Creating A Rain Team, Conflicted Between Kingdra and Keldeo?

Question

Hello,

I am creating a rain team (for personal reasons). I have Politoed, Samurott, Hydreigon, Smeargle, Genesect, and Kingdra... I'm conflicted on switching Kingdra for Keldeo. I want to know which is better and why? I'm not switching the team I have, I'm conflicted on Kingdra and Keldeo.

Oh, this is for GEN V, heh.

Comments

Is there a reason you're not using Kyogre?

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Not interested in Kyogre... Again, this is for GEN V.

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Is this for battling other people or in-game trainers?

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It's for in-game trainers, my dude.

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You should probably use Keldeo just because its special attack is higher.

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"You should probably use Keldeo just because its special attack is higher."

In terms of your answer, can you please expound why Keldeo seems like a better choice? Kingdra has balanced stats and under the effects of rain (when applying "Swift Swim"), it's much faster as it gets 590 Speed when applying max EVs on Speed, heh. Is Keldeo better than Kingdra under the effects of rain, in terms of power and speed?

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Are your opponents using level 100 Pokemon?

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Well, no?

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A level 100 Keldeo with 252 Spe EVs should be able to outspeed most low-level Pokemon. Any more speed is useless.

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Okay, hypothetically speaking... Let's say I'm engaging in level 100 based battles, is Keldeo much faster than Kingdra under the rain effect while having the "Swift Swim" ability?

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I'm pretty sure Kingdra is better if your levels and your opponents' levels are always equal.

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Okay, but Keldeo is better because it has more power? Despite the fact, Kingdra could be faster?

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Speed-raising abilities matter more if levels are equal. Outspeeding opponents is important for both Kingdra and Keldeo, but Keldeo can easily raise its own speed by level grinding.
Also why don't you use both Kingdra and Keldeo and drop Samurott instead?

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It may sound stupid... But, I don't want to remove Samurott because of the relationship b/w Samurott and my protagonist. I want to emulate the Pokémon Trainer in the manga and not remove the Samurott Pokémon. In terms of speed and power specifically, Keldeo is much better because of its stat despite the fact Kingdra has the speed advantage under the rain effect?

I appreciate the patience and consideration up to this point, I just want to be convinced before I move forward.

Answer 1

Outspeeding opponents is almost always important. Kingdra with swift swim is likely better if your levels are the same as your opponents'. (also the "swift" part of "swift swim" can't miss :P)
source: Smogon banned all teams with both drizzle and swift swim in gen 5.

If your levels are higher than your opponents', then both Kingdra and Keldeo will outspeed most opponents just by having higher levels and speed stats. Swift swim will rarely have any effect. After speed, the next most important thing is special attack, and Keldeo has stronger special attack. So use Keldeo if your levels are higher than your opponents'.

Comments

Remember the early days of Gen 5 OU? Seemed like the only Pokemon used were Politoed, Kingdra and Kabutops

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no I don't remember. It was a long time ago.