Countering Legendary Pokemon (Crown Tundra Prep)

[Mr.Munchlax]

Since practically all of the legendary pokemon are coming back in the Crown Tundra, I decided to make this post to discuss tips, tricks, & strategies on how to beat them.

From my personal experience, you're pretty much guaranteed to lose if your opponent has a legendary since they're basically unstoppable. I only started ranked battles this gen, but I've had multiple casual battles in older games and I always lost to teams who spammed pokemon like Mewtwo, Landorus, Kyogre, Groudon, Tapu Lele, etc.. Plus, Wolfey VGC's recent video on the possible buffs some legendaries could get doesn't really help either.

The only way I can think of stopping a legendary is to have one on your team yourself, so I'd like to hear if and how other people managed to find way to stop these unkillable gods. If you have any experience in handling legendaries or feeling like sharing your own strategies on how to handle them, please feel free to share

 

[Prince Amrod]

Back in the days I used to battle competitively on here, I once fought someone who demanded a rematch after I put his Latias down with a Blissey. He came at me with 6 Arceus. I swept them with Electivire and a couple other trained pokemon. They're not impossible. Just know your type matchups and have good coverage on your movesets.

 

[Ophie]

Since practically all of the legendary pokemon are coming back in the Crown Tundra, I decided to make this post to discuss tips, tricks, & strategies on how to beat them.

From my personal experience, you're pretty much guaranteed to lose if your opponent has a legendary since they're basically unstoppable. I only started ranked battles this gen, but I've had multiple casual battles in older games and I always lost to teams who spammed pokemon like Mewtwo, Landorus, Kyogre, Groudon, Tapu Lele, etc.. Plus, Wolfey VGC's recent video on the possible buffs some legendaries could get doesn't really help either.

The only way I can think of stopping a legendary is to have one on your team yourself, so I'd like to hear if and how other people managed to find way to stop these unkillable gods. If you have any experience in handling legendaries or feeling like sharing your own strategies on how to handle them, please feel free to share

There are many ways to defeat a Legendary Pokémon (and Mythical Pokémon). Some are more difficult than others, but they can be done. Most of it, really, revolves around knowing what your opponent will do.

In Casual, if they bring in a lot of Legendary and/or Mythical Pokémon, it typically signifies they think they're invincible. They will not be EV-trained, and they might even have their default moves when you first caught them. They will either spam the Legendary Pokémon's signature move or will pick moves randomly without concern for type effectiveness, because they are certain of their invincibility.

Even when they are EV-trained and have good moves, taking them down involves outmaneuvering them. You won't be defeating them through sheer power alone, but they are just as vulnerable to status conditions, Leech Seed, getting damage blocked via Protect, weather, terrain, screens, and any other effects. Also type weaknesses.

If they're physical attackers, even those moves will have their damage nullified by Eiscue's Ice Face. Eiscue in Noice Face Form will be faster than most of them (and is equal in Speed to Mewtwo, not that you'll find many physically-attacking Mewtwo), and if you Dynamax Eiscue, you'll get the Ice Face back by using Max Hailstorm. Also, Shedinja just outright walls a lot of them. You'll have to watch out for Crunch on Zacian and Zamazenta and Flamethrower on Eternatus though.

And just for kicks, I always begin a new team with fighting someone who uses at least one Legendary Pokémon with base stats of 660 or higher. This one is Eternatus.

 

[Prince Amrod]

There are many ways to defeat a Legendary Pokémon (and Mythical Pokémon). Some are more difficult than others, but they can be done. Most of it, really, revolves around knowing what your opponent will do.

In Casual, if they bring in a lot of Legendary and/or Mythical Pokémon, it typically signifies they think they're invincible. They will not be EV-trained, and they might even have their default moves when you first caught them. They will either spam the Legendary Pokémon's signature move or will pick moves randomly without concern for type effectiveness, because they are certain of their invincibility.

Even when they are EV-trained and have good moves, taking them down involves outmaneuvering them. You won't be defeating them through sheer power alone, but they are just as vulnerable to status conditions, Leech Seed, getting damage blocked via Protect, weather, terrain, screens, and any other effects. Also type weaknesses.

If they're physical attackers, even those moves will have their damage nullified by Eiscue's Ice Face. Eiscue in Noice Face Form will be faster than most of them (and is equal in Speed to Mewtwo, not that you'll find many physically-attacking Mewtwo), and if you Dynamax Eiscue, you'll get the Ice Face back by using Max Hailstorm. Also, Shedinja just outright walls a lot of them. You'll have to watch out for Crunch on Zacian and Zamazenta and Flamethrower on Eternatus though.

And just for kicks, I always begin a new team with fighting someone who uses at least one Legendary Pokémon with base stats of 660 or higher. This one is Eternatus.

Oh wow... That was actually hilarious. Carried flamethrower and didn't use it straight off... Not to mention hyper beam on gyarados. I haven't seen that in years! Almost makes me want the online subscription just to play with these people!

 

[Ophie]

Oh wow... That was actually hilarious. Carried flamethrower and didn't use it straight off... Not to mention hyper beam on gyarados. I haven't seen that in years! Almost makes me want the online subscription just to play with these people!

That shows how arrogant these people are. In the case with Eternatus, they chose to spam Dynamax Cannon because the characters in the story will crumble in the face of that (perhaps except Leon and postgame Hop). Hyper Beam is because the move looks impressive and powerful and the game shows it has a base power of 150. Not as obvious as you play are that Gyarados's Special Attack isn't so great, that it has a turn of recharge (which the AI will flounder anyway), and the lack of same-type attack bonus.

The story is meant to be easy enough that even little kids who approach raising Pokémon in this way can win. It leads to some pretty dire walloping when they go online.

(These people, incidentally, are unlikely to go play in Ranked, since they can't use their Legendary Pokémon. I don't think this will change in Series 7, since the rules allow just one, and while this team really did have just the one, their availability in Crown Tundra means they'd rather pack their teams full of them.)

 

[Prince Amrod]

Even back in gen one, I never had much love for hyper beam. It registered on some level that losing one turn of attack almost never works out for the best.

I wouldn't mind going up against full legend teams if it was a reasonably intelligent AI and the rewards were worth it. Reminiscent of the higher levels of the battle facilities and such.

It's the attitudes I've never understood. The concept that anyone who beats legendaries must be a hacker etc and I have had it thrown in my direction a few times over the years.

 

[Ignition]

Always felt like Legendary Pokémon aren’t nearly as OP as people make them out to be. Yes, they’re stronger than the average Pokémon but never felt like one being on the opposing team was an instant loss.

 

[Dragalge]

Since practically all of the legendary pokemon are coming back in the Crown Tundra, I decided to make this post to discuss tips, tricks, & strategies on how to beat them.

From my personal experience, you're pretty much guaranteed to lose if your opponent has a legendary since they're basically unstoppable. I only started ranked battles this gen, but I've had multiple casual battles in older games and I always lost to teams who spammed pokemon like Mewtwo, Landorus, Kyogre, Groudon, Tapu Lele, etc.. Plus, Wolfey VGC's recent video on the possible buffs some legendaries could get doesn't really help either.

The only way I can think of stopping a legendary is to have one on your team yourself, so I'd like to hear if and how other people managed to find way to stop these unkillable gods. If you have any experience in handling legendaries or feeling like sharing your own strategies on how to handle them, please feel free to share

I would have to be pretty stupid if I lost to a Regigigas. Some legendaries just flat out suck in battle.

 

[ShadowForce720]

I would have to be pretty stupid if I lost to a Regigigas. Some legendaries just flat out suck in battle.

Well to be fair Regigigas was being held back by it’s ability Slow Start. However it would a mistake to underestimate it considering if it’s partnered with a Galarian Weezing with the ability Neutralizing Gas, it will wind up being at full strength meaning it could pose a actual threat.

Also let’s not forget the fact that if Regigigas were to be used in Sword and Shield it will be able to Dynamax.

 

[Ophie]

Even back in gen one, I never had much love for hyper beam. It registered on some level that losing one turn of attack almost never works out for the best.

I wouldn't mind going up against full legend teams if it was a reasonably intelligent AI and the rewards were worth it. Reminiscent of the higher levels of the battle facilities and such.

It's the attitudes I've never understood. The concept that anyone who beats legendaries must be a hacker etc and I have had it thrown in my direction a few times over the years.

I think it's because the AI just kind of futzes around during the recharge turn, so it makes people think that the one turn you lose isn't that bad a drawback. It's another one of those cases most games with multiplayer have where the AI behaves nothing like how a live human opponent would.

I think it's also that people see "God Mode" in other games, most notably Sonic the Hedgehog with Super Sonic, among other examples. Legendary Pokémon are built up to be supremely powerful, both by NPCs in-game and when they come up in the anime, and you're touted as an extraordinary trainer for actually catching one (nevermind the fact that there are ordinary Pokémon that can have stats higher than some Legendary Pokémon, and some NPCs actually use them, like Lance with Dragonite, Steven with Metagross, and Leon with Dragapult, but they don't know that). So they catch the Legendary Pokemon, steamroll through in-game opponents, and think this is that God Mode. Some people also feel that the concept is cheapened if non-Legendary Pokémon can take them down, that they stop being special if they're not at some extreme advantage.

Well to be fair Regigigas was being held back by it’s ability Slow Start. However it would a mistake to underestimate it considering if it’s partnered with a Galarian Weezing with the ability Neutralizing Gas, it will wind up being at full strength meaning it could pose a actual threat.

Also let’s not forget the fact that if Regigigas were to be used in Sword and Shield it will be able to Dynamax.

If I recall correctly, they've also given Protect to Regigigas now. That alone makes it difficult to predict, since you know that move will be there, but the question is when. (If it's like Aegislash with King's Shield though, most people will make it much too obvious.)

 

[Prince Amrod]

If anything, legendaries these days are too easy to take down. There was a time when deciding what to use the master ball on was a tough choice. Everything took patience and a healthy dose of luck. Now it feels like the master ball is just there for a sense of continuity. Whether that's because people now plan specific sets for captures and bulk them out or the average pokemon is stronger than they used to be I don't know.

The saddest part for me is there's not always a good reason to have legends in the game either. They should come with a good story behind them, even as just a bit of text to scroll through. And not just included for the sake of it, with a couple details as to why.

I think battles would be far more interesting if in game, they had competitive stats and movesets already. Reverting to blank slates and standard sets when caught. A preview of what you can have. Make it a challenge again.

 

[Ignition]

The problem with Regigigas is that it pretty much needs Weezing to not be a liability. Other Legendaries can do what it can more consistently. Don't think the combo will be as prevalent as people think

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

The saddest part for me is there's not always a good reason to have legends in the game either. They should come with a good story behind them, even as just a bit of text to scroll through. And not just included for the sake of it, with a couple details as to why.

That's more-so just a problem with mythicals or extra legendaries though. They still keep that stuff with pokemon like the box legendaries or trios

 

[Nikita Dracovish]

I gotta say, I feel a bit bad for bringing Eternatus to random MP battles. For some reason, it's speedy and gets in Eternabeam before most G-Max moves - it also tends to be the last thing I drag out, which really punishes people who wait to Dynamax at the last minute.

What is the best Eternatus counter? I haven't seen any at all in my time MP battling.

 

[Heatleo]

I gotta say, I feel a bit bad for bringing Eternatus to random MP battles. For some reason, it's speedy and gets in Eternabeam before most G-Max moves - it also tends to be the last thing I drag out, which really punishes people who wait to Dynamax at the last minute.

What is the best Eternatus counter? I haven't seen any at all in my time MP battling.

You know that is a great question. When I played against people using Eternatus recently I have been using a legendary pokemon Zacian (since I have been prepping for the battle of legends live competition) and steel moves seem to work well but that's not the response you probably want. I would recommend a pokemon that can take a hit that can then respond with a move of its own (like Oranguru for example) with maybe like Shedninja but are you talking about Singles or Doubles? If it's Singles I have not really a great idea (since I mostly do doubles and seem to have a knack for it).

 

[Heatleo]

Also respect for the Joey Wheeler profile pic.

 

[Nikita Dracovish]

Singles, yeah. I actually had it destroy people relying on Keldeos spamming Secret Sword, and I seriously thought I would have lost to it.

Shedninjas get checked by its flamethrower.

 

[Ophie]

If anything, legendaries these days are too easy to take down. There was a time when deciding what to use the master ball on was a tough choice. Everything took patience and a healthy dose of luck. Now it feels like the master ball is just there for a sense of continuity. Whether that's because people now plan specific sets for captures and bulk them out or the average pokemon is stronger than they used to be I don't know.

The saddest part for me is there's not always a good reason to have legends in the game either. They should come with a good story behind them, even as just a bit of text to scroll through. And not just included for the sake of it, with a couple details as to why.

I think battles would be far more interesting if in game, they had competitive stats and movesets already. Reverting to blank slates and standard sets when caught. A preview of what you can have. Make it a challenge again.

I think that's another thing behind the people who think they're invulnerable. Legendary Pokémon are supposed to be the hardest captures in a game (barring story-mandated captures, like Reshiram and Zekrom in the Unova games), and you get people who think that, because they accomplished the task, they deserve to be able to steamroll through any non-Legendaries. That is, they think they're invulnerable because they think they SHOULD be invulnerable.

They forget the fact that there's a very high chance they had to whittle the Legendary Pokémon's HP down to almost nothing to catch that (provided it wasn't the Master Ball), meaning they had to have overpowered it with ordinary Pokémon, especially if it's the first one encountered.

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

I think that's another thing behind the people who think they're invulnerable. Legendary Pokémon are supposed to be the hardest captures in a game (barring story-mandated captures, like Reshiram and Zekrom in the Unova games), and you get people who think that, because they accomplished the task, they deserve to be able to steamroll through any non-Legendaries. That is, they think they're invulnerable because they think they SHOULD be invulnerable.

They forget the fact that there's a very high chance they had to whittle the Legendary Pokémon's HP down to almost nothing to catch that (provided it wasn't the Master Ball), meaning they had to have overpowered it with ordinary Pokémon, especially if it's the first one encountered.

True, but some people may not take that into consideration since they had to use their whole team to only take out one. They might think if you use several of them or a whole team of them, all of their opponent's pokemon will be beaten or tired out from only one legendary then the rest will steamroll what's left (which is what happened to me many times).

Additionally, I think seeing Tobias in the anime also gave off this mindset since that's basically what he did against Ash in the Sinnoh League

 

[Ophie]

True, but some people may not take that into consideration since they had to use their whole team to only take out one. They might think if you use several of them or a whole team of them, all of their opponent's pokemon will be beaten or tired out from only one legendary then the rest will steamroll what's left (which is what happened to me many times).

Additionally, I think seeing Tobias in the anime also gave off this mindset since that's basically what he did against Ash in the Sinnoh League

To be fair, a whole team of them really IS an uphill battle. You are David and your opponent is Goliath. To beat one of those without using Legendaries of your own, especially if EV-trained, Bottle-capped, and with optimal moves, you have to flawlessly predict and counter everything your opponent does, and you'll barely scrape by.

Generation VII was the worst of that at the time due to Primal Kyogre, Primal Groudon, and Mega Rayquaza running amok, but I beat someone using all three of those plus Arceus using Stoutland, Palossand, Wishiwashi, and Goodra. I no longer have the Battle Replay because Pokémon Sun was updated, rendering the replay unusable, however, but it was my favorite battle of the generation.

(This mindset, of course, predates Tobias.)