Battle Spot Eternatus

[Theorymon]

[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Recover
move 2: Flamethrower / Mystical Fire
move 3: Toxic / Cosmic Power / Reflect
move 4: Dynamax Cannon / Cosmic Power / Substitute / Reflect
item: Black Sludge
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 244 HP / 204 Def / 4 SpD / 56 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* With impressive bulk, Speed, and Pressure, Eternatus is one of the most dangerous defensive Pokemon in the game!

* Flamethrower is a reliable attack to use against the majority of Steel-type Pokemon.

* Mystical Fire is fairly weak, but the Special Attack drop can increase Eternatus's stalling capabilities.

* Toxic makes Eternatus far less passive against most offensive Pokemon.

* With Cosmic Power, Eternatus can very feasibly become a wincon, with one boost stopping a 2HKO from even Adamant Zacian-C's Behemoth Blade!

* Dynamax Cannon allows Eternatus to deal good damage to Pokemon under Dynamax, and it's especially helpful against Dragon-type sweepers like Zekrom.

* Substitute lets Eternatus more effectively stall out low PP moves, such as Choice Specs Kyogre's Water Spout.

* Reflect is a reasonable alternative to Cosmic Power. While it doesn't make Eternatus as threatening, it gives powerful Dynamax sweepers such as Necrozma-DM and Landorus-T an easier time setting up.

* Toxic Spikes can allow the rest of your team to stall more effectively against certain teams, though certain prominent Pokemon like Yveltal are immune to it, and opposing Eternatus can absorb it.

EV Spreads
========

* 244 HP / 204 Def / 4 SpD / 56 Spe with Timid: This EV spread outspeeds up to Adamant Cinderace. It also outspeeds Choice Band Urshifu-S, which is otherwise a major threat to stall teams. Note that this is a heavily contested Speed tier, with many Zacian-C aiming for it as well, and moving first can be the difference between winning and losing matchups for Cosmic Power Eternatus. The 4 Special Defense EVs are simply here because no other useful stat will get boosted otherwise.

* 244 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with Timid: This maximizes Eternatus's Speed and bulk, allowing it to at least Speed tie with offensive Eternatus.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Dynamax Cannon
move 2: Flamethrower
move 3: Sludge Wave / Sludge Bomb
move 4: Meteor Beam / Recover
item: Power Herb / Life Orb
ability: Pressure
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 168 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* With Dynamax Cannon ignoring Dynamax's bulk boost, Eternatus makes a very competent special offensive Pokemon.

* Eternatus usually wants a Poison-type STAB move to hit Fairy-types, such as Tapu Fini and Xerneas. Sludge Wave offers more power, but Sludge Bomb's 30% chance to poison can punish some of Eternatus's bulky switch-ins.

* Meteor Beam with Power Herb gives Eternatus both a way to boost its Special Attack and crushing damage against Ho-Oh.

* If using Life Orb, Recover is good for keeping Eternatus healthy against more defensive threats.

* While it may seem strange for an offensive Pokemon, Toxic can be used to break down specially bulky foes such as Porygon2, as well as eventually making Blissey and Chansey switch out to activate Natural Cure.

* Make sure to have teammates that can pressure Chansey and Blissey, such as Choice Band Urshifu-S and Landorus-T.

Items
========

* Power Herb lets Eternatus use Meteor Beam without the charge turn.

* When using Recover over Meteor Beam, Life Orb is needed for increased damage output.

EV Spreads
========

* 76 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 168 Spe with Modest: This spread allows Eternatus to OHKO offensive Yveltal with a +1 Dynamax Cannon after Stealth Rock damage and outspeed both Adamant Cinderace and Jolly Garchomp. While this Eternatus is missing 4 EVs, they shouldn't go into Attack or Defense, since this will boost Foul Play damage or boost Porygon2's Special Attack with Download, respectively. The 4 EVs can be put into any other relevant stat since they won't increase them.

* 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with Timid: This spread maximizes Eternatus's Speed, letting it outspeed Jolly Cinderace and Speed tie with Adamant Zacian-C at worst.

[SET]
name: Choice Item Attacker
move 1: Dynamax Cannon
move 2: Sludge Wave / Sludge Bomb
move 3: Flamethrower
move 4: Draco Meteor / Shadow Ball
item: Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
ability: Pressure
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 168 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Eternatus has enough power and Speed to make a powerful user of Choice Specs or be an unexpected revenge killer with Choice Scarf.

* Despite making Eternatus vulnerable against Steel-types, a Poison-type STAB move is needed to hit Fairy-types hard. Sludge Wave does the most damage, but Sludge Bomb's 30% chance of poison can come in handy against bulkier switch-ins.

* The Choice Specs set doesn't have much use for its last moveslot, so Draco Meteor makes a fine filler option for dealing more damage than any of Eternatus's other attacks.

* Shadow Ball deals way more damage against Calyrex-S than any other attack, making it common on Choice Scarf Eternatus. Since Choice Specs Eternatus doesn't outspeed Calyrex-S, it isn't as useful on that set.

* This Eternatus set struggles against Chansey and Blissey, so powerful physical attackers such as Urshifu-R and Landorus-T are good teammates.

Items
========

* Choice Specs makes Eternatus a powerful offensive force, with Modest sets able to OHKO offensive Yveltal with Dynamax Cannon after Stealth Rock damage.

* Choice Scarf makes Eternatus an unexpected revenge killer, outspeeding key threats such as Calyrex-S and Zacian-C. Note, however, that Behemoth Blade + Quick Attack will KO Eternatus, so it's not a reliable revenge killer of healthy Zacian-C.

EV Spreads
========

* 76 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 168 Spe with Modest: This spread lets Choice Specs Dynamax Cannon OHKO Yveltal after Stealth Rock damage, and Eternatus still outspeeds Adamant Cinderace and Jolly Garchomp. Due to how stats work at level 50, the extra 4 EVs won't impact relevant stats.
The missing 4 EVs can go anywhere but Attack or Defense, which would either increase Foul Play damage or give Porygon2 a Special Attack boost from Download.


* 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with Timid: Maximizing Eternatus's Speed allows it to Speed tie with Adamant Zacian-C at worst and outspeed Jolly Cinderace.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Theorymon, 29010]]
- Quality checked by: [[Tox, 146], [greilmercenary9, 336524]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]

 

[Theorymon]

I finally got this QC Ready! Sorry it took so long, I'm sure many of you on Discord know the crazy shit I had to go through last week..

Anyways, I split Defensive and Cosmic Power because the slashes got ugly, but if there's demand, I don't mind merging them back. I did merge the choice sets together, and offensive and power herb got merged since that's the standard for all the other dexes.

One more thing: Bold is actually the 3rd most common nature, but I'm not sure if underspeeding Urshifu-S is really justified when that's such a huge threat to a lot of stall teams. Are there any calcs or spreads that make Bold show it's worth? If there's demand, I guess I could put it at the bottom and say "use this if you have other stuff for Urshifu-S". Note that if you want to outspeed Urshifu-S, Timid actually gets you more bulk than Bold!

 

[Tox]

I took the liberty of going through the freshest batch of public Eternatus-teams in the 2100-1900 Elo range:

#3 Modest 252/252/4 Def (Specs) - https://hanabiclumsy.hatenablog.com/entry/2022/04/01/182312

#58 +252 Def, 84 SpD, 172 Spe (Toxic, 2 attacks) - https://rally-trigon.hatenablog.com/entry/2022/04/02/170535

#98 252 HP, 204 Def, +52 Spe (Reflect, 2 attacks) - https://hipoke.hatenablog.com/entry/2022/04/01/232029

#103 204 HP, 236 Def, +68 Spe (Cosmic Power, 2 attacks) - https://chelsea3710.hatenadiary.jp/entry/2022/04/01/165115

#123 Timid 252/252/4 SpD (Meteor Beam) - https://kassy-bcamo.hatenablog.com/entry/2022/04/01/223845

#362 Timid unspecified HB-invested (Toxic + Substitute) - https://piyopiyopunch.at.webry.info/202204/article_1.html

The most immediate takeaway is that even the most defensively invested sets seem to be opting for beating Adamant Cinderace's 171, and therefore some of the slower bulky Zacian sets that do the same, as their main benchmark for Speed.

We briefly discussed the Reflect sets (e.g. Mystical Fire/Reflect/Toxic/Recover) on Discord, and my sense is that Reflect merits a mention somewhere, but I'm not sure if it entirely qualifies as a separate set, although empowering a set-up move from a Dynamax attacker like Landorus or Dusk-Mane is not really something any other Eternatus set does.

I think if we find a way to resolve these two questions, I'm onboard.

 

[Theorymon]

I took the liberty of going through the freshest batch of public Eternatus-teams in the 1900-2000 range:

#3 Modest 252/252/4 Def (Specs) - https://hanabiclumsy.hatenablog.com/entry/2022/04/01/182312

#58 +252 Def, 84 SpD, 172 Spe (Toxic, 2 attacks) - https://rally-trigon.hatenablog.com/entry/2022/04/02/170535

#98 252 HP, 204 Def, +52 Spe (Reflect, 2 attacks) - https://hipoke.hatenablog.com/entry/2022/04/01/232029

#103 204 HP, 236 Def, +68 Spe (Cosmic Power, 2 attacks) - https://chelsea3710.hatenadiary.jp/entry/2022/04/01/165115

#123 Timid 252/252/4 SpD (Meteor Beam) - https://kassy-bcamo.hatenablog.com/entry/2022/04/01/223845

#362 Timid unspecified HB-invested (Toxic + Substitute) - https://piyopiyopunch.at.webry.info/202204/article_1.html

The most immediate takeaway is that even the most defensively invested sets seem to be opting for beating Adamant Cinderace's 171, and therefore some of the slower bulky Zacian sets that do the same, as their main benchmark for Speed.

We briefly discussed the Reflect sets (e.g. Mystical Fire/Reflect/Toxic/Recover) on Discord, and my sense is that Reflect merits a mention somewhere, but I'm not sure if it entirely qualifies as a separate set, although empowering a set-up move from a Dynamax attacker like Landorus or Dusk-Mane is not really something any other Eternatus set does.

I think if we find a way to resolve these two questions, I'm onboard.

Thanks for the check! I decided to slash in Reflect, its got alright usage and I can't denoy those top teams. I also changed the EV spread to outspeed Adamant Cinderace, its only 20 more Speed EV so might as well!

I also merged Cosmic Power and Defensive, to give GP and QC an easier time!

 

[greilmercenary9]

This already looks good, but I do have a few things to add or try to clarify, so here goes:

In general, I agree that Adamant Ace is a huge speed benchmark and should be recommended. However, while there's not anything wrong with the listed spread, that is an insanely crowded speed tier in this meta, and you should mention that getting a Cosmic Power off first can be the difference between life and death for the defensive set.

As for Bold, I would not recommend something like a 252 HP/252+ Def spread for the reasons you and Tox mentioned, but I will take a shot at why it might be rationalized: you're basically living two Zacian Blades all the time after the CP boost on T1, and Jolly CB Urshifu Wicked Blow actually has a fairly low 2HKO chance after Sludge recovery (Adamant Band, on the other hand, is at 94% to 2HKO w/Wicked Blow through Sludge recovery, but literally loses to no speed investment Eterna by 1 point). Moreover, with only 8 PP, a savvy Eterna player has a pretty good chance of stalling Wicked Blow out before it runs out as long as it isn't having to directly switch in on Band. Again, I would not recommend this spread in the analysis, but since you asked I figured I would try to parce it out in case you wanted to make a quick note about the pros and cons in the EV spread section.

I don't really have any further comments on the defensive set since you already clarified the difference between Cosmic Power wincon variants and Reflect enabling variants.

Both offensive sets look solid to me. It's possibly worth mentioning that you need to pair these sets with a way to strongly pressure Chansey/Blissey but honestly that should be fairly common knowledge to most players for this kind of set anyway.

Once you add just the couple of mentions above this is QC 2/2. Good work!

 

[Theorymon]

Implemented the stuff! Like you said for Bold, I left it out because of those issues.

This is now ready for GP!

 

[Adeleine]

Add/Fix Remove Comment
(RC): Remove Comma

Hide

[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Recover
move 2: Flamethrower / Mystical Fire
move 3: Toxic / Cosmic Power / Reflect
move 4: Dynamax Cannon / Cosmic Power / Substitute / Reflect
item: Black Sludge
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 244 HP / 204 Def / 4 SpD / 56 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* With impressive bulk, speed, Speed, and Pressure, Eternatus is one of the most dangerous defensive Pokemon in the game!

* Flamethrower is a reliable Attack attack to use against the majority of Steel-type Pokemon.

* Mystical Fire is fairly weak, but the Special Attack drop can increase Eternatus's stalling capabilities.

* Toxic makes Eternatus far less passive to against most offensive Pokemon. (added period)

* With Cosmic Power, Eternatus can become a very feasible win condition, being able to avoid very feasibly become a wincon, with one boost stopping (I assume "one boost" is right?) a 2HKO from even Adamant Zacian-C's Behemoth Blade!

* Dynamax Cannon allows Eternatus to deal good damage against to Pokemon under Dynamax, and is it's especially helpful against Dragon-type sweepers like Zekrom.

* Substitute requires either sacrificing coverage or Toxic, but it does it (bc it isn't slashed w toxic) lets Eternatus more effectively stall out low PP moves, such as Choice Specs Kyogre's Water Spout.

* Reflect is a reasonable alternative to Cosmic Power. While its not as strong of a win condition on its own, it doesn't make Eternatus as threatening, it gives powerful Dynamax sweepers such as Necrozma-DM and Landorus-T an easier time setting up.

* Toxic Spikes can allow the rest of your team to stall more effectively against certain teams, though certain prominent Pokemon like like Yveltal are immune to it, and opposing Eternatus can absorb it.

EV Spreads
========

* 244 HP / 204 Def / 4 SpD / 56 Spe with Timid: This EV spread outspeeds up to Adamant Cinderace. This It also outspeeds Choice Band Urshifu-S, who which is otherwise a major threat to stall teams. Note that this is a heavily contested Speed tier, with many Zacian-C aiming for it as well, and moving first can be the difference between life and death winning and losing matchups for Cosimic Cosmic Power Eternatus. (may be worth mentioning what the 4 SpD does. i assume download applications are not present bc you boost Def too?)

* 244 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with Timid: This maximizes Eternatus's Speed, allowing it to at least speedtie Speed tie with offensive Eternatus. (may be worth mentioning why you don't just do 248 or 252 HP / 8 or 4 X / 252 Spe, esp bc this spread doesn't deny p2 a special attack download boost i assume?)

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Dynamax Cannon
move 2: Flamethrower
move 3: Sludge Wave / Sludge Bomb
move 4: Meteor Beam / Recover
item: Power Herb / Life Orb
ability: Pressure
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 168 Spe 172 Spe (see evs section)

[SET COMMENTS]

* With Dynamax Cannon ignoring Dynamax's bulk boost, Eternatus makes a very competent special offensive Pokemon.

* Eternatus usually wants a Poison-type STAB move to hit Fairy-types, such as Tapu Fini and Xerneas. Sludge Wave offers more power, but Sludge Bomb's 30% chance to Poison poison can punish some of Eternatus's bulky switch-ins.

* Meteor Beam and Power Herb combine to give with Power Herb gives Eternatus both a way to boost its Special Attack (RC) and deal a crushing amount of damage to crushing damage against Ho-Oh.

* If using Life Orb, Recover is good for keeping Eternatus healthy against more defensive threats.

* While it may seem strange for an offensive Pokemon, Toxic can be used to break down specially bulky foes such as Porygon2, and put a timer on Blissey and Chansey before they use Natural Cure to get rid of Toxic via a switch. as well as eventually making Blissey and Chansey switch out to activate Natural Cure.

* Make sure to have teammates that can pressure Chansey and Blissey, such as Choice Band Urshifu-S or and Landorus-T.

Items
========

* Power Herb lets Eternatus use Meteor Beam without the charge up time. turn.

* When using Recover over Meteor Beam, Life Orb is needed for increased damage output.

EV Spreads
========

* 76 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 168 172 Spe with Modest: This spread allows Eternatus to OHKO offensive Yveltal with a +1 Dynamax Cannon after Stealth Rock damage and outspeed both Adamant Cinderace and Jolly Garchomp. While this Eternatus is missing 4 EVs, they shouldn't go into Defense, since this will boost Porygon2's Special Attack with Download, and the 4 extra EVs are useless elsewhere. (I assume the speed investment can't hurt? i wouldn't call it speed creep bc they're literally useless everywhere else. it prob enables some very obscure speed tier with a specific pokemon changing speed in a specific way)

* 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with Timid: This spread maximizes Eternatus's Speed, letting it outspeed Jolly Cinderace and speed-tie Speed tie with Adamant Zacian-C at worse. worst.

[SET]
name: Choice Item Attacker
move 1: Dynamax Cannon
move 2: Sludge Wave / Sludge Bomb
move 3: Flamethrower
move 4: Shadow Ball / Draco Meteor
item: Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
ability: Pressure
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 168 Spe 172 Spe (see evs section)

[SET COMMENTS]

* Eternatus has enough power and Speed to make a powerful user of Choice Specs (RC) or be an unexpected revenge killer with Choice Scarf.

* Despite making Eternatus vulnerable against Steel-types, a Poison-type STAB move is needed to hit Fairy-types hard. Sludge Wave does the most damage, but Sludge Bomb's 30% chance of Poison infliction poison can come in handy against bulkier switch-ins.

* Shadow Ball deals way more damage against Calyrex-S than any other Attack, attack, making it especially common on Choice Specs Eternatus and (I assume?) essential on Choice Scarf Eternatus.

* The Choice Specs set doesn't have much use for its last moveslot, so Draco Meteor makes a good fine (cuz Sball still rec'd over it) filler option for dealing more damage than any of Eternatus's other attacks.

* This Eternatus set struggles against Chansey and Blissey, so powerful physical attackers such as Urshifu-R or and Landorus-T are good teammates.

Items
========

* Choice Specs makes Eternatus a powerful offensive force, with Modest sets able to OHKO offensive Yveltal with Dynamax Cannon after Stealth Rock damage.

* Choice Scarf makes Eternatus an unexpected revenge killer, outspeeding key threats such as Calyrex-S and Zacian-C. Note, (AC) however, that Behemoth Blade + Quick Attack will KO Eternatus, so it's not a reliable revenge killer of healthy Zacian-C.

EV Spreads
========

* 76 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 168 172 Spe with Modest: This spread lets Choice Specs Dynamax Cannon OHKO Yveltal after Stealth Rock damage, while still outspeeding and Eternatus still outspeeds Adamant Cinderace and Jolly Garchomp. The missing 4 EVs shouldn't go into Defense, as this will allow Porygon2 to gain a Special Attack boost from Download, and the EVs are useless elsewhere. The Special Defense EVs make Porygon2 gain an Attack boost from Download. (I assume the speed investment can't hurt? i wouldn't call this "creep" because you have literally nothing else to do with them. if needed, we can talk abt this + the other ev spread questions)

* 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with Timid: Maximizing Eternatus's Speed allows it to speedtie Speed tie with Adamant Zacian-C at worse worst (RC) and outspeed Jolly Cinderace.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Theorymon, 29010]]
- Quality checked by: [[Tox, 146], [greilmercenary9, 336524]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]

1/1

 

[Theorymon]

Hey Finland , I implemented most of the stuff! I should probably explain the EV thing though.

Basically, level 50 EVs are weird, in that for most stats, when you're at level 50, after the initial 4 EVs, you don't get a stat boost again until investing an extra 8 EVs. So basically: the 4 extra EVs in Speed don't actually boost Speed, and they won't boost HP, Special Defense, or SpA either. I reworded the sections and left them in a bold red color, let me know if the current explanation makes more sense!

Also: I tried to make it more clear that Shadow Ball is specifically for Scarf Eternatus. It's not that useful on Specs, since Calyrex-S outspeeds you and will destroy Eternatus.

 

[Adeleine]

Porygon2's Special Attack with Download respectively

add comma before "respectively"

The missing 4 EVs can go anywhere but Attack or Defense, to prevent increased Foul Play damage and Porygon2 from getting a Special Attack boost from Download.

The missing 4 EVs can go anywhere but Attack or Defense, which would either increase Foul Play damage or give Porygon2 a Special Attack boost from Download.

Also: I tried to make it more clear that Shadow Ball is specifically for Scarf Eternatus. It's not that useful on Specs, since Calyrex-S outspeeds you and will destroy Eternatus.

make Draco the first slashed move over SBall, and move the Draco explanatory bullet above the SBall bullet

besides that you're good, thanks a bunch for the clarification

 

[Theorymon]

Thanks a ton, its time to upload this!