Kingdra [QC 1/2]

[ShootingStarmie]

[SET]
name: Rain Sweeper
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Draco Meteor
move 3: Surf
move 4: Flip Turn / Hurricane
item: Choice Specs
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

With decent offensive stats and a great ability in the form of Swift Swim, Kingdra is able to act as a terrifying sweeper and wallbreaker under rain. While it's move-pool is somewhat limited, Kingdra has the moves and the typing to cover nearly the entire OU metagame with just it's STAB attacks. Choice Specs Hydro Pump hits ridiculously hard under rain, enabling Kingdra to 2HKO the majority of Pokemon that don't resist it. Draco Meteor is a powerful attack and secondary STAB to hit incoming Water-type Pokemon such as Toxapex and Slowbro and Grass-types like Amoonguss. Surf allows Kingdra to more consistently clean up offensive or weakened teams without having to rely on Hydro Pump's lower accuracy. Flip Turn is a move that works greatly in conjunction with Kingdra's ability to force switches, and can enable the user to grab momentum on special walls like Blissey. Hurricane however is a neat addition to Kingdra's move-pool, giving Kingdra tools to hit Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Rillaboom, without the downsides of Draco Meteor.

Pelipper is a mandatory partner as it provides Kingdra unrivaled support in the form of Drizzle, allowing Kingdra to be the threatening sweeper it is. Pelipper also provides a slow U-turn, allowing Kingdra to freely enter the battlefield and wreck havoc. Kingdra struggles with bulky Grass and Water-type Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Primarina and Toxapex, so pairing Kingdra with wallbreakers such as Magnezone, Rillaboom, and Gengar can be beneficial. Kyurem can form quite the core with Kingdra, as Kyurem threatens bulky Water and Grass-types Kingdra can struggle with. Physical rain sweepers such as Urshifu-R, Barraskewda, and Crawdaunt can clean up weakened teams, and can also function as wallbreakers themselves, enabling Kingdra to sweep late game. Rillaboom can often threaten Kingdra with it's boosted Grassy Glide, making Togekiss and the aforementioned Gengar good partners to deal with Rillaboom. Ferrothorn is a great partner, providing Spikes support to soften Kingdra switch-ins, and acts as a decent check to Banded Rillaboom, while also benefiting from the effects of Drizzle.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[ShootingStarmie, 105816]]
- Quality checked by: [[Ruft, 295110], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]

 

[Ruft]

The usual colors

[SET]
name: Rain Sweeper
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Draco Meteor
move 3: Surf
move 4: Flip Turn / Hurricane
item: Choice Specs
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
This is very minor, but with offensive spreads like these we usually put the remaining 4 EVs into Defense or Special Defense rather than HP since it's better for their HP to remain an odd number (to minimize hazard/status damage), apart from specific cases like Belly Drum Azumarill where it's necessary for their HP to be an even number.

[SET COMMENTS]

With decent offensive stats and a great ability in the form of Swift Swim, Kingdra is able to act as a terrifying sweeper and wallbreaker under rain. While it's move-pool is somewhat limited, Kingdra has the moves and the typing to cover nearly the entire OU metagame with just it's STAB attacks. Choice Specs Hydro Pump hits ridiculously hard under rain, enabling Kingdra to 2HKO the majority of Pokemon that don't resist it. Draco Meteor is a powerful attack and secondary STAB to hit incoming Water-type Pokemon such as Toxapex and Slowbro and Grass-types like Amoonguss. Surf allows Kingdra to more consistently clean up offensive or weakened teams without having to rely on Hydro Pump's lower accuracy. Flip Turn is a move that works greatly in conjunction with Kingdra's ability to force switches, and can enable the user to grab momentum on special walls like Blissey. Hurricane however is a neat addition to Kingdra's move-pool, giving Kingdra tools to hit Grass-types such as Ferrothorn Amoonguss and Rillaboom, without the downsides of Draco Meteor. Rain-boosted Hydro Pump hits Ferrothorn harder than Hurricane does, making Amoonguss a better mention. EVs are used to maximize Kingdra's power and speed, with a Modest nature being the best option, due to Kingdra's incredible speed under rain. Elaborating on max/max spreads isn't necessary.

Pelipper is a mandatory partner as it provides Kingdra unrivaled support in the form of Drizzle, allowing Kingdra to be the threatening sweeper it is. Pelipper also provides a slow U-turn, allowing Kingdra to freely enter the battlefield and wreck havoc. Kingdra struggles with bulky Grass and Water-type Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Tangrowth Primarina and Toxapex, so pairing Kingdra with wallbreakers such as Magnezone, Rillaboom, and Gengar can be beneficial. Fairy-types that resist Hydro Pump, such as Azumarill and Primarina can also spell trouble for Kingdra. I think Tangrowth and Azumarill aren't the greatest mentions since they both take a ton from Hydro Pump (since the vast majority of Tangrowth are physically defensive), so I think you can just add Primarina as a mention the previous sentence. Luckily, Kyurem can form quite the core with Kingdra, as Freeze Dry allows Kyurem to easily break through the likes of Azumarill and Primarina, as well as having a good chance of OHKOing Toxapex after Stealth Rock damage. This is unnecessarily narrow, you should mention how it is especially good at threatening all the bulky Grass- and Water-types Kingdra may struggle with. Lastly, physical rain sweepers such as Urshifu-R and Barraskewda and Crawdaunt can clean up weakened teams, and can also function as wallbreakers themselves, enabling Kingdra to sweep late game. Talk about Spikes support from Ferrothorn and how you need counterplay to Rillaboom.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[ShootingStarmie, 105816]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]

Good stuff, 1/2.

 

[ShootingStarmie]

added, thank you ruft