Kangaskhan

[tofucocoa]

Kangaskhan has always been a decent Pokemon, just outclassed by higher-tier mons and never one to be taken lightly. however, now that it can mega evolve into mega kangaskhan, we gain a pokemon that has slightly more bulk stat-wise than the likes of manaphy and jirachi with only one (manageable) weakness to fighting. if you hold your horses for one turn, you can even reap the benefits of its base form, mainly scrappy's ability to hit ghosts with fake out (useful now that follow me is nerfed), and immunity to flinch with inner focus, though to my knowledge that isn't available yet. so without further ado:

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Jolly/Adamant nature
Inner Focus/Scrappy
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe (or a bulkier spread)

Fake Out
Power-up Punch / Drain Punch (once available)
Sucker Punch
Return / Protect / Crush Claw (?)

parental bond is all the boost kangaskhan needs. not only does it break sashes, but it can break subs, waste resist berries (tyranitar), and can deal more damage to sitrus berry holders. rock slide could flinch more and lets you deal damage to ghosts besides keeping kanga un-evolved for scrappy and trying to hit them with sucker punch, which isn't always the best option.

so from my personal experience, megakhan is a complete monster. not only can it boost while dealing damage (kinda like contrary serp, now that i think about it), i can't really OHKO it without a fighting-type, which is even harder to do now that we have a lot more reflect and w-o-w users running around like klefki and other things that are more encouraged to run wow because of the accuracy buff, as well as the usual intimidators like hitmontop and mence. once drain punch is released, we'll have an even bulkier monster to deal with-- the very thought of something that can heal loads of damage off WHILE dealing damage makes me simultaneously shudder and grin manically. hell; you could even use it in trick room despite the 100 base speed since you can lower your speed twice with hammer arm and hit with priority. just from looking at it and experiencing its power firsthand, i can confidently predict that megakhan will be a top tier threat for the duration of gen 6.

so what do you guys think? do you agree/disagree or have a cool kanga set or experience you'd like to share?

e: also, it appears that spread moves aren't affected by parental bond. guess that ruins the idea of rock slide spam...

 

[Nollan]

I've been trying this exact set recently, though I'm not so sure about dropping Return for Rock Slide (troll flinching is troll flinching, I guess). Since Breloom still exists, I can definitely see Protect fitting somewhere on the set as well.

I can see things like Sableye actually becoming incredibly useful simply because this thing exists (immune to Fake Out assuming it has Mega Evovled, priority WoW). I definitely agree it is going to be a top tier threat for a good duration of Gen 6, if not all of it.

 

[eastsideman09]

I've been messing around with this thing, mostly just for fun and gimmicks, but it sure is fun to use with the right support (Togekiss in particular).

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Adamant
Scrappy -> Parental Bond
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Power-up Punch
Earthquake / Sucker Punch
Rock Slide / Sucker Punch
Protect / Giga Impact / Return

I made this set because I just loved the idea of attacking twice. Again, this was made quickly for fun, so no Fake Out, because setting up was more important. I'm running my Togekiss with Follow Me, Tailwind, Heat wave, and Moonblast.
M.E. + PuP / Tailwind turn one, followed by continual spamming of spread moves.
Protect is infinitely useful, but Giga Impact is incredible, and the recharge turn can be Mat Blocked/redirected/etc.

 

[Project_Mars]

I've been trying this exact set recently, though I'm not so sure about dropping Return for Rock Slide (troll flinching is troll flinching, I guess). Since Breloom still exists, I can definitely see Protect fitting somewhere on the set as well.

I can see things like Sableye actually becoming incredibly useful simply because this thing exists (immune to Fake Out assuming it has Mega Evovled, priority WoW). I definitely agree it is going to be a top tier threat for a good duration of Gen 6, if not all of it.

If you are going to run Fake Out on Kangaskhan, you are going to want to have it be Scrappy so it can Fake Out Ghost-types. The fact that Mega Kangashkan is fairly dangerous is going to be something to take into account when building TR.

 

[PokeMaster366]

Eeeeehhh.
Mega Kangaskhan feels like one of those Pokémon that's more suited to the field of singles. Mega Kangaskhan's main gimmick is Parental Bond, and that helps with the fights against Substitute users like Gliscor since they can't hide so easily. In the realm of doubles, where Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp are spread all over the place, MegaKhan can't effectively capitalize on Parental Bond. Power-Up Punch provides a decent boost, but guys like Conkeldurr and Mega Mawile tear her apart. I would've liked her if she had a better offensive typing, but right now, I don't see her getting too popular.

 

[youngjake93]

Eeeeehhh.
Mega Kangaskhan feels like one of those Pokémon that's more suited to the field of singles. Mega Kangaskhan's main gimmick is Parental Bond, and that helps with the fights against Substitute users like Gliscor since they can't hide so easily. In the realm of doubles, where Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp are spread all over the place, MegaKhan can't effectively capitalize on Parental Bond. Power-Up Punch provides a decent boost, but guys like Conkeldurr and Mega Mawile tear her apart. I would've liked her if she had a better offensive typing, but right now, I don't see her getting too popular.

Isn't Parental Bond MegaKanga more powerful than Flame Orb Conk(who is a beast)? I think the 67% attack boost on top of 125 attack, really great bulk + speed and decent movepool is its "niche", not breaking subs...
STAB Scrappy(or most powerful Fake Out if you MEvo) Fake Out, double Power Up Punch, no Focus Sash/Sub, lol resist berries also add to its "niche".

Terrakion had less attack, less bulk, a worse defensive typing and only 8 more speed, but was still a top tier threat last gen. Conkeldurr, Intimidate and Wil O Wisp are farrrr from enough to ruin a Pokemon. You can always pair it up with Chandelure or Tornadus too if those things trouble you.

 

[Otter Power]

When Mega Kangaskhan got popular in wi-fi battles, it was really annoying; the double STAB fake-out could whittle down most of my Pokemon to half HP (to be swept out with double hit). The rest of its moves give it coverage to wreck anyone with normal resistance or immunity.

I spent lots of time trying to find out how to counter it, and I've found that a fragile ghost-type with destiny bond can beat it: They'll expect you to attack them and pull out sucker punch, but it will fail on destiny bond. For the second turn, you use an offensive move -- since Kanga can only touch you with sucker punch, they will destroy you, but you take them down as you faint!

If you don't want to sacrifice one of your Pokemon, then there's always Chandelure with will-o-wisp. Resists Kangaskhan's STAB, and can totally cripple its sucker punch.

 

[Aasgier]

Earthquake says Hi even moreso after a Scrappy Power Up Punch.

 

[Arcticblast]

Earthquake says Hi even moreso after a Scrappy Power Up Punch.

Earthquake doesn't work with Parental Bond in Doubles; the attack is only used once.

That said, try not to use one-line posts. This thread has been going pretty well, let's try not to mess that up.

 

[Stratos]

When Mega Kangaskhan got popular in wi-fi battles, it was really annoying; the double STAB fake-out could whittle down most of my Pokemon to half HP (to be swept out with double hit). The rest of its moves give it coverage to wreck anyone with normal resistance or immunity.

I spent lots of time trying to find out how to counter it, and I've found that a fragile ghost-type with destiny bond can beat it: They'll expect you to attack them and pull out sucker punch, but it will fail on destiny bond. For the second turn, you use an offensive move -- since Kanga can only touch you with sucker punch, they will destroy you, but you take them down as you faint!

If you don't want to sacrifice one of your Pokemon, then there's always Chandelure with will-o-wisp. Resists Kangaskhan's STAB, and can totally cripple its sucker punch.

why are you sacrificing a Pokemon to take down Kangaskhan? That's really unnecessary and... rekt by a switch.

Rather, the best counter to megabear is a bulky ghost type (i use based tree but dusknoir works too) that just uses will-o-wisp and then your entire team proceeds to give really no fucks about a pokemon that's now very neutered. Run it alongside a Pokemon that can sponge fake out or protect against it (or has inner focus for real top tier trolling) and once kanga is burned he's really not that threatening, unless he's at +2.

 

[Aasgier]

Earthquake doesn't work with Parental Bond in Doubles; the attack is only used once.

True. However, who says Kanga has to Mega Evolve. Ofcourse, its Mega is extremely threatening but Kanga can opt to save the Mega evolution for later to preserve Scrappy, hitting said Ghost with Scrappy Power-up Punch or Return.

This is especially true for Aegislash as it is weak to Drain Punch/Power-up Punch.

However, bulky Ghosts DO counter it, most notably physically defensive Jellicent & friends.

 

[Kuhni]

Alright, I'm currently Rank 2 with 2012 rating on the Smogon Doubles ladder (not that it means much at this point)
But I just want to point out that I feel that Kangaskhan is incredibly strong in doubles if built around it.

I run her as lead together with a Dual Screen Klefki, and it works wonders. Thanks to Kangaskhan's incredible bulk that becomes godlike behind screens, those 2 are able to completely obliterate anything that dares to cross them.

I run this set for Kangaskhan:
Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Crunch
- Power-Up Punch

Parental Bonded Fake Out dents a big hole in anything that doesn't resist it using this spread, and she can fire off Returns or boost with PUP beforehand while shrugging off most attacks (I have a Intimidate support Gyarados to switch into for Fighting attacks).

She lacks spread damage obviously, but she can completely destroy anything 1on1, which allows her teammates to support her or target the other Pokémon.

 

[sarysa]

Kuhni, it's interesting that you're using Return. I'm building a Kangaskhan and I'm still trying to figure out what to give her. In Gen V, it seemed that fainting in wifi battles reduced friendship. Have you noticed your Return getting weakened over time after enough WiFi battles?

With that in mind, the safe bet might be to give her a lot of herbal items, and then give it Frustration...

edit: After about 30 or so doubles matches where I included her, she's indispensible from my team. Fake Out is a useful tool as always, I often partner her with a Togekiss who can take Power-Up Punches (4x strong against!) if the enemy loves Protect, and I usually only have to use PUP once for Sucker Punch to be devastating. She one-shots even Aegislash with a single PUP...the perfect counter to Aegislash sweepers. Speaking of Sucker Punch, she saved me four times in end-of-match duels where I otherwise would have lost.

BTW, my Kangaskhan is fully defensive built (128/252/128 due to my biggest concern being fight types) with +def -spatk nature. Haven't been OHKOed yet. (haven't faced a Conk either ;P ) Moves are:
Fake Out
Return
Sucker Punch
Power-Up Punch

 

[tofucocoa]

why are you sacrificing a Pokemon to take down Kangaskhan? That's really unnecessary and... rekt by a switch.

Rather, the best counter to megabear is a bulky ghost type (i use based tree but dusknoir works too) that just uses will-o-wisp and then your entire team proceeds to give really no fucks about a pokemon that's now very neutered. Run it alongside a Pokemon that can sponge fake out or protect against it (or has inner focus for real top tier trolling) and once kanga is burned he's really not that threatening, unless he's at +2.

ive made the mistake of ignoring burned kanga before. if it can punch a few things, it can still hit pretty hard, not to mention how it can still apply fake out pressure. after a few mishaps, i've made a point to double target burned kanga at times because i will either a) get a potential threat out of the way or b) get two attacks off on a mon assuming my opp tries to save kanga for later for FO/thinks i'll ignore the kanga for a while. this usually pays off since most kanga don't run protect because of 4MSS

 

[n3ther]

Kanghaskan is very predictable but even given that; he is still a pain to deal with because he learns just the right moves for it(Fake out/sucker punch). Over Wi-fi players love to use his with Klefki or Meowstic support. Very few run protect on it so double targetting it is a must if you can viably do so. Inner Focus Special Lucario is one of the better checks right now. I think he will lose popularity when pokebank is released due to Terrakion (better counter than lucario could hope to be), more ghosts and steels, cresselia.