Kingdra - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle

This is a strategy guide for using Kingdra in competitive play for the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, and Held Items to use with Kingdra, as well as its strengths and weak points.

Kingdra - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Build for Ranked Battle

Basic Information for Kingdra

Types and Abilities

Pokemon	Type 1	Type 2
Kingdra
Abilities
Swift Swim	Boosts the Pokemon's Speed in rain.
Sniper	Powers up moves if they become critical hits.
Damp (Hidden)	Prevents the use of self-destructing moves.

Kingdra Weaknesses and Resistances

	Type
Takes 4x damage	-
Takes 2x damage
Takes 0.5x damage
Takes 1/4x damage
Takes 0x damage	-

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

Best Nature for Kingdra

What are Natures?

Singles Movesets for Kingdra

Choice Specs Moveset & Best Build

This build increases Kingdra's damage output with Choice Specs. If it is raining, not only it will double Kingdra's Speed stat because of its Swift Swim ability, but it will also cause Kingdra's Water-type moves to deal heavy damage, even if not super effective.

Other Viable Moves

Zoom Lens Moveset & Best Build

This build focuses on getting critical hits in with Kingdra. With the combination of Sniper, and Focus Energy, Kingdra can deal heavy damage with moves like Hydro Pump, Hurricane, and Draco Meteor. Zoom Lens also allows these moves to hit with higher accuracy.

How to Use Kingdra Effectively

Rain Ace Attacker

Kingdra is an ace attacker during Rain, as it can boost its speed with the Swift Swim ability while also increasing the damage dealt by its Water-type moves. When Dynamaxed, it can use Max Geyser to create rain and gain the Speed boost from Swift Swim, while also making its Water-type moves more powerful.

Can Be Used Against Dragon-types

Kingdra is different from other rain attackers such as Seismitoad and Drednaw since it can get STAB on Dragon-type moves to deal super effective damage against Dragon-type opponents.

However, be careful as a Dragapult holding a Choice Scarf can outspeed Kingdra even with Swift Swim in effect.

Teams Featuring Kingdra

All our Teams are available for free rental, and usable in Ranked Battle with no EV Training necessary.
All Best Teams for Ranked Battle

Sample Rain Team for Ranked Battle

Sample Rain Team for Ranked Battle
Kyogre	Poliwrath	Kingdra
Dracozolt	Starmie	Celesteela

With the re-introduction of Legendaries in the Crown Tundra DLC, Kyogre returns as the premier Rain-setting Pokemon surpassing Pelipper. With the offense that Kyogre brings, the entire team is built around dealing damage in strong, decisive blows.

The rest of the team comprises of Pokemon that support Kyogre, such as Dracozolt and Celesteela who do well against Kyogre's weaknesses. While the other members are attackers who benefit from rain; Poliwrath and Kingdra get a speed boost thanks to Swift Swim. Read on for insights about this team that might give you new insights to the metagame as a whole.

Sample Rain Team for Ranked Battle

Counters for Kingdra

Weakness

Counter Using Pokemon with Type Advantage

It is recommended to use a Dragon-type or Fairy-type Pokemon against Kingdra to exploit its type weakness. Using a Fairy-type Pokemon would be more efficient since it can completely negate Dragon-type moves and Fairy-type moves deal high damage to Dragon-types like Kingdra, especially if it has STAB.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Dragapult	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・With Choice Scarf, you can surpass Kingdra's Speed even when Swift Swim is activated ・Bombard Kingdra with Dragon-type moves to exploit its weakness. Dragapult - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle
Lapras	Ranking：★★★★★ ・Immune to Water-type moves with Water Absorb, strong against special attackers ・Gets STAB with Freeze-Dry Lapras - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle
Primarina	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Other than being able to nullify Dragon-type moves, it is also resistant to Kingdra's other moves ・Fairy-type moves can be used to exploit Kingdra's weakness. Primarina - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle

Related Links

All Competitive Builds for Ranked Battle

Competitive Guides for Pokemon Sword and Shield

Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides
Tier List		Best Builds		Series 10 List of Contenders
Doubles Tier List		Team Building		Rental Teams

Best Builds for The Isle of Armor Pokemon

Movesets & Best Builds for The Isle of Armor Pokemon
Scizor	Kingdra	Magnezone
Volcarona	Chansey	Blissey
Talonflame	Azumarill	Galarian Slowbro
Porygon2	Urshifu Single-Strike Style	Urshifu Rapid-Strike Style
Slowbro	Alolan Marowak	Dragalge
Klefki	Lycanroc	Amoonguss
Poliwrath	Palossand	Mienshao
Starmie	Heracross	Comfey
Porygon-Z	Alakazam	Politoed