[OVERVIEW]
On paper, it can seem as though there is no reason to use Raikou over Mega Manectric, which has higher Special Attack and Speed, Fire-type coverage, and Intimidate. However, Raikou has more special bulk, allows the use of another Mega Pokemon, and has access to Light Screen and Reflect. It is also a better user of Snarl than Mega Manectric, as Mega Manectric struggles to fit it onto its moveset . Raikou, on the other hand, has a slot free for coverage moves or Snarl and has more special bulk to survive hits so it can keep on using Snarl. Although Mega Manectric has a higher Speed, Raikou still has an incredible Speed of 115, outspeeding other popular Electric-types such as Zapdos and Thundurus. Unlike the latter two, however, Raikou has a weakness to Ground, which is not helped by the extreme popularity of Choice Scarf Landorus-T.
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Extrasensory / Snarl / Shadow Ball
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Thunderbolt provides coverage for Water- and Flying-types. Hidden Power Ice lets Raikou OHKO or do massive damage to Landorus-T, Mega Salamence, and Garchomp. Extrasensory gives Raikou coverage for Poison- and Fighting-types such as Amoonguss and Conkeldurr. Snarl lets Raikou reduce special attackers' damage output. Shadow Ball hits Ghost- and Psychic-types for super effective damage. Protect allows Raikou to avoid powerful attacks, such as Earthquake, and double targeting.
Set Details
========
Life Orb allows Raikou to hit as hard as possible without locking it into a move and to get crucial OHKOs with Hidden Power Ice on Mega Salamence and Garchomp, which it would not have gotten without a boosting item. A simple spread maximizing Special Attack and Speed is preferred, as Raikou wants to hit as hard and as fast as possible.
Usage Tips
========
When you are using Raikou, you often have it for a specific role: getting rid of Water-types or lowering special attackers' damage output. As Raikou is quite easily KOed by powerful attacks, you must remember to keep Raikou around until it has done its job. There are a couple of things you must keep in mind when using Snarl on Raikou. If you see a Competitive or Defiant user such as Milotic or Bisharp, you must avoid using Snarl until they are gone or you know your opponent did not bring them. You should also mostly use Snarl when your opponent has powerful special attackers on the field, as it does not do a lot of damage and you must be sure that it is worth it to lower the foes' Special Attack stats over dealing damage with STAB move.
Team Options
========
In order to pressure foes not to use Earthquake, Pokemon immune to Ground work well as partners for Raikou. In addition, Wide Guard users such as Aegislash and Swampert are also good to avoid Earthquake. Because Raikou is very good at getting rid of Water-types, Pokemon that appreciate their absence such as Mega Salamence, Heatran, and Landorus-T are good on teams with Raikou. To let Raikou survive more physical attacks, Pokemon with Intimidate or Will-O-Wisp are solid partners. Some good Intimidate users include Scrafty and Landorus-T, while Gengar and Rotom-H are good at providing Will-O-Wisp support.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Although it is not commonly seen in VGC, Raikou has access to the combination of Light Screen and Reflect, which, combined with Light Clay, makes for a decent support set. If more power than Life Orb can provide is wanted, Choice Specs is the way to go; however, it locks Raikou into a move and makes Raikou unable to use Protect. Volt Switch is best used on Assault Vest or Choice Specs sets because it can take over the moveslot that could have been used for Protect, and it lets Raikou deal some nice chip damage and gain momentum. If you are using Raikou on a rain team, Thunder can be considered as its STAB attack, offering more power than Thunderbolt. Shuca Berry lets Raikou survive most Ground-type moves and brings an element of surprise. If you want extra power but don't want the drawbacks from other boosting items such as Choice Specs and Life Orb, Expert Belt is an option. To make Raikou an even better special tank, Assault Vest can work, but similarly to Choice Specs, it disallows Protect. Magnet Rise is a niche option to allow Raikou to avoid all Ground-type moves. If you are looking for more of a tank variant of Raikou, Rocky Helmet is an option to punish physical attackers.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Bulky Physical Attackers**: Hard-hitting physical attackers with solid bulk can soak up Raikou's STAB moves and OHKO or 2KHO it with powerful STAB attacks.
**Ground-types **: Ground-types with Earthquake such as Excadrill, Landorus-T, and Garchomp can OHKO Raikou and are immune to Thunderbolt. However, Landorus-T and Garchomp struggle with Shuca Berry variants after taking a bit of prior damage.
On paper, it can seem as though there is no reason to use Raikou over Mega Manectric, which has higher Special Attack and Speed, Fire-type coverage, and Intimidate. However, Raikou has more special bulk, allows the use of another Mega Pokemon, and has access to Light Screen and Reflect. It is also a better user of Snarl than Mega Manectric, as Mega Manectric struggles to fit it onto its moveset . Raikou, on the other hand, has a slot free for coverage moves or Snarl and has more special bulk to survive hits so it can keep on using Snarl. Although Mega Manectric has a higher Speed, Raikou still has an incredible Speed of 115, outspeeding other popular Electric-types such as Zapdos and Thundurus. Unlike the latter two, however, Raikou has a weakness to Ground, which is not helped by the extreme popularity of Choice Scarf Landorus-T.
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Extrasensory / Snarl / Shadow Ball
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Thunderbolt provides coverage for Water- and Flying-types. Hidden Power Ice lets Raikou OHKO or do massive damage to Landorus-T, Mega Salamence, and Garchomp. Extrasensory gives Raikou coverage for Poison- and Fighting-types such as Amoonguss and Conkeldurr. Snarl lets Raikou reduce special attackers' damage output. Shadow Ball hits Ghost- and Psychic-types for super effective damage. Protect allows Raikou to avoid powerful attacks, such as Earthquake, and double targeting.
Set Details
========
Life Orb allows Raikou to hit as hard as possible without locking it into a move and to get crucial OHKOs with Hidden Power Ice on Mega Salamence and Garchomp, which it would not have gotten without a boosting item. A simple spread maximizing Special Attack and Speed is preferred, as Raikou wants to hit as hard and as fast as possible.
Usage Tips
========
When you are using Raikou, you often have it for a specific role: getting rid of Water-types or lowering special attackers' damage output. As Raikou is quite easily KOed by powerful attacks, you must remember to keep Raikou around until it has done its job. There are a couple of things you must keep in mind when using Snarl on Raikou. If you see a Competitive or Defiant user such as Milotic or Bisharp, you must avoid using Snarl until they are gone or you know your opponent did not bring them. You should also mostly use Snarl when your opponent has powerful special attackers on the field, as it does not do a lot of damage and you must be sure that it is worth it to lower the foes' Special Attack stats over dealing damage with STAB move.
Team Options
========
In order to pressure foes not to use Earthquake, Pokemon immune to Ground work well as partners for Raikou. In addition, Wide Guard users such as Aegislash and Swampert are also good to avoid Earthquake. Because Raikou is very good at getting rid of Water-types, Pokemon that appreciate their absence such as Mega Salamence, Heatran, and Landorus-T are good on teams with Raikou. To let Raikou survive more physical attacks, Pokemon with Intimidate or Will-O-Wisp are solid partners. Some good Intimidate users include Scrafty and Landorus-T, while Gengar and Rotom-H are good at providing Will-O-Wisp support.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Although it is not commonly seen in VGC, Raikou has access to the combination of Light Screen and Reflect, which, combined with Light Clay, makes for a decent support set. If more power than Life Orb can provide is wanted, Choice Specs is the way to go; however, it locks Raikou into a move and makes Raikou unable to use Protect. Volt Switch is best used on Assault Vest or Choice Specs sets because it can take over the moveslot that could have been used for Protect, and it lets Raikou deal some nice chip damage and gain momentum. If you are using Raikou on a rain team, Thunder can be considered as its STAB attack, offering more power than Thunderbolt. Shuca Berry lets Raikou survive most Ground-type moves and brings an element of surprise. If you want extra power but don't want the drawbacks from other boosting items such as Choice Specs and Life Orb, Expert Belt is an option. To make Raikou an even better special tank, Assault Vest can work, but similarly to Choice Specs, it disallows Protect. Magnet Rise is a niche option to allow Raikou to avoid all Ground-type moves. If you are looking for more of a tank variant of Raikou, Rocky Helmet is an option to punish physical attackers.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Bulky Physical Attackers**: Hard-hitting physical attackers with solid bulk can soak up Raikou's STAB moves and OHKO or 2KHO it with powerful STAB attacks.
**Ground-types **: Ground-types with Earthquake such as Excadrill, Landorus-T, and Garchomp can OHKO Raikou and are immune to Thunderbolt. However, Landorus-T and Garchomp struggle with Shuca Berry variants after taking a bit of prior damage.
[OVERVIEW]
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Extrasensory / Snarl / Shadow Ball
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Set Details
========
Usage Tips
========
========
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Checks and Counters
===================
**Bulky Physical Attackers**: Hard hitting physical attackers with solid bulk can soak up Raikou's STAB and OHKO or 2KHO with powerful STAB-attacks
**Offensive Typing Advantage**: Ground-types with Earthquake such as Excadrill, Landorus-T, and Garchomp can OHKO Raikou with STAB Earthquake, while being immune to Thunderbolt. However, Landorus-T and Garchomp struggle with Shuca Berry variants after taking a bit of prior damage
- Incredible Speed
- Suffers from being weak to Earthquake, unlike the more popular Thundurus and Zapdos
- Faces great competition with Mega Manectric, Manectric has Intimidate, Fire-coverage and higher SpA and Spe, but Raikou doesn't take the mega slot and has a tad more bulk and Light Screen+Reflect
- One of the better users of Snarl, as it has decent special bulk and good Spe, allowing it to Snarl the field before the foe makes a move
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Extrasensory / Snarl / Shadow Ball
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Thunderbolt hits Water- and Flying-types
- HP Ice hits Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Mega Salamence
- Extrasensory gives coverage for Fighting- and Poison-types
- Snarl lowers SpAtk
- Shadow Ball gives coverage for Ghost- and Psychic-types
- Protect protects you from status, big hits, and double targeting
Set Details
========
- Life Orb powers up Raikou's moves, and helps secure some crucial OHKO's with HP Ice
- Simple max SpA max Spe to hit as hard and fast as possible
Usage Tips
========
- Use Snarl when you face powerful special attackers, preferably when the opponent has two special attackers on the field
- When you see a Defiant or Competitive user in team preview, keep in mind that you should avoid using Snarl, as you don't want to give them a free boost
- When using Raikou you often have it do a specific job, such as being a way to easily KO opposing Water-types, or stopping special attackers from doing that much damage. So remember to keep it for that, and not let it get KO'ed before it gets to do its job
========
- Pokemon in the air with either Levitate or Flying-typing, to pressure opponents to avoid using Earthquake
- Wide Guard users such as Swampert or Aegislash to block Earthquake
- Pokemon that are afraid of bulky waters such as Mega Salamence, Heatran, Talonflame, and Landorus-T, as Raikou deals with bulky waters easily
- Pokemon such as Rotom-Heat, Gengar, Scrafty, and Landorus-T can make good partners, providing either Will-O-Wisp or Intimidate support, which helps Raikou survive more physical attacks
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
- Light Screen+Reflect set with Light Clay
- Choice Specs
- Volt Switch
- Thunder for rain teams
- Shuca Berry
- Expert Belt
- Assault Vest
- Magnet Rise
- Rocky Helmet
Checks and Counters
===================
**Bulky Physical Attackers**: Hard hitting physical attackers with solid bulk can soak up Raikou's STAB and OHKO or 2KHO with powerful STAB-attacks
**Offensive Typing Advantage**: Ground-types with Earthquake such as Excadrill, Landorus-T, and Garchomp can OHKO Raikou with STAB Earthquake, while being immune to Thunderbolt. However, Landorus-T and Garchomp struggle with Shuca Berry variants after taking a bit of prior damage
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