[OVERVIEW]
With its unique access to Cloud Nine, Golduck is one of the very few sand-immune Calm Mind users in OU. This gives it a rare niche as a Salac Berry sweeper that does not care about Tyranitar's Sand Stream, enabling it as a late-game sweeper that does not require weather control support on offensive builds. Even more uniquely, Golduck is able to check weakened weather sweepers like Ludicolo, Kingdra, and Exeggutor that would otherwise rely on Swift Swim or Chlorophyll to outspeed it. With these traits, Golduck can even go as far as to outclass Suicune on certain offense teams with Tyranitar, taking its place as a more offensively oriented Calm Mind threat that does not care about its partner's sand. However, its low Special Attack and unimpressive bulk severely restrict its viability as a potential wincon, with special walls like Blissey and Snorlax able to shrug off its attacks and handle it with ease, while its limited movepool struggles to hit opposing Water-types like Suicune. An unfortunate consequence of its ability is that Cloud Nine gives sand-weak foes the opportunity to gradually heal with Leftovers, making checks like Snorlax even harder to wear down. These cons altogether leave Golduck as a less-than-desirable setup sweeper with a single set that only borders on viability, barely managing to eke out an existence on the edge of special offense.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Surf / Hydro Pump
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Endure / Substitute
item: Salac Berry
ability: Cloud Nine
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
By using Calm Mind to boost its otherwise mediocre offensive presence, Golduck can fire off a Surf powerful enough to 2HKO Skarmory and even defensive Swampert; alternatively, Hydro Pump gives it a stronger but more inconsistent option to threaten 2HKOs on more resilient neutral targets like Metagross and bulky Gengar, going so far as to 3HKO Snorlax after a single Calm Mind. Ice Beam is a necessity to give Golduck a way to deal with Dragon- and Grass-types that could shrug off its Water-type STAB move, crucially securing an OHKO against Salamence unboosted while being its strongest option against key threats like Zapdos and Celebi.
Endure gives Golduck a reliable way to activate its Salac Berry, bypassing its issues with both middling Speed and bulk by letting it take a single hit from faster foes like Aerodactyl, Salamence, and even a Dragon Dance-boosted Tyranitar. Golduck's Salac Berry will then activate so that it can outspeed them on the next turn, with Cloud Nine preventing sand chip damage from finishing Golduck off. However, status moves like Toxic and Leech Seed can devastate this strategy by placing Golduck on a timer that Endure cannot protect from, while Thunder Wave is able to more than negate the boost that Salac Berry provides. Substitute can instead be used to take advantage of this perceived flaw by blocking these status moves, activating Salac Berry in a pinch and giving Golduck the free turns that it so desperately needs, although this comes at the expense of losing reliable activation against faster threats.
The given EV spread is selected to help compensate for Golduck's lack of firepower, and a Modest nature best accentuates this. Running a Timid nature instead forfeits key damage thresholds against targets like Swampert and Metagross, but the increase in Speed pushes it past benchmarks like Adamant Heracross and certain variants of Celebi and Salamence. On the other hand, Golduck can elect to drop its Speed even further with a Modest nature and a 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe EV spread, which makes it lose its Speed tie against Heracross but guarantees that it will survive a non-Choice Band Megahorn while maintaining its Speed advantage over Aerodactyl and Jolteon at +1, as well as outspeeding any Metagross set.
Team Options
========
Golduck isn't the most threatening Pokemon itself and can struggle to generate free turns to set up Calm Mind boosts on its own, so Baton Pass support from teammates like Substitute Zapdos and Calm Mind Celebi can give it at least a fighting chance. Notably, both of these Pokemon are able to threaten Suicune, while Celebi makes for a good switch-in to opposing Zapdos and Jolteon. Offensive Spikes setters are much appreciated to help break through grounded walls like Jirachi, Blissey and Snorlax, with Smeargle and Cloyster serving as dedicated leads to set Spikes while Gengar does its usual job of blocking Rapid Spin. Jolteon is a key partner on these teams, as not only can it rack up Spikes damage against Golduck checks like Blissey and Snorlax with Roar, it can also switch in on opposing Zapdos and check Water-types like Starmie that Golduck struggles to threaten.
More direct ways of dealing with these threats can also be considered, and bulky Dugtrio serves to provide Golduck teams a clear path towards eliminating Blissey and Jirachi, which could otherwise soak attacks from the duck with ease. Another way of providing this is with explicit counterplay. For example, Tyranitar and Metagross can be dedicated switch-ins to special walls like Snorlax, Blissey, and Regice, and Tyranitar's Sand Stream is key in preventing these from being able to heal freely with their Leftovers on turns where Golduck isn't on the field. Explosion users like Gengar and Claydol can provide key resources to trade with defensive Pokemon, particularly with their respective propensities to lure in Blissey and even Rest Zapdos and knock them out of commission.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
For a more offensive playstyle, Golduck can opt to run Hidden Power as coverage rather than packing Endure or Substitute. Hidden Power Grass lets Golduck hit Water-types like Suicune and Starmie, with this coverage able to OHKO Swampert at +1 and prevent it from being able to hit Golduck with a powerful Earthquake or phaze it with Roar. Hidden Power Electric can instead be used to still handle Suicune, Starmie, and Milotic while dealing massive damage to Gyarados, a less common answer that would otherwise be able to wall Golduck and even use it as setup fodder. However, opting to run no utility option in this slot makes Salac Berry extremely inconsistent and often a wasted item if Golduck is unable to activate it safely. These more aggressive sets may opt to run Lum Berry instead, giving Golduck the ability to set up on status moves from checks like Blissey, Milotic, and Registeel without being punished by sand.
Golduck does have access to some utility options that it can run on a set that drops Calm Mind. Hypnosis allows it to be a moderately fast disruption tool to facilitate other Pokemon that appreciate their checks being put to sleep. Salac Berry can still be used to let Golduck incapacitate a foe with its higher Speed, but Leftovers can also be considered to give it more opportunities to gradually heal even in the face of sand and fish for Hypnosis's sleep chance; however, checks with Natural Cure like Celebi, Blissey, and offensive Starmie limit the effectiveness of this strategy. Leftovers can even be used on a Calm Mind set to make Golduck a setup sweeper that heals in the sand, but its vastly inferior bulk compared to Suicune means that it will typically still have far less longevity regardless of any healing gained.
Though its main shot at viability lies in some combination of Calm Mind and Salac Berry's interaction with Cloud Nine, a mixed set can let Golduck lure special walls to hit them with a strong Fighting-type move in Cross Chop. An EV spread of 224 Atk / 52 SpA / 232 Spe with a Rash nature lets Golduck 2HKO Blissey after one layer of Spikes and crucially 3HKO Snorlax switching in, with the given Speed investment letting it still outspeed Aerodactyl after a Salac Berry boost. Golduck can opt to run Focus Punch instead as a more conditional but stronger alternative that enables lower Attack investments; for example, 88 Atk / 188 SpA / 232 Spe and a Rash nature let it secure the 2HKO on Modest Blissey with Focus Punch into Hydro Pump if three layers of Spikes are up. Golduck can even choose to drop its Attack investment to as low as 12 EVs and still outdamage Blissey's Soft-Boiled, though this is not recommended, as Cloud Nine neutralizing sand means that Blissey will always passively heal while attacking. Focus Punch can be used as a third attack with Calm Mind but synergizes in particular with Substitute on an all-out attacking set, and Cloud Nine along with its respectable Speed tier means that Golduck is able to outclass other Water-types like Slowbro that may also attempt to lure special walls with their own Focus Punch. Unfortunately, generally subpar offenses mean that Golduck struggles to achieve much past surprising these lured threats, and the loss of Special Attack investment leaves it even more vulnerable to Pokemon that it already struggles to threaten like Celebi and Zapdos.
Conversely, Golduck can opt to run a set without making use of its more unique ability by dropping Cloud Nine in favor of Damp. This gives it an excellent matchup against Cloyster and Glalie, turning these otherwise threatening Spikes + Explosion users into setup fodder, and Damp also lets Golduck switch in against a low-HP Metagross without the fear of being immediately OHKOed by Explosion. This does forsake its sand immunity and forces Golduck to run Leftovers, meaning that outside of these edge cases, Golduck is a strict downgrade to Suicune and outclassed by any other OU-viable Calm Mind sweeper. Damp does have a single additional niche though, as bulkier sets with Calm Mind and Rest can opt to slot the very rare Mud Sport; this makes Golduck a unique Water-type sweeper with a positive matchup against Zapdos and the inability to be removed from the field with Explosion, but limited coverage with no Sleep Talk makes this set vulnerable to critical hits, phazing, and Water-resistant setup sweepers like Salamence, Celebi, and Gyarados.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Electric-types**: Being a Water-type setup sweeper, Golduck is particularly vulnerable to Zapdos; it cannot reliably OHKO even an uninvested Zapdos with a +1 Modest Ice Beam. Meanwhile, offensive Zapdos is naturally faster and can either 2HKO Golduck back or bring it down to 1 HP, take a hit, and knock it out with ease. On the other hand, Rest Zapdos survives even a +3 Ice Beam and can threaten Golduck with Thunderbolt or phaze it with Roar. Jolteon is also able to deal massive damage to Golduck with its own Thunderbolt, though its lower Special Attack and frailty means that Golduck carrying Hydro Pump can cleanly KO it back with a single boost. Raikou is even more of a threat with its much higher statline, as it can use its own Calm Mind to reduce Golduck's damage output and take advantage of Cloud Nine itself to heal up with its Leftovers.
**Water-types**: Without a super effective Hidden Power to hit them, Golduck is walled by bulkier Water-types like Suicune, Starmie, and Milotic. Suicune is able to easily handle Golduck one-on-one due to its much better statline and access to reliable recovery in Rest and Leftovers, and Roar sets can phaze it at any point of the game. Starmie is also very hard for Golduck to deal with, as offensive variants carry Thunderbolt to deal massive damage, while defensive Starmie can outspeed and paralyze Golduck with Thunder Wave before it can get its Salac Berry boost. Golduck at least has tools to deal with Milotic by using Substitute, but Endure variants will immediately lose to Toxic, and Gyarados can freely paralyze Golduck or use it as setup fodder. Vaporeon isn't even 2HKOed by a +6 Ice Beam and can pass Substitute and Wish in its face, while Cloyster can get three layers of Spikes up before Golduck is ever able to take it down.
**Celebi**: Celebi is very difficult for Golduck to break through without support from Spikes or Dugtrio, as defensive variants dodge the 2HKO from Ice Beam, while offensive sets can threaten Golduck with their Grass-type STAB moves. Leech Seed is particularly annoying, as the incoming chip damage denies Golduck any attempt at a sweep and is an immediate death sentence once it's in Salac Berry range; meanwhile, Celebi is free to heal with Recover or even set up in Golduck's face with Calm Mind to defeat it with ease.
**Status**: Golduck is extremely vulnerable to status, with Endure sets being shut down immediately by Toxic poison after activating their Salac Berry. Thunder Wave's paralysis is similarly debilitating, as its massive Speed negation leaves even a Salac Berry-boosted Golduck able to be easily picked off by anything faster than Snorlax. Substitute variants are better equipped to take this on, though Pokemon like Starmie can outspeed Golduck and paralyze it with Thunder Wave before it can set up a Substitute, while slower status users like Blissey and Registeel can easily break a Substitute and status it on the next turn without giving it the chance to sweep.
**Priority**: Though priority attacks are rare in ADV OU, the threat of one is instantly able to stop any kind of Salac Berry sweep in its tracks, particularly on Endure sets that have no way to circumvent this with a Substitute. Mach Punch Breloom can therefore always check Golduck and is even able to pivot in on a boosted Water-type attack in a pinch, while Choice Band Flygon often opts to run Quick Attack in its last moveslot and can use this to pick off a Salac Berry-boosted Golduck if given a free turn to switch in.
**Special Walls**: Golduck has no way of breaking through the bulkiest of targets without brute force, and unfortunately, it does not have much brute force to go around. Even three layers of Spikes isn't enough to secure a 3HKO on CurseLax with a Modest Hydro Pump, while two Returns is more than enough to KO Golduck back. Blissey can freely switch in to use Thunder Wave, Toxic, or its own Calm Mind and neutralize it entirely. Defensive Jirachi is able to take an unboosted hit and threaten paralysis with Body Slam, though Toxic variants are thwarted by Substitute, and Regice takes very little damage from any move while being free to strike back with a Thunderbolt or Explosion. Even Skarmory, in a pinch, is able to take any hit from +1 Golduck and phaze it with Roar, removing its Salac Berry boost and any subsequent chance of it sweeping.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/kd458.633798/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zac.517019/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zpanther.590983/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/giraffefromholland.561770/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
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