Bisharp
[OVERVIEW]
- Unique typing with Dark/Steel, excellent Attack stat, decent defensive stats.
- STAB Sucker Punch and Knock Off, with Swords Dance to boost power.
- Having resistances to common Steel, Flying, and having an immunity to Poison give Bisharp plenty of chances to set up.
- Excellent Coverage with Steel/Dark typing, only relevant Pokemon that resist it being by Mega Gyarados, Keldeo, and opposing Bisharps.
- Defiant discourages the removal of hazards via Defog and makes teams using Sticky Web Necturna very much.
- Bisharp’s awkward low speed tier makes it easily outsped by many relevant ground types, forcing it to run Speed EVs in order to be effective.
- Bisharp is fairly frail and has no viable form of recovery.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Iron Head
item: Lum Berry/Life Orb/Black Glasses
ability: Defiant
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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- Swords Dance allows Bisharp to take advantage of forced switches to boost his attack to massive levels, most notably increasing the power of Sucker Punch a significant amount.
- Knock Off is Bisharp’s main STAB, which is useful for removing items from switch-ins such as Mollux, Colossoil, and Tomohawk. It allows Bisharp to hit Psychic and Ghost types, as well as dealing massive damage to anything that doesn’t resist.
- Sucker Punch is the key advantage of Bisharp. With proper prediction against the opponent, one can easily clean up against faster Pokemon such as Syclant, Crucibelle-Mega, and Latios, as well as picking off weakened Pokemon in late-game such as a Volkraken at low health.
- Iron Head is the secondary STAB, and provides excellent neutral coverage along with Knock Off. Useful for hitting Fairies and opposing Dark Types, one just has to be more careful with usage generally as Iron Head does not have priority like Sucker Punch or the added bonus of item removal like Knock Off.
Set Details
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- Max Attack stat provide Bisharp with as much hitting power as possible, and Maximum speed investment allows for Bisharp to outspeed as many Pokemon as possible.
- Jolly is the preferred nature as it allows you to outspeed 252 speed Adamant Mega Altaria, as well as for speed tying with other base 70 speed Pokemon such as Breloom who often run maximum investment. Adamant can be run for more damage output, but is not preferred as it leaves you outsped by the likes of Breloom.
- Defiant is the ideal ability for Bisharp as it takes advantage of the lowering of stats and punishes those who would want to weaken Bisharp.
Usage Tips
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- It is essential to keep Bisharp healthy throughout the match, as otherwise he will have greatly decreased effectiveness. Spikes are especially deadly, so avoid switching in Bisharp as much as possible when Spikes are up.
- Provide Bisharp a means to eliminate status, or be sure to avoid it in the first place. Burns cripple Bisharp and make him setup fodder, and Thunder Wave causes Bisharp to be outsped by essentially everything. Both of these are quite deadly to Bisharp’s effectiveness.
- The best time to Swords Dance with Bisharp is when he forces a switch against the likes of Latios, giving him a free turn. This is best when all of the opponent’s best switch-ins to Bisharp are removed, as then he can freely use Sucker Punch and Iron head to sweep the opponent’s team.
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- Bisharp appreciates the presence of a cleric that can rid him of status such as Burns and Paralysis. This is less required if Bisharp is holding Lum Berry, as that delays the need for healing.
- Pokemon that can remove Fighting Types. Sylveon, Tomohawk, and Clefable are excellent partners, as they can eliminate Pokemon such Conkeldurr and Tomohawk that trouble Bisharp. This allows him to clean up easily with Sucker Punch.
- Pokemon that can easily absorb the Fire and Ground type attacks aimed at Bisharp. Some good examples are Dragonite, Gyarados, and Tomohawk as they all are excellent at removing these opponents.
- As Bisharp excels in eliminating Psychic, Fairy, and Ghost types, Pokemon who appreciate this removal make great partners. Some of these include Latios and Tomohawk, both who dislike all three of those typings due to respective immunities, weaknesses, and resistances to those three typings.
- As Bisharp prefers to clean using Sucker Punch, wallbreakers and sweepers that can weaken the opponent's team are excellent partners. This can include Pokemon such as Aurumoth, Mega Charizard X, and Breloom.
[SET]
name: Davy Crockett (Pursuit Trapper)
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Pursuit
item: Black Glasses/ Leftovers
ability: Defiant
nature: Adamant/Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 52 SpD / 204 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Knock Off is a spammable move that Bisharp will use as his primary STAB move.
- Sucker Punch is Bisharp’s most important move, as with proper prediction it can be used to eliminate faster threats, such as Latios and Crucibelle.
- Iron Head is a secondary STAB in order to remove common Fairy types that resist the Dark STAB moves, such as Clefable.
- Pursuit is to damage Pokemon attempting to retreat from Bisharp, such as Kitsunoh and Jirachi. This allows Bisharp to chip away at the health of the opposing team and allow for cleanup later on.
Set Details
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- The main spread’s Special Defense allows Bisharp to live a Hidden Power Fire from Life Orb Latios after Stealth Rock damage. This allows for the reduction of prediction games.
- The most of the EVs in the main spread are used for maximum damage output, which is ideal with the Adamant nature. The rest go into speed so that it can be fast enough when not using Sucker Punch and Pursuit.
- If running a Jolly Nature, one can alternatively use a spread of 204 Atk / 52 SpD / 252 Spe, as this allows Bisharp to use its speed to the full advantage. The bulk is still preserved, and the rest of EVs go into Attack.
- When running Assault Vest, a spread of 192 HP / 220 Attack / 96 Spe is preferable as it allows Bisharp to outpace maximum speed Azumarill, while having augmented bulk and attack. If one is especially concerned about outspeeding uninvested Colossoil, Bisharp can use a spread of 84/220/204. However this is not ideal as there Bisharp will be notably more frail, especially on the Physical side.
Usage Tips
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- Bisharp should avoid switching into strong Physical attacks. As Assault Vest only provides Specially Defensive bulk and Bisharp has little Physical bulk to begin with, attacks from the likes of Mega Crucibelle will quickly eliminate Bisharp.
- Avoid Pokemon that commonly carry Will-O-Wisp. A single Burn will cripple Bisharp for the rest of the match, as it will have no method of dealing significant damage.
- Try to get rid of Dark resists on the opponent’s team as soon as possible. This allows Bisharp to use Sucker Punch, Knock Off, and Pursuit more freely and cause more trouble for the opponent’s team.
- Try to deal significant damage to the heftier members of the opponent’s team. As Bisharp has no way of boosting its stats in this set besides Defiant, it cannot break through walls or bulky tanks.
- Keep Stealth Rock or Spikes up throughout the match as much as possible. Prior damage is crucial to Bisharp’s success, as it makes it easier to eliminate the active Pokemon using Sucker Punch or Pursuit. Without weardown, Bisharp may miss out on crucial KOs.
Team Options
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- Bisharp appreciates having Stealth Rock set up. Excellent partners for setting up are Tomohawk and Clefable, both who have excellent typing synergy with Bisharp.
- Pokemon that can take care of common Fighting are great teammates. This can include Tomohawk, Clefable, Latios, and Autumoth.
- As Bisharp excels at removing Pokemon such as Latios and Gardevoir, partners who appreciate the removal of these threats like Mollux and Cyclohm work well as teammates.
- Physically bulky Pokemon such as Hippowdon and Pyroak work well in tandem with Bisharp. As Bisharp usually is best against Special Attackers, a good physically defensive tank can easily demolish the rest of the opponent’s team.
- Clerics with Heal Bell and Wish such as Clefable and Chansey are very much useful. Heal Bell allows for Bisharp to be cured of Burns, and Wish provides Bisharp with recovery if running Black Glasses or Assault Vest. This allows Bisharp to stay in the match longer and be more useful for the rest of your team.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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- A Choice Scarf set can be used with Iron Head, Knock Off, Pursuit, and Low Kick can be used, but tends to not be as effective because of the lack of Sucker Punch.
- Thunder Wave can be used to take advantage of common faster switchings such as Tomohawk and Mega Lopunny, but the moveslot is better used for Swords Dance.
- Low Kick can be used in order to hit Heatran and Ferrothorn hard upon switchin, but it tends to be less effective than Swords Dance as it leaves Bisharp extremely vulnerable to Mega Sableye and other physically bulky Pokemon.
Checks and Counters
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**Fighting Coverage** Common fighting types such as Keldeo and Mega Lopunny can easily destroy Bisharp with Secret Sword and High Jump Kick, respectively. Faster Pokemon with coverage who can take a Sucker Punch also trouble Bisharp such as Weavile and Cawmmodore.
**Ground Coverage** Bisharp struggles against the common Ground-Type coverage carried by the likes of Krilowatt, Syclant, and Heatran. Hidden Power Ground is also quite common, as many Special Attackers such as Mollux and Sylveon carry it in order to deal damage against the common Poison Typing in CAP.
**Status** Bisharp possesses a useful immunity to Toxic, but is neutered by Burns. Common Will-O-Wisp users such as Rotom-Wash, Gengar, and Mega Sableye can easily burn Bisharp.
**Gradual Weardown** Bisharp has a very small amount of bulk compared to other common steel types, which causes it to struggle when constantly switching in. It is best to avoid switching into strong attacks as Bisharp’s health will quickly be whittled down to nothing.
**Arghonaut** The rare Arghonaut is easily the most deadly opponent against Bisharp. It takes laughable damage from Sucker Punch and Iron Head, and doesn’t mind a Knock Off at all. Even worse, Arghonaut’s Unaware will completely shut down any Attack boosts that Bisharp has acquired through Swords Dance or Defiant.
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