Shadow Gyarados
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Shadow Gyarados is powerful without a doubt. It stands very high on the Water Type DPS charts in particular, making it a great choice for most players. In fact, Shadow Gyarados actually out-damages Mega Gyarados when not counting Mega Boosts! If you're lucky enough to find a high-IV Shadow magikarp, then Shadow Gyarados may be worth keeping over purifying for the sake of Mega Gyarados.
Offense
- Waterfall and Hydro Pump give Shadow Gyarados maximum Water Type damage
- Aqua Tail* is a solid second choice thanks to its lower energy cost and reliability, but the damage drop is noticeable.
- Bite and Crunch can make Shadow Gyarados acceptable as a Dark Type
- Dragon Breath and Outrage work if you're desperate for Dragon Type DPS
- Dragon Tail* is actually better for this, but it's legacy and not worth an Elite TM to obtain.
- Twister and Dragon Pulse* are not worth using.
Defense
- Dragon Tail* is arguably the best move for defense, though its Elite status makes it hard to obtain.
- Waterfall is generally just as good.
- Crunch and Aqua Tail* both have a low energy cost and solid neutral coverage, making them great choices for defense.
- Outrage also has great neutral coverage and high power, but it's more expensive and is fairly easy to dodge.
- Twister comes out fast and often, but it's also a weak move.
- Dragon Pulse*, Dragon Breath, and Bite are all inferior choices.
Dragon Breath is a blessing to virtually anything that has it, and Shadow Gyarados is definitely no exception. It sports high Damage per Turn and average Energy per Turn, which makes it Shadow Gyarados' objectively best quick move despite lacking stab.
Aqua Tail is an incredibly cheap move that can provide frequent shield pressure. Hydro Pump can threaten KOs when not shielded, but its high energy cost makes it a less consistent option. Crunch provides good overall coverage, decent damage, and a reasonable energy cost. For Dragon moves, the two options are Twister and Outrage, and it isn't really a contest. While Outrage has more damage per energy than Twister, Twister's not THAT far behind and requires substantially lower energy. Sure, there will be cases where Outrage would be a better option for scoring a finishing hit when shields are down, but there will be more situations where the flexibility of Twister pulls ahead in practice.
You could also go for Bite, with similar performance to Dragon Breath but lower Energy Generation, making Shadow Gyarados an aggressive Dark attacker. Waterfall is also not a bad move, and is better against Steel and Fairy Pokemon, but there are generally many superior Water-type attackers to choose from.
Gyarados is a great Pokemon, but the Great League's CP restrictions really limit it. It's possible to leverage its typing and good moveset against select counters, but it's probably better to level it up to a higher CP and use it in another league.
