Very excited to see these raids, since I missed them the first time (caught Kyogre the second time around thankfully, so prioritizing Groudon).
I did a Groudon raid today, and it had Solar Beam. I suspected as much but put in my two Kyogre first to lead off - that didn't go so well. Neither even got off a single Hydro Pump.
So, I've realized I need to improve my teams a bit - at least for SoB Groudon and Blizzard Kyogre.
Let's start with my existing teams for Groudon and Kyogre's easier move sets:
Groudon:
Two Kyogre, Two FP Venusaur (one I'm not willing to power up as it's a Shiny at exactly 2500CP for PvP, the other is 2482 and I could push it over 2500), and 96% & 91% level 30 HC Feraligatrs.
Kyogre:
Level 33.5 98% 15 attack Zapdos (may eventually max this out, currently have 49 extra Zapdos candy still)
2583CP BS/SB Exeggutor
The two Venusaur from above
2416 BS/SB Alolan Exeggutor
2133 BS/SoB Alolan Exeggutor
Note: SB = Seed Bomb, I'll write SoB for Solar Beam, which only one of my (many) Exeggutor ever managed to get (we're talking 1 for 30+ regular exeggutor evolves and 15+ level 25+ wild catches).
Potential Investments:
Non SoB Groudon:
Level 25 91% 15 attack lucky HC Feraligatr
Level 24 91% 14 attack lucky HC Feraligatr (assuming it makes sense to power the luckies instead of the 96% that's at 30 already)
Level 20 91% (13 A) Kyogre (requires charge TMs and all rare candy)
Level 23 100% Gyarados (requires one charge TM as it currently has Outrage+Crunch), was considering using for PvP but can always use a different one in ultra league
SoB Groudon & Non-Blizzard Kyogre:
Level 35 87% 13A Roselia
Level 34 89% 13A Roselia (evolve either/both to Roserade, have 228 candy)
I also have 2 level 40 SB Mewtwo, could consider using 78 rare candy (have 22 Mewtwo candy left, but also 2 more great Shadow Ball Mewtwo I could max, one of which is Lucky but 11A other 14A both 87%) to buy one/both an extra move and get IB or TB for now until eventually switching to FoB afterwards for PvP (although I don't PvP much). Or could just power up an existing TB or IB Mewtwo from level 20 (best Mewtwo is 96% and would TM for the move).
Kyogre:
Level 20 98% Zapdos
2602 CP BS/O Alolan exeggutor (charge TM to SoB)
Level 35 (2597 CP) Alolan Golem (already has VS/WC)
Level 30 VS/LR 2384CP Jolteon (TM to TS/TB)
Level 30 76% Electabuzz (evolve to Electivire and TM if needed)
Level 15 96% 14A Raikou (TM to TS/WC) - have 50 candy
Level 19 91% 15A Electabuzz (evolve to Electivire and TM if needed) - only have 211 Electabuzz candy so I can't do both.
Resources:
638K stardust - want to keep some to max Groudon, Mamoswine, Magnezone, Palkia, Dialga, etc... but obv. always getting more.
20 charge TMs
347 rare candy (want to save some for Palkia/Dialga/Groudon though).
What would you do?
Apologies for the super length, but I'm completely stuck in analysis paralysis....
Id suggest powering both the FP venusaur up, but you want to keep the one at 2500CP, so max the other as your biggest weakness is solar beam groudon, everything else you have locked down.
Roserade, from what ive heard isnt as good agaisnt groudon as one would think, its a glass cannon stuck with a one bar. Againt mudshot/Solar beam ive heard good things, but strictly that set, dragon tail puts a massive dent in it.
Agaisnt kyogre, it'd need to be against thunder, as even with the resistance, HP is still very very powerful with STAB (HP Venusaur and alolan exeggutor are better because of the better survivability)
On the theoretical side, roserade looks good, but in practice, it doesnt hold up as well as the projections, a bit like gengar but gengar can achieve it more than roserade can. It's really the nature of solar beam that holds back roserade, one bars dont do well on glass cannons.
Great, thanks!
Given neither of those require stardust investments - I'm good with evolving them (or at least one of them). I have the candy anyways and plenty of Sinnoh stones.
The problem I'm having is that the theoretical best things to invest in are the steepest cost:
I'd rather invest in a good Electivire, and the 91% will cost 121K stardust to get to level 33.5 (when I run out of candy).
The Venusaur will cost 50k stardust to go from 35 to 38 (at which point I'm again out of candy).
The Raikou is great but only level 15, so lots of dust and candy needed.
Likewise with the second 98% Zapdos at level 20 - probably better using the Candy to further power the one I've started.
The cheaper investments are the ones I don't really need:
Two lucky Feraligatr but I already have good water types in my Kyogre to lead with. Likewise with the 100% Gyarados that I've been considering anyways.
The Alolan Golem would cost 88k stardust to get to 40. Not sure if he's good enough for Blizzard Kyogre?
Likewise TM'ing my Jolteon as well as some Alolan Exeggutor may be the cheapest options. Especially TM'ing my highest Alolan exeggutor for use in both raids seems attractive.
The nice thing about Seed Bomb is at least I can use it before Blizzard (more than once!) with certainty! The first time Kyogre came through I only used Seed Bomb exeggutors and it seemed mostly fine, although I typically had larger groups than I expect in the cold.
Also just realized I missed Weavile in my list. With Avalanche having 2 bars, perhaps he's worth going for too. Don't have any good Sneasel unfortunately, but I could just evolve a level 30 one.
Gengar and Roserade share so many feats when you think of it. Both have the lackluster Poison sub-typing that makes them weak against what they're supposed to excel at countering (Psychic and Ground respectively).
Gengar can be that good anyway thanks to Shadow Ball being a 2-bar move with high DPS. If Roserade had access to Grass Knot (like in the main series), it would be a very similar win story.
Funnily enough, Roserade can also learn Shadow Ball in the main series :)
My advice for Each raid and sets:
1. Kyogre
1.1.- Hydro Pump: Grass-types: Roserades and/or Grass Knot Breloom (Glassy leads), Frenzy Plant Venusaur (Tanks).
1.2- Thunder: Grass-types again (See 1.1) and Electric-types like Electivire and Raikou.
1.3- Blizzard: Man, this is a tough one. I gave it a lot of thought and, Electivires, and Raikous are the safest bets. Combining Thunderbolt Mewtwos and Tank Pokemon Like Double-Psychic Metagross helps to do at least neutral damage and surviving.
2. Groudon:
2.1- Earthquake: Just use Grass and Water types: Roserade and/or Breloom (Leads), Frenzy Plant Venusaur (Tanks), Water-types like Kyogre, Hidro Cannon Feraligatr, and special mention to Gyarados which is resistant to ground-type attacks.
2.2- Fire Blast: Only Water types are needed (See 2.1)
2.3- Solarbeam: Here, Grass-types are your best companions. Mostly are Grass/Poision so they double resist Solarbeam.
Hope it helps!
