This is a strategy guide for using Rillaboom in competitive play for the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, and Held Items to use with Rillaboom, as well as its strengths and weak points.
Rillaboom - Related Guides | ||
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Evolution and Learnset | Build for Ranked Battle | Gigantamax Rillaboom |
List of Contents
Pokemon | Type 1 | Type 2 |
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Abilities | ||
Overgrow | Powers up Grass-type moves in a pinch. | |
Grassy Surge (Hidden) | The Pokemon creates a Grassy Terrain when it enters a battle. |
Type | |
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Takes 4x damage |
|
Takes 2x damage | |
Takes 0.5x damage | |
Takes 1/4x damage |
|
Takes 0x damage |
|
HP | Attack | Defense | Sp. Atk | Sp. Def | Speed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
100 | 125 | 90 | 60 | 70 | 85 |
Best Natures | ||
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Jolly (+Spd, -Sp.Atk) |
Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk) |
Hammer Arm | Inherit from Rhydon (Learnable on evolution) or Stufful(learns at Lv. 32) |
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Nature | Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk) |
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EV Spread | HP 252 / Atk 252 / Spd 4 |
Final Stat Values | HP 207 / Atk 177 / Def 110 / Sp.Def 90 / Spd 150 |
Ability | Grassy Surge |
Held Item | Choice Band |
Moveset | ・Grassy Glide
・Superpower ・Knock Off ・High Horsepower |
This set is all about dealing strong damage up front thanks to the +1 Priority Grassy Glide. This 70 Base Power move coming off a STAB, Choice Banded, Grassy Terrain boosted Rillaboom effectively becomes one of the fastest ways to deal guaranteed physical damage.
Grassy Glide serves as Rillaboom's main attacking move. It benefits from STAB, and the priority increase and damage boost from Grassy Terrain.
Superpower is a strong fighting-type coverage move that allows you to deal heavy damage to Steel-types. It also gives Rillaboom access to Max Knuckle to further strengthen its Attack stat.
Knock Off serves as a dark-type coverage move that has the added benefit of removing the item of the opponent. This can be especially useful when up against bulky Pokemon to knock off Leftovers or Eviolite.
High Horsepower is a ground-type coverage move that can also be used for the Sp.Def boost provided by Max Quake.
This set utilizes a bulky attacker spread with max investment in Attack and HP. Speed isn't as big of an issue since, thanks to Grassy Terrain, Grassy Glide becomes a priority move. Higher health also means more recovery provided by the ability. We can place the remaining EVs in Speed.
With its Hidden Ability Grassy Surge, Rillaboom will automatically set up Grassy Terrain to power up all Grass-type moves to 1.3x power. This allows it to take out Wash Rotom with 252 EVs placed in HP with a single Grassy Glide, and handle a variety of opponents that it could not have before with its newfound power boost.
Grassy Surge also ensures Rillaboom's Grassy Glide has increased priorty, allowing it to hit faster Water, Rock, and Ground-type Pokemon for super effective damage.
A free Grookey with the Grassy Surge Ability is available via Pokemon HOME. Learn how to get all three Galar Starters with Hidden Abilities and transfer them to Pokemon Sword and Shield with our guide below:
How to Get & Transfer Hidden Ability Starters from Pokemon HOME
Choice Band gives Rillaboom's attack stat a 50% increase at the cost of locking it into only one move. Grassy Glide is a pretty safe move to get locked into so this isn't too much of an issue.
Drum Beating | Rillaboom's signature move has the added effect of lowering the target's Speed. |
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Wood Hammer | A stronger grass-type alternative when you need a bit more damage. |
Nature | Adamant (+Atk, -SpAtk) |
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EV Spread | HP 140 / Atk 252 / Def 4 / Sp.Def 84 / Spd 28 |
Final Stat Values | HP 190 / Atk 194 / Def 111 / Sp.Def 101 / Spd 109 |
Ability | Grassy Surge |
Held Item | Assault Vest |
Moveset | ・Drum Beating
・U-turn ・Grassy Glide ・Knock Off |
This build is a better for handling opponents like Primarina, Excadrill and Wash Rotom. These Pokemon rarely have an attack which can hit Rillaboom effectively, so use Drum Beating on whatever switches and Grassy Glide on Pokemon that can outspeed you.
This set focuses on taking advantage of Rillaboom's natural bulk, while escaping from difficult matchups with U-turn. Even if the opponents outspeeds Rillaboom, it can use Drum Beating to decrease its opponent's Speed and gain the upper hand.
Grassy Glide serves as Rillaboom's main attacking move. It benefits from STAB, and the priority increase and damage boost from Grassy Terrain.
Knock Off serves as a Dark-type coverage move that has the added benefit of removing the item of the opponent. This can be especially useful when up against bulky Pokemon to knock off Leftovers or Eviolite.
Its EVs are placed here to allow it to outspeed a Mimikyu with its Speed decreased by one stage, so it can take the upper hand when Mimikyu comes out on a switch-in. When Mimikyu hasn't used Swords Dance yet, Rillaboom can handle its hits with no problem, and it can beat back to net a KO.
Assault Vest boosts Rillaboom's Special Defense by 50%. This allows for an even distribution of its bulk to tank attacks from both sides of the spectrum.
High Horsepower | An alternate Ground move for when you want to Dynamax Rillaboom. Its power doesn't decrease with Grassy Terrain, making it more effective than Earthquake in this context. |
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Hammer Arm | An alternate choice for Knock Off if you need extra coverage. It drops Rillaboom's speed by 1 stage every time you use it, but this can be alleviated by using Grassy Glide. |
Nature | Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk) |
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EV Spread | Atk 252 / Sp.Def. 4 / Spd 252 |
Final Stat Values | HP 175 / Atk 194 / Def 110 / Sp.Def 91 / Spd 137 |
Ability | Grassy Surge |
Held Item | Lum Berry Life Orb Grassy Seed |
Moveset | ・Swords Dance
・Grassy Glide ・Knock Off ・Superpower |
After a Swords Dance boost, Rillaboom reaches unexpected levels of offense. As opposed to the Choice Band set, where you are forced into a single move, this set leaves you with the freedom of choice.
Swords Dance gives Rillaboom a 2-stage increase in its Attack Stat, effectively giving the same boost as Choice Band.
Superpower is a strong fighting-type coverage move that allows you deal heavy damage to Steel-types. It also gives Rillaboom access to Max Knuckle to further strengthen it's Attack stat.
Grassy Glide serves as Rillaboom's main attacking move. It benefits from STAB, and the priority increase and damage boost from Grassy Terrain.
Knock Off serves as a dark-type coverage move that has the added benefit of removing the item of the opponent. This can be especially useful when up against bulky Pokemon to knock off Leftovers or Eviolite.
Its EVs are placed here to allow it to outspeed a Mimikyu with its Speed decreased by one stage, so it can take the upper hand when Mimikyu comes out on a switch-in. When Mimikyu hasn't used Swords Dance yet, Rillaboom can handle its hits with no problem, and it can beat back to net a KO.
Life Orb offers another way for Rillaboom to boost its damage, but at the expense of its HP. Thankfully Grassy Terrain can help mitigate the damage accrued from Life Orb.
Meanwhile, Lum Berry is a safe item to have in case Rillaboom comes across enemies who may try to inflict status such as Paralysis or Burn to cripple its offense.
When using a Grassy Seed, it might be a good idea to have Acrobatics as one of your moves. Upon consumption of the Grassy Seed in Grassy Terrain, you will get a speed boost which further strengthens your offensive prowess and Acrobatics will benefit from Rillaboom's lack of item.
High Horsepower | An alternate Ground move for when you want to Dynamax Rillaboom. Its power doesn't decrease with Grassy Terrain, making it more effective than Earthquake in this context. |
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Acrobatics | Strong coverage move with synergy with Grassy Seed. Also gives Rillaboom access to Max Airstream. |
Drain Punch | A less powerful fighting-move but has the added advantage of HP recovery. |
Rillaboom is able to hit hard with its high Attack. It also has high Speed, so arming it with a Choice Scarf can allow it to take advantage of this to move faster and defeat many opponents.
As a Grass-type Pokemon, Rillaboom is cursed with weaknesses to Fire, Flying and others which are frequently held even by non-STAB opponents. Don't send it up against opponents who it can't handle.
A Choice Banded Rillaboom can hit Kyogre or Regieleki incredibly hard with its increased priority Grassy Glide, especially if they don't Dynamax. This means they must decide to Dynamax or try and hit Rillaboom to salvage the situation.
Weakness |
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As Rillaboom is a Grass-type Pokemon, a type with several weaknesses, and since it can only learn Moves of a few types, it's easy to exploit these weaknesses with an advantageously-typed Pokemon.
Pokemon | Description |
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Yveltal | Ranking: ★★★★★
・Takes half damage from most of Rillaboom's common moves ・Has access to STAB Max Airstream Yveltal - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle |
Zapdos | Ranking: ★★★★★
・Resists Rillaboom's STAB Grass attacks. ・Has access to STAB Max Airstream ・Static can also inflict paralysis onto Rillaboom since most of its attacks are contact moves. Best Ranked Battle Build for Zapdos |
Cinderace | Ranking: ★★★★★
・STAB Pyro Ball deals significant damage even to Bulky Rillaboom ・Can switch to advantageous types thanks to Libero Best Ranked Battle Build for Cinderace |
Landorus (Therian Forme) | Ranking: ★★★★★
・Intimidate can help lower Rillaboom's attack. ・Has access to STAB Max Airstream Best Ranked Battle Build for Landorus |
Celesteela | Ranking: ★★★★★
・Resists Rillaboom's STAB Grass attacks. ・Has access to STAB Max Airstream Best Ranked Battle Build for Celesteela |
Dragonite | Ranking: ★★★★★
・Resists Rillaboom's STAB Grass attacks. ・Has access to STAB Max Airstream ・Has additional bulk thanks to Multiscale. Can easily recover HP thanks to Roost. Best Ranked Battle Build for Dragonite |
Naganadel | Ranking: ★★★★
・Resists Rillaboom's STAB Grass-type attacks. ・Has a type advantage with it's STAB Poison-type attacks. ・Be careful of Ground-type attacks from Rillaboom Best Ranked Battle Build for Naganadel |
Heat Rotom | Ranking: ★★★★ ・Can go for a knockout with Overheat ・Can handle almost all of Rillaboom's attacks with its type combination and Levitate Heat Rotom - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle |
Corviknight | Ranking: ★★★★☆ ・A physical attacker with a great dual-typing of Flying and Steel ・Can take an attack even when switched in on Rillaboom Best Ranked Battle Build for Corviknight |
All Competitive Builds for Ranked Battle
Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tier List | Best Builds | Series 10 List of Contenders | |||
Doubles Tier List | Team Building | Rental Teams |
Movesets & Best Builds for New Pokemon | ||
---|---|---|
Dragapult | Galarian Corsola | Toxtricity |
Galarian Darmanitan | Corviknight | Dracovish |
Grimmsnarl | Rillaboom | Duraludon |
Cinderace | Alcremie | Dracozolt |
Hatterene | Eiscue | Inteleon |
Pincurchin | Frosmoth | Zacian |
Sirfetch'd | Flapple | Coalossal |
Centiskorch | Arctozolt | Zarude |
Galarian Weezing | Eternatus | Indeedee (Female) |
Sandaconda | Zamazenta |
Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tier List | Best Builds | Series 10 List of Contenders | |||
Doubles Tier List | Team Building | Rental Teams |
Movesets & Best Builds for New Pokemon | ||
---|---|---|
Dragapult | Galarian Corsola | Toxtricity |
Galarian Darmanitan | Corviknight | Dracovish |
Grimmsnarl | Rillaboom | Duraludon |
Cinderace | Alcremie | Dracozolt |
Hatterene | Eiscue | Inteleon |
Pincurchin | Frosmoth | Zacian |
Sirfetch'd | Flapple | Coalossal |
Centiskorch | Arctozolt | Zarude |
Galarian Weezing | Eternatus | Indeedee (Female) |
Sandaconda | Zamazenta |
Hi why do you choose superpower instead of brick break. Cause superpower decreases attack and defense. And brick break allows you to hit through screens Just doesn't make sense.
Rillaboom - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle
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You’re telling me. I’m all in for powerhouses, but rejecting Brick Break is abysmal from my understanding.