Golduck [GP 1/2]

[Overview]

<p>Golduck is just another 1st generation Pokemon from RBY with a beautiful design, but has little use in competitive play. However, he it has two useful traits he it can utilize in the RU tier. One is Cloud Nine, which makes it immune to hail damage, which means he can be used as a check to Fire and Rock types that threaten hail teams. Firstly, the Cloud Nine ability allows Golduck to find a place on hail teams, as Cloud Nine makes it immune to hail damage. Furthermore, it is a great check to Rock- and Fire-types that threat hail teams. The second he got from the Dream World, Swift Swim. Secondly, Golduck receives Swift Swim from Dream World, allowing it to find a spot on rain teams as a special sweeper. With this, he can use his decent special attack to sweep teams in rain. However, he isn't without his flaws. With it's low 95 base special attack, it has to resort to life orb to increase damage output, and since he's suspectable to all entry hazards, he can be worn down. Although Golduck possesses these two great traits, it is not without flaws. Golduck often has to rely on Life Orb to increase its damage output, as it only has an average base 95 Special Attack. That, and Grass types like Lilligant can just set up on it, despite having Ice Beam. Grass-types such as Lilligant can even shrug of Golduck's Ice Beams and set up on it. Nevertheless, he it makes an interesting weather choice, working both on hail and rain, and becoming a great sweeper to unprepared teams. Nevertheless, Golduck is an interesting choice to use on weather teams; it can easily sweep unprepared teams.</p>

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Hydro Pump
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Encore <space>/ <spacde>Hidden Power Grass
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
ability: Cloud Nine
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Golduck is one of the only RU Water-type that can effectively boost its own Special Attack and sweep, other than Simipour. Golduck is one of the only two Water-types in RU that can boost its Special Attack and sweep effectively. While Slowking can also set up with Nasty Plot, it's extremely low Speed makes it easy for opponents to halt an attempted sweep with Toxic or Haze. Golduck, on the other hand, is fast enough to outspeed the defensive Pokemon that attempt to stop Golduck from its sweep commonly carry such moves and can often 2HKO them after a boost, making it a much harder sweeper to stop. Hydro Pump is Golduck's most powerful STAB attack, dealing heavy damage to any Pokemon that doesn't resist it. After a single boost, even sturdy Pokemon such as Hariyama can be OHKOed, while Clefable and Uxie are hit for guaranteed easily 2HKOed. Ice Beam takes care of most Grass-types as well as Altaria, while Encore in the last slot is to gain free turns allows Golduck to gain free turns to set up. While this makes setting up much easier, it comes at the cost of a coverage move. Alternatively, Golduck can use Hidden Power Grass covers Golduck's fellow Water-types as it hits opposing Water-types super effectively. This makes Golduck harder to be walled by Water-types. While this makes setting up much easier, it comes at the cost of a coverage move. If you choose to use Encore, Psyshock is a good option over Ice Beam, as it has better two-move coverage alongside Hydro Pump. Unfortunately, the loss of super effective coverage makes it significantly easier for the opponent to wall Golduck with bulky Water resistors.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Psyshock is a good option over Ice Beam if Encore is used, as it provides Golduck with better coverage. i don't get how it's easier to wall golduck with water-types if it doesn't have ice beam ._. or you meant without HP grass?? While Golduck has decent Speed and passable bulk, it is still vulnerable to faster physical attackers. Despite being unable to safely switch in on an attack Ice Beam, Leafeon, Sceptile, and Hitmonlee can all come in while Golduck sets up, and will outspeed and OHKO Golduck with their STAB moves. Because of this, it is usually better to simply fire off unboosted attacks during the early-game and save Calm Mind for later in the match when you have scouted most of your opponent's team. Therefore, it is better fire off unboosted attacks to scout for counters early in the game and sweep only late game. Life Orb is the recommended item thanks to the consistent power boost it brings. Without it, Golduck will often require more than one boost to be able to KO defensive Pokemon.</p>

<p>Golduck's Cloud Nine ability makes it an excellent counter to most Swift Swim and Chlorophyll sweepers. With their boosted Speed granted by the weather weather boosts nullified, Golduck can outspeed and OHKO Pokemon such as Kabutops and Tangrowth that might otherwise do serious damage to your team. Maximum Speed EVs and a Timid nature are required to outspeed or tie with the most common weather abusers along with the all-important base 80 Speed group. Special Attack is then also maximized to bring Golduck to its highest sweeping potential cause as much damage as possible, while the final leftover 4 EVs are placed in HP. You can instead put those 4 EVs into one of Golduck's defenses and use an 29 HP IV of 29 to minimize reduce damage from Life Orb recoil, although this will also slightly reduce the power of Hidden Power Grass.</p>

<p>Entry hazard support is always helpful for an offensive Pokemon, and Golduck is no exception. After a single boost, Golduck gets a guaranteed OHKO on can OHKO specially-<remove hyphen add space>defensive Weezing. Entry hazards become even more important when running Encore to punish the switches that it causes while making up for the loss of super effective coverage. Entry hazards are great to deal residual damage to switch-ins as Encore forces a ton of switches. With Encore, Golduck can even come out on top against of Clefable if Stealth Rock is up, magic guard =.= as +1 Hydro Pump will be a guaranteed 3HKO will 3HKO it, forcing Clefable to use a recovery move immediately after switching in. Golduck can then Encore the recovery move to force Clefable out and grab another boost. </p>

[SET]
name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Grass
move 4: Focus Blast <space>/ <space>Psyshock
item: Life Orb / Choice Specs
ability: Cloud Nine/Swift Swim
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set takes full advantage of Golduck's excellent coverage in order to pose an immediate threat to a variety of Pokemon. With Cloud Nine, Golduck is especially effective at countering Pokemon that rely on the weather to boost their Speed and power. Fire-type Sunny Day abusers lose their instant SolarBeam and are swiftly KOed by Golduck's STAB Hydro Pump. Chlorophyll sweepers are easily outsped once their Speed boost is nullified and can be defeated with Ice Beam. Hidden Power Grass takes care of some of the most common Swift Swimmers, while Psychic rounds out the coverage by hitting and hits Qwilfish hard super effectively. Swift Swim can be used over Cloud Nine if Golduck is used on a rain team.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The given EVs are standard for a special attacker. A Timid nature is required to outspeed the crucial base 80 Speed group Pokemon and tie with other base 85s Speed Pokemon, such as Qwilfish and Sawk. Life Orb is the recommended item since it provides a solid boost to Golduck's attacks without limiting its flexibility, but Choice Specs provides a bigger boost and can be used if you plan to play Golduck as a hit-and-run Pokemon. Either way, Golduck will be completely walled by Clefable, so Cross Chop is an option in the fourth moveslot to get past it. With a Life Orb, Mild nature, and EV spread of 120 Atk / 252 SpA / 136 Spe, Golduck can always 2HKO Clefable while still outspeeding neutral-<remove hyphen>natured base 70s Speed Pokemon. However, Cross Chop has little value outside of hitting Clefable, Ferroseed, and Munchlax.<Period> and The drop in Speed makes Golduck lose to many key Pokemon that it could have otherwise beat, so using such a spread is only recommended if Clefable, Ferroseed, and Munchlax poses a huge problem for your team. Once again, Using 29 HP IVs to drop Golduck's HP to 299 is an option as it will minimize Life Orb recoil at the cost of a tiny reduction in Hidden Power Grass's Base Power.</p>

[SET]
name: Swift Swim Sweeper
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Grass
move 4: Rain Dance
item: Life Orb / Damp Rock
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p><remove space>While the first two sets were either setting up before sweeping aiming to set up and sweep or just attacking all out, this set does two things the first two don't do. First, it uses it Dream World ability, Swift Swim, to reach 590 speed and rain, something Cloud Nine doesn't do, as it makes a counter to most Swift Swim sweeper, in this set he's its using the rain to sweep. This set aims to sweep by using its Dream World ability, Swift Swim. That, and by utilizing Rain Dance, he it helps the team out more in general. Hydro Pump is Golduck's most powerful STAB attack, dealing heavy damage in the rain, 2HKOing and 2HKOes Clefable without rocks. Ice Beam takes care of Grass-types as well as Altaria, while Hidden Power Grass covers decimates opposing Golduck's fellow Water-types.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Life Orb increases damage output, and which comes in handy since you aren't using Calm Mind.<period> However, if you want more team support/longer rain rain to last longer, a Damp Rock can be used to make rain last for 8 turns. As stated in the other two sets, Psyshock is a good option over Ice Beam, as it has better two-move coverage alongside Hydro Pump and allows Golduck to bypass special walls. But again, the loss of super effective coverage makes it significantly easier for the opponent to wall Golduck with bulky Water resistors, which are the only stops to him when Rain is up. In general, however, most Pokemon with Water Absorb or those who resist Hydro Pump, which is why the coverage moves are so important. Without those coverage moves,<comma> Golduck has a hard time sweeping. redundant Surf could can be used over Hydro Pump, as it is rain boosted anyways also receives the power boost from rain, and is more accurate. However, due to the extremely offensive oriented nature of the rain teams that Golduck often finds itself on, Hydro Pump is usually a superior option to Surf, as its significantly greater power allows Golduck to get the most out of the few turns of rain it has available.<remove space></p>

[Other Options]

<p>While Golduck is a solid Pokemon, teaming him up with a Choice Scarf Primeape gives him really good synergy, Choice Scarf Primeape is a good teammate to Golduck as it checks Lilligant by being immune to Sleep Powder and has a chance of a KO if Stealth Rocks are up as it is a good check to Lilligant, which often sets up on Golduck, and is immune to Sleep Powder thanks to Vital Spirit while being able to KO Lilligant after Stealth Rock damage. The aformentioned teammate also checks Choice Scarf Rotom-F, which can OHKO Golduck with its Electric-type STAB attacks. as well as Choice Scarf Rotom-F, who can outspeed the duck and KO with Thunderbolt. Also, Evolite Munchlax also works great with Golduck, helping to check Lilligant, Ludicolo,<comma> and Rotom-F, though against Rotom,<comma> he it will need to be wary of Trick on the Choice Sets. WAIT. This doens't belong here. Put them to the AC of the sets you deem appropriate</p>

<p>Golduck gets numbers has numerous options to run over his it can use instead of its main attacks. Focus Blast can be used over Hidden Power or Encore as a way to hit Ferroseed, Snover, and Munchlax for super effective damage, but Encore works best most of the time as it allows the duck to set up on defensive Pokemon. Hone Claws can be used in a Physical set, but 82 base attack makes this a little too gimmicky to work. Golduck can use a physically oriented set with Hone Claws but its low base 82 Attack means that this set is nothing but a gimmick. Signal Beam can nail Ludicolo, but that's about all it does, if you fear Ludicolo so much. Psyshock can be used on the Calm Mind and Swift Swim sweeper sets to hit Fighting-<types>types but it's horrid coverage makes it undesirable. and you said has good coverage with hydro pump Golduck can also use a defensive Calm Mind set with Rest and Sleep Talk or a Chesto Berry, but physical attackers can still easily revenge kill Golduck, so it is unadvised. He It can also use a Choice Scarf set, however this is outclassed by Simipour, who has better Speed and Special Attack.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>For the most part, Bulky or faster Grass-<types>type Pokemon get the job done are great checks to Golduck. Offensive Lilligant outspeeds and puts it to sleep with Sleep Powder, then sets up and can set up with Quiver Dance. Ludicolo in the rain can wall Golduck's attacks, and then proceed to Leech Seed or attack with Giga Drain. Choice Scarf Rotom-F or and Rotom-C outspeeds and KOs with Thunderbolt. Speedy Grass types can KO with STAB Grass moves. Grass-types faster than Golduck, such as Sceptile, can KO it with STAB Grass-type attacks. Weezing can wall most of them and it hits hard with Sludge Bomb or cripples with Will-O-Wisp. this is for AC...expand this section</p>

Golduck [GP 0/2]
QC Stamps- Oglemi, PK Gaming, WIndsong
GP Stamps-



Screw That Water Monkey, I got Swift Swim

[Overview]

<p>Golduck is just another 1st generation pokemon with a beautiful design, but has little use in competitive play. However, he has two useful traits he can utilize in the RU tier. One is Cloud Nine, which makes it immune to hail damage, which means he can be used as a check to Fire and Rock types that threaten hail teams. The second he got from the Dream World, Swift Swim. With this, he can use his decent special attack to sweep teams in rain. However, he isn't without his flaws. With it's low 95 base special attack, it has to resort to life orb to increase damage output, and since he's suspectable to all entry hazards, he can be worn down. That, and Grass types like Lilligant can just set up on it, despite having Ice Beam. Nevertheless, he makes an interesting weather choice, working both on hail and rain, and becomming a great sweeper to unprepared teams.</p>

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Hydro Pump
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Encore/Hidden Power Grass
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
ability: Cloud Nine
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Golduck is one of the only RU Water-type that can effectively boost its own Special Attack and sweep, other than Simipour. While Slowking can also set up with Calm Mind or Nasty Plot, it's extremely low Speed makes it easy for opponents to halt an attempted sweep with Toxic or Haze. Golduck, on the other hand, is fast enough to outspeed the defensive Pokemon that commonly carry such moves and can often 2HKO them after a boost, making it a much harder sweeper to stop. Hydro Pump is Golduck's most powerful STAB attack, dealing heavy damage to any Pokemon that doesn't resist it. After a single boost, even sturdy Pokemon such as Hariyama can be OHKOed, while Clefable and Uxie are hit for guaranteed 2HKOs. Ice Beam takes care of Grass-types as well as Altaria, while Encore in the last slot is to gain free turns. Alternatively, Golduck can use Hidden Power Grass covers Golduck's fellow Water-types. While this makes setting up much easier, it comes at the cost of a coverage move. If you choose to use Encore, Psyshock is a good option over Ice Beam, as it has better two-move coverage alongside Hydro Pump. Unfortunately, the loss of super effective coverage makes it significantly easier for the opponent to wall Golduck with bulky Water resistors.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While Golduck has decent Speed and passable bulk, it is still vulnerable to faster physical attackers. Despite being unable to safely switch in on an attack, Leafeon, Sceptile, and Hitmonlee can all come in while Golduck sets up, and will outspeed and OHKO Golduck with their STAB moves. Because of this, it is usually better to simply fire off unboosted attacks during the early-game and save Calm Mind for later in the match when you have scouted most of your opponent's team. Life Orb is the recommended item thanks to the consistent power boost it brings. Without it, Golduck will often require more than one boost to be able to KO defensive Pokemon.</p>

<p>Golduck's Cloud Nine ability makes it an excellent counter to most Swift Swim and Chlorophyll sweepers. With their weather boosts nullified, Golduck can outspeed and OHKO Pokemon such as Kabutops and Tangrowth that might otherwise do serious damage to your team. Max Speed and a Timid nature are required to outspeed or tie the most common weather abusers along with the all-important base 80 Speed group. Special Attack is then maximized to cause as much damage as possible, while the final 4 EVs are placed in HP. You can instead put those 4 EVs into one of Golduck's defenses and use an HP IV of 29 to minimize damage from Life Orb recoil, although this will also slightly reduce the power of Hidden Power Grass.</p>

<p>Entry hazard support is always helpful for an offensive Pokemon, and Golduck is no exception. After a single boost, Golduck gets a guaranteed OHKO on Spiritomb and specially-defensive Weezing. Hazards become even more important when running Encore to punish the switches that it causes while making up for the loss of super effective coverage. With Encore, Golduck can even come out on top against Clefable if Stealth Rock is up, as +1 Hydro Pump will be a guaranteed 3HKO, forcing Clefable to use a recovery move immediately after switching in. Golduck can then Encore the recovery move to force Clefable out and grab another boost. </p>

[SET]
name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Grass
move 4: Focus Blast/Psyshock
item: Life Orb / Choice Specs
ability: Cloud Nine/Swift Swim
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set takes full advantage of Golduck's excellent coverage in order to pose an immediate threat to a variety of Pokemon. With Cloud Nine, Golduck is especially effective at countering Pokemon that rely on the weather to boost their Speed and power. Fire-type Sunny Day abusers lose their instant SolarBeam and are swiftly KOed by Golduck's STAB Hydro Pump. Chlorophyll sweepers are easily outsped once their Speed boost is nullified and can be defeated with Ice Beam. Hidden Power Grass takes care of some of the most common Swift Swimmers, while Psychic rounds out the coverage by hitting Qwilfish and Toxicroak hard. Swift Swim can also work on this set, as it allows Golduck to be used on a Rain team. </p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The given EVs are standard for a special attacker. A Timid nature is required to outspeed the crucial base 80 Speed group and tie with other base 85s, such as Qwilfish and Sawk. Life Orb is the recommended item since it provides a solid boost to Golduck's attacks without limiting its flexibility, but Choice Specs provide a bigger boost and can be used if you plan to play Golduck as a hit-and-run Pokemon. Either way, Golduck will be completely walled by Clefable, so Cross Chop is an option in the fourth moveslot to get past it. With a Life Orb, Mild nature, and EV spread of 120 Atk / 252 SpA / 136 Spe, Golduck can always 2HKO Clefable while still outspeeding neutral-natured base 70s. However, Cross Chop has little value outside of hitting Clefable, and the drop in Speed makes Golduck lose to many key Pokemon that it could have otherwise beat, so using such a spread is only recommended if Clefable poses a huge problem for your team. Once again, using 29 HP IVs to drop Golduck's HP to 299 is an option as it will minimize Life Orb recoil at the cost of a tiny reduction in Hidden Power Grass's power.</p>

[SET]
name: Swift Swim Sweeper
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Grass
move 4: Rain Dance
item: Life Orb / Damp Rock
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p> While the first two sets were either setting up before sweeping or just attacking all out, this set does two things the first two don't do. First, it uses it Dream World Ability, Swift Swim, to reach 590 speed and rain, something Cloud Nine doesn't do, as it makes a counter to most Swift Swim sweeper, in this set he's using the rain to sweep. That, and by utilizing Rain Dance, he helps the team out more in general. Hydro Pump is Golduck's most powerful STAB attack, dealing heavy damage in the rain, 2HKOing Clefable without rocks. Ice Beam takes care of Grass-types as well as Altaria, while Hidden Power Grass covers Golduck's fellow Water-types.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Life Orb increases damage output, and comes in handy since you aren't using Calm Mind, however, if you want more team support/longer rain, a damp rock can be used to make rain last for 8 turns. As stated in the other two sets, Psyshock is a good option over Ice Beam, as it has better two-move coverage alongside Hydro Pump. But again, the loss of super effective coverage makes it significantly easier for the opponent to wall Golduck with bulky Water resistors, which are the only stops to him when Rain is up. In general, however, most Pokemon with Water Absorb or those who resist Hydro Pump, which is why the coverage moves are so important. Without those moves Golduck has a hard time sweeping. Surf could be used over Hydro Pump, as it is rain boosted anyways. However, due to the extremely offensive oriented nature of the rain teams that Golduck often finds itself on, Hydro Pump is usually a superior option to Surf, as its significantly greater power allows Ludicolo to get the most out of the few turns of rain it has available.</p>


[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While Golduck is a solid Pokemon, teaming him up with a Choice Scarf Primeape gives him really good synergy, as it checks Lilligant by being immune to Sleep Powder and has a chance of a KO if Stealth Rocks are up as well as Choice Scarf Rotom-F, who can outspeed the duck and KO with Thunderbolt. Also, Evolite Munchlax also works great with Golduck, helping to check Lilligant, Ludicolo and Rotom-F, though against Rotom he will need to be wary of Trick on the Choice Sets.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Golduck gets numbers options to run over his main attacks. Focus Blast can be used over Hidden Power or Encore as a way to hit Ferroseed, Snover, and Munchlax for super effective damage, but Encore works best most of the time as it allows the duck to set up on defensive Pokemon. Hone Claws can be used in a Physical set, but 82 base attack makes this a little too gimmicky to work. Signal Beam can nail Ludicolo, thats about all it does, if you fear Ludicolo so much. Psyshock can be used on the Calm Mind and Swift Swim sweeper sets to hit fighting types but it's horrid coverage makes it undesirable. Golduck can also use a defensive Calm Mind set with Rest and Sleep Talk or a Chesto Berry, but physical attackers can still easily revenge kill Golduck, so it is unadvised. He can also use a Choice Scarf Set, however this is outclassed by Simipour, who has better Speed and Special Attack.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>For the most part, bulky or faster Grass type pokemon get the job done. Offensive Lilligant outspeeds and puts it to sleep with Sleep Powder, then sets up with Quiver Dance. Ludicolo in the Rain can wall Golduck's attacks, and then proceed to leech seed or attack with Giga Drain. Scarf Rotom-F or Rotom-C outspeeds and KOs with Thunderbolt. Speedy Grass types can KO with STAB Grass moves. Weezing can wall most of them and it hits hard with Sludge Bomb or cripples with Will-O-Wisp.</p>

Like many first generation Pokemon, Golduck is blessed with a cool design and a generous movepool, but is held back by a lackluster stat distribution. Golduck's base 95 Special Attack is good, but not great, and the rest of its stats are decidedly average, making it difficult for Golduck to compete with its more specialized rivals. Luckily, Golduck does have a couple of niches in UU that help differentiate it from other Water-types. Cloud Nine is an exclusive ability that turns Golduck into a unique counter to devastating Swift Swim and Chlorophyll sweepers, while Calm Mind makes Golduck one of the few UU Water-types capable of sweeping through boosting its Special Attack. Although it's not the most threatening Pokemon around, Golduck can fill an important role without requiring much support, making it a solid choice for a variety of offensive teams.
NameItemAbilityNatureCalm Mind

Life Orb / Leftovers Cloud Nine Timid MovesetEVs~ Calm Mind
~ Hydro Pump / Surf
~ Ice Beam / Psychic
~ Hidden Power Grass / Encore
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Golduck is perhaps the only UU Water-type that can effectively boost its own Special Attack and sweep. While Slowbro and Slowking can also set up with Calm Mind or Nasty Plot, their extremely low Speed makes it easy for opponents to halt an attempted sweep with Toxic or Haze. Golduck, on the other hand, is fast enough to outspeed the defensive Pokemon that commonly carry such moves and can often 2HKO them after a boost, making it a much harder sweeper to stop. Hydro Pump is Golduck's most powerful STAB attack, dealing heavy damage to any Pokemon that doesn't resist it. After a single boost, even sturdy Pokemon such as Spiritomb and Hariyama can be OHKOed, while Clefable and Uxie are hit for guaranteed 2HKOs. Ice Beam takes care of Grass-types as well as Altaria, while Hidden Power Grass covers Golduck's fellow Water-types. With good prediction, Golduck can 2HKO Milotic with a boosted Hidden Power Grass and avoid being stifled by Toxic or Haze. Alternatively, Golduck can use Encore in the last slot to gain free turns. While this makes setting up much easier, it comes at the cost of a coverage move. If you choose to use Encore, Psychic is a good option over Ice Beam, as it has better two-move coverage alongside Hydro Pump. The only common UU Pokemon that resist both Water and Psychic are Slowbro and Exeggutor. Unfortunately, the loss of super effective coverage makes it significantly easier for the opponent to wall Golduck with bulky Water resistors.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
While Golduck has decent Speed and passable bulk, it is still vulnerable to faster physical attackers. Despite being unable to safely switch in on an attack, Leafeon, Sceptile, and Hitmonlee can all come in while Golduck sets up, and will outspeed and OHKO Golduck with their STAB moves. Because of this, it is usually better to simply fire off unboosted attacks during the early-game and save Calm Mind for later in the match when you have scouted most of your opponent's team. Life Orb is the recommended item thanks to the consistent power boost it brings. Without it, Golduck will often require more than one boost to be able to KO defensive Pokemon. However, Leftovers can be used if you wish to play Golduck more conservatively, especially in tandem with Encore. This will help keep Golduck healthy early on and may give it the opportunity to accumulate multiple boosts when it's ready to sweep. Hydro Pump is usually recommended due to the key KOs that it achieves, but Surf has more PP and better accuracy, and is worth considering for its reliability if you choose to use Leftovers.
Golduck's Cloud Nine ability makes it an excellent counter to most Swift Swim and Chlorophyll sweepers. With their weather boosts nullified, Golduck can outspeed and OHKO Pokemon such as Kabutops and Tangrowth that might otherwise do serious damage to your team. Max Speed and a Timid nature are required to outspeed or tie the most common weather abusers along with the all-important base 80 Speed group. Special Attack is then maximized to cause as much damage as possible, while the final 4 EVs are placed in HP. You can instead put those 4 EVs into one of Golduck's defenses and use an HP IV of 29 to minimize damage from Life Orb recoil, although this will also slightly reduce the power of Hidden Power Grass.
Entry hazard support is always helpful for an offensive Pokemon, and Golduck is no exception. After a single boost, Golduck gets a guaranteed OHKO on Spiritomb and specially-defensive Weezing and has a decent chance to 2HKO Registeel with Hydro Pump if Stealth Rock is in play. Hazards become even more important when running Encore to punish the switches that it causes while making up for the loss of super effective coverage. With Encore, Golduck can even come out on top against Chansey if Stealth Rock is up, as +1 Hydro Pump will be a guaranteed 3HKO, forcing Chansey to use a recovery move immediately after switching in. Golduck can then Encore the recovery move to force Chansey out and grab another boost. Registeel is a good choice to set up Stealth Rock due to its excellent defensive capabilities and decent synergy with Golduck.
This set's counters depend on which moves Golduck is running. With three attacks, the only Pokemon that can safely switch in after a boost is Chansey. In this case, the best teammates for Golduck are mixed attackers or Choiced special attackers with Trick that can cripple Chansey. Blaziken and Rotom are both fine choices for this job. On the other hand, if Golduck is limited to a single coverage move, it will have more trouble breaking through bulky Water- and Grass-types that are not weak to Psychic. This makes Venusaur the best possible teammate, as it can come in on either of Golduck's weaknesses and use its powerful STAB Grass- and Poison-type attacks to destroy the Pokemon that wall Golduck.

NameItemAbilityNatureAll-Out Attacker

Life Orb / Choice Specs Cloud Nine Timid / Mild MovesetEVs~ Hydro Pump / Surf
~ Ice Beam
~ Hidden Power Grass
~ Psychic / Cross Chop
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
This set takes full advantage of Golduck's excellent coverage in order to pose an immediate threat to a variety of Pokemon. With Cloud Nine, Golduck is especially effective at countering Pokemon that rely on the weather to boost their Speed and power. Fire-type Sunny Day abusers lose their instant SolarBeam and are swiftly KOed by Golduck's STAB Hydro Pump. Chlorophyll sweepers are easily outsped once their Speed boost is nullified and can be defeated with Ice Beam. Hidden Power Grass takes care of some of the most common Swift Swimmers, while Psychic rounds out the coverage by hitting Qwilfish and Toxicroak hard.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The given EVs are standard for a special attacker. A Timid nature is required to outspeed the crucial base 80 Speed group and tie with other base 85s, such as Qwilfish and Toxicroak. Life Orb is the recommended item since it provides a solid boost to Golduck's attacks without limiting its flexibility, but Choice Specs provide a bigger boost and can be used if you plan to play Golduck as a hit-and-run Pokemon. Either way, Golduck will be completely walled by Chansey, so Cross Chop is an option in the fourth moveslot to get past it. With a Life Orb, Mild nature, and EV spread of 120 Atk / 252 SpA / 136 Spe, Golduck can always 2HKO Chansey while still outspeeding neutral-natured base 70s. However, Cross Chop has little value outside of hitting Chansey, and the drop in Speed makes Golduck lose to many key Pokemon that it could have otherwise beat, so using such a spread is only recommended if Chansey poses a huge problem for your team. Once again, using 29 HP IVs to drop Golduck's HP to 299 is an option as it will minimize Life Orb recoil at the cost of a tiny reduction in Hidden Power Grass's power.
While this set's great coverage allows Golduck to get past most Pokemon easily, it has trouble beating Pokemon that can take a hit or two. Entry hazards make life much easier for Golduck, softening up bulkier Pokemon and punishing weakened sweepers as they switch out. Most of Golduck's counters are grounded, so Spikes support would be ideal; unfortunately, most of the best UU Spikers are Water-types that don't work very well on the same team as Golduck. Cacturne is an exception, and has good defensive synergy with Golduck; unfortunately, neither Cacturne nor Golduck are very adept at taking Fighting-type attacks. Stealth Rock can be set up by a much wider variety of teammates, including reliable tanks such as Registeel and Uxie, and is therefore likely to be your best bet. Even with entry hazards up, this set is walled by most bulky Water-types. As such, Venusaur makes a great teammate thanks to its ability to consistently beat the most popular Water-types in UU.

Other Options

Golduck can use Encore with three attacks to fill a specific supporting role as a counter to weather sweepers and stat boosters. Even without any boosts to its Special Attack, Golduck can still outspeed and OHKO or 2HKO most weather sweepers with Surf, Ice Beam, or Hidden Power Grass, while Encore forces switches and prevents opponents from setting up. However, Golduck can make much better use of the free turns granted by Encore if it has Calm Mind, so it's usually best to stick to that. Golduck can also use a defensive Calm Mind set with Rest and Sleep Talk or a Chesto Berry, but physical attackers can still easily revenge kill Golduck, so such sets would have to be saved until very late in the match.
Aqua Jet is a STAB priority move, which is always a helpful asset in UU, but Golduck can't really spare a moveslot for it and lacks the physical power to use it effectively without heavy investment in Attack. Golduck has a nice physical movepool, including Waterfall, Aqua Tail, Ice Punch, Low Kick, Zen Headbutt, Shadow Claw, and Return, so a fully physical set could be used; however, with mediocre Attack and the unreliable Screech and Psych Up as the only options for boosting the power of its moves, it won't be very effective.
Signal Beam can surprise Ludicolo and hit Exeggutor, Shiftry, and Slowbro harder than Golduck's other moves, but any other potential targets take more damage from Hydro Pump or Ice Beam. Focus Blast can be used to nail special walls such as Registeel and Clefable harder than Hydro Pump would, but Golduck can often beat them after a boost anyway, so it's usually not worth risking the shaky accuracy. Golduck has access to several support moves besides Encore, including Light Screen, Hypnosis, Yawn, Toxic, Confuse Ray, and Whirlpool, but if you want a support-oriented bulky Water-type, there are many better options available.
Checks and Counters

Golduck's counters depend heavily on what moves it is running. Chansey can usually come in on any set and stall Golduck out easily, but if Golduck happens to have Cross Chop or Encore, it will force Chansey right back out. Unless Golduck has multiple Calm Mind boosts under its belt, Registeel can switch in and paralyze Golduck, neutralizing it as an offensive threat, but will often take heavy damage in the process. Ludicolo cannot switch into a boosted Ice Beam or Psychic, but shrugs off Golduck's other moves and can OHKO back with Seed Bomb. If Golduck lacks Psychic, Toxicroak can usually force Golduck out with powerful physical attacks, although a boosted Ice Beam will hurt. Without Calm Mind, Golduck will be unable to break through Milotic and other bulky Water-types. Golduck's Defense and Speed stats aren't particularly impressive, so speedy physical attackers such as Leafeon, Scyther, and Primeape can all revenge kill it easily.