Ruling the people with an iron claw!
[Overview]
<p>Kingler is an interesting Pokemon to use in the VGC 2012 metagame. It manages to hit pretty hard thanks to its base 130 Attack, and in conjunction with a decent physical movepool, it can be a surprise threat to some teams. However, due to its base 75 Speed stat, numerous threats such as Thundurus, Zapdos, and the Rotom formes outspeed it. Thanks to its middling base 75 Speed, Kingler is a good Trick Room sweeper as it has an edge over many of its common checks. Kingler can also be a good sweeper under the rain, but it usually finds itself outclassed by other common physical attackers found on rain teams, such as Toxicroak and Kingdra.</p>
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Crabhammer
move 2: X-Scissor / Superpower
move 3: Rock Slide / Guillotine
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
ability: Hyper Cutter
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set is probably the best set you're going to be able to get out of Kingler. Crabhammer is the best STAB move in Kingler's arsenal, hitting many common threats in the metagame, such as Tyranitar, Terrakion, and Infernape for tons of damage. X-Scissor is for coverage in the second slot, hitting Psychic- and Dark-types such as Reuniclus and Slowking for super effective damage. It also hits Water-types such as Politoed and Rotom-W for neutral damage. Superpower provides the same coverage, although it is ineffective against Psychic-types; however, the Attack and Defense drops can be annoying as they pretty much force you to switch or treat Kingler as death fodder for the rest of the match. The third slot is all filler due to Kingler's lack of a better movepool. However, these options are still worth using in a battle. Rock Slide surprises Flying- and Ice-types, such as Zapdos and Abomasnow, that think they can tank a Crabhammer. However, due to Rock Slide's low offensive output, Guillotine can actually be a solid option to use. Even though it has god-awful accuracy, it can net surprise KOes every now and again. Protect helps Kingler stay safe for a turn from possible threats, such as Zapdos and Rotom-W, while a partner takes care of them with moves of their own. Protect can also be used to prevent being hit by the common Fake Out.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Kingler is highlighted for it's attacking abilities, making Life Orb ideal for maxing out Kingler's offensive output. However, when the recoil damage of Life Orb is combined with Kingler's very low special bulk, it is left open to many hard hitting special attackers, such as Chandelure, Nidoking, and Thundurus. Focus Sash enables Kingler to tank a hit from any of the aforementioned Pokemon and retaliate back with one of its own moves. Hyper Cutter is Kingler's best ability, giving Kingler an immunity to the ever-so-common Intimidate. An Adamant nature along with maximum investment in Attack and Speed enables Kingler to hit as hard as possible and outspeed all neutral base 70 Speed Pokemon, such as Hitmontop and Metagross.</p>
<p>Kingler loves the support of Pokemon with Prankster that can set up Rain Dance, such as Thundurus and Sableye. These two Pokemon are more effective teammates than Politoed as they minimize the team's weakness to Grass- and Electric-type attacks, as opposed to worsening them. They are also able to change the weather condition instantly, which help Kingler against Pokemon such as Drought Ninetales and Sand Stream Tyranitar. Lightningrod users can help Kingler a lot by taking incoming Thunderbolts and Thunder Waves, which can then either be used to raise their Special Attack, or in the case of Ground-type users, can simply be absorbed. Supporting Pokemon such as Sableye, Cresselia, and Hitmontop, can each help Kingler do its job through support from Fake Out, Helping Hand, and Trick, respectively.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Kingler has a few other cool options that it can use. Even with a low base 75 Speed, when equipped with a Choice Scarf, Kingler can outspeed base 120 Speed Pokemon such as Weavile and Swellow. However, a base 75 Speed is still fairly low, making Trick Room a viable option for Kingler. Sadly, Crawdaunt completely outclasses Kingler at running a Trick Room set, due to its lower Speed, better special bulk, and useful secondary STAB. Flail with Focus Sash can be used, but with the barrage of spread moves that you'll find in doubles, Kingler may find setting up difficult. Other attacking moves such as Return and Brick Break can be used for slightly better neutral coverage, but they have lower Base Power. Wide Guard can be used to provide teammates with protection from moves such as Discharge, Surf, and Blizzard. Finally, Sheer Force can be used, but sadly Kingler has too poor a movepool to make use of this amazing ability.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Even though the rain can be Kingler's friend, it attracts a lot of its threats that take advantage of rain and can beat Kingler one-on-one, such as Ludicolo, Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, and Zapdos. Choice Scarf Abomasnow can easily outspeed Kingler and OHKO it with Giga Drain. Sun can make Kingler completely useless by halving the power of Crabhammer, with most Pokemon commonly found on sun teams resisting or only taking neutral from Kingler's coverage moves. Strong special attackers such as Chandelure, Thundurus, and Latios, can easily break through Kingler's awful special bulk and OHKO it with their powerful STAB moves. In general, most Electric-types, such as Rotom-W and Thundurus, that can outspeed Kingler can quickly take it out with their STAB moves.</p>
