Latios with Knock Off.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Jirachi, Scizor, Mega Scizor, and Assault Vest Metagross can switch in easily on Latios's STAB moves. The latter three can Pursuit trap Latios, while Jirachi can set up with Calm Mind or Shift Gear. Ferrothorn can just set up entry hazards on Latios.
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Sylveon, Clefable, and Mega Diancie can switch in easily on Draco Meteor, can take a Psystrike, and proceed to easily OHKO Latios with a STAB move such as Moonblast or, in Sylveon's case, Pixilate-boosted Boomburst. However, entry hazard damage can allow Latios to break through them with Psystrike. Mega Gardevoir resists Psystrike, however, so it can switch in more easily.
**Faster Offensive Pokemon**: Pokemon that can outspeed Latios such as Tornadus-T and Choice Scarf Landorus-T can easily deal a good amount of damage. However, most of them are quite frail, so Latios can OHKO them if it hits them as they switch in.
Latios is one of the stronger special attackers in STABmons and is very hard to switch into due to its high-Base Power STAB moves that allow it to hit everything that switches in hard. It also has a decent defensive typing with good resistances to switch in safely on Pokemon such as Keldeo, Heatran, Mega Charizard Y, and Rotom-W. It is very helpful on offensive teams due to providing Lunar Dance support.
However, Latios's STAB moves do not affect the common Fairy- and Dark-type Pokemon, and it is weak to Knock Off, which deals quite a lot of damage and leaves Latios crippled for the rest of the match. It sits at a crowded Speed tier that contains dangerous threats such as Latias, Gengar, and Mega Diancie. Its two most commonly used coverage moves aren't the best, as Hidden Power Fire leaves Latios outsped by base 110 Speed Pokemon and Earthquake gives Flying-type Pokemon, which are fairly common in the format, a free switch in. Finally, Latios is very vulnerable to Pursuit trapping, as well as revenge killers such as Fake Out + Extreme Speed users due to its low physical bulk.
[SET]
name: Life Orb Attacker
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Psystrike
move 3: Defog / Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Lunar Dance / Roost / Defog
item: Life Orb
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Draco Meteor is Latios's most powerful STAB move and deals a lot of damage to most Pokemon that don't resist it, while Psystrike allows it to get around special walls such as Chansey, as well as deal some damage to Fairy-types such as Diancie and Clefable and hit Assault Vest users such as Tornadus-T. Defog provides utility by removing entry hazards for Latios's team, allowing Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock such as Kyurem-B and Thundurus to easily switch in and fire off strong attacks. Lunar Dance allows Latios to sacrifice itself and bring something in to clean up after it punches sufficient holes in the opponent's team. It also gives sweepers such as Mega Tyranitar and Mega Scizor a second shot if they are weakened. Roost allows Latios to stick around throughout the match and keep firing off strong attacks. Hidden Power Fire can be used over Defog to allow Latios to hit Steel-types such as Mega Scizor, Excadrill, and Ferrothorn. However, it lowers Latios' Speed IVs by one, which leaves it outsped by base 110 Speed Pokemon such as Mega Diancie, Gengar, Latias, and other Latios. Earthquake can be used to let Latios lure in and defeat Steel-types such as Heatran, specially defensive Jirachi, and Assault Vest Metagross. Spacial Rend is an option over Draco Meteor. It doesn't lower Special Attack, which means Latios won't have to switch out as much. However, it is weaker and falls short of a lot of KOs.
Set Details
========
Maximum Special Attack investment is used to hit as hard as possible, and maximum Speed investment is used to take advantage of Latios's great Speed tier. If Earthquake is used, move the last 4 EVs to Attack and use a Hasty nature to preserve Latios's better special bulk. Life Orb is the item of choice for a large power boost while still being able to switch moves. A Timid allows Latios to outrun Pokemon with lower than base 110 Speed, such as Terrakion, Keldeo, and Mega Charizard X and Y. Levitate, aside from being Latios's only legal ability, allows Latios to switch into Ground-type moves and not be affected by Spikes and Toxic Spikes.
Usage Tips
========
Latios is best used as an early-game wallbreaker or late-game cleaner, as it is able to hit a lot of threats such as Kyurem-B, Mega Charizard X and Y, and Keldeo very hard, if not outright OHKO them. Ideally, it should be brought in on resisted special hits such as Secret Sword, Blue Flare, and Origin Pulse, as well as Ground-type moves such as Precipice Blades. If Hidden Power Fire is used, beware of Pokemon like Heatran, which is immune to Fire, and special walls such as Porygon2 switching in. You also have to predict with Earthquake, as it will potentially allow Flying-types such as Tornadus-T to switch in. Unfortunately, Earthquake comes off of Latios's lower Attack stat. Latios can be used as a late-game cleaner as well once its checks and counters are weakened or removed. In addition to this, Lunar Dance should be used wisely, as while you only get one chance at using it, it can be used to give a sweeper a second chance at cleaning up the opponent's team after its checks and counters have been removed. It can also be used if Latios risks being Pursuit trapped, bringing in something else and fully healing it to deal with the Pursuit trapper. Use Defog against more passive walls to avoid giving a dangerous boosting Pokemon a free turn or taking more damage than necessary, although it should not be used until Pokemon with Defiant, such as Braviary, physical Thundurus, and Bisharp, have been removed.
Team Options
========
Keldeo is a prime teammate for Latios, as it can easily clean late-game once Latios has sufficiently weakened walls, and it can safely set up with Calm Mind once its counters are removed. It also counters Dark-types such as Tyranitar and Weavile and can set up on them with Calm Mind. Pokemon that appreciate entry hazard removal, such as Gyarados, Mega Charizard X and Y, and Aerodactyl, make for good teammates, as they have a Stealth Rock weakness and appreciate being able to switch in more freely. Steel-types such as Mega Scizor can beat threatening Ice-types such as Weavile as well as Fairy-type Pokemon such as Clefable, Sylveon, and Mega Gardevoir. Late-game sweepers such as Mega Scizor and Belly Drum Ursaring can take advantage of the holes that Latios will break with its powerful attacks, being able to easily set up and clean the opposing team. Offensive entry hazard setters such as Stealth Rock Garchomp can guarantee OHKOs with Draco Meteor and cripple its switch-ins. Klefki and Ferrothorn are good teammates if bulkier hazard setters are preferred. They can easily switch in on the Dragon- and Fairy-type moves that trouble Latios and set up entry hazards that allow Latios to secure the OHKO on Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro and Mega Diancie.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Calm Mind can be used to overpower more defensive teams, despite creating a loss of a coverage move or Defog. On the bright side, it can run through teams late-game with a +1 Psystrike, as well as still deal heavy damage with +1 Draco Meteor. It is also usable on the switch if a passive Pokemon such as non-Mega Diancie switches in. Latios also has a few utility moves to provide team support. Tailwind allows slow Pokemon to have a better matchup versus offense, Thunder Wave cripples fast Pokemon such as Tornadus-T, and Memento, though inferior to Lunar Dance, gives frail Pokemon such as Shift Gear Scizor an easy opportunity to set up. A Choice Scarf set gives Latios a better matchup versus offense and lets it act as a revenge killer due to outspeeding very fast Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Terrakion, Tornadus-T, and Keldeo even after switching in on Icy Wind. It provides some utility as well, including the ability to cripple walls such as Porygon2 with Trick and a very fast Defog. However, Latios's STAB moves aren't good to be locked into because Dark- and Fairy-types, which are immune to them, are common. A Choice Specs set allows Latios to function as a fearsome wallbreaker, as it hits very hard and not many Pokemon can switch in on it. Again, though, common Pokemon are immune to its STAB moves, and it is more vulnerable to Pursuit trapping due to the lack of boosted Speed. Finally, Mega Latios is a horrible waste of your Mega slot and should never be used.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Priority Users**: Due to Latios's poor physical bulk, Fake Out + Extreme Speed users such as Mega Lopunny and Ursaring can deal a lot of damage, which means Latios might fail to check what it's supposed to. Sucker Punch users such as Tyranitar and Weavile can easily OHKO Latios as well.
**Dark-types**: Dark-types such as Weavile and Hoopa-U with Choice Scarf can outspeed Latios and OHKO it with powerful STAB moves. However, Weavile can only switch in on Psystrike, and Hoopa-U can get OHKOed if entry hazards are up. Bisharp is an exception, as it resists Draco Meteor and can set up Shift Gear before OHKOing Latios with Knock Off.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Jirachi, Scizor, Mega Scizor, and Assault Vest Metagross can switch in easily on Latios's STAB moves. The latter three can Pursuit trap Latios, while Jirachi can set up with Calm Mind or Shift Gear. Ferrothorn can just set up entry hazards on Latios.
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Sylveon, Clefable, and Mega Diancie can switch in easily on Draco Meteor, can take a Psystrike, and proceed to easily OHKO Latios with a STAB move such as Moonblast or, in Sylveon's case, Pixilate-boosted Boomburst. However, entry hazard damage can allow Latios to break through them with Psystrike. Mega Gardevoir resists Psystrike, however, so it can switch in more easily.
**Faster Offensive Pokemon**: Pokemon that can outspeed Latios such as Tornadus-T and Choice Scarf Landorus-T can easily deal a good amount of damage. However, most of them are quite frail, so Latios can OHKO them if it hits them as they switch in.
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