[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Foul Play
move 2: Toxic / Taunt
move 3: Sucker Punch / Knock Off / Toxic
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Dark Aura
nature: Jolly or Impish
evs: 248 HP / 76 Def / 184 Spe or 248 HP / 180 Def / 80 Spe
tera type: Steel / Poison
[SET COMMENTS]
* Yveltal's great typing and bulk allow it to be a functional check to Psychic- and Ghost-types. Unlike defensive Arceus-Dark, Yveltal can serve as a soft check to Marshadow as well, while having unique moves such as Sucker Punch, which aid its defensive capabilities further. Compared to the Choice Scarf variant, defensive Yveltal has more longevity across longer games and offers more utility against opposing bulkier teams that the former would struggle against.
* Defensive Yveltal is rather passive against special attackers barring offensive Primal Kyogre, often being setup fodder against Eternatus and Calm Mind Arceus formes. Despite this, Yveltal is a solid check to a lot of threats in the tier for balance and bulky offense teams.
* Foul Play boosted by Dark Aura makes defensive Yveltal difficult to deal with for a lot of physical attackers in the tier due to its high damage, such as against Swords Dance Primal Groudon, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Mega Salamence. It also prevents Zacian-C and offensive Primal Kyogre from directly switching into Yveltal, preventing the former from setting up freely while 2HKOing the latter.
* Toxic allows Yveltal to wear down opposing walls, such as defensive Ho-Oh, Zygarde, Arceus-Fairy, and Arceus-Dark. Alternatively, Taunt can be used to deny setup, such as Zygarde's Coil and Ferrothorn's Spikes, as well as prevent status condition-causing moves that would hinder Yveltal's longevity significantly such as Toxic from Alomomola and defensive Primal Groudon.
* Sucker Punch allows Yveltal to snipe frailer foes, such as Deoxys-A, Mega Mewtwo Y, and weakened Ultra Necrozma, preventing them from removing Yveltal with super effective coverage. Knock Off makes progress into bulkier teams, notably removing Heavy-Duty Boots from Ho-Oh and Alomomola, as well as Leftovers from Zygarde and Ferrothorn. It also removes offensive items from would-be switch-ins, such as Life Orb from opposing Yveltal and Eternatus as well as Choice Band from Chien-Pao, weakening them significantly for Yveltal's teammates to handle.
* The combination of Taunt and Toxic allows Yveltal to annoy bulky balance and stall teams by outlasting foes such as Alomomola, Chansey, and Dondozo with Roost and preventing their recovery with Taunt, making this set difficult to handle for Pokemon that cannot directly threaten it. U-turn can be considered to gain momentum against Yveltal's switch-ins such as Eternatus and Arceus-Fairy for teammates such as Necrozma-DM and Zacian-C. Defog is another option that allows Yveltal to remove entry hazards set by opposing Pokemon such as Swords Dance Primal Groudon and the more niche Landorus-T. However, Yveltal suffers from four-moveslot syndrome, so it struggles to fit all these moves effectively.
* The first EV spread allows Yveltal to outspeed positive-natured base 90 Speed Pokemon such as Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and the more niche Choice Band Ho-Oh. The rest is dumped into Defense, notably preventing +1 Dragon Dance Zygarde from 2HKOing with Thousand Arrows. The second EV spread trades Speed for more Defense, allowing Yveltal to survive +2 Extreme Killer Arceus's Double Edge and +2 Arceus-Ground's Stone Edge while minimizing the odds of +1 Zacian-C's Play Rough OHKOing. The Speed EVs ensure Yveltal can outspeed unboosted Adamant Necrozma-DM.
* Tera Steel allows defensive Yveltal to check Extreme Killer Arceus and Ultra Necrozma more effectively, since it notably removes Yveltal's weakness to Stone Edge from the latter. Tera Steel additionally protects Yveltal from Toxic poison inflicted by defensive Eternatus and Alomomola, improving its longevity. Tera Poison offers the same benefit but also gives a resistance to Deoxys-A's and Marshadow's Low Kick, allowing Yveltal to check them more easily. Tera Poison additionally enables Yveltal to check Play Rough variants of Zacian-C without being weak to Close Combat. However, gaining a weakness to Psychic-types Yveltal would otherwise check may not be ideal, especially against the aforementioned Deoxys-A. Tera Ghost is an alternative that can catch both Marshadow and Extreme Killer Arceus off guard, but still leaves Yveltal vulnerable to poison.
* This set is relatively simple to use; a physical wall that aims to punish Pokemon such as Ultra Necrozma, Swords Dance Primal Groudon, and Dragon Dance Arceus-Ground. However, Yveltal is not the most consistent physical wall in the tier, and unlike other defensive behemoths such as Zygarde and the more niche Dondozo, it is easier to overwhelm with status conditions such as burn from Ho-Oh and Toxic poison from defensive Primal Groudon. It is ideal to avoid getting statused to maintain Yveltal's longevity, ensuring it can check what it needs to without being severely weakened beforehand, as even paralysis from Zygarde's Glare can prevent Yveltal from revenge killing Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre.
* Yveltal's passivity against Eternatus and Calm Mind Arceus formes means offensive Ho-Oh is a strong teammate for it, since it can deal with these special attacking threats while Yveltal handles physical attackers such as Ultra Necrozma and Extreme Killer Arceus. Defensive Primal Groudon is a strong teammate too, beating Primal Kyogre and Zacian-C for Yveltal as well as offensive variants of Ho-Oh, while appreciating the two dealing with opposing Ground-types such as Arceus-Ground and Zygarde.
* Calm Mind Arceus-Fairy synergizes well with Yveltal, since it appreciates the latter checking Necrozma-DM for it, while Arceus-Fairy can assist Yveltal in checking Marshadow and Zygarde more easily. Marshadow itself is also a good teammate, removing Yveltal's need to run Sucker Punch for Ultra Necrozma and checking Calm Mind Arceus-Dark. In return, Yveltal helps overwhelm shared counterplay in opposing Arceus-Fairy and defensive Ho-Oh. Zacian-C checks Calm Mind Arceus formes and Eternatus for Yveltal; it appreciates Yveltal beating Necrozma-DM and wearing down Ho-Oh, similarly to Calm Mind Arceus-Fairy.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sami.604820/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/bumboclaat.523420/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/player350.676016/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/earthfromthefuture.697682/
name: Defensive
move 1: Foul Play
move 2: Toxic / Taunt
move 3: Sucker Punch / Knock Off / Toxic
move 4: Roost
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Dark Aura
nature: Jolly or Impish
evs: 248 HP / 76 Def / 184 Spe or 248 HP / 180 Def / 80 Spe
tera type: Steel / Poison
[SET COMMENTS]
* Yveltal's great typing and bulk allow it to be a functional check to Psychic- and Ghost-types. Unlike defensive Arceus-Dark, Yveltal can serve as a soft check to Marshadow as well, while having unique moves such as Sucker Punch, which aid its defensive capabilities further. Compared to the Choice Scarf variant, defensive Yveltal has more longevity across longer games and offers more utility against opposing bulkier teams that the former would struggle against.
* Defensive Yveltal is rather passive against special attackers barring offensive Primal Kyogre, often being setup fodder against Eternatus and Calm Mind Arceus formes. Despite this, Yveltal is a solid check to a lot of threats in the tier for balance and bulky offense teams.
* Foul Play boosted by Dark Aura makes defensive Yveltal difficult to deal with for a lot of physical attackers in the tier due to its high damage, such as against Swords Dance Primal Groudon, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Mega Salamence. It also prevents Zacian-C and offensive Primal Kyogre from directly switching into Yveltal, preventing the former from setting up freely while 2HKOing the latter.
* Toxic allows Yveltal to wear down opposing walls, such as defensive Ho-Oh, Zygarde, Arceus-Fairy, and Arceus-Dark. Alternatively, Taunt can be used to deny setup, such as Zygarde's Coil and Ferrothorn's Spikes, as well as prevent status condition-causing moves that would hinder Yveltal's longevity significantly such as Toxic from Alomomola and defensive Primal Groudon.
* Sucker Punch allows Yveltal to snipe frailer foes, such as Deoxys-A, Mega Mewtwo Y, and weakened Ultra Necrozma, preventing them from removing Yveltal with super effective coverage. Knock Off makes progress into bulkier teams, notably removing Heavy-Duty Boots from Ho-Oh and Alomomola, as well as Leftovers from Zygarde and Ferrothorn. It also removes offensive items from would-be switch-ins, such as Life Orb from opposing Yveltal and Eternatus as well as Choice Band from Chien-Pao, weakening them significantly for Yveltal's teammates to handle.
* The combination of Taunt and Toxic allows Yveltal to annoy bulky balance and stall teams by outlasting foes such as Alomomola, Chansey, and Dondozo with Roost and preventing their recovery with Taunt, making this set difficult to handle for Pokemon that cannot directly threaten it. U-turn can be considered to gain momentum against Yveltal's switch-ins such as Eternatus and Arceus-Fairy for teammates such as Necrozma-DM and Zacian-C. Defog is another option that allows Yveltal to remove entry hazards set by opposing Pokemon such as Swords Dance Primal Groudon and the more niche Landorus-T. However, Yveltal suffers from four-moveslot syndrome, so it struggles to fit all these moves effectively.
* The first EV spread allows Yveltal to outspeed positive-natured base 90 Speed Pokemon such as Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and the more niche Choice Band Ho-Oh. The rest is dumped into Defense, notably preventing +1 Dragon Dance Zygarde from 2HKOing with Thousand Arrows. The second EV spread trades Speed for more Defense, allowing Yveltal to survive +2 Extreme Killer Arceus's Double Edge and +2 Arceus-Ground's Stone Edge while minimizing the odds of +1 Zacian-C's Play Rough OHKOing. The Speed EVs ensure Yveltal can outspeed unboosted Adamant Necrozma-DM.
* Tera Steel allows defensive Yveltal to check Extreme Killer Arceus and Ultra Necrozma more effectively, since it notably removes Yveltal's weakness to Stone Edge from the latter. Tera Steel additionally protects Yveltal from Toxic poison inflicted by defensive Eternatus and Alomomola, improving its longevity. Tera Poison offers the same benefit but also gives a resistance to Deoxys-A's and Marshadow's Low Kick, allowing Yveltal to check them more easily. Tera Poison additionally enables Yveltal to check Play Rough variants of Zacian-C without being weak to Close Combat. However, gaining a weakness to Psychic-types Yveltal would otherwise check may not be ideal, especially against the aforementioned Deoxys-A. Tera Ghost is an alternative that can catch both Marshadow and Extreme Killer Arceus off guard, but still leaves Yveltal vulnerable to poison.
* This set is relatively simple to use; a physical wall that aims to punish Pokemon such as Ultra Necrozma, Swords Dance Primal Groudon, and Dragon Dance Arceus-Ground. However, Yveltal is not the most consistent physical wall in the tier, and unlike other defensive behemoths such as Zygarde and the more niche Dondozo, it is easier to overwhelm with status conditions such as burn from Ho-Oh and Toxic poison from defensive Primal Groudon. It is ideal to avoid getting statused to maintain Yveltal's longevity, ensuring it can check what it needs to without being severely weakened beforehand, as even paralysis from Zygarde's Glare can prevent Yveltal from revenge killing Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre.
* Yveltal's passivity against Eternatus and Calm Mind Arceus formes means offensive Ho-Oh is a strong teammate for it, since it can deal with these special attacking threats while Yveltal handles physical attackers such as Ultra Necrozma and Extreme Killer Arceus. Defensive Primal Groudon is a strong teammate too, beating Primal Kyogre and Zacian-C for Yveltal as well as offensive variants of Ho-Oh, while appreciating the two dealing with opposing Ground-types such as Arceus-Ground and Zygarde.
* Calm Mind Arceus-Fairy synergizes well with Yveltal, since it appreciates the latter checking Necrozma-DM for it, while Arceus-Fairy can assist Yveltal in checking Marshadow and Zygarde more easily. Marshadow itself is also a good teammate, removing Yveltal's need to run Sucker Punch for Ultra Necrozma and checking Calm Mind Arceus-Dark. In return, Yveltal helps overwhelm shared counterplay in opposing Arceus-Fairy and defensive Ho-Oh. Zacian-C checks Calm Mind Arceus formes and Eternatus for Yveltal; it appreciates Yveltal beating Necrozma-DM and wearing down Ho-Oh, similarly to Calm Mind Arceus-Fairy.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sami.604820/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/bumboclaat.523420/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/player350.676016/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/earthfromthefuture.697682/
Last edited:
