Competitive Pokemon History - Deoxys-N Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Deoxys-N, in the third generation, is sadly just about totally inferior in every meaningful way to another Pokemon. Which Pokemon was this?

Answer: Deoxys-Attack

Deoxys-N and Deoxys-A had very similar statspreads, and were fittingly played very similarly. Deoxys-A simply has better attacking stats. Deoxys-N is bulkier, but being bulkier than a Pokemon with base 20s for defenses is like claiming to be a slightly less smelly turd. Deoxys-N still can't take a hit to save its life (literally) and does less damage than Deoxys-A, making it genuinely inferior in every way.

2. Deoxys-N might not have been such an unfortunate case, if it was possible to run it in tandem with Deoxys-Attack, Deoxys-Speed and possibly Deoxys-Defense. However, this was not possible. Why was this?

Answer: The existence of the Species Clause

Species Clause is a stipulation in Smogon competitive play which states "A player cannot have two Pokemon with the same National Pokedex number on a team." Even though Deoxys-N and other Deoxys formes are clearly different Pokemon, they still all share the same Pokedex number. Thus, it is illegal to have two Deoxys formes on the same team, preventing Deoxys-N from contributing to a team in a meaningful way.

3. For what it's worth, Deoxys-N at least has strong offensive stats and speed, with all three stats having the same value as one another. What was Deoxys-N's Attack, Special Attack and Speed stat?

Answer: 150

Deoxys-N's Attack and Special Attack match that of Rayquaza, and it is significantly faster, albeit far more fragile. Too bad Deoxys-A stole away any conceivable reason to use Deoxys-N.

4. Deoxys-N was given an ability that it shared amongst its fellow Deoxys formes as well as many legendary Pokemon in general. What ability was this?

Answer: Pressure

Out of every Pokemon to have ever been created and given Pressure for an ability, Deoxys-N is definitely one of the worst users of the ability. It can't take a hit at all, which prevents the PP stalling use of this ability from seeing any kind of practicality on it.

5. Like its other formes, Deoxys-N was surprisingly given a bountiful set of utility options in the fourth generation. Which of the following is an example of such an option?

Answer: Spikes

Spikes is a useful, very lowly distributed move that Deoxys-N unfortunately cannot make any sort of use out of. It doesn't force switches very effectively, and dies in one hit to just about anything. With a Focus Sash, and if used as a lead, it could reliably get down one layer of Spikes at the very least, and usually two due to its great Speed.

However, as an entry hazard setter, it is outclassed by Deoxys-Speed simply due to the latter's even higher Speed and better bulk.

6. In the fifth generation, a new set for Deoxys-N came to "light." While still rather useless, it at least gave Deoxys-N a niche that its other formes technically couldn't do, or couldn't do better than it could at least. What role was this?

Answer: Offensive dual screens setter

Deoxys-N's offenses were far stronger than Deoxys-Speed or Defense, and its bulk was better than Deoxys-A. Though Deoxys-N itself was still very frail, if it was in the face of a physically offensive foe, it would be able to use Reflect to fairly reliably survive at least that hit, put up Light Screen, and then faint to give the team's setup sweeper protection as they boosted to try and win the game. In general, dual screens was a gimmicky strategy, since the dynamic only fits on extremely specific offensive teams with sweepers like Calm Mind Mewtwo or Hone Claws Zekrom. Additionally, Deoxys-N faced competition in this role from Latios, who was much more bulky and Cresselia, who could use Lunar Dance to fully heal a teammate as to let them sweep. It distinguished itself by being a lot stronger offensively, being a lot faster and having access to Spikes.

It wasn't much, but at least Deoxys-N could do something without being abysmally outclassed.

7. Sadly, Deoxys-N had not been too good of a user of its signature move, Psycho Boost, through the fifth generation. The move is indeed a nuke, but its drawback could make Deoxys-N even more useless than it had been prior to using the move. What drawback was this?

Answer: Halves the user's Special Attack

At 140 Base Power, this move is hitting like a truck, especially off of Deoxys-N's sizable Base 150 Special Attack. Still, it would only actually hit particularly hard once, with subsequent uses being progressively more passive, and forcing Deoxys-N to abandon special attacks completely after one or two uses, assuming it survived long enough for that to be a factor.

8. The buff to Defog in the sixth generation left Deoxys-N's slightly viable function discovered in the fifth generation in the dust. It was now outclassed again. Particularly creative players forged on anyway and sought to find any discernible niche it could try and fill. Would this endeavor prove successful?

Answer: No

The closest anyone could come to finding Deoxys-N even a bite-sized niche was as a check to Extremekiller Arceus. With a Chilan Berry, Deoxys-N could reliably survive a single Extremespeed and KO back with Counter.

I shouldn't really have to explain why this niche was useless. Counter? Chilan Berry??? The fact that Arceus simply boosting with Swords Dance lets it bypass Counter completely means Deoxys-N can't even reliably check it anyway without expert prediction. Psycho Boost is strong, but does not allow Deoxys-N to win by itself.

9. Deoxys-N had dealt with hard counters in the past, but the sixth generation gave light to a particularly oppressive counter which was immune or could punish Deoxys-N for using any relevant move it could run. What Pokemon was this?

Answer: Mega Sableye

To be fair, there was a myriad of Pokemon who could counter Deoxys-N and stop it from achieving anything. Mega Sableye was the most miserable example, however. Its Magic Bounce ability meant Deoxys-N couldn't even set Spikes against it before getting KOed, nor could it Taunt Mega Sableye. Psycho Boost would do nothing to Mega Sableye due to its Dark typing, neither would Counter or Superpower thanks to Mega Sableye's Ghost typing. Sucks to suck, I guess.

10. Deoxys-N would become the poster child for one particularly funny role in the seventh generation. It would not even come close to being viable, but it would probably get a chuckle out of its opponent. What was Deoxys-N known for in the seventh generation?

Answer: Being a lure to something specific

If someone is using Deoxys-N in anyway, two things will become immediately obvious. One, they just started playing competitive Pokemon within the last week. Two, they are using Deoxys-N with the intent of luring something in and beating it with some stupid set that can't beat anything else one-on-one.

It might be running a Colbur Berry with Counter because it's trying to catch an Yveltal Sucker Punch, survive the move, and hilariously OHKO back with Counter. It might have a Kasib Berry as it seeks to tank a Shadow Sneak from Marshadow and eliminate it with Psycho Boost.

However you spin it, Deoxys-N became the poster child for this type of ridiculousness. At least it became viable as comedic relief in seventh generation Ubers.

Source: Author cavalier87

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor kyleisalive before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Competitive Pokemon History - Deoxys-N Quiz

The awkward middle child of the DNA Pokemon's four different formes, we begin with Deoxys-N! See if you can perform well on this quiz about its competitive history, from generations 3-7!

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