[OVERVIEW]
Celebi is one of the most versatile Pokemon in ADV OU. With high stats across the board, it can easily run physically and specially defensive sets, momentum-maintaining Baton Pass sets with Calm Mind or Swords Dance, a special sweeper set, or a Substitute + Baton Pass set.
Defensively, Natural Cure and crucial resistances to Electric-, Water-, Ground- and Fighting-type attacks allow it to pivot safely into Zapdos, Jolteon, Magneton, Swampert, defensive Suicune, Claydol, and Breloom without Hidden Power Bug as well as into status moves from Blissey, Snorlax, Defensive Jirachi, Milotic, and Porygon2. Leech Seed is the best move defensive Celebi can offer, allowing it to not only soften the impact of incoming threats but also chip bulky Pokemon into KO range of its teammates.
Offensively, it is one of the few pivots that can easily turn the tides against Zapdos and Swampert by absorbing Thunderbolt or Hydro Pump, setting up, and Baton Passing out; it is perhaps the only common and reliable stat boost passer in the game. Celebi as a sweeper itself is often also very dangerous in an unconventional way, because its coverage and natural bulk allow it to challenge checks to more passive sets like Tyranitar, Salamence, and Metagross, while its ability to heal from Giga Drain may very well help to win the war against Snorlax and Blissey.
Unfortunately, while Celebi's typing offers useful resistances, it is also the root of all Celebi's flaws. Weaknesses to very common attacking types like Flying, Fire, and Bug invite all sorts of threats like Salamence, Moltres, and Heracross, while its need to repeatedly use Recover in the face of Ice Beam to gain back a substantial amount of HP makes it very susceptible to freezing and critical hits. Its four-fold Bug weakness makes it susceptible to being trapped by Dugtrio, and its Dark weakness makes Pursuit Tyranitar a huge threat to any Celebi without Baton Pass. While Celebi can often be considered a special wall, its inability to pressure Skarmory and weaker special bulk make it relatively weaker to Spikes and sand than Blissey.
[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Leech Seed
move 2: Recover
move 3: Psychic / Substitute / Reflect / Heal Bell
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 40 SpA / 60 SpD / 32 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Utility Celebi is unique in the metagame as a mixed wall that can deal with Electric-types, Water-types, and Snorlax as well as exert constant pressure with Leech Seed and the threat of trapper support.
Leech Seed and Celebi's accompanying bulk are the main features of this set. Leech Seed is a move with both offensive and defensive utility that allows Celebi to chip a number of Pokemon while maintaining momentum via passive recovery for itself or its teammates. Offensively, the chip damage is excellent at wearing down bulky physical tanks, potentially putting Metagross and Tyranitar into OHKO range of boosted Salamence's, Aerodactyl's, and Dugtrio's Earthquake. It can also place Tyranitar into OHKO range of defensive Metagross and potentially into 2HKO range of Snorlax's Earthquake. Leech Seed is also excellent at wearing down Flying-types because of their lack of recovery and, in some cases, lack of sand immunity, allowing Water-types to threaten weakened Zapdos more easily, putting Moltres into 2HKO range of Pursuit Tyranitar, and placing Skarmory into OHKO range of Timid Magneton. Defensively, Leech Seed allows Claydol to keep spinning in the face of Drill Peck Skarmory, forcing Skarmory to switch out first, hence leaving no Spikes on the field. It is also checks Suicune and Snorlax by forcing them to Rest repeatedly, allowing a teammate to exploit those free turns. Finally, Leech Seed's passive recovery and ability to force switches can provide Choice Band users like Salamence and Heracross with some added longevity or let them switch in freely.
Recover allows Celebi to stick around for a long time and is especially needed in the face of repeated hits from Snorlax; Ice-type coverage from Water-types, Zapdos, and Gengar; Will-O-Wisp from Gengar; and Toxic from Blissey, Milotic, Swampert, and Zapdos. Celebi is bulky and does not have to use Recover frequently if it pivots only into resisted attacks. If the opponent has Dugtrio, though, Celebi should be kept near full HP through Recover, even though it can be tempting to maintain the pressure with repeated Leech Seeds.
Psychic hits Gengar very hard, which is important because many teams rely exclusively on Celebi to pivot into its Will-O-Wisp. It Psychic also makes progress against many switch-ins, like Salamence, Moltres, Aerodactyl, Heracross, Flygon, and Heracross, and helps Celebi deal with Zapdos a bit more easily. Although most Zapdos are unable to severely threaten Celebi, Leech Seed's PP can easily be drained through Zapdos's Pressure, and the occasional Substitute Zapdos can completely turn the tables on Celebi lacking Psychic.
Hidden Power Grass allows Celebi to OHKO Dugtrio with minimal Special Attack investment, hits Tyranitar hard, and allows Celebi to be a Starmie pivot. On Spikes teams, it allows Celebi to threaten the two common spinners—Claydol and Starmie—should they attempt to spin on Celebi. Hidden Power Grass is mostly run when Celebi is not paired with Dugtrio or Porygon2. When paired with either, the preferred move is Baton Pass, as Celebi can scout for a Tyranitar or Dugtrio switch-in and pass out to either trapper. If Celebi is at full HP, it can also tank Hidden Power Bug and trap opposing Dugtrio by passing to one's own Dugtrio. When used with Magneton, Baton Pass also helps to catch Skarmory.
As for less commonly used moves, Substitute in conjunction with Leech Seed and Baton Pass makes Celebi adept at inducing chip damage, eases trapping, and generates free turns for huge threats like Aerodactyl. Reflect neuters Metagross's Explosion and Snorlax's Self-Destruct, protecting one's bulky Water-types and Celebi itself. Reflect also provides a crucial setup turn for sweepers like Curse Snorlax and Dragon Dance Salamence. Heal Bell can be helpful for teammates with Rest like Suicune, Snorlax, and Zapdos. Light Screen helps Forretress and Skarmory avoid being trapped and taken out by Magneton; Forretress can then KO back with Earthquake, while Skarmory can phaze Magneton and a reverse trap can be set with Dugtrio later on. Perish Song is a phazing move that stops Calm Mind users in their tracks and deals with bulky setup sweepers in the endgame. The downside to using these alternative moves is that dropping a STAB move or Baton Pass for any of them compromises Celebi's ability to deal with Gengar and Dugtrio at the same time. Gengar is easier to deal with than Dugtrio because Celebi can simply be paired with a Pursuit trapper, so Hidden Power Grass is frequently the attacking move kept when Celebi sports these alternate moves.
The EVs are fashioned to survive Choice Band Aerodactyl's Hidden Power Bug and Salamence's Hidden Power Flying in sand, and they let Celebi comfortably survive Hidden Power Bug from Dugtrio. 40 Special Attack EVs are required to OHKO Dugtrio with Hidden Power Grass; variants lacking the move can place the EVs in Special Defense or Speed. 32 Speed EVs are required to outrun all Tyranitar. Celebi can go for a faster benchmark like 136 Speed EVs, which gets the jump on Adamant Heracross and most offensive Suicune. Substitute Celebi can use a spread of 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 Spe with a Timid nature to survive Adamant Dugtrio while outrunning Timid Moltres and neutral-natured Salamence, Zapdos, Flygon, and Charizard. With this spread, Celebi can also Baton Pass out of a significant number of Taunt Gengar that are EVed to survive Pursuit Tyranitar under sand and Dragon Dance Salamence. If Celebi is important as a special wall, a specially defensive spread of 252 HP / 64 Def / 40 SpA / 120 SpD / 32 Spe with a Calm nature can be used; this spread also allows Celebi to survive Adamant Dugtrio's Hidden Power Bug.
The key to using Celebi successfully is to generate entry opportunities for strong threats and trappers and to rack up enough chip damage to allow sweepers to run their course. Try to use Leech Seed to force switches and heal passively so that powerful threats can enter the field while taking minimum damage, but be careful to combine that with smart pivoting so as not to burn through Leech Seed's PP too quickly; common Leech Seed targets, especially Pokemon with Pressure like Zapdos and Suicune, tend to have the bulk to last quite a while. Conserving PP allows Celebi to be more threatening throughout the game, especially in the closing stages. Also, take advantage of Celebi drawing in many trappable checks, like Tyranitar, Metagross, Dugtrio, and Skarmory, especially by using Baton Pass if it is run. Finally, an aggressive sequence of consecutive Leech Seeds, especially with Spikes, can generate a lot of chip damage without having Celebi take any damage.
Team Options
========
Trappers are very common partners to utility Celebi. Magneton gets rid of Skarmory, which easily comes in and sets up Spikes on any variant of utility Celebi. Leech Seed also has nifty synergy with Substitute Magneton, which can trap and indefinitely wear down seeded Metagross and defensive Jirachi. Dugtrio traps chipped Tyranitar, Metagross, and opposing Celebi and can also take out opposing Dugtrio locked into Hidden Power Bug either from KOing or getting Baton Passed out of by Celebi. While Dugtrio does not directly help with Spikes control, taking out the bulky offensive Pokemon that exploit Celebi with Spikes around can allow Celebi to function reasonably well even under Spikes. Porygon2 is also a splendid partner that removes opposing Dugtrio and can indefinitely wall Salamence, one of the few common checks to Celebi that cannot be removed easily by trapping. Pursuit Tyranitar frees up Celebi to use a filler move instead of Psychic and can wear down Choice Band Salamence and Aerodactyl locked into a resisted move.
Winning the Spikes war is one option for teams using utility Celebi. Bulky Spikers like Skarmory and Forretress are great for exploiting Celebi's switch forcing abilities. Together with Leech Seed, Spikes can generate a lot of chip damage for a sweeper like Aerodactyl to clean up the opposing team. Defensively, these Pokemon also help Celebi to deal with physical Metagross and Salamence. Claydol spins Spikes away, which is useful given Celebi's extraordinary propensity to attract Skarmory, and it can make use of Leech Seed's healing to stand its ground against Drill Peck Skarmory. Flygon's Spikes immunity and role as an Electric- and Rock-type check also help to compensate for Celebi's Skarmory attracting tendencies.
Secondary special walls with a niche of their own, like Curse Snorlax and Rest Zapdos, make the team more robust against special attacks while offering their own utility. Celebi acts as a mid-game special wall, protecting Snorlax from taking chip so that it has the HP to perform a Curse sweep, while Snorlax can support Celebi should it falter against more potent special threats like Starmie, Calm Mind Suicune, Jirachi, and Celebi. Rest Zapdos helps Celebi deal with Suicune and other special threats, especially when Spikes are present, and can phaze Calm Mind Celebi.
Hard-hitting physical Pokemon, like Heracross and Choice Band Salamence, benefit from the entry or healing opportunities presented by Celebi's Leech Seed and from their mutual synergy with trappers. Heracross batters down Salamence, which Celebi can threaten later with Psychic, and Celebi can absorb Thunderbolt from Zapdos should it be the opponent's Heracross check. Heracross also benefits from Celebi synergistically luring in Dugtrio to be revenge killed by one's own Dugtrio. Salamence provides robust defensive utility against Heracross and draws in Swampert and Zapdos, which Celebi can easily pivot in on.
Bulky Water-types are appreciated teammates, as Celebi's checks are mostly physical attackers. Milotic is a physical and mixed wall that can continuously soak up hits from Salamence, Tyranitar, Metagross, and Flygon, which love coming in on Celebi. Suicune is less robust than Milotic, but it can make full use of Leech Seed's recovery to provide some mid-game utility and play a more targeted endgame through a Calm Mind sweep. These Water-types benefit from the Dugtrio synergy, which reduces the heavy burden of Tyranitar and Metagross using unresisted Rock Slide or Explosion on them. Using Swampert might be tempting, but the prevalence of Fire-types with Grass-type coverage makes the Celebi + Swampert core unreliable for the long haul, and such cores must win the game through aggressive plays and trades on the more offensive side of the team.
Finally, as Celebi has a propensity to wear down physically defensive Pokemon, sweepers like Aerodactyl, Dragon Dance Salamence, Dragon Dance Tyranitar, and Agility Metagross are all fine partners for taking down weakened teams.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind + Baton Pass
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Giga Drain / Psychic
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Baton Pass
Item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 76 SpA / 180 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi is an excellent offensive momentum reverser that can support both wallbreakers and sweepers. It is one of the few Pokemon on offense teams that can shrug off Zapdos's Thunderbolt and offensive Swampert's Hydro Pump and pressure the opponent by setting up. Its coverage moves hit phazers hard and force Metagross and Snorlax to navigate a tricky decision of sacrificing themselves with Explosion or Self-Destruct, lest they miss their chance to take out an attacking Celebi or waste the sacrifice on an unfavorable target.
Calm Mind does not merely function as a stat boost for passing, though—it provides Celebi with both offensive and defensive utility. Boosted Giga Drain allows Celebi to stay in on a Tyranitar switch-in and threaten to 2HKO it. The recovery allows Celebi to be brought back to full HP from any chip damage it might have received from pivoting in, giving it better survivability against Hidden Power Bug from Tyranitar. The boost also allows Celebi to OHKO Starmie under sand with Giga Drain, protecting it from Ice Beam. Boosted Giga Drain also OHKOes Dugtrio and heals back whatever HP was lost from taking Hidden Power Bug, which might otherwise place Celebi into sand range. Finally, Giga Drain allows Celebi to take down any Swampert or Suicune that are brave enough to stay in to phaze or continue chipping down Celebi. Psychic is a notable alternative that allows Celebi to hit Taunt Gengar, Moltres, Roar Zapdos, Salamence, Heracross, Flygon, and Charizard hard, especially after a Calm Mind boost. Note also that the Special Defense boost protects Celebi from Moltres and mixed Salamence. Hidden Power Fire hits Skarmory hard, forcing it to waste a turn phazing Celebi so that no Spikes are laid on the field, and threatens Metagross. It also prevents Jirachi and other Celebi from checking this set easily by engaging in a Calm Mind war.
Baton Pass is mostly used for passing Calm Mind boosts, but it can also be used without any to aid Dugtrio or Porygon2 in trapping incoming Metagross, Tyranitar, or Dugtrio. After all, the last thing a Baton Pass Celebi team wants is Metagross using a free Explosion or Tyranitar setting up on the Baton Pass target.
All EVs spreads come with tradeoffs. The listed EVs give boosted Celebi good odds to 2HKO bulky Tyranitar and the assured OHKO on offensive Starmie in sand while outspeeding Timid Moltres and Adamant Salamence. They also give Celebi a chance to OHKO Dugtrio without a boost. The HP investment helps Celebi to survive Hidden Power Bug from Jolly Dugtrio and provides extra bulk against Ice-type coverage. Alternatively, one can place the Special Attack EVs into Defense to always survive Adamant Tyranitar's Hidden Power Bug under sand at the expense of all the odds and assurances above. A spread of 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe can be used to heavily pressure Skarmory with an almost assured 2HKO and turns all the above rolls into certainties. However, such a set is likely to be OHKOed by Hidden Power Bug from Dugtrio and Tyranitar. Finally, one can even lower the Speed investment to the level of outspeeding Adamant Heracross in order to strengthen Special Attack, resulting in a spread of 252 HP / 120 SpA / 136 Spe. This turns the offensive rolls into certainties without sacrificing bulk; it is especially useful when paired with Agility + Baton Pass Zapdos to make up for Celebi's lack of Speed.
Team Options
========
Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi is usually found on special and mixed offense teams. The key to choosing recipients for the Calm Mind boost is understanding which targets pivot nicely into Celebi's checks. The hard-hitting checks that Celebi cannot deal with reliably using its coverage moves fall into three categories: bulky physical threats such as Metagross, Tyranitar, and Snorlax; physical Flying-types such as Salamence and Aerodactyl; and Fire-types such as Moltres and Charizard. Additionally, Blissey is a counter that falls into none of these categories.
On mixed offense teams, one can consider the following Baton Pass targets. Offensive Swampert comes in safely on Metagross, Tyranitar, Salamence lacking Choice Band, and Thunder Wave Blissey. A Calm Mind boost allows Swampert to OHKO Tyranitar with Hydro Pump, as well as Metagross while in Torrent range. The Special Defense boost prevents Swampert from getting 2HKOed by Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar, and if Swampert comes in at full HP, it can also prevent mixed Salamence from OHKOing it with Hidden Power Grass. Should Swampert enter the game first, it easily lures in Zapdos, which lets Celebi switch in easily. Fire-types like Charizard and Moltres are high-pressure wallbreaking pivots into Metagross that can also threaten Skarmory should the opponent send it in as Celebi Baton Passes out. Mixed Metagross is a nice Snorlax and Blissey pivot that can 2HKO Swampert with Psychic after a boost. Mixed Tyranitar and Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar can also pivot into Snorlax; a Calm Mind boost allows mixed Tyranitar to often OHKO Swampert and Metagross and allows Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar to comfortably 2HKO Swampert without worrying about getting taken out by Torrent-boosted Hydro Pump.
Zapdos is a pretty unique partner, as it has Baton Pass and Agility. Baton Pass allows it to maintain boosts by sending them to a teammate and can be used with or without Agility. Just having Baton Pass allows Zapdos to be a specially offensive Baton Pass target that can keep the boost intact for a longer period of time should Celebi get battered down while boosting, and Zapdos will not be concerned with being walled when it can pass the boosts to a mixed wallbreaker. While having Baton Pass Zapdos is itself great, Agility takes the synergy to a whole new level. Celebi with a Speed boost no longer gets revenge killed by Dugtrio, Aerodactyl, and Salamence, and the pairing allows Celebi to get by with lower Speed investment. Conversely, Agility and Calm Mind boosts allow Zapdos to be a great late-game sweeper, and if the time is not ripe, it can pass the boosts to mixed Swampert or mixed Metagross, annihilating potential checks and revenge killers like Gengar, Zapdos, mixed Salamence, Starmie, Dugtrio, and Aerodactyl. Natural Cure on Celebi is a subtle but important part of passing Speed; Thunder Wave is a common measure for negating Speed boosts, so Zapdos can first pass the boost to Celebi, which then heals itself of the paralysis by passing out. Since paralyzed Celebi is usually the slower Pokemon on the field, the intended target receives the boosts without ever taking a scratch. Salac Berry + Substitute Zapdos is another possibility for acquiring the Speed boost that eases the prediction-based sequences of Swampert to Snorlax and allows Zapdos to still get the boost in the face of an onslaught of attacks that would have KOed Zapdos trying to squeeze off an Agility boost.
On special offense teams, one can use the following Baton Pass targets instead. Calm Mind Suicune, Jirachi, and Raikou all appreciate boosts as a head start in the attempt to muscle through Blissey. Suicune acts as a pivot into Fire-types and physical attackers, and upon Celebi's first entry, it can use the fear of Celebi's potential Psychic pressuring Moltres to attack directly to avoid Will-O-Wisp. Jirachi acts as a much-needed source of Rock resistance and is the most reliable Calm Mind user to take down Blissey lacking Thunder Wave and Snorlax. Porygon2 can trap Dugtrio, and though it does not have much offensive presence, it can come in indefinitely on Salamence's Hidden Power Flying. Regice is a great secondary special check to Zapdos, Suicune, and Starmie, and with Calm Mind boosts, it really pressures Blissey and Snorlax to come in and take the Explosion. The chip damage that Regice can induce on Tyranitar and Metagross is also highly appreciated by the other Calm Mind users. Kingdra can use a boost to nail the much-appreciated OHKOs on Zapdos, Gengar, and Skarmory with Hydro Pump. Starmie can also take advantage of a boost, and its Speed helps to maintain the team's momentum by minimizing revenge kill opportunities after being passed a boost.
Finally, Dugtrio is a fine partner on any sort of team, and here it can remove Metagross and Tyranitar or trade Celebi with them, revenge kill opposing Dugtrio, and use the Special Defense boosts to safely take Blissey's Ice Beams to possibly 2HKO with Earthquake.
Celebi is one of the most versatile Pokemon in ADV OU. With high stats across the board, it can easily run physically and specially defensive sets, momentum-maintaining Baton Pass sets with Calm Mind or Swords Dance, a special sweeper set, or a Substitute + Baton Pass set.
Defensively, Natural Cure and crucial resistances to Electric-, Water-, Ground- and Fighting-type attacks allow it to pivot safely into Zapdos, Jolteon, Magneton, Swampert, defensive Suicune, Claydol, and Breloom without Hidden Power Bug as well as into status moves from Blissey, Snorlax, Defensive Jirachi, Milotic, and Porygon2. Leech Seed is the best move defensive Celebi can offer, allowing it to not only soften the impact of incoming threats but also chip bulky Pokemon into KO range of its teammates.
Offensively, it is one of the few pivots that can easily turn the tides against Zapdos and Swampert by absorbing Thunderbolt or Hydro Pump, setting up, and Baton Passing out; it is perhaps the only common and reliable stat boost passer in the game. Celebi as a sweeper itself is often also very dangerous in an unconventional way, because its coverage and natural bulk allow it to challenge checks to more passive sets like Tyranitar, Salamence, and Metagross, while its ability to heal from Giga Drain may very well help to win the war against Snorlax and Blissey.
Unfortunately, while Celebi's typing offers useful resistances, it is also the root of all Celebi's flaws. Weaknesses to very common attacking types like Flying, Fire, and Bug invite all sorts of threats like Salamence, Moltres, and Heracross, while its need to repeatedly use Recover in the face of Ice Beam to gain back a substantial amount of HP makes it very susceptible to freezing and critical hits. Its four-fold Bug weakness makes it susceptible to being trapped by Dugtrio, and its Dark weakness makes Pursuit Tyranitar a huge threat to any Celebi without Baton Pass. While Celebi can often be considered a special wall, its inability to pressure Skarmory and weaker special bulk make it relatively weaker to Spikes and sand than Blissey.
[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Leech Seed
move 2: Recover
move 3: Psychic / Substitute / Reflect / Heal Bell
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 40 SpA / 60 SpD / 32 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Utility Celebi is unique in the metagame as a mixed wall that can deal with Electric-types, Water-types, and Snorlax as well as exert constant pressure with Leech Seed and the threat of trapper support.
Leech Seed and Celebi's accompanying bulk are the main features of this set. Leech Seed is a move with both offensive and defensive utility that allows Celebi to chip a number of Pokemon while maintaining momentum via passive recovery for itself or its teammates. Offensively, the chip damage is excellent at wearing down bulky physical tanks, potentially putting Metagross and Tyranitar into OHKO range of boosted Salamence's, Aerodactyl's, and Dugtrio's Earthquake. It can also place Tyranitar into OHKO range of defensive Metagross and potentially into 2HKO range of Snorlax's Earthquake. Leech Seed is also excellent at wearing down Flying-types because of their lack of recovery and, in some cases, lack of sand immunity, allowing Water-types to threaten weakened Zapdos more easily, putting Moltres into 2HKO range of Pursuit Tyranitar, and placing Skarmory into OHKO range of Timid Magneton. Defensively, Leech Seed allows Claydol to keep spinning in the face of Drill Peck Skarmory, forcing Skarmory to switch out first, hence leaving no Spikes on the field. It is also checks Suicune and Snorlax by forcing them to Rest repeatedly, allowing a teammate to exploit those free turns. Finally, Leech Seed's passive recovery and ability to force switches can provide Choice Band users like Salamence and Heracross with some added longevity or let them switch in freely.
Recover allows Celebi to stick around for a long time and is especially needed in the face of repeated hits from Snorlax; Ice-type coverage from Water-types, Zapdos, and Gengar; Will-O-Wisp from Gengar; and Toxic from Blissey, Milotic, Swampert, and Zapdos. Celebi is bulky and does not have to use Recover frequently if it pivots only into resisted attacks. If the opponent has Dugtrio, though, Celebi should be kept near full HP through Recover, even though it can be tempting to maintain the pressure with repeated Leech Seeds.
Psychic hits Gengar very hard, which is important because many teams rely exclusively on Celebi to pivot into its Will-O-Wisp. It Psychic also makes progress against many switch-ins, like Salamence, Moltres, Aerodactyl, Heracross, Flygon, and Heracross, and helps Celebi deal with Zapdos a bit more easily. Although most Zapdos are unable to severely threaten Celebi, Leech Seed's PP can easily be drained through Zapdos's Pressure, and the occasional Substitute Zapdos can completely turn the tables on Celebi lacking Psychic.
Hidden Power Grass allows Celebi to OHKO Dugtrio with minimal Special Attack investment, hits Tyranitar hard, and allows Celebi to be a Starmie pivot. On Spikes teams, it allows Celebi to threaten the two common spinners—Claydol and Starmie—should they attempt to spin on Celebi. Hidden Power Grass is mostly run when Celebi is not paired with Dugtrio or Porygon2. When paired with either, the preferred move is Baton Pass, as Celebi can scout for a Tyranitar or Dugtrio switch-in and pass out to either trapper. If Celebi is at full HP, it can also tank Hidden Power Bug and trap opposing Dugtrio by passing to one's own Dugtrio. When used with Magneton, Baton Pass also helps to catch Skarmory.
As for less commonly used moves, Substitute in conjunction with Leech Seed and Baton Pass makes Celebi adept at inducing chip damage, eases trapping, and generates free turns for huge threats like Aerodactyl. Reflect neuters Metagross's Explosion and Snorlax's Self-Destruct, protecting one's bulky Water-types and Celebi itself. Reflect also provides a crucial setup turn for sweepers like Curse Snorlax and Dragon Dance Salamence. Heal Bell can be helpful for teammates with Rest like Suicune, Snorlax, and Zapdos. Light Screen helps Forretress and Skarmory avoid being trapped and taken out by Magneton; Forretress can then KO back with Earthquake, while Skarmory can phaze Magneton and a reverse trap can be set with Dugtrio later on. Perish Song is a phazing move that stops Calm Mind users in their tracks and deals with bulky setup sweepers in the endgame. The downside to using these alternative moves is that dropping a STAB move or Baton Pass for any of them compromises Celebi's ability to deal with Gengar and Dugtrio at the same time. Gengar is easier to deal with than Dugtrio because Celebi can simply be paired with a Pursuit trapper, so Hidden Power Grass is frequently the attacking move kept when Celebi sports these alternate moves.
The EVs are fashioned to survive Choice Band Aerodactyl's Hidden Power Bug and Salamence's Hidden Power Flying in sand, and they let Celebi comfortably survive Hidden Power Bug from Dugtrio. 40 Special Attack EVs are required to OHKO Dugtrio with Hidden Power Grass; variants lacking the move can place the EVs in Special Defense or Speed. 32 Speed EVs are required to outrun all Tyranitar. Celebi can go for a faster benchmark like 136 Speed EVs, which gets the jump on Adamant Heracross and most offensive Suicune. Substitute Celebi can use a spread of 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 Spe with a Timid nature to survive Adamant Dugtrio while outrunning Timid Moltres and neutral-natured Salamence, Zapdos, Flygon, and Charizard. With this spread, Celebi can also Baton Pass out of a significant number of Taunt Gengar that are EVed to survive Pursuit Tyranitar under sand and Dragon Dance Salamence. If Celebi is important as a special wall, a specially defensive spread of 252 HP / 64 Def / 40 SpA / 120 SpD / 32 Spe with a Calm nature can be used; this spread also allows Celebi to survive Adamant Dugtrio's Hidden Power Bug.
The key to using Celebi successfully is to generate entry opportunities for strong threats and trappers and to rack up enough chip damage to allow sweepers to run their course. Try to use Leech Seed to force switches and heal passively so that powerful threats can enter the field while taking minimum damage, but be careful to combine that with smart pivoting so as not to burn through Leech Seed's PP too quickly; common Leech Seed targets, especially Pokemon with Pressure like Zapdos and Suicune, tend to have the bulk to last quite a while. Conserving PP allows Celebi to be more threatening throughout the game, especially in the closing stages. Also, take advantage of Celebi drawing in many trappable checks, like Tyranitar, Metagross, Dugtrio, and Skarmory, especially by using Baton Pass if it is run. Finally, an aggressive sequence of consecutive Leech Seeds, especially with Spikes, can generate a lot of chip damage without having Celebi take any damage.
Team Options
========
Trappers are very common partners to utility Celebi. Magneton gets rid of Skarmory, which easily comes in and sets up Spikes on any variant of utility Celebi. Leech Seed also has nifty synergy with Substitute Magneton, which can trap and indefinitely wear down seeded Metagross and defensive Jirachi. Dugtrio traps chipped Tyranitar, Metagross, and opposing Celebi and can also take out opposing Dugtrio locked into Hidden Power Bug either from KOing or getting Baton Passed out of by Celebi. While Dugtrio does not directly help with Spikes control, taking out the bulky offensive Pokemon that exploit Celebi with Spikes around can allow Celebi to function reasonably well even under Spikes. Porygon2 is also a splendid partner that removes opposing Dugtrio and can indefinitely wall Salamence, one of the few common checks to Celebi that cannot be removed easily by trapping. Pursuit Tyranitar frees up Celebi to use a filler move instead of Psychic and can wear down Choice Band Salamence and Aerodactyl locked into a resisted move.
Winning the Spikes war is one option for teams using utility Celebi. Bulky Spikers like Skarmory and Forretress are great for exploiting Celebi's switch forcing abilities. Together with Leech Seed, Spikes can generate a lot of chip damage for a sweeper like Aerodactyl to clean up the opposing team. Defensively, these Pokemon also help Celebi to deal with physical Metagross and Salamence. Claydol spins Spikes away, which is useful given Celebi's extraordinary propensity to attract Skarmory, and it can make use of Leech Seed's healing to stand its ground against Drill Peck Skarmory. Flygon's Spikes immunity and role as an Electric- and Rock-type check also help to compensate for Celebi's Skarmory attracting tendencies.
Secondary special walls with a niche of their own, like Curse Snorlax and Rest Zapdos, make the team more robust against special attacks while offering their own utility. Celebi acts as a mid-game special wall, protecting Snorlax from taking chip so that it has the HP to perform a Curse sweep, while Snorlax can support Celebi should it falter against more potent special threats like Starmie, Calm Mind Suicune, Jirachi, and Celebi. Rest Zapdos helps Celebi deal with Suicune and other special threats, especially when Spikes are present, and can phaze Calm Mind Celebi.
Hard-hitting physical Pokemon, like Heracross and Choice Band Salamence, benefit from the entry or healing opportunities presented by Celebi's Leech Seed and from their mutual synergy with trappers. Heracross batters down Salamence, which Celebi can threaten later with Psychic, and Celebi can absorb Thunderbolt from Zapdos should it be the opponent's Heracross check. Heracross also benefits from Celebi synergistically luring in Dugtrio to be revenge killed by one's own Dugtrio. Salamence provides robust defensive utility against Heracross and draws in Swampert and Zapdos, which Celebi can easily pivot in on.
Bulky Water-types are appreciated teammates, as Celebi's checks are mostly physical attackers. Milotic is a physical and mixed wall that can continuously soak up hits from Salamence, Tyranitar, Metagross, and Flygon, which love coming in on Celebi. Suicune is less robust than Milotic, but it can make full use of Leech Seed's recovery to provide some mid-game utility and play a more targeted endgame through a Calm Mind sweep. These Water-types benefit from the Dugtrio synergy, which reduces the heavy burden of Tyranitar and Metagross using unresisted Rock Slide or Explosion on them. Using Swampert might be tempting, but the prevalence of Fire-types with Grass-type coverage makes the Celebi + Swampert core unreliable for the long haul, and such cores must win the game through aggressive plays and trades on the more offensive side of the team.
Finally, as Celebi has a propensity to wear down physically defensive Pokemon, sweepers like Aerodactyl, Dragon Dance Salamence, Dragon Dance Tyranitar, and Agility Metagross are all fine partners for taking down weakened teams.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind + Baton Pass
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Giga Drain / Psychic
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Baton Pass
Item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 76 SpA / 180 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi is an excellent offensive momentum reverser that can support both wallbreakers and sweepers. It is one of the few Pokemon on offense teams that can shrug off Zapdos's Thunderbolt and offensive Swampert's Hydro Pump and pressure the opponent by setting up. Its coverage moves hit phazers hard and force Metagross and Snorlax to navigate a tricky decision of sacrificing themselves with Explosion or Self-Destruct, lest they miss their chance to take out an attacking Celebi or waste the sacrifice on an unfavorable target.
Calm Mind does not merely function as a stat boost for passing, though—it provides Celebi with both offensive and defensive utility. Boosted Giga Drain allows Celebi to stay in on a Tyranitar switch-in and threaten to 2HKO it. The recovery allows Celebi to be brought back to full HP from any chip damage it might have received from pivoting in, giving it better survivability against Hidden Power Bug from Tyranitar. The boost also allows Celebi to OHKO Starmie under sand with Giga Drain, protecting it from Ice Beam. Boosted Giga Drain also OHKOes Dugtrio and heals back whatever HP was lost from taking Hidden Power Bug, which might otherwise place Celebi into sand range. Finally, Giga Drain allows Celebi to take down any Swampert or Suicune that are brave enough to stay in to phaze or continue chipping down Celebi. Psychic is a notable alternative that allows Celebi to hit Taunt Gengar, Moltres, Roar Zapdos, Salamence, Heracross, Flygon, and Charizard hard, especially after a Calm Mind boost. Note also that the Special Defense boost protects Celebi from Moltres and mixed Salamence. Hidden Power Fire hits Skarmory hard, forcing it to waste a turn phazing Celebi so that no Spikes are laid on the field, and threatens Metagross. It also prevents Jirachi and other Celebi from checking this set easily by engaging in a Calm Mind war.
Baton Pass is mostly used for passing Calm Mind boosts, but it can also be used without any to aid Dugtrio or Porygon2 in trapping incoming Metagross, Tyranitar, or Dugtrio. After all, the last thing a Baton Pass Celebi team wants is Metagross using a free Explosion or Tyranitar setting up on the Baton Pass target.
All EVs spreads come with tradeoffs. The listed EVs give boosted Celebi good odds to 2HKO bulky Tyranitar and the assured OHKO on offensive Starmie in sand while outspeeding Timid Moltres and Adamant Salamence. They also give Celebi a chance to OHKO Dugtrio without a boost. The HP investment helps Celebi to survive Hidden Power Bug from Jolly Dugtrio and provides extra bulk against Ice-type coverage. Alternatively, one can place the Special Attack EVs into Defense to always survive Adamant Tyranitar's Hidden Power Bug under sand at the expense of all the odds and assurances above. A spread of 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe can be used to heavily pressure Skarmory with an almost assured 2HKO and turns all the above rolls into certainties. However, such a set is likely to be OHKOed by Hidden Power Bug from Dugtrio and Tyranitar. Finally, one can even lower the Speed investment to the level of outspeeding Adamant Heracross in order to strengthen Special Attack, resulting in a spread of 252 HP / 120 SpA / 136 Spe. This turns the offensive rolls into certainties without sacrificing bulk; it is especially useful when paired with Agility + Baton Pass Zapdos to make up for Celebi's lack of Speed.
Team Options
========
Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi is usually found on special and mixed offense teams. The key to choosing recipients for the Calm Mind boost is understanding which targets pivot nicely into Celebi's checks. The hard-hitting checks that Celebi cannot deal with reliably using its coverage moves fall into three categories: bulky physical threats such as Metagross, Tyranitar, and Snorlax; physical Flying-types such as Salamence and Aerodactyl; and Fire-types such as Moltres and Charizard. Additionally, Blissey is a counter that falls into none of these categories.
On mixed offense teams, one can consider the following Baton Pass targets. Offensive Swampert comes in safely on Metagross, Tyranitar, Salamence lacking Choice Band, and Thunder Wave Blissey. A Calm Mind boost allows Swampert to OHKO Tyranitar with Hydro Pump, as well as Metagross while in Torrent range. The Special Defense boost prevents Swampert from getting 2HKOed by Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar, and if Swampert comes in at full HP, it can also prevent mixed Salamence from OHKOing it with Hidden Power Grass. Should Swampert enter the game first, it easily lures in Zapdos, which lets Celebi switch in easily. Fire-types like Charizard and Moltres are high-pressure wallbreaking pivots into Metagross that can also threaten Skarmory should the opponent send it in as Celebi Baton Passes out. Mixed Metagross is a nice Snorlax and Blissey pivot that can 2HKO Swampert with Psychic after a boost. Mixed Tyranitar and Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar can also pivot into Snorlax; a Calm Mind boost allows mixed Tyranitar to often OHKO Swampert and Metagross and allows Dragon Dance + Hidden Power Grass Tyranitar to comfortably 2HKO Swampert without worrying about getting taken out by Torrent-boosted Hydro Pump.
Zapdos is a pretty unique partner, as it has Baton Pass and Agility. Baton Pass allows it to maintain boosts by sending them to a teammate and can be used with or without Agility. Just having Baton Pass allows Zapdos to be a specially offensive Baton Pass target that can keep the boost intact for a longer period of time should Celebi get battered down while boosting, and Zapdos will not be concerned with being walled when it can pass the boosts to a mixed wallbreaker. While having Baton Pass Zapdos is itself great, Agility takes the synergy to a whole new level. Celebi with a Speed boost no longer gets revenge killed by Dugtrio, Aerodactyl, and Salamence, and the pairing allows Celebi to get by with lower Speed investment. Conversely, Agility and Calm Mind boosts allow Zapdos to be a great late-game sweeper, and if the time is not ripe, it can pass the boosts to mixed Swampert or mixed Metagross, annihilating potential checks and revenge killers like Gengar, Zapdos, mixed Salamence, Starmie, Dugtrio, and Aerodactyl. Natural Cure on Celebi is a subtle but important part of passing Speed; Thunder Wave is a common measure for negating Speed boosts, so Zapdos can first pass the boost to Celebi, which then heals itself of the paralysis by passing out. Since paralyzed Celebi is usually the slower Pokemon on the field, the intended target receives the boosts without ever taking a scratch. Salac Berry + Substitute Zapdos is another possibility for acquiring the Speed boost that eases the prediction-based sequences of Swampert to Snorlax and allows Zapdos to still get the boost in the face of an onslaught of attacks that would have KOed Zapdos trying to squeeze off an Agility boost.
On special offense teams, one can use the following Baton Pass targets instead. Calm Mind Suicune, Jirachi, and Raikou all appreciate boosts as a head start in the attempt to muscle through Blissey. Suicune acts as a pivot into Fire-types and physical attackers, and upon Celebi's first entry, it can use the fear of Celebi's potential Psychic pressuring Moltres to attack directly to avoid Will-O-Wisp. Jirachi acts as a much-needed source of Rock resistance and is the most reliable Calm Mind user to take down Blissey lacking Thunder Wave and Snorlax. Porygon2 can trap Dugtrio, and though it does not have much offensive presence, it can come in indefinitely on Salamence's Hidden Power Flying. Regice is a great secondary special check to Zapdos, Suicune, and Starmie, and with Calm Mind boosts, it really pressures Blissey and Snorlax to come in and take the Explosion. The chip damage that Regice can induce on Tyranitar and Metagross is also highly appreciated by the other Calm Mind users. Kingdra can use a boost to nail the much-appreciated OHKOs on Zapdos, Gengar, and Skarmory with Hydro Pump. Starmie can also take advantage of a boost, and its Speed helps to maintain the team's momentum by minimizing revenge kill opportunities after being passed a boost.
Finally, Dugtrio is a fine partner on any sort of team, and here it can remove Metagross and Tyranitar or trade Celebi with them, revenge kill opposing Dugtrio, and use the Special Defense boosts to safely take Blissey's Ice Beams to possibly 2HKO with Earthquake.
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