Old Gen Spotlight: BW Latios

By Ununhexium. Released: 2021/01/17.
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Old Gen Spotlight: BW Latios art

Art by Shadowshocker.

Introduction

If there was ever a Pokémon to shape the BW OU metagame, it was Latios. It is fast, strong, reasonably bulky, and it can fit on pretty much any team archetype. It has great synergy with Pokémon on sand, rain, and DragMag style teams and has top-tier wallbreaking and revenge killing capabilities depending on the set it runs. In addition, it can offensively check all sorts of powerful Pokémon in the BW OU metagame.

Why is it so good?

First off, Latios is strong. A Choice Specs and STAB-boosted Draco Meteor will either KO or leave a sizable dent in anything except extremely bulky Pokémon or a solid Steel-type. Even without a Choice Specs equipped, Draco Meteor is strong enough to take a chunk out of many offensive Pokémon. Latios's ability to force Tyranitar to take a hit is also extremely helpful for Latios's teammates, mainly Alakazam and Reuniclus on sand teams and Thundurus-T and Tornadus on rain teams. In addition, Latios has a solid defensive typing, which allows it to offensively check threats such as Keldeo, Thundurus-T, Breloom, and more. It also gets Levitate, allowing it to deal with Choice-locked Pokémon such as Garchomp and Landorus-T locked into Earthquake. Latios also benefits from the sleep ban, as it no longer needs to run Sleep Talk, freeing up a moveslot for Trick and enabling it to beat its defensive counters in Chansey and Ferrothorn or bulky sweepers like Reuniclus. In short, Latios can handle the opponent's offensive threats, cripple their defensive Pokémon, and make progress against the opponent's team whenever it comes in.

How does it impact the metagame?

As one of the most common and powerful Pokémon in BW OU, Latios has a huge impact on teambuilding. One of the biggest effects is the presence of a bulky Steel-type on almost every team. This is another one of the reasons why Ferrothorn is such a good Pokémon; it can set entry hazards and remove items with Knock Off while also switching into any move Latios runs except for the rare Hidden Power Fire. In addition, Ferrothorn runs Knock Off mainly to cripple other Ferrothorn, making it much more difficult for the opposing Ferrothorn to check Pokémon such as Latios. At least one of Jirachi, Heatran, and Ferrothorn are on almost every BW OU team because of their ability to stomach a Draco Meteor from Latios. Other Steel-types such as Scizor, Excadrill, and Magnezone are not bulky enough to be considered the team's primary Latios checks. Latios is also the most common target of Pursuit coming from Pokémon such as Scizor and Tyranitar. In the same vein, one of the reasons bulky Chople Berry Tyranitar is so common is because when sand is active, it can tank a hit or two, depending on the entry hazard situation, and trap Latios with Pursuit, opening up an opportunity for Pokémon such as Keldeo and Breloom to take advantage of it. Latios is also one of the Pokémon that is a mainstay on DragMag style teams, as its ability to check powerful threats and smoke switch-ins with Draco Meteor will always be valuable on a team that has the goal of trapping and overwhelming Steel-types.

In addition, the metagame has changed Latios over time as well. For example, while Psyshock does a good job at taking care of Keldeo, Breloom, and Amoonguss, it lets Pokémon such as Ferrothorn easily set Spikes and allows Scizor and especially Tyranitar to Pursuit trap Latios for free. Moreover, as Latios started to run Trick more often, Hidden Power Fire has become much less common, as Trick also beats Ferrothorn as well as Reuniclus, Chansey, and Jirachi. The other major metagame shift that led to Latios running Trick more often was the banning of sleep-inducing moves, as Latios no longer needs to run Sleep Talk to be the team's "sleep absorber."

Playing with Latios

Latios

Choice Specs Latios is the face of BW OU, as it is incredibly powerful and can fit on a wide variety of teams. A Draco Meteor from this set does a massive chunk to any relevant Pokémon except extremely bulky Dragon-resistant Pokemon and Chansey. This means that whenever Latios uses Draco Meteor, it will be making significant progress against the opposing team. This set is especially effective with entry hazard support, as Latios's best switch-ins are vulnerable to Spikes and do not have reliable recovery. This means that with some creative double-switching, Latios's checks and counters will be quickly worn down. After the opponent has switched enough into entry hazards, Latios can quickly reach the point where it can come in and knock out a Pokémon every time. Surf has solid neutral coverage alongside Draco Meteor and makes it so that Pokémon like Heatran and Tyranitar can't come in for free. Under rain, Surf pressures Jirachi and is often used for cleaning up games. Having space to run Trick is what has really pushed Latios over the edge for some, as it can easily ruin a Pokémon like Ferrothorn or Chansey, making it even tougher to check defensively.

This is the set that really defines the BW OU metagame, as there are very few Pokémon that can comfortably stomach such a powerful Draco Meteor and only a few more that can take one and KO Latios in return. It is the reason why bulky Tyranitar sets are so common on sand teams and why every team needs a reliable Steel-type. In fact, some players even consider Latios broken because of the extent to which this set defines the metagame.

Latios

Behold, the best revenge killer in BW OU. Choice Scarf Latios is the fastest Pokémon in the metagame and can use its powerful attacks to pick off offensive threats and clean up late-game. It has found its home on rain teams thanks to Surf's boosted power under rain, making it an effective late-game cleaning tool. Although Choice Scarf Latios lacks the ability to power through Tyranitar on its own, rain teams tend to be full of anti-Tyranitar Pokémon such as Keldeo, taking some pressure off of Latios and letting it really go to town. While this Latios set lacks the sheer wallbreaking power of the Choice Specs set, it can still bypass defensive counters by running Trick to mess with Pokémon such as Ferrothorn, Chansey, and Jirachi, making it a massive threat against fast and bulky teams alike.

Latios

Was Choice Specs too weak for you? Well, if you really want to deal heaps of damage to any Pokémon unfortunate enough to stay in on Latios's Draco Meteor, this is the set for you. A Dragon Gem-boosted Draco Meteor after one Calm Mind boost makes Latios exceedingly powerful, even more so than a Choice Specs-boosted one. Though this set lacks immediate power, it has the ability to punish the Protect users that are all over the metagame. Politoed, Tentacruel, Heatran, Gliscor, and any other Pokémon that would carry Protect are all absolutely terrified of using Protect on the "Choiced" move only to watch Latios use Calm Mind. And no matter what Pokémon your opponent brings in next to stomach the hit, it's losing a hefty chunk of HP, especially if Latios has Spikes support. Even standard Ferrothorn takes over half from a +1 Dragon Gem-boosted Draco Meteor, which could result in it being knocked out after a few rounds of entry hazard damage or chip damage.

How to Deal with Latios

Ferrothorn Tyranitar Chansey

Latios is one of the hardest Pokémon in the game to deal with, but it is not impossible to handle. The obvious answer for switch-ins are bulky Steel-types, mainly Ferrothorn and Jirachi, as well as Heatran. The problem with these Pokémon is that they are often counted on to deal with other threats such as other Psychic- and Dragon-types, meaning they are not always at full HP. In addition, they lack reliable recovery and are vulnerable to entry hazards. Another classic way to take care of Latios is with Pursuit from Pokémon such as Tyranitar and Scizor. Tyranitar's immense special bulk when sand is up makes it a great check to Latios, but it is not able to switch in safely and is worn down quickly by entry hazards. Scizor has the Steel typing to its advantage, but its poor special bulk and inability to change weather mean it can't switch in safely because of Surf, especially under rain. Chansey is also a good switch-in to Latios because of its insane special bulk, but it needs to be wary of Trick.

Conclusion

Latios is the single most defining Pokémon of the BW OU metagame and therefore needs to be treated with respect. Every good BW OU team should have a plan to deal with Latios with no exceptions.

HTML by Ryota Mitarai.
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