[OVERVIEW]
Rapidash has a niche as one of the few purely physical Fire-types in ZU, and it is one of the best thanks to strong Fire- and Electric-type coverage in Flare Blitz and Wild Charge, high Speed, and access to instant recovery in Morning Sun, providing great offensive utility and making a great revenge killer against attackers like Exeggutor, Swanna, and Leafeon. When equipped with a Choice Scarf, Rapidash is able to revenge kill slower Choice Scarf users like Swanna and Electivire thanks to its superior Speed and coverage. However, its weakness to entry hazards, lackluster bulk, and reliance on recoil-heavy attacks all cause Rapidash to be worn down quickly, preventing it from revenge killing multiple foes in a game. Furthermore, physical walls like Golem and Altaria can shrug off most of Rapidash's attacks and capitalize on its vulnerability to residual damage by using Stealth Rock or Toxic while facing it.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Wild Charge
move 3: High Horsepower / Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Morning Sun
item: Firium Z / Life Orb
ability: Flash Fire / Flame Body
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Wild Charge is an extremely important coverage move to hit Water-types like Swanna and Silvally-Water. High Horsepower allows Rapidash to hit Golem hard, as well as other Fire-types like Combusken and opposing Rapidash. Morning Sun allows Rapidash to offset the recoil it gets from Flare Blitz, Wild Charge, and Life Orb. Will-O-Wisp can be used over High Horsepower to punish physically attacking walls that switch into Rapidash like Granbull and Golem.
Set Details
========
Firium Z gives Rapidash a one-time nuke with Flare Blitz, removing recoil but most importantly scoring guaranteed KOs on the likes of Komala and Kecleon. Life Orb, instead, gives a consistent damage boost to all of Rapidash's attacking moves at the cost of more residual damage. Flash Fire gives Rapidash opportunity to switch into Fire-type attacks for free while receiving a buff to its own STAB attack. Alternatively, Flame Body in conjunction with Firium Z provides an incentive for switching into weaker contact attacks like Knock Off for the burn chance.
Usage Tips
========
This Rapidash set is best suited as a wallbreaker for offensive teams and can be a decent cleaner once its checks like Poliwrath and Golem are gone or significantly weakened. Utilize Flash Fire when applicable, as while Rapidash is frail, it can come in on a predicted Fire-type attack from Pokemon like Simisear and Monferno so it can boost its Flare Blitz. If Flame Body is chosen instead, try to switch in on weaker STAB moves from physical attackers like Pinsir, Leafeon, and Pawniard. Rapidash should avoid recklessly taking residual damage from entry hazards and recoil and should keep track of how much damage it is racking up on itself. Morning Sun can be used to restore the accumulated damage when forcing switches or on burned physical attackers. Be picky when using Rapidash's Z-Move, as it provides the power to dent Pokemon like Silvally-Fighting and Bouffalant while simultaneously forgoing the usual recoil from Flare Blitz.
Team Options
========
Rapidash is best selected for offensive teams and pairs well with other offensive Pokemon like Crustle and Marowak, which enjoy Rapidash's Fire-type coverage and struggle with Grass-types like Gourgeist-XL and Leafeon without it. Rapidash works especially well with entry hazard removal from Silvally-Water and Sandslash because it is very vulnerable to entry hazards on its own. In return, Rapidash also helps these two by targeting attackers that threaten them like Simisage and Swanna. Grass-types like Gourgeist-XL and Exeggutor make for good checks to Water- and Ground-types and can threaten some hazard users and physical walls like Sandslash, Mareanie, and Golem that Rapidash struggles with. Water-types like Swanna and Simipour handle Rock- and Ground-types for Rapidash. In turn, they appreciate how Rapidash wears down shared checks like Mareanie and Poliwrath, making them easier to KO with a Z-Move. Slow users of U-turn like defensive Silvally-Fighting and Komala are notable, as they can bring in Rapidash safely. On top of being slow pivots, Silvally-Fighting and Komala are also examples of Defog and Rapid Spin users to keep the field safe for Rapidash. On the other hand, entry hazard setters like Bronzor and Golem are helpful to let Rapidash get easy KOs on the opposing team.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Wild Charge
move 3: High Horsepower
move 4: Toxic
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Wild Charge is great coverage that hits Swanna and Floatzel extremely hard. High Horsepower hits other Fire-types like opposing Rapidash and Simisear, as well as Rock-types like Golem. Toxic punishes checks like Pyukumuku and defensive Golem by wearing them down. Megahorn can be considered over Toxic, as it can revenge kill Psychic- and Grass-types like Kadabra and Exeggutor without the heavy recoil from Flare Blitz.
Set Details
========
Choice Scarf cements Rapidash's role as a formidable revenge killer, enabling it to outspeed the majority of the metagame. Flash Fire is chosen over Flame Body, as without recovery, Rapidash would rather have the immunity to Fire-type attacks than being able to fish for burns.
Usage Tips
========
With Choice Scarf, Rapidash can serve as a fast attacker; it is especially effective against hyper offensive teams, as they often struggle with its Speed and coverage. Rapidash is a great revenge killer against the likes of Swanna and Sawsbuck. It can also be an effective cleaner when it can lock into Flare Blitz, as long as Pokemon that resist it like Silvally-Water and Combusken are weakened or already KOed. Bring in Rapidash safely on a free switch or with a slow pivot, especially when your side of the field lacks entry hazards, to effectively threaten the opponent. Once Rapidash is locked into a move, setup sweepers like Swords Dance Combusken and Z-Mirror Move Swanna can take advantage of it. In these cases, revenge kill with caution. Rapidash is much easier to wear down compared to sets running Morning Sun, so it should be wary of recoil and chip damage. If Rapidash is the team's main revenge killer, try not to jeopardize its health early on if the opponent still has their main setup sweeper left, like Z-Rain Dance Swanna or Rock Polish Torterra.
Team Options
========
Pokemon like Komala and Silvally-Dragon work really well with Rapidash, as they help remove entry hazards that it is vulnerable to and, in the case of Silvally-Dragon, alleviate offensive pressure on it. Grass-types like Leafeon let Rapidash ease prediction and provide perfect synergy with it, as they deal with the Rock- and Water-types that Rapidash has a bad time with, and Rapidash can deal with opposing Grass- and Ice-types for them. Entry hazard setters like Crustle and Mareanie let Rapidash exert greater offensive pressure, making for easier wallbreaking. Water-types like Silvally-Water and Swanna help shield Rapidash from Water- and Ground-type attacks from Poliwrath and Sandslash. Silvally-Water can also remove entry hazards and let Rapidash come in safely with Parting Shot, weakening the foe's attacks and letting Rapidash force switches.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Charcoal boosts Rapidash's main STAB attack Flare Blitz without the recoil of Life Orb, albeit at the cost of not boosting any of its coverage attacks. Toxic instead of Will-O-Wisp on the offensive set helps wear down its checks like Poliwrath and Golem but means Rapidash has a much harder time threatening physical attackers; priority users like Pawniard and offensive Mawile can especially be harder to deal with. Sunny Day can be used in conjunction with Firium Z to boost Rapidash's Speed and let it play the roles of both a revenge killer and sweeper, but it is only useful on sun teams and comes at the cost of its utility move in Will-O-Wisp. Groundium Z can be used to lure Mareanie and Golem and break Fire-types, but Firium Z is much better for a STAB nuke, and Rapidash still cannot break defensive Golem on its own. A set with Substitute + Toxic lets Rapidash ease Sucker Punch predictions and protect itself from Toxic. This set also allows Rapidash to cripple its normal checks like Pyukumuku and Golem, but this removes two valuable coverage moves. Hidden Power Ice can do heavy damage to Altaria and Gabite, which normally wall Rapidash, but Rapidash has too much trouble fitting this move over its more relevant coverage options.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Physically Defensive Pokemon**: Physically defensive Pokemon such Golem, Sandslash, and Altaria can take hits from Rapidash and cripple it with status or their super effective STAB attacks. The former two have to be careful of switching into a Will-O-Wisp or Toxic, though.
**Water-types**: Physically defensive Water-types like Pyukumuku, Poliwrath, and Mareanie can stomach Rapidash's Wild Charge and either recover the HP lost or use a super effective STAB move against it. Offensive Water-types like Floatzel and Swanna cannot safely switch into Rapidash but are either naturally faster or can use priority in Aqua Jet to take Rapidash out once it is weakened from residual damage.
**Faster Pokemon**: Faster Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Electivire and Floatzel can outspeed Rapidash and can take care of it with their STAB moves. However, they must be wary of the Choice Scarf set.
**Priority Moves**: Strong or super effective priority moves such as Sucker Punch from Kecleon and Aqua Jet from Swanna can take care of Rapidash with just a little prior damage, provided that Rapidash does not avoid Sucker Punch with Will-O-Wisp.
**Residual Damage**: Due to a weakness to all entry hazards and the use of recoil moves, Rapidash tends to faint very fast if it does not get an opportunity to use Morning Sun.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[WMAR, 273646], [Ho3nConfirm3d, 231074]]
- Quality checked by: [[5gen, 296755], [Ho3nConfirm3d, 231074], [uhuhuhu7, 407249]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [estronic, 240732]]
Rapidash has a niche as one of the few purely physical Fire-types in ZU, and it is one of the best thanks to strong Fire- and Electric-type coverage in Flare Blitz and Wild Charge, high Speed, and access to instant recovery in Morning Sun, providing great offensive utility and making a great revenge killer against attackers like Exeggutor, Swanna, and Leafeon. When equipped with a Choice Scarf, Rapidash is able to revenge kill slower Choice Scarf users like Swanna and Electivire thanks to its superior Speed and coverage. However, its weakness to entry hazards, lackluster bulk, and reliance on recoil-heavy attacks all cause Rapidash to be worn down quickly, preventing it from revenge killing multiple foes in a game. Furthermore, physical walls like Golem and Altaria can shrug off most of Rapidash's attacks and capitalize on its vulnerability to residual damage by using Stealth Rock or Toxic while facing it.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Wild Charge
move 3: High Horsepower / Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Morning Sun
item: Firium Z / Life Orb
ability: Flash Fire / Flame Body
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Wild Charge is an extremely important coverage move to hit Water-types like Swanna and Silvally-Water. High Horsepower allows Rapidash to hit Golem hard, as well as other Fire-types like Combusken and opposing Rapidash. Morning Sun allows Rapidash to offset the recoil it gets from Flare Blitz, Wild Charge, and Life Orb. Will-O-Wisp can be used over High Horsepower to punish physically attacking walls that switch into Rapidash like Granbull and Golem.
Set Details
========
Firium Z gives Rapidash a one-time nuke with Flare Blitz, removing recoil but most importantly scoring guaranteed KOs on the likes of Komala and Kecleon. Life Orb, instead, gives a consistent damage boost to all of Rapidash's attacking moves at the cost of more residual damage. Flash Fire gives Rapidash opportunity to switch into Fire-type attacks for free while receiving a buff to its own STAB attack. Alternatively, Flame Body in conjunction with Firium Z provides an incentive for switching into weaker contact attacks like Knock Off for the burn chance.
Usage Tips
========
This Rapidash set is best suited as a wallbreaker for offensive teams and can be a decent cleaner once its checks like Poliwrath and Golem are gone or significantly weakened. Utilize Flash Fire when applicable, as while Rapidash is frail, it can come in on a predicted Fire-type attack from Pokemon like Simisear and Monferno so it can boost its Flare Blitz. If Flame Body is chosen instead, try to switch in on weaker STAB moves from physical attackers like Pinsir, Leafeon, and Pawniard. Rapidash should avoid recklessly taking residual damage from entry hazards and recoil and should keep track of how much damage it is racking up on itself. Morning Sun can be used to restore the accumulated damage when forcing switches or on burned physical attackers. Be picky when using Rapidash's Z-Move, as it provides the power to dent Pokemon like Silvally-Fighting and Bouffalant while simultaneously forgoing the usual recoil from Flare Blitz.
Team Options
========
Rapidash is best selected for offensive teams and pairs well with other offensive Pokemon like Crustle and Marowak, which enjoy Rapidash's Fire-type coverage and struggle with Grass-types like Gourgeist-XL and Leafeon without it. Rapidash works especially well with entry hazard removal from Silvally-Water and Sandslash because it is very vulnerable to entry hazards on its own. In return, Rapidash also helps these two by targeting attackers that threaten them like Simisage and Swanna. Grass-types like Gourgeist-XL and Exeggutor make for good checks to Water- and Ground-types and can threaten some hazard users and physical walls like Sandslash, Mareanie, and Golem that Rapidash struggles with. Water-types like Swanna and Simipour handle Rock- and Ground-types for Rapidash. In turn, they appreciate how Rapidash wears down shared checks like Mareanie and Poliwrath, making them easier to KO with a Z-Move. Slow users of U-turn like defensive Silvally-Fighting and Komala are notable, as they can bring in Rapidash safely. On top of being slow pivots, Silvally-Fighting and Komala are also examples of Defog and Rapid Spin users to keep the field safe for Rapidash. On the other hand, entry hazard setters like Bronzor and Golem are helpful to let Rapidash get easy KOs on the opposing team.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Wild Charge
move 3: High Horsepower
move 4: Toxic
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Flash Fire
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Wild Charge is great coverage that hits Swanna and Floatzel extremely hard. High Horsepower hits other Fire-types like opposing Rapidash and Simisear, as well as Rock-types like Golem. Toxic punishes checks like Pyukumuku and defensive Golem by wearing them down. Megahorn can be considered over Toxic, as it can revenge kill Psychic- and Grass-types like Kadabra and Exeggutor without the heavy recoil from Flare Blitz.
Set Details
========
Choice Scarf cements Rapidash's role as a formidable revenge killer, enabling it to outspeed the majority of the metagame. Flash Fire is chosen over Flame Body, as without recovery, Rapidash would rather have the immunity to Fire-type attacks than being able to fish for burns.
Usage Tips
========
With Choice Scarf, Rapidash can serve as a fast attacker; it is especially effective against hyper offensive teams, as they often struggle with its Speed and coverage. Rapidash is a great revenge killer against the likes of Swanna and Sawsbuck. It can also be an effective cleaner when it can lock into Flare Blitz, as long as Pokemon that resist it like Silvally-Water and Combusken are weakened or already KOed. Bring in Rapidash safely on a free switch or with a slow pivot, especially when your side of the field lacks entry hazards, to effectively threaten the opponent. Once Rapidash is locked into a move, setup sweepers like Swords Dance Combusken and Z-Mirror Move Swanna can take advantage of it. In these cases, revenge kill with caution. Rapidash is much easier to wear down compared to sets running Morning Sun, so it should be wary of recoil and chip damage. If Rapidash is the team's main revenge killer, try not to jeopardize its health early on if the opponent still has their main setup sweeper left, like Z-Rain Dance Swanna or Rock Polish Torterra.
Team Options
========
Pokemon like Komala and Silvally-Dragon work really well with Rapidash, as they help remove entry hazards that it is vulnerable to and, in the case of Silvally-Dragon, alleviate offensive pressure on it. Grass-types like Leafeon let Rapidash ease prediction and provide perfect synergy with it, as they deal with the Rock- and Water-types that Rapidash has a bad time with, and Rapidash can deal with opposing Grass- and Ice-types for them. Entry hazard setters like Crustle and Mareanie let Rapidash exert greater offensive pressure, making for easier wallbreaking. Water-types like Silvally-Water and Swanna help shield Rapidash from Water- and Ground-type attacks from Poliwrath and Sandslash. Silvally-Water can also remove entry hazards and let Rapidash come in safely with Parting Shot, weakening the foe's attacks and letting Rapidash force switches.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Charcoal boosts Rapidash's main STAB attack Flare Blitz without the recoil of Life Orb, albeit at the cost of not boosting any of its coverage attacks. Toxic instead of Will-O-Wisp on the offensive set helps wear down its checks like Poliwrath and Golem but means Rapidash has a much harder time threatening physical attackers; priority users like Pawniard and offensive Mawile can especially be harder to deal with. Sunny Day can be used in conjunction with Firium Z to boost Rapidash's Speed and let it play the roles of both a revenge killer and sweeper, but it is only useful on sun teams and comes at the cost of its utility move in Will-O-Wisp. Groundium Z can be used to lure Mareanie and Golem and break Fire-types, but Firium Z is much better for a STAB nuke, and Rapidash still cannot break defensive Golem on its own. A set with Substitute + Toxic lets Rapidash ease Sucker Punch predictions and protect itself from Toxic. This set also allows Rapidash to cripple its normal checks like Pyukumuku and Golem, but this removes two valuable coverage moves. Hidden Power Ice can do heavy damage to Altaria and Gabite, which normally wall Rapidash, but Rapidash has too much trouble fitting this move over its more relevant coverage options.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Physically Defensive Pokemon**: Physically defensive Pokemon such Golem, Sandslash, and Altaria can take hits from Rapidash and cripple it with status or their super effective STAB attacks. The former two have to be careful of switching into a Will-O-Wisp or Toxic, though.
**Water-types**: Physically defensive Water-types like Pyukumuku, Poliwrath, and Mareanie can stomach Rapidash's Wild Charge and either recover the HP lost or use a super effective STAB move against it. Offensive Water-types like Floatzel and Swanna cannot safely switch into Rapidash but are either naturally faster or can use priority in Aqua Jet to take Rapidash out once it is weakened from residual damage.
**Faster Pokemon**: Faster Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Electivire and Floatzel can outspeed Rapidash and can take care of it with their STAB moves. However, they must be wary of the Choice Scarf set.
**Priority Moves**: Strong or super effective priority moves such as Sucker Punch from Kecleon and Aqua Jet from Swanna can take care of Rapidash with just a little prior damage, provided that Rapidash does not avoid Sucker Punch with Will-O-Wisp.
**Residual Damage**: Due to a weakness to all entry hazards and the use of recoil moves, Rapidash tends to faint very fast if it does not get an opportunity to use Morning Sun.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[WMAR, 273646], [Ho3nConfirm3d, 231074]]
- Quality checked by: [[5gen, 296755], [Ho3nConfirm3d, 231074], [uhuhuhu7, 407249]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [estronic, 240732]]
Last edited:
