Moves

True to Deoxys-A's nature, this moveset allows it to hit extremely hard and fast. Psycho Boost and Superpower are its main offensive moves, as its frailty leaves it with few turns on the field to feel the effects of the resultant stat drops. Psycho Boost is a powerful STAB move that can be boosted further with Psychium Z or Psychic Terrain, while Superpower grants Deoxys-A coverage on most of the Pokemon that resist or are immune to Psycho Boost, mainly Steel- and Dark-types such as Ferrothorn and Tyranitar. Substitute can be used in the third slot to capitalize upon the switches and Protects its sheer offensive pressure often forces, making it even harder for the opponent to play around Deoxys-A, while Ice Beam is another option to OHKO Zygarde, Landorus-T, and Mega Salamence without wasting its Z-Move or incurring the Special Attack decrease from Psycho Boost. Finally, on a Pokemon as frail and prone to double targeting as Deoxys-A, Detect buys it a turn on the field, letting an ally deal with a threatening opposing Pokemon and also allowing Deoxys-A to have a chance at stalling out field conditions such as rain and Trick Room.

Set Details

Since Deoxys-A's non-existent bulk is clearly not worth investing in, this set aims to maximize the power of Deoxys-A's Psycho Boost as well as its odds of actually being able to fire off the move by maximizing its Special Attack and Speed EVs. A Naive nature is generally preferred, as it lets Deoxys-A outrun Mega Manectric, but a Rash nature could be used for the 10% increase in damage output. Finally, Psychium Z is often Deoxys-A's item of choice—it makes an already powerful Psycho Boost even more powerful, allowing it to secure OHKOs on bulky Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and avoiding the Special Attack drop from Psycho Boost so it remains a strong offensive threat the turn after.

Usage Tips

Deoxys-A's complete lack of bulk is a major factor in how it's played; since Deoxys-A has difficulty switching in even on some resisted attacks without fainting, it's best brought as a lead or after an ally has fainted. In particular, Deoxys-A works best early- or mid-game to punch holes in the opposing team, notably making a good Turn 1 lead because of its ability to apply immediate offensive pressure to an opponent, putting them on the back foot from the get-go; however, if Deoxys-A is unable to immediately OHKO either opposing Pokemon, it's likely to faint to retaliation later on in the turn and should switch out instead. Likewise, should Deoxys-A manage to fire off several Psycho Boosts or Superpowers, it should switch out to reset its stat drops lest it act as dead weight. On the other hand, while Deoxys-A should generally be played offensively, a degree of caution is required to use it optimally—most importantly, since its Z-Move has such high damage potential, it's very precious and some care should be taken to avoid having it go to waste on a Protect. Other small things to note include using the activation of Pressure to check if any opposing Pokemon outrun it—if a foe's ability, outside of Unnerve, activates before Deoxys-A's, said foe is likely faster than Deoxys-A and poses a significant threat to it, so Deoxys-A should switch out of the situation.

Team Options

Tapu Lele is one of the best partners to Deoxys-A and is almost mandatory when using this set, with its Psychic Terrain not only boosting the power of Psycho Boost and Shattered Psyche to ridiculous levels but also removing Deoxys-A's vulnerability to priority moves. Apart from Tapu Lele, though, Deoxys-A also appreciates teammates that can easily break through the foes it struggles with; for example, Mega Charizard Y helps to break through Celesteela, Aegislash, and Ferrothorn, while Tyranitar can deal heavy damage to bulky Psychic-types like Cresselia and Necrozma that otherwise wall Deoxys-A. In terms of single moves, Deoxys-A enjoys Tailwind support to outspeed faster attackers, such as Choice Scarf users or weather sweepers, which it otherwise struggles against, though a weather setter such as Mega Charizard Y or Alolan Ninetales could potentially fulfill this role by removing Speed boosts from opposing weather sweepers like Excadrill and Kingdra. Finally, Stealth Rock is always a boon for fast sweepers like Deoxys-A: its ability to break Focus Sashes gives foes fewer chances to survive and retaliate against Deoxys-A's powerful attacks, while the mere chip damage it provides can be key on certain targets, such as Heatran and Kyurem-B, which are chipped into range of Superpower and Terrain-boosted Psycho Boost, respectively.