Approved by Big Man Amaranth
[OVERVIEW]
Gyarados clings to RBY OU relevance thanks to a combination of massively inflated stats, expansive coverage in moves like Thunderbolt and Blizzard, and a unique typing that makes it the only Water-type immune to Ground, letting it switch in on a predicted Earthquake with impunity. That typing lets it synergize with Pokemon like Chansey, Gengar, and Jolteon, which not only appreciate this immunity, but also help patch up its own Thunderbolt weakness. Gyarados's attacking stats are extremely high, allowing it to achieve feats such as 2HKOing Tauros and 3HKOing Snorlax with Hydro Pump, letting it win against them one-on-one. Plus, it's bulky to the point that even a Thunderbolt from Starmie fails to OHKO it without a critical hit. It's not exactly slow relative to RBY OU either, outrunning Pokemon like Cloyster, Dragonite, and Victreebel while threatening them with its coverage. Overall, Gyarados can be seen as a battering ram that blows past paralyzed teams.
However, while it may have been a big threat in the early days of the generation, Gyarados fell out of favor due to its typing giving it some horrendous weaknesses. While its Ground immunity looks enticing to switch in on Rhydon, it also takes huge damage from Rock Slide: its bulk isn't as good as it looks. It also gets a quadruple weakness to Thunderbolt and neutrality to Blizzard and Psychic, making it hard for Gyarados to get in against the special attackers of the tier and forcing teams to make up for it. If paralyzed, this gets even worse, as Gyarados's lack of reliable recovery makes it very easy to wear down as is. Even offensively, because of a criminal lack of physical STAB moves, Gyarados struggles to damage specially bulky Pokemon like Chansey and Gengar. Finally, Gyarados has issues distinguishing itself from Lapras outside of its typing and superior Attack, which has the same coverage and higher overall bulk. As a result of these flaws, Gyarados is a very rare sight in RBY OU, often requiring extensive support from a dedicated team to function properly, but it remains a serviceable pick in the hands of an experienced player.
[SET]
name: Wallbreaker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Thunderbolt / Blizzard
move 3: Body Slam
move 4: Hyper Beam
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Gyarados's Hydro Pump is no joke, letting it potentially 3HKO Snorlax and 2HKO Tauros, winning against them one-on-one. However, it should be remembered that Hydro Pump's inconsistency can and will lead to wasted turns. Additionally, Thunderbolt Tauros can tear Gyarados apart anyway, so it must be scouted for first. Thunderbolt gives Gyarados a fighting chance against all Water-types, most importantly Starmie, Cloyster, Slowbro, and Lapras. However, Blizzard can be used to 3HKO Exeggutor instead, which Gyarados otherwise struggles against. Body Slam allows Gyarados to scout for switch-ins while threatening with paralysis, making use of its great Attack stat in the process; this also prevents Starmie, Alakazam, and Jolteon from switching in safely, and it allows Gyarados to pressure Chansey with significant damage on a critical hit. To top it off, Hyper Beam blows past non-Reflect Chansey and Alakazam, KOing them from 58% and 63.5% onwards, respectively, which Body Slam can set it up for.
Gyarados functions as an early- or mid-game wallbreaker that forces the opponent into making predictable decisions. It can be brought in early on a predicted Rest from Snorlax—a common sight in the early-game in RBY—then threaten it with Hydro Pump from there to force damage onto the opposing team. Gyarados's high Special and Water resistance make it one of the best Clamp absorbers in the game too, so it's very capable of switching in on a predicted one from Cloyster. Outside of this though, due to its typing, Gyarados's switch-in opportunities are quite limited, mostly being reserved to generic methods like pivoting with partial trapping, gambling on full paralysis, and Explosion. However, Gyarados's typing makes it well-equipped for double switching against Earthquake, allowing it to ease in Pokemon like Jolteon and Chansey if the situation calls for it.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Surf can be used if Hydro Pump's consistency is problematic, but this reduces Gyarados's immediate threat level. Worse still, it's not that much better than Blizzard in practice damage-wise, making it largely redundant. Thunder is a serviceable option to 2HKO Starmie and Slowbro, but its criminally low accuracy and lack of benefit outside of this make it mostly suboptimal.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Gengar**: Gengar can switch in on Gyarados and KO it with Thunderbolt if it's taken even a modicum of damage. However, it can't repeatedly switch into Hydro Pump, lest it get 3HKOed in the process.
**Chansey**: Chansey can effortlessly take Gyarados's special coverage; Reflect sets are also depressing to fight against. Additionally, Chansey's access to Thunderbolt and Thunder Wave makes it very risky for Gyarados to contest unless its moveset has already been successfully scouted. However, Gyarados can KO Chansey with Hyper Beam from 49.3% onwards if Reflect isn't active—even above 75% with Body Slam + Hyper Beam—which makes a paralyzed Chansey very possible to beat.
**Starmie and Lapras**: While it gets Thunderbolt, Gyarados struggles to deal with Starmie and Lapras due to their Hydro Pump resistance and ability to simply outdamage Gyarados with their own coverage. Starmie is of particular note because of its access to Thunder Wave, which firmly shuts down Gyarados. However, it has to risk Body Slam paralysis when switching in, which can potentially incapacitate it for the rest of the game.
**Electric-types and Electric-type coverage**: Any Pokemon with Thunderbolt is automatically a Gyarados check. Jolteon and Zapdos cleanly OHKO Gyarados with their STAB Thunderbolts. If Tauros and Persian run Thunderbolt, they can 2HKO Gyarados off the bat, the latter of which is arguably more threatening because of its high critical hit rate. However, all of these Pokemon would rather avoid taking direct damage, as they have mediocre bulk; they win one-on-one, but they are not reliable defensive answers by any means.
**Exeggutor**: If not running Blizzard, Exeggutor resists both of Gyarados's special coverage options and threatens with massive damage or sleep in return. Even with Blizzard in the equation, a Special drop from Psychic can instantly ruin any chance of Gyarados actually winning. However, Exeggutor doesn't want to take a Blizzard, as it often wants to save its bulk for more pressing matchups, particularly Rhydon and Snorlax.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Plague von Karma, 236353]]
- Quality checked by: [[Enigami, 233818], [Amaranth, 265630]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]
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