[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 4 onwards
**Price Range**: 9-10 points
**Overview**: Pelipper is the best rain setter in the format and the premier choice for rain-centric drafts, thanks to Drizzle greatly benefitting teammates such as Barraskewda, Archaludon, and Basculegion. Better physical bulk, U-turn, and reliable recovery set it apart from the other automatic rain setter, Politoed. However, Pelipper is not without flaws; it's weak to Stealth Rock but wants Damp Rock to extend rain turns. Its quadruple weakness to Electric is also highlighted, since even physical attackers can KO it with Thunder. Furthermore, given the nature of Draft, rain teams can struggle against opposing preparation. Pelipper is usually only drafted on full rain teams with other Pokemon able to exploit rain to its fullest.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Rain Setter**: With Drizzle and Damp Rock, Pelipper can support its team with rain, using its decent physical bulk to pivot in teammates and deal respectable damage.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Hydro Pump, Weather Ball, Surf, Chilling Water, Hurricane
**Utility Moves**: U-turn, Knock Off, Roost, Icy Wind
**Coverage**: Ice Beam
Niche Moves
========
**Tailwind**: Tailwind can be used to make a slower, bulkier teammate faster and much more threatening.
**Rain Dance**: Rain Dance can be used as a countermeasure against opposing weather teams, particularly sun teams with Torkoal.
Common Items
========
**Damp Rock**: Damp Rock is Pelipper's most viable item and enables a rain-centric draft to benefit from more rain turns.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots fixes Pelipper's weakness to Stealth Rock, helping it stay around for longer and thus giving it more opportunities to set rain. This also enables it to showcase its physical bulk more.
Niche Items
========
**Choice Specs**: Under rain, Pelipper can hit fairly hard if it invests in Special Attack, and Choice Specs helps it lean more into its powerful STAB attacks.
Tera
========
Pelipper should not usually be considered for your Tera Captain. It is generally recommended to make a Pokemon that exploits its rain a Tera Captain instead. However, if you do choose to make it a Tera Captain, Tera Ground and Grass are great options to rid Pelipper of its Rock and Electric weaknesses.
Draft Strategy
========
Drafting Pelipper indicates that you are drafting a rain team, so the Pokemon you draft should naturally be good in rain. You also need to account for Pelipper's poor special bulk and weaknesses to Rock and Electric.
**Swift Swim Users**: Swift Swim is the most obvious way to take advantage of rain against opposing offensive drafts. There are multiple great options for Swift Swim users; the Basculegion formes and Barraskewda are great picks, while there are also cheaper options like Floatzel and Ludicolo.
**Strong Water-type Wallbreakers**: When combined with the boost to Water-type attacks in rain, strong wallbreakers like Keldeo, Palafin, Quaquaval, and Ogerpon-W become very difficult to wall.
**Other Rain Exploiters**: To bring type diversity to your draft, other, non Water-type Pokemon are appreciated. Electric-types that can spam Thunder, such as Raging Bolt, Raikou, and Zapdos, are appreciated. Flying-types that can use Hurricane, such as Tornadus-T and Iron Jugulis, are also great picks. Pokemon weak to Fire, like Scizor and Ogerpon, also greatly appreciate the rain Pelipper provides. Archaludon is an absolute must when drafting rain, as it handles foes of all the types that rain traditionally struggles with while having great damage output thanks to Electro Shot.
**Electric-resistant Pokemon**: Pelipper is 4x-weak to Electric, and most Water-types found on rain drafts share this weakness. Therefore, having Pokemon that can deal with Electric-types is a must. Iron Treads is immune to Electric and also brings a variety of utility moves to the table, including Rapid Spin as an emergency entry hazard removal option. Thundurus-T and Kilowattrel are both powerhouses in rain that are immune to Electric by virtue of their abilities.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Rain teams usually aim to win quickly, but having entry hazard removal available is great because it means Pelipper can set rain more times. Tentacruel, Iron Treads, and Cyclizar are options for Rapid Spin support, while Noivern and Scizor can be Defoggers.
Checks and Counters
========
**Opposing Weather**: Other weather setters, like Tyranitar and Alolan Ninetales, are bad matchups for Pelipper, as it cannot do its job and provide rain for the team as effectively. Most Pokemon, including but not limited to Tornadus-T, Corviknight, and Whimsicott, can also prepare for the matchup by carrying a weather-setting move like Sunny Day. Torkoal in particular can sometimes be tricky to play around, as it is slower than Pelipper and hence sets sun when both Pokemon lead. Additionally, it can use Stealth Rock to limit Pelipper's switch opportunities, and its Grass-type teammates with Chlorophyll beat the Water-types on Pelipper's team.
**Stealth Rock**: If Stealth Rock goes up and stays up, Pelipper is forced to choose between Heavy-Duty Boots for longevity or Damp Rock for maximum turns, which can make the matchup more difficult.
**Electric-types**: All Electric-types can threaten OHKOs on the 4x-weak Pelipper.
**Special Attackers**: Pelipper has poor special bulk and as a result is vulnerable to being KOed by strong special attackers, such as Enamorus, Walking Wake, and Latios.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/boingk.586482/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/abriel.473082/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
**Draft Order**: Round 4 onwards
**Price Range**: 9-10 points
**Overview**: Pelipper is the best rain setter in the format and the premier choice for rain-centric drafts, thanks to Drizzle greatly benefitting teammates such as Barraskewda, Archaludon, and Basculegion. Better physical bulk, U-turn, and reliable recovery set it apart from the other automatic rain setter, Politoed. However, Pelipper is not without flaws; it's weak to Stealth Rock but wants Damp Rock to extend rain turns. Its quadruple weakness to Electric is also highlighted, since even physical attackers can KO it with Thunder. Furthermore, given the nature of Draft, rain teams can struggle against opposing preparation. Pelipper is usually only drafted on full rain teams with other Pokemon able to exploit rain to its fullest.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Rain Setter**: With Drizzle and Damp Rock, Pelipper can support its team with rain, using its decent physical bulk to pivot in teammates and deal respectable damage.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Hydro Pump, Weather Ball, Surf, Chilling Water, Hurricane
**Utility Moves**: U-turn, Knock Off, Roost, Icy Wind
**Coverage**: Ice Beam
Niche Moves
========
**Tailwind**: Tailwind can be used to make a slower, bulkier teammate faster and much more threatening.
**Rain Dance**: Rain Dance can be used as a countermeasure against opposing weather teams, particularly sun teams with Torkoal.
Common Items
========
**Damp Rock**: Damp Rock is Pelipper's most viable item and enables a rain-centric draft to benefit from more rain turns.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots fixes Pelipper's weakness to Stealth Rock, helping it stay around for longer and thus giving it more opportunities to set rain. This also enables it to showcase its physical bulk more.
Niche Items
========
**Choice Specs**: Under rain, Pelipper can hit fairly hard if it invests in Special Attack, and Choice Specs helps it lean more into its powerful STAB attacks.
Tera
========
Pelipper should not usually be considered for your Tera Captain. It is generally recommended to make a Pokemon that exploits its rain a Tera Captain instead. However, if you do choose to make it a Tera Captain, Tera Ground and Grass are great options to rid Pelipper of its Rock and Electric weaknesses.
Draft Strategy
========
Drafting Pelipper indicates that you are drafting a rain team, so the Pokemon you draft should naturally be good in rain. You also need to account for Pelipper's poor special bulk and weaknesses to Rock and Electric.
**Swift Swim Users**: Swift Swim is the most obvious way to take advantage of rain against opposing offensive drafts. There are multiple great options for Swift Swim users; the Basculegion formes and Barraskewda are great picks, while there are also cheaper options like Floatzel and Ludicolo.
**Strong Water-type Wallbreakers**: When combined with the boost to Water-type attacks in rain, strong wallbreakers like Keldeo, Palafin, Quaquaval, and Ogerpon-W become very difficult to wall.
**Other Rain Exploiters**: To bring type diversity to your draft, other, non Water-type Pokemon are appreciated. Electric-types that can spam Thunder, such as Raging Bolt, Raikou, and Zapdos, are appreciated. Flying-types that can use Hurricane, such as Tornadus-T and Iron Jugulis, are also great picks. Pokemon weak to Fire, like Scizor and Ogerpon, also greatly appreciate the rain Pelipper provides. Archaludon is an absolute must when drafting rain, as it handles foes of all the types that rain traditionally struggles with while having great damage output thanks to Electro Shot.
**Electric-resistant Pokemon**: Pelipper is 4x-weak to Electric, and most Water-types found on rain drafts share this weakness. Therefore, having Pokemon that can deal with Electric-types is a must. Iron Treads is immune to Electric and also brings a variety of utility moves to the table, including Rapid Spin as an emergency entry hazard removal option. Thundurus-T and Kilowattrel are both powerhouses in rain that are immune to Electric by virtue of their abilities.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Rain teams usually aim to win quickly, but having entry hazard removal available is great because it means Pelipper can set rain more times. Tentacruel, Iron Treads, and Cyclizar are options for Rapid Spin support, while Noivern and Scizor can be Defoggers.
Checks and Counters
========
**Opposing Weather**: Other weather setters, like Tyranitar and Alolan Ninetales, are bad matchups for Pelipper, as it cannot do its job and provide rain for the team as effectively. Most Pokemon, including but not limited to Tornadus-T, Corviknight, and Whimsicott, can also prepare for the matchup by carrying a weather-setting move like Sunny Day. Torkoal in particular can sometimes be tricky to play around, as it is slower than Pelipper and hence sets sun when both Pokemon lead. Additionally, it can use Stealth Rock to limit Pelipper's switch opportunities, and its Grass-type teammates with Chlorophyll beat the Water-types on Pelipper's team.
**Stealth Rock**: If Stealth Rock goes up and stays up, Pelipper is forced to choose between Heavy-Duty Boots for longevity or Damp Rock for maximum turns, which can make the matchup more difficult.
**Electric-types**: All Electric-types can threaten OHKOs on the 4x-weak Pelipper.
**Special Attackers**: Pelipper has poor special bulk and as a result is vulnerable to being KOed by strong special attackers, such as Enamorus, Walking Wake, and Latios.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/boingk.586482/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/abriel.473082/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
Last edited:
