Competitive Pokemon History - Deoxys-A Trivia Game

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Deoxys-A, as the forme name suggests, had absolutely ridiculous attacking stats, ready to rip down walls in third generation Ubers like nobody's business. Its Attack and Special Attack were the same humongous stat. What stat were they?

Answer: 180

180 for attacking stats is just absurd, giving Deoxys-A stellar mixed offenses and preventing anything from reliably walling it. Combined with an amazing Base 150 Speed, and Deoxys-A was going to take something out whenever it came in, practically guaranteed. This made it into a major threat in third generation Ubers.

2. While its offenses were high octane to say the least, Deoxys-A's bulk was utterly pathetic. Its Base 50 HP, a low mark at that, was shared amongst its other formes, but its laughably pathetic Defense and Special Defense were unique to itself. What was Deoxys-A's Defense and Special Defense stat?

Answer: 20

20s in both Defenses were really, really bad. Like, REALLY bad. Caterpie has higher defenses, as a point of reference, with the same Special Defense but 15 points higher in physical Defense. Rattata and Magikarp also have noticeably higher defenses than Deoxys-A. Obviously, this means directly switching it into an attacking move is a terrible idea, as anything relevant (and even irrelevant) will OHKO Deoxys-A easily. Extremely weak moves, like Lugia's Ice Beam or Skarmory's Drill Peck will OHKO. The weakest relevant attacking move in Ubers, Forretress' Rapid Spin (a base 40 move with no STAB coming from a defensive Pokemon with poor attacking stats) will 3HKO all the time, and only needs minor chip to 2HKO. You get the idea- Deoxys-A was the absolute epitomization of a glass cannon.

3. Like its other Deoxys formes, and most legendaries in general, Deoxys-A had access to a particular ability to start its competitive career with. What ability was this?

Answer: Pressure

Clearly, a Pokemon with crappier defenses than literally Caterpie, Magikarp and Rattata cannot make any sort of use out of an ability which just stalls. It dies in one hit to anything, the fact that the move used to easily OHKO uses one more PP is completely meaningless.

4. Through the fourth generation, Deoxys-A largely profited from access to two moves, guaranteeing that it could hit everything in the game, relevant or not, for at least neutral damage, while netting key threats for super effective damage. What two move combo did it benefit from?

Answer: Shadow Ball + Superpower

The combination of Shadow Ball + Superpower is impossible to resist. Coming off of a Base 180 Attacking stat, that means that Deoxys-A can reliably lay the hurt on whatever it's targeting. Better yet, since nothing resisted those two moves, Deoxys-A could then dedicate its other two moveslots to targeting specific threats.

It could run Extremespeed to shield itself from other priority moves revenge killing it. It could run Ice Beam to take out Rayquaza, Salamence and Garchomp. It had access to Pursuit to trap threats which would switch out of it, like Gengar. With the support of an allied Groudon, Solar Beam was a nice option for Arceus formes weak to the move and opposing Groudon. Making use of its signature move Psycho Boost for great neutral damage was also an option, as Deoxys-A certainly had the Attack to keep up the act on the physical end after neutering itself on the Special end.

5. A counter is defined as a Pokemon who can reliably switch in and defeat the target. Through the fourth generation, did Deoxys-A have anything such assailants?

Answer: No

Deoxys-A's Attacking stats are off the walls, meaning switching into it is generally suicide for whatever is coming in. Thus, actually switching something in to Deoxys-A is only a good idea if you plan to sacrifice that Pokemon with the intent of getting something else in for free. This is clearly pretty far from 'countering' it.

6. The fourth generation introduced an item that was a godsend for Deoxys-A. What item was this?

Answer: Focus Sash

Focus Sash enabled Deoxys-A to reliably survive a single attack, even if it was the mightest of might blows. Coupled with its stellar Speed, Deoxys-A would very reliably be able to strike a target twice, which generally meant it would KO said target off the might of its unbridled Attacking stats.

7. Unsurprisingly, a Pokemon as frail and strong as Deoxys-A began the fifth generation as a candidate for a suicide, entry hazard setting lead. Here, it competed with its Speed forme, but it had one large niche over Deoxys-S which distinguished it. What niche was this?

Answer: The ability to offensively threaten the opponent

Its massive Attacking stats often meant Deoxys-A could force a threat out, to buy a free turn to set hazards. Deoxys-S is forced to either Taunt or Skill Swap a foe to assure itself of setting hazards- Deoxys-A can just blow through whatever its opposing and force hazards on the opponent that way. With excellent two-move coverage in Shadow Ball + Superpower, the option to run Psycho Boost for major neutral damage, and Extremespeed to pick off priority users, Deoxys-A could comfortably fit Spikes or Stealth Rock onto its moveset to kick the game off with momentum.

8. In the sixth generation, Deoxys-A would end up attracting the attention of a counter, who was unfortunately quite common in the metagame. Who was this?

Answer: Yveltal

Klefki came close, as it resisted or was only neutral to anything Deoxys-A could viably run, and had decent bulk to take a couple of hits. It could heavily cripple Deoxys-A with Thunder Wave, given priority thanks to Prankster, or it could just use an attacking move to KO it right then and there. Still, Klefki lacked recovery, so switching in to Deoxys-A was difficult and, if predicted, would result in Klefki itself getting crippled by a particularly hard hitting move.

Yveltal can counter Deoxys-A by virtue of its good bulk, good defensive typing, and its signature move in Oblivion Wing. Its bulk lets it take neutral hits from Deoxys-A quite well thanks to its typing. Oblivion Wing would allow Yveltal to, after taking a couple of hits, heal off just about all the damage and OHKO Deoxys-A simultaneously. If Deoxys-A had a Focus Sash and survived, Yveltal could Sucker Punch it before it could move. It could do the latter quite reliably, as Extremespeed didn't seriously threaten it. Because of this, Yveltal was a counter. Unfortunately, Yveltal was very strong and offensively threatening, while being able to use mixed offenses, so switching into it and bailing Deoxys-A out was quite difficult.

9. In the seventh generation, Deoxys-A's viability was bolstered due to the fact that it was often a centerpiece on a new teambuild, a teambuild becoming viable largely thanks to Deoxys-A in the first place. What teambuild was this?

Answer: Psychic Terrain-based teams

Under Tapu Lele's Psychic Terrain, Deoxys-A becomes immune to priority. More importantly, its Psychic type attacks get a large buff. If you thought Psycho Boost was scary to begin with, imagine a Psychic Terrain-boosted, base 140 STAB move coming off of a Base 180 Special Attack. The result? How about a guaranteed 2HKO on Lugia after Stealth Rock, the bulkiest Pokemon in the game who resists the move? You also have a shot at 2HKOing the bulkiest special wall in the game, Chansey, with this move. In other words, Deoxys-A's power becomes frightening, and its offensive counterplay becomes nonexistent. Alternatively, if you really wanted to roll the dice, you could trade out Psycho Boost for Psychic, and run Nasty Plot to grab a +2 boost - effectively becoming even deadlier at the expense of having to make numerous aggressive, 50-50 plays to get the boost without Deoxys-A getting KOed.

The teambuild was doubtlessly potent with Deoxys-A at the forefront.

10. While Deoxys-A's Base 150 Speed was quite impressive, its power was somewhat artificially tamed in the seventh generation because of its Speed. In order to remain the fastest offensive Pokemon in the tier, it had to run a Speed-boosting nature instead of a Special Attack-boosting nature it had enjoyed since its inception. Which of the following would outspeed it otherwise?

Answer: Mega Mewtwo-Y

Mega Mewtwo-Y's Base 140 Speed meant that if it ran a Speed-boosting nature and Deoxys-A did not, Mega Mewtwo-Y would outspeed and demolish it before it could move. This was problematic enough to influence Deoxys-A users to run Speed-boosting natures, lowering its power somewhat.

The bonus of being able to revenge kill Mega Mewtwo-Y was appreciated and pretty rare to come across, however.

Source: Author cavalier87

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor eburge before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Competitive Pokemon History - Deoxys-A Quiz

The glassiest cannon, bar absolutely none, in franchise history, we have Deoxys-Attack forme! See how much you know about it on the competitive scene, from generations 3-7!

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