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| Plus it just looks so cool. Seriously, look at this thing! |
Magikarp's pokedex entry literally reads: "Magikarp is a pathetic excuse for a Pokémon that is only capable of flopping and splashing. ..." But its evolved form, Gyarados, is a fantastic Pokemon with great base stats and solid typing. Gyarados is the kind of Pokemon that inspires you to get out of bed every morning and strive for greatness. What's so great about Gyarados? Well...
Recommended movesets
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| My Gyarados is named "Deathtube" |
Dragon Breath + Dragon Pulse / Hydro Pump
or
Bite + Dragon Pulse / Hydro Pump
Gyarados used to get Dragon Breath, but it now exclusively gets Bite. These moves are effectively just as good as each other, but Dragon Breath was better for one of Gyarados' niche purposes: being a check for Dragonite. Dragon Pulse is still just fine for the job, and Gyarados is one of the most easily-obtained Pokemon that can deal with Dragonite, capable of resisting any Steel Wing Dragonites and handling Dragon Breath Dragonites just fine. Alternatively, Bite has a quick cooldown rate which makes it useful as an attacking move that also hits Psychic types like Hypno and Slowbro.
Gyarados' other charge move is Hydro Pump which is just a very strong move and as an attacker there is no downside to using Gyarados' best STAB move.
Defending
Bite/Dragon Breath + Dragon Pulse
On defence, Gyarados is best off using Dragon Pulse so as to maximize the chances for a charge move to go off, and make it harder for them to dodge. Hydro Pump is also solid, but isn't as good because Hydro Pump puts all your eggs in one basket and hopes your opponent doesn't dodge. Also, Gyarados is often attacked by an electric Pokemon or Dragonite, so it may either be KOd before it can get a Hydro Pump off, or Hydro Pump will be resisted.
Dragon Pulse is a nice buffer for this. Ideally, you would use Bite + Dragon Pulse to get the alternate move-types in there to deal with as many potential attackers as possible (including Exeggutor which some may opt to try).
Twister Gyarados is viewed as incredibly unfortunate given the large candy investment it takes to evolve Gyarados. However, there are some niche uses to Twister Gyarados! That said, the reason they work is because Twister is bad so... feels bad mate.
Base stats
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| Feels bad though mate photo credit: redbubble, it's a sticker if you wanna buy one |
Attack: 192
Defence: 196
Stamina: 190
Gyarados can battle with the best of them thanks to its high total base stats. The grind to catch ~100 Magikarp also gives you ample opportunity to find one with good IVs to evolve. Gyarados is one of those Pokemon that takes so much investment that it's worth holding off for a near-perfect Magikarp if you can. That said, the moveset is still up to the luck of the draw, though each charge move is serviceable in one form or another.
Good uses for Gyarados
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| Magnemite is willing to act tough... as long as Gyarados has dragon moves |
If you DID get a Twister Gyarados, as mentioned in the Magneton article, Gyarados is a great Pokemon to bash your face into for earning gym prestige. Twister makes Gyarados a pretty poor defender, and Magneton can resist the dragon-type Twister while firing back with doubly effective electric moves. If you have a Dragon Pulse Gyarados, this strategy is still effective for earning gym prestige, but you won't be able to achieve as much of a difference between Magneton and Gyarados' CP. Jolteon and Electabuzz also make for good Pokemon to bash into a Gyarados for levelling up, and are better against Hydro Pump Gyarados thanks to their superior base stats.
Checks and counters
Everything that makes Gyarados a good Pokemon for prestige-earning makes it a bad defender. Being doubly weak to electric allows opponents to power through a Gyarados without losing a Pokemon, but this can be a bit of a double-edged sword for the attacker. If Gyarados is part of a big 6+ mon gym, then if you force your opponent into bringing an electric type (with poor Stamina), you may have actually reduced the number of Pokemon would-be attackers can take down by reducing the overall defence of their team. So while this is a glaring weakness, it doesn't prevent Gyarados from being a top-tier defender.
The major problem with Gyarados is that its non-charge moves are really weak, so the gym defence AI doesn't do it any favours there. You're best off trying to hit hard with Dragon Pulse as often as possible than using a piddly Bite for longer only to save up for a Hydro Pump that may not even happen.
Final say
Gyarados is a fantastic Pokemon that should always be useful after evolving. While Twister can be disappointing, no Gyarados is entirely without merit. Gyarados' solid all-around stats make it useful for both attacking and defending, and its solid moveset options give it good type-coverage to give it an edge in battle against a wide diversity of strong Pokemon. Those 400 candies are worth the wait, and if you get the moveset you want, it's worth investing into Gyarados as well.
Cheers,
Let's GO
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