Hi guys today I am back with another post for my series called smeargle used spotlight, here what we simply do is take a pokemon that I feel like has potential and take out its potential in the VGC 17 format and explain it to you, as you may have guessed the pokemon I chose for today happens to be a seaking. Seaking really does seem like a meh option to go for but trust me you will have some believe in it going while going through this post, so without further ado lets get into this post:
Before I actually dig into seaking’s explanation I want to
clear out that the base idea where I got inspired to do this post from was the
following team that I have recently build and it will be included in the
January monthly report.
Seaking’s Introduction:
Seaking is a pokemon that was released in the 1st
generation of pokemon, however since then it never received a clear highlight
in any of the competitive formats vgc has had and all that I can unfortunately
say is this guy is even one of those that is forgotten and left out of the
original 151 list that gen 1 lovers like a lot and I don’t think I ever heard
someone say that I seaking was their favorite pokemon or oh this pokemon looks
cool either :P
Base Stats:
When we have a look at seaking’s base stat, I would say that
we are not much impressed its highest stat happens to be its attack stat
standing out in the line of 80 HP / 92 Atk / 65 Def / 65 Spa / 80 Sdef / 68
Spe. Even the 92 attack stat is just isn’t that good, overall on the looks of
stats of this pokemon it is a kinda mediocre kind of pokemon.
Type:
Seaking gets a mono water type being the fish it is, if we
have a look on the water type in the VGC 17 format we can see it being
offensively and defensively strong against fire types like arcanine and alolan
marowak, also ground and rock types like mudsdale, gigalith, nihelego and
krookodile can be beaten with its help. On the defensive end of its spectrum it
can easily be beat down by storm drain pokemons, mainly gastrodon, the all
popular electric and grass types like tapu koko, alolan raichu, tapu bulu and
kartana respectively also greatly threaten it. To conclude on the typing
discussion I would say that seaking has a somewhat useful typing in this
format, it has both weaknesses and strengths If utilized correctly it can
satisfy.
Abilities:
Now is the portion of this post I am really really excited
to discuss with you guys, so lets start of by saying seaking’s abilities are
something that complement its stats a lot and help it stand out as more of an
individual unit that it is:
Swift Swim: swift swim can be a very much useful ability
this season especially as pelipper is very good in this format; what I’m trying
to say is that the base 92 attack stat when paired up with the STAB as well as
the rain boost can dish out some sizeable damage. Although double ducks in the
most common rain archetype and to be honest the only one being used, seaking on
the opposite end of thing can be dealing damage on the physical spectrum. Swift
swim doubling up seaking’s speed stat in rain can greatly complement its speed
and make it much useful.
Water veil: well this is the ability that gets least
discussion here, what water veil only allows you to do is prevent burns, well
firstly the amount of will-o-wisp in this format is much less than the previous
formats and even if you want your seaking to support your team you would better
want lightningrod talking about which we move onto the next ability.
Lightningrod: extremely and just extremely good ability, to
start this discussion with lightningrod can really do something big in this
format with tapu koko being atleast the top 5 most popular pokemon and being
viable with the strongest and popular pokemons is used a lot, with the addition
of things like raichu that can use electric moves. After it gets that special
attack boost it can put it to good use, especially with all the intimidate
around it can use now special water type moves instead of using physical water
type attacks also partnering it up with celesteela or tapu koko against marowak
teams like I have done helps you out a ton!
Competitive aspects:
Like I did it last time with my post this time too I will be
going forward to get to you guys some competitive aspects of seaking that you
can abuse them to use a seaking well:
Coverage:
Ok we are back here again, seaking can also get a lot of
moves that mean coverage for it. To start with some useful water cover
especially against marowak and arcanine in this format is really good, if you
use it special you can get that ice beam ice coverage, garchomp, salamence as
well as dragon types like drampa can be done a lot of damage with it. Using coverage
moves like poison jab is helpful in this format with things like tapu bulu that
know how to dominate. Smart strike can be good especially more against faries
as well as against that super annoying ninetales that can throw hail in the way
of the rain attacker side of seaking’s potential. Megahorn also calls for some
useful coverage.
Rain Attacker:
As discussed above I believe that seaking can be the very
new rain attacker, combined with the force of rain which boosts its offensive
output as well as doubles its speed it can take great advantage of it as an
attacker, on the opposite end to golduck, seaking can dish out some real damage
on the physical spectrum of things, the sample sets down there as well as the
calculations that I put up with it sure will give more proof of its rain
offensive potential and might make you consider it. Especially if ran with a
partner that’s a fast electric type like tapu koko and then seaking using the
move soak to make the opponent partnered with the electric type using an attack
on the same slot can be very much useful in offensive means for the team that
you are using.
Lightning rod supporter:
Lightningrod ability sure does give seaking a worth
spotlight, using its ability it can do really well with partners and throws
huge blocks in the way of electric types of this format, even if they have
discharge you can still use the special attack boost you got from them against
them and then here I use the copy paste tactic from what I just said before: especially
with all the intimidate around it can use now special water type moves instead
of using physical water type attacks also partnering it up with celesteela or
tapu koko against marowak teams like I have done helps you out a ton!
Weaknesses of Seaking:
Main weaknesses factors of seaking include its weak
defensive stats. If you are using it as a sweeper it is going to be quite hard
for seaking to be switched into its opponents as if you are trying to use it
offensively it might as well be a glass cannon role for sweeping, utilizing it
fully might be tough for some people but if done correctly it would be quite
amazing. Although I do have a bulky spread for discussion, but naturally as a
sweeper it is quite frail.
Sample Sets:
Seaking @ Waterium Z
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Poison Jab
- Protect
- Substitute
This is the first spread up for discussion it utilizes the
strong rain mode tactics I have talked to you guys about. Water fall with the
z-move can be very strong especially in rain whereas poison jab counts for
coverage against grass types like bulu. The last move after the staple protect I
chose was substitute, the reason for this was that since testing and playing
with a double ducks team I put golduck with substitute because of it being a
glass cannon, so I thought might as well be a good idea to get some offense off
similarly might work for seaking too. Following are some damage calculations
for it:
-1 252+ Atk Seaking Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arcanine in
Rain: 144-170 (73 - 86.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
-1 252+ Atk Seaking Hydro Vortex (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def
Arcanine in Rain: 284-336 (144.1 - 170.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Seaking Hydro Vortex (160 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def
Gigalith in Rain: 288-342 (150.7 - 179%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Seaking Hydro Vortex (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 Def
Celesteela in Rain: 138-163 (67.6 - 79.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Seaking Hydro Vortex (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def
Celesteela in Rain: 172-204 (84.3 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Seaking Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Tapu Bulu:
140-168 (79 - 94.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
Seaking @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Smart Strike
- Poison Jab
- Megahorn
This set is also for abusing the rain weather for seaking, following
are some calcs for it, team comfort ability and playstyle call for this
alternate offensive variant on your teams:
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 4 Def
Celesteela in Rain: 130-154 (63.7 - 75.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252 Def
Celesteela in Rain: 103-123 (50.4 - 60.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 0 Def
Arcanine in Rain: 216-254 (109.6 - 128.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Waterfall vs. 248 HP / 0 Def
Gigalith in Rain: 216-254 (113 - 132.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 4 Def
Tapu Bulu: 212-252 (119.7 - 142.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 4 Def
Tapu Lele in Rain: 168-198 (94.9 - 111.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Seaking Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 4 Def
Tapu Lele: 148-176 (83.6 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Seaking @ Focus Sash
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Soak
- Protect
This is the special supportive set that I ran on my team
with the most suggested partners and also as I have used in celesteela and tapu
koko, following are some satisfying calcs for this set that inspired me to go
with my decision:
252+ SpA Seaking Ice
Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 168-200 (91.3 - 108.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Seaking Scald vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Marowak: 108-128
(64.6 - 76.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Seaking Scald vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Marowak:
162-192 (97 - 114.9%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Seaking Scald vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Marowak:
170-204 (101.7 - 122.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Seaking Scald vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Gigalith in Sand:
78-92 (40.6 - 47.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Seaking Scald vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Arcanine: 116-138
(58.8 - 70%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Seaking @ Sitrus
Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Careful Nature
- Waterfall
- Toxic
- Soak
- Protect
This is the bulkier or say the more supportive set I was
talking about, it can stay around longer to absorb the electric type attacks. While
it can also provide support to its team mates from its toxic and soak. Following
are some damage calculations for this spread:
+1 252+ SpA Porygon2 Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 12+ SpD
Seaking: 158-186 (84.4 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
252 SpA Ninetales-Alola Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 12+ SpD
Seaking: 96-114 (51.3 - 60.9%) -- 4.3% chance to 2HKO after hail damage and Sitrus
Berry recovery
252+ Atk Gigalith Continental Crush (140 BP) vs. 252 HP /
252 Def Seaking: 138-163 (73.7 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry
recovery
-1 252 Atk Kartana Leaf Blade vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Seaking:
134-162 (71.6 - 86.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
Conclusion:
So guys with all that what I should be calling something fun
ends here, I actually planned to do this guide in January but since it is
winter vacation and soon after writing it I got very much excited to post it
out to you guys, so here it is, to give some teasers for what might be next up
on this series happens to be something like alolan Persian, togedemaru and
buzzwole, so definitely watch out for them. Hope you enjoyed, Bye for now!
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