How GOOD was Xerneas ACTUALLY? - History of Xerneas in Competitive Pokemon

[@blechli]

It's ironic how Xerneas represents life but has a signature boosting move that allows it to effortlessly defeat its opponents, while Yveltal represents death but has a signature recovery attack that increases its longevity

[@nerddwarf]

At the end of its lifespan, Yveltal will supposedly steal the life force from every living thing and transform into a caccoon to sleep/hibernate for 1000 years. (Oblivion Wing takes the health from others) At the end of Xerneas's life, it will transform into a tree, and start radiating energy that causes life to grow for 1000 years. (The power from Geomancy is charged/created by Xerneas directly.)

[@oofmasta9395]

Xerneas imbues itself with life energy, making it stronger. Yveltal drains life energy from its opponent, causing it to die.

[@itsbeyxnd]

Crazy cuz moonblast might as well also be a signature move

[@RealShades7]

Xernias single handedly raised power herb stocks in the market to 9000

[@daniellejackson6543]

Meteor beam rose it to 9001

[@cristhianmlr]

*Xerneas

[@bulbamastera8644]

Electro shot rose them to 9001.5

[@gymfamily]

Pretty much nvda stock

[@valllllleeeeeeerrrrriiiee]

@@cristhianmlr 🤓

[@JanusHoW]

Funny thought - Xerneas always being able to overcome its checks...it's the embodiment of "life finds a way".

[@ForestX77]

Wrong quote. It’s “life uuuuuhhhhhhhhh find a way”.

[@HMZeroTwo]

Crazy how the embodiment of life itself can cause such destruction

[@BlooperTanooki]

Goes to show why all extremes are negative

[@MrGksarathy]

Life is just badass.

[@Lagi42800]

To create someone must often first destroy - David, a handsome android

[@joshuakim5240]

The embodiment of life: bulldozing god of destruction The embodiment of death: sustaining defensive tank I like to think that the ancient Kalosians just mixed up Xerneas' and Yveltal's lore and AZ nuking the region wiped out everyone who knew the original truth enough to correct it.

[@Albortomagico]

I'm a healer, but

[@RocketPropelledMexican]

Average day in the life of Xerneas: Wake up Smoke a herb while acid tripping Proceed to destroy everything

[@mr.punisher5100]

We're lucky Xerneas isn't in gen 9. Tera ground would be absolutely diabolical

[@Materialist39]

Caught myself making a face irl while reading this

[@enderdestroyer-mr7nh]

Tera electric would be better since it threatens whirlwind Ho-oh and still dealing with ndm. But yeah, xerneas with Tera in a meta with no primal groudon would be a nightmare, even in national dex Ubers it is a nightmare, where every team have Primal groudon and Ho-oh.

[@tekayo63]

the spdef ho-oh on the table:

[@RedRockin6]

@@Materialist39was it: 🤢?

[@sephikong8323]

​@@tekayo63Ho-Oh thinks he's cooking until Xerneas brings out a Tera Electric/Water/Rock from his ass

[@reccafire583]

I saw someone mention Xerneas as such "It's so broken each new box legendary had to be more broken just to be able to compete with it, it's why the Primals and even Zacian crowned are designed so ridiculously"

[@daigustoemeral3710]

I would say kyogre was the prime reason from gen 3 as gen 4 legendarys like the creation trio all resisted its water spout

[@Zlowpoke]

Poor Zamazenta crying in a corner

[@plagueboi2861]

@@Zlowpoke I hate the fact they gave it body press in the gen they nerfed it in 😭

[@ForestX77]

⁠@@plagueboi2861While at the same time nerfing regielecti’s ability to 30% but keeping regidraco’s at 50%. So gamefreak clearly has no problem nerfing one half of duos, they just hate zamazenta.

[@spoxx1802]

Solgaleo and Necrozma-Dawn Wings are both bad in both singles and doubles while Lunala and NDM are both very healthy and balanced.

[@thel-iteralone4592]

How BROKEN was Power Herb Geomancy ACTUALLY? Yes.

[@yoptrippin]

My honest answer fr

[@nessuno4968]

Pokemon with Intimidate : hello there

[@baghatur1177]

@@nessuno4968?????

​@@nessuno4968Xerneas is a special attacker.

[@afriendlycampfire260]

@@nessuno4968you mean haze?

[@Matpit18]

I love how he didn’t even mention that some players resorted to using Shedinja as an answer to Xerneas

[@saiyanscaris6530]

cause hazards were everywhere and sand was used to try and counter it already. plus xerneas in gens 6 and 7 could use hidden power fire, gen 8 it could just use toxic

[@MEMPHISYOUTUBICATION]

@@saiyanscaris6530🤓🤓🤓

[@howisthis8849]

​@@MEMPHISYOUTUBICATION😐

[@VixstraLarge]

​@@MEMPHISYOUTUBICATIONthey gave a proper answer that'd be easy to understand for even the newest of players... that says something lmao

[@Darkforce213]

Shedinja was more of a VGC thing in regards to Xerneas.@@saiyanscaris6530

[@redautobotsoldier3812]

Xerneas has such a beautiful design

[@MrGksarathy]

Agreed. No matter how unhealthy it may have made any metagame, it's design makes it all feel better.

[@WingedMourner]

It's a nice design, but I prefer the flying t-bone steak personally.

[@JCBro-yg8vd]

Imagine being so broken that players wanted you banned *BEFORE* Mega Rayquaza showed up.

[@kasaibouF29]

I think Xerneas was meant to counter Mega Rayquaza.

[@TheBestFormOfHumor]

​@@kasaibouF29 but it came out before mega ray

[@ZephyrUltimate_]

Xerneas was meant to check the Dragon-Type Legendaries. Mega Rayquaza was them fighting back.

[@enderdestroyer-mr7nh]

⁠@@kasaibouF29xerneas sucked at countering mega ray. Mega ray 2hOk xerneas with dragon ascent unboosted so xerneas can’t switch in and +1 life orb dragon ascent ohko max def xerneas with stealth rock chip

[@wonderfulrose477]

@@enderdestroyer-mr7nhcan’t xerneas threaten the OHKO with Geomancy moon blast tho?

[@dany_fg]

7:52 missed opportunity to say "never fear, dazzling gleam is here!"

[@LuSoloLu]

I can't wait for the Yveltal video where they'll talk how it's the most used Pokémon in Gen 8 Ubers solely because of Caly-Shadow

[@saltyseacaptain2257]

Honestly, geomancy being so op made scarfed sets even better as a result because who the hell sees a Xerneas and doesn't immediately assume geomancy? It almost always gets you a free predict or two

[@MasterlyRex8789]

This is true. In Gen 6 AG, Scarf Xerneas was among the best Pokemon to check the infamous Darkrai that put everything to sleep since no sleep clause. It also proactively threatens the most threatening Pokemon Mega Ray. It puts Mega Ray in an uncomfortable situation where running away in fear of scarf Xerneas could lead to a full health Geomancy Xerneas that depending on the team could end the game right there. On the other hand staying in risks losing Mega Ray for free which is also bad.

[@UltimateDragonX9999]

Really hope that he will do Yveltal and Zygarde next after Xerneas.

[@noahtaylor1721]

Those’ll be interesting

[@UltimateDragonX9999]

@@noahtaylor1721 also can't wait to see on how good Zygarde complete form will look like.

[@DukeSR8]

Judging by how he STILL hasn't finished the Alola starter trio, don't hold your breath.

[@Xalvadore505]

​@@DukeSR8Due to how common Incineroar is in VGC and that it just returned in SV, a video made now would quickly become obsolete

[@vasimbelim1091]

How good was red meat actually? It was yummmmmmmy

[@gravint3294]

Glad that my older sibling wiping my entire team with Xerneas wasn't my fault at all back in gen 6

[@bmac4]

As a Gen 7 ubers player I kinda love this thing. It was part of the holy trinity of the tier with Primal Groudon and Necrozma Dusk-Mane, and had the highest ceiling of the three. That tier was super fun because it was just all offense almost all the time

[@hosni4064]

As a natural history lover, I love that it's physically based on Eucladoceros!

[@Lagi42800]

As fellow scholar of natural history, I agree

[@skeetermania3202]

What is that?

[@hosni4064]

@@skeetermania3202 it's an extinct genus of deer also known as the "bush-antlered deer"

[@Darkforce213]

Xerneas' usage actually picked up a lot in Series 10. It was one of the big 4 of Restricted Legendaries in VGC (with Zacian, Kyogre, and ShadowRex). Its usage then dropped back down in Series 12.

[@skeetermania3202]

Did the ban on Dynamax have anything to do with that?

[@Darkforce213]

@@skeetermania3202 Absolutely. Xerneas isn't a great user of Dynamax, and it doesn't like staring down opposing Dynamax Pokemon.

[@christianbuffum-robbins8904]

Who would win? A godlike being that creates life wherever it goes? OR A sentient keychain?

[@justaadhdgamerwesley6244]

There is a "Key" difference

[@cristhianmlr]

Deer

[@drphilly8099]

The key got life on its own, it spits on everything Xerneas stands for.

[@catsinhats31]

I expected the title to be "how great was xerneas actually" considering its history

[@halo007Mex]

Nah, it's a 1 trick Pokémon

[@catsinhats31]

@@halo007Mex understandable

[@juanf.p.6324]

They've given the "great" title to historically average pokémon like Articuno, Feraligatr and Typhlosion, but not Latios and Xerneas. Seems pretty arbitrary to me

[@notasqurril5862]

​@@juanf.p.6324it's because they were remakes the only none remake videos given the "great" title were landorus and ferrothorn who were over 1 hour videos

[@Spark25293]

The titles only say "How GREAT was" if it's a remake video. This is FSG's first xerneas vid.

[@1peidu]

Xerneas is a mon thats special to everybody whos ever loaded up a hyper offense team in Ubers. Its one of those mons that can either break midgame so your ekiller or double dance groudon goes beserk lategame or it can have its teammates break for it to clean up. This mon basically changed the entire dynamic of Ubers, since there was never a setup threat that could break and clean at such efficiency, with or without hazards. Xerneas is the honored one basically. (Also this thing killed off CB ho oh so I appreciate it for that because magic sun was and is cancer)

[@indiradevi8136]

Bulky ho oh is more annoying to deal with though. Probe more annoying

[@1peidu]

@@indiradevi8136 clearly you haven't had the pleasure of the magic sun special where darkrai sleeps either Kyogre or ttar and then CB Ho Oh clicks moves vs you and you literally can't kill it

[@assassinshadow2800]

gen 6 make a trio about life, death and the balance keeper for some reason, the "life" could wreck the other two in type match up xD

[@sleprvrru6y-lin-92]

we cannot forget that xerneas has a pretty good physical movepool too.. and when those physical ones showed up when u were expecting defensive/scarf... yea... lol

[@williamhowells806]

i love the opening of the vid about xerneas' base stats cos im just sitting there going yes, NOW DOUBLE IT

[@zerayo406]

The pokemon that has been singlehandedly raising power herb stocks

[@endofline2000]

Gamefreak was like "lets make a deer pokemon and give it the most broken move of all time"

[@Luke0193]

Definitely my favourite legendary design wise. It just looks so awesome

[@icephoenix174]

No mention of the wild specs set with three moves? Moonblast, geomancy, and sleep talk. If it got knocked off, it could use geomancy. If it got spored, it could use specs moon blast with a 100% chance. I saw PokeaimMD use it and that was so crazy to see. (It might have been scarf but I know Aim really likes big numbers so I think it was specs in his video)

[@zylen3167]

Lol average darkrai counter in ohio

[@Jamaha5]

Xerneas is my favourite Fairy type, and that’s competing with Mega-Mawile, Togekiss, Mimikyu, SwordDoggo, and Tapu-Fini.

[@Cogexkintrue]

I was literally thinking about what this video would be like yesterday, and now it's here. wild

[@MaximusLight]

Power Herb Geomancy is probably the closest we will ever come to Gen 1 Mewtwo levels of power. (I'd still give it to Gen 1 Mewtwo but the speed boost and fairy aura certainly make it uncomfortably close)

[@GravityIsFalling]

I think gen 1 shadow rider would be the most broken a mon can get

[@moyaiman872]

After the doublade and aegislash vids i’m suprised we havent gotten a video of honedge dominating little cup

[@Blastopia]

They should make one on Accelgor

[@dysr]

Because Honedge isn’t very good in LC.

[@indiradevi8136]

Honedge is bad in lc. That simple

[@moyaiman872]

Well thats unfortunate, it had toughly a 45% to ohko offensive tank munchlax with close combat and could easily live a munchlax fire punch so i thought it’d have a nice niche against the best pokemon in the tier

[@dysr]

@@moyaiman872 Munchlax was only the best pokemon in gen 4.

[@Ego-Fiend]

This MF is the only reason why i have dusk mane in all my ubers teams

[@rubenduenas5881]

Once it gets a Power-Herb Geomancy up, the game's basically over

[@dayvonlouis5187]

Whirlwind was the only answer I had for it before ORAS this thing was a freaking nightmare to see

[@ladyakkyn]

It's funny that Xerneas is he embodiment of life considering it kills just about anything it so much as looks at.

[@jakariashafin1695]

Well to survive one must steal the life of onother ya know for eating

[@EventHorizonUwU]

I did not expect to see my match in here, but thanks a lot for spotlighting it! 💙

[@EvilApple567]

I've only known Xern from Geo/Moonblast, I had no idea its movepool was so wild with CC and Ingrain of all things. CC to crush its only real Geo boosted check in Bliss, and giving Ingrain to something with x2 QD (in a world with Power Herb at least) just seems evil lol, truly a classic GameFreak moment up there with giving Mewtwo Amnesia in Gen 1.

[@marcelosandoval8719]

**Geomancy Flashbacks** 😮

[@dantelewandoski]

Xerneas shows why fairy is undisputed the best typing in Pokémon, it wrecks a tier that houses 90% of dragons and had enough bulk to outduel the rest

[@Lagi42800]

I mean defensive as water, plus immunity, offensive as dark type and no pokemon is immune to it ...

[@dayvonlouis5187]

@@Lagi42800yeah I’d call it a bit unbalanced

[@minmin8580]

"it wrecks a tier that houses 90% of dragons" Obviously...It's a fairy type that has a lot of going for it, how is that surprising?

[@talonitex6441]

We seriously need a check for fairy Pokémon something like storm drain for fairy type moves Xerneas, zacian and now flutter mane. WHEN WILL IT END

[@mysticpumpkin8520]

Never. Fairies are eternal FEAR THE CUTE PIXIES!!!!!

[@dayvonlouis5187]

A matchup change is needed

[@ForestX77]

Which is funny since fairies weren’t meant to check dragons who were the dominant type before. Honestly Wolfie made a video kinda about this. Wasn’t addressing fairies directly but was about buffing types and one was buffing bug type to resist fairy and for fairy to gain a weakness to bug making bug type a check to fairies. Definitely would check fairies with how popular u-turn is.

[@joelwatkins]

Give it another gen or 2, and there'll be a new type introduced to combat Fairy

[@cradiculous]

@@ForestX77 I still suspect that Fairy was made to resist Bug just because of U-Turn spam, not because of actual Bug types. I agree bug should hit it super effectively

[@chayoto]

I like the little surprises those winning teams packed. Kudos to Shedinja, Toxicroak and Crobat.

[@scayree]

GEOMANCY GO BRR

[@Blastopia]

We need an Accelgor video

[@scayree]

Weather trio remaster 😮‍💨

[@Nameandaddresswithheld]

In gen6-7 my niche solution for xerneas was focus sash bisharp. Spam iron head. I gave him sucker punch to get extra KOs and facade in case someone flung a burn or para at me

[@NocturnalPyro]

12:10 I personally really love gen 7 ubers, the power and coolness of the pokemon in that tier was just so good. Gen 8 Nat dex AG is good too.

[@peregrinehawk8363]

As an AG player, many people don't know how lucky they are that they can only fight one per game.

[@danielcole5943]

Great video! I would love to see “how GOOD was primarina actually?” as she’s made a comeback in gen 9

[@skeetermania3202]

VGC or singles?

[@lizzerd5112]

Fun fact: Adaptability also boosts STAB moves by 1.33x, meaning Xerneas effectively has adaptability as its ability.

[@peppermintzoro4907]

I’ve always found it weird that xerneas and yveltal had the exact same stat layout. I think it would be more fitting for it to have 131 defenses and 95/98 offenses since it’s the life pokemon.

[@danielmaynard239]

It sucks Xerneas isn't in Gen 9, since I was looking forward to transferring mine in from Sword along with Zygarde

[@Spoopball]

Same, was very thirsty to put geomancy on my smeargle again

[@GoldRichness]

For now

[@alexSN1994times2]

FSG in three years: How EXCELLENT was Xerneas Complete ACTUALLY?

[@oworange]

xerneas was the first legendary i caught, and it was so fun to use in my playthrough. I never knew it was such a competitive monster. love you xerneas

[@lizardhero]

0:10 Today I learned Xerneas' pupils are Xs lol Wonder if Yveltal is the same but with Ys

[@CamusZekeSirius]

Nope. Yveltal’s eyes are regular, circular pupils

[@bkebradley]

This thing was such a nightmare in randoms, you might as well just forfeit as soon as your opponent reveals it

[@dracish123456789]

gen 6 xern was one of my favourite pokemon to fight. I ran liepard with toxic knock off, subsitute and encore to beat xern

[@elirantuil5003]

Did James Baek ever missed top 8 worlds before 2023? What a guy

[@Matt-Rat]

I used a Xerneas in a online tournament a few years on Pokemon Ultra Moon. I also had Dusk-Mane Necrozma, Landorus-T, Thunderus-T, Tapu Koko and Talonflame. I got 1,082nd place out of 3,000+ trainers.

[@VanshTwilight]

We makin out with Power Herb Geomancy with this one 🗣️🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯

[@Remo-_]

My favorite professor from pokemon competitive university. 🗣

[@AmericanBrit9834]

The first Fairy Legendary. And an insanely over-powered deer.

[@grrman]

I have to say that the audio clearly edited in in post sounds so ridiculously off, it's just amusing. Great video though

[@spookyskeleton1787]

I remember playing Ubers with xerneas those coverage moves literally checked every single non that could counter xerneas and it had absolutely outrageous speed with a geomancy up

[@victini7777]

can't wait for the Yveltal vid to be as twice as long, edgelord birb is amazing.

[@o0_VanYsH_0o]

Don't forget the shiny, the bird of Bacon is AMAZING!!!

[@VeganLatte]

God of gen 8 ubers

[@RazorusR3X777]

Yveltal crashed after carrying the entirety of gen 8 ubers on its back.

[@Loner098]

Didn't Yveltal, like, get outclassed or became too situational for Ubers or something like that?

[@catsinhats31]

@@Loner098 absolutely not in fact it was the single most important mon in ubers in gen 8 and basically every team had it to counter mons like calyrex-s

[@jasonthejazzman8521]

As the Milwaukee Bucks always say: "FEAR THE DEER"

[@time_will_tell69]

14:49 adjust shows the power of incinror he is in every team

[@gymfamily]

Waiting for Wolfe to comment on how much he loves this Pokémon

[@paavoautio1974]

Mirror herb against Xernaus could be kinda funny in doubles

[@IseeSandvich]

I've been waiting for this. My favourite legendary.

[@nosequiensoy1193]

Is a very good pokemon for tournaments?

[@IseeSandvich]

@nosequiensoy1193 always a good choice in singles. As for vgc, pretty sure its very format dependant. E.g zacian was the preferred restricted fairy type in dynamax formats.

[@nosequiensoy1193]

@@IseeSandvich So in vgc is it worth it with the right pokemons and if they introduce it?

[@marcoland120]

Not expecting xerneas so early

[@earlsaverson5387]

Before watching the vid, I'm lowkey here to see if Xerneas did more than just Geomancy.

[@Revoltine]

There used to be a rogue set equipped with either Choice Specs, Choice Scarf, Pixie Plate, or Expert Belt that ran Thunderbolt(?) and Focus Blast instead. There's also the Calm Mind surprise set. They felt more like a sad Smogon set import to VGC because only Power Herb Geomancy really made opponents play very differently. XerDon meta was so overcentralizing that it was thought to take VGC 2016 by a landslide until the Wolfe-Markus-Brendan anti-meta lineup bared its fangs and completely shut it down.

[@toadallynoodle5414]

The answer: In VGC? No. In Singles? A resounding yes!

[@farissalim7208]

Wow xerneas already? I remember when covering any gen 6 mon, let alone something as strong as xerneas was a long way ahead. How time flies.

[@YesImJoeKing]

Dragalge, magcargo, drifblim or rotom and all of his forms! 💪💪💪

[@foodmr2022]

It took zacian to stale it in the vgc series sword and shield

[@JohnzaloogIII]

“more like Zygarde completely destroyed by moonblast!” Dead 😂

[@dayvonlouis5187]

He’s the reason in Gen 6 I always open with a Pokémon that knew whirlwind I don’t mind Geomancy as a move but my god did gamefreak cook in the kitchen for way too long because it’s like they forgot that power herb was a thing there’s no goddamn way the designers didn’t think that a 131 SPA legendary with only 2 weaknesses coming from historically non offensive typings while also having an ability that boosted its Stab moves even further was a good idea and the disrespect to my third favorite Pokémon Yveltal being weak to Xerneas and the benefit of its signature move being just draining health yes I know it can restore the most health out of all draining moves but atleast allow it to debuff defenses by two stages or steal stat buff like damn give him something it’s not even boosted by Dark Aura

[@blueorange31]

I had a dumb gimmick. Prankster Pokémon that learned Magic Room. Gave me chance to get rid of it while locked in.

[@yukotrey9422]

We need a documentary of 2016 VGC. That meta game was just different

[@LeRuseBird]

SubSeed Whimsicott was my one true counter to Xerneas in XY. If that puffball died, I did too.

[@calumhouston3308]

What a majestic pokemon

[@helixlord0562]

It’s a common misconception that Yveltal is the evil legendary that brings death and destruction while Xerneas is the pure and good embodiment of life itself. Anyone who has played a format where Xerneas is legal will tell you this is wrong

[@dwreanchinotan]

Should see if there is fan art of xerneas being addicted to power herb

[@acc3209]

Imagine getting +2 on spatk, spdef and speed in one turn

[@meta1429]

I remember witnessing Xerneas for the first time in Gen 6. ...It was the first thing I fought in an online battle, and the reason I hate battling in the first place. Guess this makes Fairy the best type, but the worst to tolerate.

[@Mepphy99]

3 Generations in and It still is a 20 Min video what a chad

[@greedo6116]

babe wake up fsg uploaded a new video!

[@maximuscesar]

Press Geomancy press Moonblast. Don't even had to think about it. ORAS VGC was so fun.

[@FuzzCard]

Hi FSG! I’ve been a viewer for a long time, I’d like to make a request. The name “Malcom Mackellar” is cited often for their VGC achievements, it would mean a lot if in the future you could use their chosen name Krystal Mackellar when they come up, I think that’s how they would like to be remembered. Thanks for all of the great content over the years

[@skeetermania3202]

Did this guy just go through a later name change? If so, when?

[@donnovanash2334]

I just used whirlwind, usually fit it in on scar whenever I used it, I’d use mine games to get scar in as they switched to xern and clicked it as they geomancied, and got rid of the doubled stats, it wasn’t perfect as base xern was still decently powerful, but it wasn’t broken anymore

[@bryanmarcia4104]

Been waiting for this.

[@mysticpumpkin8520]

Story not making him justice aside, the first fairy legendary certainly didnt dissapointed.....it may had caused some people to scream and break some consoles tho

[@chrisleaf]

Without even watching this I recall that Xerneas was Uber according to Smogon, good stats and moves. My go to legendary when I played Pokemon X.

[@ShadyJaye-pr3uz]

It might be the embodiment of life but damn that thing has always been taking that life from it's opponent since creation lol

[@supremeoverlordfallen5]

One more gen 6 pokemon which isn't Talonflame

[@Money_Mafia01]

Love the vids ❤️

[@punkysnarks]

"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out." -Xerneas, probably

[@skeetermania3202]

Ooh, another big VGC vid incoming!

[@sketchb.cartooni5840]

“Why Geomancy is close to Everything- the Xernas Therom”

[@22jdawgjb]

I have 4 shiny pokemon total (I know not a lot, but shiny hunting is boring for me) Dreadnaw, Espeon, Volcarona, and Xerneas. Got it from a Gen 8 raid den battle, and I didn’t even know you could get shiny legendaries from those haha. Love me some Xerneas

[@sarasaland4709]

Imagine this thing if that useless 131 Attack was in Speed…..

[@shivdmanwii]

I'm more amazed this isnt a "How GREAT was Xerneas" video than anything else tbh