ThunderBolt or Thunder Cage on Regieleki?

Question

Thunderbolt does more damage with 90 BP but Thunder cage does 80 damage but traps and does chip damage whic one should I choose?

Comments

Go wild charge lol

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What format/rules are you playing with?

Answer 1

Thunderbolt, no contest. It's higher powered and has 100% accuracy, and Thunder Cage's 10% chance of missing can cost you Regieleki (or even the game). Regieleki isn't really meant to chip away at an enemy, it's supposed to blast a hole in it before succumbing to death (or switching out, but that's irrelevant). All of Smogon's sample sets say to use Thunderbolt for Electric STAB as well.

Hope I helped!

Answer 2

Generally, Thunderbolt over Thunder Cage in all formats except 1v1. In all the team formats except 1v1 you had opt out for Thunderbolt.
A rare exception to this would be 1v1, where trapping with Specs Regieleki is pretty good, since it beats things like Endure Custap Berry Primarina, Endure Unburden Weakness Policy Hawlucha, etc. and stuff such as Sturdy Crustle, since the higher output of Thunderbolt is less important compared the trapping of Thunder Cage.
On other formats, Thunderbolt generally outclasses Thunder Cage. Another exception would be beating Focus Sash/Sturdy leads, which is however very uncommon.
Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Overall, I’d opt for Thunderbolt.
Thunder Cage has that neat added bonus of trapping and damaging the opponent, which can break sashes, but it can easily be OHKOd because of the fact that it has 50 in all defenses, which removes the effects of Thunder Cage. Thunderbolt, on the other hand, is more reliable and powerful, which is important for a Pokémon like Eleki as missing a Thunder Cage could easily be the reason your Regieleki dies.