Lapras [QC 2/2, GP 2/2]

Amaranth

is a Site Content Manageris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
UPL Champion
[OVERVIEW]

Lapras is a potent special attacker backed up by solid bulk and a good variety of coverage and utility moves. Although it faces strong competition from other Pokemon with similar coverage, its combination of power and bulk alongside access to Sing gives Lapras a unique set of qualities that make it an important niche option in the metagame, especially when factoring in its positive matchup against tier titans such as Tauros and Snorlax.

[SET]
name: Standard
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Hyper Beam / Body Slam
move 4: Sing / Confuse Ray

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Blizzard is Lapras's most powerful attack, allowing it to deal heavy damage to anything that doesn't possess either huge special bulk or a resistance to Ice. Thunderbolt allows Lapras to hit Water-types, giving it the ability to muscle through paralyzed Starmie, which would otherwise be a poor matchup. In the third slot, Hyper Beam is Lapras's best bet to finish off Pokemon with a high Special but low Defense, such as Chansey and Alakazam, which are otherwise good answers to Lapras; however, Body Slam may be preferred, as it gives Lapras the ability to somewhat reliably paralyze opposing Starmie. The last slot is usually Sing, a move that provides great utility and scares off Pokemon that would otherwise function as great Lapras answers, with Chansey usually being the main target. Its low accuracy can be unfortunate, as Lapras doesn't have easy ways to shrug off any status or damage that may come its way, so misses can be particularly devastating. If the sleep move is not necessary, you may opt to run Confuse Ray instead, which is Lapras's best shot at powering through paralyzed special walls.

When using Lapras, you should first figure out a plan to take care of Chansey, as it can shrug off Blizzard quite easily. Snorlax's Self-Destruct and Exeggutor's Explosion are usually the best ways to achieve this, as your opponent should be able to preserve their Chansey quite easily by simply switching out if you try to defeat it via repeated Ice Beams, PP stalling, or strong physical attacks. However, it is still possible for Lapras to pressure Chansey via Sing, so if you cannot find an opportunity to threaten it via Explosion, you can still rely on Sing to get the job done. Non-paralyzed Starmie and Alakazam are both answers to Lapras as well, threatening to shut it down with Thunder Wave, as they are simply able to use Recover until Lapras is fully paralyzed. If running Body Slam, you should attempt to predict their entrance and hit them with it; should you manage to paralyze them, Lapras will outspeed them and be much harder to stop. Lapras has great potential to create significant advantages between access to Sing and strong matchups against very popular Pokemon such as Tauros, Snorlax, and Rhydon, but its checks must be taken care of before it can have any impact on the game.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Ice Beam is an alternative STAB option to use in place of Blizzard, but the lack of power is really noticeable and generally not worth the extra accuracy and PP.

Rest and Reflect can be used in conjunction to give Lapras much appreciated survivability to answer threats such as Tauros more reliably throughout the game, but the set is easy to pressure via powerful special attacks, particularly Psychic- or Electric-type ones, and the lack of offensive pressure makes it a risky and generally undesirable pick.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Chansey**: Lapras struggles immensely in attempting to break through Chansey. It can easily Soft-Boiled away any damage taken and force Lapras out with the threat of Thunder Wave. Lapras may attempt to put it to sleep with Sing, but the move is inaccurate, somewhat predictable, and completely useless against a paralyzed Chansey.

**Zapdos and Jolteon**: While Lapras's Blizzard respectively 2HKOes and 3HKOes these Pokemon, team structures that include Lapras generally leave themselves very vulnerable to Electric-type attacks, which Zapdos and Jolteon can easily exploit and punish with powerful Thunderbolts. It may even be preferable to sacrifice Lapras in a one-on-one scenario just to get some chip damage on Zapdos in particular, but the same cannot be said for Jolteon, which should nearly always have the upper hand against Lapras and only fears a potential Body Slam paralysis.

**Starmie and Alakazam**: If they are not paralyzed, these two Pokemon can tank any hit Lapras throws at them and Recover off the damage easily while threatening it with Thunder Wave. All Lapras needs to turn the tides on them is paralysis and some correct predictions.

**Amnesia Snorlax**: Although it takes a while to get going and has to worry about Sing, Snorlax doesn't take much damage from any of Lapras's attacks after one or two Amnesia boosts and can retaliate with Body Slam. Although it is unlikely Amnesia Snorlax would be used as a switch-in, it dominates one-on-one.


[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[The Idiot Ninja, 265630]]
- Quality checked by: [[Zokuru, 263906], [xJoelituh, 241144]]
- Grammar checked by: [[NixHex, 40064], [Fireflame479, 231476]]
 
Last edited:

xJoelituh

Banned deucer.
PP management with Blizzard is quite important in Lapras case, which allows you to force Pokemon out because they want you to run out of Blizz's.
Also, I'd add Snorlax(AmneLax in particular) into C&C, Lax mostly just shrug off all the Tbolts, although is afraid of the freeze, or getting sleep by Sing, and when not using Rest, Lapras would be chip down eventually and cannot beat it.

Everything else, really great analysis 2/2 !
 

Amaranth

is a Site Content Manageris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
UPL Champion
PP management with Blizzard is quite important in Lapras case, which allows you to force Pokemon out because they want you to run out of Blizz's.
Also, I'd add Snorlax(AmneLax in particular) into C&C, Lax mostly just shrug off all the Tbolts, although is afraid of the freeze, or getting sleep by Sing, and when not using Rest, Lapras would be chip down eventually and cannot beat it.

Everything else, really great analysis 2/2 !
Good call on Amnelax, I'll add it
 

Jorgen

World's Strongest Fairy
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
I recall a "stall" set a few years back that gave me fits (a magic mushroom showed it to me). Worked pretty well in practice. Something like Ice Beam/Body Slam/Confuse Ray/Rest. The idea being to stall with Cray until you can wake up from a nap. Granted, this was before "new" RBY, so it's probably less good now that we know better about Chansey vs. Body Slam, but pre-paralyze it with Twave and hit it with Confuse Ray just like you do with the standard set and you're golden.

It seems especially good in this metagame with Seismic Toss Chanseys and Reflect Laxen being reasonably high in usage.
 

Amaranth

is a Site Content Manageris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
UPL Champion
I recall a "stall" set a few years back that gave me fits (a magic mushroom showed it to me). Worked pretty well in practice. Something like Ice Beam/Body Slam/Confuse Ray/Rest. The idea being to stall with Cray until you can wake up from a nap. Granted, this was before "new" RBY, so it's probably less good now that we know better about Chansey vs. Body Slam, but pre-paralyze it with Twave and hit it with Confuse Ray just like you do with the standard set and you're golden.

It seems especially good in this metagame with Seismic Toss Chanseys and Reflect Laxen being reasonably high in usage.
Seems inferior to Reflect+Rest options as it's still very easy to stall out, but it can also get punished by a Tauros switchback on the Rest turn. Not everything that can work deserves to be mentioned in OO, I think Reflect > Confuse Ray and TBolt > Body Slam is the best way to go about Rest Lapras sets currently
 

Astra

talk to me nice
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Community Leader Alumnus
amcheck :blobthumbsup:
add remove (comments)
[OVERVIEW]

Lapras is a potent special attacker backed up by solid bulk and a good variety of coverage and utility moves. Although it faces strong competition from other Pokemon with similar coverage, its combination of power and bulk alongside access to Sing gives Lapras a unique set of qualities that make it an important niche in the metagame which, especially when you factor in his its positive match up matchup against tier titans such as Tauros and Snorlax, give Lapras an important niche in the metagame.

[SET]
name: Standard
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Hyper Beam / Body Slam
move 4: Sing / Confuse Ray

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Blizzard is Lapras's most powerful attack, allowing it to deal heavy damage to anything that doesn't possess either huge Special special bulk or a resistance to Ice. Thunderbolt allows it Lapras to hit Water-types, giving Lapras it the ability to muscle through paralyzed Starmie, which would otherwise be a poor match up matchup. In the third slot, Hyper Beam is its Lapras's best bet to finish off Pokemon with a high Special but low Defense, such as Chansey and Alakazam, which are otherwise good answers to Lapras; however, Body Slam may be preferred, (AC) as it gives Lapras the ability to somewhat reliably paralyze opposing Starmies. The last slot is usually Sing, a move which that provides great utility and scares off Pokemon which that would otherwise function as great Lapras answers, with Chansey usually being the main target. Its low accuracy can be scary unfortunate (its accuracy isn't scary but rather its consequences if it misses, though you're welcomed to use a similar word to unfortunate), as Lapras doesn't have easy ways to shrug off any status or damage that may come his its way, so misses can be particularly devastating; if. (add period) If the sleep move is not necessary, (AC) you may opt to run Confuse Ray instead, which is Lapras's best shot at powering through paralyzed Special special walls.

When using Lapras, you should first and foremost figure out a plan to take care of Chansey, as it can shrug off the Blizzards coming its way quite easily. Snorlax's Self-Destruct and Exeggutor's Explosion are usually the best ways to achieve this, as your opponent should be able to preserve their Chansey quite easily by simply switching out if you try to defeat it via repeated Ice Beams, PP stalling, or strong physical attacks. However, it is still possible for Lapras to pressure Chansey via Sing, so if you cannot find an opportunity to threaten it via Explosion, you can still rely on Sing to get the job done. Unparalyzed Non-paralyzed Starmie and Alakazam can are both answers to Lapras as well, threatening to shut it down with a Thunder Wave that will shut Lapras down, as if the Thunder Wave lands, they are simply able to Recover until Lapras fully paralyzes if Thunder Wave lands; if Lapras is carrying Body Slam, the player you should attempt to predict their entrance and hit them with it, as paralysis turns this match up matchup around, making it favorable for Lapras, as it gives him and giving it the ability to strike once on Alakazam or Starmie's switch-in switch in and then again the turn after. Lapras has great potential to create significant advantages between access to Sing and a strong match up matchups on against very popular Pokemon such as Tauros, Snorlax, and Rhydon, but its checks must be taken care of before it can have any impact on the game.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Ice Beam is an alternative STAB option to use in place of Blizzard, but the lack of power is really noticeable and generally not worth the extra accuracy and PP.

Rest and Reflect can be used in conjunction to give Lapras much appreciated survivability to answer threats such as Tauros more reliably throughout the game, but the set is easy to pressure via powerful Special special attacks, particularly Psychic- or Electric-type ones, and the lack of offensive pressure makes it a risky and generally undesirable pick.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Chansey**: Lapras struggles immensely in attempting to break through Chansey. It can easily Soft-Boiled away any damage taken and force Lapras out with the threat of Thunder Wave. Lapras may attempt to put it to sleep with Sing, but the move is inaccurate, somewhat predictable, and completely useless against a paralyzed Chansey.

**Zapdos and Jolteon**: While Lapras's Blizzard respectively 2HKOes and 3HKOes these Pokemon, team structures that include Lapras generally leave themselves very vulnerable to Electric-type attacks, which Zapdos and Jolteon can easily exploit and punish with powerful Thunderbolts. It may even be preferrable preferable to sacrifice Lapras in a one-on-one just to get some chip damage on Zapdos in particular, but the same cannot be said for Jolteon, who which should nearly always have the upper hand against Lapras and only fears a potential Body Slam paralysis.

**Starmie and Alakazam**: If unparalyzed they are not paralyzed, these two Pokemon can tank any hit Lapras throws at them and Recover off the damage easily, (RC) while threatening it with a Thunder Wave. All Lapras needs to turn the tides on them is paralysis and some correct predictions, so both players should try to play very carefully in this match up matchup in order to avoid losing the exchange. (feels odd talking about strategies for your opponent as well, as i suggest that you reword it so it's only referring to the lapras player)

**Amnesia Snorlax**: Although he it takes a while to get going, (RC) and has to worry about Sing, Snorlax doesn't take much damage from any of Lapras's attacks after one or two Amnesias, (RC) and can retaliate with Body Slam. Although you probably don't want to use it is unlikely Amnesia Snorlax would be used as a switch-in, he it dominates the one-on-one. (i tried to reword this so it's more referring to the one who wants to use lapras instead of the one playing against it since this is an analysis on lapras, not ones against it)


[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[The Idiot Ninja, 265630]]
- Quality checked by: [[Zokuru, 263906], [xJoelituh, 241144]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
 

Nix_Hex

Uangaana kasuttortunga!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Here's the copy and paste version since merging edits is confusing. Estronic please take a look at the marked up version below. Some advice that will save you and the writer a big headache (and prevent epileptic seizures), if you find yourself editing a sentence or block of sentences heavily and moving stuff around a lot, it's much easier to just mark the entire block in red and write the replacement block in blue. Keep up the good work!

[OVERVIEW]

Lapras is a potent special attacker backed up by solid bulk and a good variety of coverage and utility moves. Although it faces strong competition from other Pokemon with similar coverage, its combination of power and bulk alongside access to Sing gives Lapras a unique set of qualities that make it an important niche option in the metagame, especially when you factor in its positive matchup against tier titans such as Tauros and Snorlax.

[SET]
name: Standard
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Hyper Beam / Body Slam
move 4: Sing / Confuse Ray

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Blizzard is Lapras's most powerful attack, allowing it to deal heavy damage to anything that doesn't possess either huge special bulk or a resistance to Ice. Thunderbolt allows Lapras to hit Water-types, giving it the ability to muscle through paralyzed Starmie, which would otherwise be a poor matchup. In the third slot, Hyper Beam is Lapras's best bet to finish off Pokemon with a high Special but low Defense, such as Chansey and Alakazam, which are otherwise good answers to Lapras; however, Body Slam may be preferred, as it gives Lapras the ability to somewhat reliably paralyze opposing Starmie. The last slot is usually Sing, a move that provides great utility and scares off Pokemon that would otherwise function as great Lapras answers, with Chansey usually being the main target. Its low accuracy can be unfortunate, as Lapras doesn't have easy ways to shrug off any status or damage that may come its way, so misses can be particularly devastating. If the sleep move is not necessary, you may opt to run Confuse Ray instead, which is Lapras's best shot at powering through paralyzed special walls.

When using Lapras, you should first figure out a plan to take care of Chansey, as it can shrug off Blizzard quite easily. Snorlax's Selfdestruct and Exeggutor's Explosion are usually the best ways to achieve this, as your opponent should be able to preserve their Chansey quite easily by simply switching out if you try to defeat it via repeated Ice Beams, PP stalling, or strong physical attacks. However, it is still possible for Lapras to pressure Chansey via Sing, so if you cannot find an opportunity to threaten it via Explosion, you can still rely on Sing to get the job done. Non-paralyzed Starmie and Alakazam are both answers to Lapras as well, threatening to shut it down with Thunder Wave, as they are simply able to Recover until Lapras is fully paralyzes. If running Body Slam, you should attempt to predict their entrance and hit them with it. You can strike once on Alakazam or Starmie's switch-in and then again the turn after. Lapras has great potential to create significant advantages between access to Sing and strong matchups against very popular Pokemon such as Tauros, Snorlax, and Rhydon, but its checks must be taken care of before it can have any impact on the game.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Ice Beam is an alternative STAB option to use in place of Blizzard, but the lack of power is really noticeable and generally not worth the extra accuracy and PP.

Rest and Reflect can be used in conjunction to give Lapras much appreciated survivability to answer threats such as Tauros more reliably throughout the game, but the set is easy to pressure via powerful special attacks, particularly Psychic- or Electric-type ones, and the lack of offensive pressure makes it a risky and generally undesirable pick.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Chansey**: Lapras struggles immensely in attempting to break through Chansey. It can easily Soft-Boiled away any damage taken and force Lapras out with the threat of Thunder Wave. Lapras may attempt to put it to sleep with Sing, but the move is inaccurate, somewhat predictable, and completely useless against a paralyzed Chansey.

**Zapdos and Jolteon**: While Lapras's Blizzard respectively 2HKOes and 3HKOes these Pokemon, team structures that include Lapras generally leave themselves very vulnerable to Electric-type attacks, which Zapdos and Jolteon can easily exploit and punish with powerful Thunderbolts. It may even be preferable to sacrifice Lapras in a one-on-one just to get some chip damage on Zapdos in particular, but the same cannot be said for Jolteon, which should nearly always have the upper hand against Lapras and only fears a potential Body Slam paralysis.

**Starmie and Alakazam**: If they are not paralyzed, these two Pokemon can tank any hit Lapras throws at them and Recover off the damage easily while threatening it with Thunder Wave. All Lapras needs to turn the tides on them is paralysis and some correct predictions.

**Amnesia Snorlax**: Although it takes a while to get going and has to worry about Sing, Snorlax doesn't take much damage from any of Lapras's attacks after one or two Amnesia boosts and can retaliate with Body Slam. Although it is unlikely Amnesia Snorlax would be used as a switch-in, it dominates the one-on-one.


[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[The Idiot Ninja, 265630]]
- Quality checked by: [[Zokuru, 263906], [xJoelituh, 241144]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]


Open if you're curious. My changes are in green (add / comment) and purple (remove).
[OVERVIEW]

Lapras is a potent special attacker backed up by solid bulk and a good variety of coverage and utility moves. Although it faces strong competition from other Pokemon with similar coverage, its combination of power and bulk alongside access to Sing gives Lapras a unique set of qualities that make it an important niche option in the metagame which, especially when you factor in his its positive match up matchup against tier titans such as Tauros and Snorlax, give Lapras an important niche in the metagame.

[SET]
name: Standard
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Hyper Beam / Body Slam
move 4: Sing / Confuse Ray

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Blizzard is Lapras's most powerful attack, allowing it to deal heavy damage to anything that doesn't possess either huge Special special bulk or a resistance to Ice. Thunderbolt allows it Lapras to hit Water-types, giving Lapras it the ability to muscle through paralyzed Starmie, which would otherwise be a poor match up matchup. In the third slot, Hyper Beam is its Lapras's best bet to finish off Pokemon with a high Special but low Defense, such as Chansey and Alakazam, which are otherwise good answers to Lapras; however, Body Slam may be preferred, (AC) as it gives Lapras the ability to somewhat reliably paralyze opposing Starmies. The last slot is usually Sing, a move which that provides great utility and scares off Pokemon which that would otherwise function as great Lapras answers, with Chansey usually being the main target. Its low accuracy can be scary unfortunate (its accuracy isn't scary but rather its consequences if it misses, though you're welcomed to use a similar word to unfortunate), as Lapras doesn't have easy ways to shrug off any status or damage that may come his its way, so misses can be particularly devastating; if. (add period) If the sleep move is not necessary, (AC) you may opt to run Confuse Ray instead, which is Lapras's best shot at powering through paralyzed Special special walls.

When using Lapras, you should first and foremost figure out a plan to take care of Chansey, as it can shrug off the Blizzards coming its way quite easily. Snorlax's Self-Destruct Selfdestruct and Exeggutor's Explosion are usually the best ways to achieve this, as your opponent should be able to preserve their Chansey quite easily by simply switching out if you try to defeat it via repeated Ice Beams, PP stalling, or strong physical attacks. However, it is still possible for Lapras to pressure Chansey via Sing, so if you cannot find an opportunity to threaten it via Explosion, you can still rely on Sing to get the job done. Unparalyzed Non-paralyzed Starmie and Alakazam can are both answers to Lapras as well, threatening to shut it down with a Thunder Wave that will shut Lapras down, as if the Thunder Wave lands, they are simply able to Recover until Lapras fully paralyzes if Thunder Wave lands;[RSC].[AP] If Lapras is carrying Body Slam, the player you should attempt to predict their entrance and hit them with it, as paralysis turns this match up matchup around, making it favorable for Lapras, as it gives him and giving it the ability to strike once on Alakazam or Starmie's switch-in switch in and then again the turn after. To be honest this sentence(s) will confuse the hell out of a new player, especially someone with English as a second language, I'll try to re-write it as best I can in the C/P version Lapras has great potential to create significant advantages between access to Sing and a strong match up matchups on against very popular Pokemon such as Tauros, Snorlax, and Rhydon, but its checks must be taken care of before it can have any impact on the game.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Ice Beam is an alternative STAB option to use in place of Blizzard, but the lack of power is really noticeable and generally not worth the extra accuracy and PP.

Rest and Reflect can be used in conjunction to give Lapras much appreciated survivability to answer threats such as Tauros more reliably throughout the game, but the set is easy to pressure via powerful Special special attacks, particularly Psychic- or Electric-type ones, and the lack of offensive pressure makes it a risky and generally undesirable pick.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Chansey**: Lapras struggles immensely in attempting to break through Chansey. It can easily Soft-Boiled away any damage taken and force Lapras out with the threat of Thunder Wave. Lapras may attempt to put it to sleep with Sing, but the move is inaccurate, somewhat predictable, and completely useless against a paralyzed Chansey.

**Zapdos and Jolteon**: While Lapras's Blizzard respectively 2HKOes and 3HKOes these Pokemon, team structures that include Lapras generally leave themselves very vulnerable to Electric-type attacks, which Zapdos and Jolteon can easily exploit and punish with powerful Thunderbolts. It may even be preferrable preferable to sacrifice Lapras in a one-on-one just to get some chip damage on Zapdos in particular, but the same cannot be said for Jolteon, who which should nearly always have the upper hand against Lapras and only fears a potential Body Slam paralysis.

**Starmie and Alakazam**: If unparalyzed they are not paralyzed, these two Pokemon can tank any hit Lapras throws at them and Recover off the damage easily, (RC) while threatening it with a Thunder Wave. All Lapras needs to turn the tides on them is paralysis and some correct predictions,[RC].[AP] so both players should try to play very carefully in this match up matchup in order to avoid losing the exchange. (feels odd talking about strategies for your opponent as well, as i suggest that you reword it so it's only referring to the lapras player) NixHex edit: good catch, removing the last part of the sentence should do the trick.

**Amnesia Snorlax**: Although he it takes a while to get going, (RC) and has to worry about Sing, Snorlax doesn't take much damage from any of Lapras's attacks after one or two Amnesias boosts, (RC) and can retaliate with Body Slam. Although you probably don't want to use it is unlikely Amnesia Snorlax would be used as a switch-in, he it dominates the one-on-one. (i tried to reword this so it's more referring to the one who wants to use lapras instead of the one playing against it since this is an analysis on lapras, not ones against it)


[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[The Idiot Ninja, 265630]]
- Quality checked by: [[Zokuru, 263906], [xJoelituh, 241144]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]


GP 1/2
 

Amaranth

is a Site Content Manageris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
UPL Champion
Implemented with a couple tweaks - gave the whole 'body slamming starmie/alakazam' section a cleaner rewrite that gets to the point without dancing around with words too much, and kept Self-Destruct instead of Selfdestruct because well that's just how the move is spelled.
 

Fireflame

Silksong when
is a Top Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnus
Remove Add Comments (AC)= add comma (RC)= remove comma (AH)= add hyphen (RH)= remove hyphen
[OVERVIEW]

Lapras is a potent special attacker backed up by solid bulk and a good variety of coverage and utility moves. Although it faces strong competition from other Pokemon with similar coverage, its combination of power and bulk alongside access to Sing gives Lapras a unique set of qualities that make it an important niche option in the metagame, especially when you factoring in its positive matchup against tier titans such as Tauros and Snorlax.

[SET]
name: Standard
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Hyper Beam / Body Slam
move 4: Sing / Confuse Ray

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Blizzard is Lapras's most powerful attack, allowing it to deal heavy damage to anything that doesn't possess either huge special bulk or a resistance to Ice. Thunderbolt allows Lapras to hit Water-types, giving it the ability to muscle through paralyzed Starmie, which would otherwise be a poor matchup. In the third slot, Hyper Beam is Lapras's best bet to finish off Pokemon with a high Special but low Defense, such as Chansey and Alakazam, which are otherwise good answers to Lapras; however, Body Slam may be preferred, as it gives Lapras the ability to somewhat reliably paralyze opposing Starmie. The last slot is usually Sing, a move that provides great utility and scares off Pokemon that would otherwise function as great Lapras answers, with Chansey usually being the main target. Its low accuracy can be unfortunate, as Lapras doesn't have easy ways to shrug off any status or damage that may come its way, so misses can be particularly devastating. If the sleep move is not necessary, you may opt to run Confuse Ray instead, which is Lapras's best shot at powering through paralyzed special walls.

When using Lapras, you should first figure out a plan to take care of Chansey, as it can shrug off Blizzard quite easily. Snorlax's Self-Destruct and Exeggutor's Explosion are usually the best ways to achieve this, as your opponent should be able to preserve their Chansey quite easily by simply switching out if you try to defeat it via repeated Ice Beams, PP stalling, or strong physical attacks. However, it is still possible for Lapras to pressure Chansey via Sing, so if you cannot find an opportunity to threaten it via Explosion, you can still rely on Sing to get the job done. Non-paralyzed Starmie and Alakazam are both answers to Lapras as well, threatening to shut it down with Thunder Wave, as they are simply able to use Recover until Lapras is fully paralyzed. If running Body Slam, you should attempt to predict their entrance and hit them with it:(colon);(SC) should you manage to paralyze them, Lapras will outspeed them and be much harder to stop. Lapras has great potential to create significant advantages between access to Sing and strong matchups against very popular Pokemon such as Tauros, Snorlax, and Rhydon, but its checks must be taken care of before it can have any impact on the game.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Ice Beam is an alternative STAB option to use in place of Blizzard, but the lack of power is really noticeable and generally not worth the extra accuracy and PP.

Rest and Reflect can be used in conjunction to give Lapras much appreciated survivability to answer threats such as Tauros more reliably throughout the game, but the set is easy to pressure via powerful special attacks, particularly Psychic- or Electric-type ones, and the lack of offensive pressure makes it a risky and generally undesirable pick.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Chansey**: Lapras struggles immensely in attempting to break through Chansey. It can easily Soft-Boiled away any damage taken and force Lapras out with the threat of Thunder Wave. Lapras may attempt to put it to sleep with Sing, but the move is inaccurate, somewhat predictable, and completely useless against a paralyzed Chansey.

**Zapdos and Jolteon**: While Lapras's Blizzard respectively 2HKOes and 3HKOes these Pokemon, team structures that include Lapras generally leave themselves very vulnerable to Electric-type attacks, which Zapdos and Jolteon can easily exploit and punish with powerful Thunderbolts. It may even be preferable to sacrifice Lapras in a one-on-one scenario just to get some chip damage on Zapdos in particular, but the same cannot be said for Jolteon, which should nearly always have the upper hand against Lapras and only fears a potential Body Slam paralysis.

**Starmie and Alakazam**: If they are not paralyzed, these two Pokemon can tank any hit Lapras throws at them and Recover off the damage easily while threatening it with Thunder Wave. All Lapras needs to turn the tides on them is paralysis and some correct predictions.

**Amnesia Snorlax**: Although it takes a while to get going and has to worry about Sing, Snorlax doesn't take much damage from any of Lapras's attacks after one or two Amnesia boosts and can retaliate with Body Slam. Although it is unlikely Amnesia Snorlax would be used as a switch-in, it dominates the one-on-one.


[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[The Idiot Ninja, 265630]]
- Quality checked by: [[Zokuru, 263906], [xJoelituh, 241144]]
- Grammar checked by: [[NixHex, 40064], [, ]]
GP 2/2
 

Nix_Hex

Uangaana kasuttortunga!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Selfdestruct was its spelling in RBY; does PS set import only recognize the new spelling? If so then okay.
 

Amaranth

is a Site Content Manageris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
UPL Champion
Implemented, ready to go. Good work team promise I'll try to make the next ones easier on the GP team
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top