Deoxys, the Pokemon that came crashing into our Earth, who gives us all the pressure to encounter it as it is a Pokemon that is out of this world, literally, just like the UBS! Hmm...I wonder if there is a link between Deoxys and Ultra Space? Anyway, with the touch of a meteorite, Deoxys can change it's form at will, into the Speed, Defense, Default, and Attack form. All have their special traits, but have two things in common: their emphasis on one specific stat, hence their names, and all are in the Ubers tier. Out of all of them, which one is the worst and best? It's quite debatable. In my personal opinion, the worst forms are it's default and defense, at least in the games. On the other hand...in the anime, it's cool to see. Each will have their own strengths and weaknesses, so let's jump into the rainbow of hope that shows them!

    Before we actually get into how they do in battle and their movesets, let's talk about how each one of them operates, as well as their roles. Deoxys in it's default form is the one that can pack a punch, get entry hazards, or try to be really fast. The defense form does the same, but acts as a wall to sponge hits, but hates set up moves. Attack is hyper offensive as heck, and it is the second fastest and a good Pokemon to wall break as long as some factors aren't there. Speed is easily the fastest Pokemon in the entire game I think, besides a Speed Boosting Ninjask!

     In my personal opinion, it's Deoxys in it's default form that is a bit iffy since it has all the traits of it's forms shoved into it, causing it to be a bit..shall we say, glitchy when it comes to battle? Don't get me wrong, I think it's design and origins are quite cool, but when it actually comes down to it...Deoxys being in the middle does not work out for it. It's speed and attack are quite impressive, at 150, but the defenses are at 50, which is likely of it trying to fuse all of the stats of it's other forms together. The saving grace for it is that it's got a wide movepool that includes Ice Beam, Superpower, Extremespeed, Knock Off, and Fire Punch. Let's not forget the insane move Psycho Boost, which has got to be the strongest Psychic type move in existence besides Photon Geyser. It also gets Taunt, which is good for shutting down hazard stacking and stall mons or Pokemon that are really annoying and tough to take down with their form of recovery, such as Lugia. Even with this movepool, regular Deoxys is considered so inferior to it's other forms when it comes to roles like setting up Spikes or being offensive, it's said to be outclassed by them in every category. I can sort of agree with it, but I believe that Deoxys in it's default form just handles it's moves really badly compared to the others, making it unviable. Next up, is what I think is the one of the worst Deoxys forms: it's defense form.

   Oh god, what did they do to him? I know that this form is meant to focus solely on defense, but it's so passive that anyone could knock it out with no sweat, even with it having Recover. Like all walls who aren't poison types,  they hate toxic. But they have a way of getting around it naturally, like with Natural Cure, or with Magic Guard, and let's not forget Regenerator. Deoxys in this form is very susceptible to becoming setup fodder. Examples include Dusk Mane Necrozma holding a Ultranecrozium Z, Aegislash, Arceus, Dawn Wings Necrozma, or Mega Lucario. Fortunately, there are some attributes to this Pokemon that redeem it, like it having both Stealth Rock and Spikes. This makes it a decent hazard stacker, so what brings it down? It's got Knock Off to knock opposing items to the ground, and Toxic for Pokemon who aren't immune to it. 

     Lugia can hard wall it with Substitue, but this can be circumvented with the move Taunt. Taunt also works well against it, effectively shutting what it tries to do down. Knock Off is very dangerous for it, since it's super effective and gets rid of it's main source of recovery, Leftovers. It's pure Psychic typing doesn't do it much justice either as a wall either. Also, other Pokemon, such as Steel types find it easy to just set up, or perform an overall better job at being defensive and being supportive than Deoxys-Defense. Plus, it doesn't do very well against any of the Primals in boosted weather. Little Marshadow gives him a ton of trouble as well, especially with Bulk Up Spectral Thief or with the signature Z Move. Next up is one of the fastest Pokemon in the game.

    When I had to decide between the Attack and Speed forms for second place, it was really tough considering their flaws. In the end, I eventually decided on Speed. Why, you may ask? Deoxys Speed is a really good suicide lead, according to the Smogon website,  and does a MUCH better job than Defense, thanks to it's speed. It's so fast, it hits a max total of 504 SPEED. It practically counters itself with the set that it runs. The set can have Magic Coat, Spikes, Stealth Rock,  Taunt, Skill Swap, Knock Off, or Psycho Boost(even though the last two aren't recommended on the website). Magic Coat is to reflect those hazards right back, but it takes a bit of skill and prediction to get it down right,  or else Speed might not make it. Taunt counters moves such as Defog, Stealth Rock, Spikes, and setup moves in general. Unfortunately, Deoxys Speed can just counter itself on opposing teams with Taunt or Magic Coat. Also, it's bulk is ok, but it has to rely on a Focus Sash to make it through.

   In case  you didn't know, Focus Sash is an item that allows you to survive an attack that would have knocked you out otherwise in 1 hit, but the issue with this? It's already been explained in the FEAR chapter, but I'll explain it again. Multi hit moves break through the sash since they can hit you from 2 to 5 times in a row, and so can entry hazards. Damaging status ailments do this as well. Pokemon such as Giratina who can use a move like Shadow Ball and Defog are easily a roadblock since it can't use Taunt in fear of a ghost, bug, or dark type move. Priority also sends chills down Deoxys-Speed's back, since it ignores the extremely high 180 speed stat it has, which means that it can be knocked out when it's down to it's last sliver of health to hang on by. Paralysis cripples Deoxys' Speed to the point where it's below 300, well below most of the Pokemon, if not all of their highest speed stats in Ubers, excluding some exceptions. Those who appreciate it's sonic speed are sweepers such as Geomancy Xerneas or Mega Lucario who can clean up late game. Now, it's time to get HYPER OFFENSIVE!!!!

    Deoxys Attack holds the number one spot out of all of the Deoxys forms, despite the fact that it shares the same speed stat as it's default form. I know, I know, the things that can hold this Pokemon down are very similar, if not the same problems as the other forms, excluding defense. Status ailments such as poison, burn, and worst of all, paralysis limit it's longevity in battle. Poison since it lowers its HP over time coupled with Life Orb, and gets worse if it turns out to be badly poisoned. Burn cuts the power of it's physical moves in half, meaning moves like Knock Off, Superpower, and Fire Punch will do less than they would normally do. Worst of all is paralysis, which means that the godly speed stat it has will plummet to become extremely bad, by any tier's standards. Not to worry, though, since it still has priority to work with. It's one and only priority move is Extremespeed, which works out fine for it. 

    Priority moves that go first are determined by a higher number, or if you have the ability Prankster. This is negated by Psychic Terrain, and priority moves can't be used on grounded Pokemon when that Terrain is up. Let's compare moves like First Impression to Sucker Punch to show how they work. Since First Impression is +2, and Sucker Punch is +1, this means First Impression will go first. Sucker Punch will not go first as the move it's trying to get a move on first has already gone, so it fails. Now, if you have two moves that have equal priority, whoever goes first, the nimbler user shall go before them. Protect is able to block these moves out, though, so be careful, but it's not all that common in singles, but it is definitely more prominent in VGC. 

      Extremespeed isn't too helpful against Pokemon who are steel types and have access to bullet Punch. Mega Lucario is especially dangerous if you don't make the right call at the right moment, as Lucario resists E Speed and can retaliate if you stay in with a nasty Bullet Punch. Be prepared to switch or utilize the move Fire Punch, Superpower, Knock Off, or Ice Beam to face foes who don't like them who can survive an Extremespeed rather easily!! Pursuit or literally every offensive move can deal a lot of damage, but can easily OHKO it! You have to be on your guard with the attack form as it dies so easily as a glass cannon, but can dish it out rather easily. Attack is usually on hyper offensive teams, so be prepared for anything and remember that priority is it's greatest weakness, along with status ailments! It's signature move, Psycho Boost, which is one of the best Psychic type moves in existence, can devastate almost anything that isn't a Steel or Dark type, causing crucial damage! Just remember, though...use it wisely since it halves your SpA. 

   Remember, this ranking of Deoxys's forms from the worst to the best, is mostly just a combination of my opinion and a few facts. It's your decision on which form you want to use, so it's entirely up to you to choose a role for that specific transformation. Deoxys may be a Pokemon that comes from outer space, but that doesn't necessarily equal to being a lot better than Pokemon on Earth. Each and every single one has very exploitable flaws in their battle style. Whatever form you feel connected to the most, and feel that hey, this form of Deoxys really fits my playstyle/team, go for it! More information can be found here at: https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/deoxys/ 

   Score(Regular): 4/10

Score(Defense): 3/10

Score(Speed): 7/10

Score(Attack): 7.5/10