Kingdra

[STEELDRAGON]

I didn't want to do this, but: NO Discussion about tiering
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Kingdra
Water/Dragon
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Base Stats:
75/95/95/95/95/85

It has great balanced stats, with 95 in 4 of the 6 stats, it can be a great offensive threat, though it has a shallow movepool.

Abilities:
Swift Swim: Rain doubles the Speed of Pokémon with Swift Swim. This is not a stat boost. If the rain ends or a new weather condition is brought into play, the Pokémon's Speed returns to normal.
Sniper: When this Pokémon scores a critical hit, the damage done is multiplied by 3 rather than the standard 2.
Damp (Dream World): If a Pokémon uses Explosion or Self-destruct when this Pokémon is out, it will fail. While a Pokémon with this ability is in battle, damage from Aftermath is prevented.



Movepool
Level-Up
Lv1: Yawn, Lv1: Bubble, Lv1: Smokescreen, Lv1: Leer, Lv1: Water Gun, Lv4: Smokescreen, Lv8: Leer, Lv11: Water Gun, Lv14: Focus Energy, Lv18: Bubblebeam, Lv23: Agility, Lv26: Twister, Lv30: Brine, Lv40: Hydro Pump, Lv48: Dragon Dance, Lv57: Dragon Pulse


Egg
Flail
Aurora Beam
Octazooka
Disable
Splash
Dragon Rage
DragonBreath
Signal Beam
Razor Wind
Muddy Water
Water Pulse
Clear Smog
Outrage

TM
TM06 - Toxic, TM07 - Hail, TM10 - Hidden Power, TM13 - Ice Beam, TM14 - Blizzard, TM15 - Hyper Beam, TM17 - Protect, TM18 - Rain Dance, TM21 - Frustration, TM27 - Return, TM32 - Double Team, TM42 - Facade, TM44 - Rest, TM45 - Attract, TM48 - Troll, TM55 - Boiling Water, TM60 - Postpone, TM68 - Giga Impact, TM87 - Swagger, TM90 - Substitute, TM91 - Flash Cannon, HM03 - Surf, HM05 - Waterfall, HM06 - Dive


TM48 - Troll:
Special Normal PP: 15 Power: 60 / Accuracy: 100 Effect: The more pokemon on your team that have the move troll, the Base power rises.

TM55 - Boiling Water:
Special Water PP: 15 Power: 80 / Accuracy: 100 Effect: May burn opponent. (30%)

TM60 - Boiling Water:
Dark PP: 15 Power: 0 / Accuracy: 100 Effect: It holds the opponent down, and makes it attack last.

Traits:

Great typing-Its Dragon, and water dual typing make it only have one weakness, and it's STAB coverage is almost unparalleled

Balanced Stats-It doesn't really have a bad stat, unlike most pokemon, it can has good attack, spec. atk, and speed to boot.

Swift Swim-This makes it extremely hard to take down in the rain, with boosted attacks it can easily sweep through at least half a team.



Potential Sets

Set #1

@

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
Ability: Swift Swim
6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
~Dragon Dance
~Waterfall
~Outrage
~Substitute

-The standard set of 4th generation makes a return. Sub protects it from status and it can usually get at least one dragon dance, and attempt to sweep.

Set #2

@

Kingdra @ Choice Specs
Nature: Timid/Modest
Ability: Swift Swim
6 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
~Draco meteor
~Dragon pulse
~Surf
~Hydro Pump

-A very, very dangerous set, they are barely any safe switch ins, as nothing except Empoleon, Shedninja and Nattorei resist both dragon and water. It can easily switch in on a fire or water move and start doing major damage, to the opponent's team.

Set #3

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Kingdra @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish or Careful
Ability: Swift Swim
252 HP/252 Def/6 SpD or 252 HP/6 Def/252 SpD
~Dragon dance
~Rest
~Sleep Talk
~Outrage

This set is great once you have gotten ridden of most of the steels, types, and even then, some steel type pokemon can't muster much damage. So you just try to dragon dance as much as you can, and then proceed to sweep with +6 attack and speed.

Set #4

@

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Nature: Naughty
Ability: Swift Swim
252 Atk/252 SAtk/6 Spe
~Draco meteor
~Outrage
~Waterfall
~Hydro Pump

-To be used with rain support, this is mixed Kingdra, with 412 attack, 376 Special attack, and 414 speed factoring rain and Life orb, with set will surely score a few kos, with it's great offensive stats. Be sure to get rid of the opponent's scarfer pokemon before you reveal this Kingdra, because many of them will out speed and OHKO.

Set #5

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Kingdra @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Swift Swim/Damp
252 HP/252 Def/6 SpD
~Boiling Water
~Rest
~Dragon Pulse
~Sleep Talk/Yawn

A physical bulky Kingdra, designed to wear down other bulky waters, and physical attackers.

JeffreyLebowski's set, check his post for a description

Set #6

@

or

Kingdra @ Life orb/Leftovers
Nature: Timid/Modest
Ability: Swift Swim
6 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
~Draco meteor
~Dragon pulse
~Surf/Hydro pump
~Hidden Power Fighting


Athenodoros's set, please check his post for it.

Set #7

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Kingdra @ Life orb
Nature: Mild
Ability: Swift Swim
30 Atk/252 SAtk/228 Spe
~Outrage
~Waterfall
~Surf
~Dragon pulse

VOLCANO's set, check out his Description of it!

Set #8

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Kingdra @ Scope Lens
Nature: Timid
Ability: Sniper
252 HP /6 SpA/252 Spe
~Yawn
~Focus Energy
~Surf
~Dragon pulse

Colonel Darren's set, check his post for the description.

Set #9

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Kingdra @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Damp/Swift Swim
252 HP /220 Def/36 SpDef
~Boiling water
~Rest
~Dragon pulse
~Sleep Talk/Yawn/Toxic/Substitute/HP Fire


Shimrit As's set, check the description.

Set #10

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Kingdra @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
Ability: Swift Swim
6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
~Dragon Dance
~Substitute
~Disable
~Waterfall/Outrage


BurningMan's set, check his description.


Set #11

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Kingdra @ Chesto Berry
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
Ability: Swift Swim
192 HP/64 Atk/252 Spe
~Dragon Dance
~Rest
~Waterfall
~Outrage



Conclusion
With all these weather teams possibly going around in 5th generation, Kingdra stands out of being the strongest Rain Sweeper. With rain, barely anything can outspeed, not even Scarf Lati@s. So how do you think Kingdra is going to affect the next generation?

 

[MooOnceMore]

Not meaning to talk about Uber or something, but if Politoed does not get banned whatsoever, Kingdra will probably be quite huge.
On the other Hand, there is other permanent wheather out there and other pokemon also get their pluses of it, so it may cancel out Kingdra a little, because, well, the permanent rain can be removed more easily and from a higher amount of teams.

 

[heroic poke]

In this generation, it seems not having at least one stat above 100 makes you borderline/mediocre :/

Still. Just having one weakness and two attacking variants that actually do damage make it a solid choice.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I think Kingdra is going to be one of the lesser used Dragons, at least at first. The competition is insane, with Axeface, Garchomp, hydra, and Salamence slinging their high powered outrages. On the special front, Hydra and possibly Lati@s will be firing off their ridiculous Draco Meteors.

Kingdra's main draws are swift swim and its partial water typing, both of which were given a massive boost with drizzle politoed.

I think a special set could in theory work:

Kingdra @ life orb/ Leftovers
Swift Swim @ Modest/ Timid
252 sp att/ 252 speed/ 4 whereever
Surf/ Hydro pump
Dragon pulse/ Draco Meteor
Hidden Power Electric/ Ground/ fighting
Signal Beam/ Draco Meteor/ Hydro Pump

Yeah, slashitis. Deal with it. Kingdra doesn't have too many options, but gets great coverage with just his STABs. Power vs accuracy. Hidden Power is for Empoleon. Rain Dance used to be in that last slot in gen IV, but obviously he doesn't need it anymore. Signal Beam is his only remaining viable special attack. I like Draco meteor in the last slot, but Hydro Pump is more consistent.

 

[Athenodoros]

I would have thought that with 95/95 offenses, a mixed set would work well, especially in the rain:

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Swift Swim @ Mild
252 Sp. Att./ ~150 Spe. (to outspeed everything under rain)/100 Att.
-Outrage
-Waterfall
-Surf
-Dragon Pulse

It'd be an awesome wall breaker given the boost to water moves in the rain, as well as everything else. It basically comes out with more than a Dragon Dance would give it for the Waterfall.

 

[Gabe]

Kingdra pretty much stays the same, it just has more support this time around and does not have to devote an extra slot to Rain Dance. Still a great poke though.

 

[STEELDRAGON]

Not meaning to talk about Uber or something, but if Politoed does not get banned whatsoever, Kingdra will probably be quite huge.
On the other Hand, there is other permanent wheather out there and other pokemon also get their pluses of it, so it may cancel out Kingdra a little, because, well, the permanent rain can be removed more easily and from a higher amount of teams.

Most of the Dream world abilities have not been released yet, so we don't need to deal with that yet. If Drizzle Politoed, happens to be released, that will be a huge boost to Kingdra. Please don't talk about tiering topics, the 5th generation has just started and we don't know how it will turn out yet.

 

[Farewell]

You know, depending on how Troll works, it could be useful, especially since most Rain teams use Special Attacking Swift Swim Pokemon. Perhaps a Troll set, naming teammates that would work well with it (and also use Troll, like Politoad), could prove useful. Water+Normal also have great coverage...

 

[STEELDRAGON]

You know, depending on how Troll works, it could be useful, especially since most Rain teams use Special Attacking Swift Swim Pokemon. Perhaps a Troll set, naming teammates that would work well with it (and also use Troll, like Politoad), could prove useful. Water+Normal also have great coverage...

That seems a but gimmicky, however, I guess it could work, depending on how move works. Dragon+Water coverage is superior though and Kingdra doesn't get STAB on troll.

 

[ShinyAzelf]

I doubt Politoed will get banned. Kingdra will be very dangerous with Politoed. Politoed and Ninetales are too weak to be banished to the Uber tier, and anyways, permanent weather may introduce tons of strategies to the table. Can't wait!

 

[Colonel Darren]

Hrm. I'm interested in seeing a set utilizing Damp and Boiling Water as a Tanking Kingdra. 95 in both defenses isn't terrible, and a nice set of resistances round out Kingdra. It wouldn't be as effective as perhaps a sweeper, but....

Just curious, does Kingdra learn any defensive boosts such as Stockpile or Curse? Or would you have to Pass it?

 

[STEELDRAGON]

Hrm. I'm interested in seeing a set utilizing Damp and Boiling Water as a Tanking Kingdra. 95 in both defenses isn't terrible, and a nice set of resistances round out Kingdra. It wouldn't be as effective as perhaps a sweeper, but....

Just curious, does Kingdra learn any defensive boosts such as Stockpile or Curse? Or would you have to Pass it?

I've checked all of Kingdra's moves, and he doesn't learn any defense raising moves. I do think Kingdra has potential to utilize it's 75/95/95 defenses, because it only has one weakness, and it's not even X4, like swampert's is. To obtain defense boosts you would have to baton pass them to Kingdra.

 

[Colonel Darren]

I've checked all of Kingdra's moves, and he doesn't learn any defense raising moves. I do think Kingdra has potential to utilize it's 75/95/95 defenses, because it only has one weakness, and it's not even X4, like swampert's is. To obtain defense boosts you would have to baton pass them to Kingdra.

Well, I was thinking of utilizing perhaps a Stockpile Pass then. It's a shame. I would have thought that Kingdra might make great use of a Cro set or the like.

 

[Wafflez]

So basicly hes the same as before? =p

 

[Colonel Darren]

So basicly hes the same as before? =p

More or less. His biggest change and new tool would be Drizzle Politoad opening up a slot for Kingdra to substitute Rain Dance for a coverage move.

 

[STEELDRAGON]

pretty much, however now, Kingdra has to distinguish its self, from the new dragons, particularly Sazando, and Onokusu. If/When Drizzle Politoed is released, I expect Kingdra's usage to surge, because that's really it's niche, a rain sweeper that causes massive damage on both sides of the spectrum.

 

[Super Mario Bro]

Kingdra is unstoppable in the rain. Unstoppable. Its mixed set is pretty much only stopped by (Water Absorb) Burunkeru and Vaporeon, and even they can be defeated if they are slightly weakened beforehand. Tyranitar/Hippo can also force it out by bringing out sandstorm, but they will not love switching into Life Orb boosted Hydro Pumps or Waterfalls. If Politoed is not banned to Ubers, Kingdra probably will be.

 

[Colonel Darren]

Kingdra is unstoppable in the rain. Unstoppable. Its mixed set is pretty much only stopped by (Water Absorb) Burunkeru and Vaporeon, and even they can be defeated if they are slightly weakened beforehand. Tyranitar/Hippo can also force it out by bringing out sandstorm, but they will not love switching into Life Orb boosted Hydro Pumps or Waterfalls. If Politoed is not banned to Ubers, Kingdra probably will be.

I don't think Kingdra will be banned to Ubers. I think more along the lines that Kingdra got simply stronger due to almost-permanant rain. Perhaps Kingdra will prove the breaking point for most non-weather teams to carry something to rob it of the rain.

 

[Dekeract]

In the OP, on set #2 you said only Empoleon and Shedinja resisted the dragon/water combination. Doesn't Nattorei (grass/steel) resist that?

 

[Super Mario Bro]

I don't think Kingdra will be banned to Ubers. I think more along the lines that Kingdra got simply stronger due to almost-permanant rain. Perhaps Kingdra will prove the breaking point for most non-weather teams to carry something to rob it of the rain.

Kingdra wasn't as effective in Gen IV because it was only able to stay in for 5-8 turns (depending on whether damp rock was used on the Rain Dance user). Imagine how much of a terror Kingdra will be when it doesn't have to worry about being stalled out! The problem with permanent rain Kingdra is the same problem that Salamence had in Gen IV -- it has no virtually no 100% counters.

 

[STEELDRAGON]

Yeah, you are correct, Nattorei does resist both of Kingdra's STABs. Thanks for noticing that I'll edit that in.

 

[Wafflez]

Kingdra wasn't as effective in Gen IV because it was only able to stay in for 5-8 turns (depending on whether damp rock was used on the Rain Dance user). Imagine how much of a terror Kingdra will be when it doesn't have to worry about being stalled out! The problem with permanent rain Kingdra is the same problem that Salamence had in Gen IV -- it has no virtually no 100% counters.

Well actually your blaming the wrong poke...I think if perma Rain prooves to be broken instead of Kingdra it will most probably be Politoad who gets banned.But lets just not worry about that yet.....
And yah i do agree that Politoad is kind of a huge boost for kingdra.Now you dont have to simply do mindgames and switch around to stall out the 8 turns....The best part is every other weather inducer is also easily taken care of by Kingdra so yah this will probably become quite a beast...But outside of rain it will probably face stuff competition with Sazando with its superior offensive stats and Speed.

 

[STEELDRAGON]

Kingdra wasn't as effective in Gen IV because it was only able to stay in for 5-8 turns (depending on whether damp rock was used on the Rain Dance user). Imagine how much of a terror Kingdra will be when it doesn't have to worry about being stalled out! The problem with permanent rain Kingdra is the same problem that Salamence had in Gen IV -- it has no virtually no 100% counters.

Nattorei is appearing like it's a good check to kingdra, however it won't be doing much in return since Expolsion's power is now only half of what it was. It could leech seed to, to try to stall it out. Nattorei is has massive defenses's 74/131/116, and i think it could check Kingdra if it ran a curse set, because then Outrage wouldn't do as much. I think most Nattorei will be set-up foddlers, Kingdra will just Dragon dance and continue to do massive damage.

 

[Wafflez]

Nattorei is appearing like it's a good check to kingdra, however it won't be doing much in return since Expolsion's power is now only half of what it was. It could leech seed to, to try to stall it out. Nattorei is has massive defenses's 74/131/116, and i think it could check Kingdra if it ran a curse set, because then Outrage wouldn't do as much. I think most Nattorei will be set-up foddlers, Kingdra will just Dragon dance and continue to do massive damage.

I deffinetly doubt Nattori can even touch Kingdra.Most sets liek Chesto rest,SubDD,RestalkDance can easily set up on it with ease as its not going to do much with Gyro ball or w\e grass attack it gets.2 of these sets can heal back up from leech seed and one can block it through Sub.Hell even Specs/LO can 2hk0 with Hydro Pump in the rain (I think i got the calcs right :o.Do correct me if im wrong).Seirusly even with all the gay stats Kingdra is jsut a beast

 

[VOLCANO]

Wanted to make one of the most gimmicky set for his new ability sniper, just for the LOLZ

Kingdra @ Scope Lens
Sniper Ability
Timid Nature
252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
-Yawn
-Focus Energy
-Surf
-Dragon Pulse

The strategy here is to switch into a fire user since Kingdra x4 resists, then Yawn on the switch in. The next turn you should use Focus Energy to start raising your Critical Hit stages, with HP EVs hopefully Kingdra will take whatever hit is coming at him then your opponent falls asleep. Your opponent's Kingdra counter will now be asleep and you will have a 25% chance of critting them for over 3x damage! Surf and Dragon Pulse are for good STAB and coverage, however Empoleon and Nattorei resist both hits. But who cares if you crit them?!

The major downside to this gimmick set is that Kingdra has absolutely NO high critical hit ratio moves in his movepool. The upside to using Kingdra is that he only has weakness to Dragon and has decent speed. I could REALLY seeing this HAX set working on the ever-gimmicky Rain Dance team :P