Kingdra team (OU RMT)

[zarator]

Like the title suggests, this team is centered around creating the conditions for a Kingdra lategame sweep. Without further introduction, here are the 6 contenders:

The Lead

Swampert @Leftovers
Impish nature - EV:252HP/252Def/4Atk
Ability: Torrent
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Avalanche
- HP Electric

(Credits to legacy raider for suggesting this) Swampert is my lead of choice in order to grant Stealth Rock support. As I will outline later, residual damage plays a huge role in my strategy, and Stealth Rock is the most important of the layers. Without the rocks, Salamence and friends would rape this team.
Swampert also provides a much needed Electric immunity and a good answer to Tyranitar, so I struggle as much as I can to keep him alive throughout the match.


The wallbreaker

Lucario @Choice Specs
Modest nature - EV:4HP/252Spe/252Spatk
Ability: Steadfast
- Aura Sphere
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power(Rock)
- Vacuum Wave

My wallbreaker of choice. The reasons I elected Specsluke over Salamence are:
1) Lucario fears a lot less entry hazards, with the not-so-common Spikes being the only issue. Additionally, Lucario OHKOes most unsuspecting Skarmory with Aura Sphere, preventing more often than not spikes from being landed
2) Lucario is much less revenge-killable. While Salamence must fear Scizor's BP, Lucario's Steel type and absence of Life Orb recoil make the iron bug a lot less threatening. Heck, most of the time Lucario threatens Scizor with Aura Sphere, being faster and resistant to Bullet Punch.
3) Lucario requires a lot less prediction. Most times Mixmence relies on heavy prediction to land a good hit, especially since it needs Draco Meteor to dispatch of a wide range of opponents. Aura Sphere is a lot better attack, thanks to its reliability, power and good coverage. Ghost are not a big issue, since I can wall most of them, barring the annoying Trick.
So, Lucario's job is tearing thorugh the opposition with high-powered aura Spheres and - last but not least - stopping DDTar from raping my team.

The Defensive core

Skarmory @Shed Shell
Impish nature - EV:252HP/64Atk/176Def/16Spd
Ability: Keen Eye
- Spikes
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind

Standard Skarmory. An all-around answer to most physical attackers - most notably Scizor and Metagross -, its job is to lay Spikes, wall physical attacks and shuffle-damage with Whirlwind. Brave Bird when a direct hit is required.

Blissey @Leftovers
Calm nature - EV:252Def/40Spatk/216Spdef
Ability: Natural Cure
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Ice Beam

The second piece of my defensive core and the other side of the infamous SkarmBliss combination. This Blissey used to be a Cleric, but I forego it for Wish since Swampert needs a good health support in order to stick longer. Without this fat blob, pokemon such as Jolteon would rape this team with ease. As her Smogon analysis says, If you "hate Blissey" that's one thing, but please do not pretend there are many viable, one-Pokémon options that can replace her. She's that good.

Tentacruel @Leftovers
Bold nature - EV:252HP/120Def/136Spdef
Ability: Liquid Ooze
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Toxic Spikes
- HP Electric

One of the most important members of the team. The SkarmBliss duo is no longer the Great Wall of old, and mixed attackers like Salamence and Infernape can tear through it quite easily. Here comes Tentacruel, blocking most mixed sweepers in their tracks and laying the beloved Toxic Spikes, a must to allow Blissey to beat most Sub/CMers (Jirachi is still a pain, but fortunately it does not seems to be too common). A great pokemon overall

The lategame sweeper

Kingdra @Leftovers
Adamant nature - EV:24HP/252Atk/232Spe
Ability: Swift Swim
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage

What would be a Kingdra team without... Kingdra? Seriously speaking, Kingdra makes a very good lategame sweeper, thanks to Substitute warding from statuses and random scarfers, resistance to bullet Punch and Aqua Jet, amazing coverage with just 2 moves. Usually I try to keep Kingdra hidden while I weaken the opponent team, hopefully to the point none of the remaining foes requires Outrage. Toxic Spikes are a non-issue thanks to Tentacruel absorbing them.



So here's the team. SkarmBliss may seem bog standard, but at least Specsluke is quite uncommon. As I said before, this team has some serious issues with CM Jirachi, and probably with something else i could still have to face. Anyone has some suggestions to this team? Rate please, and thanks in advance for the help. Since I foresee such critiques, dont blame my use of Skarmbliss. If you think there is a better duo which can lay spikes and ward off both sides of the spectrum, then you are welcome. Otherwise, please dont blame.

 

[Legacy Raider]

Hey there

My initial thoughts on your team were that it seems as though you've built it around SkarmBliss much moreso than around Kingdra. You've taken the defensive combo and put on counters for its two biggest threats - Infernape and Tyranitar. Because you've been so focused on removing these two threats, you seem to have missed out on the bigger picture and have resulted in a somewhat unbalanced team. You currently have three electric weaknesses with no resistances, and your team is pretty badly weak to both DD Salamence and Gyarados. Now, I have quite a few suggestions for your team, but I don't particularly want to change the basic structure of it too much, lest you feel I've not rated your team as much as made you a new one. I'll try to stick to your current structure as much as I can for now.

Let's start from the top. I feel Aerodactyl does extremely little for this team right now. It doesn't even get up SR that reliably, with things like Metagross and Jirachi giving it a run for its money. This lead slot can be used a lot more productively, with something that will help your team much more as a whole. I recommend you drop Aerodactyl and replace it with a Swampert lead:

Swampert @ Leftovers
Impish
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk

- Earthquake
- Avalanche
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge / Roar

Swampert will immediately bring a lot of things to the team. Firstly, the much needed Electric immunity is greatly appreciated. It adds some bulk to your team, and gives you a lead that will last a lot longer than the first couple of turns, allowing you to play with a full team, while still letting you get up SR early. It also gives some more insurance against Tyranitar, who is quite adept at breaking through SkarmBliss. In the current metagame, with Metagross, Jirachi and Heatran common leads, Swampert works really well.
A fully physical version of Swampert is chosen to help you against CMers, in particular Latias. Avalanche will hit it very hard if it doesn't switch. It also allows you to take out Salamence quite easily. Earthquake is for many of the opposing leads I already mentioned. In the final slot, I would be leaning more towards Stone Edge than Roar. With Stone Edge, you can threaten Gyarados in particular, to which you have quite a bad weakness currently. Since you already have a phazer in Skarmory, Roar might not be quite as helpful, but with the Spikes support you already have, having an addition phazer definitely won't be detrimental to your team.

On Lucario, I would strongly suggest replacing HP Ice with HP Rock. HP Ice's uses were really for taking on Gliscor, and with the decline in its popularity, I really do feel HP Rock is the superior choice. It hits Gyarados super effectively and waters for neutral, both of which need to be weakened to let Kingdra pull off a good sweep. It also means that Gyarados can't get a DD off Specs Luke quite so easily, as if you can predict its switchin, it will get 2HKOed by HP Rock.

I really don't think Tentacruel is the best choice for this team either. I can see where you're coming from by using him - he does patch up the Infernape weakness quite nicely, and Toxic Spikes support is quite helpful for Kingdra. However, I feel that your team is currently inclined towards special attacking too much, and you will have trouble with CMers and Blissey in particular. You also lack any real speed, and for these reasons, I would recommend you run Flygon in Tentacruel's spot:

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Adamant
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

- Outrage
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

There are several good reasons for running Flygon. Firstly, scarfgon allows you to reliably revenge kill Infernape, which is a major priority for this team. With max speed, it also allows you to "check" Salamence, at worst enticing it into an Outrage, at best taking it out with your own. U-turn is good for a team that relies on synergic resistances like this team. Flygon will also allow you to scout for early game dragon counters that could stand in Kingdra's way later on in the match. Also, with SkarmBlissPert gradually weakening the opponent's team and SpecsLuke blasting apart any major walls, Flygon should be able to clean up quite easily late game if Kingdra fails to sweep.

At the current moment, I would describe your team as being "weak stall". That is, it tries to use defensive pokemon to counter and outmaneuver the opposing team. However, I really felt that it lacked the offense to make the most of this advantageous positioning. Hopefully, with the changes I've suggested, you should be able to use SkarmBliss to some better use, while still paving Kingdra's way for a sweep. If you find that you like the more offensive slant I've given the team, I do have a couple of more suggestions that can help the team out some more. It would require changing around your members quite a bit more, though, so perhaps PM me or ask me to post here again, and I'll be happy to tell you what else I was thinking.

 

[zarator]

First of all, thanks for posting. Yes, as you have imagined, DD Gyarados and DD Salamence are a solid threat to this team. Generally I handle Gyarados with Skarmory and Stealth Rock damage, and Blissey is able to withstand a +1 Outrage from Salamence if it is at 100% and retaliate with Ice Beam.

But you are damn right. CMers, and especially SubCMers like Jirachi and Latias, bone me - heck, even Raikou can sweep me with little effort. The Swampert idea is quite interesting, but most importantly I could forego the ClericBliss for the much more useful WishBliss at this time. I'd be a little sad to renounce to Toxic Spikes, but generally I have little time to set up them. Yes, Flygon is definitely a good proposal to keep in mind, but I foresee a major problem. Tentacruel was my only reliable switch into Lucario and Infernape, since they almost never run Earthquake and instead they generally fire off strong Fighting attacks. The Fighting resistance was extremely valuable especially because of Lucario, since he can OHKO Blissey with Close Combat or OHKO Skarmory with Aura Sphere.

What about Resttalk Gyarados in place of Tentacruel? Yes, it doesnt help my Electric weakness - althought 2 electric weaks are manageable, a lot more than 2 fighting weaks^^- but I still can rely on Swampert and especially on Blissey (I cant think of an electric attacker not named Electivire or maybe Raikou which Blissey cant take on, and those 2 are overall rare). Gyarados would give me a major insurance from Infernape, Lucario (if they lack HP Electric or, in case of Lucario, HP Rock), Scizor (Although Skarm already can set up spikes on him and phaze) and even DDers such as Salamence.

Anyway, thanks for the help. Swampert will be a nice addition, and Flygon is maybe worth a test, even if I think it goes a bit against the strategy of this team.

P.S.: And yes, I would very pleased if you could post here again^^

 

[Legacy Raider]

Funnily enough, a Gyarados was exactly what I had in mind. Only, I was going to suggest it over Skarmory, making your team Swampert / Lucario / Gyarados / Blissey / Flygon / Kingdra. But if you'd rather keep Skarmory and replace Tentacruel / Flygon instead, then I'm sure we can get that to work too. The only problem I can foresee is that you might have trouble taking down bulky waters that use Rest, in particular CM Suicune. Specs Luke will be unable to dent them after a CM or two, and if Suicune is your opponent's last pokemon, you can no longer phaze it out with Skarmory either. While a ResTalk Gyarados is the best choice for taking on Infernape and Lucario, I would really recommend you run a more offensive-minded Gyarados to help you take on opposing water types a bit easier:

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Adamant
24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe

- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Earthquake

Alright, basically how this helps your team is the following. Gyarados tends to draw in bulky waters that try to beat it by taking its resisted Waterfall and hitting it back with poison or HP Electric. Kingdra also struggles against these very same water types because they force it to Outrage, which means that a steel can easily come in and finish Kingdra off. What Bounce Gyarados will do is let you get some heavy damage on things like Suicune, while also letting you beat Celebi (something else that Kingdra dislikes greatly). By choosing not to use Life Orb, Gyarados is pretty naturally bulky, and with Leftovers, you can even use Bounce to get some extra recovery in. Keep this alive with some Wish support from Blissey and it should remain a reliable switchin into Scizor and Lucario, while also being able to DD up alongside a threatening Suicune and get some big damage on it. Basically, Gyarados acts as both a Fighting type / Scizor counter as well as a lure for Kingdra's counters.

This will work both over Skarmory and over Flygon/Tentacruel, so it's really your choice as to where to put it. I was thinking of making this team slightly more offensive by dispersing with Skarm, but if you would prefer the security of SkarmBliss then Gyarados will work great in the other slot too. Hope this works out for you =).

EDIT: If you choose to run HP Electric over Stone Edge, then just change the Impish nature to a Relaxed one. The speed loss is unnoticeable, whereas the slight power boost might be just what you need to 2HKO bulkier variants of Gyarados.

 

[zarator]

Well, about Suicune, it does not worry me that much, since even if it Calm Minds 6 times it cant get past my Blissey, so I Toxic it, forcing it to rest and stalling it out. Actually, I find Suicune much more threatening in his midgame-shuffler disguise rather than his lategame sweeper one.
About Celebi, well, it is a nuisance, yes, but I dont think it will stay on my Gyarados's Bounce anyway. I will still have to play around him like I have to now, praying to catch him offguard thanks to the entry hazards (taking 37,5% damage upon switching in can allow Lucario to 2HKO even with Aura Sphere, and Skarmory fear little from the little onion, retaliating with Brave Bird). I may test it, but I'm still of the idea that Resttalk Gyara is much more reliable.
About Swampert, i have to say that I'm impressed of how much he has improved my team performances. Having another physical wall which can hit back much harder than Skarmory, and even absorb a Trick after having put SR, is awesome.
The only thing im worried about is Vaporeon. Yes, I can set up Kingdra on him, but I hate to be forced to Outrage, which I am if 2 layers of Toxic Spikes are not on the field. Well, at least it is better to be mutually stalled by Vappy than being hopeless against the heavy physical attackers like Gyarados, but i cant help myself being a bit worried of how dealing with him without my beloved hazards^^

P.S.: Since I have faced some times a Gyarados lead, and Stone Edge was pretty useless in a lot of situations, I exchanged the former with HP electric on Swampert, since even with an Impish nature and no SPatk EVs it can 2HKO most offensive gyarados. What do you think about?