[OVERVIEW]
Despite Miraidon taking the spotlight of Ubers's top special wallbreaker, Kyogre is still one of the most threatening Pokemon in the tier, as it often breaks better than Miraidon thanks to teams preparing for it less. Kyogre also sports a surprising amount of defensive utility, as its Drizzle is very useful against Koraidon, and it has enough bulk to take on even physical threats such as Arceus-Ground and Calyrex-I. Kyogre is somewhat limited by its average Speed stat, lack of recovery making it worn down by repeated hits, and by how common Koraidon and Miraidon are, but outside of these flaws, Kyogre should be considered for nearly any bulky offense or balance team.
[SET]
[Calm Mind] (Kyogre) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Drizzle
Tera Type: Fairy / Poison
EVs: 240 HP / 76 Def / 176 SpA / 16 Spe or 248 HP / 164 Def / 80 SpA / 16 Spe
Modest / Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Origin Pulse / Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunder / Thunder Wave
[SET COMMENTS]
Origin Pulse's higher power allows for some notable KOs, like OHKOing Ho-Oh outright and having a high chance to OHKO Zacian-C and Necrozma-DM after a layer of Spikes damage. Surf may be chosen for its perfect accuracy. Ice Beam nails Koraidon and Miraidon on the switch in and is Kyogre's best tool to pressure Eternatus and Clodsire. Thunder lets Kyogre break through Arceus-Water and opposing Kyogre, and its 30% paralysis chance is quite useful. Alternatively, Thunder Wave can be used to more directly cripple Eternatus on the switch in. Tera Fairy is usually chosen for its use against Koraidon, allowing Kyogre to take Scale Shot or Low Kick and retaliate back. Tera Poison has use for blocking Toxic from Eternatus, and it can let Kyogre absorb Toxic Spikes for teams that lack a Poison-type or Defog. Since Kyogre does not need the power of a boosting item, Heavy-Duty Boots is the best option, as it lets Kyogre pressure the opposing team without having to worry about entry hazard damage. It's also critical for the hyper offense matchup, as it allows Kyogre to survive +1 Arceus-Ground's Earthquake and +1 Necrozma-DM's Photon Geyser even with entry hazards up. The given EVs allow Kyogre to outspeed paralyzed Zacian-C and Deoxys-A, while the HP and Defense allow Kyogre to survive four hits from Koraidon's Scale Shot at +2, with the rest dumped into Special Attack. A more bulky spread of 248 HP / 164 Def / 80 SpA / 16 Spe with a Bold nature allows Kyogre to take one +2 Low Kick from Koraidon as well as +1 Arceus-Ground's Tera Ground-boosted Earthquake.
Kyogre excels on bulky offense and balance teams thanks to its excellent wallbreaking ability and good defensive utility. Arceus-Fairy is a fantastic teammate, as the two together make for perhaps the safest core against Scale Shot Koraidon in the tier. Additionally, Arceus-Fairy can come in on the Choice Scarf Koraidon that Kyogre attracts with ease while also providing Thunder Wave support that may allow Kyogre to get past Eternatus. Choice Scarf Koraidon and Miraidon are good partners for cleaning up weakened teams and can bring in Kyogre easily with U-turn to take advantage of Ting-Lu, Arceus-Ground, and Ho-Oh switch-ins. Ground-types like Ting-Lu, Arceus-Ground, and Clodsire are highly recommended for dealing with Miraidon, which can OHKO even boosted Kyogre. Ting-Lu, Clodsire, and Gliscor also come with the benefit of Spikes support, chipping away at common switch-ins like Koraidon and Arceus-Water. Necrozma-DM can handle Eternatus and Zacian-C, with Kyogre coming in on Ho-Oh and Ground-types for it in return.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Substitute is an option to allow Kyogre to bypass Eternatus and Clodsire's Toxic, but this set requires Thunder Wave and high bulk investment to work and is generally outclassed by more offensive sets that can threaten Koraidon, Miraidon, Arceus-Water, and opposing Kyogre more effectively. Rest is inadvisable thanks to Miraidon's Electric Terrain preventing its use. Mystic Water and Water Spout may be run on a Thunder Wave set. This gives Kyogre a 64.5% chance to 2HKO Eternatus with Water Spout at full HP, but this set is too vulnerable to entry hazard damage to be realistic.
Checks and Counters
====
**Eternatus**: Eternatus is the most common hard check to Kyogre, as it outspeeds Kyogre and can Toxic stall it in conjunction with Recover. However, Eternatus must be careful of paralysis and Tera Poison.
**Koraidon and Miraidon**: Koraidon's sun severely weakens Kyogre's Water-type attacks, effectively negating any of Kyogre's wallbreaking ability. Miraidon has good special bulk and can power through even boosted Kyogre. However, both Pokemon loathe coming in on Ice Beam.
**Clodsire**: Thanks to Water Absorb, Clodsire can use Toxic against Kyogre and stall out Ice Beam with Recover. However, since Clodsire is slower, it runs the risk of being frozen by repeated Ice Beams, and boosted Ice Beams will 2HKO Clodsire. Tera Steel Clodsire hard walls Kyogre and has next to nothing to fear from it.
**Water-types**: Kyogre can pivot into opposing Kyogre using Ice Beam and trade with it using Thunder. Arceus-Water, especially Calm Mind variants, is a decent check to Kyogre sets that lack Thunder.
**Giratina-O**: Giratina-O is bulky, resists Water, and can shave off over half of Kyogre's HP with Poltergeist while often being faster than it. However, it must watch out for Ice Beam.
**Arceus-Grass**: Albeit rare, Arceus-Grass can hard wall anything Kyogre can throw at it, match Kyogre's boosts with Calm Mind, and do massive damage back with Grass Knot.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/manaphy.50695/]
Quality checked by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/corvere.306317/]
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/oreospeedruns.597293/]
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/taka.595062/]
Grammar checked by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/aurora.109385/]
Despite Miraidon taking the spotlight of Ubers's top special wallbreaker, Kyogre is still one of the most threatening Pokemon in the tier, as it often breaks better than Miraidon thanks to teams preparing for it less. Kyogre also sports a surprising amount of defensive utility, as its Drizzle is very useful against Koraidon, and it has enough bulk to take on even physical threats such as Arceus-Ground and Calyrex-I. Kyogre is somewhat limited by its average Speed stat, lack of recovery making it worn down by repeated hits, and by how common Koraidon and Miraidon are, but outside of these flaws, Kyogre should be considered for nearly any bulky offense or balance team.
[SET]
[Calm Mind] (Kyogre) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Drizzle
Tera Type: Fairy / Poison
EVs: 240 HP / 76 Def / 176 SpA / 16 Spe or 248 HP / 164 Def / 80 SpA / 16 Spe
Modest / Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Origin Pulse / Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunder / Thunder Wave
[SET COMMENTS]
Origin Pulse's higher power allows for some notable KOs, like OHKOing Ho-Oh outright and having a high chance to OHKO Zacian-C and Necrozma-DM after a layer of Spikes damage. Surf may be chosen for its perfect accuracy. Ice Beam nails Koraidon and Miraidon on the switch in and is Kyogre's best tool to pressure Eternatus and Clodsire. Thunder lets Kyogre break through Arceus-Water and opposing Kyogre, and its 30% paralysis chance is quite useful. Alternatively, Thunder Wave can be used to more directly cripple Eternatus on the switch in. Tera Fairy is usually chosen for its use against Koraidon, allowing Kyogre to take Scale Shot or Low Kick and retaliate back. Tera Poison has use for blocking Toxic from Eternatus, and it can let Kyogre absorb Toxic Spikes for teams that lack a Poison-type or Defog. Since Kyogre does not need the power of a boosting item, Heavy-Duty Boots is the best option, as it lets Kyogre pressure the opposing team without having to worry about entry hazard damage. It's also critical for the hyper offense matchup, as it allows Kyogre to survive +1 Arceus-Ground's Earthquake and +1 Necrozma-DM's Photon Geyser even with entry hazards up. The given EVs allow Kyogre to outspeed paralyzed Zacian-C and Deoxys-A, while the HP and Defense allow Kyogre to survive four hits from Koraidon's Scale Shot at +2, with the rest dumped into Special Attack. A more bulky spread of 248 HP / 164 Def / 80 SpA / 16 Spe with a Bold nature allows Kyogre to take one +2 Low Kick from Koraidon as well as +1 Arceus-Ground's Tera Ground-boosted Earthquake.
Kyogre excels on bulky offense and balance teams thanks to its excellent wallbreaking ability and good defensive utility. Arceus-Fairy is a fantastic teammate, as the two together make for perhaps the safest core against Scale Shot Koraidon in the tier. Additionally, Arceus-Fairy can come in on the Choice Scarf Koraidon that Kyogre attracts with ease while also providing Thunder Wave support that may allow Kyogre to get past Eternatus. Choice Scarf Koraidon and Miraidon are good partners for cleaning up weakened teams and can bring in Kyogre easily with U-turn to take advantage of Ting-Lu, Arceus-Ground, and Ho-Oh switch-ins. Ground-types like Ting-Lu, Arceus-Ground, and Clodsire are highly recommended for dealing with Miraidon, which can OHKO even boosted Kyogre. Ting-Lu, Clodsire, and Gliscor also come with the benefit of Spikes support, chipping away at common switch-ins like Koraidon and Arceus-Water. Necrozma-DM can handle Eternatus and Zacian-C, with Kyogre coming in on Ho-Oh and Ground-types for it in return.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Substitute is an option to allow Kyogre to bypass Eternatus and Clodsire's Toxic, but this set requires Thunder Wave and high bulk investment to work and is generally outclassed by more offensive sets that can threaten Koraidon, Miraidon, Arceus-Water, and opposing Kyogre more effectively. Rest is inadvisable thanks to Miraidon's Electric Terrain preventing its use. Mystic Water and Water Spout may be run on a Thunder Wave set. This gives Kyogre a 64.5% chance to 2HKO Eternatus with Water Spout at full HP, but this set is too vulnerable to entry hazard damage to be realistic.
Checks and Counters
====
**Eternatus**: Eternatus is the most common hard check to Kyogre, as it outspeeds Kyogre and can Toxic stall it in conjunction with Recover. However, Eternatus must be careful of paralysis and Tera Poison.
**Koraidon and Miraidon**: Koraidon's sun severely weakens Kyogre's Water-type attacks, effectively negating any of Kyogre's wallbreaking ability. Miraidon has good special bulk and can power through even boosted Kyogre. However, both Pokemon loathe coming in on Ice Beam.
**Clodsire**: Thanks to Water Absorb, Clodsire can use Toxic against Kyogre and stall out Ice Beam with Recover. However, since Clodsire is slower, it runs the risk of being frozen by repeated Ice Beams, and boosted Ice Beams will 2HKO Clodsire. Tera Steel Clodsire hard walls Kyogre and has next to nothing to fear from it.
**Water-types**: Kyogre can pivot into opposing Kyogre using Ice Beam and trade with it using Thunder. Arceus-Water, especially Calm Mind variants, is a decent check to Kyogre sets that lack Thunder.
**Giratina-O**: Giratina-O is bulky, resists Water, and can shave off over half of Kyogre's HP with Poltergeist while often being faster than it. However, it must watch out for Ice Beam.
**Arceus-Grass**: Albeit rare, Arceus-Grass can hard wall anything Kyogre can throw at it, match Kyogre's boosts with Calm Mind, and do massive damage back with Grass Knot.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/manaphy.50695/]
Quality checked by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/corvere.306317/]
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/oreospeedruns.597293/]
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/taka.595062/]
Grammar checked by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/aurora.109385/]
Last edited:
