Braviary Discussion

AccidentalGreed

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Intimidate is generally the preferred ability in general, and I'm pretty aware Reckless boosts Double Edge as well. There's fewer opportunities to use this, however. I'll give Reckless credit for giving an extra push in a few occasions, but Intimidate was generally good last generation as it was now.

...I think the Staraptor thread should be in order now.

SJCrew said:
~~Somebody has not played UU~~
Come now. You don't need to play UU to know this, and of course I've played!
 
Intimidate is generally the preferred ability in general, and I'm pretty aware Reckless boosts Double Edge as well. There's fewer opportunities to use this, however. I'll give Reckless credit for giving an extra push in a few occasions, but Intimidate was generally good last generation as it was now.

...I think the Staraptor thread should be in order now.



Come now. You don't need to play UU to know this, and of course I've played!
I have used both Reckless and Intimidate, and I can say without a doubt Reckless is way better. What good is the bulk if you cant 2hko things like slowbro or get the ohko on zapdos using double edge.
 
Braviary has it rough. His stats and movepool certainly aren't terrible, and he is by himself perfectly useable. Great attack, decent bulk, high-powered moves that afford solid coverage (even though Superpower is less than ideal). He's certainly not a "bad" Pokemon, but Staraptor is simply better on the competitive scene.

I have used Scarf Braviary extensively in standard OU play on the servers, and he has never let me down as a revenge killer and late game cleaner. He has plenty of power, can take a hit, and dishes out lots of damage. However, I realize that no matter how effective he was in battle, Staraptor probably could've done the job even better. Were it not for Raptor, Braviary would see plenty of usage, because he is undeniably an all-around solid Pokemon. Unfortunately, Staraptor has the neat little tools like Reckless/Intimidate, CC over Superpower, higher speed, and what have you.

I hate to admit it, because Braviary is one of my favorite Pokemon, but unless he gets some moves or another way to distinguish himself down the line, Staraptor just does his job better. That's all it comes down to. He certainly does it well, but Staraptor does it better. At least he isn't as bad off as all the rest of the birds.
 
*sees shiny Braviary*

"AMERICA!"

Anyways, even being outclassed by Staraptor, I believe this will make its way into quite a few teams.
 

SJCrew

Believer, going on a journey...
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At least he isn't as bad off as all the rest of the birds.
Speaking of which, Fearow was always one of my favorite birds in Pokemon, and I was pretty hyped to see they gave it Drill Liner this gen, almost to the point where I wanted to use it on a gimmick/troll team. Now if we can somehow get rid of Raptor and Braviary and give it Brave Bird...
 
Speaking of which, Fearow was always one of my favorite birds in Pokemon, and I was pretty hyped to see they gave it Drill Liner this gen, almost to the point where I wanted to use it on a gimmick/troll team. Now if we can somehow get rid of Raptor and Braviary and give it Brave Bird...
I've always been a big fan of Fearow, too. Sniper Drill Run is pretty awesome, but it's just not enough. What he needs is an evo. His stats just aren't enough to hack it in competitive battles.
Honestly Gamefreak just didn't set Braviary apart from Raptor enough. If he learns some new tutor moves that give him more of a niche in the later games and subsequent gens he'll be much better off. For now, I'm happy enough that he is still perfectly usable. I admit, the only reason I don't use Staraptor is pure favoritism/playstyle choice, but at least Braviary CAN hold his own on the competitive scene. Plenty of outclassed Pokemon would still be bad even if their "outclasser" wasn't around, but my experience with Scarf Braviary has proven that he's not one of them.
 
I hope Pokemon Grey adds some move tutors or new TMs that benefit Braviary. Roost and Close Combat please.
 

AccidentalGreed

Sweet and bitter as chocolate.
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Braviary's never going to fulfill the clawmarks Staraptor made on UU if Staraptor does ever get 'promoted' to BL. I mean, sure, Scarf set. Braviary's just not fast enough for the role, even though it was never meant to be a revenge killer.
 
If this thing came out in Gen III then...actually, no, it'd still be shit. Staraptor would totally own Braviary in a cock fight.
 
I don't think Braviary is "shit", it's just that Staraptor is better in pretty much every way. If Staraptor ever leaves UU, it's possible that Braviary could prove to be a decent replacement, one that's much more manageable than 'raptor.

I just reaaaaaaally want it to learn Roost...it's the only damn bird that doesn't!
 

SJCrew

Believer, going on a journey...
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One of the best things about Braviary is that if Staraptor leaves, we can switch in our defensive Rock/Steel types without worrying too much, since Superpower drops its Att after the first go. And no Reckless means that we can still count on really bulky walls like Dusclops to get the job done. CB doesn't get to tie with Zapdos or the other base 100s either, so it even has more checks. We're probably going to be more worried about Honchknrow than this guy post-Raptor.
 
My Braviary has 252 ATK and Speed with Choice Scarf with the movesets
of Crush Claw is powered up, Rock Slide too, Brave Bird and Superpower.
Crush Claw for me seems to take out anything Braviary goes against except the Bulky Pokemon like Ferrothorn.
 
I dunno if it had been stated or suggested, but CB Thrash hurts alot once ghosts and steels are gone. That isn't too too hard. Pursuit ghosts and trap steels. I've found that Escavalier and Dugtrio make good par era to it for this reason.
 
Crush Claw for me seems to take out anything Braviary goes against except the Bulky Pokemon like Ferrothorn.
The thing is, the only reason to use Crush Claw is to abuse the recoil-less Life Orb boost. With Choice Scarf (or any other item), you're simply using a slightly weaker, slightly less accurate Return, which obviously isn't desirable.
 
I really don't know what else this thing can do, so here's an idea that no other flying thing can do:

Braviary @ Leftovers
252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spe
Adamant / Keen Eye

Substitute
Bulk Up
Roost
Brave Bird

Sub+Bulk Up lets it set up on a lot of things, it can set up 101 HP Subs, and the only bulky resists are Steel-types that can be trapped by Magnezone, and it's neutral on Ferrothorn (while also 2hko'ing at +1) Neither ability helps it, though Defiant would be best when it's released in Gray to soak up random Intimidates. Substitute lets you throw out Brave Bird on counters that switch in, and potentially a specially-defensive EV spread could let it throw up Substitutes on things like Slowbro/Jellicent's Scalds and the like.

Edit: 252/216 spdef/40 atk Careful will make substitutes that survive Slowbro's Psychic.
 
He doesn't get Roost ):
well, fuck...I gotta look through its moveset more thoroughly next time. I guess you could run a ChestoRest with the same idea, and Return over Substitute...hm

Or just treat it like any other sub+stat-up mon that doesn't have recovery. Idk.
 
Even Dodrio outclasses this.

Dodrio:@ Focus Sash
Adamant
252 Attack / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Agility
Flail
Baton Pass
Endeavor

Speed up and survive the hit at 1 HP, use Flail to hit hard for a KO or Baton Pass out. (A STAB Flail/Reversal is = to a STAB Self destruct). If you Baton Pass out, come in later and Endeavor to make foe at 1 HP.
 
^Staraptor outclasses Braviary, but how exactly does Dodrio outclass it? Yes, Dodrio has more Speed, but it's weaker, much frailer, and most importantly it is helpless against Rock and Steel types since it doesn't learn a Fighting move. Braviary also has Bulk Up and Rock Slide, which gives it a couple more options.
 
Well, Staraptor is banished to BL and is out of UU. You know what that means...

Honchkrow is probably going to be the bird of choice, actually. But at least Braviary doesn't face AS steep competition anymore. He could see some rise in usage: somewhat in UU but ESPECIALLY in RU, since Honchkrow himself will likely be leaving those ranks soon.
 
Braviary's worst adversary as far as competition goes was Staraptor, but now that Staraptor's been banished, Honchkrow is his next obstacle. SF boosted moves are pretty good, but that Reckless BB Staraptor had the winged eagle beat. Now that it's out of the way, Braviary might see some use.
 

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