The strategy is to send this out against any Fighting or Water Pokémon and Dragon Dance up to sweep. Taunt against Toxic, Thunder Wave, and other goodies accordingly. Hidden Power Flying is generally superior to Hidden Power Rock because of STAB, and the good type coverage it provides. However, Hidden Power Rock hurts Zapdos (one of Gyarados' main counters), and deals acceptable damage to Skarmory—Aerodactyl doesn't enjoy it either. The Speed given guarantees you are faster than Raikou after a Dragon Dance, which is the fastest OU you can beat without a Jolly nature, except Jolly Dugtrio, which isn't much of a threat.
Beats up a lot of the usual Gyarados counters. Thunder Skarmory, Hydro Pump Donphan and Solrock in the face, and Blizzard Zapdos. Use Ice Beam if you are not feeling particularly lucky, but Blizzard will do about 57% to Zapdos and Ice Beam does about 45% damage max to standard Zapdos. Needs some luck—try not to spoil the surprise too early. Hidden Power Flying does some damage to Special sponges, and still makes Heracross cry.
This can hurt a decent amount of Pokémon, obviously with the right prediction. Double-Edge should wreak havoc on Zapdos switches, Hydro Pump takes care of Donphan, Claydol and other Grounds, but Fire Blast only 3HKOs Skarmory. Use more EVs in Special Attack to do more damage to these physical sponges. Other OptionsSurf and Hydro Pump own Donphan and Skarmory, so they're optional on the Dragon Dance set. Double-Edge can be put on there over Hidden Power Flying as well as it deals comparable damage to Flygon and Claydol and can handle Zapdos. Paralysis is always a plus, so Thunder Wave is cool. Substitute can be a help to set-up, though Taunt is arguably better, as it blocks Roar / Whirlwind. Gyarados can Rest / Sleep Talk and tank pretty well or set up Dragon Dance, but your offense will be limited. Gyarados can Flail by using Substitute (or Endure)—it works nicely with its great Attack and Dragon Dance, and it can kill Metagross with an Earthquake if it has 2 Dragon Dances. Has a hard time with Tyranitar, though. EVsFor Dragon Dancers: 200 Speed (12 EVs) minimum to outspeed base 100 Pokémon after one Dragon Dance, provided they don't use a +Speed nature. Other options for Speed: 222 Speed (100 EVs) beats Adamant Tyranitar before a Dragon Dance, Modest Raikou, and +Speed base 100s after a Dragon Dance, 244 Speed (188 EVs) beats Jolly Tyranitar before a Dragon Dance, and Timid Raikou after a Dragon Dance, 250 Speed (212 EVs) beats Timid Alakazam, Jolly Dugtrio and Timid Sceptile after a Dragon Dance, and 270 Speed (196 EVs and a +Speed nature) beats Adamant Heracross before a Dragon Dance, and everything used in OU save Ninjask after a Dragon Dance. For physical sets, concentrate on Attack, and dump the leftovers into HP. If you're using Substitute + Flail, make sure your HP is not divisible by 4. OpinionDefinitely something to watch out for. Gyarados can come in very easily and Dragon Dance, and unlike Salamence and Tyranitar, has no trouble with Waters at all. It gets good tools in Taunt and Thunder Wave, and can use gimmick sets like the Special Attacker and the Choice Bander to surprise and shut down. A potential sweep is waiting for everyone who uses Gyarados, but its biggest disadvantage is that its best counter (Zapdos) is really popular. CountersAs said, Zapdos is the best counter in the game for Gyarados. It resists Hidden Power Flying, is immune to Earthquake and OHKOs Gyarados with Thunderbolt. Aerodactyl can do the same with its STAB Rock Slide, but it is weak to Water moves and doesn't have very good defenses. Jolteon is faster than Adamant Gyarados even after it Dragon Dances, and OHKOs with Thunderbolt, but can't switch in as easily because Gyarados may predict this and use Earthquake. Skarmory doesn't have any attack that hits Gyarados hard except Rock Slide which is rare, but despite Taunt, it can beat Gyarados one on one by using Drill Peck / Hidden Power Flying. Beware of the occasional Mixed or Special Attacking Gyarados though. If Gyarados lacks special attacks or Taunt, Toxic, Thunder Wave, and Roar / Whirlwind will prevent Gyarados from sweeping. Weezing, like Skarmory, can be a prick to Gyarados. It can Will-O-Wisp Gyarados and Haze away Dragon Dances, and if Gyarados has Taunt, Weezing can always Sludge Bomb. Repeated Sludge Bombs by Weezing will bring Gyarados down in the long run. The rare Thunderbolt will also defeat Gyarados. But, once again, like Skarmory, Weezing does not like special attacks. Donphan easily lives through several physical assaults, can Roar away Gyarados or hurt it with Hidden Power Rock or Rock Slide. Surf or Hydro Pump takes care of it, though. Solrock is a decent UU alternative counter to Gyarados, with STAB Rock Slide and resistance to Hidden Power Flying as well as Levitate. Don't have it try to take a Surf or Hydro Pump though. Porygon2, Starmie, and Regice survive Gyarados' attacks easily to counter with decently powered Thunderbolts. Choice Band Gyarados is handled by predicting around it, using resistances of Pokémon like Metagross, Zapdos, Skarmory, etc. Flail variants can get shut down by Tyranitar's Sand Stream as well as Fake Out and any form of Quick Attack. The Special Attacker gets owned by Lanturn's Volt Absorb and resistance to Water, Ice and Flying as well as STAB Thunderbolt. Any other Electric, like Raikou, Jolteon or even Ampharos can come in and Thunderbolt the heck out of Gyarados as well. Zapdos can do the same, as long as it doesn't take too many Blizzards or Ice Beams. Gyarados can also fall easily to a surprise Hidden Power Electric. Claydol and Vaporeon are good choices, as they aren't hit hard by his other moves, and they accomplish something aside from hitting Gyarados (on Claydol, it hurts Skarmory, making Claydol a double threat, and on Vaporeon, is lets it counter Waters in general slightly better). Things like Zap Cannon Forretress and the like can wound it before it knows what's going on. |
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