Man, I'm really not keen on the idea of playing OU but someone needs to make a team with Staraptor in because I ran a few calcs and that thing is insanely strong. Let's have a look at it versus the Vaporeon posted earlier compared to some other common Choice Banders:
252 Atk Choice Band Haxorus Outrage vs 252 HP/252 Def Vaporeon: 75% - 88.58%
252 Atk Choice Band Dragonite Outrage vs 252 HP/252 Def Vaporeon: 69.83% - 82.33%
252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Close Combat vs 252 HP/252 Def Vaporeon: 62.07% - 73.06%
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Brave Bird vs 252 HP/252 Def Vaporeon: 77.59% - 91.38%
Staraptor is stronger than even Haxorus, self-proclaimed best Choice Bander in OU, and also faster with better coverage. It doesn't get locked in either, although admittedly it does take a lot of recoil, so ideally you want to bring it in without taking damage. Vaporeon will handily beat all of the other Choice Banders, however, with Stealth Rock or a single layer of Spikes, Brave Bird has a 25% chance to straight up OHKO Vappy. Pretty impressive for a neutral attack from a Pokemon that isn't even OU.
Of course, Vaporeon is just one target. Let's see how Staraptor performs against Pokemon that resist Brave Bird, shall we?
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Brave Bird vs 4 HP/0 Def Rotom-W: 71.07% - 83.88%
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Close Combat vs 252 HP/252 Def Rotom-W: 46.05% - 54.28%
If offensive Rotom has switched into rocks a couple of times and/or been whittled down by Sandstorm, it's unable to safely come in on Staraptor. On the other hand, even with maximum investment in both HP and Defesne, Staraptor's Brave Bird has a solid chance to 2HKO if Stealth Rock is on the field. Double Edge will obviously remove any sort of Rotom from the game with Stealth Rock on the field.
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Brave Bird vs 252 HP/0 Def Jirachi: 45.05% - 53.22%
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Close Combat vs 252 HP/0 Def Jirachi: 50.5% - 59.41%
That's Staraptor's resisted Brave Bird 2HKOing Specially Defensive Jirachi with a little hazard support. Sometimes, it doesn't even need that. Alternatively, Close Combat has a pretty good chance to 2HKO even if there are no hazards on the field. A more offensive Jirachi set will simply be obliterated.
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Brave Bird vs 252 HP/0 Def Tyranitar: 41.58% - 49.01%
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Close Combat vs 252 HP/0 Def Tyranitar: 185.15% - 218.81%
If Tyranitar invests in HP, it has a pretty good chance of surviving two consecutive Brave Birds or Double Edges even with Stealth Rock on the field. However, a single predicted close combat will completely destroy it, sometimes OHKOing even through Chople and surefire KOing Chople Tyranitar if Stealth Rock is on the field. If it's too risky to use Close Combat, a single U-turn will comfortably bring Tyranitar into 2HKO range while maintaining offensive momentum. A less defensive Tyranitar is obviously even worse off against you, although be careful of Scarftar since it can tank a Brave Bird and outrun you.
I mentioned last time that Skarmory is pretty much the only thing that can safely wall you, but that isn't quite true.
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor U-turn vs 252 HP/252 Def Skarmory: 5.09% - 5.99%
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Brave Bird vs 252 HP/252 Def Skarmory: 31.14% - 36.83%
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Brave Bird vs 252 HP/4 Def Skarmory: 40.42% - 47.9%
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Close Combat vs 252 HP/252 Def Skarmory: 34.73% - 41.02%
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Close Combat vs 252 HP/4 Def Skarmory: 45.51% - 53.59%
What exactly does this tell us? We'll need rocks on the field for sure, but setting rocks shouldn't be an issue for any competent team. The first time Skarmory comes in, we U-turn out to something with will immediately force Skarmory itself to leave the field. This leaves it approximately 12% worse off. The next time we're in, we can either U-turn again if we suspect a Physically Defensive Skarm, or simply Close Combat if we think Skarmory isn't max/max. A Skarm without Defensive investment is easily 2HKO'd by Close Combatwith a single switch into rocks, and often Brave Bird will 2HKO if Skarmory has switched in twice.
Physically defensive Skarm is a tougher prospect - ideally, you want it to have already switched into Stealoth Rock twice before you try to muscle your way through it, which might be too much considering Staraptor's fratility. Of course, this is assuming Skarmory is in perfect condition ready to face Staraptor - if you have other Pokemon to chip away at it, Staraptor has an even easier time. Alternatively, you could just run Magnezone. Even if Skarmory has a shed shell, the lack of Lefties recovery means that after a single U-turn and 2 SR switch-ins, Skarmory is roughly 30% down in the HP stakes. No matter how defensive Skarmory is, Close Combat has an exceptional chance of a 2HKO here, and must roll minimum damage twice in a row to fail.
For something a little different, imagine Conkeldurr gets lucky against your Gliscor and emerges alive and mostly unscathed from a confrontation. It has +2/+2 and the defensive Pokemon you have still alive are insufficient to take it on. Fortunately, instead of choosing the default Haxorus, you went with Staraptor. Here's how it saves you:
252 +2 Atk Conkeldurr Mach Punch vs 0 HP/0 Def Staraptor: 65.59% - 77.17%
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Brave Bird vs 252 HP/4 +2 Def Conkeldurr: 92.03% - 108.7%
Even if Stealth Rock is on the field, Mach Punch has less than a 20% chance to kill you. In return, a Conkeldurr even slightly weakened will be obliterated by Staraptor's Brave Bird. Sure, recoil will likely take you down too, but if that's the difference between getting swept and not getting swept, I'd say our bird has done a pretty good job. I'm not suggesting this is a routine use of this Pokemon, but that raw strength combined with a really solid base 100 speed is awesome sometimes.
I mentioned a couple of times that Staraptor has better coverage than other comparable CB Pokemon, and I'll explain why here. A lot of people would say that dragon is the best attacking type in the game, primarily because it only has a single resist. While this is a valid argument, it only takes into account simple type matchup, rather than looking at the metagame itself. The number of dragon resists in OU is 9. The number of flying resists? 7. The number of Flying resists that can take a Close Combat and a Double-Edge without rolling over and dying? 0-3, depending on how you look at it. I already demonstrated how Skarmory can be beaten with smart play. Jirachi and Metagross are even easier because they don't resist U-turn and aren't as bulky as Skarmory itself.
Terrakion is a little different, since the number of Pokemon that can take both his STABs and his most common coverage move is comparably low. However, Stone Edge is, as we all know, a horrible move to have to rely on and will mess up right when you really don't want it too. Staraptor's moves are all 100% accurate, meaning the only thing they'll ever do to mess with you is kill you with recoil. If you're taking recoil, you're doing damage. That means Staraptor is punching holes in the enemy team. I'd say that's mission accomplished, even if you manage to kill yourself. (this isn't actually very hard. Try 'raptor on the ladder, find a team without a good flying resist (ie most of them) and watch recoil from 3-4 KOs sap away all your health)
Obviously, the dragons also have to coverage moves to beat most of their resists, but none of them have a secondary STAB like Double-Edge. I mentioned this before, but it's hilarious how often people look at Staraptor and think "ok. It's going to click Brave Bird, so I better bring in my Rotom to take the hit and then take it out with Scarf Volt switch". You proceed to click Double Edge and steamroll their entire team with a move just as powerful as Brave Bird with a different set of resists. In general, Brave Bird is a better destruction move, because Flying is just the best offensive type in the game, and Normal has a lot more issues to solve. That doesn't mean you won't get sweeps with Double-Edge, though. Hell, against a team with several weakened steels, a Close Combat sweep isn't out of the question either.
The final thing we should probably take a look at is Staraptor's priority. Now, running priority does mean you have to give up the convenience of U-turn, which is a pain where Skarmory is concerned. Provided you have a way to get it to about 70%, though, it's losing to Close Combat anyway, and that means you can free up a slot for Quick Attack. I'm not going to lie, Staraptor's priority doesn't have a patch on nites Extremespeed. I could turn that around, though, and say nite's Outrage doesn't have a patch on Brave Bird :P.
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Quick Attack vs 0 HP/4 Def Volcarona: 46.3% - 54.98%
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Quick Attack vs 0 HP/4 Def Salamence: 37.16% - 43.81%
252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Quick Attack vs 0 HP/4 Def Starmie: 44.83% - 52.87%
It's not Bullet Punch, but don't forget that it exists, because it could get you out of a tight spot. It's certaintly stronger than Terrakion's Quick Attack, and he still has a little utility, so don't discount it.
I think that's enough for now. I didn't really go into sets other than Scarf, but this post is long enough. TL;DR: Next time you want a Bander with great speed, coverage and power, take a look at Staraptor. It might be exactly what you're looking for.
Alternative tl;dr: use staraptor people it's fucking strong as shit
