Overview
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Goodra is a surprising addition to the crop of 600 BST pseudo-legendary Dragon-types. Unlike prior entries to this group, Goodra is not at all offensively focused, instead boasting a tremendous Special Defense stat with usable offenses and disappointing physical bulk. Despite her special bulk, however, Goodra lacks reliable recovery, which means she often compares negatively to another defensive Dragon-type: Latias. Unlike Latias, though, Goodra's lack of Ghost and Dark-type weaknesses means she can switch in and out with relative ease. Combined with a good movepool, decent offensive stats, and the many resistances afforded by her mono Dragon-typing, Goodra is a prime candidate for an Assault Vest. Goodra is not an uncommon sight as a bulky pivot on offensive teams and can also make use of Hydration on rain teams.
Assault Vest Tank
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name: Assault Vest Tank
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Thunderbolt / Earthquake
move 4: Dragon Tail / Earthquake
ability: Sap Sipper / Gooey
item: Assault Vest
nature: Quiet / Modest
evs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Moves
========
Draco Meteor is a mainstay on this set, being Goodra's strongest attack. With Draco Meteor at hand and an Assault Vest equipped, Goodra can survive any offensive Dragon-type's (for example, Latios) Draco Meteor in OU and OHKO back with a Draco Meteor of her own. Fire Blast gives the best neutral coverage alongside Draco Meteor and is chosen over Flamethrower for the amount of damage it can do. With Goodra's Special Attack, she needs all the help she can get to do damage and Fire Blast with outdamage the latter over time. Fire Blast hits Ferrothorn, Scizor, and other Steel-types that are littered throughout OU. Thunderbolt will hit Azumarill, immune to Draco Meteor, hard, as well as any other Electric-weak types who might consider switching in to or setting up on Goodra, such as Gyarados. Finally, the last slot is Dragon Tail, which gives Goodra utility as a phazer while doing some serious damage in the process, coming off a decent base 100 Attack. Earthquake is an excellent option that can go over either of the last two slots; without it, Heatran walls the entire set and can Toxic Goodra. With Earthquake, however, Goodra can easily 2HKO an unsuspecting Heatran.
Sludge Bomb is another option that can fit over Thunderbolt. Together, Fire Blast and Thunderbolt will hit any Fairy-type who mighOt consider switching into Goodra at least neutrally. Sludge Bomb is an option to hit those Fairy-types as well, and has good utility with its 30% chance to poison, but Thunderbolt is otherwise more useful.
Set Details
========
The EVs on this set are relatively straight-forward. 248 HP gives Goodra the best defensive capability (while keeping HP odd), and max Special Attack allows her to function as a tank by being able to dish out a ton of damage. Choosing a Quiet nature reinforces this by ensuring Goodra does the most damage with all of her attacks, both special and physical. On the other hand, a Modest nature can also be chosen so eliminate the speed drop of Quiet. This allows Goodra to outspeed a few threats that sit in between, such as minimum speed Mega Scizor and Heatran. For slightly more defense and slightly less offense, Sassy and Calm can be picked instead.
Sap sipper gives Goodra an immunity, which is extremely welcome on a pokemon with no recovery, and allows her to come in unscathed on a predicted grass attack. Sap Sipper also makes her immune to Spore, Stun and Sleep Powder, and Leech Seed, all the while powering up Earthquake and Dragon Tail.
While Gooey can be quite useful to potentially turn the tide of the battle to your favor, the main downside of it is that in order to activate it, Goodra has to take a contact hit. Since most contact hits are physical (with few exceptions), letting Goodra take those hits in order to activate Gooey will drastically decrease her lifespan.
That said, it can be helpful to switch in on random resisted contact hits or as a last-ditch effort to stop an opponent's sweep.
Usage Tips
========
Goodra makes a good pivot on offensive teams. Thanks to her many resistances, she can work well as a "glue Pokemon" who can really help pull a team together and lead to game-winning double switches.
Liberal usage of Dragon Tail is also useful for inflicting chip damage (which can be quite considerable with Goodra's decent base Attack) while spreading around hazard damage.
Team Options
========
Goodra likes to switch in and out a lot, especially with Draco Meteor's attack drop, so teammates who can Rapid Spin or Defog are very appreciated. Wish support is also useful because of Goodra's complete lack of reliable recovery.
Goodra has good defensive synergy with Heatran, who resists all of her weaknesses and together with Goodra forms a solid special defensive core. As a physically defensive partner, Scizor also works with Goodra, resisting Ice, Fairy, and Dragon.
Because of Goodra's low physical defense, she works well with teammates who can burn potential physical threats, such as Rotom-W. Rotom-W also covers Goodra's Ice weakness, who in turn covers Rotom-W's Grass weakness (particularly Goodra with Sap Sipper).
Specs
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name: All-Out Offense
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Focus Blast
ability: Gooey / Sap Sipper
item: Choice Specs
nature: Modest
evs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Moves
========
The given moves are Goodra's best and most powerful attacks. With 3 of the 4 moves boasting a BP of 110 and higher, Goodra has the capability to deal a lot of damage while tanking the opponent's hits.
Set Details
========
248 EVs give Goodra's maximum odd HP to avoid the odd scenario where Goodra could faint just by switching into hazards a number of times.
Since this Goodra does not carry a physical move, Gooey is preferred over Sap Sipper, but Sap Sipper's ability to make Goodra immune to Grass (and thereby, most sleep moves) is still very useful.
Usage Tips
========
While the AV set can sometimes hang around and take some hits while dishing a fair amount of damage, the Specs set prefers to switch in and out a lot more, while dealing a lot of damage in the process. Ideally, switch in on a resisted hit and then hit back with an extremely strong, Specs-boosted attack. With Gooey, switching in on a resisted physical attack could even lead Goodra to outspeeding the opponent on that next turn.
Team Options
========
Specs Goodra works well on an offensively minded or bulky offense team. For this reason, Heatran and Rotom-W are both good teammates. Scizor offers the ability to lure Fire-type attacks for Goodra to switch into. Rotom-W does the same with Grass-type attacks, and other Pokemon, such as Talonflame can do the same with Water and Electric-type attacks.
Other Options
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Goodra has access to strong physical moves such as Outrage, Power Whip, and Aqua Tail. Thanks to her high Special Defense, Goodra can be quite hard to penetrate after a few Curses, making a physical set possible using some of the aforementioned moves (along with Earthquake).
Goodra's lack of recovery can be slightly remedied by utilizing Rest and Sleep Talk. A CroCune-like set could be used with Rest, Sleep Talk, Curse, and a physical STAB move such as Dragon Tail or Outrage.
Acid Armor can be used to boost Goodra's mediocre physical defense.
Checks & Counters
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**Fast Physical Attackers**: Anything with strong physical attacks can check Goodra, particularly if they are faster and super effective. Examples include Garchomp, Mega Charizard X, Dragonite, Salamence, Zygarde, Mega Pinsir, and physical Kyurem-B. Bisharp is also a great choice, especially because Gooey will effectively give it a free Swords Dance.
**Specially Bulky Physical Attackers**: Physical attacking special tanks are nearly perfect counters for Goodra. The most prominent of these is Assault Vest Conkeldurr who is 4HKOed by Goodra at most and can then heal itself back up with powerful Drain Punches. (Mega) Tyranitar is another good option who is 3-4HKOed by Earthquake and 2HKOes back with Stone Edge or Crunch.
**Specially Bulky Stall Pokemon**: Examples include Fairy-types such as Florges, Togekiss, and Clefable, as well as common stall Pokemon like Chansey, Mega Venusaur, and Heatran. All of these Pokemon take little damage from Goodra and can proceed to cripple her with Toxic and paralysis and wear her down with super effective Fairy-type attacks.
**Hazards and status**: With a lack of reliable recovery, Goodra despises damage inducing status effects such as toxic poison and burn; with her proclivity to switching in and out, Goodra also detests Stealth Rock and Spikes.
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Goodra is a surprising addition to the crop of 600 BST pseudo-legendary Dragon-types. Unlike prior entries to this group, Goodra is not at all offensively focused, instead boasting a tremendous Special Defense stat with usable offenses and disappointing physical bulk. Despite her special bulk, however, Goodra lacks reliable recovery, which means she often compares negatively to another defensive Dragon-type: Latias. Unlike Latias, though, Goodra's lack of Ghost and Dark-type weaknesses means she can switch in and out with relative ease. Combined with a good movepool, decent offensive stats, and the many resistances afforded by her mono Dragon-typing, Goodra is a prime candidate for an Assault Vest. Goodra is not an uncommon sight as a bulky pivot on offensive teams and can also make use of Hydration on rain teams.
Assault Vest Tank
########
name: Assault Vest Tank
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Thunderbolt / Earthquake
move 4: Dragon Tail / Earthquake
ability: Sap Sipper / Gooey
item: Assault Vest
nature: Quiet / Modest
evs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Moves
========
Draco Meteor is a mainstay on this set, being Goodra's strongest attack. With Draco Meteor at hand and an Assault Vest equipped, Goodra can survive any offensive Dragon-type's (for example, Latios) Draco Meteor in OU and OHKO back with a Draco Meteor of her own. Fire Blast gives the best neutral coverage alongside Draco Meteor and is chosen over Flamethrower for the amount of damage it can do. With Goodra's Special Attack, she needs all the help she can get to do damage and Fire Blast with outdamage the latter over time. Fire Blast hits Ferrothorn, Scizor, and other Steel-types that are littered throughout OU. Thunderbolt will hit Azumarill, immune to Draco Meteor, hard, as well as any other Electric-weak types who might consider switching in to or setting up on Goodra, such as Gyarados. Finally, the last slot is Dragon Tail, which gives Goodra utility as a phazer while doing some serious damage in the process, coming off a decent base 100 Attack. Earthquake is an excellent option that can go over either of the last two slots; without it, Heatran walls the entire set and can Toxic Goodra. With Earthquake, however, Goodra can easily 2HKO an unsuspecting Heatran.
Sludge Bomb is another option that can fit over Thunderbolt. Together, Fire Blast and Thunderbolt will hit any Fairy-type who mighOt consider switching into Goodra at least neutrally. Sludge Bomb is an option to hit those Fairy-types as well, and has good utility with its 30% chance to poison, but Thunderbolt is otherwise more useful.
Set Details
========
The EVs on this set are relatively straight-forward. 248 HP gives Goodra the best defensive capability (while keeping HP odd), and max Special Attack allows her to function as a tank by being able to dish out a ton of damage. Choosing a Quiet nature reinforces this by ensuring Goodra does the most damage with all of her attacks, both special and physical. On the other hand, a Modest nature can also be chosen so eliminate the speed drop of Quiet. This allows Goodra to outspeed a few threats that sit in between, such as minimum speed Mega Scizor and Heatran. For slightly more defense and slightly less offense, Sassy and Calm can be picked instead.
Sap sipper gives Goodra an immunity, which is extremely welcome on a pokemon with no recovery, and allows her to come in unscathed on a predicted grass attack. Sap Sipper also makes her immune to Spore, Stun and Sleep Powder, and Leech Seed, all the while powering up Earthquake and Dragon Tail.
While Gooey can be quite useful to potentially turn the tide of the battle to your favor, the main downside of it is that in order to activate it, Goodra has to take a contact hit. Since most contact hits are physical (with few exceptions), letting Goodra take those hits in order to activate Gooey will drastically decrease her lifespan.
That said, it can be helpful to switch in on random resisted contact hits or as a last-ditch effort to stop an opponent's sweep.
Usage Tips
========
Goodra makes a good pivot on offensive teams. Thanks to her many resistances, she can work well as a "glue Pokemon" who can really help pull a team together and lead to game-winning double switches.
Liberal usage of Dragon Tail is also useful for inflicting chip damage (which can be quite considerable with Goodra's decent base Attack) while spreading around hazard damage.
Team Options
========
Goodra likes to switch in and out a lot, especially with Draco Meteor's attack drop, so teammates who can Rapid Spin or Defog are very appreciated. Wish support is also useful because of Goodra's complete lack of reliable recovery.
Goodra has good defensive synergy with Heatran, who resists all of her weaknesses and together with Goodra forms a solid special defensive core. As a physically defensive partner, Scizor also works with Goodra, resisting Ice, Fairy, and Dragon.
Because of Goodra's low physical defense, she works well with teammates who can burn potential physical threats, such as Rotom-W. Rotom-W also covers Goodra's Ice weakness, who in turn covers Rotom-W's Grass weakness (particularly Goodra with Sap Sipper).
Specs
########
name: All-Out Offense
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Focus Blast
ability: Gooey / Sap Sipper
item: Choice Specs
nature: Modest
evs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Moves
========
The given moves are Goodra's best and most powerful attacks. With 3 of the 4 moves boasting a BP of 110 and higher, Goodra has the capability to deal a lot of damage while tanking the opponent's hits.
Set Details
========
248 EVs give Goodra's maximum odd HP to avoid the odd scenario where Goodra could faint just by switching into hazards a number of times.
Since this Goodra does not carry a physical move, Gooey is preferred over Sap Sipper, but Sap Sipper's ability to make Goodra immune to Grass (and thereby, most sleep moves) is still very useful.
Usage Tips
========
While the AV set can sometimes hang around and take some hits while dishing a fair amount of damage, the Specs set prefers to switch in and out a lot more, while dealing a lot of damage in the process. Ideally, switch in on a resisted hit and then hit back with an extremely strong, Specs-boosted attack. With Gooey, switching in on a resisted physical attack could even lead Goodra to outspeeding the opponent on that next turn.
Team Options
========
Specs Goodra works well on an offensively minded or bulky offense team. For this reason, Heatran and Rotom-W are both good teammates. Scizor offers the ability to lure Fire-type attacks for Goodra to switch into. Rotom-W does the same with Grass-type attacks, and other Pokemon, such as Talonflame can do the same with Water and Electric-type attacks.
Other Options
########
Goodra has access to strong physical moves such as Outrage, Power Whip, and Aqua Tail. Thanks to her high Special Defense, Goodra can be quite hard to penetrate after a few Curses, making a physical set possible using some of the aforementioned moves (along with Earthquake).
Goodra's lack of recovery can be slightly remedied by utilizing Rest and Sleep Talk. A CroCune-like set could be used with Rest, Sleep Talk, Curse, and a physical STAB move such as Dragon Tail or Outrage.
Acid Armor can be used to boost Goodra's mediocre physical defense.
Checks & Counters
########
**Fast Physical Attackers**: Anything with strong physical attacks can check Goodra, particularly if they are faster and super effective. Examples include Garchomp, Mega Charizard X, Dragonite, Salamence, Zygarde, Mega Pinsir, and physical Kyurem-B. Bisharp is also a great choice, especially because Gooey will effectively give it a free Swords Dance.
**Specially Bulky Physical Attackers**: Physical attacking special tanks are nearly perfect counters for Goodra. The most prominent of these is Assault Vest Conkeldurr who is 4HKOed by Goodra at most and can then heal itself back up with powerful Drain Punches. (Mega) Tyranitar is another good option who is 3-4HKOed by Earthquake and 2HKOes back with Stone Edge or Crunch.
**Specially Bulky Stall Pokemon**: Examples include Fairy-types such as Florges, Togekiss, and Clefable, as well as common stall Pokemon like Chansey, Mega Venusaur, and Heatran. All of these Pokemon take little damage from Goodra and can proceed to cripple her with Toxic and paralysis and wear her down with super effective Fairy-type attacks.
**Hazards and status**: With a lack of reliable recovery, Goodra despises damage inducing status effects such as toxic poison and burn; with her proclivity to switching in and out, Goodra also detests Stealth Rock and Spikes.
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