[Overview]
<p>Keldeo is known to be one of the best Water-types available in Gen 5 Doubles, with a very good base Speed of 108 and a great base Special Attack of 129. As such, it is commonly seen on rain teams, but its versatility allows it to function well even outside of rain. Keldeo has a shallow movepool, but it is enough to allow it to be a potent force in the Doubles metagame. Access to Icy Wind is useful for speed control in Doubles, while a powerful Fighting STAB move in Secret Sword quite makes up for it. Secret Sword's main appeal is that bulkier Pokemon usually invest in their Special Defense and are paired with Intimidate support to work around physical attackers. Secret Sword bypasses this strategy as it strikes at their weaker Defense but isn't softened by Intimidate. Thus, Keldeo can help rain teams by using its Fighting STAB move of choice to remove checks to common rain sweepers such as Tyranitar, Abomasnow, and Ferrothorn. Unfortunately, every Fighting-type can perform this role, so Keldeo faces competition from other Fighting-types, especially from the rain-loving Toxicroak. In addition, Keldeo stacks up weaknesses to Grass- and Electric-type attacks along with Politoed, which might be problematic in teambuilding. Nonetheless, Keldeo remains a more powerful wallbreaker, especially in rain.</p>
[SET]
name: All Out Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Secret Sword
move 3: Protect
move 4: Icy Wind / Taunt / Hidden Power Grass
item: Life Orb / Expert Belt
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set permits Keldeo to switch moves and deal damage with the appropriate STAB. Hydro Pump is a powerful STAB move that can punch holes in the opponent's team after being boosted by Life Orb and usually rain. Secret Sword is a great Fighting STAB move that strikes the enemy's Defense rather than their Special Defense, which nails rain checks Tyranitar, Abomasnow, Ferrothorn, and Kyurem, as well as Kyurem-B. Protect is a staple in Doubles for general scouting and defensive strategies. Life Orb and Expert Belt are the item options for this set. Life Orb gives significant boost in power but cuts 10% of Keldeo's health each time, while Expert Belt can be used if the user dislikes the recoil.</p>
<p>Icy Wind is awesome in Doubles, hitting both opponents with fair coverage and also slowing both of them down, which is helpful for a slower teammate to break walls. However, its low Base Power means that it cannot even OHKO the Landorus formes with certainty. Taunt is useful to shut down status users like Thundurus and setup sweepers, disrupting their strategy for the match. A notable example is Amoonguss, which is extremely irritating due to Spore and Rage Powder. Furthermore, Taunt is also extremely useful for shutting down Trick Room teams, which are detrimental to Keldeo's quick playstyle. Hidden Power Grass is great for shutting down Water-types and especially Gastrodon, a major threat to rain teams in general. It is also useful against Jellicent, which is a prominent counter to Keldeo.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Surf can be a good option for hitting both opponents, and wrecks enemies especially in rain. However, it also attacks the partner so care must be taken to select good teammates, for example to use Protect on the turn that Surf is used or have abilities that benefit from it, such as Water Absorb or Storm Drain. Several different moves can replace Icy Wind's slot in order to suit the team's needs. Hidden Power Electric can be used to deal damage to Water-types and also take down Gyarados. Substitute can be used to help Keldeo ease prediction and block status moves. Quick Guard can be used to protect Keldeo and its partner from priority moves, notably Fake Out and Sucker Punch.</p>
<p>Politoed is a great teammate for rain support, allowing Hydro Pump or Surf to be extremely painful. Pokemon that are immune to Water-type attacks are extremely good partners if Keldeo is using Surf: these include Gastrodon and Toxicroak, which also happen to function well on rain teams. Gastrodon also happens to be one of the best partners for Keldeo, as Storm Drain allows it to boost its Special Attack each time it is hit by a Water-type move, allowing it to hurt enemies even more. Furthermore, it also has decent synergy with Keldeo, as it can take Electric-type moves, such as Discharge, while Keldeo resists Blizzard; both of them resist Rock Slide. Keldeo also pairs well with either of the top two Swift Swim sweepers, Kingdra and Ludicolo, as they each eliminate the other's checks. Kingdra can help eliminate Latias and Latios while Keldeo can remove Ferrothorn to assist Kingdra. Ludicolo eliminates bulky Water-types such as Gastrodon and Rotom-W while Keldeo removes Ferrothorn, Kyurem, and Kyurem-B.</p>
<p>Keldeo also pairs well with Latios, as Latios deals with most of the bulky Grass-, Electric-, and Water-types that hinder Keldeo, while Keldeo threatens Tyranitar and Steel-types that can tank Latios's powerful STAB moves. Choice Scarf Tyranitar deserves a special mention as a great partner for Keldeo, despite being incompatible with rain. The two have tremendous offensive synergy, as Choice Scarf Tyranitar can outrun and take out the likes of Latios, Tornadus, Thundurus, Salamence, and Jellicent, against which Keldeo struggles.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Keldeo's shallow movepool means that it doesn't have any other coverage moves bar Hidden Power. Hidden Power Psychic can possibly be used to deal a bit of damage to Amoonguss and OHKO Toxicroak, but that will not be a good use of a moveslot. A Choice Set can be used; Choice Scarf nets some surprise kills while Choice Specs overwhelms special bulwarks, including Cresselia. Keldeo can also boost the power of its STAB moves with Calm Mind, which it can set up with Fake Out and/or Rage Powder support. Helping Hand is a great move to boost a teammate's damage output, but is better used by a bulkier teammate such as Togekiss. Keldeo can use Rain Dance to change the weather instantly without having to rely on Politoed.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Keldeo hates Trick Room and Thunder Wave, so common users of these moves like Cresselia, Gyarados, and Thundurus cripple it. Slowking is a threat that lurks on many Trick Room teams, resists both of Keldeo's STABs, and can retaliate with a super effective Psychic. Amoonguss is also a common threat, and its Rage Powder can stop Keldeo from doing anything useful to Amoonguss's partner, which sets it apart from the other counters. However, this is rendered ineffective if Keldeo runs Taunt.</p>
<p>Shaymin-S is a dangerous check to Keldeo, and can be a full-blown counter if Keldeo isn't carrying Icy Wind. Kingdra and Ludicolo both outspeed Keldeo in rain due to Swift Swim and deal heavy damage to it. Keldeo's checks include faster Psychic-types such as Deoxys-A, Latios, and Latias; and Electric-types such as Thundurus formes, Rotom-W, and Zapdos, which can all hurt Keldeo pretty badly but cannot switch in safely. Jellicent is also a good counter to Keldeo, having a useful niche in being a Trick Room setter that is immune to Fake Out and strong Fighting- and Water-type moves. Celebi also shares the trait of resisting both of Keldeo's STABs, but it is not commonly seen in Doubles.</p>
<p>Keldeo is known to be one of the best Water-types available in Gen 5 Doubles, with a very good base Speed of 108 and a great base Special Attack of 129. As such, it is commonly seen on rain teams, but its versatility allows it to function well even outside of rain. Keldeo has a shallow movepool, but it is enough to allow it to be a potent force in the Doubles metagame. Access to Icy Wind is useful for speed control in Doubles, while a powerful Fighting STAB move in Secret Sword quite makes up for it. Secret Sword's main appeal is that bulkier Pokemon usually invest in their Special Defense and are paired with Intimidate support to work around physical attackers. Secret Sword bypasses this strategy as it strikes at their weaker Defense but isn't softened by Intimidate. Thus, Keldeo can help rain teams by using its Fighting STAB move of choice to remove checks to common rain sweepers such as Tyranitar, Abomasnow, and Ferrothorn. Unfortunately, every Fighting-type can perform this role, so Keldeo faces competition from other Fighting-types, especially from the rain-loving Toxicroak. In addition, Keldeo stacks up weaknesses to Grass- and Electric-type attacks along with Politoed, which might be problematic in teambuilding. Nonetheless, Keldeo remains a more powerful wallbreaker, especially in rain.</p>
[SET]
name: All Out Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Secret Sword
move 3: Protect
move 4: Icy Wind / Taunt / Hidden Power Grass
item: Life Orb / Expert Belt
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set permits Keldeo to switch moves and deal damage with the appropriate STAB. Hydro Pump is a powerful STAB move that can punch holes in the opponent's team after being boosted by Life Orb and usually rain. Secret Sword is a great Fighting STAB move that strikes the enemy's Defense rather than their Special Defense, which nails rain checks Tyranitar, Abomasnow, Ferrothorn, and Kyurem, as well as Kyurem-B. Protect is a staple in Doubles for general scouting and defensive strategies. Life Orb and Expert Belt are the item options for this set. Life Orb gives significant boost in power but cuts 10% of Keldeo's health each time, while Expert Belt can be used if the user dislikes the recoil.</p>
<p>Icy Wind is awesome in Doubles, hitting both opponents with fair coverage and also slowing both of them down, which is helpful for a slower teammate to break walls. However, its low Base Power means that it cannot even OHKO the Landorus formes with certainty. Taunt is useful to shut down status users like Thundurus and setup sweepers, disrupting their strategy for the match. A notable example is Amoonguss, which is extremely irritating due to Spore and Rage Powder. Furthermore, Taunt is also extremely useful for shutting down Trick Room teams, which are detrimental to Keldeo's quick playstyle. Hidden Power Grass is great for shutting down Water-types and especially Gastrodon, a major threat to rain teams in general. It is also useful against Jellicent, which is a prominent counter to Keldeo.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Surf can be a good option for hitting both opponents, and wrecks enemies especially in rain. However, it also attacks the partner so care must be taken to select good teammates, for example to use Protect on the turn that Surf is used or have abilities that benefit from it, such as Water Absorb or Storm Drain. Several different moves can replace Icy Wind's slot in order to suit the team's needs. Hidden Power Electric can be used to deal damage to Water-types and also take down Gyarados. Substitute can be used to help Keldeo ease prediction and block status moves. Quick Guard can be used to protect Keldeo and its partner from priority moves, notably Fake Out and Sucker Punch.</p>
<p>Politoed is a great teammate for rain support, allowing Hydro Pump or Surf to be extremely painful. Pokemon that are immune to Water-type attacks are extremely good partners if Keldeo is using Surf: these include Gastrodon and Toxicroak, which also happen to function well on rain teams. Gastrodon also happens to be one of the best partners for Keldeo, as Storm Drain allows it to boost its Special Attack each time it is hit by a Water-type move, allowing it to hurt enemies even more. Furthermore, it also has decent synergy with Keldeo, as it can take Electric-type moves, such as Discharge, while Keldeo resists Blizzard; both of them resist Rock Slide. Keldeo also pairs well with either of the top two Swift Swim sweepers, Kingdra and Ludicolo, as they each eliminate the other's checks. Kingdra can help eliminate Latias and Latios while Keldeo can remove Ferrothorn to assist Kingdra. Ludicolo eliminates bulky Water-types such as Gastrodon and Rotom-W while Keldeo removes Ferrothorn, Kyurem, and Kyurem-B.</p>
<p>Keldeo also pairs well with Latios, as Latios deals with most of the bulky Grass-, Electric-, and Water-types that hinder Keldeo, while Keldeo threatens Tyranitar and Steel-types that can tank Latios's powerful STAB moves. Choice Scarf Tyranitar deserves a special mention as a great partner for Keldeo, despite being incompatible with rain. The two have tremendous offensive synergy, as Choice Scarf Tyranitar can outrun and take out the likes of Latios, Tornadus, Thundurus, Salamence, and Jellicent, against which Keldeo struggles.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Keldeo's shallow movepool means that it doesn't have any other coverage moves bar Hidden Power. Hidden Power Psychic can possibly be used to deal a bit of damage to Amoonguss and OHKO Toxicroak, but that will not be a good use of a moveslot. A Choice Set can be used; Choice Scarf nets some surprise kills while Choice Specs overwhelms special bulwarks, including Cresselia. Keldeo can also boost the power of its STAB moves with Calm Mind, which it can set up with Fake Out and/or Rage Powder support. Helping Hand is a great move to boost a teammate's damage output, but is better used by a bulkier teammate such as Togekiss. Keldeo can use Rain Dance to change the weather instantly without having to rely on Politoed.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Keldeo hates Trick Room and Thunder Wave, so common users of these moves like Cresselia, Gyarados, and Thundurus cripple it. Slowking is a threat that lurks on many Trick Room teams, resists both of Keldeo's STABs, and can retaliate with a super effective Psychic. Amoonguss is also a common threat, and its Rage Powder can stop Keldeo from doing anything useful to Amoonguss's partner, which sets it apart from the other counters. However, this is rendered ineffective if Keldeo runs Taunt.</p>
<p>Shaymin-S is a dangerous check to Keldeo, and can be a full-blown counter if Keldeo isn't carrying Icy Wind. Kingdra and Ludicolo both outspeed Keldeo in rain due to Swift Swim and deal heavy damage to it. Keldeo's checks include faster Psychic-types such as Deoxys-A, Latios, and Latias; and Electric-types such as Thundurus formes, Rotom-W, and Zapdos, which can all hurt Keldeo pretty badly but cannot switch in safely. Jellicent is also a good counter to Keldeo, having a useful niche in being a Trick Room setter that is immune to Fake Out and strong Fighting- and Water-type moves. Celebi also shares the trait of resisting both of Keldeo's STABs, but it is not commonly seen in Doubles.</p>
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