UU Latias

Funbot28

Banned deucer.
Having resided in the OU tier for numerous generations, Latias finally soars into the UU metagame, cementing itself as one of the best offensive threats in the tier. Firstly, Latias's great neutral coverage courtesy of its Dragon / Psychic offensive typing coupled with its great Special Attack and a Speed stat that enables it to outspeed the majority of the metagame turns Latias into an extremely threatening wallbreaker. It also possesses a diverse movepool consisting of solid coverage moves such as Thunderbolt and Ice Beam alongside great utility moves in Defog, Calm Mind, Recover, and Healing Wish, meaning that Latias is capable of filling in numerous roles for its team. Latias also possesses great 80 / 90 / 130 bulk in conjunction with an immunity to Ground-type attacks thanks to its ability Levitate alongside resistances to common offensive types such as Water, Fighting, Fire, and Electric, enabling it to switch in versus a variety of popular offensive threats such as Keldeo, Volcanion, Swampert, Gliscor, and Infernape.

Latias @ Dragonium Z / Psychium Z / Electrium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock / Psychic
- Recover / Thunder / Hidden Power Fire

Calm Mind Latias is already a dangerous threat due to the boosts amplifying the wallbreaking prowess of the Eon dragon. However, with the introduction of Z-Crystals this generation, Latias is able to break through numerous threats that it would struggle with previously after a single boost. It also reduced the damage taken from Knock Off, meaning that revenge killers such as Krookodile can fail to OHKO it with Knock Off at full health. Dragonium Z enables Latias to avoid the Special Attack drops from Draco Meteor once, and Devastating Drake can severely cripple certain defensive threats such as Hippowdon and Gliscor. Psychium Z can be used to have the chance to OHKO Magic Guard Clefable at +1, and it still enables Latias to 2HKO Unaware variants regardless of the stat boosts. Recover provides useful sustainability, providing Latias with more opportunities to set up. Thunder can be used in conjunction with Electrium Z to lure in and take out certain Steel-types such as Empoleon, also OHKOing offensive Scizor and Bisharp at +1. Hidden Power Fire is a great coverage move that allows Latias to target Steel-types that wish to come in on its STAB attacks such as Scizor, Bisharp, and Klefki. This set is as dangerous as it is because it is extremely customizable, meaning that it requires specific checks relative to which Z-Crystal Latias is holding.

Latias @ Soul Dew / Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Recover / Hidden Power Fire / Healing Wish

This set aims to take advantage of Latias's great utility as a Defog user, since its offensive capabilities coupled with its adequate bulk enable it to scare off common hazard setters such as Hippowdown, Swampert, and Forretress. Both of Latias's STAB moves are spammable and can dent any neutral target for a significant amount of damage. Recover is utilized to increase Latias's durability, offering it more opportunities to come in and remove entry hazards. Hidden Power Fire can be used instead to lure in and take out Steel-types such as Scizor and Bisharp, which otherwise can come in on its STAB attacks. Healing Wish is another utility option that allows Latias to give certain setup sweepers on its team the chance to sweep once more. Ice Beam can also be used as a coverage option, surprising certain threats such as Gliscor and Celebi. Soul Dew is used to increase the power of Latias's STAB moves without receiving recoil damage in comparison to items such as Life Orb. However a Life Orb can still be given to increase Latias's damage output overall, especially if it chooses to run Hidden Power Fire.

Latias does come with its shared fair of flaws, unfortunately, with the first being weaknesses to common offensive types such as Fairy, Dark, and Ice, meaning that common coverage moves like Moonblast, Pursuit, and Ice Beam can threaten to severely cripple it. Although Latias has a great Speed stat, it can still be outspeed by other offensive threats such as Mega Aerodactyl, Choice Scarf Krookodile, and Starmie, which can all prevent it from performing its role.

Nonetheless, Latias remains one of the best Pokemon in the format, and a valuable addition to a majority of UU teams. Try and see for yourself!
 
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Funbot28

Banned deucer.
Ready for QC

Btw this is my first spotlight, so let me know if I did anything wrong format wise as well
 
[overview]

ive never seen surf once, its probably not necessarily a bad moveslot but its not something i would mention as a coverage option. this looks pretty good otherwise

[sets]

the z move set looks good for the most part, honestly i would slash thunder before hp fire though because on cm sets gigavolt is usually more worth it (aside from what you mentioned, it ohkos offensive zor and bish at +1)

for the defog set, i would add healing wish as a 3rd slash in the 4th slot - even if its not common, getting a wincon like offensive zor or venomoth in at full health end game can be clutch af. also add lo as a slash because without it latias is pretty weak which kinda sucks. also give a mention for ice beam, its pretty team dependent but having a gliscor lure can be nice for a fast defogger like latias

[c&c (i guess? idk)]

pls dont mention scarf chandy here, instead give mention to something like scarf krookodile and scarf zor since they're actually worth using. also why are u saying fortunately and not unfortunately? sounds kinda weird

qc 1/2 (lol i put in 3 at first Silly Me)
 
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Eyan

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Not much to say other than nitpicking really.

For the Z-Move set, just either make sure you're stating that +1 Gigavolt Havoc OHKOes offensive Scizor, since bulky Scizor still survives. Devastating Drake doesn't actually OHKO Hippowdon and Gliscor, so rephrase to just severely denting it or that they're in range of getting OHKOed after minimal prior damage.

For the Defog set, I'd allude to the fact that Life Orb is preferred if you're running HP Fire. Since you don't have CM to boost Special Attack, with a weak coverage move like HP Fire, you'd appreciate all the power you can get. For example, LO Psyshock + HP Fire KOes bulky Scizor, which Soul Dew doesn't. If you think it's getting a bit lengthy, honestly you can just condense the lines about the two STAB moves to something about how its STAB moves are able to greatly dent anything that doesn't resist them. It's a spotlight, so I'd rather have more focus on the fact that Latias can use Defog well as opposed to talking about stuff that's uninteresting and can be found in the analysis, much like how the first set focuses on the versatility of Z-Moves it can run.

QC 2/2
 

Lumari

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GP 1/1
Residing Having resided in the OU tier for numerous generations, Latias finally soars into the UU metagame, cementing itself as one of the best offensive threats in the tier. Firstly, Latias's great Dragon / Psychic offensive typing that offers it great neutral coverage courtesy of its Dragon / Psychic offensive typing coupled with its great Special Attack and a Speed stat which that enables it to outspeed the majority of the metagame turns Latias into an extremely threatening wallbreaker. It also possesses a diverse movepool consisting of solid coverage moves such as Thunderbolt and Ice Beam alongside great utility moves in Defog, Calm Mind, Recover, and Healing Wish, meaning that Latias is capable of filling in numerous roles for its team. Latias also possesses great 80 / 90 / 130 bulk in conjunction with an immunity to Ground-type attacks thanks to its ability Levitate alongside resistances to common offensive types such as Water, Fighting, Fire, and Electric, enabling it to switchin switch in versus a variety of popular offensive threats such as Keldeo, Volcanion, Swampert, Gliscor, and Infernape.

Latias (F) @ Dragonium Z / Psychium Z / Electrium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock / Psychic
- Recover / Thunder / Hidden Power [Fire] Fire

Calm Mind Latias is already a dangerous threat due to the setup boosts amplifying the wallbreaking prowess of the Eon dragon. However, with the introduction of Z-Stones Z-Crystals this generation, Latias is able to break through numerous threats that it would struggle with previously after a single boost. It also reduced the damage taken from Knock Off, meaning that revenge killers such as Krookodile can fail to OHKO it with Knock Off at full health. Latios is able Dragonium Z enables Latias to avoid the Special Attack drops from Draco Meteor for one use when equipped with Dragonium Z once, and Devastating Drake can severely cripple certain defensive threats such as Hippowdown Hippowdon and Gliscor with Devistating Drake. Psychium Z can be used to have the chance in OHKOing to OHKO Magic Guard Clefable at +1, although and it still enables it Latias to 2HKO Unaware variants regardless of the stat boosts. Recover provides useful sustainability, providing it Latias with more opportunistic opportunities to setup set up. Thunder can be used in conjunction with Electrium Z can be used to lure in and take out certain Steel-types such as Empoleon, (AC) and can also OHKOing offensive Scizor and Bisharp at +1. Hidden Power Fire is a great coverage move that allows Latias to target Steel-types that wish to come in on its STAB attacks such as Scizor, Bisharp, and Klefki. This set is as dangerous as it is since because it is extremely custamizable customizable, meaning that it requires specific checks relative to which Z-Stone Z-Crystal Latias is holding.

Latias @ Soul Dew / Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Recover / Hidden Power [Fire] Fire / Healing Wish

This set aims in taking to take advantage of Latias's great utility as a Defog user, since its offensive capabilities coupled with its adequate bulk enables enable it to scare off common hazard setters such as Hippowdown, Swamert Swampert, and Foretress Forretress. Both of Latias's STAB moves can be spammed are spammable and can dent any neutral target for a significant amount of damage. Recover is utilized to increase Latias's durability, offering it more opportunities to come in and remove entry hazards. Hidden Power Fire can be used instead to lure in and take out Steel-types such as Scizor and Bisharp, who which otherwise can come in against on its STAB attacks. Healing Wish is another utilit utility option which that allows Latias to give certain teammates the opportunity to allow certain setup sweepers on its team the chance to sweep oncemore once more. Ice Beam can also be used as a coverage option, luring in surprising certain threats such as Gliscor and Celebi. Soul Dew is used to increase the power of Latias's STAB moves without receiving recoil damage in comparison to items such as Life Orb. However a Life Orb can still be given to increase Latias's damage output overall, especially if it chooses to run Hidden Power Fire.

Latias does come with its shared fair of flaws, (AC) unfortunately, with the first being weaknesses to common offensive types such as Fairy, Dark, and Ice, meaning that common coverage moves like Moonblast, Pursuit, and Ice Beam can threaten to severely cripple it. Although Latias holds has a great Speed stat, it also can still be outspeed by other offensive threats such as Mega Aerodactyl, Choice Scarf Krookodile, and Starmie, which can all prevent it from performing its role.

Nonetheless, Latias remains to be one of the best Pokemon in the format, (comma is optional) and is (works better this way) a valuable addition to a majority of UU teams. Try and see for yourself!
 
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