I've decided to make this thread after playing a few matches with Latios and Latias. Remember that I'm completely disconsidering Soul Dew here.
First, let's look at their base stats:
Latias:
80 HP
80 attack
90 defense
110 sp. attack
130 sp. defense
110 speed
Latios:
80 HP
90 attack
80 defense
130 sp. attack
110 sp. defense
110 speed
Looking at their base stats, we can say that they are the example of perfect distribution, title shared by very few.
Average HP and defenses scores, good specials, nice speed. Stats-wise, they aren't very special; Cresselia, Heatran, Tyranitar, Metagross, Garchomp and Salamence, for example, share the same total 600 base stats and perfect distribution.
Now, into the movepool (I'll only list the useful moves here):
Draco Meteor (their strongest move)
Helping Hand (doubles only)
Icy Wind (doubles only)
Mist Ball/Luster Purge (signature moves)
Zen Headbutt (physical Latios)
Recover (useful for every Pokemon with average defenses)
Charm (Latias only; not that useful when you have Reflect)
Psychic (not a good attacking type at all, average base power)
Dragon Pulse (reliable STAB move)
Dragon Dance (Latios only)
Ice Beam (offers good coverage)
Thunderbolt (Boltbeam on Latis isn't that useful, really)
Calm Mind (stat-boosting)
Reflect (good option for pseudo passing)
Grass Knot (good hit on Tyranitar, who else walls them)
Pretty good movepool. But, half of these isn't used at all, like Blissey, they have a LOT of options, but few are really effective.
For their typing:
Weakness: Bug, ghost, Ice, Dragon, Dark.
Resistances: Fightning, Ground, Grass, Lightning, Psychic, Fire.
Everything else is neutral.
People say they have awesome typing. I say they are Weavile and Tyranitar weak. Weakness to bug doesn't help either; Scarfcross loves it.
Ice and Dragon are common moves in D/P, too.
What's my point? Simple. An uber is a Pokemon that over centralizes the metagame. The Latis wouldn't do that.
People may argue about Specsmence, but remember that Salamence always had that 135 base attack score, and have Intimidate.
Other special sweepers like Alakazam and PorygonZ still have their strenghts over the Latis. Nasty Plot, Trick, superior special attack, speed, etc.
Banning items is stupid, you say? Well, we "ban" Pokemons already, why not "ban" one item so the metagame could be larger?
Now, about their counters:
Metagross can switch in all day and deal about 70~90% with a Choice Banded Meteor Mash. No Choice Banded is a sure 2HKO on Latios, and 2HKO on Latias almost all the time. This considering minimal defenses.
Tyranitar is a good revenge killer, taking 57~67% from a modest Latios' Grass Knot, deals back 66~77% damage with Crunch on Latias if you're Jolly (minimal defenses). Adamant is 72~84%. Latios takes even more, of course.
Scarfcross and chomp will scare them with super-effective moves that will OHKO no matter what. Latias has a slim chance of surviving a Megahorn if she's running max HP. Switching them in could be a problem, but once you do that, Latis will switch out or get KOed.
Blissey will beat them one-on-one if she has Calm Mind. Without, she can severy cripple them with Sing or Thunder Wave.
Theres a lot more options, but I'll end this post here for now. Why not give them a chance?
First, let's look at their base stats:
Latias:
80 HP
80 attack
90 defense
110 sp. attack
130 sp. defense
110 speed
Latios:
80 HP
90 attack
80 defense
130 sp. attack
110 sp. defense
110 speed
Looking at their base stats, we can say that they are the example of perfect distribution, title shared by very few.
Average HP and defenses scores, good specials, nice speed. Stats-wise, they aren't very special; Cresselia, Heatran, Tyranitar, Metagross, Garchomp and Salamence, for example, share the same total 600 base stats and perfect distribution.
Now, into the movepool (I'll only list the useful moves here):
Draco Meteor (their strongest move)
Helping Hand (doubles only)
Icy Wind (doubles only)
Mist Ball/Luster Purge (signature moves)
Zen Headbutt (physical Latios)
Recover (useful for every Pokemon with average defenses)
Charm (Latias only; not that useful when you have Reflect)
Psychic (not a good attacking type at all, average base power)
Dragon Pulse (reliable STAB move)
Dragon Dance (Latios only)
Ice Beam (offers good coverage)
Thunderbolt (Boltbeam on Latis isn't that useful, really)
Calm Mind (stat-boosting)
Reflect (good option for pseudo passing)
Grass Knot (good hit on Tyranitar, who else walls them)
Pretty good movepool. But, half of these isn't used at all, like Blissey, they have a LOT of options, but few are really effective.
For their typing:
Weakness: Bug, ghost, Ice, Dragon, Dark.
Resistances: Fightning, Ground, Grass, Lightning, Psychic, Fire.
Everything else is neutral.
People say they have awesome typing. I say they are Weavile and Tyranitar weak. Weakness to bug doesn't help either; Scarfcross loves it.
Ice and Dragon are common moves in D/P, too.
What's my point? Simple. An uber is a Pokemon that over centralizes the metagame. The Latis wouldn't do that.
People may argue about Specsmence, but remember that Salamence always had that 135 base attack score, and have Intimidate.
Other special sweepers like Alakazam and PorygonZ still have their strenghts over the Latis. Nasty Plot, Trick, superior special attack, speed, etc.
Banning items is stupid, you say? Well, we "ban" Pokemons already, why not "ban" one item so the metagame could be larger?
Now, about their counters:
Metagross can switch in all day and deal about 70~90% with a Choice Banded Meteor Mash. No Choice Banded is a sure 2HKO on Latios, and 2HKO on Latias almost all the time. This considering minimal defenses.
Tyranitar is a good revenge killer, taking 57~67% from a modest Latios' Grass Knot, deals back 66~77% damage with Crunch on Latias if you're Jolly (minimal defenses). Adamant is 72~84%. Latios takes even more, of course.
Scarfcross and chomp will scare them with super-effective moves that will OHKO no matter what. Latias has a slim chance of surviving a Megahorn if she's running max HP. Switching them in could be a problem, but once you do that, Latis will switch out or get KOed.
Blissey will beat them one-on-one if she has Calm Mind. Without, she can severy cripple them with Sing or Thunder Wave.
Theres a lot more options, but I'll end this post here for now. Why not give them a chance?
