Gyarados
Hello guys! My name is Marcel also known as "Massi". Today I would like to introduce a Pokémon to you which has been accessible in all VGC formats except for 2011 - Gyarados. Looking at its history Gyarados had quite the success in previous World Championships namely in 2012. In this particular year none other than Huy Ha (who by the way placed high in previous Championships as you all may know) used a rather unconventional special variant which caught several good players off guard. Now back onto the real topic.
Right in the beginning when the VGC 14 ruleset was announced I realized that Gyarados is in the Kalos Dex and I immediately wanted to try it out as I figured Intimidate would help me to shut down a lot of common threats like Mega Mawile and Mega Kangaskhan. A lot of you may think: "How is he going to use Gyarados in a format in which Rotom is so popular?" This is indeed a question, but nevertheless I think Gyarados is an awesome Pokemon to use.
The sets
Gyarados @Gyaradosite
Trait: Intimidate / Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Protect
The EVs are just maxed out for the full offensive potential. With 252 EVs Gyarados reaches a speed stat of 133 which guarantees you will always outspeed Modest Gardevoir, Adamant Mamoswine and Timid Exploud for example. If you feel like those Pokemon are no threat to your team, you may also invest some EVs into the defenses. When Gyarados mega evolves it loses its flying type, but in exchange it gains the dark type. Regarding Rotom, Gyarados benefits a lot from those type changes as it is no longer 4 times weak to electric type attacks. More importantly Mega Gyarados gets access to the ability Mold Breaker which negates the effects of abilities such as Levitate. In most cases you will be faster than Rotom, because of the speed investment. Thanks to Mold Breaker you are now able to hit Rotom with Earthquake and you will most likely not be one hit KOed in return. Before mega evolving you will always get an Intimidate off which is nice too in a physical orientated metagame such as VGC 14. Gyarados is a Pokemon you don't want to mega evolve immediately after you sent it out which puts a lot of pressure on your opponent.
Gyarados @Lum Berry/Leftovers/Sitrus Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Def / 4 SDef / 68 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
- Thunder Wave / Protect
- Taunt / Protect
I chose a Lum Berry on this set, because my Sitrus Berry was already taken, but I guess Leftovers could do the job too if you put Protect over Taunt/Ice Fang, depending on your team. This Gyarados is basically designed to give your team Intimidate support and to give you a little speed control which is less seen these days. After trying Gyarados in the current state of the metagame I decided that Thunder Wave won't work well, because of the high usage of Manectric and Rotom-A. I put Protect over Thunder Wave and this caught many opponents off guard, because some people tend to double target Gyarados. The EVs allow you to survive two -1 max Atk Life Orb Jolly Rock Slides by Garchomp (carrying Sitrus you will survive three Rock Slides). You will also most likely (around 90%) surive -1 Jolly max Atk Return by Kangaskhan and a -1 Jolly max Atk Life Orb Rock Slide by Garchomp. If you are feeling that this is not enough bulk for you, you can easily drop some Atk EVs and put some more into HP and/or Defense. The Lum Berry gives you the opportunity to avoid at least one Dark Void by Smeargle and in return you can Taunt it and take an advantage from it.
If you prefer a more bulky variant, this is probably your better choice:
Gyarados @Leftovers/Sitrus Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Atk / 120 Def / 56 SDef / 60 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Ice Fang / Protect
- Thunder Wave / Taunt
- Waterfall
I hope this article gave you a nice overview about Gyarados and that I could encourage some of you to try this awesome Pokemon! Thanks a lot for reading!
- Massi
Just a quick note: If you pair the first Gyarados set with amoongus, protect can be replaced for Ice Fang and that will give Gyarados pretty much everything needed to sweep teams like a boss :P
ReplyDelete^pretty much what im using since past months and nice article btw people are slowly waking up from the meta kanga which is overlyused
ReplyDeleteQuick Question. Since Mega Gyarados has Mold Breaker as its ability, can it Taunt Aroma Veil Aromatisse and Oblivious Slowbro through their abilities?
ReplyDeleteYeah, this sounds like a good a idea :D Maybe I will try it out! And yeah lance self, you will be able to Taunt it then!
ReplyDeleteSo...no Wacan...you let Rotom walk over it I guess?
ReplyDeleteGyarados is not your only Pokemon on the team. You always have other Pokemon to support it, such as Ferrothorn or Amoonguss for example. A Rotom wouldn't get the KO on a Mega Gyarados anyway.
DeleteNicely done article Massi. I faced your gyarados and it was a pain in the ass to beat (we lost)
ReplyDeletehowever, i'm kinda confused about the lack of choice band gyarados in this article. it has seen great success in the hands of players like PM649 and Soul Survivor, among others.
I haven't tested it out, that's why I did not include it :( But you are probably right, it might have been worth to mention it :) Thanks a lot for your feedback! :)
Delete