Competitive Pokemon History - Raikou Quiz

Answer: 75

For Base 75 to be a Pokémon's worst stat is pretty manageable, especially considering Raikou's standout Base 115 Special Attack and Speed stats. This made Raikou very well rounded, hitting very hard, outspeeding most of the meta, and being able to take a hit or two if it needed to.

Answer: No

This answer was actually closer than Raikou's top tier status and excellent all around stats would lead the average player to believe!

A Raikou without Hidden Power Grass can do pretty much nothing to Quagsire, who can boost with Belly Drum in front of non-Roar Raikou and then destroy it with a +6 Earthquake, before potentially proceeding to sweep. Quagsire can also just come in and go straight for the kill, easily 2HKOing with unboosted Earthquake while Raikou's Hidden Power Ice or Water would only 4HKO. Still, Quagsire cannot be considered a hard counter because a Raikou with Hidden Power Grass can destroy Quagsire before it gets the chance to move. This means that even if Quagsire switches in for free on an immune Thunderbolt, it could just get KOed before it can react on the next turn if Raikou has Hidden Power Grass.

Raikou's relationship with most Ground types in general worked this way. Rhydon and Steelix easily beat Hidden Power Water-less Raikou (Rhydon was also handled by HP Grass), Nidoking took little from Hidden Power Grass but did fear Hidden Power Ice and Water. Finally, Exeggutor could technically counter Raikou if it lacked Hidden Power Ice, switching in on any other move, taking a second hit if HP Ice wasn't present, and OHKOing Raikou with a sacrificial Explosion.

Finally, the king of the tier in Snorlax could hard counter Raikou if it chose Thunderbolt instead of Thunder for its main STAB attack, or if the field was clear of entry hazards. Raikou with Thunder has a very shaky chance to 2HKO Snorlax if Spikes are on the field, but even in this worst case scenario for Snorlax, Thunder's 70% hit chance and the fact that it only has about a 40% chance to 2HKO after Snorlax takes Spikes damage, if both hits land, presents a huge risk for both sides. If Snorlax has Earthquake, it will be able to always OHKO Raikou with it if it survives the second Thunder, dodges it, or if Thunder or Spikes aren't in play to begin with. Earthquake-less Snorlax can be in quite the bind against Raikou when trying to hard switch in, but as a worst case scenario, it can deal heavy damage to it with a Normal type move or Rest off the Thunder before switching out, or trying its luck once again with Sleep Talk rolls. Clearly not a consistent hard counter by any stretch, but Snorlax can counter Raikou under some fairly reasonable scenarios.

Answer: UnderUsed's banned list

Raikou's role in standard play was very anti-meta. To clarify, Raikou itself wasn't actually amazing, as the quality of its base stats did deteriorate and the power level of the tier rose, threatening Raikou quite a bit. However, Raikou was oddly still a high tier Pokémon despite not even receiving enough usage to call the tier its official home. Raikou could check the likes of Earthquake-less Metagross, Salamence, Gyarados, Milotic, Zapdos, and even Blissey, very effectively. Given that these Pokémon make up most of the top echelon of third generation's standard play atmosphere, having a singular Pokémon which could beat them all was quite valuable. However, Raikou did have some big problems which resulted in its usage suffering. First and foremost, it had a severe weakness to being trapped and easily KOed by Dugtrio, who would dispose of Raikou with a single Earthquake and essentially cause the trainer to have wasted its teamslot most of the time. Because of Dugtrio's Arena Trap ability, Raikou would be unable to escape its fate. Additionally, while Raikou can check a rather impressive array of threats, it cannot defeat them all by itself, nor can any one of Raikou's sets check all of them. For example, RestTalk Raikou and Subsitute + Calm Mind Raikou can defeat Blissey, but SubCalmMind variants run into problems against certain Zapdos variants, while RestTalk Raikou would have a shaky chance at putting a stop to a Salamence, or even a Gyarados, with Dragon Dance, especially if either packed Earthquake. This meant that clever play was needed to get the most out of Raikou; if someone hard-switched their SubCalmMind Raikou into Zapdos, they could bluff the RestTalk set which defeated Zapdos easily, and could use this tomfoolery to score some momentum against the opponent.

Simply put, Raikou was not an easy Pokémon to effectively use, but it was certainly an excellent all around force in the meta.

Answer: Rash

Rash boosts Raikou's Special Attack at the expense of a hit to its Special Defense. While a Special Attack-boosting nature might seem like a good idea for a Special Attacker, the reduction to Special Defense was both highly unwanted and not necessary; Raikou frequently operated better with Timid due to the higher need to better utilize its Speed stat and the lack of need for its Attack stat.

Still, this would be the price exacted in exchange for Raikou to gain access to Extremespeed, Aura Sphere and Weather Ball. The former made for a good pick on certain All-Out attacking lead variants of Raikou, which made for a decent selection on an offensive team. Aura Sphere would be decent if the trainer required Raikou to be able to check Tyranitar and Heatran, though its ability to defeat the latter could easily be compromised by its Rash nature reducing its Special Defense, while the former could survive an Aura Sphere and KO back with Earthquake if running the move. Weather Ball was usually not a popular pick, though on Rain or Sun teams, it could be useful to give Raikou added coverage.

Answer: UnderUsed

For the first time, Raikou was deemed appropriately powered and legal for the UnderUsed tier. Here, it was pretty great just as it had been in standard play for two full generations, pulling largely the same tricks here that it had been since its inception.

Raikou's high Base 115 speed stat and good natural bulk were enough to support its somewhat underwhelming offenses and made it into a viable, albeit rarely seen threat in standard play. Here, it generally aimed to sweep teams with a Calm Mind + 3 Attacks set, or it would amplify its power to respectable levels to function as a wallbreaker with a Choice Specs set.

Answer: It could bluff its moveset much more effectively

Event Raikou, one which has access to moves such as Extremespeed, Aura Sphere and Weather Ball, is 100% guaranteed to arrive to the trainer as a shiny Raikou when it is distributed. This means that if a Raikou is not shiny, it is not possible to have these three moves. If a non-shiny Raikou comes on the battlefield, its opponent will (if well-informed) know that it cannot possibly have Aura Sphere on its moveset, and would then be able to much more confidently switch their Tyranitar into it.

It is, of course, possible to have a shiny Raikou that does not necessarily have these moves, so if the player could obtain shiny Raikou, they could at least keep the opponent honest, having to learn Raikou's moveset at the user's discretion, rather than know it off the bat.

It is also possible for a shiny non-event Raikou to have a Timid nature, meaning a player who foolishly assumed that their opponent's shiny Raikou was the event variant, who thought their Latias could safely switch into it, would be up for a surprise when their Latias was actually outsped and 2HKOed by Shadow Ball.

Answer: Raikou was an important check to numerous top tier Pokemon

Talonflame, Thundurus, Mega Pinsir, Mega Charizard-Y (watch out for X) and Gengar were some very high profile threats Raikou could very effectively check. With every serious team needing a Talonflame check and a way around Mega Charizard, Raikou could reliably offer the former and could also easily defeat Mega Charizard-Y as well. Part of this stemmed from Raikou's bag of tricks gaining a new tool in the new Assault Vest item- an item which granted a +1 to Raikou's Special Defense stat in exchange for forcing it to use only moves which directly dealt damage.

Overall, Raikou was back to being an incredible Pokémon that helped Offensive teams not immediately lose to an opposing Talonflame. It offered a nice defensive backbone while also not being at all passive. It was back to being an excellent pick in the tier once again.

Answer: Inner Focus

Inner Focus would render Raikou immune to being flinched. It could have its situational uses, but the lack of genuinely good Fake Out users combined with Raikou's high speed meant it wouldn't usually be getting Flinched much anyway. With Pressure hardly being essential, a player could opt to run this ability and not exactly cripple Raikou, but Pressure would generally still be preferred, especially on its Substitute or rarer RestTalk sets.

Answer: Tapu Koko

Tapu Koko boasted higher speed, more offensive potential and utility thanks to its Electric Surge ability, and while it wasn't as bulky as Raikou, its access to instant recovery in Roost offset this disadvantage entirely. Combined with the vastly different meta where Raikou was no longer a good check to top players in the metagame anymore, Raikou was no longer useful in standard play for the seventh generation.

It actually dropped all the way to RarelyUsed, where it would simply chin up and do the same exact things it had for the majority of its existence, to at least remain very successful in that tier.

Answer: Raikou was completely removed from the game

Raikou was sadly denied entry into the eighth generation, along with roughly 450 other Pokémon. It will take a bow for now and head for intermission, as it has put on quite the show in whatever tier it has ended up in up to this point. Like many other Pokémon, Raikou hopes to perform an Encore performance in the ninth generation.