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This is a strategy guide for using Thundurus 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 Thundurus, as well as its strengths and weak points.
Thundurus - Related Guides | |
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Evolution and Learnset | Build for Ranked Battle |
List of Contents
Pokemon | Type 1 | Type 2 |
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Abilities | ||
Prankster | Gives priority to a status move. | |
Defiant (Hidden) | When its stats are lowered its Attack increases. |
Pokemon | Type 1 | Type 2 |
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Abilities | ||
Volt Absorb | Restores HP if hit by an Electric-type move. |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
79 | 115 | 70 | 125 | 80 | 111 |
HP | Attack | Defense | Sp. Atk | Sp. Def | Speed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
79 | 105 | 70 | 145 | 80 | 101 |
Best Natures | ||
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Timid (+Spd, -Atk) |
Nature | Timid (+Spd, -Atk) |
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EV Spread | Def 4 / Sp.Atk 252 / Spd 252 |
Final Stat Values | HP 154 / Def 91 / Sp.Atk 177 / Sp.Def 100 / Spd 179 |
Ability | Prankster |
Held Item | Life Orb Focus Sash |
Moveset | ・Nasty Plot ・Thunderbolt ・Focus Blast ・Sludge Wave |
Thundurus' Incarnate Forme is notorious for being one of the fastest setup sweepers in the metagame. Thanks to its ability Prankster, it can set up Nasty Plot before its opponent and sweep on its next turn.
Nasty Plot increases Thundurus' Special Attack by two stages, and gets a priority boost thanks to its ability. Thunderbolt is its main STAB move and, coming off from its base 125 Special Attack stat, can dent or even knock out Pokemon that don't resist it.
It's other moves are for coverage. Focus Blast hits Steel and Rock-type Pokemon, many of which have a secondary Ground typing that are immune to Thundurus' main STAB.
Sludge Wave is another good coverage move that hits bulky Grass-type Pokemon that take little damage from Thundurus' Electric-type attacks.
We're using a standard Special Attacking EV spread with full investment in Speed and Special Attack so that Thundurus can hit hard and as fast as possible. It's remaining 4 EVs are placed in Def to improve its rather mediocre bulk.
Prankster is the preferred ability for this Thundurus. This gives all it's status moves, such as Nasty Plot and Rain Dance, a +1 priority.
Life Orb is the preferred ability so that Thundurus can hit harder with its moves, but this item also deals recoil damage after every turn.
You can also have Thundurus hold Focus Sash so that it can survive a hit that would KO it and still sweep on the next turn.
Discharge | Weaker than Thunderbolt but has a 30% chance to paralyze the target. |
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Weather Ball | You can replace Focus Blast with this move if you're using Thundurus on a Rain Team. This move becomes a 100 Base Power Water-type move in Rain, allowing Thundurus to hit Ground-types for super effective damage. |
Thunder Wave | Can replace one of its coverage moves so that Thundurus can spread paralysis. This move gets a +1 priority boost from Prankster. |
Nature | Timid (+Spd, -Atk) |
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EV Spread | HP 4 / Sp.Atk 252 / Spd 252 |
Final Stat Values | HP 155 / Def 90 / Sp.Atk 197 / Sp.Def 100 / Spd 168 |
Ability | Volt Absorb |
Held Item | Life Orb Choice Specs Choice Scarf |
Moveset | ・Dark Pulse ・Thunderbolt ・Focus Blast ・Sludge Wave |
This is a standard attacking build for Thundurus. With its high Special Attack and Speed stat, Thundurus packs quite a punch with high damage moves like Focus Blast, Sludge Wave, Dark Pulse, and an even stronger STAB move in Thunderbolt.
Dark Pulse is a good coverage move against Ghost and Psychic-type Pokemon. Thunderbolt is its main STAB move and, coming off from its base 125 Special Attack stat, can dent or even knock out Pokemon that don't resist it.
It's other moves are for coverage. Focus Blast hits Steel and Rock-type Pokemon, many of which have a secondary Ground typing that are immune to Thundurus' main STAB.
Sludge Wave is another good coverage move that hits bulky Grass-type Pokemon that take little damage from Thundurus' Electric-type attacks.
Discharge | Weaker than Thunderbolt but has a 30% chance to paralyze the target. |
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Volt Switch | A good utility STAB move to get Thundurus out of sticky situations and matchups. |
Grass Knot | Coverage move against Ground and Rock-type Pokemon. |
Psychic | A strong coverage move against Poison-type Pokemon that looks to stall. |
Hyper Beam | A good finishing move that capitalizes on Thundurus' high special attack stat. |
Flash Cannon | Another strong coverage move against Rock-type Pokemon. |
Nature | Timid (+Spd, -Atk) |
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EV Spread | Def 4 / Sp.Atk 252 / Spd 252 |
Final Stat Values | HP 154 / Def 90 / Sp.Atk 197 / Sp.Def 100 / Spd 168 |
Ability | Volt Absorb |
Held Item | Choice Scarf Choice Specs |
Moveset | ・Thunderbolt ・Volt Switch ・Focus Blast ・Sludge Wave |
Although slower than its Incarnate Forme, Thundurus' Therian Forme makes a great revenge killer and offensive pivot thanks to its massive 145 Base Special Attack Stat.
Thunderbolt is Thundurus' strongest STAB move, while Volt Switch allows it to pivot from its checks quickly into its teammates.
It's other moves are for coverage. Focus Blast hits Steel and Rock-type Pokemon, many of which have a secondary Ground typing that are immune to Thundurus' main STAB.
Sludge Wave is another good coverage move that hits bulky Grass-type Pokemon that take little damage from Thundurus' Electric-type attacks.
We're using a standard Special Attacking EV spread with full investment in Speed and Special Attack so that Thundurus can hit hard and as fast as possible. It's remaining 4 EVs are placed in Def to improve its rather mediocre bulk.
Volt Absorb is Thundurus Therian's only ability, protecting it from Electric-type moves while also healing for a quarter of its HP.
We're giving this Thundurus a Choice Scarf, doubling its speed but restricting it to only one attack for its turn.
You can also run Choice Specs if you want to further boost the power of Thundurus Therian's special attacks.
Rising Voltage | A good alternative to Thunderbolt in Doubles, but requires Electric Terrain to hit for its maximum damage. |
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Weather Ball | Becomes a Base 100 Power Water-type Move when in Rain. |
Grass Knot | A good alternative to Focus Blast that allows Thundurus to potentially KO bulky Ground-types like Hippowdon. |
Nature | Jolly (+Spe, -Sp. Atk) |
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EV Spread | HP 4 / Atk 252 / 252 Spe |
Final Stat Values | HP 155 / Atk 167 / Def 90 / Sp. Def 100 / Spd 179 |
Ability | Defiant |
Held Item | Assault Vest |
Moveset | ・Fly ・Wild Charge ・Superpower ・Foul Play |
Defiant Thundurus is an excellent teammate for physically offensive Pokemon who would not want to get Intimidated.
Fly and Wild Charge are Thundurus' main weapons when it is Dynamaxed. Both moves gets powered-up by STAB, with Max Airstream boosting its Speed. You can also use Max Knuckle to raise Thundurus' Attack stat.
Wild Charge can be used against bulky Water-type Pokemon like Kyogre, and Foul Play takes advantage of Thundurus' boosted Attack stat to deal high damage.
With Intimidate leads rampant in the metagame, Thundurus can rely on Defiant to take advantage of this trend and even power up its attacks.
Thundurus is given Assault Vest to improve its low Sp. Def stats, as it is vulnerable to Ice-type moves such as Ice Beam or Blizzard.
Tornadus' EVs for this build are the standard boosts to Attack and Speed to make it hit as hard and as fast as possible. The rest is allotted to HP to give it a bit of a bulk.
Thunder Punch | Less powerful than Wild Charge but safer to use when Thundurus is not Dynamaxed since it does not have recoil. |
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Crunch | Physical Dark-type move that can be an alternative to Foul Play. |
Nature | Calm (+Sp. Def, -Atk) |
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EV Spread | HP 124 / Def 236 / Sp. Def 148 |
Final Stat Values | HP 170 / Def 120 / Sp. Atk 145 / Sp. Def 130 / Spd 131 |
Ability | Prankster |
Held Item | Sitrus Berry |
Moveset | ・Thunder Wave ・Eerie Impulse ・Protect ・Thunderbolt |
Thundurus with Prankster has the potential to cripple hyper-offensive teams thanks to the Ability giving priority to status moves.
Thunder Wave acts as way to kill your opponent's momentum by slashing their Speed stat to half and inflicting paralysis. As for offensive special attackers, Eerie Impulse will hit them where it hurts as the move lowers the target's Sp. Atk by two levels.
You can then use Thunderbolt to chip away your opponent's health while your main attacker finishes the job.
Sitrus Berry is given to Thundurus to let it stay in battle longer. The longer you can hold on to Thundurus, the better, as there will be times where your opponent might be able to gain the upper hand.
Thundurus' EV spread for this build focuses on making it more bulky and defensive, as it is weak to Rock and Ice-type attacks which numerous Pokemon have in their movesets for coverage.
Taunt | Disables the use of status moves of a target, making it unable to set up Screens or use Protect. |
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Rain Dance | Allows Thundurus to be an alternative Rain setter. |
Scary Face | Another Speed control move which can target Electric-type Pokemon. |
Thundurus, whether it's in its Incarnate Forme or Therian Forme, is best used in a Rain Team where it can fill the role of a main sweeper, offensive pivot, or even a back-up Rain setter if its in its Incarnate Forme.
Thundurus is at its most dangerous when there's an Electric Terrain up, as it can then unleash Rising Voltage against the opposing Pokemon. There are many ways you can set this up - either by using a Pokemon that can set it up automatically such as Tapu Koko or by having your main Dynamax Pokemon use Max Lightning.
Support | Special Attacking Sweeper | Redirection/Support |
---|---|---|
Incineroar | Zapdos | Zacian |
Incineroar is valuable support for Thundurus as it is able to reduce an opposing Groudon's Attack stat with its Intimidate, effectively turning a OHKO from a Max Rockfall into a 2HKO. It is also able to use Fake Out into much faster Pokemon.
Zacian is a good partner to have on the field because it is a prime target for Intimidate, which is very good for Defiant Thundurus. Zacian also greatly benefits from Max Knuckle and Max Airstream.
Weakness |
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Although reasonably bulky, Thundurus will not be able to withstand super-effective Rock-type moves. Thundurus also does not appreciate getting burned.
Pokemon | Description |
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Groudon | Ranking: ★★★★★
・Can tank hits from Thundurus and can knock it out with a Max Rockfall. Groudon - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle |
Nihilego | Ranking: ★★★★★
・Outspeeds and can knock out Thundurus with a boosted Meteor Beam. Nihilego - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle |
Dragapult | Ranking: ★★★★★
・Outspeeds and can cut Thundurus' attacking power with Will-O-Wisp. Dragapult - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle |
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 |
Thundurus - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle
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