Finally doing a Pokemon that could conceivably be useful on an actual UU team! Golduck so sexy. Not too much to change, the on-site sets are pretty solid.
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/golduck
[Overview]
<p>Like many first generation Pokemon, Golduck is blessed with a cool design and a generous movepool, but is held back by a lackluster stat distribution. Golduck's base 95 Special Attack is good, but not great, and the rest of its stats are decidedly average, making it difficult for Golduck to compete with its more specialized rivals. Luckily, Golduck does have a couple of niches in UU that help differentiate it from other Water-types. Cloud Nine is an exclusive ability that turns Golduck into a unique counter to devastating Swift Swim and Chlorophyll sweepers, while Calm Mind makes Golduck one of the few UU Water-types capable of sweeping through boosting its Special Attack. Although it's not the most threatening Pokemon around, Golduck can fill an important role without requiring much support, making it a solid choice for a variety of offensive teams.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 3: Ice Beam / Psychic
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Encore
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Cloud Nine
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Golduck is perhaps the only UU Water-type that can effectively boost its own Special Attack and sweep. While Slowbro and Slowking can also set up with Calm Mind or Nasty Plot, their extremely low Speed makes it easy for opponents to halt an attempted sweep with Toxic or Haze. Golduck, on the other hand, is fast enough to outspeed the defensive Pokemon that commonly carry such moves and can often 2HKO them after a boost, making it a much harder sweeper to stop. Hydro Pump is Golduck's most powerful STAB attack, dealing heavy damage to any Pokemon that doesn't resist it. After a single boost, even sturdy Pokemon such as Spiritomb and Hariyama can be OHKOed, while Clefable and Uxie are hit for guaranteed 2HKOs. Ice Beam takes care of Grass-types as well as Altaria, while Hidden Power Grass covers Golduck's fellow Water-types. With good prediction, Golduck can 2HKO Milotic with a boosted Hidden Power Grass and avoid being stifled by Toxic or Haze. Alternatively, Golduck can use Encore in the last slot to gain free turns. While this makes setting up much easier, it comes at the cost of a coverage move. If you choose to use Encore, Psychic is a good option over Ice Beam, as it has better two-move coverage alongside Hydro Pump. The only common UU Pokemon that resist both Water and Psychic are Slowbro and Exeggutor. Unfortunately, the loss of super effective coverage makes it significantly easier for the opponent to wall Golduck with bulky Water resistors.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>While Golduck has decent Speed and passable bulk, it is still vulnerable to faster physical attackers. Despite being unable to safely switch in on an attack, Leafeon, Sceptile, and Hitmonlee can all come in while Golduck sets up, and will outspeed and OHKO Golduck with their STAB moves. Because of this, it is usually better to simply fire off unboosted attacks during the early-game and save Calm Mind for later in the match when you have scouted most of your opponent's team. Life Orb is the recommended item thanks to the consistent power boost it brings. Without it, Golduck will often require more than one boost to be able to KO defensive Pokemon. However, Leftovers can be used if you wish to play Golduck more conservatively, especially in tandem with Encore. This will help keep Golduck healthy early on and may give it the opportunity to accumulate multiple boosts when it's ready to sweep. Hydro Pump is usually recommended due to the key KOs that it achieves, but Surf has more PP and better accuracy, and is worth considering for its reliability if you choose to use Leftovers.</p>
<p>Golduck's Cloud Nine ability makes it an excellent counter to most Swift Swim and Chlorophyll sweepers. With their weather boosts nullified, Golduck can outspeed and OHKO Pokemon such as Kabutops and Tangrowth that might otherwise do serious damage to your team. Max Speed and a Timid nature are required to outspeed or tie the most common weather abusers along with the all-important base 80 Speed group. Special Attack is then maximized to cause as much damage as possible, while the final 4 EVs are placed in HP. You can instead put those 4 EVs into one of Golduck's defenses and use an HP IV of 29 to minimize damage from Life Orb recoil, although this will also slightly reduce the power of Hidden Power Grass.</p>
<p>Entry hazard support is always helpful for an offensive Pokemon, and Golduck is no exception. After a single boost, Golduck gets a guaranteed OHKO on Spiritomb and specially-defensive Weezing and has a decent chance to 2HKO Registeel with Hydro Pump if Stealth Rock is in play. Hazards become even more important when running Encore to punish the switches that it causes while making up for the loss of super effective coverage. With Encore, Golduck can even come out on top against Chansey if Stealth Rock is up, as +1 Hydro Pump will be a guaranteed 3HKO, forcing Chansey to use a recovery move immediately after switching in. Golduck can then Encore the recovery move to force Chansey out and grab another boost. Registeel is a good choice to set up Stealth Rock due to its excellent defensive capabilities and decent synergy with Golduck.</p>
<p>This set's counters depend on which moves Golduck is running. With three attacks, the only Pokemon that can safely switch in after a boost is Chansey. In this case, the best teammates for Golduck are mixed attackers or Choiced special attackers with Trick that can cripple Chansey. Blaziken and Rotom are both fine choices for this job. On the other hand, if Golduck is limited to a single coverage move, it will have more trouble breaking through bulky Water- and Grass-types that are not weak to Psychic. This makes Venusaur the best possible teammate, as it can come in on either of Golduck's weaknesses and use its powerful STAB Grass- and Poison-type attacks to destroy the Pokemon that wall Golduck.</p>
[SET]
name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Grass
move 4: Psychic / Cross Chop
item: Life Orb / Choice Specs
ability: Cloud Nine
nature: Timid / Mild
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes full advantage of Golduck's excellent coverage in order to pose an immediate threat to a variety of Pokemon. With Cloud Nine, Golduck is especially effective at countering Pokemon that rely on the weather to boost their Speed and power. Fire-type Sunny Day abusers lose their instant SolarBeam and are swiftly KOed by Golduck's STAB Hydro Pump. Chlorophyll sweepers are easily outsped once their Speed boost is nullified and can be defeated with Ice Beam. Hidden Power Grass takes care of some of the most common Swift Swimmers, while Psychic rounds out the coverage by hitting Qwilfish and Toxicroak hard.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EVs are standard for a special attacker. A Timid nature is required to outspeed the crucial base 80 Speed group and tie with other base 85s, such as Qwilfish and Toxicroak. Life Orb is the recommended item since it provides a solid boost to Golduck's attacks without limiting its flexibility, but Choice Specs provide a bigger boost and can be used if you plan to play Golduck as a hit-and-run Pokemon. Either way, Golduck will be completely walled by Chansey, so Cross Chop is an option in the fourth moveslot to get past it. With a Life Orb, Mild nature, and EV spread of 120 Atk / 252 SpA / 136 Spe, Golduck can always 2HKO Chansey while still outspeeding neutral-natured base 70s. However, Cross Chop has little value outside of hitting Chansey, and the drop in Speed makes Golduck lose to many key Pokemon that it could have otherwise beat, so using such a spread is only recommended if Chansey poses a huge problem for your team. Once again, using 29 HP IVs to drop Golduck's HP to 299 is an option as it will minimize Life Orb recoil at the cost of a tiny reduction in Hidden Power Grass's power.</p>
<p>While this set's great coverage allows Golduck to get past most Pokemon easily, it has trouble beating Pokemon that can take a hit or two. Entry hazards make life much easier for Golduck, softening up bulkier Pokemon and punishing weakened sweepers as they switch out. Most of Golduck's counters are grounded, so Spikes support would be ideal; unfortunately, most of the best UU Spikers are Water-types that don't work very well on the same team as Golduck. Cacturne is an exception, and has good defensive synergy with Golduck; unfortunately, neither Cacturne nor Golduck are very adept at taking Fighting-type attacks. Stealth Rock can be set up by a much wider variety of teammates, including reliable tanks such as Registeel and Uxie, and is therefore likely to be your best bet. Even with entry hazards up, this set is walled by most bulky Water-types. As such, Venusaur makes a great teammate thanks to its ability to consistently beat the most popular Water-types in UU.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Golduck is surprisingly self-sufficient, often beating its own counters if it carries the right moves. However, using certain teammates will help make its life even easier. Bulky Water-types, such as Milotic, can halt Golduck's sweep with good prediction, so Pokemon that can consistently bring them down are recommended. Venusaur is the most reliable choice thanks to its power and versatility. Speedy Grass- and Fighting-types can come in on a predicted set-up move or after a KO and force Golduck out, so a Flying-type partner, such as Moltres or Swellow, can be useful to get rid of them. Bulky Ground- or Steel-types complement Golduck well defensively and can shut down the physical attackers that threaten it most. Registeel resists Grass, can paralyze revenge killers with Thunder Wave, and often attracts Fire-types that Golduck can set up on. Rhyperior is immune to any Electric attacks aimed at Golduck, while Golduck resists the Water- and Ice-type moves that Rhyperior fears. Steelix can lure in Milotic or Slowbro and use Explosion to immediately remove them from the match. All three of these Pokemon can also set up Stealth Rock, which enables Golduck to get some additional KOs. Finally, Wish support from Chansey or Clefable will keep Golduck healthy so that it can fire off attacks throughout the match.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Golduck can use Encore with three attacks to fill a specific supporting role as a counter to weather sweepers and stat boosters. Even without any boosts to its Special Attack, Golduck can still outspeed and OHKO or 2HKO most weather sweepers with Surf, Ice Beam, or Hidden Power Grass, while Encore forces switches and prevents opponents from setting up. However, Golduck can make much better use of the free turns granted by Encore if it has Calm Mind, so it's usually best to stick to that. Golduck can also use a defensive Calm Mind set with Rest and Sleep Talk or a Chesto Berry, but physical attackers can still easily revenge kill Golduck, so such sets would have to be saved until very late in the match.</p>
<p>Aqua Jet is a STAB priority move, which is always a helpful asset in UU, but Golduck can't really spare a moveslot for it and lacks the physical power to use it effectively without heavy investment in Attack. Golduck has a nice physical movepool, including Waterfall, Aqua Tail, Ice Punch, Low Kick, Zen Headbutt, Shadow Claw, and Return, so a fully physical set could be used; however, with mediocre Attack and the unreliable Screech and Psych Up as the only options for boosting the power of its moves, it won't be very effective.</p>
<p>Signal Beam can surprise Ludicolo and hit Exeggutor, Shiftry, and Slowbro harder than Golduck's other moves, but any other potential targets take more damage from Hydro Pump or Ice Beam. Focus Blast can be used to nail special walls such as Registeel and Clefable harder than Hydro Pump would, but Golduck can often beat them after a boost anyway, so it's usually not worth risking the shaky accuracy. Golduck has access to several support moves besides Encore, including Light Screen, Hypnosis, Yawn, Toxic, Confuse Ray, and Whirlpool, but if you want a support-oriented bulky Water-type, there are many better options available.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Golduck's counters depend heavily on what moves it is running. Chansey can usually come in on any set and stall Golduck out easily, but if Golduck happens to have Cross Chop or Encore, it will force Chansey right back out. Unless Golduck has multiple Calm Mind boosts under its belt, Registeel can switch in and paralyze Golduck, neutralizing it as an offensive threat, but will often take heavy damage in the process. Ludicolo cannot switch into a boosted Ice Beam or Psychic, but shrugs off Golduck's other moves and can OHKO back with Seed Bomb. If Golduck lacks Psychic, Toxicroak can usually force Golduck out with powerful physical attacks, although a boosted Ice Beam will hurt. Without Calm Mind, Golduck will be unable to break through Milotic and other bulky Water-types. Golduck's Defense and Speed stats aren't particularly impressive, so speedy physical attackers such as Leafeon, Scyther, and Primeape can all revenge kill it easily.</p>
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/golduck
[Overview]
<p>Like many first generation Pokemon, Golduck is blessed with a cool design and a generous movepool, but is held back by a lackluster stat distribution. Golduck's base 95 Special Attack is good, but not great, and the rest of its stats are decidedly average, making it difficult for Golduck to compete with its more specialized rivals. Luckily, Golduck does have a couple of niches in UU that help differentiate it from other Water-types. Cloud Nine is an exclusive ability that turns Golduck into a unique counter to devastating Swift Swim and Chlorophyll sweepers, while Calm Mind makes Golduck one of the few UU Water-types capable of sweeping through boosting its Special Attack. Although it's not the most threatening Pokemon around, Golduck can fill an important role without requiring much support, making it a solid choice for a variety of offensive teams.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 3: Ice Beam / Psychic
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Encore
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Cloud Nine
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Golduck is perhaps the only UU Water-type that can effectively boost its own Special Attack and sweep. While Slowbro and Slowking can also set up with Calm Mind or Nasty Plot, their extremely low Speed makes it easy for opponents to halt an attempted sweep with Toxic or Haze. Golduck, on the other hand, is fast enough to outspeed the defensive Pokemon that commonly carry such moves and can often 2HKO them after a boost, making it a much harder sweeper to stop. Hydro Pump is Golduck's most powerful STAB attack, dealing heavy damage to any Pokemon that doesn't resist it. After a single boost, even sturdy Pokemon such as Spiritomb and Hariyama can be OHKOed, while Clefable and Uxie are hit for guaranteed 2HKOs. Ice Beam takes care of Grass-types as well as Altaria, while Hidden Power Grass covers Golduck's fellow Water-types. With good prediction, Golduck can 2HKO Milotic with a boosted Hidden Power Grass and avoid being stifled by Toxic or Haze. Alternatively, Golduck can use Encore in the last slot to gain free turns. While this makes setting up much easier, it comes at the cost of a coverage move. If you choose to use Encore, Psychic is a good option over Ice Beam, as it has better two-move coverage alongside Hydro Pump. The only common UU Pokemon that resist both Water and Psychic are Slowbro and Exeggutor. Unfortunately, the loss of super effective coverage makes it significantly easier for the opponent to wall Golduck with bulky Water resistors.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>While Golduck has decent Speed and passable bulk, it is still vulnerable to faster physical attackers. Despite being unable to safely switch in on an attack, Leafeon, Sceptile, and Hitmonlee can all come in while Golduck sets up, and will outspeed and OHKO Golduck with their STAB moves. Because of this, it is usually better to simply fire off unboosted attacks during the early-game and save Calm Mind for later in the match when you have scouted most of your opponent's team. Life Orb is the recommended item thanks to the consistent power boost it brings. Without it, Golduck will often require more than one boost to be able to KO defensive Pokemon. However, Leftovers can be used if you wish to play Golduck more conservatively, especially in tandem with Encore. This will help keep Golduck healthy early on and may give it the opportunity to accumulate multiple boosts when it's ready to sweep. Hydro Pump is usually recommended due to the key KOs that it achieves, but Surf has more PP and better accuracy, and is worth considering for its reliability if you choose to use Leftovers.</p>
<p>Golduck's Cloud Nine ability makes it an excellent counter to most Swift Swim and Chlorophyll sweepers. With their weather boosts nullified, Golduck can outspeed and OHKO Pokemon such as Kabutops and Tangrowth that might otherwise do serious damage to your team. Max Speed and a Timid nature are required to outspeed or tie the most common weather abusers along with the all-important base 80 Speed group. Special Attack is then maximized to cause as much damage as possible, while the final 4 EVs are placed in HP. You can instead put those 4 EVs into one of Golduck's defenses and use an HP IV of 29 to minimize damage from Life Orb recoil, although this will also slightly reduce the power of Hidden Power Grass.</p>
<p>Entry hazard support is always helpful for an offensive Pokemon, and Golduck is no exception. After a single boost, Golduck gets a guaranteed OHKO on Spiritomb and specially-defensive Weezing and has a decent chance to 2HKO Registeel with Hydro Pump if Stealth Rock is in play. Hazards become even more important when running Encore to punish the switches that it causes while making up for the loss of super effective coverage. With Encore, Golduck can even come out on top against Chansey if Stealth Rock is up, as +1 Hydro Pump will be a guaranteed 3HKO, forcing Chansey to use a recovery move immediately after switching in. Golduck can then Encore the recovery move to force Chansey out and grab another boost. Registeel is a good choice to set up Stealth Rock due to its excellent defensive capabilities and decent synergy with Golduck.</p>
<p>This set's counters depend on which moves Golduck is running. With three attacks, the only Pokemon that can safely switch in after a boost is Chansey. In this case, the best teammates for Golduck are mixed attackers or Choiced special attackers with Trick that can cripple Chansey. Blaziken and Rotom are both fine choices for this job. On the other hand, if Golduck is limited to a single coverage move, it will have more trouble breaking through bulky Water- and Grass-types that are not weak to Psychic. This makes Venusaur the best possible teammate, as it can come in on either of Golduck's weaknesses and use its powerful STAB Grass- and Poison-type attacks to destroy the Pokemon that wall Golduck.</p>
[SET]
name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Grass
move 4: Psychic / Cross Chop
item: Life Orb / Choice Specs
ability: Cloud Nine
nature: Timid / Mild
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes full advantage of Golduck's excellent coverage in order to pose an immediate threat to a variety of Pokemon. With Cloud Nine, Golduck is especially effective at countering Pokemon that rely on the weather to boost their Speed and power. Fire-type Sunny Day abusers lose their instant SolarBeam and are swiftly KOed by Golduck's STAB Hydro Pump. Chlorophyll sweepers are easily outsped once their Speed boost is nullified and can be defeated with Ice Beam. Hidden Power Grass takes care of some of the most common Swift Swimmers, while Psychic rounds out the coverage by hitting Qwilfish and Toxicroak hard.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EVs are standard for a special attacker. A Timid nature is required to outspeed the crucial base 80 Speed group and tie with other base 85s, such as Qwilfish and Toxicroak. Life Orb is the recommended item since it provides a solid boost to Golduck's attacks without limiting its flexibility, but Choice Specs provide a bigger boost and can be used if you plan to play Golduck as a hit-and-run Pokemon. Either way, Golduck will be completely walled by Chansey, so Cross Chop is an option in the fourth moveslot to get past it. With a Life Orb, Mild nature, and EV spread of 120 Atk / 252 SpA / 136 Spe, Golduck can always 2HKO Chansey while still outspeeding neutral-natured base 70s. However, Cross Chop has little value outside of hitting Chansey, and the drop in Speed makes Golduck lose to many key Pokemon that it could have otherwise beat, so using such a spread is only recommended if Chansey poses a huge problem for your team. Once again, using 29 HP IVs to drop Golduck's HP to 299 is an option as it will minimize Life Orb recoil at the cost of a tiny reduction in Hidden Power Grass's power.</p>
<p>While this set's great coverage allows Golduck to get past most Pokemon easily, it has trouble beating Pokemon that can take a hit or two. Entry hazards make life much easier for Golduck, softening up bulkier Pokemon and punishing weakened sweepers as they switch out. Most of Golduck's counters are grounded, so Spikes support would be ideal; unfortunately, most of the best UU Spikers are Water-types that don't work very well on the same team as Golduck. Cacturne is an exception, and has good defensive synergy with Golduck; unfortunately, neither Cacturne nor Golduck are very adept at taking Fighting-type attacks. Stealth Rock can be set up by a much wider variety of teammates, including reliable tanks such as Registeel and Uxie, and is therefore likely to be your best bet. Even with entry hazards up, this set is walled by most bulky Water-types. As such, Venusaur makes a great teammate thanks to its ability to consistently beat the most popular Water-types in UU.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Golduck is surprisingly self-sufficient, often beating its own counters if it carries the right moves. However, using certain teammates will help make its life even easier. Bulky Water-types, such as Milotic, can halt Golduck's sweep with good prediction, so Pokemon that can consistently bring them down are recommended. Venusaur is the most reliable choice thanks to its power and versatility. Speedy Grass- and Fighting-types can come in on a predicted set-up move or after a KO and force Golduck out, so a Flying-type partner, such as Moltres or Swellow, can be useful to get rid of them. Bulky Ground- or Steel-types complement Golduck well defensively and can shut down the physical attackers that threaten it most. Registeel resists Grass, can paralyze revenge killers with Thunder Wave, and often attracts Fire-types that Golduck can set up on. Rhyperior is immune to any Electric attacks aimed at Golduck, while Golduck resists the Water- and Ice-type moves that Rhyperior fears. Steelix can lure in Milotic or Slowbro and use Explosion to immediately remove them from the match. All three of these Pokemon can also set up Stealth Rock, which enables Golduck to get some additional KOs. Finally, Wish support from Chansey or Clefable will keep Golduck healthy so that it can fire off attacks throughout the match.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Golduck can use Encore with three attacks to fill a specific supporting role as a counter to weather sweepers and stat boosters. Even without any boosts to its Special Attack, Golduck can still outspeed and OHKO or 2HKO most weather sweepers with Surf, Ice Beam, or Hidden Power Grass, while Encore forces switches and prevents opponents from setting up. However, Golduck can make much better use of the free turns granted by Encore if it has Calm Mind, so it's usually best to stick to that. Golduck can also use a defensive Calm Mind set with Rest and Sleep Talk or a Chesto Berry, but physical attackers can still easily revenge kill Golduck, so such sets would have to be saved until very late in the match.</p>
<p>Aqua Jet is a STAB priority move, which is always a helpful asset in UU, but Golduck can't really spare a moveslot for it and lacks the physical power to use it effectively without heavy investment in Attack. Golduck has a nice physical movepool, including Waterfall, Aqua Tail, Ice Punch, Low Kick, Zen Headbutt, Shadow Claw, and Return, so a fully physical set could be used; however, with mediocre Attack and the unreliable Screech and Psych Up as the only options for boosting the power of its moves, it won't be very effective.</p>
<p>Signal Beam can surprise Ludicolo and hit Exeggutor, Shiftry, and Slowbro harder than Golduck's other moves, but any other potential targets take more damage from Hydro Pump or Ice Beam. Focus Blast can be used to nail special walls such as Registeel and Clefable harder than Hydro Pump would, but Golduck can often beat them after a boost anyway, so it's usually not worth risking the shaky accuracy. Golduck has access to several support moves besides Encore, including Light Screen, Hypnosis, Yawn, Toxic, Confuse Ray, and Whirlpool, but if you want a support-oriented bulky Water-type, there are many better options available.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Golduck's counters depend heavily on what moves it is running. Chansey can usually come in on any set and stall Golduck out easily, but if Golduck happens to have Cross Chop or Encore, it will force Chansey right back out. Unless Golduck has multiple Calm Mind boosts under its belt, Registeel can switch in and paralyze Golduck, neutralizing it as an offensive threat, but will often take heavy damage in the process. Ludicolo cannot switch into a boosted Ice Beam or Psychic, but shrugs off Golduck's other moves and can OHKO back with Seed Bomb. If Golduck lacks Psychic, Toxicroak can usually force Golduck out with powerful physical attacks, although a boosted Ice Beam will hurt. Without Calm Mind, Golduck will be unable to break through Milotic and other bulky Water-types. Golduck's Defense and Speed stats aren't particularly impressive, so speedy physical attackers such as Leafeon, Scyther, and Primeape can all revenge kill it easily.</p>
