Pokémon Day 7* Raid Event - Pikachu (Water-Type Tera)

[SadisticMystic]

If you get a fast Lurantis (at least 195 speed), then you get to put up Sunny Day before the second Surf, which is big because you won't take as much damage from those first two Surfs combined than a bulky Lurantis would, even with the caveat that you don't have much in the way of spare bulk EVs. It also means that no matter how low your health is, as long as it's greater than 0, you don't have to mess with the unreliability of a heal cheer to get enough health back to survive a potential Thunder hit: you'll go first with Synthesis, or on the turn you finally unlock tera, Giga Drain will serve as a 100% heal along with the damage and you don't have to worry about getting sniped for a KO before that first tera attack, causing your lane to be permanently wasted.

 

[War Incarnate]

I did this raid using a Lurantis [to no one's surprise, it's quick, efficient, and it works well once you tera]. EVs were max HP and Special Defense with the remainder put into Special Attack. Had to hyper train for HP/Def/SpA/SpD IVs but frankly hyper training has always been a part of good raid builds so who am I to be surprised? [I can credit Mass Outbreaks of Misdreavus and Azurill for making training this mon way easier]

Main note here was that I was underleveled at the time and didn't feel like putting in more effort so I gave the raid a go.

T0: Rain Dance + Tera Water Surf = me being damaged for ~50% of my HP on a resisted hit [to be fair I was underleveled so I had no idea what to expect]

I use Sunny Day to get rid of the Rain and I Synthesis to bring me back to full so I don't die.

Four Leaf Storms later because Pikachu drained my Tera charge once, and I can tera Grass.

After that, I cycle between Giga Drain for healing and Leaf Storm for damage, as well as Synthesis on occasion to recover from damage.

Even underleveled and with barely any Special Attack investment [decided to use a Modest Mint for damage], at +6 Lurantis did quite a bit of damage.

Eventually after a few repeats of the Giga Drain-Leaf Storm cycle [as well as Iron Tail dodges] I am able to kill the Pikachu and catch it for myself. This was all done solo too, with Dudunsparce/Umbreon/Tauros-Paldea as my partners. I guess Intimidate helped make the Iron Tails a little more tankable but otherwise they didn't do too much of note.

Here's the build if you want:
Lurantis @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Contrary
Level: 87
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 31 HP / xx Atk / 31 Def / 31 SpA / 31 SpD / xx Spe [Atk/Spe IVs do not matter]
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Leaf Storm
- Sunny Day

addenum: Covert Cloak is here to avoid random Thunder paras and Iron Tail defense drops.

 

[DougJustDoug]

Nice pro tip to get extra item drops on this raid.

 

[pika pal]

To be fair I struggle to understand how people using Lurantis survive.
I've tried it. Ofc, to be fair, mine wasnt EVd, but even with EVs I mostly see other people's Lurantis stuck to use a lot of Syntesis until either they get missed or someone else sets up defensive cheers or screens and they can actually get some Leaf Storms off.

Also, if you've been grinding previous raids as I understand, at this point you're likely drowning in both exp candies and bottle caps (and maybe ability patch/capsules too), so you could just do what I did, aka catch a bunch of random Smolivs until I got a grass tera one then just quickly bring it to 100 + cap up the IVs.

The things I notice (using Lilligant whose default bulk is barely better max HP than uninvested Lurantis)

1. Wait a second so that someone gets Sunny Day off before my first action, since the Sun goes into effect before the second Surf

2. Put Leftovers on her, which combined with the Terrain means 1/8 HP healed per turn, on average enough to outpace the inaccurate Thunders or Iron Tails while building Tera

Assuming the timer is in your favor, fainting at specific times can be better because it means you're not out when Pikachu steals Tera Orb Charge, then go into Tera without any Stray DEF drops from Iron Tail to juggle while boosting.

 

[Vengeance417]

I can confirm that is so good as a support for this raid. Naturally faster than Pikachu which means you can just dump all of your EVs into bulk and Knock Off turn 1 before it gets its second attack off. Having Acid Spray is good not just for your Giga Drains but for your partner Lurantis, which can OHKO at +6 SpA and -6 SpDef on Pikachu after Tera. Mud Slap is good utility vs the not 100% accurate moves. Been using the Assault Vest set that was posted earlier, but non-AV can run Screens or Grassy Terrain. Wish it got Sunny Day, though, but regardless, this has been my most consistent supporter thus far.

Toedscruel @ Assault Vest
Ability: Mycelium Might
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Knock Off
- Giga Drain
- Acid Spray
- Mud-Slap

This is the set I've been using:

Lurantis @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 48 SpA / 208 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sunny Day
- Synthesis
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain

As what SadisticMystic said a few posts ago, this lets you outspeed Pikachu and safely get your Sunny Day off t1. FasTis has the best survivability out of all the other Lurantis sets imo. Getting your Sun-boosted Synthesis off before Pikachu can attack is huge, especially when combining that with supporting Defense cheers, Knock Off, and/or Screens. Covert Cloak prevents Thunder paras, too.

 

[R_N]

Beat this first try with an online squad of Arboliva, Lilligant, Meowscarada and my own Arboliva (Giga drain, growth, sunny day, tera blast)

I sadly didn't contirbute much beyond cheering and chip because I was just getting beyond unlucky. I got hit by FOUR Thunders while Sunny Day was up and paralyzed twice. By the time I could Tera I couldn't risk wasting it since i was paralyzed and low on hp. THankfully my cheers seemed to come in clutch (1 heal, 1 defense buff, 1 offense buff once everyone was tera and i thought i was about to die) and the other 3 were able to set up their teras and get their sweep in.

I had to wait 15 entire seconds where nothing was happening because the game had to catch up to the fact that Pikachu died. I didnt feel like wasting a good ball on it so i just put iti n a premier ball

e: ALso two of those sunny day thunders were crits! Like come on!!

 

[DougJustDoug]

Like all the big raids, I've been playing this one a lot with lots of different pokemon. As Pikachu is coming to a close, here are my impressions and the mons that I have had success with in this raid.

General Pikachu Raid Notes and PSA's

Comments

• Once again, we have learned that we can't really predict what GF is going to do with these raids! Yes, it's always fun to speculate, but time and again GF shows that we really can't count on anything from the past as a predictor of the future. So we need to always expect the unexpected.
• The instant shield and massive HP increase on this mon was a very big deal, of course. It made what would have been a pushover raid into a legit challenge!
• In many ways, this raid is harder than Greninja. But, with the right pokemon, I feel this raid can be cleared more reliably than Greninja could.
• I also like that there are a good number of pokemon that can be used to contribute to reliable wins in the Pikachu raid. Whereas with Greninja it was almost always centered around Slowbro Stored Power nuking, and mons to support the Bros. Although Lurantis seems to be a very frequent part of the fastest wins of Pikachu raid, and it's really popular. There are multiple other ways to get through this raid reliably without Lurantis.

Public Service Announcement: Tera-charging
Something I learned the hard way in this raid, that was discussed a little on Discord, but hasn't been publicized widely is:

If you use a weak attack (low BP move, weak attacking mon, or both) against the shield, it is very possible to do 0 damage and that attack WILL NOT BUILD TERA CHARGE.​

• This is different than the regular pokemon damage formula that is guaranteed to do at least one point of damage. With the Tera shield, and particularly with Pikachu's shield only allowing 1% of non-tera attack damage through, it is possible to do less than 0.5 points of damage and the raid damage formula can and will round that damage down to 0. If that happens, even if the attack "hit" and secondary effects triggered and all that, it will not count towards your tera charge.
• I tested this multiple times with different pokemon and moves. And things like Mud-Slaps and weakmon Acid Sprays consistently did not build tera charge. Something to remember now and in the future if we ever get another mega-shield like this.

Public Service Announcement: Knock Off Glitch
Also discussed on Discord by multiple users that there is some unexplained and unpredictable glitch with Knock Off. Sometimes, it just... doesn't work. Yes it appears to hit and builds tera charge and all that. But there is no message saying the Light Ball was knocked off, and the damage done by Pikachu is very clearly still Light Ball boosted. If Knock Off fails once it will continue to fail no matter how many times you use it. We can't see any predictable pattern as to why it fails, but it happens quite a bit. I'd say it happens once every 3-4 raids, which sucks. Just something to keep in mind if Knock Off is part of your strategy.

Here's the mons I have personally used with success in this raid. I list them roughly in order of overall effectiveness, but this is just my opinion, of course.


Lurantis @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Speed / 50 SpAtk
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain
- Sunny Day
- Synthesis

Lurantis Moveset Comments

Lurantis has emerged as the MVP of the Pikachu raid. Not because it is so overwhelmingly better than anything else. But it has the best combination of reliability to not die and it is definitely the pokemon that can win the raid the fastest if you do it right. Lots of writeups already on Lurantis in this thread and mine isn't much different. I'll just pile on what others have said and reiterate that you REALLY want this pokemon to be +Speed nature and ev'd to get to 195 speed or higher to outspeed Quiet Pikachu. Yes, it takes a lot to get a slowmon like Lurantis with a craptastic 45 base speed up to the requisite speed tier. But without it, you're going to struggle to win this raid as consistently as the cool kids.

Lurantis rocks because it sets up while it is building Tera with Leaf Storm. And if you get a little help from teammates, you can often Tera before Pikachu steals your charge. And if you get some Acid Spray support from your team, Lurantis can almost one-shot Pikachu very quickly. With the wide variety of teammates you get in rando raids, the one or two shot scenario rarely plays out. But it's fun when it does.

I usually enter the lobby of rando raids with Lurantis by default, and then I switch if I can. Not because I don't like Lurantis, but just because it's popular enough that one or two other people are usually using it, and I prefer to run other stuff, if I can. But if no one else has one, I run mine so we can clear the raid as fast as possible.

Wo-Chien @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 178 Def / 80 Speed
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Snarl / Sunny Day / Mud-Slap
- Growth

Wo-Chien Moveset Comments

Wo-Chien is wonderful because it is really the only reliable pokemon you can use in this raid that can Knock Off the Light Ball (see comments above about the Knock Off glitch though). And knocking off that item is super-beneficial to almost everyone in this raid not named Clodsire, because survivability is such a concern. Without that item Pikachu is neutered considerably, and it's amazing how many frail teammates stop dying so much when that damn Light Ball is gone!

I Knock Off turn one, then usually Snarl twice to save limited Giga Drain PP while further helping my teammates deal with Thunder and Surf damage. Then I Tera, usually with Giga Drain to get back to full health if I haven't already been topped up by teammate cheers or whatever. Then I go on the offensive and boost up with Growth for a few turns. And since usually I'm the only one on the team that isn't having health problems at this point, I toss out a Go All Out cheer to boost everyone, and we nuke the hell out of the electric mouse and win the raid.

Wo-Chien is actually my favorite pokemon to use in the Pikachu raid, because I think it is the most reliable and easy to play. It's not the MVP in my opinion (see Lurantis), because Wo-Chien has that dickhead ability that debuffs your teammates' Attack. So I don't bring it into rando raids with physical attackers (usually Meowscarada and the occasional Leafeon). But if I see a lobby full of special attackers like Lurantis, Arboliva, and Lilligant then I switch to Wo-Chien and do my thing without fear of pissing anyone off.

One exception to my "not with physical teammates" rule -- Clodsire. Even though there are some stupid Clodsire users that run sets with Earthquake and Poison Jab or whatever, they probably aren't going to be making a dent in this Pikachu raid anyway. If they are smart Clodsire users, they know their job is to Mud-Slap and Acid Spray and basically "not die" (which Clodsire is AMAZING AT in this raid, see below). And if they DO plan to actually do some damage, they probably run Curse and they can overcome Tablets of Ruin anyway. I kinda facepalm when I see Clodsire's cursing up, as in "What's the point, dude?" But hey, whatever floats their boat...

Wo-Chien is the only pokemon I use to solo the raid, because it is almost brain-dead easy to solo with it. I typically reset my personal raid until I get an Arboliva NPC, just for the Grassy Terrain support. But it's not necessary to have it. Also, although I don't reset for it specifically, I usually get one or more intimidator NPCs as well. Which is very nice for Wo-Chien in handling those Play Roughs from Pikachu, and giving more turns to Growth-up.

When I finished my ingame, I very quickly leveled and EV-trained all of the Ruin legends eagerly anticipating and theorymonning ways to use them in raids. I was crushed when I discovered their effing abilities were a debuff to the whole team which makes them practically useless for raiding. :-( So to be able to use one of the Ruinmons in this raid is a real joy for me. If anything, because I had a fully-trained Bold Wo-Chien just sitting there in my box gathering dust and I can put it to good use now!

Arboliva @ Covert Cloak / Leftovers
Ability: Seed Sower
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpAtk
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sunny Day
- Reflect / Synthesis
- Growth

Arboliva Moveset Comments

I already had a fully trained Arboliva in my box, so this was the first pokemon I used in rando Pikachu raids. And although I generally appreciate having at least one Arboliva on most teams where I'm using Lurantis or Wo-Chien, I personally do not enjoying playing this mon. I'm sure my Arboliva build could be tweaked (nature and EVs for example), since this moveset is just a few moves changed on the mon I already had built. But after trying a few different things I just decided I'd rather spend time training up some new mons rather than continuing to screw with this one.

Arboliva's big benefit is the omnipresent Grassy Terrain that comes from Seed Sower. And since Pikachu hits everyone on Turn 0, that means everyone gets the benefit of the terrain for the entire battle more or less. When I started with Arboliva, I was hoping it could do some support but also boost up and deal some damage too. All the while getting easy health from those boosted Giga Drains. The reality was quite different for me. I spent most of my time just trying not to die.

I originally had Leftovers and quickly found out that Iron Tail defense drops are a quick recipe for death for the olivemon. But with Covert Cloak, those Iron Tails still hit super-hard and if it crits you're totally screwed. And since Arboliva is so damn slow, Synthesis was practically worthless because you couldn't heal up before a hit. So Arboliva has to use all of its Heal cheers almost every battle. Which means it isn't building Tera and it's not going to be using Growth or doing any real damage any time soon. Then when I switched to Reflect to get out of Iron Tail hell, I discovered Pikachu is no dummy and just goes to Thunder. Which, even resisted and going against Arbo's higher defensive stat, is a big BP move and still does a shitton of damage. So I was right back where I started. Rather than continuing to play musical chairs with "How to not die with Arboliva", I bailed and started making other mons for this raid.

I put Arboliva high on this list for a couple of reasons. One, although I didn't really enjoy doing it, I was in fact successful using it. Two, I really do appreciate having at least one Arboliva on rando teams when I play. Even though Arbolivas die often and they burn the timer a bit. They help the survivability and DPS of others with the terrain, and they are almost guaranteed to be doing Heal cheers the entire battle if the players have half a brain. That leaves it to the big boys (Lurantis, Liligant, Brute Bonnet, etc) to actually take down the mouse boss. It's not sexy, but every team needs a water-boy... err water-olive sometimes ;-)

Brute Bonnet @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Speed / 62 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Seed Bomb
- Synthesis
- Sunny Day
- Growth

Brute Bonnet Moveset Comments

Brute Bonnet is actually my second-favorite pokemon to run in this raid. But it's not the offensive MVP that Lurantis is, it's not the overall reliable champ that Wo-Chien is, and it's not as splashably helpful as Arboliva. So it comes in at number 4 on my list. But I really like this mon for the Pikachu raid, particularly if you want to run something a little different than the crowd, but not be risky by using a quirky mon.

Although Brute isn't fast by any means, its base 55 speed is just enough to let it run Adamant instead of Jolly and still get up to the magic 195 speed number needed to get the jump on Pikachu. For that reason alone, I love using this mon. Because it's super bulky like Wo-Chien, without the douchebag downside of debuffing your teammates when it hits the field. I keep Sunny Day in the moveset, even though I can almost 99% guarantee someone else on the team is going to put up sun for me, so I can go straight to Seed Bombing and building Tera. After Tera, I do a little Growth, do some more Bombing and before you know it, bob's your uncle.

The only reason I don't use it more, is because it's basically just an offensive weapon for this raid. And if I want to go offensive, Lurantis does that much faster and better, albeit a bit less reliably on the survivability side. But like I said, on the average rando team, without complete idiots for teammates, Lurantis is going to survive just fine. And doing the Growth-Hit cycle is sooooo much slower than three little Leaf Storms to +6 that Lurantis does like no other. But every once in a while I like bringing out the Brute, if anything for the pleasure of using a physical Paradox mon in Tera raids not named Iron Hands.

Appletun @ Covert Cloak / Leftovers
Ability: Gluttony
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpAtk
Bold Nature
- Apple Acid
- Giga Drain
- Reflect
- Recover

Appletun Moveset Comments

This was easily my least favorite of all the mons I built and used in this raid. I built it yesterday because I kept seeing it in raids and the thought of using a big BP move like Apple Acid that also debuffs SpDef was very appealing to me. I envisioned using it like Lurantis, where you can simply attack off the bat and build tera while effectively boosting at the same time. The only difference that Appletun would "boost" by debuffing Pikachu's SpDef. So that seemed pretty cool.

The reality for me was -- Play Rough hurts like a bitch.

And Appletun is so darn slow, that it really can't do anything but "try not to die" after that first hit. It's kinda like what I said above about Arboliva, minus the capability to actually help your teammates via your ability (ie. Seed Sower) while you're getting your ass kicked by Pikachu. In Appletun's case, it just keeps getting pounded by Play Rough as it does little other than Heal cheer and pray it doesn't get small heals. I tried a few different moves and items, trying to mess around with healing berries and Recycle and Appletun's abilities to use those berries way better than most. But at the end of the day, it still was just unending healing cycles and not really doing anything else. Because I built this mon late in the game, and it was nowhere near what I was hoping, and with lots of other fun mons on my team that I really liked to use -- I gave up and moved on. I'm sure there are more effective ways to use this mon, but I wasn't interested in continuing to tinker with it.

Meowscarada

Meowscarada Comments

I used Meowscarada successfully, but I'm not writing it up because I’m just really sick of seeing those cats fail in these Pikachu raids. Someone on Discord said it best: "Meowscarada is the Azumarill of this raid". I agree with that assessment 1000%. Not because Meow can’t be good. But because its a starter mon, it seems that the likelihood of finding an underleveled or really crappy moveset Meowscarada is super high in rando raids.

And what sucks most for me is that Meowscarada was MY STARTER too, and I have it hypertrained and fully built and everything! And in the past, I have tried to use it in raids if there is any way possible, because I’m such a HUGE fanboy for Meowscarada. But on this raid, I have come to hate seeing it because it is such a noob-magnet pokemon and it pains me to see my beloved magician cat fail so miserably time and again in the hands of fools :-(

Clodsire

Clodsire Comments

Honorable mention for Clodsire for being virtually unkillable in this raid. Mine is bog-standard so I won't write it up here. I think we all know how to build Clodsire by now. Also a big shout out to Mud-Slaps for helping all of us giggle at all the low-accuracy moves that Pikachu uses. Although Pikachu clears negative effects with alarming frequency, so debuffs in general are not useful as they have been in past raids.

Gastrodon

Gastrodon Comments

And the last of my honorable mentions is Gastrodon. Again, this is a mon I used because I already have one, and it fits in the same general theme as Clodsire -- Does no real harm to the team because it's hard to kill, but not much other than that and the occasional mud-slap or whatever.

Overall this has a been a fun raid. I'll continue to gather loot as much as I can, using my faves listed above. And can't wait to see what GF throws at us next time -- Good luck fellow raid runners!

 

[Chou Toshio]

Like all the big raids, I've been playing this one a lot with lots of different pokemon. As Pikachu is coming to a close, here are my impressions and the mons that I have had success with in this raid.

General Pikachu Raid Notes and PSA's

Comments

• Once again, we have learned that we can't really predict what GF is going to do with these raids! Yes, it's always fun to speculate, but time and again GF shows that we really can't count on anything from the past as a predictor of the future. So we need to always expect the unexpected.
• The instant shield and massive HP increase on this mon was a very big deal, of course. It made what would have been a pushover raid into a legit challenge!
• In many ways, this raid is harder than Greninja. But, with the right pokemon, I feel this raid can be cleared more reliably than Greninja could.
• I also like that there are a good number of pokemon that can be used to contribute to reliable wins in the Pikachu raid. Whereas with Greninja it was almost always centered around Slowbro Stored Power nuking, and mons to support the Bros. Although Lurantis seems to be a very frequent part of the fastest wins of Pikachu raid, and it's really popular. There are multiple other ways to get through this raid reliably without Lurantis.

Public Service Announcement: Tera-charging
Something I learned the hard way in this raid, that was discussed a little on Discord, but hasn't been publicized widely is:

If you use a weak attack (low BP move, weak attacking mon, or both) against the shield, it is very possible to do 0 damage and that attack WILL NOT BUILD TERA CHARGE.​

• This is different than the regular pokemon damage formula that is guaranteed to do at least one point of damage. With the Tera shield, and particularly with Pikachu's shield only allowing 1% of non-tera attack damage through, it is possible to do less than 0.5 points of damage and the raid damage formula can and will round that damage down to 0. If that happens, even if the attack "hit" and secondary effects triggered and all that, it will not count towards your tera charge.
• I tested this multiple times with different pokemon and moves. And things like Mud-Slaps and weakmon Acid Sprays consistently did not build tera charge. Something to remember now and in the future if we ever get another mega-shield like this.

Public Service Announcement: Knock Off Glitch
Also discussed on Discord by multiple users that there is some unexplained and unpredictable glitch with Knock Off. Sometimes, it just... doesn't work. Yes it appears to hit and builds tera charge and all that. But there is no message saying the Light Ball was knocked off, and the damage done by Pikachu is very clearly still Light Ball boosted. If Knock Off fails once it will continue to fail no matter how many times you use it. We can't see any predictable pattern as to why it fails, but it happens quite a bit. I'd say it happens once every 3-5 raids, which sucks. Just something to keep in mind if Knock Off is part of your strategy.

Here's the mons I have personally used with success in this raid. I list them roughly in order of overall effectiveness, but this is just my opinion, of course.


Lurantis @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Speed / 50 SpAtk
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain
- Sunny Day
- Synthesis

Lurantis Moveset Comments

Lurantis has emerged as the MVP of the Pikachu raid. Not because it is so overwhelmingly better than anything else. But it has the best combination of reliability to not die and it is definitely the pokemon than can win the raid the fastest if you do it right. Lots of writeups already on Lurantis in this thread and mine isn't much different. I'll just pile on what others have said and reiterate that you REALLY want this pokemon to be +Speed nature and ev'd to get to 195 speed or higher to outspeed Quiet Pikachu. Yes, it takes a lot to get a slowmon like Lurantis with a craptastic 45 base speed up to the requisite speed tier. But without it, you're going to struggle to win this raid as consistently as the cool kids.

Lurantis rocks because it sets up while it is building Tera with Leaf Storm. And if you get a little help from teammates, you can often Tera before Pikachu steals your charge. And if you get some Acid Spray support from your team, Lurantis can almost one-shot Pikachu very quickly. With the wide variety of teammates you get in rando raids, the one or two shot scenario rarely plays out. But it's fun when it does.

I usually enter the lobby of rando raids with Lurantis by default, and then I switch if I can. Not because I don't like Lurantis, but just because it's popular enough that one or two other people are usually using it, and I prefer to run other stuff, if I can. But if no one else has one, I run mine so we can clear the raid as fast as possible.

Wo-Chien @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 178 Def / 80 Speed
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Snarl / Mud-Slap
- Growth

Wo-Chien Moveset Comments

Wo-Chien is wonderful because it is really the only reliable pokemon you can use in this raid that can Knock Off the Light Ball (see comments above about the Knock Off glitch though). And knocking off that item is super-beneficial to almost everyone in this raid not named Clodsire, because survivability is such a concern. Without that item Pikachu is neutered considerably, and it's amazing how many frail teammates stop dying so much when that damn Light Ball is gone!

I Knock Off turn one, then usually Snarl twice to save limited Giga Drain PP while further helping my teammates deal with Thunder and Surf damage. Then I Tera, usually with Giga Drain to get back to full health if I haven't already been topped up by teammate cheers or whatever. Then I go on the offensive and boost up with Growth for a few turns. And since usually I'm the only one on the team that isn't having health problems at this point, I toss out a Go All Out cheer to boost everyone, and we nuke the hell out of the electric mouse and win the raid.

Wo-Chien is actually my favorite pokemon to use in the Pikachu raid, because I think it is the most reliable and easy to play. It's not the MVP in my opinion (see Lurantis), because Wo-Chien has that dickhead ability that debuffs your teammates' Attack. So I don't bring it into rando raids with physical attackers (usually Meowscarada and the occasional Leafeon). But if I see a lobby full of special attackers like Lurantis, Arboliva, and Lilligant then I switch to Wo-Chien and do my thing without fear of pissing anyone off.

One exception to my "not with physical teammates" rule -- Clodsire. Even though there are some stupid Clodsire users that run sets with Earthquake and Poison Jab or whatever, they probably aren't going to be making a dent in this Pikachu raid anyway. If they are smart Clodsire users, they know their job is to Mud-Slap and Acid Spray and basically "not die" (which Clodsire is AMAZING AT in this raid, see below). And if they DO plan to actually do some damage, they probably run Curse and they can overcome Tablets of Ruin anyway. I kinda facepalm when I see Clodsire's cursing up, as in "What's the point, dude?" But hey, whatever floats their boat...

Wo-Chien is the only pokemon I use to solo the raid, because it is almost brain-dead easy to solo with it. I typically reset my personal raid until I get an Arboliva NPC, just for the Grassy Terrain support. But it's not necessary to have it. Also, although I don't reset for it specifically, I usually get one or more intimidator NPCs as well. Which is very nice for Wo-Chien in handling those Play Roughs from Pikachu, and giving more turns to Growth-up.

When I finished my ingame, I very quickly leveled and EV-trained all of the Ruin legends eagerly anticipating and theorymonning ways to use them in raids. I was crushed when I discovered their effing abilities were a debuff to the whole team which makes them practically useless for raiding. :-( So to be able to use one of the Ruinmons in this raid is a real joy for me. If anything, because I had a fully-trained Bold Wo-Chien just sitting there in my box gathering dust and I can put it to good use now!

Arboliva @ Covert Cloak / Leftovers
Ability: Seed Sower
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpAtk
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sunny Day
- Reflect / Synthesis
- Growth

Arboliva Moveset Comments

I already had a fully trained Arboliva in my box, so this was the first pokemon I used in rando Pikachu raids. And although I generally appreciate having at least one Arboliva on most teams where I'm using Lurantis or Wo-Chien, I personally do not enjoying playing this mon. I'm sure my Arboliva build could be tweaked (nature and EVs for example), since this moveset is just a few moves changed on the mon I already had built. But after trying a few different things I just decided I'd rather spend time training up some new mons rather than continuing to screw with this one.

Arboliva's big benefit is the omnipresent Grassy Terrain that comes from Seed Sower. And since Pikachu hits everyone on Turn 0, that means everyone gets the benefit of the terrain for the entire battle more or less. When I started with Arboliva, I was hoping it could do some support but also boost up and deal some damage too. All the while getting easy health from those boosted Giga Drains. The reality was quite different for me. I spent most of my time just trying not to die.

I originally had Leftovers and quickly found out that Iron Tail defense drops are quick recipe for death for the olivemon. But with Covert Cloak, those Iron Tails still hit super-hard and if it crits you're totally screwed. And since Arboliva is so damn slow, Synthesis was practically worthless because you couldn't heal up before a hit. So Arboliva has to use all of its Heal cheers almost every battle. Which means it isn't building Tera and it's not going to be using Growth or doing any real damage any time soon. Then when I switched to Reflect to get out of Iron Tail hell, I discovered Pikachu is no dummy and just goes to Thunder. Which, even resisted and going against Arbo's higher defensive stat, is a big BP move and still does a shitton of damage. So I was right back where I started. Rather than continuing to play musical chairs with "How to not die with Arboliva", I bailed and started making other mons for this raid.

I put Arboliva high on this list for a couple of reasons. One, although I didn't really enjoy doing it, I was in fact successful using it. Two, I really do appreciate having at least one Arboliva on rando teams when I play. Even though Arbolivas die often and they burn the timer a bit. They help the surviveability of other with the terrain, and they are almost guaranteed to be doing Heal cheers the entire battle if the players have half a brain. That leaves it to the big boys (Lurantis, Liligant, Brute Bonnet, etc) to actually take down the mouse boss. It's not sexy, but every team needs a water-boy... err water-olive sometimes ;-)

Brute Bonnet @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Speed / 62 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Seed Bomb
- Synthesis
- Sunny Day
- Growth

Brute Bonnet Moveset Comments

Brute Bonnet is actually my second-favorite pokemon to run in this raid. But it's not the offensive MVP that Lurantis is, it's not the overall reliable champ that Wo-Chien is, and it's not as splashably helpful as Arboliva. So it comes in at number 4 on my list. But I really like this mon for the Pikachu raid, particularly if you want to run something a little different than the crowd, but not be risky by using a quirky mon.

Although Brute isn't fast by any means, its base 55 speed is just enough to let it run Adamant instead of Jolly and still get up to the magic 195 speed number needed to get the jump on Pikachu. For that reason alone, I love using this mon. Because it's super bulky like Wo-Chien, without the douchebag downside of debuffing your teammates when it hits the field. I keep Sunny Day in the moveset, even though I can almost 99% guarantee someone else on the team is going to put up sun for me, so I can go straight to Seed Bombing and building Tera. After Tera, I do a little Growth, do some more Bombing and before you know it, bob's your uncle.

The only reason I don't use it more, is because it's basically just an offensive weapon for this raid. And if I want to go offensive, Lurantis does that much faster and better, albeit a bit less reliably on the survivability side. But like I said, on the average rando team, without complete idiots for teammates, Lurantis is going to survive just fine. And doing the Growth-Hit cycle is sooooo much slower than three little Leaf Storms to +6 that Lurantis does like no other. But every once in a while I like bringing out the Brute, if anything for the pleasure of using a physical Paradox mon in Tera raids not named Iron Hands.

Appletun @ Covert Cloak / Leftovers
Ability: Gluttony
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpAtk
Bold Nature
- Apple Acid
- Giga Drain
- Reflect
- Recover

Appletun Moveset Comments

This was easily my least favorite of all the mons I built and used in this raid. I built it yesterday because I kept seeing it in raids and the thought of using a big BP move like Apple Acid that also debuffs SpDef was very appealing to me. I envisioned using it like Lurantis, where you can simply attack off the bat and build tera while effectively boosting at the same time. The only difference that Appletun would "boost" by debuffing Pikachu's SpDef. So that seemed pretty cool.

The reality for me was -- Play Rough hurts like a bitch.

And Appletun is so darn slow, that it really can't do anything but "try not to die" after that first hit. It's kinda like what I said above about Arboliva, minus the capability to actually help your teammates via your ability (ie. Seed Sower) while you're getting your ass kicked by Pikachu. In Appletun's case, it just keeps getting pounded by Play Rough as it does little other than Heal cheer and pray it doesn't get small heals. I tried a few different moves and items, trying to mess around with healing berries and Recycle and Appletun's abilities to use those berries way better than most. But at the end of the day, it still was just unending healing cycles and not really doing anything else. Because I built this mon late in the game, and it was nowhere near what I was hoping, and with lots of other fun mons on my team that I really liked to use -- I gave up and moved on. I'm sure there are more effective ways to use this mon, but I wasn't interested in continuing to tinker with it.

Meowscarada

Meowscarada Comments

I used Meowscarada successfully, but I'm not writing it up because I’m just really sick of seeing those cats fail in these Pikachu raids. Someone on Discord said it best: "Meowscarada is the Azumarill of this raid". I agree with that assessment 1000%. Not because Meow can’t be good. But because its a starter mon, it seems that the likelihood of finding an underleveled or really crappy moveset Meowscarada is super high in rando raids.

And what sucks most for me is that Meowscarada was MY STARTER too, and I have it hypertrained and fully built and everything! And in the past, I have tried to use it in raids if there is any way possible, because I’m such a HUGE fanboy for Meowscarada. But on this raid, I have come to hate seeing it because it is such a noob-magnet pokemon and it pains me to see my beloved magician cat fail so miserably time and again in the hands of fools :-(

Clodsire

Clodsire Comments

Honorable mention for Clodsire for being virtually unkillable in this raid. Mine is bog-standard so I won't write it up here. I think we all know how to build Clodsire by now. Also a big shout out to Mud-Slaps for helping all of us giggle at all the low-accuracy moves that Pikachu uses. Although Pikachu clears negative effects with alarming frequency, so debuffs in general are not useful as they have been in past raids.

Gastrodon

Gastrodon Comments

And the last of my honorable mentions is Gastrodon. Again, this is a mon I used because I already have one, and it fits in the same general theme as Clodsire -- Does no real harm to the team because it's hard to kill, but not much other than that and the occasional mud-slap or whatever.

Overall this has a been a fun raid. I'll continue to gather loot as much as I can, using my faves listed above. And can't wait to see what GF throws at us next time -- Good luck fellow raid runners!

Epic epic write-up Doug, and thanks for the service announcements! (And Sushi reqs)

I ended up settling on Curse/Mud Slap/Earthquake Gastro for both team and solo raids b/c I felt I didn’t have time to raise mons or raid enough to get payback on the investment. I think even without the best support moves or offense, smart play lets it similarly jack-of-all trades wins like against Gren.

Solo:
-Check if Arboliva, if yes reset
-Turn 1 Curse as you get AI defense cheer to become unkillable
-Turn 2 mud slap, because it slaps
-Curse up to +6, the timer barely moves
-Offense Cheer Twice, saving one for emergency (though there are never emergencies)
-With the cheer boosts and Surf SpA boosts your Mud Slap now is strong enough on average to charge Tera
-Terastelize
-Setup the last cheer, and heal/debuff with Slap as needed to get ready to win
-EQ spam for the win
I’ve yet to lose even once to Pikachu like this but it ain’t fast.

Team Raid: as we know, just don’t die and watch other player’s needs for defense/health cheers while debuffing. Curse is useful just to become extra unkillable and while I’ve basically almost never Tera’d or done damage with Gastro very rarely did I feel screwed for lacking helping hands. By the time the grassers Tera they’re usually self-sufficient.

 

[Magcargo]

Meowscarada

Meowscarada Comments

I used Meowscarada successfully, but I'm not writing it up because I’m just really sick of seeing those cats fail in these Pikachu raids. Someone on Discord said it best: "Meowscarada is the Azumarill of this raid". I agree with that assessment 1000%. Not because Meow can’t be good. But because its a starter mon, it seems that the likelihood of finding an underleveled or really crappy moveset Meowscarada is super high in rando raids.

And what sucks most for me is that Meowscarada was MY STARTER too, and I have it hypertrained and fully built and everything! And in the past, I have tried to use it in raids if there is any way possible, because I’m such a HUGE fanboy for Meowscarada. But on this raid, I have come to hate seeing it because it is such a noob-magnet pokemon and it pains me to see my beloved magician cat fail so miserably time and again in the hands of fools :-(

I'm one of those noobs lol. I have been using a Nasty Plot / Knock Off / Giga Drain / Frenzy Plant with Life Orb that I stole from youtube and its a bit of a mixed bag. Knock is good against Pika and Frenzy Plant + Tera + potential Overgrow boost + Life Orb nukes the hell out of the mouse, but Giga Drain just does not work as self sustain since you heal too little and Pikachu will often go for Play Rough which 2 - 3HKOes it. Usually I am getting carried by the others who are using Mud-Slap or other support moves on Pika and contribute at the beginning at the end. Still, using my fav starter in a Tera Raid is nice.

 

[Vengeance417]

I know it's a bit off topic, but experiencing these raids makes me wish we get event-exclusive moves again, with GF using the Tera raids to introduce them as a form of curveball against us. For example, imagine if the Tera Dragon Charizard had a surprise Draco Meteor in its moveset, or if this Pikachu had Fly along with Surf. What if they do Tera-Fire Rayquaza and it uses V-Create turn 1 followed by a stat-restoring turn lol? They could get so creative with this, and who knew Pikachu would actually be a big step in the right direction as a way to make these harder?

 

[Worldie]

I know it's a bit off topic, but experiencing these raids makes me wish we get event-exclusive moves again, with GF using the Tera raids to introduce them as a form of curveball against us. For example, imagine if the Tera Dragon Charizard had a surprise Draco Meteor in its moveset, or if this Pikachu had Fly along with Surf. What if they do Tera-Fire Rayquaza and it uses V-Create turn 1 followed by a stat-restoring turn lol? They could get so creative with this, and who knew Pikachu would actually be a big step in the right direction as a way to make these harder?

You can wish it for memes, but Event moves have to never come back.

They're too much of a mess for competitive, you don't want to risk to have time-limited entries in a competition that's trying their best to become a E-sport.

It's the same reason for which a few generations ago they banned transfer moves by forcing the current-gen mark (and Battle Ready Mark in gen 8).

 

[pika pal]

Appletun @ Covert Cloak / Leftovers
Ability: Gluttony
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpAtk
Bold Nature
- Apple Acid
- Giga Drain
- Reflect
- Recover

Appletun Moveset Comments

This was easily my least favorite of all the mons I built and used in this raid. I built it yesterday because I kept seeing it in raids and the thought of using a big BP move like Apple Acid that also debuffs SpDef was very appealing to me. I envisioned using it like Lurantis, where you can simply attack off the bat and build tera while effectively boosting at the same time. The only difference that Appletun would "boost" by debuffing Pikachu's SpDef. So that seemed pretty cool.

The reality for me was -- Play Rough hurts like a bitch.

And Appletun is so darn slow, that it really can't do anything but "try not to die" after that first hit. It's kinda like what I said above about Arboliva, minus the capability to actually help your teammates via your ability (ie. Seed Sower) while you're getting your ass kicked by Pikachu. In Appletun's case, it just keeps getting pounded by Play Rough as it does little other than Heal cheer and pray it doesn't get small heals. I tried a few different moves and items, trying to mess around with healing berries and Recycle and Appletun's abilities to use those berries way better than most. But at the end of the day, it still was just unending healing cycles and not really doing anything else. Because I built this mon late in the game, and it was nowhere near what I was hoping, and with lots of other fun mons on my team that I really liked to use -- I gave up and moved on. I'm sure there are more effective ways to use this mon, but I wasn't interested in continuing to tinker with it.

So the big move I remember seeing on Appletun in the runs I did was Iron Defense Turn 1, which was longer lasting than Reflect and more helpful since typically it was the only one with concerns of Play Rough while never getting Iron Tail due to typing. It's definitely the most team-dependent mon because once the ID's go up it's pretty solid surviving thanks to the Quad resists on the Special Side, but the lack of consistent offensive boosting for itself means it won't contribute as much damage as Lurantis or the mon I'm about to follow-up with as my go-to.


Lilligant @ Covert Cloak / Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll (Leaf Guard technically optimal but I more or less repurposed a regular one I had)
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Def
Modest Nature
- Sunny Day
- Giga Drain
- Energy Ball
- Quiver Dance

This was basically what I ran because getting a Contrary Lurantis would have required me looking for more raids whereas I had Lilligant already around. That said she has a few advantages to note. Most immediately notable is her Base 90 Speed, meaning she needs no EVs or Nature (and depending on how cheap you're being, no Hyper Training) to outspeed Quiet Pikachu's 195 benchmark. This leaves more room for either full bulk or full power investment and the ability to play the Turn 1 Support if need-be by using Sun, and ensures that regardless of who sets it, Pikachu will never get its second Surf off with Rain active on her at least, and makes it generally safe to have it up for the others in case people brought the glass cat or you're otherwise carrying an inefficient member. I also used this Lilligant as a reliable soloist, appreciating but never directly needing any particular teammate like the usual Arboliva or Staraptor/Tauros Intimidators.

Game Plan from there is about how it looks, Energy ball to build Tera gauge and fish for the odd SpD drop (since you're not gonna drain any significant health un-Tera'd anyway), then on the first Terastalized turn, Quiver Dance and then fit them in whenever you can while Giga Draining. Covert Cloak vs Leftovers comes down to how lucky you feel. Combined with Grassy Terrain, Lilligant will effectively heal off every hit before being struck again by Iron Tail or Thunder, but Covert Cloak reduces RNG on things like DEF drops or Paralysis costing turns. I'd say pick this by how much you trust you'll see reliable teammates for either role (Arbolivas vs Clodsires vs no-help).

 

[P3DS]

Heyo, just played this morning
This mon is tough to beat, definitely a step up from the previous 7 star raids we got before
Here's what I used to solo it

252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature

You definitely want to Sunny Day on turn 1, weakening Surf, making Thunder less accurate and activating Protosynthesis
Don't bother setting up before Terastallizing, you're not gonna deal any kind of damage either way.
I went with Sunny Day into 4 Bullet Seeds (Pikachu steals the Tera Orb charge fairly often), then Tera -> Sunny Day -> Growth twice -> Bullet Seed twice
You can probably run Heat Rock + Seed Bomb / Power Whip, or Covert Cloak as your item with a more reliable damaging move to avoid Thunder Paras / Play Rough drops

Thanks for putting this one up. It's the one I've been using in my solo runs. Though, in hindsight, covert cloak is very likely a must. Too many times I got repeated para's from the thunder

 

[Clementine]

Thanks for putting this one up. It's the one I've been using in my solo runs. Though, in hindsight, covert cloak is very likely a must. Too many times I got repeated para's from the thunder

I very much advise running Seed Bomb then
I thought this got power whip but nope
Seed Bomb prolly does more than enough damage to 3/4HKO with Tera and a boost or two

 

[RocketSurgery]

I got around to beating the Pikachu raid this morning. I managed to do it with my in-game Meowscarada by double-team spam. Looking forward to moving on to Walking Wake/Iron Leaves 5-star raids after that. :P

 

[SadisticMystic]

Like all the big raids, I've been playing this one a lot with lots of different pokemon. As Pikachu is coming to a close, here are my impressions and the mons that I have had success with in this raid.

General Pikachu Raid Notes and PSA's

Comments

• Once again, we have learned that we can't really predict what GF is going to do with these raids! Yes, it's always fun to speculate, but time and again GF shows that we really can't count on anything from the past as a predictor of the future. So we need to always expect the unexpected.
• The instant shield and massive HP increase on this mon was a very big deal, of course. It made what would have been a pushover raid into a legit challenge!
• In many ways, this raid is harder than Greninja. But, with the right pokemon, I feel this raid can be cleared more reliably than Greninja could.
• I also like that there are a good number of pokemon that can be used to contribute to reliable wins in the Pikachu raid. Whereas with Greninja it was almost always centered around Slowbro Stored Power nuking, and mons to support the Bros. Although Lurantis seems to be a very frequent part of the fastest wins of Pikachu raid, and it's really popular. There are multiple other ways to get through this raid reliably without Lurantis.

Public Service Announcement: Tera-charging
Something I learned the hard way in this raid, that was discussed a little on Discord, but hasn't been publicized widely is:

If you use a weak attack (low BP move, weak attacking mon, or both) against the shield, it is very possible to do 0 damage and that attack WILL NOT BUILD TERA CHARGE.​

• This is different than the regular pokemon damage formula that is guaranteed to do at least one point of damage. With the Tera shield, and particularly with Pikachu's shield only allowing 1% of non-tera attack damage through, it is possible to do less than 0.5 points of damage and the raid damage formula can and will round that damage down to 0. If that happens, even if the attack "hit" and secondary effects triggered and all that, it will not count towards your tera charge.
• I tested this multiple times with different pokemon and moves. And things like Mud-Slaps and weakmon Acid Sprays consistently did not build tera charge. Something to remember now and in the future if we ever get another mega-shield like this.

Public Service Announcement: Knock Off Glitch
Also discussed on Discord by multiple users that there is some unexplained and unpredictable glitch with Knock Off. Sometimes, it just... doesn't work. Yes it appears to hit and builds tera charge and all that. But there is no message saying the Light Ball was knocked off, and the damage done by Pikachu is very clearly still Light Ball boosted. If Knock Off fails once it will continue to fail no matter how many times you use it. We can't see any predictable pattern as to why it fails, but it happens quite a bit. I'd say it happens once every 3-4 raids, which sucks. Just something to keep in mind if Knock Off is part of your strategy.

Here's the mons I have personally used with success in this raid. I list them roughly in order of overall effectiveness, but this is just my opinion, of course.


Lurantis @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Speed / 50 SpAtk
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain
- Sunny Day
- Synthesis

Lurantis Moveset Comments

Lurantis has emerged as the MVP of the Pikachu raid. Not because it is so overwhelmingly better than anything else. But it has the best combination of reliability to not die and it is definitely the pokemon that can win the raid the fastest if you do it right. Lots of writeups already on Lurantis in this thread and mine isn't much different. I'll just pile on what others have said and reiterate that you REALLY want this pokemon to be +Speed nature and ev'd to get to 195 speed or higher to outspeed Quiet Pikachu. Yes, it takes a lot to get a slowmon like Lurantis with a craptastic 45 base speed up to the requisite speed tier. But without it, you're going to struggle to win this raid as consistently as the cool kids.

Lurantis rocks because it sets up while it is building Tera with Leaf Storm. And if you get a little help from teammates, you can often Tera before Pikachu steals your charge. And if you get some Acid Spray support from your team, Lurantis can almost one-shot Pikachu very quickly. With the wide variety of teammates you get in rando raids, the one or two shot scenario rarely plays out. But it's fun when it does.

I usually enter the lobby of rando raids with Lurantis by default, and then I switch if I can. Not because I don't like Lurantis, but just because it's popular enough that one or two other people are usually using it, and I prefer to run other stuff, if I can. But if no one else has one, I run mine so we can clear the raid as fast as possible.

Wo-Chien @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 178 Def / 80 Speed
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Snarl / Sunny Day / Mud-Slap
- Growth

Wo-Chien Moveset Comments

Wo-Chien is wonderful because it is really the only reliable pokemon you can use in this raid that can Knock Off the Light Ball (see comments above about the Knock Off glitch though). And knocking off that item is super-beneficial to almost everyone in this raid not named Clodsire, because survivability is such a concern. Without that item Pikachu is neutered considerably, and it's amazing how many frail teammates stop dying so much when that damn Light Ball is gone!

I Knock Off turn one, then usually Snarl twice to save limited Giga Drain PP while further helping my teammates deal with Thunder and Surf damage. Then I Tera, usually with Giga Drain to get back to full health if I haven't already been topped up by teammate cheers or whatever. Then I go on the offensive and boost up with Growth for a few turns. And since usually I'm the only one on the team that isn't having health problems at this point, I toss out a Go All Out cheer to boost everyone, and we nuke the hell out of the electric mouse and win the raid.

Wo-Chien is actually my favorite pokemon to use in the Pikachu raid, because I think it is the most reliable and easy to play. It's not the MVP in my opinion (see Lurantis), because Wo-Chien has that dickhead ability that debuffs your teammates' Attack. So I don't bring it into rando raids with physical attackers (usually Meowscarada and the occasional Leafeon). But if I see a lobby full of special attackers like Lurantis, Arboliva, and Lilligant then I switch to Wo-Chien and do my thing without fear of pissing anyone off.

One exception to my "not with physical teammates" rule -- Clodsire. Even though there are some stupid Clodsire users that run sets with Earthquake and Poison Jab or whatever, they probably aren't going to be making a dent in this Pikachu raid anyway. If they are smart Clodsire users, they know their job is to Mud-Slap and Acid Spray and basically "not die" (which Clodsire is AMAZING AT in this raid, see below). And if they DO plan to actually do some damage, they probably run Curse and they can overcome Tablets of Ruin anyway. I kinda facepalm when I see Clodsire's cursing up, as in "What's the point, dude?" But hey, whatever floats their boat...

Wo-Chien is the only pokemon I use to solo the raid, because it is almost brain-dead easy to solo with it. I typically reset my personal raid until I get an Arboliva NPC, just for the Grassy Terrain support. But it's not necessary to have it. Also, although I don't reset for it specifically, I usually get one or more intimidator NPCs as well. Which is very nice for Wo-Chien in handling those Play Roughs from Pikachu, and giving more turns to Growth-up.

When I finished my ingame, I very quickly leveled and EV-trained all of the Ruin legends eagerly anticipating and theorymonning ways to use them in raids. I was crushed when I discovered their effing abilities were a debuff to the whole team which makes them practically useless for raiding. :-( So to be able to use one of the Ruinmons in this raid is a real joy for me. If anything, because I had a fully-trained Bold Wo-Chien just sitting there in my box gathering dust and I can put it to good use now!

Arboliva @ Covert Cloak / Leftovers
Ability: Seed Sower
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpAtk
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sunny Day
- Reflect / Synthesis
- Growth

Arboliva Moveset Comments

I already had a fully trained Arboliva in my box, so this was the first pokemon I used in rando Pikachu raids. And although I generally appreciate having at least one Arboliva on most teams where I'm using Lurantis or Wo-Chien, I personally do not enjoying playing this mon. I'm sure my Arboliva build could be tweaked (nature and EVs for example), since this moveset is just a few moves changed on the mon I already had built. But after trying a few different things I just decided I'd rather spend time training up some new mons rather than continuing to screw with this one.

Arboliva's big benefit is the omnipresent Grassy Terrain that comes from Seed Sower. And since Pikachu hits everyone on Turn 0, that means everyone gets the benefit of the terrain for the entire battle more or less. When I started with Arboliva, I was hoping it could do some support but also boost up and deal some damage too. All the while getting easy health from those boosted Giga Drains. The reality was quite different for me. I spent most of my time just trying not to die.

I originally had Leftovers and quickly found out that Iron Tail defense drops are a quick recipe for death for the olivemon. But with Covert Cloak, those Iron Tails still hit super-hard and if it crits you're totally screwed. And since Arboliva is so damn slow, Synthesis was practically worthless because you couldn't heal up before a hit. So Arboliva has to use all of its Heal cheers almost every battle. Which means it isn't building Tera and it's not going to be using Growth or doing any real damage any time soon. Then when I switched to Reflect to get out of Iron Tail hell, I discovered Pikachu is no dummy and just goes to Thunder. Which, even resisted and going against Arbo's higher defensive stat, is a big BP move and still does a shitton of damage. So I was right back where I started. Rather than continuing to play musical chairs with "How to not die with Arboliva", I bailed and started making other mons for this raid.

I put Arboliva high on this list for a couple of reasons. One, although I didn't really enjoy doing it, I was in fact successful using it. Two, I really do appreciate having at least one Arboliva on rando teams when I play. Even though Arbolivas die often and they burn the timer a bit. They help the survivability and DPS of others with the terrain, and they are almost guaranteed to be doing Heal cheers the entire battle if the players have half a brain. That leaves it to the big boys (Lurantis, Liligant, Brute Bonnet, etc) to actually take down the mouse boss. It's not sexy, but every team needs a water-boy... err water-olive sometimes ;-)

Brute Bonnet @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Speed / 62 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Seed Bomb
- Synthesis
- Sunny Day
- Growth

Brute Bonnet Moveset Comments

Brute Bonnet is actually my second-favorite pokemon to run in this raid. But it's not the offensive MVP that Lurantis is, it's not the overall reliable champ that Wo-Chien is, and it's not as splashably helpful as Arboliva. So it comes in at number 4 on my list. But I really like this mon for the Pikachu raid, particularly if you want to run something a little different than the crowd, but not be risky by using a quirky mon.

Although Brute isn't fast by any means, its base 55 speed is just enough to let it run Adamant instead of Jolly and still get up to the magic 195 speed number needed to get the jump on Pikachu. For that reason alone, I love using this mon. Because it's super bulky like Wo-Chien, without the douchebag downside of debuffing your teammates when it hits the field. I keep Sunny Day in the moveset, even though I can almost 99% guarantee someone else on the team is going to put up sun for me, so I can go straight to Seed Bombing and building Tera. After Tera, I do a little Growth, do some more Bombing and before you know it, bob's your uncle.

The only reason I don't use it more, is because it's basically just an offensive weapon for this raid. And if I want to go offensive, Lurantis does that much faster and better, albeit a bit less reliably on the survivability side. But like I said, on the average rando team, without complete idiots for teammates, Lurantis is going to survive just fine. And doing the Growth-Hit cycle is sooooo much slower than three little Leaf Storms to +6 that Lurantis does like no other. But every once in a while I like bringing out the Brute, if anything for the pleasure of using a physical Paradox mon in Tera raids not named Iron Hands.

Appletun @ Covert Cloak / Leftovers
Ability: Gluttony
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpAtk
Bold Nature
- Apple Acid
- Giga Drain
- Reflect
- Recover

Appletun Moveset Comments

This was easily my least favorite of all the mons I built and used in this raid. I built it yesterday because I kept seeing it in raids and the thought of using a big BP move like Apple Acid that also debuffs SpDef was very appealing to me. I envisioned using it like Lurantis, where you can simply attack off the bat and build tera while effectively boosting at the same time. The only difference that Appletun would "boost" by debuffing Pikachu's SpDef. So that seemed pretty cool.

The reality for me was -- Play Rough hurts like a bitch.

And Appletun is so darn slow, that it really can't do anything but "try not to die" after that first hit. It's kinda like what I said above about Arboliva, minus the capability to actually help your teammates via your ability (ie. Seed Sower) while you're getting your ass kicked by Pikachu. In Appletun's case, it just keeps getting pounded by Play Rough as it does little other than Heal cheer and pray it doesn't get small heals. I tried a few different moves and items, trying to mess around with healing berries and Recycle and Appletun's abilities to use those berries way better than most. But at the end of the day, it still was just unending healing cycles and not really doing anything else. Because I built this mon late in the game, and it was nowhere near what I was hoping, and with lots of other fun mons on my team that I really liked to use -- I gave up and moved on. I'm sure there are more effective ways to use this mon, but I wasn't interested in continuing to tinker with it.

Meowscarada

Meowscarada Comments

I used Meowscarada successfully, but I'm not writing it up because I’m just really sick of seeing those cats fail in these Pikachu raids. Someone on Discord said it best: "Meowscarada is the Azumarill of this raid". I agree with that assessment 1000%. Not because Meow can’t be good. But because its a starter mon, it seems that the likelihood of finding an underleveled or really crappy moveset Meowscarada is super high in rando raids.

And what sucks most for me is that Meowscarada was MY STARTER too, and I have it hypertrained and fully built and everything! And in the past, I have tried to use it in raids if there is any way possible, because I’m such a HUGE fanboy for Meowscarada. But on this raid, I have come to hate seeing it because it is such a noob-magnet pokemon and it pains me to see my beloved magician cat fail so miserably time and again in the hands of fools :-(

Clodsire

Clodsire Comments

Honorable mention for Clodsire for being virtually unkillable in this raid. Mine is bog-standard so I won't write it up here. I think we all know how to build Clodsire by now. Also a big shout out to Mud-Slaps for helping all of us giggle at all the low-accuracy moves that Pikachu uses. Although Pikachu clears negative effects with alarming frequency, so debuffs in general are not useful as they have been in past raids.

Gastrodon

Gastrodon Comments

And the last of my honorable mentions is Gastrodon. Again, this is a mon I used because I already have one, and it fits in the same general theme as Clodsire -- Does no real harm to the team because it's hard to kill, but not much other than that and the occasional mud-slap or whatever.

Overall this has a been a fun raid. I'll continue to gather loot as much as I can, using my faves listed above. And can't wait to see what GF throws at us next time -- Good luck fellow raid runners!

When I was in the supporter role, I mainly brought Quagsire. It does pretty much the same thing as Clodsire, but there's one notable difference to do with its typing: occasionally, if one of the grass types brought Giga Drain but no Synthesis, they could use Giga Drain targeting me as a tasty health sponge to gain back a lot more HP than the 2 or so they would get from targeting Pikachu. And if they needed that HP early on to survive after the initial outburst, I didn't even mind: no matter if I'm the one that drops or they are, the timer loses the same 100 seconds either way, but we can cope with a loss like that. Similarly, if I saw a Lurantis and wasn't sure if they brought Covert Cloak, I would usually throw a Mud-Slap their way for very little damage, since a non-cloaked one would at least get an accuracy boost and thereafter be immune to Leaf Storm misses. Scouting that way also told me when I needed to stay alert for the paralysis icon to have a chance to pop up, and be ready to throw out a heal cheer to get rid of it. (Props to the two Lurantis teammates I saw where their accuracy fell from a Mud-Slap probe; they must have thought it was a good idea to bring it at the time.)

I also had a theorycraft for a team of 4 Rocky Helmet Quagsires, with the goal of dealing as much damage as possible with nobody ever clicking the tera button. Rocky Helmet isn't subject to the 99% damage reduction, see, so you would only have to wear Pikachu down with about 300 hits into that...right? The idea would be to run Mist/Poison Jab, Chilling Water, Recover, and Tail Whip, where Tail Whip obviously fails but the upside is it doesn't play an animation, and fast turn animations mean you can squeeze more turns into the time limit (especially with that huge PP supply). Naturally, I couldn't get 4 coordinated players at once to try something like this--we might not have had time to get all the necessary turns at 4 lanes of Rocky Helmet per turn plus poison damage to boot, but it would have been interesting to see the attempt and how close it might have come.