[AAA] Honchkrow [QC 0/3]

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AAA Honchkrow

[OVERVIEW]

• Has the highest attack stat of all common Gale Wings users in AAA
• Has access to priority with both STABs because of Sucker Punch
• Can trap Pokémon with Pursuit
• Slowest common Gale Wings user in AAA
• Much frailer than Braviary and Skarmory
• Weak to Rocks
• Weak to Refrigerate and Pixilate ExtremeSpeed
• Can be used as a mixed attacker due to its solid special attack stat

[SET]

Name: Priority Abuser
Move 1: Brave Bird
Move 2: Sucker Punch
Move 3: Pursuit/Superpower/Heat Wave
Move 4: Roost/Dark Pulse/Defog
Item: Life Orb/Sharp Beak/Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves:
• Brave Bird and Sucker Punch provide two powerful priority STAB moves
• SuperPower provides coverage over some steel types and most rock types
• Pursuit stops opposing Pokémon from switching out when they want to avoid losing to priority
• Heat Wave does lots of damage to Steel types that don't have Flash Fire, most notably Skarmory; it should mostly only be run when your item is Life Orb
• Roost helps heal off Brave Bird and Life Orb recoil and Rocks damage; it should generally be used when you predict your opponent to switch
• Dark Pulse turns Honchkrow into a rather reliable check for Doublade, since it can switch in on Shadow Sneak easily; it should mostly only be run when your item is Life Orb
• Gale Wings Defog provides an easy, reliable hazard removing option, although it allows your opponent to get a free attack off on to Honchkrow or get a free switch

Set Details:
• Life Orb allows you to do much more damage to opposing Pokémon, although it does increase the already large recoil from Honchkrow's attacks
• Sharp Beak gives a slight boost to Honchkrow's Brave Birds
• Gale Wings gives priority to Brave Bird, Defog, and Roost
• Adamant Nature allows for maximum damage
• Bulky EVs allow it to take a non super-effective hit and survive, if you can't OHKO your opponent or if you go for Defog, Roost, or Superpower

Usage Tips:
• Used best for revenge killing and late-game sweeping
• Has two immunities to relatively common types, which you can use to easily switch in if you predict properly
• Incredibly good at stopping Ghost and Psychic Pokémon (except for Doublade and Aegislash) with the combination of Sucker Punch and Pursuit

Team Options:
• Works well with steel types (Heatran especially), which resist Gale Wings attacks and all types of ExtremeSpeed
• Good for helping Pokémon that are weak to Psychic and Ghost attacks
• Also works well with ground types, who are immune to electric attacks and are super effective on Rock, Steel, and Electric types, all of which resist Brave Bird
• Good for helping slower, bulkier Pokémon who can get set up on easily
• Enjoys support from a physical wall that can wall common checks to Honchkrow

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]

Other Options
• You can run Leftovers or Sitrus Berry if you want to be able to heal up some recoil damage without using Roost
• Drill Peck can be used over Brave Bird if you really want to avoid recoil damage, but Brave Bird is almost always better
• You can run Tailwind and use it if you are about to die anyway, which will allow the next Pokémon you send out to be an avid revenge killer

Checks and Counters:
• Refrigerate and Pixilate ExtremeSpeed users can easily OHKO Honchkrow with their supereffective ExtremeSpeeds
• Other Gale Wings users will outspeed Honchkrow and can generally OHKO it with Brave Bird or Hurricane
• Physically defensive walls, most notably Skarmory (unless you are running Heat Wave), can take lots of hits from Honchkrow without much trouble
 
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Snaquaza

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I'm not on the QC team, but I want to comment a bit on this. I won't go into too much detail as the QC team can do that, but will mention a few important things.
  • Dark Pulse definitely needs a slash on the set. It is a safe option to get past Doublade, which is one of the most used checks to Gale Wings / birdspam. Additionally, Honchkrow can just use it after Doublade switches in as it resists Shadow Sneak.
  • Heat Wave should also be mentioned for hitting Skarmory hard.
  • I feel like Life Orb and probably Choice Band should get a slash. I like Sharp Beak for bluffing a Choice Option too, but BlackGlasses can probably be removed as you want to spam your Flying-STAB and Sitrus Berry and Leftovers aren't that useful for it in my opinion. If you want to keep either, keep Leftovers in my opinion, as it gives more gradual recovery. (Mention to use Dark Pulse / Heat Wave on Life Orb sets)
  • Mention that Honchkrow is not a reliable Defog user. While it can be used (probably needs to be a later slash) as a backup, if you need to have them removed Honchkrow may have a hard time using them without possibly dying.
  • Mention that Roost is mostly when you predict a switch. Most Pokemon can do more damage to Honchkrow than Roost can recover, so its not very useful then.
  • Be a bit more specific in team options. Right now you mention things that have type synergy with it, but what enjoys having Honchkrow as a strong revenge killer on its team? What kind of support would Honchkrow enjoy?
  • Tailwind is an option for OO. When Honchkrow is going to die anyway, you can set it up with priority for a teammate.
I could have mentioned more, but this should be sufficient. Feel free to disagree or ask any questions.
 
I'm not on the QC team, but I want to comment a bit on this. I won't go into too much detail as the QC team can do that, but will mention a few important things.
  • Dark Pulse definitely needs a slash on the set. It is a safe option to get past Doublade, which is one of the most used checks to Gale Wings / birdspam. Additionally, Honchkrow can just use it after Doublade switches in as it resists Shadow Sneak.
  • Heat Wave should also be mentioned for hitting Skarmory hard.
  • I feel like Life Orb and probably Choice Band should get a slash. I like Sharp Beak for bluffing a Choice Option too, but BlackGlasses can probably be removed as you want to spam your Flying-STAB and Sitrus Berry and Leftovers aren't that useful for it in my opinion. If you want to keep either, keep Leftovers in my opinion, as it gives more gradual recovery. (Mention to use Dark Pulse / Heat Wave on Life Orb sets)
  • Mention that Honchkrow is not a reliable Defog user. While it can be used (probably needs to be a later slash) as a backup, if you need to have them removed Honchkrow may have a hard time using them without possibly dying.
  • Mention that Roost is mostly when you predict a switch. Most Pokemon can do more damage to Honchkrow than Roost can recover, so its not very useful then.
  • Be a bit more specific in team options. Right now you mention things that have type synergy with it, but what enjoys having Honchkrow as a strong revenge killer on its team? What kind of support would Honchkrow enjoy?
  • Tailwind is an option for OO. When Honchkrow is going to die anyway, you can set it up with priority for a teammate.
I could have mentioned more, but this should be sufficient. Feel free to disagree or ask any questions.
Alright, I've implemented the changes you suggested; thanks for your input!
 
This analyses has a few formatting issues which need to be fixed so it can eventually be uploaded. Please look over the analysis formatting guide to get this analysis in the proper format :)

Overview

  • Technically Gale Wings Rampardos has the highest attack of all Gale Wings users in AAA ;). Rephrase this to say "common Gale Wings users". Same with the bullet point about speed.
  • Mention that Honchkrow can go mixed due to its decent special attack stat.
  • Perhaps change the bullet point about Stealth Rock to say something like "Prone to being worn down due to both a weakness to Stealth Rock and Brave Bird recoil"
Set
  • I think this set should be split into two - one for Sharp Beak / LO and one for Choice Band. These items just operate too differently to be under one set, and because of the way it's arranged the current analysis makes things such as Choice Band + Roost seem viable.
Other Options
  • Leftovers, Sitrus Berry, and Drill Peck are all pretty sub-par options even for OO and because of this should be removed. Honchkrow needs the extra damage to function.
  • Give Taunt a mention here.
  • Mention Adaptability, which makes Honchkrow's Brave Bird and Sucker Punch considerably stronger and powers up Pursuit at the cost of priority on Brave Bird.
Checks and Counters
  • Remove Skarmory as an example of a bulky physical wall and put it under a new category named "Bulky Flying-type resists". Put Flash Fire Skarmory, Diancie, and Zapdos as your examples since these three are arguably the best counters available to Honchkrow.
  • Rename "Bulky Physical Walls" to "Bulky Intimidate Physical Walls" since very few Pokemon that don't resist Flying can take a banded Brave Bird without Intimidate.
  • With Skarmory gone, give new examples of bulky intimidate physical walls.
  • Give examples of Refrigerate and Pixilate Extremespeed users.
  • Give examples of Gale Wings users.
Tag me once you've implemented these changes and split the set, and I'll QC the sets to finalize this QC check.
 
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