Competitive Information for Rayquaza [Sword/Shield]


Dragon / Flying
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Rayquaza? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Sword/Shield Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Rayquaza is a remarkable Dragon and Flying-typed Pokemon. It's a not-uncommon sight to see Rayquaza out in the 8th generation battlefield. Rayquaza is considered strong enough to compete with Uber tiered Pokemon. Rayquaza is weak to Dragon, Fairy, Ice, and Rock-typed attacks.
Item: Yache Berry / Expert Belt
Ability: Air Lock
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Dragon Ascent
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- V-create
- Earthquake / Aqua Tail
Physical Sweeper Rayquaza (Air Lock)
Rayquaza is a legendary Physical Sweeper for single battles. It attempts to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Expert Belt boosts the damage of Rayquaza's super effective moves by 20%. With Air Lock, while Rayquaza is active the effects of weather conditions are disabled. Earthquake or Aqua Tail are added to provide additional threat coverage. With a Yache Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective ice-type attack then the Yache Berry gets consumed.
◆ Outrage is a physical STAB-boosted 120-base power Dragon-type move (lasts 2-3 turns. Confuses your Rayquaza afterwards).
◆ Dragon Claw is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Dragon-type move that deals a nice amount of damage.
◆ V-create is a physical 180-base power Fire-type move (lowers your Rayquaza's defense, special defense, speed by 1 stage).
◆ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
◆ Aqua Tail is a physical 90-base power Water-type move that deals a considerable amount of damage.
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is10a180
Item: Yache Berry / Eject Pack
Ability: Air Lock
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
- Overheat / Flamethrower
- Air Slash
- Ice Beam / Earth Power
Special Sweeper Rayquaza (Air Lock)
Rayquaza is a legendary Special Sweeper for single battles. It attempts to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. With Air Lock, while Rayquaza is active the effects of weather conditions are disabled. Ice Beam or Earth Power are added to provide additional threat coverage. With a Yache Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective ice-type attack then the Yache Berry gets consumed. With a Eject Pack equipped to it, if Rayquaza's stat stages are lowered, it switches to a chosen ally then the Eject Pack gets consumed.
◆ Dragon Pulse is a special STAB-boosted 85-base power Dragon-type move that deals a mighty amount of damage.
◆ Overheat is a special 130-base power Fire-type move (lowers your Rayquaza's special attack by 2 stages).
◆ Flamethrower is a special 90-base power Fire-type move (10% chance to burn the target).
◆ Air Slash is a special STAB-boosted 75-base power Flying-type move (30% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Ice Beam is a special 90-base power Ice-type move (10% chance to freeze the target).
◆ Earth Power is a special 90-base power Ground-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is11a180
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Rayquaza? These builds have been optimized for Sword/Shield Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Draco Meteor
- Hurricane
- Earth Power
- Protect
Doubles Special Sweeper Rayquaza (Popular VGC)
Rayquaza is a legendary Special Sweeper for double battles. This particular build was popular during past competitions. It's designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Life Orb boosts the power of Rayquaza's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Air Lock, while Rayquaza is active the effects of weather conditions are disabled.
◆ Hurricane is a special STAB-boosted 110-base power Flying-type move (30% chance to confuse target. Can't miss in rain).
◆ Earth Power is a special 90-base power Ground-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
◆ Protect is a status move (prevents moves from affecting your Rayquaza this turn).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id10a180
Item: Yache Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Outrage / Breaking Swipe
- Dragon Ascent
- V-create
- Earthquake
Doubles Physical Sweeper Rayquaza (Air Lock)
Rayquaza is a legendary Physical Sweeper for double battles. It's meant to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Life Orb boosts the power of Rayquaza's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Air Lock, while Rayquaza is active the effects of weather conditions are disabled. With a Yache Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective ice-type attack then the Yache Berry gets consumed.
◆ Breaking Swipe is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Dragon-type move (100% chance to lower the foes attack by 1 stage).
◆ Dragon Ascent is a physical STAB-boosted 120-base power Flying-type move (lowers your Rayquaza's defense and special defense by 1 stage).
◆ V-create is a physical 180-base power Fire-type move (lowers your Rayquaza's defense, special defense, speed by 1 stage).
◆ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id11a180
Item: Yache Berry / Eject Pack
Ability: Air Lock
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Icy Wind / Hyper Voice
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
- Surf
- Incinerate / Overheat
Doubles Special Sweeper Rayquaza (Air Lock)
Rayquaza is a legendary Special Sweeper for double battles. It attempts to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. With Air Lock, while Rayquaza is active the effects of weather conditions are disabled. Icy Wind was added to provide additional threat coverage. With a Yache Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective ice-type attack then the Yache Berry gets consumed. With a Eject Pack equipped to it, if Rayquaza's stat stages are lowered, it switches to a chosen ally then the Eject Pack gets consumed.
◆ Hyper Voice is a special 90-base power Normal-type move (no additional effect. Hits adjacent foes).
◆ Draco Meteor is a special STAB-boosted 130-base power Dragon-type move (lowers your Rayquaza's special attack by 2 stages).
◆ Dragon Pulse is a special STAB-boosted 85-base power Dragon-type move that deals a nice amount of damage.
◆ Surf is a special 90-base power Water-type move (hits adjacent pokemon. Double damage on dive).
◆ Incinerate is a special 60-base power Fire-type move (destroys the foes berry/gem).
◆ Overheat is a special 130-base power Fire-type move (lowers your Rayquaza's special attack by 2 stages).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id12a180
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Rayquaza learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Rayquaza can perform in Sword/Shield. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive SS Move and Ability Combos for Rayquaza
- Moves: Sunny day + Solar beam
- Moves: Swagger + Psych up
- Moves: Rain dance + Thunder
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Moves: Thunderbolt + Ice beam
- Move: Swagger + Item: Mirror Herb
- Move: Fling + Item: King's Rock
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Move: Meteor Beam + Item: Power Herb
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect, Extreme Speed
- Moves that Break Screens: Brick Break, Defog
- Moves that inflict status: Thunder Wave, Toxic
Moves that boost Rayquaza's stats
- Ancient Power
- Bulk Up
- Cosmic Power
- Dragon Dance
- Hone Claws
- Meteor Beam
- Scale Shot
- Swords Dance
Most notable and possible best moves for Rayquaza
- Dragon Ascent
- Earthquake
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Rest
- Toxic
Common Effort Values for Rayquaza in Sword and Shield
- Adamant Nature ( 0/252/0/0/0/252 )
- Modest Nature ( 0/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Optimize Rayquaza's EV spread for Pokemon Sword and Shield
Related Videos
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Here are the best movesets for Rayquaza. Top rated Rayquaza Sword/Shield movesets. You can find Rayquaza builds Sword/Shield. Rayquaza movesets Sword/Shield are listed here. VGC Rayquaza Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Rayquaza in Sword/Shield along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for evolution