Overview
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Possessing average stats aside from a decent base 124 Attack along with less that favorable defensive typing, one must wonder why even bother using Pangoro? The answer lies in it's exclusive move, Parting Shot. Parting Shot allows Pangoro to support it's teammates by crippling offensive Pokemon while bringing in a teammate on the same turn allowing that Pokemon to setup and sweep. Pangoro also boasts decent dual-STAB coverage in Dark- and Fighting-types that hit most of the metagame for neutral damage allowing it to pose an offensive threat when needed.
Choice Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Parting Shot
move 2: Storm Throw / Sky Uppercut
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Stone Edge / Poison Jab
ability: Scrappy / Iron Fist
item: Choice Scarf
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
========
Parting Shot lowers the target's Attack and Special Attack by one stage while also switching Pangoro out allowing a teammate to come in, setup, and sweep the opposing team. Storm Throw is a 100% accurate STAB move dealing decent damage to foes who don't resist it or are dedicated physical walls. Sky Uppercut is a more powerful STAB attack when coupled with Iron Fist but the imperfect accuracy along with the inability to hit Ghost-types may be unappealing. Crunch disposes the Psychic-types (and Ghost-types if using Iron Fist) that resist or are immune to the Fighting-type attacks such as the Lati-twins, Gengar, and Espeon to name a few. Poison Jab can be used to hit Fairy-types that resist Pangoro's dual STAB attacks for decent damage while Stone Edge allows Pangoro to eliminate Mega Charizard Y.
Set Details
========
Max Speed with a Jolly Nature is crucial to outspeed threats such as the Lati-twins, Gengar, and Thundurus to name a few. 252 EVs in Attack allow Pangoro to hit as hard as it can while maintaining the jump on those crucial threats. The remaining EVs are placed into Defense giving Pangoro a small buffer against priority attacks which are almost always physical.
Usage Tips
========
Pangoro should primarily be used for it's unique gift, Parting Shot. Pangoro should be brought in on a resisted hit such as Gengar's Shadow Ball, Terrakion's Stone Edge or even attacks it's immune to such as Psychic from Espeon and use Parting Shot on the former two, while using it's coverage move on Pokemon such as Espeon as Magic Bounce blocks the effects of Parting Shot. Pangoro should attack if the opposing team cannot take Pangoro's STAB attacks or if eliminating a crucial threat such as Latios or Gengar is crucial to the success of the team.
Team Options
========
Pairing Pangoro with setup sweepers who can benefit from Parting Shot's gift such as Mega-Lucario or Aegislash is crucial as they can sweep the opposing team and also smash through opposing Fairy-types that plague Pangoro. Aegislash works well with Pangoro as they cover each other's weaknesses well as well as providing support to each other. Pangoro also works well with VoltTurners utilizing Parting Shot in a similar fashion as U-turn and Volt Switch. Rotom-W and Landorus-T work particularly well with the former checking Talonflame, one of Pangoro's biggest threats, while the latter has Intimidate and Stealth Rocks to rack up entry hazard damage. Pokemon who can setup entry hazards are great teammates in general as Parting Shot forces a lot of switches.
Other Options
========
Pangoro can utilize Mold Breaker along with Earthquake to hit Rotom-W harder although it still only manages to 2HKO, something Sky Uppercut and Storm Throw achieve with Stealth Rocks on the field. The loss of a coverage option is also something that Pangoro would miss. Pangoro can also utilize a Mono attacking RestTalk set with Bulk Up + Circle Throw along with Scrappy but the wide distribution of Fairy-type attacks limits the effectiveness of this set. Choice Band can be used with it's decent base 124 Attack stat however, it's underwhelming speed and typing leaves it outclassed by other wallbreakers such as Terrakion.
Checks and Counters
========
**Fairies**: Fairy-types such as Togekiss, Azumarill, Sylveon, and Clefable resist Pangoro's dual STAB attacks while smashing Pangoro with their Fairy-type move of choice. They take a decent amount of damage from Poison Jab however.
**Fighting-types**: Faster Fighting-types such as Mega-Lucario, Scarf Terrakion, and Scarf Keldeo can all outspeed Pangoro and smash it with their Fighting-type move of choice. Mega-Lucario must beware however that as it transforms, it will still use regular Lucario's speed instead of Mega-Lucario's. Bulky Fighting-types such as Conkeldurr can take any attack with ease and proceed to pummel Pangoro with Drain Punch.
**Flying-types**: Flying-types such as Mega-Pinsir, Tornadus, and Talonflame can take it's Dual STAB attacks and KO with their Flying-type moves, however the former two must beware of Stone Edge as Choice Scarf Pangoro outspeeds both.
**Status**: Paralysis and burn are crippling to Pangoro. Fast users such as Scarf Rotom-W or priority users such as Sableye, Mega Banette, Thundurus, and Klefki effectively cripple Pangoro for the duration of the match.
**Physical Walls**: Walls such as Hippowdon and Skarmory can take anything Pangoro throws at them and proceed to setup hazards or use Brave Bird in Skarmory's case.
**Defiant Users**: Thundurus and Bisharp can come in on a predicted Parting Shot and gain a free +3 Attack boost allowing them to sweep but must beware of Stone Edge and Storm Throw / Sky Uppercut, respectively.
**Faster Pokemon**: Pokemon who outspeed Pangoro such as Alakazam can KO Pangoro with Dazzling Gleam or Focus Blast.
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Possessing average stats aside from a decent base 124 Attack along with less that favorable defensive typing, one must wonder why even bother using Pangoro? The answer lies in it's exclusive move, Parting Shot. Parting Shot allows Pangoro to support it's teammates by crippling offensive Pokemon while bringing in a teammate on the same turn allowing that Pokemon to setup and sweep. Pangoro also boasts decent dual-STAB coverage in Dark- and Fighting-types that hit most of the metagame for neutral damage allowing it to pose an offensive threat when needed.
Choice Scarf
########
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Parting Shot
move 2: Storm Throw / Sky Uppercut
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Stone Edge / Poison Jab
ability: Scrappy / Iron Fist
item: Choice Scarf
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
========
Parting Shot lowers the target's Attack and Special Attack by one stage while also switching Pangoro out allowing a teammate to come in, setup, and sweep the opposing team. Storm Throw is a 100% accurate STAB move dealing decent damage to foes who don't resist it or are dedicated physical walls. Sky Uppercut is a more powerful STAB attack when coupled with Iron Fist but the imperfect accuracy along with the inability to hit Ghost-types may be unappealing. Crunch disposes the Psychic-types (and Ghost-types if using Iron Fist) that resist or are immune to the Fighting-type attacks such as the Lati-twins, Gengar, and Espeon to name a few. Poison Jab can be used to hit Fairy-types that resist Pangoro's dual STAB attacks for decent damage while Stone Edge allows Pangoro to eliminate Mega Charizard Y.
Set Details
========
Max Speed with a Jolly Nature is crucial to outspeed threats such as the Lati-twins, Gengar, and Thundurus to name a few. 252 EVs in Attack allow Pangoro to hit as hard as it can while maintaining the jump on those crucial threats. The remaining EVs are placed into Defense giving Pangoro a small buffer against priority attacks which are almost always physical.
Usage Tips
========
Pangoro should primarily be used for it's unique gift, Parting Shot. Pangoro should be brought in on a resisted hit such as Gengar's Shadow Ball, Terrakion's Stone Edge or even attacks it's immune to such as Psychic from Espeon and use Parting Shot on the former two, while using it's coverage move on Pokemon such as Espeon as Magic Bounce blocks the effects of Parting Shot. Pangoro should attack if the opposing team cannot take Pangoro's STAB attacks or if eliminating a crucial threat such as Latios or Gengar is crucial to the success of the team.
Team Options
========
Pairing Pangoro with setup sweepers who can benefit from Parting Shot's gift such as Mega-Lucario or Aegislash is crucial as they can sweep the opposing team and also smash through opposing Fairy-types that plague Pangoro. Aegislash works well with Pangoro as they cover each other's weaknesses well as well as providing support to each other. Pangoro also works well with VoltTurners utilizing Parting Shot in a similar fashion as U-turn and Volt Switch. Rotom-W and Landorus-T work particularly well with the former checking Talonflame, one of Pangoro's biggest threats, while the latter has Intimidate and Stealth Rocks to rack up entry hazard damage. Pokemon who can setup entry hazards are great teammates in general as Parting Shot forces a lot of switches.
Other Options
========
Pangoro can utilize Mold Breaker along with Earthquake to hit Rotom-W harder although it still only manages to 2HKO, something Sky Uppercut and Storm Throw achieve with Stealth Rocks on the field. The loss of a coverage option is also something that Pangoro would miss. Pangoro can also utilize a Mono attacking RestTalk set with Bulk Up + Circle Throw along with Scrappy but the wide distribution of Fairy-type attacks limits the effectiveness of this set. Choice Band can be used with it's decent base 124 Attack stat however, it's underwhelming speed and typing leaves it outclassed by other wallbreakers such as Terrakion.
Checks and Counters
========
**Fairies**: Fairy-types such as Togekiss, Azumarill, Sylveon, and Clefable resist Pangoro's dual STAB attacks while smashing Pangoro with their Fairy-type move of choice. They take a decent amount of damage from Poison Jab however.
**Fighting-types**: Faster Fighting-types such as Mega-Lucario, Scarf Terrakion, and Scarf Keldeo can all outspeed Pangoro and smash it with their Fighting-type move of choice. Mega-Lucario must beware however that as it transforms, it will still use regular Lucario's speed instead of Mega-Lucario's. Bulky Fighting-types such as Conkeldurr can take any attack with ease and proceed to pummel Pangoro with Drain Punch.
**Flying-types**: Flying-types such as Mega-Pinsir, Tornadus, and Talonflame can take it's Dual STAB attacks and KO with their Flying-type moves, however the former two must beware of Stone Edge as Choice Scarf Pangoro outspeeds both.
**Status**: Paralysis and burn are crippling to Pangoro. Fast users such as Scarf Rotom-W or priority users such as Sableye, Mega Banette, Thundurus, and Klefki effectively cripple Pangoro for the duration of the match.
**Physical Walls**: Walls such as Hippowdon and Skarmory can take anything Pangoro throws at them and proceed to setup hazards or use Brave Bird in Skarmory's case.
**Defiant Users**: Thundurus and Bisharp can come in on a predicted Parting Shot and gain a free +3 Attack boost allowing them to sweep but must beware of Stone Edge and Storm Throw / Sky Uppercut, respectively.
**Faster Pokemon**: Pokemon who outspeed Pangoro such as Alakazam can KO Pangoro with Dazzling Gleam or Focus Blast.
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