|
-
Run Away
- Increases chances of successfully escaping a random battle.
-
Guts
- Attack is increased 50% when statused.
|
Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
55
|
- |
251 |
314 |
- |
| Atk |
81
|
178 |
198 |
261 |
287 |
| Def |
60
|
140 |
156 |
219 |
240 |
| SpA |
50
|
122 |
136 |
199 |
218 |
| SpD |
70
|
158 |
176 |
239 |
262 |
| Spe |
97
|
207 |
230 |
293 |
322 |
This set takes advantage of perhaps Raticate's biggest asset, which is Guts. Burn Orb causes Guts to activate, giving Raticate an effective Attack stat of 390 and powers up Facade to 210 base power, including STAB, which can do some serious damage in the lower tiers. Crunch is the better option for a Dark attack, as most of the targets for it that Raticate should be facing (Rotom, Drifblim, Shedinja, Banette, Solrock, Lunatone) are all slower than him. Froslass is the exception here. Crunch will usually kill them off before they get a chance to set up a Reflect, Trick Choice Specs onto you, or just stall out your PP (like Shedinja using Swords Dance, Will-O-Wisp, etc. until Sucker Punch loses all 8 of it's PP). Reversal starts powering up as burn damage saps his HP and it can dent the likes of Aggron and Bastiodon. Me First is cool if Golem tries to throw an Earthquake at you. U-turn lets Raticate gets in a light hit as he switches out. You would think that Swords Dance would be a primary option here, but the opportunities to send Raticate in unharmed are usually limited to sleeping enemies, Ghost attacks or status moves, so the chances of pulling off a sucessful boost without dying in the process, are slim. However, if you do manage this, Raticate's ability to deal out damage will vastly improve.
Swords Dance was a rather risky option on the previous set, so this one focuses on allowing Raticate an opportunity to use his new Attack boosting move. Thankfully, help is at hand with Focus Sash. Raticate uses Swords Dance, Focus Sash allows him to hang on at 1 HP, where he can now proceed to sweep with Return, taking out Ghosts along the way with Crunch or Sucker Punch. This will also get Reversal to full power, meaning Rocks and Steels should no longer be a problem. Stealth Rock and Spikes will obviously ruin Focus Sash, so this set can be rather unreliable.
This guy hates everything and has a lot of ways of taking something out before it goes six feet under. It utilizes the Endeavor / Quick Attack combo, Focus Sash, Counter, and Reversal to ensure it has a way of dealing with almost any threat, provided it is at full HP to begin the play. Use Salac Berry with Endure and Focus Sash with Counter. Of course, the Focus Sash model is ruined by Spikes and Stealth Rock, and the whole strategy is ruined by Sandstorm and Hail, but only the brave or foolhardy should be using Raticate outside of NU or UU battles, so the weather shouldn't be an issue.
For the longest time, Super Fang was Raticate exclusive. This is no longer the case. However, people will surely continue to look at it as Raticate’s signature move. Abuse Super Fang on full health opponents, tossing out Thunder Waves when and if you have an opportunity. Return and Crunch can be used as finishers when Super Fang’s returns diminish, or you can use the alternatives in Hyper Fang and Bite to deal less damage, but have an opportunity to flinch.
Other Options
Raticate actually has a myriad of options, but it doesn’t do anything particularly well. It has a full complement of special attacks, but a very poor special stat for them to function off of. Facade can be used in conjunction with Guts, but can be a liability if you are unable to manage getting statused. This Pokémon learns Swords Dance, but it hardly has the survivability to utilize it effectively. It has a full artillery of Dark typed physical moves, including Pursuit and Sucker Punch that were not listed above. That Speed is also why Me First is an option; Raticate is the fastest non-Uber Pokémon that learns it, and the 50% power boost is very welcome. You can assure Guts activation with the use of the Toxic and Flame Orb hold items, and with such poor survivability anyway, the damage these items incur per turn would probably be too detrimental.
EVs
The main selling points for Raticate are its Speed and trait, so it is best to maximize speed and attack. The listed EVs makes Raticate outspeed Pokemon having 110 base Speed and a neutral nature. You can move 8 EVs from Speed to HP; this would make Raticate outspeed Pokemon with 95 base Speed and a beneficial nature, but not Pokemon with 110 base Speed and a neutral nature. Absolutely maximum speed (252 EVs as opposed to the listed 244) is not desirable though because Raticate doesn't outspeed any extra Pokemon with that much speed. Raticate gets more of a benefit by giving it a speed nature to boost its respectable speed than it does an attack nature, so Jolly is the way to go almost every time.
Opinion
There are quite a number of Pokémon that do what Raticate is best at (abusing Guts) a whole lot better. Raticate may look exceptional as a 1 HP wonder, but sets like that are often risky and rely on high-risk, high-reward tactics. This Pokémon is exceptionally fun to use, and is almost always surprising with its incredibly diverse movepool. However, the hideous defenses make it a hard choice to sell.
All of the sets function equally well across the tiers, with the exception of the rancorous set, which does not like the prevalence of sandstream in OU play. Of course, as you go down the tier list, it becomes increasingly more effective.
Counters
Anything with high Defense, particularly Steels, wall any Guts-abusing sets. The Super Fang set doesn’t have any surefire counters, save recovery moves and a little luck, but pretty much quickly attacking Raticate to get it out of the picture will work well enough. The Endeavor, etc. set is a total loose cannon and can do some damage if you are not prepared or predict wrong.