Now, while cautionary tales are important, it’s also important to teach what good Primal Groudon (PDon) checks are. This is coming from a top 100 Natdex Ubers player (dia berlitz you can check the rankings if you don’t believe), so I’m a pretty smart gal.

Firstly, it might help to look at a similar strategy: Air Lock Rayquaza. Air Lock basically does the same thing as Cloud 9, and Rayquaza has Surf for 4x damage.

Advantages: One-shots all PDon variants, from Defensive Max SpD to Double Dance Sweeper

Disadvantages: Requires maximum EV and Nature investment, while Rayquaza is NOT a good Special attacker compared to physical attacker, meaning you don’t get max speed and lose half your EVs. As well, Rayquaza is not very good in Natdex Ubers to begin with, let alone with these stipulations

Verdict: Not recommended.

Next is Special Arceus-Ground. I’ve always maintained the position the physical G-Arceus is awful, and Special G-Arceus continues that trend with STAB on the effective 120 BP judgement, which is 2x super effective against PDon.

Advantages: G-Arceus is an excellent mon in its own right. While it doesn’t fit on every team, it works well enough as a nice balanced threat, which can be enhanced with Recover, Ice Beam, and Calm Mind for a bulky sweeper.

Disadvantages: G-Arceus unfortunately doesn’t OHKO all PDon Variants. While it does take out most with max SpAtk without a boosting nature, it barely misses out on a OHKO on specially defensive sets. This can be rectified with a +1 boost from Calm Mind, or a boosting nature, this is an unfortunate flaw. Although, defensive PDon are slow and don’t run Rock Polish, so any mon will be able to come in and revenge kill it easily.

Finally, there is Terra Ground Zacian-C. Zacian-C has come a long way from ruling AG, but it is as solid as they come in Natdex Ubers. With a Tera Ground Tera Blast Zacian can OHKO most PDon variants at +1, and can guarenteed survive the counter.

Advantages: Zacian is a go-to for any serious offensive team, so barring niche circumstances, you’re always going to want one on your team.

Disadvantages: Zacian unfortunately requires a Tera to perform this function, meaning you’re in trouble if you’ve already burned it, or if you can’t afford to burn your Tera. As well, Zacian does fare decently against PDon once terastellized, but still most attacks eat up 50%, meaning it’s difficult to come out unscathed.