Pokemon Sword and Shield

Latios - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle

Game8's Pokemon TCG Pocket Wiki is live!
☆ Check out our competitive guides for Scarlet and Violet!
Tier List / Doubles Tier List / Movesets / Rental Teams
Competitive Battle Guide

Pokemon - Latios Movesets and Counters.png
This is a strategy guide for using Latios in competitive play for the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, and Held Items to use with Latios, as well as its strengths and weak points.

Latios - Related Guides
Pokemon SWSH - Latios Evolution and LearnsetEvolution and Learnset Pokemon SWSH - Latios Best BuildBuild for Ranked Battle

Basic Information for Latios

Types and Abilities

Pokemon Type 1 Type 2
Pokemon Sword and Shield - Dragon Type Pokemon Sword and Shield - Psychic Type
Abilities
Levitate Gives immunity to Ground type moves.

Latios Weaknesses and Resistances

Type
Takes 4x damage
-
Takes 2x damage
Pokemon Ice Image Pokemon Bug Image Pokemon Ghost Image Pokemon Dragon Image Pokemon Dark Image Pokemon Fairy Image
Takes 0.5x damage
Pokemon Fire Image Pokemon Water Image Pokemon Grass Image Pokemon Electric Image Pokemon Fighting Image Pokemon Psychic Image
Takes 1/4x damage
-
Takes 0x damage
Pokemon Ground Image

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

HP Attack Defense Sp. Atk Sp. Def Speed
80 90 80 130 110 110

Best Nature for Latios

Best Natures
Timid
(+Spd, -Atk)

Singles Movesets for Latios

Choice Specs Sweeper Moveset & Best Build

Choice Specs Sweeper Latios.png

Nature Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
EV Spread Sp.Atk 252 / Sp.Def 4 / Spd 252
Final Stat Values HP 155 / Def 101 / Sp.Atk 182 / Sp.Def 130 / Spd 178
Ability Levitate
Held Item Choice Specs
Moveset Draco Meteor
Psyshock
Mystical Fire
Trick

A combination of high special attack and speed, as well as great natural bulk, make Latios a threatening Choice Specs sweeper in the metagame. While it faces competition from faster Dragon-types, such as Dragapult, the sheer power behind its moves is enough to warrant it a spot in many teams!

About Latios' Moves

Draco Meteor is Latios' strongest move, punching holes in teams and outright KOing Pokemon that don't resist it or are not immune to Dragon-type moves. Psyshock is its secondary STAB move, and allows it to threaten Special Walls by hitting their weaker defensive stat.

It's remaining two moves are for coverage. Thunderbolt hits bulky waters hard, as well as specially defensive Flying-type Pokemon such as Corviknight. Surf, on the other hand, hits Fire-types and Ground-types hard.

About Latios' EV Spread

We're using a straightforward EV spread with full investment in Speed and Special Attack. It's remaining EVs are placed in Special Defense to further boost its naturally high special defense stat.

About Latios' Ability

Levitate is Latios' only ability. While it doesn't provide any offensive utility, it does allow Latios to switch into Ground-type moves and Spikes and Toxic Spikes without taking any damage.

About Latios' Held Item

We're giving Latios Choice Specs for this build. This item boosts the power of Latios' special moves by 50% but it can only use the initial move it used on its turn.

Other Viable Moves

Psychic A stronger alternative to Psyshock but doesn't target the Defense stat.
Aura Sphere A priority move that allows Latios to have coverage against Rock and Steel-type Pokemon.
Shadow Ball Another strong coverage move against Ghost and Psychic-type Pokemon.
Air Slash A strong coverage Flying-type move.
Surf Again, another strong coverage move against Ground, Fire, and Rock-type Pokemon.

Stored Power Sweeper Moveset & Best Build

Stored Power Sweeper Latios.png

Nature Timid(+Spd, -Atk)
EV Spread Sp.Atk 252 / Sp.Def 4 / Spd 252
Final Stat Values HP 155 / Def 100 / Sp.Atk 182 / Sp.Def 131 / Spd 178
Ability Levitate
Held Item Life Orb
Moveset Calm Mind
Stored Power
Dragon Pulse
Recover

Access to Calm Mind and Stored Power allow Latios to function as a threatening setup sweeper that can easily sweep entire teams if given the chance!

About Latios's Moves

Calm Mind boosts Latios' special attack and special defense by one stage. This works in conjunction with Stored Power, which gets a +20 increase in base power for every positive boost Latios gets.

Dragon Pulse is its secondary STAB move, and while relatively weak, can hit hard if enough Calm Mind boosts is accumulated. It's last move is Recover, which increases Latios' survivability and staying power.

About Latios's EV Spread

We're using a straightforward EV spread with full investment in Speed and Special Attack. It's remaining EVs are placed in Special Defense to further boost its naturally high special defense stat.

About Latios's Ability

Levitate is Latios' only ability. While it doesn't provide any offensive utility, it does allow Latios to switch into Ground-type moves and Spikes and Toxic Spikes without taking any damage.

About Latios's Held Item

We're giving Latios Life Orb for this build. This boosts the power of all its attacks by 30% at the cost of some residual damage.

Other Viable Moves

Thunderbolt Thunderbolt can replace Dragon Pulse so that Latios can hit Bulky Water-types better and is a great neutral move in general.
Safeguard Can be used instead of Recover to prevent Latios from getting worn down by Burns or Poison.
Reflect An alternative to Recover that allows Latios to patch up its weaker defense stat for five turns, increasing its overall bulk.

Weakness Policy Moveset & Best Build

Nature Modest(+Sp. Atk, -Atk)
EV Spread HP 232 / Def 124 / Sp.Atk 36 / Sp.Def 4 / Spd 108
Final Stat Values HP 185 / Def 116 / Sp.Atk 170 / Sp.Def 131 / Spd 144
Ability Levitate
Held Item Weakness Policy
Moveset Psychic
Mystical Fire
Air Slash
Draco Meteor

This Latios build is more of a tankier take on the Eon Pokemon. Tank supper effective moves using Weakness Policy and try and revenge sweep the rest of your opponent's team.

How to Use Latios Effectively

A Hard-Hitting Special Sweeper

Latios sets itself apart from other special sweepers by having the special attack stat to back up its attacks. While Dragapult and Starmie are faster, they have relatively low special attack stats that can leave them walled by defensive Pokemon.

Latios, on the other hand, has an excellent special attack stat and utility moves like Psyshock that allow it to target a special wall's weaker defensive stat. This makes the Eon Pokemon an overall more reliable special sweeper than its competition.

How to Build a Team with Latios

Latios is a versatile Pokemon that is easy to fit in many teams in both the Singles and Doubles format.

A Hyper Offense Setup Sweeper

Latios is an excellent choice for a setup sweeper in Offensive teams. Unlike other sweepers, Latios doesn't necessarily need to set up with Calm Mind to hit hard thanks to its naturally high special attack stat.

That said, Latios is one of the strongest setup sweepers in the game thanks to Stored Power and its high speed. If left unchecked, it can easily sweep entire teams!

Check out our article below to learn more about Hyper Offense teams.
How to Build an Offensive Team | Best Hyper Offense Team

Counters for Latios

Latios
Weakness Pokemon Ice Image Pokemon Bug Image Pokemon Ghost Image Pokemon Dragon Image Pokemon Dark Image Pokemon Fairy Image

Wall it with Pokemon that Resists its STAB

For all its immediate power, Latios is easily walled by Fairy-type Pokemon as it lacks any coverage move that can hit them reliably hard. This means that even non-defensive Pokemon can wall Choice Specs variants if they're locked in a Dragon-type move.

Steel-type Pokemon are another good choice to send out to counter a rampaging Latios as the Eon Pokemon lacks a reliable coverage move that can hit them for super effective damage.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon Description
Pokemon SWSH - Grimmsnarl ImageGrimmsnarl Ranking: ★★★★★
・Immune to Latios' Dragon and Psychic STAB
・Can KO Latios with Spirit Break, which also has a chance to lower its Special Attack

Moveset & Best Build for Grimmsnarl
Pokemon SWSH - Scizor ImageScizor Ranking: ★★★★★
・Resists Latios' Dragon and Psychic STAB
・Can easily knock out Latios with Choice Band boosted U-Turn

Moveset & Best Build for Scizor
Pokemon SWSH - Clefable ImageClefable Ranking: ★★★★★
・Immune to Latios' Dragon-type STAB
・Takes little damage from Psychock thanks to its great mixed bulk
・Its Unware ability ignores Calm Mid and Stored Power boosts

Moveset & Best Build for Clefable

Use Fast Pokemon

Pokemon Description
Pokemon SWSH - Cinderace ImageCinderace Ranking: ★★★★★
・Cinderace is a strong attacking Pokemon that has high speed

Cinderace - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle
Pokemon SWSH - Dragapult ImageDragapult Ranking: ★★★★
・A faster Dragon-type Pokemon that can OTK Latios

Dragapult - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle
Pokemon SWSH - Naganadel ImageNaganadel Ranking: ★★★★
・A faster Dragon-type Pokemon that can OTK Latios

Naganadel - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle

Related Links

Pokemon Sword and Shield - Best Builds for Ranked Battle

All Competitive Builds for Ranked Battle

Competitive Guides for Pokemon Sword and Shield

Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides
Pokemon SWSH - Tier ListTier List Pokemon SWSH - Best BuildsBest Builds Pokemon Sword and Shield - Ranked Battle Series 10 Contenders.pngSeries 10 List of Contenders
Pokemon SWSH - Doubles Tier ListDoubles Tier List Pokemon SWSH - Competitive Team BuildingTeam Building Pokemon SWSH - Rental TeamsRental Teams

Best Builds for The Crown Tundra Pokemon

Movesets & Best Builds for The Crown Tundra Pokemon
Pokemon SWSH - Galarian Articuno Best BuildsGalarian Articuno Pokemon SWSH - Galarian Zapdos Best BuildsGalarian Zapdos Pokemon SWSH - Galarian Moltres Best BuildsGalarian Moltres
Pokemon SWSH - Raikou Best BuildsRaikou Pokemon SWSH - Entei Best BuildsEntei Pokemon SWSH - Suicune Best BuildsSuicune
Pokemon SWSH - Articuno Best BuildsArticuno Pokemon SWSH - Zapdos Best BuildsZapdos Pokemon SWSH - Moltres Best BuildsMoltres
Pokemon SWSH - Tornadus Best BuildsTornadus Pokemon SWSH - Thundurus Best BuildsThundurus Pokemon SWSH - Landorus Best BuildsLandorus
Pokemon SWSH - Tapu Koko Best BuildsTapu Koko Pokemon SWSH - Tapu Lele Best BuildsTapu Lele Pokemon SWSH - Tapu Bulu Best BuildsTapu Bulu
Pokemon SWSH - Tapu Fini Best BuildsTapu Fini Pokemon SWSH - Regieleki Best BuildsRegieleki Pokemon SWSH - Regidrago Best BuildsRegidrago
Pokemon SWSH - Latios Best BuildsLatios Pokemon SWSH - Latias Best BuildsLatias Pokemon SWSH - Heatran Best BuildsHeatran
Pokemon SWSH - Cresselia Best BuildsCresselia Pokemon SWSH - Glastrier Best BuildsGlastrier Pokemon SWSH - Spectrier Best BuildsSpectrier
Pokemon SWSH - Nidoking Best BuildsNidoking Pokemon SWSH - Swampert Best BuildsSwampert Pokemon SWSH - Dragonite Best BuildsDragonite
Pokemon SWSH - Salamence Best BuildsSalamence Pokemon SWSH - Garchomp Best BuildsGarchomp Pokemon SWSH - Metagross Best BuildsMetagross
Pokemon SWSH - Galarian Slowking Best BuildsGalarian Slowking Pokemon SWSH - Nihilego Best BuildsNihilego Pokemon SWSH - Naganadel Best BuildsNaganadel
Pokemon SWSH - Pheromosa Best BuildsPheromosa Pokemon SWSH - Buzzwole Best BuildsBuzzwole Pokemon SWSH - Celesteela Best BuildsCelesteela
Pokemon SWSH - Kartana Best BuildsKartana Pokemon SWSH - Stakataka Best BuildsStakataka Pokemon SWSH - Blaziken Best BuildsBlaziken
Pokemon SWSH - Kyogre Best BuildsKyogre Pokemon SWSH - Yveltal Best BuildsYveltal Pokemon SWSH - Xerneas Best BuildsXerneas
Pokemon SWSH - Necrozma (Dusk Mane) Best BuildsNecrozma (Dusk Mane) Pokemon SWSH - Calyrex (Shadow Rider) Best BuildsCalyrex (Shadow Rider) Pokemon SWSH - Mewtwo Best BuildsMewtwo
Pokemon SWSH - Calyrex (Ice Rider) Best BuildsCalyrex (Ice Rider) Pokemon SWSH - Dialga Best BuildsDialga Pokemon SWSH - Lugia Best BuildsLugia
Pokemon SWSH - Black Kyurem Best BuildsBlack Kyurem Pokemon SWSH - Zekrom Best BuildsZekrom Pokemon SWSH - Ho-Oh Best BuildsHo-Oh
Pokemon SWSH - Rayquaza Best BuildsRayquaza Pokemon SWSH - Zygarde Best BuildsZygarde Pokemon SWSH - Reshiram Best BuildsReshiram
Pokemon SWSH - White Kyurem Best BuildsWhite Kyurem Pokemon SWSH - Groudon Best BuildsGroudon Pokemon SWSH - Regirock Best BuildsRegirock
Pokemon SWSH - Palkia Best BuildsPalkia Pokemon SWSH - Regigigas Best BuildsRegigigas Pokemon SWSH - Registeel Best BuildsRegisteel
Pokemon SWSH - Regice Best BuildsRegice Pokemon SWSH - Giratina Best BuildsGiratina Pokemon SWSH - Solgaleo Best BuildsSolgaleo
Pokemon SWSH - Lunala Best BuildsLunala Pokemon SWSH - Kyurem Best BuildsKyurem Pokemon SWSH - Necrozma Best BuildsNecrozma
Pokemon SWSH - Uxie Best BuildsUxie Pokemon SWSH - Mesprit Best BuildsMesprit Pokemon SWSH - Azelf Best BuildsAzelf
Pokemon SWSH - Calyrex Best BuildsCalyrex

Author

    Walkthrough Menu

    Please participate in our
    site improvement survey 11/2024
    Would you assist in
    improving Game8's site?
    ×
    This survey will take about 1 minute.
    Your answers will help us to improve our website.
    We are listening to our users' valuable opinions and discussing how to act on them.
    The information collected through this survey will be used for the purpose of improving our services. In addition, the information will only be disclosed a part of a statistic in a format that will not allow identification of personal information.
    Begin Survey

    All rights reserved