[Overview]
<p>Murkrow has always been a bit of a big deal. It is the most versatile Pokemon in the tier, being able to run everything from wallbreaker to support sets. It backs this versatility up with a bite, having some of the best offensive stats in the metagame. It reaches the coveted 19 Speed tier allowing it to at worst tie with almost every unboosted Pokemon. As if this weren't enough, it also gets Prankster, considered one of the most useful abilities, and has access to Insomnia and Super Luck, which are good in their own right.*
Its typing is another boon, as Flying is a powerful STAB that wreaks havoc in a metagame filled with Fighting
-types, although it does work as a double edged sword; as it gives Murkrow a debilitating weakness to Rock, making switching with Stealth Rock
s present a costly endeavor. Coupled with Murkrow's mediocre defensive stats, a poorly played Murkrow can end up dead fast. </p>
Nothing much in that opening (Thanks to Mikel). Just going to point out now, as you make this mistake often in this analysis, it's Stealth Rock, not Rocks.
[SET]
Nname: Offensive SubRoost
Mmove 1: Substitute
Mmove 2: Roost
Mmove 3: Brave Bird
Mmove 4: Sucker Punch
Iitem: Eviolite
Aability: Prankster
Nnature: Jolly
EVevs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 20 Def / 20 SpD / 188 Spe
Make sure you read the C&C Analysis Formatting Guide= http://www.smogon.com/forums/announcement.php?f=148&a=181 and follow the instructions as such. The letters are lower case.
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>The flagship set of Murkrow was once described as the most skill intensive set in the tier.
Unfortunately, even with a bit of investment and an Eviolite, Murkrow's defenses barely qualify as cardboard. This can make switching into attacks difficult and consequential if done at a bad time. It lacks the coverage of other sets, but makes up for it with increased longevity, as Roost and Substitute help alleviate two things that can cripple Murkrow: residual damage and status. Brave Bird is the primary offensive move on the set
, as its ridiculous base power coupled with a full investment in Attack gives it a lot of killing potential. With the support of Sucker Punch, a powerful priority move that can be used to either revenge kill some weakened sweepers, keep the set from being outsped by the few threats that can, or just hammer the opponent hard, the set can clean up a weakened enemy team very easily. Sucker Punch also has
awesomegreat synergy with Substitute. The combination of the two pressures your opponent by punishing their
moveaction regardless of what they cho
ose to do. Roost is simple in effect, and is used
mostly to regain HP lost from Brave Bird recoil, weather effects, or entry hazards. It can also be used in a clutch situation to remove its
fFlying typing
so as to avoid
SE hits, due to the Prankster-gsuper effective
n priority. Unfortunately, even with a bit of investment and an Evioli hits, due to Prankste
, Murkr
ow's
defenses barely qualify as cardboard. This can make switching into attacks difficult and consequential if done at a bad timepriority. </p>
Nothing truly much here; also, remember, when listing a type, aka Flying-type, make sure the hyphen is there. You make that mistake often in here as well, along with small mistakes along those lines. To avoid these mistakes, make sure you read the Smogon Spelling and Grammar Standards, http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102407 to learn the basics. Also, I moved the last sentence to the top, as that is more of an intro to the section, not an ending.
[A
dditional CommentsDDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV's on the set give it 19 Speed and 18 Attack, the combination of which is superb in Little Cup. Additionally, they provide an extra point to each defensive stat before the Eviolite boost. Jolly is the preferred nature because while the 18 speed is still very fast, the extra point in Attack doesn't add anything to the damage rolls against most important threats, whereas Jolly provides the ability to
Speed tie with other Murkrow and Misdreavus. Life Orb can be used over Eviolite for the added damage, but it is generally a bad idea due to the added recoil damage, which conflicts the intended longevity of the set.
</p>
I seperated the long paragraph in two, as the first half should always be listing the EV, ability, item, and nature options, and the 2nd half should have the partners/specific counters. It was too long to leave as one paragraph. Also, ADDTIONAL COMMENTS should be all upper case, from the Formatting Guide.
<p>Because this set mainly functions as a late
-game sweeper, it loves residual damage. Entry hazards and damage from hail can turn many 2HKOs into OHKOs. For this reason, good teammates for Murkrow include reliable
us
etters of Stealth Rock
s, such as Dwebble or Drilbur, and Snover due to its indefinite snowstorm. Additionally, the set, like most Murkrow sets, really enjoys
rRapid
sSpin support. The best spinners in the metagame are Staryu and Drilbur. Drilbur has the advantage of Mold Breaker, a powerful and accurate
stabSTAB, and the ability to absorb
the Electric-type attacks targeted at Murkrow. In contrast, Staryu is faster and can bait
in gGrass
-types to give Murkrow an opportunity to switch in. Other good partners for the set include things that can wear down the checks and counters that can switch into Murkrow's attacks. This list, though limited, includes many common Pokemon such as the majority of the
sSteel
-types in the metagame, Archen, and Chinchou. Drifloon is a good example of such a Pokemon, as it lures in these Pokemon and can hit them hard with Flying Gem boosted Acrobatics, or possibly remove one with a kamikaze kill via Destiny Bond.</p>*
Small mistakes, nothing much to elaborate.
[SET]
Nname: Mixkrow
Mmove 1: Brave Bird
Mmove 2: Heat Wave
Mmove 3: Sucker Punch
Mmove 4: H
idden P
ower Grass / Dark Pulse
Iitem: Life Orb
Aability: Insomnia
Nnature: Naive
EVevs: 240 Atk / 80 SpA / 188 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>When looking for a powerful wallbreaker, one should look no further than the monster that is Mixkrow. Unlike the SubRoost set, which has dedicated checks, few things can safely come in on Mixkrow
, as it 2HKOs the just about the entire metagame. Due to its extreme power and short life, Mixkrow is best used in short stints to blow holes in the opposing team’s defensive spine.
Life Orb is the item of choice to provide a substantial boost in damage without being locked into an attack. Brave Bird acts as an absurdly powerful STAB
, but Drill Peck could be used if its recoil doubling with Life Orb’s seems unsavory. Sucker Punch continues to act as a powerful STAB priority that gives Murkrow some extra flexibility without sacrificing power. Heat
w Wave is used to deal with pesky Steel-types that like to switch into Murkrow’s other sets such as Ferroseed, Bronzor, and Magnemite. The choice between running Hidden Power Grass or Dark Pulse lies chiefly in what your team needs. Hidden Power Grass is advantageous in giving the set extended coverage allowing it to get past opposing Chinchou. Dark Pulse can be used over Hidden Power Grass as a secondary, non-recoiling STAB
move if Chinchou is covered by the rest of your team. </p>*
The explanation of Items go in the ADDITONAL COMMENTS. Same for the optional move choices. I moved them down there. Also, moves should be spelled how they are made, not "Heatwave", "Heat Wave". Common mistake in here,
[A
dditionDDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Life Orb is the item of choice to provide a substantial
Comments]
<p>Bboost in damage without being locked into an attack. However, because of Life Orb and Brave Bird recoil, Mixkrow tends to kill itself
fastquickly. Its weakness to Stealth Rock
s and its susceptibility to both sand and hail do little to help. To alleviate these problems
, an Eviolite could be used over a Life Orb. Generally, this is not done because Life Orb provides the set with the raw power it needs for important 2HKOs
. Brave Bird is the perferred STAB, however, if Brave Bird's recoil is lackluster, Drill Peck can be used in its place. Rapid Spin support in the form of Staryu or Drilbur is also appreciated, as it deals with Mixkrow’s weakness to
sStealth
rRock
s. The EVs of the set are fairly simple. The Speed investment with a positive nature lets it hit a 19
sSpeed tier, while the heavy investment into Attack allows the set to maximize the power of its STABs. An alternate EV spread with Attack and Special Attack investment switched is possible, but is inferior since the current Special Attack investment nabs all the important 2HKOs against threats such as Magnemite, Bronzor, and Chinchou. Teammates for this set include anything that enjoys wallbreaker support. Scraggy
, a
ndlong with other set
-up sweepers, for example, appreciate not needing superfluous boosts to blow through bulky walls.</p>
[SET]
Nname: Choice Scarf
Mmove 1: Brave Bird
Mmove 2: Heat Wave
Mmove 3: Sucker Punch
Mmove 4: H
idden Power Grass / Dark Pulse
Iitem: Choice Scarf
Aability: Insomnia
Nnature: Naughty / Naive
EVevs: 240 Atk / 80 SpA / 188 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Like most things with a Choice Scarf, Murkrow’s Choice Scarf set does best as a revenge killer. With it, Murkrow hits an astronomic Speed stat of 27; allowing it to outspeed many set up sweepers, such as Scraggy and every smasher not named Dwebble, after their first boost. The move set provides the best possible array of coverage and power against the most prevalent threats in the metagame. Brave Bird and Sucker Punch return performing the same roles they have on previous sets, while Heatwave and Hidden Power round out the sets type coverage. The choice of nature is largely up to preference. Naive allows for Speed ties with other scarfed Pokemon in Murkrow’s Speed tier. However, due to how specific a niche the +1 Speed provides, the extra power from Naughty is often the preferred choice. Choosing which defense to drop is also fairly arbitrary. Since the majority of troublesome priority moves are physical, moving the penalty onto Special Defense is often preferred. The set is just as frail as the Mixkrow set, with Life Orb recoil being replaced with an amplified weakness to Stealth Rocks due to the natural switching Choice sets do, and should be played cautiously; switching into attacks only when absolutely safe or necessary. </p>
<p>Like most things with a Choice Scarf, Murkrow’s Choice Scarf set functions best as a revenge killer. With it, Murkrow hits an astronomic Speed stat of 27; allowing it to outspeed many set-up sweepers, such as Scraggy, and every smasher not named Dwebble, after their first boost. However, the set is just as frail as the Mixkrow set, with Life Orb recoil being replaced with an amplified weakness to Stealth Rock due to the natural switching Choice sets do, and should be played cautiously; switching into attacks only when absolutely safe or necessary.</p>
<p>The moveset provides the best possible array of coverage and power against the most prevalent threats in the metagame. Brave Bird and Sucker Punch perform the same roles they have on previous sets, while Heat Wave and Hidden Power Grass round out the sets type coverage. </p>
This is the paragraph I accidentally took all out, sorry if you can't see the specific mistakes. :( I made the paragraph in two, took out some fluff, changed some wordings, nothing too big. Like I mentioned before, natures, EVs, and items are in ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. I took one sentence out about that, and moved it there.
[ADDITIONAL C
omments]
<p>OMMENTS
]
<p> The choice of nature is largely up to preference. Naive allows for Speed ties with other scarfed Pokemon in Murkrow’s Speed tier. However, due to how specific a niche the +1 Speed provides, the extra power from Naughty is often the preferred choice. Choosing which defense to drop is also fairly arbitrary. Since the majority of troublesome priority moves are physical, moving the penalty onto Special Defense is often preferred. Dark Pulse is an option over Sucker Punch as being Choice locked into a Sucker Punch drains your momentum. Drill Peck can be ran over Heat
w Wave
, as it still answers Snover and allows you to run a secondary, non-recoiling
stab;STAB, however
, this will cause the set to be
basically completely walled by all the
sSteel
-types in the game,
and especially Magnemite. The EVs on the set work to maximize the offensive presence of Murkrow with full investment into Speed and Attack
, and just enough in Special Attack to allow for important OHKOs. A slower EV spread that looks like 240 Atk/ 160 SpA /108 Spe c
anould be
runused, but the extra investment in Special Attack doesn’t do
all that much.
</p>
<p>Thanks to its huge Speed stat with a scarf, Murkrow can work as a late game
cleansweeper
, however
, the most effective use of the set is as a revenge killer. As such, the set provides support more than it needs support; acting as a safety net against most sweepers in the metagame. That is not to say that it does not appreciate Rapid Spin and Stealth Rock support to minimize the damage it takes from switching while simultaneously maximizing its damage output. Drilbur and Anorith get a special mention for this as they have access to, and can often afford to, run both Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin.</p>
Mostly fluff, some words/sentences didn't need to be in there. Seperated the paragraph in two, as it was extremely long for one paragraph.
[SET]
Nname: Parafusion
Mmove 1: Thunder Wave
Mmove 2: Confuse Ray
Mmove 3: Roost
Mmove 4: Brave Bird / Drill Peck
Iitem: Eviolite
Aability: Prankster
Nnature: Careful
EVevs: 196 HP / 100 Def / 184 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>For those who thought that Paraflinch J
airachi was the pinnacle of annoying, or that the Zubats in every cave were the epitome of frustration: Murkrow decided to prove you wrong. The set, much as its name implies, intends to abuse the use of paralysis and confusion to prevent the opposing Pokemon from doing anything 62.5% of the time. The move set is pretty straight forward with this goal in mind. Confuse Ray confuses
the opponent,
paired with Thunder Wave
to paralyze
s them, and Roost elongates Murkrow’s life. Brave Bird is the STAB attack of choice because of its
crazyhigh base damage and decent coverage without a secondary attack to back it up. Murkrow’s access to Prankster makes the set all the more deadly
, as it essentially guarantees it to get off a paralysis.</p>
[A
dditional CommentsDDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This set is notable for how easy
to use it isit is to use. Murkrow comes in on something that can’t readily hurt it and begins spamming status moves,
using Roost
ing when the opportunity arises. Prankster provides a huge cushion for the set, as it provides priority to Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray, and Roost
–, essentially meaning that if the opponent isn’t Ground-type, its hard
-pressed not to be confused and paralyzed within the next two turns. The EVs provided maximize Murkrow’s bulk
to, ensur
eing that this annoyer will be around for as long as possible. An investment into Attack or Speed may seem like a good move, but is largely unnecessary. The idea behind the set is to spread paralysis as deep into a team as possible. With an Eviolite and the given investments, Murkrow can comfortably survive all non-boosted priority attacks in the game, which are the only things Prankster doesn’t outspeed anyway, and a STAB Brave Bird still does a
bsurdcceptable damage coming off of an uninvested Attack stat. An alternate move set with Confuse Ray
swapped with Swagger and Brave Bird swapped
forwith Swagger and Foul Play
, respectively, is possible, but has a much higher risk-reward ratio than is necessary. Foul Play can hit hard using an opponent’s +2 Attack stat, but the added risk of accidently causing your team to be swept is often enough to outweigh this benefit. Additionally, Dark is a significantly worse type than Flying to run as a single attack.
</p>
<p>Due to how often confusion can cause a switch, the set appreciates hazards on the opposing side, making spikers good teammates. Dwebble, who can run both Stealth Rock
s and Spikes simultaneously, makes for a good example. Other good partners include anyone who really appreciates paralysis support such as Pawniard and other slow sweepers. Additionally the set lacks a reliable answer to
the bulkier Ground-types and other Pokemon that are immune to Thunder Wave, such as Drilbur, Hippopotas, and Chinchou
–, so a Grass-type such as Snover, Lileep, or Ferroseed can make for a good partner.</p>
Overall, just some bad wording in there, spelling Jirachi wrong, and missing commas. Nothing too big, just lots of small mistakes.
[O
THER OPTIONSther Options]
<p>On any set that runs Insomnia, Super Luck can be used instead. It is a less consistent choice, but the raised critical hit rate can be a safety net in a bad situation. The majority of the sleep inducers in the metagame are
also
ften Grass-types with access to Spore
like, such as Shroomish and Foongus, so if you feel like your team does not need a safe and reliable switch
-in to these sleep moves, Super Luck could be a strong option to consider. Murkrow also has a lot of flexibility thanks to Prankster
, and expansive offensive and support move pools. Murkrow has access to both Rain Dance and Sunny Day allowing it to perform priority weather shifts. It also
has access
es to Taunt, which can guarantee that no hazards or Will-O-Wisps will cripple it.
Additionally, itMurkrow has access to Mean Look and Perish Song
as well. While the two are often seen in a P
aerish Trap combo, Mean Look can also be used on its own as a simple trap that lets you gain momentum in a fight. Murkrow can easily run a P
aerish Trap set
;, however, Murkrow’s offensive sets can KO an opponent in less than
3three turns, while the more support oriented sets provide more tangible benefits to the team.</p>
Nothing big here, just some subpar wording, "Other Options" should be lower cased, btw.
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Murkrow is hailed as one of the most diverse Pokemon currently allowed in the Little Cup metagame. This does not mean that it is without
answcounters. Bronzor can wall nearly every set that lacks Heat
w Wave, but cannot do much in retaliation
short of status itother than crippling Murkrow with Hypnosis or Toxic. Magnemite also walls non-Heat
w Wave sets
, and has access to STAB Electric
-type attacks to clip Murkrow’s wings. Chinchou and Tirtouga get special mentions for being able to handle any set that lacks Hidden Power Grass very well, with the former also being immune to the paralysis portion of the Parafusion set. A Defensive Archen can take hits from the offensive sets fairly well and punch back with powerful, super effective Rock-type attacks. Mixkrow
, despite having an answer to most common Murkrow checks, dies to most things that can outspeed it
and, survive a Sucker Punch
, and hit back super effectively. Additionally, priority attacks in the form of Ice Shard or Mach Punch
, which bypass Murkrow’s amazing
sSpeed
, can make short work of a non-Eviolite Murkrow whether it
sti
ll has i
ts Flyin
g t
he airyping, or
lost it to Roost
ing. A good example of such a Pokemon is Shellder, whose innately high Defense lets it tank an attack
, and abuse
Skill Linked Rock Blast
thanks
to Skill Link for maximum damage
. Additionally, Murkrow is crippled by status. Toxic
poisoning prevents the Offensive SubRoost and the Parafusion sets from being able to stick around for as long as they want, while burns and paralysis take
s away
from Murkrow’s absurd offensive presence, with the former also putting a clock on its HP bar
, and the latter preventing its movement 25% of the time.</p>
This section was just plain messy, had to fix some wordings, nothing too important, just be careful of how you word things, and remember your commas.