Pokémon Gyarados

[MattL]

Edit: Due to the Dynamax ban in OU, a lot of the information in the original version of this post is now obsolete for OU. Dynamax is still allowed in National Dex OU, Ubers, non-Smogon formats, and so on, so the original post is in the spoiler tag at the bottom.

Here are considerations for the new post-Dynamax meta:

• Dragon Dance and Waterfall are still must-haves on every Gyarados. Don't run Choiced Gyarados - there are a lot better options, like Dracovish. And Waterfall is strong, consistent, STAB, and has great neutral coverage. Gyarados has a lot of coverage options but if you drop Waterfall you'd have a massive hole in Gyarados's potential.
• Power Whip still has a ton of merit due to prominent Pokemon such as Seismitoad, Rotom-W, and to a lesser extent Jellicent and Gastrodon running around, and I would probably say that Power Whip should be run on the vast majority of Gyarados.
• Obviously, Bounce is now incredibly worse as an option and probably shouldn't be run. As a super gimmick, I suppose you could run Power Herb with Moxie to maybe get a surprise kill and get the snowball rolling, but unlike the 160 power nuke that was Supersonic Skystrike (Bounce's Z-move), the 85 power Bounce really pales in comarison and is much less reliable way to pick up a KO. Bounce is just not recommended now.
• Earthquake is probably the best last slot. It provides valuable coverage against Toxapex and Dracozolt, which Waterfall + Power Whip can't really break through otherwise, hits Aegislash harder and avoids King's Shield, and hits Dragapult the hardest.
• Taunt and Substitute have merits against defensive Pokemon, easing setup and shutting some of them down, but you lose valuable coverage, making you walled by a lot more Pokemon.
• Jolly nature still outspeeds things like Jolly Scarf Dracovish and Dracozolt. It also outspeeds Dragapult, but now without Max Airstream, you can't really kill it without a lot of prior damage... even +1 EQ doesn't come close to killing from full.
• It's harder to snowball now without insane weapons like Max Airstream and Max Geyser, meaning it'll be harder to get Moxie boosts.
• Dynamax's ban doesn't affect the fact that Heavy-Duty Boots is still a great item. Not losing a quarter of your health assists in being able to set up and not get revenge killed.

Those aside, here's an updated set. As I alluded to in the above bullets, and as is the case for most Gyarados throughout the generations, there is some room for variation.

Gyarados @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate / Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Power Whip
- Earthquake

ORIGINAL POST

This legendary dragon is a powerful engine of destruction. Virtually invincible, very few have faced this awesome creature and lived to tell the tale.

...what do you mean, "wrong dragon"?

Gen 8 Competitive Overview

Gyarados is unquestionably one of the best, if not the best offensive threat in the metagame. You're already familiar with its potency from previous generations, but in Sword & Shield, its capabilities skyrocket to insane levels via Dynamax, higher than its Mega Evolution or Z-Crystal variants were able to reach. In summary, if you build a team that has no way of dealing with Dyanamax Gyarados, then your team will likely have trouble succeeding in the metagame.

/

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Base Stats:

Full Movepool

Level Up Moves:
- [00] Bite
- [01] Bite
- [01] Flail
- [01] Splash
- [01] Tackle
- [01] Leer
- [01] Twister
- [04] Whirlpool
- [08] Ice Fang
- [12] Brine
- [16] Scary Face
- [21] Waterfall
- [24] Crunch
- [28] Rain Dance
- [32] Aqua Tail
- [36] Dragon Dance
- [40] Hydro Pump
- [44] Hurricane
- [48] Thrash
- [52] Hyper Beam
TMs:
- [TM08] Hyper Beam
- [TM09] Giga Impact
- [TM14] Thunder Wave
- [TM21] Rest
- [TM24] Snore
- [TM25] Protect
- [TM26] Scary Face
- [TM27] Icy Wind
- [TM31] Attract
- [TM32] Sandstorm
- [TM33] Rain Dance
- [TM35] Hail
- [TM36] Whirlpool
- [TM39] Facade
- [TM45] Dive
- [TM52] Bounce
- [TM55] Brine
- [TM57] Payback
- [TM64] Avalanche
- [TM67] Ice Fang
- [TM76] Round
- [TM81] Bulldoze
- [TM97] Brutal Swing
TRs:
- [TR01] Body Slam
- [TR02] Flamethrower
- [TR03] Hydro Pump
- [TR04] Surf
- [TR05] Ice Beam
- [TR06] Blizzard
- [TR08] Thunderbolt
- [TR09] Thunder
- [TR10] Earthquake
- [TR15] Fire Blast
- [TR16] Waterfall
- [TR20] Substitute
- [TR24] Outrage
- [TR26] Endure
- [TR27] Sleep Talk
- [TR31] Iron Tail
- [TR32] Crunch
- [TR35] Uproar
- [TR37] Taunt
- [TR45] Muddy Water
- [TR51] Dragon Dance
- [TR58] Dark Pulse
- [TR62] Dragon Pulse
- [TR72] Power Whip
- [TR74] Iron Head
- [TR75] Stone Edge
- [TR84] Scald
- [TR89] Hurricane

Notable Moves

- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall / Aqua Tail (Dynamax: both become 130 power and summon Rain)
- Bounce (Dynamax: becomes 130 power and boosts Speed by 1 stage)
- Power Whip (Dynamax: becomes 140 power and summons Grassy Terrain)
- Earthquake (Dynamax: becomes 130 power and boosts Special Defense by 1 stage)
- Taunt / Substitute
- Stone Edge / Ice Fang / Crunch / Outrage / Iron Tail/Head

Pros

- High Attack stat and access to many strong physical coverage moves

- Has one of the best boosting moves in the game in Dragon Dance

- Solid defensive typing, good special bulk, and the potential to artificially augment its physical bulk via Intimidate afford it plenty of opportunities to safely use Dragon Dance. Its natural bulk and typing make it difficult to take down once it receives the massive HP boost from Dynamax

- The mechanics of Dynamaxing reduce or even eliminate a lot of the unfavorable variance in power of its STAB moves. Notice that Waterfall (80 power) and Earthquake (100 power) both become 130 power Max moves, and that the most powerful Max moves have 150 power. Traditionally, Waterfall and Bounce are not as strong, but the mechanics of Dynamax significantly close the gap in power, and make them more powerful relative to other moves than they usually would be

- Both of its STAB Max moves have insanely good secondary effects which improve its offensive potential in both aspects. Max Geyser's rain makes Gyarados's Water attacks much more powerful (and allows it to support its teammates if run on a rain team), and Max Airstream increases Gyarados's Speed, making it harder to revenge kill and often allowing Gyarados to complete the sweep

- The above point, alongside the potential of the ability Moxie, allow Gyarados to snowball and sweep through teams easily

- Unlike Mega and Z-move Gyarados, Gen 8 Gyarados has a free item slot. This allows it to be immune to Stealth Rock via Heavy Duty Boots, makes it harder to chip down via Leftovers, or raises its power to insane levels via Life Orb, to name a few

Cons

- Because Dyanamax Gyarados is such a potent and common threat, the vast majority of competent teams are prepared for it, often building with it specifically in mind. This decreases Gyarados's effectiveness

- While Gyarados does not have a poor Speed stat, 81 base Speed is not fantastic, causing it to be outsped by some Pokemon even after it has boosted

- In order to boost with Dragon Dance, Gyarados must use it before Dynamaxing, as Dragon Dance becomes Max Guard

- Suffers from 4MSS (Four MoveSlot Syndrome) to a greater extent, and does not possess physical Fighting coverage, which it would appreciate in some scenarios

- The fact that it even has a 4x weakness makes it slightly easier to take out. Also, being a physical attacker makes it susceptible to Burn

- If you choose to Dynamax another Pokemon on your team, Bounce is not that great of a STAB move

Dynamax Potential

As has been heavily suggested already, Gyarados becomes insane when Dynamaxing and is often going to be the Pokemon you want to Dynamax. Gyarados is still good without Dynamaxing, but the amazing secondary effects and boosts in power to its STAB moves, plus Dynamax preventing Bounce from being a two-turn move make Gyarados benefit from Dynamax more than most other Pokemon. Although you can Dynamax any Pokemon on your team, it is perfectly reasonable to build your team with the intention of Gyarados being the Pokemon you most often choose to Dynamax. When you face an opposing Gyarados, you should prepare for it to Dynamax as well.

--- Moveset ---

Gyarados kind of only has one moveset with several potential variations, rather than having multiple distinctly different movesets, but it is menacing nonetheless:

Gyarados @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Power Whip

The EVs and Dragon Dance are self-explanatory. Most often you will want to run both STABs for their power and amazing secondary effects. Power Whip is the most common final move, providing valuable coverage against Water-types such as Seismitoad, and Rotom-W who would wall the set otherwise. Heavy-Duty Boots prevents Gyarados from losing a quarter of its health from Stealth Rock, allowing it to set up more easily and making it tougher to KO. Moxie is chosen to allow Gyarados to snowball and much more easily shred its way through teams.

Variations

Moves:
- Earthquake does way more to Toxapex, which is annoying because it can Haze and potentially burn you, but leaves you walled by Rotom-W (unless you want to drop one of your STAB moves for it). Keep in mind that once rain it set up, Max Geyser does more to a neutral Steel-type than Max Quake.
- Taunt prevents Haze from Toxapex and Galarian Corsola, Will-o-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Leech Seed, etc. but reduces your coverage, increasing the number of Pokemon that wall you.
- Substitute has the same problem of losing you coverage in exchange for safety in setting up. Gyarados naturally forces out a lot of Pokemon, giving you a free Sub, however keep in mind that the action of Dynamaxing removes your Sub.
- Gyarados has other options such as Stone Edge, Ice Fang, Crunch, Outrage, Iron Tail/Head, etc., but it's already really strapped for moveslots and these moves usually provide inferior coverage, along with them not having as beneficial of a secondary effect like Max Knuckle does.
- Aqua Tail is stronger, but both it and Waterfall become the same power Max Geyser, plus Waterfall is 100% accurate and its flinch chance can come in clutch.

Item: If your team is adept at hazard control, then Leftovers might be a good option over Heavy-Duty boots. Keep in mind that 4 turns of Leftovers recovers the same amount of health as Gyarados loses from switching into Stealth Rock. The difference is that Leftovers provides passive recovery, while Heavy-Duty Boots prevents any initial big chunk of lost health, so you wouldn't be at the lower health in the first place. Life Orb allows Gyarados to pick up some crucial KOs that it otherwise wouldn't have, but then you wear yourself out with Life Orb recoil, along with the opponent having the potential opportunity to play around Gyarados and rack up recoil. Taking Life Orb recoil is welcome in exchange for picking up a KO you wouldn't have, but on the other hand, if you don't knock them out, the recoil you do incur alongside not having Heavy-Duty Boots or Leftovers makes it much more likely that you will be KOd yourself.

Ability: Intimidate is a solid ability as well. Gyarados has lower physical bulk, and Intimidate allows you to survive physical hits that otherwise might have knocked you out, overall making it easier for Gyarados to set up. However, this makes it so Gyarados has a lower ceiling, as you won't be increasing your Attack after every KO, making it harder to complete the sweep or dent as big of a hole in your opponent's team. Also keep in mind that Intimidate was "nerfed" a little in this generation, with the introduction of Mirror Armor (though most Corviknight run Pressure), and some old abilities being immune to it or benefiting in the case of Rattled. These scenarios are not that common, however.

EVs: I don't imagine there's much variation in the EVs. Maybe a couple EVs can be moved from Attack into HP if it allows Gyarados to survive a common hit it'll be taking, but most often you just want to run max max.

Nature: The meta is nowhere near developed yet and so speed tiers will be changing. Adamant does provide very helpful power and probably picks up some KOs that Jolly might not, but Jolly helps versus Togekiss, another potent Dynamax sweeper, opposing Gyarados, and at +1 you outspeed +Speed natured Dragapults. However, I am certain that the preferred nature can fluctuate as the meta changes and will always be influenced by your team and even just personal preference.

How to Handle Gyarados

Despite all of its amazing qualities, Gyarados is not unstoppable, so here are some ways to handle it (aside from "lol just use an Electric move!" - yes, we all know that it's 4x weak to Electric, it's more complex than that):

- Ferrothorn: especially if it's physically defensive, Ferrothorn doesn't take much from Gyarados, and actually if you use your Dynamax on Ferrothorn, you can beat Gyarados 1-on-1 even after a couple boosts due to the massive boost in HP and Max Overgrowth doing solid damage.

- Ditto: a very popular pick at the moment due to all of the crazy offense running around, and Ditto thrives in such an environment as it can use insane HO against itself to copy the boosts and countersweep.

- (Scarf) Rotom-W: has a higher base Speed than Gyarados, and a defensive-enough one can survive Gyarados's Max Overgrowth, barring Life Orb. Scarf Electric-types in general also obviously, but keep in mind that due to Dynamax giving Gyarados way more bulk, simply having an Electric-type move isn't enough to guarantee a KO. It has to be pretty strong.

- Reflect/Aurora Veil: allows opposing Gyarados's power to be greatly hampered

- Set up before it does: if you have your own Gyarados/Hawlucha/Togekiss or anything like that, you might find an opportunity to set up and apply pressure such that the opposing Gyarados doesn't really have an opportunity to set up.

There are more ways than this, but this gives you some ideas.

Overall Summary

Gyarados is better than ever due to the multitude of insane buffs Dynamax provides, allowing it to tear through teams like never before. Dynamax Gyarados is debateably broken, and something that all teams should both consider using and prepare for. Don't mindlessly set up and attack though - you need to adequately wear down the opposing team and find a good, safe opportunity to set up. But once you have, Dynamax Gyarados becomes a centralizing and destructive force that has already and certainly will continue to have a heavy influence on the metagame and teambuilding.

 

[JTD783]

This could be said for basically any sweeper currently, but due to how Shadow Tag and Arena Trap are not banned in Gen 8 Beta OU it’s possible to run Gyarados sets with less coverage moves and use Gothitelle or Dugtrio to trap and eliminate Pokémon that would otherwise wall Gyarados.

For example:

Gyarados with Sub/DD/Waterfall/Bounce +
Gothitelle with Calm Mind/Psychic/Energy Ball/Shadow Ball

Gyara beats down most of the meta while Goth traps bulky waters and beats Unaware mons.

Substitute looks amazing on Gyara since it can be used well alongside lefties and/or Intimidate, is harder to break after Dynamaxing, and most importantly stops Ditto’s Imposter from working.

 

[LORD SAGIS]

This has to be the best mon in the tier right now. It almost single handily makes Ditto from a niche pick on bulkier archetypes, to almost a required on every team. Gyarados is the main reason I think Dynamaxing is a busted mechanic. Some games it just sets up once then wins. It also abuses Shadow Tag users like Gothitelle and Wobbuffet who just remove any attempt to stop it. Corsola-G is probably your best bet since its immune to trapping.

 

[Ranger Mike]

This pokemon is absolute horse shit please ban good night.

Seriously though if it gets a good switch in against a pokemon like a barraskewda there's not really anything you can do, even the ditto sets and mons like ferro will get absolutely demolished by its sub dd set, I don't know the calcs but I assume that a dynamax waterfall in the rain nukes quagsire too so I don't really think that that's a counter either. Like this mon will 100% just 6-0 some teams because it gets a lucky switch in, it's genuinely incredible. Not to mention that gyara's typing makes it nearly impossible to handle via priority, which one would be inclined to combat a dd pokemon with, given that gyara boasts a resistence to mach bunch, bullet punch, aqua yet, and a neutrality to ice shard.

Someone please tell me how tf you beat this pokemon I've been sitting here for the last 30 minutes trying to figure it out

 

[Darvin]

Someone please tell me how tf you beat this pokemon I've been sitting here for the last 30 minutes trying to figure it out

I've found Ditto works just fine, all you need is something that can live a single hit and break Gyarados' substitute. Sub/DD Gyarados has no room for coverage moves, meaning something like Aegislash doesn't have to worry about a Max Quake and something like Rotom-W doesn't need to worry about Max Overgrowth. You live the hit, pop that substitute, and then Ditto is in business. You'll usually need to sack something to Gyarados if he finds a setup opportunity, but with a healthy check that can pop his sub and a Ditto in the back he isn't sweeping you.

 

[TURBODERP]

This pokemon is absolute horse shit please ban good night.

Seriously though if it gets a good switch in against a pokemon like a barraskewda there's not really anything you can do, even the ditto sets and mons like ferro will get absolutely demolished by its sub dd set, I don't know the calcs but I assume that a dynamax waterfall in the rain nukes quagsire too so I don't really think that that's a counter either. Like this mon will 100% just 6-0 some teams because it gets a lucky switch in, it's genuinely incredible. Not to mention that gyara's typing makes it nearly impossible to handle via priority, which one would be inclined to combat a dd pokemon with, given that gyara boasts a resistence to mach bunch, bullet punch, aqua yet, and a neutrality to ice shard.

Someone please tell me how tf you beat this pokemon I've been sitting here for the last 30 minutes trying to figure it out

Unless Gyara's carrying Earthquake, which you can scout for, SubLefties Dracozolt destroys it.

Dracozolt @ Leftovers
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Atk / 20 SpD / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Bolt Beak
- Fire Fang
- Dragon Claw / Outrage

The HP and SpDef EVs mean that standard Ferrothorn's Power Whip and Gyro Ball, along with Rotom-Wash's Hydro Pump, never break your sub barring a crit (Pex needs 2+ Scalds). Non-EQ Gyarados is also countered by this set (EQ Gyara is countered assuming that you can both Dynamax, or Gyara can't). Fly and Waterfall don't even break your Sub, while at +1, they're still only doing ~35%. Even a +1 Supersonic Skystrike and +1 Hydro Vortex are doing under 70%, and +1 Earthquake only has a ~43% chance to OHKO. Corviknight's unboosted Brave Bird isn't breaking your Sub either.

148 Speed EVs hits 223 speed, which outspeeds the now-standard 60 speed Rotom-Wash by 1 point, which means you also outspeed stuff like Ferrothorn, Galarian Corsola, Toxapex, and most Corviknight. And since you outspeed all of them, Bolt Beak becomes base 170 power. Rest of the EVs go into Attack, which lets you do things like using Bolt Beak to KO Rotom-Wash after Rocks and casually 2HKO +2 Corviknight, and Fire Fang does 75% minimum to the standard Ferrothorn. Dragon Claw is strong neutral STAB, and with Hydreigon and Dragapult everywhere, it's solid. Outrage is okay too, but it's better on a more offensive spread since even with Outrage, you're still not 2HKOing Hippowdon with this spread, and being locked into Outrage on a relatively slow Pokemon like Dracozolt can be very dangerous, especially in the age of Dynamax.

 

[onatolentino]

Can Toxtricity be a good counter to Sub DD Gyarados with their sound electric move?

 

[TURBODERP]

Can Toxtricity be a good counter to Sub DD Gyarados with their sound electric move?

Gyarados outspeeds unless it's Adamant Gyara and Jolly Toxtricity, which is a big issue.

 

[Darvin]

Can Toxtricity be a good counter to Sub DD Gyarados with their sound electric move?

Toxtricity is just too slow and frail to really do much in OU. As TURBODERP mentions it's outsped by Gyarados, but it also gets OHKO'd by +1 Waterfall after rocks. If you want an electric-type check to Gyarados, go with Rotom-W since it's only beaten by Power Whip variants (and even then isn't guaranteed to beat scarf Rotom-W depending on how you play it).

 

[Melchorio]

What are good teammates with Gyarados (no rain teams)?

I did a cancer preliminary team with Gyara, Excadrill, Hawlucha, G-Darmanitan, support Dragapult. I think this team has too many setup sweepers? What's a good team composition to target?

 

[Pabloaram]

Gyarados outspeeds unless it's Adamant Gyara and Jolly Toxtricity, which is a big issue.

Toxtricity is just too slow and frail to really do much in OU. As TURBODERP mentions it's outsped by Gyarados, but it also gets OHKO'd by +1 Waterfall after rocks. If you want an electric-type check to Gyarados, go with Rotom-W since it's only beaten by Power Whip variants (and even then isn't guaranteed to beat scarf Rotom-W depending on how you play it).

Can Toxtricity be a good counter to Sub DD Gyarados with their sound electric move?

If Gyarados dont have a DD Toxtri become a good check
252 Atk Gyarados Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Toxtricity: 171-202 (58.7 - 69.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Toxtricity Overdrive vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados: 1168-1380 (352.8 - 416.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Overdrive is Tbolt whith 120 BP tranks to Punk Rock)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados: 341-402 (103 - 121.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

If Gyarados is +1
+1 252 Atk Gyarados Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Toxtricity: 255-301 (87.6 - 103.4%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

toxtricty only fear unboosted Earthquake, if the set is power whip Toxtri is really a good offensive check

 

[Darvin]

If Gyarados dont have a DD Toxtri become a good check
252 Atk Gyarados Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Toxtricity: 171-202 (58.7 - 69.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
...
+1 252 Atk Gyarados Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Toxtricity: 255-301 (87.6 - 103.4%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

So if Gyaradoes goes for a Waterfall then you get cleanly 2HKO'd (although unless your item was obvious they'd probably be scared out by the possibility of a scarf. No sense in risking Gyarados when it doesn't have any boosts anyways), and if Gyarados goes for the DD then you're OHKO'd by Waterfall after stealth rock damage and definitely can't take a Max Geyser. These calcs show that Toxtricity isn't a check to Gyarados. The only situation where Toxtriticy can win is if it switches in hard on a Substitute.

 

[Pabloaram]

So if Gyaradoes goes for a Waterfall then you get cleanly 2HKO'd (although unless your item was obvious they'd probably be scared out by the possibility of a scarf. No sense in risking Gyarados when it doesn't have any boosts anyways), and if Gyarados goes for the DD then you're OHKO'd by Waterfall after stealth rock damage and definitely can't take a Max Geyser. These calcs show that Toxtricity isn't a check to Gyarados. The only situation where Toxtriticy can win is if it switches in hard on a Substitute.

Ok.. my bad.. thinking what a new mon can win a OP Pokemon instead of using physical defense Ferro witch all are using right now...

 

[PBUH]

Haven't seen anyone bring up choice gyara yet. Something like:
Gyarados @ Choice Scarf/Band
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Power Whip
- Earthquake/Dragon Dance
The choice boost still applies during your dmax, but does not lock your moves. You could even run dd, and then dmax to swap move and get the kill. Being locked after your dmax shouldn't matter, since most of gyara's checks will be weakened/gone and he will be able to clean up the rest with one move.
Anyone else tried this and think it is viable?

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Haven't seen anyone bring up choice gyara yet. Something like:
Gyarados @ Choice Scarf/Band
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Power Whip
- Earthquake/Dragon Dance
The choice boost still applies during your dmax, but does not lock your moves. You could even run dd, and then dmax to swap move and get the kill. Being locked after your dmax shouldn't matter, since most of gyara's checks will be weakened/gone and he will be able to clean up the rest with one move.
Anyone else tried this and think it is viable?

Dynamaxing removes your choice boosts, and I'm pretty sure you get locked back into the original move when you're done.

 

[Darvin]

Dynamaxing removes your choice boosts, and I'm pretty sure you get locked back into the original move when you're done.

That is correct. There is no point in running setup moves on choice-locked pokemon.

 

[hkftz]

it is my first time playing pokemon shield after since i was young ( i just played the first ver and didnt do pvp )

If i want to build around this pokemon i just know some of the basics, so what skill set should i go for?

Any combinations pokemon reccommend when using gyarados

 

[Darvin]

If i want to build around this pokemon i just know some of the basics, so what skill set should i go for?

For moves, you should definitely run Dragon Dance, Waterfall, and Bounce. These are the strongest moves Gyarados has, and are also extremely powerful as Max Moves when dynamaxed. For your fourth move, it depends on what you want your Gyarados to beat in specific. If you run Power Whip you can beat Rotom-Wash, Earthquake hits a bunch of bulky pokemon very hard (Aegislash, Toxapex, and Duraldon in particular), while Substitute lets you potentially prevent Ditto from copying your boosts and can be used to block status moves (edit: see DrPumpkinz post below, it appear this is an implementation error on Smogon and substitutes are lost upon dynamaxing). All three two are solid move choices. For item, most people are running either Leftovers or Heavy Duty Boots to give Gyarados additional longevity. For ability, you want Moxie; Gyarados is a KO machine and that means you can get huge attack raises from moxie.

Any combinations pokemon reccommend when using gyarados

Gyarados is a very powerful pokemon that can fit on a wide variety of team compositions, so you should look into the general purpose list of good pokemon. Beyond that generic resource, the biggest threat to Gyarados is Ditto. While there are other pokemon that can beat Gyarados, Ditto is far worse since he steals all your boosts and then proceeds to go to town on the rest of your team with the power of your own Gyarados. Ditto always runs the Choice Scarf item to get an additional speed boost, meaning Ditto will be faster than your Gyarados and will consistently outspeed you. One good option I find to deal with Ditto is to run counters to your own pokemon. For instance, if you aren't running Power Whip you can pair your Gyarados with a Rotom-Wash; if a Ditto defeats your Gyarados, your Rotom-Wash can then proceed to beat it. Another consideration is hazard control. Gyarados is weak to the Stealth Rock hazard so packing a pokemon that can remove those hazards can be a good idea. Corviknight, Mandibuzz, and Excadrill are the best options for that purpose right now. Alternately you can just use Heavy Duty Boots to make your Gyarados immune to hazard damage.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Substitute lets you potentially prevent Ditto from copying your boosts

This is actually far less useful than Showdown would let you believe, as Dynamaxing is supposed to remove your Substitute.

 

[Y2Kay]

This is actually far less useful than Showdown would let you believe, as Dynamaxing is supposed to remove your Substitute.

Yeah this is a good point, which is why I usually run Taunt + DD Gyara to take advantage of all the hazard setting walls in the tier. I usually lure in G-Corsola, Pex, and Ferrothorn, taunt them on incoming, and set up. I chose to use Waterfall and EQ as my two attacking moves since EQ can take a huge chunk out of ferro and pex once you get some boosts under your belt.

 

[Double Electric]

I chose to use Waterfall and EQ as my two attacking moves since EQ can take a huge chunk out of ferro and pex once you get some boosts under your belt.

It doesn't seem worth dropping Bounce for Earthquake, because then you give up the +1 Speed from Dynamax Bounce.

 

[lycan2500]

It doesn't seem worth dropping Bounce for Earthquake, because then you give up the +1 Speed from Dynamax Bounce.

Seeing as Dynamax is about to axed away, this isn't a huge boon now. I will say, though, risking a burn on Pex is a bad idea in general, since it would have 2-3 chances to burn with Scald as you set up. Likewise, unless you run Inti, Power Whip from Ferro does a lot of damage and you can't really beat it 1 on 1 until its worn down enough. (This is all from a post-Dynamax meta outlook, of course). Also, giving up Whip makes Rotom Wash an issue which is not easy to go around since, unless you run a Seismitoad, Rotom will come in and force you out or KO and get momentum while you're at it, for free

 

[FlockOfFlames]

Why 4 phys def instead of 4 spD EVs? SpD can be situationally useful against Rotom but I don't see where the phys def is useful. The dex page of smogon for Rotom advise 44 spA to ohko gyara, so if you play 4 spD you have a 12.5% to not be OHKOed by people following that :)

 

[Mocha]

With Bounce and Power Whip not being as useful for the current Dynamax ban, what kind of sets are we looking into for Gyarados? Standard DDance with Earthquake/Waterfall/Dragon Dance/Filler?

Jolly/Adamant?

 

[volx757]

With Bounce and Power Whip not being as useful for the current Dynamax ban, what kind of sets are we looking into for Gyarados? Standard DDance with Earthquake/Waterfall/Dragon Dance/Filler?

Jolly/Adamant?

Power whip will still be used to handle rotom wash and other bulky waters. My guess is waterfall + whip will be standard and the flex spot being bounce/eq/taunt/sub.