[OVERVIEW]
Celesteela has solid bulk and a fantastic defensive typing that gives it many useful resistances to common types, an immunity to Toxic, and a Ground immunity, which allows it to check threats such as Arceus-Ground, Arceus, Arceus-Fairy, Primal Groudon without Fire coverage, Excadrill, Mega Salamence, and Deoxys-A. While Celesteela lacks reliable recovery, Leech Seed, Leftovers, and Protect makes it really hard to wear down over the course of a match while enabling it to wear down the opposing team at the same time, making Celesteela very frustrating to deal with for certain teams in conjunction with Toxic poison. Celesteela isn't too passive, either, as its decent Attack stat combined with Heavy Slam, which is usually 120 Base Power because of Celesteela's weight, allows it to deal decent damage to the Pokemon it checks. Celesteela's ability, Beast Boost, can be situationally useful in boosting Celesteela's Defense stat by one stage when it KOes another Pokemon. However, Celesteela has unfortunate weaknesses to Fire and Electric. Its Electric weakness means it can't wall Geomancy Xerneas, which usually carries Thunder, and its Fire weakness also makes it vulnerable to Ho-Oh, Mega Blaziken, and Primal Groudon with Fire coverage, as well as Fire coverage from the likes of Dialga, Rayquaza, some Calm Mind Arceus formes, and Mega Mewtwo Y. Celesteela faces competition from Skarmory because Skarmory can lay Spikes and has reliable recovery in Roost, but Celesteela is more of a tank that dishes out decent damage with its 120-Base Power Heavy Slam while still checking mostly the same things Skarmory does, and it also has access to Leech Seed to wear down the opposing team over the course of a match. Finally, Steel's poor overall coverage leaves Celesteela vulnerable to setup sweepers such as Mega Lucario, Primal Kyogre, and Zekrom.
[SET]
name: Defensive Wall
move 1: Leech Seed
move 2: Heavy Slam
move 3: Toxic
move 4: Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Impish
evs: 248 HP / 24 Atk / 192 Def / 44 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Leech Seed wears down the opposing team, allows Celesteela to gain health back, and is particularly annoying in conjunction with Protect. Heavy Slam is, most of the time, a STAB 120-Base Power move that allows Celesteela to deal decent damage to the Pokemon it walls, like Arceus-Fairy and Z-Geomancy Xerneas, and it OHKOes Deoxys-A. Toxic allows Celesteela to wear down the opposing team pretty quickly and is really annoying combined with Leech Seed. Protect gives Celesteela more recovery from Leech Seed, racks up Toxic damage, and scouts Choice item users and Primal Groudon carrying Fire coverage. Flamethrower is a considerable option that allows Celesteela to damage Mega Lucario, which otherwise sets up on Celesteela for free, as well as preventing Ferrothorn and Skarmory from laying up entry hazards for free, but it would mean replacing Toxic or Protect, which are usually too good to give up.
Set Details
========
The given Special Defense EVs allow Celesteela to avoid the 3HKO from defensive Z-Geomancy Xerneas's Moonblast, and the 24 Attack EVs make Heavy Slam a 3HKO in return. The rest of the EVs are put into Defense, and an Impish nature is used to make Celesteela more physically bulky. Beast Boost is the only ability Celesteela has and can be, albeit situationally, useful for gaining Defense boosts. Leftovers is the best item Celesteela can use because it gives it additional passive recovery.
Usage Tips
========
Celesteela should be switched directly into the Pokemon that it walls, such as Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Fairy, and Deoxys-A to start firing off Leech Seeds or Heavy Slams. The move you want to be using most of the time with Celesteela is Leech Seed because it gives Celesteela health back and wears down the opposing Pokemon at the same time, which is really frustrating considering the relative lack of Leftovers in the Ubers metagame. Celesteela does not wall standard Geomancy Xerneas, since Thunder is a guaranteed OHKO at +2; however, it does wall defensive Z-Geomancy Xerneas, so when this set is revealed you should switch into it and promptly deal with it. Outside of this, Celesteela's goal is to annoy the opposing team with residual damage, so using Toxic on basically anything you can is also a good thing to do, unless Celesteela can KO what is in front of it with Heavy Slam. Celesteela should use Protect to scout for Fire and Electric coverage on Pokemon such as Primal Groudon and Xerneas, to make sure that it actually walls them, and on common Choice item users such as Yveltal and Ho-Oh to scout what move they lock themselves into.
Team Options
========
Arceus-Water checks both Primal Groudon with Fire coverage and Ho-Oh and also provides Defog support to remove Stealth Rock for Celesteela, making it a very good partner. Other checks to Fire-type move users such as Ho-Oh, Mega Blaziken, and Primal Groudon with Fire coverage are appreciated; RestTalk Zygarde-C fits this role excellently and handles all three over the course of a match, and bulky Mega Salamence also fits this role well. Celesteela isn't a very good Geomancy Xerneas check by itself because it's OHKOed by Thunder at +2. Thus, other checks to it such as Mega Lucario, Primal Groudon, and Magearna are required. Primal Groudon in particular can check Primal Kyogre, Zekrom, and Arceus-Electric, all of which threaten Celesteela with a super effective Electric-type move. Primal Groudon also sets up Stealth Rock, which wears down the opposing team quickly in tandem with Leech Seed, Protect, and Toxic. Steel-types such as Mega Lucario, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Dialga, and Arceus-Steel are difficult for Celesteela to deal with. Arceus-Ground deals with all of these very handily, as its access to reliable recovery, high Speed stat, and STAB Earthquake allows it to switch into and heavily damage these Pokemon. Primal Groudon can also deal with these Pokemon but only if they're not set up, since Mega Lucario's Close Combat OHKOes at +2 after Stealth Rock and Dialga's Draco Meteor does a big chunk of damage. Ho-Oh can also deal with these Pokemon but only if Stealth Rock is not up.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Earthquake chips at Primal Groudon faster than Heavy Slam but takes up a valuable moveslot. Rock Slide can be used to hit Ho-Oh, which otherwise switches into Celesteela for free. Celesteela can run an offensive set with Supersonic Skystrike and Autotomize, but it's incredibly mediocre because base 107 Special Attack isn't much in the Ubers metagame, and it takes away from Celesteela's niche as a physical wall. Grass Knot seems like an appealing option to hit Primal Kyogre, but it doesn't even do that much damage and takes up a valuable moveslot. A specially defensive spread is possible, but the power level of the Ubers metagame means it'll usually get worn down too fast.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Mega Sableye**: Mega Sableye is one of Celesteela's hardest counters because it doesn't take much damage from Heavy Slam, bounces back Toxic and Leech Seed, can burn Celesteela, and deals decent damage with Foul Play in return.
**Primal Kyogre**: Primal Kyogre takes very little damage from any move Celesteela commonly runs and threatens an outright OHKO with Origin Pulse or uses it as setup fodder with Calm Mind.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Ho-Oh and Primal Groudon with Fire coverage can significantly damage Celesteela with a strong Fire-type move, while the most Celesteela can do back is Leech Seed or Toxic. Ho-Oh in particular is a very strong counter because Regenerator allows it to constantly pivot into Celesteela without worrying about Toxic and Leech Seed damage.
**Electric-types**: Electric-types such as Zekrom, Arceus-Electric, and Tapu Koko can heavily damage Celesteela with their STAB moves; Zekrom uses Celesteela as setup fodder with Hone Claws, while Arceus-Electric uses Celesteela as Calm Mind fodder. Tapu Koko can't switch into Celesteela by any means, but once it's in it can threaten to OHKO on Celesteela with Thunder.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types are big threats to Celesteela because they're immune to Toxic and resist Heavy Slam. Ferrothorn and Skarmory are not capable of dealing much damage to Celesteela, but both set up Spikes and Stealth Rock for free on Celesteela without fearing much except the rare Flamethrower. In particular, Ferrothorn is immune to Leech Seed thanks to its Grass typing, which means it usually comes in on Celesteela without worrying about anything except for the rare Flamethrower. Mega Lucario threatens to use Swords Dance on Celesteela without really fearing anything in return and can OHKO at +2. Dialga takes basically nothing from Heavy Slam, doesn't mind Leech Seed that much, and heavily damages Celesteela in return with Fire Blast, although it can get worn down over the course of a long match of switching into Leech Seeds.
**Mega Gengar**: Will-O-Wisp + Hex Mega Gengar gives Celesteela a hard time because a burned Celesteela usually doesn't 3HKO Mega Gengar unless Stealth Rock is up, and Hex 2HKOes it, although it dislikes being stalled by Leech Seed for most of its health.
Celesteela has solid bulk and a fantastic defensive typing that gives it many useful resistances to common types, an immunity to Toxic, and a Ground immunity, which allows it to check threats such as Arceus-Ground, Arceus, Arceus-Fairy, Primal Groudon without Fire coverage, Excadrill, Mega Salamence, and Deoxys-A. While Celesteela lacks reliable recovery, Leech Seed, Leftovers, and Protect makes it really hard to wear down over the course of a match while enabling it to wear down the opposing team at the same time, making Celesteela very frustrating to deal with for certain teams in conjunction with Toxic poison. Celesteela isn't too passive, either, as its decent Attack stat combined with Heavy Slam, which is usually 120 Base Power because of Celesteela's weight, allows it to deal decent damage to the Pokemon it checks. Celesteela's ability, Beast Boost, can be situationally useful in boosting Celesteela's Defense stat by one stage when it KOes another Pokemon. However, Celesteela has unfortunate weaknesses to Fire and Electric. Its Electric weakness means it can't wall Geomancy Xerneas, which usually carries Thunder, and its Fire weakness also makes it vulnerable to Ho-Oh, Mega Blaziken, and Primal Groudon with Fire coverage, as well as Fire coverage from the likes of Dialga, Rayquaza, some Calm Mind Arceus formes, and Mega Mewtwo Y. Celesteela faces competition from Skarmory because Skarmory can lay Spikes and has reliable recovery in Roost, but Celesteela is more of a tank that dishes out decent damage with its 120-Base Power Heavy Slam while still checking mostly the same things Skarmory does, and it also has access to Leech Seed to wear down the opposing team over the course of a match. Finally, Steel's poor overall coverage leaves Celesteela vulnerable to setup sweepers such as Mega Lucario, Primal Kyogre, and Zekrom.
[SET]
name: Defensive Wall
move 1: Leech Seed
move 2: Heavy Slam
move 3: Toxic
move 4: Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Impish
evs: 248 HP / 24 Atk / 192 Def / 44 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Leech Seed wears down the opposing team, allows Celesteela to gain health back, and is particularly annoying in conjunction with Protect. Heavy Slam is, most of the time, a STAB 120-Base Power move that allows Celesteela to deal decent damage to the Pokemon it walls, like Arceus-Fairy and Z-Geomancy Xerneas, and it OHKOes Deoxys-A. Toxic allows Celesteela to wear down the opposing team pretty quickly and is really annoying combined with Leech Seed. Protect gives Celesteela more recovery from Leech Seed, racks up Toxic damage, and scouts Choice item users and Primal Groudon carrying Fire coverage. Flamethrower is a considerable option that allows Celesteela to damage Mega Lucario, which otherwise sets up on Celesteela for free, as well as preventing Ferrothorn and Skarmory from laying up entry hazards for free, but it would mean replacing Toxic or Protect, which are usually too good to give up.
Set Details
========
The given Special Defense EVs allow Celesteela to avoid the 3HKO from defensive Z-Geomancy Xerneas's Moonblast, and the 24 Attack EVs make Heavy Slam a 3HKO in return. The rest of the EVs are put into Defense, and an Impish nature is used to make Celesteela more physically bulky. Beast Boost is the only ability Celesteela has and can be, albeit situationally, useful for gaining Defense boosts. Leftovers is the best item Celesteela can use because it gives it additional passive recovery.
Usage Tips
========
Celesteela should be switched directly into the Pokemon that it walls, such as Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Fairy, and Deoxys-A to start firing off Leech Seeds or Heavy Slams. The move you want to be using most of the time with Celesteela is Leech Seed because it gives Celesteela health back and wears down the opposing Pokemon at the same time, which is really frustrating considering the relative lack of Leftovers in the Ubers metagame. Celesteela does not wall standard Geomancy Xerneas, since Thunder is a guaranteed OHKO at +2; however, it does wall defensive Z-Geomancy Xerneas, so when this set is revealed you should switch into it and promptly deal with it. Outside of this, Celesteela's goal is to annoy the opposing team with residual damage, so using Toxic on basically anything you can is also a good thing to do, unless Celesteela can KO what is in front of it with Heavy Slam. Celesteela should use Protect to scout for Fire and Electric coverage on Pokemon such as Primal Groudon and Xerneas, to make sure that it actually walls them, and on common Choice item users such as Yveltal and Ho-Oh to scout what move they lock themselves into.
Team Options
========
Arceus-Water checks both Primal Groudon with Fire coverage and Ho-Oh and also provides Defog support to remove Stealth Rock for Celesteela, making it a very good partner. Other checks to Fire-type move users such as Ho-Oh, Mega Blaziken, and Primal Groudon with Fire coverage are appreciated; RestTalk Zygarde-C fits this role excellently and handles all three over the course of a match, and bulky Mega Salamence also fits this role well. Celesteela isn't a very good Geomancy Xerneas check by itself because it's OHKOed by Thunder at +2. Thus, other checks to it such as Mega Lucario, Primal Groudon, and Magearna are required. Primal Groudon in particular can check Primal Kyogre, Zekrom, and Arceus-Electric, all of which threaten Celesteela with a super effective Electric-type move. Primal Groudon also sets up Stealth Rock, which wears down the opposing team quickly in tandem with Leech Seed, Protect, and Toxic. Steel-types such as Mega Lucario, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Dialga, and Arceus-Steel are difficult for Celesteela to deal with. Arceus-Ground deals with all of these very handily, as its access to reliable recovery, high Speed stat, and STAB Earthquake allows it to switch into and heavily damage these Pokemon. Primal Groudon can also deal with these Pokemon but only if they're not set up, since Mega Lucario's Close Combat OHKOes at +2 after Stealth Rock and Dialga's Draco Meteor does a big chunk of damage. Ho-Oh can also deal with these Pokemon but only if Stealth Rock is not up.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Earthquake chips at Primal Groudon faster than Heavy Slam but takes up a valuable moveslot. Rock Slide can be used to hit Ho-Oh, which otherwise switches into Celesteela for free. Celesteela can run an offensive set with Supersonic Skystrike and Autotomize, but it's incredibly mediocre because base 107 Special Attack isn't much in the Ubers metagame, and it takes away from Celesteela's niche as a physical wall. Grass Knot seems like an appealing option to hit Primal Kyogre, but it doesn't even do that much damage and takes up a valuable moveslot. A specially defensive spread is possible, but the power level of the Ubers metagame means it'll usually get worn down too fast.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Mega Sableye**: Mega Sableye is one of Celesteela's hardest counters because it doesn't take much damage from Heavy Slam, bounces back Toxic and Leech Seed, can burn Celesteela, and deals decent damage with Foul Play in return.
**Primal Kyogre**: Primal Kyogre takes very little damage from any move Celesteela commonly runs and threatens an outright OHKO with Origin Pulse or uses it as setup fodder with Calm Mind.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Ho-Oh and Primal Groudon with Fire coverage can significantly damage Celesteela with a strong Fire-type move, while the most Celesteela can do back is Leech Seed or Toxic. Ho-Oh in particular is a very strong counter because Regenerator allows it to constantly pivot into Celesteela without worrying about Toxic and Leech Seed damage.
**Electric-types**: Electric-types such as Zekrom, Arceus-Electric, and Tapu Koko can heavily damage Celesteela with their STAB moves; Zekrom uses Celesteela as setup fodder with Hone Claws, while Arceus-Electric uses Celesteela as Calm Mind fodder. Tapu Koko can't switch into Celesteela by any means, but once it's in it can threaten to OHKO on Celesteela with Thunder.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types are big threats to Celesteela because they're immune to Toxic and resist Heavy Slam. Ferrothorn and Skarmory are not capable of dealing much damage to Celesteela, but both set up Spikes and Stealth Rock for free on Celesteela without fearing much except the rare Flamethrower. In particular, Ferrothorn is immune to Leech Seed thanks to its Grass typing, which means it usually comes in on Celesteela without worrying about anything except for the rare Flamethrower. Mega Lucario threatens to use Swords Dance on Celesteela without really fearing anything in return and can OHKO at +2. Dialga takes basically nothing from Heavy Slam, doesn't mind Leech Seed that much, and heavily damages Celesteela in return with Fire Blast, although it can get worn down over the course of a long match of switching into Leech Seeds.
**Mega Gengar**: Will-O-Wisp + Hex Mega Gengar gives Celesteela a hard time because a burned Celesteela usually doesn't 3HKO Mega Gengar unless Stealth Rock is up, and Hex 2HKOes it, although it dislikes being stalled by Leech Seed for most of its health.
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