#130
Gyarados
Atrocious Pokémon
WaterFlying
A tale is told of a town that angered Gyarados. Before the sun rose the next day, flames utterly consumed the town, leaving not a trace behind.
Base Stats
HP 95
Attack 125
Defense 79
Sp. Atk 60
Sp. Def 100
Speed 81
Total 540
Type Effectiveness
Weak to
Resistant to
Immune to
Abilities
Intimidate Moxie (Hidden)
Forms
Evolution Chain
Moves
Locations
Details
Sprites
Front
Back
Front Shiny
Back Shiny
Front ♀
Back ♀
Front Shiny ♀
Back Shiny ♀
Official Art
Official Art (Shiny)Competitive
Dragon Dance
Item
Gyaradosite
Nature
Jolly / Adamant
EVs
Atk 252
Def 4
Spe 252
Strategy Overview
- Mega Gyarados differentiates itself from other setup sweepers like Mega Salamence and Rayquaza with its access to Mold Breaker and Taunt, which lets it easily break through stall teams.
- Apart from being a formidable threat to stall teams, Mega Gyarados is capable of checking a number of dangerous threats. Intimidate and a Flying typing prior to Mega Evolution allow Gyarados to check Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Lucario. A Dark typing gives Mega Gyarados an upper hand against Ghost-types, and forces mind games against Ultra Necrozma and Marshadow. These useful defensive utilities can justify a spot for Mega Gyarados on both offensive and balanced teams.
- While those niches are notable, Stealth Rock tends to undermine Mega Gyarados's usefulness. Mega Gyarados also lacks initial pressure due to its rather weak STAB moves and mediocre Speed, which tends to limit its ability to shut down the likes of support Arceus formes, as it is slower than them before Dragon Dance. These drawbacks mean that Mega Gyarados is somewhat reliant on its teammates to effectively function and successfully set up without taking excessive damage from attacks and status.
- A general lack of damage output leaves Mega Gyarados competing with Mega Salamence and Zygarde-C, both of which are far more powerful and threatening setup sweepers that also have valuable defensive capabilities.
- Gyarados is checked by common threats in the tier, such as Zygarde-C, Mega Salamence, and, after Mega Evolution, Primal Groudon. Fairy-types like Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy are problematic for Mega Gyarados as well.
Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc