Checkmate: Kingambit in National Dex OU
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Art by Pissog.
Introduction
National Dex is home to every single Pokémon ever released and also features moves like Pursuit, as well as moves that Pokémon could only learn in past generations, including Scald for Toxapex, Knock Off on Weavile, Roost on Scizor and Volcarona, and Toxic on multiple Pokémon. Every Pokémon excluded from the regional Pokédex is also available for players to use, including the likes of Melmetal, Ferrothorn, and all four of the Alolan Guardians. This greatly opens up teambuilding as a result, with many more defensive and offensive options to choose from. Many Pokémon receive buffs as a result of their movesets being restored; examples include Rotom-W, Tyranitar, and most importantly Kingambit.
The King's Gambit Begins
Kingambit was introduced in Generation 9 as an evolution to Bisharp, which was introduced four generations prior to it. Kingambit boasts an impressive BST and well-distributed stats, boosting Bisharp's already solid Attack stat further. Its bulk is also massively improved, letting it take hits much better than Bisharp. All that doesn't improve is its Speed, but it has tools to solve that, which will be covered later.
In early National Dex, Kingambit wasn't anything major, it was just seen as an upgrade to Bisharp (or by some, a downgrade). It was stronger, used the exact same set, and had better bulk. Very straightforward, but nothing much ideal in the early metagame; it struggled to stand up to behemoths such as Iron Bundle and Flutter Mane, which were everywhere. However, as the metagame settled, Kingambit started to find its footing as one of the best Pokémon in the tier.
Kingambit's exceptional bulk and good defensive typing in Dark / Steel meant it was capable of pinning current metagame threats like Gholdengo and Dragapult, trapping them with Pursuit and securing an advantageous position. It's also amazing at exploiting common defensive pieces such as utility Tornadus-T and Clodsire, using boosts given from Supreme Overlord to more adequately dispose of the latter. Kingambit's bulk alllows it to force out more offensive pieces like Mega Diancie and Choice Scarf Tapu Lele; neither can OHKO Kingambit, which means it can easily set up with Swords Dance or Pursuit trap them for extra chip damage. Overall, Kingambit is a very strong component of the metagame, so let's take a look at how exactly it exploits its foes.
Dominating the Chessboard
Kingambit is seen on many playstyles, ranging from hyper offense to balance. The utility it brings via Knock Off, Pursuit, and checking the most dangerous Ghost-type in the tier in Dragapult is not to be understated. Pursuit support is what makes Kingambit especially effective. By removing threats like Tapu Lele, Tornadus-T, Dragapult, and Gholdengo, teammates like your own Tapu Lele, Great Tusk, Urshifu-R, and Zamazenta become much more threatening. Kingambit's effectiveness on multiple playstyles and ability to enable many Pokémon make it a strong choice in the current metagame. Below are sets that Kingambit commonly uses at the moment.
The King's Arsenal
Kingambit @ Black Glasses- Ability: Supreme Overlord
- Tera Type: Dark / Ghost / Fire
- EVs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
- Adamant Nature
- - Knock Off
- - Iron Head
- - Sucker Punch
- - Swords Dance
Swords Dance makes Kingambit a powerful sweeper, taking advantage of the many switches it forces to set up and begin its attack on the foe. Sucker Punch alleviates one of its main flaws in its underwhelming Speed tier and lets it threaten faster foes like Tornadus-T, Mega Charizard Y, Dragapult, and more. With the given EV spread, Kingambit will always outspeed Corviknight and Skeledirge. Black Glasses provides a slight power boost that gives Knock Off and Sucker Punch a little more strength against targets like Garchomp and Landorus-T. Tera Dark gives Kingambit the power boost needed to break through bulkier Pokémon like Ferrothorn as well as Sucker Punch-resistant threats like Mega Lopunny and Tapu Koko. Alternatively, Tera Ghost allows Kingambit to shed its Fighting and Ground weaknesses, which lets it beat revenge killers like Landorus-T, Iron Valiant, and Garchomp, while Tera Fire lets it avoid Will-O-Wisp from Rotom-W and deliver a fatal Knock Off in return.
- Kingambit @ Black Glasses
- Ability: Supreme Overlord
- Tera Type: Dark / Ghost
- EVs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
- Adamant Nature
- - Knock Off
- - Pursuit
- - Iron Head
- - Sucker Punch
Running is not an option once Kingambit decides to use Pursuit instead of Swords Dance. This allows it to more effectively eliminate Pokémon it switches into, with the most important of those being Dragapult, an incredibly potent threat that would often employ its hit-and-run playstyle unscathed if it weren't for Kingambit. Gholdengo is also a notable Pursuit target, and it's an offensive threat that's forced to Terastallize to avoid taking heavy damage, which lets teammates like Zamazenta more easily exploit it. Tera Dark and Ghost are here for the same reasons as Swords Dance; the former provides a power boost, while the latter lets Kingambit shed weaknesses and allows it to beat offensive threats like Sacred Sword Kartana and Volcarona one-on-one.
Capturing Pieces
A king simply can't take opposing pieces all on its own. It needs pawns to do the dirty work for it! Kingambit often has trouble against bulkier Sucker Punch-resistant Pokémon, most notably Great Tusk, Zamazenta, and Urshifu-R. It also struggles against faster Fairy-types like Iron Valiant and Tapu Lele, being forced to Terastallize into a Ghost-type to beat the former and having its Sucker Punch completely blocked by the latter. Ghost-types like Gholdengo and Dragapult have also adapted to Kingambit, with the former using Tera Water to set up on non-Swords Dance Kingambit and the latter using Will-O-Wisp to cripple either set. In regards to slower foes, Kingambit is entirely unable to break Skarmory and Buzzwole, two exceptionally bulky physical walls. So, here are the pawns that pair proficiently with the prosperous potentate.
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Medicham @ MedichamiteMega Medicham + Kingambit is a potent offensive core. Kingambit Pursuit traps or pressures Mega Medicham checks in Gholdengo, Mega Latias, Hatterene, and Weavile, whereas Mega Medicham can pressure bulkier Kingambit checks like Buzzwole, Toxapex, defensive Landorus-T, and Ting-Lu. Mega Medicham also heavily appreciates Kingambit checking offensive threats like Dragapult and Tornadus-T, further solidifying the synergy they share.
It is important to note that Kingambit shares similar synergy with many other Fighting-types. Notable examples include Zamazenta and Iron Valiant, both of which appreciate Kingambit Pursuit trapping Dragapult and Gholdengo.
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Toxapex @ Heavy-Duty BootsToxapex + Kingambit is a solid defensive core, with both taking care of each other's unfavorable matchups and covering a ton of the metagame. Kingambit better checks Choice Specs Dragapult and can deal with Toxapex switch-ins, like Gholdengo and bulky Taunt Tornadus-T, and Kingambit appreciates Toxapex checking Urshifu-R, Zamazenta, and Iron Valiant. Knock Off support also allows Toxic Spikes to have more of an effect against Heavy-Duty Boots users like Great Tusk and Volcarona.
Kingambit can be partnered up with almost anything, with other examples being Tapu Koko and Cyclizar on hyper offense, Tornadus-T and Garchomp on bulky offense, and Skarmory and Hippowdon on balance teams, using Defiant as a Defog deterrent on the latter.
Parting Words
It's no surprise that Kingambit has risen to the top as one of the best Pokémon in the tier. With threats like Tornadus-T, Tapu Lele, and Dragapult being used constantly, Kingambit is an incredibly consistent way to punish them, utilizing its good set of tools in Pursuit, Knock Off, and defensive typing to further assist whatever team it may find itself on. You can go talk more about how amazing Kingambit is in the National Dex OU room on Pokémon Showdown! or check out its performance in ongoing tournaments!
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