loldonphan
Anyway, what keeps Latios from A+?
Latios can afford to run three offensive moves and is not as predictable as his sister. He's an excellent Defogger in the metagame, probably the best one since he has an extreme offensive presence and can sometimes get past his would-be counters, such as Heatran, Excadrill AND EVEN BISHARP. But not only that. He can also be an excellent special attacker which can be frustrating to take out if he has Roost, a nice revenge killer which outspeeds almost anything and a good lead for BP teams. This is why, in my opinion, Latios is more versatile than Latias. But I know what you're thinking: "BUUUUUUT HEALING WISH!!!". well, I'm gonna adress this first.
1) Let's sit down, and admit, that Healing Wish is a bit overrated.
First, Latias can't use this move reliably against offensive teams, as Pokemon with more than base 110 Speed, including Thundurus (who can also Taunt her), Greninja, Talonflame, Mega Alakazam, Weavile (who can Pursuit her to death) and most scarf users (notable exception: Keldeo). Then you realize the fact that LATIAS HAS TO SACRIFICE HERSELF to keep another teammate healthy.... that means you're basically playing 5 v 6 in some matches, remember back in Gen 4 when Gengar and Heatran needed Explosion to get past Blissey? Something similar is the case with Latias. This move isn't that effective against stall either, as this team archetype relies on passive damage and many times it has no problem getting SR back up.
Don't get me wrong, Healing Wish is good, but I just don't think this is enough to differentiate her from Latios. Maybe I'm just not using HW Latias at her full potential...
2) Latios is slightly stronger than her sister.
Latios can get past Heatran and Bisharp with Earthquake and nuke everything else with Draco Meteor and Psyshock. He also isn't buttfucked by Thundurus as he can OHKO the genie with DM and doesn't really care about Taunt if he used Defog before. Also, he has the ability to threaten Excadrill, which 2HKOes Latias with EQ and doesn't care about any Latias without a super effective Hidden Power.
3) Latios can play the role of a revenge killer.
Something Latias can't, as she is outclassed. This set is extremely surprising sometimes, since it can defeat unsuspecting Greninja/Thundurus/Weavile. Choice Scarf Latios outspeeds almost any other Scarfer and proceed to blast it with the appropriate move. He can also revenge kill +1 Mega Charizard X, who can be extremely hard to stop otherwise. He can even outspeed slower Swift Swim users IN THE RAIN (such as 192 Spe Seismitoad and Ludicolo). This set also excels against stall since it can render a wall such as Chansey nearly useless with Trick.
4) LATIOS DOES NOT NEED DEFOG TO FUNCTION.
As you can see on the Smogon strategydex, Latios can replace Defog with Roost and act as a powerful nuke which isn't easy to take down. I used Draco Meteor/HP Fighting/Psyshock/Roost Latios before and that set kicked ass. Any Bisharp trying to switch in (expecting Defog) is met with a HP Fighting and dies. This Latios can also switch in into Pokemon such as Thundurus, KO with Draco Meteor and then Roost back up, something Defog Latios/Latias dreams of doing.
5) Latios is an excellent Dual Screen user and lead for SmashPass/QuickPass teams.
It can easily set up dual screens against many targets, including Keldeo, Ferrothorn, non-Unaware Clefable, Hippowdon, Terrakion, Chansey and has access to Memento to allow Smeargle / Gorebyss / Scolipede to come in and set up. This works especially if the recipient is something like Espeon or Mega Absol to prevent roarers from raining on its day. Memento is much better than Healing Wish in this situation, as very few Pokemon will be able to break the recipient's substitute or even hurt it at all when it's at -2 and the opponent has both screens up, whereas Healing Wish Latias is outclassed in this case by Lunar Dance Cresselia, which is A LOT bulkier.
Spent about 20 minutes typing this post, and I think Latios is a bit better than his sister, so he should move up.
