Lapras (QC 3/3)

DTC

DTC

is a Pokemon Researcheris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
131.gif


[Overview]
  • Very bulky
  • Okay typing
  • One of the few bulky waters in NU
  • SR weakness sucks, especially with no recovery options
  • Very wide movepool with lots of options; such as Dragon Dance, which is strange considering Lapras isn't a dragon
  • Despite its all-around great stats and movepool it isn't that good thanks to a not-so-useful typing giving it trouble if one decides to use a defensive variant, and only okay offenses if one decides to use an offensive variant

[Set]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Ice Beam
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Roar / Surf
move 4: Heal Bell / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Calm
evs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD

[Set Comments]
  • One of the closest things to a counter to Shell Smash Gorebyss
  • Roar prevents things such as CM Jynx and Mespirit from setting up on you while also potentially making them take hazard damage.
  • Ice Beam is STAB
  • Water is additional STAB
  • Thunderbolt can hits Gorebyss allowing Lapras to act as an extremely good Gorebyss check.
  • Surf can be used if you want additional STAB.
  • Heal Bell allows Lapras to act as a cleric of sorts while also clearing Lapras of any status it might have.
  • Toxic can be used if you'd rather cripple stuff
[Additional Comments]
  • Survives attacks such as Specs Magmortar's Focus Blast and +2 Life Orb Gorebyss' Hidden Power Grass
  • 248 HP ev's allows you to switch in up to 4 times without die if SR is up.
  • Hydro Pump can be used if you'd rather have the extra power.


[Set]
name: Hydration Rest
move 1: Rest
move 2: Surf
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Thunder
item: Life Orb
ability: Hydration
nature: Modest
evs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD

[Set Comments]
  • Rest in Hydration allows Lapras to fully heal while being able to attack next turn.
  • Surf is STAB and is even more powerful in the rain.
  • Ice Beam hits Grass types super effectively and is additional STAB
  • Thunder hits the water types who think they can wall this set.

[Additional Comments]
  • Don't use Rest in the last turn of Rain, you won't get healed of your Sleep condition.
  • Leftovers can be used over Life Orb if you want extra healing but the 100% Rest is good enough.
  • Toxic can be used if you want to cripple some things but you're better off just attacking for the most part.
  • Hydro Pump can be used over Surf if you want to hit stuff harder but Surf hits hard enough with the extra Rain Damage



[Set]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Waterfall
move 4: Return
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 240 Spe

[Set Comments]
  • Dragon Dance boosts your attack and speed making you a formidable offensive threat
  • Substitute provides more set up opportunities
  • Waterfall is STAB
  • Return allows you to hit everything other then Frillish at least neutrally
[Additional Comments]
  • 16 HP EV's are used so Lapras reaches a HP stat of 405. 405 HP allows Lapras to make 101 HP subs and to be able to switch in 4 times if SR is on the field
  • Ice Beam can be used over Substitute to hit Torterra and Tangela who wall this set
  • Doesn't hit that hard even with a boost, so it appreciates hazards to OHKO Pokemon like Exeggutor

[Set]
name: Curse
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Curse
move 4: Avalanche
item: Leftovers
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Careful
evs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD

[Set Comments]
  • Curse boosts Lapras' attack and defense turning it into a bulky tank
  • Rest heals you up
  • Sleep Talk allows you to actually do stuff while Resting
  • Avalanche is your STAB and goes well with the slow nature of this set as it has -4 priority
[Additional Comments]
  • Wait until later in the game before attempting to sweep as Lapras can't get through threats like Tangela and Exeggutor
  • A more offensive spread can be used if you'd rather be able to hit hard off the bat. Doing this makes you more susceptible to special attacks

[Other Options]
  • Substitute + 3 attacks
  • Perish Trap
  • A more defensively oriented HydraRest set.
  • RestTalk
  • Outrage
  • Bulldoze

[Checks and Counters]
  • Stealth Rock
  • Bulky fighting types like Gurdurr, Machoke and Throh
  • Tangela can beat every non Ice Beam Lapras
  • Specs Exeggutor cleanly OHKO's any set.
  • Torterra can beat DD Lapras and Curse Lapras if Torterra is the RP version and Lapras is weakened a little
  • Cryogonal walls sets with only special attacks
  • Jynx can set up on special attacking Lapras, but has to watch out for Roar
 
I can definitely see PerishTrap working, and I wanna see a set that makes use of HydraRest or something idk what it'll look like yet
 
Omicron said:
I can definitely see PerishTrap working, and I wanna see a set that makes use of HydraRest or something idk what it'll look like yet
Click to expand...

I've used PerishTrap and I was honestly not impressed, people would just switch out to something that beat Lapras (before I got Whirlpool in) and I ended up not being able to trap anything, in my opinion it should just stay in OO. =/

HydraRest is something I should try out, a rain team should be trying to make the most out of the rain in the few turns it is up so defensive abusers aren't that great, but I'm not going to discount it just because I don't think it'll do well when I haven't tried it out. I'll play 10 battles tomorrow with a HydraRest Lapras and get back to you with the results. With proper team support, of course.
 
in last gen UU, perish trap lapras sucked. however, I remember feeling this way for two reasons - it couldn't get rid of venusaur due to its high SpD and lapras' meh SpA and also that it took too much damage from the simplest things. iirc registeel iron head did enough to leave lapras near death (or dead), which shows how... lackluster it was.

this gen may be the same. Roselia is gaining popularity at a reasonable rate; that NU has few walls that want to switch in on lapras does not help much either. the only thing I can think of that really wants to come in is maybe quagsire (alomamola is t-bolt bait), although I feel like I'm missing something crucial...

in any case, the perish trap strategy itself is flawed. recall that for perish trap to work, it needs a minimum of 2 turns where you're not protected (assuming your opponent switches in and you protect) and can have a maximum of 4 (assuming you switch in). that lapras has a total of 2 resists doesn't help. perish trap is misdreavus' territory and lapras needs not encroach upon it.
 
Lapras comes in. It uses Substitute. It fires off an attack. It's now on 40% HP. Are you really suggesting using Life Orb on a bulky Sub user that's weak to Rocks?

Mention a bulky spread in the Sub set's AC.

Does Heal Bell deserve a mention on the Curse set?

I'm not really sure about the moves on the Specially Defensive set and their order - can anyone weigh in on this?
 
Ice-eyes said:
Lapras comes in. It uses Substitute. It fires off an attack. It's now on 40% HP. Are you really suggesting using Life Orb on a bulky Sub user that's weak to Rocks?

Mention a bulky spread in the Sub set's AC.

Does Heal Bell deserve a mention on the Curse set?

I'm not really sure about the moves on the Specially Defensive set and their order - can anyone weigh in on this?
Click to expand...

1) Unfortunately, yes. Trust me, Lapras needs the extra power. Leftovers Lapras really didn't survive much longer then Life Orb Lapras anyways when I used it. =/

2) Alright

3) Good idea. I remember a lot of people relying on Toxic to kill Lapras so I'll put it in AC. There really isn't much room for Heal Bell on the actual set so I didn't place it there, but if another QC member thinks Heal Bell should be on the main set I'll put it there.

4) Definitely, I was having trouble deciding what moves to put in the specially defensive set.
 
If Lapras is really that mediocre without LO, then I'd much rather have the other sets above it (or no Substitute on that set at all). Sub + LO without recovery is just... yeah, not good. You're SR weak, too, like Ice-eyes mentioned. I'm starting to think that the SpD set should be first, especially if it becomes prominent as a Gorebyss check (though that thing's going anyway). Is a Specs set worth consideration? I mean, I reaaaally don't like SubLO in general, so that could be an option. A bulkier Substitute w/ Leftovers set sounds better, though I'm wondering exactly how weak it is. Can you give some examples, maybe?

The SpD set looks okay to me, though I'd rather have Thunderbolt > Surf for Gorebyss.
 
Alright, I've played like 40+ games with Lapras today and I've made a lot of changes with the help of the extra play-testing:

-Specially Defensive moved to the first slot.
-Changed the move order of the specially defensive set a little and put Surf as a slash in the 3rd slot.
-Sub + 3 attacks moved to OO. (It's just... not as good anymore, and I realized how bad LO truly is on a sub Pokemon weak to SR)
-Hydration Rest being added and put in the second slot. (It's the best set by far but requires rain support.)
-Curse set is totally changed; Rest / Sleep Talk / Curse / Avalanche is much better than my other Curse set.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top