Shadow Raikou
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Shadow Raikou is one of the best Electric attackers in the game at this time of writing, though it does have a few close competitors such as Xurkitree, Shadow Magnezone, Zekrom, and Shadow Electivire. It will likely hold this title until we get Shadow versions of Zekrom or Xurkitree.
Offense
- Thunder Shock has a lower cooldown, faster energy gain, and similar DPS to Volt Switch.
- Wild Charge is superior to Thunderbolt. It has 10 extra power for about the same cooldown. Both moves are good, however.
- Aura Sphere actually out-performs Wild Charge in neutral scenarios or when Electric and Fighting are both Super Effective despite a lack of STAB, making Shadow Raikou potentially very dangerous as a pseudo-Fighting Type.
- Shadow Ball is great for gym cleaning, but there are better options for Ghost.
- Thunder is too weak for requiring a full bar of charge.
Raikou has got both the best Electric-type fast moves, and the choice can be tough. Volt Switch is usually favored for the more consistent damage output, paired with great energy gains, while Thunder Shock does little damage by itself to double down on the spam of charged moves.
Speaking of those, the choice is easy here: Wild Charge is by far Raikou's best STAB option, and Shadow Ball provides key coverage against things that resist Electric and against the big Ghost-type threats of the upper leagues.
Raikou is a squishy but hard-hitting Pokémon, relying on its ability to fire off devastating Shadow Balls and Wild Charges relatively quickly. While it isn't terrible in a vacuum, it does find itself outclassed by other Electric-types and Anti-Flyings.
