Community POTW #032

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon

This week we go to Kalos!

It's Goodra!

https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/goodra/

Go nuts

 

[Mestorn]

Goodra, the pseudo-legendary Dragon of the 6th generation. Goodra is an odd one, with its greatest strength in its SDEF. Base 150 SDEF with 90 health is absolutely massive, and being monodragon means that Goodra doesn't have an crippling 4x weakness to exploit. Base 70 DEF means that Goodra does not take physical hits nearly as well. But Balanced offenses (100/110) and a wide movepool means that Goodra can act admirably as a bulky sweeper, letting special attacks fall like water off its back while it fires back with a steady offense of its own. However lack of reliable recovery prevents Goodra from being an unmoveable wall like its fellow blobs Blissey and Chansey, make it vulnerable to repeated assaults.

Deflector Ooze
Goodra
Ability: Gooey/Sap Sipper
Item: Assault Vest
-Dragon Pulse
-Sludge Bomb
-Flamethrower
-Thunderbolt/Focus Blast/Surf
Nature: Bold (+DEF, -ATK)
EVs: 252 HP/252 SATK/4 DEF

A set that plays to Goodra's strength's Goodra becomes nigh unKOable via special attacks. For some examples:

+2 252 SpA Polteageist Stored Power (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Goodra: 147-173 (38.2 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Espeon Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Goodra: 124-146 (32.2 - 38%) -- 94.7% chance to 3HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Goodra: 109-130 (28.3 - 33.8%) -- 0.9% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Abomasnow Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Goodra: 200-236 (52 - 61.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage
252 SpA Vanilluxe Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Goodra: 152-180 (39.5 - 46.8%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after hail damage

Several of the strongest special attacks in the game, and they only 3HKO (bar Specs Abomasnow, but that has its own problems), making Goodra a reliable pivot into Special attackers as long as they aren't packing a STAB weakness. Dragon Pulse is STAB, Sludge Bomb and Flamethrower melt Fairies and Steel types respectively, and last move is up to coverage preference.

In Dynamax format, Goodra becomes even more terrifying, having its already good HP doubled is nuts. On top of that, Max Wyrmwind reduces attack, shoring up Goodra's weaker defense, Max Ooze enables Goodra to start packing a serious punch and Max Geyser synergizes well with any Hydration sets.

Wyrm Slime
Goodra
Ability: Hydration/Sap Sipper
Item: Leftovers
-Curse
-Breaking Swipe/Body Press
-Earthquake
-Power Whip/Fire Punch/Thunder Punch/Skitter Smack/Rest
Nature: Adamant (+ATK, -SATK) OR Impish (+DEF, -SATK)
EVs: 252 HP/252 ATK/4 SDEF

Goodra's natural attributes make it an excellent Curse abuser (viable ATK, High SDEF, doesn't care about speed). Come in, Curse to Shore Up Goodra's defenses and plow through the team. Goodra's best Physical STAB (bar Outrage which is just begging to be abused by a fairy) is Breaking Swipe, making Goodra even more bulky on the defensive side, although the power is low. Body Press is also boosted by Curse, has great coverage and doesn't come with a debilitating drawback (unlike Superpower). Earthquake is again one of the best moves in the game, and hits the Steel types that Goodra attracts. Final move is up to preference: Power Whip, Fire Punch and Thunder Punch all provide great coverage (Water types, Skarmory, Skarmory + Water types) while Skitter Smack reduces the opponents SATK, allowing Goodra to shore up its special bulk.

Hydration is more recommended for this set, as a Curse Goodra is heavily impacted by Toxic and Burns, and combos well with Rest giving Goodra reliable recovery, provided you can keep the rain up. Otherwise, Sap Sipper is great for the extra immunity and attack boost.

 

[XaelOstigian]

As far as pseudo-legendary Pokemon go, Goodra is a bit of an odd duck. One being that it is a pure Dragon type, and the other that it's stats seem to favor a bulkier build rather than a powerhouse sweeper like its other brethren. Despite not quite fitting in within that crowd, Goodra is still a very versatile choice for team building complete with three excellent abilities, a wide offensive movepool, and even a few neat tricks that keeps your opponents guessing as to how Goodra will be used, provided you are able to accommodate its specific needs and are able to play into its strengths.

Wall of Slime
Ability: Sap Sipper/Gooey
Item: Assault Vest
Nature: Bold
EVs: (HP 252) (Def 252) (SpDef 4)

Moves:
Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor
Fire Blast
Sludge Bomb
Thunderbolt/Surf

Set Details:
A bulky tank set that capitolizes on Goodra's 150 base special defense while buffing its physical defense with the proper nature and EVs. This set can tank special hit like a freaking Chansey and can still hit back thanks to its wide offense options. Dragon Pulse is the default neutral STAB but Draco Meteor is also an option if you are quick to switch, Fire Blast covers Steel types that resist your Dragon STAB and Sludge Bomb covers you against Fairy types that are outright immune. The last slot is a matter of coverage preference with Thunderbolt hitting the copious amounts of Water and Flying types (Gyarados especially), and Surf drowns out the Fire, Ground and Rock types. Ability choice is also up to preference as an immunity to Grass attacks and Sleep Powder is always welcome, but Gooey is handy to have around also since faster direct attackers will be punished and then subsequent outsped by Goodra which still sits at a comfortable base 80 speed.

Keeping Yourself Well-Hydrated
Ability: Hydration
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
EVs: (HP 252) (Def 252) (SpDef 4)

Moves:
Rain Dance
Rest
Dragon Pulse
Muddy Water/Surf

Set Details:
Access to excellent defensive stats and Hydration as an ability opens the door to a Hydration Rest strategy that keeps Goodra's health in the green while whittling away the opponent. Set up Rain Dance and while rain is active it allows you to instantly wake up from Rest after using it, allowing you to recover 100% of your health and shedding off any burns, paralysis, poisoning. Dragon Pulse is your most reliable STAB and a Water attack has good neutral coverage with your STAB and also benefits from the power boost granted by the rain. Muddy Water may be less accurate than Surf, but the high chance of accuracy drop can force your opponent to switch or risk missing on subsequent moves against Goodra, but if the accuracy still turns you off then Surf is still a safe bet. Lefteovers provides additional recovery and EVs/Nature is poured into HP and Defense since Goodra already has Special Defense in spades.

Escargoo
Ability: Sap Sipper/Hydration
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
EVs: (HP 252) (Def 252) (SpDef 4)

Moves:
Curse
Outrage
Earthquake
Iron Tail/Power Whip/Fire Punch

Set Details:
A physical variant on Goodra since Goodra has an attack stat that is nearly as high as its special, not to mention it has access to the boosting move Curse to make Goodra not only stronger, but bulkier too at the cost of speed. Outrage is unfortunately the only physcial STAB goodra has access to, but as long as you are mindful of any Fairy types in the opponent's team and temper the confusion risk afterward you should be fine. Earthquake has almost prefect coverage with Outrage, so the last slot is a matter of filling in the holes in your coverage or just surprising the opposition not expecting your final attack slot. Iron Tail punishes the Fairy types but has shaky accuracy, Power Whip whips the Water/Ground types ho think they can come in and set up on you, and Fire Punch surprises the likes of Bronzong, Ferrothorn, and Scizor who think they can take whatever Goodra dishes out. Leftovers provides additional bulk and the Nature/EVs keep Goodra as resilient as physically possible. Ability choice typically goes to Sap Sipper since the added immunity to Grass attacks and Grass status is welcome (Not to mention it increases Goodra's attack even further), but Hydration is a worth a mention if you have rain support and don't want a stray burn or badly poison to ruin your game.

So Goodra has a lot to offer to the Pokemon World in the form of competitive usage, and not just in the form of rule 34 lewds...

Seriously, DO NOT Google Goodra lewds. You WILL regret it.

 

[Carkol]

You know for the Stonjourner article on Smogon, it mentions the base speed of 70 as a pro and a con. A con because 70 is slow, but a pro because 70 is unusually high for a Rock type. Today's Urshifu has a base speed of 97. That is unusually high for a Fighting type. As well as all the other Fighting/Dark and Water/Fighting types. That base speed 97 is more of a pro than a con, imo.

 

[Divine Retribution]

You know for the Stonjourner article on Smogon, it mentions the base speed of 70 as a pro and a con. A con because 70 is slow, but a pro because 70 is unusually high for a Rock type. Today's Urshifu has a base speed of 97. That is unusually high for a Fighting type. As well as all the other Fighting/Dark and Water/Fighting types. That base speed 97 is more of a pro than a con, imo.

Stonjourner does not have an official article on Smogon yet, and its Speed tier relative to other Rock-types is not really a relevant factor; its Speed tier relative to the metagame in general is. The same thing applies to Urshifu; while base 97 is definitely usable, it does fall short of Hydreigon and the crucial base 100 Speed tier, which is definitely a limiting factor on the potential of an offensive Pokemon with mediocre special bulk.

 

[Aduro]

Checks and Counters:
Countering Goodra can seem tricky at first. It often runs specs fire blast or sludge wave to do a ton of damage to incoming steel, ice and fairy types. You also might struggle to set up on it with its access to dragon tail, which can help chip away at the likes of Cobalion or Sirfetch'd.
Rare variants can also set see Goodra setting up curses if you try to play too defensively.

However, one you know what kind of set you're up against, Goodra can be quite easy to shut down. Either by switching in a nice tank into its special attacks, particularly . Or by landing a status afflication or other common solution to the setup variants.

There are three particular standout counters in UU. One is sylveon, sure its weak to sludge wave, quite a common Goodra coverage move. But it can handle almost anything else, and do a ton of damage through Goodra's high defence stat. And Sylveon can set up subs or calm mind on a physical dragon tail variant.

The other is Galarian Weezing, which is immune to Goodra's STAB, and takes hits relatively well from sludge wave and fire blast. It can take advantage of pain split, and even reset cureses and sap sipper boosts with haze. Galarian Weezing won't like to take a specs sludge wave or fire blast very much.

Bronzong can take a few of its hits safely, and threaten Goodra back with a hypnosis or toxic. Goodra rarely runes hydration, especially in singles formats.