[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 2 onwards
**Price Range**: 13-14 points
**Overview**: Corviknight is a defensive and utility stalwart. It provides teams with a solid defensive answer to many top tiers, such as Meowscarada and Great Tusk, slow pivoting with U-turn to bring in its teammates, as well as utility options ranging from hazard removal with Defog and offensive enabling via Reflect and Light Screen. While Corviknight’s relative passivity and its tendency to be overwhelmed defensively in certain matchups makes it less reliable than it may appear, it is still picked very often due to its role compression.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Defensive Pivot**: Corviknight’s main role is to switch into opposing attackers and safely bring your teammates in via its slow U-turn, while staying healthy itself with Roost. Its favorable matchup into many Stealth Rock setters and Pressure to limit their PP also makes it a great Defog user, keeping hazards off the field for its teammates that appreciate its hazard control support. (hey QC, should Hazard Removal be a separate role from Defensive Pivot?)
**Screens Setter**: In matchups where Corviknight wants to directly enable its setup sweeper teammates, it may utilize its defensive profile to switch into opposing attackers, set up Reflect and Light Screen with a Light Clay, and U-turn into its teammates into an advantageous position to start boosting.
**Setup Sweeper**: Corviknight’s defensive profile makes it a decent defensive setup sweeper with Bulk Up, Iron Defense, or Agility. Sometimes, it may even use a Weakness Policy to further power up its Power Trip. Once Electric- and Fire-type attackers have been sufficiently weakened or knocked out, Corviknight may become nearly impossible to remove and run away with the game.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Brave Bird, Drill Peck, Iron Head
**Setup moves**: Bulk Up, Iron Defense
**Utility moves**: Defog, Light Screen, Reflect, Roost, Taunt, U-turn
**Coverage**: Body Press
Niche Moves
========
**Agility and Power Trip**: A combination of Agility, Bulk Up, and Power Trip can turn Corviknight into a potent sweeper in the right matchup. This set may also utilize Weakness Policy to forgo the necessary turns spent using Bulk Up to strengthen Power Trip.
**Tailwind**: Corviknight can provide speed control to its teammates with the combination of Tailwind and U-turn.
Common Items
========
**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet helps Corviknight wear down contact-making physical attackers it is expected to check, such as Meowscarada and Great Tusk, exerting more offensive pressure and enabling teammates that need them weakened or eliminated.
**Leftovers**: Leftovers supplements Corviknight's reliable recovery with Roost and is more effective in keeping it healthy on specially defensive or setup sets.
**Sitrus Berry**: In matchups where Corviknight has to check an attacker that may 2HKO it, it may use a Sitrus Berry to heal out of the KO threshold, allowing it to U-turn into a teammate that forces the offending Pokemon out.
**Light Clay**: Only used with Reflect and Light Screen, Light Clay allows Corviknight's screens to stick on the field longer for its teammates.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: While Corviknight enjoys an immunity to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, its Stealth Rock neutrality limits its ability to pivot and Defog in longer games. Heavy-Duty Boots removes this limitation, giving it more free turns to use U-turn and Defog.
Niche Items
========
**Resistance Berries**: Corviknight may use the Wacan or Occa Berries to check a threat that has super effective coverage for it, such as Thunderbolt Iron Valiant or Garchomp with a Fire-type move.
**Weakness Policy**: Corviknight can utilize its mixed bulk to tank a super effective attack such as a Volt Switch or a weak Flamethrower and use Agility, turning it into a deadly sweeper.
**Eject Button**: As Corviknight can often find itself switching into a U-turn only to be faced with an incoming powerful Electric- or Fire-type, Eject Button allows Corviknight to safely pivot out and steal the momentum back once in a battle.
**Red Card**: Red Card is another option to stop opposing setup sweepers from taking advantage of Corviknight.
Tera
========
It is not recommended to make Corviknight a Tera Captain, due to its already great defensive typing and lack of immediate offensive options. Carefully consider the matchup if you must use Corviknight as a Tera user, as Terastallization will either get rid of its immunity to grounded entry hazards or gain a new weakness to Stealth Rock. If Corviknight is elected as a Tera Captain, it may use Tera Flying to further boost its Flying-type offensive output, Tera Dark to power up Power Trip, or a defensive Tera type such as Dragon or Water to stomach Electric- and Fire-type attackers.
Draft Strategy
========
Corviknight is best suited to offensively-oriented drafts as a defensive and utility piece, as it is an excellent enabler of offensive teammates by virtue of its slow pivoting and hazard removal. Due to its relative passivity, it is rarely found on more defensively-oriented structures; however, it is still an excellent option for hazard control for those teams if they have ways to negate its passivity, such as with Encore or phazing.
**Offensive Teammates**: Corviknight works best with offensive partners that it can pivot into, especially those that appreciate its ability to switch into Ground-, Fairy-, and Dragon-type moves. Meowscarada, Darkrai, Tornadus-T, and Keldeo are all very commonly seen with Corviknight.
**Defensive Partners**: Corviknight should not be the sole defensive piece on a draft as it is prone to being defensively overwhelmed. Pokemon that cover for its Electric- or Fire-type weaknesses, such as Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Toxapex, are especially welcome.
**Entry Hazard Setters**: As Corviknight is a Steel-type that does not have access to entry hazards, entry hazard setters such as Deoxys-Speed, Landorus-I, and Hisuian Samurott can be paired with it. Those who can get up hazards repeatedly in a game after Corviknight Defogs are best.
**Disruptive Teammates**: Corviknight’s relative passivity means that it is prone to become setup fodder. Fast Encore users such as Iron Valiant, the Ogerpon forms, and Iron Bundle can force out these sweepers after being safely brought in by Corviknight’s U-turn, while offensively threatening the rest of the opponent’s draft. Phazing from the likes of Ting-Lu’s Whirlwind and Cyclizar’s Dragon Tail can also be utilized on more defensive structures.
Checks and Counters
========
**Electric- and Fire-type Attackers**: Corviknight’s weaknesses to those types and its inability to do meaningful damage to them, especially Electric-type Pokemon, makes them the most reliable Corviknight answers. Pokemon such as Raging Bolt, Zapdos, and Cinderace all greatly threaten it, and can use it for their own momentum with Volt Switch and U-turn respectively.
**Setup Sweepers**: Corviknight's low Speed and lack of disruptive options open it up to being taken advantage of by faster setup sweepers, where Corviknight can only attempt to pivot to a teammate to better handle the threat. Gholdengo is especially difficult, as it can freely switch into Corviknight and set up; while Corviknight cannot remove hazards with Defog, nor try to disrupt it with its teammates with Encore or phazing due to Good as Gold.
**Taunt**: Taunt users can greatly disrupt Corviknight by removing its ability to use Roost, Defog, or set up screens. This is especially ruinous in conjunction with Rocky Helmet to punish Corviknight’s contact moves with further chip damage, severely limiting its walling capability.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/ryan-ditto.601382/
Quality checked by:
Grammar checked by:
**Draft Order**: Round 2 onwards
**Price Range**: 13-14 points
**Overview**: Corviknight is a defensive and utility stalwart. It provides teams with a solid defensive answer to many top tiers, such as Meowscarada and Great Tusk, slow pivoting with U-turn to bring in its teammates, as well as utility options ranging from hazard removal with Defog and offensive enabling via Reflect and Light Screen. While Corviknight’s relative passivity and its tendency to be overwhelmed defensively in certain matchups makes it less reliable than it may appear, it is still picked very often due to its role compression.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Defensive Pivot**: Corviknight’s main role is to switch into opposing attackers and safely bring your teammates in via its slow U-turn, while staying healthy itself with Roost. Its favorable matchup into many Stealth Rock setters and Pressure to limit their PP also makes it a great Defog user, keeping hazards off the field for its teammates that appreciate its hazard control support. (hey QC, should Hazard Removal be a separate role from Defensive Pivot?)
**Screens Setter**: In matchups where Corviknight wants to directly enable its setup sweeper teammates, it may utilize its defensive profile to switch into opposing attackers, set up Reflect and Light Screen with a Light Clay, and U-turn into its teammates into an advantageous position to start boosting.
**Setup Sweeper**: Corviknight’s defensive profile makes it a decent defensive setup sweeper with Bulk Up, Iron Defense, or Agility. Sometimes, it may even use a Weakness Policy to further power up its Power Trip. Once Electric- and Fire-type attackers have been sufficiently weakened or knocked out, Corviknight may become nearly impossible to remove and run away with the game.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Brave Bird, Drill Peck, Iron Head
**Setup moves**: Bulk Up, Iron Defense
**Utility moves**: Defog, Light Screen, Reflect, Roost, Taunt, U-turn
**Coverage**: Body Press
Niche Moves
========
**Agility and Power Trip**: A combination of Agility, Bulk Up, and Power Trip can turn Corviknight into a potent sweeper in the right matchup. This set may also utilize Weakness Policy to forgo the necessary turns spent using Bulk Up to strengthen Power Trip.
**Tailwind**: Corviknight can provide speed control to its teammates with the combination of Tailwind and U-turn.
Common Items
========
**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet helps Corviknight wear down contact-making physical attackers it is expected to check, such as Meowscarada and Great Tusk, exerting more offensive pressure and enabling teammates that need them weakened or eliminated.
**Leftovers**: Leftovers supplements Corviknight's reliable recovery with Roost and is more effective in keeping it healthy on specially defensive or setup sets.
**Sitrus Berry**: In matchups where Corviknight has to check an attacker that may 2HKO it, it may use a Sitrus Berry to heal out of the KO threshold, allowing it to U-turn into a teammate that forces the offending Pokemon out.
**Light Clay**: Only used with Reflect and Light Screen, Light Clay allows Corviknight's screens to stick on the field longer for its teammates.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: While Corviknight enjoys an immunity to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, its Stealth Rock neutrality limits its ability to pivot and Defog in longer games. Heavy-Duty Boots removes this limitation, giving it more free turns to use U-turn and Defog.
Niche Items
========
**Resistance Berries**: Corviknight may use the Wacan or Occa Berries to check a threat that has super effective coverage for it, such as Thunderbolt Iron Valiant or Garchomp with a Fire-type move.
**Weakness Policy**: Corviknight can utilize its mixed bulk to tank a super effective attack such as a Volt Switch or a weak Flamethrower and use Agility, turning it into a deadly sweeper.
**Eject Button**: As Corviknight can often find itself switching into a U-turn only to be faced with an incoming powerful Electric- or Fire-type, Eject Button allows Corviknight to safely pivot out and steal the momentum back once in a battle.
**Red Card**: Red Card is another option to stop opposing setup sweepers from taking advantage of Corviknight.
Tera
========
It is not recommended to make Corviknight a Tera Captain, due to its already great defensive typing and lack of immediate offensive options. Carefully consider the matchup if you must use Corviknight as a Tera user, as Terastallization will either get rid of its immunity to grounded entry hazards or gain a new weakness to Stealth Rock. If Corviknight is elected as a Tera Captain, it may use Tera Flying to further boost its Flying-type offensive output, Tera Dark to power up Power Trip, or a defensive Tera type such as Dragon or Water to stomach Electric- and Fire-type attackers.
Draft Strategy
========
Corviknight is best suited to offensively-oriented drafts as a defensive and utility piece, as it is an excellent enabler of offensive teammates by virtue of its slow pivoting and hazard removal. Due to its relative passivity, it is rarely found on more defensively-oriented structures; however, it is still an excellent option for hazard control for those teams if they have ways to negate its passivity, such as with Encore or phazing.
**Offensive Teammates**: Corviknight works best with offensive partners that it can pivot into, especially those that appreciate its ability to switch into Ground-, Fairy-, and Dragon-type moves. Meowscarada, Darkrai, Tornadus-T, and Keldeo are all very commonly seen with Corviknight.
**Defensive Partners**: Corviknight should not be the sole defensive piece on a draft as it is prone to being defensively overwhelmed. Pokemon that cover for its Electric- or Fire-type weaknesses, such as Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Toxapex, are especially welcome.
**Entry Hazard Setters**: As Corviknight is a Steel-type that does not have access to entry hazards, entry hazard setters such as Deoxys-Speed, Landorus-I, and Hisuian Samurott can be paired with it. Those who can get up hazards repeatedly in a game after Corviknight Defogs are best.
**Disruptive Teammates**: Corviknight’s relative passivity means that it is prone to become setup fodder. Fast Encore users such as Iron Valiant, the Ogerpon forms, and Iron Bundle can force out these sweepers after being safely brought in by Corviknight’s U-turn, while offensively threatening the rest of the opponent’s draft. Phazing from the likes of Ting-Lu’s Whirlwind and Cyclizar’s Dragon Tail can also be utilized on more defensive structures.
Checks and Counters
========
**Electric- and Fire-type Attackers**: Corviknight’s weaknesses to those types and its inability to do meaningful damage to them, especially Electric-type Pokemon, makes them the most reliable Corviknight answers. Pokemon such as Raging Bolt, Zapdos, and Cinderace all greatly threaten it, and can use it for their own momentum with Volt Switch and U-turn respectively.
**Setup Sweepers**: Corviknight's low Speed and lack of disruptive options open it up to being taken advantage of by faster setup sweepers, where Corviknight can only attempt to pivot to a teammate to better handle the threat. Gholdengo is especially difficult, as it can freely switch into Corviknight and set up; while Corviknight cannot remove hazards with Defog, nor try to disrupt it with its teammates with Encore or phazing due to Good as Gold.
**Taunt**: Taunt users can greatly disrupt Corviknight by removing its ability to use Roost, Defog, or set up screens. This is especially ruinous in conjunction with Rocky Helmet to punish Corviknight’s contact moves with further chip damage, severely limiting its walling capability.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/ryan-ditto.601382/
Quality checked by:
Grammar checked by:
Last edited:
