What is a good moveset for Rayquaza?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Rayquaza, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for any of its pre-evolutions can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Rayquaza Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

Rayquaza @ Wise Glasses
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
- Air Slash
- Focus Blast
- Earth Power

Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse - STAB, covers Dragon weakness
Air Slash - STAB, coverage decent power and a good chance of causing the foe to flinch.
Focus Blast - Covers 2 weaknesses, and crazy power and a chance to lower the foe's Special Defense.
Earth Power - Large range of coverage, chance to decrease foe's Special Defense.

Rayquaza is an absolute beauty, this set is about coverage and decreasing the foes Special Defense, which is either useful and/or needed dependent on if you choose Draco Meteor or Dragon Pulse, you're gonna have to choose between the two but either is fine.

Rayquaza @ Persim Berry / Choice Scarf
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance / Dragon Dance

Outrage / Dragon Claw - STAB, crazy power, covers Dragon weakness
Stone Edge - great power, high critical hit ratio, coverage.
Earthquake - great power, accuracy, coverage.
Swords Dance / Dragon Dance - sharply raises Atk, or raises Atk and Spe

This set is also pretty good, covers all weaknesses and allows for a boost in Atk and/or Spd, really a power set. If you choose Outrage, then pick the Persim Berry as your item, otherwise Choice Scarf to make for a dangerous sweeper.

Rayquaza @ King's Rock
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 128 Atk / 128 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Iron Tail / Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Air Slash

Draco Meteor - STAB, covers dragon weakness.
Iron Tail / Iron Head - coverage of weaknesses (including Fairy).
Earthquake - it's Earthquake dude...
Air Slash - STAB, decent power and decent chance to flinch the foe.

This set is aimed for Rayquaza to be fast as heck and flinch the foe and just kill anything it crosses, because a Dragon type move is hardly called for, Draco Meteor works in this set for a powerful fast strike, plus the decrease in the Sp.atk doesn't affect the rest of the set. Air Slash is there just to flinch the opponent, and to handle Pokemon with the ability Sturdy. This set is just there for competitive purposes, it's is an annoying set to face that does crazy damage and covers a lot of types.

Comments

I love those sets, however, on the mixed set I'd swap air slash for dragon ascent. Also I'd swap stone edge for dragon ascent on the physical set.

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At the time of this answer, I believe ORAS was not out yet and therefore Rayquaza could not have Dragon Ascent.

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The boost Wise Glasses gives us so small it's not worth using. King's Rock is gimmicky and unreliable. Why Jolly Nature on a mixed set?

Answer 2

The Celestial Beast:

Rayquaza @ Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Ascent
- Iron Head
- Earthquake

Outrage (Assassination time is here)
Dragon Ascent (Great move + enables Mega-Evolution)
Iron Head (BAM! All weaknesses covered)
Earthquake (Coverage and power)

^All the moves above boosted by Life Orb too.
Note: You can only use this killer in the "Anything Goes" tier......

Answer 3

Rayquaza @ Lum Berry
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Ascent / Fly
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed

Outrage - Attacks savagely every turn for the Dragon types
Dragon Ascent (ORAS) / Fly - Dragon Ascent is really powerful only on ORAS and Fly is good for avoiding attacks.
Earthquake - For Rock types and most other types like Electric etc.
Extreme Speed - Moves first

Answer 4

Rayquaza @ Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Hardy Nature
- Swords Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Ascent
- Iron Head

Swords Dance - Attack boost for this bulky physical sweeper
Dragon Claw - Dragon coverage (The reason I did not choose Outrage is confusion)
Dragon Ascent - Unlock the power within, Mega Evolve
Iron Head - Rock and Fairy coverage

Please leave me some suggestions for attack replacements too.

EDIT: Thanks to someone in the comments, I would say maybe replace HP EVs with Special Defense EVs. Then surely replace Iron Head with Extreme Speed, and Swords Dance with Bulk Up.

Counters: Fairy types: When going against a fairy, switch out immediately, because a STAB Moonblast with max Special Attack EVs could take out Rayquaza easily.

Another Counter: Choiced Deoxys-Attack: When this guy comes out, he will absolutely wreck Rayquaza with his 180 base stats for both Attack and Special Attack. Mega Rayquaza's base stats for both defenses are only 110. It will pack one heck of a punch.

Please note that Rayquaza has 180 base stats for both of his attack stats, AND base 115 speed stat.

Comments

I suggest replacing Iron Head with Extreme Speed otherwise run Dragon Dance. There are things that can outspeed it, such as Rock Polish Groudon which isn't seen too much but just enough to take precautions against. Also, for Fairy-types, staying in is a bad idea and if you're at +2 Extreme Speed would do decent damage anyway and give another Pokemon the opportunity to take it out. If you're going for a bulky-ish approach, I suggest using Bulk Up raising you're defense and investing in Sp.Def therefore allowing you to take hits from both sides.

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Okay then. I'll take notes. Thank you

Answer 5

Rayquaza @ Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Overheat / V-create
- Dragon Dance / Extreme Speed

Dragon Ascent for STAB, high power, and for mega evolution
Outrage / Dragon Claw for Dragon STAB
Overheat / V-create for Ice coverage, and for taking care of Genesect/Scizor
Dragon Dance / Extreme Speed as a filler, dragon dance if V-create is picked, extreme speed if Overheat is picked.

Answer 6

Rayquaza @ Lum Berry / Yache Berry
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature / Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw / Draco Meteor
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Ascent / Rock Slide

Dragon Dance: Raises attack and speed each by one stage.
Dragon Claw / Draco Meteor: Either power and special attack or higher Accuracy and no stat drops and Physical move.
Extreme Speed: +2 priority and decent power and high Accuracy.
Dragon Ascent / Rock Slide: Either power or get rid of Ice types that deal 4x damage to Rayquaza.

Comments

Ice types don't resist anything except Ice.

Answer 7

My Rayquaza:

Rayquaza @ Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 130 Atk / 128 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed

Draco Meteor for STAB damage
Earthquake for reliability and more type coverage
Dragon Ascent for Mega Evolution and STAB
Extreme Speed for low health opponents

Answer 8

Well... I'm not really scared of dragons so let's do this!

Rayquaza @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Iron Head

Dragon Dance (Needed for a physical attacker)
Extreme Speed (D-Dance gives it POWER)
Earthquake (POWER, coverage)
Iron Head (Hits Ice, Rock and Fairy types)

The only thing that ever walled me was the Drifblim used on the Elite Four. Also, use PP Maxes on Extreme Speed for more priority power.

Answer 9

Rayquaza was always my favorite legendary poke. He was too badass for the Ubers, so smogon created him his own tier since he was too OP. I already posted a set for him, but I feel like there's no Rayquaza's with Life Orbs around.. So here ya go:

Rayquaza @ Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVS: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Dragon Ascent
- Dragon Claw
- Iron Head / Iron Tail
- Earthquake

Dragon Ascent (STAB, and for mega evolving)
Dragon Claw (His main STAB)
Iron Head / Iron Tail (Coverage)
Earthquake (None of us need explaination for EQ..)

Dragon Ascent is a nice STAB to have, and his phenomenal stats and Life Orb makes so he doesn't actually need a DD. Dragon Claw is his main STAB, and does just as well as Dragon Ascent. You can choose Iron Head or Iron Tail, based on if you most for accuracy or power. Earthquake is just earthquake. It's nice for steels, as it's only attack that isn't resisted by steel. He is litterally guaranteed to 2HKO yours foes, so go ahead and sweep!

Comments

Why Modest just why

Answer 10

I use this:

Rayquaza-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Outrage
- Iron Head
- V-create

I like to use a Fast Physical Sweeper, that is, a Rayquaza with maximum physical attack and maximum speed. Focus Sash helps him to tank attacks like Blizzard, Moonblast, etc. I use it as my only Mega Pokemon. Delta Stream ability (he gains this ability after mega evolve) helps him lose weakness to Rock-type moves, and make his Ice weakness x4 drop to 2x, leaving him with only 3 weaknesses, 2x Dragon, 2x Ice, and 2x Fairy.

Dragon Ascent is the move that makes mega evolve, has a great power and accurary, but down your defense and special defense. Outrage has a perfect accurary and power, however the fact that he gets 2 to 3 turns using this same attack and leaves him confused is a small disadvantage. Iron Head has a good power, and a good accurary to mainly attack Rock and Fairy types. V-create, although it diminishes its defense and its speed, is powerful and is perfect to attack Ice types. Used this Rayquaza a long time and I never regretted it, it's great.

Answer 11

Rayquaza @ Sky Plate / Dragon Plate
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Extreme Speed

Sky Plate is for those who want a high power Dragon Ascent and Dragon Plate is for those who want to use Dragon Claw as their main move. Combining STAB and the Plate, Dragon Claw would get 144 power if my sources are correct, which is a lot for one move.

Dragon Ascent however, would get 216 power. It's kind of a trade between power and PP.

This moveset revolves around Dragon Dance. All of the damage-dealing moves are physical, so it gets great synergy with the rest of the moveset. Even though the speed boost from Dragon Dance is really useful, Rayquaza can still be outsped by a few Pokémon, mainly Speed Deoxys. This is why Extreme Speed is there.

Alternatively, Dragon Claw could be replaced with Outrage. However, you get confused and lose control over Rayquaza, so Dragon Claw is the safer option. Likewise, Dragon Dance can be replaced with Swords Dance for that nice extra boost to your Attack instead of Speed.

Answer 12

Well I was looking through these and I didnt see many with DD and DA together. So guess what I did folks.

Rayquaza @ Leftovers
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed

Dragon Ascent - Arguably Rayquaza's most powerful move, plus includes Mega Evolution. Win win!
Dragon Dance: Increases this insane beast to even more insanity
Earthquake: Go away, electrics!
Extreme Speed: If you need something gone fast.

Comments

Good but there are no dragon attacking moves

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Also 4 HP.

Answer 13

Gen 7: Physical

Rayquaza @ Weakness Policy / Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw / Dragon Tail / Outrage: STAB, + coverage.
- Dragon Ascent: Necessary for Mega Evolution, + STAB, + 120 POWER.
- Earthquake: Steel-type coverage, also Earthquake.
- Iron Tail / Iron Head: (This thing knows Iron Tail?!)

(Feedback is appreciated.)

Answer 14

Rayquaza @ Power Herb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Meteor Beam
- Dragon Pulse
- Surf
- Flamethrower

Power Herb + Meteor Beam gives a Special Attack boost. Dragon Pulse is STAB. Surf covers Rock. Flamethrower covers Steel and Ice.

Comments

This one for Gen 8?

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Yep (filler)

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Hurricane over dragon pulse.

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Yeah so that Max Airstream increases its Speed.

Answer 15

DYNAMAX FTW
Gen 8 AG
Rayquaza @ Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance / Brick Break
- Dragon Ascent
- V-create / Earthquake
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
Swords Dance boosts attack, Brick Break boosts attack in dynamax, Dragon Ascent boosts speed in dynamax and is STAB, V Create is coverage, Earthquake is more coverage, Outrage is STAB but locks you in Outrage, and Dragon Claw is weaker STAB but doesn't lock you in Dragon Claw.

Answer 16

Mega rayquaza is a BEAST with weakness policy!
Rayquaza @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Air Lock
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Meteor Beam/Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse/Iron Head/Outrage
- Dragon Ascent

Now you were probably expecting a physical rayquaza? Right? Sorry to disappoint you, but hey, a weakness policy special attacker isn’t so bad. This set utilises Rayquaza speed when using meteor beam. Meteor beam can take down Ice types in a flash; boosting its Special Attack with an additional weakness policy will make your Rayquaza unstoppable. Meteor Beam has a base power of 120 and a reasonable accuracy of 90.
The only downside is that Rayquaza’s defence is not so good against Dragon types or Electric types that might sweep your team during the next turn. So an alternative to this is:
Earth Power has a 10% to lower the target's Defense by 1 stage, it can also take out Rock, Steel, Fire, and Electric types that might KO you.

Thunderbolt for coverage, preferred Over thunder due to better accuracy and it still has a 10% chance of paralysis, so better than nothing, am I right?

Dragon pulse… yeah, no Draco Meteor (as it would defeat the purpose of weakness policy). Dragon pulse is more of a replacement for outrage with a decent accuracy of 100; it’s the shadow ball of dragon types. However, most do not consider Dragon Pulse worthwhile as it has no additional effects and a low base power compared to other options for Rayquaza, although running in a weakness policy set with a SpAtk EV build isn’t a cause for too much to complain; outrage is an excellent physical stab for Rayquaza, given its 100 accuracy and base power of 120, it does get confused afterwards, but it’s pretty much worth it if you want to get rid of Dragon types.

Iron head is also another option because it gets rid of most of the weaknesses Dragon has, such as Fairy, Rock, and Ice; I would use it over Iron tail due to the much better accuracy, despite the reduced power. However, because it isn’t that good in power, in my opinion, I would keep the other options. But it is a good coverage move.

Dragon Ascent is Rayquaza’s main stab move and gives Rayquaza the ability to Mega Evolve, mega Rayquaza's weakness policy is a beast, and with it’s high speed, Meteor Beam or Other moves such as dragon ascent wouldn’t be a problem, just Mega Evolve, use dragon ascent, and boom, swept your entire enemy team.

My first time answering on PokeBase, I might do more answering moveset builds.

Answer 17

Gen 6

Rayquaza @ Life Orb / Weakness Policy
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 4 HP / 196 Atk / 56 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Outrage / Draco Meteor / Fire Blast
- Extreme Speed / Earthquake / Swords Dance
- Protect / Dragon Dance / Swords Dance

I think Rayquaza needs 1 or 2 STAB moves, so Dragon Ascent and Outrage are good, but it also needs a move to destroy Steel-type, so Outrage can be replaced with a Fire-type, a Fighting-type or an Earth-type move. Dragon Ascent is very strong and it helps Rayquaza Mega Evolution. A status move like Sword Dance or Dragon dance can make Rayquaza stronger. Another status move is Protect, this move can protect rayquaza from some dangers.

But in the end, whatever set of moves, it's still a divine monster that has freed itself from Ubers, created Anything Goes, and destroyed every Pokemon on its way to victory. This is one of the strongest Pokemon in the world. This is the champion!!!

Answer 18

Rayquaza @ Assault Vest
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Claw
- Swords Dance

I don’t know what Gamefreak was thinking giving this thing a Mega Evolution. It is incredibly powerful. Dragon Ascent, Extreme Speed, and Dragon Claw are the attacking moves in this set. Swords Dance is there for a good switch prediction.

Comments

Swords Dance can’t be used with an Assault Vest.

Answer 19

This is my moveset for Rayquaza:
I caught a Shiny Rayquaza in Dynamax Adventures and named it Nova.

Role: Special Attacker/ Sweeper

Nova (Rayquaza) @ Life Orb / Assault Vest
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 4 HP or Def / 252 Atk or SpA
Timid Nature / Modest Nature (whatever you prefer)
- Thunderbolt / Flamethrower / Hurricane / Ice Beam (whatever you prefer)
- Iron Head / Dragon Ascent / Dragon Dance (if you aren't using Assault Vest)
- Extreme Speed (priority move)
- Scale Shot / Any dragon move

I know its generic and it's not exactly specific, but I think its good, if their is an ice type that switches in, then just switch out or use Flamethrower

Comments

Why Timid/Modest when you have Iron Head/Dragon Ascent, Extreme Speed, and Scale Shot?

Answer 20

Apparently I forgot to put Held Item and Nature so here it is, but the post is hidden so repost time.

Rayquaza @ Leftovers
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 6 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Dragon Ascent
- (Filler)

Outrage / Dragon Claw: STAB
Earthquake: It is an awesome move so why not?
Dragon Ascent: Mega Evolution
Whatever you prefer

Comments

Why Naughty over Jolly or Adamant? Why invest on SpAtk over Speed when literally all of your moves are physical? And you can only put 4 EVs after putting in 504 EVs on other stats. Also the format you are using isn't that pleasant to see. Try making it something like this instead ^_^

Rayquaza @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Ability: Air Lock --> Delta Stream
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Dragon Ascent
- Filler

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Well you can put 6 EVs after putting 252 in other stats. The maximum HP is 510 (2×255). You just never see the 2 extra EV points as they are literally useless