[OVERVIEW]
Kingdra has insane late-game potential thanks to how strong its Sniper-boosted critical hits are. The amount of Pokemon in NU that can contend with Kingdra's Water + Dragon coverage is low, and the amount that can meaningfully threaten Kingdra in return is even lower. Kingdra suffers, though, from taking multiple turns to fully set up, which gives the opponent a bit of time to prevent it from taking the game over. Additionally, many of the Pokemon it'd like to set up against, namely Vaporeon, Talonflame, and Arcanine, commonly run Toxic, which severely compromises its ability to clean late-game. Lastly, despite being one of the few offensive checks to Blastoise, Kingdra offers very little defensively compared to other Water- and Dragon-types like Vaporeon, Dragalge, and Guzzlord, meaning it requires a good amount of defensive teambuilding support.
[SET]
name: CritDra
move 1: Focus Energy
move 2: Draco Meteor
move 3: Surf
move 4: Agility
item: Scope Lens
ability: Sniper
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
The combination of Focus Energy and Scope Lens ensures Kingdra can always critically hit, letting it ignore the Special Attack drops from Draco Meteor. Alongside Agility, this severely limits overall counterplay to Kingdra once it sets up. Alternatively, Kingdra can use Substitute to avoid Toxics from Vaporeon, guaranteeing that Kingdra wins one-on-one. A Modest nature is used to guarantee an OHKO on Drapion after Stealth Rock and because Timid isn't necessary thanks to Agility.
Because Kingdra has very few answers after boosting, much of the support it requires is related to easing setup. Dual screens from Xatu is one way to do this, making it harder for powerful attackers like Toxicroak and Heliolisk to take Kingdra out. Similarly, pivots like Talonflame and Arcanine that draw in Water-types help provide Kingdra with good setup opportunities. Sylveon is one of the few foes that Kingdra can't OHKO even with a critical hit; teammates like Sirfetch'd and Passimian that can force damage onto it and push it into OHKO range are helpful as a result. Entry hazard support also works to force chip damage onto Pokemon that can stomach a hit, with Pokemon like Diancie, Copperajah, and Garbodor being good hazard setters.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Choice Specs sets possess immense power, can provide pivot support with Flip Turn, and fit well on rain teams, but Starmie is a better dedicated wallbreaker, and rain teams aren't very consistent.
Checks and Counters
====
**Sylveon**: Bulky Sylveon variants can stomach a critical hit from Surf and retaliate with Moonblast or Hyper Voice, the latter having a decent chance to OHKO Kingdra and bypassing Substitute. Even offensive variants can easily survive an attack from Kingdra and OHKO in return.
**Bulky Water-types**: Despite being setup fodder for Kingdra, Vaporeon and Mantine can cripple it with Toxic and stall out turns and Draco Meteors by spamming their recovery moves.
**Offensive Pressure**: Kingdra isn't very strong nor fast before it boosts, and its bulk isn't very great; therefore, Pokemon like Rotom-C, Decidueye, and Silvally-Ghost can give it issues because Kingdra can't OHKO them without a critical hit, is slower than them without an Agility boost, and takes significant damage from their attacks, making it hard to safely set up when faced with such foes. Additionally, priority users like Sirfetch'd, Choice Band Flygon, and Toxicroak can revenge kill Kingdra regardless of if it uses Agility.
**Critical Hit-immune Foes**: Shell Armor Escavalier counters Kingdra because of its bulk and can remove Kingdra's Scope Lens with Knock Off. Battle Armor Drapion is a much shakier answer, since Draco Meteor KOes it after Stealth Rock, but it can also weaken Kingdra's damage output with Knock Off.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Rabia, 336073]]
- Quality checked by: [[quziel, 297859], [poh, 298730]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594]]
Kingdra has insane late-game potential thanks to how strong its Sniper-boosted critical hits are. The amount of Pokemon in NU that can contend with Kingdra's Water + Dragon coverage is low, and the amount that can meaningfully threaten Kingdra in return is even lower. Kingdra suffers, though, from taking multiple turns to fully set up, which gives the opponent a bit of time to prevent it from taking the game over. Additionally, many of the Pokemon it'd like to set up against, namely Vaporeon, Talonflame, and Arcanine, commonly run Toxic, which severely compromises its ability to clean late-game. Lastly, despite being one of the few offensive checks to Blastoise, Kingdra offers very little defensively compared to other Water- and Dragon-types like Vaporeon, Dragalge, and Guzzlord, meaning it requires a good amount of defensive teambuilding support.
[SET]
name: CritDra
move 1: Focus Energy
move 2: Draco Meteor
move 3: Surf
move 4: Agility
item: Scope Lens
ability: Sniper
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
The combination of Focus Energy and Scope Lens ensures Kingdra can always critically hit, letting it ignore the Special Attack drops from Draco Meteor. Alongside Agility, this severely limits overall counterplay to Kingdra once it sets up. Alternatively, Kingdra can use Substitute to avoid Toxics from Vaporeon, guaranteeing that Kingdra wins one-on-one. A Modest nature is used to guarantee an OHKO on Drapion after Stealth Rock and because Timid isn't necessary thanks to Agility.
Because Kingdra has very few answers after boosting, much of the support it requires is related to easing setup. Dual screens from Xatu is one way to do this, making it harder for powerful attackers like Toxicroak and Heliolisk to take Kingdra out. Similarly, pivots like Talonflame and Arcanine that draw in Water-types help provide Kingdra with good setup opportunities. Sylveon is one of the few foes that Kingdra can't OHKO even with a critical hit; teammates like Sirfetch'd and Passimian that can force damage onto it and push it into OHKO range are helpful as a result. Entry hazard support also works to force chip damage onto Pokemon that can stomach a hit, with Pokemon like Diancie, Copperajah, and Garbodor being good hazard setters.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Choice Specs sets possess immense power, can provide pivot support with Flip Turn, and fit well on rain teams, but Starmie is a better dedicated wallbreaker, and rain teams aren't very consistent.
Checks and Counters
====
**Sylveon**: Bulky Sylveon variants can stomach a critical hit from Surf and retaliate with Moonblast or Hyper Voice, the latter having a decent chance to OHKO Kingdra and bypassing Substitute. Even offensive variants can easily survive an attack from Kingdra and OHKO in return.
**Bulky Water-types**: Despite being setup fodder for Kingdra, Vaporeon and Mantine can cripple it with Toxic and stall out turns and Draco Meteors by spamming their recovery moves.
**Offensive Pressure**: Kingdra isn't very strong nor fast before it boosts, and its bulk isn't very great; therefore, Pokemon like Rotom-C, Decidueye, and Silvally-Ghost can give it issues because Kingdra can't OHKO them without a critical hit, is slower than them without an Agility boost, and takes significant damage from their attacks, making it hard to safely set up when faced with such foes. Additionally, priority users like Sirfetch'd, Choice Band Flygon, and Toxicroak can revenge kill Kingdra regardless of if it uses Agility.
**Critical Hit-immune Foes**: Shell Armor Escavalier counters Kingdra because of its bulk and can remove Kingdra's Scope Lens with Knock Off. Battle Armor Drapion is a much shakier answer, since Draco Meteor KOes it after Stealth Rock, but it can also weaken Kingdra's damage output with Knock Off.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Rabia, 336073]]
- Quality checked by: [[quziel, 297859], [poh, 298730]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594]]
Last edited:
