[Overview]
<p>With Drizzle combined with Swift Swim being banned in singles play, Kingdra found itself in UU. However, Doubles has now allowed Kingdra to live up to its title as 'King of the Dragons'. Even if it does have middling offensive stats, Swift Swim allows it to become a fearsome sweeper under rain that can drown unprepared opponents with Muddy Water or show fellow Dragon-types who is king with powerful Draco Meteors. Kingdra has a very good offensive and defensive typing, as Water and Dragon hits everything in the metagame for neutral damage except for Empoleon and Ferrothorn and resists Surf and Heat Wave while being neutral to all other spread moves. Kingdra also has usable bulk, which can help it to survive some hits. However, being a Swift Swim user, Kingdra absolutely hates paralysis, which slows it down completely and means that other Pokemon have an easy time outspeeding and beating it down. This is only a real problem with Thundurus running rampant in the metagame
and Liepard on the rise as part of the Liepard/Breloom core, as both sport Prankster Thunder Waves, which whose Prankster Thunder Wave bypass
es Kingdra's blistering Speed and get
s a guaranteed paralysis on it. Also, Kingdra really needs rain to function properly, and without rain support, you are better off using other Dragon-types such as Latios, which is faster and has a much stronger base 130 Special Attack stat. But if you are able to use Kingdra to its strengths and avoid paralysis,
then Kingdra it will prove
that it is to be the king of the Dragons.</p>
[SET]
name: Rain Attacker
move 1: Muddy Water
move 2: Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
move 3: Hydro Pump / Substitute
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Dragon Gem
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Modest
evs : 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>The aim of this set is to do as much damage as possible to its opponents, not giving them any chance to retaliate by using powerful STAB attacks. Muddy Water is a very powerful STAB attack under rain, hitting both opponents
very hard and OHKOing everything that is weak to it. It also has a 30% chance to lower your opponent's accuracy by one stage, which can provide your team with chances to dodge enemy attacks and wreak more havoc. Draco Meteor is another powerful STAB attack, which deals massive damage to anything that doesn't resist it and beats other Dragon-types easily. Dragon Pulse is another option for this slot, as there is no chance of missing and there is no -2 Special Attack drop, but the loss in power is very noticeable. Either moves provide great neutral coverage alongside Muddy Water, being resisted by only Ferrothorn and Empoleon, the latter of which is rarely seen in Doubles. Hydro Pump adds more power to the set and is useful for clearing out single threats on the opposing team rather than just dealing damage, hitting Ferrothorn and Empoleon harder than any of Kingdra's other moves on this set, and bypassing Wide Guard. Substitute can be used over Hydro Pump, as Kingdra already has a Water attack and the move can protect it from status, but Hydro Pump is very powerful under rain and it might be harder to remove single threats from the field with only a spread Water-type move, not to mention that Prankster Thunder Waves can still get Kingdra before it gets a Substitute up. Protect is standard on any non-Choiced Pokemon in Doubles because it blocks potentially fatal attacks and the omnipresent Fake Out. It is even more useful on Kingdra, as it will be subject to a lot more double targeting because it will usually be the most threatening Pokemon on your side of the field. Life Orb is used to give power to every attack and help deal more damage, which is the premise of this set. Even though custom EV spreads are quite common in Doubles play, a standard 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe is used to maximize the offensive presence of the set.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>
While maximizing Speed and power on Kingdra and using a 252/252 spread is good,Alternatively, 40 EVs can be moved from the Speed stat into HP to increase bulk, as 216 Speed EVs ensure that it still outspeeds Adamant Kabutops, the second fastest Swift Swim user. A Timid nature is also an option if you are scared about opposing Kingdra and want to Speed tie with other Timid ones. However, that is only one Pokemon, and Modest provides a very nice power boost that Kingdra appreciates with it's average Special Attack. If you don't
ever want to
ever miss, then Surf is a viable choice over Muddy Water, as it has the same Base Power but is 100% accurate. However, it hits Kingdra's ally too, meaning you need to have a Pokemon that can benefit from Surf, or at least 4x resist it. Dragon Gem can be used over Life Orb as it allows Kingdra to nuke the opponent once with an extremely strong Draco Meteor and avoid recoil each time it attacks, but it then lose
s power for all of its attacks, lowering its sweeping ability. Lum Berry is a good option to use with Substitute, as the item cures paralysis from Prankster Thunder Wave once while Kingdra sets up a Substitute to temporarily avoid future ones, letting it sweep more easily, but without Hydro Pump or Life Orb, Kingdra will not be doing as much damage as it can. However, the chance to avoid status is a very good trade-off for power, and rain-boosted Muddy Waters and Draco Meteors will be doing good damage anyway. Haban Berry can be used to survive a single Dragon Claw or Dragon Pulse, but again, the loss in power is noticeable, and Haban Berry won't save Kingdra from a strong Dragon attack, such as Latios'
s Dragon Gem-boosted Draco Meteor.</p>
<p>Politoed is of course an essential partner for Kingdra, as it sets up permanent rain with its ability, Drizzle, which allows Kingdra to utilize Swift Swim to its maximum potential. It also has Helping Hand to boost Kingdra's already powerful attacks and turn it into a very scary Pokemon. Ground-types such as Garchomp are also good partners to sponge Thunder Waves, which they are immune to, as Kingdra hates them. Thundurus-T gets a special mention as well because of its ability, Volt Absorb, which heals 25% of its HP when it is hit with an Electric attack. It also benefits from rain, which you should always use Kingdra in, because it gets to spam 100% accurate STAB Thunders coming off a colossal base 145 Special Attack stat. Although uncommon, Manectric is a good partner for Kingdra, being able to draw Thunder Waves away from it with Lightningrod and get a Special Attack boost from them. It can also
roast beat Ferrothorn with Overheat or Flamethrower and use Thunder in rain to act as good rain sweeper. Fighting-types
, such as Breloom and Hitmontop
, are also helpful as they can rid Kingdra of Ferrothorn and Empoleon, which both wall its dual STAB. Breloom loses its Fire weakness and, with its Grass typing, can also beat Gastrodon, which checks Kingdra. Hitmontop provides Fake Out and Intimidate support, which is useful for any Doubles team. It also has Helping Hand and Feint to better allow Kingdra to sweep. Pokemon with abilities such as Storm Drain and Water Absorb that benefit from Water
-type attacks also serve as good partners to Kingdra running Surf
,. as they benefit from being hit by it. Ludicolo also gets a mention in this regard, 4x resisting Surf. Follow Me and Rage Powder users are also very good partners to Kingdra, as they can redirect Thunder Waves and Dragon moves, which Kingdra hates, allowing it to sweep more easily. Jirachi and Amoonguss are good here, the former resisting super effective Dragon-type attacks and the latter resisting neutral Electric- and Fighting-type moves, while also having Spore and Giga Drain to beat Gastrodon.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>A Dragon Dance set is an option with Outrage and Waterfall, but Kingdra will very rarely find opportunities to set up, as it will usually be the most threatening Pokemon on the field and will be subject to a lot of double targeting. Also, Outrage is a very bad move in Doubles, as its target cannot be chosen, which can easily cost its user games. Kingdra also can't effectively use the its signature spread move Muddy Water on a Dragon Dance set. A mixed set is also an option as Kingdra can lure out Pokemon such as Heatran and Landorus after using Draco Meteor and then hit them hard with Waterfall even after the Special Attack drop, but Kingdra is then forced to split attacking EVs, lowering the power of its special attacks. A supporting set is a viable option for Kingdra with Quash and Disable, but there are better Pokemon to use as supporters. Rain Dance is a viable move to back up Politoed in setting up rain or to disrupt opposing weathers on a weatherless team, but Kingdra then has to forgo Hydro Pump, losing power.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Despite Kingdra's unmatched sweeping potential in the rain, Doubles has a handful of options to take it on. Ferrothorn and Empoleon both wall Kingdra, resisting both its STABs and taking little damage from them. Ferrothorn can hit back hard with a strong Power Whip as well. Gastrodon and Jellicent are second-in-line when it comes to sponging moves from Kingdra, as they are immune to its STAB Water-type moves, forcing it to resort to a single-target Dragon Pulse or Draco Meteor. Jellicent can even flip the tables by setting up Trick Room.
However, They must both be wary of Helping Hand support from Politoed, as it provides Kingdra's Life Orb Draco Meteor with enough power to score an OHKO. Although not immune to Kingdra's Rain-boosted Muddy Water or Hydro Pump, Amoonguss resists them, and can either redirect Kingdra's Dragon-type moves with Rage Powder or threaten to put it to sleep with Spore. Generally specially defensive Pokemon, such as Cresselia, Togekiss, and Dusclops, can tank a hit and threaten to take away Kingdra's speed advantage with Trick Room, Tailwind, Sunny Day, Skill Swap, or Thunder Wave.</p>
<p>Another notable counter-strategy to Kingdra's rain offense is to take away the dreary weather. Tyranitar can switch into a predicted Protect, Dragon-type move, or Substitute from Kingdra and set up sand, stopping it from using Swift Swim. Ninetales and Abomasnow also set up other weathers, so they stop Kingdra's stormy tempest as well. Manual weather inducers, such as Sunny Day Cresselia and Sunny Day Whimsicott are additional major disruptions.</p>
<p>However, altering the weather is not the only way to remove Kingdra's speed advantage. Thundurus can slow Kingdra right down with Prankster Thunder Waves, hitting before it can move and making it near useless against opposing Dragon-types. It can also hit Kingdra with strong Thunderbolts. Tornadus can summon an emergency Prankster Tailwind before Kingdra can knock it out, allowing fast Pokemon to get a hit on Kingdra before it can make a move. Bulky Pokemon mentioned in the first paragraph, such as Cresselia, Jellicent, Dusclops, Ferrothorn, and Togekiss, have various speed-altering means to slow down Kingdra to manageable levels. For instance, Cresselia is a hard Pokemon to break, as it can take any hit and set up Trick Room or use Thunder Wave, both slowing Kingdra down completely; it even learns Skill Swap to steal Swift Swim from Kingdra and swap it to its partner. Jellicent and Dusclops both have Trick Room, and Ferrothorn and Togekiss have access to Thunder Wave.</p>
<p>Focus Sash Breloom is a can survive a hit and Spore Kingdra, but double targeting can take it out before it does this and non-Focus Sash variants are OHKO'ed by Draco Meteor. Timid Kingdra is a decent check against opposing Kingdra, losing to a Speed tie against other Timid Kingdra at worst. A Rage Powder or Follow Me Pokemon paired with a partner that resists Muddy Water forms a good pair to deal with Kingdra. Dragon-types, such as Kyurem-B and Latios; tanky Water-types, such as Rotom-W, Manaphy, and Suicune; and Shaymin-S and Breloom can inflict heavy damage or set up on Kingdra when paired with a Follow Me or Rage Powder user to soak up Dragon-type moves aimed at them.</p>
I really don't think this last paragraph needs to be here. Most of these suggestions are a huge stretch and they just seem to be general doubles strategies. Reminds me of bugmaniacbob's giant Claydol analysis. You can't write a million different battle scenarios in an analysis; this sort of stuff comes from experience.
[GP 2/2]
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