Ok that completely skipped my mind lol i'll add that in.
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Raikou (Analysis)
- Thread starter Rakan
- Start date
On the Substitute Calm Mind set, and in general I am surprised Discharge isn't mentioned as an option at all. After all, it allows for more Substitutes and Calm Minds, and makes it do more than just damage if an opponent does a lot of switching, similar to the way Calm Mind Suicune uses Scald over Surf.
The reasoning behind that is because Discharge is considerably weaker, and since Raikou is already quite fast and most of the Pokemon coming in to revenge it are of the Ground-type such as ScarfChomp or Sand Rush Excadrill, Discharge is somewhat pointless as the power difference is noticeable.
GP 1/2
Additions in Bold
Deletions in Red
Additions in Bold
Deletions in Red
Overview]
<p>Raikou has always been in a strange place, as it is too strong for DPP UU while not entirely up to OU standards adequate enough for OU. However, Raikou has the potential to become one of the most devastating sweepers due to its access to Calm Mind. With its blazing fast 115 base Speed stat and its powerful 115 base Special Attack, Raikou can wreak havoc on those unprepared. Raikou's speed tier fits quite well with the new metagame, outpacing new threats like Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus, while still outpacing old threats like Garchomp, Latios, and Latias and the Lati twins. Raikou is better than most many other Electric-types with the exception of Jolteon, who is faster, has similar Special Attack, and also Volt Absorb to abuse. However, Raikou is much bulkier and will eventually gain has also gained Volt Absorb from the Dream World, so once that is released, the threat of Thunder Wave will be mitigated Raikou can easily switch into Thunder Wave and thus deal with Thundurus better. Last generation, a special event also gave Raikou four new moves that expand its pitiful movepool. These moves include Aura Sphere, Weather Ball, Zap Cannon, and Extremespeed. The only useful moves are Aura Sphere and Weather Ball; however, Extremespeed can be used to eliminate faster, weakened threats. Unfortunately, there is a heavy cost for access to these moves. Because these moves come with the event Raikou, they must be used with a Rash nature, which boosts Special Attack while lowering Special Defense, and leaving Speed untouched. Fortunately, Raikou still hits 329 Speed with a neutral nature, which outspeeds positive-natured base 100s by a single point.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Shadow Ball
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>This set is Raikou's best shot at attempting a sweep. After one Calm Mind, Raikou becomes considerably powerful and can devastate opponents with its access to a pseudo BoltBeam bolt-beam combination in Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice. A +1 Life Orb Thunderbolt does huge damage even to neutral targets, bar special walls such as like Blissey and friends. Shadow Ball rounds out the coverage, hitting Ghost-types such as like Gengar very hard and since Raikou outspeeds it with that amazing 115 base Speed stat. Life Orb is the item of choice for this set to provide maximum power output, and the EV ev spread is fairly standard by maximizing Special Attack and Speed with a Timid nature to outspeed threats such as like Latios and Latias and Thundurus while tying with other base 115's such as like Starmie and Azelf.</p>
^ you get the idea
[Additional Comments]
<p>Because this set has no form of recovery, it focuses on doing heavy damage immediately following a single Calm Mind boost rather than trying to obtain several boosts. Shadow Ball can be replaced with some other filler move such as Volt Switch, but then Raikou loses the boosts, and Shadow Ball which provides decent coverage. Hidden Power Fighting is an option to gain the KO on Tyranitar but sacrifices Raikou's speed by one point due to the imperfect IV. As with most Pokemon, entry hazards assist Raikou in gaining easier KOs; likewise, Raikou is affected by all three entry hazards, and they will greatly shorten its lifespan. Raikou can also utilize the Air Balloon to attempt at getting multiple Calm Mind boosts, but it generally needs the initial attacking power of Life Orb.</p>
[SET]
name: Substitute + Calm Mind
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Calm Mind
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 128 HP / 76 Def / 52 SpA / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>While the previous set focuses on doing immediate damage after one Calm Mind boost, this set aims to grab multiple boosts with the aid of Substitute. Raikou is perhaps one of the better users of Substitute due to its decent bulk, amazing Speed speed, and access to Calm Mind. Substitute blocks status and is a pseudo-shield from dangerous switch-ins such as Choice Scarf Garchomp. Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice provide the best coverage overall, especially since Raikou has nearly no other options. Hidden Power Grass is an option over Hidden Power Ice to hit Swampert, Quagsire, and Gastrodon but is not recommended because they are not too common in the current metagame and it will leave Raikou walled by most Dragon-types.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>While Leftovers is the preferred item to keep Raikou alive for as along as possible, Life Orb can be used for immediate attacking power but is not recommended. If Life Orb is used, the EV spread should be a 252 SpA / 252 Spe spread; however, you might as well swap out Substitute for Shadow Ball and make it the Offensive Calm Mind variant as it won't be living long without Leftovers and the proper EV spread. For the main spread associated with this set, a Timid nature with maximum EVs in Speed allows Raikou to outspeed key threats such as Latios and Latias while still forcing a Speed tie tying with Starmie and Azelf. In regard With regards to teammates, strong Fighting-types or Pokemon with powerful Fighting-type moves are recommended to remove Blissey and Ferrothorn from stopping Raikou's set up as they both wall this Raikou variant completely.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Aura Sphere / Shadow Ball
move 4: Volt Switch
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
nature: Rash / Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>With the fifth generation, Raikou gained a useful move in the form of Volt Switch, which is basically a special version of U-turn that is an Electric-type move. Because of its access to the BoltBeam Bolt-Beam combination and its great speed, when equipped with a Choice Scarf Raikou can easily outspeed and revenge common threats such as Choice Scarf Garchomp. When utilizing Choice Specs, Raikou can spam STAB Volt Change much like Jolteon to quickly put pressure on the opponent as it will cause massive damage to anything not named Blissey or a Ground-type.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The only other viable option for a third move would be either Aura Sphere or Shadow Ball, the former requiring a Rash nature. When Aura Sphere is used as the third move, using a Choice Scarf over Choice Specs is recommended due to the loss in speed. The EV spread is simple, 252 Special Attack and 252 Speed to maximize power and speed. Choiced This variant of Raikou is very straightforward, with not many other options other than the aforementioned.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Abuser
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Weather Ball
move 3: Aura Sphere
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
nature: Rash
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>With access to several new moves, Raikou can cause massive amounts of damage when used with Drizzle support from Politoed. In the rain, Weather Ball becomes a 100 base power Water-typed move, and this can seriously wreck Ground-type switch-ins and just do major damage in general. With the rain boost, Weather Ball effectively has 150 base power— - as strong as Water Spout. Aura Sphere is a nice addition to Raikou's movepool, allowing it to KO most Tyranitar and 2HKO most Steel-types. Thunder has perfect accuracy in the rain and has a nice 30% chance to paralyze, something that would aids Raikou due to its forced Rash nature by using the event moves. Hidden Power Ice rounds out the coverage and also hits Dragon-types hard that resist the Electric/Water/Fighting combination such as Latios and Latias.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>Air Balloon can be used over Life Orb or Leftovers to provide a temporary Ground immunity, but Raikou sorely misses the power of Life Orb or the benefits of Leftovers. Again, the EV spread is straightforward, maximizing both the Special Attack and Speed stats. This set is obviously meant to be used with Drizzle support from Politoed, or at the very least, rain support as otherwise Thunder has miserable accuracy and Weather Ball is useless.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Raikou has probably the worst offensive movepool of all the legendary Pokemon, so there really aren't many other options. Raikou really only gained the move Volt Switch from the 5th generation. However, with the fourth generation event, Raikou gained several useful moves including Aura Sphere, Weather Ball, and Extremespeed. Extremespeed can be used as a filler move on some of the sets, but has little merit as Raikou is already blazing fast and has below average attack to really do any damage with it. Extrasensory is an option as a filler move to hit Fighting-types hard, but a STAB Thunderbolt does nearly as much damage and a STAB Thunder does more damage. Charge Beam can be substituted with Calm Mind, but it is weak, unreliable, and its accuracy is too shaky to be of any real use. Raikou gets Light Screen, Reflect Dual Screens, Thunder Wave, and Roar, thus a support set could be made, but Raikou is better off just attacking as it is affected by all entry hazards and has only decent defenses and HP at best.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Any bulky Ground-type can stop Raikou in its tracks as even a super-effective Hidden Power Ice is quite weak. Tyranitar walls any Raikou without Aura Sphere, and Choice-Scarf variants can just barely outspeed Raikou and KO with Earthquake. Blissey and /Chansey wall all variants of Raikou bar a +6 Aura Sphere or Thunderbolt and can stall it out with status and/or Seismic Toss. Swampert and Quagsire completely wall Raikou without Hidden Power Grass, as any neutral attack will not be doing much damage unless it has been boosted by Calm Mind several times (and even then, Quagsire with Unaware don't mind boosted attacks). Lanturn walls Raikou as it is resistant to the Bolt-Beam combination and has decent HP and Special Defense to tank special attacks, although it really can't do much in return and is rather uncommon. It is important to note, however, that with a Rash nature, Raikou still manages to hit 329 speed, which is still faster than positive-natured base 100's.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Raikou gains Volt Absorb from the Dream World which will give it more opportunities to switch in safely and regain HP. Of course, this has not actually been released. It will also have nothing to fear from Thunder Wave, meaning it can be a better check to Thunder Wave Blissey and Thundurus with priority Thunder Wave. Unfortunately, the fourth generation event moves such as Weather Ball and Aura Sphere are illegal with Volt Absorb.</p>
<p>Raikou has always been in a strange place, as it is too strong for DPP UU while not entirely up to OU standards adequate enough for OU. However, Raikou has the potential to become one of the most devastating sweepers due to its access to Calm Mind. With its blazing fast 115 base Speed stat and its powerful 115 base Special Attack, Raikou can wreak havoc on those unprepared. Raikou's speed tier fits quite well with the new metagame, outpacing new threats like Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus, while still outpacing old threats like Garchomp, Latios, and Latias and the Lati twins. Raikou is better than most many other Electric-types with the exception of Jolteon, who is faster, has similar Special Attack, and also Volt Absorb to abuse. However, Raikou is much bulkier and will eventually gain has also gained Volt Absorb from the Dream World, so once that is released, the threat of Thunder Wave will be mitigated Raikou can easily switch into Thunder Wave and thus deal with Thundurus better. Last generation, a special event also gave Raikou four new moves that expand its pitiful movepool. These moves include Aura Sphere, Weather Ball, Zap Cannon, and Extremespeed. The only useful moves are Aura Sphere and Weather Ball; however, Extremespeed can be used to eliminate faster, weakened threats. Unfortunately, there is a heavy cost for access to these moves. Because these moves come with the event Raikou, they must be used with a Rash nature, which boosts Special Attack while lowering Special Defense, and leaving Speed untouched. Fortunately, Raikou still hits 329 Speed with a neutral nature, which outspeeds positive-natured base 100s by a single point.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Shadow Ball
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>This set is Raikou's best shot at attempting a sweep. After one Calm Mind, Raikou becomes considerably powerful and can devastate opponents with its access to a pseudo BoltBeam bolt-beam combination in Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice. A +1 Life Orb Thunderbolt does huge damage even to neutral targets, bar special walls such as like Blissey and friends. Shadow Ball rounds out the coverage, hitting Ghost-types such as like Gengar very hard and since Raikou outspeeds it with that amazing 115 base Speed stat. Life Orb is the item of choice for this set to provide maximum power output, and the EV ev spread is fairly standard by maximizing Special Attack and Speed with a Timid nature to outspeed threats such as like Latios and Latias and Thundurus while tying with other base 115's such as like Starmie and Azelf.</p>
^ you get the idea
[Additional Comments]
<p>Because this set has no form of recovery, it focuses on doing heavy damage immediately following a single Calm Mind boost rather than trying to obtain several boosts. Shadow Ball can be replaced with some other filler move such as Volt Switch, but then Raikou loses the boosts, and Shadow Ball which provides decent coverage. Hidden Power Fighting is an option to gain the KO on Tyranitar but sacrifices Raikou's speed by one point due to the imperfect IV. As with most Pokemon, entry hazards assist Raikou in gaining easier KOs; likewise, Raikou is affected by all three entry hazards, and they will greatly shorten its lifespan. Raikou can also utilize the Air Balloon to attempt at getting multiple Calm Mind boosts, but it generally needs the initial attacking power of Life Orb.</p>
[SET]
name: Substitute + Calm Mind
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Calm Mind
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 128 HP / 76 Def / 52 SpA / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>While the previous set focuses on doing immediate damage after one Calm Mind boost, this set aims to grab multiple boosts with the aid of Substitute. Raikou is perhaps one of the better users of Substitute due to its decent bulk, amazing Speed speed, and access to Calm Mind. Substitute blocks status and is a pseudo-shield from dangerous switch-ins such as Choice Scarf Garchomp. Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice provide the best coverage overall, especially since Raikou has nearly no other options. Hidden Power Grass is an option over Hidden Power Ice to hit Swampert, Quagsire, and Gastrodon but is not recommended because they are not too common in the current metagame and it will leave Raikou walled by most Dragon-types.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>While Leftovers is the preferred item to keep Raikou alive for as along as possible, Life Orb can be used for immediate attacking power but is not recommended. If Life Orb is used, the EV spread should be a 252 SpA / 252 Spe spread; however, you might as well swap out Substitute for Shadow Ball and make it the Offensive Calm Mind variant as it won't be living long without Leftovers and the proper EV spread. For the main spread associated with this set, a Timid nature with maximum EVs in Speed allows Raikou to outspeed key threats such as Latios and Latias while still forcing a Speed tie tying with Starmie and Azelf. In regard With regards to teammates, strong Fighting-types or Pokemon with powerful Fighting-type moves are recommended to remove Blissey and Ferrothorn from stopping Raikou's set up as they both wall this Raikou variant completely.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Aura Sphere / Shadow Ball
move 4: Volt Switch
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
nature: Rash / Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>With the fifth generation, Raikou gained a useful move in the form of Volt Switch, which is basically a special version of U-turn that is an Electric-type move. Because of its access to the BoltBeam Bolt-Beam combination and its great speed, when equipped with a Choice Scarf Raikou can easily outspeed and revenge common threats such as Choice Scarf Garchomp. When utilizing Choice Specs, Raikou can spam STAB Volt Change much like Jolteon to quickly put pressure on the opponent as it will cause massive damage to anything not named Blissey or a Ground-type.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The only other viable option for a third move would be either Aura Sphere or Shadow Ball, the former requiring a Rash nature. When Aura Sphere is used as the third move, using a Choice Scarf over Choice Specs is recommended due to the loss in speed. The EV spread is simple, 252 Special Attack and 252 Speed to maximize power and speed. Choiced This variant of Raikou is very straightforward, with not many other options other than the aforementioned.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Abuser
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Weather Ball
move 3: Aura Sphere
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
nature: Rash
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>With access to several new moves, Raikou can cause massive amounts of damage when used with Drizzle support from Politoed. In the rain, Weather Ball becomes a 100 base power Water-typed move, and this can seriously wreck Ground-type switch-ins and just do major damage in general. With the rain boost, Weather Ball effectively has 150 base power— - as strong as Water Spout. Aura Sphere is a nice addition to Raikou's movepool, allowing it to KO most Tyranitar and 2HKO most Steel-types. Thunder has perfect accuracy in the rain and has a nice 30% chance to paralyze, something that would aids Raikou due to its forced Rash nature by using the event moves. Hidden Power Ice rounds out the coverage and also hits Dragon-types hard that resist the Electric/Water/Fighting combination such as Latios and Latias.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>Air Balloon can be used over Life Orb or Leftovers to provide a temporary Ground immunity, but Raikou sorely misses the power of Life Orb or the benefits of Leftovers. Again, the EV spread is straightforward, maximizing both the Special Attack and Speed stats. This set is obviously meant to be used with Drizzle support from Politoed, or at the very least, rain support as otherwise Thunder has miserable accuracy and Weather Ball is useless.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Raikou has probably the worst offensive movepool of all the legendary Pokemon, so there really aren't many other options. Raikou really only gained the move Volt Switch from the 5th generation. However, with the fourth generation event, Raikou gained several useful moves including Aura Sphere, Weather Ball, and Extremespeed. Extremespeed can be used as a filler move on some of the sets, but has little merit as Raikou is already blazing fast and has below average attack to really do any damage with it. Extrasensory is an option as a filler move to hit Fighting-types hard, but a STAB Thunderbolt does nearly as much damage and a STAB Thunder does more damage. Charge Beam can be substituted with Calm Mind, but it is weak, unreliable, and its accuracy is too shaky to be of any real use. Raikou gets Light Screen, Reflect Dual Screens, Thunder Wave, and Roar, thus a support set could be made, but Raikou is better off just attacking as it is affected by all entry hazards and has only decent defenses and HP at best.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Any bulky Ground-type can stop Raikou in its tracks as even a super-effective Hidden Power Ice is quite weak. Tyranitar walls any Raikou without Aura Sphere, and Choice-Scarf variants can just barely outspeed Raikou and KO with Earthquake. Blissey and /Chansey wall all variants of Raikou bar a +6 Aura Sphere or Thunderbolt and can stall it out with status and/or Seismic Toss. Swampert and Quagsire completely wall Raikou without Hidden Power Grass, as any neutral attack will not be doing much damage unless it has been boosted by Calm Mind several times (and even then, Quagsire with Unaware don't mind boosted attacks). Lanturn walls Raikou as it is resistant to the Bolt-Beam combination and has decent HP and Special Defense to tank special attacks, although it really can't do much in return and is rather uncommon. It is important to note, however, that with a Rash nature, Raikou still manages to hit 329 speed, which is still faster than positive-natured base 100's.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Raikou gains Volt Absorb from the Dream World which will give it more opportunities to switch in safely and regain HP. Of course, this has not actually been released. It will also have nothing to fear from Thunder Wave, meaning it can be a better check to Thunder Wave Blissey and Thundurus with priority Thunder Wave. Unfortunately, the fourth generation event moves such as Weather Ball and Aura Sphere are illegal with Volt Absorb.</p>
I actually run Calm Mind on my weather abuser Raikou instead of HP Ice. Maybe you could put that as an option over HP Ice. HP may be the better choice, but Calm Mind works wonders.
This.
There's no "how to support" or "who helps it" or any such writing in any of the sets.
It's half-way through GP, but I feel like something should be done.
Deletions
Additions/Corrections
(Comments)
A lot of this is on top of NixHex's unofficial check, which was pretty good.
Remember that Comments are for all of a set's moves, including slashed options, while AC is for EVs and items.
GP 2/2.
Additions/Corrections
(Comments)
A lot of this is on top of NixHex's unofficial check, which was pretty good.
[Overview]
<p>Raikou has always been in a strange place, as it is was too strong for DPP UU while not entirely up to OU standards. However, Raikou has the potential to become one of the most devastating sweepers due to its access to Calm Mind. With its blazing fast base 115 base Speed stat and its powerful base 115 base Special Attack, Raikou can wreak havoc on those unprepared. Raikou's Speed tier fits in quite well with the new metagame, outpacing new threats like Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus, while still outpacing old threats like Garchomp, Latios, and Latias. Raikou is better than most Electric-types with the exception of Jolteon, who is faster, has similar Special Attack, and also Volt Absorb to abuse,. However, although Raikou is much bulkier and will eventually gain Volt Absorb from the Dream World, so once that is released, the threat of Thunder Wave will be mitigated. Last generation, a special event also gave Raikou four new moves that expand its pitiful movepool:. These moves include Aura Sphere, Weather Ball, Zap Cannon, and Extremespeed. The only useful moves are Aura Sphere and Weather Ball; however, Extremespeed can be used to eliminate faster, weakened threats. Unfortunately, there is a heavy cost for access to these moves. Because these moves come with the event Raikou, they must be used with a Rash nature, which boosts Special Attack while lowering Special Defense. Fortunately, Raikou still hits 329 Speed with a neutral nature, which outspeeds positive-natured base 100s by a single point.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Shadow Ball
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>This set is Raikou's best shot at attempting a sweep. After one Calm Mind, Raikou becomes considerably more powerful and can devastate opponents with its access to a pseudo BoltBeam combination in Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice. A +1 Life Orb Thunderbolt does huge damage even to neutral targets, bar special walls such as Blissey and friends. Hidden Power Ice may be replaced by Hidden Power Fighting in order to KO Tyranitar, but this sacrifices Raikou's speed by one point due to the imperfect IV. Shadow Ball rounds out the coverage, hitting Ghost-types such as Gengar, whom Raikou outspeeds, very hard. and since Raikou outspeeds it with that amazing 115 base Speed stat. Life Orb is the item of choice for this set to provide maximum power output and the EV spread is fairly standard by maximizing Special Attack and Speed with a Timid nature to outspeed threats such as Latios and Latias and Thundurus while tying with other base 115's such as Starmie and Azelf. (EVs and items are for AC) </p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>Life Orb is the item of choice for this set to provide maximum power output. The EV spread is fairly standard, maximizing Special Attack and Speed with a Timid nature to outspeed threats such as Latios, Latias, and Thundurus while tying with other base 115s such as Starmie and Azelf. Because this set has no form of recovery, it focuses on doing heavy damage immediately following a single Calm Mind boost rather than trying to obtain several boosts. Shadow Ball can be replaced with some other filler move such as Volt Switch, but then Raikou loses the boosts, and Shadow Ball which provides decent coverage. but lacks synergy with Calm Mind as its boosts are reset upon switching. Hidden Power Fighting is an option to gain the KO on Tyranitar but sacrifices Raikou's speed by one point due to the imperfect IV. As with most Pokemon, entry hazards assist Raikou in gaining easier KOs; likewise, Raikou is affected by all three entry hazards, and they which will greatly shorten its lifespan. Raikou can also utilize the Air Balloon to attempt getting to get multiple Calm Mind boosts, but it generally needs the initial attacking power of Life Orb. Raikou is best paired with a strong physical attacker such as Scizor or Conkeldurr to take out the special walls that give Raikou so many problems.</p>
[SET]
name: Substitute + Calm Mind
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Calm Mind
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 128 HP / 76 Def / 52 SpA / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>While the previous set focuses on doing immediate damage after one Calm Mind boost, this set aims to grab multiple boosts with the aid of Substitute. Raikou is perhaps one of the better users of Substitute due to its decent bulk, amazing Speed, and access to Calm Mind. Substitute blocks status and is a pseudo-shield from dangerous switch-ins such as Choice Scarf Garchomp. Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice provide the best coverage overall, especially since Raikou has nearly no other options. Hidden Power Grass is an option over Hidden Power Ice to hit Swampert, Quagsire, and Gastrodon, but is not recommended because they are not too common in the current metagame and it will leave Raikou walled by most Dragon-types. but these are not very common threats, and Raikou can generally not afford to lose the Ice-type coverage provided by Hidden Power Ice.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>While Leftovers is the preferred item to keep Raikou alive for as along as possible, Life Orb can be used for immediate attacking power, (comma) but is not recommended as it will drain Raikou's HP much more quickly. If Life Orb is used, the EV spread should be a 252 SpA / 252 Spe spread; however, you might as well swap out Substitute for Shadow Ball and make it the Offensive Calm Mind variant as it won't be living long without Leftovers and the proper EV spread just use the Offensive Calm Mind set. For the main EV spread associated with this set, a Timid nature with maximum EVs in Speed allows Raikou to outspeed key threats such as Latios and Latias while still forcing a Speed tie with Starmie and Azelf. In regard to teammates, strong Fighting-types or Pokemon with powerful Fighting-type moves are recommended to remove Blissey and Ferrothorn and prevent them from stopping Raikou's set up as they both wall this Raikou variant set completely.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Aura Sphere / Shadow Ball
move 4: Volt Switch
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
nature: Rash / Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>With the fifth generation, Raikou gained a useful move in the form of Volt Switch, which is a special, Electric-type version of U-turn that is an Electric-type move. Because of its access to the BoltBeam combination and its great speed, when equipped with a Choice Scarf Raikou can easily outspeed and revenge kill common threats such as Choice Scarf Garchomp. When utilizing Choice Specs, Raikou can spam STAB Volt Change much like Jolteon to quickly put pressure on the opponent as it will cause massive damage to anything not named Blissey or a Ground-type. Similarly to Jolteon, Raikou can utilize Choice Specs Volt Switch to put heavy pressure on your opponent, doing massive damage to anything not a Ground-type or named Blissey. Aura Sphere and Shadow Ball are the only viable options for the third moveslot, providing additional coverage.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The only other viable option for a third move would be either Aura Sphere or Shadow Ball, the former requiring a Rash nature. When Aura Sphere is used as the third move, using a Choice Scarf over Choice Specs is recommended due to the loss in speed. Because using the move Aura Sphere requires a Rash nature, Choice Scarf is recommended over Choice Specs to make up for the loss in speed. The EV spread is simple, 252 Special Attack and 252 Speed to maximize power and speed maximizing Raikou's Special Attack and Speed. Again, strong Fighting-types or Pokemon with powerful Fighting-type moves are recommended to take out Blissey and Chansey. This variant of Raikou is very straightforward, with not many other options other than the aforementioned.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Abuser
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Weather Ball
move 3: Aura Sphere
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
nature: Rash
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>With access to several new moves in Weather Ball and Aura Sphere, Raikou can cause massive amounts of damage when used with Drizzle support from Politoed. In the rain, Weather Ball becomes a 100 Base Power Water-typed (no d) move, and this which can can seriously wreck Ground-type switch-ins and just do major damage in general. With the boost from rain boost, Weather Ball effectively has 150 Base Power—as (em dash) strong as Water Spout. Aura Sphere is a nice addition to Raikou's movepool, allowing it to KO most Tyranitar and 2HKO most Steel-types. Thunder has perfect accuracy in the rain and has a nice 30% chance to paralyze, something that aids Raikou due to its forced Rash nature by using the event moves. Hidden Power Ice rounds out the Raikou's coverage and also hits Dragon-types hard that resist the Electric / Water / Fighting combination, (comma) such as Latios and Latias, for heavy damage.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>Air Balloon can be used over Life Orb or Leftovers to provide a temporary Ground immunity, but Raikou sorely misses the power of Life Orb or the benefits instant recovery of Leftovers. Again, the EV spread is straightforward, maximizing both the Special Attack and Speed stats. Calm Mind is an option over Hidden Power Ice but Raikou sorely misses the coverage and will rarely have a chance to set up due to its hindered Speed. This set is obviously meant to be used with Drizzle support from Politoed, or at the very least, Rain Dance support as otherwise Thunder has miserable accuracy and Weather Ball is useless without weather.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Raikou has probably the worst offensive movepool of all the legendary Pokemon, so there really aren't many other options. Raikou really only gained the move Volt Switch from the 5th generation. However, with the fourth generation event, Raikou gained several useful moves including Aura Sphere, Weather Ball, and Extremespeed. Extremespeed can be used as a filler move on some of the sets, but has little merit as Raikou is already blazing fast and has below average Attack to really do any damage with it. Extrasensory is an option as a filler move to hit Fighting-types hard, but a STAB Thunderbolt does nearly as much damage and a STAB Thunder does more damage. Charge Beam can be substituted with Calm Mind, but it is weak, unreliable, (comma) and its accuracy is too shaky be of any real use. Raikou gets support options such as Light Screen, Reflect, Thunder Wave, and Roar, thus a support set could be made, but Raikou is better off just attacking as it but because Raikou is affected by all entry hazards and has only decent defenses and HP at best it is better off just attacking.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Any bulky Ground-type can stop Raikou in its tracks as even a super-effective Hidden Power Ice is quite weak. Tyranitar walls any Raikou without Aura Sphere, and Choice-Scarf variants (no hyphen, space) can just barely outspeed Raikou and KO with Earthquake. Blissey and Chansey wall all variants of Raikou bar a +6 Aura Sphere or Thunderbolt and can stall it out with status and/or Seismic Toss. Swampert and Quagsire completely wall Raikou without Hidden Power Grass, as any unboosted neutral attack will not be doing much damage, unless it has been boosted by Calm Mind several times (and even then, while Quagsire with Unaware don't mind boosted attacks). Lanturn walls Raikou as it is resistant to the Bolt-Beam resists the BoltBeam combination and has decent HP and Special Defense to tank special attacks, although it really can't do much in return and is rather uncommon. It is important to note, however, that with a Rash nature, Raikou still manages to hit 329 speed, which is still faster than positive-natured base 100's (no apostrophe).</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Raikou gains Volt Absorb from the Dream World which will give it more opportunities to switch in safely and regain HP. Of course, this has not actually been released. It will also have nothing to fear from Thunder Wave, meaning it can be a better check to Thunder Wave Blissey and Thundurus with priority Thunder Wave. Unfortunately, the fourth generation event moves, (comma) such as Weather Ball and Aura Sphere(comma) are illegal with Volt Absorb.</p>
<p>Raikou has always been in a strange place, as it is was too strong for DPP UU while not entirely up to OU standards. However, Raikou has the potential to become one of the most devastating sweepers due to its access to Calm Mind. With its blazing fast base 115 base Speed stat and its powerful base 115 base Special Attack, Raikou can wreak havoc on those unprepared. Raikou's Speed tier fits in quite well with the new metagame, outpacing new threats like Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus, while still outpacing old threats like Garchomp, Latios, and Latias. Raikou is better than most Electric-types with the exception of Jolteon, who is faster, has similar Special Attack, and also Volt Absorb to abuse,. However, although Raikou is much bulkier and will eventually gain Volt Absorb from the Dream World, so once that is released, the threat of Thunder Wave will be mitigated. Last generation, a special event also gave Raikou four new moves that expand its pitiful movepool:. These moves include Aura Sphere, Weather Ball, Zap Cannon, and Extremespeed. The only useful moves are Aura Sphere and Weather Ball; however, Extremespeed can be used to eliminate faster, weakened threats. Unfortunately, there is a heavy cost for access to these moves. Because these moves come with the event Raikou, they must be used with a Rash nature, which boosts Special Attack while lowering Special Defense. Fortunately, Raikou still hits 329 Speed with a neutral nature, which outspeeds positive-natured base 100s by a single point.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Shadow Ball
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>This set is Raikou's best shot at attempting a sweep. After one Calm Mind, Raikou becomes considerably more powerful and can devastate opponents with its access to a pseudo BoltBeam combination in Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice. A +1 Life Orb Thunderbolt does huge damage even to neutral targets, bar special walls such as Blissey and friends. Hidden Power Ice may be replaced by Hidden Power Fighting in order to KO Tyranitar, but this sacrifices Raikou's speed by one point due to the imperfect IV. Shadow Ball rounds out the coverage, hitting Ghost-types such as Gengar, whom Raikou outspeeds, very hard. and since Raikou outspeeds it with that amazing 115 base Speed stat. Life Orb is the item of choice for this set to provide maximum power output and the EV spread is fairly standard by maximizing Special Attack and Speed with a Timid nature to outspeed threats such as Latios and Latias and Thundurus while tying with other base 115's such as Starmie and Azelf. (EVs and items are for AC) </p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>Life Orb is the item of choice for this set to provide maximum power output. The EV spread is fairly standard, maximizing Special Attack and Speed with a Timid nature to outspeed threats such as Latios, Latias, and Thundurus while tying with other base 115s such as Starmie and Azelf. Because this set has no form of recovery, it focuses on doing heavy damage immediately following a single Calm Mind boost rather than trying to obtain several boosts. Shadow Ball can be replaced with some other filler move such as Volt Switch, but then Raikou loses the boosts, and Shadow Ball which provides decent coverage. but lacks synergy with Calm Mind as its boosts are reset upon switching. Hidden Power Fighting is an option to gain the KO on Tyranitar but sacrifices Raikou's speed by one point due to the imperfect IV. As with most Pokemon, entry hazards assist Raikou in gaining easier KOs; likewise, Raikou is affected by all three entry hazards, and they which will greatly shorten its lifespan. Raikou can also utilize the Air Balloon to attempt getting to get multiple Calm Mind boosts, but it generally needs the initial attacking power of Life Orb. Raikou is best paired with a strong physical attacker such as Scizor or Conkeldurr to take out the special walls that give Raikou so many problems.</p>
[SET]
name: Substitute + Calm Mind
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Calm Mind
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 128 HP / 76 Def / 52 SpA / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>While the previous set focuses on doing immediate damage after one Calm Mind boost, this set aims to grab multiple boosts with the aid of Substitute. Raikou is perhaps one of the better users of Substitute due to its decent bulk, amazing Speed, and access to Calm Mind. Substitute blocks status and is a pseudo-shield from dangerous switch-ins such as Choice Scarf Garchomp. Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice provide the best coverage overall, especially since Raikou has nearly no other options. Hidden Power Grass is an option over Hidden Power Ice to hit Swampert, Quagsire, and Gastrodon, but is not recommended because they are not too common in the current metagame and it will leave Raikou walled by most Dragon-types. but these are not very common threats, and Raikou can generally not afford to lose the Ice-type coverage provided by Hidden Power Ice.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>While Leftovers is the preferred item to keep Raikou alive for as along as possible, Life Orb can be used for immediate attacking power, (comma) but is not recommended as it will drain Raikou's HP much more quickly. If Life Orb is used, the EV spread should be a 252 SpA / 252 Spe spread; however, you might as well swap out Substitute for Shadow Ball and make it the Offensive Calm Mind variant as it won't be living long without Leftovers and the proper EV spread just use the Offensive Calm Mind set. For the main EV spread associated with this set, a Timid nature with maximum EVs in Speed allows Raikou to outspeed key threats such as Latios and Latias while still forcing a Speed tie with Starmie and Azelf. In regard to teammates, strong Fighting-types or Pokemon with powerful Fighting-type moves are recommended to remove Blissey and Ferrothorn and prevent them from stopping Raikou's set up as they both wall this Raikou variant set completely.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Aura Sphere / Shadow Ball
move 4: Volt Switch
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
nature: Rash / Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>With the fifth generation, Raikou gained a useful move in the form of Volt Switch, which is a special, Electric-type version of U-turn that is an Electric-type move. Because of its access to the BoltBeam combination and its great speed, when equipped with a Choice Scarf Raikou can easily outspeed and revenge kill common threats such as Choice Scarf Garchomp. When utilizing Choice Specs, Raikou can spam STAB Volt Change much like Jolteon to quickly put pressure on the opponent as it will cause massive damage to anything not named Blissey or a Ground-type. Similarly to Jolteon, Raikou can utilize Choice Specs Volt Switch to put heavy pressure on your opponent, doing massive damage to anything not a Ground-type or named Blissey. Aura Sphere and Shadow Ball are the only viable options for the third moveslot, providing additional coverage.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The only other viable option for a third move would be either Aura Sphere or Shadow Ball, the former requiring a Rash nature. When Aura Sphere is used as the third move, using a Choice Scarf over Choice Specs is recommended due to the loss in speed. Because using the move Aura Sphere requires a Rash nature, Choice Scarf is recommended over Choice Specs to make up for the loss in speed. The EV spread is simple, 252 Special Attack and 252 Speed to maximize power and speed maximizing Raikou's Special Attack and Speed. Again, strong Fighting-types or Pokemon with powerful Fighting-type moves are recommended to take out Blissey and Chansey. This variant of Raikou is very straightforward, with not many other options other than the aforementioned.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Abuser
move 1: Thunder
move 2: Weather Ball
move 3: Aura Sphere
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
nature: Rash
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>With access to several new moves in Weather Ball and Aura Sphere, Raikou can cause massive amounts of damage when used with Drizzle support from Politoed. In the rain, Weather Ball becomes a 100 Base Power Water-typed (no d) move, and this which can can seriously wreck Ground-type switch-ins and just do major damage in general. With the boost from rain boost, Weather Ball effectively has 150 Base Power—as (em dash) strong as Water Spout. Aura Sphere is a nice addition to Raikou's movepool, allowing it to KO most Tyranitar and 2HKO most Steel-types. Thunder has perfect accuracy in the rain and has a nice 30% chance to paralyze, something that aids Raikou due to its forced Rash nature by using the event moves. Hidden Power Ice rounds out the Raikou's coverage and also hits Dragon-types hard that resist the Electric / Water / Fighting combination, (comma) such as Latios and Latias, for heavy damage.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>Air Balloon can be used over Life Orb or Leftovers to provide a temporary Ground immunity, but Raikou sorely misses the power of Life Orb or the benefits instant recovery of Leftovers. Again, the EV spread is straightforward, maximizing both the Special Attack and Speed stats. Calm Mind is an option over Hidden Power Ice but Raikou sorely misses the coverage and will rarely have a chance to set up due to its hindered Speed. This set is obviously meant to be used with Drizzle support from Politoed, or at the very least, Rain Dance support as otherwise Thunder has miserable accuracy and Weather Ball is useless without weather.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Raikou has probably the worst offensive movepool of all the legendary Pokemon, so there really aren't many other options. Raikou really only gained the move Volt Switch from the 5th generation. However, with the fourth generation event, Raikou gained several useful moves including Aura Sphere, Weather Ball, and Extremespeed. Extremespeed can be used as a filler move on some of the sets, but has little merit as Raikou is already blazing fast and has below average Attack to really do any damage with it. Extrasensory is an option as a filler move to hit Fighting-types hard, but a STAB Thunderbolt does nearly as much damage and a STAB Thunder does more damage. Charge Beam can be substituted with Calm Mind, but it is weak, unreliable, (comma) and its accuracy is too shaky be of any real use. Raikou gets support options such as Light Screen, Reflect, Thunder Wave, and Roar, thus a support set could be made, but Raikou is better off just attacking as it but because Raikou is affected by all entry hazards and has only decent defenses and HP at best it is better off just attacking.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Any bulky Ground-type can stop Raikou in its tracks as even a super-effective Hidden Power Ice is quite weak. Tyranitar walls any Raikou without Aura Sphere, and Choice-Scarf variants (no hyphen, space) can just barely outspeed Raikou and KO with Earthquake. Blissey and Chansey wall all variants of Raikou bar a +6 Aura Sphere or Thunderbolt and can stall it out with status and/or Seismic Toss. Swampert and Quagsire completely wall Raikou without Hidden Power Grass, as any unboosted neutral attack will not be doing much damage, unless it has been boosted by Calm Mind several times (and even then, while Quagsire with Unaware don't mind boosted attacks). Lanturn walls Raikou as it is resistant to the Bolt-Beam resists the BoltBeam combination and has decent HP and Special Defense to tank special attacks, although it really can't do much in return and is rather uncommon. It is important to note, however, that with a Rash nature, Raikou still manages to hit 329 speed, which is still faster than positive-natured base 100's (no apostrophe).</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Raikou gains Volt Absorb from the Dream World which will give it more opportunities to switch in safely and regain HP. Of course, this has not actually been released. It will also have nothing to fear from Thunder Wave, meaning it can be a better check to Thunder Wave Blissey and Thundurus with priority Thunder Wave. Unfortunately, the fourth generation event moves, (comma) such as Weather Ball and Aura Sphere(comma) are illegal with Volt Absorb.</p>
Remember that Comments are for all of a set's moves, including slashed options, while AC is for EVs and items.
GP 2/2.
No mentions of Raikou in Hail? An Ice-type Weather Ball is much better than HP Ice for BoltBeam Coverage and with Aura Sphere and Calm Mind, it gets perfect coverage outside of Shedinja. It also outspeeds all non-scarfed T-tar and Politoed with max speed and a neutral nature and OHKOs them with Aura Sphere and T-Bolt after rocks.
Set Comments and Additional Comments should be in caps and there should be an empty line after [Overview] and other "[]" in the analysis.
Also agreeing with Aleva's suggestion (by that, I mean QC should give it a shot).
By the way, Shedinja dies to Hail, so the coverage is perfect (same as Thundurus's, but more reliable (Aura Sphere > Focus Blast)).
Also agreeing with Aleva's suggestion (by that, I mean QC should give it a shot).
By the way, Shedinja dies to Hail, so the coverage is perfect (same as Thundurus's, but more reliable (Aura Sphere > Focus Blast)).
I think the Weather set I think could be changed a tad. As mentioned, it can be just as fine in hail.
[SET]
name: Weather Abuser
move 1: Thunderbolt / Thunder
move 2: Weather Ball
move 3: Aura Sphere
move 4: Calm Mind / Shadow Ball / HP Ice
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
nature: Rash
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Shadow Ball actually hits your HP Ice targets harder (Lati@, Celebi). Calm Mind works also.
When did it become common knowledge that Weather abuser means its okay to spam 70% accurate Thunder? Yeah, you can't count on Rain to be up all the time. I'd venture to say Thunderbolt is better for reliability sake (or at least equally as good). As this set really has a shitty STAB move if you lose the weather war. And like was mentioned, Weather Ball works fine for hail as well (which is probably awesome with CAlm Mind + Lefties). This set really should have all-purpose weather utility, and you will get the most out of it with Leftovers + Calm Mind + Thunderbolt.
[SET]
name: Weather Abuser
move 1: Thunderbolt / Thunder
move 2: Weather Ball
move 3: Aura Sphere
move 4: Calm Mind / Shadow Ball / HP Ice
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
nature: Rash
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Shadow Ball actually hits your HP Ice targets harder (Lati@, Celebi). Calm Mind works also.
When did it become common knowledge that Weather abuser means its okay to spam 70% accurate Thunder? Yeah, you can't count on Rain to be up all the time. I'd venture to say Thunderbolt is better for reliability sake (or at least equally as good). As this set really has a shitty STAB move if you lose the weather war. And like was mentioned, Weather Ball works fine for hail as well (which is probably awesome with CAlm Mind + Lefties). This set really should have all-purpose weather utility, and you will get the most out of it with Leftovers + Calm Mind + Thunderbolt.
whoever was supposed to have uploaded this, i hate you