Gen 9 Anything Goes
Koraidon @ Loaded Dice
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Tera Type: Fire / Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Low Kick
- Scale Shot
- Flare Blitz
The current standard Gen 9 Anything Goes set. Scale Shot + Loaded Dice gives Koraidon a strong Dragon-type STAB, which would let it outspeed the whole unboosted tier after a +1. Scale Shot is the star of the set -- it's a better STAB than Outrage and doesn't necessitate the usage of a Choice Scarf. This makes Koraidon a threatening late-game cleaner after its checks in Arceus-Fairy and Zacian have been weakened.
Low Kick is Koraidon's strongest STAB move. It hits most of the tier with 120 base power, which makes it a Close Combat, but sans the defence drops. Low Kick hits Ting-Lu and Arceus for super-effective damage, thus forcing switches against some of the most common Pokémon in the tier.
Flare Blitz hits any Pokémon that resists any of Koraidon's STAB options. It is super-effective against Zacian, which gets the KO even without a Swords Dance boost. It also hits Arceus-Fairy, Arceus-Ground and Calyrex-Shadow for high damage, potentially having a chance to OHKO utility Arceus after a Swords Dance and Stealth Rock chip damage.
Tera Fire boosts Flare Blitz's damage output, allowing it the 2HKO on utility Arceus from full HP. It also grants Koraidon Will-O-Wisp immunity from support Arceus and helps it to resist both of Zacian's STABs. This lets Koraidon beat most of its checks before getting the Swords Dance boost and gives it a 120 base power STAB, which can clean up well late-game.
Tera Ghost is a typical Terastallization type for most mid- to late-game sweepers and cleaners. It gives Koraidon immunity to Normal-type, thus letting it soft-check Arceus and its Extreme Speed. It's only preferable over Tera Fire when a team lacks basic checks to Arceus. Tera Ghost serves no other purpose than to let Koraidon check Arceus in clutch situations.
Koraidon pairs well with Pokémon which can benefit from its mid-game breaking capabilities. As such, Pokémon such as Arceus and Zacian make for great teammates, as Koraidon can take on Landorus-Therian and Skeledirge for them, while they can clean up Fairy-types and other utility Arceus forms for Koraidon. Pokémon which can switch into Extreme Speed, if not running Tera Ghost, are also preferred because of Scale Shot's defence drops. Because of this, Landorus-Therian, Giratina-Origin and Calyrex are good options for playing along with Koraidon.
