"The One who stands on the Pinnacle."
Quite possibly the best sweeper/Wall-breaker in this meta, it is capable of netting OHKOs and 2HKOs without setup on nearly 95% of the meta through its massively oppressive choice band and life orb sets. You may scoff at this remark and think to yourself, "But Wugtrio, Zebstrika, Serperior, Tauros-B,Tandemaus, Morpeko, Jynx, Vigoroth all naturally outspeed it.”
While this is certainly true, only one thing is required to make that fact irrelevant: Ceruledge’s other primary set. Getting hit by a singular physical attack will proc sets that run the ability Weak Armor, granting +2 speed at the cost of –1 defense. At this point, if you lack ANY of the options to stop it, Ceruledge will almost certainly bury the rest of your team. This is what truly makes Ceruledge a knight in blazing armor, in which every team needs to have a plan for.
Ceruledge Analysis Part II: Checks
Ceruledge proudly boasts "I fear no mon, but those things, they scare me." This is directly referring to the two greatest physical walls in the format and the only mons capable of going head-to-head against Ceruledge: Unaware Quagsire and Thick Fat Snorlax. Quagsire hard walls any non-banded set while Snorlax is immune to one STAB and effectively resists the other. Even they can be felled, however, if they didn't do their due diligence in scouting its item. Furthermore, it’s essential to scout Ceruledge’s 2 optional moves, Solar Blade and Close Combat, else you’re in for a nasty surprise.
Ceruledge Analysis Part III: Counterplay
Moreover, if either Quagsire or Snorlax fall in battle whilst a Healthy Ceruledge is on the opposing team, it spells certain death if you lack super effective priority attacks, or a Choice Scarf/Focus Sash/Sturdy user. The former is the only one that allows you to revenge kill Cerul on a clean switch in OR after switching in. The latter comes at the cost of nearly all the pokemon’s health but can have the advantage of activating certain niche strategies in addition to eliminating Ceruledge. You may recall your earlier scoff and think “what about the mons that naturally outspeed it?” The answer, my friend, is that this only works at certain HP benchmarks as Ceruledge is bulky enough to tank attacks from the most popular fast checks with the right EV investment.
Below, you can find sample sets to witness the tremendous potential of "The One who stands on the Pinnacle."
Written by Beesus