Agility Staraptor [QC 0/3]

[jrp]

I might be a new poster, but I'm far from being a beginner in the battling sense. I'm more of a lurker, but I know a lot about competitive battling from my past experiences with this site and others. I tend to hate using choice items, unless they are absolutly nessicary, and I noticed that Staraptor learned the move Agility. While I started using this set quite a while ago, I think that it still can be used to a great effect in the current 4th gen OU metagame, being able to eliminate a variety of offensive threats, and denting walls. While Scarf Staraptor can be used as a Revenge Killer, it lacks the power that life orb provides, plus it is locked into a move. Life Orb Staraptor has good power, but it lacks the nessicary speed to warrent a space on a team. So what happens if you apply the same basic theory from both sets and put them into a single set?

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/staraptor
[SET]
Name: Agiliraptor
Move 1: Agility
Move 2: Brave Bird
Move 3: Close Combat
Move 4: Return/Roost/Pursuit/

Item: Life Orb/Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe.
[SET COMMENTS]
- You can force out your opponent with Intimidate, then use Agility on the switch
- Roost is a must if you want to run both Brave Bird and Life Orb
- Muscle Band can be used in place of life orb, since this is a pure physical set
- U-Turn can be used if you are forced to switch, damage, then switch in a counter
- Outspeeds Scarfed Base 100's after an Agility
- Can also outspeed Scarfed Starmie
- Return is good, reliable move for Neutral damage if you wish to use it.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- Can dent a lot of Pokemon with neutral Brave Bird
- Cannot deal with Pokemon carrying Ice Shard, naturally
- Basically a scarf set, without the scarf, and some move modifications
- Roost should be used if you plan on running Life Orb. Return goes with the Leftovers. Pursuit is viable on either item choice.
- Set works best as a late-game cleanup sweeper, to eliminate weakened walls, to nab a kill.

[TEAM OPTIONS]
- Heatran is great for luring in Earthquakes to allow Staraptor to switch in, and deal with Scizor, who can wreck havoc on this set
- Magnezone can also fit that slot, attracting Earthquakes, and eliminating Scizor with HP Fire, in fact being ideal for eliminating scizor
- Rapid Spin support is a must to eliminate Stealth Rock. Starmie makes a fine partner, with good special coverage and speed, with respectable bulk.
- Starmie can also take Fighting priority from Infernape that could otherwise severly dent Staraptor
- Entry hazards are a great boon to this set, helping to prolong Staraptor's longevity simply in that it can lower the recoil from Brave Bird on OHKOs, and sometimes even remove the need for Brave Bird on some Pokemon. Forretress and Roserade are fine Pokemon to lay down hazards, Forrtress being able to set up all three. Forrtress is the prefered option here, because of its resistance to ice, which causes problems for Staraptor.
- A good spin blocker is also reccomended for this, if you want to run Hazards alongside Staraptor, which is reccomended. Rotom-C is a great option, being able to OHKO Swampert, which generally threatens the other Rotom forms


[COUNTERS]
- Rotom can easily counter this, resisting Staraptor's main STAB and being immune to its other.
- Gyarados can switch in and activate its Intimidate, forcing a switch
- Weavile can KO with Ice Shard
- Mamoswine can also Ice Shard to do a large amount of damage
- Scizor can take a hit and SD or simply Bullet Punch to KO


[NOTES]
- Agility Staraptor can be an incredible offensive threat, it requires a ton of good team support to truly shine.

[CALCULATIONS]
Some calcs I ran. Using adamant nature on these with Life Orb.
- Close Combat vs Max HP/Max Def Bold Blissey (714/130): 640-754
~ Can OHKO Blissey if it's running max HP and Def, ableit a low chance. I never see max HP Blisseys though.
- Close Combat vs Scarf Jirachi (342/236): 176-208
~ He can 2HKO Scarf Jirachi, which is pretty nice.
- Close Combat vs Wish/Calm Mind Jirachi (404/292): 143-169
~ He can still 2HKO Jirachi, even with investment into its defenses.
- Close Combat vs Tank Bronzong (252/80) 42.9% - 50.6%
~ A nice change of 2HKOing, if you have SR up, higher chance, but not guarenteed
- Return vs OU Tank Weezing (252/252): 43.1% - 50.6%
~ Pretty impressive, seeing as Weezing is an incredibly defensive Pokemon. Stealth Rock guarentees the 2HKO
- Return Vs Life Orb Starmie (which could pose a serious threat) (0/0): 97.7% - 115.6%
~ A nice clean OHKO, guarenteed with any form of damaging entry hazard.
-Return vs Physical Attacker Flygon (0/0): 90% - 106%
~Again, a potential OHKO. Stealth Rock will help your chances of getting the kill.
-Return vs standard Gliscor (252/4): 52.5% - 61.9%
~ Not even Gliscor can do very well against this. A guarenteed 2HKO, with or without Stealth Rock
-Return vs Tank Swampert (240/216): 44.4% - 52.6%
~Can 2HKO. With Spikes, you are guarenteed the 2HKO. Stealth Rock is less effective, but should still net the 2HKO.
-Return vs Bulky DD Gyarados (156/96): 43.8% - 51.9%
~Even if Staraptor gets to -1 attack from Gyarados's Intimidate, it can still tear into Gyarados with Return. If you have Stealth Rock up, you are guarenteed a 2HKO with Return.
-Brave Bird vs Bulky DD Gyarados (156/96): 51.4% - 60.8%
~Not worth trying this over Return, the recoil is a dangerous thing to deal with, and it's not worth it, since it will never OHKO, even with Stealth Rock.

More to come.


More to come

 

[ShinyAzelf]

The set is all right. However, I don't suggest Pluck because its too weak. Take that out.

Also, EVs should be listed as HP / Atk / Def / SpA / SpD / Spe, so your EV spread should be 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe.

Good luck with the set.

 

[jrp]

Alright, fixed.

 

[Plusle]

Remove u turn fromthe slashes, it removes your boosts and gives you SR damage.

Muscle band is bad don't use it. Keep life orb in the primary slot but give leftovers a mention


List rotom as a counter.

 

[HART4FLOON]

This set certainly pretty interesting. My main concern is residual damage and Staraptor actually keeping this its boosts because it is forced out pretty easily. However, I will test this since it seems nice to combine the power of the LO set and more speed than the CS set.

 

[SlimMan]

Change the Speed EVs from 252 to 44. That's all you need to out-speed Scarfed base 100's after an Agility. There's no point in running more speed, when you'll almost never need it.

After all, no one with a higher Speed than 100 commonly runs Scarf. Another thing, is that 44 EVs allow you to out-run Jolly Tyranitar without the boost.

The nature should be changed to Adamant, since you no longer need the extra speed.
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Mention that Roost should be used with Life Orb, and Return should be used with Leftovers. Pursuit can go with either.

 

[jrp]

Alright, changed to 44 speed evs, put the rest of them in HP.
Added info about roost/return/pursuit.

 

[SlimMan]

Not to double-post, but I wanted my last post to be read-able.

Thanks for making those changes. I've used this exact same set many times and have had phenomenal results with it. Staraptor needs a little more love.

 

[Marcurcio]

I personally do not see this set working very well. It is an interesting idea, and Staraptor certainly has the power for it, but the residual damage from life orb and brave bird, plus most likely stealth rock, will give it two, maybe three attacks at most(assuming it only switches in once). It could function well as a clean-up sweeper, but I'm not seeing it as much more than that.

 

[Eggbert]

Hmm the speed and coverage seem fine enough, but it can't get past some steels at all. Metagross and Jirachi survive and beat it, and Scizor and luke have priority. Also setting up looks tough as well. Other than that, it looks pretty solid against offensive teams.

 

[jrp]

Hmm the speed and coverage seem fine enough, but it can't get past some steels at all. Metagross and Jirachi survive and beat it, and Scizor and luke have priority. Also setting up looks tough as well. Other than that, it looks pretty solid against offensive teams.

Even if Lucario used Extremespeed, Staraptor can OHKO with Close Combat though, since ES won't OHKO

 

[Marcurcio]

Even if Lucario used Extremespeed, Staraptor can OHKO with Close Combat though, since ES won't OHKO

But it would still die from life orb and recoil damage assuming stealth rocks.

 

[Eggbert]

I ran two quick calcs. Luke does 48% at worst, meaning with SR and LO you will have 2 more attacks (assuming you set up on on EQ or something). Which is pretty good. This set needs the HP. However, scizor completely stops this with bullet punch which can do around 60-70%

Problems:
-Vulnerable to most priority attacks
-Difficult to set up
-SR + lo limits sweeping and brave bird means you are only getting 2-3 attacks at most.
-Walled by rotom, bulky steels.

Pros:
-Outspeeds everything needed.
-Beats basically everything else against offensive teams.
-Strong STABs, coverage, close combat.
-Intimidate helps setup.

 

[SlimMan]

It is an interesting idea, and Staraptor certainly has the power for it, but the residual damage from life orb and brave bird, plus most likely stealth rock, will give it two, maybe three attacks at most(assuming it only switches in once).

I concur.
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@jonathanrp:

You'll have to mention that Rapid Spin support is a must. Without it, Staraptor won't last very long.

Mention Heatran as an excellent partner. It lures Earthquakes for Staraptor to switch into, and it beats most Scizor who could Bullet Punch to weaken Staraptor. Definitely a great match.

 

[jrp]

I concur.
---------------------
@jonathanrp:

You'll have to mention that Rapid Spin support is a must. Without it, Staraptor won't last very long.

Mention Heatran as an excellent partner. It lures Earthquakes for Staraptor to switch into, and it beats most Scizor who could Bullet Punch to weaken Staraptor. Definitely a great match.

Magnezone would fill the exact same notch for eliminating Scizor.
I'll add them on a team options section.
as well as starmie for Rapid Spin

 

[Marcurcio]

I ran two quick calcs. Luke does 48% at worst, meaning with SR and LO you will have 2 more attacks (assuming you set up on on EQ or something). Which is pretty good. This set needs the HP. However, scizor completely stops this with bullet punch which can do around 60-70%

You're clearly not factoring in stealth rocks. 48%+ 25% from rocks+10% LO recoil is 83%. So you have one attack left after, two is really stretching it considering you're assuming it won't use brave bird because the recoil would kill it.

 

[jrp]

Updated team options and added some extra notes for the set

 

[SlimMan]

Magnezone would fill the exact same notch for eliminating Scizor.

tru dat
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But this really more of a late-game cleaner than a sweeper, which I believe Marcurio already said.

However, that doesn't mean it's no good. I still believe that this can be a very effective set with the right team support.
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@jonathanrp

I would remove the statement that Rosereade makes a good partner for this Staraptor. Yes, it can lay down hazards, but it shares the Ice-weakness.

It's not that teams can't double up weaknesses, but you probably don't want to recommend it. If you still think Roserade is great, you should mention that a good Ice resist (*cough* Starmie *cough*) is necessary.

On the other hand, Roserade can put a counter to sleep, meaning that Staraptor would have to deal with 1 less pokemon.

 

[jrp]

tru dat
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But this really more of a late-game cleaner than a sweeper, which I believe Marcurio already said.

However, that doesn't mean it's no good. I still believe that this can be a very effective set with the right team support.
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@jonathanrp

I would remove the statement that Rosereade makes a good partner for this Staraptor. Yes, it can lay down hazards, but it shares the Ice-weakness.

It's not that teams can't double up weaknesses, but you probably don't want to recommend it. If you still think Roserade is great, you should mention that a good Ice resist (*cough* Starmie *cough*) is necessary.

On the other hand, Roserade can put a counter to sleep, meaning that Staraptor would have to deal with 1 less pokemon.

Alright, I changed the wording around to list forrtress as the prefered hazard set-up for the Ice resistance.

 

[SlimMan]

Alright, I changed the wording around to list forrtress as the prefered hazard set-up for the Ice resistance.

ok.

 

[Zenrot1]

My biggest qualm with this set: When do you expect to set him up? With only 100 base speed even with max investment you won't be out-speeding much. Slower, bulkier pokemon sure. But the faster, sweeper-style pokemon will outrun you easily. Staraptor also can't afford to switch in to ANYTHING, because his average-at-best defenses coupled with the fact that he needs all of his HP intact to even hope for a sweep limits the options considerably. Stealth Rock takes 25% of his HP, and getting Staraptor the agility doesn't guarantee much. Sure you outspeed frail offensive pokemon now, but how exactly do you expect to get staraptor around bulky pokemon? You can't exactly say "well, I'll just get them out of the way first" because you may not always even know they are there.

Cons:
~Too Risky to set up
~Weak to SR
~Unable to switch in
~If forced out, he will lose another 25% upon even coming in again
~Intimidate doesn't necessarily ease set up, because all you need to do to cripple this sets effectiveness is take away at least 30% of its HP. 25% upon switch in, +30% damage, +33% if BB is a OHKO = 88% already gone. Staraptor also cannot afford to use Roost with an enemy right there waiting to strike him. Teams also usually carry some form of priority attack, and I don't see staraptor taking those.

It's not a bad set, but if you ask me it requires far too much based around it, when the payoff isn't exactly great

Comments on your comments... lol:

- You can force out your opponent with Intimidate, then use Agility on the switch (Who is being forced out?)
- Roost is a must if you want to run both Brave Bird and Life Orb (When can he successfully roost?)
- U-Turn can be used if you are forced to switch, damage, then switch in a counter (staraptor cannot afford multiple switch ins)
- Outspeeds Scarfed Base 100's after an Agility (I may need calcs, but this seems to only matter against flygon. Jirachi can take either of your hits at least once)
- Can also outspeed Scarfed Starmie
- Return is good, reliable move for Neutral damage if you wish to use it.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- Can dent a lot of Pokemon with neutral Brave Bird (staraptor can't afford to dent, as the recoil+attack is dangerous)
- Cannot deal with Pokemon carrying Ice Shard, naturally (Can't deal with much prio at all, save maybe a weak mach punch)
- Basically a scarf set, without the scarf, and some move modifications (but also without the immediate threat)
- Roost should be used if you plan on running Life Orb. Return goes with the Leftovers. Pursuit is viable on either item choice. (I still don't see roost as an incredibly save option)

 

[Moo]

Hmm, this set looks pretty interesting.
The problem is, it requires alot of team support, whereas other pokes that set up such as Lucario and Dragonite can wreak havoc right off the bat.

I'm not saying the set is bad, but thats just something to think about. Maybe you should post some calculations and logs of battles showing it's use.

 

[Marcurcio]

I definatly would not make roost the main slash on the last moveslot. Obviously it needs recovery after all the rocks and recoil, but lets be honest, what can it actually roost on without dieing?

 

[jrp]

Good point.

I suppose Return would be the main slash then? With an effective base power of ~150, it seems like a good option over Brave Bird

 

[Zenrot1]

Return is probably the best option, however its damage output is still lower than Brave Bird, so they aren't interchangible moves