name: Special Life Orb
move 1: Dark Pulse
move 2: Oblivion Wing
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Taunt / Roost / Heat Wave
item: Life Orb
ability: Dark Aura
nature: Mild
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Specially offensive Yveltal is one of the dominant offensive threats in AG due to its solid Special Attack stat, great STAB move combination boosted by Dynamax, Dark Aura, Life Orb, and coverage options letting it break through just about any of its checks. Its typing also allows it to soft check Calyrex-S, which can otherwise tear apart teams easily. Dark Pulse can be difficult to withstand due to Dark Aura, while Max Darkness overwhelms walls such as Eternatus and Ho-Oh by lowering their Special Defense. Oblivion Wing turns into Max Airstream, letting Yveltal outspeed much of the metagame while hitting foes that resist Dark Pulse such as Xerneas and offensive Yveltal for massive damage. Oblivion Wing also gives Yveltal a useful source of recovery, which lets it outlast Calyrex-S and offset Stealth Rock damage. Sucker Punch is used to play mind games with Calyrex-S, KO weakened threats like Marshadow and Groudon, and wreck Blissey as physical Max Darkness. Taunt shuts down specially defensive Yveltal, Blissey, and entry hazard leads such as Shuckle. In addition, it's useful on hyper offense teams to prevent Defog from the likes of Ho-Oh and specially defensive Yveltal, and it can provide safe setup opportunities for teammates by stopping status moves. Roost is an alternative to keep Yveltal consistently healthy in the face of Life Orb and Stealth Rock damage, preventing it from being in KO range of Calyrex-S. Heat Wave is another viable option to KO Zacian-C as Max Flare or after summoning sun with it. Focus Blast is a noteworthy option to severely damage Tyranitar, which is an otherwise excellent answer to Yveltal. Life Orb enhances Dynamax Yveltal's power to unbearable levels, while a Mild nature bolsters its STAB moves without compromising any power on Sucker Punch against Calyrex-S. A 188 SpA / 68 SpD / 252 Spe EV spread should be run with Roost in order to avoid a 2HKO from Choice Specs Calyrex-S's Astral Barrage.
Specially offensive Yveltal fits best on hyper offense and bulky offense teams as a threatening Dynamax sweeper and soft check to Calyrex-S, which is otherwise extremely difficult to handle. Yveltal is most notably checked by bulky Eternatus, Ho-Oh, specially defensive Yveltal, and Tyranitar. Teammates that can limit these threats such as Calyrex-S, Kyogre, Zacian-C, and Groudon, respectively, are beneficial. In return, Yveltal can shut down most of their checks such as bulky Yveltal, bulky Eternatus, Necrozma-DM, and Lunala, respectively. Calyrex-S is notable for its potential to pass Nasty Plot boosts to Yveltal, helping it break through checks such as specially defensive Eternatus and Ho-Oh. Necrozma-DM is a useful partner to deal with Xerneas and Zacian-C, which is a good answer to Yveltal if it isn't running Heat Wave. Yveltal is crippled by Stealth Rock, so teammates that can get rid of it such as Ho-Oh on bulky offense teams, which is integral due to this set replacing bulky Yveltal, and Excadrill and Regieleki on hyper offense teams are appreciated. Ho-Oh is an especially important partner on bulky offense teams as a second line of defense against Calyrex-S. Shuckle provides Sticky Web support, which lets Yveltal outspeed threats like Zacian-C, Marshadow, Calyrex-S, and Groudon without relying on Max Airstream. Yveltal can struggle against Ditto once it has Dynamaxed, so countermeasures to it such as Regieleki, Ho-Oh, and Zacian-C if Yveltal decides to forego Heat Wave are required.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Knock Off is an option in the last moveslot to severely damage Blissey and remove Heavy-Duty Boots from Ho-Oh, making it a much less consistent check to Yveltal. However, Dynamax Sucker Punch can already pressure Blissey, while Max Darkness overwhelms Ho-Oh. Rock Slide can be used to OHKO Ho-Oh as Max Rockfall; however, Yveltal's other coverage options are generally more useful and Rock Slide weakens Ditto matchups. A Hasty nature can be used over Mild to outspeed the likes of Kyogre, Groudon, and unboosted Xerneas, but Yveltal loses damage output and can already outspeed these threats with Max Airstream, making it fairly unnecessary.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Specially Defensive Walls**: Tyranitar is an outstanding check to Yveltal due to its sand-boosted bulk and resistance to Dark and Flying. It can force Yveltal out using Rock Tomb, Stone Edge, or Thunder Wave. However, Tyranitar can be defeated by the uncommon Focus Blast and relies on Rest in order to recover, which Yveltal's team can take advantage of. Specially defensive Eternatus can avoid being 2HKOed by Dark Pulse, proceeding to wear it down with Dynamax Cannon while PP stalling it with Pressure and Recover. Eternatus must be wary if Yveltal is Dynamaxed, though, as Max Darkness can easily weaken it or force it out. Ho-Oh is a great way to deal with offensive Yveltal, as it can tank its Dark Pulse, cripple it with Sacred Fire or Toxic, and eliminate any chip damage with Regenerator. Additionally, Protect Ho-Oh is a very useful way to stall out Yveltal's Dynamax turns. However, it must be careful of Yveltal's Max Darkness forcing it out. Specially defensive Yveltal can stall out Yveltal's Dynamax, remove its Life Orb with Knock Off, or disrupt it using Snarl, but is quite passive and can be shut down by Taunt as a result.
**Fairy-types**: Zacian-C poses a fearsome threat to Yveltal, as it resists Dark Pulse and Oblivion Wing, OHKOing it regardless of Dynamax with Behemoth Blade. However, Zacian-C can easily drop to Heat Wave Yveltal. It can't directly switch into Yveltal lacking Heat Wave, either, as it gets KOed by Max Airstream followed by Max Darkness. Xerneas is also a good answer to Yveltal, as it can outright KO it with Moonblast, and it can easily beat Yveltal by Dynamaxing and tanking Oblivion Wing or Max Airstream due to its good bulk. Choice Scarf Zacian can outspeed Yveltal even after a few Max Airstream boosts and threaten it with Play Rough; however, Zacian is easily overwhelmed by Max Airstream, while Play Rough fails to OHKO a healthy Dynamaxed Yveltal.
**Ditto**: Ditto is a useful revenge killer against Yveltal, as it can deal large amounts of damage and, if it has Dynamaxed, easily 2HKO Yveltal by using Max Airstream. However, a healthy Dynamaxed Yveltal can easily beat Ditto by withstanding Oblivion Wing or Max Airstream and retaliating with its more powerful Max Airstream.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Rotten, 491896]]
- Quality checked by: [[Guard, 360582], [baconeatinassassin, 367227]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [CryoGyro, 331519]]
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