JockeMS
formerly SuperJOCKE
Braviary
[Overview]
<p>Braviary packs an excellent base Attack stat of 123, as well as a great base HP stat of 100. However, he is held back by his mediocre base Speed stat of 80, and his defensive stats of 75 aren't ideal either. Braviary's movepool is rather lacking as well, and not having access to Roost hurts, especially when he is weak to Stealth Rock. But with Choice Scarf, Choice Band, or Bulk Up to boost his stats, Braviary can become a huge offensive threat if played right.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Rock Slide / Return
move 4: U-turn
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Sheer Force / Keen Eye
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is Braviary's best set; with Choice Scarf he outspeeds the majority of Pokemon in the tier, provided they don't carry a Choice Scarf themselves. This makes Braviary a great revenge killer. Brave Bird is a reliable STAB move that hits hard and is Braviary's main attacking option. Superpower complements Brave Bird, as it covers Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon that resist Brave Bird. Rock Slide hits Zapdos, which resists Braviary's other moves, hard, and hits Fire-types without causing Braviary to take recoil damage. It also hits Rotom-H harder than Brave Bird and Superpower. Return is a reliable secondary STAB, hitting harder than a neutral Rock Slide. U-turn is mostly used for scouting. This set handles Celebi, as well as Shaymin and Roserade to an extent, taking little damage from their attacks thanks to Braviary's natural bulk.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The choice of ability depends solely on if you're going to use Rock Slide or Return. If you opt to use Rock Slide, then use Sheer Force to boost Rock Slide's power, and if you opt to use Return, use Keen Eye, as Sheer Force serves no purpose with Return. The choice of nature depends on if you want Braviary to hit as hard as possible or outspeed as many Pokemon as possible. Adamant is the preferred nature, but with a Jolly nature you outspeed Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Adamant Heracross. Rapid Spin support is needed, as Braviary is weak to Stealth Rock, and he will be switching around a lot. Donphan makes an excellent partner, as it resists the Rock- and Electric-type moves that Braviary is weak to. However, both of them are weak to Ice-type moves, so Hitmontop could be used instead, as it resists Rock-type moves as well.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Rock Slide / Return
move 4: U-turn
item: Choice Band
ability: Sheer Force / Keen Eye
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Rather than playing the revenge killing role of the Choice Scarf set, Braviary now takes on the role of a wallbreaker. With Choice Band, Braviary will now be able to outspeed and 2HKO the bulkiest Pokemon in the tier, including Donphan, Milotic, and Slowbro. Brave Bird is Braviary's most powerful move, and he hits hard with it. Superpower covers Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon that resist Brave Bird. Rock Slide is used to hit Zapdos and Rotom-H for super effective damage, as well as other Fire-types harder than Brave Bird without causing recoil damage. Return is a great secondary STAB, hitting Pokemon that take neutral damage from Rock Slide harder. U-turn is used for scouting, if needed.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>As with the Choice Scarf set, the ability depends on your preference (taking out repetition of choice/choose) between Rock Slide and Return. If you opt to use Rock Slide, go with Sheer Force, as Rock Slide receives a power boost. If you opt to use Return, go with with Keen Eye, as Sheer Force serves no purpose otherwise. The choice of nature is a decision between power and Speed. Adamant is the preferred nature, as it lets Braviary hit as hard as possible, scoring the KOs he needs. Jolly lets him outspeed as many Pokemon as possible, but the only notable example is Adamant Heracross. Rapid Spin support is almost a must, as Braviary is weak to Stealth Rock. Donphan resists the Rock- and Electric-type moves that Braviary is weak to, but they share a weakness to Ice-type moves. If you don't want that, Hitmontop is also a good choice, as he resists Rock-type moves as well.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulk Up
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Brave Bird
move 3: Superpower / Return
move 4: Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Keen Eye
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes on a more defensive role, but is still able to deal some massive damage after a couple of boosts from Bulk Up. Brave Bird is a reliable STAB move, and it hits hard after some boosts. Superpower takes care of Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon, which resist Brave Bird, and Bulk Up nicely cancels out the stat drops. Return is a reliable secondary STAB move and hits Pokemon such as Zapdos harder than Brave Bird and Superpower do. With 252 HP EVs, Braviary hits a max HP of 404, and is able to make 101 HP Substitutes, leaving Chansey unable to break them. Substitute also keeps Braviary safe from status.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Rock Slide can be used in the third or fourth slot to hit Zapdos and Rotom-H harder. If you opt to use Rock Slide, use Sheer Force instead of Keen Eye for the power boost. Toxic can also be used as an easier way of dealing with Rhyperior, as even Superpower doesn't do very much to it. The listed EVs give Braviary maximum HP and some special bulk as well. A Careful nature is used with the listed EVs to give Braviary the most efficient bulk before boosting. However, if you want, you can put 252 EVs into Special Defense for the greatest special bulk. You can also put 56 EVs from Special Defense into Speed to outspeed minimum Speed Rotom-A. A faster version works as well, with a Jolly nature with 252 Speed EVs can be used to outspeed everything up to positive-base 80 Speed Pokemon.</p>
<p>Rapid Spin support is needed to get rid of Stealth Rock, to which Braviary is weak. Donphan makes a great partner, as it resists Rock- and Electric-type moves, but is, like Braviary, weak to Ice-type moves. For this reason, Hitmontop can be used instead, as it also resists Rock-type moves but is not weak to Ice-type ones. Entry hazard support can help Braviary score some extra KOs. Roserade is a good partner, as it resists the Electric-type moves that Braviary is weak to, and can set up Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Empoleon is also a great partner, as it resists Ice-type moves, and can set up Stealth Rock. Chansey make an excellent partner, as she provides great support with Wish, restoring huge amounts of Braviary's health. She also has access to Aromatherapy, curing Braviary from status. Offensively, Rhyperior helps Braviary as it can take care of Electric-type Pokemon, especially Zapdos, with ease. Furthermore, if Braviary doesn't carry Superpower to take care of Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon, Rhyperior can take care of them as well.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Braviary doesn't have much else that he can make use of. Crush Claw gets boosted by Sheer Force, but is weaker than Return even with the boost. Thus, Crush Claw can be used with Keen Eye to take advantage of its 50% chance of lowering the opponent's Defense. It can also work with Life Orb. Shadow Claw hits Rotom harder than Braviary's other moves, but it doesn't serve any other purpose. Sky Drop can work well in combination with Toxic, but Brave Bird is generally a better choice of a Flying-type move. Whirlwind can also be used on the Bulk Up set to force switches. However, Braviary needs the other moves more than Whirlwind and other Pokemon do a better job phazing. Tailwind boost the Speed of Braviary and his teammates for four turns. While this can be useful, Choice Scarf is generally a better choice since it is more reliable.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Physically defensive Zapdos resists both Brave Bird and Superpower and takes little damage from Return, and it can hit Braviary hard with its Electric-type moves. However, Zapdos needs to be careful of Rock Slide. Choice Scarf Nidoking is faster than Braviary and can easily take him down with Thunderbolt or Ice Beam. Rhyperior doesn't take much damage from Superpower and can KO Braviary with Stone Edge. Fast and hard-hitting Electric-type Pokemon such as Jolteon and Raikou can easily KO Braviary with their powerful STAB moves.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Braviary gets Defiant as his Dream World ability. Defiant raises Braviary's Attack stat with two stages when its stats gets lowered. It will be Braviary's best ability when it's released, as Keen Eye and Sheer Force serves little to no purpose for him.</p>