Murkrow (BW2 Revamp) [QC 3/3] [GP 2/2]

[EonX]

http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/murkrow/ru

[Overview]

<p>Murkrow is a curious case and a classic example of how great abilities can give a Pokemon reliable niches. Murkrow has decent but not amazing offensive stats and can hold Eviolite thanks to its NFE status, but has fairly low defensive stats. However, Murkrow was blessed with two great abilities to work with: Prankster and Insomnia. Murkrow can take advantage of Prankster with its support movepool, which contains moves such as Taunt, Roost, Thunder Wave, and Toxic. With Insomnia and its ability to outpace all common sleep inducers with full Speed investment, Murkrow can take an offensive approach, with access to two great STAB moves in Brave Bird and Sucker Punch as well as a great coverage move in Heat Wave. However, most defensive Murkrow sets are virtually powerless against dangerous Steel-types such as Escavalier, Aggron, and Durant, while offensive variants have an incredibly difficult time switching in. Murkrow has some serious flaws, but as long as you focus on utilizing its unique abilities to let it shine, it can surprise quite a few opponents with its effectiveness.</p>

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Heat Wave
move 4: Hidden Power Grass
item: Life Orb
ability: Insomnia
nature: Naive
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With 85 / 85 offenses, Murkrow might not seem like a great mixed attacker, but its expansive movepool allows it to fill the role quite well. The biggest keys to this set lie in Insomnia and Murkrow's base 91 Speed, which lets it outpace every common sleep inducer in the tier. Brave Bird is Murkrow's primary STAB move; with 120 Base Power and a STAB boost, it hits with more than enough force to seriously dent and KO what it needs to. Sucker Punch is a nice secondary STAB move that allows Murkrow to derail the plans of opposing revenge killers while also hitting faster Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Rotom and Sigilyph. Heat Wave provides Murkrow with much-needed coverage and allows it to hammer Escavalier, Ferroseed, and most Steel-types in general. Hidden Power Grass fills in the last slot to handle the likes of Rhydon, Alomomola, and Quagsire.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Speed is maximized as Murkrow sits just above one of the more important Speed benchmarks in RU: the base 90 Speed crowd, which includes Lilligant and Moltres. 16 Special Attack EVs are needed to ensure that Alomomola is 2HKOed by Hidden Power Grass after Stealth Rock and a layer of Spikes. The remaining EVs are thrown into Attack to juice up the power of Murkrow's STAB moves. There are some alternatives to Hidden Power Grass if you have the targets of the move covered on your team. Hidden Power Ground is a noteworthy option, if only to deal with Aggron before it KOes Murkrow or a teammate attempting to cover for it. Prankster in conjunction with Thunder Wave or Tailwind can be very useful should Murkrow not be of much use. A quick Thunder Wave can save your team from a game-ending sweep whereas Tailwind can let a slower teammate such as Gallade, Samurott, or Medicham easily clean up the opposing team with a temporary +2 boost to its Speed. If Hidden Power Grass is replaced by any of these moves, you should simply maximize Attack and leave 4 EVs in Special Attack. Dark Pulse is an alternative STAB option that makes Murkrow less vulnerable to burns and gives it an easier time with Rotom. Finally, Expert Belt is an option as Murkrow gains nice super effective coverage in RU, and the lack of Life Orb recoil can sometimes keep it around for an extra turn or two when it's forced to use Brave Bird a lot.</p>

<p>Stealth Rock support is necessary to secure the OHKO on Moltres with Brave Bird and Escavalier with Heat Wave. Uxie is a great option for this as it can use Yawn and U-turn to give Murkrow easy opportunities to switch in. Murkrow has very good coverage against common defensive cores, so teammates that can sweep opposing teams that have had their defensive core weakened are good options. Emboar and Moltres can flourish when opposing Water- and Rock-types have been weakened. Physical Water-types such as Feraligatr, Samurott, and Crawdaunt have an easier time once bulky Grass-types have been weakened or KOed. Swellow and Choice Scarf Braviary are fast Flying-types that can do serious damage to teams after their Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon are weakened. Finally, it would be a good idea to use Spikes support when running Hidden Power Grass to ensure the 2HKO on Alomomola and the OHKO on Quagsire. Faster Spikes users such as Scolipede, Smeargle, and Omastar are typically the way to go as Murkrow should be used on offensive-minded teams.</p>

[SET]
name: Stallbreaker
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Roost
move 3: Toxic / Thunder Wave
move 4: Foul Play / FeatherDance
item: Eviolite
ability: Prankster
nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Murkrow has relatively low defensive stats, but thanks to Prankster and its ability to hold Eviolite, it can pull off a stallbreaker set. It must be stressed that Murkrow's defenses are above average at best, even with Eviolite, so it should not be counted on to straight-up wall threats. Taunt is amazing on any Pokemon with Prankster, and Murkrow is no different. Thanks to the priority boost, Murkrow can easily Taunt virtually any Pokemon to disrupt and annoy it. This cuts off the recovery and supporting methods of defensive Pokemon and keeps offensive Pokemon from setting up on Murkrow. Roost gives Murkrow reliable recovery and temporarily removes Murkrow's weaknesses to Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-type moves. The next slot allows Murkrow to cripple certain Pokemon. Toxic in conjunction with Taunt can quickly wear down opposing defensive walls as they slowly lose health with no way to use their recovery moves. Alternatively, Thunder Wave can cripple opposing sweepers, and Taunt can keep them from setting up. The last move deals with physical attackers. Foul Play is generally preferred as Murkrow can hit most of the tier for decent damage with it. However, FeatherDance is an option to cut an opponent's Attack stat and allow Murkrow or a teammate to more easily take hits from it.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread maximizes Murkrow's physical bulk while reducing the damage it takes from Stealth Rock. If you choose to run FeatherDance over Foul Play, it is better to run a Calm nature and invest fully in Special Defense. Murkrow can run a couple of other moves in the last slot. Brave Bird can handle Amoonguss, Roselia, and Clefable more reliably, but be sure to run an Impish nature so as to not gimp its power. Substitute can block attacks from weaker defensive Pokemon, but leaves Murkrow total Taunt bait. Finally, Hidden Power Ground can be used to do something to Steel- and Poison-types, as Murkrow is generally powerless against them.</p>

<p>Murkrow has a difficult time dealing with most Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon, so Steelix is a great partner as it can handle many of them. It can also provide phazing and Stealth Rock support. Slowking can handle both physical and special attacks, and is perfectly capable of running the status move Murkrow elects not to run. Entry hazard support is excellent, as Spikes punishes the switches that Murkrow can cause with its antics, while Toxic Spikes can free up a moveslot for Murkrow to use Brave Bird or Hidden Power Ground. Qwilfish and Roselia can utilize both types of Spikes and can check various threats that Murkrow can't handle. Qwilfish is able to take on Escavalier and Durant reliably, while Roselia can deal with Rotom-C and Manectric lacking Flamethrower. Cleric support can be worthwhile as well since many defensive Pokemon can throw out Scald or Sludge Bomb with little risk. Clefable and Miltank can run Heal Bell and can provide other forms of support,with Wish and Stealth Rock, respectively. Thanks to Murkrow's ability to stall out and weaken many defensive Pokemon, offensive Pokemon can benefit from Murkrow's support. Psychic-types that use Calm Mind, such as Uxie, Sigilyph, and Mesprit, enjoy Murkrow's ability to reliably wear down specially defensive Spiritomb. If Murkrow can weaken Alomomola and Quagsire enough, strong physical attackers such as Tauros can lay waste to the remains of a team.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Murkrow has a surprisingly wide movepool, so there are certainly some options that can be considered. Murkrow can use a combination of Thunder Wave and Confuse Ray to make an annoying but inconsistent parafusion set. Foul Play and Swagger is another combination that can be used in tandem with Prankster. However, such as set is largely outclassed by Liepard. Murkrow's only boosting move is Calm Mind, but it's much too frail to try to sweep. Haze is a neat support option to put a fast stop to most sweepers, but Thunder Wave will usually suffice for this. Murkrow can utilize Perish Song and Mean Look together, but this takes two turns just to set up and Gothorita can enter the battlefield and trap what it wants without taking up any moveslots or extra turns. Murkrow can use Rain Dance or Sunny Day with the appropriate weather item, but Uxie, Volbeat, and Whimsicott are much better weather setters. Uxie and Whimsicott have access to Memento and U-turn to bring in weather sweepers safely, while Volbeat has Prankster Encore to force defensive Pokemon into useless moves to allow weather sweepers to come in. Night Shade can be used for consistent damage, but Foul Play is usually good enough. Mirror Move, Torment, and Whirlwind are extremely situational moves that Murkrow has access to, but they are generally outclassed by other moves.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Murkrow isn't the easiest thing to counter as its sets play extremely differently from each other, but Aggron is one of the safest responses to it. Outside of the rare Hidden Power Ground, Aggron can come in on virtually any move Murkrow commonly uses and nuke something with a powerful Head Smash. In general, hard-hitting attackers that can either outspeed Murkrow or tank a hit fare well against it. Druddigon, Occa Berry Escavalier, and Tauros don't fear a lot and can use their powerful STAB moves to overwhelm either set. Magneton 4x resists Brave Bird, resists Sucker Punch, can stomach a Heat Wave, and can retaliate with a powerful STAB Thunderbolt or Volt Switch. It's also immune to Toxic from the stallbreaker set. Alomomola only fears Toxic and Hidden Power Grass from the mixed attacker set, and can scout the set with Protect and switch out to a more favorable response if need be. Aerodactyl can come in on Brave Bird and use Roost on the forced Sucker Punch, but it must be wary of Thunder Wave. Regirock isn't common, but it has great mixed defenses to take on the mixed attacker set and has Clear Body to deal with the stallbreaker set if Murkrow tries to be cute with FeatherDance. Piloswine is even rarer than Regirock, but it destroys Murkrow thanks to Thick Fat negating its weakness to Heat Wave and its Eviolite-boosted defenses.</p>

<p>The stallbreaker set is crippled by any Trick user, as losing its Eviolite means disaster. Most Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon can beat the stallbreaker set as well, but note that more defensive ones such as Steelix and Ferroseed can be effectively stalled out thanks to Gyro Ball's low PP. The mixed attacker set can be revenge killed by virtually anything that can survive or navigate around Sucker Punch. Durant, Sceptile, Manectric, Choice Scarf Emboar, and Choice Scarf Rotom-C can successfully handle Sucker Punch. However, none of them can switch in reliably and only Rotom-C can reliably take on the stallbreaker set. Status conditions, especially burns, can cripple either set and turn the mixed attacker into a liability if it doesn't run Dark Pulse. However, Prankster Taunt from the stallbreaker set can make this approach a bit more challenging than it might seem.</p>

Skelly

[Overview]

• Great abilities in Prankster and Insomnia
• Prankster and a vast support move pool lets Murkrow be an incredibly annoying defensive threat
• Insomnia and passable offensive stats lets Murkrow be an underrated offensive mon
• Roost for reliable recovery
• Taunt + Prankster
• Powerful STAB in Brave Bird; priority in Sucker Punch
• Low defenses and HP; Eviolite can only help so much
• Steels fear little from non-offensive sets
• Offensive sets can’t take hits from much of anything
• Severe 4MSS on defensive sets
• Hard to use, but its got the tools to succeed should it be used to its strengths

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Heat Wave
move 4: Hidden Power Grass
item: Life Orb
ability: Insomnia
nature: Naive
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Solid coverage, powerful STAB, and priority allows Murkrow to be a solid offensive mon
• Base 91 Speed and Insomnia is pivotal for this set’s success; kills off every common sleep inducer and outspeeds the fastest one, Lilligant
• Brave Bird has 120 BP and STAB. Helps to make up for Krow’s lower base 85 Attack. Recoil is pointless since Krow won’t live shit anyway
• Sucker Punch curtails revenge killers and beats up Psychic- and Ghost-types
• Heat Wave is great coverage; screws over Esca, Ferro, and Steels in general
• HP Grass to deal damage to Momo, Rhydon, Quagsire

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• 16 Special Attack EVs to ensure Momo is 2HKOed by HP Grass w/SR and 1 layer of Spikes
• Max Speed cuz troll base 91 Speed for Lilligant and Moltres. Rest in Attack for powah
• Don’t use Naughty… ever. Outspeeding Lilligant, Moltres, and Gallade is too gud
• Expert Belt if you don't want Krow to insta-die to 2-3 rounds of LO + Brave Bird recoil
• Dark Pulse to avoid being useless if Krow is burned
• HP Ground if Aggron really bugs you
• Prankster with a status move (Toxic or TWave) over HP Grass
• SR support is necessary. Otherwise, you fail to OHKO Moltres and may not OHKO Esca
• Uxie is nice, especially since it can use Yawn + U-turn to get Krow in safely
• MixKrow has great coverage on defensive core, so use things that can beat teams with weakened defensive cores
• Entei and Emboar love having bulky Water- and Rock-types weakened
• SD Gatr and SD Samurott have an easier time with bulky Grass-types being weakened or KOed
• Fast Flying-types such as Swellow or Scarf Braviary love having Rock- and Steel-types removed and the type stacking doesn't matter much due to Krow's extreme frailty
• Spikes gains 2HKOes on Momo (SR needed too) and Quag with HP Grass
• Use quick Spikers like Scolipede, Smeargle, or Omastar as Krow should be on offensive-minded teams

[SET]
name: Stallbreaker
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Roost
move 3: Toxic / Thunder Wave
move 4: Foul Play / FeatherDance
item: Eviolite
ability: Prankster
nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

• Access to Prankster is amazing and Murkrow can certainly make use of it
• Taunt is fantastic, and with the EV spread, Murkrow takes on most hazard users quite well
• Roost for reliable recovery so Murkrow can keep on annoying the opposing defensive mons
• Third slot is for status. Toxic cripples walls and Taunt allows Krow to cutoff their means of recovery
• Thunder Wave cripples sweepers and Taunt keeps them from trying to set up
• Last move deals with physical attackers. Foul Play can turn the opponent’s power against it and Murkrow gains STAB on it
• FeatherDance cripples physical attackers, thus letting Murkrow or a teammate better handle it

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• EV spread maximizes Murkrow’s physical bulk to better utilize Foul Play.
• Use a specially defensive spread if you opt for FeatherDance
• Brave Bird to deal with Amoonguss, Rosy, and Clefable. Recoil is offset by priority Roost
• Substitute to block weaker attacks, but then Krow is Taunt bait
• HP Ground cuz fuk Steels and Poisons
• Krow can’t do shit to Poisons and Steels, so use stuff to handle them
• Steelix dgaf about Poison and walls most Steels. Provides Rocks, phazing, and can take most physical attacks
• Slowking can tank out most special attacks Krow can’t handle
• (Toxic) Spikes support since Krow will force switches with its antics; use of TSpikes can let Krow run HP Ground
• Qwilfish and Roselia are good (Toxic) Spikers. Qwil handles Esca and Durant. Rosy handles Rotom-C and Scarf Manectric
• Offensive stuff to take advantage of things Krow can weaken / stall out
• CM Psychic-types love not dealing with SpDef Tomb. Uxie, Mesprit, and Slowking here
• Tauros can wreck slower teams of physical walls such as Momo / Quag have taken too much damage

[Other Options]

• Parafusion
• Calm Mind
• Haze
• Perish Song + Mean Look
• Rain Dance / Sunny Day
• Mirror Move cuz fuk Druddigon
• Night Shade
• Tailwind, Torment, Whirlwind --> gimmicky shiz

[Checks and Counters]

• Aggron fuks your shit up
• Regirock dgaf about FeatherDance
• Hard hitting attackers like Esca, Tres, and Drudd
• Momo can scout the set with Protect and switch to an appropriate response if it's unfavorable
• Defensive sets hate losing Eviolite
• Any Poison- or Steel-type beats the Defensive set
• Offensive set is RK’d by anything that can tank / navigate around a Sucker Punch; Tauros, Sceptile, Durant, Scarf Emboar, Scarf Rotom-C though none can switch-in and only Rotom-C can handle the defensive set reliably
• Status, especially burn, cripples any Murkrow
• Whimsicott can Taunt the defensive set. Loses to the offensive set though

 

[EonX]

So, to go into detail with the Perish Trapper set, I feel that the metagame shifts and rise of common things that run Volt Switch / U-turn such as Rotom-C, Mesprit, and Braviary makes it hard for such a set to be consistently successful. I've left it in a PH right now, so if other QC members want, I can include it as the final set. Otherwise, I'm thinking of just moving it down and giving it a strong OO mention.

 

[col49]

yo, what's poppin'? I like MURKrow, so I'll do a thing?


I for one am definitely fine with Perish Trap being dropped outright, I consider it far too "slow" (occupies 2 turns to get rolling, Prankster doesn't really make up for piddling bulk, etc.), but if anybody else feels strongly about it, then idk x_x Furthermore, and this again may just be personal preference, but I'd rather the Mixed Attacker set serve as the primary set here; in application, I've constantly been disappointed with Murkrow's performance as a stall-breaker due to mediocre bulk and inability to threaten various stall staples, with Pokemon such as Roselia and Momo being able to just throw around Sludge Bombs / Scalds into it at minimal risk, then just chill until they eventually win the war of attrition. Frankly, I consider Golbat a far superior Stallbreaker in many regards, as its superior bulk and Poison subtyping (which grants a Toxic immunity and reinforced Bug-, Fighting-, and Grass-type resistances for better Roosting into such Pokemon) make it typically much more usable, at the minor cost of an inability to take on Psychic-types. However, I'll leave that up for discussion and move on to specifics.

Stallbreaker should either slash or give heavy mention of Brave Bird in the fourth slot, as it gives it an immediate means of dealing damage that allows it to decently handle Pokemon such as Amoonguss, Qwilfish, and Roselia, in addition to actually breaking through 'mons like Protect Clefable without potentially being PP stalled (a strict 1v1 w/a perfectly pristine 'Krow likely would not achieve this result, but a "stallbreaker" should be in it for the long haul, meaning one shouldn't assume for a perfectly level playing field). I dislike Featherdance, since it doesn't actually progress its role as a stallbreaker in any way, better suiting something like Perish Trap, and if anything put Murkrow in a delicate situation in which it relies heavily upon avoiding critical hits (another typically undesirable scenario for a conservative 'mon such as this), but I'd leave that open for discussion atm. Similar things can be said of Thunder Wave, but it offers a more consistent means of stopping or restricting offensive Pokemon, so it has solid enough utility value to keep.

It probably wouldn't hurt to offer some examples of 'mons who immediately benefit from Murkrow's ability to take out or cripple stall components, since stacking defensive utilities for partners only goes so far in taking advantage of its positive traits. CM Psychic-types, such as Uxie, are decent examples, as they benefit from Murkrows ability to wear away SpDef 'Tomb and can take advantage of Murkrow's ability to force 'mons like Steelix and Ferroseed to burn up their Gyro Ball PP, setting up and beating these Pokemon 1v1 by forcing a last-'mon scenario. Similar things can be said of 'mons like Tauros, who can tear threw a lot of stall teams if they let stuff like Momo and 'Tomb take too much damage.


HP Grass > Roost, 100%. I'm not sure Roost even deserves a mention on the set at all, since it just doesn't ever do anything; Mixkrow's purpose is to break down defensive cores to the point where they'll fold to a more dedicated sweeper in turn, and it's frailty and lack of windows in which it would legitimately rather throw Roost to some coverage move on a predicted switch are way too few and far-between. Maybe worth including Ebelt mentions for those concerned with Mixkrow burning out too quickly, but no to Roost =[ When mentioning Heat Wave and HP Grass, mention they allow Murkrow to deal decent damage to things like Tangrowth and Momo witout completely burning itself out, allowing it to get a few more hits in edgewise.

I'd probably advocate Spikes support here from something like Qwilfish or Smeargle, since they allow it the ability to do things like 2HKO standard Momo / Quag with a minimal SpA investment (16 SpA ensures Momo w/SR+1 round of Spikes), and the primary sweepers Mukrow is typically paired with benefit as well. Roselia isn't really something I'd imagine seeing on a team w/Mixkrow, since it really depletes momentum and lends a free switch to Cryogonal, and all it does is pad out a 50-50 against one set of one 'mon that still at the very least is forced to take 35% (Sub+LO recoil) and hazards damage to combat Murkrow, putting it in the RK range for a whole slew of things. In terms of alternative moves, Dark Pulse is decent in its ability to hit hard even if it were to get burned, allowing it to push damage on Ghost-types more effectively and get through physically defensive Slowking better if need be. Forgoing Insomnia for Prankster in order to utilize a utility move such as Taunt, Tailwind, or Thunder Wave in the final moveslot is also a pretty solid option from my experiences if you can afford an alternative response to sleep induction, given that Murkrow gets punished heavily if the opponent gets the read right and throws a coverage move rather than Sleep Powder / Spore (even defensive Amoonguss' Clear Smog hits for ~40% min).

The tone of the partners segment overall seems to reflect a desire to build around Mixkrow, which I consider odd, as with the exception of perhaps hazards support, it should be the opposite; Mixkrow is a means to an end, a breaker whose ultimate goal should be to pave the way for a more definitive sweeper, be it a set-up 'mon, Choice Scarf cleaner, whatever. Offensive partners should be things like CB Entei, speedy Flying-types (Swellow, Scarf Braviary, even Acroblim, though the latter is typically the breaker itself), SD 'Rott / 'Gatr, 'mons that can clean up more effectively once Mixkrow's paved the way by baiting and wearing down or KOing things like bulky Waters, Steel- and Rock-types, and so forth. U-Turn / Volt Switch 'mons are understandable, but more so than anything Mixkrow should be treated as the support, rather than the centerpiece of the team.

I'd basically ok with the C&C segment, but it should be worth noting that Momo can scout the set at fairly minimal risk (if it's on Stall, then it's paired with a cleric anyway, and if it's on a more balanced build, then Toxic isn't wholly detrimental, since the team wouldn't be build for a long-lasting game), with Regenerator preventing the Mixed variant from where it down too significantly (though it can still do a lot under the right conditions, even to the extent that it KOs).

 

[EonX]

Thanks for the detailed (and lengthy, lol) check col. Think I got everything, but will wait on switching set order until more input (though I've been leaning toward doing the same thing)

 

[Oglemi]

i agree with dropping the perish trapper, i just don't see a situation in which i would reach for that kind of set when something like gothorita is available

foul play should get the slash before featherdance, FD is cool and all but i hate going into a match with a mon with no attacking moves that's not something like blissey/clefable (and still not even then). That and you're doing a decent amount of damage across the board with it to most of the Pokemon that will be switching into murk bar like aggron/escav

also drop the diaeresis on naive lol, the dex won't recognize it

 

[EonX]

Updated this with Ogles's changes. Also made Offensive the first set. While I'm on the topic of that set, I've been giving some thought to HP Ground as an AC mention in the offensive set so you can actually do something to Aggron without it being able to kill Krow (or a teammate) with relatively low risk. Thoughts?

 

[Oglemi]

Agree with an HP Ground AC mention

 

[EonX]

K, added HP Ground to AC. Hopefully this is all set now.

 

[col49]

ayte, doing things

Forgot it initially, but Dark Pulse also allows it to make something of speed tying Rotom-N, since otherwise it has to play some 50-50's, since it'll have any of Wisp, Sub, or Trick to play around Sucker Punch with. Also, I think you misconstrued the meaning of my Prankster point beforehand; the idea is to run it for a priority utility move, the "best" of which being either Tailwind or Thunder Wave, to support the offensive playstyle it will typically be run in. Prankster Tailwind plays like Torn-I in upper tiers, with a dead-weight Murkrow using it as the opponent KO's, then going into a nuke to attempt a sweep w/the pseudo +2, and Prankster TWave is there for an emergency stop to various non-Lum sweepers that find a window to set up. Neither are incredibly stellar in a metagame as bulky as this, especially given HP Grass is really nice atm, but it should at least get AC imo.

It also might be worth noting cleric support on the Stallbreaker variant, since a decent amount of 'mons can just throw Scald / Sludge Bomb at minimal risk, either having Regen (Shrooms, Momo, Slowking), Poison subtyping to avoid excess damage, or both, making Murkrow pretty "status-weak" all in all. Oh, and while you're mentioning that Murkrow is technically "walled" by Steel-types, there are some, such as Steelix and Ferroseed, that cannot hit back, allowing it to effectively stall out their Gyro Balls and win 1v1.

Otherwise, I'm pretty ok with it, so yeah, gl hf

qc 1/3

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

I agree with col49, anyways this is fine, a niche mon but has its niches.

QC Approved 2/3

 

[EonX]

Thanks for the checks guys. Clarified a bit more on the Prankster point in the writeup. Made a small name change with the offensive set and named it Mixed Attacker since that's what we typically name sets that hit from both ends of the spectrum. Anyhow, this is written and ready for QC #3.

 

[Swamp-Rocket]

Bold is used to give a boost in power to Foul Play

It doesn't give a boost to Foul Play, it lowers damage from other Foul Plays. That being said it isn't worth mentioning that part, just say that it maximizes physical defense, and Foul Play hits the physical attackers that you are trying to take the hits from. I also don't really like saying Absol likes the Tailwind boost, because its using Sucker Punch most of the time. Medicham or even Moltres would be a better example. I think it should also be mentioned that Murkrow's defenses still aren't the greatest with an Eviolite. They get pumped up to "average," but relying on it as a full-on wall or something should be ill-advised in the analysis itself. In OO you should also mention why Murkrow is outclassed by the other Weather setters, as you don't really give any reasons as to why.

On a different note, you say in C&C that certain Pokemon can tank a hit and then retaliate. However, Pokemon that don't invest that much in defenses like Druddigon are 2HKOed by Brave Bird so it doesn't exactly work unless you bait it into using some other attack (Murkrow will rarely OHKO something Brave Bird is not SE against, but it 2HKOs a lot of stuff). You may as well also mention that with Brave Bird Murkrow kills itself in 2 or 3 turns, so if push comes to shove you can just let it do that.

On for additions and subtractions, mention Magneton in C&C as well - resisting Brave Bird and Sucker Punch lets it fare well against Murkrow, and it can survive a Heat Wave. Piloswine is sorta rare but it can DEMOLISH Murkrow, so mention it too. Aerodactyl is faster and can just kill it, whereas it also resists Brave Bird and can Roost on the obligatory Sucker Punch turn. Maybe add Manectric as well, given its an Electric-type with Switcheroo and resists Brave Bird / isn't weak to Sucker Punch (all Manectric carry Fire moves so don't say Roselia can deal with Manectric, wherever you mentioned that). Also remove Liepard and Whimsicott, both suck in general and also suck against Murkrow (although for whatever reason 252/252+ Whimsicott can survive a Brave Bird even after Stealth Rock, its still a bad idea)

add all this and QC Approved 3/3

 

[EonX]

Thanks for the check S-R. Implemented everything in the check. Also, I specified that Roselia can't take on Manectric using Flamethrower, but it can deal with Overheat thanks to the Special Attack drop and lack of a boosting item with the move (only Scarf really runs it) but I can remove that tidbit entirely if QC wishes.

Other than that, this is set for GP.

 

[Kingler]

Add
Remove
Comments

Hide

[Overview]

<p>Murkrow is a curious case and a classic example of how great abilities can give a Pokemon instant, reliable niches. Murkrow doesn't have outstanding stats. Decent, but not amazing offenses (this sounds a lot better as one sentence, so imo you should merge these). The ability to hold Eviolite thanks to its NFE status, but fairly low defenses. However, Murkrow was blessed with two great abilities to work with in Prankster and Insomnia. Prankster is typically a great ability and Murkrow certainly has the support movepool to take advantage of it with moves such as Taunt, Roost, Thunder Wave, and Toxic. Murkrow's other ability, Insomnia, and ability to outpace all common sleep inducers with full Speed investment lends itself to an offensive approach, and Murkrow certainly has the movepool to make that work too with access to two great STAB moves in Brave Bird and Sucker Punch, as well as access to a great coverage move in Heat Wave. However, most defensive Murkrow sets are virtually powerless against dangerous Steel-types such as Escavalier, Aggron, and Durant while any offensive Murkrow has an incredibly difficult time switching into almost everything. Murkrow certainly has some serious flaws, but as long as you focus on utilizing its unique abilities to let it shine, Murkrow will surprise quite a few opponents with its effectiveness.</p>

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Heat Wave
move 4: Hidden Power Grass
item: Life Orb
ability: Insomnia
nature: Naive
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Murkrow might not seem like a great mixed attacker with only 85 / 85 offenses, but its expansive (something like this sounds better, or you could say its moveset is tailored to its offenses) movepool allows Murkrow to fill the role quite well. One of the biggest keys to this set lies in Insomnia and Murkrow's base 91 Speed stat that lets it outpace every common sleep inducer in the tier. Brave Bird is Murkrow's primary STAB move; with 120 Base Power and a STAB boost, it hits with more than enough force to seriously dent and KO what it needs to. Sucker Punch is a nice secondary STAB move that allows Murkrow to derail the plans of opposing revenge killers while also hitting faster Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Rotom and Sigilyph really hard. Heat Wave is much-needed coverage for Murkrow and allows it to hammer the likes of Escavalier, Ferroseed, and most Steel-types in general. Hidden Power Grass fills in the last slot to handle the likes of Rhydon, Alomomola, and Quagsire.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Speed is maximized as Murkrow sits just above one of the more important Speed tiers in RU: the positive nature base 90 Speed crowd, which includes Lilligant and Moltres. 16 Special Attack EVs are needed to ensure Alomomola is 2HKOed by Hidden Power Grass after Stealth Rock and a layer of Spikes. The rest is thrown into Attack to juice up the power of Murkrow's STAB moves. There are some alternate moves for Hidden Power Grass if you have the targets of the move covered on your team. Hidden Power Ground is a noteworthy option, if only to deal with Aggron before it KOes Murkrow or a teammate attempting to cover for it. Prankster in conjunction with Thunder Wave or Tailwind can be very useful should Murkrow not be of much use any more. A quick Thunder Wave can save your team from a game-ending sweep while Tailwind can let a slower teammate such as Gallade, Samurott, or Medicham easily clean up the opposing team with a temporary +2 boost to their Speed. If Hidden Power Grass is replaced by any of these moves, you should simply maximize Attack and leave 4 EVs in Special Attack. Dark Pulse is an alternative STAB option that makes Murkrow less vulnerable to burns and also gives it an easier time with Rotom. Finally, Expert Belt is an option as Murkrow gains nice super effective coverage in RU and the lack of Life Orb recoil can sometimes keep Murkrow around for an extra turn or two when it's forced to use Brave Bird a lot.</p>

<p>Stealth Rock support is necessary to secure the OHKO on Moltres with Brave Bird and Escavalier with Heat Wave. Uxie is a great option for this as it can use its Yawn + U-turn combination to give Murkrow easy opportunities to switch in. Murkrow has very good coverage against common defensive cores, so teammates that can sweep opposing teams that have had their defensive core weakened are good options. Emboar and Moltres can flourish when opposing Water- and Rock-types have been weakened. Physical Water-types such as Feraligatr, Samurott, and Crawdaunt have an easier time once bulky Grass-types have been weakened or outright KOed. Swellow and Choice Scarf Braviary are fast Flying-types that can do serious damage to teams that have had their Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon weakened from trying to fend off Murkrow. Finally, it would be a good idea to use Spikes support when running Hidden Power Grass to ensure Alomomola is 2HKOed and that Quagsire is OHKOed. Faster Spikes users such as Scolipede, Smeargle, and Omastar are typically the way to go as Murkrow should be used on offensive-minded teams.</p>

[SET]
name: Stallbreaker
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Roost
move 3: Toxic / Thunder Wave
move 4: Foul Play / FeatherDance
item: Eviolite
ability: Prankster
nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Murkrow has relatively low defenses, but thanks to its ability to hold Eviolite and a great ability in Prankster, Murkrow can pull off a stallbreaker set. It must be stressed that Murkrow's defenses are above-average at best, even with Eviolite, so it should not be counted on to straight-up wall threats. Taunt is amazing on anything with Prankster, and Murkrow is no different. Thanks to the priority boost, Murkrow can easily Taunt virtually any Pokemon to disrupt and annoy it. This cuts off the recovery and supporting methods of defensive Pokemon while also keeping offensive Pokemon from setting up all over Murkrow. Roost gives Murkrow reliable recovery and temporarily removes Murkrow's weaknesses to Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-type moves. The next slot allows Murkrow to cripple certain Pokemon. Toxic in conjunction with Taunt can quickly wear down opposing defensive walls as they slowly lose health with no way to use their recovery moves. Alternatively, Thunder Wave can cripple opposing sweepers with Taunt keeping them from trying to setup. The last move deals with physical attackers. Foul Play is generally preferred as Murkrow can hit most of the tier for decent damage with it as needed. However, FeatherDance is an option to cripple the opponent's Attack stat to allow Murkrow or a teammate to more easily take hits from it.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread maximizes Murkrow's physical bulk while rounding down Stealth Rock damage. If you choose to run FeatherDance over Foul Play, it is better to run a Calm nature and invest fully in Special Defense. Murkrow can run a couple of other moves in the last slot. Brave Bird can handle Amoonguss, Roselia, and Clefable more reliably, but be sure to run an Impish nature when using Brave Bird so as to not gimp its power. Substitute can block attacks from weaker defensive Pokemon, but then Murkrow becomes total Taunt bait. Finally, Hidden Power Ground can be used to do something to Steel- and Poison-types as Murkrow is generally powerless against them otherwise.</p>

<p>Murkrow has a difficult time dealing with most Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon. Steelix is a great option for this as it can handle many of these Pokemon that Murkrow can't do much to. It can also provide phazing and Stealth Rock support for Murkow. Slowking can handle both physically and specially based attacks and it is perfectly capable of running the status move Murkrow elects not to run. Spikes and Toxic Spikes are great forms of support. Spikes punishes the switches Murkrow can cause with its antics while the use of Toxic Spikes can free up a moveslot for Murkrow to use Brave Bird or Hidden Power Ground more easily. Qwilfish and Roselia can use both types of Spikes and can check various threats that Murkrow can't handle. Qwilfish is able to take on Escavalier and Durant reliably while Roselia can deal with Rotom-C and any Manectric lacking Flamethrower. Cleric support can be worthwhile as well as many defensive Pokemon can throw out Scald or Sludge Bomb with little risk. Clefable and Miltank can reliably run Heal Bell and can provide some other forms of support with Wish and Stealth Rock respectively. Thanks to Murkrow's ability to stall out and weaken many defensive Pokemon, offensive Pokemon can also benefit from Murkrow's support. Psychic-types that use Calm Mind, such as Uxie, Sigilyph, and Mesprit, enjoy Murkrow's ability to wear down specially defensive Spiritomb reliably. If Murkrow can weaken Alomomola and Quagsire enough, strong physical attackers such as Tauros can lay waste to the remains of a team.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Murkrow has a surprisingly wide movepool, so there are certainly some things that can be considered. Murkrow can use a combination of Thunder Wave and Confuse Ray to make an annoying parafusion set, but it is not consistent. Foul Play and Swagger is another combination that can be used as Murkrow has access to Prankster. However, this is largely outclassed by Liepard. Murkrow's only boosting move is Calm Mind, but it's much too frail to try and sweep. Haze is a neat support option to put a fast stop to most sweepers, but Thunder Wave will usually suffice for this. Murkrow can utilize Perish Song and Mean Look together, but this takes two turns just to set up and Gothorita can just enter the battlefield and trap what it wants without taking up any moveslots or extra turns. Murkrow can use Rain Dance or Sunny Day with the appropriate weather item, but Uxie, Volbeat, and Whimsicott are much better weather setters. Uxie and Whimsicott have access to Memento and U-turn to bring in weather sweepers safely while Volbeat has Prankster Encore to force defensive Pokemon into useless moves for weather sweepers to come in. Night Shade can be used for consistent damage, but Foul Play is usually good enough. Mirror Move, Torment, and Whirlwind are extremely situational moves that Murkrow has access to, but they are generally outclassed by the other moves Murkrow has access to.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Murkrow isn't the easiest thing to counter as its sets play extremely differently from each other, but Aggron is one of the safest responses of all. Outside of the rare Hidden Power Ground, Aggron can come in on virtually anything else Murkrow commonly uses and simply try and nuke something with its powerful Head Smash. Hard-hitting attackers that can either outspeed Murkrow or tank a hit will fare well in general. Druddigon, Occa Berry Escavalier, and Tauros don't fear a lot and can use their powerful STAB moves to overwhelm either set. Magneton 4x resists Brave Bird, resists Sucker Punch, and can stomach a Heat Wave and retaliate with a powerful STAB Thunderbolt or Volt Switch. It's also immune to Toxic from the stallbreaker set. Alomomola only fears Toxic or a possible Hidden Power Grass from the mixed attacker set, and it can scout the set with Protect and switch out to a more favorable response if need be. Aerodactyl can come in on Brave Bird and use Roost on the forced Sucker Punch turn, but it must be wary of the rare Thunder Wave crippling it. Regirock isn't common, but it has great mixed defenses to take on the mixed attacker set and it has Clear Body to deal with the stallbreaker set if Murkrow tries to get cute with FeatherDance. Piloswine is even rarer than Regirock, but it destroys Murkrow thanks to Thick Fat negating its weakness to Heat Wave and its Eviolite-boosted defenses.</p>

<p>The stallbreaker set is crippled by any Trick user as losing its Eviolite means disaster. Most Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon can beat the stallbreaker set as well, but note that more defensive ones such as Steelix and Ferroseed can be effectively stalled out thanks to Gyro Ball's low PP. The mixed attacker set can be revenge killed by virtually anything that can survive or navigate around Sucker Punch. Durant, Sceptile, Manectric, Choice Scarf Emboar, and Choice Scarf Rotom-C can successfully handle Sucker Punch. However, none of them can switch in reliably and only Rotom-C can reliably take on the stallbreaker set. Status, especially burn, can cripple either set and turns the mixed attacker into a liability if it doesn't use Dark Pulse, but Prankster Taunt from the stallbreaker set can make this approach a bit more challenging than it might seem at first.</p>

1/2 n_n

 

[EonX]

Thanks for the check. Ready for GP #2.

 

[blitzlefan]

I'll work on this today!

NEW

[Overview]

<p>Murkrow is a curious case and a classic example of how great abilities can give a Pokemon reliable niches. Murkrow has decent but not amazing offensive stats and can hold Eviolite thanks to its NFE status, but has fairly low defensive stats. However, Murkrow was blessed with two great abilities to work with: Prankster and Insomnia. Murkrow can take advantage of Prankster with its support movepool, which contains moves such as Taunt, Roost, Thunder Wave, and Toxic. With Insomnia and its ability to outpace all common sleep inducers with full Speed investment, Murkrow can take an offensive approach, with access to two great STAB moves in Brave Bird and Sucker Punch as well as a great coverage move in Heat Wave. However, most defensive Murkrow sets are virtually powerless against dangerous Steel-types such as Escavalier, Aggron, and Durant, while offensive variants have an incredibly difficult time switching in. Murkrow has some serious flaws, but as long as you focus on utilizing its unique abilities to let it shine, it can surprise quite a few opponents with its effectiveness.</p>

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Heat Wave
move 4: Hidden Power Grass
item: Life Orb
ability: Insomnia
nature: Naive
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With 85 / 85 offenses, Murkrow might not seem like a great mixed attacker, but its expansive movepool allows it to fill the role quite well. The biggest keys to this set lie in Insomnia and Murkrow's base 91 Speed, which lets it outpace every common sleep inducer in the tier. Brave Bird is Murkrow's primary STAB move; with 120 Base Power and a STAB boost, it hits with more than enough force to seriously dent and KO what it needs to. Sucker Punch is a nice secondary STAB move that allows Murkrow to derail the plans of opposing revenge killers while also hitting faster Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Rotom and Sigilyph. Heat Wave provides Murkrow with much-needed coverage and allows it to hammer Escavalier, Ferroseed, and most Steel-types in general. Hidden Power Grass fills in the last slot to handle the likes of Rhydon, Alomomola, and Quagsire.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Speed is maximized as Murkrow sits just above one of the more important Speed benchmarks in RU: the base 90 Speed crowd, which includes Lilligant and Moltres. 16 Special Attack EVs are needed to ensure that Alomomola is 2HKOed by Hidden Power Grass after Stealth Rock and a layer of Spikes. The remaining EVs are thrown into Attack to juice up the power of Murkrow's STAB moves. There are some alternatives to Hidden Power Grass if you have the targets of the move covered on your team. Hidden Power Ground is a noteworthy option, if only to deal with Aggron before it KOes Murkrow or a teammate attempting to cover for it. Prankster in conjunction with Thunder Wave or Tailwind can be very useful should Murkrow not be of much use. A quick Thunder Wave can save your team from a game-ending sweep whereas Tailwind can let a slower teammate such as Gallade, Samurott, or Medicham easily clean up the opposing team with a temporary +2 boost to its Speed. If Hidden Power Grass is replaced by any of these moves, you should simply maximize Attack and leave 4 EVs in Special Attack. Dark Pulse is an alternative STAB option that makes Murkrow less vulnerable to burns and gives it an easier time with Rotom. Finally, Expert Belt is an option as Murkrow gains nice super effective coverage in RU, and the lack of Life Orb recoil can sometimes keep it around for an extra turn or two when it's forced to use Brave Bird a lot.</p>

<p>Stealth Rock support is necessary to secure the OHKO on Moltres with Brave Bird and Escavalier with Heat Wave. Uxie is a great option for this as it can use Yawn and U-turn to give Murkrow easy opportunities to switch in. Murkrow has very good coverage against common defensive cores, so teammates that can sweep opposing teams that have had their defensive core weakened are good options. Emboar and Moltres can flourish when opposing Water- and Rock-types have been weakened. Physical Water-types such as Feraligatr, Samurott, and Crawdaunt have an easier time once bulky Grass-types have been weakened or KOed. Swellow and Choice Scarf Braviary are fast Flying-types that can do serious damage to teams after their Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon are weakened. Finally, it would be a good idea to use Spikes support when running Hidden Power Grass to ensure the 2HKO on Alomomola and the OHKO on Quagsire. Faster Spikes users such as Scolipede, Smeargle, and Omastar are typically the way to go as Murkrow should be used on offensive-minded teams.</p>

[SET]
name: Stallbreaker
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Roost
move 3: Toxic / Thunder Wave
move 4: Foul Play / FeatherDance
item: Eviolite
ability: Prankster
nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Murkrow has relatively low defensive stats, but thanks to Prankster and its ability to hold Eviolite, it can pull off a stallbreaker set. It must be stressed that Murkrow's defenses are above average at best, even with Eviolite, so it should not be counted on to straight-up wall threats. Taunt is amazing on any Pokemon with Prankster, and Murkrow is no different. Thanks to the priority boost, Murkrow can easily Taunt virtually any Pokemon to disrupt and annoy it. This cuts off the recovery and supporting methods of defensive Pokemon and keeps offensive Pokemon from setting up on Murkrow. Roost gives Murkrow reliable recovery and temporarily removes Murkrow's weaknesses to Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-type moves. The next slot allows Murkrow to cripple certain Pokemon. Toxic in conjunction with Taunt can quickly wear down opposing defensive walls as they slowly lose health with no way to use their recovery moves. Alternatively, Thunder Wave can cripple opposing sweepers, and Taunt can keep them from setting up. The last move deals with physical attackers. Foul Play is generally preferred as Murkrow can hit most of the tier for decent damage with it. However, FeatherDance is an option to cut an opponent's Attack stat and allow Murkrow or a teammate to more easily take hits from it.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread maximizes Murkrow's physical bulk while reducing the damage it takes from Stealth Rock. If you choose to run FeatherDance over Foul Play, it is better to run a Calm nature and invest fully in Special Defense. Murkrow can run a couple of other moves in the last slot. Brave Bird can handle Amoonguss, Roselia, and Clefable more reliably, but be sure to run an Impish nature so as to not gimp its power. Substitute can block attacks from weaker defensive Pokemon, but leaves Murkrow total Taunt bait. Finally, Hidden Power Ground can be used to do something to Steel- and Poison-types, as Murkrow is generally powerless against them.</p>

<p>Murkrow has a difficult time dealing with most Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon, so Steelix is a great partner as it can handle many of them. It can also provide phazing and Stealth Rock support. Slowking can handle both physical and special attacks, and is perfectly capable of running the status move Murkrow elects not to run. Entry hazard support is excellent, as Spikes punishes the switches that Murkrow can cause with its antics, while Toxic Spikes can free up a moveslot for Murkrow to use Brave Bird or Hidden Power Ground. Qwilfish and Roselia can utilize both types of Spikes and can check various threats that Murkrow can't handle. Qwilfish is able to take on Escavalier and Durant reliably, while Roselia can deal with Rotom-C and Manectric lacking Flamethrower. Cleric support can be worthwhile as well since many defensive Pokemon can throw out Scald or Sludge Bomb with little risk. Clefable and Miltank can run Heal Bell and can provide other forms of support,with Wish and Stealth Rock, respectively. Thanks to Murkrow's ability to stall out and weaken many defensive Pokemon, offensive Pokemon can benefit from Murkrow's support. Psychic-types that use Calm Mind, such as Uxie, Sigilyph, and Mesprit, enjoy Murkrow's ability to reliably wear down specially defensive Spiritomb. If Murkrow can weaken Alomomola and Quagsire enough, strong physical attackers such as Tauros can lay waste to the remains of a team.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Murkrow has a surprisingly wide movepool, so there are certainly some options that can be considered. Murkrow can use a combination of Thunder Wave and Confuse Ray to make an annoying but inconsistent parafusion set. Foul Play and Swagger is another combination that can be used in tandem with Prankster. However, such as set is largely outclassed by Liepard. Murkrow's only boosting move is Calm Mind, but it's much too frail to try to sweep. Haze is a neat support option to put a fast stop to most sweepers, but Thunder Wave will usually suffice for this. Murkrow can utilize Perish Song and Mean Look together, but this takes two turns just to set up and Gothorita can enter the battlefield and trap what it wants without taking up any moveslots or extra turns. Murkrow can use Rain Dance or Sunny Day with the appropriate weather item, but Uxie, Volbeat, and Whimsicott are much better weather setters. Uxie and Whimsicott have access to Memento and U-turn to bring in weather sweepers safely, while Volbeat has Prankster Encore to force defensive Pokemon into useless moves to allow weather sweepers to come in. Night Shade can be used for consistent damage, but Foul Play is usually good enough. Mirror Move, Torment, and Whirlwind are extremely situational moves that Murkrow has access to, but they are generally outclassed by other moves.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Murkrow isn't the easiest thing to counter as its sets play extremely differently from each other, but Aggron is one of the safest responses to it. Outside of the rare Hidden Power Ground, Aggron can come in on virtually any move Murkrow commonly uses and nuke something with a powerful Head Smash. In general, hard-hitting attackers that can either outspeed Murkrow or tank a hit fare well against it. Druddigon, Occa Berry Escavalier, and Tauros don't fear a lot and can use their powerful STAB moves to overwhelm either set. Magneton 4x resists Brave Bird, resists Sucker Punch, can stomach a Heat Wave, and can retaliate with a powerful STAB Thunderbolt or Volt Switch. It's also immune to Toxic from the stallbreaker set. Alomomola only fears Toxic and Hidden Power Grass from the mixed attacker set, and can scout the set with Protect and switch out to a more favorable response if need be. Aerodactyl can come in on Brave Bird and use Roost on the forced Sucker Punch, but it must be wary of Thunder Wave. Regirock isn't common, but it has great mixed defenses to take on the mixed attacker set and has Clear Body to deal with the stallbreaker set if Murkrow tries to be cute with FeatherDance. Piloswine is even rarer than Regirock, but it destroys Murkrow thanks to Thick Fat negating its weakness to Heat Wave and its Eviolite-boosted defenses.</p>

<p>The stallbreaker set is crippled by any Trick user, as losing its Eviolite means disaster. Most Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon can beat the stallbreaker set as well, but note that more defensive ones such as Steelix and Ferroseed can be effectively stalled out thanks to Gyro Ball's low PP. The mixed attacker set can be revenge killed by virtually anything that can survive or navigate around Sucker Punch. Durant, Sceptile, Manectric, Choice Scarf Emboar, and Choice Scarf Rotom-C can successfully handle Sucker Punch. However, none of them can switch in reliably and only Rotom-C can reliably take on the stallbreaker set. Status conditions, especially burns, can cripple either set and turn the mixed attacker into a liability if it doesn't run Dark Pulse. However, Prankster Taunt from the stallbreaker set can make this approach a bit more challenging than it might seem.</p>

CHANGES

[Overview]

<p>Murkrow is a curious case and a classic example of how great abilities can give a Pokemon instant, reliable niches. Murkrow doesn't have outstanding stats as it has decent, but not amazing offenses. The ability toive stats and can hold Eviolite thanks to its NFE status, but has fairly low defensive stats. However, Murkrow was blessed with two great abilities to work with in: Prankster and Insomnia. Prankster is typically a great ability and Murkrow certainly has theMurkrow can take advantage of Prankster with its support movepool to take adva, which contage of it withins moves such as Taunt, Roost, Thunder Wave, and Toxic. Murkrow's oWither ability, Insomnia, and its ability to outpace all common sleep inducers with full Speed investment lends itself to, Murkrow can take an offensive approach, and Murkrow certainly has the movepool to make that work too with access to two great STAB moves in Brave Bird and Sucker Punch, as well as access to a great coverage move in Heat Wave. However, most defensive Murkrow sets are virtually powerless against dangerous Steel-types such as Escavalier, Aggron, and Durant, while any offensive Murkrowvariants hasve an incredibly difficult time switching into almost anything. Murkrow certainly has some serious flaws, but as long as you focus on utilizing its unique abilities to let it shine, Murkrow willit can surprise quite a few opponents with its effectiveness.</p>

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Heat Wave
move 4: Hidden Power Grass
item: Life Orb
ability: Insomnia
nature: Naive
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With 85 / 85 offenses, Murkrow might not seem like a great mixed attacker with only 85 / 85 offenses, but its expansive movepool allows Murkrowit to fill the role quite well. One of tThe biggest keys to this set lie in Insomnia and Murkrow's base 91 Speed stat that, which lets it outpace every common sleep inducer in the tier. Brave Bird is Murkrow's primary STAB move; with 120 Base Power and a STAB boost, it hits with more than enough force to seriously dent and KO what it needs to. Sucker Punch is a nice secondary STAB move that allows Murkrow to derail the plans of opposing revenge killers while also hitting faster Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Rotom and Sigilyph really hard. Heat Wave provides Murkrow with much-needed coverage for Murkrow and allows it to hammer the likes of Escavalier, Ferroseed, and most Steel-types in general. Hidden Power Grass fills in the last slot to handle the likes of Rhydon, Alomomola, and Quagsire.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Speed is maximized as Murkrow sits just above one of the more important Speed tierbenchmarks in RU;: the positive nature base 90 Speed crowd, which includes Lilligant and Moltres. 16 Special Attack EVs are needed to ensure that Alomomola is 2HKOed by Hidden Power Grass after Stealth Rock and a layer of Spikes. The rest imaining EVs are thrown into Attack to juice up the power of Murkrow's STAB moves. There are some alternate moives forto Hidden Power Grass if you have the targets of the move covered on your team. Hidden Power Ground is a noteworthy option, if only to deal with Aggron before it KOes Murkrow or a teammate attempting to cover for it. Prankster in conjunction with Thunder Wave or Tailwind can be very useful should Murkrow not be of much use any more. A quick Thunder Wave can save your team from a game-ending sweep whilereas Tailwind can let a slower teammate such as Gallade, Samurott, or Medicham easily clean up the opposing team with a temporary +2 boost to theirits Speed. If Hidden Power Grass is replaced by any of these moves, you should simply maximize Attack and leave 4 EVs in Special Attack. Dark Pulse is an alternative STAB option that makes Murkrow less vulnerable to burns and also gives it an easier time with Rotom. Finally, Expert Belt is an option as Murkrow gains nice super effective coverage in RU, and the lack of Life Orb recoil can sometimes keep Murkrowit around for an extra turn or two when it's forced to use Brave Bird a lot.</p>

<p>Stealth Rock support is necessary to secure the OHKO on Moltres with Brave Bird and Escavalier with Heat Wave. Uxie is a great option for this as it can use its Yawn +and U-turn combination to give Murkrow easy opportunities to switch in. Murkrow has very good coverage against common defensive cores, so teammates that can sweep opposing teams that have had their defensive core weakened are good options. Emboar and Moltres can flourish when opposing Water- and Rock-types have been weakened. Physical Water-types such as Feraligatr, Samurott, and Crawdaunt have an easier time once bulky Grass-types have been weakened or outright KOed. Swellow and Choice Scarf Braviary are fast Flying-types that can do serious damage to teams that have hadafter their Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon are weakened from trying to fend off Murkrow. Finally, it would be a good idea to use Spikes support when running Hidden Power Grass to ensure the 2HKO on Alomomola is 2and the OHKOed and that on Quagsire is OHKOed. Faster Spikes users such as Scolipede, Smeargle, and Omastar are typically the way to go as Murkrow should be used on offensive-minded teams.</p>

[SET]
name: Stallbreaker
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Roost
move 3: Toxic / Thunder Wave
move 4: Foul Play / FeatherDance
item: Eviolite
ability: Prankster
nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpDef

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Murkrow has relatively low defensive stats, but thanks to Prankster and its ability to hold Eviolite and a great ability, in Prankster, Murkrow can pull off a stallbreaker set. It must be stressed that Murkrow's defenses are above- average at best, even with Eviolite, so it should not be counted on to straight-up wall threats. Taunt is amazing on anything Pokemon with Prankster, and Murkrow is no different. Thanks to the priority boost, Murkrow can easily Taunt virtually any Pokemon to disrupt and annoy it. This cuts off the recovery and supporting methods of defensive Pokemon while alsond keepings offensive Pokemon from setting up all overn Murkrow. Roost gives Murkrow reliable recovery and temporarily removes Murkrow's weaknesses to Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-type moves. The next slot allows Murkrow to cripple certain Pokemon. Toxic in conjunction with Taunt can quickly wear down opposing defensive walls as they slowly lose health with no way to use their recovery moves. Alternatively, Thunder Wave can cripple opposing sweepers with, and Taunt can keeping them from settrying to setup. The last move deals with physical attackers. Foul Play is generally preferred as Murkrow can hit most of the tier for decent damage with it as needed. However, FeatherDance is an option to cripple theut an opponent's Attack stat toand allow Murkrow or a teammate to more easily take hits from it.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread maximizes Murkrow's physical bulk while roundeducing the downamage it takes from Stealth Rock damage. If you choose to run FeatherDance over Foul Play, it is better to run a Calm nature and invest fully in Special Defense. Murkrow can run a couple of other moves in the last slot. Brave Bird can handle Amoonguss, Roselia, and Clefable more reliably, but be sure to run an Impish nature when using Brave Bird so as to not gimp its power. Substitute can block attacks from weaker defensive Pokemon, but thenleaves Murkrow becomes total Taunt bait. Finally, Hidden Power Ground can be used to do something to Steel- and Poison-types, as Murkrow is generally powerless against them otherwise.</p>

<p>Murkrow has a difficult time dealing with most Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon., so Steelix is a great option for thispartner as it can handle many of these Pokemon that Murkrow can't do much to. It can also provide phazing and Stealth Rock support for Murkow. Slowking can handle both physically and specially based attacks, and is perfectly capable of running the status move Murkrow elects not to run. Spikes and Toxic Spikes are great forms of support.Entry hazard support is excellent, as Spikes punishes the switches that Murkrow can cause with its antics, while the use of Toxic Spikes can free up a moveslot for Murkrow to use Brave Bird or Hidden Power Ground more easily. Qwilfish and Roselia can ustilize both types of Spikes and can check various threats that Murkrow can't handle. Qwilfish is able to take on Escavalier and Durant reliably, while Roselia can deal with Rotom-C and any Manectric lacking Flamethrower. Cleric support can be worthwhile as well since many defensive Pokemon can throw out Scald or Sludge Bomb with little risk. Clefable and Miltank can reliably run Heal Bell and can provide some other forms of support ,with Wish and Stealth Rock, respectively. Thanks to Murkrow's ability to stall out and weaken many defensive Pokemon, offensive Pokemon can also benefit from Murkrow's support. Psychic-types that use Calm Mind, such as Uxie, Sigilyph, and Mesprit, enjoy Murkrow's ability to reliably wear down specially defensive Spiritomb reliably. If Murkrow can weaken Alomomola and Quagsire enough, strong physical attackers such as Tauros can lay waste to the remains of a team.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Murkrow has a surprisingly wide movepool, so there are certainly some opthiongs that can be considered. Murkrow can use a combination of Thunder Wave and Confuse Ray to make an annoying parafusion set, but it is not consistent parafusion set. Foul Play and Swagger is another combination that can be used as Murkrow has access toin tandem with Prankster. However, thissuch as set is largely outclassed by Liepard. Murkrow's only boosting move is Calm Mind, but it's much too frail to try andto sweep. Haze is a neat support option to put a fast stop to most sweepers, but Thunder Wave will usually suffice for this. Murkrow can utilize Perish Song and Mean Look together, but this takes two turns just to set up and Gothorita can just enter the battlefield and trap what it wants without taking up any moveslots or extra turns. Murkrow can use Rain Dance or Sunny Day with the appropriate weather item, but Uxie, Volbeat, and Whimsicott are much better weather setters. Uxie and Whimsicott have access to Memento and U-turn to bring in weather sweepers safely, while Volbeat has Prankster Encore to force defensive Pokemon into useless moves forto allow weather sweepers to come in. Night Shade can be used for consistent damage, but Foul Play is usually good enough. Mirror Move, Torment, and Whirlwind are extremely situational moves that Murkrow has access to, but they are generally outclassed by the other moves Murkrow has access to.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Murkrow isn't the easiest thing to counter as its sets play extremely differently from each other, but Aggron is one of the safest responses of allto it. Outside of the rare Hidden Power Ground, Aggron can come in on virtually anything els move Murkrow commonly uses and simply try and nuke something with itsa powerful Head Smash. HIn general, hard-hitting attackers that can either outspeed Murkrow or tank a hit will fare well again generalst it. Druddigon, Occa Berry Escavalier, and Tauros don't fear a lot and can use their powerful STAB moves to overwhelm either set. Magneton 4x resists Brave Bird, resists Sucker Punch, and can stomach a Heat Wave, and can retaliate with a powerful STAB Thunderbolt or Volt Switch. It's also immune to Toxic from the stallbreaker set. Alomomola only fears Toxic or a possiblend Hidden Power Grass from the mixed attacker set, and can scout the set with Protect and switch out to a more favorable response if need be. Aerodactyl can come in on Brave Bird and use Roost on the forced Sucker Punch turn, but it must be wary of the rare Thunder Wave crippling it. Regirock isn't common, but it has great mixed defenses to take on the mixed attacker set and it has Clear Body to deal with the stallbreaker set if Murkrow tries to getbe cute with FeatherDance. Piloswine is even rarer than Regirock, but it destroys Murkrow thanks to Thick Fat negating its weakness to Heat Wave and its Eviolite-boosted defenses.</p>

<p>The stallbreaker set is crippled by any Trick user, as losing its Eviolite means disaster. Most Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon can beat the stallbreaker set as well, but note that more defensive ones such as Steelix and Ferroseed can be effectively stalled out thanks to Gyro Ball's low PP. The mixed attacker set can be revenge killed by virtually anything that can survive or navigate around Sucker Punch. Durant, Sceptile, Manectric, Choice Scarf Emboar, and Choice Scarf Rotom-C can successfully handle Sucker Punch. However, none of them can switch in reliably and only Rotom-C can reliably take on the stallbreaker set. Status conditions, especially burns, can cripple either set and turns the mixed attacker into a liability if it doesn't userun Dark Pulse. However, but Prankster Taunt from the stallbreaker set can make this approach a bit more challenging than it might seem at first.</p>

GP 2/2

 

[blitzlefan]

EonX- DONE! :)

 

[EonX]

Thanks blitzle. This is done.

 

[Oglemi]

uploaded