Ubers Spotlight: Primal Kyogre

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Origins

Kyogre's always been a titan in Ubers. Its ridiculous 150 SpA and hard-hitting STABs, only compounded by the permanent weather it provided, has been the axis around which Ubers has revolved since its fateful release in ADV. Its ability to run a variety of sets, all equally threatening, in tandem with its flawless coverage has allowed it to be a central, dominating force in the metagame, and it remains that to this day. The release of Choice Specs and Choice Scarf in DPP only accentuated its power, giving it the ability to hit even harder and faster. Since DPP, Kyogre has remained comfortably in the top 3 of the usage stats, peaking at an almost unheard of ~60% usage. However, in XY, a powerful threat rose to usurp it—Xerneas claimed its spot as the "king of Ubers", and with it, the prevalence of heavily offensively inclined teams rose massively. Because Kyogre's niche required it to get in safely and force switches and the rise of HO (hyper offense) teams preventing it from doing so, Kyogre fell to a meek 7th in usage. The ORAS metagame shift only furthered this drop, lowering Kyogre to a previously unheard-of 12th place in the usage rankings. However, make no mistake—teams unprepared for the newfound power of Primal Kyogre stand to face a swift, painful obliteration.

Qualities

Stop! Wait a minute. ~~fill my cup, put some liquor in it~~ This deserves a paragraph all to itself—Primal Kyogre shares the 2nd highest Special Attack stat in the game with Mega Rayquaza and Deoxys-A, only behind Mega Mewtwo Y. When you factor in the rain boost, Primal Kyogre has the single hardest hitting unboosted STAB move in the game—Water Spout! *Now, that being said, don't run Water Spout on Primal Kyogre. n-n* Said monstrous Special Attack stat goes leaps and bounds towards its potential—after a mere one Calm Mind, Primal Kyogre has immense sweeping potential. It has a respectable physical bulk and a colossal 160 Special Defense; with investment, Primal Kyogre becomes a nigh unrivaled special sponge. It also has the option of investing in physical bulk, making it a fantastic mixed tank that helps act as a check to Mega Salamence, one of the most prevalent Pokémon in the meta. Primal Kyogre has an interesting 150 Attack, which is still massive in its own right—a gimmicky physical lure set, akin to the ones seen in ADV and DPP, can be pulled off very effectively. The only real downside to Primal Kyogre is its lackluster Speed—with only base 90 Speed, it's not the fastest jackrabbit in the race. The only relevant Pokémon that it can truly hope to outspeed are other base 90s, and the occasional uninvested Xerneas/Yveltal. Kyogre's movepool is almost as vast as the sea (heh), but the whale will most frequently be seen running either an offensively inclined Calm Mind set (complemented by its access to the perfect BoltBeam coverage) or a defensively (be it physically or specially) inclined set utilizing its only available self-recovery move, Rest, and Sleep Talk to go with it. Its primary function in the metagame is to be either a formidable wallbreaker or a thick-skinned tank—EV spread and moveset choice determine exactly how Primal Kyogre is going to ravage the poor sap you're playing against.

Riding the Wave

The biggest factor to be considered when using Primal Kyogre is getting it on the field of battle to fully utilize it. Even though its general bulk is admirable, it can't switch into the bulk of attacks in the tier (which, aside from being predominantly physical, are too hard-hitting for a non-designated tank). Should you choose to run an offensively inclined Primal Kyogre set, U-turn/Volt Switch support is extremely valuable. Kyogre can take many special hits after setting up a Calm Mind, but beware of physically attacking users (see: Primal Groudon). If you opt for a defensively inclined set, switch it in at every turn—RestTalk keeps it at a good health level, but hazard control is required for it to continually switch into and tank powerful hits, such as Mega Salamence's +1 Double-Edge (if physically defensive) or Xerneas' +2 Thunder (if specially defensive). In general, due to its lower speed tier and requirement of knowledge of the metagame to utilize it, Primal Kyogre isn't the most user friendly 'mon; however, its reward factor far outweighs its risk. On the note of risks, one thing sure to generate heavy amounts of NaCl is Origin Pulse's 85% accuracy—take that risk into careful consideration.

Fighting the Tide

Should you find yourself facing a Primal Kyogre, your first and foremost action should be deeply examining the opponent's team. Primal Kyogre's success or failure is largely attributed to how well its teammates perform their role. Based on an initial look at the opposing team, it should be generally easy to surmise what set Kyogre is running; if it's surrounded by a Lugia, Sableye, and Xerneas, you can make the general assumption it's opted for a defensively inclined set, as opposed to, say, Genesect, Yveltal, and Mega Gengar—alter the way you're going to play that game in accordance to the information you can gather from Team Preview. Firstly, you should concern yourself with entry hazards. If you have a Primal Groudon, Latios, or Latias on your team (which, if statistics are to be believed, well over 70% of you do), you can make the safe assumption that the opposing Primal Kyogre will be doing a substantial amount of switching. Putting up entry hazards will greatly limit its ability to do so, and put quite a bit of pressure on your opponent to bring in their Defogger, if they have one. In general, the best checks to Primal Kyogre, whatever set it may be running, are Primal Groudon (for obvious reasons), Latios/Latias (Soul Dew + good typing), Palkia (a less common choice, but remains perfectly viable), and Ferrothorn (although it dislikes burns with a passion). More often than not, your team should feature at least one of these 'mons to handle Primal Kyogre. An alternative would be to pair together soft checks (e.g Dialga and Giratina-O + an adequate revenge killer); while this strategy has a decisive weakness to Primal Kyogre, it is effective nonetheless. A prioritized consideration should be how much damage your checks to Primal Kyogre are taking; should it be running Calm Mind, and you let your checks get too weak to handle a +1 Blizzard, you're in trouble.

Fitting Kyogre onto a Team

~~screw teams, how does this thing fit inside a Poké Ball?~~ Primal Kyogre is most commonly slotted into either balance or bulky offense teams—it *sometimes* finds a slot on stall, but won't be seen on many hyper offense teams, due to the fast-pace playing and momentum that the playstyle requires. Should you be utilizing the Calm Mind set, your path to victory lies in its teammates: it is an absolute must to have ways (yes, more than one) to deal with Latios, Latias, and Primal Groudon. It can't be stressed enough that heavy, heavy team support is MANDATORY. Some extremely solid partners for Primal Kyogre include Landorus-Therian (helps with Primal Groudon and provides Stealth Rock and U-turn support), Mega Gengar (Shadow Tag is an invaluable resource), Ground Arceus (can provide Defog support, is one of the best checks to Primal Groudon and Zekrom, and burns physical attackers), Jirachi (can provide Stealth Rock/U-turn support, beats Latios/Latias, and Healing Wish is something Kyogre absolutely adores), Mega Salamence (one of the best Primal Groudon checks in the game; the removal of Primal Groudon gives Primal Kyogre absolutely crazy late-game sweeping potential) and Dialga (provides Stealth Rock support, Shuca Berry sets can deal with Primal Groudon, and can switch in on Latios and Latias's Psyshock, survive a Draco Meteor, and hit back hard with one of its own). Primal Kyogre excels at chipping away at its checks and then going all-out when they're weakened enough—building a team that is able to support that is crucial to its success. Now, should you find yourself running a defensive variant of Primal Kyogre, hazard control is the most important thing: it can't check Xerneas (if specially defensive) or Salamence (if physically defensive) if it's not in tip-top condition. As such, partners that provide adequate Defog support and can check Primal Groudon and Latios/Latias (such as Ground Arceus, Grass Arceus and Latios/Latias of your own) are invaluable. Defensive Primal Kyogre shouldn't be built around; it should be added onto a team that wants to maintain offensive presence (Scald in rain coming off a 180 Special Attack still hurts quite a bit) but have a solid check to particular 'mons.

Why You Should Use Primal Kyogre

I mean, really, is the second highest Special Attack in the game just not good enough for you? How about its fantastic special bulk? What about Origin Pulse, a 110 Base Power move, in self-induced rain, coming off its 180 Special Attack? If nothing else, its shiny sprite is a seductive shade of black—seriously, the shiny sprite is fabulous. Primal Kyogre is a metagame defining Pokémon—its standing in 7th in usage demands respect. Countless ladder players and tournament players alike have seen the nigh unrivaled potential this behemoth has—so should you.

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