What’s a good counter for Calyrex Shadow?

Question

I’m playing Pokémon Showdown these days, and it’s hard to stop Calyrex-S. So what are good counters for it? In Gen 8 Ubers and Gen 8 AG.

Comments

Um, Yveltal?

---

And Tyranitar maybe?

Answer 1

There are a few hard counters to Calyrex-S. The notable two are:

Yveltal

Yveltal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 15 Spe
- Knock Off / Foul Play / Sucker Punch
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost

YGod! The true god of both Ubers/AG, it's the best counter to it that's very easy to fit. Sporting impressive bulk and a great typing in Dark/Flying makes it a hard counter for Calyrex-S. It's able to plainly OHKO it straight with Knock Off, even on Dynamaxed Caly-S. Knock Off has great utility in removing item, Foul Play hurts set-up sweepers and Sucker Punch is for priority.

Apart from being an Caly-S check, it's very easy to use thanks to reliable recovery. It's also the Defogger generally. Boots ensure dem Stealth Rocks don't annoy, while maximum bulk are needed to tank hits.

Some calculations prove it:

252 SpA Calyrex-Shadow Astral Barrage vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Yveltal: 85-101 (18.6 - 22.1%) -- possible 5HKO

252 SpA Calyrex-Shadow Draining Kiss vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Yveltal: 96-114 (21 - 25%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Calyrex-Shadow Max Starfall vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Yveltal: 250-294 (54.9 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

NOTE: Yveltal gets OHKOed by +2 Max Starfall, so if it's AG then you should practically Dynamax it if they Nasty Plot.

Apart from Yveltal, here's another hard counter, Tyranitar:

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Foul Play
- Rest

Sandstorm SpD make it able to hard wall Calyrex-S too, just like Yveltal. Unfortunately, its relying on Rest for recovery which makes it harder to fit. Nevertheless, it's still reliable, just hard to use.

252 SpA Life Orb Calyrex-Shadow Draining Kiss vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 83-99 (20.5 - 24.5%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Life Orb Calyrex-Shadow Astral Barrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 73-86 (18 - 21.2%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Life Orb Calyrex-Shadow Max Starfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 164-195 (40.5 - 48.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

These show the titan's titanic bulk. However, it's mostly relying on Rest which makes it easy to take advantage of.

These are the best counters to it. Apart from those, these deserve a mention, but aren't real counters:
Ho-Oh, Ditto (check), Scarf Kyogre
They can't switch-in to it, but generally force it out.

Hope this helps!

Comments

Any Counters in Gen 9 games?

---

@Asher Imperial https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/392460/?show=423803#a423803

Answer 2

(Updating this answer for Gen 9.)

^{tangent: counters
Please note that there was never a "hard counter" to Calyrex. Yveltal was a counter in good matchups, and Tyranitar was a check at best. Calyrex was like ORAS Rayquaza -- too broken for regular teams. It was therefore banned to Anything Goes from Ubers, making history as the third ever Pokémon to be banned to Anything Goes, after Rayquaza and Zacian-Crowned.}

In Gen 8, the best checks for Calyrex-Shadow were Tyranitar and Yveltal. Yveltal in itself became a metagame staple in Gen 8 AG, with Yveltal seeing a record 100% usage in AGPL V, with Week 1 having 110% usage. Yveltal was the most splashable Pokémon in SS AG. It had a plethora of sets to choose from and had versatility which rivalled Arceus in Gen 7. It was the most viable check to Calyrex Shadow and most other specially-offensive Pokémon. Yveltal was also one of the best Dynamax late-game cleaners in the tier, with its Life Orb set being a premier option for offensive teams also looking for a Calyrex check.

The only Calyrex set that could beat Yveltal reliably was SubSeed. Leech Seed + Taunt was daunting enough for Yveltal to start running Snarl. While you're relying on passive damage and Taunt shenanigans, it was good enough to take down Yveltal mid- to late-game. If Yveltal had its Heavy-Duty Boots removed, Stealth Rock + Leech Seed passive damage chipped Yveltal beyond recovery range, thus paving the way for Calyrex to potentially sweep. TrickChoice was also a hindrance for Yveltal. While Choice Scarf was not bad enough (you outspeed base 110s and below), getting Tricked a Choice Specs was bad for Yveltal as a whole.

Tyranitar as a Calyrex check in SS AG was niche. It was restricted to stall builds, which were not common anyway. It saw 0% usage in AGPL V, which in itself shows how restricted Tyranitar was. It complicated the teambuilding process, it required extreme support and maintenance, and it didn't have reliable recovery. While it did do its job as a Calyrex check, perhaps even better than Yveltal, it was not the premier option for most teams. A +2 Draining Kiss after Dynamax dealt around 87% damage anyway.

---

In Gen 9, we saw Yveltal getting removed. This isn't a huge blow to SV Anything Goes (it's probably the worst AG generation ever -- perhaps even worse than RBY), because Arceus has been reintroduced, and some new Pokémon too. Arceus-N soon became one of the premier threats in the tier, as ExtremeKiller does not have enough checks in itself, and being a Normal-type, it was immune to Calyrex's best STAB in Astral Barrage. It can OHKO Calyrex with Shadow Claw, and can use Terastralization to get STAB Shadow Claw and soft-check opposing Arceus. Ting-Lu is perhaps one of the best specially defensive Pokémon in the tier, with the ability to effortlessly set Spikes and check most specially offensive Pokémon. Ruination is a great support move as it effectively shuts down any opposing defensive walls like Landorus-Therian and Giratina-Origin. Ting-Lu also has access to Taunt, which deals with setup Arceus formes and Toxapex. Bar offence, almost every balance has Ting-Lu because of the sheer utility it provides. Calyrex needs to run Grass Knot on every set to hopefully deal with Ting-Lu, such is its presence. A +2 Grass Knot is not even an OHKO after Stealth Rock damage. Wo-Chien is another good option, as Calyrex can not hit it with super-effective damage, and its access to better recovery in Leech Seed is good enough to consider.