[OVERVIEW]
[SET]
name: Double Dance
move 1: Liquidation
move 2: Swords Dance
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Agility / Knock Off
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Set Details
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Usage Tips
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Team Options
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Other Options
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Water-types: Bulky Water-types such as Seismitoad or Vaporeon can easily take any 2 moves Kingler goes for, while Kingler has to fear the burn from scald, as well as fear Earth Power from Seismitoad and Toxic from Vaporeon respectively.
Grass-types: Bulky Grass-types such as Vileplume take on Kingler quite well, as Kingler does not carry ice moves, and X-Scissor hits it for neutral damage, while Giga Drain OHKO's Kingler in return. Ferroseed also takes on Kingler in this regard, but has to fear being knocked off. Offensive Grass-types like Sceptile or Whimsicott on the other hand, can flat out OHKO Kingler, but have to fear switching in. Dhelmise with a Colbur Berry also takes any move Kingler can go for, and can knock it out with a Power Whip.
Dragon-types: Since Kingler doesn't have access to physical Ice-Type coverage, Druddigon takes it on very easily. Druddigon is especially nasty for Kingler as it usually carries a Rocky Helmet, and it often runs the ability Rough Skin, which means that Kingler will heavily hurt itself after going for an attack into Druddigon.
Electric-Types: Electric-Types such as Rotom or Heliolisk can easily outspeed and OHKO Kingler from full. Heliolisk especially takes on Kingler rather well, as its ability Dry Skin makes it immune to Liquidation, however both have to fear switching into Kingler, as its coverage moves can straight up OHKO them on switch-in, while Kingler also outspeeds them after an agility and OHKO's them.
Faster Offensive Pokémon: Because of Kingler's low Speed and low Special Defense stats, it is very easily revenge killed by any offensive Pokémon with a decent Speed stat, such as Vanilluxe, Accelgor or Delphox. Comfey is especially nasty for Kingler to deal with, as it even ignores the speed that Kingler can boost with Agility, and can always KO it with Life Orb Giga Drain.
- A very high 130 Attack stat combined with a Life Orb make Kingler one of the hardest hitting Pokémon in the NU tier. Thanks to its newly gained access to the move Liquidation in USM, Kingler now has a STAB move that is boosted by Sheer Force and doesn't take Life Orb recoil. This power allows it to OHKO not only bulky Pokémon weak to water, but even some Pokémon that are neutral to it, such as Vanilluxe, Rotom, Comfey and Gallade.
- Its Defense stat is surprisingly high, which allows it to take many physical hits and even set up on some physical attackers, such as Rhydon, Piloswine or Passimian.
- Agility allows Kingler to boost its mediocre Speed stat high enough to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame, including multiple choice scarf users, like the very popular Passimian.
- It faces competition as an offensive Water-type from Samurott, which has access to a priority move in Aqua Jet, as well as the option to run a special moveset, but hits less hard than Kingler. Kingler is also slightly faster than Samurott, and able to get many more OHKOs.
- With Slowbro being one of the most common and best Pokémon in the tier, Kingler can't spam its best move Liquidation as much, as Slowbro takes this with ease, and can scare Kingler out with either scald burns, toxic or a coverage move such as Grass Knot or Zap Cannon.
- It is not very fast, making it outsped by a fairly large part of the metagame prior to Agility.
- Its Special Defense stat is very low, which means even resisted special attacks will deal a lot of damage to Kingler, such as Vaporeon's Scald. Super-effective special hits will more often than not OHKO Kingler, such as Comfey's Life Orb Giga Drain or Magmortar's Thunderbolt.
[SET]
name: Double Dance
move 1: Liquidation
move 2: Swords Dance
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Agility / Knock Off
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
==========
- Liquidation is Kingler's strongest move, being boosted by Sheer Force, Life Orb and STAB, dealing great damage to anything that doesn't resist water. Kingler outspeeds and either OHKOs or 2HKOs every single rocker in the tier, with the exception of Druddigon and Ferroseed. It is able to deal immense damage to Steelix, OHKO Piloswine, Rhydon and Diancie, as well knocking out an Incineroar even after Intimidate.
- Swords Dance allows Kingler to break through walls even more effectively, making Kingler able to OHKO a physically defensive Slowbro after rocks.
- X-Scissor is Kingler's way of beating Grass-types, and also allows it to hit both Slowbro and Slowking for good damage, 2HKO'ing any variant after rocks.
- Agility is Kingler's way of boosting its speed, effectively allowing it to outspeed the opposing team to either sweep or heavily weaken the it. Agility allows Kingler to break through offensive teams quite easily, as its physical bulk often helps it take a hit while setting up agility, and offense generally doesn't switch into Kingler well at all.
- Knock Off lets Kingler hit Ghost and Psychic-types that resist its stab, as well as remove items. The main targets for Knock Off are Dhelmise and Decidueye, but being able to knock off a Vaporeon, Vileplume or a Druddigon can also greatly benefit Kingler and the rest of its team. Knock Off also gives Kingler a way to have a good chance of OHKO'ing Heliolisk, which is immuna to Liquidation thanks to Dry Skin, and can outspeed and kill Kingler with Electric-type moves.
Set Details
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- Life Orb is Kingler's best item, working well together with its ability Sheer Force because it takes no Life Orb damage if the move is Sheer Force boosted, while giving Kingler a great boost in attacking power.
- An Adamant nature is often preferred over a Jolly nature, as this allows Kingler to break through its would-be checks after a Swords Dance, or straight up OHKO some Pokémon like Piloswine or Vanilluxe. It also allows Kingler to always OHKO Slowbro with X-Scissor after Stealth Rock damage. A Jolly nature allows you to outspeed a timid or jolly Decidueye, as well as speed tie with jolly Absol and outspeed a modest Vanilluxe.
- Its EV spread allows it to hit as hard as possible, while outspeeding almost every bulky Pokémon in the tier.
Usage Tips
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- Kingler should be used as a wallbreaker early- to midgame. It's STAB move in Liquidation is by far its most spammable move, for it hits the hardest and it doesn't take Life Orb recoil, while its other offensive moves do take that recoil and are generally weaker because they are unboosted by STAB and Sheer Force.
- Kingler has a high Defense stat, allowing it to switch hard into some physical attackers such as Piloswine or Rhydon, but its Special Defense is so low that switching it into any special hit would be unwise.
- Try to get Kingler in after gaining momentum with Volt Switch Or U-Turn on a wall, so you can ensure that Kingler gets a strong hit off.
- If you are facing offense, you could try to make a double switch to get Kingler on the field in an advantageous position, where it can often find a KO, as most offense doesn't run a good switch-in to Kingler, or try to set up an agility, which can allow it to break the opponent's team or even sweep.
- You can try to set up either a Swords Dance or an Agility, depending on the matchup, versus the likes of Piloswine, Rhydon, or Steelix. All are scared out by Kingler, and with the exception of Steelix, die to one regluar Liquidation. This can give you a free turn to set up, as the opponent will often switch out. Even if they don't switch out, Kingler's physical bulk will usually allow it to any hit from those three from full.
- If you are facing a very defensive/bulky team, it is preferred to try and set up a Swords Dance, in order to break through the team with Kingler. If the team is more offensively based, it is preferred to try and set up an agility to break/sweep, or to to get in Kingler in a favorable position to simply get a KO.
Team Options
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- Kingler enjoys the support of Volt Switch or U-Turn, so it can come in freely and try to break through the opposing team. A U-Turn Passimian or Incineroar very often invites in the Pokémon Kingler can easily beat, such as Diancie or Rhydon, so those are good partners to it.
- Bulky Water-types are the hardest for Kingler to break through, so an Electric-type or Grass-type partner can also greatly benefit it. Vileplume for example switches in on a few threats Kingler doesn't want to be in against, such as Comfey, Heliolisk or Vaporeon.
- With the support of hazards, Kingler has an even better time knocking out opposing Pokémon. Kingler very much appreciates the support that Stealth Rock and Spikes gives it. Ground-types with Stealth Rock especially pair up well with Kingler, as they are immune to one of Kingler's weaknesses in electric.
- Because Kingler's Special Defense is so low, it can also be a good idea to pair it up with specially defensive Pokémon, so your team isn't too weak to special attackers.
- Kingler's wallbreaking abilities make it a good partner for offensive Pokémon such as Passimian, Incineroar and Heliolisk, as they enjoy Kingler being able to get rid of their checks such as bulky Rock-types or bulky Ground-Types.
Other Options
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- Substitute is a move that can be run on Kingler. Substitute gives Kingler a better matchup versus stall, but also in general allows you to dodge status moves such as Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp or Toxic.
- Rock Slide can be used as a way to hit a few Pokémon harder, and it gets a Sheer Force boost too, but the coverage simply isn't needed as the other three coverage options hit almost everything in the meta at least as hard.
- Another move Kingler cant opt for is Superpower, which allows it to break through steel types more easily, but Liquidation hits every steel type in NU for at least a 2HKO anyway, and doesn't take Life Orb recoil.
- Ice Beam can be run in order to hit Dragon-types such as Druddigon harder, while also damaging Grass-types. This is only an option because the move is boosted by both Sheer Force and Life Orb. However, Kingler's Special Attack stat is pathetically weak, which means even this boosted move will do very little damage to anything that is not four times weak to it.
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Water-types: Bulky Water-types such as Seismitoad or Vaporeon can easily take any 2 moves Kingler goes for, while Kingler has to fear the burn from scald, as well as fear Earth Power from Seismitoad and Toxic from Vaporeon respectively.
Grass-types: Bulky Grass-types such as Vileplume take on Kingler quite well, as Kingler does not carry ice moves, and X-Scissor hits it for neutral damage, while Giga Drain OHKO's Kingler in return. Ferroseed also takes on Kingler in this regard, but has to fear being knocked off. Offensive Grass-types like Sceptile or Whimsicott on the other hand, can flat out OHKO Kingler, but have to fear switching in. Dhelmise with a Colbur Berry also takes any move Kingler can go for, and can knock it out with a Power Whip.
Dragon-types: Since Kingler doesn't have access to physical Ice-Type coverage, Druddigon takes it on very easily. Druddigon is especially nasty for Kingler as it usually carries a Rocky Helmet, and it often runs the ability Rough Skin, which means that Kingler will heavily hurt itself after going for an attack into Druddigon.
Electric-Types: Electric-Types such as Rotom or Heliolisk can easily outspeed and OHKO Kingler from full. Heliolisk especially takes on Kingler rather well, as its ability Dry Skin makes it immune to Liquidation, however both have to fear switching into Kingler, as its coverage moves can straight up OHKO them on switch-in, while Kingler also outspeeds them after an agility and OHKO's them.
Faster Offensive Pokémon: Because of Kingler's low Speed and low Special Defense stats, it is very easily revenge killed by any offensive Pokémon with a decent Speed stat, such as Vanilluxe, Accelgor or Delphox. Comfey is especially nasty for Kingler to deal with, as it even ignores the speed that Kingler can boost with Agility, and can always KO it with Life Orb Giga Drain.
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