Sorry for taking a while finishing Feraligtr, I was busy over the past couple of days. I did a ton of reworking, so, hopefully its decent.
Changes:
-rewrote every single section
-made Swords Dance + Substitute/DD Flail/SD Flail one set
-added Team Options
-explained everything more
Current Analysis: http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/feraligatr
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Earthquake
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
nature: Adamant
evs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 228 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Feraligatr is known as the “Gyarados of UU”, since its battle style is much the same as Gyarados in general. It has a high base 105 Attack stat coupled with a decent Speed stat and has reasonable physical bulk, making it a threatening force once it receives a few Dragon Dances.</p>
<p>Feraligatr received a couple of new toys to play with this generation; Dragon Dance being the biggest addition, while Waterfall became a reliable physical attack. lt is Feraligatr’s strongest option to deal large amounts of damage to opposing Pokemon that don’t resist it. Ice Punch allows Feraligatr to smack Grass-types that resist Waterfall, Sceptile and Tangrowth in particular, while Earthquake becomes a great answer to bulky Water-types like Milotic and Slowbro.</p>
<p>The given EV spread allows Feraligatr to reach a Speed stat of 373 after one use of Dragon Dance, outrunning threats such as Ambipom and Sceptile. Max Attack is mandatory for Feraligatr to become as threatening as possible, while the 28 HP EVs are used to add more bulk.</p>
<p>Providing Feraligatr with screen support is extremely recommended, as it will make it’s job much easier as a Dragon Dancer. Gardevoir and Clefable are decent options, since they both have decent bulk and access to Wish, which could help Feraligatr immensely in the long run. Weakening your opponent’s team with hard hitters can open up a path for Feraligatr to sweep an entire team after one Dragon Dance set up without worry of a failed KO. Blaziken’s Fire Blast, or Roserade's Leaf Storm are great examples of hard hitters with strong attacks. Roserade in particular is an excellent team partner for Feraligatr, as it resists Feraligatr’s weaknesses of Grass- and Electric-type attacks. Weezing and Slowbro are the close to the only Pokemon that are capable of stopping Feraligatr cold. With their great physical bulk, they can switch in on Feraligatr as it Dragon Dances and can then proceed to cripple you with Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave, respectively, making Feraligatr close to useless. Once again, Roserade is an excellent option to threaten these Pokemon since it doesn't mind being crippled thanks to Natural Cure, and can cripple Weezing with Sleep Powder or go for the KO with Extrasensory and can OHKO Slowbro with Leaf Storm.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Earthquake
item: Life Orb / Salac Berry
nature: Jolly
evs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Swords Dance is the move that separates Feraligatr from Gyarados. With it, Feraligatr can boost its Attack stat twice as fast than with Dragon Dance, but loses the valuable Speed boost.</p>
<p>This set plays similar, if not the exact same way as the Dragon Dance set plays. With just one Swords Dance, Feraligatr reaches a threatening Attack stat of 618, dealing huge amounts of damage with STAB Waterfall. Ice Punch removes Grass-types attempting to put an end to Feraligatr’s sweep, while Earthquake severely damages bulky threats such as Slowbro and Registeel.</p>
<p>Life Orb is a great option as an item since it increases Feraligatr’s capability of sweeping and KOing many Pokemon. Salac Berry, on the other hand, can provide Feraligatr with a helpful boost in Speed when it reaches below 25% of health, not to mention that it works great in conjunction with the ability Torrent, making Waterfall even more threatening.</p>
<p>The team options mentioned in the Dragon Dance set can be used with this set as well. Screen support becomes much more useful since it allows Feraligatr to achieve two, or even three Swords Dance boosts much easier and faster so Feraligatr can start a sweep with enough health to take a hit or two. Gardevoir is a great candidate for dual screening because of its great bulk in Special Defense, meaning that it can switch in on Thunderbolt and Energy Ball aimed at Feraligatr. Entry hazard support can also be used to allow Feraligatr to score more KOs on opposing Pokemon that it would otherwise have trouble KOing. Roserade is an excellent choice at setting up Spikes or Toxic Spikes, and it also works well at resisting Feraligatr’s weaknesses to Electric- and Grass-type attacks. Registeel is superb at setting up Stealth Rock with its decent bulk and access to crippling moves.</p>
[SET]
name: SubDance Sweeper
move 1: Swords Dance / Dragon Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Return / Flail
move 4: Substitute
item: Salac Berry / Liechi Berry
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is a more reliable way to achieve the Salac or Liechi Berry boost that Feraligatr would need, and it also affords Feraligatr a way to prevent status inflictions with Substitute. This set also takes advantage of Torrent to make Feraligatr all that more powerful as a sweeper once it has received the necessary boosts.</p>
<p>This set allows you to choose what type of boost you need that would help your team the most. Swords Dance allows Feraligatr to quickly score a large Attack stat and massively damage opposing Pokemon. A Jolly nature and Salac Berry are recommended if you choose to go for Swords Dance so Feraligatr can achieve a reasonable Speed stat so it won’t be outsped by faster threats. Dragon Dance allows Feraligatr to become much faster and still have a respectable Attack stat to hit for decent amounts of damage. An Adamant nature and Liechi Berry are recommended to give that boost of power Feraligatr needs to become that much more threatening than usual.</p>
<p>To deal huge amounts of damage, Waterfall is Feraligatr’s best bet due to the STAB and Torrent boost, while Return is an excellent alternative to dent holes in Water-type resistant Pokemon. Flail is also an excellent option since Feraligtr’s health would be quite low due to receiving the Berry’s power boost, increasing Flail’s damage considerably. If you decide to use Flail instead of Return, make sure that Feraligatr's HP is divisible by four. That way, the Berry's effect will activate after three uses of Substitutes, allowing you to have at least 25% HP left.</p>
<p>Removing Toxic Spikes can really help Feraligatr in the long run so it won’t lose its effectiveness so fast. Using Poison-type Pokemon will immediately remove Toxic Spikes upon switching in, and can then work on setting up Toxic Spikes on their own. Drapion and Roserade are great candidates as Toxic Spikers and can aid the team fairly well with their support moves. You can also use Rapid Spinners such as Claydol since it’s immune to Toxic Spikes and can set up Stealth Rock right after when it's done spinning the hazards away. Eliminating priority users will stop Feraligatr from being trapped for a KO once it received all the boosts it needs for a successful sweep. These include Mach Punch Hitmontop, Sucker Punch Absol, and Aqua Jet Azumarill. Weezing can threaten all of them with Will-O-Wisp and hit them for reasonable damage with Flamethrower or Thunderbolt and can stall them out with Pain Split.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Waterfall
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Superpower
item: Choice Band
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With this set, Feraligtr no longer has to worry about setting up Dragon Dance or Swords Dance to deal high amounts of damage, now it’s capable of hitting hard right off the bat with excellent type coverage.</p>
<p>Waterfall is Feraligtr’s best option to deal neutral or super effective damage towards opposing enemies due to the STAB boost it receives and Torrent boost once its health becomes low enough. Earthquake allows Feraligtr to deal a respectable amount of damage towards bulk Water-types such as Milotic and Slowbro, while Ice Punch deals with the Grass-type Pokemon that would otherwise wall the Waterfall and Earthquake combo, such as Tangrowth and Sceptile. For the last moveslot, Feraligtr was granted the move Superpower from the transition to DP, which is an excellent move to have on a Choice Band set. It’s capable of hitting Steel- and Rock-type Pokemon much harder than Earthquake and hitting Normal- and Ice-types for super effective damage at the cost of getting your Attack and Defense lowered.</p>
<p>The EV spread is pretty straightforward, running max Attack and Speed will increase Feraligatr’s effectiveness as a Choice Bander. Running a Jolly nature allows Feraligatr to become faster, but loses the increased Attack power, while running an Adamant nature allows Feraligatr to reach a higher Attack stat, but loses the increased Speed.</p>
<p>Providing Feraligatr with Wish support is recommended since it will give Feraligatr more survivability since it will be switching in and out a lot, taking damage from entry hazards. Clefable is a great candidate at utilizing Wish with its decent bulk and access to various support moves. Having entry hazards in play can help Feraligtr score some KOs that it would otherwise not be able to on bulkier Pokemon. Cloyster can set up Spikes or Toxic Spikes with ease thanks to its great physical defenses, while Registeel and Regirock are both amazing at setting up Stealth Rock due to their incredible defensive stats. Weezing can easily switch in on Feraligatr and take little damage from its attacks, which it can then proceed to burn foes with Will-O-Wisp or deal super effective damage with Thunderbolt. Gardevoir doesn't mind being burnt since it won't have an affect on Gardevoir's attacking moves, and it can switch into Thunderbolt thanks to its decent Special Defense allowing it to threaten Weezing with a powerful STAB Psychic.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Feraligatr really enjoys having entry hazards spread around the opponent’s field since it helps it greatly in scoring needed KOs that it would otherwise not be capable of achieving. Drapion is excellent at achieving two layers of Toxic Spikes because of its sturdiness, while Roserade and Cloyster can fire out many layers of Spikes without much trouble. Claydol, Regirock, and Registeel are perfect candidates for setting up Stealth Rock with their amazing bulk that also allows them to switch in to set up Stealth Rock again if it has been Rapid Spinned away.</p>
<p>Removing priority users can really help Feraligtr in the long run, especially on the Swords Dance and Dragon Dance sets. It can potentially ruin Feraligatr’s confirmed sweep since it will be forced to switch out or take in the hit and lose the sweep. Examples of priority users are Sucker Punch Absol, Mach Punch Hitmontop, Aqua Jet Azumarill, and Fake Out Ambipom. Since these are all physical attacks, using physically defensive Pokemon such as Weezing can absorb the hit and threaten the user with Will-O-Wisp to remove their effectiveness with physical attacks and can hit them for decent damage with Flamethrower or Thunderbolt. In conclusion, you should eliminate priority users on your opponent’s team before you attempt a Swords Dance or Dragon Dance set up so you won’t be trapped when it comes down to facing one of them.</p>
<p>Feraligatr can benefit greatly from Wish support, becoming rejuvenated from taking many hits by entry hazards and other attacks in general. It would also help it become more effective when it comes down to the Swords Dance and Dragon Dance sets. Once it has done its job for the time being and is in KO range, aiding it with Wish can help it set up one more time and attempt another sweep. Clefable and Gardevoir are prime candidates at providing the team with Wish support with their decent bulk and access to many support moves such as Thunder Wave and Yawn.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Feraligatr does have a stronger move than Waterfall, which is Aqua Tail. It shouldn’t necessarily use Aqua Tail over Waterfall for a couple of reasons. Waterfall has a chance to flinch which could help Feraligatr greatly in scoring 2HKOs without being hit by a move, and Aqua Tail has a chance to miss which could ruin Feraligatr in some cases when it has achieved a couple of boosts via Swords Dance or Dragon Dance. Feraligatr can become a “bulky Water” in a sense with Rest and Sleep Talk, but there are many other Pokemon that achieve this better than Feraligatr. The only exception Feraligatr has is by using a RestTalk set with Dragon Dance included, allowing Feraligatr to boost its stats as it sleeps and can sweep at the same time. Dragon Claw and Rock Slide is only useful against Altaria, but Rock Slide does have a chance to flinch which could be useful in some cases, while Crunch can be used to smack bulky Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Mismagius and Slowbro. Feraligatr can make use of a Substitute and Focus Punch set, but once again, there are much better Pokemon that are capable of doing this, like Poliwrath. Besides using Focus Punch, Feraligatr has another powerful Fighting-type attack it could use, that being Superpower. Even though it's a primary option on the Choice band set, using Superpower on one of the sets that boost Feraligatr's stats is not entirely recommended, as it lowers Feraligatr's Attack stat (which Dragon Dance and Swords Dance both boost, making it a bit of a waste) and it lowers Feraligatr's Defense stat, leaving it vulnerable to faster physically-based threats or Pokemon that have access to priority moves. Not only does it have a poweful Superpower attack, but it also boasts Dragon Claw and Outrage, both decent options to have against Pokemon that resist Feraligatr's Water-type STAB, like Altaria.</p>
<p>Besides using Feraligatr's vast amount of physical options, it does boast a couple of special attacks it can use on a mixed attacker set. Surf acts as a powerful STAB attack, AncientPower has the potential six stat boost, Dragon Pulse to hit Altaria and others that resist Water-type moves, Focus Blast to nail bulky Steel-types, and Ice Beam to hurt the Grass-types that resist Feraligatr's Water-type STAB moves. Even though it has many eye-catching moves on the special side, it's lackluster Special Attack stat often makes these powerful moves much weaker then usual, and its much higher Attack stat often overlooks this.</p>
[EVs]
<p>On the Dragon Dance set, using 228 Speed EVs allows Feraligatr to reach a Speed stat of 373 which helps it outpace faster threats like Sceptile, Ambipom, and Persian and hit them for hard damage with Ice Punch and Waterfall.</p>
<p>Feraligatr should generally run max Attack and Speed to make use of its base 105 Attack and mediocre base 78 Speed stat, which makes it much more threatening after receiving a couple of boosts in the end.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>Feraligatr should stay away from the OU metagame since Gyarados does a much better job at sweeping due to its better stats overall. Although, Feraligatr does have some assets that distinguish it from its Flying counterpart, namely Swords Dance and Torrent. It's capable of becoming a threatening sweeper once it has received a couple of boosts in Attack and Speed, destroying many teams who aren’t ready for the destructive alligator.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Bulky Pokemon can generally survive Feraligatr’s boosted attacks and threaten it with strong STAB or crippling moves. Leafeon and Tangrowth can survive a Dragon Danced Ice Punch and counter back with their STAB Grass-type attacks. Weezing’s great defensive bulkiness allows it to switch into Feraligatr and threaten it with Will-O-Wisp or a hard-hitting Thunderbolt. Slowbro can survive Feraligatr’s boosted attacks, even Crunch, and can either use Thunder Wave on Feraligatr or hit it with a super effective Grass Knot.</p>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks.
Changes:
-rewrote every single section
-made Swords Dance + Substitute/DD Flail/SD Flail one set
-added Team Options
-explained everything more
Current Analysis: http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/feraligatr
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Earthquake
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
nature: Adamant
evs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 228 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Feraligatr is known as the “Gyarados of UU”, since its battle style is much the same as Gyarados in general. It has a high base 105 Attack stat coupled with a decent Speed stat and has reasonable physical bulk, making it a threatening force once it receives a few Dragon Dances.</p>
<p>Feraligatr received a couple of new toys to play with this generation; Dragon Dance being the biggest addition, while Waterfall became a reliable physical attack. lt is Feraligatr’s strongest option to deal large amounts of damage to opposing Pokemon that don’t resist it. Ice Punch allows Feraligatr to smack Grass-types that resist Waterfall, Sceptile and Tangrowth in particular, while Earthquake becomes a great answer to bulky Water-types like Milotic and Slowbro.</p>
<p>The given EV spread allows Feraligatr to reach a Speed stat of 373 after one use of Dragon Dance, outrunning threats such as Ambipom and Sceptile. Max Attack is mandatory for Feraligatr to become as threatening as possible, while the 28 HP EVs are used to add more bulk.</p>
<p>Providing Feraligatr with screen support is extremely recommended, as it will make it’s job much easier as a Dragon Dancer. Gardevoir and Clefable are decent options, since they both have decent bulk and access to Wish, which could help Feraligatr immensely in the long run. Weakening your opponent’s team with hard hitters can open up a path for Feraligatr to sweep an entire team after one Dragon Dance set up without worry of a failed KO. Blaziken’s Fire Blast, or Roserade's Leaf Storm are great examples of hard hitters with strong attacks. Roserade in particular is an excellent team partner for Feraligatr, as it resists Feraligatr’s weaknesses of Grass- and Electric-type attacks. Weezing and Slowbro are the close to the only Pokemon that are capable of stopping Feraligatr cold. With their great physical bulk, they can switch in on Feraligatr as it Dragon Dances and can then proceed to cripple you with Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave, respectively, making Feraligatr close to useless. Once again, Roserade is an excellent option to threaten these Pokemon since it doesn't mind being crippled thanks to Natural Cure, and can cripple Weezing with Sleep Powder or go for the KO with Extrasensory and can OHKO Slowbro with Leaf Storm.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Earthquake
item: Life Orb / Salac Berry
nature: Jolly
evs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Swords Dance is the move that separates Feraligatr from Gyarados. With it, Feraligatr can boost its Attack stat twice as fast than with Dragon Dance, but loses the valuable Speed boost.</p>
<p>This set plays similar, if not the exact same way as the Dragon Dance set plays. With just one Swords Dance, Feraligatr reaches a threatening Attack stat of 618, dealing huge amounts of damage with STAB Waterfall. Ice Punch removes Grass-types attempting to put an end to Feraligatr’s sweep, while Earthquake severely damages bulky threats such as Slowbro and Registeel.</p>
<p>Life Orb is a great option as an item since it increases Feraligatr’s capability of sweeping and KOing many Pokemon. Salac Berry, on the other hand, can provide Feraligatr with a helpful boost in Speed when it reaches below 25% of health, not to mention that it works great in conjunction with the ability Torrent, making Waterfall even more threatening.</p>
<p>The team options mentioned in the Dragon Dance set can be used with this set as well. Screen support becomes much more useful since it allows Feraligatr to achieve two, or even three Swords Dance boosts much easier and faster so Feraligatr can start a sweep with enough health to take a hit or two. Gardevoir is a great candidate for dual screening because of its great bulk in Special Defense, meaning that it can switch in on Thunderbolt and Energy Ball aimed at Feraligatr. Entry hazard support can also be used to allow Feraligatr to score more KOs on opposing Pokemon that it would otherwise have trouble KOing. Roserade is an excellent choice at setting up Spikes or Toxic Spikes, and it also works well at resisting Feraligatr’s weaknesses to Electric- and Grass-type attacks. Registeel is superb at setting up Stealth Rock with its decent bulk and access to crippling moves.</p>
[SET]
name: SubDance Sweeper
move 1: Swords Dance / Dragon Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Return / Flail
move 4: Substitute
item: Salac Berry / Liechi Berry
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is a more reliable way to achieve the Salac or Liechi Berry boost that Feraligatr would need, and it also affords Feraligatr a way to prevent status inflictions with Substitute. This set also takes advantage of Torrent to make Feraligatr all that more powerful as a sweeper once it has received the necessary boosts.</p>
<p>This set allows you to choose what type of boost you need that would help your team the most. Swords Dance allows Feraligatr to quickly score a large Attack stat and massively damage opposing Pokemon. A Jolly nature and Salac Berry are recommended if you choose to go for Swords Dance so Feraligatr can achieve a reasonable Speed stat so it won’t be outsped by faster threats. Dragon Dance allows Feraligatr to become much faster and still have a respectable Attack stat to hit for decent amounts of damage. An Adamant nature and Liechi Berry are recommended to give that boost of power Feraligatr needs to become that much more threatening than usual.</p>
<p>To deal huge amounts of damage, Waterfall is Feraligatr’s best bet due to the STAB and Torrent boost, while Return is an excellent alternative to dent holes in Water-type resistant Pokemon. Flail is also an excellent option since Feraligtr’s health would be quite low due to receiving the Berry’s power boost, increasing Flail’s damage considerably. If you decide to use Flail instead of Return, make sure that Feraligatr's HP is divisible by four. That way, the Berry's effect will activate after three uses of Substitutes, allowing you to have at least 25% HP left.</p>
<p>Removing Toxic Spikes can really help Feraligatr in the long run so it won’t lose its effectiveness so fast. Using Poison-type Pokemon will immediately remove Toxic Spikes upon switching in, and can then work on setting up Toxic Spikes on their own. Drapion and Roserade are great candidates as Toxic Spikers and can aid the team fairly well with their support moves. You can also use Rapid Spinners such as Claydol since it’s immune to Toxic Spikes and can set up Stealth Rock right after when it's done spinning the hazards away. Eliminating priority users will stop Feraligatr from being trapped for a KO once it received all the boosts it needs for a successful sweep. These include Mach Punch Hitmontop, Sucker Punch Absol, and Aqua Jet Azumarill. Weezing can threaten all of them with Will-O-Wisp and hit them for reasonable damage with Flamethrower or Thunderbolt and can stall them out with Pain Split.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Waterfall
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Superpower
item: Choice Band
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With this set, Feraligtr no longer has to worry about setting up Dragon Dance or Swords Dance to deal high amounts of damage, now it’s capable of hitting hard right off the bat with excellent type coverage.</p>
<p>Waterfall is Feraligtr’s best option to deal neutral or super effective damage towards opposing enemies due to the STAB boost it receives and Torrent boost once its health becomes low enough. Earthquake allows Feraligtr to deal a respectable amount of damage towards bulk Water-types such as Milotic and Slowbro, while Ice Punch deals with the Grass-type Pokemon that would otherwise wall the Waterfall and Earthquake combo, such as Tangrowth and Sceptile. For the last moveslot, Feraligtr was granted the move Superpower from the transition to DP, which is an excellent move to have on a Choice Band set. It’s capable of hitting Steel- and Rock-type Pokemon much harder than Earthquake and hitting Normal- and Ice-types for super effective damage at the cost of getting your Attack and Defense lowered.</p>
<p>The EV spread is pretty straightforward, running max Attack and Speed will increase Feraligatr’s effectiveness as a Choice Bander. Running a Jolly nature allows Feraligatr to become faster, but loses the increased Attack power, while running an Adamant nature allows Feraligatr to reach a higher Attack stat, but loses the increased Speed.</p>
<p>Providing Feraligatr with Wish support is recommended since it will give Feraligatr more survivability since it will be switching in and out a lot, taking damage from entry hazards. Clefable is a great candidate at utilizing Wish with its decent bulk and access to various support moves. Having entry hazards in play can help Feraligtr score some KOs that it would otherwise not be able to on bulkier Pokemon. Cloyster can set up Spikes or Toxic Spikes with ease thanks to its great physical defenses, while Registeel and Regirock are both amazing at setting up Stealth Rock due to their incredible defensive stats. Weezing can easily switch in on Feraligatr and take little damage from its attacks, which it can then proceed to burn foes with Will-O-Wisp or deal super effective damage with Thunderbolt. Gardevoir doesn't mind being burnt since it won't have an affect on Gardevoir's attacking moves, and it can switch into Thunderbolt thanks to its decent Special Defense allowing it to threaten Weezing with a powerful STAB Psychic.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Feraligatr really enjoys having entry hazards spread around the opponent’s field since it helps it greatly in scoring needed KOs that it would otherwise not be capable of achieving. Drapion is excellent at achieving two layers of Toxic Spikes because of its sturdiness, while Roserade and Cloyster can fire out many layers of Spikes without much trouble. Claydol, Regirock, and Registeel are perfect candidates for setting up Stealth Rock with their amazing bulk that also allows them to switch in to set up Stealth Rock again if it has been Rapid Spinned away.</p>
<p>Removing priority users can really help Feraligtr in the long run, especially on the Swords Dance and Dragon Dance sets. It can potentially ruin Feraligatr’s confirmed sweep since it will be forced to switch out or take in the hit and lose the sweep. Examples of priority users are Sucker Punch Absol, Mach Punch Hitmontop, Aqua Jet Azumarill, and Fake Out Ambipom. Since these are all physical attacks, using physically defensive Pokemon such as Weezing can absorb the hit and threaten the user with Will-O-Wisp to remove their effectiveness with physical attacks and can hit them for decent damage with Flamethrower or Thunderbolt. In conclusion, you should eliminate priority users on your opponent’s team before you attempt a Swords Dance or Dragon Dance set up so you won’t be trapped when it comes down to facing one of them.</p>
<p>Feraligatr can benefit greatly from Wish support, becoming rejuvenated from taking many hits by entry hazards and other attacks in general. It would also help it become more effective when it comes down to the Swords Dance and Dragon Dance sets. Once it has done its job for the time being and is in KO range, aiding it with Wish can help it set up one more time and attempt another sweep. Clefable and Gardevoir are prime candidates at providing the team with Wish support with their decent bulk and access to many support moves such as Thunder Wave and Yawn.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Feraligatr does have a stronger move than Waterfall, which is Aqua Tail. It shouldn’t necessarily use Aqua Tail over Waterfall for a couple of reasons. Waterfall has a chance to flinch which could help Feraligatr greatly in scoring 2HKOs without being hit by a move, and Aqua Tail has a chance to miss which could ruin Feraligatr in some cases when it has achieved a couple of boosts via Swords Dance or Dragon Dance. Feraligatr can become a “bulky Water” in a sense with Rest and Sleep Talk, but there are many other Pokemon that achieve this better than Feraligatr. The only exception Feraligatr has is by using a RestTalk set with Dragon Dance included, allowing Feraligatr to boost its stats as it sleeps and can sweep at the same time. Dragon Claw and Rock Slide is only useful against Altaria, but Rock Slide does have a chance to flinch which could be useful in some cases, while Crunch can be used to smack bulky Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Mismagius and Slowbro. Feraligatr can make use of a Substitute and Focus Punch set, but once again, there are much better Pokemon that are capable of doing this, like Poliwrath. Besides using Focus Punch, Feraligatr has another powerful Fighting-type attack it could use, that being Superpower. Even though it's a primary option on the Choice band set, using Superpower on one of the sets that boost Feraligatr's stats is not entirely recommended, as it lowers Feraligatr's Attack stat (which Dragon Dance and Swords Dance both boost, making it a bit of a waste) and it lowers Feraligatr's Defense stat, leaving it vulnerable to faster physically-based threats or Pokemon that have access to priority moves. Not only does it have a poweful Superpower attack, but it also boasts Dragon Claw and Outrage, both decent options to have against Pokemon that resist Feraligatr's Water-type STAB, like Altaria.</p>
<p>Besides using Feraligatr's vast amount of physical options, it does boast a couple of special attacks it can use on a mixed attacker set. Surf acts as a powerful STAB attack, AncientPower has the potential six stat boost, Dragon Pulse to hit Altaria and others that resist Water-type moves, Focus Blast to nail bulky Steel-types, and Ice Beam to hurt the Grass-types that resist Feraligatr's Water-type STAB moves. Even though it has many eye-catching moves on the special side, it's lackluster Special Attack stat often makes these powerful moves much weaker then usual, and its much higher Attack stat often overlooks this.</p>
[EVs]
<p>On the Dragon Dance set, using 228 Speed EVs allows Feraligatr to reach a Speed stat of 373 which helps it outpace faster threats like Sceptile, Ambipom, and Persian and hit them for hard damage with Ice Punch and Waterfall.</p>
<p>Feraligatr should generally run max Attack and Speed to make use of its base 105 Attack and mediocre base 78 Speed stat, which makes it much more threatening after receiving a couple of boosts in the end.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>Feraligatr should stay away from the OU metagame since Gyarados does a much better job at sweeping due to its better stats overall. Although, Feraligatr does have some assets that distinguish it from its Flying counterpart, namely Swords Dance and Torrent. It's capable of becoming a threatening sweeper once it has received a couple of boosts in Attack and Speed, destroying many teams who aren’t ready for the destructive alligator.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Bulky Pokemon can generally survive Feraligatr’s boosted attacks and threaten it with strong STAB or crippling moves. Leafeon and Tangrowth can survive a Dragon Danced Ice Punch and counter back with their STAB Grass-type attacks. Weezing’s great defensive bulkiness allows it to switch into Feraligatr and threaten it with Will-O-Wisp or a hard-hitting Thunderbolt. Slowbro can survive Feraligatr’s boosted attacks, even Crunch, and can either use Thunder Wave on Feraligatr or hit it with a super effective Grass Knot.</p>
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Thanks.
