OU Spotlight: Latios

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Introduction

Latios is one of those Pokémon that's either too good for OU, or is allowed in it and is a demigod. The first two generations that Latios was in were simply far too much for OU to bear, considering Latios had power, bulk, and Speed, a combination that was rare back in the day, so his banishment was to be expected. DPP came along after that, but things remained the same, and his time in OU was short-lived. BW was when Latios actually remained in OU, as the metagame became much more adept at handling him, and Latios has remained a consistent, top-tier threat in OU ever since then. His stay in XY was quite the unwelcome one at first due to Aegislash running rampant at every turn, but after its banishment to Ubers, Latios became one of the best, if not the best, Pokémon in OU. But now that Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire have come around, Latios has had to adapt to the changes around him, and while some changes hinder him now, you can be damn sure that his presence in the tier is still quite significant, and is one that is almost mandatory to prepare for.

Latios's Qualities:

One of the biggest qualities that Latios can brag about is that he's one of the fastest Dragon-types in the game, sporting a great base 110 Speed, which is only outsped by Arceus-Dragon, Mega Salamence, and Noivern, the former two being Ubers and the latter not being very common. Latios also has a massive base 130 Special Attack to throw around, and with powerful moves such as Draco Meteor and Psyshock to use, Latios can be a powerful offensive threat. As if these weren't enough, Latios even had solid 80 / 80 / 110 defenses to take hits with, as well as access to Roost to maintain his health, so taking him down can be a hard task. To aid in taking hits, Latios also has a fairly good defensive typing in Dragon / Psychic, which provides resistances to Fire-, Water-, Electric-, and Fighting-type moves, and also has Levitate to gain a nifty Ground immunity, so Latios has plenty of switch-in opportunities. Latios also has a fairly wide movepool with great moves, such as Thunderbolt, Surf, Earthquake, Defog, Reflect, Light Screen, Memento, and Trick, so he certainly has flexibility going for him. Finally, Latios is capable of Mega Evolution, which raises all of his stats save for Speed by a good amount, but significantly powers up his Attack stat, making moves like Earthquake, Zen Headbutt, Dragon Claw, and Dragon Dance all the more viable.

Playing With Latios:

Latios @ Life Orb / Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Hasty Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf / Hidden Power Fire / Earthquake
- Defog / Roost

This was the flagship set in XY, and it still holds up pretty well in today's metagame; the power that it boasts is astonishing, and having a great base 110 Speed makes this even more significant, thus making this set great for both sweeping and wallbreaking. Draco Meteor is pretty much mandatory for this set, as it provides the immediate power that can end many offensive Pokémon, and can also be the final big push that breaks a defensive Pokémon. Unless they have a Steel- or Fairy-type on their team or have something with very good special bulk, switching into a Draco Meteor is going to deal significant damage, so this can force your opponent to sack a teammate to safely bring in a check. Psyshock is a very helpful move that allows Latios to damage special walls more effectively than Draco Meteor, not only because it's a special attack that hits the target's Defense stat, but also because it doesn't lower his Special Attack after use, so it can be used repeatedly to threaten a special wall. The choice for a coverage move is up to personal preference. Surf allows Latios to hit Landorus-T, Heatran, Excadrill, Gliscor, Choice Scarf Tyranitar, and Bisharp for no less than a 2HKO. Hidden Power Fire allows Latios to cleanly 2HKO Ferrothorn, bulky Mega Scizor, and Skarmory. Finally, Earthquake can be used to OHKO Heatran after Stealth Rock damage, though 24 Attack EVs with a Hasty nature will be required to do so, and is also a good move to 2HKO Bisharp, as well as deal sizable damage to Tyranitar and Jirachi. The final move should be chosen based on what your team build is. If you don't have a means of removing entry hazards yet, then Defog is the preferred move, as Latios makes better use of Defog than most other Pokémon due to him being able to threaten multiple hazard setters, such as Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Heatran. However, should you already have a Pokémon with Defog or Rapid Spin on your team, then Roost is the best move to use, as it can provide Latios with some much-appreciated longevity. The EVs are fairly straightforward, with 252 Special Attack and Speed EVs maximizing Latios's damage output and Speed, but 29 HP IVs are so the recoil from Life Orb does less damage. But if you're using the Latiosite, then you can simply have 31 HP IVs, and you also won't need 24 Attack EVs to OHKO Heatran after Stealth Rock damage.

Latios @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog / Hidden Power Fire / Tailwind
- Trick

This set sacrifices some power to become more of a revenge killer. With a Choice Scarf at hand, Latios is now capable of outrunning fellow base 110s, such as opposing Latios, Latias, Gengar, Mega Gallade, and Mega Diancie, and is also able to outrun Greninja, Mega Lopunny, Mega Sceptile, Mega Beedrill, and Mega Aerodactyl. It also prevents Latios from being swept by most opposing Choice Scarf users and those at +1 Speed, such as Choice Scarf Garchomp, Dragon Dance Mega Charizard X, and Choice Scarf Landorus-T. Despite lacking an item to raise his power, Latios is still capable of inflicting large amounts of damage to whatever is unfortunate enough to get hit. Draco Meteor is once again the mandatory move, as the immediate power it provides is needed to properly revenge kill bulkier foes. Psyshock is another mandatory move, as it prevents Latios from being completely walled by special walls. The third move depends on whether you want Latios to be an emergency supporter or to be able to threaten more Pokémon. Defog can be used to clear entry hazards before biting the dust, even against normally faster foes like Greninja and Mega Beedrill. Hidden Power Fire can be used if you feel that taking out Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor is necessary. Tailwind can be used to speed up the rest of your team in a pinch. Finally, Trick is what makes Choice Scarf Latios hard to approach, as you can Trick your Choice Scarf onto an opponent's wall, such as Chansey, Ferrothorn, Clefable, and Heatran. You can also do this to a sweeper, and while they can potentially abuse the high Speed, they would also be easy to revenge kill if they lock themselves into a move. For example, if you Trick a Choice Scarf onto a Greninja, then it will be unable to use any of its coverage moves, so then a teammate like Heatran or Azumarill would be able to completely wall it after it uses Ice Beam.

Latios @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Memento
- Draco Meteor / Hidden Power Fighting / Psychic

This is one of the more out there sets that rarely sees usage, but can still be a successful set. Latios is normally known for his offensive power, but this set aims to catch trainers off-guard by being a suicide lead that provides support for his team. Reflect and Light Screen are mandatory for this set, as they provide additional bulk for his team, which is perfect for setup sweepers. Memento has two purposes here: the first purpose is providing a safe switch for a teammate to preserve their bulk, and the second purpose is to weaken the opponent's attacks even further, thus forcing the opponent to switch out and providing more turns to set up. Memento can also be used in an emergency in case if you can't set up Light Screen and Reflect quickly enough. The final move is really up to preference. Draco Meteor is still a powerful move, even without Special Attack investment, which can deal good damage if absolutely needed. Hidden Power Fighting is to OHKO Bisharp, which would be able to take advantage of Memento thanks to Defiant. Psychic can be used as a STAB attack that doesn't lower Latios's Special Attack for more consistency. Light Clay is the generally preferred item used here, as the extra turns of screens staying up outweigh the extra health gained, especially considering the fact that this set is designed to be a suicide lead. 252 HP ensure that Latios can take a hit while setting up, and 252 Speed EVs allow Latios to set up screens quickly.

Playing Against Latios:

Approaching Latios is difficult, not only because each set on its own can be difficult to deal with, but also because each of his sets function differently from each other, although there are a few universal checks and counters to Latios. Mega Sableye can take on any set thrown its way, thanks to being able to use Prankster Calm Mind the turn it Mega Evolves to live a Draco Meteor, and then can use Recover to wall Latios completely. What's more, Mega Sableye is immune to Trick because it's a Mega Evolution, so it can't be crippled with a Choice Scarf. However, Life Orb Latios can 2HKO Mega Sableye with Draco Meteor if it directly switches in, even if Mega Sableye has already Mega Evolved, and even factoring in Draco Meteor's effect, and Sableye has no chance of living it before Mega Evolving unless it has some serious Special Defense investment, so directly switching in is out of the question. Mega Metagross is also a very reliable check to any Latios set, as it Speed ties after Mega Evolving and can cleanly OHKO offensive sets with Ice Punch after Stealth Rock damage; even if Ice Punch fails to OHKO, such as when being used on Mega Latios, Bullet Punch can be used to quickly finish him off. Choice Scarf Latios fails to 2HKO it with any of his attacks, so Mega Metagross can take any attack and retaliate with Ice Punch, and like any Mega Evolution, Trick will have no effect on it, so it doesn't worry about being locked into a move. Before Mega Evolving, Metagross is immune to Memento's effect thanks to Clear Body, so it won't be forced to switch out then. Life Orb Latios is capable of landing a 2HKO with Hidden Power Fire, even after Metagross Mega Evolves, so switching directly in is ill-advised, especially because Mega Metagross risks losing a Speed tie. Finally, defensive Mega Altaira can be considered a universal counter, thanks to its Dragon / Fairy typing and bulk. The most that Mega Altaira fears from Latios is a Life Orb-powered Psyshock, but this can be remedied with some Defense EVs. Everything else is nothing worth being concerned over, as Altaria is immune to Draco Meteor and takes little damage from every other attack. Offensive Altaria is capable of living any attack and can either OHKO with Pixilate Return or Hyper Voice or set up with Dragon Dance, thus making it a great check.

Checking or countering every set at the same time is quite difficult, but each individual set has numerous checks and counters to them. The Life Orb set is arguably the easiest set to check, as there are many Pokémon capable of revenge killing it, such as Greninja, Azumarill, Bisharp, Choice Scarf Garchomp, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Suicune, Mega Beedrill, and Doublade. Countering this set can be challenging, but there are those that can pull it off, such as Jirachi, Celebi, Chansey, and Sylveon. The Choice Scarf set is harder to approach before Latios attacks, because the high Speed usually lets Latios outrun every sweeper, and can even use Trick to cripple a defensive Pokémon, but it can be surprisingly easy to check or even counter Latios after he locks himself into a move. For example, if Latios is locked into anything other than Hidden Power Fire, then Mega Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory completely wall Latios, and if Latios is locked into Psyshock, then every Dark-type in the game can be considered a counter, such as Greninja, Bisharp, and Tyranitar. The suicide lead set is hard to stop, as Latios usually gets off at least one move before kicking the bucket. However, Pokémon with Taunt are basically hard counters, such as Talonflame, Thundurus, Sableye, Gliscor, Mega Gyarados, Terrakion, and more.

Fitting Latios Onto Your Team:

Latios is a Pokémon that isn't too hard to add to the team, but Mega Latios is tougher to add to a team for two reasons. The first reason is because having Mega Latios takes up the team's Mega slot, meaning you can't have another Mega Evolution, such as Mega Venusaur and Mega Altaria. Now this isn't that big a reason on its own, but this leads me to the second reason, which is the difference between Latios and Mega Latios. Mega Latios is only slightly stronger than Life Orb Latios, so if you're teambuilding, then you have to decide if having slightly better stats and lacking Life Orb recoil is worth taking up your Mega Slot. However, if your team doesn't already have a Mega Evolution, then you should definitely give Latios the Latiosite over the Life Orb, as the extra bulk gained from Mega Evolving can help him take hits better, and combined with lacking the Life Orb recoil and taking reduced damage from Knock Off, Mega Latios is much better at surviving than Life Orb Latios.

With that out of the way, we can now discuss the teammates that Latios appreciates. Jirachi is a solid partner for taking on Fairy-types, as it not only provides Wish support for Latios, but it also takes hits from Fairy-types like Mega Gardevoir and Mega Diancie and can OHKO both of them with Iron Head, with the former requiring Stealth Rock to OHKO. Keldeo is a powerful teammate for Latios, as its Fighting STAB moves can threaten Dark- and Steel-types such as Bisharp, Heatran, Ferrothorn, Mega Gyarados, and Tyranitar. Choice Scarf Heatran makes for another good offensive partner, as it's capable of taking on Mega Metagross, Mega Scizor, Mega Diancie, Ferrothorn, and Jirachi. Rotom-W can take on Mega Metagross, Azumarill, Heatran, Mega Scizor, Talonflame, Sand Rush Excadrill, Mamoswine, and (Mega) Tyranitar, and can use Volt Switch to maintain offensive momentum and potentially provide Latios with a safe switch. Finally, offensive Talonflame is good at taking on Greninja, Mega Metagross, Bisharp, Mega Gallade, Mega Gardevoir, Gengar, Mega Scizor, Ferrothorn, Mega Lopunny, and Jirachi, and provides U-turn support to take punish switches and potentially give Latios safe switches.

Get Out There!

Latios has taken a hit in effectiveness during the transition from XY to ORAS, with the Speed creep being a huge problem for him. However, Latios can brag the rights to having a great Speed stat before Mega Evolving, which can be a huge deal when weighting him against his competition. His stats are naturally great even without Mega Evolving, his various sets make approaching him quite the challenge, and his presence in a battle can often be a win condition. Despite the metagame toughening up a bit, Latios still shapes out to be a powerful force in OU, and it looks like it's going to be that way for quite some time.

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