Sabelette
from the river to the sea
[OVERVIEW]
Rapidash finds a niche in NU thanks to its Speed and the inconsistent but infamous Fire Spin. Crucially outspeeding important Pokemon like Mr. Mime, Venomoth, Raticate, and Charizard, Rapidash generally relies on Fire Blast, Body Slam, and Toxic to spread status before using Fire Spin to chip down foes into range of its other moves. It also can clean up late game or revenge kill; its base 100 Attack makes it more effective at taking out physically frail foes like Mr. Mime compared to Charizard. Fire Spin can enable pivoting to escape dangerous checks and set up favorable matchups, and it's an effective way to gain momentum if Rapidash gets in against something that is likely to switch out, like Venomoth or Exeggcute. Rapidash can also team up with Charizard, Ninetales, and Moltres to add even more chances to land Fire Spin and status moves to wear down foes.
Of course, Toxic + Fire Spin is a strategy with extremely shaky accuracy, and Rapidash's poor bulk does it no favors; it's 2HKOed by all Water-types and even rarely OHKOed by Seadra's Hydro Pump and Kingler's Crabhammer. Charizard's Earthquake also 2HKOes it, and Pokemon like Mr. Mime and Clefable can paralyze it, rendering it useless, so Rapidash has very few chances to attack or use Toxic without facing decimation in return. Kabutops also puts a stop to Fire Spin-reliant strategies in a hurry; Rapidash has no way to break through it other than applying burn or poison and hoping for extreme luck with Fire Spin. Golem is also difficult for Rapidash to break, Electrode is fast enough to force it out with the threat of Thunder Wave, and other Thunder Wave users can easily exploit Fire Spin misses, so Rapidash has multiple weaknesses against most teams. Poisoning the foe can also be problematic, as rendering dangerous foes like Charizard and Mr. Mime immune to paralysis may let them sweep. As a result, Rapidash is not recommended on the vast majority of teams.
[SET]
name: Fire Spinner
move 1: Fire Spin
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Body Slam / Toxic
move 4: Hyper Beam / Toxic
[SET COMMENTS]
Rapidash's Speed combined with Fire Spin is the main reason to use it over better Pokemon like Ninetales and Moltres, and it serves to rack up chip damage, pivot out of bad matchups, and amplify status spread to the enemy team, forcing them to take as much as 10% per switch-in if poisoned or burned. Fire Blast is Rapidash's main attack, 3HKOing most non-resistant foes like Mr. Mime, Clefable, and Nidoking and 2HKOing frailer threats like Raticate and Venomoth. With a little chip damage from Fire Spin, these 3HKOs become 2HKOs, such as against Mr. Mime. Rapidash's base 100 Attack allows it to use Body Slam to decent effect, potentially paralyzing foes while dealing passable damage. Hyper Beam is a strong finisher against Mr. Mime in particular, dealing a minimum of 49.4% to it. Toxic can be used over the physical moves, but this is an inconsistent strategy and Rapidash will rarely manage to spread Toxic without taking paralysis or massive damage in return. If it's landed safely, it allows Rapidash to secure extra chip damage on each Fire Spin.
Rapidash appreciates help from teammates that can spread status, like Mr. Mime, Venomoth, and Clefable, to buy it a little additional safety and give it chances to get in. It also likes bulky allies like Blastoise that can spread Toxic and other Fire-types to burn foes with Fire Blast and use their own Fire Spin to capitalize. Charizard is also good to capitalize on this chip damage; it comes just short of OHKOing many foes with a +2 Hyper Beam or Earthquake, so a little chip can set it up perfectly. Additional Fire-types also help to overwhelm common checks like Blastoise and Golem, which otherwise will inevitably manage to break through.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/mrsoup.375193/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/togkey.400664/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/p-squared.168392/
Rapidash finds a niche in NU thanks to its Speed and the inconsistent but infamous Fire Spin. Crucially outspeeding important Pokemon like Mr. Mime, Venomoth, Raticate, and Charizard, Rapidash generally relies on Fire Blast, Body Slam, and Toxic to spread status before using Fire Spin to chip down foes into range of its other moves. It also can clean up late game or revenge kill; its base 100 Attack makes it more effective at taking out physically frail foes like Mr. Mime compared to Charizard. Fire Spin can enable pivoting to escape dangerous checks and set up favorable matchups, and it's an effective way to gain momentum if Rapidash gets in against something that is likely to switch out, like Venomoth or Exeggcute. Rapidash can also team up with Charizard, Ninetales, and Moltres to add even more chances to land Fire Spin and status moves to wear down foes.
Of course, Toxic + Fire Spin is a strategy with extremely shaky accuracy, and Rapidash's poor bulk does it no favors; it's 2HKOed by all Water-types and even rarely OHKOed by Seadra's Hydro Pump and Kingler's Crabhammer. Charizard's Earthquake also 2HKOes it, and Pokemon like Mr. Mime and Clefable can paralyze it, rendering it useless, so Rapidash has very few chances to attack or use Toxic without facing decimation in return. Kabutops also puts a stop to Fire Spin-reliant strategies in a hurry; Rapidash has no way to break through it other than applying burn or poison and hoping for extreme luck with Fire Spin. Golem is also difficult for Rapidash to break, Electrode is fast enough to force it out with the threat of Thunder Wave, and other Thunder Wave users can easily exploit Fire Spin misses, so Rapidash has multiple weaknesses against most teams. Poisoning the foe can also be problematic, as rendering dangerous foes like Charizard and Mr. Mime immune to paralysis may let them sweep. As a result, Rapidash is not recommended on the vast majority of teams.
[SET]
name: Fire Spinner
move 1: Fire Spin
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Body Slam / Toxic
move 4: Hyper Beam / Toxic
[SET COMMENTS]
Rapidash's Speed combined with Fire Spin is the main reason to use it over better Pokemon like Ninetales and Moltres, and it serves to rack up chip damage, pivot out of bad matchups, and amplify status spread to the enemy team, forcing them to take as much as 10% per switch-in if poisoned or burned. Fire Blast is Rapidash's main attack, 3HKOing most non-resistant foes like Mr. Mime, Clefable, and Nidoking and 2HKOing frailer threats like Raticate and Venomoth. With a little chip damage from Fire Spin, these 3HKOs become 2HKOs, such as against Mr. Mime. Rapidash's base 100 Attack allows it to use Body Slam to decent effect, potentially paralyzing foes while dealing passable damage. Hyper Beam is a strong finisher against Mr. Mime in particular, dealing a minimum of 49.4% to it. Toxic can be used over the physical moves, but this is an inconsistent strategy and Rapidash will rarely manage to spread Toxic without taking paralysis or massive damage in return. If it's landed safely, it allows Rapidash to secure extra chip damage on each Fire Spin.
Rapidash appreciates help from teammates that can spread status, like Mr. Mime, Venomoth, and Clefable, to buy it a little additional safety and give it chances to get in. It also likes bulky allies like Blastoise that can spread Toxic and other Fire-types to burn foes with Fire Blast and use their own Fire Spin to capitalize. Charizard is also good to capitalize on this chip damage; it comes just short of OHKOing many foes with a +2 Hyper Beam or Earthquake, so a little chip can set it up perfectly. Additional Fire-types also help to overwhelm common checks like Blastoise and Golem, which otherwise will inevitably manage to break through.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/mrsoup.375193/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/togkey.400664/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/p-squared.168392/
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