Dominant since day 1.
BST: 95/125/79/60/100/81
[Overview]
<p> Gyarados is an incredibly versatile pokemon, with key typing and a great ability in Intimidate, known to cripple many of the most powerful attackers such as Darmanitan that it can set up nearly limitless Dragon Dances for the sweep. Gyarados can be very bulky, and extremely pesky to deal with, especially if it carries Thunder Wave and/or Bounce, which can paralyze opponents and finally gives Gyarados a Flying STAB move. This pokemon has only two weaknesses, but the prevalence of Electric and Rock moves in the VGC metagame may cause its use to become as much of a novelty as the throwback Hyper Beam set. Enjoy!
</p>
[SET]
name: Intimidate Sweeper
move 1: Waterfall/Scald
move 2: Taunt/Dragon Dance
move 3: Stone Edge/Ice Fang
move 4: Thunder Wave/Stone Edge/Bounce
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly/Adamant
ability: Intimidate
evs: 156 HP / 72 Atk / 96 Def / 184 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> This set is extremely dangerous, and as you can see has quite a few options on it. You will probably also see some Gyarados with max EV investment in Speed and Attack, and although a tanky Gyarados can come in more often to continually keep the opponent's Atk in check, it will probably not be as common in the VGC metagame as the sweeping Gyarados. Scald is a great addition to this pokemon's movepool in B/W, a choice of the trainer's for either a possibility of flinch or a good chance to burn the opponent. Taunt, Thunder Wave and Dragon Dance are all extremely useful moves, and will allow Gyarados to sweep easily pretty often. Ice Fang is reccomended due to the prevalence of Dragon- and Grass-types. I would reccomend against Bounce, although it can hit most of the Spore and Sleep Powder users for great damage, it is very predictable and can be beaten with Protect all day. Stone Edge is a good move to round out Gyarados' coverage, as it will slam Flying- and Bug-types. Aqua Tail is more or less the same move as Waterfall, again the trainer's preference. Gyarados also gets Bulldoze and Earthquake, which depending on your team could provide great coverage. Return is a classic way for Gyarados to ensure neutral damage against many pokemon with just a few attacks. Bite or Payback are also options for Psychic-type pokemon, as well as Shedinja. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p> Wacan Berry and Lum Berry Gyarados are pretty commonly seen to beat all the most popular ways of dealing with Gyarados. On the max EVs in Atk, Spe set, a Life Orb could be used, as Stealth Rock may not be everywhere, however Gyarados' HP can wither down fast, especially if it takes repeated Electric- or Rock-type attacks. Gyarados is slightly faster than Chandelure and Dragonite, and could be used with a Choice Scarf. </p>
[OTHER OPTIONS]
<p> </p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p> Jolteon, Rotom-W, Lati@s, Thundurus, Zebstrika?, Aerodactyl, Terrakion, Archeops, Excadrill, HP Electric Ludicolo </p>
BST: 95/125/79/60/100/81
[Overview]
<p> Gyarados is an incredibly versatile pokemon, with key typing and a great ability in Intimidate, known to cripple many of the most powerful attackers such as Darmanitan that it can set up nearly limitless Dragon Dances for the sweep. Gyarados can be very bulky, and extremely pesky to deal with, especially if it carries Thunder Wave and/or Bounce, which can paralyze opponents and finally gives Gyarados a Flying STAB move. This pokemon has only two weaknesses, but the prevalence of Electric and Rock moves in the VGC metagame may cause its use to become as much of a novelty as the throwback Hyper Beam set. Enjoy!
</p>
[SET]
name: Intimidate Sweeper
move 1: Waterfall/Scald
move 2: Taunt/Dragon Dance
move 3: Stone Edge/Ice Fang
move 4: Thunder Wave/Stone Edge/Bounce
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly/Adamant
ability: Intimidate
evs: 156 HP / 72 Atk / 96 Def / 184 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> This set is extremely dangerous, and as you can see has quite a few options on it. You will probably also see some Gyarados with max EV investment in Speed and Attack, and although a tanky Gyarados can come in more often to continually keep the opponent's Atk in check, it will probably not be as common in the VGC metagame as the sweeping Gyarados. Scald is a great addition to this pokemon's movepool in B/W, a choice of the trainer's for either a possibility of flinch or a good chance to burn the opponent. Taunt, Thunder Wave and Dragon Dance are all extremely useful moves, and will allow Gyarados to sweep easily pretty often. Ice Fang is reccomended due to the prevalence of Dragon- and Grass-types. I would reccomend against Bounce, although it can hit most of the Spore and Sleep Powder users for great damage, it is very predictable and can be beaten with Protect all day. Stone Edge is a good move to round out Gyarados' coverage, as it will slam Flying- and Bug-types. Aqua Tail is more or less the same move as Waterfall, again the trainer's preference. Gyarados also gets Bulldoze and Earthquake, which depending on your team could provide great coverage. Return is a classic way for Gyarados to ensure neutral damage against many pokemon with just a few attacks. Bite or Payback are also options for Psychic-type pokemon, as well as Shedinja. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p> Wacan Berry and Lum Berry Gyarados are pretty commonly seen to beat all the most popular ways of dealing with Gyarados. On the max EVs in Atk, Spe set, a Life Orb could be used, as Stealth Rock may not be everywhere, however Gyarados' HP can wither down fast, especially if it takes repeated Electric- or Rock-type attacks. Gyarados is slightly faster than Chandelure and Dragonite, and could be used with a Choice Scarf. </p>
[OTHER OPTIONS]
<p> </p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p> Jolteon, Rotom-W, Lati@s, Thundurus, Zebstrika?, Aerodactyl, Terrakion, Archeops, Excadrill, HP Electric Ludicolo </p>
