BSS Rocky Helmet Gyarados [GP 1/1]

[Photon]

Don't have a whole lot to say here except that report EV spreads were a little all over the place. I came up with this unique EV spread that checks several boxes for things brought up in those reports.

[SET]
name: Rocky Helmet
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Waterfall / Iron Head
move 3: Earthquake / Ice Fang / Iron Head
move 4: Thunder Wave / Earthquake / Ice Fang
item: Rocky Helmet
tera type: Steel / Ground
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 228 HP / 4 Atk / 220 Def / 4 SpD / 52 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Gyarados utilizes its unique typing alongside Rocky Helmet to cushion physical sweepers such as Scizor, Great Tusk and Palafin.

* **Taunt**: Taunt forces foes such as Corviknight and Dondozo to attack Gyarados, constraining them to take Rocky Helmet while often dealing minimal damage themselves.

* **Waterfall versus Iron Head**: Waterfall provides Gyarados with a reliable STAB move, but Iron Head works better with Thunder Wave thanks to its higher flinch chance. They can be run together, though usually at the cost of overall coverage.

* **Earthquake**: Earthquake checks several common Gyarados switch-ins, such as Iron Hands and Magnezone.

* **Ice Fang**: Ice Fang hits bulky Dragon-types such as Dragonite that otherwise can withstand attacks from Gyarados.

* **Thunder Wave**: Thunder Wave combined with flinch moves like Waterfall and Iron Head can shut down foes for several turns at a time. It can also catch foes switching into Gyarados, though keep in mind that many prominent Gyarados checks are naturally immune.

** **EV Spread**: This spread allows Gyarados to survive two unboosted Moonblasts from Flutter Mane and minimizes Stealth Rock chip. The Speed investment outspeeds 4 Speed Rotom formes and, when using Thunder Wave, outspeeds paralyzed Speed-boosting nature Dragapult.

Other Options
========

* **Dragon Dance**: Rocky Helmet sets can still opt to utilize Dragon Dance for more offensive presence, but this usually involves cutting bulk to invest in Attack and Speed.

Tera Types
========

* **Tera Dependency - Low**: While Gyarados has uses for Terastallization, losing its unique defensive typing jeopardizes its Rocky Helmet niche and makes it much harder to check its key targets. Terastallization must be timed properly if Gyarados is to get proper value out of it.

* **Steel**: Tera Steel powers up Iron Head to more serviceable levels and makes it easier to OHKO bulky Flutter Mane.

* **Ground**: Tera Ground prevents Gyarados from getting dismantled by its 4x Electric-type weakness and provides a sizable power boost to Earthquake.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/photon.516307/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/derpysux.528485/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/yashgreninja.383911/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/

 

[Omastar68]

Is avalanche ok? If they hit you it's massive damage, if not it's only 5 less BP than fang. My thinking is gyara is a bit on the slow side here, so -priority can be a small price to pay. The freeze and flinch with fang are mostly negligible imo(well freeze is broken, but it's so rare and you're doing para too.)

 

[Photon]

Is avalanche ok? If they hit you it's massive damage, if not it's only 5 less BP than fang. My thinking is gyara is a bit on the slow side here, so -priority can be a small price to pay. The freeze and flinch with fang are mostly negligible imo(well freeze is broken, but it's so rare and you're doing para too.)

Gyarados naturally outspeeds Dragonite, so even with a little Speed investment its going to outrun bulky uninvested Dragonite. Plus it doesn't synergize well at all with Thunder Wave. Avalanche is really only something you want to be running on exceptionally slow mons such as Avalugg, and even in that example its used less than Icicle Crash (granted, Icicle Crash is a much better alternative than Ice Fang.)

Gyarados is still decently fast even without much investment, and that advantage is rarely worth sacrificing in a meta as fast and furious as Regulation C.

 

[Omastar68]

oh derp, right ty.

I think since T-wave is technically a slash on this set, and not a must-have(well that's what I see, to me seems a must so this is moot...,) Avalanche could be in the 4th slot slashed w/ T-Wave. Since you are absolutely right they don't synergize(Ice Fang hardly does w/ only 10% flinh, but if you need ice you need ice.)

 

[Photon]

oh derp, right ty.

I think since T-wave is technically a slash on this set, and not a must-have(well that's what I see, to me seems a must so this is moot...,) Avalanche could be in the 4th slot slashed w/ T-Wave. Since you are absolutely right they don't synergize(Ice Fang hardly does w/ only 10% flinh, but if you need ice you need ice.)

Per HOME Usage:

• Thunder Wave : 42.3%
• Ice Fang : 28.6%
• Avalanche : 6.7%

A lot of high ladder Rocky Helmet sets do run Thunder Wave, but I've seen one or two that didn't (from the reports.) That is why it is prioritized as the first slash but I acknowledge that running Taunt + 3 attacks or even Dragon Dance is something that has been done to some degree of success. But even beyond that Ice Fang is rarely used at a higher level, let alone Avalanche.

Avalanche is neither practical for the reasons stated above nor supported by usage and report data.

 

[DerpySuX]

Sorry for the delay, checking now.

I would say “moderate” instead of “situational” for tera dependency, just to keep it consistent with the rest of the analyses. I’d re organize move 3 to put Earthquake first, unless it really is less common than iron head lol. I think having 2 flinch moves on the same set is a little much, but I haven’t used gyara myself so I’m not sure what the trends with it exactly are.

This is more of a question than a check, but tera grass seems like a good option for Gyarados, I was wondering if there was a reason it isn’t mentioned? If there’s some obvious reason for not running it that I’m missing I’ll trust you on it, just seems like a logical tera for defensive gyara to me.

Anyway this looks very good as usual. QC APPROVED

 

[Photon]

I would say “moderate” instead of “situational” for tera dependency, just to keep it consistent with the rest of the analyses.

I've never seen an analysis with "moderate" as a dependency descriptor, and its not listed in the example thread. Either way, "moderate" sounds more like "medium" to me, but I think "low" would be more appropriate if I was to change it. Rocky Helmet Gyarados really doesn't want to Tera unless its a last resort because it screws with its other big matchups.

I’d re organize move 3 to put Earthquake first, unless it really is less common than iron head lol. I think having 2 flinch moves on the same set is a little much, but I haven’t used gyara myself so I’m not sure what the trends with it exactly are.

Looking at it again, I agree with this change. I saw some teams that did run them together but frankly the reports were all over the place. HOME usage indicates that EQ is much preferred, so that's what we should go with. In fact, I'm going to put Iron Head last for move 3 as well.

This is more of a question than a check, but tera grass seems like a good option for Gyarados, I was wondering if there was a reason it isn’t mentioned? If there’s some obvious reason for not running it that I’m missing I’ll trust you on it, just seems like a logical tera for defensive gyara to me.

I can see the use case for it against Breloom and in particular Rotom-W, but HOME's 4.1% usage combined with report data doesn't support it as being tech that's used consistently. Maybe it would make more sense on pure offense sets? Not sure. Let me know if you think its still worth adding.

 

[DerpySuX]

I can see the use case for it against Breloom and in particular Rotom-W, but HOME's 4.1% usage combined with report data doesn't support it as being tech that's used consistently. Maybe it would make more sense on pure offense sets? Not sure. Let me know if you think it’s still worth adding.

I’m no Gyarados expert nor did I spent any meaningful amount of time reading top team reports so it’s entirely up to you. I’m always an advocate of providing as many reasonable options as possible but if the data doesn’t support it’s theoretical viability it’s fine to hold off on adding it until we see more results with it.

 

[DerpySuX]

Also you’re right i meant to say medium or low I had a dum dum moment lol

 

[Theorymon]

Just gave this an extra look over, it looks fine to me, you don't have to put me in the credits for the check though, just put derpy in!

Highlighting GP team (to be clear anyone can do this once its the QC check is done!)

GP Team

 

[YashGreninja]

amcheck!

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[SET]
name: Rocky Helmet
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Waterfall / Iron Head
move 3: Earthquake / Ice Fang / Iron Head
move 4: Thunder Wave / Earthquake / Ice Fang
item: Rocky Helmet
tera type: Steel / Ground
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 228 HP / 4 Atk / 220 Def / 4 SpD / 52 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Gyarados utilizes its unique typing alongside Rocky Helmet to cushion physical sweepers such as Scizor, Great Tusk, (AC) and Palafin.

* **Taunt**: Taunt forces foes such as Corviknight and Dondozo to attack into Gyarados, forcing constraining (since "force" was repetitive) them to take Rocky Helmet damage while often dealing minimal damage themselves.

* **Waterfall versus Iron Head**: Waterfall provides Gyarados with a reliable STAB move that also has a 20% flinch chance, but Iron Head works better with Thunder Wave thanks to its higher 30% flinch chance. They can be run together, though usually at the cost of overall coverage.

* **Earthquake**: This is a strong coverage move into Earthquake checks several common Gyarados switch-ins, such as Iron Hands and Magnezone.

* **Ice Fang**: Ice Fang hits bulky Dragon-types such as Dragonite that otherwise can withstand attacks from Gyarados.

* **Thunder Wave**: Thunder Wave combined with flinch moves like Waterfall (mention Iron Head as well due to mentioning before that it works better with TWave than Waterfall does?) can let Gyarados shut down foes for several turns at a time. It can also catch foes switching into Gyarados, though keep in mind that many prominent Gyarados checks are naturally immune.

** **EV Spread**: This spread allows Gyarados to survive two unboosted Moonblasts from Flutter Mane and minimizes Stealth Rock chip. The Speed investment outspeeds 4 Speed Rotom formes and, when using Thunder Wave, outspeeds paralyzed Speed nature Dragapult.

Other Options
========

* **Dragon Dance**: Rocky Helmet sets can still opt to utilize Dragon Dance to give Gyarados a secondary mode, but this usually involves cutting bulk to invest in Attack and Speed.

Tera Types
========

* **Tera Dependency - Low**: While Gyarados has uses for Terastallization, it jeopardizes its Rocky Helmet niche and makes it things much harder to check its key targets. Terastallization must be timed properly if Gyarados is to get proper value out of it.

* **Steel**: Tera Steel powers up Iron Head to more serviceable levels and makes it easier to OHKO bulky Flutter Mane.

* **Ground**: Tera Ground prevents Gyarados from getting dismantled by its 4x Electric-type weakness, and provides a sizable power boost to Earthquake.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/photon.516307/
Quality checked by:
Grammar checked by:

 

[autumn]

1/1 GP Team done credit both of us

Hide

[SET]
name: Rocky Helmet
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Waterfall / Iron Head
move 3: Earthquake / Ice Fang / Iron Head
move 4: Thunder Wave / Earthquake / Ice Fang
item: Rocky Helmet
tera type: Steel / Ground
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 228 HP / 4 Atk / 220 Def / 4 SpD / 52 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Gyarados utilizes its unique typing alongside Rocky Helmet to cushion physical sweepers such as Scizor, Great Tusk, (AC) and Palafin.

* **Taunt**: Taunt forces foes such as Corviknight and Dondozo to attack into Gyarados, forcing constraining (since "force" was repetitive) them to take Rocky Helmet damage while often dealing minimal damage themselves.

* **Waterfall versus Iron Head**: Waterfall provides Gyarados with a reliable STAB move that also has a 20% flinch chance, but Iron Head works better with Thunder Wave thanks to its higher 30% flinch chance. They can be run together, though usually at the cost of overall coverage.

* **Earthquake**: This is a strong coverage move into Earthquake checks several common Gyarados switch-ins, such as Iron Hands and Magnezone.

* **Ice Fang**: Ice Fang hits bulky Dragon-types such as Dragonite that otherwise can withstand attacks from Gyarados.

* **Thunder Wave**: Thunder Wave combined with flinch moves like Waterfall (mention Iron Head as well due to mentioning before that it works better with TWave than Waterfall does?) can let Gyarados shut down foes for several turns at a time. It can also catch foes switching into Gyarados, though keep in mind that many prominent Gyarados checks are naturally immune.

** **EV Spread**: This spread allows Gyarados to survive two unboosted Moonblasts from Flutter Mane and minimizes Stealth Rock chip. The Speed investment outspeeds 4 Speed Rotom formes and, when using Thunder Wave, outspeeds paralyzed Speed-boosting nature Dragapult.

Other Options
========

* **Dragon Dance**: Rocky Helmet sets can still opt to utilize Dragon Dance to give Gyarados a secondary mode (what does this actually mean? it's not clear for a reader), but this usually involves cutting bulk to invest in Attack and Speed.

Tera Types
========

* **Tera Dependency - Low**: While Gyarados has uses for Terastallization, it jeopardizes its Rocky Helmet niche (why? because you lose the good defensive typing?) and makes it much harder for Gyarados to check its key targets. Terastallization must be timed properly if Gyarados is to get proper value out of it.

* **Steel**: Tera Steel powers up Iron Head to more serviceable levels and makes it easier to OHKO bulky Flutter Mane.

* **Ground**: Tera Ground prevents Gyarados from getting dismantled by its 4x Electric-type weakness (RC) and provides a sizable power boost to Earthquake.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/photon.516307/
Quality checked by:
Grammar checked by:

 

[Photon]

1/1 GP Team done credit both of us

Hide

[SET]
name: Rocky Helmet
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Waterfall / Iron Head
move 3: Earthquake / Ice Fang / Iron Head
move 4: Thunder Wave / Earthquake / Ice Fang
item: Rocky Helmet
tera type: Steel / Ground
ability: Intimidate
nature: Impish
evs: 228 HP / 4 Atk / 220 Def / 4 SpD / 52 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Gyarados utilizes its unique typing alongside Rocky Helmet to cushion physical sweepers such as Scizor, Great Tusk, (AC) and Palafin.

* **Taunt**: Taunt forces foes such as Corviknight and Dondozo to attack into Gyarados, forcing constraining (since "force" was repetitive) them to take Rocky Helmet damage while often dealing minimal damage themselves.

* **Waterfall versus Iron Head**: Waterfall provides Gyarados with a reliable STAB move that also has a 20% flinch chance, but Iron Head works better with Thunder Wave thanks to its higher 30% flinch chance. They can be run together, though usually at the cost of overall coverage.

* **Earthquake**: This is a strong coverage move into Earthquake checks several common Gyarados switch-ins, such as Iron Hands and Magnezone.

* **Ice Fang**: Ice Fang hits bulky Dragon-types such as Dragonite that otherwise can withstand attacks from Gyarados.

* **Thunder Wave**: Thunder Wave combined with flinch moves like Waterfall (mention Iron Head as well due to mentioning before that it works better with TWave than Waterfall does?) can let Gyarados shut down foes for several turns at a time. It can also catch foes switching into Gyarados, though keep in mind that many prominent Gyarados checks are naturally immune.

** **EV Spread**: This spread allows Gyarados to survive two unboosted Moonblasts from Flutter Mane and minimizes Stealth Rock chip. The Speed investment outspeeds 4 Speed Rotom formes and, when using Thunder Wave, outspeeds paralyzed Speed-boosting nature Dragapult.

Other Options
========

* **Dragon Dance**: Rocky Helmet sets can still opt to utilize Dragon Dance to give Gyarados a secondary mode (what does this actually mean? it's not clear for a reader), but this usually involves cutting bulk to invest in Attack and Speed.

Tera Types
========

* **Tera Dependency - Low**: While Gyarados has uses for Terastallization, it jeopardizes its Rocky Helmet niche (why? because you lose the good defensive typing?) and makes it much harder for Gyarados to check its key targets. Terastallization must be timed properly if Gyarados is to get proper value out of it.

* **Steel**: Tera Steel powers up Iron Head to more serviceable levels and makes it easier to OHKO bulky Flutter Mane.

* **Ground**: Tera Ground prevents Gyarados from getting dismantled by its 4x Electric-type weakness (RC) and provides a sizable power boost to Earthquake.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/photon.516307/
Quality checked by:
Grammar checked by:

Done. I've touched up the sections pointed out where the wording was a bit confusing, so let me know if you see any new issues from that.

This is ready for Dex! I recommend putting this in front of the Dragon Dance set currently on site, as Rocky Helmet has become the norm in the last couple of months.

 

[DerpySuX]

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