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4 votes
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If you have a good competitive moveset for Lapras, 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.

Lapras Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Sprite

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19 Answers

4 votes

Lapras

Lapras (F) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Def / 216 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Rain Dance
- Rest
- Whirlpool
- Perish Song

I don't think this Lapras is common. Damp Rock is here to extend the duration of Rain Dance. Rain Dance is here so with Hydration, she awakes faster from Rest. Whirlpool traps the foe while Perish Song guarantees a kill. EVs here are to give her the maximum bulk and just enough Speed to set up. Calm Nature for more Special Defense. She's like a mini Perish-Trapper :D

CREDIT TO ERICKHILL FOR HELPING ME.

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Noice!  One of the better move sets I've seen for Lapras.
But perish song will also will Lapras.
Lapras can switch out. Whirlpool-ed Pokemon cannot :P
2 votes

Role: Rain Sweep Tank thing...

Lapras

Lapras (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 108 HP / 200 Def / 200 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rest
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Body Slam


A Beasty Gamer named Trachy once said to me, " Water and Normal Makes for Great neutral coverage".

Well, with this set, its not hard to work yourself up 6 Dragon Dances with Rest Hydration combo, So as you can hit neutral. You hit hard.

Also for those who didn't know, This is for use with Rain support.

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Say Hello to Jellicent.
Lower tier usage.
Politoed is OU, So there's no lower tier usage with this set.
Rain Dance is still a move.
Not enough to get up 6 Dragon Dances. And it appears as it's meant as Drizzle support.
Actually I use this with a Damp Rock user now xD I can normally get off 4 d-dances and a Rest after the switch if I get a good switch in. ( Baton pass + Mean look support ) xD

If using this in OU, you just have to make sure you get rid of big jelly before you start setting up.
Dragon Dance and hydration are impossible to both have.
2 votes

Gen V only
Gen V Lapras

Lapras @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Curse
- Waterfall
- Avalanche / Ice Shard

Don't use this set in gen VI, as it won't get far. This is because it requires permanent rain to work(Unless you were to keep up Primal Kyogre in a double or triple battle, for some reason). However, in an appropriate environment, Hydration becomes an immensely powerful defensive Ability. Not only does it give an essential immunity to poison, and a near-perfect immunity to Sleep, Burn, and Paralysis, it also makes Lapras go from having no recovery moves, to having a powerful, 100% complete restoring move in the form of Rest. Restoring 100% of your HP as apposed to just 50% cannot be underestimated, as it means anything that doesn't 2HKO it not only can't stop it, but can't even prevent it from doing whatever it wants; it will just alternate from X move, then Rest and bring itself back to full HP. Hazards and prior damage are rarely significant as well. With Special Bulk nearly equivalent to that of a Specially Defensive Sylveon or Umbreon, not 2HKOing it from said front without a Super Effective STAB is an absolute possibility. The combination of HydraRest alone makes Lapras very difficult to stall out due to its immunity to status and very hard to kill outright, but it gets worse. Curse allows Lapras to bring up its physical Defense to similar levels to its Sp. Defense and beyond, letting it take physical hits well and also boost its Attack, making productive use of being able to do "Whatever it wants". Its most notable weaknesses are to Fighting and Rock, but once it cushions those moves to manageable levels your opponent will be in serious trouble due to Hydration. Waterfall is STAB and takes advantage of Curse's Attack Boosts, as well the fact that it gets boosted by rain to give it an impressive 120 BP without drawbacks. Lapras may only have 206 Attack, but it has a much better 309 Attack at +1 and a relatively impressive 412 Attack at +2, meaning after a boost Waterfall with definitely hurt. Avalanche has secondary STAB, and also has 120BP if the opponent Attacks Lapras, and overall Water/Ice gets good coverage. Ice Shard can be used to quickly nail Grass Types that might try to hurt Lapras, and to some extent Electric Types that are weak to Ice, especially after it has gotten a boost.

This set might be outdated to some, but at the same time it single-handedly made climbing the Gen V Smogon OU ladder extremely easy as if it were some sort of cake walk, and not just me, but pretty much every friend of mine who knew about it. Rotom-W and Ferrothorn might look good against it on paper but both of them generally can't handle Lapras once it comes down to it, unless they use relatively abnormal and unusual, non-standard sets. So honestly, I had to do this at some point.

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I'd fit in will o wisp or toxic in there but otherwise it's a great set
1 vote

Rain team sweeper/staller Lapras. :)

Lapras @ Damp Rock / Life Orb
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance / Surf / Brine / Toxic
- Rest
- Thunder
- Ice Beam

BoltBeam combo, infinite health regeneration, and high attacking power? What more could you want?

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And if you want, you can set up a Toxic and just spam Rest.
I'm putting ThunderBolt instead of thunder for extra acc + pp.
1 vote

For Gen 8 PU:
Rain Staller
Lapras @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Freeze-Dry
- Blizzard
- Hydro Pump
You can replace Blizzard with Ice Beam and Hydro Pump with Surf if you don't like the low accuracy. Whirlpool can also be run over Freeze-Dry to trap opponents. And as the name implies, run this with a rain setter (aka Politoed).
Anyway, this takes advantage of Hydration curing status conditions, including sleep. You just use Rest to fully heal whenever you're at low health, with Leftovers increasing your longevity. The other moves are just for coverage, and Hydro Pump is very strong in rain. The one weakness is this only works as long as you have rain, which means that after the 8 turns of Rain Dance (assuming you're smart enough to put Damp Rock on Politoed), you have to bring out your rain setter again, which is one of the reasons Lapras is PU. Hope this helps someone!

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0 votes

Gen V

Lapras (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Atk / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Bulldoze
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall

Set up a Dragon Dance or two, and you'll be a very powerful bulky sweeper. Waterfall provides STAB, while Ice Shard is priority STAB. Bulldoze is there for type coverage. Leftovers keeps you alive. Water Absorb is the most useful ability, as if you are low on health, you can switch out and then back in on a Water type attack, then set up Dragon Dance and continue the sweep now that whatever was threatening Lapras is gone. EVs give you bulk, as well as a nice base to work off of for sweeping after Dragon Dance.

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0 votes

Double/Triple Battle

Lapras (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Dragon Pulse
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt

Surf and Blizzard are STAB that hit multiple foes. Dragon Pulse can hit any foe ina Triple Battle. Thunderbolt is coverage.

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0 votes

Lapras @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Shard
- Waterfall
- Rest

Dragon Dance: Duo's Atk. & Spd.
Waterfall: STAB
Ice Shard: STAB + Always goes first
Rest: Fully heals Lapras, great combo with Chesto Berry

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You are missing four EVs.
Oops Thanks ;)
No problem.
0 votes

Full support. Rather than go on the offensive, this Lapras helps its team with status and support. Its main use is in its surprise factor, and its not always the way to go, but its good to keep in mind.

Lapras
Lapras @ Leftovers / Damp Rock / Icy Rock
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Nature: Bold / Impish
- Heal Bell
- Sing / Toxic
- Icy Wind / Ice Shard / Scald
- Roar / Rain Dance / Hail

Heal Bell: helps keep the team status free
Sing / Toxic: status move. Sing is a high risk high reward way to go, while Toxic's a guaranteed burden on your enemy
Icy Wind / Ice Shard / Scald: more support, but this is Taunt proof. Icy Wind lowers Speed, Ice Shard is handy priority, and Scald is strong STAB that burns.
Roar / Rain Dance / Hail: in the final slot, Lapras supports its team with either phasing or weather.

Rest can also be used in a slot if Leftovers recovery isn't enough. Other options include Body Slam and Confuse Ray.

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Lapras cannot learn Scald.
yes it can >.<
This set has so many options, it's more like 4 sets.
Lapras can't learn Scald I just tried teaching him and it says UNABLE
Oh. My game must be glitched then.
0 votes

Ahhhhh yet another Pokemon that falls into my mastermind moveset! This guy is an amazing stall

Lapras @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Perish Song
- Confuse Ray
- Protect
- Toxic

  • Perish Song: The main trickster of the entire moveset making your opponent faint in 3 turns.
  • Confuse Ray: To help prevent Lapras from getting hit during the 3 turns that it stalls for
  • Protect: Again useful to stall
  • Toxic: If your opponent keeps switching out just use this move to make them continue taking damage
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0 votes

This is the first time I post, but I think this set is good. Shell armor is probably the best ability for a tank.

Lapras @ Apicot Berry
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Avalanche
- Rest
- Attract

  • Curse (Without it, no tank.)
  • Avalanche (You would still move last, but now it's to your advantage.)
  • Rest (Heal up after some Curses and continue to set up.)
  • Attract (Prevent opposite gendered foes from attacking 50% of the time, good for setting up and annoying the opponent.)

Max Sp.Def so it will take special hits good, since you boost your physical Def with Curse. I don't know if one gender is better than the other when you have attract, but if you know, please tell me.

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0 votes

I've seen some nice sets, but lets spice it up with a cheeky one shall we?

Lapras @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 172 HP / 168 Def / 168 SpD
Bold Nature
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Whirlpool
- Surf

swap in on a water attack, or just swap in in-general. Whirlpool, perish song, protect, surf, swap. rinse and repeat. trap em, scare em, protect, then boom. you have yourself a monster. I've used this set a few times and it's hilarious seeing other's reactions. this is just for a little fun, but you can use it competitively too. surf for STAB damage, or you can have it as ice shard for STAB and priority, or toxic. whichever works :>

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0 votes

A little Sword and Shield update for Lapras... stalling is really hurt in this game with the exclusion of Toxic as a TM, but Lapras still works well as a pseudo-staller/balanced Pokémon.

Lapras @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 242 HP / 128 Def / 10 SpA / 128 SpD
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Perish Song / Mist / Haze (Depending on other Pokémon on team)

Ability: Water Absorb (Works well for switch-ins and doubles with partners with Surf)

EVS : 242 HP / 128 Def / 10 SpA / 128 SpD (Weird EVs, I know, but this a balanced approach to keep Lapras out as long as possible)

This set works great late game against teams that use Tryanitar, although a stat boosted Tyranitar can one hit KO, so be warned.

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You’re wasting 4 EVs, as EVs can only be multiples of 4.
0 votes

Sword and Shield Lapras. I have alot of fun with this set up as a bulky special attacker and as the Gigantamax of the team. This is a really simple team that can be used on singles or doubles and on any team. Gigantamax isn't necessary.

Lapras @ Assault Vest
--Ability: Hydration
--Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk): balances the def and
spdef
--Evs: HP 252 / SpAtk 252 / SpDef 4

Moves:
---Surf: Water STAB (Max Geyser for rain)
---Freeze-Dry: Ice STAB and water type coverage

(G-max move)

---Thunder: ELEC coverage and 100% ACC in rain

(Max Lightning) 

---Psychic: PSY coverage for Fighting types (Max Mindstorm)

The Assault Vest Lapras is a pretty decent attacker while being VERY Bulky. Assault Vest and natural SpDef to defend Special Attackers, and Bold Nature with 252 EV Def for Physical Attackers. HP and getting the GMax move off just add to the Bulk.

Enjoy (:

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0 votes

Lapras meant to be used defensively against water and ice types who use special moves, especialy water/ice dual on older generation games

Lapras @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Special defense / 4 Defense
Calm Nature
- Rain Dance
- Thunder
- Hydro Pump
- Rest

--
How to use: Sent him against water and ice types pokémon, especialy water/ice dual who usualy uses too much of water and ice moves. Lapras Innate defensive strenght makeup of his types and ability alone are already great against such stuations, but expand this even further launching thunder on water and dual water/ice types, use rain dance to support this move when you see an opening or if you know that you can withstand damage from that enemy before the need of using rest soon. If your enemy is a water dual type in a situation that an eléctric move won't have effect, use hydro pump and buff this move with rain dance too in similar situations of when used with thunder. (Of course if your enemy receive neutral damage from Thunder prioritize using Hydro pump due to STAB) Keep lauching your offensive moves while withstanding damage from your oponent, if he somehow manage to inflict heavy damage on you, use rest and keep the procedure.

--
This setup is especialized against water/ice types but he can also do good on other situations too, for example, when facing fire types pokémon, use rain dance to improove your defense against his fire type moves while buff your water type move and so on...

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If you have hydration is better, because pokemon can heal all of the status conditions, so you don't need chesto berry, and you can replace it with leftovers- for example.
Yes, using hydration will work better, thing is i forgot to mention it was for older generations, however for generations where it has hydration as one of his abilities, people should use hydration and another item.
For the EV spread, is it a simple max max spread? (Max max meaning 252 EVs in two stats)
Rising Manectric - Yes.
you should edit that in
it's still missing 4 EVs
0 votes

Gen 8 ZU
Lapras
Lapras @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Toxic
- Protect
- Whirlpool

Freeze Dry hits water types. Toxic is to wear down the opponent's HP. Protect is for stalling. Whirlpool is to trap opponents who are badly poisoned.

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why 0 attack? that really confuses me, don’t people want perfect IVs? What’s your reasoning for this?
0 Attack IVs are very common on Pokemon that don't have physical attacks. It reduces damage from confusion and Foul Play.
I would be better with 252Hp, 252 Special def, the remaining on defense.
0 votes

Lapras (F) @Damp Rock
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 SpA / 120 Def / 136 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)

• Rain Dance
• Rest
• Surf
• Ice beam

I'm new in this site but here you go.
I use this Hydration, Rain Dance and Rest with my Goodra too and she's OP.

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0 votes

Lapras (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb / Hydration
(Or G-Max)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder / Thunderbolt
- Blizzard / Ice Beam / Freeze-Dry
- Life Dew
- Sparkling Aria / Hydro Pump
Thunder doesn't miss in rain so we need Sparkling Aria or Hydro Pump to make Max Geyser. Blizzard never misses in hail so we can make Max Hailstorm so it will never miss. Life Dew is to heal the allies and itself and Water Absorb also heals itself. Freeze-Dry is super effective on Water Types so we can use Freeze-Dry. Sparkling Aria heals its burn and it is STAB. Hydration heals any status conditions. I won't need Rain Dance. :) Hydro Pump can also be used if you want more power and STAB.

You can have G-Max if you want the move that halves physical and special moves for 5 turns.
Fun Fact: It is like Aurora Veil but you don't use it in a hailstorm. Aurora Veil is only used in a hailstorm.

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0 votes

Lapras @Damp Rock
Ability: Hydration
Bold/Modest(-atk +def / -atk -sp.atk)
EVs : 252 hp, 80 def, 178 sp.atk
- Surf
- Freeze Dry
- Rain Dance
- Rest
Surf and Freeze Dry are awesome combo as that not even a single Pokemon can completely resist them as Freeze Dry takes out all of water resistants and Rain dance with Rest and Hydration Makes it sleep resistant so it is OP and this is what I used on mine. Hope this helps :)

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