QC: Anty / scorpdestroyer / galbia
GP: P Squared (stamped Rhythms' check) / Psywaves
Overview
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Pawniard is a staple on entry hazard stacking teams because of its coveted ability, Defiant. As a Defiant user, Pawniard has better bulk and typing over Purugly, and is a bulkier Dark-type than Sneasel, while also having access to Sucker Punch. With its great typing both offensively and defensively, which grants it nine resistances, Pawniard can successfully check threatening Pokemon such as Kadabra and Haunter in a pinch, although they often carry coverage for it. By virtue of its strong STAB priority attack, Sucker Punch, Pawniard does especially well against frail offensive teams. It also has STAB Knock Off to greatly annoy physical walls, which do not enjoy having their items removed. However, common Water-type Defoggers such as Pelipper, Swanna, and Prinplup always carry Scald, so Pawniard cannot safely switch in against them. The huge popularity of Poliwrath and Throh is also very troublesome for Pawniard, as it has a lot of trouble getting past them. Furthermore, Pawniard relies on its Eviolite to set up with Swords Dance and has lackluster Special Defense, even with Eviolite's boost.
Defiant Attacker
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name: Defiant Attacker
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Swords Dance / Pursuit
ability: Defiant
item: Eviolite
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant
Moves
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Knock Off is a spammable STAB move, which is very annoying because a lot of walls, such as Poliwrath and Throh, like switching into Pawniard, and they depend on their items a lot. Sucker Punch is a strong priority attack that makes up for Pawniard's low Speed stat and can clean up frail opposing teams. After a Swords Dance boost, Sucker Punch OHKOes many offensive Pokemon, such as Raichu, Mr. Mime, Simipour, and Swanna. Iron Head hits Fairy-types such as Togetic and Clefairy for super effective damage and hits some Pokemon that resist Dark, such as Throh, neutrally. Swords Dance boosts Pawniard's Attack, making it possible to sweep. Pursuit can be used in place of Swords Dance because it can trap Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Haunter, Misdreavus, Beheeyem, and Kadabra, as well as other Pokemon that tend to switch out of Pawniard, such as Raichu and Roselia. Low Kick is another option to hit Pokemon that would otherwise be checks, such as Probopass and opposing Pawniard, super effectively. Low Kick also hits popular Normal-types such as Stoutland and Lickilicky super effectively and hits Poliwrath for neutral damage.
Set Details
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Attack and Speed EVs are maximized to deal as much damage as possible and outspeed most defensive Pokemon, as well as some slower attackers, such as Modest Aurorus. Adamant is the nature of choice because most faster Pokemon are defeated by a boosted Sucker Punch anyway. However, Jolly is an option to outspeed most Misdreavus sets and Timid Aurorus. Defiant is one of the biggest reasons to use Pawniard, as it discourages the use of Defog on opposing teams. Eviolite is needed for Pawniard to actually survive some attacks; however, even with it, Pawniard is frail.
Usage Tips
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Even if the opponent has a Poliwrath or another counter on their team, it is almost never a bad idea to click Knock Off, as knocking off Leftovers or other items is helpful in wearing counters down. Set up on Grass-type Pokemon that cannot harm Pawniard too much, such as Roselia, Leafeon, Tangela, and Jumpluff after Sleep Powder has been used on a teammate, or on a predicted switch. Setting up on unresisted attacks is almost always a bad idea because of Pawniard's meager bulk. Pawniard causes a lot of 50/50 situations with Sucker Punch and Pursuit, and choosing the wrong move can cause Pawniard to get KOed. For example, Haunter can stay in as Pawniard uses Knock Off and use Hidden Power Fighting, switch out for free as Pawniard uses Sucker Punch, switch out and let a teammate take a Knock Off, or try to switch out and then faint as Pawniard uses Pursuit. Pawniard works best either mid-game to take advantage of a Defog and punch a hole into the opponent's team, or as a late-game cleaner. It can also act as a revenge killer with Sucker Punch. Be careful with switching into Water-type Defoggers, such as Pelipper, Prinplup, and Swanna, as they can do a lot of damage and potentially burn Pawniard with Scald.
Team Options
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Entry hazard setters such as Roselia, Piloswine, Leavanny, Whirlipede, and Torterra are good partners, as Pawniard discourages the foe from using Defog to clear the entry hazards on the opponent's side due to Defiant. They also help Pawniard clean up with entry hazard damage, or by making it capable of outspeeding more Pokemon if using Sticky Web. Pokemon that can defeat Fighting-types, such as Air Slash Pelipper and Jumpluff, help Pawniard tremendously. Additionally, Pokemon that can lure and either KO or weaken Fighting-types, such as Zen Headbutt Carracosta and Play Rough Mightyena, are also good teammates. Other Dark-types can weaken Pokemon that resist Dark to help Pawniard to sweep. The aforementioned Mightyena works especially well because of its access to Play Rough to hit Fighting- and Dark-types for super effective damage. Fighting- and Normal-types such as Poliwrath and Stoutland appreciate Pawniard's Pursuit severely damaging Psychic- and Ghost-types so they can make better use of their STAB moves. Other physical sweepers such as Carracosta, Torterra, Sneasel, and Sand Rush Stoutland also appreciate Pawniard wearing down physical walls by knocking off their items. Wallbreakers such as Rampardos, Relicanth, and Ursaring can weaken the opponent's physical walls so Pawniard can break through them later. Pawniard appreciates Sticky Web support from Leavanny or Kricketune to help it outspeed more Pokemon and rely less on Sucker Punch.
Other Options
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Pawniard can run a Stealth Rock + Taunt suicide lead set that takes advantage of Defiant to discourage the use of Defog while Pawniard is still on the field, and it can use Psycho Cut to lure in Poliwrath and Throh. They still do not take a lot of damage from Psycho Cut, however, so Pawniard needs a Swords Dance boost for the damage to be significant.
Checks & Counters
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**Fighting-types**: Poliwrath, Throh, and Monferno have little trouble switching into Pawniard and KOing it with their STAB moves. Poliwrath also has access to Vacuum Wave, so Pawniard is forced to go for the resisted Sucker Punch if it wants to have any chance to survive, and Poliwrath can also set up a Rain Dance as Pawniard is forced to switch out. However, they do not like having their items knocked off.
**Physical Walls**: As long as they are fairly healthy, physical walls such as Carracosta, Torterra, Torkoal, and Stunfisk can check Pawniard even after a Swords Dance and set up Stealth Rock, or, in Torkoal's case, use Rapid Spin; however, Knock Off is very annoying for those that rely on Leftovers to recover HP.
**Faster Pokemon**: Faster Pokemon that can survive a Sucker Punch such as Barbaracle, Stoutland, Ursaring, and Kingler can easily revenge kill Pawniard. However, some of those fail to do so after Pawniard sets up a Swords Dance. Additionally, fast Substitute users such as Simipour and Ninetales can dodge Sucker Punch and either set up a Nasty Plot while behind the Substitute or KO Pawniard. Jumpluff also shuts down Pawniard with a fast Sleep Powder and can set up a Swords Dance against it.
**Burns**: Burns cripple Pawniard immensely, as they make it easier to wall. A lot of common Defoggers carry Scald, and the Ghost-types Pawniard is supposed to check can carry Will-O-Wisp, most notably Misdreavus.
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