[OVERVIEW]
Armed with Dragon Dance, a reliable physical Water-type STAB attack, and two incredible abilities, Gyarados establishes its niche as a dangerous sweeper. Utilizing its solid bulk and rare typing, Gyarados has many switch-in and setup opportunities, pivoting into and threatening top Pokemon like Excadrill, Heatran, Gliscor, Volcarona, Scizor, and Keldeo. Many of the Pokemon it checks are common on hyper offense teams, which grants it a particularly strong matchup against them. The ever-present rain set by Politoed is also a boon to Gyarados, as it clears the sand that cuts into its bulk, and physical checks like Skarmory and Reuniclus can be much more easily muscled through with a boosted Waterfall when rain is present.
However, weakness to Stealth Rock and vulnerability to sand severely cuts into Gyarados's defensive reliability, necessitating entry hazard removal support. This is exacerbated by it relying on its bulk and typing to set up directly on Pokemon like Excadrill. Gyarados is also not very immediately threatening, as its middling Speed and mediocre STAB option of Waterfall often require it to use Dragon Dance before it can meaningfully damage teams. This Speed issue persists even after setting up one Dragon Dance, as common Choice Scarf users like Latios and Garchomp often put Gyarados in an awkward situation after it has claimed one KO. Finally and most importantly, Gyarados has a large number of checks, such as Skarmory, Jellicent, Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, Encore Politoed, and Dragonite, which are all quite common and often necessitate different moves to beat.
[SET]
Substitute + Dragon Dance (Gyarados) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate / Moxie
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Waterfall
- Bounce
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
Gyarados's excellent bulk and typing affords it many opportunities to use Substitute, protecting itself from status and weaker moves; from there, it can look to use Dragon Dance repeatedly. It has many opportunities to set up a Substitute, threatening many staples that can't hurt it back like defensive Landorus-T, Heatran, Politoed lacking Encore, Tentacruel, and Excadrill. Substitute also has the added benefit of taking Rotom-W’s Volt Switch, forcing it to switch in again to check Gyarados and take more residual damage in doing so. Waterfall is mandatory as a reliable STAB attack with good coverage, and the 20% chance to flinch can rapidly snowball games if the opponent's primary check is KOed without taking an action. Bounce is used alongside Waterfall, as it gives Gyarados a secondary STAB attack and has decent coverage alongside Waterfall. Bounce also gives an extra turn of Leftovers recovery and hits Water-resistant targets such as Ferrothorn and Jellicent as hard as possible. However, the two-turn nature of the move can result in opponents pivoting to Flying-resistant Pokemon, such as Skarmory and Tyranitar, which could not switch in to bother Gyarados otherwise. Earthquake is a good alternative to Bounce, sacrificing a little power for reliability and granting Gyarados a way more consistent matchup against Politoed and Keldeo, which often run Protect. Taunt can be used over Substitute to directly prevent phazing and Encore attempts while also being useful against status moves like Toxic and Will-O-Wisp. However, Substitute also prevents these status moves from affecting Gyarados in addition to preventing the chance of a Scald burn occurring and allows for better synergy with Bounce, making it overall more useful.
Set Details
=========
Leftovers enhances Gyarados's bulk, granting it recovery in rain and clear weather and offsetting sand damage. It’s especially relevant with Substitute and Bounce, which let Gyarados heal itself while preventing foes from attacking it directly. 168 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature allow Gyarados to outspeed Choice Scarf Latios after two Dragon Dance boosts and neutral-natured base 80 Speed Pokemon like Dragonite and Mamoswine without a boost. 88 HP EVs allow Gyarados's Substitute to withstand Power Whip from a burned Ferrothorn, making it a potential setup opportunity. The remaining EVs maximize Gyarados's Attack. An Adamant nature could be used to give Gyarados better odds to 2HKO common walls after a Dragon Dance, primarily Skarmory. However, an Adamant nature requires Gyarados to invest fully into Speed in order to outrun neutral natured Mamoswine, making itself and its Substitutes much less durable. Intimidate gives Gyarados more defensive utility and Pokemon to set up on. Notably, -1 Excadrill and -1 Scizor are prime Substitute and Dragon Dance opportunities. Moxie trades this defensive reliability for the opportunity to snowball, becoming rapidly difficult to handle if the opponent sacrifices a Pokemon to try and send in their check cleanly.
Team Options
=========
This set should be used on rain teams to have the most effect, since rain allows Leftovers to have a net gain in recovery while also strengthening Waterfall to be able to break through bulkier targets without as many boosts. Politoed provides rain and supports the rain-reliant Rapid Spin users this set should be paired with. Rapid Spin support is very important to this set, since Gyarados needs as much HP as possible to reliably set up Substitute and Dragon Dance. Tentacruel in particular has excellent synergy with this Gyarados set; Scald and Toxic allow Tentacruel to spread burns and poison on targets Gyarados loves being statused such as Ferrothorn and Rotom-W. Starmie is also a great partner, as its Speed and power allow it to threaten offensive Stealth Rock setters such as Terrakion and Garchomp, and its Analytic-boosted attacks are great at pressuring Ferrothorn and Rotom-W. Gyarados especially appreciates this offensive synergy, since it can't run a third attacking move to fill coverage gaps. Starmie is an essential partner without rain support thanks to its reliability on weatherless offense teams. Ferrothorn is a great support pick for its huge number of complementary resistances, ability to set up entry hazards to wear down Gyarados's checks, and its reliability at switching into the many revenge killing attempts aimed at Gyarados. In particular, Lum and Rawst Berry variants of Ferrothorn are amazing at luring in and weakening Rotom-W, which Gyarados appreciates. Keldeo can weaken Ferrothorn and utilize a Choice Scarf set to slice through the hyper offensive teams this set doesn't do quite as well against, while this Gyarados set is more easily able to break down the defensive teams Choice Scarf Keldeo struggles against. Garchomp does a great job deterring Electric-type moves, potentially switching into Rotom-W's Volt Switch and Thundurus-T's Thunder and threatening them back, while many teams are forced to rely on Skarmory to check Gyarados, which Garchomp appreciates being weakened. Thundurus-T is a staple on rain teams that Gyarados can struggle to partner with due to their overlapping types, but Thundurus-T's ability to counter Ferrothorn and do enormous damage early in the game can open the path for a Gyarados sweep. Although Magnezone is very difficult to fit on rain teams, they can pair up effectively on weatherless offense. Magnezone can directly remove Ferrothorn and Skarmory for Gyarados while being able to clear sand with Sunny Day, while Gyarados reliably sets up on Magnezone's common revenge killers such as Excadrill, Heatran, and Landorus-T.
[SET]
Offensive Dragon Dance (Gyarados) @ Leftovers / Lum Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Moxie / Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe or 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge / Return
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
Gyarados with two moveslots of coverage can become an immediate threat and a very difficult Pokemon to handle just after one Dragon Dance. Waterfall is a necessary STAB attack that hits the numerous Ground-types in the tier, additionally being able to potentially flinch and push through defensive checks to itself such as Skarmory and Reuniclus. Earthquake is the most reliable coverage option, hitting grounded Water-resistant Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Tentacruel, and Keldeo for solid damage after a boost. For the last slot, Stone Edge gives Gyarados a strong attack with good neutral coverage against many checks like Rotom-W and Air Balloon Jellicent and Starmie while hitting Dragonite and Kyurem-B super effectively. Return allows Gyarados to hit non-grounded Water-resistant Pokemon such as Latios and Rotom-W as well but trades a super effective hit on Dragonite and Kyurem-B for reliable accuracy. Bounce gives Gyarados a second STAB move, allows it to regain HP with Leftovers while in the air, has a nasty paralysis rate, and gives it the strongest attack against Ferrothorn and Breloom. However, it has somewhat unreliable accuracy and is a two-turn move, making it very exploitable when not used in tandem with Substitute. Ice Fang could be used to KO Breloom reliably while still hitting Dragon-types hard, but it is much weaker outside of hitting those targets.
Set Details
=========
Maximum Speed allows Gyarados to outrun Adamant Dragonite, Adamant Mamoswine, and Modest Heatran before a Dragon Dance. An Adamant gives Gyarados the necessary strength to muscle through bulkier Pokemon, but a Jolly nature 168 Speed EVs is an option to outrun Choice Scarf Latios and Terrakion after two Dragon Dance boosts. Moxie is the preferred ability to snowball Attack boosts and make Gyarados progressively more difficult to handle. However, Intimidate provides Gyarados with more comfortable setup opportunities and defensive presence against Pokemon like Excadrill and Scizor. Leftovers improves Gyarados's longevity, allowing it to not lose health in sand and get health back outside of sand to better check the Pokemon it switches into. Lum Berry is very useful for setting up against Pokemon that could otherwise inflict status, such as defensive Water-types with Scald, and completely flips the Jellicent matchup. Life Orb could be used for as much power as possible, doing a great deal more damage to Gyarados's counters, which is especially useful for Rotom-W, but the constant recoil damage greatly impacts Gyarados's staying power.
Team Options
=========
Gyarados is a natural fit on rain teams, so Politoed is an extremely valuable partner, since Drizzle provides a power boost to Waterfall, and it can create switch-in opportunities for Gyarados through Encore. Rain teams appreciate Gyarados's ability to overwhelm Water-resistant Pokemon, and Gyarados especially needs good entry hazard removal, which rain teams can reliably provide. Tentacruel is an amazing partner for its ability to spin reliably over the course of a game and pressure their shared checks, such as Ferrothorn, Jellicent, and Rotom-W, with Scald burns or Toxic. Starmie is an incredible spinner on offensive teams and can use its coverage options boosted by Analytic to pressure Water-resistant Pokemon. Ferrothorn is another great partner thanks to its excellent defensive synergy with Gyarados, reliably checking difficult matchups such as Rotom-W, Latios, and Politoed. These great defensive traits allow Ferrothorn to find opportunities to set Stealth Rock and Spikes, accelerating the pace at which walls are put into range for Gyarados to KO. Ferrothorn can even choose to go on the offensive with a Lum or Rawst Berry, which can allow it to potentially OHKO Rotom-W from the get-go and absorb Scald burns from Water-types like Gastrodon or Politoed. Latios checks the threats that force out Gyarados, answering Thundurus-T, Rotom-W, and Breloom quite well and often necessitating Ferrothorn or Tyranitar to check it, weakening either the primary Gyarados check or sand setter. Other wallbreakers that reliably beat or lure Gyarados's checks are important teammates as well. Thundurus-T can switch into and has the power to severely threaten Water-resistant Pokemon like Rotom-W, Jellicent, Ferrothorn, and Gastrodon as well as dissuading Electric-type attacks by virtue of Volt Absorb. Gyarados will be eventually KOed, either by a faster Choice Scarf user or by a bulkier Pokemon that can tank its hits and KO back. Setup Pokemon such as Scizor and Volcarona have an ideal opportunity to boost against Pokemon like Ferrothorn, Latios after it has used a Draco Meteor, and Reuniclus. Magnezone can be used to forcibly remove Ferrothorn and Skarmory, which is especially useful if Gyarados is not paired with Politoed to boost its Waterfall damage against Skarmory. Directly preventing Stealth Rock from being set up is another tactic to facilitate Gyarados on hyper offensive teams, making aggressive Taunt-using leads like Skarmory, Terrakion, and Aerodactyl situationally good partners. Abomasnow as a partner provides a unique way to pressure Ferrothorn thanks to Snow Warning and its damage output from Blizzard or Hidden Power Fire.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Choice Scarf can leverage its immediate Speed to revenge kill threats and potentially sweep with Moxie's snowballing Attack boosts, but the inability to switch moves is a major hindrance. Natural Gift when paired with a Berry can give Gyarados some powerful and surprising coverage options. Watmel Berry allows Gyarados to make use of a surprise Fire-type coverage option to circumvent Ferrothorn as an answer and do a lot of damage to Skarmory, while Liechi Berry becomes a high-Base Power Grass-type attack, catching Rotom-W and Jellicent off guard. However, this move comes with a lot of drawbacks. Natural Gift is a one-time option, uses up both an item and a moveslot, and forces Gyarados to use Intimidate due to legality issues. Choice Band grants Gyarados an extremely powerful Waterfall when under it's rain, and it can use its immediate power to break down its checks with coverage options. Having said that, Gyarados is a slow Choice item attacker, its STAB moves can be resisted pretty easily, and it does not appreciate being forced to switch out multiple times in the face of Stealth Rock. Rest, Sleep Talk, and defensive investment can be used to turn Gyarados into a mixed wall thanks to Intimidate and its good resistances; however, its Stealth Rock weakness is extremely crippling, and sleep mechanics make it so that Gyarados must burn all its sleep turns without switching out or be forced to play the rest of the game asleep.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Residual Damage**: Stealth Rock, Sandstorm, and Toxic all impede Gyarados heavily and will limit the amount of damage it can do before being KOed. Burns from Will-O-Wisp and Scald are particularly crippling to a physical sweeper like Gyarados.
**Water-resistant Walls**: While Gyarados has good coverage options, Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Ferrothorn will reliably beat it one on one, while Celebi will beat any variant without Bounce. Other options such as Gastrodon, Amoonguss, and Jellicent can check it after it has taken enough damage. Seismitoad is uncommon, but it can completely wall Bounce variants between Water Absorb and Protect.
**Choice Scarf Users**: Choice Scarf users such as Latios, Garchomp, and Excadrill can outrun and take out a weakened Gyarados with their strong attacks.
**Strong Priority Moves**: While Gyarados fortuitously resists Mach Punch and Bullet Punch, it is still susceptible to very strong neutral priority when it's weakened. Mamoswine's Ice Shard, Dragonite's Extreme Speed, and Scizor's Quick Attack can all stop Gyarados after it has been brought to low health.
**Physically Bulky Pokemon**: While they range in reliability due to coverage and Waterfall flinches, Skarmory, Reuniclus, and Kyurem-B can potentially take a hit from +1 Gyarados and threaten it back.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/monai.482455/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/cow.654013/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/magialice.624724/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/adorluigi.528364/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
Armed with Dragon Dance, a reliable physical Water-type STAB attack, and two incredible abilities, Gyarados establishes its niche as a dangerous sweeper. Utilizing its solid bulk and rare typing, Gyarados has many switch-in and setup opportunities, pivoting into and threatening top Pokemon like Excadrill, Heatran, Gliscor, Volcarona, Scizor, and Keldeo. Many of the Pokemon it checks are common on hyper offense teams, which grants it a particularly strong matchup against them. The ever-present rain set by Politoed is also a boon to Gyarados, as it clears the sand that cuts into its bulk, and physical checks like Skarmory and Reuniclus can be much more easily muscled through with a boosted Waterfall when rain is present.
However, weakness to Stealth Rock and vulnerability to sand severely cuts into Gyarados's defensive reliability, necessitating entry hazard removal support. This is exacerbated by it relying on its bulk and typing to set up directly on Pokemon like Excadrill. Gyarados is also not very immediately threatening, as its middling Speed and mediocre STAB option of Waterfall often require it to use Dragon Dance before it can meaningfully damage teams. This Speed issue persists even after setting up one Dragon Dance, as common Choice Scarf users like Latios and Garchomp often put Gyarados in an awkward situation after it has claimed one KO. Finally and most importantly, Gyarados has a large number of checks, such as Skarmory, Jellicent, Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, Encore Politoed, and Dragonite, which are all quite common and often necessitate different moves to beat.
[SET]
Substitute + Dragon Dance (Gyarados) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate / Moxie
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Waterfall
- Bounce
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
Gyarados's excellent bulk and typing affords it many opportunities to use Substitute, protecting itself from status and weaker moves; from there, it can look to use Dragon Dance repeatedly. It has many opportunities to set up a Substitute, threatening many staples that can't hurt it back like defensive Landorus-T, Heatran, Politoed lacking Encore, Tentacruel, and Excadrill. Substitute also has the added benefit of taking Rotom-W’s Volt Switch, forcing it to switch in again to check Gyarados and take more residual damage in doing so. Waterfall is mandatory as a reliable STAB attack with good coverage, and the 20% chance to flinch can rapidly snowball games if the opponent's primary check is KOed without taking an action. Bounce is used alongside Waterfall, as it gives Gyarados a secondary STAB attack and has decent coverage alongside Waterfall. Bounce also gives an extra turn of Leftovers recovery and hits Water-resistant targets such as Ferrothorn and Jellicent as hard as possible. However, the two-turn nature of the move can result in opponents pivoting to Flying-resistant Pokemon, such as Skarmory and Tyranitar, which could not switch in to bother Gyarados otherwise. Earthquake is a good alternative to Bounce, sacrificing a little power for reliability and granting Gyarados a way more consistent matchup against Politoed and Keldeo, which often run Protect. Taunt can be used over Substitute to directly prevent phazing and Encore attempts while also being useful against status moves like Toxic and Will-O-Wisp. However, Substitute also prevents these status moves from affecting Gyarados in addition to preventing the chance of a Scald burn occurring and allows for better synergy with Bounce, making it overall more useful.
Set Details
=========
Leftovers enhances Gyarados's bulk, granting it recovery in rain and clear weather and offsetting sand damage. It’s especially relevant with Substitute and Bounce, which let Gyarados heal itself while preventing foes from attacking it directly. 168 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature allow Gyarados to outspeed Choice Scarf Latios after two Dragon Dance boosts and neutral-natured base 80 Speed Pokemon like Dragonite and Mamoswine without a boost. 88 HP EVs allow Gyarados's Substitute to withstand Power Whip from a burned Ferrothorn, making it a potential setup opportunity. The remaining EVs maximize Gyarados's Attack. An Adamant nature could be used to give Gyarados better odds to 2HKO common walls after a Dragon Dance, primarily Skarmory. However, an Adamant nature requires Gyarados to invest fully into Speed in order to outrun neutral natured Mamoswine, making itself and its Substitutes much less durable. Intimidate gives Gyarados more defensive utility and Pokemon to set up on. Notably, -1 Excadrill and -1 Scizor are prime Substitute and Dragon Dance opportunities. Moxie trades this defensive reliability for the opportunity to snowball, becoming rapidly difficult to handle if the opponent sacrifices a Pokemon to try and send in their check cleanly.
Team Options
=========
This set should be used on rain teams to have the most effect, since rain allows Leftovers to have a net gain in recovery while also strengthening Waterfall to be able to break through bulkier targets without as many boosts. Politoed provides rain and supports the rain-reliant Rapid Spin users this set should be paired with. Rapid Spin support is very important to this set, since Gyarados needs as much HP as possible to reliably set up Substitute and Dragon Dance. Tentacruel in particular has excellent synergy with this Gyarados set; Scald and Toxic allow Tentacruel to spread burns and poison on targets Gyarados loves being statused such as Ferrothorn and Rotom-W. Starmie is also a great partner, as its Speed and power allow it to threaten offensive Stealth Rock setters such as Terrakion and Garchomp, and its Analytic-boosted attacks are great at pressuring Ferrothorn and Rotom-W. Gyarados especially appreciates this offensive synergy, since it can't run a third attacking move to fill coverage gaps. Starmie is an essential partner without rain support thanks to its reliability on weatherless offense teams. Ferrothorn is a great support pick for its huge number of complementary resistances, ability to set up entry hazards to wear down Gyarados's checks, and its reliability at switching into the many revenge killing attempts aimed at Gyarados. In particular, Lum and Rawst Berry variants of Ferrothorn are amazing at luring in and weakening Rotom-W, which Gyarados appreciates. Keldeo can weaken Ferrothorn and utilize a Choice Scarf set to slice through the hyper offensive teams this set doesn't do quite as well against, while this Gyarados set is more easily able to break down the defensive teams Choice Scarf Keldeo struggles against. Garchomp does a great job deterring Electric-type moves, potentially switching into Rotom-W's Volt Switch and Thundurus-T's Thunder and threatening them back, while many teams are forced to rely on Skarmory to check Gyarados, which Garchomp appreciates being weakened. Thundurus-T is a staple on rain teams that Gyarados can struggle to partner with due to their overlapping types, but Thundurus-T's ability to counter Ferrothorn and do enormous damage early in the game can open the path for a Gyarados sweep. Although Magnezone is very difficult to fit on rain teams, they can pair up effectively on weatherless offense. Magnezone can directly remove Ferrothorn and Skarmory for Gyarados while being able to clear sand with Sunny Day, while Gyarados reliably sets up on Magnezone's common revenge killers such as Excadrill, Heatran, and Landorus-T.
[SET]
Offensive Dragon Dance (Gyarados) @ Leftovers / Lum Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Moxie / Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe or 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge / Return
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=========
Gyarados with two moveslots of coverage can become an immediate threat and a very difficult Pokemon to handle just after one Dragon Dance. Waterfall is a necessary STAB attack that hits the numerous Ground-types in the tier, additionally being able to potentially flinch and push through defensive checks to itself such as Skarmory and Reuniclus. Earthquake is the most reliable coverage option, hitting grounded Water-resistant Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Tentacruel, and Keldeo for solid damage after a boost. For the last slot, Stone Edge gives Gyarados a strong attack with good neutral coverage against many checks like Rotom-W and Air Balloon Jellicent and Starmie while hitting Dragonite and Kyurem-B super effectively. Return allows Gyarados to hit non-grounded Water-resistant Pokemon such as Latios and Rotom-W as well but trades a super effective hit on Dragonite and Kyurem-B for reliable accuracy. Bounce gives Gyarados a second STAB move, allows it to regain HP with Leftovers while in the air, has a nasty paralysis rate, and gives it the strongest attack against Ferrothorn and Breloom. However, it has somewhat unreliable accuracy and is a two-turn move, making it very exploitable when not used in tandem with Substitute. Ice Fang could be used to KO Breloom reliably while still hitting Dragon-types hard, but it is much weaker outside of hitting those targets.
Set Details
=========
Maximum Speed allows Gyarados to outrun Adamant Dragonite, Adamant Mamoswine, and Modest Heatran before a Dragon Dance. An Adamant gives Gyarados the necessary strength to muscle through bulkier Pokemon, but a Jolly nature 168 Speed EVs is an option to outrun Choice Scarf Latios and Terrakion after two Dragon Dance boosts. Moxie is the preferred ability to snowball Attack boosts and make Gyarados progressively more difficult to handle. However, Intimidate provides Gyarados with more comfortable setup opportunities and defensive presence against Pokemon like Excadrill and Scizor. Leftovers improves Gyarados's longevity, allowing it to not lose health in sand and get health back outside of sand to better check the Pokemon it switches into. Lum Berry is very useful for setting up against Pokemon that could otherwise inflict status, such as defensive Water-types with Scald, and completely flips the Jellicent matchup. Life Orb could be used for as much power as possible, doing a great deal more damage to Gyarados's counters, which is especially useful for Rotom-W, but the constant recoil damage greatly impacts Gyarados's staying power.
Team Options
=========
Gyarados is a natural fit on rain teams, so Politoed is an extremely valuable partner, since Drizzle provides a power boost to Waterfall, and it can create switch-in opportunities for Gyarados through Encore. Rain teams appreciate Gyarados's ability to overwhelm Water-resistant Pokemon, and Gyarados especially needs good entry hazard removal, which rain teams can reliably provide. Tentacruel is an amazing partner for its ability to spin reliably over the course of a game and pressure their shared checks, such as Ferrothorn, Jellicent, and Rotom-W, with Scald burns or Toxic. Starmie is an incredible spinner on offensive teams and can use its coverage options boosted by Analytic to pressure Water-resistant Pokemon. Ferrothorn is another great partner thanks to its excellent defensive synergy with Gyarados, reliably checking difficult matchups such as Rotom-W, Latios, and Politoed. These great defensive traits allow Ferrothorn to find opportunities to set Stealth Rock and Spikes, accelerating the pace at which walls are put into range for Gyarados to KO. Ferrothorn can even choose to go on the offensive with a Lum or Rawst Berry, which can allow it to potentially OHKO Rotom-W from the get-go and absorb Scald burns from Water-types like Gastrodon or Politoed. Latios checks the threats that force out Gyarados, answering Thundurus-T, Rotom-W, and Breloom quite well and often necessitating Ferrothorn or Tyranitar to check it, weakening either the primary Gyarados check or sand setter. Other wallbreakers that reliably beat or lure Gyarados's checks are important teammates as well. Thundurus-T can switch into and has the power to severely threaten Water-resistant Pokemon like Rotom-W, Jellicent, Ferrothorn, and Gastrodon as well as dissuading Electric-type attacks by virtue of Volt Absorb. Gyarados will be eventually KOed, either by a faster Choice Scarf user or by a bulkier Pokemon that can tank its hits and KO back. Setup Pokemon such as Scizor and Volcarona have an ideal opportunity to boost against Pokemon like Ferrothorn, Latios after it has used a Draco Meteor, and Reuniclus. Magnezone can be used to forcibly remove Ferrothorn and Skarmory, which is especially useful if Gyarados is not paired with Politoed to boost its Waterfall damage against Skarmory. Directly preventing Stealth Rock from being set up is another tactic to facilitate Gyarados on hyper offensive teams, making aggressive Taunt-using leads like Skarmory, Terrakion, and Aerodactyl situationally good partners. Abomasnow as a partner provides a unique way to pressure Ferrothorn thanks to Snow Warning and its damage output from Blizzard or Hidden Power Fire.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Choice Scarf can leverage its immediate Speed to revenge kill threats and potentially sweep with Moxie's snowballing Attack boosts, but the inability to switch moves is a major hindrance. Natural Gift when paired with a Berry can give Gyarados some powerful and surprising coverage options. Watmel Berry allows Gyarados to make use of a surprise Fire-type coverage option to circumvent Ferrothorn as an answer and do a lot of damage to Skarmory, while Liechi Berry becomes a high-Base Power Grass-type attack, catching Rotom-W and Jellicent off guard. However, this move comes with a lot of drawbacks. Natural Gift is a one-time option, uses up both an item and a moveslot, and forces Gyarados to use Intimidate due to legality issues. Choice Band grants Gyarados an extremely powerful Waterfall when under it's rain, and it can use its immediate power to break down its checks with coverage options. Having said that, Gyarados is a slow Choice item attacker, its STAB moves can be resisted pretty easily, and it does not appreciate being forced to switch out multiple times in the face of Stealth Rock. Rest, Sleep Talk, and defensive investment can be used to turn Gyarados into a mixed wall thanks to Intimidate and its good resistances; however, its Stealth Rock weakness is extremely crippling, and sleep mechanics make it so that Gyarados must burn all its sleep turns without switching out or be forced to play the rest of the game asleep.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Residual Damage**: Stealth Rock, Sandstorm, and Toxic all impede Gyarados heavily and will limit the amount of damage it can do before being KOed. Burns from Will-O-Wisp and Scald are particularly crippling to a physical sweeper like Gyarados.
**Water-resistant Walls**: While Gyarados has good coverage options, Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Ferrothorn will reliably beat it one on one, while Celebi will beat any variant without Bounce. Other options such as Gastrodon, Amoonguss, and Jellicent can check it after it has taken enough damage. Seismitoad is uncommon, but it can completely wall Bounce variants between Water Absorb and Protect.
**Choice Scarf Users**: Choice Scarf users such as Latios, Garchomp, and Excadrill can outrun and take out a weakened Gyarados with their strong attacks.
**Strong Priority Moves**: While Gyarados fortuitously resists Mach Punch and Bullet Punch, it is still susceptible to very strong neutral priority when it's weakened. Mamoswine's Ice Shard, Dragonite's Extreme Speed, and Scizor's Quick Attack can all stop Gyarados after it has been brought to low health.
**Physically Bulky Pokemon**: While they range in reliability due to coverage and Waterfall flinches, Skarmory, Reuniclus, and Kyurem-B can potentially take a hit from +1 Gyarados and threaten it back.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/monai.482455/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/cow.654013/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/magialice.624724/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/adorluigi.528364/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
Last edited:
