Super stoked for my first write-up! Hope it's not too much of a mess.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Stored Power
move 3: Aura Sphere / Draining Kiss
move 4: Agility / Recover / Substitute
item: Leftovers / Weakness Policy
tera type: Poison / Steel / Fairy
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe OR 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Thanks to its considerable bulk and more than reasonable attacking capabilities, Latias is a devastating setup threat that, in the right conditions, can easily snowball out of control, making it a solid Stored Power sweeper in this metagame. Latias has to pick its coverage option between Aura Sphere, which is its most immediate way to deal with Dark- and Steel-type foes, most notably Kingambit but also Iron Treads and Heatran, or Draining Kiss, which provides some recovery and threatens Dark-types such as Roaring Moon, Meowscarada, and Greninja equally. As for Latias’s last moveslot, Agility is a great tool to jump-start its setup, allowing Latias to deal with faster foes like Darkrai and Deoxys-S and to invest less into its Speed in favor of its bulk. Recover is important because it provides Latias with some reliable recovery, and Substitute is an alternative that matches up better against bulkier and slower foes and those that rely on status moves, such as Alomomola and Gliscor, though both these move options lose the benefit of boosting Stored Power in exchange for their utility. 24 EVs in Speed along with a Timid nature allow it to outrun Choice Scarf Darkrai after an Agility boost. An alternative spread with maximum investment in HP and Speed should be used in sets without Agility to make the most out of Latias's more than serviceable Speed tier. Tera Poison is the way to go to avoid Toxic damage, turn opposing Gliscor into setup fodder, and only have a weakness to Psychic, which is a fairly uncommon attacking type. Tera Steel similarly allows Latias to bypass Toxic while adding some valuable immunities and resistances, negating efforts from Galarian Slowking and Primarina to stop it. Tera Fairy can be used along with Draining Kiss to boost its damage and subsequent healing and obtain a valuable Dragon immunity in the face of foes like Dragapult and Kyurem. Generally, the passive recovery granted by Leftovers make it its preferred item, but Weakness Policy is a great offensive alternative if one feels confident in Latias's defensive profile against its threats. Some alternative fringe options include Tera Electric, removing all weaknesses thanks to Levitate and providing an immunity to paralysis, which can be useful against Galarian Slowking and defensive variants of Gholdengo, and Mental Herb, allowing Latias to bypass Taunt from Landorus-T.
Latias finds itself a niche pick in hyper offense teams; in particular, it can support teams by dealing with Unaware foes like Dondozo and Clodsire as a way to open through and act as a win condition. Latias's base typing makes it vulnerable to several metagame threats such as Gholdengo and Dragapult. Gholdengo can overwhelm it by either outdamaging it with a Nasty Plot-boosted Shadow Ball or crippling it with paralysis, sustaining its not very effective hits with Recover, and attacking back with Hex, while Dragapult outspeeds it before an Agility boost and threatens it with STAB moves or status. Kingambit makes for a great partner overall, checking Dragapult and Gholdengo along with other Ghost- and Dark-type foes that Latias may be stopped by. Opposing Kingambit poses an existential threat to Latias, as without Aura Sphere, it fails to do much in return, and without spending your Tera on Latias, it leaves itself exposed to Sucker Punch and Kowtow Cleave and even Iron Head if it goes Tera Fairy. Iron Valiant can prove decisive in this matchup, as well as mixing well with the fast-paced plan a Latias team should have. Play Rough variants of Ogerpon-W can overpower Latias, so Roaring Moon can assist by KOing it back with an Attack Booster Energy Acrobatics. Furthermore, breaking through Ting-Lu can prove to be challenging, so a strong wallbreaking partner such as Ogerpon-W could overwhelm it in return. Hazard support is really appreciated overall to help Latias clean in the endgame against a worn-down team, so Glimmora and Hisuian Samurott make for excellent partners. Latias also is a perfect match for teams championed by dual screens Deoxys-S or Alolan Ninetales, allowing it to set up with minimal damage taken.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/arnimacarni.625618/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/bt89.487308/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Stored Power
move 3: Aura Sphere / Draining Kiss
move 4: Agility / Recover / Substitute
item: Leftovers / Weakness Policy
tera type: Poison / Steel / Fairy
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe OR 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Thanks to its considerable bulk and more than reasonable attacking capabilities, Latias is a devastating setup threat that, in the right conditions, can easily snowball out of control, making it a solid Stored Power sweeper in this metagame. Latias has to pick its coverage option between Aura Sphere, which is its most immediate way to deal with Dark- and Steel-type foes, most notably Kingambit but also Iron Treads and Heatran, or Draining Kiss, which provides some recovery and threatens Dark-types such as Roaring Moon, Meowscarada, and Greninja equally. As for Latias’s last moveslot, Agility is a great tool to jump-start its setup, allowing Latias to deal with faster foes like Darkrai and Deoxys-S and to invest less into its Speed in favor of its bulk. Recover is important because it provides Latias with some reliable recovery, and Substitute is an alternative that matches up better against bulkier and slower foes and those that rely on status moves, such as Alomomola and Gliscor, though both these move options lose the benefit of boosting Stored Power in exchange for their utility. 24 EVs in Speed along with a Timid nature allow it to outrun Choice Scarf Darkrai after an Agility boost. An alternative spread with maximum investment in HP and Speed should be used in sets without Agility to make the most out of Latias's more than serviceable Speed tier. Tera Poison is the way to go to avoid Toxic damage, turn opposing Gliscor into setup fodder, and only have a weakness to Psychic, which is a fairly uncommon attacking type. Tera Steel similarly allows Latias to bypass Toxic while adding some valuable immunities and resistances, negating efforts from Galarian Slowking and Primarina to stop it. Tera Fairy can be used along with Draining Kiss to boost its damage and subsequent healing and obtain a valuable Dragon immunity in the face of foes like Dragapult and Kyurem. Generally, the passive recovery granted by Leftovers make it its preferred item, but Weakness Policy is a great offensive alternative if one feels confident in Latias's defensive profile against its threats. Some alternative fringe options include Tera Electric, removing all weaknesses thanks to Levitate and providing an immunity to paralysis, which can be useful against Galarian Slowking and defensive variants of Gholdengo, and Mental Herb, allowing Latias to bypass Taunt from Landorus-T.
Latias finds itself a niche pick in hyper offense teams; in particular, it can support teams by dealing with Unaware foes like Dondozo and Clodsire as a way to open through and act as a win condition. Latias's base typing makes it vulnerable to several metagame threats such as Gholdengo and Dragapult. Gholdengo can overwhelm it by either outdamaging it with a Nasty Plot-boosted Shadow Ball or crippling it with paralysis, sustaining its not very effective hits with Recover, and attacking back with Hex, while Dragapult outspeeds it before an Agility boost and threatens it with STAB moves or status. Kingambit makes for a great partner overall, checking Dragapult and Gholdengo along with other Ghost- and Dark-type foes that Latias may be stopped by. Opposing Kingambit poses an existential threat to Latias, as without Aura Sphere, it fails to do much in return, and without spending your Tera on Latias, it leaves itself exposed to Sucker Punch and Kowtow Cleave and even Iron Head if it goes Tera Fairy. Iron Valiant can prove decisive in this matchup, as well as mixing well with the fast-paced plan a Latias team should have. Play Rough variants of Ogerpon-W can overpower Latias, so Roaring Moon can assist by KOing it back with an Attack Booster Energy Acrobatics. Furthermore, breaking through Ting-Lu can prove to be challenging, so a strong wallbreaking partner such as Ogerpon-W could overwhelm it in return. Hazard support is really appreciated overall to help Latias clean in the endgame against a worn-down team, so Glimmora and Hisuian Samurott make for excellent partners. Latias also is a perfect match for teams championed by dual screens Deoxys-S or Alolan Ninetales, allowing it to set up with minimal damage taken.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/arnimacarni.625618/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/bt89.487308/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
Last edited: