Introduction
In this month Kingler, as usual, is a physical attacker, and a very powerful one with its sky high Attack stat of 130. Kinglers other stats aren’t bad either, with 115 Defense and 75 Speed. Its Mono-Water typing is quite frankly, a bit busted, hitting 30 Pokemon for at least neutral damage, but it isn’t perfect, with all the Gourgeists and Mantines absorbing the water attacks. It can also be stopped by the four Intimidate Pokemon, Granbull, Luxray, Wyrdeer and Qwilfish, the last one being the source of nightmares for many Kingler users.
Abilities
Sheer Force is its most used ability, boosting any moves damage with a secondary effect by 1.3 times, but taking that secondary effect away. Under normal circumstances it’s Kinglers best ability, however… There are a lot of pokemon that can cripple Kingler, whether it be by Intimidate or priority Parting Shot. To counteract that, Hyper Cutter can be used. It functions as a weaker, but built in Clear Amulet, preventing any Attack Stat drops, and nullifying some of Kinglers switch-ins.
Items
The most popular item is Life Orb because of its interaction with Sheer Force. Life Orb gets its 1.3 bonus to damage, BUT without the drawback of losing 1/10th of the users Health after every attack. This interaction causes most users to use Life Orb, but this interaction does not always apply since the Crab won’t always have the ability Sheer Force.
Other Great items are Choice Scarf and Clear Amulet (also Choice Band and Lum Berry to some extent). Choice Scarf is a great tool for a sweep, and pairs well with both Sheer Force and Hyper Cutter, with the latter being preferable, as it will be harder to stop it. Clear Amulet is a defensive item to pair with Sheer Force, as it stops all stat drops, intimidate included. Choice Band is good and pairs with both abilities, but Kingler by itself isn’t fast enough to use it, needing support from paralysis/webs. Lum Berry prevents all of the status effects, like the crippling burn and paralysis, without needing to use Heal Bell, allowing for easier set up.
Moves
The moveset choice mostly depends on the ability, but there are some moves that work with both abilities, like Knock Off for Gourgeist, Facade in case of a burn, Agility and Swords Dance for when Choice items aren’t used and there’s time to set up, Stomping Tantrum/High Horsepower for Qwilfish.
Assuming you run sheer force, Liquidation will be the best move, coming from 85 to ~110 Base Power, turning into the strongest option in Kinglers arsenal. Rock slide is good coverage for mantine, being raised to almost 100 Base Power by Sheer Force. Body Slam has a small niche, being used on Choice item sets to avoid getting locked into water type moves against Mantines, but it’s often not worth it because it takes up a moveslot.
If Kingler has the ability Hyper Cutter, Razor Shell can be a good alternative as a STAB move. It isn’t as powerful as liquidation (75 Base Power), and it can miss, but if you do hit the coinflip and lower the opponents defense, each subsequent atack will deal more damage (1.5 times more to be specific). Crabhammer is also a good option (100 Base Power), but it comes with a 10% miss chance. It depends on user preference which one will be used. Rock Slide is still a great move to hit Mantine, however without Sheer Force it loses power, regaining the chance to flinch the opponent.
Teamates
Kingler is a great addition to Rain Teams. While this month does not have a drizzle pokemon, Raichu can consistently set up rain using its speed, since it’s the third fastest pokemon this month. Rain teams often use Mantine, the only special Swift Swim pokemon this month. It can easily kill Gourgeist with a hurricane (assuming it's not full special defense, Choice Specs are needed for that). Another big problem Kingler can face is opposing Mantines, which run water absorb if used on defense. What could work is the afromentioned Raichu, but it's mostly used as a suicide lead. An alternative to raichu is Stunfisk, which when EVd for special defense, is surprisingly resistant to attacks, even without an Assault Vest. In return, it has a 1/3 chance to 2HKO with discharge. Stunfisk can also deal with Qwilfish and Granbull to some extent. Some other great teammates are Ariados, which can set up webs and help with Kinglers issue of having mediocre speed. Granbull, which can help by spreading paralysis and healing any Will-o-Wisps Kingler might've gotten hit by with heal bell. Thievul and Grafaiai, which can help get Kingler onto the field with Parting Shot. Thievul is able to threaten Gourgeist, and Grafaiai has priority on Parting Shot, both pokemon allowing Kingler to potentially set up.
Kingler is quite versatile, but no matter what set you decide upon, its main role is to deal damage. Provide it with some support, and it’s sure to win multiple games.
Written by Aryecki
Grammar checked by Turtle12