Latios Latios has been a great Pokemon ever since it's creation in Generation 3. Latios was first allowed in OU in Generation 5 and that is where it remains as of today. With the introduction of X/Y Latios gained a new toy in the form of Defog, which allows it to function as a Hazard Remover. Latios has good base stats across the board with 130 Special Attack, 110 Speed and usable Defenses and a great ability in Levitate. Gen 6 wasn't only kind to Latios though as Draco Meteor was nerfed, Fairies were introduced, and new checks and counters to Latios have been introduced such as Bisharp and Aegislash. Life Orb Latios (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Levitate EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Draco Meteor - Psyshock - Surf / Hidden Power [Fire] / Thunderbolt / Roost - Defog / Roost Life Orb amplifies Latios' amazing Special Attack to cause obscene damage while still being able to alternate between moves. Draco Meteor hits anything that doesn't resist it or have very high Special Defense really hard. Psyshock stops Blissey and Chansey from walling Latios along with hitting Fighting and Poison types such as Conkeldurr and Mega Venusaur which would cause problems. The next moveslot is between Surf, Hidden Power [Fire], Thunderbolt, and Roost. Surf hits Tyranitar, Excadrill, and Heatran for solid damage. Hidden Power [Fire] will defeat Ferrothorn and Scizor, but forces you to use 30 Speed IVs, making you not tie with +Speed Base 110's. Defog is a great move that removes hazards on both sides of the field which can be an important thing for certain teams. Roost is great for healing, but Defog and Coverage moves are both quite tempting. Choice Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs Trait: Levitate EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Draco Meteor - Psyshock - Surf / Hidden Power [Fire] - Trick / Defog Latios has great Special Attack and Speed, but they can be augmented further by Choice Specs or Choice Scarf. With a Choice Scarf, Latios' Speed reaches an astounding 525, outspeeding anything except more obscure Scarfers such as Scarf Greninja. Choice Specs allows Latios to hit with ridiculous power. A Draco Meteor from Choice Specs Latios will OHKO Rotom-W that aren't fully invested in Special Defense. Draco Meteor is a necessary move to have on Latios because of the sheer power that it has, not much can safely switch in on it. Psyshock can defeat Blissey and Chansey along with other threats that it hits super-effectively. Surf can do decent damage to Heatran and Tyranitar as they switch in, but most of the time it isn't enough. Hidden Power [Fire] deals with Genesect, Scizor, and Ferrothorn which are common counters to Latios otherwise. Trick can cripple an opposing Pokemon, especially more stallish Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Chansey. Defog removes hazards, but can give the opponent a free turn to act as you are forced to switch which may be dangerous. Other Options Shadow Ball can be used on a Choice Specs Latios to hit Aegislash switch-ins hard. Roost can be used on the third slot of the Life Orb set, but Latias plays the bulky Defogger role better generally. Dragon Pulse can be used on Choice Latios, but the coverage moves and the support move are of importance. An Offensive Calm Mind set is usable, but Latias can fill the role better, and neither can pull the set off as well as they used to could. Expert Belt is usable on the Life Orb set, but the constant power is generally preferred. Reflect, Light Screen, and Tailwind are moves that Latios can viably use to support its teammates, but these sets are outclassed by other Pokemon. Dragon Dance bolsters Latios' speed to outspeed, or at least tie with the entire scarfed metagame Checks and Counters Tyranitar can take anything from Latios except for two Earthquakes and trap it with Pursuit. Heatran has an easy time taking Latios' attacks, except for an Earthquake, and can Toxic Stall or 2HKO Latios with Flash Cannon. Aegislash takes anything except for a rare Shadow Ball from Choice Specs Latios. Ferrothorn can take any attack from Latios, but is crippled by Trick. Bulky Fairies such as Clefable and Sylveon are somewhat reliable ways to defeat Latios. Bisharp gets its Attack boosted by two stages by Defog and can OHKO Latios with Sucker Punch or Knock Off and can even Pursuit trap it, but Earthquake and Surf wear it down fast so it has to be played well. Mega Scizor can tank most of Latios' attacks and fire back with a super-effective U-Turn!
Is offensive Calm Mind worth a mention? Timid @ Life Orb 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd -Calm Mind -Dragon Pulse -Psyshock -Surf / other coverage move. I know it's something Latias is much more likely to do, and Latios' basically never uses Calm Mind, but more immediate power gives it some reasoning, I guess? OO?
You can arguable slash Expert Belt with Life Orb on the first set, but it isn't mandatory and can just be OO'd (EB Latios was better in generation five). Although Defog is a great move and Latios enjoys using it, it doesn't always get a turn to Defog or need to defog and some teams already have a defogger, so you could back-slash Roost (especially if the only item is LO) so you can recover against pokemon like Keldeo, Rotom-W, etc. I would back-slash Hidden Power Fire with Surf on the Choiced set - even with the nerf, it is still nice for pokemon like Genesect, Scizor, and Ferrothorn. Of course, Surf hits pokemon like Tyranitar and Excadrill, but Hidden Power Fire still has viability and is worth noting. Mention bulky/mega scizor as a check to Latios in the C&C. Mention revenge killing from the likes of Genesect, Scarf Tyranitar, and strong priority can pose a big threat to Latios in the C&C. @Spoovo, CM doesn't get it's own set, the OO is where it should reside. Good analysis!
I highly recommend slashing Hidden Power Fire next to EQ and Surf on the LO set. Currently, Latios's most common switch-ins are (Mega) Scizor and Mega Mawile, both of which are destroyed by HP Fire. HP Fire also comes with the nice bonus of hitting Ferrothorn, Aegislash, and Bisharp super effectively. Do note that this will make Latios even weaker to Heatran and Tyranitar though. Great job otherwise :)
Alright, I'll give this a full QC check: General When you mention new checks and counters, specifically mention the increased popularity of Pursuit users such as Bisharp and Aegislash. Also mention how Latios's good defensive typing lends itself to check threats like Landorus, Thundurus, and Keldeo. Life Orb I would like to see Naive > Hasty since Hasty largely increases the chance that CB Talonflame will OHKO Latios with Brave Bird, while Naive makes it so that Talonflame has an extremely small chance to OHKO at full health. It's a fairly small change, but it can go a long way. Other Options Mention the possibility of a Dragon Dance set to boost its Speed with Outrage as a secondary STAB to beat Chansey and Blissey. Also mention dual screens and Tailwind support, but make sure you highlight that it's outclassed by Deoxys-S/D and Talonflame, respectively. Checks and Counters Mega Scizor never runs Pursuit, so I would just scratch that and mention Choice Band Scizor instead. Also, when you mention Bisharp, please mention that it can also Pursuit-trap Latios. This is an excellent analysis otherwise, here's your stamp: QC Approved 1/3
QC Approved 2/3 Add everything that Rohail mentioned & mention that Bisharp cannot switch-in on the common EQ or Surf consistently, making it unreliable (it always gets boned by that when facing a well played Latios) - this also causes a 50/50 w/ sucker-pursuit sometimes, too.
GRAMMAR CHECK Final Draught (for wiki port) Spoiler Latios Latios has been a great Pokémon ever since its creation in Ruby and Sapphire. Latios first appeared in OU in Generation V, and remains there in Generation VI. With the introduction of X/Y, Latios gained a new toy in the form of Defog, which allows it to function as a hazard remover. Latios has good base stats across the board with 130 Special Attack, 110 Speed, usable defenses and a great ability in Levitate. Generation VI wasn't all that kind to Latios though, as Draco Meteor was nerfed, and the Fairy-type was introduced. New checks and counters to Latios such as Bisharp and Aegislash also entered the tier. Life Orb Latios (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Levitate EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) / Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef) / Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def) - Draco Meteor - Psyshock - Surf / Earthquake / Hidden Power [Fire] - Defog / Roost Life Orb amplifies Latios's amazing Special Attack to cause obscene damage while still being able to alternate between moves. Draco Meteor hits anything that doesn't resist it or have very high Special Defense hard. Psyshock stops Blissey and Chansey from walling Latios, alongside hitting Fighting and Poison-types such as Conkeldurr and Mega Venusaur which can cause Latios problems. The next moveslot provides a choice between Surf, Hidden Power [Fire] and Earthquake. With Earthquake, Latios sacrifices some Defense by using a Hasty nature, however it allows it to hit Heatran and Tyranitar hard on the switch-in. Surf can hit Heatran and Tyranitar for a considerable amount of damage, although not as much as Earthquake deals. Hidden Power [Fire] will defeat Ferrothorn and Scizor, but forces you to use 30 Speed IVs, meaning Latios will not tie with Pokémon in the base 110 Speed tier with beneficial natures. Defog is a great move that removes hazards on both sides of the field, which can be important for certain teams. Roost is great for healing, but Defog is generally preferred due to the support it lends to other members of a team. Choice Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs Trait: Levitate EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Draco Meteor - Psyshock - Surf / Hidden Power [Fire] - Trick / Defog Latios has great Special Attack and Speed, but they can be augmented further by Choice Specs or Choice Scarf. With a Choice Scarf, Latios's Speed reaches an astounding 525, outspeeding anything except more obscure Scarf users such as Greninja. Choice Specs allows Latios to hit with ridiculous power. A Draco Meteor from Choice Specs Latios will OHKO Rotom-W that aren't fully invested in Special Defense. Draco Meteor is a necessary move to have on Latios because of its sheer power: not much can safely switch in on it. Psyshock can defeat Blissey and Chansey along with other threats that it hits for super effective damage. Surf can do decent damage to Heatran and Tyranitar as they switch in, but most of the time it isn't enough. Hidden Power [Fire] deals with Genesect, Scizor, and Ferrothorn, common counters to Latios. Trick can cripple an opposing Pokémon, especially those based around stall, such as Ferrothorn and Chansey. Defog removes hazards, but can give the opponent a free turn to act as you are forced to switch which may be dangerous. Other Options Shadow Ball can be used on a Choice Specs Latios to hit Aegislash switch-ins hard. Roost can be used on the third slot of the Life Orb set, but Latias generally plays the bulky Defogger role better. Dragon Pulse can be used on Choice Latios, but the coverage moves and the support move are of importance. An offensive Calm Mind set is usable, but Latias can fill the role better, and neither can pull the set off as well as they used to. Expert Belt is usable on the Life Orb set, but the constant power is generally preferred. Reflect, Light Screen and Tailwind are moves that Latios can viably use to support its teammates, but these sets are outclassed by other Pokémon. Dragon Dance bolsters Latios's speed to outspeed - or at least tie - with the entire Choice Scarfed metagame. Checks and Counters Tyranitar can take anything from Latios except for two Earthquakes and trap it with Pursuit. Heatran has an easy time taking Latios's attacks except for Earthquake, and can Toxic stall or 2HKO it with Flash Cannon. Aegislash takes anything except for a rare Shadow Ball from Choice Specs Latios. Ferrothorn can take any attack from Latios, but is crippled by Trick. Bulky Fairies such as Clefable and Sylveon are somewhat reliable ways to defeat Latios. Bisharp gets its Attack boosted by two stages by Defog and can OHKO Latios with Sucker Punch or Knock Off. It can even Pursuit trap it, but Earthquake and Surf wear it down fast so it has to be played well. Mega Scizor can tank Latios's attacks and fire back with a super-effective U-Turn. Choice Scarf users that hit super effectively from the physical spectrum can just about always beat Latios, Scarf Genesect being the most notorious. Record of Changes Spoiler Latios Latios has been a great Pokeémon ever since it's creation in Generation 3Ruby and Sapphire. Latios was first allowppeared in OU in Generation 5V, and that is wremains there it remains as of todayn Generation VI. With the introduction of X/Y, Latios gained a new toy in the form of Defog, which allows it to function as a Hhazard Rremover. Latios has good base stats across the board with 130 Special Attack, 110 Speed and, usable Ddefenses and a great ability in Levitate. Gen 6eration VI wasn't all that kind to Latios though, as Draco Meteor was nerfed, and the Fairies werey-type was introduced, and n. New checks and counters to Latios have been introduced such as Bisharp and Aegislash also entered the tier. Life Orb Latios (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Levitate EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) / Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef) / Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def) - Draco Meteor - Psyshock - Surf / Earthquake / Hidden Power [Fire] - Defog / Roost Life Orb amplifies Latios's amazing Special Attack to cause obscene damage while still being able to alternate between moves. Draco Meteor hits anything that doesn't resist it or have very high Special Defense really hard. Psyshock stops Blissey and Chansey from walling Latios, along withside hitting Fighting and Poison -types such as Conkeldurr and Mega Venusaur which wouldcan cause Latios problems. The next moveslot provides a choice between Surf, Hidden Power [Fire] and Earthquake. With Earthquake, you opt toLatios sacrifices some dDefense by using a Hasty Nnature while hitting, however it allows it to hit Heatran and Tyranitar hard on the switch-in. Surf can hit them both for better damage than youHeatran and Tyranitar for a could normally do to them, but not ennsiderable amount of damage, although in most situationas much as Earthquake deals. Hidden Power [Fire] will defeat Ferrothorn and Scizor, but forces you to use 30 Speed IVs, makeaning youLatios will not tie with +Speed BPokémon in the base 110' Speed tier with beneficial natures. Defog is a great move that removes hazards on both sides of the field, which can be an important thing for certain teams. Roost is great for healing, but Defog is generally preferred due to the support it lends to other members of a team. Choice Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs Trait: Levitate EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Draco Meteor - Psyshock - Surf / Hidden Power [Fire] - Trick / Defog Latios has great Special Attack and Speed, but they can be augmented further by Choice Specs or Choice Scarf. With a Choice Scarf, Latios's Speed reaches an astounding 525, outspeeding anything except more obscure Scarf users such as Scarf Greninja. Choice Specs allows Latios to hit with ridiculous power. A Draco Meteor from Choice Specs Latios will OHKO Rotom-W that aren't fully invested in Special Defense. Draco Meteor is a necessary move to have on Latios because of theits sheer power that it has,: not much can safely switch in on it. Psyshock can defeat Blissey and Chansey along with other threats that it hits for super- effectively damage. Surf can do decent damage to Heatran and Tyranitar as they switch in, but most of the time it isn't enough. Hidden Power [Fire] deals with Genesect, Scizor, and Ferrothorn which are, common counters to Latios otherwise. Trick can cripple an opposing Pokeémon, especially morethose based around stallish Pokemon, such as Ferrothorn and Chansey. Defog removes hazards, but can give the opponent a free turn to act as you are forced to switch which may be dangerous. Other Options Shadow Ball can be used on a Choice Specs Latios to hit Aegislash switch-ins hard. Roost can be used on the third slot of the Life Orb set, but Latias generally plays the bulky Defogger role better generally. Dragon Pulse can be used on Choice Latios, but the coverage moves and the support move are of importance. An Ooffensive Calm Mind set is usable, but Latias can fill the role better, and neither can pull the set off as well as they used to could. Expert Belt is usable on the Life Orb set, but the constant power is generally preferred. Reflect, Light Screen, and Tailwind are moves that Latios can viably use to support its teammates, but these sets are outclassed by other Pokeémon. Dragon Dance bolsters Latios's speed to outspeed, - or at least tie - with the entire sChoice Scarfed metagame. Checks and Counters Tyranitar can take anything from Latios except for two Earthquakes and trap it with Pursuit. Heatran has an easy time taking Latios's attacks, except for an Earthquake, and can Toxic Sstall or 2HKO Latiosit with Flash Cannon. Aegislash takes anything except for a rare Shadow Ball from Choice Specs Latios. Ferrothorn can take any attack from Latios, but is crippled by Trick. Bulky Fairies such as Clefable and Sylveon are somewhat reliable ways to defeat Latios. Bisharp gets its Attack boosted by two stages by Defog and can OHKO Latios with Sucker Punch or Knock Off and. It can even Pursuit trap it, but Earthquake and Surf wear it down fast so it has to be played well. Mega Scizor can tank Latios's attacks and fire back with a super-effective U-Turn!. Choice Scarf users that hit it Ssuper-E effectively from the Pphysical spectrum can just about always beat Latios, Scarf Genesect being the most notorious of which. Comments: Just a little spruce up here. In places I feel like it lacks a few examples perhaps, so the analysis may need relooking at.
You should make a slash for hidden power fighting over fire for ttar. I know by experience it is a 2hko when u predict the switch.
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Surf vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Tyranitar in Sand: 146-174 (42.8 - 51%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock Yeah HP Fighting is really unnecessary because Surf does fine against Ttar while hitting Heatran and Excadrill much harder. HP Fighting is really only useful for OHKOing Bisharp on the switch, but because of the Deo bans, it's not all that important of a target imo. However, I think that the set could use a revamping because of how the metagame has shifted: Latios @ Life Orb Trait: Levitate 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature - Draco Meteor - Psyshock - Surf / Hidden Power Fire / Thunderbolt / Roost - Roost / Defog Not too much has changed, but there are still some noticeable shifts. For starters, EQ is removed as a slash because Surf is just better despite not OHKOing Heatran, since it hits Ttar and Excadrill much harder while still getting solid damage on Skarmory and Mega Mawile. Tbolt gets a slash because it lets Latios get by Azumarill with much more ease, specifically the Band/Belly Jet sets because they get hit for the OHKO (useful because a banded/+6 Aqua Jet doesn't OHKO and Psyshock doesn't OHKO Azumarill even after Belly Drum damage assuming Sitrus Berry). Finally, Roost + Defog is a legit option on Latios if you need its longevity + Defog support, and before people say that Latias is better for that job, let me just tell you that Latias is only used over Latios for Healing Wish, because otherwise, Latios's power boost is much more appreciated than Latias's beefier bulk. You know what, now that I'm here, let me just give this another full check because the analysis seems to lack a lot of detail rn. Overview Mention Latios's amazing typing, which lets it pivot off of threatening special attackers like Landorus, MCY, and Keldeo with relative ease. Also mention how its Speed tier is great for beating a lot of the top-tier threats (Terrakion/Keldeo/Landorus) but it unfortunately misses out on Thundurus while also forcing Latios to Speed tie with Gengar and Latias :[ Finally, mention how Latios can threaten stall thanks to Psyshock hitting Chansey's lower Defense for solid damage, and with some Pursuit support or just a bit of prior damage + hazards, Latios can just sweep past Chansey and proceed to give the rest of its team difficulty since not much on stall appreciates Latios's attacks (aside from Clef and Mew, which aren't too common fsr). Life Orb Change the set to what I posted above and remove Naive plox. Please mention that Roost allows Latios to keep coming in on the stuff it walls, because if it lacks Roost, the damage Keldeo/MCY/etc. do can very quickly overwhelm Latios and prevent it from walling them. Please mention Earthquake, Shadow Ball, and Hidden Power Fighting as situationally useful coverage options (remove them from OO and mention them here). Choice I personally really dislike Choice Specs on Latios and think it should be removed tbh :/ The power boost from Choice Specs is often unnecessary as Life Orb gives Latios enough strength to muscle through everything it needs to, while also giving it the freedom to switch moves, which is incredibly useful if you mispredict and easy to use thanks to Latios's excellent Speed tier. Furthermore, Choice Specs makes Latios much more Pursuit-bait than it really is and is just overall so inferior when compared to Latios's other options. I'm fine with Choice Scarf though, as it makes for a decent surprise and Latios's Speed tier lets it outpace other more common scarfers like Garchomp and Landorus-T and donk them for the OHKO before they think they can OHKO you. Finally, I would deslash Defog and just mention it in Comments. This is because Defog is a horrible move to be locked into and can easily be taken advantage of. Furthermore, unlike, say, Choice Scarf Rapid Spin Excadrill, Latios has much better options to use in that last moveslot like Trick or a coverage move. Other Options Remove Shadow Ball and Roost in the third slot because the former should go in comments while the latter is a fine strategy. When mentioning Dragon Pulse, please note than two Draco Meteors hit harder than two Dragon Pulses, so it really is a mediocre option for what's supposed to be a nuking move. Checks and Counters Aegislash is probably Latios's best counter as it isn't even 2HKOed by Shadow Ball with King's Shield unless there are a lot of hazards on the field. Tyranitar and Heatran come close in second, but they must be wary of the increasingly popular Surf. Physically defensive Clefable and specially defensive Mew are you next best bets, but even they can be beaten with just a bit of prior damage. The rest is fine :] Do make sure you remove Gene mentions though. Hope this isn't too much @MewtwoHidden and sorry @Samphire for getting to this after you GP checked this :[
Get rid of Defog on the Choiced Sets, getting locked into Defog is one of the last things you want to do. I agree with TRC; I honestly don't like Specs, but I dislike Defog on a Choiced set even more. If you are using Choiced Latios, just stick with Trick because crippling Aegislash / Bisharp / Tyranitar can be really useful.
In the metagame with Aegislash and Mawile, Latios should have one set, and one set only: Life Orb Special Attacker. It should look like this: Latios (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Levitate EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Draco Meteor - Psyshock / Psychic - Defog - Roost / Hidden Power [Fire] / Thunderbolt* *Not sure if it deserved the back-slash, tbh - the whole last two slots can be up for debate, i suppose, as many can say defog isn't a staple HP Fighting, Surf, etc. should be OO'd alongside Specs, Scarf, CM, etc. Latios gets much better and versatile when the meta progresses, but we aren't there yet, so no need to make unecessary sets and such, imo.
I agree somewhat with the set that Finchinator posted. However, I do have some comments to add. For one, Roost should either be slashed behind Defog or relegated to the set details and mentioned as an alternative to Defog. Defog + Roost Latios is outclassed by Latias, the set should always have three attacks. This means that Hidden Power Fire and Thunderbolt can be their own option in slot 4 (I agree with Thunderbolt staying). Within the set details after you mention these moves, you can then talk about your non-slashes (Earthquake, HP Fighting, Surf). The overview needs to mention the advantages of using Latios over Latias. I disagree with Finchinator, Choice Scarf is a viable set, regardless of the shittiness of Choice Specs. It allows Latios to revenge kill Greninja, +1 Mega Gyarados, and +1 Mega Charizard X, as examples. While it is unfortunately not the most efficient with Aegislash, it is definitely viable. In OO, Reflect + Light Screen + Memento and Calm Mind can go, but both sets will be viable once Aegislash is banned.
On wiki http://wiki.pokemon-online.eu/page/Latios#tab=ORAS_OU Needs grammar and ORAS updates. I removed mentions of Aegislash and Genesect.