[OVERVIEW]
Seaking’s high attacking stats, access to Agility, and an excellent offensive STAB make it one of the most fearsome sweepers in the tier. It is capable of blasting through many of PU's top Pokemon, such as Nidoqueen, Fearow, and Arcanine, as well as other common foes such as Rapidash, Scyther, and Graveler. Seaking's Water typing is also fantastic defensively, blessing it with important resistances to the common Fire- and Water-type attacks in the tier. The only common Pokemon with a strong super effective STAB move to hit Seaking is Magneton. Additionally, Seaking's defenses are high enough to fend off neutral attacks with relative ease. For example, it is only KOed by Fearow's Double-Edge followed up by Hyper beam 29.8% of the time, and it always lives Scyther's Hyper Beam at +2. Furthermore, Seaking avoids a 2HKO from every non-STAB Thunderbolt user, with the exception of Gastly, which only has a 10.7% chance to 2HKO. Seaking's excellent defensive profile means it can find many opportunities to set up Agility to alleviate its low Speed, and once it is set up it is very hard to stop if its opponent doesn't have the proper tools to take it down.
Despite all of its positive traits, Seaking is held back by some poor matchups that prevent it from effortlessly sweeping. The most prominent matchup is Staryu; an unparalyzed Staryu can switch into Seaking and completely wall it barring critical hits. Gastly can also switch into Seaking once per game and threaten it with both Thunderbolt and Hypnosis. Both Staryu and Gastly are very hard to switch into, meaning Seaking inviting them for free can result in a huge loss of momentum. One less common but still dangerous foe that switches into Seaking is Magneton, which only takes up to 30.6% from Surf and threatens Seaking with Thunderbolt. These poor matchups mean that Seaking is typically reserved for the late-game, after its teammates wear down its checks. However, Seaking is the one Pokemon that you don't want to be caught being unpreapred for, and the threat of a Seaking sweep is something that should always be considered when building a team and in battle.
[SET]
name: Agility
move 1: Surf
move 2: Agility
move 3: Hyper Beam
move 4: Blizzard / Double-Edge
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Surf is Seaking's strongest STAB move and hits a huge chunk of the tier super effectively, 2HKOing Nidoqueen, Arcanine, Rapidash, and Magmar, and OHKOing Graveler. It 3HKOes most neutral targets as well, including Fearow, Gastly, and Porygon 95.1% of the time. Agility is another very important move that allows Seaking to function as such a deadly sweeper. At +2, Seaking outspeeds every unboosted foe, letting it take advantage of its excellent attacking power. It also negates the Speed drop from Paralysis, which allows Seaking to more easily set up on Fire-types that try to hit it with Body Slam. Seaking is also able to set up on Nidoqueen, Fearow, and Scyther. Hyper Beam is most commonly used to blast through Staryu; it does a minimum of 55.1% and a critical hit Hyper Beam is able to OHKO Staryu outright. It also does more damage than Surf to Porygon, Drowzee, and Abra. Notably, a critical hit Surf into Hyper Beam is guaranteed to KO Porygon, which is not the case if a second Surf is the follow-up move. Blizzard is primarily for Fearow and Scyther. It 2HKOes both foes, while Blizzard into Surf is heavily favored to KO Fearow, and pretty much guaranteed to KO Scyther. Blizzard is also able to hit Vileplume and Dragonair super-effectively, but these foes aren't very common. Alternatively, Seaking can equip Double-Edge to break through Staryu. Double Edge into Hyper Beam has a 54.3% chance to KO it, but Staryu's access to Recover means Double-Edge is only effective at breaking through Staryu once it's paralyzed or if Seaking has already used Agility.
Seaking should be saved for the late-game after Staryu, and to a lesser extent Gastly and Magneton, are accounted for. Once all of its threats are neutralized, Seaking is free to come in and attempt to sweep. It should have no trouble finding an opportunity to set up; it is able to set up Agility on Nidoqueen, Fearow, Rapidash, Arcanine, and Scyther. Once Seaking is set up, it can outright sweep or severely damage an opposing team to the point where its teammates can clean up. However, this may not always happen in practice, and sometimes Seaking is forced into its bad matchups. If the opponent still has a Gastly or Magneton remaining, you should decide whether or not it is worth sacrificing Seaking for damage on these foes; two Surfs get Magneton into guaranteed KO range of Fearow's Hyper Beam, and Gastly into KO range of most of the tier, doing up to 80.6%. Against a healthy Staryu, Seaking is best off using Agility to outspeed it then fishing for a critical hit Hyper Beam, as Staryu can paralyze Seaking and use Recover to stall out Double-Edge. If Seaking has Blizzard, it is best to fish for a freeze first, then go for the Hyper Beam once it is in KO range from Staryu's Thunderbolt.
Seaking's best teammates are ones that can wear down its checks early-game to enable it later. Fearow, Rapidash, and Arcanine are all able to deal heavy damage to Seaking's strongest checks, Staryu and Gastly. All three have Agility to negate the Speed drop from Staryu's Thunder Wave, and the latter two can paralyze Staryu with Body Slam. In return, Seaking supports them by taking on opposing Fire-types, Nidoqueen, and Graveler, giving them great offensive synergy. Magneron is able to OHKO Staryu, making it a good teammate. Abra and Magmar also have good matchups against Staryu and Gastly, but their lack of Agility makes them more vulnerable to paralysis. Porygon is also an excellent teammate that can bait in Staryu and Gastly and paralyze them, making them easier for Seaking to handle later. Porygon, Magneton, Gastly and Staryu can also help handle opposing Seaking, which can otherwise trade damage with your own Seaking. Nidoqueen is also a good teammate that completely walls Magneton and functions as a Staryu lure; it sacrifices itself for damage on Staryu to make it easy for a teammate like Fearow to revenge kill. Graveler is also a great teammate that walls Magneton while also luring in Staryu. Although Staryu OHKOes Graveler, it will be in KO range from Fearow and the Fire-types if it switched into Earthquake, and Staryu cannot safely use Recover on Graveler due to the threat of Explosion.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Other options are generally not recommended on Seaking. It can drop Surf and use a set consisting of Agility, Blizzard, Double-Edge, and Hyper Beam in order to handle both Fearow and Staryu, but it makes Seaking much worse against Fire-types and Gastly. Rest can be used to win one-on-one against opposing Seaking, and in certain endgames against opposing Fire-types, but otherwise it is very easy to punish and seldom worth a moveslot. Seaking can also be a lead as it matches up well against the two most common leads&mdashArcanine and Nidoqueen, but it typically invites Gastly and Staryu in early, although this switch can be used to pivot into a teammate such as Arcanine or Abra.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Staryu is without a doubt Seaking’s biggest counter. An unparalyzed Staryu can switch into Seaking then use Recover until it KOes itself from Double-Edge recoil. If Seaking uses Hyper Beam or Agility, Staryu can then paralyze it safely and continue to use Recover until it fully paralyzes. Seaking is also able to switch into itself well, and the face-off will typically result in the winning Seaking being at low enough HP that something can revenge kill it, although it will probably be able to fire off one more attack before being KOed if it set up Agility.
**Gastly**: Gastly outspeeds Seaking, is immune to its Normal-type moves, and can threaten threaten Seaking with Thunderbolt or Hypnosis. However, it is harder for Gastly to switch into Seaking at +2, as a critical hit Surf into Surf KOes Gastly.
**Magneton:** Magneton outspeeds Seaking, is 4HKOed by Surf, and 2HKOes in return with Thunderbolt. Magneton can also use Thunder, which has a 61.4% chance to OHKO Seaking.
**Porygon**: Porygon is able to threaten paralysis while using Recover to heal off any damage it takes. Porygon can also use Agility to re-apply the Speed drop from Paralysis, making it harder for Seaking to push through the speed drop with Agility. Switching directly into an attack from Seaking is risky, though, as a critical hit Surf into Hyper Beam is guaranteed to KO Porygon.
**Water-resistant foes:** Seaking without Blizzard is helpless against Dragonair, and even if Seaking is running Blizzard it’s still outsped and can be wrapped. Similarly, Seaking without Blizzard is helpless against Vileplume, giving it a good opportunity to come in and use Sleep Powder.
**Magmar**: Although it is 2HKOed by Surf, Magmar is much better at handling Seaking compared to Arcanine and Rapidash. It outspeeds Seaking and can use either Confuse Ray or Smokescreen to give Seaking difficulty setting up, and Psychic's chance for a Special drop can severely weaken Seaking. Notably, Magmar avoids a 2HKO from Surf if it is able to drop Seaking's Special before its first attack.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/volk.530877/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:
Seaking’s high attacking stats, access to Agility, and an excellent offensive STAB make it one of the most fearsome sweepers in the tier. It is capable of blasting through many of PU's top Pokemon, such as Nidoqueen, Fearow, and Arcanine, as well as other common foes such as Rapidash, Scyther, and Graveler. Seaking's Water typing is also fantastic defensively, blessing it with important resistances to the common Fire- and Water-type attacks in the tier. The only common Pokemon with a strong super effective STAB move to hit Seaking is Magneton. Additionally, Seaking's defenses are high enough to fend off neutral attacks with relative ease. For example, it is only KOed by Fearow's Double-Edge followed up by Hyper beam 29.8% of the time, and it always lives Scyther's Hyper Beam at +2. Furthermore, Seaking avoids a 2HKO from every non-STAB Thunderbolt user, with the exception of Gastly, which only has a 10.7% chance to 2HKO. Seaking's excellent defensive profile means it can find many opportunities to set up Agility to alleviate its low Speed, and once it is set up it is very hard to stop if its opponent doesn't have the proper tools to take it down.
Despite all of its positive traits, Seaking is held back by some poor matchups that prevent it from effortlessly sweeping. The most prominent matchup is Staryu; an unparalyzed Staryu can switch into Seaking and completely wall it barring critical hits. Gastly can also switch into Seaking once per game and threaten it with both Thunderbolt and Hypnosis. Both Staryu and Gastly are very hard to switch into, meaning Seaking inviting them for free can result in a huge loss of momentum. One less common but still dangerous foe that switches into Seaking is Magneton, which only takes up to 30.6% from Surf and threatens Seaking with Thunderbolt. These poor matchups mean that Seaking is typically reserved for the late-game, after its teammates wear down its checks. However, Seaking is the one Pokemon that you don't want to be caught being unpreapred for, and the threat of a Seaking sweep is something that should always be considered when building a team and in battle.
[SET]
name: Agility
move 1: Surf
move 2: Agility
move 3: Hyper Beam
move 4: Blizzard / Double-Edge
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Surf is Seaking's strongest STAB move and hits a huge chunk of the tier super effectively, 2HKOing Nidoqueen, Arcanine, Rapidash, and Magmar, and OHKOing Graveler. It 3HKOes most neutral targets as well, including Fearow, Gastly, and Porygon 95.1% of the time. Agility is another very important move that allows Seaking to function as such a deadly sweeper. At +2, Seaking outspeeds every unboosted foe, letting it take advantage of its excellent attacking power. It also negates the Speed drop from Paralysis, which allows Seaking to more easily set up on Fire-types that try to hit it with Body Slam. Seaking is also able to set up on Nidoqueen, Fearow, and Scyther. Hyper Beam is most commonly used to blast through Staryu; it does a minimum of 55.1% and a critical hit Hyper Beam is able to OHKO Staryu outright. It also does more damage than Surf to Porygon, Drowzee, and Abra. Notably, a critical hit Surf into Hyper Beam is guaranteed to KO Porygon, which is not the case if a second Surf is the follow-up move. Blizzard is primarily for Fearow and Scyther. It 2HKOes both foes, while Blizzard into Surf is heavily favored to KO Fearow, and pretty much guaranteed to KO Scyther. Blizzard is also able to hit Vileplume and Dragonair super-effectively, but these foes aren't very common. Alternatively, Seaking can equip Double-Edge to break through Staryu. Double Edge into Hyper Beam has a 54.3% chance to KO it, but Staryu's access to Recover means Double-Edge is only effective at breaking through Staryu once it's paralyzed or if Seaking has already used Agility.
Seaking should be saved for the late-game after Staryu, and to a lesser extent Gastly and Magneton, are accounted for. Once all of its threats are neutralized, Seaking is free to come in and attempt to sweep. It should have no trouble finding an opportunity to set up; it is able to set up Agility on Nidoqueen, Fearow, Rapidash, Arcanine, and Scyther. Once Seaking is set up, it can outright sweep or severely damage an opposing team to the point where its teammates can clean up. However, this may not always happen in practice, and sometimes Seaking is forced into its bad matchups. If the opponent still has a Gastly or Magneton remaining, you should decide whether or not it is worth sacrificing Seaking for damage on these foes; two Surfs get Magneton into guaranteed KO range of Fearow's Hyper Beam, and Gastly into KO range of most of the tier, doing up to 80.6%. Against a healthy Staryu, Seaking is best off using Agility to outspeed it then fishing for a critical hit Hyper Beam, as Staryu can paralyze Seaking and use Recover to stall out Double-Edge. If Seaking has Blizzard, it is best to fish for a freeze first, then go for the Hyper Beam once it is in KO range from Staryu's Thunderbolt.
Seaking's best teammates are ones that can wear down its checks early-game to enable it later. Fearow, Rapidash, and Arcanine are all able to deal heavy damage to Seaking's strongest checks, Staryu and Gastly. All three have Agility to negate the Speed drop from Staryu's Thunder Wave, and the latter two can paralyze Staryu with Body Slam. In return, Seaking supports them by taking on opposing Fire-types, Nidoqueen, and Graveler, giving them great offensive synergy. Magneron is able to OHKO Staryu, making it a good teammate. Abra and Magmar also have good matchups against Staryu and Gastly, but their lack of Agility makes them more vulnerable to paralysis. Porygon is also an excellent teammate that can bait in Staryu and Gastly and paralyze them, making them easier for Seaking to handle later. Porygon, Magneton, Gastly and Staryu can also help handle opposing Seaking, which can otherwise trade damage with your own Seaking. Nidoqueen is also a good teammate that completely walls Magneton and functions as a Staryu lure; it sacrifices itself for damage on Staryu to make it easy for a teammate like Fearow to revenge kill. Graveler is also a great teammate that walls Magneton while also luring in Staryu. Although Staryu OHKOes Graveler, it will be in KO range from Fearow and the Fire-types if it switched into Earthquake, and Staryu cannot safely use Recover on Graveler due to the threat of Explosion.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Other options are generally not recommended on Seaking. It can drop Surf and use a set consisting of Agility, Blizzard, Double-Edge, and Hyper Beam in order to handle both Fearow and Staryu, but it makes Seaking much worse against Fire-types and Gastly. Rest can be used to win one-on-one against opposing Seaking, and in certain endgames against opposing Fire-types, but otherwise it is very easy to punish and seldom worth a moveslot. Seaking can also be a lead as it matches up well against the two most common leads&mdashArcanine and Nidoqueen, but it typically invites Gastly and Staryu in early, although this switch can be used to pivot into a teammate such as Arcanine or Abra.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Staryu is without a doubt Seaking’s biggest counter. An unparalyzed Staryu can switch into Seaking then use Recover until it KOes itself from Double-Edge recoil. If Seaking uses Hyper Beam or Agility, Staryu can then paralyze it safely and continue to use Recover until it fully paralyzes. Seaking is also able to switch into itself well, and the face-off will typically result in the winning Seaking being at low enough HP that something can revenge kill it, although it will probably be able to fire off one more attack before being KOed if it set up Agility.
**Gastly**: Gastly outspeeds Seaking, is immune to its Normal-type moves, and can threaten threaten Seaking with Thunderbolt or Hypnosis. However, it is harder for Gastly to switch into Seaking at +2, as a critical hit Surf into Surf KOes Gastly.
**Magneton:** Magneton outspeeds Seaking, is 4HKOed by Surf, and 2HKOes in return with Thunderbolt. Magneton can also use Thunder, which has a 61.4% chance to OHKO Seaking.
**Porygon**: Porygon is able to threaten paralysis while using Recover to heal off any damage it takes. Porygon can also use Agility to re-apply the Speed drop from Paralysis, making it harder for Seaking to push through the speed drop with Agility. Switching directly into an attack from Seaking is risky, though, as a critical hit Surf into Hyper Beam is guaranteed to KO Porygon.
**Water-resistant foes:** Seaking without Blizzard is helpless against Dragonair, and even if Seaking is running Blizzard it’s still outsped and can be wrapped. Similarly, Seaking without Blizzard is helpless against Vileplume, giving it a good opportunity to come in and use Sleep Powder.
**Magmar**: Although it is 2HKOed by Surf, Magmar is much better at handling Seaking compared to Arcanine and Rapidash. It outspeeds Seaking and can use either Confuse Ray or Smokescreen to give Seaking difficulty setting up, and Psychic's chance for a Special drop can severely weaken Seaking. Notably, Magmar avoids a 2HKO from Surf if it is able to drop Seaking's Special before its first attack.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/volk.530877/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Grammar checked by:
Last edited:
