What is a good moveset for Xerneas?

If you have a good competitive moveset for Xerneas,post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for its pre-evolutions, if any, can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to includefull set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated.Access the full list of guidelines here.

Xerneas Pokédex and learnsetfor reference.

Pleaselog inorregisterto add a comment.

Might as well get the obvious out of the way.

Xerneas @ Power HerbAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 32 HP / 252 SpA / 224 SpeTimid Nature- Focus Blast- Geomancy- Moonblast- Psyshock / Thunderbolt / Thunder / Flash Cannon

Geomancy + Power Herb gives you what is basically a double Quiver Dance in one turn. You can usually just proceed to sweep with Moonblast from there. Focus Blast is there to hit Steel types hard, as they resist Moonblast. The metagame is still forming, so it is difficult to tell what the final moveslot should be used for.

Psyshock provides a Super Effective hit on Arceus-Poison while also hitting Blissey fairly hard. The question is though if Arceus-Poison will see enough use to warrant this move. Thunder and Thunderbolt are used to hit Ho-oh. Thunder will be less reliable this Generation thanks to the nerf that Drizzle got. And Ho-oh would probably see more use on teams with Groudon support, so Thunderbolt might be the more reliable option in dealing with it. Flash Cannon is used to take down other Xerneas.

Since Yveltal is no threat to it, and since you probably shouldn’t stay in on another Xerneas without Flash Cannon, I gave it enough Speed to outspeed base 95 Pokemon. I then gave it some HP. If you use Flash Cannon, go with full Speed EVs.

I see that some people are wondering about a physical Xerneas(I was cursed with Adamant)and I simply do not know if this would hold its own weight in Ubers. So please don’t get mad at me, and here goes.

Xerneas @ Life Orb / Choice BandAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpeJolly Nature- Close Combat- Outrage- Megahorn / Night Slash- Protect

I know that physical is not anywhere near as good as special, but it can work. CC is to deter any steel types from switching in without danger. Outrage is powerful, but watch out for fairies. Megahorn is also powerful and good for ridding yourself of psychic and dark, but if ghosts are an issue, use Night Slash. Last is Protect. It can be used for scouting for Sludge Bomb and Flash Cannon.

I know it is overall weaker than the Geomancy set, it can be useful and a surprise! (plus CC is a valuable asset to any team.)

Well after seeing trachy and DA post what are easily the best sets I was kind of sad that I couldn’t post something for what is fast becoming a cool looking Pokemon.Then it came to me, MixedNeas

And while probably outclassed by Geomancy Xerneas here it is,

Xerneas @ Life OrbAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 56 Atk / 200 SpA / 252 SpeHasty Nature- Close Combat- Moonblast- Flash Cannon- Rock Slide

Max Speed is to hit Geomancy Xerneas before they get a SpD boost. SpA is your main goal, as physical attacks are to hit Pokemon that are weak to it, such as Blissey, SpD steel types, and Ho-Oh. Moonblast is STAB, while the rest is coverage. Rock Slide is purely to take care of Ho-Oh and Mega Charizard. Life Orb increases damage which is necessary when not running max stats.

Xerneas @ Power HerbAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 32 HP / 252 SpA / 224 SpeTimid Nature- Geomancy- Moonblast- Hidden Power [Ground]- Psyshock

You do not need Flash Cannon at all, since Fairy does not resist Fairy. Moonblast with STAB and Fairy Aura will hit another Fairy much harder than Flash Cannon. Hidden Power [Ground] perfectly cover all types that resists Moonblast, which are Fire, Steel and Poison. Psyshock is the best filler, since it hits Arceus Poison harder, and most importantly, it takes care of Blissey, Evolite Chansey and Gengar.

Here’s a set that has worked for me on Showdown!:

Xerneas @ LeftoversAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 32 HP / 252 SpA / 224 SpeTimid Nature- Substitute- Geomancy- Moonblast- Focus Blast

The plan is to come in on someone you know will flee or that you can set up Substitute on (Dragon types, Chansey, Blissey, Arceus-Dark, etc.) use Geomancy while utilizing the Substitute as a buffer, then sweep. Moonblast is there for STAB and Focus Blast is there for Ferrothorn, Arceus-Rock, Arceus-Steel, and other threats you otherwise couldn’t touch.

Hope this helps! :)

Xerneas @ Power HerbAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpATimid Nature- Geomancy- Moonblast- Flash Cannon- Hidden Power [Ground]

Mine is sort of like Trachy. This set is for a fast special sweeper Xerneas. Geomancy is good move especially with Power Herb and it raises’s Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed by two stages each. Moonblast is for STAB. Flash Cannon is for good Fairy coverage, it’s a strong hitting move and has a chance to lower the targets Sp. Def. Now we have HP [Ground] this move covers all of its weaknesses.

Xerneas @ Big RootAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpeAdamant Nature- Close combat- Horn Leech- Night Slash- Substitute

I know this moveset doesn’t get any Fairy STABs, but it is useful for breaking special walls like Regice, Ho-oh, and Lugia.Close Combat for steel types, Horn leech for Kyogre and Groudon and also for the SubstituteNight Slash for any troublesome Mewtwo and stuff.Substitute works well with Horn leech and Big Root

This moveset is mainly for people like DracoArceus who are stuck with an Adamant Xerneas

Physical Xerneas is a whole lot worse than special, but it can catch an opponent off guard.

Xerneas @ Choice Scarf / Life Orb / LeftoversAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 SpeJolly Nature- Horn Leech- Play Rough- Close Combat- Zen Headbutt / Megahorn

Play Rough is STAB. Close Combat deals with Steel types that Xerneas is weak to (look out for Zacian-C and Magearna). Horn Leech is coverage and increases longevity. Zen Headbutt covers Poison types, while Megahorn can be used if you’d prefer a way to deal with Psychic types. Leftovers help Xerneas stay in the game, while Choice Scarf and Life Orb boost its sweeping potential a bit.

Xerneas @ Power herbAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 252 SpA / 168 Def / 88 SpeModest Nature- Geomancy- Moonblast- Thunder- Focus Blast / Hidden Power [Ground]

Geomancy is obvious.Moonblast is for good STAB.Thunder is for Fairy resists like Celesteela, Ho-oh and Toxapex.Focus Blast is for Steel-types not weak to Thunder, like Ferrothorn.Hidden Power [Ground] hits Primal Groudon, Necrozma-Dusk Mane, and Magearna.

88 speed is to make sure that it still outspeeds +1 Mega Rayquaza.252 SpA is to make its moves hit as hard as possible.The 168 Def is to make it harder to kill on the physical end.

National Dex AG

I bet none of you saw this coming because you’re all so obsessed with Geomancy.Xerneas @ LeftoversAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDBold Nature- Moonblast- Defog / Sleep Talk- Aromatherapy- Rest

Moonblast is STAB and is also quite powerful without investment into Special Attack. Defog removes hazards, but if you already have another Defogger like Ho-Oh or Arceus-Fairy, Sleep Talk can be used instead in conjunction with Rest. Aromatherapy heals your teammates' status condition and, if called by Sleep Talk, Xerneas’s own Rest sleep, which makes it a good partner to defensive Pokemon lacking reliable recovery, such as Rest Primal Kyogre and Rest Primal Groudon. Rest is recovery.

+2 224 Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Xerneas: 178-211 (39 - 46.2%) – guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 16 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 356-422 (98.6 - 116.8%) – 93.8% chance to OHKO

252 Atk Life Orb Marshadow Poltergeist (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Xerneas: 169-200 (37 - 43.8%) – 99.8% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Marshadow: 374-444 (116.5 - 138.3%) – guaranteed OHKO

Physical Xerneas MovesetXerneas @ Choice BandAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 SpeJolly Nature- Play Rough- Close Combat- Megahorn- Rock Slide

Banded Physical Xerneas. Play Rough if Fairy STAB. Close Combat and Megahorn are really strong coverage moves, and Rock Slide is also coverage. The Choice Band boosts Attack by 1.5x, making Xerneas very strong. Special Xerneas is more common because of Geomancy, but opponents can have fun switching into a Special wall (Evio Chansey, Blissey etc) to get hit with a super strong Physical move lol.

Have fun using this set, hope I helped! :D

Xerneas @ Persim Berry / Babiri BerryAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 208 Atk / 208 SpA / 48 SpD / 48 SpeHasty Nature- Moonblast- Outrage / Megahorn / Close Combat- Psychic- Night Slash

Moveset:Moonblast (STAB)Outrage / Megahorn / Close Combat (Coverage)Psychic (coverage, protection against poison types)Night Slash (coverage, high critical hit ratio)

Using this moveset could make fighting steel types a problem. This is when the Babiri Berry could be useful, to weaken the steel-type attacks. Then you could use Night Slash and hope for a critical hit. The Persim Berry could be used to recover from Outrage’s confusion, so you could use it twice (getting a powerful, 4-6 turn attack).

I’m sure there are many loopholes and ways to get over this strategy; I’m still learning! I hope some of you find this useful! Please tell me if there are ways to make this moveset better!

Alright, so after seeing how DracoArceus posted a Physical moveset, I’d say that it would work. Here’s my take on it…

Xerneas @ LeftoversAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe- Close Combat- Horn Leech- Outrage- Megahorn

Since this is a Physical set, Power Herb has literally no use, so I went with Leftovers. Sadly, Xerneas doesn’t have Play Rough or an Attack-boosting move (outside of Swagger/Psych Up), so we have no STAB or power gaining.

Close Combat is to check Steel-types and Horn Leech is annoying when paired with Leftovers for HP gaining and coverage. Outrage covers Dragons and Megahorn covers Psychics and Darks and does a lot of damage. As for the EVs and IVs, I gave it enough to do good damage fast, and enough to tank Physical hits.

You can switch Horn Leech for Night Slash if Ghosts are too annoying, or for Protect if you run into a Special Flash Cannon Heatran/Lucario.

Xerneas @ Fairium ZAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpeModest Nature- Geomancy- Moonblast- Flash Cannon / Psyshock- Thunderbolt

Just set up Z-Geomancy using the Z-crystal and on the second turn you have an OP Xerneas with x2.5 SpA and Speed. Sweep with Moonblast. Flash Cannon and Thunderbolt are the best coverage moves. Psyshock could be used to tackle the Poison weakness. Don’t go with Focus Blast; it’s pretty useless.

VGC

Xerneas @ Power HerbAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Speor252 HP / 4 Def / 124 SpA / 4 SpD / 124 SpeTimid Nature / Modest nature- Moonblast- Dazzling Gleam- Protect- Geomancy

Standard VGC set. Moonblast has a higher BP than Dazzling Gleam for dealing higher damage to Primal Groudon and other bulkier Pokemon. Dazzling Gleam hits both opponents. Protect is useful on every Pokemon in VGC. Geomancy is the ultimate set up. It might seem strange to run dual STABs instead of a coverage move, but it works much better and this is the set that’s run almost always on Xerneas.

Xerneas @ Life Orb / Power HerbAbility: Fairy AuraModest NatureEVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe- Geomancy- Focus Blast / Psychic- Focus Blast / Psychic / Flash Cannon / Grass Knot / Hyper Voice / Thunderbolt- Moonblast

Xerneas, like most legendaries, has busted attack stats. TryGeomancyto set up, then sweep withMoonblast, which is boosted by 33% via Fairy Aura, and other attacks of your choice.

Let’s Get Physical!!!

Xerneas @ Life OrbAbility: Fairy AuraEVs: 252 Atk/ 4 Def/ 252 SpeAdamant Nature

-Swords Dance-Close Combat-Horn Leech/Zen Headbutt-Play Rough

Play Rough is decently reliable STAB, boosted by a Swords Dance and Fairy Aura. Swords Dance makes you incredibly dangerous. Horn Leech recovers Life Orb recoil, or you could run Zen Headbutt to check Poison types. Close Combat is a useful move if you want to nuke something (particularly Steel Types).

This is, by far, my favorite legendary. Enjoy using it and scaring literally EVERYTHING that moves. Have fun!