Also, for those of you saying Latios is not broken because Tyranitar counters it:
1: Tyranitar is everywhere, due to weather wars. This makes it seem that Latios isn't that much of an issue, because about 1/3 of players are using Tyranitar.
2: Did Tyranitar stop Lati@s being banned last gen? No. It's not like Lati@s gained any counters in Gen 5 either. Ferrothorn is a check, it does nothing to stop Latios, and Latios could carry HP Fire [Or Trick], especially as it is checked mainly by Steel-types. Usually, compareing 4th gen to 5th is not really relevant, but since Latios' counters haven't changed much, and neither has Latios or it's 'counters'... yeah, if Tyranitar didn't prevent Latios being Uber last gen, then unless the power creep in general makes it less effective that obscene hings introduced in Gen 5, it should still be Uber.
Pokemon are not broken in isolation. They are broken by comparison to the rest of the metagame. There is no "it seems that Latios isn't that much of an issue". If it seems that way, it's because it is. If it appears that Latios isn't a problem because Tyranitar is preventing it from becoming problematic, it's because those are the facts.
Also, I am tired of playing this game of checks and counters. Excluding the fact that Latios does have an assortment of both, counters are no longer the name of the game anymore. This should be apparent to everyone in this thread and yet it seems to be the focal point of every discussion on every suspect and it's redundant as all get out.
Ultimately, when concerning an offensive threat, it comes down to how well a player can deal with the threat. There are three methods:
- Crippling it via status
- Out speeding it and overpowering it
- Walling it and wearing it down
While it's not entirely as black and white as that, and it is subject to interpretation on a case by case basis, these are the fundamentals.
Latios can be crippled via status. He may not suffer from burn, and sleep is not readily available within his speed tier, we have plenty of Pokemon who can paralyze him (particularly with priority Thunder Wave and Stun Spore).
Latios is fast, but it is not the fastest Pokemon in the metagame right now. Latias and Gengar tie with it, while Tornadus, Thunderus, Cinccino, Azelf, Floatzel, Ambipom, Raikou, Starmie, Weavile, Aerodactyl, Jolteon, Accelgor, and Deoxys-S all outrun him cleanly. Some of these are used more than others, but they are all at least worth some variation of consideration.
Latios also happens to have lower physical defenses (and does not often invest in to them) thus he is a primary target for priority moves, namely Ice Shard and Bullet Punch.
I'd also note that there are Choice Scarfers such as Jirachi are able to aptly check Latios with their speed via moves such as U-Turn.
Where Latios excels is his ability to break through defenses, however even that can be accounted for. Any form of Snorlax will shut him down, and Tyranitar (especially ones with Special Defense EV invested variants) are very capable. While Scizor, Escavalier and other Pursuit users can't switch in safely to every move, they are very capable of walking in on a Draco Meteor (which isn't too hard to predict), or they can clean up after Latios has managed a KO and act as effective checks.
And please don't tell me that if you're bringing in something to deal with Latios after its killed something, it has done its job, thus [insertranthereaboutlatiosbeinguber]. Most top OU threats do there job. That's why they're good.
Anyway, it should be obvious that Latios is excellent, but there are plenty of ways to deal with it.
