[OVERVIEW]
Koraidon is arguably the most impactful Pokemon in Ubers and is used on the majority of teams. Extremely high Speed and Attack boosted by Orichalcum Pulse and the high Base Power of its moves make Koraidon a nightmare to switch into. Scale Shot combined with Loaded Dice gives Koraidon the tools to break past would-be checks such as Ho-Oh without much trouble, leaving very few reliable checks to it; in fact, Koraidon's incredible breaking power makes dedicated checks such as Arceus-Fairy viable by its sheer presence alone. Despite Scale Shot Koraidon's attention-grabbing power, Koraidon's most used set is in fact Choice Scarf, which provides massive amounts of utility. It's able to revenge kill nearly the entire tier, clean up weakened teams with ease, provide momentum with U-turn, and serve as a pseudo-check to powerful wallbreakers like Extreme Killer Arceus, Kyogre, and Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM. Koraidon is somewhat held back by its reliance on moves like Flare Blitz, which has a lot of recoil, and Scale Shot, which can fail to achieve certain KOs should it miss or not get the right amount of hits. Furthermore, despite the lack of proper checks to Koraidon, it is often pivoted into by Pokemon such as Zacian-C, Flutter Mane, Kyogre, and Landorus-T, which can either absorb a Dragon-type move and KO back or cripple Koraidon through Drizzle or Intimidate. As such, Koraidon requires proper prediction to realize its full potential.
[SET]
Choice Scarf (Koraidon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Orichalchum Pulse
Tera Type: Fire / Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick / Close Combat
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
[SET COMMENTS]
Thanks to how heavy Ubers is as a whole, Low Kick is chosen for its high Base Power without any drawbacks. Close Combat has consistent power, which may come in handy against weakened or Terastallized Ho-Oh and Gliscor, although one must be careful of its Defense drops. Outrage, while sometimes risky, does perform some notable feats such as 2HKOing defensive Ho-Oh; Dragon Claw may be run instead, as it is risk-free. Flare Blitz has massive power when under the sun, and it becomes even more powerful when boosted by Tera Fire, OHKOing defensive Necrozma-DM 50% of the time. Tera Ghost is useful for the Normal and Ghost immunities that it provides, helping Koraidon take on Extreme Killer Arceus and opposing Koraidon.
Choice Scarf Koraidon is an extremely common sight on nearly any team type outside of hyper offense. All of them appreciate Koraidon's ability to check Extreme Killer Arceus and provide sun to weaken Kyogre. As Koraidon tends to attract physically defensive switch-ins, it can use U-turn to bring in powerful special wallbreakers that may otherwise have a hard time switching in, such as Miraidon, Kyogre, Flutter Mane, and even Walking Wake and Chi-Yu. Koraidon must be wary of its HP, as it can easily be worn down through entry hazard damage, Flare Blitz recoil, and Rocky Helmet chip. Due to this, Koraidon works well with most mainstay defensive Pokemon in Ubers, like Necrozma-DM, Ting-Lu, Ho-Oh, Gliscor, Arceus-Fairy, Arceus-Ground, and Arceus-Water, as they let Koraidon save itself for when it's needed to revenge kill or clean weakened teams. Additional checks to Kyogre are especially appreciated, as Koraidon can easily be 2HKOed by Kyogre's Ice Beam; Miraidon, Eternatus, Clodsire, Calm Mind Arceus-Water, and Thunder Kyogre are good options for this.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Tera Steel is possible on Choice Scarf sets, as it helps against Extreme Killer Arceus while also providing a useful Dragon-type resistance for opposing Koraidon and Miraidon. Flame Charge may be run on Scale Shot sets. In particular, Flame Charge helps against Zacian-C and Flutter Mane that may try to switch in on Scale Shot, which eases prediction greatly. However, this comes at the cost of the sheer power of Flare Blitz, and this forces Koraidon to Terastallize more often to raise Flame Charge's Base Power. Taunt also has potential on Scale Shot sets, as it prevents moves like Ho-Oh's Whirlwind and Gliscor's Toxic, but Low Kick and Substitute generally have more utility. Choice Band gives Koraidon absurd breaking power from the get-go; however, Choice Band's move limitation greatly hinders Koraidon's sweeping ability, not to mention that Scale Shot Koraidon already packs enough power. Temper Flare is generally outclassed by Flare Blitz.
Checks and Counters
====
**Arceus-Fairy**: Arceus-Fairy is the most common check to Koraidon, as it absorbs Scale Shot and Low Kick with ease and can tank unboosted Flare Blitz. Koraidon can use Tera Fire to take Judgment, and a +2 or Tera Fire Flare Blitz is severely threatening to Arceus-Fairy, but Arceus-Fairy can use Tera Water and paralyze Koraidon back, crippling it for the rest of the game.
**Fairy-types and Tera Fairy**: Zacian-C and Flutter Mane can take anything but Flare Blitz and force Koraidon out with their super effective coverage and higher Speed. Fairy is also an extremely common Tera type and is prominent on many physical walls, as well as on some special walls like Eternatus and Ting-Lu.
**Skeledirge**: Thanks to Unaware, Skeledirge can shrug off anything that Koraidon throws at it outside of Scale Shot. Koraidon needs at least a high damage roll four-hit Scale Shot followed by a five-hit Scale Shot to guarantee the 2HKO on Skeledirge, meaning that Skeledirge can wall Koraidon even when switching in on Scale Shot provided Koraidon doesn't get the required luck. Should Koraidon use any other move when Skeledirge switches in, Skeledirge will have no problem walling Koraidon. If Skeledirge is in danger of being KOed, it can always use Tera Fairy to stop Koraidon in its tracks.
**Kyogre**: Kyogre dislikes switching in on any moves outside of Flare Blitz, but Kyogre's Drizzle negates Orichalcum Pulse and lowers Flare Blitz's power. This makes Kyogre a decent pivot into Koraidon, especially in combination with other checks.
**Physically Defensive Pokemon**: Arceus-Water has high Defense and is one of the few Pokemon capable of taking two five-hit Scale Shots in a row. It also resists Flare Blitz and can burn or paralyze Koraidon. However, Arceus-Water cannot reliably check +2 Koraidon, especially if entry hazards are on the field, as a +2 Low Kick has an 81.3% chance to OHKO after one layer of Spikes damage. Landorus-T cannot wall Koraidon by itself, but it can be used as a useful pivot into it, lowering its Attack with Intimidate and providing chip damage with Rocky Helmet. Groudon has enough raw physical bulk to tank anything Koraidon can throw at it, but Groudon is limited by its lack of reliable recovery. Ho-Oh can phaze Koraidon with Whirlwind or smack it with Brave Bird, but it risks being KOed by Outrage or a boosted five-hit Scale Shot. Necrozma-DM does not like taking Flare Blitz at all, but it can be used in a pinch to check unboosted Koraidon or to make Koraidon use Flare Blitz more often and suffer recoil damage as a result. Gliscor can use Choice Scarf Koraidon as an easy opportunity to set entry hazards.
**Chip Damage**: Koraidon is vulnerable to all forms of entry hazards and status, in addition to commonly taking Flare Blitz recoil and Rocky Helmet damage. Due to this, Koraidon can be chipped over the course of a game quite quickly.
**Priority**: Scale Shot drops Koraidon's Defense, making priority options a common way to revenge kill it. Extreme Speed from Arceus can easily take down a weakened Koraidon, although Arceus needs to watch out for Tera Ghost or Steel. Chien-Pao's Ice Shard is a good way to take out Koraidon that have not Fire-type Terastallized into the Fire typing. Sucker Punch from Chien-Pao and Kingambit may take out a Terastallized Koraidon.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/manaphy.50695/]
Quality checked by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/corvere.306317/]
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/aberforth.249382/]
Grammar checked by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/aurora.109385/]
Koraidon is arguably the most impactful Pokemon in Ubers and is used on the majority of teams. Extremely high Speed and Attack boosted by Orichalcum Pulse and the high Base Power of its moves make Koraidon a nightmare to switch into. Scale Shot combined with Loaded Dice gives Koraidon the tools to break past would-be checks such as Ho-Oh without much trouble, leaving very few reliable checks to it; in fact, Koraidon's incredible breaking power makes dedicated checks such as Arceus-Fairy viable by its sheer presence alone. Despite Scale Shot Koraidon's attention-grabbing power, Koraidon's most used set is in fact Choice Scarf, which provides massive amounts of utility. It's able to revenge kill nearly the entire tier, clean up weakened teams with ease, provide momentum with U-turn, and serve as a pseudo-check to powerful wallbreakers like Extreme Killer Arceus, Kyogre, and Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM. Koraidon is somewhat held back by its reliance on moves like Flare Blitz, which has a lot of recoil, and Scale Shot, which can fail to achieve certain KOs should it miss or not get the right amount of hits. Furthermore, despite the lack of proper checks to Koraidon, it is often pivoted into by Pokemon such as Zacian-C, Flutter Mane, Kyogre, and Landorus-T, which can either absorb a Dragon-type move and KO back or cripple Koraidon through Drizzle or Intimidate. As such, Koraidon requires proper prediction to realize its full potential.
[SET]
Choice Scarf (Koraidon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Orichalchum Pulse
Tera Type: Fire / Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick / Close Combat
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
[SET COMMENTS]
Thanks to how heavy Ubers is as a whole, Low Kick is chosen for its high Base Power without any drawbacks. Close Combat has consistent power, which may come in handy against weakened or Terastallized Ho-Oh and Gliscor, although one must be careful of its Defense drops. Outrage, while sometimes risky, does perform some notable feats such as 2HKOing defensive Ho-Oh; Dragon Claw may be run instead, as it is risk-free. Flare Blitz has massive power when under the sun, and it becomes even more powerful when boosted by Tera Fire, OHKOing defensive Necrozma-DM 50% of the time. Tera Ghost is useful for the Normal and Ghost immunities that it provides, helping Koraidon take on Extreme Killer Arceus and opposing Koraidon.
Choice Scarf Koraidon is an extremely common sight on nearly any team type outside of hyper offense. All of them appreciate Koraidon's ability to check Extreme Killer Arceus and provide sun to weaken Kyogre. As Koraidon tends to attract physically defensive switch-ins, it can use U-turn to bring in powerful special wallbreakers that may otherwise have a hard time switching in, such as Miraidon, Kyogre, Flutter Mane, and even Walking Wake and Chi-Yu. Koraidon must be wary of its HP, as it can easily be worn down through entry hazard damage, Flare Blitz recoil, and Rocky Helmet chip. Due to this, Koraidon works well with most mainstay defensive Pokemon in Ubers, like Necrozma-DM, Ting-Lu, Ho-Oh, Gliscor, Arceus-Fairy, Arceus-Ground, and Arceus-Water, as they let Koraidon save itself for when it's needed to revenge kill or clean weakened teams. Additional checks to Kyogre are especially appreciated, as Koraidon can easily be 2HKOed by Kyogre's Ice Beam; Miraidon, Eternatus, Clodsire, Calm Mind Arceus-Water, and Thunder Kyogre are good options for this.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Tera Steel is possible on Choice Scarf sets, as it helps against Extreme Killer Arceus while also providing a useful Dragon-type resistance for opposing Koraidon and Miraidon. Flame Charge may be run on Scale Shot sets. In particular, Flame Charge helps against Zacian-C and Flutter Mane that may try to switch in on Scale Shot, which eases prediction greatly. However, this comes at the cost of the sheer power of Flare Blitz, and this forces Koraidon to Terastallize more often to raise Flame Charge's Base Power. Taunt also has potential on Scale Shot sets, as it prevents moves like Ho-Oh's Whirlwind and Gliscor's Toxic, but Low Kick and Substitute generally have more utility. Choice Band gives Koraidon absurd breaking power from the get-go; however, Choice Band's move limitation greatly hinders Koraidon's sweeping ability, not to mention that Scale Shot Koraidon already packs enough power. Temper Flare is generally outclassed by Flare Blitz.
Checks and Counters
====
**Arceus-Fairy**: Arceus-Fairy is the most common check to Koraidon, as it absorbs Scale Shot and Low Kick with ease and can tank unboosted Flare Blitz. Koraidon can use Tera Fire to take Judgment, and a +2 or Tera Fire Flare Blitz is severely threatening to Arceus-Fairy, but Arceus-Fairy can use Tera Water and paralyze Koraidon back, crippling it for the rest of the game.
**Fairy-types and Tera Fairy**: Zacian-C and Flutter Mane can take anything but Flare Blitz and force Koraidon out with their super effective coverage and higher Speed. Fairy is also an extremely common Tera type and is prominent on many physical walls, as well as on some special walls like Eternatus and Ting-Lu.
**Skeledirge**: Thanks to Unaware, Skeledirge can shrug off anything that Koraidon throws at it outside of Scale Shot. Koraidon needs at least a high damage roll four-hit Scale Shot followed by a five-hit Scale Shot to guarantee the 2HKO on Skeledirge, meaning that Skeledirge can wall Koraidon even when switching in on Scale Shot provided Koraidon doesn't get the required luck. Should Koraidon use any other move when Skeledirge switches in, Skeledirge will have no problem walling Koraidon. If Skeledirge is in danger of being KOed, it can always use Tera Fairy to stop Koraidon in its tracks.
**Kyogre**: Kyogre dislikes switching in on any moves outside of Flare Blitz, but Kyogre's Drizzle negates Orichalcum Pulse and lowers Flare Blitz's power. This makes Kyogre a decent pivot into Koraidon, especially in combination with other checks.
**Physically Defensive Pokemon**: Arceus-Water has high Defense and is one of the few Pokemon capable of taking two five-hit Scale Shots in a row. It also resists Flare Blitz and can burn or paralyze Koraidon. However, Arceus-Water cannot reliably check +2 Koraidon, especially if entry hazards are on the field, as a +2 Low Kick has an 81.3% chance to OHKO after one layer of Spikes damage. Landorus-T cannot wall Koraidon by itself, but it can be used as a useful pivot into it, lowering its Attack with Intimidate and providing chip damage with Rocky Helmet. Groudon has enough raw physical bulk to tank anything Koraidon can throw at it, but Groudon is limited by its lack of reliable recovery. Ho-Oh can phaze Koraidon with Whirlwind or smack it with Brave Bird, but it risks being KOed by Outrage or a boosted five-hit Scale Shot. Necrozma-DM does not like taking Flare Blitz at all, but it can be used in a pinch to check unboosted Koraidon or to make Koraidon use Flare Blitz more often and suffer recoil damage as a result. Gliscor can use Choice Scarf Koraidon as an easy opportunity to set entry hazards.
**Chip Damage**: Koraidon is vulnerable to all forms of entry hazards and status, in addition to commonly taking Flare Blitz recoil and Rocky Helmet damage. Due to this, Koraidon can be chipped over the course of a game quite quickly.
**Priority**: Scale Shot drops Koraidon's Defense, making priority options a common way to revenge kill it. Extreme Speed from Arceus can easily take down a weakened Koraidon, although Arceus needs to watch out for Tera Ghost or Steel. Chien-Pao's Ice Shard is a good way to take out Koraidon that have not Fire-type Terastallized into the Fire typing. Sucker Punch from Chien-Pao and Kingambit may take out a Terastallized Koraidon.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/manaphy.50695/]
Quality checked by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/corvere.306317/]
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/aberforth.249382/]
Grammar checked by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/aurora.109385/]
Last edited:
