Latias Analysis



Rising out of obscurity, Latias takes a place as a viable Mega Evolution in the 2018 format. With well distributed defenses and an above average Special Attack stat, Latias serves as a formidable check to common threats such as Landorus, Charizard Y, and Rain teams.




Pros
*80 / 120 / 150 Defenses allows Latias to soak up numerous hits and simply heal up with Roost or Recover
*140 Special Attack means that Latias does not have to invest in SpA to deal damage
*110 Speed allows Latias the option of running speed investment to outspeed Kartana and tie with Mega Metagross
*Access to Tailwind, Recovery, and a plethora of coverage moves
*Dragon / Psychic typing alongside Levitate allow Latias to freely switch into Landorus and weather teams
Cons
*Despite being so naturally bulky, Latias still requires investment to survive crucial Super Effective attacks
*Therefore relies on Calm Mind set up to deal significant damage; Latias can feel very weak or lackluster without SpA boosts
*A Dragon type in a Tapu filled format does not bode well for Latias; Tapu Lele and Fini can both be an issue
*Very weak against Sand teams; Iron Head / Hyper Voice + Assurance will easily KO Latias
Set - Calm Your Mind
Latias-Mega @ Latiasite  
Ability: Levitate  
Level: 50  
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Def / 76 SpA / 12 SpD / 108 Spe  
Modest Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Psyshock  
- Ice Beam  
- Calm Mind  
- Roost
*A set balanced around bulk and offense, this CM Latias set focuses on setting up at least one CM to help power through opponents
*Psyshock is used in place of Psychic to hit the common Mega Charizard Y and Assault Vest Ludicolo for much harder, allowing Latias to 2HKO both threats
*There are very few cases in which Psychic would be better, aka I can’t think of a reason why you would run Psychic right now
*Ice Beam allows Latias to hit threats such as Landorus, Salamence, and even Kartana for decent damage
*Latias naturally KO’s all three with an unboosted Ice Beam, and at +1 it KO’s AV Variants as well
*Calm Mind allows Latias to further boost its bulk and offenses, functioning similar to CM Tapu Fini
*Roost allows Latias to remain an offensive nuisance on the field, providing consistent recovery time and time again
*252 / 60 Def allows Latias to survive Jolly Life Orb Tyranitar Crunch + Sandstorm Damage 100% of the time
*Also survives -1 +252 Atk Tyranitar Z Crunch 75% of the time
*252 / 12 SpD allows Latias to survive various special attacks, including
*252 SpA Mega Gengar Shadow Ball does 75% at most; Latias KO’s with Psyshock
*+252 SpA Tapu Lele Moonblast does 80.2% at most
*252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam is a 3HKO
*+252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave in the Sun is a 5HKO
*At +1 SpD, Latias can survive +252 SpA Aegislash-Blade Z Shadow Ball
*76 SpA EVs with a Modest nature allows Latias to pick up OHKO’s on Mega Gengar, non-Assault Vest Landorus, Salamence, and 2HKOs Tapu Bulu and Zapdos as well
*108 Speed EVs allows Mega Latias to hit 144 speed, outspeeding Max Speed Neutral Nature Landorus by one point
*An alternative spread of  228 HP / 4 Def / 12 SpA / 12 SpD / 252 Spe Timid nature can be run for those seeking to hit 178 Speed to speed tie Mega Metagross
*However, You lose out on alot of offense and bulk in doing so
Using Latias
*Latias fulfills a niche in countering Landorus, yet it also pairs extremely well with Landorus because of Intimidate and the ability to spam Earthquake
*Latias can also run a Tailwind set to provide speed control for other Pokemon
*Because of its reliance on Calm Mind for offense, Latias appreciates being paired with Fake Out users such as Incineroar and Scrafty
*Incineroar also provides a check to Steel types that would otherwise wall Latias such as Celesteela and Ferrothorn
*Scrafty can both provide Intimidate support and heavily damage threats such as Heatran, Tyranitar, and Aegislash
*Common partners also include Tapu Koko, Kartana, and Amoonguss
*Tapu Koko provides a fast Z Move to kill off threats that outspeed Latias, such as Mega Metagross
*Kartana provides tailwind support while also threatening Tyranitar and Excadrill
*Amoonguss provides Rage Powder support to allow Latias to set up Calm Mind

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