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1 vote
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On showdown, I'm battling my friend. I'm almost finished my new team but I need something to defeat his Xearneas
I wanted to have a poison type but I don't know which one to choose. I took it down to just two poison types: Crobat and Toxapex. Toxapex will be used as a special
attacker( yes I know its special attack sucks)
Here's its set(probably)
Toxapex@black sludge
Ability:Merciless
Evs: 252 SpA 252 SpD 4 Def
Nature: quiet(+SpA -Spe)
Moveset:
Baneful bunker
Hex
Sludge bomb
Scald

Next is crobats set
Crobat@???
Evs 252 Atk 252 Spe 4 Hp
Nature: adamant(+Atk -SpA)
Moveset:
Brave Bird
Roost
Cross Poison
Confuse Ray

Please tell me a good item for crobat if I should use it too.
Thanks.

by
Offensive Toxapex is a pile of hot garbage. It only has base 53 special attack and you didn't even give it a boosting item. Also this isn't even a contest I'd use **bulky** toxapex over crobat any day
what format are you battling in?
gen 8  nat dex ag
just for fun
fine, i'll edit it

3 Answers

4 votes
 
Best answer

Crobat is useless. Neither useful is Toxapex, due to the presence of Arceus Poison in Nat Dex AG.
Here is what Chloe, a expert AG player wrote:

Toxapex can run Wacan Berry to stop Max Lightning and then Haze. Thankfully, Toxapex does have other uses and hence can do other things such as pivot into attacks later or set Toxic Spikes. This still doesn't justify using it though. If you really need a Xerneas, Eternatus, Ho-Oh and Marshadow check then you could potentially justify this, otherwise I'd find something else.

Here's the best Poison-type for Xerneas:

Arceus-Poison can Dynamax itself and take on Xerneas; however, is very inferior to Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, and is virtually useless against any other Pokemon. Max Ooze is also fairly weaker than other Max Moves due to Fighting- and Poison-type moves getting lower boosts. It can also run Psych Up to boost to the same level as Xerneas, stall out Dynamax with Recover, and then do good damage to an opposing team but this is very rarely worth it. Arceus-Poison will be dead-weight against most teams lacking Xerneas.

You can also try Amoonguss, though I don't justify using it for checking only Xerneas.

Assault Vest Amoonguss is a very very solid check for Xerneas, and a soft check for other select Pokemon such as Primal Kyogre and support Arceus, but that is about it. It stops all of Dynamaxed Xerneas's attacks, taking at the very most 95% from the subpar Max Mindstorm (Psychic or Psyshock). It can Clear Smog away Xerneas's boosts and then pivot to a supporting partner such as Ho-Oh to regain health and be usable later. There are issues with this however. If a Xerneas has Psyshock and opts not to Dynamax, it can OHKO cleanly. Thankfully, Psyshock is considered a bad choice for coverage in a metagame where Necrozma-Dusk-Mane and Ho-Oh are on virtually every team.

Why use Clear Smog to take away the boosts when you have Heart Swap Magearna? Also, Ditto can check a weakened Dynamax Xerneas, but it depends. The best counter for Xerneas is Dusk Mane Necrozma indeed.

While there are not many viable options to check Xerneas, Necrozma-Dusk-Mane stands out as one that is capable of being fit onto virtually any team. Xerneas very often has perfect coverage in order to OHKO the entire metagame whilst in a Dynamaxed state; Necrozma-Dusk-Mane is an exception to this. Unfortunately, with Xerneas's doubled HP, there is room for error.
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane doesn't take Max Flares and Max Lightnings that well in its base forme, meaning it gets at least 2HKOd by either of those, regardless of what set it decides to run. This is alleviated by using your own Dynamax on Necrozma-Dusk-Mane. Both offensive and defensive variants are able to beat Dynamax Xerneas post-Geomancy by Dynamaxing themselves. For example:
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Max Flare vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Prism Armor Dynamax Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 369-435 (46.4 - 54.6%)
By clicking Max Guard on your first dynamax turn, followed by Max Steelspike, followed by Max Guard you are successfully able to outstall a Xerneas's dynamax. When facing a competent player, be weary that Xerneas may opt not to Dynamax right after Geomancy in order to waste a turn of Necrozma-Dusk-Mane's Dynamax. This means that even with Dynamax, Necrozma-Dusk-Mane is not a guaranteed check to Xerneas.
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane can run 252 HP / 252 SpD with a SpD boosting nature in order to handle this scenario better, or even run an Occa Berry; however, it should be stated that these options are very very situational and will not be necessary often at all. If the Xerneas player incorrectly predicts the Max Guard, it can take substantial damage from Max Steelspike and fall regardless.

Hope this helps!
Source

by
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2 votes

If you're playing in Natdex AG, then use Necrozma-Dusk-Mane as a Xerneas counter. Sunsteel Strike just murders Xerneas. Crobat and Toxapex aren't very good in AG, while Dusk Mane is great. Here's the set I like to use:
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Atk / 60 Spe
IVs: 0 SpA
Adamant Nature
- Trick Room / (Swords Dance / Dragon Dance / Autotomize also work, but Trick Room is better for Xerneas)
- Photon Geyser
- Sunsteel Strike
- Earthquake / Stone Edge
Some other good counters/checks are Arceus-Poison (with Poison Jab or Acid Downpour), Focus Sash Marshadow (Spectral Thief steals the boosts), and Choice Band Mega Rayquaza (with V-Create or Dragon Ascent)
However, if I had to choose between Toxapex and Crobat, I would choose Toxapex with this set:
Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
IVs: 0 Atk
Calm Nature
- Baneful Bunker / Toxic
- Scald
- Haze
- Recover
Do note that Toxapex really doesn't do much that other Pokemon can't do better, getting outclassed by nearly every other Poison-type in the meta.

by
Life Orb seriously? Weakness Policy is better, and I like autotomise or Dragon dance, but for xerneas I go with Trick room
ok i edited it... a g a i n
this...got selected over swastik's answer? h o w
It helped the asker more.. So it got selected. You shouldn't be that much worried, though.
well I'm not going to complain, it's points
1 vote

I would definitely use Toxapex, but not with that set.

  1. It should have Haze. It gets rid of Geomancy boosts, which stops Xerneas in its tracks.

  2. It should be defensive. Toxapex is very bad attacker both physically and specially.

  3. Regenerator is much better than Merciless, because of the above reason.

I would recommend a specially defensive set to wall Xerneas.

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Haze
- Toxic
- Recover

+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 244-288 (80.2 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

You can also run 252 Defense and Bold if the Xerneas carries Psyshock.

+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 206-244 (67.7 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

Hope this helps! :)

by
ill wait for other answers but if no others then you get ba
Toxapex is bad in National Pokedex AG because stuff like Groudon and Necrozma are common.
But the OP is battling their friend and they wanted a Xerneas counter and the options were Crobat and Toxapex?
Indeed, and Xerneas carries Psyshock and Thunder too.
i think psychic is more common than psyshock but yea. Crobat is absolute trash in ag and toxapex ain't great.
Psyshock is more common bruh because of beating Chansey