Pokémon Deoxys-Defense

[Morkal]

Deoxys-Defense

Ability
Pressure

Movepool Additions
Expanding Force, Future Sight, Imprison, Meteor Beam, Pain Split, Psychic Noise, Psychic Terrain, Stored Power, Tera Blast.

Movepool Losses
Ally Switch, Avalanche, Body Slam, Double-Edge, Dynamic Punch, Focus Punch, Laser Focus, Magic Coat, Meteor Mash, Power-Up Punch, Psycho Shift, Recycle, Safeguard, Seismic Toss, Swagger, Torment, Toxic

Competitively Usable Moves

Offensive (Physical)
Brick Break, Counter, Drain Punch, Extreme Speed, Facade, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Ice Punch, Knock Off, Low Kick, Poison Jab, Rock Slide, Stomping Tantrum, Superpower, Throat Chop, Thunder Punch, Zen Headbutt

Offensive (Special)
Dark Pulse, Energy Ball, Flash Cannon, Focus Blast, Future Sight, Grass Knot, Ice Beam, Meteor Beam, Mirror Coat, Night Shade, Psychic, Psyshock, Shadow Ball, Stored Power, Tera Blast, Thunder, Thunderbolt

Utility
Agility, Calm Mind, Iron Defense, Light Screen, Nasty Plot, Protect, Recover, Reflect, Rest, Sleep Talk, Spikes, Stealth Rock, Substitute, Taunt, Teleport, Trick, Trick Room
​

Base Stat Total​	600​
Base Stats​	Level 100 Base Stat Range​
HP 50​	210 - 304​
Attack 70​	130 - 262​
Defense 160​	292 - 460​
Sp. Atk 70​	130 - 262​
Sp. Def 160​	292 - 460​
Speed 90​	166 - 306​

Initial Thoughts (12/15/23)

Initial Thoughts (12/15/23)

Arceus giveth and Arceus taketh. Deoxys-D lost access to several critical moves this generation - including several set staples from previous generations such as Seismic Toss and Toxic. Additionally, Deoxys-D's favorite restorative move, Recover, was nerfed to only have 8 PP instead of 16 - hampering Deoxys-D's longevity against Stall (even with Pressure draining extra PP). Combine this with the Ghost/Dark centric-meta and Deoxys-D's lacking HP stat hampering its fantastic defensive bulk, and there are causes for concern. However, it's not all bad, as Deoxys-D did get some new toys to play with and additionally has access to terastallization now to aid with its lackluster base Psychic-typing. I'm pretty excited to toy around with Deoxys-D in this new meta to see exactly what it can do.

Pros​

• 160/160 Defensive base stats are still great and they're even better backed up by Deoxys-D's solid base 90 speed, which outspeeds some notable threats like Ceruledge, Clefable, Dragonite, Gholdengo, Glimmora, Great Tusk, Heatran, Kingambit, Rillaboom, Samurott-Hisui, and Skeledirge.
• Deoxys-D's movepool, while having taken a hit, is still packed full of great usable options - particularly in the utility department with Stealth Rock and Spikes for hazard setting, Calm Mind and Nasty Plot for stat boosting (along with new access Stored Power to take advantage of it), and additional moves such as Recover, Taunt, Teleport, and more!
• Deoxys-D synergizes well with three of the best Pokemon in the tier - Gholdengo, Great Tusk, and Kingambit, and as a result, can slot quite nicely onto a variety of teams in need of its particular talents.
• Deoxys-D can forgo the woes of its defensive typing thanks to Terastallization, which allows Deoxys-D to get rid of its crippling weaknesses to Ghost, Dark, and Bug-type attacks and even act as a lure for some scary threats that would otherwise check or counter it.

Cons​

• Deoxys-D's movepool took a severe hit - Toxic, Seismic Toss, and Magic Coat, in particular, were big losses, and the nerf to Recover's PP (going from 16 to 8) was not appreciated for its longevity.
• Deoxys-D is very dependent on Tera to handle certain matchups, which can leave your team feeling pressed for terastallization opportunities as Deoxys-D can become dead weight if you're not careful.
• Deoxys-D's base 50 HP stat is dire, mitigating its stellar 160/160 defenses even more than before, and its offensive stats of base 70 very heavily limit its offensive capabilities and keep a lot of its fantastic offensive movepool choices out of its reach.
• Deoxys-D is one of the most Knock Off susceptible Pokemon in the OU metagame, and while this can be played around with particular item choices, it's still something that needs to be considered.

Potential Sets

Utility Spikes Setter


Deoxys-Defense @ Leftovers/Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off/Future Sight
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Pain Split

or


Deoxys-Defense @ Leftovers/Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off/Future Sight
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Recover​

Pretty simple and straightforward - Taunt to shut down slower mons, Knock Off for additional utility + an attacking option, while allowing you to set up Spikes semi-reliably with its solid base 90 speed. Tera Dark is looking to be a great typing for Deoxys-D as it not only gives it a resistance to Dark-type moves (including Sucker Punch), but it also grants Deoxys-D a useful Ghost-type resistance (and a Knock Off damage boost). If you don't want to run Knock Off, Future Sight is potentially an option but is comparatively situational due to Deoxys-D's low offensive stats. The EVs and options for recovery depend on your preferences - Pain Split is a new tool that Deoxys-D got this generation, and can take advantage of it quite well due to its middling HP stat. So the choice is up to you in that regard. If you want to invest in HP, use Recover, if you want to invest in Defense/Special Defense, use Pain Split.

Calm Mind Stored Power


Deoxys-Defense @ Leftovers/Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Recover
- Focus Blast/Taunt/Substitute​

Deoxys-Defense got access to STAB Stored Power which, combined with access to Calm Mind and Recover allows for a potentially potent, game-ending sweep. Focus Blast and Taunt are both options for the last set depending on the specific needs of your team. Thanks to access to Pressure and its wicked defensive profile, Deoxys-D can potentially pull surprise wins out of a seemingly assured loss - but this can end up being even more dead weight than the Spikes variant if you're not careful.

Cosmic Power Night Shade


Deoxys-Defense @ Leftovers/Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Def / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Cosmic Power
- Night Shade
- Recover
- Taunt​

While losing Seismic Toss was a hefty blow (meaning it can't take on Blissey), Cosmic Power Night Shade with Recover and Taunt is still a solid option. 136 EVs with a Timid nature allow you to outspeed Adamant 252 Great Tusk, acquire boosts, and stall things out with Pressure.

 

[Eeveeto]

This Mon is fucking cancer has Teleport and the right Stats and movepool to use it. Hopefully it gets banned eventually though, I really hate Mons that learn Spikes + Rocks and are hard to OHKO at the same time.

 

[Dreadfury]

I'll be honest: if anything's gonna make this mon viable in OU it's gonna be those Cosmic Power sets, which actually do something reasonably unique.

Quote this if I'm wrong, but I just don't see these hazard sets doing quite as well when its main competition stems from mons as incredibly consistent as Gliscor and Ting-Lu, and the offensive hazard setters like Meowscarada and H-Samurott run laps around this guy.

That being said, if you want to make a hazard stacking set work, you absolutely need to mention Skill Swap somewhere here. It's a very unique option that Deo-D can use to differentiate itself from other hazard setters by punishing the shit out of Hatterene by getting rid of Magic Bounce and trolling the living daylights out of Gliscor looking to try getting a Toxic off alongside some free hazards up in your face by stealing its ability and becoming legitimately tanky (especially if you're getting 18.75% recovery per turn; that's quite scary) while actively chipping away at Gliscor or at least forcing it out.

 

[malomyotismon]

I think especially on the boosting sets terra poison is still a solid choice, especially as you are now poison immune helping with longevity at the cost of the ground weakness