Azelf

One of the more iconic features of DPP OU is the lead metagame, and Azelf stands as one of the best candidates to get early momentum. Azelf's varied movepool, high base 115 Speed, strong offensive stats, and underrated bulk allow it to prevent Stealth Rock with Taunt, set up one's own Stealth Rock, and open up a hole with Explosion. These properties cement Azelf as a staple of hyper offensive teams. Azelf's bulk is not to be underestimated—with investment, Azelf can survive many strong attacks in the lead position, such as Choice Scarf Tyranitar's Crunch + sand damage, Metagross's Meteor Mash + Bullet Punch, and Machamp's Payback + Bullet Punch that could invalidate frailer Azelf. Azelf also can lean into more immediately offensive sets with Choice Band and Life Orb, taking advantage of its high Speed and strong Explosion.

Azelf's primary flaws lie in its mediocre Psychic typing and how the metagame has adapted to it. Despite Azelf's fantastic offensive stats, Nasty Plot, and many coverage options, sweeping Azelf sets are uncommon and easily revenge killed. Azelf needs Psychic to break through bulky foes such as Rotom-A and Clefable, but it is resisted by many dangerous threats in the tier, such as Jirachi, Tyranitar, and Heatran. Azelf is the benchmark for successful leads; many leads are chosen for how they perform against Azelf. These include faster leads that try to get Stealth Rock up before Taunt such as Choice Scarf Tyranitar and Aerodactyl; extremely powerful leads that overwhelm it such as Dragonite, Gyarados, Heatran, and Choice Specs Latias; and leads that try to disable it such as Jirachi's Body Slam + Iron Head combo, Choice Scarf Breloom's Spore, and Choice Scarf + Trick Uxie. Azelf also requires planning against offensive leads that could carry Stealth Rock—leads such as Metagross, Empoleon, Swampert, Heatran, and Bronzong can heavily damage Azelf if it chooses Taunt to prevent Stealth Rock rather than just get its own Stealth Rock up and use Explosion. What to do in each situation depends on how weak the team is to Stealth Rock and how much bulk Azelf has.