Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
100
|
- |
341 |
404 |
- |
| Atk |
125
|
257 |
286 |
349 |
383 |
| Def |
52
|
126 |
140 |
203 |
223 |
| SpA |
105
|
221 |
246 |
309 |
339 |
| SpD |
52
|
126 |
140 |
203 |
223 |
| Spe |
71
|
160 |
178 |
241 |
265 |
STAB Sucker Punch off the same attack as Choice Band Heracross is the deadliest attack in Honchkrow's arsenal. Drill Peck is handy against Fighters and OHKOs some of the weaker Dark-types, like Weavile and Houndoom. Steel Wing takes a big chunk out of Tyranitar and is your best shot against most other Rock-types, like Regirock.
As far as abilities go, Super Luck is really inviting, but Insomnia allows Honchkrow to switch in on sleep moves. When your defenses are 342 HP / 140 Def / 140 SpD, you need all the help you can get when it comes to switching in (granted, it has two immunities). Night Slash vs Pursuit is for prediction: the former assumes that your opponent will stay in to use something like Thunder Wave, while the latter assumes your opponent will switch out.
Rather than rely on Sucker Punch to fix up his average Speed, you can opt for Choice Scarf. Sucker Punch isn't required here, so you get to make use of both Night Slash and Pursuit. The power drop means you're unlikely to 2HKO Tyranitar with Steel Wing, although Weavile is still 2HKOed by it and by Drill Peck.
Using Super Luck over Insomnia is preferable here, as the chance of a critical hit compensates for the loss of attacking power, especially when Night Slash is your main form of offense.
A special set. This uses the lower of his offensive stats, although base 105 Special Attack is certainly usable. Hidden Power Fighting is the main selling point here, it allows you to crush Aggron in one hit, plus you can 3HKO Skarmory. Sucker Punch is still an option to finish off stuff like Endure + Salac Pokémon with Reversal / Flail, but Icy Wind can be used to hit the 4x weak Dragons (and opposing Honchkrow), but it is there mostly as filler because of Honchkrow's meager special movepool.
Similar to the above, except this set boosts Special Attack with Nasty Plot instead of Choice Specs. You can try Thunder Wave here, so you can paralyze a few things before attempting a sweep, but without Psychic you'll struggle against some Fighting-types, especially Heracross and Toxicroak.
Other Options
Mirror Move seems decent enough, as you can switch into random Earthquakes and hit them back, as some users of the move are, themselves, weak to Earthquake. However, many Earthquake users will either be using Choice items (meaning they'll switch out of Honchkrow) or won't take much damage from it. Honchkrow has a ton of other cool moves like Perish Song, Mean Look, Taunt, Psycho Shift, Roost and Screech but he can't really make good use of any of them. The options already listed are his most effective.
EVs
Max Attack and Speed for Choice Band sets. Adamant or Jolly nature, depending on whether you prefer Speed or power. Jolly guarantees you will outrun most Gyarados and beats the maximum Speed of both Tyranitar and Breloom. Follow the same format for special based sets, but with maxed out Special Attack and either Modest or Timid natures. You can focus on HP over Speed if you use Thunder Wave, although Speed EVs are still recommended.
Opinion
Honchkrow really dislikes the Speed drop it got from Murkrow. Even keeping the same 91 base Speed would have done wonders for his usability. Fortunately, Sucker Punch makes a big difference. The defenses are poor and the Stealth Rock weaknesses doesn't help either, but thankfully it with immunities to Psychic attacks and the ever popular Earthquake, he should get a few opportunities to switch in safely. With Insomnia you also have the ability to come in on sleep moves, especially from Grass-types. Honchkrow requires a spectacular amount of prediction to use effectively, but it can be very deadly when used properly.
Counters
Steels in general (except the Psychics) shrug off Honchkrow's attacks with ease and destroy its weak defenses. Weavile usually outspeeds it, resists Sucker Punch, and KOs with Ice Punch, but beware of Steel Wing. Heracross is faster and also resists Dark, but will die very quickly to Drill Peck.
