Enter the Dragon
[Overview]
Latios is the premier check to Groudon and Kyogre, the two most threatening and important Pokemon in the tier, making it nigh impossible for teams to pass; unless they run Latias instead. Latios is also a top offensive threat itself; Soul Dew effectively gives it a Calm Mind boost, and it is faster than the majority of Pokemon in the tier. Its immunity to Ground and Spikes and resistances to Fighting and Electric are important defensive qualities, increasing Latios's versatility and capacity to come into play. Latios is especially potent with rain support, as its powerful Thunder either heavily damages many of its checks or inconveniences them with its high paralysis rate. Latios is, however, a victim of its own reputation and influence; its prevalence as a key threat forces many teams to explicitly prepare for Latios, denying its standard sets from making substantial progress against them, especially through the use of Blissey and sun. Also, Latios's poor physical bulk means the likes of Deoxys-A, Salac Berry Groudon, and Extreme Speed Rayquaza can revenge kill or sweep through it quite effectively. Latios is also vulnerable to losing Speed ties and Calm Mind wars in some late-game scenarios.
[SET]
name: Offensive Utility
move 1: Recover
move 2: Refresh / Calm Mind
move 3: Thunder / Thunderbolt
move 4: Ice Beam / Dragon Claw
item: Soul Dew
ability: Levitate
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Recover is essential for allowing Latios to check Groudon and Kyogre throughout the game. Refresh allows Latios to remove paralysis and regain its important Speed advantage;Thunder Wave is commonly used by Groudon and Kyogre. Calm Mind can be used to help Latios break through several defensive Pokemon such as Metagross and Ho-Oh. Thunder hits Kyogre for maximum damage, and with rain support, it does well against Ho-Oh, Snorlax, and Steel-types. Thunderbolt is substantially weaker but still hits Kyogre fairly hard and allows Latios to maintain BoltBeam coverage when used on a sun team. Ice Beam hits Groudon hard and covers many foes with Thunder or Thunderbolt. Dragon Claw gives up some damage against Groudon, but it still hits opposing Latios, Latias, and Rayquaza while hitting Snorlax acceptably without having to rely on Thunder and rain. Maximum Special Attack EVs are essential for Latios to function as a strong check to Kyogre and Groudon; they are also important for dealing decent damage to Snorlax and Steel-types. 252 Speed EVs outspeed maximum Speed Rayquaza and Speed tie opposing Modest Latios or Latias. A Timid nature outspeeds Modest Latios and Latias and offensive Lugia, alongside a few other niche threats.
This set is versatile, fitting on most team archetypes, and it requires no specific support. Because this set invites in Blissey, it is important for teams to have strong Blissey checks, such as Snorlax, Forretress, and Metagross. The same goes for Snorlax, making good switch-ins to Snorlax such as Forretress, Metagross, Skarmory, Lugia, Gengar, and Dusclops essential. Trappers such as Magneton, Dugtrio, Umbreon, and Wobbuffet are highly effective at disrupting, trapping, and potentially removing some of its checks. A cleric such as Blissey or Celebi can allow Latios to drop Refresh for Calm Mind, helping Latios check Kyogre and Groudon without sacrificing its sweeping potential.
[SET]
name: Pure Offense
move 1: Calm Mind / Hidden Power Fire
move 2: Thunder / Thunderbolt
move 3: Solar Beam
move 4: Dragon Claw
item: Soul Dew
ability: Levitate
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Pure offense Latios trades some consistency in checking Kyogre and Groudon for increased power. Calm Mind increases Latios's wallbreaking and cleaning potential, letting it tear apart any foe besides Blissey that is not faster than Latios. Hidden Power Fire instead lets Latios hit Shedinja and Steel-types such as Forretress, Metagross, and Jirachi hard under sun. An Electric-type attack is critical for hitting Kyogre, as well as Ho-Oh, Lugia, Skarmory, and Steel-types under rain. With Solar Beam and Dragon Claw, Latios maximizes damage output against Groudon and opposing Latios and Latias, so it has no need for Ice Beam.
Because this set doesn't have great longevity against Kyogre and Groudon, it should be run on offensive teams with secondary Kyogre and Groudon checks such as Latias, Blissey, Lugia, and Kyogre. Blissey is one of the few Pokemon that comfortably checks this set, encouraging teammates that are good at punishing Blissey when it comes in such as Snorlax, Forretress, and Dugtrio. Mixed attackers that can bait Blissey into getting KOed by Self-Destruct or Explosion such as Mewtwo and Regice are also good partners. Spikes from the likes of Forretress, Skarmory, Deoxys-D, Omastar, or Qwilfish helps chip Steel-types and Snorlax for Latios to later sweep through. Weather sweepers such as Omastar, Qwilfish, Exeggutor, and Kabutops are great for covering Mewtwo, Deoxys-A, and Aerodactyl, which are some of the only Pokemon capable of revenge killing Latios.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
A Dragon Dance set with Hidden Power Fighting and coverage moves like Ice Beam, Thunder, Shadow Ball, and Earthquake salvage Latios's workable Attack stat to break through Blissey and Snorlax, its two most common and effective checks. The set requires maximum Attack investment with Soul Dew along with 156 Speed EVs, alongside support from strong Kyogre and Groudon checks. Substitute can be used to block incoming status and scout between several potential switch-ins to maximize damage. Mono-attack Latios with Calm Mind and Dragon Claw could potentially be used, but it is largely outclassed by Latias, which has better defensive stats. Toxic and Thunder Wave can disrupt a few of Latios's common responses, but they are mostly less useful than other utility or offensive moves. Latios could potentially utilize Protect to scout Choice Band users, which commonly target it, but it is otherwise a mostly useless move.
Checks and Counters
====
**Blissey**: Except against Dragon Dance sets, Blissey is a common and fairly secure check to Latios, comfortably tanking Latios's attacks with its massive special bulk and forcing it out with Calm Mind + Ice Beam or Toxic + Seismic Toss. Latios can comfortably click Refresh or Recover before deciding how to punish Blissey with a switch; however, chip damage makes it easier to break through Latios with another Pokemon later. Further, Blissey may run moves such as Snatch and Light Screen to prevent Latios from doing this as well.
**Snorlax**: Although its special bulk isn't as solid as Blissey's, Snorlax is more than capable of tanking Latios's strongest attacks and threatening it with a powerful Body Slam.
**Ho-Oh**: While it gets hit hard by Thunder, Ho-Oh is a fairly effective Latios check in sun that can threaten Latios with status or powerful physical attacks such as Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Flying.
**Steel-types**: Metagross takes heavy damage from Thunder or Hidden Power Fire in sun, but it can switch into Dragon Claw and Ice Beam and can threaten Latios with its strong physical attacks. Similar to Metagross but less potent, Forretress can still force Latios out with the threat of Explosion, Hidden Power Bug, or freely setting or removing Spikes. More niche Steel-types like Jirachi, Steelix, Registeel, and Magneton can soft check Latios due to their resistances. Jirachi can set up with Calm Mind against Latios or use Wish to stall and smack it with Body Slam or Shadow Ball; Steelix is immune to Electric-type attacks and can hit back with strong physical moves; Registeel can set up with Amnesia or threaten Latios with Hidden Power Ghost and Explosion; and Magneton scares Latios out with status.
**Deoxys-D**: Although it takes some damage from Thunder and Dragon Claw, Deoxys-D is generally not worth trading Latios for, forcing Latios out and allowing Deoxys-D to set Spikes or punish the switch with Knock Off or status.
**Regice**: Regice has enough special bulk to tank a few of Latios's attacks and can hit back with Ice Beam or Explosion.
**Shedinja**: Shedinja is immune to most Latios, but it is KOed by Hidden Power Fire and Shadow Ball sets.
**Swampert**: Swampert has decent bulk, is immune to Thunder, and can hit Latios with a fairly strong Hidden Power Ghost.
**Revenge Killers**: Pokemon such as Deoxys-A, Mewtwo, Dragon Claw Latios and Latias, Choice Band Lugia, Choice Band Aerodactyl, and Salac Berry Heracross have the Speed and power to outspeed, or at very least Speed tie, and KO Latios.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Minority, 222996]]
- Quality checked by: [[Inspirited, 127823], [SuperEpicAmpharos, 306959]]
- Grammar checked by: [[dex, 277988], [Finland, 517429]]
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