Staraptor (Life Orb)

Status: Uploaded. Good job Fried Rhys



http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/staraptor

[SET]
name: Life Orb
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Return
move 4: Roost
item: Life Orb
nature: Jolly/Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With Life Orb, Staraptor trades survivability and raw power for the freedom to switch between attacks. With this freedom, Staraptor can abuse its high Base Power attacks and attempt a sweep with its excellent type coverage. When Staraptor is at low health, simply use Roost to alleviate damage and continue your rampage.</p>

<p>Like on any of its other sets, Brave Bird and Close Combat are mandatory due to their great coverage in just two moves and immense power. Return is the main option for the third slot as it provides consistent, reliable damage and is boosted by STAB, making it a strong option for picking off frail and weakened enemies. Roost is also given a slot to compensate for residual damage Staraptor may suffer, such as Stealth Rock damage and recoil from Life Orb and Brave Bird.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]


<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li>Jolly Life Orb Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 220 Def Bold Celebi: 88.1% - 104%</li>
<li>Jolly Life Orb Brave Bird vs. 240 HP / 216 Def Relaxed Swampert: 48.1% - 56.9%</li>
<li>Jolly Life Orb Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Neutral Suicune: 62.6% - 74%</li>
<li>Jolly Life Orb Brave Bird vs. 188 HP / 252 Def Bold Vaporeon: 52.9% - 62.5%</li>
<li>Jolly Life Orb Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Neutral Gliscor: 56.2% - 66.4%</li>
<li>Jolly Life Orb Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Blissey: 81.5% - 96.1%</li>
<li>Jolly Life Orb Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Neutral Heatran: 94.7% - 111.5%</li>
<li>Jolly Life Orb Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Neutral Jirachi: 46.8% - 55.3%</li>
</ul>

<p>As with the Choice Band set, not a lot of Pokemon can safely switch into Staraptor due to the pure power of Staraptor's moves. Even bulky Water-type Pokemon, such as Swampert and Vaporeon, are not safe from Brave Bird's chance to 2HKO. Only Rotom-A resists or is immune to all of Staraptor’s moves and can cripple Staraptor with Thunderbolt, Discharge, or Will-O-Wisp. Jirachi, Bronzong, and Metagross can survive Close Combat and can use their choice of move to remove Staraptor. This Staraptor set also has issues with being revenge killed by Pokemon that carry a Choice Scarf, such as Jirachi and Tyranitar.</p>

<p>Life Orb Starmie is the number one teammate for Life Orb Staraptor. In addition to having a great offensive and defensive partnership with it, Starmie can remove Stealth Rock with Rapid Spin and eliminate most of Staraptor's counters with a powerful Hydro Pump. Forretress is another Rapid Spinner who, while it doesn’t counter anything significant, can set up entry hazards in the face of physically defensive Pokemon who might cause Staraptor some trouble. Speaking of entry hazards, the above calculations may lead to OHKOs and 2HKOs with Stealth Rock or a single layer of Spikes, so having a team member who can lay down these hazards further enables Staraptor's sweep.</p>

You say it easily breaks F/W/G cores, but it seems like the Water part might give you problems. What does it do against Vaporeon/Suicune, who usually pack Ice Beam/HP Electric? I'd like to see some calcs against those two. Also, I would suggest adding a spinner to the Teammates section since the 25% from Stealth Rock is one of it's biggest weaknesses.

Besides that, this seems like a very promising set!

Hmm, interesting set. Can't believe there isn't already a LO version in the analysis.
Staraptor is also quite fast so it might be a great late game sweeper.
Set looks cool, I might test it, good job. ^^

You say it easily breaks F/W/G cores, but it seems like the Water part might give you problems. What does it do against Vaporeon/Suicune, who usually pack Ice Beam/HP Electric? I'd like to see some calcs against those two. Also, I would suggest adding a spinner to the Teammates section since the 25% from Stealth Rock is one of it's biggest weaknesses.

Click to expand...

Impish ResTalk Gyara is the only Bulky Water that can avoid a 2HKO after SR and has a 60% chance of being 2HKOd by Adamant. Vaporeon is 2HKOd by a Jolly Return 50% of the time after Stealth Rock and Brave Bird + Return always OHKOs. Offensive Suicune is also an easy 2HKO with Return. Even Crocune can be 2HKOd by Adamant Brave Bird after Stealth Rock. If you opt for the recommended Jolly though, you still have a good shot at winning since Surf is only doing 60% max and Jolly Brave Bird does 40%. Suicune is the primary reason I use Spikes with Staraptor as it can be a pretty huge 2HKO. Max/Max Swampert is 2HKOd by Brave Bird 50% of the time, but lately I've been seeing the 240/216 variants who are 2HKOd 80% of the time. One layer of Spikes ensures these KOs and lets you run Jolly which is huge for outrunning or tying with Shaymin/Celebi and Jirachi who are both OHKOd or 2HKOd respectively.

Hmm, interesting set. Can't believe there isn't already a LO version in the analysis. Staraptor is also quite fast so it might be a great late game sweeper.
Set looks cool, I might test it, good job. ^^

Click to expand...

Thanks!

I know that Return is there for consistent STAB without recoil, but I think that slot could be better used by U-Turn or Substitute. Substitute lets you avoid situations like ScarfTran switching into Brave Bird and forcing you out, while also letting you get a free turn to Roost and then gtfo against something like Rotom-A, which you can't hurt. U-Turn would help you go straight from Rotom-A, Skarmory, etc to a counter without losing momentum. At the very least, mention those in AC.

I think I'll probably slash U-turn with Return, but I'm not sure Substitute deserves a slash. The set is already dying fast enough, and U-turn allows you to scout their counter while Return allows you to KO bulky waters and such without KOing yourself. I don't think Substitute beats either of those. If more people think it does though, I'll happily add it on. I'll definitely give it an AC mention, however. Thanks for the feedback.

Substitute over Return already exists, it's on site except with Sharp Beak over Life Orb.

This is minor, but I recommend you change the EVs to 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe. This allows you to attack 11 times with Life Orb instead of 10.

p surprised this set isn't in the analysis as it stands actually. i've used it before and it's really pretty good. however, i definitely suggest listing a rapid spin user as a possible teammate. between potentially switching in on hits and life orb recoil, staraptor absolutely does NOT want to also have to deal with getting 25% of his HP stripped off every turn. i think that the best spinner to mention would be forretress, though, as he can come in and spike on physically defensive pokemon like hippowdon and gyarados who may cause this set problems pretty easily. starmie should also be mentioned imo, as it can beat the two aforementioned pokemon, and it can wear down physical walls with its powerful special attacks. cool set! :)

yeah I forgot to mention specific spinners but I'll definitely edit them in now, thanks.

I've been testing this set out, with U-Turn over Return, and it has been doing pretty well. One thing I would mention is Starmie as the #1 spinner/partner for this set. Not only do they have great synergy typewise, but they break down eachothers counters. Heatran has been doing a superb job as well, taking care of any Bronzong problems or any other fire weak pokemon. Will continue testing this, just saying that it is worth a spot on site in my opinion, good work!

Yeah I like U-turn too and since it's been doing well for you I think I'll just slash it next to Return.

LO Starmie is a requirement for this set, since it's an awesome Rotom-A lure. Since Salamence is gone, this set might be cool in OU because base 100 speed is great, though you probably won't find the time to Roost against offensive teams, and with that in mind you face serious competition from the Choice Bander.

Gee, I was gonna post this and BOOM someone else does it D<

Anyways, from experience, LO starmie is a definite must to help Staraptor's survival

This seems like one of those sets I will have to test, hard to make a decision about a pokemon thats hardly seen in OU play

obviously starmie + sr weak pokemon is always a good combo :o

Yeah, pretty sure I will end up approving this but I'll try and give it a test to be sure.

So, uh. Awesomesauce, you've got everything covered in this QC!

My only gripe about Life Orb Staraptor (apart from the fact that it's not been recognized for like, what? 3 years?) is that Starmie, the Rapid Spinner kind, is a one-term use after it either sweeps or Rapid Spins, since the majority of the metagame is Bulky Rotom-A or ScarfTar. And the fact that ScarfTar brings out the ever annoying Sandstorm to add to recoil. Starmie may not even Rapid Spin at all due to Rotom-A.

All I can say is: this set is awesome. But it has setbacks like fucking annoying Scarf Rotom-A and Starmie, so just pair it up with Bliss or something like that, k? thanxbye.

Not quite sure why this isn't on-site. If anything, seeing this just makes me question the Sharp Beak set. Anyways...



Or

Approved (1/3)

Thanks for the approval Philip. To address the last few posts, yes Starmie is pretty much the number one teammate lol.

This is a good monster. I've used it with great success in the past.



Or

Approved (2/3)

Oh and, I'm really interested in having some calculations noted in the analysis, so please update the OP with the most important ones as soon as you have them ;)

Staraptor is a beast...

Approved (3/3)

QC check passed. Moved to OU and awaiting for the calculations to be written.

Alright I'll get started on this tonight. Thanks guys.

Alright I've got the calcs up although I need the tags. Let me know if there's anymore you want to see listed. Also, if anyone else is interested in writing this up please let me know, because I'm suffering from extreme writers block at the moment :(

That's too many calculations in my opinion. I would remove the Empoleon ones for sure, and it should be common knowledge that Close Combat kills Heatran and Blissey, while Brave Bird kills Celebi so those three can be removed. Just mention the importance of Stealth Rock in getting the necessary KOs.