Plague von Karma
Banned deucer.
Lapras :3
[OVERVIEW]
Lapras's STAB Blizzard and tremendous bulk give it positive matchups against many of the physical attackers of Ubers, namely Swords Dance Mew, Tauros, and Snorlax. Its Speed is also just right, outrunning Chansey and Exeggutor while potentially threatening Sing, which severely disrupts common sleep strategies. Because Lapras is so hard to wall as a result of BlizzBolt coverage, absorbing its Sing with paralyzed Pokemon is also very difficult, as it can blow past Pokemon like Alakazam and Starmie easily when they're paralyzed. Furthermore, Lapras is generally not being concerned with paralysis itself, and when it is, it can easily switch in on sleep moves from Pokemon like Exeggutor and threaten massive damage thereafter. On a similar note, Lapras shares a quadruple resistance to Ice with Cloyster, letting it switch in to make use of its freeze immunity, softening a somewhat common Mewtwo removal strategy. Lapras's ability to trade hits favorably against almost the entirety of Kanto's finest allows it to clear the way for even stronger allies, positioning them for a quick beatdown.
However, Lapras's lack of reliability comes back to bite it very frequently. It's easily worn down over the course of a game, as its Speed often forces it to take a hit before it can make a move, and it crucially lacks Recover. Being weak to Thunderbolt and neutral to Psychic doesn't help it either, and an untimely critical hit can significantly limit the impact it will have over the course of a game. Additionally, Lapras faces stiff Water-type competition in Cloyster and Starmie. Cloyster is faster and has Clamp and Explosion, while Starmie has Recover and Thunder Wave. While they can't replicate its power or Sing access, they usually bring more consistent utility to a team, which often pushes Lapras out during teambuilding.
[SET]
name: Confuse Ray
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Confuse Ray
move 4: Body Slam
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Lapras's STAB Blizzard is no joke, OHKOing Dragonite and even Rhydon and Golem more than half the time. It also 2HKOes notable Pokemon like Zapdos, Exeggutor, Persian, and sometimes even Snorlax and Tauros. Tauros is a very notable use-case, as few Pokemon in the chromatic generation are capable of beating it in a head-on fight; Lapras can't only 2HKO it, but it can also survive two Body Slams followed by Hyper Beam. Thunderbolt ensures Pokemon like Cloyster, Starmie, and Slowbro can't wall it, 2HKOing Cloyster and 3HKOing the others. Body Slam allows Lapras to be more self-sufficient while supporting its team, which incidentally supports a potential parafusion effort in tandem with Confuse Ray. It also gives Lapras an effective move against Jynx, rarely 3HKOing it, though Hyper Beam can be used instead to KO it after two Thunderbolts.
Thanks to RBY's brutal confusion mechanics, when supported with paralysis, Lapras can position itself into a positive matchup against most Swords Dance Mew variants, including Reflect sets. A single +2 self-hit puts Mew into Blizzard 2HKO range, and from there, Lapras tends to win the interaction. Another application consists of disrupting paralysed Mewtwo and Slowbro's Amnesia set-up, but outside of this, it's generally quite weak.
Confuse Ray Lapras works best as a mid-game threat that disrupts conventional offensive strategies. Progress-makers like Snorlax and Mew tend to have trouble combatting Lapras, as they cannot KO it in just a couple of hits, and it retaliates fiercely in return. However, this only works consistently from full HP: thus, Lapras should be kept for one single, favorable trade before going on its rampage. Your Mew variant of choice should have Thunder Wave, being one of the most consistent methods of landing paralysis against a myriad of threats, most notably opposing Mew. Other paralysis support options include Alakazam, Chansey, Jolteon, Zapdos, and Dragonite. Lapras teams tend to struggle against Zapdos, so Jolteon is a notably suitable partner, though Rhydon is also suitable for a more definitive answer.
[SET]
name: Sing Lead
move 1: Sing
move 2: Blizzard
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Hyper Beam
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Thanks to the presence of Exeggutor and Tauros in the lead slot, Lapras is capable of being a decent lead itself. It possesses the ability to outspeed and 2HKO Exeggutor with its STAB Blizzard or land Sing before getting put to sleep itself. Against Tauros, it is able to stomach two Body Slams and a Hyper Beam and is virtually never KO'd without critical hits. In return, it can attempt to put Tauros to sleep or fire off Blizzard, which will 2HKO a quarter of the time. In the mid-game, Lapras can use its excellent coverage and bulk to fire off Thunderbolts against Starmie and an unboosted Slowbro. It also completely stonewalls Cloyster, forcing it to use Explosion or switch out in fear of being 2HKO'd by said Thunderbolt. Blizzard's 10.3% freeze chance also means Lapras can potentially flip a game on its head by securing a freeze on the likes of Chansey or Mewtwo. Hyper Beam is used in the last slot as a decent finishing tool against Chansey, KOing from about 40%.
While Lapras does have many qualities that make it enticing as a lead, it also suffers from some bad matchups. Jynx, Gengar, Jolteon, and Zapdos all are common leads and make the Lapras user start off on a terrible foot. Zapdos and Jolteon are massively threatening with their STAB Thunderbolts, 2HKOing Lapras. While Zapdos is 2HKOed in return with Blizzard, the faster, critical hit-happy Zapdos has much higher odds of victory. Jynx and Gengar both outspeed and carry their own more accurate sleep-inducing moves, threatening to put Lapras to sleep before it can do anything. Lapras also suffers from a lack of recovery, taking stray hits from Snorlax and Mew and never being able to heal the damage. This makes it quite difficult to facilitate Lapras, especially when such common Pokemon like Chansey and Thunderbolt Mewtwo can switch in repeatedly and shrug off the damage with immediate recovery, only fearing being frozen.
Lapras and its traits make it somewhat matchup dependent, as it can be quite devastating against teams that rely on Exeggutor for sleep or Cloyster for their Snorlax check, being beaten down by Lapras. It is best to maximize your gain early on, getting your Sleep off and firing Blizzards to shoot for a freeze. If these are achieved, then sacking Lapras to the likes of Sing Chansey is often optimal for a team. One additional benefit is the lack of Thunderbolt on Chansey in Ubers, meaning it is typically safe to stay in and fish for that freeze while Chansey tries to put you to sleep. Additionally, if threats such as Cloyster are revealed, Lapras should be kept healthy, so as to repeatedly switch in and fire off Blizzards into incoming Chansey and Mewtwo.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Lapras has a massive movepool that's worth delving into; in the case you want to customize it, Blizzard and Thunderbolt are generally undroppable. Hyper Beam lets Lapras consistently take out Jynx and Alakazam, but otherwise has limited utility, and the latter is not especially common in the Ubers landscape. Lapras has access to Psychic, which can trigger a Special drop overflow against a +4 Mewtwo with maximum investment, but it's quite poor outside of this. Water-type coverage like Surf and Hydro Pump look enticing but have no use-cases outside of OHKOing Rhydon and Golem, being otherwise outclassed by Blizzard. Ice Beam can be used for the additional PP and accuracy, but not only is the drop in power noticeable, but given Lapras wants to win a single notable trade through sheer bulk and, well, power, it tends to be counterproductive.
Lapras can attempt to use a Rest set that allows it to try and repeatedly win trades, but this cedes momentum to the opponent's Mewtwo and Thunderbolt users like Zapdos. This can be used alongside Reflect to make Lapras a real pain for Swords Dance Mew, Tauros, and Snorlax to deal with, but it's generally excessive and is a bit out-of-scope, being performed more effectively by Pokemon like Zapdos and Aerodactyl. This set also ends up making it extremely weak against Mewtwo, which pressures the set effortlessly with its nuclear special attacks and ability to set up while Lapras is asleep.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Electric-types**: While Lapras deals massive damage to any of Jolteon, Zapdos, and Electrode, it will quickly get forced out if it can't KO them in return outright. They deal massive damage with their STAB Thunderbolts, with Jolteon and Zapdos 2HKOing it, and Electrode doing so if Lapras has taken even minor damage. Lapras should only attempt to win if they are paralysed and your team otherwise crumbles.
**Mewtwo**: Mewtwo frequently uses Thunderbolt, and while this can't 2HKO Lapras unboosted, Mewtwo will frequently be at +2 or more. Lapras struggles to damage Mewtwo at all, taking only a quarter of its health with Blizzard half the time. The maximum damage Lapras can nail on it is with Hyper Beam, which deals a maximum of 29.3%. The best shot Lapras has of winning is via parafusion tactics, but it has to catch it early on unless it's specifically to put Mewtwo in range for a revenge kill.
**Chansey**: While Lapras can use Hyper Beam to KO Chansey from a range of 37.9% to 44.6%, and has the potential to freeze it or put it to sleep, Chansey has numerous ways to beat Lapras. A paralyzed Chansey is generally not afraid of non-Confuse Ray Lapras, stonewalling it, and Sing variants can fire off uncontested sleep with little Lapras can do. Light Screen variants designed to beat Mewtwo also beat Lapras, nullifying its main strength in STAB Blizzard. All Chansey variants are also capable of threatening Lapras with a 3HKO from Thunderbolt. Lapras teams should not paralyze Chansey and instead aim to use Lapras's faster Sing to force sleep onto the opposing team. This can be done through switching in on a predicted Seismic Toss or Ice Beam, both of which Lapras shrug off without significant long-term impact.
**Amnesia Snorlax**: The minute Snorlax scores an Amnesia boost, Lapras fails to damage Snorlax in any significant way outside of a lucky freeze with Blizzard. In return, Snorlax can repeatedly Body Slam until its blockade has fallen. Because Snorlax takes a chunk from Blizzard switching in or trying to set up on Lapras, it's not the worst matchup to begin with, but can quickly become such if left alone.
**Mew**: While not used often, Rock Slide Mew is a terrible matchup for Lapras, 2HKOing it at +2 and leaving it without much to do. Niche Mew variants may also use Thunderbolt to possibly 3HKO it. However, other sets are terrified of sustained assaults from Lapras, especially if it's paralyzed, as Lapras's Blizzard has a favorable chance to 3HKO Mew. Plus, Confuse Ray Lapras variants are very annoying for Swords Dance Mew to deal with, as confusion damage increases due to its Attack boosts. It should be remembered that confusion damage uses the opponent's Reflect in damage calculation, so if Mew has Reflect active, confusion damage will "ignore" it.
**Starmie and Alakazam**: While much rarer in the Ubers landscape, these Pokemon can paralyse and trade blows with Lapras easily if not paralysed themselves, mostly thanks to their access to Recover. Starmie is a particularly poor matchup, possessing Thunderbolt to potentially 3HKO it. Alakazam can do the same with its Psychic with a single special drop or critical hit, and either happening in a prolonged interaction is highly likely.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[May, 236353], [Ctown6, 509438]]
- Quality checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
Last edited:
