Competitive Information for Gyarados [Sword/Shield]
Water / Flying
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Gyarados? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Sword/Shield Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Gyarados is popular Water and Flying-typed Pokemon. It's common to find yourself dealing with Gyarados when battling in the 8th generation meta. Gyarados is typically seen in the UU tier (Underused). Gyarados's only type-related weaknesses are Electric and Rock.
Item: Lum Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 164 Hp / 44 Atk / 4 Def / 124 SpD / 172 Spe
Moveset:
- Bounce
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Protect
Special Wall Gyarados (Popular/Trending)
Gyarados is an extraordinary Special Wall for single battles. It's purpose is to take a mighty amount of hits from special attacks while dealing some decent damage. Life Orb boosts the power of Gyarados's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Intimidate, on switch-in Gyarados lowers the attack of adjacent opponents by 1 stage. With a Lum Berry equipped to it, Gyarados cures itself if it has a non-volatile status or is confused then the Lum Berry gets consumed.
◆ Waterfall is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Water-type move (20% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Dragon Dance is a status move (raises your Gyarados's attack and speed by 1 stage).
◆ Protect is a status move (prevents moves from affecting your Gyarados this turn).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is10a82
Item: Wacan Berry / Shell Bell
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Aqua Tail / Waterfall
- Outrage
- Double-Edge / Body Slam
- Earthquake
Physical Sweeper Gyarados (Intimidate)
Gyarados is a fabulous Physical Sweeper for single battles. It's meant to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. The Shell Bell item option is to help Gyarados recover from the recoil damage it may take from Double-Edge. With Intimidate, on switch-in Gyarados lowers the attack of adjacent opponents by 1 stage. With a Wacan Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective electric-type attack then the Wacan Berry gets consumed.
◆ Waterfall is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Water-type move (20% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Outrage is a physical 120-base power Dragon-type move (lasts 2-3 turns. Confuses your Gyarados afterwards).
◆ Double-Edge is a physical 120-base power Normal-type move (has 33% recoil).
◆ Body Slam is a physical 85-base power Normal-type move (30% chance to paralyze the target).
◆ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is11a82
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
Gyarados Physical Sweeper (Neptune's Fury)
Gyarados is popular Physical Sweeper for single battles. It attempts to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Life Orb boosts the power of Gyarados's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Moxie, Gyarados's attack is raised by 1 stage if it attacks and koes another pokemon.
◆ Dragon Dance is a status move (raises your Gyarados's attack and speed by 1 stage).
◆ Waterfall is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Water-type move (20% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is12a82
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Stone Edge / Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Bounce
- Waterfall
Gyarados Physical Sweeper (Gyradeath)
Gyarados is an extraordinary Physical Sweeper for single battles. It is primarily designed to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Life Orb boosts the power of Gyarados's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Moxie, Gyarados's attack is raised by 1 stage if it attacks and koes another pokemon. Awesome companion for a Rain Team. After just one Dragon Dance, Gyarados can pretty much outspeed the entire unboosted OU tier!
◆ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
◆ Dragon Dance is a status move (raises your Gyarados's attack and speed by 1 stage).
◆ Bounce is a physical STAB-boosted 85-base power Flying-type move (bounces turn 1. Hits turn 2. 30% paralyze).
◆ Waterfall is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Water-type move (20% chance to make the target flinch).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is13a82
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Gyarados? These builds have been optimized for Sword/Shield Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Item: Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Hp / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 180 SpD / 68 Spe
Moveset:
- Protect
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
- Thunder Wave
Doubles Special Wall Gyarados (Popular VGC)
Gyarados is a phenomenal Special Wall for double battles. This particular build was popular during earlier competitions. It's purpose is to take a great amount of hits from special attacks while dealing some decent damage. The Sitrus Berry will restore 1/4th of Gyarados's max HP when it reaches below half health and gets consumed. With Intimidate, on switch-in Gyarados lowers the attack of adjacent opponents by 1 stage.
◆ Waterfall is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Water-type move (20% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Ice Fang is a physical 65-base power Ice-type move (10% chance to freeze. 10% chance to flinch).
◆ Thunder Wave is a status move (paralyzes the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id10a82
Item: Wacan Berry / Shell Bell
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Earthquake / Bulldoze
- Aqua Tail / Waterfall
- Outrage
- Double-Edge / Body Slam
Doubles Physical Sweeper Gyarados (Intimidate)
Gyarados is an extraordinary Physical Sweeper for double battles. It is primarily designed to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. The Shell Bell item option is to help Gyarados recover from the recoil damage it may take from Double-Edge. With Intimidate, on switch-in Gyarados lowers the attack of adjacent opponents by 1 stage. With a Wacan Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective electric-type attack then the Wacan Berry gets consumed.
◆ Bulldoze is a physical 60-base power Ground-type move (100% chance lower adjacent Pokemon speed by 1 stage).
◆ Aqua Tail is a physical STAB-boosted 90-base power Water-type move that deals a decent amount of damage.
◆ Waterfall is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Water-type move (20% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Outrage is a physical 120-base power Dragon-type move (lasts 2-3 turns. Confuses your Gyarados afterwards).
◆ Double-Edge is a physical 120-base power Normal-type move (has 33% recoil).
◆ Body Slam is a physical 85-base power Normal-type move (30% chance to paralyze the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id11a82
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Gyarados learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Gyarados can perform in Sword/Shield. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive SS Move and Ability Combos for Gyarados
- Moves: Rain dance + Thunder
- Moves: Endure + Flail
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Moves: Thunderbolt + Ice beam
- Move: Swagger + Item: Mirror Herb
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Item: Blunder Policy + Move: Zap Cannon
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect
- Moves that inflict status: Thunder Wave, Toxic, Scald
Moves that boost Gyarados's stats
- Curse
- Dragon Dance
- Scale Shot
- Skull Bash
Most notable and possible best moves for Gyarados
- Avalanche
- Bounce
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Iron Head
- Power Whip
- Protect
- Reflect
- Rest
- Scald
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Waterfall
Common Effort Values for Gyarados in Sword and Shield
- Adamant Nature ( 164/44/4/0/124/172 )
- Adamant Nature ( 156/164/0/0/0/188 )
- Optimize Gyarados's EV spread for Pokemon Sword and Shield
Related Videos
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Here are the best movesets for Gyarados. Top rated Gyarados Sword/Shield movesets. You can find Gyarados builds Sword/Shield. Gyarados movesets Sword/Shield are listed here. VGC Gyarados Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Gyarados in Sword/Shield along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for evolution