I am legitamately in awe nobody has advocated Gyarados here. I seriously am. Base 125 Attack, access to what is quite possibly one of the best abilities in the game, a lower speed stat that is easily patched by its best move, Dragon Dance, a decent coverage movepool, ability to work even in sun, decent bulk, and 2 weaknesses. Dragon Dance gets his speed up to really nice levels, gets his attack even higher, and Gyarados has more than 1 set that is viable, unlike Azumarill, which doesn't hit quite as hard as people claim it can, and can't take a much in the form of priority, and is shut down by many of OU's walls, namely Jellicent, Ferrothorn (Even if Azu has Superpower Ferro is still fairly safe from being OHKO'd), and in my experiences can't take much in the form of enemy priority and is nearly incapable of switching into most attacks. Gyarados can switch into a multitude of moves, and is more than capable of coming in on something Like Tentacruel or something choiced into a not very effective move like ScarfToed, and setting a Dragon Dance or 2, from there you will cause immense destruction provided your opponent isn't carrying anything like Jolteon or a very fast electric type. Just this morning I swept someone with Gyarados, Gyara KO'ing all of the enemy team, resulting in a 4-0, and I can recall more than a few occasions where Gyarados has made game winning comebacks both with and against me. I can not say any of this for Aumarill, which needs immense support to be able to function, and is fairly useless outside of rain. Gyarados can take most non-STAB rock moves and even a few STAB ones, and while he can't take much in the form of Electric moves, he is given Earthquake, so as long as he can outspeed his electric foe he can usually KO it.
I will now suggest 3 Gyarados sets, 2 out of 3 of which I have used.
#1, Water Gem Gyarados.
Gyarados @ Water Gem
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang/Substitute
The idea for this set was mine, if someone else used it before me then sorry but for now I'm calling it my set. This set is meant for rain use, but can be used outside of Rain. More often than not Rotom-W is Gyara's arch nemesis, as it walls and kills Gyara. However, Rotom-W doesn't like to take a STAB +1 Waterfall in the rain boosted by Water Gem. The purpose of the Water Gem is mainly to set the ball rolling for Moxie, giving him a 1 time use of a super pwoerful Waterfall, which is most often used for breaking Rotom-W, which might jut flinch if it isn't OHKO'd. Also, Ice Fang can be used for more coverage or Substitute can be used to protect Gyara from Priority and give him an edge over Electric and Rock types, as they will be KO'd the turn they break his sub, assuming they can outspeed Gyara.
#2, Lum Berry Gyarados.
Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
Basically the same set as Water gem Gyara, the idea of this one is that Gyara will still be able to set up and sweep, even if the enemy has a status move, as Gyara can usually KO anything trying to status him after a Dragon Dance. Ofc there are things you shouldn't try to set up on such as Ferrothorn but that is given. because the Lum Berry mostly protects Gyara from status, Ice Fang can be used over Substitute on this set, which is handy coverage against Dragon and Grass types, which otherwise give Gyara a hard time. This set can be used in basically any weather other than Sun, which is the only weather Gyarados should not be used in.
#3, Choice Scarf Gyarados.
Gyarados @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
One of Marzipan's arguements for using Azumarill was that it required no set up to sweep, and worked a bit better late-game. Well I'm here to tell you that Gyarados can do late game just as well as Azumarill can. With a Choice Scarf he requires no set up and can sweep from the get-go, able to revenge kill and cause certain destruction late game. While I have never used this set myself, Blob has and he loves it, credit to Blob for the set.
