**To use Raikou effectively in the current VGC format, leverage its Electric type typing and build around its top-performing movesets.** Raikou appears as a prominent choice in the current Pokémon Champions format, with usage data pulled from competitive teams, tournament results and Showdown-ready pastes tracked by MetaVGC. This page brings together its most common moveset, nature, ability, item, teammates and type weaknesses so you can judge where Raikou fits in a VGC team.

The most common build highlights Pressure, Choice Scarf and Timid 2/0/0/32/0/32. Its frequent moves include Volt Switch, Discharge, Weather Ball, Scald, Thunderbolt, and Electroweb. Treat those choices as a data-backed starting point: they show what players are bringing, while EV spreads, Tera Type and the final move slot should still respond to your expected matchups.

Defensively, Raikou has important weaknesses to ground 2x. That matters during teambuilding because a strong composition needs ways to cover those attacks without giving up offensive pressure. Partners such as Incineroar, Garchomp, Farigiraf, Ninetales-Alola, and Arcanine-Hisui appear often because they can add positioning, type coverage, speed control or safer switches into common checks.

MetaVGC tracks recent teams using Raikou. Open the Raikou teams page to compare complete structures, copy Showdown pastes and see how players combine Raikou with other Pokémon in the active format.