Latias is one of the best Pokémon there is. While it is normally used in standard play, it also does a decent job in Ubers. With the diversity of uses, it can find its way onto many teams. If Latios is considered Uber, why isn't Latias you may ask? Latios' Special Attack of 130 as opposed to Latias' 110, can make a big difference between getting a ohko and not getting it. Latios doesn't have the same staying power, but it is more of a threat in terms of the Uber attribute "A Pokémon is able to sweep with very little set up." Latios' attacks are just too powerful after one Calm Mind and it has the speed necessary to have first strike against most of the OU metagame. Latias is no where near as dangerous after one Calm Mind than Latios. Latias has a few Calm Mind sets available that work well. We will look at the offensive set first.
Latias@Life Orb This set focuses on doing the most amount of damage with little set up. Calm Mind is first used to boost both of your special stats, unless there is a good reason not to. Dragon Pulse is Latias' best stab move that doesn't reduce its stats in any way. It will hit everything except for Steel Type Pokémon for at least neutral damage. If you are willing to sacrifice Special Attack, you could instead use Draco Meteor. This will score a lot more kos, but you do lose Special Attack so you must use it with caution. Thunderbolt may not have a ton of coverage, but it does hit certain problematic Pokémon for double damage. Skarmory and Gyarados are two such examples. Without Thunderbolt, Gyarados is easily able to set up on you and becomes very tough to stop once it is set up. Skarmory can start unleashing a bunch of entry hazards which is the last thing you need to deal with. The last move there is has more choices and is really more dependant on the team you are using. Grass Knot will take care of Swampert, Hippowdon, and Tyranitar hard. Surf can be used to take out a number of Pokémon. Some of them include Infernape, Tyranitar, and Gliscor. Infernape coverage is definitely a good reason to choose Surf because Latias is one of the few Pokémon that doesn't need a Choice Scarf to move before it. If your team is having trouble with the very popular Scizor, Hidden Power Fire is a good choice for you. While some of the more experienced players may forsee the move, they are still more likely to stay in to attempt to ohko with Bug Bite. The move also works great against the spinner, Forretress. Recover is one other option to coonsider. while it makes the Latias less offensive, it will allow you to survive longer. Life Orb is the preferred item for this set in order to do maximum damage quickly. As long as you aren't using Recover, Expert Belt could be another viable option since you cover many of the more common Pokémon. Speed is definitely a necessity for this set being that it is meant to sweep. You can't afford to be taking unnecessary damage from Infernape and foe Latias.
Latias@Leftovers Unlike the last set, this set is more geared towards long term survival. The EVs allow it to survive nearly any attack in the game. With the ability to go before many other Pokémon, getting in a Calm mind to survive special attacks easier isn't that hard. It is able to wall any special attacker that doesn't have Choice Specs. Even Choice Specs Pokémon will have trouble damaging it after it gets a Calm Mind off. This is really important for surviving Dragon Pulses from a Choice Specs Latias. Dragon Pulse is a great attack to have since it is resisted by very few Pokémon. Thunderbolt is if you are more concerned with Gyarados and Skarmory. Surf is nice to have against Infernape and Tyranitar. Tyranitar frequently carries Pursuit so switching out becomes quite difficult. It requires very good prediction to do so. Recover goes very well with this set because it is quite bulky already. Toxic is one of the few fears it does have. Having a Pokémon with Aromatherapy could be an answer to that problem. Recover also allows you to stall out Pokémon easily after getting in a Calm Mind or two. Hidden Power Fire does have its uses. It is useful against Scizor who otherwise is a large threat to Latias. It also helps against Forretress, who after setting up entry hazards, may choose to blow up in your face for a large amount of damage. You must be careful when having Hidden Power Fire because that means your Speed stat will cap at 349 instead of 350 allowing all other Latias to hit you first.
Latias@Choice Specs Latias becomes very powerful when it is equiped with Choice Specs. It allows for maximum damage in standard play without set up being required. It is able to ohko nearly every Pokémon in the game with Draco Meteor after Stealth rock damage. Draco Meteor is more of a revenge kill type of move simply because it reduces your Special Attack greatly. It is still a great move choice nonetheless. Thunderbolt gives you unresisted coverage when paired with a dragon type move save Magnezone. It allows a ohko against Gyarados and Skarmory who would otherwise set up against it. Surf allows you to cover Heatran who otherwise is a decent switch-in to Latias. Infernape is unable to switch-in to Latias so it isn't a big threat to Latias. Dragon Pulse is a great way to deal large amounts of damage without reducing your already heightened Special Attack. Trick can be used to make walls a lot more managable. It also works great against set up sweepers. This will cause them to switch out, allowing you a free attack against the incoming Pokémon. This set falters to any Pokémon that resists its move it is using and then able to get in a Calm Mind or two. It also loses to priority users which could include Lucario and Infernape.
Latias@Choice Scarf Choice Scarf Latias is run nearly identical to the Choice Specs set. It is more often used as a revenge killer and isn't so much a sweeper as the specs version is. Due to its very high speed in this set, one could opt to try for a modest nature to try and increase the damage output a little bit. By doing that, you will have to be weary of other scarfed Pokémon. If your team would be able to handle those faster scarfed Pokémon, then modest nature isn't so bad. You will need to be more careful if you decide to use Trick though since you will then be more vulnerable. Salamence is one such Pokémon that could capitalize on you, where as a timid nature you would still be able to stop it. Dragon Pulse is for a constant source of high damage. Draco Meteor can be used to revenge kill a fair number of Pokémon. The one disadvantage this set has over the specs set is the lack of power. It has quite a bit of a difference. It is able to alter games because of not scoring the needed knock out. Thunderbolt is still present on this set because of the key Pokémon it takes care of. Surf is useful for the key Pokémon Tyranitar and Infernape, though Tyranitar will still ko it. It does allow Latias to deal a fair bit of damage to it in the process though. Hidden Power Fire can be good if you anticipate Lucario, Scizor, Celebi, and Forretress. Celebi could still wall it though becuse its defenses are high and it is normally run as a defensive Pokémon and not so much offensive. Trick is to mess with opposing Pokémon. It works great against walls and set up sweepers. It also renders Baton Pass users helpless. Not having enough power is probably this sets greatest weakness compared to some of the others, however, if used wisely, it can be very effective.
Latias@Leftovers While the other sets are far more offensive than this one, it still has its uses. It is very good at surviving attacks and is useful as a spreader. It performs best on teams that utilize several entry hazards. It is good against teams that have many Pokémon that require set up since you can just Roar them out. Calm Mind will help boost your Special Defense to make it a very good wall. Combined with a bold nature, it has incredible walling abilities. Dragon Pulse is the attack move that fits the best since it hits almost every Pokémon for normal damage or better. Substitute is an option too. It makes Latias impervous to Toxic users who would otherwise ruin this set. With the high defenses this set has, the subs will not break easily. The main problem with doing this is you become completely immobilized by Taunt and will need to switch out. Either way, you will have one weakness to try and overcome. Aromatherapy on one of your Pokémon allows you to run Dragon Pulse and not have to worry so much about Toxic. Recover will allow you to continue to stay in and force switches. It is a great choice since Roar has a negative priority and also due to this set not being focused on speed. Wish is useful to have as a team option. It will allow your other Pokémon to become difficult to take down. Latias is a good enough Pokémon to hold its own in Ubers. The held item, Soul dew, is banned from standard play because it makes Latias too powerful and capable of sweeping things with almost no set up. It also becomes able to wall nearly anything. While Latias is capable of being offensive in Ubers, it is more easily used as a wall, or at least a bulky attacker. Latias doesn't see much play in Ubers, but rest assured, it can still perform well. I, myself, have even used it to great success. Some of the sets are nearly identical to the standard play ones, but the main difference is that all of these sets will take full advantage of Soul Dew.
Latias@Soul Dew Similar to the offensive Calm Mind set, this set does the same thing, except it is able to hit harder, and defend better. Once you pull off a Calm Mind, your Special Defense stat becomes very hard to touch. Its Special Attack becomes very dangerous as well. After using one Calm Mind with this set, it would take two Calm Minds in a set that doesn't have Soul Dew or Life Orb attached to have these kind of stats. Dragon Pulse is very helpful due to the large amount of Dragon Pokémon in the Ubers tier. It also is resisted by only Forretress and Scizor for common nonuber Pokémon you will see in Ubers. Draco Meteor is a ohko against almost all Pokémon after a Calm Mind is used. It does lower your Special Attack, but sometimes that extra damage will be appreciated. Grass Knot is a ohko against Groudon and deals large damage to Kyogre as well. If your opponent uses a Quagsire, although this is extremely rare, it will help considerably. Quagsire is only used as a counter to Kyogre since it has water absorb and immunity to Thunder. Thunder is used against Kyogre and any Pokémon that resists Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor. Thunder is the electric move of choice in Ubers because Kyogre is so common. The extra power is very nice and the big bonus is the 30% paralysis chance where as Thunderbolt has only a 10% chance of doing so. Not many Pokémon could take repeated hits from this set. You must absolutely ko any Groudon as soon as you see it. After it does Rock Polish, only a few select scarfed Pokémon are able to move before it. You will have to rely on heavy defenses in order to get rid of a Groudon after it uses Rock Polish. The only good news is that it normally carries a Life Orb, allowing you to get rid of it with priority moves. Scarfed Palkia can be a problem if it gets a critical hit with Spatial Rend. Always use a Dragon Pulse against a Palkia because it can jsut do so much damage to you already. In addition, sometimes Palkia will have Choice Specs. this makes it hit super hard, but you will be able to move first so Dragon Pulse will help you there.
Latias@Soul Dew This set should look very familar. It is very close to the defensive Calm Mind set, but it runs Soul Dew to maximize its Special Defense. Instead of putting the extra evs in Special Defense, they were put into Special Attack to slightly boost that since Soul Dew already does provide a boost to them. One could choose to put them in HP instead to make it even more defensive. Calm Mind gets you ready to survive any special attacks that might get thrown at it. Dragon Pulse is the stab attack of choice since it covers almosst any type for unresisted damage. Thunder hits Kyogre incredibly hard and it does a number on the few Pokémon that resist Dragon Pulse. Grass Knot will ohko a Groudon and a Kyogre after a Calm Mind is used. The only Kyogre sets that survive are those that run Calm Mind or invest heavily in HP and Special Defense. Recover gives Latias the endurance it needs to keep going and stall out certain Pokémon, including Choice Scarf users. Latias becomes too difficult to beat on Special Defense for special sweepers to do much. Toxic is one of the ways to get rid of this set. The defense evs allow Latias to take less damage from Rayquaza's Extreme Speed priority move. Darkrai can pose a threat to Latias as well since it has Dark Void which has a high accuracy and puts you to sleep. In ladder matches, sleep clause is your friend. Since Dark Void is the first move many Darkrai users will perform, you can switch to something that you don't mind getting put to sleep. One such Pokémon is Blissey due to its ability, Natural Cure. This will heal it of any status conditions upon switching out. The second move a Darkrai will make is usually Nasty Plot. This is a perfect opportunity to switch in Mewtwo and use Aura Sphere for a OHKO.
Latias@Soul Dew This set is identical to the standard play version with the exception of holding a Soul Dew instead of Leftovers. This will allow it to survive attacks better and dish out more damage with Dragon Pulse. It works very well with teams that can set up Stealth Rock and Spikes. It is very good at spreading damage with Roar. it also helps if the enemy is trying to set up against you. Recover works stunningly well on this set because of the increased protection Soul Dew provides. While Substitute is still an option that is out there, it isn't as useful in Ubers because the Pokémon just dish out to much damage for it to be effective. It would only help against special sweepers and if pulled off before Darkrai comes out. Dragon Pulse is still my recommendation since it seems a waste not to use its Special Attack stat. While Wish may be somewhat useful, it loses some of its luster in Ubers because the Pokémon just do too much damage. Latias is a great Pokémon to use in both Standard and Ubers. With the vast amount of options and the ability to work well with many teammates, it should be on more peoples teams than it is. It often is underappreciated in Ubers because most people will think of Latios first to use as a sweeper. While Latios does have the extra fire power, it can't take hits as well as Latias and so it goes down faster. You may also wonder why none of the movesets mention Psychic as a useful move. Psychic is resisted by many Pokémon in both Standard and Ubers. It has the same power as Dragon Pulse so Dragon Pulse is more heavily favored. Latias only has a few counters in Standard, but slightly more in Ubers because critical hits just take away so much HP. There also become Pokémon that are faster than it and can put it to sleep, therefore, immobilizing it. In all, Latias is better used defensively than offensively just based on its natural abilities. |
