[SET]
Swords Dance (Kingambit) @ Leftovers / Black Glasses / Air Balloon
Ability: Supreme Overlord
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe or 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Tera Type: Ghost / Dark / Fairy
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Kowtow Cleave / Low Kick
- Iron Head / Low Kick
[SET COMMENTS]
With the combination of Swords Dance, Supreme Overlord, and STAB Sucker Punch in its arsenal alongside an incredible defensive profile further exacerbated by Terastallization, Kingambit is undoubtedly the metagame's deadliest and most polarizing offensive threat and late-game sweeper. Sucker Punch gives Kingambit a way to circumvent its one issue—its low Speed—to beat the tier's faster offensive threats, forcing Pokemon like some variants of Iron Moth, Kyurem, and Ogerpon-W to be in pristine condition to take it on. Moreover, its incredible typing and natural bulk not only give it multiple entry and setup opportunities, but they allow Kingambit to check common metagame staples like Dragapult, Gholdengo, and Darkrai. Kingambit's sheer presence even mandates all of the aforementioned threats to adapt and run sets to beat it. Either one of Kowtow Cleave or Iron Head can be replaced with Low Kick, which lets Kingambit hit Hisuian Samurott and opposing Kingambit super effectively while netting crucial benchmarks such as OHKOing Roaring Moon unboosted and potentially Ting-Lu at +2, especially because common Fighting-resistant Pokemon like Galarian Slowking and Pecharunt want nothing to do with Kingambit. However, the lack of Kowtow Cleave makes Kingambit struggle to beat walls like Corviknight, Alomomola, and Zapdos, and forgoing Iron Head leaves it completely walled by Fairy-types and Tera Fairy users such as Clefable, Gholdengo, Moltres, and opposing Kingambit. Low Kick should only be used on maximum Speed variants to try and hit opposing Kingambit first. Leftovers takes further advantage of its defensive profile and works well with Sucker Punch, as foes attempting to play around it will just grant Kingambit more health. Leftovers is especially more effective on variants running the bulky EV spread. Black Glasses + Tera Dark should exclusively be used together with Kowtow Cleave, as these propel Kingambit's offensive pressure further; with 5 Supreme Overlord boosts under its belt, Kingambit can reach feats such as 2HKOing even Dondozo with Kowtow Cleave and OHKOing Walking Wake, Rillaboom, and, at +2, Dragonite through Multiscale with Sucker Punch. Air Balloon allows Kingambit to set up on would-be checks in Landorus-T and most Great Tusks; become a sturdy switch-in to offensive threats like Kyurem, Roaring Moon, and Dragonite that mostly rely on their Ground-type coverage to hit it; and gain an immunity to Spikes, which is one of the ways to limit Kingambit's health before it gets going. The latter reasoning thus makes Heavy-Duty Boots an appealing alternative option to combat entry hazards in general, especially on hazard-stacking teams that lack reliable hazard removers while aiming to play a longer game. Lum Berry mainly prevents Kingambit from being shut down by a burn from the likes of Dragapult, Darkrai, Alomomola, and Moltres but can also help against Gholdengo's Thunder Wave and Hatterene's Nuzzle. Tera Ghost flips its Fighting weakness, letting it go toe-to-toe against otherwise solid checks in IronPress users like Corviknight, Skarmory, and Zamazenta more reliably, especially because it naturally puts fear in the likes of Dragapult and Gholdengo from trying to exploit its newfound Ghost weakness. Tera Fairy gives it an overall good defensive typing, notably letting it take on all-out attacking Zamazenta better while maintaining its Dark resistance against other foes like non-Iron Head Kingambit, Roaring Moon, and Weavile. At the cost of being overly Tera-reliant, Tera Fairy sets can also run Tera Blast to hit Zamazenta and Great Tusk super effectively and, similar to Low Kick, dent foes such as Roaring Moon and Hisuian Samurott; Dark + Fairy also hits most of the metagame at least neutrally. Tera Fire provides a burn immunity from foes like Dragapult, Darkrai, and Moltres, even flipping its Fire weakness against the latter and other threats like Cinderace and Iron Moth. An Adamant nature is preferred, but a Jolly nature can be used with maximum Speed investment to outspeed most variants of Skarmory, Primarina, and Sinistcha and, at worst, Speed tie opposing Kingambit. A bulkier EV spread further takes advantage of Kingambit's hit-taking abilities, remarkably reaching feats such as surviving +2 Ogerpon-W's Ivy Cudgel and two Iron Valiant Moonblasts while running just enough Speed for Blissey.
Kingambit's late-game potential and defensive utility make it a near staple on any offensive archetype, ranging from bulky to hyper offense, while still being capable of fitting on balance teams. Physically offensive teammates like Ogerpon-W, Zamazenta, Dragonite, and Swords Dance Iron Valiant are helpful to overwhelm shared checks like Zamazenta, Landorus-T, Moltres, and Dondozo. Simultaneously, special attackers like Calm Mind Iron Valiant, Gholdengo, Dragapult, Iron Moth, Kyurem, and Raging Bolt are similarly helpful to handle and pressure these checks, preventing them from getting free turns to set up or recover health. Additionally, their synergy doesn't stop there, as Zamazenta and some Iron Valiant variants appreciate Kingambit's ability to switch into and threaten Gholdengo and Galarian Slowking; Dragonite can take on Iron Moth and provide a Ground immunity against Landorus-T; Gholdengo can switch into and check Zamazenta for Kingambit; Dragapult can check Zamazenta and bring Kingambit safely via U-turn; and Kyurem and Raging Bolt can threaten and force damage, respectively, onto Kingambit's Ground-type checks in Landorus-T, Great Tusk, and Ting-Lu. Dark-type offensive threats in Darkrai, Roaring Moon, and Hisuian Samurott, in particular, are notable in forming a Darkspam core together with Kingambit, capable of overwhelming Dark-resistant Pokemon like Zamazenta and Tera Fairy users like Gholdengo, Garganacl, and Moltres together. Moreover, the aforementioned Hisuian Samurott helps chip foes into Kingambit's KO range with its entry hazards, whether it's softening walls like Ting-Lu or potential revenge killers like Ogerpon-W and Iron Moth into Sucker Punch range; thus, other hazard setters like Landorus-T, Glimmora, Deoxys-S, and Ting-Lu are similarly valuable. Defensive pivots like Landorus-T, Zapdos, Pecharunt, and Galarian Slowking are common faces on bulky offense teams that help switch into threats like Cinderace, Landorus-T, Great Tusk, and Zamazenta for Kingambit and are great at bringing it in safely onto the field, especially with Intimidate and Parting Shot to ease its setup; in return, Kingambit helps check Darkrai, Gholdengo, and Dragapult for Galarian Slowking and Pecharunt. Other and more specific offensive playstyles like Sticky Web, dual screens, and the fringe Trick Room can also mesh well with Kingambit. Sticky Web from Ribombee and Araquanid compensates for Kingambit's low Speed against faster threats like Raging Bolt, Hisuian Samurott, and Great Tusk if Kingambit runs a Jolly nature, even making it less reliant on Sucker Punch mind games. Dual screens from Alolan Ninetales give Kingambit an easier time setting up and lets it stomach even super effective hits from Iron Moth, Roaring Moon, and Darkrai. Similar to Sticky Web, Trick Room set by teammates like Hatterene can compensate for Kingambit's poor Speed tier, especially against fast foes like Iron Valiant and Encore Ogerpon-W. On balance teams, a sturdier defensive backbone with the likes of Skarmory, Corviknight, Clefable, Gliscor, and Alomomola is similarly appreciated, as on top of switching into Kingambit's aforementioned checks and revenge killers, they can also set entry hazards and bring it in safely via slow pivots; Alomomola can also provide Kingambit with Wish support, while Gliscor and Clefable can further weaken walls with Knock Off. Outside of its utility set, Swords Dance Gliscor, in particular, is also a strong setup sweeper that complements Kingambit well.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/marnie.493260/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/veti.612907/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/dreadfury.408271/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/zastra.558636/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sunny004.197240/
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