This team aims to build around Deoxys-Attack so as to abuse its access to Terastal.
Not only is Deoxys-Attack's speed tier is basically unrivalled in the tier given that Calyrex-Shadow is banned, but its power is extreme, and now that Terastal can give Deoxys-Attack actual defensive utility while powering up its otherwise kinda weak coverage it's quite clear that Deoxys-Attack has a ton of untapped potential in the tier.
Basically, the gameplan is to use the other 5 Pokemon of the team to wear down the opposing team by a combination of attacks, status, and hazards and remove the few hard stops to Deoxys-Attack so that it can then sweep or otherwise close.
It is also possible to use Deoxys-Attack as a midgame breaker to open up holes for teammates to exploit, but this is drastically more inconsistent due to how risky it is to both get Deoxys-Attack in and generally make predictions with it.
A major concern for me while building this team initially was the presence of Xerneas. The thought of it coming in on something and then just winning drove my initial decisions for the team: every single Pokemon on this team has some way of either preventing or punishing Xerneas from setting up Geomancy, and I can say that of all threats it is the threat for which the team is best prepared for (for better or for worse).
Team Description
The main member of the team, Deoxys-A serves as a closer, revenge killer, wallbreaker, and Extreme Killer Arceus check (typically with Psycho Boost).
Psycho Boost is one of the main draws of running Deoxys-A in my opinion; it's just soo powerful, which makes it so that Deoxys-A can often force kills with it late-game:
Beyond that, however, is Tera Ghost. Not only does it give Deoxys-A two immunities that are consistently relevant, but it turns the otherwise weak Shadow Ball into something powerful enough to consistently revenge kill Mewtwo-Mega-Y and Ultra Necrozma while also letting it break through Necrozma-Dusk-Mane with minimal chip, and it also gives Deoxys-A a spammable move with which to clean weakened teams with. Tera Ghost-boosted Shadow Ball also has a very high chance of putting a Ho-Oh switch-in into range of Psycho Boost (this chance is basically guaranteed if Ho-Oh is poisoned or chipped at all). Even without Tera, Shadow Ball prevents Necrozma-Dusk-Mane from being a consistent switch in, which can be handy, though this also tends to involve more hard predicts.
That said, Tera-boosted Shadow Ball is still not the most powerful thing in the world, which is yet another reason to run good hazard support.
It should be worth noting that if Necrozma-DM switches into Superpower for some reason and hazards are up, it has a very strong chance to be put into consistent Shadow Ball KO range.
Superpower combos with the prior two moves to provide perfect neutral coverage on the entire tier, and it importantly hits Pokemon like Arceus-Dark extremely hard. It also allows Deoxys-A to easily run through Blissey, and it invalidates Ferrothorn as a switch-in to Deoxys-Attack. Shadow Ball and Superpower together have perfect neutral coverage, though in many cases Psycho Boost ends up getting used against Arceus anyway due to the threat of Tera and Chople Berry, on top of hitting harder. Superpower here is used over Low Kick for its consistency, which tends to pay off in the ladder (where foes like Chi-Yu, Blissey/Chansey, and Ferrothorn aren't all that uncommon), though Low Kick is probably better in high-level play due to its ability to 2HKO defensive Arceus-Dark from full on the switch and avoid weakening Extreme Speed.
Extreme Speed is ran over Ice Beam on this set to increase the consistency of Deoxys-Attack in its role. The less situations where Deoxys-Attack is completely invalidated, the better, and Extreme Speed covers an extremely large amount of these situations.
It should be noted that Deoxys-A is somewhat inconsistent; if it misses Psycho Boost Deoxys-A is almost certainly going to be KOed immediately, which can be crippling for this team considering how many roles it serves. Furthermore, while playing aggressively with Deoxys-Attack can cause it to make serious progress in a game, all it takes is one missed prediction for it to get OHKOed by a random attack and be made useless. I've found myself always having the damage calculator handy to try to figure out if Deoxys-A even can get KOs; if it misses the KO it might as well have missed Psycho Boost. A dead Deoxys-A is a useless Deoxys-A.
To be honest, this set was cobbled together out of necessity. Arceus-Ground is one of the most consistent countermeasures to Primal Groudon in the game, which is extremely handy.
Arceus-Ground's Electric immunity combined with its access to Taunt allows it to easily anti-lead Smeargle, only fearing the rare Magic Coat. Arceus-Ground's general speed also makes it an excellent anti-lead to many Arceus formes.
Stealth Rock + Taunt makes Arceus-Ground extremely consistent at getting Stealth Rock up, with Taunt ensuring that even though it literally cannot touch Ho-Oh, it can still prevent Ho-Oh from removing any hazards that have been accumulated. Furthermore, Judgment can still be used to "convince" Ho-Oh to not switch out of Arceus-Ground (which can be handy if it's poisoned), as it has a strong tendency to hit non-Ho-Oh foes super effectively.
Maximum speed with Timid on Arceus ensures that Arceus will almost always go before any other Arceus, allowing it to taunt them before they can act. This is also the team's best defense against most Dragon Dance users.
Taunt also has a tendency to completely shut down Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, preventing any funny business from occurring. Due to Ultra Necrozma's tendency to run Adamant, Arceus-Ground is generally able to shut it down as well.
The Tera type is mostly arbitrary here; I've never actually used it, but Tera Grass theoretically should augment Arceus's ability to check certain variants of Primal Groudon.
A hazard support Primal Groudon provides the team with access to Spikes, which are extremely effective at chipping Pokemon into the range of Deoxys-A's attacks. Primal Groudon's nice physical bulk also enables it to check many threatening physical Pokemon to either remove them or heavily damage them (allowing Deoxys-A to revenge kill them with more ease). Primal Groudon also importantly serves as a more offensive check to Xerneas; besides its Precipice Blades will basically always put Xerneas into range of Deoxys-A's Extreme Speed, it is also the best possible stop to Tera Electric Xerneas.
Stone Edge is absolutely essential to properly threaten Ho-Oh, and it can also be used to have Primal Groudon weaken or outright remove Yveltal, which otherwise can be a very problematic Pokemon for my team.
Swords Dance provides the team with a form of setup, and it can allow Primal Groudon to break through cores that would be otherwise tough to break. When paired with Arceus-Ground's Taunt, Primal Groudon will very often get a chance to actually use the move.
Tera Flying on Primal Groudon is extraordinarily useful, and it's often where my tera goes if it's not taken by Deoxys-Attack. By spending Tera Flying, Primal Groudon becomes a potent anti-Primal Groudon Pokemon, and it can be used to deny opposing Arceus-Ground the ability to take out a Swords Dance-boosted Primal Groudon, allowing Primal Groudon to remove it with +2 Precipice Blades. That said, I'd usually like to avoid using it, as it takes away a lot of Primal Groudon's defensive utility and denies Deoxys-A Tera Ghost, which makes it more reliant on prior chip (and hinders its ability to break through Ho-Oh even further).
The EVs for the set came from its Smogon Dex Entry. I previously was using a specially defensive variant with the same moveset and at some point came to the realization that the EVs didn't really suit the moveset very well; the increased speed of this variant means that it can actually threaten to break more than just stalls
Ho-Oh's status-spreading prowess is practically unrivaled; inflicting Toxic on opposing Ho-Oh for example can hugely offset Arceus-Ground's passivity against it in addition to making it just drastically easier to outplay it. Whirlwind pairs incredibly well with hazard support, allowing them to rack up damage. Whirlwind also is the team's only real solution to Substitute users and is the team's most consistent counterplay to Geomancy Xerneas. Defog removes opposing hazards, particularly Sticky Web and Toxic Spikes, both of which can be crippling to the team's functionality. Sacred Fire's ability to inflict burns and just generally do damage is extremely appreciated, especially given it can help stop the Dragon Dance users that are so threatening to the team.
I've sometimes switched Ho-Oh into a taunted Ho-Oh just to click Toxic on it; the more things that get poisoned, the better, and as stated before a poisoned Ho-Oh no longer can switch into Deoxys-Attack's Tera Ghost Shadow Ball. It's also a generally better move if they're carrying Brave Bird instead of Toxic to avoid getting excess chip on Primal Groudon.
Tera Grass allows Ho-Oh to function in the presence of impending Stone Edge, allowing it to be a better check to setup Arceus-Ground (which otherwise has a tendency to steamroll the team) and Primal Groudon (though Fire move variants still obviously win).
My backup revenge killer/wincon. Koraidon's resistance to Water prevents Primal Groudon from being my sole Kyogre answer, as it can generally switch into Kyogre once even if Kyogre clicks Ice Beam and respond with a powerful attack to put it into range of my other Pokemon's attacks.
Koraidon is also sufficiently powerful enough to handle Mewtwo-Mega-Y with Flare Blitz, which can be handy if Deoxys-A cannot access Tera Ghost. Koraidon is also a potent revenge killer against Zacian-C, a Pokemon that Deoxys-A generally struggles to revenge kill.
Dragon Claw serves as a way to directly target annoying foes like Giratina-Origin and Zygarde and can also be useful for hitting Ho-Oh neutrally (though using it in this way is extremely risky).
A major draw to Koraidon is its absolutely absurd Speed, allowing it to deal with many popular speed boosters at +1, and it is also generally sufficient to revenge kill stuff even if afflicted by Sticky Web.
U-Turn on Koraidon allows for it to sometimes pick up momentum for the team if it's used on a switch or if it KOes the target.
Tera Fire powers up Flare Blitz, which can allow Koraidon to "check" Xerneas by OHKOing it with Tera Fire-boosted Flare Blitz. It can also be useful to avoid burns, but it's usually better to just avoid them to begin with.
Orichalcum Pulse is generally useful for this team. The sun that it brings removes the team's general vulnerability to water-type attacks and powers up Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire.
This is essentially a glorified lure.
Seriously. In the absolute best case scenario, Ho-Oh stays in on it and gets its Heavy-Duty Boots knocked off, which effectively removes it as a threat in the majority of cases.
I would say that this also checks Xerneas, but thanks to Tera Electric and Tera Ground, that statement would be false. It's only safe to use it as an Xerneas check if the opponent has already used Terastal.
Iron Head + Thunder Wave allows Necrozma-DM to annoy a lot of things, though it also leaves it hopelessly walled out by Primal Groudon and exploited by basically any other ground type. This often leads to Necrozma-DM being used as the subject of double switches to lure out the team's biggest threats, but it also means that Necrozma-DM is also usually the team's weakest link.
The Speed EVs allow Necrozma-DM to outspeed up to paralyzed Zacian-C, allowing Necrozma-DM to pretty consistently attempt to paraflinch its way through any non-ground type.
The Rocky Helmet is an effective way to force chip on threatening Pokemon, particularly Marshadow. It's pretty weird to have Necrozma-DM be a switch-in to Marshadow, but it often ends up being that way thanks to the Rocky Helmet. Poltergeist sets are very threatening to this set however, given they don't trigger the helmet.
Tera Fairy can salvage games against Yveltal and Marshadow, as it allows Necrozma-Dusk-Mane to almost always beat them 1v1. However, this is generally only useful if Deoxys-Attack is either already defeated or is already completely useless (e.g. Marshadow and Yveltal are the only Pokemon left on the opponent's team).
Edit: added more calcs and an additional replay (it's in the ndm description)
Edit 2: Slashed Low Kick on Deoxys-A next to superpower; it has very notable upsides against Yveltal and Arceus-Dark, though it is less consistent against off-meta threats; for example, it completely fails to bother Chi-Yu, which otherwise walls Deoxys-A (annoyingly), it causes Deoxys-A to lose to Chansey and physically defensive Blissey, and it doesn't hit Ferrothorn as hard (it no longer combos from non-Tera Ghost Shadow Ball / Psycho Boost into a KO).
Not only is Deoxys-Attack's speed tier is basically unrivalled in the tier given that Calyrex-Shadow is banned, but its power is extreme, and now that Terastal can give Deoxys-Attack actual defensive utility while powering up its otherwise kinda weak coverage it's quite clear that Deoxys-Attack has a ton of untapped potential in the tier.
Basically, the gameplan is to use the other 5 Pokemon of the team to wear down the opposing team by a combination of attacks, status, and hazards and remove the few hard stops to Deoxys-Attack so that it can then sweep or otherwise close.
It is also possible to use Deoxys-Attack as a midgame breaker to open up holes for teammates to exploit, but this is drastically more inconsistent due to how risky it is to both get Deoxys-Attack in and generally make predictions with it.
A major concern for me while building this team initially was the presence of Xerneas. The thought of it coming in on something and then just winning drove my initial decisions for the team: every single Pokemon on this team has some way of either preventing or punishing Xerneas from setting up Geomancy, and I can say that of all threats it is the threat for which the team is best prepared for (for better or for worse).
Team Description
Code:
Deoxys-Attack @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 8 Atk / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Psycho Boost
- Shadow Ball
- Superpower / Low Kick
- Extreme SpeedPsycho Boost is one of the main draws of running Deoxys-A in my opinion; it's just soo powerful, which makes it so that Deoxys-A can often force kills with it late-game:
- vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Groudon-Primal: 415-489 (102.7 - 121%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- vs. 248 HP / 212 SpD Groudon-Primal: 333-394 (82.6 - 97.7%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes, guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and 1 layer of Spikes
- 248 SpA Life Orb Deoxys-Attack Psycho Boost vs. 12 HP / 48 SpD Zygarde: 376-445 (104.4 - 123.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 248 SpA Life Orb Deoxys-Attack Psycho Boost vs. 12 HP / 48 SpD Zygarde-Complete: 376-445 (65.2 - 77.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tera Fire Koraidon: 380-448 (111.4 - 131.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
vs. 44 HP / 0 SpD Xerneas: 386-456 (95.5 - 112.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
- vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Tera Fire Eternatus: 398-468 (94.3 - 110.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes
- 248 SpA Life Orb Deoxys-Attack Psycho Boost vs. 164 HP / 252 SpD Tera Water Eternatus: 309-367 (66.8 - 79.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- vs. 132 HP / 0 SpD Arceus: 325-383 (78.5 - 92.5%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock, guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and 1 layer of Spikes
- vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Arceus: 325-383 (73.1 - 86.2%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and 1 layer of Spikes
vs. 248 HP / 24 SpD Kyogre-Primal: 247-292 (61.2 - 72.4%) -- guaranteed KO over two turns after Stealth Rock
vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kyogre-Primal: 253-298 (74.1 - 87.3%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and 1 layer of Spikes
vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kyogre-Primal: 253-298 (74.1 - 87.3%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and 1 layer of Spikes
vs. 248 HP / 52 SpD Ho-Oh: 251-296 (60.4 - 71.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Note this calc as well:
Note this calc as well:
248 SpA Life Orb Tera Ghost Deoxys-Attack Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 52 SpD Ho-Oh: 144-172 (34.6 - 41.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKOvs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Salamence-Mega: 415-489 (105.3 - 124.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zekrom: 378-446 (110.8 - 130.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kyurem-Black: 413-487 (105.6 - 124.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kyurem-White: 380-448 (97.1 - 114.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zekrom: 378-446 (110.8 - 130.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kyurem-Black: 413-487 (105.6 - 124.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kyurem-White: 380-448 (97.1 - 114.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
That said, Tera-boosted Shadow Ball is still not the most powerful thing in the world, which is yet another reason to run good hazard support.
- Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 188 SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 172-203 (43.2 - 51%) -- 3.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
- Tera Ghost Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 188 SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 257-304 (64.5 - 76.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
It should be worth noting that if Necrozma-DM switches into Superpower for some reason and hazards are up, it has a very strong chance to be put into consistent Shadow Ball KO range.
- Tera Ghost Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 304-359 (90.7 - 107.1%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
- Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Necrozma-Ultra: 299-354 (89.2 - 105.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock or 1 layer of Spikes
- Tera Ghost Shadow Ball vs. 176 HP / 0 SpD Giratina-Origin: 437-515 (90.1 - 106.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
- Psycho Boost vs. 176 HP / 0 SpD Giratina-Origin: 380-448 (78.3 - 92.3%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
- Shadow Ball vs. 176 HP / 0 SpD Giratina-Origin: 291-343 (60 - 70.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Superpower/Low Kick vs. 248 HP / 136+ Def Arceus-Dark: 263-309 (59.3 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Superpower/Low Kick vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Arceus-Dark: 320-377 (72.2 - 85.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Superpower/Low Kick vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Arceus-Dark: 320-377 (72.2 - 85.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Low Kick (60 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Blissey: 780-918 (109.2 - 128.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 684-806 (95.7 - 112.8%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 684-806 (95.7 - 112.8%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
Superpower/Low Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Yveltal: 198-233 (50.3 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Superpower/Low Kick vs. 72 HP / 252 Def Yveltal: 155-182 (37.7 - 44.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Superpower/Low Kick vs. 72 HP / 252 Def Yveltal: 155-182 (37.7 - 44.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Superpower vs. 252 HP / 208+ Def Ferrothorn: 234-276 (66.4 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 208+ Def Ferrothorn: 192-229 (54.5 - 65%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Ferrothorn: 127-151 (36 - 42.8%) -- 95.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
It should also be noted that Tera Ghost Shadow Ball breaks through this particular Ferrothorn on the switch:
Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 208+ Def Ferrothorn: 192-229 (54.5 - 65%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Ferrothorn: 127-151 (36 - 42.8%) -- 95.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
It should also be noted that Tera Ghost Shadow Ball breaks through this particular Ferrothorn on the switch:
248 SpA Life Orb Tera Ghost Deoxys-Attack Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Ferrothorn: 191-226 (54.2 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recoveryDespite me running Superpower on the ladder, I concede that Low Kick has very notable upsides against Yveltal and Arceus-Dark, though it is less consistent against off-meta threats; for example, it completely fails to bother Chi-Yu, which otherwise walls Deoxys-A (annoyingly), it causes Deoxys-A to lose to Chansey and physically defensive Blissey, and it doesn't hit Ferrothorn as hard (it no longer combos from non-Tera Ghost Shadow Ball / Psycho Boost into a KO).
- Revenge killing speed boosters, which Deoxys-A otherwise completely loses to regardless of Tera Ghost.
- A particular target is Dragon Dance Rayquaza, as Deoxys-A can Tera Ghost to prevent Rayquaza's Extreme Speed from connecting and KO with its own Extreme Speed.
- This also can allow Deoxys-A to finish off a weakened Choice Scarf (or +1) Koraidon:
4 Atk Life Orb Deoxys-Attack Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Koraidon: 110-131 (32.2 - 38.4%)
- Outprioritizing priority from foes, in particular cancelling out Sucker Punch from Yveltal.
- This also reduces Deoxys-A's reliance on Tera Ghost's Extreme Speed immunity.
- Reducing Deoxys-A's exploitability after using Psycho Boost
- If hazards are up (especially if both Spikes and Stealth Rock is up), a -2 Deoxys-A can still usually defeat an Xerneas expecting a switch by Psycho Boosting anyway and then following up with Extreme Speed.
- Defeating Ditto (assuming it doesn't Tera Ghost and you do); it is also possible to get them to burn their Tera this way if Deoxys-A switches out when they Tera Ghost.
Code:
Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- RecoverArceus-Ground's Electric immunity combined with its access to Taunt allows it to easily anti-lead Smeargle, only fearing the rare Magic Coat. Arceus-Ground's general speed also makes it an excellent anti-lead to many Arceus formes.
Stealth Rock + Taunt makes Arceus-Ground extremely consistent at getting Stealth Rock up, with Taunt ensuring that even though it literally cannot touch Ho-Oh, it can still prevent Ho-Oh from removing any hazards that have been accumulated. Furthermore, Judgment can still be used to "convince" Ho-Oh to not switch out of Arceus-Ground (which can be handy if it's poisoned), as it has a strong tendency to hit non-Ho-Oh foes super effectively.
Maximum speed with Timid on Arceus ensures that Arceus will almost always go before any other Arceus, allowing it to taunt them before they can act. This is also the team's best defense against most Dragon Dance users.
Taunt also has a tendency to completely shut down Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, preventing any funny business from occurring. Due to Ultra Necrozma's tendency to run Adamant, Arceus-Ground is generally able to shut it down as well.
The Tera type is mostly arbitrary here; I've never actually used it, but Tera Grass theoretically should augment Arceus's ability to check certain variants of Primal Groudon.
Code:
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 240 HP / 28 Atk / 88 Def / 152 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Spikes
- Swords Dance
- Precipice Blades
- Stone EdgeStone Edge is absolutely essential to properly threaten Ho-Oh, and it can also be used to have Primal Groudon weaken or outright remove Yveltal, which otherwise can be a very problematic Pokemon for my team.
Swords Dance provides the team with a form of setup, and it can allow Primal Groudon to break through cores that would be otherwise tough to break. When paired with Arceus-Ground's Taunt, Primal Groudon will very often get a chance to actually use the move.
Tera Flying on Primal Groudon is extraordinarily useful, and it's often where my tera goes if it's not taken by Deoxys-Attack. By spending Tera Flying, Primal Groudon becomes a potent anti-Primal Groudon Pokemon, and it can be used to deny opposing Arceus-Ground the ability to take out a Swords Dance-boosted Primal Groudon, allowing Primal Groudon to remove it with +2 Precipice Blades. That said, I'd usually like to avoid using it, as it takes away a lot of Primal Groudon's defensive utility and denies Deoxys-A Tera Ghost, which makes it more reliant on prior chip (and hinders its ability to break through Ho-Oh even further).
The EVs for the set came from its Smogon Dex Entry. I previously was using a specially defensive variant with the same moveset and at some point came to the realization that the EVs didn't really suit the moveset very well; the increased speed of this variant means that it can actually threaten to break more than just stalls
Code:
Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Whirlwind
- ToxicI've sometimes switched Ho-Oh into a taunted Ho-Oh just to click Toxic on it; the more things that get poisoned, the better, and as stated before a poisoned Ho-Oh no longer can switch into Deoxys-Attack's Tera Ghost Shadow Ball. It's also a generally better move if they're carrying Brave Bird instead of Toxic to avoid getting excess chip on Primal Groudon.
Tera Grass allows Ho-Oh to function in the presence of impending Stone Edge, allowing it to be a better check to setup Arceus-Ground (which otherwise has a tendency to steamroll the team) and Primal Groudon (though Fire move variants still obviously win).
Code:
Koraidon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon ClawKoraidon is also sufficiently powerful enough to handle Mewtwo-Mega-Y with Flare Blitz, which can be handy if Deoxys-A cannot access Tera Ghost. Koraidon is also a potent revenge killer against Zacian-C, a Pokemon that Deoxys-A generally struggles to revenge kill.
Dragon Claw serves as a way to directly target annoying foes like Giratina-Origin and Zygarde and can also be useful for hitting Ho-Oh neutrally (though using it in this way is extremely risky).
A major draw to Koraidon is its absolutely absurd Speed, allowing it to deal with many popular speed boosters at +1, and it is also generally sufficient to revenge kill stuff even if afflicted by Sticky Web.
U-Turn on Koraidon allows for it to sometimes pick up momentum for the team if it's used on a switch or if it KOes the target.
Tera Fire powers up Flare Blitz, which can allow Koraidon to "check" Xerneas by OHKOing it with Tera Fire-boosted Flare Blitz. It can also be useful to avoid burns, but it's usually better to just avoid them to begin with.
Orichalcum Pulse is generally useful for this team. The sun that it brings removes the team's general vulnerability to water-type attacks and powers up Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire.
Code:
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prism Armor
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 144 Def / 116 Spe
Impish Nature
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave
- Morning Sun
- Knock OffSeriously. In the absolute best case scenario, Ho-Oh stays in on it and gets its Heavy-Duty Boots knocked off, which effectively removes it as a threat in the majority of cases.
I would say that this also checks Xerneas, but thanks to Tera Electric and Tera Ground, that statement would be false. It's only safe to use it as an Xerneas check if the opponent has already used Terastal.
Iron Head + Thunder Wave allows Necrozma-DM to annoy a lot of things, though it also leaves it hopelessly walled out by Primal Groudon and exploited by basically any other ground type. This often leads to Necrozma-DM being used as the subject of double switches to lure out the team's biggest threats, but it also means that Necrozma-DM is also usually the team's weakest link.
The Speed EVs allow Necrozma-DM to outspeed up to paralyzed Zacian-C, allowing Necrozma-DM to pretty consistently attempt to paraflinch its way through any non-ground type.
The Rocky Helmet is an effective way to force chip on threatening Pokemon, particularly Marshadow. It's pretty weird to have Necrozma-DM be a switch-in to Marshadow, but it often ends up being that way thanks to the Rocky Helmet. Poltergeist sets are very threatening to this set however, given they don't trigger the helmet.
Tera Fairy can salvage games against Yveltal and Marshadow, as it allows Necrozma-Dusk-Mane to almost always beat them 1v1. However, this is generally only useful if Deoxys-Attack is either already defeated or is already completely useless (e.g. Marshadow and Yveltal are the only Pokemon left on the opponent's team).
- The presence of Ho-Oh on the opposing team generally prevents this team from playing to its strengths. Ho-Oh can just switch in and out constantly to recover any lost HP, and the only thing it has to worry about are Primal Groudon's Stone Edge and Necrozma-DM's Knock Off.
- Marshadow is a massive threat to the team thanks to its immunity to Extreme Speed and access to priority Shadow Sneak to remove Deoxys-Attack before it can do anything at all. It needs to be completely removed for Deoxys-A to serve as a closer, which usually relegates Deoxys-Attack to being a midgame breaker instead (to try to conserve Koraidon's HP). A cautiously played Marshadow is almost impossible for the team to beat, and this means that often the team is forced to play extremely aggressively to attempt to lure it out and remove it.
- Yveltal, esp. HDB variants. Yveltal's immunities to Ground and Psychic and neutrality to Fighting make it difficult for the team to break through it. Yveltal's access to Sucker Punch furthermore makes an unrevealed Yveltal incredibly dangerous, though it is possible for Deoxys-Attack to exploit Sucker Punch with Extreme Speed. Yveltal's coverage is also very difficult for the team to handle; Oblivion Wing makes short work of Koraidon, Knock Off can be crippling to Ho-Oh (and NDM), and Toxic can be very annoying overall. Heavy-Duty Boots variants are among the most annoying of all of them, as hazards are the team's main ways of dealing with Flying types. That said, the team is not threatened very much by Tera Dark Yveltal; in fact, that makes it drastically easier to handle.
- Giratina-O, esp. Shadow Sneak variants; Giratina-O's immunity to Ground (even if it uses Terastal, which is super annoying) prevents the team from easily dealing with it, and it annoys Primal Groudon to no end. While Deoxys-A's Shadow Ball and Psycho Boost are dangerous to it, they won't KO from full, and Giratina-O needs to be scouted carefully for Shadow Sneak. If it is indeed carrying Shadow Sneak, it needs to be completely removed, otherwise the team cannot win, and doing this can require sacrifices.
- Dragon Dance Zygarde benefits from a complete lack of Ice and Fairy coverage on the team. Dragon Tail variants are able to nullify the team's main defense to substitute users, which can cause Zygarde to end up in situations where it outright wins the game. The team needs to be played to avoid giving free setup to Zygarde, especially when using Necrozma-DM (clicking Knock Off at least limits the maximum number of times it can use Substitute), Koraidon (prefer Close Combat or Dragon Claw over Flare Blitz), and Primal Groudon (clicking Swords Dance aggressively), and it also hinders Deoxys-A's ability to safely click Psycho Boost in the midgame for fear of becoming setup fodder. This behavior can then be exploited by Zygarde's teammates to put the team in really bad situations. Glare variants are not really a huge concern, though they can still win if Ho-Oh is too weak or gets fully paralyzed too often. Running Ice Beam on Deoxys-Attack in my opinion is not a valid way to deal with Zygarde, as it is also a prolific user of Terastal.
- Speed boosters; Dragon Dance Arceus, Zygarde, Mega Salamence, and Ultra Necrozma in particular. SD+Flame Charge Koraidon also has a tendency to be extremely dangerous to the team if Ho-Oh isn't able to stop it. The team is usually able to punish these, since virtually every Pokemon has something to disrupt setup, but setting up on Necrozma-DM is relatively safe compared to the other Pokemon (especially when it comes to Rock Polish Primal Groudon and DD Arceus-Ground/Zygarde where NDM is actual setup fodder).
- Other Airborne Pokemon: Generally anything immune to Ground is a giant nuisance to the team generally. I already covered the big ones, but in reality virtually anything can suffice. Even Air Balloon can cause a huge amount of annoyance. Pokemon like Landorus are extremely threatening due to its ability to hit my entire team (outside of Koraidon) for super effective (lethal in the case of Ho-Oh due to their strong tendency to run Rock coverage) damage.
- Arceus-Ground has a tendency to force Primal Groudon to be played much more cautiously or burn Terastal to avoid getting absolutely bodied. Furthermore, Dragon Dance variants of Arceus-Ground are almost impossible to stop due to their immunity to Necrozma-DM's Thunder Wave and access to Stone Edge to invalidate Ho-Oh.
- The presence of Terastal can flip many matchups against Deoxys-A if the effectiveness of its attacks changes. In particular Tera Flying from almost anything can wreck havoc on the team,
- Even though Koraidon can both switch into it and greatly threaten it with its powerful Close Combat, defensive Arceus-Dark otherwise has a great matchup against the team, as it not only greatly threatens Primal Groudon and Necromza-DM with its moves (especially Foul Play), but also its access to Taunt makes it incredibly difficult to inflict meaningful status on it outside of burns from Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire. It also walls Deoxys-A's primary coverage, forcing the use of Superpower on top of a good amount of chip to defeat it (Superpower does 59-69% to defensive Arceus-Dark). Additionally, Arceus-Dark very often runs Tera Poison or Tera Ghost, both of which would cause Superpower to just ping harmlessly off and allow Arceus-Dark to just kill Deoxys-A. This means that Deoxys-A either has to hit it on the switch in the midgame with a risky Superpower predict with Stealth Rock actually up or Terastal has to be wasted beforehand. That said, if it does use Tera and Deoxys-A switches out of it instead of attacking, Arceus-Dark is no longer a threat to Deoxys-Attack.
- Arceus formes generally are problematic, as they are difficult to wear down properly and always require chip to properly dispose of.
- Arceus-Ghost (or Tera Ghost Arceus) not only can take a Tera Ghost Shadow Ball from full but also can run different Terastal types (esp. Normal) to blank the Shadow Ball to begin with. Dragon Dance variants of this can be very dangerous.
- Calm Mind variants of Arceus are also particularly threatening, as it both insulates them from my main ways of discouraging setup (Arceus-Ground) and also prevents Deoxys-Attack from revenge killing them. Taunt variants of such can be devastating for their ability to prevent Ho-Oh from dealing with them. Generally the play against Calm Mind users is to try to weaken them into range of Koraidon's attacks by any means necessary.
- Primal Kyogre can potentially be dangerous to the team given that my only two switch-ins to it are Primal Groudon and Koraidon (the latter of which is weak to Ice and has its ability cancelled by the rain). Kyogre is generally successful at claiming a kill every game. That said, it doesn't take very much chip for it to be able to be revenge killed by Deoxys-A, and defensive variants can be setup fodder for Primal Groudon.
- Some Pokemon I think could be cool to fit would be Eternatus (to better handle Ho-Oh, esp. with Pressure, and spread Toxic Spikes more effectively), Ferrothorn (probably Spikes / Knock Off / Leech Seed / Power Whip), Arceus-Fairy (for Yveltal, Marshadow, and Giratina-O), Yveltal (especially if it's u-turn), or Primal Kyogre, but I just can't figure out a good way to fit any of these in well without giving up important matchups or consistency.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-1809595972: A close match showing a lot of how the team works. Deoxys-Attack almost cleans up at the end, but it misses Psycho Boost on the last turn.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-1812815747; if Deoxys-A hadn't missed Psycho Boost I likely would have won the game (psycho boost was a favorable roll against spdef Pdon, which I assume it was). I was playing extremely cautiously around the Arceus-Dark; the superpower roll I expected was 59-69%, and I didn't want to bet the game on such a unlikely roll.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-1812088206: high elo match that got turned around when Necrozma-DM successfully knocked off the opposing Ho-Oh's HDB.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-1811911388: A good example showing how much bother Marshadow generally applies to my team. In reality I only won because they played too aggressively; Deoxys-Attack slays about half their team and revenge kills a Tera Normal Arceus-Ghost with Extreme Speed. If they had played Marshadow at all better they would have won anyway.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-1813619606 -- an illustration of what happens when I can't remove Ho-Oh entirely.
You can also search up "Zrp200 DX" in https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com for a decent amount of replays.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-1812815747; if Deoxys-A hadn't missed Psycho Boost I likely would have won the game (psycho boost was a favorable roll against spdef Pdon, which I assume it was). I was playing extremely cautiously around the Arceus-Dark; the superpower roll I expected was 59-69%, and I didn't want to bet the game on such a unlikely roll.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-1812088206: high elo match that got turned around when Necrozma-DM successfully knocked off the opposing Ho-Oh's HDB.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-1811911388: A good example showing how much bother Marshadow generally applies to my team. In reality I only won because they played too aggressively; Deoxys-Attack slays about half their team and revenge kills a Tera Normal Arceus-Ghost with Extreme Speed. If they had played Marshadow at all better they would have won anyway.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldexubers-1813619606 -- an illustration of what happens when I can't remove Ho-Oh entirely.
You can also search up "Zrp200 DX" in https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com for a decent amount of replays.
Edit: added more calcs and an additional replay (it's in the ndm description)
Edit 2: Slashed Low Kick on Deoxys-A next to superpower; it has very notable upsides against Yveltal and Arceus-Dark, though it is less consistent against off-meta threats; for example, it completely fails to bother Chi-Yu, which otherwise walls Deoxys-A (annoyingly), it causes Deoxys-A to lose to Chansey and physically defensive Blissey, and it doesn't hit Ferrothorn as hard (it no longer combos from non-Tera Ghost Shadow Ball / Psycho Boost into a KO).
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