Lapras @ Choice Specs
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 8 SpD / 248 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Freeze-Dry
- Ice Beam
- Surf
Choice Specs Lapras aids immensely in the Water, Dragon, and Grass Matchups ( Though Grass is extremely difficult thanks to Rillaboom) One of Rain teams biggest problems is that it is easily stalled by Balance Water Cores like Toxapex, Mantine, and Tapu Fini. So what beats all three? Choice Specs Lapras of course! From my experience playing VGC, I've learned that Lapras is one of the hardest anwsers to Water Types and was occasionally used in VGC as a Rain Answer including GS Cup. Between Water Absorb, Choice Specs, and Freeze-Dry, Lapras can single handedly take out the majority of Mono-Water teams since they have 0 switch ins to it. Yes, Lapras is slow, has a bad defensive typing, and has no recovery, but its bulk has proven to be critical to take hits like Thundurus-T, and thanks to Tapu Fini's Misty Surge, it allows Lapras to switch in on Toxic and take on Dragon types. Lapras has basically perfect coverage between Water and Freeze-Dry, so Surf is just a safe option and Ice Beam is higher power. A rain team I used featuring Specs Lapras has made the 1700s on the ladder.
Calcs:
252 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Lapras: 300-354 (74.8 - 88.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Rotom-Wash Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Lapras: 264-312 (65.8 - 77.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Replays showing how useful Lapras can be:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1426443901
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1426433224
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1423495218
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1417698984
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1409818655
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 8 SpD / 248 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Freeze-Dry
- Ice Beam
- Surf
Choice Specs Lapras aids immensely in the Water, Dragon, and Grass Matchups ( Though Grass is extremely difficult thanks to Rillaboom) One of Rain teams biggest problems is that it is easily stalled by Balance Water Cores like Toxapex, Mantine, and Tapu Fini. So what beats all three? Choice Specs Lapras of course! From my experience playing VGC, I've learned that Lapras is one of the hardest anwsers to Water Types and was occasionally used in VGC as a Rain Answer including GS Cup. Between Water Absorb, Choice Specs, and Freeze-Dry, Lapras can single handedly take out the majority of Mono-Water teams since they have 0 switch ins to it. Yes, Lapras is slow, has a bad defensive typing, and has no recovery, but its bulk has proven to be critical to take hits like Thundurus-T, and thanks to Tapu Fini's Misty Surge, it allows Lapras to switch in on Toxic and take on Dragon types. Lapras has basically perfect coverage between Water and Freeze-Dry, so Surf is just a safe option and Ice Beam is higher power. A rain team I used featuring Specs Lapras has made the 1700s on the ladder.
Calcs:
252 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Lapras: 300-354 (74.8 - 88.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Rotom-Wash Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Lapras: 264-312 (65.8 - 77.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Replays showing how useful Lapras can be:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1426443901
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1426433224
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1423495218
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1417698984
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1409818655