[OVERVIEW]
Psychic
========
Deoxys-S's access to Nasty Plot combined with great coverage moves in Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Energy Ball allows it to serve as a threatening setup sweeper that can pose a huge threat to Water, Flying, Electric, and Ground. Its amazing Speed allows it to outspeed various offensive threats such as Tapu Koko, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and Greninja, making its offensive checks hard to find. However, as a setup sweeper, its bulk is rather poor, meaning it is easily checked by priority users such as Dragonite as well as faster Pokemon such as Alolan Raichu under Electric Terrain, Excadrill under sand, Mega Swampert under rain, and the fastest Choice Scarf users such as Latios and Greninja. In addition to that, Deoxys-S's Special Attack is rather lacking, meaning it usually has to rely on boosting with Nasty Plot to deal significant damage, especially against bulkier Pokemon.
[SET]
name: Nasty Plot (Psychic)
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Energy Ball / Psycho Boost
item: Electrium Z / Psychium Z / Expert Belt
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Nasty Plot turns Deoxys-S into a threatening setup sweeper and allows it to break bulkier Pokemon such as Celesteela, Zapdos, and Toxapex. Thunderbolt hits Water- and Flying-type Pokemon such as Toxapex, Mantine, and Celesteela for super effective damage. Ice Beam hits Flying-type Pokemon that are not weak to Thunderbolt such as Gliscor, Zapdos, and Landorus-T for super effective damage, working together with Thunderbolt to beat defensive Flying cores effectively. Ice Beam can also hit Ground- and Dragon-type Pokemon such as Garchomp, Hippowdon, and Latios. Energy Ball hits super effectively, which combines with Thunderbolt and Ice Beam to take down Water and Ground teams, respectively. Psycho Boost is an option over Energy Ball as an extremely strong STAB attack that does not need a boost to threaten more offensive Pokemon such as Mega Diancie, Tapu Koko, and Zeraora while also beating Poison-type Pokemon such as Toxapex and Mega Venusaur. It also hits Kyurem-B and can take down Dragon teams in conjunction with Ice Beam With Shattered Psyche, Deoxys-S can beat most of Energy Ball's targets anyway.
Set Details
========
Electrium Z can be used for Gigavolt Havoc, which is especially good for beating specially defensive Celesteela after a Nasty Plot boost. It can also OHKO Pokemon such as Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Charizard Y unboosted. Psychium Z is another option to enable Shattered Psyche for when Deoxys-S cannot find time to boost, and it is required to make using Psycho Boost reliable. If there is another Z-Move user on the team, Expert Belt is an option to take advantage of Deoxys-S's super effective coverage by notably allowing Deoxys-S to OHKO physically defensive Celesteela after a boost and Greninja unboosted. Maximum investment in Special Attack allows Deoxys-S to be as strong as possible. Maximum investment into Speed along with a Timid nature allows Deoxys-S to be as fast as possible, outspeeding common slower offensive threats such as Tapu Koko, Zeraora, and Greninja, as well as certain Choice Scarf users such as Landorus-T, Nihilego, and Hydreigon.
Usage Tips
========
Deoxys-S should generally try to sweep or deal significant damage in matchups it excels in such as Water and Flying using Nasty Plot and its amazing Speed and coverage. However, in other matchups such as Steel, Dark, and Fairy where Deoxys-S struggles to sweep, it should try to serve as an early- and mid-game wallbreaker so that its other teammates can sweep. Since its bulk is lackluster, Deoxys-S should avoid switching into stronger attacks such as Tornadus-T's Hurricane and Swampert's Earthquake, as they will oftentimes leave it too weak to set up effectively and prone to getting revenge killed easily. For example, in the Flying matchup, taking minor chip damage while setting up can easily lead to being revenge killed by Dragonite's Extreme Speed. In the matchups where Deoxys-S excels, it should try to set up against defensive Pokemon like Toxapex and Mantine or on forced switches against Pokemon such as Greninja, Garchomp, and Pelipper. However, be careful when setting up against offensive Pokemon like Mega Charizard Y and Tornadus-T in the Flying matchup, as they're often required to stay in to prevent their entire team from getting swept after a free Nasty Plot. Setting up Stealth Rock is largely beneficial for Deoxys-S as a sweeper and revenge killer, as it is great for breaking Dragonite's Multiscale, breaking Focus Sash on Pokemon like Breloom, and chipping away at Pokemon like Celesteela, Mega Charizard Y, and Zapdos. It is especially good in the Flying matchup, as setting up Stealth Rock means Deoxys-S doesn't need to use Nasty Plot to sweep, as the Stealth Rock damage covers up its rather lackluster unboosted Special Attack. Due to its high Speed, Deoxys-S can also be used as a lead in order to grab good matchups against opposing leads such as Tapu Koko, Swampert and Mega Diancie. Its amazing Speed stat also allows it to function as a great revenge killer that is able to revenge kill common offensive threats like Greninja, Landorus-T, Tapu Koko, and Zeraora. Try to remove entry hazards, particularly Toxic Spikes, before sending Deoxys-S in to sweep. Removing Toxic Spikes is especially important in the Water matchup, where Deoxys-S excels, because it will need to frequently swap between its coverage moves in order to effectively dismantle the opposition. Be careful around status inducers such as Rotom-W and Zapdos that can threaten to paralyze or badly poison Deoxys-S. The former lowers its Speed and the latter wears it down over time, both making Deoxys-S easier to revenge kill and check.
Team Options
========
Choice Band Victini and Mega Gallade are both amazing physical wallbreakers that support Deoxys-S. They can both break down Steel- and Dark-types as well as specially bulky Pokemon such as Jirachi, Ferrothorn, Mega Sableye, Alolan Muk, and Chansey, eliminating a majority of Deoxys-S's defensive checks. Mega Gallade can also pick off Pokemon such as Alolan Raichu and Choice Scarf Latios with Shadow Sneak for Deoxys-S. In return, Deoxys-S is able to threaten faster Pokemon such as Tornadus-T, Greninja, Tapu Koko, and Zeraora that Victini and Mega Gallade struggle against. As a setup sweeper with lackluster bulk, Deoxys-S appreciates Healing Wish users such as Latias and Celebi, as they can heal it if it ever gets worn down or inflicted with status. Choice Scarf Latias can beat revenge killers such as +1 Mega Sharpedo and Choice Scarf Terrakion for Deoxys-S. Latios is another more powerful Choice Scarf user that can beat the aforementioned Pokemon, or it can serve as a formidable wallbreaker using its higher Special Attack in order to beat shared checks like Celesteela for Deoxys-S. Latias's and Latios's access to Defog is crucial because they can remove Toxic Spikes, Spikes, and Stealth Rock, which chip at Deoxys-S's health, as well as Sticky Web, which slows it down. Jirachi and Celebi can both support Deoxys-S with Stealth Rock, which helps Deoxys-S wear down the opposing team by forcing switches. They can also pivot into strong attacks that threaten Deoxys-S, such as Latios's Draco Meteor and Mega Swampert's Waterfall, and bring it in with U-turn. With a Colbur Berry, they can both serve as good checks to Mega Sharpedo, which can revenge kill Deoxys-S at +1. Metagross is an offensive Stealth Rock setter that can trap Pokemon that check Deoxys-S such as Alolan Raichu and Latios with Pursuit as well as serving as a good Mimikyu check with Kasib Berry. It's also great in the Fairy matchup where Deoxys-S struggles to sweep, especially if it is not running Psycho Boost. Mew's access to Taunt is great for denying hazards that chip away at Deoxys-S's health from Pokemon such as Toxapex, Ferrothorn, and Swampert. As a stallbreaker, Mew can take on many walls like Chansey, Alolan Muk, and Ferrothorn and remove Choice Scarf from Pokemon like Latios and Greninja, paving the way for Deoxys-S to clean. Its stallbreaking capabilities allow Mew to take on matchups that Deoxys-S struggles in such as Steel and Normal very well. Alakazam is a good partner for Deoxys-S because it can blanket check physical attackers like Mega Sharpedo, Excadrill, and Bisharp.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Psychic
--------
Life Orb boosts all of Nasty Plot Deoxys-S's attacks, which is most notably useful for OHKOing many frailer Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Zeraora, Mega Diancie, and Tornadus-T with Psycho Boost. However, the recoil wears it down considerably and puts it into range for revenge killers and priority users to pick it off more easily, which is particularly notable for Choice Band Dragonite, which beats it with Extreme Speed after Stealth Rock and one turn of Life Orb recoil.
Checks and Counters
===================
Psychic
--------
**Specially Defensive Pokemon**: Specially defensive Pokemon such as Chansey, Jirachi, and Alolan Muk all deal with Nasty Plot Deoxys-S pretty comfortably, as they can take any of its attacks and set up hazards, cripple it with status, or Pursuit trap it in return.
**Revenge Killers and Priority Users** Faster Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Greninja, Choice Scarf Latios, and Alolan Raichu all outspeed and beat Deoxys-S comfortably due to its poor bulk. Priority users such as Bisharp, Dragonite, and Mimikyu can also pick it off with ease.
**Paralysis** When paralyzed, Deoxys-S is vulnerable to being revenge killed by slower threats like Keldeo, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Diancie.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Decem, 362454]]
- Psychic analysis by: [[Decem, 362454]]
- Quality checked by: [[maroon, 305839], [Eien, 100418], [Kev, 314540]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Eien, 100418], [ACakeWearingAHat>, 388157]]
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