[OVERVIEW]
Celebi is one of the most versatile Pokemon in ADV OU. With high stats across the board, it can easily run physically and specially defensive sets, momentum-maintaining Baton Pass sets with Calm Mind or Swords Dance, a special sweeper set, or a Substitute + Baton Pass set.
Defensively, Natural Cure and crucial resistances to Electric-, Water-, Ground- and Fighting-type attacks allow it to pivot safely into Zapdos, Jolteon, Magneton, Swampert, defensive Suicune, Claydol, and Breloom without Hidden Power Bug and into status moves from Blissey, Snorlax, Defensive Jirachi, Milotic, and Porygon2. Leech Seed is the best move defensive Celebi can offer, allowing it to not only soften the impact of incoming threats but also chip bulky Pokemon into KO range of its teammates.
Offensively, it is one of the few pivots that can easily turn the tides against Zapdos and Swampert by absorbing Thunderbolt or Hydro Pump, setting up, and Baton Passing out; it is perhaps the only common and reliable stat boost passer in the game. Celebi as a sweeper itself is often also very dangerous in an unconventional way, because its coverage and natural bulk allow it to challenge checks to more passive sets like Tyranitar, Salamence, and Metagross, while its ability to heal from Giga Drain may very well help to win the war against Snorlax and Blissey.
Unfortunately, while Celebi's typing offers all its useful resistances, it is also the root of all its flaws. Weaknesses to very common attacking types like Flying, Fire, and Bug invite all sorts of threats like Salamence, Moltres, and Heracross, while its need to repeatedly use Recover in the face of Ice Beam to gain back a substantial amount of HP makes it very susceptible to freeze and critical hits. Its four-fold Bug weakness makes it susceptible to being trapped by Dugtrio, and its Dark weakness makes Pursuit Tyranitar a huge threat to any Celebi without Baton Pass. While Celebi can often be considered a special wall, its inability to pressure Skarmory and weaker special bulk make it relatively weaker to Spikes and sand than Blissey.
[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Leech Seed
move 2: Recover
move 3: Psychic / Substitute / Reflect / Heal Bell
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 40 SpA / 60 SpD / 32 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Utility Celebi is unique in the metagame as a mixed wall that can deal with Electric-types, Water-types, and Snorlax as well as exert constant pressure with Leech Seed and the threat of trapper support.
Leech Seed and Celebi's accompanying bulk are the main features of this set. Leech Seed is a move with both offensive and defensive utility that allows Celebi to chip a number of Pokemon while maintaining momentum via passive recovery for itself or its teammates. Offensively, the chip damage is excellent at wearing down bulky physical tanks, potentially putting Metagross and Tyranitar into OHKO range of boosted Salamence's, Aerodactyl's, and Dugtrio's Earthquake. It can also place Tyranitar into OHKO range of defensive Metagross and potentially into 2HKO range of Snorlax's Earthquake. Leech Seed is also excellent at wearing down Flying-types because of their lack of recovery and, in some cases, lack of sand immunity, allowing Water-types to threaten weakened Zapdos more easily, putting Moltres into 2HKO range of Pursuit Tyranitar, and placing Skarmory into OHKO range of Timid Magneton. Defensively, Leech Seed allows Claydol to keep spinning in the face of Drill Peck Skarmory, forcing Skarmory to switch out first, hence leaving no Spikes on the field. It is also serves to check Suicune and Snorlax by forcing them to Rest repeatedly, allowing a teammate to exploit those free turns. Finally, Leech Seed's passive recovery and ability to force switches can either provide Choice Band users like Salamence and Heracross with some added longevity or let them switch in freely.
Recover allows Celebi to stick around for a long time and is especially needed in the face of repeated hits from Snorlax; Ice-type coverage from Water-types, Zapdos, and Gengar; Will-O-Wisp from Gengar; and Toxic from Blissey, Milotic, Swampert, and Zapdos. Celebi is bulky and does not have to use Recover frequently if it pivots only into resisted attacks. If the opponent has Dugtrio, though, Celebi should be kept near full HP through Recover, even though it can be tempting to maintain the pressure with repeated Leech Seeds.
Psychic hits Gengar very hard, which is important because many teams rely exclusively on Celebi to pivot into its Will-O-Wisp. It also makes progress against many switch-ins, like Salamence, Moltres, Aerodactyl, Heracross, Flygon, and Heracross, and helps Celebi deal with Zapdos a bit more easily. Although most Zapdos are unable to severely threaten Celebi, Leech Seed's PP can easily be drained through Zapdos's Pressure, and the occasional Substitute Zapdos can completely turn the tables on Celebi lacking Psychic.
Hidden Power Grass allows Celebi to OHKO Dugtrio with minimal Special Attack investment, hits Tyranitar hard, and allows Celebi to be a Starmie pivot. On Spikes teams, it allows Celebi to threaten the two common spinners—Claydol and Starmie—should they attempt to spin on Celebi. Hidden Power Grass is mostly run when Celebi is not paired with Dugtrio or Porygon2. When paired with either, the preferred move is Baton Pass, as Celebi can scout for a Tyranitar or Dugtrio switch-in and pass out to either trapper. If Celebi is at full HP, it can also tank Hidden Power Bug and trap opposing Dugtrio by passing to one's own Dugtrio. When used with Magneton, Baton Pass also helps to catch Skarmory.
As for less commonly used moves, Substitute in conjunction with Leech Seed and Baton Pass makes Celebi adept at inducing chip damage, eases trapping, and generates free turns for huge threats like Aerodactyl. Reflect neuters Metagross's Explosion and Snorlax's Self-Destruct, protecting one's bulky Water-types and also Celebi itself. Reflect also provides a crucial setup turn for sweepers like Curse Snorlax and Dragon Dance Salamence. Heal Bell can be helpful for teammates with Rest like Suicune, Snorlax, and Zapdos. Light Screen helps Forretress and Skarmory avoid being trapped and taken out by Magneton; Forretress can then KO back with Earthquake, while Skarmory can phaze Magneton and a reverse trap can be set with Dugtrio later on. Perish Song is a phazing move that stops Calm Mind users in their tracks and also deals with bulky setup sweepers in the endgame. The downside to using these alternative moves is that dropping a STAB move or Baton Pass for any of them compromises Celebi's ability to deal with both Gengar and Dugtrio at the same time. Gengar is easier to deal with than Dugtrio because Celebi can simply be paired with a Pursuit trapper, so Hidden Power Grass is frequently the attacking move kept when Celebi sports these alternate moves.
The EVs are fashioned to survive Choice Band Aerodactyl's Hidden Power Bug and Salamence's Hidden Power Flying in sand, and they let Celebi comfortably survive Hidden Power Bug from Dugtrio. 40 Special Attack EVs are required to OHKO Dugtrio with Hidden Power Grass; variants lacking the said move can place the EVs in Special Defense or Speed. 32 Speed EVs are required to outrun all Tyranitar. Celebi can go for a faster benchmark like 136 Speed EVs, which gets the jump on Adamant Heracross and most offensive Suicune. Substitute Celebi can use a spread of 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 Spe with a Timid nature to survive Adamant Dugtrio while outrunning Timid Moltres and neutral-natured Salamence, Zapdos, Flygon, and Charizard. With this spread, Celebi can also Baton Pass out of a significant number of Taunt Gengar that are EVed to survive Pursuit Tyranitar under sand and Dragon Dance Salamence. If Celebi is important as a special wall, a specially defensive spread of 252 HP / 64 Def / 40 SpA / 120 SpD / 32 Spe with a Calm nature can be used; this spread also allows Celebi to survive Adamant Dugtrio's Hidden Power Bug.
The key to using Celebi successfully is to generate entry opportunities for strong threats and trappers and to rack up enough chip damage to allow sweepers to run their course. Try to use Leech Seed to force switches and heal passively so that powerful threats can enter the field while taking minimum damage, but be careful to combine that with smart pivoting so as not to burn through Leech Seed's PP too quickly; common Leech Seed targets, especially Pokemon with Pressure like Zapdos and Suicune, tend to have the bulk to last quite a while. Conserving PP allows Celebi to be more threatening throughout the game, especially in the closing stages. Also, take advantage of Celebi drawing in many trappable checks, like Tyranitar, Metagross, Dugtrio, and Skarmory, especially by using Baton Pass if it is run. Finally, an aggressive sequence of consecutive Leech Seeds, especially with Spikes, can generate a lot of chip damage without having Celebi take any damage.
Team Options
========
Trappers are very common partners to utility Celebi. Magneton gets rid of Skarmory, which easily comes in and sets up Spikes on any variant of utility Celebi. Leech Seed also has nifty synergy with Substitute Magneton, which can trap and indefinitely wear down seeded Metagross and defensive Jirachi. Dugtrio traps chipped Tyranitar, Metagross, and opposing Celebi and can also take out opposing Dugtrio locked into Hidden Power Bug either from KOing or getting Baton Passed out of by Celebi. While Dugtrio does not directly help with Spikes control, taking out the bulky offensive Pokemon that exploit Celebi with Spikes around can allow Celebi to function reasonably well even under Spikes. Porygon2 is also a splendid partner that removes opposing Dugtrio and can indefinitely wall Salamence, one of the few common checks to Celebi that cannot be removed easily by trapping. Pursuit Tyranitar frees up Celebi to use a filler move instead of Psychic and can wear down Choice Band Salamence and Aerodactyl locked into a resisted move.
Winning the Spikes war is one option for teams using utility Celebi. Bulky Spikers like Skarmory and Forretress are great for exploiting Celebi's switch forcing abilities. Together with Leech Seed, Spikes can generate a lot of chip damage for a sweeper like Aerodactyl to clean up the opposing team. Defensively, these Pokemon also help Celebi to deal with physical Metagross and Salamence. Claydol spins Spikes away, which is useful given Celebi's extraordinary propensity to attract Skarmory, and it can make use of Leech Seed's healing to stand its ground against Drill Peck Skarmory. Flygon's Spikes immunity and role as an Electric- and Rock-type check also help to compensate for Celebi's Skarmory attracting tendencies.
Secondary special walls with a niche of their own, like Curse Snorlax and Rest Zapdos, make the team more robust against special attacks while offering their own utility. Celebi acts as a mid-game special wall, protecting Snorlax from taking chip so that it has the HP to perform a Curse sweep, while Snorlax can support Celebi should it falter against more potent special threats like Starmie, Calm Mind Suicune, Jirachi, and Celebi. Rest Zapdos helps Celebi deal with Suicune and other special threats, especially when Spikes are present, and can phaze Calm Mind Celebi.
Hard-hitting physical Pokemon, like Heracross and Choice Band Salamence, benefit from the entry or healing opportunities presented by Celebi's Leech Seed and from their mutual synergy with trappers. Heracross batters down Salamence, which Celebi can threaten later with Psychic, and Celebi can absorb Thunderbolt from Zapdos should it be the opponent's Heracross check. Heracross also benefits from Celebi synergistically luring in Dugtrio to be revenge killed by one's own Dugtrio. Salamence provides robust defensive utility against Heracross and draws in Swampert and Zapdos, which Celebi can easily pivot in on.
Bulky Water-types are appreciated teammates, as Celebi's checks are mostly physical attackers. Milotic is a physical and mixed wall that can continuously soak up hits from Salamence, Tyranitar, Metagross, and Flygon, which love coming in on Celebi. Suicune is less robust than Milotic, but it can make full use of Leech Seed's recovery to provide some mid-game utility and play a more targeted endgame through a Calm Mind sweep. These Water-types benefit from the Dugtrio synergy, which reduces the heavy burden of Tyranitar and Metagross using unresisted Rock Slide or Explosion on them. Using Swampert might be tempting, but the prevalence of Fire-types with Grass-type coverage makes the Celebi + Swampert core unreliable for the long haul, and such cores must win the game through aggressive plays and trades on the more offensive side of the team.
Finally, as Celebi has a propensity to wear down physically defensive Pokemon, sweepers like Aerodactyl, Dragon Dance Salamence, Dragon Dance Tyranitar, and Agility Metagross are all fine partners for taking down weakened teams.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind + Baton Pass
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Giga Drain / Psychic
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Baton Pass
Item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 76 SpA / 180 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi is an excellent offensive momentum reverser that can support both wallbreakers and sweepers. It is one of the few Pokemon on offense teams that can shrug off Zapdos's Thunderbolt and offensive Swampert's Hydro Pump and pressure the opponent by setting up. Its coverage moves hit phazers hard and force opposing Metagross and Snorlax to navigate a tricky decision of sacrificing themselves with Explosion or Self-Destruct, lest they miss their chance to take out an attacking Celebi or waste the sacrifice on an unfavorable target.
Calm Mind does not merely function as a stat boost for passing, though—it provides Celebi with both offensive and defensive utility as well. Boosted Giga Drain allows Celebi to stay in on a Tyranitar switch-in and threaten to 2HKO it. The recovery allows Celebi to be brought back to full HP from any chip damage it might have received from pivoting in, giving it better survivability against Hidden Power Bug from Tyranitar. The boost also allows Celebi to OHKO Starmie under sand with Giga Drain, protecting it from the latter's Ice Beam. Boosted Giga Drain also OHKOes Dugtrio and heals back whatever HP was lost from taking a Hidden Power Bug, which might otherwise place Celebi into sand range. Finally, Giga Drain allows Celebi to take down any Swampert or Suicune that are brave enough to stay in to phaze or continue chipping down Celebi. Psychic is a notable alternative that allows Celebi to hit Taunt Gengar, Moltres, Roar Zapdos, Salamence, Heracross, Flygon, and Charizard hard, especially after a Calm Mind boost. Note also that the Special Defense boost protects Celebi from Moltres and mixed Salamence too. Hidden Power Fire hits Skarmory hard, forcing it to waste a turn phazing Celebi so that no Spikes are laid on the field, and threatens Metagross. It also prevents Jirachi and other Celebi from checking this set easily by engaging in a Calm Mind war.
Baton Pass is mostly used for passing Calm Mind boosts, but it can also be used without any to aid Dugtrio or Porygon2 in trapping incoming Metagross, Tyranitar, or Dugtrio. After all, the last thing a Baton Pass Celebi team wants is Metagross using a free Explosion or Tyranitar setting up on the Baton Pass target.
All EVs spreads come with tradeoffs. The listed EVs give boosted Celebi good odds to 2HKO bulky Tyranitar and the assured OHKO on offensive Starmie in sand while outspeeding Timid Moltres and Adamant Salamence. They also give Celebi a chance to OHKO Dugtrio without a boost. The HP investment helps Celebi to survive Hidden Power Bug from Jolly Dugtrio and provides extra bulk against Ice-type coverage. Alternatively, one can place the Special Attack EVs into Defense to always survive Adamant Tyranitar's Hidden Power Bug under sand at the expense of all the odds and assurances above. A spread of 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe can be used to heavily pressure Skarmory with an almost assured 2HKO and turns all the above rolls into certainties. However, such a set is likely to be OHKOed by Hidden Power Bug from Dugtrio and Tyranitar. Finally, one can even lower the Speed investment to the level of outspeeding Adamant Heracross in order to strengthen Special Attack, resulting in a spread of 252 HP / 120 SpA / 136 Spe. This turns the offensive rolls into certainties without sacrificing bulk; it is especially useful when paired with Agility + Baton Pass Zapdos to make up for Celebi's lack of Speed.
Team Options
========
Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi is usually found on special and mixed offense teams. The key to choosing recipients for the Calm Mind boost is understanding which targets pivot nicely into Celebi's checks. The hard-hitting checks that Celebi cannot deal with reliably using its coverage moves fall into three categories: bulky physical threats such as Metagross, Tyranitar, and Snorlax; physical Flying-types such as Salamence and Aerodactyl; and Fire-types such as Moltres and Charizard. Additionally, Blissey is a counter that falls into none of these categories.
On mixed offense teams, one can consider the following Baton Pass targets. Offensive Swampert comes in safely on Metagross, Tyranitar, and Salamence lacking Choice Band, as well as on Thunder Wave Blissey. A Calm Mind boost allows Swampert to OHKO Tyranitar with Hydro Pump, as well as Metagross while in Torrent range. The Special Defense boost also prevents Swampert from getting 2HKOed by Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar, and if Swampert comes in at full HP, it can also prevent mixed Salamence from OHKOing it with Hidden Power Grass. Should Swampert enter the game first, it easily lures in Zapdos, which lets Celebi switch in easily. Fire-types like Charizard and Moltres are high-pressure wallbreaking pivots into Metagross that can also threaten Skarmory should the opponent send it in as Celebi Baton Passes out. Mixed Metagross is a nice Snorlax and Blissey pivot that can 2HKO Swampert with Psychic after a boost. Mixed Tyranitar and Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar can also pivot into Snorlax; a Calm Mind boost allows mixed Tyranitar to often OHKO Swampert and Metagross and allows Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar to comfortably 2HKO Swampert without worrying about getting taken out by Torrent-boosted Hydro Pump.
Zapdos is a pretty unique partner, as it has Baton Pass and Agility. Baton Pass allows it to maintain boosts by sending them to a teammate and can be used with or without Agility. Just having Baton Pass allows Zapdos to be a specially offensive Baton Pass target that can keep the boost alive for a longer period of time should Celebi get battered down while boosting, and Zapdos will not be concerned with being walled when it can pass the boosts to a mixed wallbreaker. While having Baton Pass Zapdos is itself great, Agility takes the synergy to a whole new level. Celebi with a Speed boost no longer gets revenge killed by Dugtrio, Aerodactyl, and Salamence, and the pairing allows Celebi to get by with lower Speed investment. Conversely, Agility and Calm Mind boosts allow Zapdos to be a great late-game sweeper, and if the time is not ripe, it can pass the boosts to mixed Swampert or mixed Metagross, annihilating potential checks and revenge killers like Gengar, Zapdos, mixed Salamence, Starmie, Dugtrio, and Aerodactyl. Natural Cure on Celebi is a subtle but important part of passing Speed; Thunder Wave is a common measure for negating Speed boosts, so Zapdos can first pass the boost to Celebi, which then heals itself of the paralysis by passing out. Since paralyzed Celebi is usually the slower Pokemon on the field, the intended target receives the boosts without ever taking a scratch. Salac Berry + Substitute Zapdos is another possibility for acquiring the Speed boost that eases the prediction-based sequences of Swampert to Snorlax and allows Zapdos to still get the boost in the face of an onslaught of attacks that would have KOed Zapdos trying to squeeze off an Agility boost.
On special offense teams, one can use the following Baton Pass targets instead. Calm Mind Suicune, Jirachi, and Raikou all appreciate boosts as a head start in the attempt to muscle through Blissey. Suicune acts as a pivot into Fire-types and physical attackers, and upon Celebi's first entry, it can use the fear of Celebi's potential Psychic pressuring Moltres to attack directly to avoid Will-O-Wisp. Jirachi acts as a much-needed source of Rock resistance and is the most reliable Calm Mind user to take down Blissey lacking Thunder Wave and Snorlax. Porygon2 can trap Dugtrio, and though it does not have much offensive presence, it can come in indefinitely on Salamence's Hidden Power Flying. Regice is a great secondary special check to Zapdos, Suicune, and Starmie, and with Calm Mind boosts, it really pressures Blissey and Snorlax to come in and take the Explosion. The chip damage that Regice can induce on Tyranitar and Metagross is also highly appreciated by the other Calm Mind users. Kingdra can use a boost to nail the much-appreciated OHKOs on Zapdos, Gengar, and Skarmory with Hydro Pump. Starmie can also take advantage of a boost, and its Speed helps to maintain the team's momentum by minimizing revenge kill opportunities after being passed a boost.
Finally, Dugtrio is a fine partner on any sort of team, and here it can remove Metagross and Tyranitar or trade Celebi with them, revenge kill opposing Dugtrio, and use the Special Defense boosts to safely take Blissey's Ice Beams to possibly 2HKO with Earthquake.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Psychic
Item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Offensive Celebi plays a unique role in ADV OU as a special sweeper and mixed wallbreaker. Although it is not as fast as Starmie and needs at least a turn to set up, it notably differs from other sweepers in that it frequently has the bulk to trade KOs with its checks, making it great at maintaining momentum. Unlike most special sweepers, many of its checks are physically bulky, allowing Celebi also to function as a wallbreaker for physically offensive Pokemon.
With a boost, Giga Drain 2HKOes Tyranitar, Suicune, Claydol, and possibly Milotic, and it OHKOes Starmie, Dugtrio, and Swampert. Don't underestimate Giga Drain's healing abilities—it can increase Celebi's odds of surviving being trapped by Dugtrio by bringing it back to full HP after a KO as well as healing back the damage Dugtrio did to it, keeping Celebi out of sand KO range. Giga Drain's regeneration also helps Celebi survive Hidden Power Bug from Tyranitar and helps it when facing fast foes like Starmie. Notably, with enough boosts, Giga Drain in conjunction with Psychic gives Celebi a way to muscle past Blissey lacking a status move. Again requiring a boost, Hidden Power Fire 2HKOes Metagross, often 2HKOes Skarmory, helps in tussles against Celebi and Jirachi, and usually OHKOes Forretress and Magneton. Psychic is Celebi's strongest STAB move and is the primary move used to wear down Snorlax and Blissey. With a boost, it also 2HKOes airborne Pokemon—Salamence, offensive Zapdos, Moltres, and Flygon—that would check or phaze Celebi, and it OHKOes Gengar and the Fighting-types Heracross and Breloom.
Offensive Celebi can be used either mid-game or late-game. As a mid-game wallbreaker, bring it in against Zapdos or Swampert, and use it to trade KOs with mixed Salamence, Moltres, Snorlax, Metagross, and Tyranitar. It also prevents Skarmory from setting up Spikes by forcing it to phaze Celebi. With the aforementioned Pokemon worn down or removed, Celebi can also sweep late-game.
Team Options
========
Offensive Celebi fits mostly on special offense teams, especially in conjunction with Calm Mind users, but can sometimes be used with Spikes. Ironically, it can also fit on physically offensive teams due to its ability to trade KOs with physical tanks like Tyranitar, Metagross, and Salamence, wear down Skarmory, get ahead of and take out Moltres, and pivot into Gengar's Will-O-Wisp.
Dugtrio is a useful partner, and it is almost mandatory on special offense. It revenge kills opposing Dugtrio that end up trapping Celebi and can remove checks like Blissey, chipped Tyranitar and Metagross, and weakened Snorlax.
Offensive Jirachi is an excellent partner. With almost the same coverage and natural bulk and shared Calm Mind usage, Jirachi is a Celebi lookalike. They share essentially all their checks, and a trade with one paves the way for the other to sweep. Speaking of trading checks, one common way to eliminate Dugtrio should Jirachi go down first is Porygon2, which also indefinitely checks Dragon Dance Salamence. Offensive Suicune is also an offensive pivot for Dragon Dance Salamence on Calm Mind teams. With Celebi around, Regice is a good secondary special check to Zapdos, Starmie, and Suicune that can also lure in and use Explosion on Blissey and Snorlax without worrying too much about compromising the team's special bulk. Regice also draws in and wears down Tyranitar and Metagross, which can be helpful for turning Celebi's 2HKOs into OHKOs.
Offensive Celebi can be used on some Spikes teams too. Aggressive setters like Taunt Skarmory and Cloyster are possible partners. Gengar's spinblocking abilities are always useful with Spikes, but defensive Gengar also helps the team survive against Dragon Dance Salamence, while offensive Gengar's rainbow of coverage can provide the chip needed for Celebi to finish the opposing team off. Celebi is always a nice Aerodactyl partner, as it turns the tide on Electric- and Water-types. However, using offensive Celebi instead of defensive Celebi also makes Skarmory and Cloyster's weakness to Electric-types more pronounced, so having Aerodactyl to exert immense pressure on Zapdos is helpful.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Baton Pass
move 3: Leech Seed / Shadow Ball / Ancient Power / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Recover / Hidden Power Fighting
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Impish
evs: 244 HP / 124 Def / 140 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Swords Dance Celebi's main purpose is to pivot into special attacks or passive Pokemon and Baton Pass Attack boosts to physically offensive teammates. Leech Seed wears down physical tanks for the Baton Pass target and helps to force switches so that Celebi can set up on something favorable. This set is most effective when Swords Dance has not been revealed, as Celebi can surprise a Roar-less Zapdos or Blissey sent in to stall out Leech Seed PP with a boost and subsequent pass to Aerodactyl or Metagross. Recover helps Celebi to function as a tank akin to utility sets.
Attacking filler moves can also be used to hit phazers and setup sweepers that try to ruin the pass. After a boost, Hidden Power Fighting OHKOes or comes close to OHKOing Tyranitar, Shadow Ball OHKOes Taunt Gengar, and Ancient Power has good odds to 2HKO defensive Zapdos and OHKOes Moltres. Hidden Power Bug is an option over Hidden Power Fighting when only a single attacking filler move is used. It still hits Tyranitar pretty hard and can finish off weakened defensive Taunt Gengar that barely survived Tyranitar's Pursuit.
This set has several EV options with their own tradeoffs. The listed spread survives Aerodactyl's Hidden Power Bug and Choice Band Salamence's Hidden Power Flying under sand while also outspeeding Adamant Heracross. The slower option of 252 HP / 124 Def / 96 SpD / 36 Spe can be used to still outspeed all Tyranitar. When using attacking moves, 76 Attack EVs allow Celebi to OHKO Tyranitar and Gengar after a boost; take EVs out of Special Defense if need be. Alternatively, one can also go the fast route with 252 HP / 76 Atk / 180 Spe to outspeed Moltres, neutral-natured Salamence, and neutral-natured Flygon. Taking EVs out of Attack for 252 HP / 40 Def on the prior spread can also be done to survive Jolly Salamence's Hidden Power Flying while still outspeeding and passing out of Adamant Salamence. When not using Hidden Power Fighting, which requires 30 Speed IVs, Jolly Celebi can Speed tie with Speed-invested Salamence and Flygon, though this is extremely dangerous because Choice Band variants can OHKO Celebi should they win the tie. Note, however, that being slow can be advantageous, as Celebi taking the foe's move shields the pass target from any damage or status. This is helpful when passing to Aerodactyl or Agility Metagross, for example.
Team Options
========
Swords Dance Celebi requires quite a bit of support. Magneton is almost always required to stop Skarmory from switching into Celebi and walling all its physically offensive teammates. Pursuit Tyranitar is needed for Gengar if Celebi is not carrying Shadow Ball or Ancient Power; Taunt Gengar prevents Celebi from passing, and is generally a huge threat to physical sweepers due to Will-O-Wisp and Ice- and Electric-type coverage to OHKO Salamence and Gyarados. Pursuit also limits the longevity of Choice Band Salamence and Aerodactyl, which otherwise enter freely on Celebi. Ice Beam on Tyranitar also allows it to pivot in on Dragon Dance Salamence and land a OHKO. Milotic is great as a reliable physically defensive wall that can continuously pivot into Salamence, which, again, Celebi can barely touch.
As far as recipients go, Agility Metagross is a nice sweeper that can either use Explosion to take out bulky Water-types or boost and sweep. Dragon Dance Gyarados is one of the few pass recipients that does not fold to bulky Water-types. Notably, with a Swords Dance and a Dragon Dance boost, Gyarados OHKOes Zapdos with Double-Edge and OHKOes Aerodactyl that has been chipped by Pursuit Tyranitar. Dragon Dance Salamence has better coverage and power at the cost of being weak to Ice Beam; one can consider running a Jolly nature on it to outrun Moltres, neutrally invested Zapdos, and neutrally invested mixed Salamence. Substitute + Liechi Berry Aerodactyl is a very fast cleaner that needn't risk taking attacks for a boost, unlike Dragon Dance Salamence, despite being a little weaker. Mixed Zapdos can make use of the Attack boost to break past Blissey, Celebi, and Tyranitar or pass it further to another target. Lum Berry can be helpful on it to avoid Blissey's status moves. Finally, Snorlax is a decent physically offensive special tank that, when passed a boost, can OHKO Metagross and Tyranitar, lest the eventual Baton Pass target take an Explosion or be set up upon.
[SET]
name: Defensive Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Leech Seed
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Recover
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 76 SpA / 36 SpD / 20 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Defensive Calm Mind Celebi is a late-game sweeper. Early-game, it functions like typical utility Celebi, but Calm Mind provides pressure against PP stallers like Snorlax, Blissey, Suicune, Claydol, Zapdos, and other defensive Celebi, making this set more prone to drawing in phazers like Skarmory and Roar Tyranitar or bulky offensive Pokemon like Metagross, Tyranitar, Salamence, and Moltres. Such pressure can be used to wear down or trap Celebi's checks. With only defensive Pokemon left on the field, Calm Mind + Leech Seed is adept at cleaning up the game.
Leech Seed, apart from its variety of functions shared with its role on utility sets, also helps Celebi to plow past Blissey, Curse Snorlax, and Rest Suicune in the endgame. Psychic is the chosen STAB move over Hidden Power Grass, as this set's attack option needs to pressure threats that cannot be reliably trapped like Salamence, Zapdos, Moltres, and Flygon.
The Defense EVs are tailored to survive Choice Band Aerodactyl's Hidden Power Bug and Choice Band Salamence's Hidden Power Flying in sand. The Speed EVs allow Celebi to outrun Endeavor Swampert. A modest amount of Special Attack investment allows Celebi to OHKO Dugtrio after a Calm Mind boost. It also allows Celebi to 2HKO Salamence and Moltres after a boost. That said, these EVs are not really needed with Spikes and should go into Special Defense otherwise. The rest of the EVs are placed into Special Defense to minimize the odds of Swampert's Ice Beam 2HKOing Celebi under sand. Alternatively, a spread of 252 HP / 64 Def / 76 SpA / 96 SpD / 20 Spe with a Calm nature can be used for better robustness against special threats, especially when trying to set up repeatedly against bulky Water-types using Ice Beam. 40, 76, and 176 Speed EVs with a Timid nature to outrun Adamant Heracross, Modest Moltres, and Timid Moltres, respectively, are also options.
Team Options
========
Most of the partners from utility Celebi sets apply, but with slight variations. Where it comes to trappers, Dugtrio features prominently, as Calm Mind forces out more passive Celebi pivots in favor of bulky physical Pokemon like Tyranitar and Metagross, and the lack of Hidden Power Grass means Tyranitar switches in almost freely. Given that Tyranitar poses a massive offensive threat, one must have a very good reason not to use Dugtrio with this Celebi set. Magneton is still a suitable partner, but a team dedicated to supporting Calm Mind Celebi would not need Magneton to remove Skarmory in its role as a physical wall, so a spinner like Claydol or occasionally Starmie can be more useful for Spikes control. Porygon2 is also a theoretical possibility, but if one uses it, it might be hard to fit all the support this Celebi appreciates in a team.
Defensively, Milotic and Suicune are good partners for full coverage against Tyranitar and Salamence that switch in repeatedly, and Celebi's propensity to chip Zapdos also helps these bulky Water-types in return. Swampert is also a possible partner, but it compounds the team's weakness to Moltres and benefits a little less from Dugtrio's ability to trap. Flygon's Spikes and Electric-type immunities help the team defensively against both physical and special threats, especially given Celebi's tendency to attract Skarmory. Rest Zapdos forms a nice specially defensive core with this Celebi set, especially because Celebi without Hidden Power Grass is a little shakier at dealing with offensive Water-types like Starmie and Suicune.
Calm Mind Jirachi, Celebi, and Dugtrio form a core where Celebi and Dugtrio lure in and remove bulky physical Pokemon, and countertrapping opposing Dugtrio from a revenge kill on Celebi can open the way for a Jirachi sweep.
Finally, just to comment on additional subtleties of using Calm Mind as opposed to a more standard utility set: it's not as common to see Calm Mind Celebi used with Heracross or Curse Snorlax. These two pretty much have the same trappable checks as Celebi, and their physical presence does not need Celebi's Calm Mind to pressure passive Pokemon, so Baton Pass is preferable for those pairings.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Celebi can really exist anywhere on the spectrum of defense to offense. The sets listed above are pretty much divided into day and night, but mid-paced Celebi sets are also entirely feasible on the right team. A set of Calm Mind, Leech Seed, and two of Psychic, Giga Drain, and Hidden Power Fire can be used with the appropriate trappers to exert a lot of pressure in the face of Blissey and Snorlax. Alternatively, Recover / Leech Seed / two attacks on an offensive set gives Celebi some defensive utility without compromising its ability to hit threatening switch-ins. Calm Mind / Leech Seed / Psychic / Baton Pass with Magneton support can be really helpful for forcing switches and getting the right foe in so that pass targets have an easier time, and this set also allows Celebi to set up in the face of Blissey and Snorlax. Toxic on the utility set permanently cripples a ton of Celebi's checks, especially Salamence, Moltres, and Tyranitar. Hidden Power Ice can be used on offensive Celebi to nab the surprise KO on Salamence.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Physical Flying-types**: Salamence, Gyarados, and Aerodactyl can switch in safely on any of Celebi's sets and set up or threaten to hit Celebi very hard with a Choice Band-boosted attack. They cannot, however, take repeated hits of Psychic indefinitely, and mixed Salamence in particular struggles to break past Calm Mind Celebi. Note that none of these are foolproof answers to Baton Pass Celebi carrying boosts, as faster Celebi can outspeed them before taking any damage, and slower Celebi can be EVed to take a hit before passing the boosts out.
**Fire-types**: Moltres and Charizard either OHKO many Celebi sets or come very close to doing so and are good pivots against defensive Celebi. Offensive Celebi can, however, beat Moltres and slower Charizard if it uses Calm Mind on the switch, and Baton Pass Celebi can safely pivot out by outspeeding either or tanking a hit if Moltres does not have Roar. Houndoom is a rare check that works in the same vein but can also use Pursuit to catch Celebi switching out.
**Bulky Physical Threats**: Metagross and Tyranitar are usually able to exert enough pressure on defensive Celebi before it can take them out with its coverage moves. They won't stop Celebi from Baton Passing out its boosts, but Metagross can at least use Explosion, and Tyranitar can at least set up on the target with Dragon Dance. Roar Tyranitar can also stop a pass, but it is highly unreliable due to many Celebi packing Giga Drain.
**Phazers**: Skarmory takes next to nothing from defensive Celebi's attacks. It can also stop Celebi from passing boosts while tanking Hidden Power Fire, though that is not an ideal position because it forces Skarmory to take damage without laying Spikes. Roar Zapdos and Moltres can easily phaze Celebi that don't have a move to hit them hard, like Psychic or Ancient Power.
**Dugtrio**: Dugtrio can come in on weakened Celebi to trap and finish it off with Hidden Power Bug. Spikes and Toxic help to induce the chip needed for the KO.
**Bug-type Moves**: Heracross and Flygon don't switch in so well but can threaten to OHKO or 2HKO back with Megahorn and Hidden Power Bug, respectively.
**Ice-types**: Regice and Jynx hit Celebi very hard and undermine Celebi's role as a special tank as well as that of the Zapdos and Celebi core as a specially defensive core. These Ice-types, however, do not stop boosts and should be wary of Hidden Power Fire.
**Spikes**: Skarmory and Forretress can freely set up Spikes on defensive Celebi to erode its defensive capabilities significantly. Celebi frequently relies on Recover to make progress against attacks that do less than 50% damage, so attacks crossing that threshold with Spikes damage place Celebi into unfavorable Recover loops.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[vapicuno, 5454]]
- Quality checked by: [[BKC, 52012], [M Dragon, 21345]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [CryoGyro, 331519]]
Celebi is one of the most versatile Pokemon in ADV OU. With high stats across the board, it can easily run physically and specially defensive sets, momentum-maintaining Baton Pass sets with Calm Mind or Swords Dance, a special sweeper set, or a Substitute + Baton Pass set.
Defensively, Natural Cure and crucial resistances to Electric-, Water-, Ground- and Fighting-type attacks allow it to pivot safely into Zapdos, Jolteon, Magneton, Swampert, defensive Suicune, Claydol, and Breloom without Hidden Power Bug and into status moves from Blissey, Snorlax, Defensive Jirachi, Milotic, and Porygon2. Leech Seed is the best move defensive Celebi can offer, allowing it to not only soften the impact of incoming threats but also chip bulky Pokemon into KO range of its teammates.
Offensively, it is one of the few pivots that can easily turn the tides against Zapdos and Swampert by absorbing Thunderbolt or Hydro Pump, setting up, and Baton Passing out; it is perhaps the only common and reliable stat boost passer in the game. Celebi as a sweeper itself is often also very dangerous in an unconventional way, because its coverage and natural bulk allow it to challenge checks to more passive sets like Tyranitar, Salamence, and Metagross, while its ability to heal from Giga Drain may very well help to win the war against Snorlax and Blissey.
Unfortunately, while Celebi's typing offers all its useful resistances, it is also the root of all its flaws. Weaknesses to very common attacking types like Flying, Fire, and Bug invite all sorts of threats like Salamence, Moltres, and Heracross, while its need to repeatedly use Recover in the face of Ice Beam to gain back a substantial amount of HP makes it very susceptible to freeze and critical hits. Its four-fold Bug weakness makes it susceptible to being trapped by Dugtrio, and its Dark weakness makes Pursuit Tyranitar a huge threat to any Celebi without Baton Pass. While Celebi can often be considered a special wall, its inability to pressure Skarmory and weaker special bulk make it relatively weaker to Spikes and sand than Blissey.
[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Leech Seed
move 2: Recover
move 3: Psychic / Substitute / Reflect / Heal Bell
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 40 SpA / 60 SpD / 32 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Utility Celebi is unique in the metagame as a mixed wall that can deal with Electric-types, Water-types, and Snorlax as well as exert constant pressure with Leech Seed and the threat of trapper support.
Leech Seed and Celebi's accompanying bulk are the main features of this set. Leech Seed is a move with both offensive and defensive utility that allows Celebi to chip a number of Pokemon while maintaining momentum via passive recovery for itself or its teammates. Offensively, the chip damage is excellent at wearing down bulky physical tanks, potentially putting Metagross and Tyranitar into OHKO range of boosted Salamence's, Aerodactyl's, and Dugtrio's Earthquake. It can also place Tyranitar into OHKO range of defensive Metagross and potentially into 2HKO range of Snorlax's Earthquake. Leech Seed is also excellent at wearing down Flying-types because of their lack of recovery and, in some cases, lack of sand immunity, allowing Water-types to threaten weakened Zapdos more easily, putting Moltres into 2HKO range of Pursuit Tyranitar, and placing Skarmory into OHKO range of Timid Magneton. Defensively, Leech Seed allows Claydol to keep spinning in the face of Drill Peck Skarmory, forcing Skarmory to switch out first, hence leaving no Spikes on the field. It is also serves to check Suicune and Snorlax by forcing them to Rest repeatedly, allowing a teammate to exploit those free turns. Finally, Leech Seed's passive recovery and ability to force switches can either provide Choice Band users like Salamence and Heracross with some added longevity or let them switch in freely.
Recover allows Celebi to stick around for a long time and is especially needed in the face of repeated hits from Snorlax; Ice-type coverage from Water-types, Zapdos, and Gengar; Will-O-Wisp from Gengar; and Toxic from Blissey, Milotic, Swampert, and Zapdos. Celebi is bulky and does not have to use Recover frequently if it pivots only into resisted attacks. If the opponent has Dugtrio, though, Celebi should be kept near full HP through Recover, even though it can be tempting to maintain the pressure with repeated Leech Seeds.
Psychic hits Gengar very hard, which is important because many teams rely exclusively on Celebi to pivot into its Will-O-Wisp. It also makes progress against many switch-ins, like Salamence, Moltres, Aerodactyl, Heracross, Flygon, and Heracross, and helps Celebi deal with Zapdos a bit more easily. Although most Zapdos are unable to severely threaten Celebi, Leech Seed's PP can easily be drained through Zapdos's Pressure, and the occasional Substitute Zapdos can completely turn the tables on Celebi lacking Psychic.
Hidden Power Grass allows Celebi to OHKO Dugtrio with minimal Special Attack investment, hits Tyranitar hard, and allows Celebi to be a Starmie pivot. On Spikes teams, it allows Celebi to threaten the two common spinners—Claydol and Starmie—should they attempt to spin on Celebi. Hidden Power Grass is mostly run when Celebi is not paired with Dugtrio or Porygon2. When paired with either, the preferred move is Baton Pass, as Celebi can scout for a Tyranitar or Dugtrio switch-in and pass out to either trapper. If Celebi is at full HP, it can also tank Hidden Power Bug and trap opposing Dugtrio by passing to one's own Dugtrio. When used with Magneton, Baton Pass also helps to catch Skarmory.
As for less commonly used moves, Substitute in conjunction with Leech Seed and Baton Pass makes Celebi adept at inducing chip damage, eases trapping, and generates free turns for huge threats like Aerodactyl. Reflect neuters Metagross's Explosion and Snorlax's Self-Destruct, protecting one's bulky Water-types and also Celebi itself. Reflect also provides a crucial setup turn for sweepers like Curse Snorlax and Dragon Dance Salamence. Heal Bell can be helpful for teammates with Rest like Suicune, Snorlax, and Zapdos. Light Screen helps Forretress and Skarmory avoid being trapped and taken out by Magneton; Forretress can then KO back with Earthquake, while Skarmory can phaze Magneton and a reverse trap can be set with Dugtrio later on. Perish Song is a phazing move that stops Calm Mind users in their tracks and also deals with bulky setup sweepers in the endgame. The downside to using these alternative moves is that dropping a STAB move or Baton Pass for any of them compromises Celebi's ability to deal with both Gengar and Dugtrio at the same time. Gengar is easier to deal with than Dugtrio because Celebi can simply be paired with a Pursuit trapper, so Hidden Power Grass is frequently the attacking move kept when Celebi sports these alternate moves.
The EVs are fashioned to survive Choice Band Aerodactyl's Hidden Power Bug and Salamence's Hidden Power Flying in sand, and they let Celebi comfortably survive Hidden Power Bug from Dugtrio. 40 Special Attack EVs are required to OHKO Dugtrio with Hidden Power Grass; variants lacking the said move can place the EVs in Special Defense or Speed. 32 Speed EVs are required to outrun all Tyranitar. Celebi can go for a faster benchmark like 136 Speed EVs, which gets the jump on Adamant Heracross and most offensive Suicune. Substitute Celebi can use a spread of 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 Spe with a Timid nature to survive Adamant Dugtrio while outrunning Timid Moltres and neutral-natured Salamence, Zapdos, Flygon, and Charizard. With this spread, Celebi can also Baton Pass out of a significant number of Taunt Gengar that are EVed to survive Pursuit Tyranitar under sand and Dragon Dance Salamence. If Celebi is important as a special wall, a specially defensive spread of 252 HP / 64 Def / 40 SpA / 120 SpD / 32 Spe with a Calm nature can be used; this spread also allows Celebi to survive Adamant Dugtrio's Hidden Power Bug.
The key to using Celebi successfully is to generate entry opportunities for strong threats and trappers and to rack up enough chip damage to allow sweepers to run their course. Try to use Leech Seed to force switches and heal passively so that powerful threats can enter the field while taking minimum damage, but be careful to combine that with smart pivoting so as not to burn through Leech Seed's PP too quickly; common Leech Seed targets, especially Pokemon with Pressure like Zapdos and Suicune, tend to have the bulk to last quite a while. Conserving PP allows Celebi to be more threatening throughout the game, especially in the closing stages. Also, take advantage of Celebi drawing in many trappable checks, like Tyranitar, Metagross, Dugtrio, and Skarmory, especially by using Baton Pass if it is run. Finally, an aggressive sequence of consecutive Leech Seeds, especially with Spikes, can generate a lot of chip damage without having Celebi take any damage.
Team Options
========
Trappers are very common partners to utility Celebi. Magneton gets rid of Skarmory, which easily comes in and sets up Spikes on any variant of utility Celebi. Leech Seed also has nifty synergy with Substitute Magneton, which can trap and indefinitely wear down seeded Metagross and defensive Jirachi. Dugtrio traps chipped Tyranitar, Metagross, and opposing Celebi and can also take out opposing Dugtrio locked into Hidden Power Bug either from KOing or getting Baton Passed out of by Celebi. While Dugtrio does not directly help with Spikes control, taking out the bulky offensive Pokemon that exploit Celebi with Spikes around can allow Celebi to function reasonably well even under Spikes. Porygon2 is also a splendid partner that removes opposing Dugtrio and can indefinitely wall Salamence, one of the few common checks to Celebi that cannot be removed easily by trapping. Pursuit Tyranitar frees up Celebi to use a filler move instead of Psychic and can wear down Choice Band Salamence and Aerodactyl locked into a resisted move.
Winning the Spikes war is one option for teams using utility Celebi. Bulky Spikers like Skarmory and Forretress are great for exploiting Celebi's switch forcing abilities. Together with Leech Seed, Spikes can generate a lot of chip damage for a sweeper like Aerodactyl to clean up the opposing team. Defensively, these Pokemon also help Celebi to deal with physical Metagross and Salamence. Claydol spins Spikes away, which is useful given Celebi's extraordinary propensity to attract Skarmory, and it can make use of Leech Seed's healing to stand its ground against Drill Peck Skarmory. Flygon's Spikes immunity and role as an Electric- and Rock-type check also help to compensate for Celebi's Skarmory attracting tendencies.
Secondary special walls with a niche of their own, like Curse Snorlax and Rest Zapdos, make the team more robust against special attacks while offering their own utility. Celebi acts as a mid-game special wall, protecting Snorlax from taking chip so that it has the HP to perform a Curse sweep, while Snorlax can support Celebi should it falter against more potent special threats like Starmie, Calm Mind Suicune, Jirachi, and Celebi. Rest Zapdos helps Celebi deal with Suicune and other special threats, especially when Spikes are present, and can phaze Calm Mind Celebi.
Hard-hitting physical Pokemon, like Heracross and Choice Band Salamence, benefit from the entry or healing opportunities presented by Celebi's Leech Seed and from their mutual synergy with trappers. Heracross batters down Salamence, which Celebi can threaten later with Psychic, and Celebi can absorb Thunderbolt from Zapdos should it be the opponent's Heracross check. Heracross also benefits from Celebi synergistically luring in Dugtrio to be revenge killed by one's own Dugtrio. Salamence provides robust defensive utility against Heracross and draws in Swampert and Zapdos, which Celebi can easily pivot in on.
Bulky Water-types are appreciated teammates, as Celebi's checks are mostly physical attackers. Milotic is a physical and mixed wall that can continuously soak up hits from Salamence, Tyranitar, Metagross, and Flygon, which love coming in on Celebi. Suicune is less robust than Milotic, but it can make full use of Leech Seed's recovery to provide some mid-game utility and play a more targeted endgame through a Calm Mind sweep. These Water-types benefit from the Dugtrio synergy, which reduces the heavy burden of Tyranitar and Metagross using unresisted Rock Slide or Explosion on them. Using Swampert might be tempting, but the prevalence of Fire-types with Grass-type coverage makes the Celebi + Swampert core unreliable for the long haul, and such cores must win the game through aggressive plays and trades on the more offensive side of the team.
Finally, as Celebi has a propensity to wear down physically defensive Pokemon, sweepers like Aerodactyl, Dragon Dance Salamence, Dragon Dance Tyranitar, and Agility Metagross are all fine partners for taking down weakened teams.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind + Baton Pass
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Giga Drain / Psychic
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Baton Pass
Item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 76 SpA / 180 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi is an excellent offensive momentum reverser that can support both wallbreakers and sweepers. It is one of the few Pokemon on offense teams that can shrug off Zapdos's Thunderbolt and offensive Swampert's Hydro Pump and pressure the opponent by setting up. Its coverage moves hit phazers hard and force opposing Metagross and Snorlax to navigate a tricky decision of sacrificing themselves with Explosion or Self-Destruct, lest they miss their chance to take out an attacking Celebi or waste the sacrifice on an unfavorable target.
Calm Mind does not merely function as a stat boost for passing, though—it provides Celebi with both offensive and defensive utility as well. Boosted Giga Drain allows Celebi to stay in on a Tyranitar switch-in and threaten to 2HKO it. The recovery allows Celebi to be brought back to full HP from any chip damage it might have received from pivoting in, giving it better survivability against Hidden Power Bug from Tyranitar. The boost also allows Celebi to OHKO Starmie under sand with Giga Drain, protecting it from the latter's Ice Beam. Boosted Giga Drain also OHKOes Dugtrio and heals back whatever HP was lost from taking a Hidden Power Bug, which might otherwise place Celebi into sand range. Finally, Giga Drain allows Celebi to take down any Swampert or Suicune that are brave enough to stay in to phaze or continue chipping down Celebi. Psychic is a notable alternative that allows Celebi to hit Taunt Gengar, Moltres, Roar Zapdos, Salamence, Heracross, Flygon, and Charizard hard, especially after a Calm Mind boost. Note also that the Special Defense boost protects Celebi from Moltres and mixed Salamence too. Hidden Power Fire hits Skarmory hard, forcing it to waste a turn phazing Celebi so that no Spikes are laid on the field, and threatens Metagross. It also prevents Jirachi and other Celebi from checking this set easily by engaging in a Calm Mind war.
Baton Pass is mostly used for passing Calm Mind boosts, but it can also be used without any to aid Dugtrio or Porygon2 in trapping incoming Metagross, Tyranitar, or Dugtrio. After all, the last thing a Baton Pass Celebi team wants is Metagross using a free Explosion or Tyranitar setting up on the Baton Pass target.
All EVs spreads come with tradeoffs. The listed EVs give boosted Celebi good odds to 2HKO bulky Tyranitar and the assured OHKO on offensive Starmie in sand while outspeeding Timid Moltres and Adamant Salamence. They also give Celebi a chance to OHKO Dugtrio without a boost. The HP investment helps Celebi to survive Hidden Power Bug from Jolly Dugtrio and provides extra bulk against Ice-type coverage. Alternatively, one can place the Special Attack EVs into Defense to always survive Adamant Tyranitar's Hidden Power Bug under sand at the expense of all the odds and assurances above. A spread of 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe can be used to heavily pressure Skarmory with an almost assured 2HKO and turns all the above rolls into certainties. However, such a set is likely to be OHKOed by Hidden Power Bug from Dugtrio and Tyranitar. Finally, one can even lower the Speed investment to the level of outspeeding Adamant Heracross in order to strengthen Special Attack, resulting in a spread of 252 HP / 120 SpA / 136 Spe. This turns the offensive rolls into certainties without sacrificing bulk; it is especially useful when paired with Agility + Baton Pass Zapdos to make up for Celebi's lack of Speed.
Team Options
========
Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi is usually found on special and mixed offense teams. The key to choosing recipients for the Calm Mind boost is understanding which targets pivot nicely into Celebi's checks. The hard-hitting checks that Celebi cannot deal with reliably using its coverage moves fall into three categories: bulky physical threats such as Metagross, Tyranitar, and Snorlax; physical Flying-types such as Salamence and Aerodactyl; and Fire-types such as Moltres and Charizard. Additionally, Blissey is a counter that falls into none of these categories.
On mixed offense teams, one can consider the following Baton Pass targets. Offensive Swampert comes in safely on Metagross, Tyranitar, and Salamence lacking Choice Band, as well as on Thunder Wave Blissey. A Calm Mind boost allows Swampert to OHKO Tyranitar with Hydro Pump, as well as Metagross while in Torrent range. The Special Defense boost also prevents Swampert from getting 2HKOed by Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar, and if Swampert comes in at full HP, it can also prevent mixed Salamence from OHKOing it with Hidden Power Grass. Should Swampert enter the game first, it easily lures in Zapdos, which lets Celebi switch in easily. Fire-types like Charizard and Moltres are high-pressure wallbreaking pivots into Metagross that can also threaten Skarmory should the opponent send it in as Celebi Baton Passes out. Mixed Metagross is a nice Snorlax and Blissey pivot that can 2HKO Swampert with Psychic after a boost. Mixed Tyranitar and Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar can also pivot into Snorlax; a Calm Mind boost allows mixed Tyranitar to often OHKO Swampert and Metagross and allows Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar to comfortably 2HKO Swampert without worrying about getting taken out by Torrent-boosted Hydro Pump.
Zapdos is a pretty unique partner, as it has Baton Pass and Agility. Baton Pass allows it to maintain boosts by sending them to a teammate and can be used with or without Agility. Just having Baton Pass allows Zapdos to be a specially offensive Baton Pass target that can keep the boost alive for a longer period of time should Celebi get battered down while boosting, and Zapdos will not be concerned with being walled when it can pass the boosts to a mixed wallbreaker. While having Baton Pass Zapdos is itself great, Agility takes the synergy to a whole new level. Celebi with a Speed boost no longer gets revenge killed by Dugtrio, Aerodactyl, and Salamence, and the pairing allows Celebi to get by with lower Speed investment. Conversely, Agility and Calm Mind boosts allow Zapdos to be a great late-game sweeper, and if the time is not ripe, it can pass the boosts to mixed Swampert or mixed Metagross, annihilating potential checks and revenge killers like Gengar, Zapdos, mixed Salamence, Starmie, Dugtrio, and Aerodactyl. Natural Cure on Celebi is a subtle but important part of passing Speed; Thunder Wave is a common measure for negating Speed boosts, so Zapdos can first pass the boost to Celebi, which then heals itself of the paralysis by passing out. Since paralyzed Celebi is usually the slower Pokemon on the field, the intended target receives the boosts without ever taking a scratch. Salac Berry + Substitute Zapdos is another possibility for acquiring the Speed boost that eases the prediction-based sequences of Swampert to Snorlax and allows Zapdos to still get the boost in the face of an onslaught of attacks that would have KOed Zapdos trying to squeeze off an Agility boost.
On special offense teams, one can use the following Baton Pass targets instead. Calm Mind Suicune, Jirachi, and Raikou all appreciate boosts as a head start in the attempt to muscle through Blissey. Suicune acts as a pivot into Fire-types and physical attackers, and upon Celebi's first entry, it can use the fear of Celebi's potential Psychic pressuring Moltres to attack directly to avoid Will-O-Wisp. Jirachi acts as a much-needed source of Rock resistance and is the most reliable Calm Mind user to take down Blissey lacking Thunder Wave and Snorlax. Porygon2 can trap Dugtrio, and though it does not have much offensive presence, it can come in indefinitely on Salamence's Hidden Power Flying. Regice is a great secondary special check to Zapdos, Suicune, and Starmie, and with Calm Mind boosts, it really pressures Blissey and Snorlax to come in and take the Explosion. The chip damage that Regice can induce on Tyranitar and Metagross is also highly appreciated by the other Calm Mind users. Kingdra can use a boost to nail the much-appreciated OHKOs on Zapdos, Gengar, and Skarmory with Hydro Pump. Starmie can also take advantage of a boost, and its Speed helps to maintain the team's momentum by minimizing revenge kill opportunities after being passed a boost.
Finally, Dugtrio is a fine partner on any sort of team, and here it can remove Metagross and Tyranitar or trade Celebi with them, revenge kill opposing Dugtrio, and use the Special Defense boosts to safely take Blissey's Ice Beams to possibly 2HKO with Earthquake.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Psychic
Item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Offensive Celebi plays a unique role in ADV OU as a special sweeper and mixed wallbreaker. Although it is not as fast as Starmie and needs at least a turn to set up, it notably differs from other sweepers in that it frequently has the bulk to trade KOs with its checks, making it great at maintaining momentum. Unlike most special sweepers, many of its checks are physically bulky, allowing Celebi also to function as a wallbreaker for physically offensive Pokemon.
With a boost, Giga Drain 2HKOes Tyranitar, Suicune, Claydol, and possibly Milotic, and it OHKOes Starmie, Dugtrio, and Swampert. Don't underestimate Giga Drain's healing abilities—it can increase Celebi's odds of surviving being trapped by Dugtrio by bringing it back to full HP after a KO as well as healing back the damage Dugtrio did to it, keeping Celebi out of sand KO range. Giga Drain's regeneration also helps Celebi survive Hidden Power Bug from Tyranitar and helps it when facing fast foes like Starmie. Notably, with enough boosts, Giga Drain in conjunction with Psychic gives Celebi a way to muscle past Blissey lacking a status move. Again requiring a boost, Hidden Power Fire 2HKOes Metagross, often 2HKOes Skarmory, helps in tussles against Celebi and Jirachi, and usually OHKOes Forretress and Magneton. Psychic is Celebi's strongest STAB move and is the primary move used to wear down Snorlax and Blissey. With a boost, it also 2HKOes airborne Pokemon—Salamence, offensive Zapdos, Moltres, and Flygon—that would check or phaze Celebi, and it OHKOes Gengar and the Fighting-types Heracross and Breloom.
Offensive Celebi can be used either mid-game or late-game. As a mid-game wallbreaker, bring it in against Zapdos or Swampert, and use it to trade KOs with mixed Salamence, Moltres, Snorlax, Metagross, and Tyranitar. It also prevents Skarmory from setting up Spikes by forcing it to phaze Celebi. With the aforementioned Pokemon worn down or removed, Celebi can also sweep late-game.
Team Options
========
Offensive Celebi fits mostly on special offense teams, especially in conjunction with Calm Mind users, but can sometimes be used with Spikes. Ironically, it can also fit on physically offensive teams due to its ability to trade KOs with physical tanks like Tyranitar, Metagross, and Salamence, wear down Skarmory, get ahead of and take out Moltres, and pivot into Gengar's Will-O-Wisp.
Dugtrio is a useful partner, and it is almost mandatory on special offense. It revenge kills opposing Dugtrio that end up trapping Celebi and can remove checks like Blissey, chipped Tyranitar and Metagross, and weakened Snorlax.
Offensive Jirachi is an excellent partner. With almost the same coverage and natural bulk and shared Calm Mind usage, Jirachi is a Celebi lookalike. They share essentially all their checks, and a trade with one paves the way for the other to sweep. Speaking of trading checks, one common way to eliminate Dugtrio should Jirachi go down first is Porygon2, which also indefinitely checks Dragon Dance Salamence. Offensive Suicune is also an offensive pivot for Dragon Dance Salamence on Calm Mind teams. With Celebi around, Regice is a good secondary special check to Zapdos, Starmie, and Suicune that can also lure in and use Explosion on Blissey and Snorlax without worrying too much about compromising the team's special bulk. Regice also draws in and wears down Tyranitar and Metagross, which can be helpful for turning Celebi's 2HKOs into OHKOs.
Offensive Celebi can be used on some Spikes teams too. Aggressive setters like Taunt Skarmory and Cloyster are possible partners. Gengar's spinblocking abilities are always useful with Spikes, but defensive Gengar also helps the team survive against Dragon Dance Salamence, while offensive Gengar's rainbow of coverage can provide the chip needed for Celebi to finish the opposing team off. Celebi is always a nice Aerodactyl partner, as it turns the tide on Electric- and Water-types. However, using offensive Celebi instead of defensive Celebi also makes Skarmory and Cloyster's weakness to Electric-types more pronounced, so having Aerodactyl to exert immense pressure on Zapdos is helpful.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Baton Pass
move 3: Leech Seed / Shadow Ball / Ancient Power / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Recover / Hidden Power Fighting
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Impish
evs: 244 HP / 124 Def / 140 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Swords Dance Celebi's main purpose is to pivot into special attacks or passive Pokemon and Baton Pass Attack boosts to physically offensive teammates. Leech Seed wears down physical tanks for the Baton Pass target and helps to force switches so that Celebi can set up on something favorable. This set is most effective when Swords Dance has not been revealed, as Celebi can surprise a Roar-less Zapdos or Blissey sent in to stall out Leech Seed PP with a boost and subsequent pass to Aerodactyl or Metagross. Recover helps Celebi to function as a tank akin to utility sets.
Attacking filler moves can also be used to hit phazers and setup sweepers that try to ruin the pass. After a boost, Hidden Power Fighting OHKOes or comes close to OHKOing Tyranitar, Shadow Ball OHKOes Taunt Gengar, and Ancient Power has good odds to 2HKO defensive Zapdos and OHKOes Moltres. Hidden Power Bug is an option over Hidden Power Fighting when only a single attacking filler move is used. It still hits Tyranitar pretty hard and can finish off weakened defensive Taunt Gengar that barely survived Tyranitar's Pursuit.
This set has several EV options with their own tradeoffs. The listed spread survives Aerodactyl's Hidden Power Bug and Choice Band Salamence's Hidden Power Flying under sand while also outspeeding Adamant Heracross. The slower option of 252 HP / 124 Def / 96 SpD / 36 Spe can be used to still outspeed all Tyranitar. When using attacking moves, 76 Attack EVs allow Celebi to OHKO Tyranitar and Gengar after a boost; take EVs out of Special Defense if need be. Alternatively, one can also go the fast route with 252 HP / 76 Atk / 180 Spe to outspeed Moltres, neutral-natured Salamence, and neutral-natured Flygon. Taking EVs out of Attack for 252 HP / 40 Def on the prior spread can also be done to survive Jolly Salamence's Hidden Power Flying while still outspeeding and passing out of Adamant Salamence. When not using Hidden Power Fighting, which requires 30 Speed IVs, Jolly Celebi can Speed tie with Speed-invested Salamence and Flygon, though this is extremely dangerous because Choice Band variants can OHKO Celebi should they win the tie. Note, however, that being slow can be advantageous, as Celebi taking the foe's move shields the pass target from any damage or status. This is helpful when passing to Aerodactyl or Agility Metagross, for example.
Team Options
========
Swords Dance Celebi requires quite a bit of support. Magneton is almost always required to stop Skarmory from switching into Celebi and walling all its physically offensive teammates. Pursuit Tyranitar is needed for Gengar if Celebi is not carrying Shadow Ball or Ancient Power; Taunt Gengar prevents Celebi from passing, and is generally a huge threat to physical sweepers due to Will-O-Wisp and Ice- and Electric-type coverage to OHKO Salamence and Gyarados. Pursuit also limits the longevity of Choice Band Salamence and Aerodactyl, which otherwise enter freely on Celebi. Ice Beam on Tyranitar also allows it to pivot in on Dragon Dance Salamence and land a OHKO. Milotic is great as a reliable physically defensive wall that can continuously pivot into Salamence, which, again, Celebi can barely touch.
As far as recipients go, Agility Metagross is a nice sweeper that can either use Explosion to take out bulky Water-types or boost and sweep. Dragon Dance Gyarados is one of the few pass recipients that does not fold to bulky Water-types. Notably, with a Swords Dance and a Dragon Dance boost, Gyarados OHKOes Zapdos with Double-Edge and OHKOes Aerodactyl that has been chipped by Pursuit Tyranitar. Dragon Dance Salamence has better coverage and power at the cost of being weak to Ice Beam; one can consider running a Jolly nature on it to outrun Moltres, neutrally invested Zapdos, and neutrally invested mixed Salamence. Substitute + Liechi Berry Aerodactyl is a very fast cleaner that needn't risk taking attacks for a boost, unlike Dragon Dance Salamence, despite being a little weaker. Mixed Zapdos can make use of the Attack boost to break past Blissey, Celebi, and Tyranitar or pass it further to another target. Lum Berry can be helpful on it to avoid Blissey's status moves. Finally, Snorlax is a decent physically offensive special tank that, when passed a boost, can OHKO Metagross and Tyranitar, lest the eventual Baton Pass target take an Explosion or be set up upon.
[SET]
name: Defensive Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Leech Seed
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Recover
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 76 SpA / 36 SpD / 20 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Defensive Calm Mind Celebi is a late-game sweeper. Early-game, it functions like typical utility Celebi, but Calm Mind provides pressure against PP stallers like Snorlax, Blissey, Suicune, Claydol, Zapdos, and other defensive Celebi, making this set more prone to drawing in phazers like Skarmory and Roar Tyranitar or bulky offensive Pokemon like Metagross, Tyranitar, Salamence, and Moltres. Such pressure can be used to wear down or trap Celebi's checks. With only defensive Pokemon left on the field, Calm Mind + Leech Seed is adept at cleaning up the game.
Leech Seed, apart from its variety of functions shared with its role on utility sets, also helps Celebi to plow past Blissey, Curse Snorlax, and Rest Suicune in the endgame. Psychic is the chosen STAB move over Hidden Power Grass, as this set's attack option needs to pressure threats that cannot be reliably trapped like Salamence, Zapdos, Moltres, and Flygon.
The Defense EVs are tailored to survive Choice Band Aerodactyl's Hidden Power Bug and Choice Band Salamence's Hidden Power Flying in sand. The Speed EVs allow Celebi to outrun Endeavor Swampert. A modest amount of Special Attack investment allows Celebi to OHKO Dugtrio after a Calm Mind boost. It also allows Celebi to 2HKO Salamence and Moltres after a boost. That said, these EVs are not really needed with Spikes and should go into Special Defense otherwise. The rest of the EVs are placed into Special Defense to minimize the odds of Swampert's Ice Beam 2HKOing Celebi under sand. Alternatively, a spread of 252 HP / 64 Def / 76 SpA / 96 SpD / 20 Spe with a Calm nature can be used for better robustness against special threats, especially when trying to set up repeatedly against bulky Water-types using Ice Beam. 40, 76, and 176 Speed EVs with a Timid nature to outrun Adamant Heracross, Modest Moltres, and Timid Moltres, respectively, are also options.
Team Options
========
Most of the partners from utility Celebi sets apply, but with slight variations. Where it comes to trappers, Dugtrio features prominently, as Calm Mind forces out more passive Celebi pivots in favor of bulky physical Pokemon like Tyranitar and Metagross, and the lack of Hidden Power Grass means Tyranitar switches in almost freely. Given that Tyranitar poses a massive offensive threat, one must have a very good reason not to use Dugtrio with this Celebi set. Magneton is still a suitable partner, but a team dedicated to supporting Calm Mind Celebi would not need Magneton to remove Skarmory in its role as a physical wall, so a spinner like Claydol or occasionally Starmie can be more useful for Spikes control. Porygon2 is also a theoretical possibility, but if one uses it, it might be hard to fit all the support this Celebi appreciates in a team.
Defensively, Milotic and Suicune are good partners for full coverage against Tyranitar and Salamence that switch in repeatedly, and Celebi's propensity to chip Zapdos also helps these bulky Water-types in return. Swampert is also a possible partner, but it compounds the team's weakness to Moltres and benefits a little less from Dugtrio's ability to trap. Flygon's Spikes and Electric-type immunities help the team defensively against both physical and special threats, especially given Celebi's tendency to attract Skarmory. Rest Zapdos forms a nice specially defensive core with this Celebi set, especially because Celebi without Hidden Power Grass is a little shakier at dealing with offensive Water-types like Starmie and Suicune.
Calm Mind Jirachi, Celebi, and Dugtrio form a core where Celebi and Dugtrio lure in and remove bulky physical Pokemon, and countertrapping opposing Dugtrio from a revenge kill on Celebi can open the way for a Jirachi sweep.
Finally, just to comment on additional subtleties of using Calm Mind as opposed to a more standard utility set: it's not as common to see Calm Mind Celebi used with Heracross or Curse Snorlax. These two pretty much have the same trappable checks as Celebi, and their physical presence does not need Celebi's Calm Mind to pressure passive Pokemon, so Baton Pass is preferable for those pairings.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Celebi can really exist anywhere on the spectrum of defense to offense. The sets listed above are pretty much divided into day and night, but mid-paced Celebi sets are also entirely feasible on the right team. A set of Calm Mind, Leech Seed, and two of Psychic, Giga Drain, and Hidden Power Fire can be used with the appropriate trappers to exert a lot of pressure in the face of Blissey and Snorlax. Alternatively, Recover / Leech Seed / two attacks on an offensive set gives Celebi some defensive utility without compromising its ability to hit threatening switch-ins. Calm Mind / Leech Seed / Psychic / Baton Pass with Magneton support can be really helpful for forcing switches and getting the right foe in so that pass targets have an easier time, and this set also allows Celebi to set up in the face of Blissey and Snorlax. Toxic on the utility set permanently cripples a ton of Celebi's checks, especially Salamence, Moltres, and Tyranitar. Hidden Power Ice can be used on offensive Celebi to nab the surprise KO on Salamence.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Physical Flying-types**: Salamence, Gyarados, and Aerodactyl can switch in safely on any of Celebi's sets and set up or threaten to hit Celebi very hard with a Choice Band-boosted attack. They cannot, however, take repeated hits of Psychic indefinitely, and mixed Salamence in particular struggles to break past Calm Mind Celebi. Note that none of these are foolproof answers to Baton Pass Celebi carrying boosts, as faster Celebi can outspeed them before taking any damage, and slower Celebi can be EVed to take a hit before passing the boosts out.
**Fire-types**: Moltres and Charizard either OHKO many Celebi sets or come very close to doing so and are good pivots against defensive Celebi. Offensive Celebi can, however, beat Moltres and slower Charizard if it uses Calm Mind on the switch, and Baton Pass Celebi can safely pivot out by outspeeding either or tanking a hit if Moltres does not have Roar. Houndoom is a rare check that works in the same vein but can also use Pursuit to catch Celebi switching out.
**Bulky Physical Threats**: Metagross and Tyranitar are usually able to exert enough pressure on defensive Celebi before it can take them out with its coverage moves. They won't stop Celebi from Baton Passing out its boosts, but Metagross can at least use Explosion, and Tyranitar can at least set up on the target with Dragon Dance. Roar Tyranitar can also stop a pass, but it is highly unreliable due to many Celebi packing Giga Drain.
**Phazers**: Skarmory takes next to nothing from defensive Celebi's attacks. It can also stop Celebi from passing boosts while tanking Hidden Power Fire, though that is not an ideal position because it forces Skarmory to take damage without laying Spikes. Roar Zapdos and Moltres can easily phaze Celebi that don't have a move to hit them hard, like Psychic or Ancient Power.
**Dugtrio**: Dugtrio can come in on weakened Celebi to trap and finish it off with Hidden Power Bug. Spikes and Toxic help to induce the chip needed for the KO.
**Bug-type Moves**: Heracross and Flygon don't switch in so well but can threaten to OHKO or 2HKO back with Megahorn and Hidden Power Bug, respectively.
**Ice-types**: Regice and Jynx hit Celebi very hard and undermine Celebi's role as a special tank as well as that of the Zapdos and Celebi core as a specially defensive core. These Ice-types, however, do not stop boosts and should be wary of Hidden Power Fire.
**Spikes**: Skarmory and Forretress can freely set up Spikes on defensive Celebi to erode its defensive capabilities significantly. Celebi frequently relies on Recover to make progress against attacks that do less than 50% damage, so attacks crossing that threshold with Spikes damage place Celebi into unfavorable Recover loops.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[vapicuno, 5454]]
- Quality checked by: [[BKC, 52012], [M Dragon, 21345]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [CryoGyro, 331519]]
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