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

Comments

Other Resources

VGC 2018 Teams

Naganadel Analysis

Salamence Analysis (Mega Croissant)

Kartana Analysis

Aegislash Analysis

Lurantis Analysis

Landorus-T, the King of VGC

Gengar Analysis

Charizard Y Analysis

Tapu Koko Analysis