It runs into the same problem as the xX360NOSCOPEXx set with Agility in that it needs 2 turns of setup to work.One set that you are missing is Dragon Dance.
Kingdra
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Rain Dance
This set more or less focuses on outspeeding the target. In the rain, 269 speed doubled is 538, outspeeding every pokemon in existence. And after a Dragon Dance, being pretty fast. 317 attack can be boosted to an extent after a dragon dance, and sweeping with outrage and waterfall would be pretty easy.
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Pokémon Kingdra
- Thread starter Temporaryanonymous
- Start date
- Status
The Shellder Smuggler
Banned deucer.
That's true. But 75/95/95 defenses can tank a few hits, anyway. To be fair, maybe substitute would be better to get a free Dragon Dance up. One thing that's going to make me sound like I know nothing about Pokemon is the fact that Iron Head is a viable option (PokeBank) to cover Fairies.
+1 252 Atk Kingdra Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Florges: 290-342 (80.5 - 95%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Kingdra outspeeds Florges, and can avoid the MoonBlast 2HKO. Rain Dance may not be too viable, but Swift Swin could work well on Rain Teams
Sylveon's a more relevant calculation in OU, but it doesn't matter much since it takes the same amount of damage.
I don't think Iron Head's a good idea, though. Sniper sets are specially-based, and since Swift Swim sets are paired with rain, a netural Waterfall/Hydro Pump will do more damage than a super-effective Iron Head.
The Shellder Smuggler
Banned deucer.
Totally forgot to consider rain, sorry about that.
One set that you are missing is Dragon Dance.
Kingdra
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Rain Dance
This set more or less focuses on outspeeding the target. In the rain, 269 speed doubled is 538, outspeeding every pokemon in existence. And after a Dragon Dance, being pretty fast. 317 attack can be boosted to an extent after a dragon dance, and sweeping with outrage and waterfall would be pretty easy.
If you are running Swift Swim and Dragon Dance why do you need the full Speed investment? Couldn't you use some of that speed for extra bulk? In rain, you only need about 56 speed EVs to outspeed almost every unboosted/unscarfed Pokemon.
The Shellder Smuggler
Banned deucer.
Lol, I just keep making careless mistakes.
I would've normally put that, but I typed that really quickly, so please excuse my mistake. Yes, you do only need 56 EVs in the rain and after a dragon dance to outspeed the whole metagame. Thanks for putting that out mate.
Haha, it happens. I like this set, but I'm not the biggest fan of Rain (Or any other weather condition) but I've seen battles on the WiFi were Kingdra sweeps entire teams under the rain.
The Shellder Smuggler
Banned deucer.
Lol, I know what you mean :]
You forgot to mention in the counters that Freeze-Dry is a thing.
While not seen too much in the meta, it gives Kingdra x4 weakness to Ice.
While not seen too much in the meta, it gives Kingdra x4 weakness to Ice.
The most viable users aren't even viable in UU. It is saying something when the best freeze dry user is Cryogonal.
Mamoswine...?
Low special attack...?
16 SpA Life Orb Mamoswine Freeze Dry vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kingdra: 312-374 (107.2 - 128.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Kingdra is faster than Mamoswine and OHKOs it with Surf. Freeze Dry is not a concern for it.
Jolly Mamo will outspeed an Adamant/Modest Kingdra so you will need to watch out for them.
That's is irrelevant as all mambo swine are running adamant or naughty to increase the damage output as it needs as much power as possible. Kingdra honestly is only ever seen in rain teams running either life orb or specs now that critdra has ceased into mere myth.
I'm seeing a lot more +speed natures in the higher tiers with a life orb to outrun Heatran. This means that Mamo can revenge kill all Kingdra running modest or adamant and since rain hasn't really made a full comeback in OU yet, this isn't exactly a far-fetched idea.
There's no reason to use Kingdra outside of a rain team though, so a lot of times you're going to have x2 speed. Plus Mamoswine gets OHKOed by Kingdra's most spammable attack, so even outside of rain it's not switching in.
It's just not a good check.
Critical Hits now ignore your own stat drops rather than only ignoring the opponent's stat boosts. This means that with a Focus Energy and a Scope Lens (the combo giving Kingdra 100% crit chance), Kingdra is free to fire off Draco Meteors which will always crit, meaning the SpAtk drops will not matter. This, combined with Kingdra's ability Sniper (boosts the damage of crits) makes for a nuke machine.
Ohh wow and here I was about to use draco meteor just be cause I knew it was its most powerful move, but the whole time kingdra can effectively abuse it.
The biggest problem with CritDra (as the set is called), is that it fails massively against fairy types, pokemon that can outspeed it, and steel types that resist Draco Meteor. And Draco Meteor is not the most powerful move. Victini's V-Create takes the cake in terms of pure base power+STAB, though I think Lando's Sheer Force+LO Earth Power and Charizard Y's Fire Blast in the Sun with STAB can contend with this as well.
And you are forgetting Darmanitans Banded Sheer Force Flare Blitz and Mega-Medichams HJK. The thing with Draco Meteor is that it ignores all stat drops on your side and stat boosts on your opponents side. Meaning if you have a problem with stuff like BP and Crocune or something Kingdra can come in, set up a Focus energy ad your opponent tries to CM more to survive whatever attack it's predicting, and crit straight through the boosts with Draco
- Status