2vs2 Pokemon Analysis: Rayquaza (revived)

[RicepigeonKKM]

I'm mainly reviving the 2vs2 oober strats if anyone wants some form of reference for the upcoming 2006 nintendo tourney, also for editing purposes since the metagame has some new additions since the time it was originally posted.

Okay, with this thing around, weather based teams are screwed, seeinga s weather plays a much larger role in 2vs2 than 1vs1.

- Dragon Claw
- HP Flying
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
@ Lum Berry/Leftovers/Shell Bell

Rayquaza always pretty much was a Salamence on steroids. DC ohkos Kingdra if I'm not mistaken. HP flying for ludi, RS for that double flinch that Salamence is popular for now, and Earthquake is obvious. Swift Swimmers and Chlorophyllers will rarely beat Rayquaza, even if they do carry Ice Beam or HP Ice it still won't OHKO.

- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake/Protect
- Rock Slide
- HP Flying
@; Lum Berry/Leftovers/Shell Bell

Dragon Dancing set. Also works if you feel confident that you can OHKO kingdra without wasting a slot for Dragon Claw.

- Protect
- Icy Wind
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Claw
@ Lum Berry/Leftovers/Shell Bell

Special Rayquaza if you feel obligated to.

- Hidden Power Flying
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break/Double-Edge/Extremespeed
@ Choice Band

The most popular set in 1v1, it's a 2v2 option. Brick Break for Snorlax, Blissey or the occasional Clefable, Extremespeed obviously to finish off threatening opponents, which is a lot more useful since there's a lot less recovery in 2v2 than in 1v1. Don't forget to abuse the double flinch from Rock Slide when you can.

Opinion:
No Weather in 2vs2 can absolutely hurt alot of teams. Rayquaza can also dish out a huge amount of damage if you want it to.

Preferred Allies:
Salamence or Aerodactyl for double the flinch rate, Clefable for setup. A Helping Hander also works great.

EVs:
imo, 252 speed and a + speed nature always. Even with -SA nature, it should still dent Kingdra HARD. Play around with the offense stats and you'll find what works for you. I usually go with a 6/252/252 but whatever.

Counters:
Lati@s, Anything with Ice Beam, Double Flinch hurts it as it lacks intimidate. Counter Blissey might even be able to take this thing to the cleaners.

 

[Yuri]

Swift Swimmers and Chlorophyllers will never outspeed Rayquaza unless they have Ice Beam/HP ice and even then it won't OHKO unless its stabbed.

I guess you meant "SS'ers and CP'ers will never STOP Rayquaza...".

 

[obi]

Actually, what he meant would have been

Swift Swimmers and Chlorophyllers will never outspeed Rayquaza, and unless they have Ice Beam/HP ice, won't kill it. And even then, it won't OHKO unless its stabbed.

 

[RicepigeonKKM]

You know what I mean. Also, Rayquaza and Latios are like two eggs in a basket, despite the double ice weakness.

 

[AJC]

wouldn't latias work better since it take somewhat more punishment for just a slightly lower reduction in attacking stats

 

[RicepigeonKKM]

Latias is indeed more defensive, but keep in mind that could make little to no difference in 2vs2.

 

[DemonScythe]

tbh Rayquaza is quite terrible its rockflinch doesn't do enough, every other poke has a move its weak too. That anti weather thing is all it can do but that could end up screwing your own team and its sacrificing a pokemonslot for what you think will stop the other team dead when actually most of them have a back up weather man ._.

 

[RicepigeonKKM]

Rayquaza can own shit hard. Perfect leadoff Pokemon, especially if your partner is something like Mewtwo or Latios. Of course double flinch wont be as common in 00bers because of Groudon.

 

[DemonScythe]

though it can't ohko anything(doexys ._.) and alot of the shit
can ohko it though :/ the only things it can flinch are ho-oh kyogre
and groudon, but its shit to groudon, kyogre ohkos you and ho-oh
won't even stick around and everything else like latios and lugia
just ohko you easily..

 

[Cerivious]

though it can't ohko anything(doexys ._.) and alot of the shit
can ohko it though :/ the only things it can flinch are ho-oh kyogre
and groudon, but its shit to groudon, kyogre ohkos you and ho-oh
won't even stick around and everything else like latios and lugia
just ohko you easily..

There are two things that you should probably be informed of, switching and support from others...

 

[Little Green Yoda]

Do you really need the +Spd nature? Who do you need to outrun, assuming people aren't going to use max speed Groudon/Kyogre (for controlling the weather)? Other Rays?

 

[Ruby Soho]

my biggest qualm with quaza, is it needs the EVs. Its as fast as it needs to be to counter weather teams well, yet its EVs are a problem. it if it uses a + speed nature it NEEDS max special attack AND a dragon fang to ensure a OHKO on kingdra, assuming Kingdra is going light on HP and special defesnse EVs. and since kingdra has no need for speed EVs about 12 to outrun max speed 'trode... that is easily remedied. Giving 252 special attack EVs to defeat kingdra kinda seals quaza's fate to be a special varient, however without physical attacks he finds himslef unable to fulfill his job to dispatch things like ludicolo as he'll be forced to take out speed EVs Also with a minus defense nature 309 speed, he only gets around 347 attack to run that AA off of. and well 347 attack is just not nearly enough its AA does around 21%ish to snorlax or kyogre and an EQ off of that will not dispatch metagross and the only way have attack, speed, and enough special attack to dispatch kingdra and other Quazas is to dragon dance AAs, however that will leave a glaring gross weak. and quaza needs protect to defend from random ice beams! ._.;
at one point I was leading quaza clops, and that worked pretty well. MAX speicial attack Dragon fang quaza with alot of speed EVs and + speed nature will fuck up other quazas and Kingdra in OHKOs, however it fails to OHKO ludicolo or mortally wound mewtwo. so I could protect and imprison with clops to avoid a beam weak. it was pretty hype. but then you are in a very sticky spot on your first turn. do you take the risk of getting Quaza OHKOed? or do you let clops get double teamed. as mewtwo psychics and kyogre hydropumps will be the nature of attacks coming at you. if clops dies your in alot of shit, as imprisoned protect AND ice beam are gone and you have a mewtwo staring you in the face. and if you attack with quaza you can OHKO neither kyogre or mewtwo and clops still dies.


ironically the quaza mewtwo starter combo finds itself in an interesting situation against other lead mewtwos, who have very little trouble dispatching the dragon. and in terms of the JAA, 4v4 makes swiching VERY risky. especially when you would need to swich into an attack from mewtwo, who will most probably be running a special attack well over four hundred.

in the final analysis I would say, QUAZA NEEDS AEROBLAST!

EDIT: Being dragon flying in a 2v2 environment means its not liveing for very long. I reccomend an adament nature... even with max attack quaza still doesn't hit hard enough for his durability. Jolly or hastey quaza fails to OHKO exegg, even with max attack AND a Sharp Beak... and thats all eggy needs to blow up on you. besides. you can always ES stuff like wounded mewtwos, and you'll be happy for that extra bit of attack.

 

[wobbuffetds]

Why not make a one of a kind attack for it?

 

[Mekkah]

Fixed and added some shit, I hope you don't mind (you should thank me).

- removed the overuse of pictures, it's not needed
- added Choice Band set
- fixed the even if they wont outspeed they might still not kill with HP Ice/Ice Beam
- fixed some typo's and abbreviations
- added alternative items to all sets

Also you should avoid abbreviations like imo as much as possible.

 

[Invertedzero]

Rayquaza's Weather Negating

Occasionally, when i decide to do uber battles, and im using one of my several weather teams, they're not screwed up. I've encounted Rayquaza with my 'Tempest' team before, and its no problem really, just another uber. Only ones I have small problems with are latios and latias.

I have no idea how a sunny day team would fare though, but even within the boundaries of weather based teams there is still a lot of variation in 2v2. Again, all depends on the team and how you use it - cant stress this enough.

Let's hope for more abilities and potential strategies in the D/P games, and not just for moves that directly stop these things, like haze does to stat boost or reduction effects. I mean you should be able to counter that somehow as it just gets rid of a whole potential of strategies. It would be better if a move like mist could be used as a preventative, but that only lasts for 5 turns, like safeguard. You would then have to ensure that you attack first with mist before the opponent can haze.

There does need to be a way of counteracting or evading rayquaza's weakness to ice though. Perhaps a follow me ice pokemon, or if an attack like heat wave is used in the same turn, ice attacks either do half damage or turn into water based damage.

More gameplay effects need to be added to standrad moves like this, instead of just new moves with the same old RBY standards such as 20% status or 10% lower/increase stats.

Lets hope for some more sandstorm and hail based gameplay also.

 

[Mekkah]

The "there should be" stuff doesn't really belong here, post that on the D/P boards next time.