Pokémon Pangoro

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

Pangoro

Type: Fighting / Dark
Abilities: Iron Fist / Mold Breaker / Scrappy
Base Stats: 95 / 124 / 78 / 69 / 71 / 58​

Notable Moves:
Hammer Arm
Crunch
Bulk Up
Superpower
Drain Punch
Knock Off
Fire Punch
Ice Punch
Thunder Punch
Gunk Shot
Stone Edge
Earthquake
Circle Throw
Taunt
Parting Shot

Pre-ORAS

General Analysis:

Pangoro is another new Pokemon XY brought; and it comes with the ever great Fighting / Dark typing, after Scrafty. Pangoro, stat wise, isn't too bad. It's got loads of Attack, so it hits quite hard, and has decent bulk as well. It is rather slow, but 70 Speed isn't completely terrible either; it does outspeed some walls at the very least! 80 Special Attack I guess is rather mediocre but not unusable. It has two abilities in Iron Fist and Mold Breaker, and both are pretty decent abilities overall. Overall, Pangoro's looking like a Pokemon made to take some hits and hit back hard.

Potential Sets:

Pangoro @ Choice Band
Trait: Iron Fist or Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Hammer Arm
- Crunch
- Parting Shot / Stone Edge / Earthquake
- Poison Jab

With such a high Attack stat, it's only natural to consider CB for a set. With a CB intact, Pangoro hits quite hard, and Dark / Fighting has pretty decent coverage except on fairies; Hammer Arm and Crunch are the two STAB moves, and although they're not Close Combat or anything, they're still packing decent power. Parting Shot is kind of funny since it's a combination of U-turn and Memento to an extent; weaken them and switch. Stone Edge is there to deal with Flying-types, of course, and since Pangoro is apparently walled by Fairies like Sylveon, Poison Jab is an ideal move to smack them on the switch-in. Earthquake could go in there if Toxicroak could be a problem, although I'm not sure if that will be a relevant threat anymore with rain being nerfed. Poison in general has pretty bad coverage, but is worth it. Basically, I think CB will the way to go with Pangoro, though that could change as more is found out about it.

Pangoro @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Substitute / Crunch
- Bulk Up
- Hammer Arm
- Crunch / Poison Jab

Pangoro's got decent bulk, and it has Bulk Up as well, so it could go out of the immediate power route and go the bulky boosting route, boosting with Bulk Up multiple times. Although there's still Scrafty around with the great Shed Skin and Drain Punch, Pangoro's got a lot more power and somewhat better Speed (not sure if this counts as an advantage though lol). It can run Sub to complement Bulk Up, or it could possibly just run BU+3 Attacks to hit decently hard and take hits. Hammer Arm+Crunch still has decent coverage, and Poison Jab gets the edge on Gardevoir and Sylveon. Overall, Pangoro could make a potentially decent user of Bulk Up.

Checks and Counters:

There aren't an awful lot of counters, but checks are certainly out there. Fairies like Gardevoir and Sylveon could come in on most things not named Poison Jab and wreck it with Moon Blast. Both of the ones I mentioned (since they'll probably be the most relevant ones) are somewhat shaky though. Other Fighting- and Flying-types, particularly Hawlucha, could be a threat to it as well, since Hawlucha does resist both STABs, unfortunately. Other than that, I don't have much of an idea here, because the XY metagames have yet to exist!

Conclusion:

Pangoro overall brings something rather interesting to the table, and a somewhat different approach from Scrafty for a Fighting / Dark type overall. It looks rather interesing to see how it fares, so what do you think about this panda?

General Analysis:

Pangoro, a previously rather mediocre Pokemon in XY, has been improved substantially in ORAS by virtue of receiving a slew of new moves via the Move Tutors-it has received pretty much everything it ever needed to become a usable offensive Pokemon. This includes Drain Punch and Knock Off, two excellent STAB moves that Pangoro very much appreciates, giving Pangoro a means of recovery and a stronger STAB move that has the luxury of removing items, making Pangoro all the more threatening. Moreover, Pangoro has also received Gunk Shot and the elemental punches, which allows it to hit Fairy-types such as Azumarill and Clefable even harder than ever, and with Ice Punch, Pangoro finally has a way to hit threats such as Landorus-T and Gliscor hard. Of course, Pangoro can still run its unique signature move, Parting Shot, which is another boon, allowing Pangoro to weaken the opponent offensively while switching, giving a lot of free momentum. Pangoro also has the tools it needs to take on Magic Bounce users and Bisharp, which helps. However, Pangoro is still quite slow, which makes it very easy to revenge kill, and it suffers from three very common weaknesses and somewhat middling bulk. Regardless, Pangoro makes for an interesting niche Pokemon that brings a few nice things to the table, making it worth the slot for some teams.

Sets:

Pangoro @ Choice Band / Life Orb
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Superpower / Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot
- Parting Shot / Ice Punch

NEVER SAY NO TO PANDA!!! Pangoro comes back to ORAS, better than ever, with a new and improved movepool that makes a physical wallbreaker set even better than before. Scrappy is an excellent ability on Pangoro as of now, allowing it to use its Fighting STAB against the ever popular and broken Mega Sableye. Superpower is an extremely powerful STAB move that, coming off of Pangoro, will hit any non-resists extremely hard. Drain Punch, on the other hand, is somewhat weaker but still very good, and also heals Pangoro considerably, making it a good choice especially with a Life Orb. Knock Off serves as a powerful and reliable Dark STAB that complements Drain Punch or Superpower, hitting Pokemon such as Gengar hard, and also stripping opponents of items, making it a relatively spammable option. Gunk Shot allows Pangoro to break through Fairy-types such as Clefable, Azumarill, Togekiss, and Sylveon, which is always useful. Parting Shot is an interesting utility option that allows Pangoro to provide a lot of momentum for its team and make it easier for setup sweepers such as Talonflame, especially with a slow Parting Shot. Ice Punch, however, hits the ever popular Landorus-T very hard, which is always a useful asset.

Conclusion:

Well, to put it simply, Pangoro has gotten much better in ORAS, much like its friend Dragalge. It's still very niche, however, as it does face some competition from other Fighting-types such as Terrakion, but Pangoro does have its unique movepool at its disposal, which is definitely very interesting, and with its wallbreaking prowess, Pangoro has definitely carved out a niche for itself in the OU metagame, which is still a nice feat.

 

[pkmn-taicho321]

I like a Rest Talker set using Power Up Punch (assuming Iron Fist boosts)

Pangoro@Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
Evs: 252 Hp/ 252 Atk/ 4 Def
~Rest
~Sleep Talk
~Power Up Punch
~Payback

with 110/80/80 Pangoro is pretty bulky and has a better Atk than Scrafty and is faster.

 

[Pocket]

It's a shame that Hammer Arm is its only useful Fighting STAB. Pangoro wishes it learned Ice Punch for Landorus / Flying-types and make more use of Iron Fist. With Dark + Fighting + Ice it would hit most notable Fairy-types (Gardevoir, Mawile, Togekiss) at least neutrally with the exceptions of pure Fairy and Azumarill. It is weak to opposing Fighting-types and quad weak to Fairies; Fighting / Dark STAB is no longer a based typing that we used to know :[

CB is probably the best option to go, since STAB Crunch is a lot more spammable now that Steel doesn't resist it anymore. I still think Pangoro would struggle to compete with much of OU staples from BW2 and past gen, not to mention Mega Pokemon :0

EDIT: oh yea forgot about Parting Shot

 

[Ash Borer]

parting shot is unreal, and should definitely be on the CB set

Hammer arm / crunch / poison jab is rock solid. Yeah mawile gives you a hard time but parting shot is WAY too good. It's u-turn but lowers the opponents offensive stats instead of doing damage. It's perfect for a choice set, or any set..

 

[Typhlito]

its prob gonna face some good competition with conk as a bulky fighting type. It might find a niche with taunt tho since that is something conk lacks.

 

[Coogrr]

Right now all that pangoro seems to have over Conkeldurr is slightly better special defence and it's secondary typing. But without ice punch as coverage, which Conkeldurr gets and drain punch, which would greatly increase it's survivability. Unless it gets more coverage moves Conkeldurr will probably outclass it as a bulky fighting type.

 

[PK Gaming]

Coolest Pokemon ever, garbage typing, meh movepool.

According to Serebii it gets Scrappy... seems kind of unnecessary with that secondary Dark-stab, but at least you won't be caught with your pants down when a ghost-type switches in. Does Mold Breaker even do something of note? Haha...

Is Parting Shot really a signature move? That could be his sole niche maybe. A physical attacker that can use parting shot to give your teammates setup opportunity?

 

[pkmn-taicho321]

garbage typing

Scrafty makes it work. Though I don't know how Scrafty fairs in this weird new fairy metagame.

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

Idk, Dark / Fighting does have three pretty damn exploitable weaknesses.

Forgot about Parting Shot, lol. Will add that to the OP.

 

[Molk]

It should be noted that Pangoro learns Sky Uppercut by level up, which could be a pretty decent alternative to Hammer Arm if you want to use a decently strong Fighting-type STAB with no Speed lowering drawback (gets the iron fist boost too!). Might be worth some consideration.

Anyways, so far i've been saddended by the fact that Pangoro doesn't get any of Sucker Punch, Drain Punch, or Mach Punch in any way ;_; (all 3 of those moves would be absolutely perfect for it given those stats, but sadly none of them ended up passing down :/). Right now Parting Shot seems like Pangoro's best niche in the current metagame, and will probably be one of the main and best ways to utilize the panda, Pangoro has pretty decent bulk all around and it's not the fastest thing around, so i could see it switching in on threats that don't carry Flying, Fighting, or Fairy-type moves, taking another hit thanks to its bulk, (or forcing a switch which is even better) and letting off a slow parting shot to give its teammates a free set up opportunity while also maintaining switch advantage.

I'll be doing some pangoro breeding later to see if it gets any other interesting moves such as Pursuit, Hi Jump Kick Close Combat, and Ice Punch, if i find anything interesting i'll either edit this post or make a new one stating it, so keep an eye out!

EDIT: it gets neither pursuit nor ice punch

 

[TaBuu]

Parting Shot is definitely a very interesting variation of U-Turn. Seeing the bulk on Pangoro along with its resistance to Stealth Rock, Bulky Parting Shot Pangoro might be a pretty interesting offensive team supporer of sorts

 

[Ash Borer]

A lot of fairies are specially defensive and slow. Mega mawile, and klefki are the only ones that can stand up to pangoro's poison jab, klefki and megamawile arent exactly impressive on the physically defensive side, hammer arm will hurt. Other physically bulky fairies like granbull, togekiss, and azumarill are going to get hurt if poison jab hits them.

I think no speed Evs for pangoro is a poor choice. Florges is the fastest fairy outside mega gardevoir, mr mime and xerneas, is easily KO'd by poison jab, but at the same time has no truble switching into a crunch and KOing with moon blast. All of those mons will be running speed EVs for sure, however, florges is typically a special wall with lots of defensive EVs, so outspeeding min speed florges is worth the investment. Other fairies between 70 and 83 are klefki, gardevoir and togekiss. Out pacing min speed variants of those mons is important to hit with poison jab or parting shot. Pangoro should really be trying to outspeed these guys. Also, trying to outpace mons like sylveon, mega mawile, clefable who are slower but may have speed investment is important.

 

[Thorhammer]

Pangoro is definitely gonna have to use Parting Shot to work in the upper tiers. Choice Band and Bulk Up would be wasted with it, but a max Spe Choice Scarf set could be really cool.

 

[KnivesInAToaster]

I'll be honest, I'm disappointed there wasn't a set called Pandamonium.

Anyway, it seems like an interesting Pokemon, but it's a fair assumption to say that Fairies are going to make it's life a lot harder. I'd say it's going to be UU or maybe RU. Here's to being hopeful, though!

 

[Typhlito]

still think a taunt set could be viable on it to help keep wilowispers like rotom from ruining its fun while seting up in their face. Maybe this can work.

116 hp/252 atk/ 136 spe
adamant (leftovers)

-taunt
-bulk up
-pay back/crunch
-hammer arm/sky uppercut/poison jab

This set would mess with walls. It has just enough speed to outspeed a minimum speed neutral natured rotom-H. It can taunt what ever poke tries to wall it and bulk up in its face. Then it has hammer arm for stab while pay back would benefit from the speed drop since attacking last would make it more powerful than crunch but crunch is always there if you need something more reliable. If your going with crunch, you prob want to use sky uppercut then so you wont lose the speed. Poison jab is also there for fairies too.

 

[Tingtitan]

I can guarantee that Pangoro base speed stat isn't 70. I have a 252 Evs Spd Adamant Pangoro at level 41 and it only has 83 Speed. While Adamant Magneton with 70 base speed stat with 252 Evs Spd has 88 Speed (0 IVs) at level 41

 

[TwoBit]

Updated stats from Serebii
95/124/78/69/71/58

The speed seems about right, but he might be lowballing it on the HP.

 

[termi]

Updated stats from Serebii
95/124/78/69/71/58

The speed seems about right, but he might be lowballing it on the HP.

Wasted Potential: The Pokemon

Seriously if these stats are accurate he won't be making much of an impression, especially with a pretty crappy movepool which has Parting Shot and nothing else. If this guy doesn't get some good shit like Close Combat ASAP I see it being a good RU mon and not much more.

And if Game Freak won't give anything else Parting Shot I WILL kill a baby.

 

[Jaroda]

still think a taunt set could be viable on it to help keep wilowispers like rotom from ruining its fun while seting up in their face. Maybe this can work.

116 hp/252 atk/ 136 spe
adamant (leftovers)

-taunt
-bulk up
-pay back/crunch
-hammer arm/sky uppercut/poison jab

This set would mess with walls. It has just enough speed to outspeed a minimum speed neutral natured rotom-H. It can taunt what ever poke tries to wall it and bulk up in its face. Then it has hammer arm for stab while pay back would benefit from the speed drop since attacking last would make it more powerful than crunch but crunch is always there if you need something more reliable. If your going with crunch, you prob want to use sky uppercut then so you wont lose the speed. Poison jab is also there for fairies too.

Utterly outclassed by Bulk Up Conkeldurr, who actually benefits from WoW with Guts and doesn't have to use a move to prevent it. Plus Drain/Mach Punch on top of better attack. Parting Shot is all it has going for it but it could be salvageable if it get's some key punching moves, notably Sucker Punch.

 

[TwoBit]

Wasted Potential: The Pokemon

Seriously if these stats are accurate he won't be making much of an impression, especially with a pretty crappy movepool which has Parting Shot and nothing else. If this guy doesn't get some good shit like Close Combat ASAP I see it being a good RU mon and not much more.

And if Game Freak won't give anything else Parting Shot I WILL kill a baby.

Remember, the stats haven't been finalized and we still don't know all of its egg moves (confirmed lack of Sucker Punch sucks though). He might get something useful as an egg move. At worst he'll be a more offensive version of Scrafty. Plus he's a Bancho Panda. He's awesome regardless of ability.

Hammer Arm is pretty much a 90% accurate Close Combat when you take into account the Iron Fist boost. The side effect isn't that bad, it can even be beneficial in trick room teams.

 

[termi]

Remember, the stats haven't been finalized and we still don't know all of its egg moves. He might get something useful as an egg move. At worst he'll be a more offensive version of Scrafty. Plus he's a Bancho Panda. He's awesome regardless of ability.

Hammer Arm is pretty much a 90% accurate Close Combat when you take into account the Iron Fist boost. The side effect isn't that bad, it can even be beneficial in trick room teams.

Please note that I have carefully applied ifs in my post, I myself do not write it off just yet, but if it won't get much better than this, then it won't be very good.

 

[Drathmar]

This is another pokemon this generation I love the visual design and concept of but really think GF made underwhelming because of stats (if those are correct). It seems most of the new pokemon outside of the mega's and one or two others are very underwhelming so far.

I will probably still use this guy though. Hes a freaking fighting panda. I might just have to start playing RU or UU more to use him lol.

I definitely like parting shot as well which might give him a decent niche in those tiers. I have been running it in random online battles and parting shot into shell smash barbaracle actually has been working fairly well.

 

[Typhlito]

Utterly outclassed by Bulk Up Conkeldurr, who actually benefits from WoW with Guts and doesn't have to use a move to prevent it. Plus Drain/Mach Punch on top of better attack. Parting Shot is all it has going for it but it could be salvageable if it get's some key punching moves, notably Sucker Punch.

If it ends up being uu, the set would prob be viable wouldnt it? That was what I based the set on being for.

 

[RoyalBlue]

I honestly don't expect too much from this guy. It could probably pull its weight but the lack of Ice, Drain and Mach Punch is really disappointing. Lando and Gliscor will have a pretty easy time dealing with this thing. There are already a lot of Fighting types in OU, UU, Ru (not so much RU) and NU so it has a lot of competitors.

 

[Snoopy]

Pangoro's coverage movepool is decent and the ability to scout and open up setup chances simultaniously is great but he really got shafted in his STABs, barely anything to abuse his abilities and no Sucker Punch or Close Combat(Tested this with a Smeargle).

For what its worth, he gets Storm Throw but I remember reading that crits were nerfed so its effectively 90BP instead of 120BP.