[OVERVIEW]
Keldeo has cemented itself as one of the most dangerous wallbreakers within UU thanks to its high Special Attack stat and great offensive typing. Unlike other Water-type special attackers such as Primarina, Keldeo can break past conventional special walls such as Assault Vest Tangrowth and Chansey thanks to STAB Secret Sword. Its typing, coupled with respectable bulk, also has defensive merits, allowing it to check foes such as Entei and Jirachi. Choice Specs Keldeo is an amazing wallbreaker that can 2HKO threats such as Azumarill and Salamence with Hydro Pump and utilize its fantastic Speed tier to outpace threats like Nihilego, Zarude, and Thundurus-T, which gives it opportunities to switch in and wallbreak. Calm Mind Keldeo is instead a scary late-game cleaner that becomes harder to check and revenge kill after several Calm Mind boosts. Keldeo also has a good arsenal of coverage options in Icy Wind and Air Slash to break through common checks such as Salamence and Amoonguss. While Keldeo is difficult to switch into, it's very prediction reliant and can be scouted by foes like King's Shield Aegislash. Faster foes like Starmie and Lycanroc-D can easily revenge kill Keldeo, although the latter will be unable to do so if Keldeo is behind a Substitute. Other Pokemon such as bulky Primarina and Mantine have no issues at all switching into any of Keldeo's attacks.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Secret Sword
move 3: Scald
move 4: Icy Wind
item: Choice Specs
ability: Justified
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Choice Specs-boosted Hydro Pump can 2HKO even Water-resistant targets such as Salamence and Azumarill. Secret Sword lets Keldeo break through Chansey and Assault Vest Tangrowth while hitting offensive Primarina hard. Scald is a safer move to throw out against foes that can punish a Hydro Pump miss like Moltres while circumventing Hydro Pump's low PP. It can also cripple foes such as Tangrowth and Azumarill. Surf is an option on rain teams to 2HKO foes like Assault Vest Reuniclus after Stealth Rock. Icy Wind OHKOes Salamence and provides coverage for Grass-types like Roserade and Amoonguss. Air Slash is an alternative option that hits Amoonguss and Tangrowth much harder, but Keldeo can already 2HKO Amoonguss and Assault Vest Tangrowth with Icy Wind and Secret Sword after Stealth Rock, so it's less appealing.
Keldeo fits best on offense teams that value the sheer power it provides alongside a great Speed tier. Although Keldeo has a great defensive typing, it prefers to be brought in safely by pivots such as Chansey and Zarude. Keldeo is a fantastic rain attacker, as the extra power provided prevents Amoonguss from being a reliable switch-in. Pelipper can set rain with Drizzle, bring Keldeo in safely with U-turn, and pressure Grass-types with Hurricane. Other rain sweepers such as Barraskewda can work alongside Keldeo for both to wear down each other's checks such as Tangrowth. Entry hazard setters like Nihilego and Krookodile help Keldeo pick up important KOs such as 2HKOing Tangrowth with Secret Sword after Stealth Rock. Nihilego can also help check special Salamence, while Krookodile can force a lot of damage against foes like Amoonguss and take on Assault Vest Galarian Slowbro and Reuniclus. Late-game cleaners such as Lycanroc-D and Dragon Dance Salamence appreciate Keldeo's ability to wear down or remove foes like Amoonguss and Primarina. In return, Lycanroc-D can help revenge kill threats such as Dragon Dance Gyarados and Salamence, which Keldeo may give a free setup opportunity to if locked into the wrong move, and remove faster foes like Azelf and Starmie with Accelerock.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Scald
move 3: Secret Sword
move 4: Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Justified
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Calm Mind boosts Keldeo's already great Special Attack while bolstering its Special Defense, making it harder to revenge kill. The Special Defense boosts prevent foes such as Amoonguss and Aegislash from breaking its Substitute after multiple Calm Minds. Substitute also helps Keldeo avoid status. Scald is a spammable move that can punish switch-ins such as Amoonguss and Azumarill. Secret Sword allows Keldeo to break through specially defensive foes such as Chansey and Assault Vest Tangrowth. Icy Wind can be considered to OHKO Salamence, as it comfortably walls Keldeo and can damage it behind Substitute with Dual Wingbeat. It also provides coverage for Grass-types, but bulkier ones like Amoonguss and Tangrowth require multiple boosts to reliably muscle through. For this reason, Air Slash is also an option to hit them much harder at the cost of having a harder time against Salamence; however, Substitute is the preferred option to let Keldeo take advantage of more passive Pokemon like Umbreon and Jirachi. Leftovers provides passive recovery and helps offset Substitute damage. More offensive item options such as Life Orb and Expert Belt can be considered on three attack sets to improve Keldeo's ability to break through Amoonguss and Tangrowth.
Calm Mind Keldeo fits best on bulky offense and balance builds that value the sweeping potential it provides alongside a great typing and Speed tier. It can also be considered on more offensive teams if running three attacks. Keldeo lacks the means to muscle past Pokemon such as Primarina, Mantine, and Tangrowth easily; therefore, partners like Toxtricity, Nihilego, and Nidoking help remove them. Nihilego can also check special Salamence and provide Stealth Rock support to wear down Keldeo's checks. Togekiss can muscle through Grass-types such as Tapu Bulu and Tangrowth and provide Heal Bell support, as status greatly limits the effectiveness of Keldeo. Salamence can likewise pressure these Grass-types as well as providing Defog support. In return, Keldeo is able to pressure common Flying-resistant foes such as Nihilego, Rhyperior, and Rotom-H for them. Pivots like Jirachi and Chansey bring Keldeo in safely. Jirachi can invite foes such as Moltres in for Keldeo to set up on and provide Healing Wish support to give it another opportunity to sweep. Albeit rare, Noivern can prove problematic due to its Speed and ability to bypass Substitute. For this reason, partners like Rhyperior and Mamoswine are appreciated. Mamoswine is also able to remove Grass-types and force damage on Water-types such as Rotom-W and Primarina. If Keldeo is utilizing a more offensive set, Sticky Web support is valuable to prevent faster foes such as Lycanroc-D from being able to revenge kill it.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Flip Turn can be considered on the Choice Specs set to pivot out against Pokemon Keldeo struggles to break through, like Primarina; however, Keldeo would much rather run Scald because of Hydro Pump's limited PP, and there aren't many Pokemon capable of taking repeated hits from it anyways. Keldeo can utilize Choice Scarf to revenge kill threats like Lycanroc-D and Dragon Dance Salamence. Due to the lack of immediate power, it is forced to run Flip Turn to pivot out of unfavorable matchups against foes such as Amoonguss and Primarina. Toxic allows Keldeo to cripple Pokemon such as Jellicent and Mantine, two foes it has no means of breaking through. However, it is only really necessary in these two matchups, as Keldeo has the means to overwhelm other checks. Toxic is also completely ineffective against the common RestTalk Primarina. Keldeo can opt for alternative item options such as Expert Belt and Heavy-Duty Boots over Choice Specs, with the former letting it change up moves and the latter making it a more effective pivot. However, the significant drop in power generally makes these more niche options.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Bulky Primarina is one of Keldeo's toughest matchups to break past, especially if running Rest. Mantine is a foe Keldeo has no means of breaking past. Starmie resists Keldeo's STAB moves, is faster, and can pressure it with Psyshock; however, it does struggle to pivot into Choice Specs Hydro Pump without bulk investment. Gyarados can use Keldeo as a free setup opportunity and proceed to KO it with Bounce or Power Whip, though it can potentially be crippled by a Scald burn.
**Grass-types**: Amoonguss and Assault Vest Tangrowth are consistent switch-ins to Keldeo thanks to Regenerator. However, Amoonguss does have to worry about a potential boosted Icy Wind or Air Slash. Tangrowth fears the same and can also be overwhelmed by Secret Sword. Tapu Bulu and Roserade can shrug off most of Keldeo's attacks besides the aforementioned Icy Wind or Air Slash; however, Choice Specs Hydro Pump can easily 2HKO them without bulk investment. Choice Scarf Zarude is faster than Keldeo and can revenge kill it with Power Whip.
**Faster Pokemon**: Lycanroc-D is faster than Keldeo and can revenge kill it. Noivern resists both of Keldeo's STAB moves and can revenge kill it behind a Substitute thanks to Infiltrator. Starmie and Azelf can revenge kill Keldeo with Psyshock, which is also able to bypass Keldeo's Calm Mind boosts.
**Specially Defensive Pokemon**: Specially defensive Aegislash has the bulk in its Shield forme to stomach multiple Choice Specs-boosted Hydro Pumps and proceed to cripple Keldeo with Toxic. However, Calm Mind variants can use Aegislash as setup fodder. Assault Vest Galarian Slowbro and Reuniclus can stomach multiple attacks from Keldeo, threaten it back with their Psychic-type STAB attacks, and regain any lost health with Regenerator. Under rain, Keldeo can overwhelm them though.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Twilight, 344575]]
- Quality checked by: [[Monky25, 515132], [Hilomilo, 313384], [KM, 180416]]
- Grammar checked by: [[DC, 449990], [Finland, 517429]]
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