This motherfucker actually made me pity. I’ve never been this unlucky in a Poké-fair banner. Anyway I like Raihan, good enough reason to fully invest in my book.
I’d categorize Raihan similarly to Classic Red. You use him as steroids to fatten the output of another Striker. A fully invested Raihan has the sync nuke and utility angle. He is quite, ahem, technical. It’s really hard for me to suggest a proper way of playing him because the possibilities of his kit are endless.
At base Raihan can Trap, Flinch, and summon Sandstorm. He can summon Sun with Max Flare. When Raihan uses Sandstorm he adds Physical AND Special Move Up Next to all allies. His Trainer Move buffs +4 Sp.Atk and +2 Crit, so he wants offensive support. In addition, when any weather is active Raihan adds Supereffective Up Next to the entire party. This last tidbit is crucial. Without that steroid Raihan would be a much weaker pair. Raihan’s weather passives are whatever but he tanks okay,
Raihan’s DPS is exceptionally poor because he has to work with Twister and Fire Spin. You can boost these moves with Field Effects, and this property is transferred to their MAX versions. Raihan is undoubtedly utility oriented but he bombs pretty hard with good timing.
I had to think long and hard about WHAT I wanted to show. In my experience Raihan’s debuff and Flinching modes are too slow for Champion Stadium. Hopefully I made Raihan justice. All rounds use Improved Status for loyal numbers.
[0:00] – Looks like we are skipping SSerena ladies and gentlemen
[1:01] – I swear I didn’t intend to use an eggmon at first
https://pokemon-masters-stuff.github.io/#/team-builder/?id1=18000020031&e1=60&o1=0&g1=&s1=5&id2=10257400000&e2=1&o2=738&g2=AAECAwQFFRgZICEiIyUuLw==&s2=5&id3=10162000000&e3=3&o3=714&g3=AAECAwQFBgcICQoMERITFRobHB0jJCUmJyg=&s3=1
6*EX 3/5 Raihan has enough delete buttons to handle off-type. He nukes harder than Lucas under Dragon Zone, but it’s funny how he needs Lucas for it. Raihan’s nuke sits below Champion Iris but the difference lies in ease of set-up: Raihan works with Weather Sync-Up and Interference Sync. Raihan applies Trap with Fire Spin so his set-up is very very simple, as long as you complete his missing stats.
First I toyed with New Year’s Sabrina. She buffs Sp.Atk and procs Confusion + Crit buffs. She can also apply even more Special Move Up Next (SMUN) buffs. The problem is that NY Sabrina reminded me why I hate her and proceeded to fail all her procs. I then realized Raihan has Sharp Entry 1 so in actuality he only needs +2 Sp.Atk for the nuke.
Enter Support Venonat, who has Infestation and buffs +2 Sp.Atk. Infestation has better Accuracy than Fire Spin and spares Raihan the turn so he can use Sandstorm for another SMUN buff. This is honestly the most reliable way of nuking with Raihan.
[3:16] – Toasty
https://pokemon-masters-stuff.github.io/#/team-builder/?id1=10106100000&e1=0&o1=750&g1=AAECAwQFBgcICgsOEBEUGhweHw==&s1=5&id2=10257400000&e2=0&o2=750&g2=AAECAwQFBggJCwwNEBwdHiEiIw==&s2=5&id3=10059000000&e3=60&o3=0&g3=&s3=5
Here, you can turn Raihan into Fire-type Striker. Raihan needs Sunny Day support to fatten Max Flare. Solar Sync is bad, don’t bother. I gridded Raihan to beef up Fire Spin. After the 6*EX Support buff, +3 SMUN and Sun, it manages to be not awful.
[5:34] – More Cynthia copium
https://pokemon-masters-stuff.github.io/#/team-builder/?id1=10108000000&e1=0&o1=750&g1=AAECAwQFExYXGhwfISMmKSs=&s1=2&id2=10257400000&e2=0&o2=750&g2=AAECAwQFBhUWGSMlJicqKy0=&s2=5&id3=10091000000&e3=0&o3=750&g3=AAECAwQFERQVGBseHyAiJSYpLA==&s3=5
Raihan is naturally built as a Sand support. I think his most fun application is with Sandstorm Propulsion 9 to accelerate sync. I REALLY want to show Raihan with Head Start 1 because I think it’s his best lucky skill for pure utility, but I ran out of Deluxe cookies and couldn’t roll it. I settled with gridding Cynthia with Trainer Move Propulsion to compensate.
[7:27] – The Giovanni showcase I never did
https://pokemon-masters-stuff.github.io/#/team-builder/?id1=10114000000&e1=1&o1=738&g1=AAECAwQFERIVGBobHSAjJSgrLA==&s1=5&id2=10257400000&e2=0&o2=750&g2=AAECAwQFBgcICQsNDxAcHyI=&s2=5&id3=10140000000&e3=1&o3=738&g3=AAECAwQFMDM2Nzk6SUxVWg==&s3=5
Raihan can debuff Sp.Def with Mind Boggler 9 so I wanted to do something with it. Supereffective Up Next is effectively the same as using Psychic Terrain. Giovanni go brrr.
[9:10] – It’s MY turn to showcase Red
https://pokemon-masters-stuff.github.io/#/team-builder/?id1=18000020000&e1=60&o1=0&g1=&s1=5&id2=10257400000&e2=0&o2=750&g2=AAECAwQFBgcICQsNDxAcHyI=&s2=5&id3=10000000000&e3=0&o3=750&g3=AAECAwQFBhEUFxgZKCssLS4v&s3=5
Raihan’s most infamous for enabling SS Red’s nuke. He compresses Supereffective Up Next and Sun, so Red can finally catch up with current nuking standards.
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The Eggmon Compendium: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kxM8KgAZjJzony2dkXxzswToB8jaZtVGoAP4WAmAN6M/
I stream Pokémon Masters sometimes: https://www.twitch.tv/zinfogel