Overview
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Standard
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name: Murderkrow
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Roost / Pursuit
move 4: Pursuit / Substitute / Superpower
ability: Moxie
item: Life Orb
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
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Set Details
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Usage Tips
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Team Options
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Choice Scarf
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name: Scarfkrow
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Night Slash
move 3: Pursuit
move 4: Heat Wave / Superpower
ability: Moxie
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Naive / Jolly
Moves
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Set Details
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Usage Tips
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Team Options
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Other Options
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Checks & Counters
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- Strong base 125 attack
- Great STAB combination, great STAB moves
- 2nd strongest priority in the tier
- Moxie allows it to easily clean late game
- Stealth rock weak, main STAB move deals recoil
- Very frail
- Below average speed for an offensive mon
- Reliant on unreliable Sucker Punch
Standard
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name: Murderkrow
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Roost / Pursuit
move 4: Pursuit / Substitute / Superpower
ability: Moxie
item: Life Orb
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
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- Brave Bird - Standard STAB, hits like a truck and flying gets decent coverage
- Sucker Punch - Powerful priority, overcomes krow's bad speed
- Superpower - Decent coverage on Rock, Steel types
- Roost - Recovery, usable since LO + Rocks + Recoil adds up. Works best with sub.
- Pursuit - Can get a kill on a slower mon with low health, or on prediction. Can play mind games with Sucker Punch.
- Substitute - Blocks status moves some mons may use because of Sucker Punch. Usually run roost with sub.
Set Details
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- Not worth investing in bulk since honchkrow is very frail
- 252 Atk for maximum damage output
- 252 Spe outspeeds uninvested base 100 and below
- Adamant and LO is preferred to break walls. Jolly could be used to outspeed max spe base 70s, but it isn't too important.
Usage Tips
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- Honchkrow is mainly a late game cleaner, shouldn't be used too much early-game
- Should be coming in when walls are weakened, easy to get moxie boost
Team Options
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- Spin/defog to get rid of rocks (Mew, Crobat, Mega-Blastoise, etc.)
- Hazards to turn 2HKOs in to OHKOs (Roserade, Frosslass, etc. for spikes)
- Slow volt/turn mons to get honch in safely
- Other wallbreakers like Hydreigon, Nidos, etc. so Honch has an easier time cleaning late game
Choice Scarf
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name: Scarfkrow
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Night Slash
move 3: Pursuit
move 4: Heat Wave / Superpower
ability: Moxie
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Naive / Jolly
Moves
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- Brave Bird - Hard hitting stab, pretty self explanatory
- Night Slash - Secondary STAB, gets good coverage though is significantly weaker than BB
- Pursuit - Traps ghosts and psychics, as well as mons at low health
- Heat Wave - Hits forry and some steels for decent damage, mostly filler
- Superpower - Gets super effective coverage on steels and rocks but it isn't the best move to be locked in to
Set Details
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- Max speed allows honch to outspeed base 130s
- Atk investment for obvious reasons
- Run naive if using heatwave, jolly otherwise
- 4 SpA can be placed in to spd if not using heat wave
- Naughty/Adamant can be used for more power but it only reaches 361 spe, tying with max 115s
Usage Tips
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- Another late game cleaner
- Less wallbreaking potential, but increase in speed makes it before better against offensive teams
Team Options
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- Defog/spinner (Mew, Crobat, Mega-Blastoise, etc.)
- potent wallbreakers to let honch break through phys walls
- Hazard support (Spike setters like Frosslass, Roserade)
- Bulky mons that can switch in to faster scarfers
Other Options
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- taunt on murderkrow set to cripple walls
- hp grass for swamp/quag
- tailwind for lategame
- niche moves like twave
- Band set
Checks & Counters
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- faster mons that resist dark (cobalion, hydreigon, heracross etc.)
- very bulky mons that resist flying (m-aggron, rhyperior, etc.)
- mega-aero specifically can stall out brave bird and sucker punch with roost, but has to watch out for superpower
- Faster users of substitute like chandelure, raikou, nidoking, jirachi can take advantage of sucker punch
Overview
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In accordance with its mob boss appearance, Honchkrow is an intimidating offensive Pokemon. Powerful moves such as Brave Bird backed by a high base 125 Attack give it enough power to do some serious damage to most opponents. Access to powerful priority in STAB Sucker Punch allows Honchkrow to deal heavy damage to the Pokemon that outspeed it. What sets Honchkrow apart from most other offensive Pokemon, however, is the ability Moxie. Honchkrow becomes a fearsome late game sweeper, because it gets an Attack boost after each foe it takes down.
Although it has many good qualities, the murderous crow is not perfect. It has lackluster bulk, meaning that it will go down pretty easily to attacks that are super effective or STAB boosted. Its base 71 Speed is pretty poor for an offensive Pokemon, and it can easily be outpaced and outmatched by defensive Pokemon who can bypass the unreliable Sucker Punch with status moves. Honchkrow also loses massive amounts of HP through secondary damage, finding its sweeps cut short by Brave Bird and Life Orb recoil and Stealth Rock damage. Nevertheless, Honchkrow's positives are too much to pass up despite its flaws. Honchkrow has the capacity to rip through teams and should definitely be kept in mind when teambuilding.
Standard
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name: Murderkrow
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Roost / Pursuit
move 4: Pursuit / Substitute / Superpower
ability: Moxie
item: Life Orb
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
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This is Honchkrow's standard set. Brave Bird the main move being spammed on this set due to its sheer power and the coverage that Flying-type STAB has. Sucker Punch is used for priority, dealing massive damage to the faster Pokemon who come in to revenge kill Honchkrow. Roost is used to mitigate the damage taken from recoil and Stealth Rock. While it may seem odd to have recovery on such a frail Pokemon, the threat of Sucker Punch often forces opponents to use a non-attacking move, giving Honchkrow a chance to use Roost. Pursuit works well with Moxie, allowing Honchkrow to grab the Attack boost from Pokemon that are trying to switch out. Substitute gives Honchkrow a way of blocking status moves from bulkier Pokemon, although it is best run with Roost due to the recoil damage that this set takes. Lastly, Superpower can be used for coverage, hitting the Steel- and Rock-types that resist flying type moves.
Set Details
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Attack and Speed are fully EV'ed because Honchkrow has no use investing in bulk. Max speed allows Honchkrow to outspeed uninvested base 100 Speed Pokemon. An Adamant nature is preferred due to the higher damage output, though a Jolly nature can be used to outspeed standard defensive Mew.
Usage Tips
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Honchkrow should usually be coming in late game, when it's capable of gaining a Moxie boost. A teammate can be sacrificed to weaken opposing Pokemon and give Honchkrow a safe switch-in to get an easy Moxie boost and start the sweep.
Team Options
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Due to its Stealth Rock weakness, Honchkrow greatly appreciates teammates that can keep Stealth Rock off of the field such as Mew, Crobat, and Mega Blastoise. Honchkrow also appreciates hazards of its own, such as Spikes support from Pokemon such as Froslass and Roserade. As Honchkrow can find it difficult to come in, slow Pokemon with Volt Switch and U-turn such as Forretress and defensive Jirachi are good partners as well. Wallbreakers such as Hydreigon and Nidoking can weaken bulky opponents, giving Honchkrow a better chance of breaking through the opposing team for the sweep.
Other Options
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Honchkrow can run a Choice Scarf set consisting of Brave Bird, Night Slash, Pursuit, and Superpower. While it may seem like the Choice Scarf would give Honchkrow an easier time sweeping, the lack of power is noticeable, and Honchkrow performs much better when it can switch moves. On the standard set, there are a few extra moves that are usable. Taunt can be used to cripple most walls, and Hidden Power Grass can be used to take out Swampert without any boosts. Other moves like Tailwind and Thunder Wave can be used to support the team, though Honchkrow is much better off trying to sweep. A Choice Band set hits very hard, but it is easily revenge killed and doesn't hit hard enough to justify its use.
Checks & Counters
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**Fast Dark-type Resists**: Faster Pokemon that resist Dark-type moves, such as Hydreigon, Heracross, and Cobalion can all take a boosted Sucker Punch and KO back.
**Bulky Flying-type Resists**: Very bulky Pokemon that resist Flying-type attacks such as Mega Aggron and Rhyperior can also survive Sucker Punch and KO. Specifically, Mega Aerodactyl is able to stall out Brave Bird and Sucker Punch with Roost, though it must watch out for Superpower.
**Fast Substitute Users**: Faster users of Substitute such as Chandelure, Raikou, and Jirachi can all take advantage of Sucker Punch to get up a free Substitute and deal damage.
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