Latios (Revamp) (Writeup Complete) [QC 2/3] [GP 0/2]

QC: Valentine / aim /
GP /

Taken from Valmanway

Overview
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Latios has a sizable Special Attack as well as a great Speed tier making it one of the fastest, relevant Dragon-types in OU. Along with a fairly wide movepool including moves such as Draco Meteor, and Psyshock, two moves that can do lots of damage, Latio is also one of the best offensive Defoggers in OU. On top of this, Latios also has 6 resistances, and good defenses for switching in when needed;however, Latios has 6 weaknesses including common types such as Dark-, Ice-, and Fairy-Types. Latios is also vulnerable to priority moves such as Sucker Punch, Ice Shard, and Talonflame's Brave Bird, not to mention it can get trapped by a Pursuit user. Quicker Pokemon such as Greninja and Thundurus are quite common and can be threatening to Latios.

Life Orb
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name: Life Orb
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Hidden Power Fire / Earthquake / Surf
move 4: Roost / Defog
ability: Levitate
item: Life Orb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 29 HP
nature: Timid

Moves
========

Draco Meteor is Latios' strongest move, as it lets Latios finish off bulkier Pokemon. Psyshock is a secondary STAB move that allows Latios to threaten special walls, such as Sylveon. The third move is simply a coverage move, for example, Hidden Power Fire hits Scizor, Bisharp, and Ferrothorn, while Earthquake hits the likes of Heatran. Surf on the other hand threatens Pokemon such as Gliscor, Landorus, Tyranitar, and Excadrill. The fourth move is somewhat dependent on what Latios' teammates are. With teammates that know Defog/Rapid Spin, Latios should be running as an all-out Life Orb attacker with Roost as a reliable healing option. Otherwise, Latios should be running Defog to take out pesky hazards.

Set Details
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Life Orb Latios should have maxed out EVs for Special Attack and Speed for maximum damage, while being able to outspeed other Pokemon. Latios' Timid nature is crucial, so it can speed tie opposing base 110s, namely Gengar, Latias, and opposing Latios. Latios can also run a Naive nature so it can at least 2HKO Heatran; however, Latios' Naive nature has little use for the rest of its attacks. Life Orb is the best item to use for this set, as it allows Latios to hit as hard as possible without being locked into a move. 29 HP IVs are used to ensure that you can use Life Orb powered attacks a maximum of 10 times without dying.

Usage Tips
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Latios works well as a late game cleaner, taking out weakened or crippled foes with relative ease. Latios also works as a quick revenge killer thanks to Draco Meteor's immediate power. However, don't rely too much on Draco Meteor, as there are many threats that can shrug off a hit from a -2 Latios, especially Pokemon who can set up on Latios such as Mega-Pinsir, Gyarados, Dragonite, and Mega-Tyranitar.

Team Options
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Latios is quite weak against Dark-types, so Pokemon such as Keldeo, Terrakion, and other Pokemon who can learn Fighting-type moves are great teammates. Terrakion gets special mentions as it handles many Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Bisharp, Tyranitar, and Heatran nicely.

Choice Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Defog / Hidden Power Fire / Surf
move 4: Trick
ability: Levitate
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Timid

Moves
========

Draco Meteor is the key to this set's success. It's a STAB move, and it makes for an amazing revenge killing tool. Psyshock is Latios' secondary STAB move, that can slip past special walls who can wall Latios' Draco Meteor. Latios can choose to run Defog, Hidden Power Fire, or Surf. Defog is a great move for Latios to remove hazards; however, since Latios is carrying a Choice Scarf, Latios does not like being locked into Defog. Hidden Power Fire hits common Metal-Type switch-ins such as Ferrothorn, and Surf is to hit Pokemon such as Gliscor, and Charizard. Trick allows Latios to cripple a wall, as it limits the wall's actions to one move.

Set Details
========

The EV spread is so Latios can be as quick and as powerful as possible. With the remaining 4 EVs, you should invest in HP, for a little extra bulk. Latios' Timid nature allows Latios to speed tie max speed Gengar, Latias, and opposing Latios. A Choice Scarf allows Latios to revenge kill other Pokemon, and to cripple walls.

Usage Tips
========

This set is capable of crippling any wall that can avoid a 2HKO from Latios, so you should prioritize saving Trick for them, though you can also use this strategy on a setup sweeper or a Pokemon that won't outspeed much even with a Scarf. Know when to use a move especially since you could be locked into a move with Choice Scarf.

Team Options
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Physical attackers such as Terrakion and Bisharp help greatly, as they power their way through special walls that would like to sponge the special attacks that Latios will lock itself into. Since Latios is Choice Scarfed, a Pokemon that can clear hazards would greatly help, such as Excadrill and Mew, since Latios is likely going to be switching frequently to revenge kill foes. Also Latios wouldn't want to be locked into Defog.

Other Options
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Latios could run Dragon Pulse instead of Draco Meteor to avoid cutting Latios' power in half; however, with Dragon Pulse Latios won't be able to have the immediate power that Draco Meteor provides. Hidden Power Fighting can be used by Latios to OHKO Bisharp and 2HKO Tyranitar. It also hits both Heatran and Ferrothorn, unlike Hidden Power Fire who can only Ferrothorn. Latios can also carry Choice Specs for increased damage output. Choice Specs makes crippling walls easier for Latios, however with less speed, Latios is threatened by Pokemon with Choice Scarf or Pokemon that are simply faster than Latios.

Checks & Counters
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**Dark-Types**: Dark-Types such as Bisharp and Tyranitar can tank any attack of Latios' and can cleanly OHKO Latios with a Dark-Type STAB move.
**Quicker threats**: Life Orb Latios can easily get revenge killed by the likes of Greninja since quicker threats can outspeed Life Orb Latios, and knock it out.
**Paralysis**: One of Latios' characteristics is its great speed. Without it, Latios is easily KOed, and can be used as setup fodder when Latios is at -2.
**Special walls**: For the exception of Psyshock, which may not even do too much damage to walls, Latios can not do much damage to special walls such as Chansey. Even with Psyshock, Latios can only do around 40% at once. Chansey is easily able to heal up, and start Toxic-stalling.
 
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Uh, okay, I'm aware this isn't in the GP stage yet, but in the nicest way I can say possible, I believe that you can afford to beef and tidy up the analysis a little. While the current writing is just sufficient, it doesn't cover all of Latios's competitive aspects, and a couple of spots are inconsistent.

For example, Latios uses Draco Meteor and gets its Special Attack decreased. Lots of threats can easily take advantage of this and set up on it, such as Dragonite, Mega Tyranitar, Mega Pinsir, Gyarados, Volcarona, and lots more. Mention teammates that can save your team from being killed by these threats if they set up successfully. For instance, Choice Scarf Superpower Landorus-T is perfectly capable of doing just this to all these threats! Psyshock also does jack to Chansey, so a more realistic target to list out is Sylveon, and also mention that it's ALSO used for Keldeo and Mega Venusaur without killing your offense with Draco Meteor, which I think is a pretty freaking important aspect to list out.

You can also mention Latios's good qualities as a Defog user. Sure, it gets mauled by Bisharp, but aside from that, its offensive presence forces switches, which gives it so many opportunities to blow away hazards. On this note, you could also mention in the team comments that teammates that are vulnerable to hazards, such as Greninja, Pinsir, and Dragonite, have a dire love for Defog Latios in particular.

tl;dr, just try to beef up the analysis a little with some detail.

As for inconsistencies, try scanning your analysis for them. I'll mention a few.

For instance, in the Set Details, you claim that with a Timid nature, Latios "can outspeed opposing base 110s." No, that's not it, I think you mean to say "tie with," since these threats commonly run max speed as well and are perfectly capable of defeating you unless they run HP Fire. The remaining 4 Def EVs also do not boost its bulk in any consequential way, so remove the sentence containing that.

In Other Options, you mention Earthquake, but Earthquake is already in the Life Orb set??? If you're referring to the nature, you can just as easily mention that in the Set Comments rather than Other Options, since it pertains to a specific set.

In the Checks and Counters section, you mention Choice Specs Latios, but it's not even a main set on this analysis.

Blah blah blah, flesh out and fix the analysis, or else you'll get accused of actually not using Latios seriously. Thanks.
 
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Uh, okay, I'm aware this isn't in the GP stage yet, but in the nicest way I can say possible, I believe that you can afford to beef and tidy up the analysis a little. While the current writing is just sufficient, it doesn't cover all of Latios's competitive aspects, and a couple of spots are inconsistent.

For example, Latios uses Draco Meteor and gets its Special Attack decreased. Lots of threats can easily take advantage of this and set up on it, such as Dragonite, Mega Tyranitar, Mega Pinsir, Gyarados, Volcarona, and lots more. Mention teammates that can save your team from being killed by these threats if they set up successfully. For instance, Choice Scarf Superpower Landorus-T is perfectly capable of doing just this to all these threats! Psyshock also does jack to Chansey, so a more realistic target to list out is Sylveon, and also mention that it's ALSO used for Keldeo and Mega Venusaur without killing your offense with Draco Meteor, which I think is a pretty freaking important aspect to list out.

You can also mention Latios's good qualities as a Defog user. Sure, it gets mauled by Bisharp, but aside from that, its offensive presence forces switches, which gives it so many opportunities to blow away hazards. On this note, you could also mention in the team comments that teammates that are vulnerable to hazards, such as Greninja, Pinsir, and Dragonite, have a dire love for Defog Latios in particular.

tl;dr, just try to beef up the analysis a little with some detail.

As for inconsistencies, try scanning your analysis for them. I'll mention a few.

For instance, in the Set Details, you claim that with a Timid nature, Latios "can outspeed opposing base 110s." No, that's not it, I think you mean to say "tie with," since these threats commonly run max speed as well and are perfectly capable of defeating you unless they run HP Fire. The remaining 4 Def EVs also do not boost its bulk in any consequential way, so remove the sentence containing that.

In Other Options, you mention Earthquake, but Earthquake is already in the Life Orb set??? If you're referring to the nature, you can just as easily mention that in the Set Comments rather than Other Options, since it pertains to a specific set.

In the Checks and Counters section, you mention Choice Specs Latios, but it's not even a main set on this analysis.

Blah blah blah, flesh out and fix the analysis, or else you'll get accused of actually not using Latios seriously. Thanks.
changed :] thanks so much, gunna just re-read everything, then hopefully a QC member can check it :]
 
This is being reassigned. The skeleton looked fine on this, but to be frank, the writing is really subpar. It also really doesn't show that much experience with the sets themselves. For example, the first set Usage Tips:
Latios works well as a late game cleaner, taking out weakened or crippled foes with relative ease. Latios also works as a quick revenge killer thanks to Draco Meteor's immediate power. However, don't rely too much on Draco Meteor, as there are many threats that can shrug off a hit from a -2 Latios, especially Pokemon who can set up on Latios such as Mega-Pinsir, Gyarados, Dragonite, and Mega-Tyranitar.
Latios is by no means a late-game cleaner, I guess the second part ('quick revenge killer') is kind of true, but you're not really explaining Latios's role that well here. You don't seem to implicate that it can come in throughout the game, checking mons like Keldeo, Rotom-W, and Landorus-I, or coming in and firing off attacks to put pressure on the opposing team, also with Roost to heal up and continue that pressure. This whole section is really a misconception of Latios's role.

Your Team Options are also pretty subpar, I mean 'Latios is quite weak against Dark-types' and 'physical attackers to bust through special walls' doesn't sound like knowledge of partners to me. There's very little depth and information in the Team Options section that would be useful to a new player.

Your efforts to contribute are appreciated, but this simply is not up to par.
 
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