Eclipse
Like a chimp with a machine gun
QC: Colonel M / p2 / Subject 18
GP: Eyan / CryoGyro
[OVERVIEW]
Latias serves as a great check to strong threats in the OU metagame such as Keldeo, Mega Charizard Y, and Volcarona due to its great bulk and defensive typing. It also has a strong offensive typing that allows it to hit with strong STAB moves such as Draco Meteor. Latias mainly finds use due to its great utility moves such as Healing Wish, Defog, and Roost making it a reliable support Pokemon for offensive teams. However, Latias's STAB combination leaves it checked by prominent Fairy- and Steel-types such as Mega Mawile, Magearna, Ferrothorn, and Tapu Fini. Its defensive typing leaves it weak to Dark, meaning it can be taken out by Pursuit users such as Weavile as well as faster attackers such as Ash-Greninja. Latias faces severe competition from its counterpart Latios in running fully offensive sets, which the latter does better due to its better offensive stats.
[SET]
name: Offensive Support
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Healing Wish
move 4: Defog / Roost
item: Soul Dew
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Draco Meteor is Latias's main STAB move and useful for its great overall coverage and power when boosted by Soul Dew. Psyshock is Latias's secondary STAB move and used to hit threats like Keldeo, Toxapex, Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, and Tapu Koko; it is also useful for guaranteeing the 2HKO on both Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona, the latter of which being unable to lower the damage done with Quiver Dance. Healing Wish is a very useful support move, as it allows Latias to completely heal any of its teammates to allow it a second chance to sweep the opponent's team. Roost lets Latias heal off any damage it has taken throughout the match so that it can serve as a consistent threat to those that it checks such as Keldeo, Toxapex, and Mega Venusaur. Defog is an option over Roost that allows Latias to clear entry hazards from both sides of the field, which is very useful for partners that get greatly pressured by hazards such as Mega Charizard Y.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed and Special Attack investment with a Timid nature allows Latias to make the most of its offensive capabilities to serve as a good defensive threat while still retaining strong offensive power. Levitate is Latias's only ability, which means that it can switch directly into the likes of Landorus-T and Garchomp or revenge kill them if they are Choice-locked into Earthquake; however, be wary of Dragon-type coverage from Garchomp. Soul Dew is the preferred item for this set, as it powers up both of Latias's STAB moves without leaving it subject to recoil. Life Orb gives a stronger boost to all of Latias's attacking moves at the cost of recoil, which can hinder Latias's ability to check threats such as Keldeo and Mega Venusaur. More HP investment may be used so that Latias can deal with the threats that it checks more effectively; 72 HP EVs, for example, avoid the 2HKO from Life Orb Thundurus's Hidden Power Ice.
Usage Tips
========
Using its great defensive typing and bulk, Latias can be brought directly in on threats that it checks, such as Fire-, Water-, and Grass-types like Mega Charizard Y, Volcarona, Keldeo, and Mega Venusaur. From there, it can go for Draco Meteor, which has great coverage overall and helps it weaken Dragon-resistant Pokemon such as Heatran for a teammate to take advantage of, or use Psyshock against Pokemon like Mega Venusaur. If a Fairy-type is present on the opposing team, Psyshock is generally the best move to go for unless said Fairy-type is Megearna or Mega Mawile, which resist it; in this situation, Latias can double switch into a partner that handles these threats such as Landorus-T. If running Defog, take care when switching into attackers that it checks while trying to clear the field of hazards; for example, Mega Charizard Y can 2HKO Latias after Stealth Rock damage along with a little bit of prior damage. If Roost is being run, try to use it whenever Latias is weakened so that it can safely switch into the threats that it needs to check later on in the match; opportunities to use Roost are when Latias forces out a foe such as Keldeo. Healing Wish should be used whenever Latias is not needed in the match anymore to heal any damage that one of its partners has taken. Healing Wish can also be used to gain momentum; for example, if the opponent has Mega Mawile in against Latias, then Latias can use Healing Wish to bring in a partner such as Garchomp safely.
Team Options
========
Partners like Landorus-T and Garchomp, which appreciate having Latias as a strong check to Water-, Fire-, and Grass-types, are good; Landorus-T and Garchomp can also set up Stealth Rock so that Latias can get more damage on threats such as Heatran with Draco Meteor, weakening them for a teammate. Ash-Greninja appreciates Latias checking Keldeo, Mega Venusaur, and Amoonguss for it so that it can find more opportunities to transform with Battle Bond; it also can play more aggressively with Latias's Healing Wish support to fall back on. Heatran can set up Stealth Rock for Latias as well as take out its checks such as Tapu Fini (if running a Bloom Doom set), Magearna, Mega Mawile, Clefable, and Chansey. Pokemon that deal with the Pursuit users that threaten Latias such as Tyranitar make for good partners, so Keldeo, Landorus-T, and Mega Mawile pair well with Latias. Teammates that can deal well with Steel-types like Mega Mawile, Mega Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Heatran are great partners for Latias; Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y work very well, Mega Medicham can deal with Ferrothorn and Heatran, and Mega Scizor can run Defog itself so that Latias has more room to run Roost + Healing Wish. If running Defog on Latias, Pokemon that appreciate hazards removed from the field such as Mega Pinsir, Mega Charizard Y, and Zapdos like having Latias as a teammate.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A Choice Scarf set allows Latias to serve as an even stronger check to the likes of +1 Volcarona and Choice Scarf Keldeo while providing a fast Healing Wish user; Defog and Trick are perfectly viable options in the final slot for this set. Calm Mind turns Latias into a strong sweeper, being able to use its great Speed and defensive typing to set up with ease. This can be utilized either with Draco Meteor and Psyshock or the combination of Thunderbolt + Ice Beam on a more defensive set. Leftovers may be used for passive recovery, which lets it check threats better, although this means that Latias poses less of an offensive threat to Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y. Psychic is an alternative to Psyshock that has more Base Power and lets Latias hit Bold Clefable harder although this leaves Latias as setup bait for the likes of Volcarona. Reflect Type lets Latias deal with a number of its switch-ins that normally take advantage of it, especially Heatran, which finds itself checked due to Latias's access to Levitate, meaning it cannot use Earth Power to wear down Latias; Thunderbolt and Ice Beam are the best options for this set to maximize overall coverage. Despite Latias's great movepool featuring coverage options like Thunderbolt, Surf, and Hidden Power Fire, it has little room to sacrifice any of its main moves, specifically Healing Wish, and these coverage options are better used by Latios due to its higher Special Attack.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Steel-types**: Heatran, Mega Scizor, and Ferrothorn switch into Latias's STAB moves with ease, being able to set up entry hazards in the case of Heatran and Ferrothorn and gain momentum with U-turn in Mega Scizor's case.
**Fairy-types**: Mega Mawile, Magearna, Tapu Fini, and Clefable are immune to Draco Meteor, take very little damage from Psyshock, and can throw off a strong Fairy-type STAB attack to take out or severely weaken Latias.
**Faster Attackers**: Faster threats such as Greninja, Ash-Greninja, and Choice Scarf users like Garchomp can threaten Latias with their super effective coverage options. These threats can prevent Latias from clearing entry hazards, using Roost, or using Healing Wish to support its team.
**Pursuit Users**: Pursuit users like Choice Band Tyranitar and Weavile can easily trap and remove Latias from the match due to its weakness to Dark-type moves.
**Chansey**: Chansey is one of the strongest answers to Latias in the tier, as it takes very little from any of its moves and simply heals off any damage it has taken with Soft-Boiled.
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