[OVERVIEW]
* The ability to counter top threats like Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Garchomp makes Celesteela an easy fit on teams.
* This is further true given the prevalence of Trick Room and rain, as these help compensate for its weaknesses.
* Celesteela's access to Wide Guard is valuable given that many top offensive threats utilize powerful spread moves.
* It has few weaknesses, but nevertheless it is threatened by common foes such as Tapu Koko, Alolan Marowak, and Arcanine.
* Its role in the metagame is essentially unrivalled, although Kartana and Magnezone are alternative Steel-types.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Heavy Slam
move 2: Leech Seed
move 3: Substitute / Flamethrower
move 4: Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Adamant
evs: 228 HP / 44 Atk / 116 Def / 116 SpD / 4 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Heavy Slam is a natural fit for Celesteela given its massive weight and the lightness of the foes it wants to hit.
* Leech Seed provides chip damage and a form of recovery, in addition to threatening defensive foes and aiding end-game stall.
* Substitute protects against status and makes removing Celesteela tougher. Its recovery means the HP cost is less notable.
* Alternatively, Flamethrower is an offensive option that grants coverage for Grass- and Steel-types like Kartana.
* Protect, while a staple of VGC, is particularly useful here for stalling the effects of Leftovers and Leech Seed.
Set Details
========
* Leftovers is almost a requirement for any Celesteela set aiming to stall thanks to the recovery it provides.
* Beast Boost increases Celesteela's highest stat —in this case, Attack—by one stage whenever it knocks out a foe.
* The spread above makes Xurkitree's Thunderbolt a 2HKO and Celesteela's Attack its highest stat for Beast Boost.
* With that said, EVs on Celesteela are largely customizable depending on your team, like with Tailwind support.
* One alternative is 180 HP / 180 Atk / 148 SpD with a Careful nature, which will boost Special Defense instead. It also lets Celesteela survive a Modest Xurkitree's Thunderbolt, though its offensive pressure is reduced.
* On a hard Trick Room team Speed EVs can be dropped entirely and a negative nature such as Brave used.
* Another option is to instead use a Jolly nature with 252 Speed EVs to use Heavy Slam and Substitute before foes. If you do this, don't increase stats other than Speed above 123, as then Beast Boost won't increase Speed.
Usage Tips
========
* Unless the odds are stacked against it at Team Preview, like against multiple Fire-types, it's often an easy pick.
* Generally, Celesteela enjoys being brought out in the late-game after Fire- and Electric-types have been eliminated from play.
* Not leading with Celesteela also helps it avoid Intimidate. This is a reason to keep Substitute up as much as possible.
* Don't be afraid to switch it in early to deal with threats, though, as its defenses and recovery make it easy to do so.
* Substitute and Leech Seed are generally the preferred options over Heavy Slam; Celesteela is primarily defensive.
Team Options
========
* Ground-types such as Garchomp and Krookodile beat Fire- and Electric-types with ease. They can also use STAB Earthquake freely alongside Celesteela thanks to its Flying typing granting it immunity.
* Alolan Marowak is notable, as its Lightning Rod ability redirects super effective Electric attacks away.
* Water-types such as Gyarados, Milotic, and Gastrodon are valuable for dealing with opposing Fire-types.
* Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele enjoy having a teammate immune to Poison and resistant to Steel.
* Intimidate users such as Arcanine help Celesteela stall. Snarl and Will-O-Wisp make Arcanine especially potent.
* Trick Room setters such as Porygon2 can reverse the move order, giving Celesteela much greater initiative.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Wide Guard is an option over Protect if Celesteela's team is especially struggling against spread attackers.
* Toxic helps against defensive foes such as Porygon2, which would otherwise stall Celesteela thanks to Recover.
* Flash Cannon could replace Heavy Slam for a special attacking approach, but its damage output is often much lower.
* Air Slash is tempting as a STAB move that causes flinches in Trick Room, but its poor super effective coverage is deterring.
* Giga Drain and Energy Ball are possibilities if your team is notably struggling against Water-types like Gastrodon.
* Stone Edge with Rockium Z over Substitute can OHKO Alolan Marowak if you invest enough into Attack and Speed.
* Assault Vest makes it easier for Celesteela to utilize its offensive moves while retaining some of the main set's bulk.
* Misty Seed is another option for boosting Special Defense when used on teams featuring Tapu Fini's Misty Terrain. Compared to Assault Vest, it allows the use of status moves and a combination with Acrobatics for foes like Araquanid.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fire-type Pokemon**: Fire-type Pokemon such as Alolan Marowak, Arcanine, and Torkoal resist Heavy Slam and can retaliate super effectively with their own STAB moves.
**Electric-type Pokemon**: Electric-type Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Alolan Raichu, and Magnezone resist Celesteela's STAB types and can hit back hard.
**Water-type Pokemon**: Water-type Pokemon such as Gyarados, Milotic, and Gastrodon resist Steel-type attacks, making them easy switch-ins.
**Intimidate and Burns**: Intimidate and burns neuter Celesteela's damage output. Burn is particularly harmful, as it chips away at Celesteela's health. Arcanine is notable, as it gets access to both.
**Encore**: Celesteela's dependence on switching moves makes Encore users like Alolan Ninetales and Raichu problematic.
**Taunt**: Although uncommon, users such as Gyarados and Krookodile can prevent the use of status moves.
**Perish Song**: Perish Song is a good end-game solution against Celesteela, as it forces it to faint even through Substitute thanks to it being a sound move.
* The ability to counter top threats like Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Garchomp makes Celesteela an easy fit on teams.
* This is further true given the prevalence of Trick Room and rain, as these help compensate for its weaknesses.
* Celesteela's access to Wide Guard is valuable given that many top offensive threats utilize powerful spread moves.
* It has few weaknesses, but nevertheless it is threatened by common foes such as Tapu Koko, Alolan Marowak, and Arcanine.
* Its role in the metagame is essentially unrivalled, although Kartana and Magnezone are alternative Steel-types.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Heavy Slam
move 2: Leech Seed
move 3: Substitute / Flamethrower
move 4: Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Adamant
evs: 228 HP / 44 Atk / 116 Def / 116 SpD / 4 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Heavy Slam is a natural fit for Celesteela given its massive weight and the lightness of the foes it wants to hit.
* Leech Seed provides chip damage and a form of recovery, in addition to threatening defensive foes and aiding end-game stall.
* Substitute protects against status and makes removing Celesteela tougher. Its recovery means the HP cost is less notable.
* Alternatively, Flamethrower is an offensive option that grants coverage for Grass- and Steel-types like Kartana.
* Protect, while a staple of VGC, is particularly useful here for stalling the effects of Leftovers and Leech Seed.
Set Details
========
* Leftovers is almost a requirement for any Celesteela set aiming to stall thanks to the recovery it provides.
* Beast Boost increases Celesteela's highest stat —in this case, Attack—by one stage whenever it knocks out a foe.
* The spread above makes Xurkitree's Thunderbolt a 2HKO and Celesteela's Attack its highest stat for Beast Boost.
* With that said, EVs on Celesteela are largely customizable depending on your team, like with Tailwind support.
* One alternative is 180 HP / 180 Atk / 148 SpD with a Careful nature, which will boost Special Defense instead. It also lets Celesteela survive a Modest Xurkitree's Thunderbolt, though its offensive pressure is reduced.
* On a hard Trick Room team Speed EVs can be dropped entirely and a negative nature such as Brave used.
* Another option is to instead use a Jolly nature with 252 Speed EVs to use Heavy Slam and Substitute before foes. If you do this, don't increase stats other than Speed above 123, as then Beast Boost won't increase Speed.
Usage Tips
========
* Unless the odds are stacked against it at Team Preview, like against multiple Fire-types, it's often an easy pick.
* Generally, Celesteela enjoys being brought out in the late-game after Fire- and Electric-types have been eliminated from play.
* Not leading with Celesteela also helps it avoid Intimidate. This is a reason to keep Substitute up as much as possible.
* Don't be afraid to switch it in early to deal with threats, though, as its defenses and recovery make it easy to do so.
* Substitute and Leech Seed are generally the preferred options over Heavy Slam; Celesteela is primarily defensive.
Team Options
========
* Ground-types such as Garchomp and Krookodile beat Fire- and Electric-types with ease. They can also use STAB Earthquake freely alongside Celesteela thanks to its Flying typing granting it immunity.
* Alolan Marowak is notable, as its Lightning Rod ability redirects super effective Electric attacks away.
* Water-types such as Gyarados, Milotic, and Gastrodon are valuable for dealing with opposing Fire-types.
* Fairy-types such as Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele enjoy having a teammate immune to Poison and resistant to Steel.
* Intimidate users such as Arcanine help Celesteela stall. Snarl and Will-O-Wisp make Arcanine especially potent.
* Trick Room setters such as Porygon2 can reverse the move order, giving Celesteela much greater initiative.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Wide Guard is an option over Protect if Celesteela's team is especially struggling against spread attackers.
* Toxic helps against defensive foes such as Porygon2, which would otherwise stall Celesteela thanks to Recover.
* Flash Cannon could replace Heavy Slam for a special attacking approach, but its damage output is often much lower.
* Air Slash is tempting as a STAB move that causes flinches in Trick Room, but its poor super effective coverage is deterring.
* Giga Drain and Energy Ball are possibilities if your team is notably struggling against Water-types like Gastrodon.
* Stone Edge with Rockium Z over Substitute can OHKO Alolan Marowak if you invest enough into Attack and Speed.
* Assault Vest makes it easier for Celesteela to utilize its offensive moves while retaining some of the main set's bulk.
* Misty Seed is another option for boosting Special Defense when used on teams featuring Tapu Fini's Misty Terrain. Compared to Assault Vest, it allows the use of status moves and a combination with Acrobatics for foes like Araquanid.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fire-type Pokemon**: Fire-type Pokemon such as Alolan Marowak, Arcanine, and Torkoal resist Heavy Slam and can retaliate super effectively with their own STAB moves.
**Electric-type Pokemon**: Electric-type Pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Alolan Raichu, and Magnezone resist Celesteela's STAB types and can hit back hard.
**Water-type Pokemon**: Water-type Pokemon such as Gyarados, Milotic, and Gastrodon resist Steel-type attacks, making them easy switch-ins.
**Intimidate and Burns**: Intimidate and burns neuter Celesteela's damage output. Burn is particularly harmful, as it chips away at Celesteela's health. Arcanine is notable, as it gets access to both.
**Encore**: Celesteela's dependence on switching moves makes Encore users like Alolan Ninetales and Raichu problematic.
**Taunt**: Although uncommon, users such as Gyarados and Krookodile can prevent the use of status moves.
**Perish Song**: Perish Song is a good end-game solution against Celesteela, as it forces it to faint even through Substitute thanks to it being a sound move.
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