Ubers Spotlight: Necrozma

Introduction

Necrozma-DM is one of the best Pokemon in the tier. Its excellent Attack stat of base 157 paired with setup moves like Swords Dance, Rock Polish, and Trick Room, a good movepool, and access to the nigh-unwallable Searing Sunraze Smash allow it to be an offensive threat to any archetype. On top of that, Necrozma-DM's ability to set up Stealth Rock and cripple common Defog users with Toxic while being immune to Toxic itself allows it to provide defensive utility for its team while relieving threats such as Primal Groudon and some Arceus formes of their usual roles. Its Psychic / Steel typing and great ability in Prism Armor also let Necrozma-DM be a strong check to dangerous threats such as Xerneas, Mega Salamence, and Deoxys-A. Said trait also lets Necrozma-DM survive extremely powerful attacks from the likes of Primal Groudon and Yveltal, depending on the set, and take advantage of passive foes that rely on Toxic by setting up on them.

Art by Bummer.

Necrozma has an option to equip Ultranecrozium Z, go through Ultra Burst, and achieve its true Ultra forme. The transformation significantly improves Necrozma-DM's Speed (base 77 to 129), changes its typing to Psychic / Dragon, and gives it access to Light That Burns The Sky, an exclusive Z-Move that can be executed with Photon Geyser. The sudden change of Speed and typing can be handy in various occasions; offensively, Ultra Necrozma poses a more immediate threat to opposing teams. Although Ultra Necrozma's offensive typing isn't great, Neuroforce boosts the power of super effective moves by 25%, which lets Ultra Necrozma OHKO a lot of its checks after a Swords Dance with Stealth Rock up. Defensively, Ultra Necrozma can take advantage of the change of typing to force mind games against threats such as Primal Kyogre and Naganadel while offensively checking Mega Lucario and mixed Rock Polish Primal Groudon.

Standard Sets

| Necrozma-Dusk Mane @ Solganium Z | Weakness Policy

| @ Solganium Z | Weakness Policy Ability: Prism Armor

EVs: 248 Atk / 8 SpD / 252 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Rock Polish

- Swords Dance

- Sunsteel Strike

- Earthquake

A straightforward yet dangerous Double Dance set is the most popular set Necrozma-DM can run, letting it be a potent sweeper or a breaker. Rock Polish fixes its Speed and lets it outspeed Choice Scarf users such as Xerneas and Yveltal after the boost, spelling the doom of offensive teams. Swords Dance, despite being difficult to set up along with Rock Polish, allows Necrozma-DM to bust through walls it otherwise can't with a brute force and OHKO or 2HKO the majority of the tier. Sunsteel Strike is a STAB move that lets Necrozma-DM offensively check Fairy-types and break through walls such as Lugia that rely on abilities to defensively check their foes. Earthquake completes Necrozma-DM's coverage by hitting the majority of foes that resist Sunsteel Strike, most notably Primal Groudon and opposing Necrozma-DM, for super effective damage. Solganium Z turns Sunsteel Strike into Searing Sunraze Smash, which OHKOes almost the entire tier that does not resist the move and even puts a huge dent to foes that resist it after a Swords Dance. Weakness Policy, on the other hand, allows Necrozma-DM to set up on its counters and certain Arceus formes by surviving a hit with its bulk and Prism Armor while doubling its Speed and Attack upon being hit super effectively and using Rock Polish.

This is a replay of a game from the Smogon exhibition that showcases Necrozma-DM's ability to sweep. After byronthewellwell's only check to Double Dance Necrozma-DM, Primal Groudon, had been weakened, CKW proceeded to set up both Swords Dance and Rock Polish, meeting the condition to finish off the rest of the foes.

| Necrozma-Dusk Mane @ Leftovers | Solganium Z

| @ Leftovers | Solganium Z Ability: Prism Armor

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD

Careful Nature

- Morning Sun

- Stealth Rock

- Toxic

- Sunsteel Strike

Thanks to its solid typing and natural bulk, Necrozma-DM can be a specially defensive wall to sponge hits from special attackers like Xerneas and support Arceus formes better. Thanks to its access to reliable recovery in Morning sun, Necrozma-DM can be one of the very few Pokemon that can consistently switch into Xerneas. Stealth Rock wears down the opposing team and lets Necrozma-DM's teammates such as Primal Groudon and support Arceus to run different moves. Thanks to Necrozma-DM's immunity to Toxic and access to Morning Sun, it can go toe-to-toe with support Arceus formes in terms of longevity and set Stealth Rock multiple times throughout the match. Toxic allows Necrozma-DM to put a timer on Defog users and hamper their longevity, making it harder for them to keep themselves healthy while keeping Stealth Rock away from the field. Sunsteel Strike is run in the last moveslot to reduce Necrozma-DM's passivity. Even without investment, it hits neutral targets hard enough.

Specially defensive Necrozma-DM put in a lot of work in the UPL VI Finals in the match between Exiline and Holy Ghost. On top of consistently checking Choice Specs Xerneas, Exiline's Necrozma-DM KOed Holy Ghost's Defog Yveltal when Necrozma-DM seemed to be too passive to threaten Yveltal in a significant way. This led to Toxapex setting Toxic Spikes later, and combined with Necrozma-DM's Stealth Rock, this quickly wore down Holy Ghost's team to the point where Marshadow could clean up.

Necrozma-Dusk Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z

@ Ultranecrozium Z Ability: Prism Armor

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Photon Geyser

- Swords Dance

- Earthquake

- Stone Edge / Outrage / Sunsteel Strike

Unlike other sets, Ultra Necrozma can take advantage of its higher Speed to pose more immediate threat with only one setup move. Swords Dance improves Ultra Necrozma's already impressive offensive stats to break down defensive cores, letting it defeat its would be checks with brute force. Earthquake is aimed to hit Primal Groudon and Steel-types. Thanks to its new ability, Neuroforce, said coverage move easily takes out these foes at +2. The last moveslot is quite flexible; Stone Edge smacks bulky Flying-types like Lugia, Yveltal, and Ho-Oh, which can take other moves easily. Outrage is a strong STAB move that has high damage ouptut against Dark-types like Arceus-Dark and Mega Sableye. Sunsteel Strike allows Necrozma to check Xerneas in its base forme as well as muscle through Arceus-Fairy, which it would otherwise need to use its Z-Move on to take out.

In the UPL VI game between Terracotta and Gunner Rohan, Terracotta successfully caused serious damage on Gunner Rohan's team with Ultra Necrozma. After forcing out Arceus-Fairy with Necrozma-DM's typing, Terracotta easily set up Swords Dance with Necrozma-DM and proceeded to swiftly take out Gunner Rohan's Mega Salamence with Neuroforce-boosted Stone Edge and almost fatally damage Arceus-Fairy with boosted Photon Geyser. Both of these were possible due to the combination of Ultra Necrozma's great Attack and Speed stats and ability to easily set up prior to Ultra Burst. After losing Gothitelle and Arceus-Fairy, Gunner Rohan's team lacked feasible answer to Terracotta's Arceus-Water and Choice Specs Yveltal, and the rest of his team slowly hemorrhaged to the point where he ended up forfeiting.

Niche Sets

| Necrozma-Dusk Mane @ Solganium Z | Life Orb

| @ Solganium Z | Life Orb Ability: Prism Armor

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def

Brave Nature

IVs: 0 Spe

- Morning Sun / Trick Room

- Swords Dance

- Sunsteel Strike

- Earthquake / Photon Geyser

In lieu of Rock Polish, Necrozma-DM can run a utility move to differentiate from the Double Dance set. Using Morning Sun makes Necrozma-DM harder for defensive foes to take down and lets it consistently check Xerneas while retaining its offensive presence. Necrozma-DM also has an option to run a pseudo-Double Dance set by using Trick Room instead of boosting its Speed, and this HP investment to survive powerful attacks such as Overheat and Precipice Blades from defensive Primal Groudon and Dark Pulse from Life Orb Yveltal, which Necrozma-DM would otherwise succumb to. Trick Room also has an added benefit of making slower Pokemon move first, allowing Necrozma-DM's slow partners to take advantage of it, and Trick Room is generally a good way to spoil offensive teams' game plan. While Earthquake is a good option to OHKO Primal Groudon and Steel-types at +2, Photon Geyser is also a viable secondary attack that, with Life Orb, OHKOes Ho-Oh and Arceus-Water after a Swords Dance.

Necrozma-Dusk Mane @ Solganium Z

@ Solganium Z Ability: Prism Armor

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD

Careful Nature

- Morning Sun

- Swords Dance

- Toxic

- Sunsteel Strike

Specially defensive Necrozma-DM variants are often overlooked as a passive Pokemon, and this set aims to punish foes that make such assumptions. With Swords Dance and Solganium Z, Necrozma-DM can prevent Gothitelle from neutralizing it. Unlike other defensive sets, this Necrozma-DM also can outright OHKO Geomancy Xerneas and check Z-Geomancy Xerneas. This variant of Necrozma-DM annoys bulkier teams by crippling its checks with Toxic and setting up on the majority of Toxic-immune Pokemon.

Good Teammates

It is very hard ever to name a Pokemon that does not benefit from Primal Groudon, and Necrozma-DM isn't an exception at all. Not only does Primal Groudon massively threaten Steel-types that Necrozma-DM can only break after excessive boosts, it also sets Stealth Rock so that Necrozma-DM can have much easier time dealing with opposing Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Yveltal. On the other hand, Necrozma-DM can support Primal Groudon by relieving the role of Xerneas check and by providing Stealth Rock support to let Primal Groudon use offensive sets.

Mega Salamence is a great pivot into most Primal Groudon variants, which is a threat Necrozma-DM must avoid most of the time. Facade variants can switch into Ho-Oh with impunity. Necrozma-DM in return can set Stealth Rock for Mega Salamence and defensively check Fairy-types and support Arceus formes. Mega Salamence also enjoys support Arceus formes getting afflicted by Toxic when they try to use Defog in front of Necrozma-DM. Offensive Necrozma-DM variants can overpower Celesteela and support Arceus formes with brute force.

Yveltal is another top-tier threat that synergizes well with Necrozma-DM. Yveltal not only provides a Ground immunity but also heavily pressures support Arceus formes and passive walls with its strong attacks and Taunt and weakens them to the point where offensive Necrozma-DM can preserve its Z-Move to hit other threats instead. Variants with U-turn can bring Necrozma-DM in safely on forced switches or while avoiding the undesired matchup against Fairy-types. Necrozma-DM in return either offensively handles Fairy-types or consistently handles Fairy-types and provide Stealth Rock support, which Yveltal can take advantage of due to the number of foes it forces out.

Xerneas takes advantage of Dark-types that attempt to offensively check Necrozma-DM, while Necrozma-DM enjoys having a reliable check to Yveltal and a late-game cleaner that will benefit from the havoc that it wreaks mid-game. Although both Xerneas and Necrozma-DM do not have the best matchup against Steel-types, they cover their weakness well with their typings. Defensive Necrozma-DM's Stealth Rock support helps Xerneas defeat Ho-Oh and Lugia, which are otherwise hard stops to Geomancy variants.

All variants of Necrozma vastly appreciate the Psychic Terrain that Tapu Lele summons because it makes Photon Geyser extremely powerful and provides immunity to priority moves, meaning Necrozma won't be as easily taken out by the likes of Yveltal and Marshadow as they would otherwise be. Light That Burns The Sky becomes an apocalyptic nuke that OHKOes maximum HP Arceus formes in Terrain even without boosts. Necrozma-DM, in return, can check Geomany Xerneas, which is a huge threat to teams built around Psychic Terrain, and it can now do so without using Sunsteel Strike thanks to Photon Geyser knocking out Xerneas with little prior damage with terrain active.

What's wrong with Necrozma-DW?

At the first glance, Necrozma-DW is seemingly a stronger alternative to Lunala due to its higher Special Attack stat. However, taking a closer look at the Pokemon reveals that Necrozma-DW has very low Speed, and this is further exacerbated by its horrendous defensive typing that does not benefit from Prism Armor at all. This makes it virtually impossible for Necrozma-DW to reliably set up or attack a foe in the first place without being KOed or taking serious damage. That is not to mention, that even if Necrozma-DW has successfully set up Rock Polish or Trick Room, it is easily disposed of the likes of Yveltal and Marshadow the next turn. Necrozma-DW also does not inherit Lunala's movepool, meaning it lacks important coverage moves such as Focus Blast and Ice Beam to hit some important threats like Arceus-Dark and Yveltal. Lastly, using Necrozma-DW means one cannot use Necrozma-DM due to the Species Clause in Ubers, meaning the team will forgo a lot of offensive and defensive utility Necrozma-DM will otherwise offer in exchange for Necrozma-DW's niche traits that isn't worth most of the time. This unfortunately leaves Necrozma-DW with only one viable way to be used in the tier: a set with Swords Dance and Ultranecrozium Z can justify a fit on teams that need a spinblocker and a walbreaker.

Get Out There!

While Necrozma-DW isn't the most impressive Pokemon in Ubers, Necrozma-DM can easily fit into many teams, can threaten a variety of archetypes, and can run appropriate sets to adjust to its team's needs and better deal with its checks and counters. Get out there and try using the Necrozma set that appeals you the most!