Which Is Better: Terrakion, Landorus or Latios?

I know Terrakion and Latios are in the UU tier while Landorus is in the Uber tier. But overall, Latios is the bulkiest of the three with 130 base Sp Def. It also has a decent Sp Atk stat of 110 and is also the fastest but just by a little bit, barely beating Terrakion by 2 base speed and beating Landorus with 9 base speed. However, Terrakion packs the biggest punch with a 129 Attack stat, followed closely by Landorus with an attack stat of 125.So i’m stuck at which one to choose, though I’m leaning towards Latios. What do you think? Is Latios the best out of the three?

FYI, I’m asking this in general. Its not for Pokemon Showdown.

Pleaselog inorregisterto add a comment.

Because you say that it is for general, I won’t go into the nitty gritty of teammates and stuff and just provide a brief, overall explanation of each. Also, keep in mind that I have noted Landorus as Incarnate Forme.

Terrakion:Probably the best of the three that I know of. Terrakion can serve as a huge wallbreaker as a lead and can pack a big punch alongside choice band with its already colossal 129 base attack. Defensively, due to its weak typing, weak to a whopping 7 typings and only 6 resistances isn’t especially great. However, with the correct investment, it can still potentially outlive some hits.I’m not much of an expert in singles, but I am sure that it can efficiently sweep and take out teams that are weak physically. Stealth rocks won’t pose much of a threat to Terrakion either - which leads it to become a choice band powerhouse.However, in doubles… ohohoho…. doubles…. Terrakion + Whimsicott has been in ALOT of teams in this format, starting as leads and causing havoc among teams who don’t have a redirector. The plan is to abuse Terrakion’s Justified ability by using beat up into Terrakion, which effectively boosts Terrakion’s attack by 4 stages - 2 swords dances off in one turn. On the following turn, whimsicott can additionally set up Tailwind to allow Terrakion to be the fastest thing alive. The only counter for this that I can think of off the top of my head is Mimikyu, who would have to set up Trick Room whilst its disguise is broken followed by actually having to take out Terrakion. It is without a doubt that Terrakion would be a dominant force in doubles. However, in singles, I’m not too sure whether or not it is as viable as it is in singles. However, it would serve well in a monotype team due to the fact that there aren’t as many fast and hard-hitting rocks like Terrakion.

DOUBLES: In doubles, I am sure Therian Forme is superbly better than Incarnate due to the ability, Intimidate. It can reliably check and substitute Incineroar, another Intimidate mon that is widely used even until this day in VGC. Smogon recommends using choice scarf alongside U-turn to effectively pivot around, allowing it to become a nimble Intimidate-Pivot who can bring momentum into the match. Most of its golden points are already listed above too.

Latios:Sigh, we going even further back nowAs you mentioned, Latois is the fastest of the three and the hardest hitter. However, like you said, it isn’t overwhelmingly powerful in comparison to Terrakion. It has 6 weaknesses, 6 resistances and 1 immunity, not what you would call optimal or the best. However, it does serve as a great special-all-out-attacker alongside a choice specs. Latios gains a mega evolution which I’m pretty sure we can agree that it will automatically be the best of the three. For that reason, I will only cover standard Latios.

Singles: Latios has reliable recovery from recover and can dish out gnarly damage with its stab Psychic and Draco Meteor, alongside hidden power Fire or Surf for coverage. It is also recommended that you use Life orb as to allow it to have versatility in its moves. However, it can effectively be a choice specs killer, similar to choice band Terrakion except special. You mention that it has a base 110 sp.def, something which is definitely decent to have, but wouldn’t necessarily qualify as ‘bulkies of the three’. When you look at bulk, typing, defense, HP and sp.def is taken into account. Stonejourner has massive defense, but a crippling special defense which could get KOd at the touch of a water gun (don’t judge me on that, I didn’t check). Latios can wall two or maybe even 3 special attacks. However, its defense is a mere 80, and without intimidate, functions extremely poorly defensively. Its HP is just as underwhelming, being another base 80. This could be slightly similar to Alakazam, who has freakishly high special defense but would still most likely get KOd by a physical move. My point is that just because it has high special defense, doesn’t mean it is bulky. It’s Bulky specially, but a mere Darmanitan (Galar) could overkill it with Icicle Crash.

Doubles: Nothing really changes. It serves as a hard special hitter and maybe a fast pivot, though not necessarily due to its middling-above average speed.

Conclusion:Honestly, I would pick Landorous as the best of the three. However, Latios is the best special attacker, Terrakion is the best doubles-gimmick user/choice band hitter and Landorous can be both a mixed attacker and U-turn Intimidate pivot. The bulkiest one would probably go to Landorous whilst the hardest hitter also goes to Landorous. Nonetheless however, Terrakion is another great choice if you don’t want dual Flyings and can facilitate extremely well if you are already using Whimsicott in doubles.

If you’re talking about in-game, yeah, just go with Landorous because of its superior stats and great typing. Just don’t make it go up against ice tho…