Pokémon Lapras

[kvm1999]

Water/Ice Type

Water Absorb/Shell Armor/(HA) Hydration

130 HP / 85 Atk / 80 Def / 85 SpA / 95 SpD / 60 Spe

Full Movepool

Level Up Moves:
- [01] Growl
- [01] Water Gun
- [05] Sing
- [10] Mist
- [15] Life Dew
- [20] Ice Shard
- [25] Confuse Ray
- [30] Water Pulse
- [35] Brine
- [40] Body Slam
- [45] Ice Beam
- [50] Rain Dance
- [55] Hydro Pump
- [60] Perish Song
- [65] Sheer Cold

TM Learn:
- [TM001] Take Down
- [TM002] Charm
- [TM007] Protect
- [TM011] Water Pulse
- [TM017] Confuse Ray
- [TM019] Disarming Voice
- [TM022] Chilling Water
- [TM025] Facade
- [TM028] Bulldoze
- [TM034] Icy Wind
- [TM046] Avalanche
- [TM047] Endure
- [TM050] Rain Dance
- [TM052] Snowscape
- [TM053] Smart Strike
- [TM059] Zen Headbutt
- [TM066] Body Slam
- [TM070] Sleep Talk
- [TM074] Reflect
- [TM077] Waterfall
- [TM085] Rest
- [TM089] Body Press
- [TM099] Iron Head
- [TM100] Dragon Dance
- [TM103] Substitute
- [TM106] Drill Run
- [TM110] Liquidation
- [TM115] Dragon Pulse
- [TM117] Hyper Voice
- [TM120] Psychic
- [TM123] Surf
- [TM126] Thunderbolt
- [TM130] Helping Hand
- [TM135] Ice Beam
- [TM142] Hydro Pump
- [TM143] Blizzard
- [TM149] Earthquake
- [TM152] Giga Impact
- [TM156] Outrage
- [TM163] Hyper Beam
- [TM166] Thunder
- [TM171] Tera Blast
- [TM174] Haze
- [TM187] Icicle Spear
- [TM193] Weather Ball
- [TM204] Double-Edge
- [TM208] Whirlpool
- [TM209] Muddy Water
- [TM224] Curse
- [TM226] Dragon Cheer
- [TM227] Alluring Voice
- [TM228] Psychic Noise

Egg Moves:
- Horn Drill
- Fissure
- Curse
- Ancient Power
- Tickle
- Freeze-Dry
- Sparkling Aria

Lapras is a classic Gen 1 mon making their return in Scarlet and Violet, appearing for its ninth consecutive generation. This surfing mon will likely very rarely make a presence in OU, however in a conversation of buffs and nerfs, Lapras got some pretty nice buffs.


In Generation 9, Lapras gains Alluring Voice, Chilling Water, Dragon Cheer, Earthquake, Haze, Icicle Spear, Muddy Water, Psychic Noise, and of course Tera Blast. Of the list, I think the most notable would be Icicle Spear, finally allowing Lapras a great physical STAB without having to rely on negative priority Avalanche.

Of course, Lapras lost certain moves: Aqua Tail, Block, Frost Breath, Future Sight, Heal Bell, Iron Tail, Megahorn, Roar, Safeguard, Solar Beam, Swagger, Toxic, and Zap Cannon. Fortunately, the only notable losses of the list are the support moves Toxic, Heal Bell, and Roar.


Pros:

-Thanks to Freeze-Dry and a water STAB such as Surf or Hydro Pump, Lapras can hit every mon for at least normal damage.

-Lapras is pretty versatile, meaning it can get away with either a physical or a special offensive setup. Additionally, Lapras does not feel constricted with its movepool, with few Pokemon truly resisting one of Lapras’s moves.



Cons:

-Water and Ice serve as a terrible defensive typing, only resisting its own types Water and Ice.

-Being part Ice type means worrying about Stealth Rock damage, which provides significant chip damage if not running Heavy-Duty Boots.

-Lapras’s lackluster speed stat, maxing out at 219 with a neutral nature, enables faster threats to come in for free. Particularly, Electric, Grass, and Fighting types. Notably, however, they cannot immediately switch in on Lapras without taking significant chip itself.


Tera Options:


Fire:


This is a given for offensive Lapras. Tera Fire allows Lapras to gain invaluable coverage thanks to Tera Blast, hitting nearly three of every four mons super effectively. Tera Fire also is a notable defensive upgrade, gaining six resistances (Bug, Fairy, Grass, Fire, Ice, Steel), an immunity to Water thanks to Water Absorb, and being only weak to two types, Rock and Ground moves. While Lapras would be weak to Stealth Rock, it wasn’t a weakness it didn’t have already, thus making a Fire Tera a clear upgrade for this mon.


Ground:


I could see a use case for Tera Ground, primarily for physical variants of Lapras (more on that later). The two main motivations of this would be to boost Earthquake’s power and to gain a defensive typing that can turn a weakness into an immunity.


Water:


When in doubt, Tera water Hydro Pump. Not that it’ll rip holes in everyone, but it’s an option that exists.


Set Examples:

Specs:

Lapras @ Choice Specs
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Freeze-Dry
- Ice Beam
- Tera Blast

This allows Lapras to pretend it’s a wallbreaker. Find slow, passive mons for Lapras to take advantage of for it to chip down their switch in to either Hydro Pump or Freeze-Dry. 176 speed allows for Lapras to outspeed max speed neutral Kingambit and Ursaluna, as well as other base 50 mons.


Dragon Dance:

Lapras @ Heavy-Duty Boots/Loaded Dice
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Liquidation
- Icicle Spear
- Earthquake

Physical Lapras received a huge blessing in both Icicle Spear and Earthquake, two moves new to Lapras in Generation 9. This set-up sweeper takes advantage of you taking your opponent off guard as you get to Dragon Dance and power through your opponents. I recommend Jolly because Adamant would speed tie all the base 100s at +1.


The age old classic gimmick set:

Lapras @ Damp Rock/Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Whirlpool
- Perish Song
- Rest
- Rain Dance


This is the perish trap Lapras set. The objective is to find a mon that is passive and wear it down over the course of a couple turns. The order of turns would be to whirlpool, perish song, rain dance, rest, switch. Or you know, trade because this is a Lapras.

Overall:

Historically, Lapras hasn’t been viable even in the lower tiers, and I doubt a mon of this caliber will ever be OU viable. That being said, Generation 9 gave Lapras a couple new options to play with, so only time can really tell… (maybe at least the best in ZU)