Took over this analysis from 5Dots, with permission from May and SBPC.
[OVERVIEW]
Seaking finds a small niche as a unique mixed attacker with access to Agility, STAB Surf, and an above average Attack stat. This lets it combat the numerous Fire-, Ground-, and Rock-types of the tier more effectively than other Agility sweepers like Fearow, Moltres, and Arcanine. This is especially notable when paired with Seadra, forming a team that overwhelms the foe with multiple Agility attackers while having an incredible matchup versus teams with multiple Fire Spin users.
However, Seaking relies incredibly on Agility to pose any offensive threat due to its noticeably poor Speed, which when unboosted leaves it susceptible to top threats like tier-king Mr. Mime, Nidoking, and the multitude of viable partial trappers such as Charizard, Moltres, and Pinsir. In addition to this, it often struggles to break through opposing Water-types, thanks to their resistance to Surf and the recoil drawn from Double-Edge.
[SET]
name: Agility + 3 Attacks
move 1: Agility
move 2: Double-Edge
move 3: Hyper Beam
move 4: Surf / Blizzard
[SET COMMENTS]
Agility is essential, as it helps to mitigate both paralysis and Seaking's naturally poor Speed, boosting its capabilities as a late-game sweeper. Its beefy Double-Edge and Hyper Beam is Seaking's primary distinguishing feature from Seadra, helping to establish it as a unique Agility Sweeper. Notably, Hyper Beam is able KO tier-king Mr. Mime from a minimum of 46.6%. In order to ensure that Seaking is not walled by Rock-types and Gastly, its STAB Surf acts as a valuable coverage move that OHKOes Golem and 3HKOes Kabutops and Gastly. However, Blizzard is also a viable option for the fourth moveslot, 2HKOing Exeggcute and Dragonair and threatening to freeze opposing Water-types that generally wall Seaking. However, the drop in power is very noticeable, even sometimes failing to KO a Golem that has already taken a hit from Mr. Mime's Psychic.
A notable alternative offensive option exists in Tail Whip, being Seaking's best way to break through opposing Water-types like Seadra, Blastoise, and Kingler. Notably, Double-Edge followed by Hyper Beam has a chance to KO the former two after a Defense drop, with it becoming guaranteed after mild chip damage. However, Agility already means that Seaking is spending turns setting up, and lending the foe multiple free turns to make offensive plays like switching in Mr. Mime can be disastrous. In addition, other notable Water-types in Blastoise and Seadra have access to Tail Whip—or its identical counterpart in Leer— and make better use out of it.
When using this set, it will typically only be functioning as a late-game sweeper due to Seaking's poor natural Speed and less opportunities to set up Agility. After an Agility is set up it becomes incredibly versatile, with many common endgame threats like Charizard and Nidoking being susceptible to Surf while Mr. Mime is KO'd from a minimum of 46.6%. Since Seaking is mostly paired with Seadra, its essential to use Seadra early game to combat opposing Water-types and apply chip to Pokemon like Mr. Mime, so that Seaking can immediately apply offensive pressure after Agility.
[SET]
name: Agility + Rest
move 1: Agility
move 2: Rest
move 3: Double-Edge
move 4: Surf / Blizzard
[SET COMMENTS]
This set, pioneered by Enigami, takes a more defensive approach to the Pokemon. While this may seem counterintuitive, due to Seaking's traditional role as a more physically threatening counterpart to Seadra, it helps to form a unique double "AgiliRest" core that is insurmountably strong versus teams with multiple Fire Spin users. Another advantage of this set is that Seaking's newfound access to reliably recovery means that it has a much better matchup versus Toxic Blastoise.
The main difference between a Rest set and the typical set is the lack of Hyper Beam. However, dropping Double-Edge for Hyper Beam can also be viable, allowing Seaking to threaten Mr. Mime exceptionally well. This especially notable since Mr. Mime threatens both Seaking and Seadra while they are asleep, thanks to Thunderbolt. Typically passive options like Ice Beam and Toxic, while unsuitable for the offensive role Seaking typically plays, can also potentially work with this set. Ice Beam wields more PP than Blizzard, making the threat of a Freeze much more consistent but losing the guaranteed 2HKO versus Dragonair and Golem. Toxic acts as a permanent check to Fire Spin users like Ninetales and Charizard, furthering the team's gameplan as a counterteam to Fire Spin based strategies. In addition to this, it can force opposing Water-types like Blastoise to Rest earlier.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[pac, 520967]]
- Quality checked by: [[name, id], [name, id]]
- Grammar checked by: [[name, id]]
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