On any special based set HP fighting looks increasingly attractive as it hits nattorei and empoleon, 2 of the 3 pokemon that resist kingdra's stab (and who uses shedinja?), who would normally cause problems for kingdra.
Kingdra needs to inflict as much damage as possible (especially on a SPECS set, my goodness), and the awful base power of Boiling Water is going to hurt Kingdra more than help it.Set 2 Really should have Boiling Water over surf IMO, as when you're locked into it, it'd be nice to get the 2ndary effect if you hit whatever tries to revenge-kill it. A burned electric or grass type is not a bad thing...
things like this will almost never work out since when someone sees Kingdra he will switch to something that can damage you much, why would i stay in with a pokemon that can't do something against him?I was thinking a set as this:
Kingdra @leftovers/life orb/lum berry
Damp/Swift Swin
damp is nice to prevent you from explosion when you trap something and swift swin can benefit of some rain of politoed^^
adamant 252/252/4 atk speed HP
or any spread that you like
Whirlpool
Dragon Dance
outrage
waterfall
basically you can trap something that can't damage you much and start using dragon dance to become really strong.
leftovers for more surviability, life orb for extra damage and lum in case you are worried about status.
But you could slap a Scarf on just about any good, fast Water-type special sweeper and call it a day, though Kingdra's Draco Meteor seems to push that a bit further.Alternatively, you could run Kingdra with Politoed's Drizzle, and just use Sniper instead of Swift Swim (since no one wants to run Damp). It lacks the insane speed it once had, but it's still bulky, insanely strong, and can carry a Scarf to help its Speed. I don't know if it would work well, but it seems worth a shot on Drizzle teams.
...also, you'd kill basically anything if you get a crit.
You’re right. Kingdra is indeed a tad slow compared to the other omnipresent threats. Kingdra being unviable with his speed isn’t the case though. Rain being neutered also doesn’t necessarily mean he has to resort to Dragon Dance, being walled and taken out by Ferrothorn and Skarmory and Choice Scarf users. Both Dragon Dance and Rain Dance attackers have virtually different counters, so you can’t be exactly sure you’re facing the right variant. I would say that Kingdra, despite Aldaron’s Proposal, can still make an impact in Standard. You can place Rain Dance Kingdra on just about any team and your opponent won’t suspect it because you’re not running an obvious Rain team. Dragon Dance can be the case for this too.Kingdra is too slow this gen to go without speed boosting. What with Rain effectively being neutered, this means DD sets. Skarmory walling ahoy.
I admit the inevitable Sand Streamers. Sure. That one turn of Rain is wasted by a Sand Streamer, but there's a problem with them. Most set-up sweepers actually waste a turn, and RD Kingdra is no different. Tyranitar and Hippowdon can't take Hydro Pumps or Waterfalls forever. Switch them in, and they're either KO'd instantly or take two Water-type attacks. And yeah sure. You can always switch in a resist for the evitable Water-type attack, but that's easily neglible with support. Last generation? RD Kingdra could be placed on nearly any team and still be good, even with Sandstorm flying about. What I'm trying to say is that RD Kingdra isn't as easily discountable (or useless).RD Kingdra? Cool. I love wasting a turn for when random Sand Streamer comes in like you know they will.
It's the same concept as OTR Bronzong or TR Reuniclus - set up RD, then do as much as you can in the turns you have available - while this does preclude Kingdra from using his DD sets, he can still start chucking out high-powered Hydro Pumps and the like.It's wasted set-up considering it only lasts 5 turns. You're better off using something more lasting.