You're assuming that Raichu is always at full health and Chansey is not? 3HKOing at +2 doesn't sound very impressive at all, especially when you consider with LO recoil, Chansey will always 2HKO you with Seismic Toss after SR. You need 4 attacks to kill Chansey, while she kills you in return in half the time. She can recover off any damage you did to her as well. Yes, you can Encore Softboiled, but the fact of the matter is that you are fighting a losing battle, as she can just switch out to something else and just come back in to keep Seismic Tossing you until you die.
Its better than nothing. We're talking about
Chansey, the queen of SpD here. The ability to weaken Chansey / take it out by forcing to not use ANY support moves is a pretty big deal. Right, Chansey switching out of a +2 Raichu isn't a big deal...? Not many pokemon like taking a boosted Thunderbolt or coverage move.
This is something Raichu has over the electric types. When Raikou or Jolteon are met with Chansey, thats that, they're forced to switch out. Raichu at least has the option of beating down a weakened Chansey and forcing it into a catch 22 position. I'm
not saying that Raichu is great, hell its really mediocre. But its on par with other mediocre Pokemon who have received analysis' in the past (see Clefable, Lickick\y, Jumpluff etc)
I have no idea why you would take on Chansey with Raichu in the first place. You lose if you switch into either Toxic or Seismic Toss automatically, and even if you do switch into a harmless support move, your opponent can see Encore coming from a mile away, in which they'll just switch in a counter or a revenge killer (which there are so many things that can do this). Raichu lacks the initial power to punish revenge killers on the switch in unless you HP Ice Flygon or something like that.
Chansey is UU's premier Special Wall. If a Pokemon can take it or on or at least weaken it into KO range for practically any other Special sweeper is a big deal. I can flip the bolded around too. Raichu is a capable of switching into Chansey's support moves (Stealth Rock, Softboiled, etc)
and force it out with threat of Encore. How many electric types can do that in UU?
Base 100 Speed was great in 4th gen UU, above average at best this time around. Encore and Nasty Plot are great moves, but unfortunately Raichu is just so statistically inferior to his UU counterparts that they are not enough to save him (except for Manectric, which I personally don't think should have gotten an analysis either). The niche is there, but it's so small it's not worth considering. It's kind of like using Gyarados in Ubers. It had some potential, but it was just not good enough. Same goes with Raichu.
Actually, I really like Manectric in gen V UU. Switcheroo cripples Chansey and other walls, and access to Overheat means it can take out Registeel pretty quickly. (Registeel sorta sponges attacks from Jolteon / Aura Sphere less Raikou) I don't like how you're comparing using a niche Pokemon in Ubers vs using a niche Pokemon in UU (More pokemon are viable in UU etc)
Let's ignore the fact that Ferroseed and Bronzor were in that log (both players after all weren't bad) and instead concentrate on what Raichu did ...
How do people get away with that...
1. Chansey attempted to Heal Bell on a faster Pokemon with Encore. I'm betting Non Fiction wasn't aware that Raichu can use Encore, instead seeing Thunderbolt and Life Orb only. Thing about this though is that the next time Non Fiction meets a Raichu, he won't be so ignorant. This kind of one-time surprise factor really isn't very important. It might win you one game, but it won't win you the second.
I'd bet that the majority people aren't aware of Encore either,
but I digress... The next time Fiction see's Raichu switching in Chansey, he'll switch out. This also works in favor for Raichu too, because it can force out the best special wall in the game
without even attacking.
3. After getting Encored, Non Fiction did what most people would do: switch out to fodder and then get Chansey back in. To some point I do question his choice of fodder. I would probably have switched Ferroseed in, being an electric resist and all, and then go to Chansey on the HP Ice. Nonetheless the important thing to take away from this exchange is that after all is said and done Raichu ends up dying to Chansey. It weakened Chansey, but didn't take it out.
You missed the most important part.
Raichu weakened Chansey and forced it to not use Softboiled (huge btw), which allowed my team to easily revenge kill it.
Maybe Lightning Rod + NP + Encore > Thunder Wave Chansey, but then so does NP + Recover Porygon-Z > Thunder Wave Chansey. There's a reason why Toxic is the first slash on Chansey's analysis page, after all.
Or you know, you can switch into the other tons of non harmful support moves that Chansey typically carries. (IE softboiled, Stealth Rock)
Furthermore, we're now looking at 1) opponent must have a Chansey and 2) opponent's Chansey must be TWave variant. Isn't that a bit too contrived? What if neither of these hold true? Can Raichu hold its own against the other common UU Pokemon? It was NU last gen, meaning it had trouble competing with then-UU Pokemon, and with the power level has only gone up. What chance does it have of doing that this gen?
See previous point. As for Raichu's previous tier placement... Lickiliky and Jumpluff were Nu in gen IV too. Your point? As long as it has a decent niche its usable, its tiering placement is irrelevant.
Then why reject Gardevoir, who can also Encore on recovery + Rapid Spin + Haze, is pseudo-immune to TWave / Toxic coming from Chansey, not to mention attacks like Raichu's Thunderbolt?
I can see where you're coming from this, it has competition from other Psychic types, sorta paralleling Raichu right? The main factor is its slow, the majority of its sets are weaker copies of superior Pokemon (wish sets, calm mind sets, choiced sets, all 100% outdone by other Pokemon) whereas Raichu's Nasty Plot set isn't "great" but at least its exclusive it, something Raikou or Jolteon can't claim to have. ,
Nidoking obviously can't stay in on +1 Raichu because it will die to HP Ice. Rotom-H won't stay in either unless it's behind a Sub. As with Chansey, you have to play the 50/50 mind game to Encore Registeel's TWave. The tier's premier Electric sweepers all outspeed or at worst tie with Raichu, so Raichu misses the boat on all of them.
Being outsped by the tiers premier electric types isn't that big of a deal. Jolteon are commonly choiced so you can switch into Thunderbolt or Volt Switch and get a free opportunity to set up. CM Raikou, a pokemon that is known to be notoriously difficult Pokemon to check has a dilemma when dealing with Raichu. It can either attack, with a non stabbed coverage move (aura sphere hurts a ton though, i'll admit that) attempt to set up or switch out. Defensive Zapdos often don't run max speed so you can switch in on pretty much anything barring Toxic or Heat Wave and come out on top.This isn't a Raichu VS the World argument, so don't take it as such. I'm simply stating its options vs opposing electric types.
I'm with shrang that although every Pokemon should get an analysis, the fact that there've already been Pokemon who've been rejected speaks otherwise. If Raichu should have an analysis, so too should Absol and Gardevoir ... and Pikachu, for that matter.
I've said this again again, those Pokemon are outclassed by other Pokemon and lack any decent niches that make them good in UU. If anyone can up with a good Absol set that isn't a 100% shat on by Bisharp, then by all means go ahead. Same goes with Gardevoir.
To Summarize:
Raichu, mediocre Pokemon, unique/has an niche. Its on the same level as Clefable, Jumpluff, Jynx etc.
Absol, mediocre Pokemon, absolutely outclassed by Bisharp therefore it doesn't have a niche
Gardevoir, mediocre Pokemon, outclassed by the tons of other Psychic types. Although, to be honest if Rain were common in UU i'd approve it in a heartbeat.
Anyway, the OP has considerably improved in quality since it was originally posted.
Lets hope your main set is any good too.
