[AG] Celesteela adding fcharge

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Overview

- Celesteela is a great blanket check to a lot of threats thanks to its amazing Steel / Flying defensive typing granting it useful resistances such as to Fairy, Flying, and Normal and an immunity to Toxic.
- Because of this, Celesteela is able to check a majority of offensive and supportive threats like Xerneas, Mega Rayquaza lacking V-create, Primal Groudon lacking a Fire-type attack, Mega Gengar, and Arceus-Fairy.
- It also has a decent movepool that consists of a good STAB move in Heavy Slam and a useful tool in Leech Seed. Other coverage attacks like Flamethrower are also useful in some instances. The combination of Leech Seed + Toxic + Protect is enough to heavily wear down most threats.
- Celesteela has quite mixed stats; it has overall great bulk, which allows it to fill defensive roles well, but it also has good offensive presence because its attacking stats are quite good, which allows it to not be passive.
- However, Celesteela is vulnerable to certain threats like Ho-Oh, Primal Kyogre, and Zygarde-C and is prone to being blown apart by brute force.
- It also lacks reliable recovery outside of Leech Seed, which recovers health quite slowly, meaning it can sometimes be easily broken past. This also leaves it easy to break through if it has not yet used Leech Seed.
- Celesteela is also quite slow, leaving it outsped by pretty much every threat outside of those found on stall; this means it can sometimes be KOed by Pokemon it should be able to check with Heavy Slam, such as Fire Blast Arceus-Fairy and Thunder Xerneas.

Physically Defensive
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Leech Seed
- Toxic
- Protect

Set Comments

Moves

- Heavy Slam almost always has 120 Base Power thanks to Celesteela's near-unparalleled weight. It allows Celesteela to do major damage to most threats, especially Pokemon like Xerneas, Arceus-Fairy, and -1 Defense Mega Rayquaza.
- Leech Seed gives Celesteela decently reliable recovery and chips at foes, weakening them for either Celesteela to finish off or a teammate to KO. It keeps Celesteela healthy, allowing it to check threats more consistently.
- Toxic helps to wear down supportive threats like Arceus-Water and works well with Leech Seed to heavily wear down most Pokemon.
- Protect allows Celesteela to rack up Toxic and Leech Seed damage, scout for attacks, and attain Leftovers and Leech Seed recovery.

Set Details

- A physically defensive spread is best to check the myriad of threatening physical attackers in the metagame, like Mega Rayquaza, Swords Dance Arceus-Ground, Marshadow, and Primal Groudon.
- Leftovers gives Celesteela passive recovery, stacking well with Leech Seed and allowing Celesteela to check the aforementioned threats better.
- Beast Boost is Celesteela's only ability and raises Celesteela's highest stat, in this case Defense, every time a foe is KOed.

Usage Tips

- Bring in Celesteela against Pokemon that it checks, like Arceus-Fairy, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Lunala. Use Leech Seed to wear down these threats and slowly recover. Toxic should usually be used after Leech Seed to weaken foes, but Toxic can be used first on defensive threats such as Lugia and Arceus-Ground to force them to switch out.
- Leech Seed can also be used on a predicted double switch; in general, don't be afraid to use Leech Seed a lot.
- Aim to poison as much of the opposing team as possible to continually force switches and make Celesteela harder and harder to take down.
- Use Protect when necessary to gain Leftovers and Leech Seed recovery and to rack up residual damage. Protect can also be useful against Choice item users like Yveltal and Xerneas and scouting for super effective coverage from Pokemon like Primal Groudon and Mega Rayquaza.
- However, be careful using Protect, as it can sometimes give the foe a free turn to set up.
- Heavy Slam can usually deal a hefty amount of damage to most foes, so use it once Leech Seed and Toxic have been used or simply to KO a foe to activate Beast Boost.

Team Options

- Celesteela fits best on balanced and bulky offensive teams thanks to its ability to check many offensive and defensive threats.
- Since Fire-types like Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh threaten Celesteela, checks to them such as Zygarde-C and Arceus-Ground are appreciated.
- Thanks to its immunity to Toxic, Celesteela can take on Pokemon like Lugia and Arceus-Water and poison them in return; this is appreciated by wallbreakers like Mega Rayquaza and Ho-Oh that may have trouble with them.
- Celesteela can be an unreliable check to Xerneas because it loses to Geomancy variants due to Thunder, so a secondary check such as Primal Groudon is useful.
- Primal Groudon can also check Primal Kyogre, which is capable of blasting past Celesteela with sheer force, and Ho-Oh, which possesses super effective coverage.
- Mega Rayquaza checks Primal Kyogre, Yveltal, Primal Groudon, and Ho-Oh, which Celesteela greatly appreciates.

Flame Charge Substitute + Leech Seed
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flame Charge
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Protect

Set Comments

Moves


- Flame Charge raises Celesteela's Speed with each use, allowing it to outspeed key threats like Mega Rayquaza at +2 and the entire unboosted metagame at +3, which lets it repeatedly set up Substitutes before the foe can attack. It also lets Celesteela beat Ferrothorn one-on-one.
- Leech Seed is Celesteela's main form of damage and recovery. Celesteela can Substitute and Protect to stall out foes with Leech Seed.
- Substitute allows Celesteela to sponge attacks from powerful Pokemon, and Celesteela can easily gain the lost health back with Leech Seed and Leftovers recovery.
- Protect is useful for gaining more recovery and getting free damage with Leech Seed.

Set Details

- 28 Speed EVs along with a Timid nature allow Celesteela to outspeed Jolly Mega Rayquaza at +2 Speed.
- The rest of the EVs are put into HP and Defense to let Celesteela take physical attacks better.
- Beast Boost raises Celesteela's highest stat with each KO.
- Leftovers gives Celesteela good passive recovery when combined with Leech Seed, in turn giving Celesteela improved longevity.

Usage Tips

- This Celesteela set should be used to wear down Pokemon that often check Celesteela, such as V-create Mega Rayquaza and Primal Groudon, when Celesteela is at +1 Speed.
- Celesteela should be brought in against Pokemon like Arceus-Steel, Lunala, and Arceus-Fairy due to its good typing and bulk.
- Flame Charge should be used to increase Celesteela's Speed so that Celesteela outspeeds everything up to Jolly Mega Rayquaza. This allows Celesteela to use Substitute before getting hit.
- Leech Seed should be used to wear down most Pokemon. With Protect and Substitute, it can quickly wear down many threats.
- Leech Seed should also be used on a predicted double switch to catch Pokemon that otherwise check Celesteela like Primal Groudon. If Celesteela is at +1 Speed after using Flame Charge, it can use Substitute and Protect repeatedly to wear down the foe.
- Use Protect to scout for attacks, gain recovery, and chip at foes with Leech Seed. Be wary of using it against setup sweepers, though, as they can be given free turns to set up.

Team Options

- This set can be used on more offensive teams to weaken offensive Pokemon rather than as a tank.
- Mega Rayquaza checks Pokemon like Ho-Oh that threaten Celesteela.
- Pokemon that outspeed Celesteela even when it's at +1 and can bypass its defenses, such as Mewtwo and Rock Polish Primal Groudon, are threatening, so Pokemon like

Strategy Comments

Other Options

- A specially defensive spread is usable to check many of the threatening special attackers in the tier, like Xerneas and Yveltal, but physical attackers are more prevalent and threatening, Xerneas still threatens Celesteela if it's a Geomancy variant, and Celesteela can already decently check most special attackers like Calm Mind Arceus formes and Lunala.
- Flamethrower can be used to increase Celesteela's chances of beating Calm Mind Arceus-Steel one-on-one and to beat Ferrothorn. Toxic is better against more targets, though.
- Substitute is an option on the physically defensive set along with Leech Seed and Protect that is useful for tanking weak attacks such as support Arceus's Judgment, and Leech Seed + Leftovers recovery can mitigate Substitute damage. However, Toxic is usually more useful.

Checks and Counters

Fire-types:
Fire-types, most notably Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh, are able to deal huge damage to Celesteela with their STAB moves. Both can easily take Heavy Slam, though neither like being badly poisoned. Other Pokemon with Fire-type coverage, such as V-create Mega Rayquaza and Fire Blast Mega Mewtwo Y, are also able to threaten Celesteela.

Powerful Special Attackers: Because Celesteela usually invests in Defense, powerful special wallbreakers like Primal Kyogre and Yveltal can hurt Celesteela a lot. Primal Kyogre in particular has super effective coverage in Thunder and takes next to nothing from Heavy Slam, though Toxic hurts it unless it's a Rest variant.

Setup Sweepers: Certain setup sweepers can set up in Celesteela's face, especially if the opponent predicts correctly and sets up on Protect. Standard Geomancy Xerneas can set up on Celesteela, as Heavy Slam only 2HKOes, and proceed to OHKO Celesteela with +2 Thunder. Arceus-Steel has a good chance of beating Celesteela if it manages to predict correctly due to its immunity to Toxic, but it can lose to the Flame Charge set. Mewtwo and Mega Mewtwo Y can OHKO Celesteela with +1 Fire Blast. Zygarde-C's unique access to Thousand Arrows allows it to hit Celesteela super effectively, but it doesn't like getting hit with Toxic and Leech Seed.
 
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