Pokémon Staraptor

[Rawbi]

Base Stats: 85 HP / 120 Atk / 70 Def / 50 SpAtk / 60 SpDef / 100 Spe
Abilities: Intimidate / Reckless
Notable Moves:
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Final Gambit
- Double-Edge
- Tera Blast

Movepool

Level-up:
Evolve - Close Combat
- Wing Attack
- Tackle
- Growl
- Quick Attack
13 - Double Team
18 - Endeavor
23 - Whirlwind
28 - Aerial Ace
33 - Take Down
41 - Agility
49 - Brave Bird
57 - Final Gambit

Egg Moves:
Sand Attack
Fury Attack
Double-Edge
Uproar
Astonish

TMs:
TM001 Take Down
TM004 Agility
TM007 Protect
TM014 Acrobatics
TM015 Struggle Bug
TM018 Thief
TM025 Facade
TM027 Aerial Ace
TM032 Swift
TM040 Air Cutter
TM047 Endure
TM049 Sunny Day
TM050 Rain Dance
TM060 U-turn
TM065 Air Slash
TM070 Sleep Talk
TM085 Rest
TM097 Fly
TM103 Substitute
TM113 Tailwind
TM118 Heat Wave
TM130 Helping Hand
TM152 Giga Impact
TM160 Hurricane
TM163 Hyper Beam
TM164 Brave Bird
TM167 Close Combat
TM171 Tera Blast

Pros:
+ 120 base Atk plus 120 base damage STABs plus Reckless boost = the damage
+ Close Combat provides coverage for Steels and Rocks
+ Serves roles of wallbreaker or revenge killer

Cons:
- Pretty one-dimensional in what it does
- Belongs to the crowded base 100 Spe tier
- 85/70/60 bulk means Staraptor is incapable of taking big hits, and while this could be somewhat mitigated with Intimidate, you lose on power
- Stealth Rock weakness and hefty recoil means Staraptor has a very short lifespan

Tera Potential:
- Flying Tera-type piles even more strength on Reckless Brave Birds
- Fighting Tera-type may guarantee some KOs with Close Combat on the Choice Scarf set, but unlikely to be worthwhile

Potential Sets:

bird's the word (Staraptor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Double-Edge

The classic DPP early game Flying-type returns for Gen 9 with its Choice Band set. Reckless Brave Birds and Double-Edges are your main two weapons, both of which receive the Reckless 20% boost. Close Combat nails Steels and Rocks that resist its STABs. U-turn pivots against mons Staraptor cannot touch, such as Gholdengo.

kacaw (Staraptor) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
Tera Type: Flying / Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Double-Edge
- Close Combat
- U-turn

A stylish Scarf changes Staraptor's role from hole-puncher to revenge killer, reaching 492 Spe with Jolly and max EVs, while Reckless ensures you still pack a decent punch. Otherwise the moves are completely the same: BB and Double-Edge for STABs, CC for Steels and Rocks, while U-turn provides momentum against mons scared out.

Staraptor has been utilizing the same two sets for the past 15 years, but time has not been kind to it. Outclassed in the past by mons like Kartana and Landorus-T, power creep marches on in this generation. Will Staraptor finally find a home in lower tiers, or is it forever destined to be the UUBL poster child? Time will tell.

 

[Dreadfury]

UUBL

 

[STEELDRAGON]

With the presence of Corviknight and more notably Goldengo and to a lesser extent Garganacle, Staraptor while very powerful has a very challenging time breaking through most teams. It's speed also isn't what it used be and also priority such as sucker punch/Ice Shard take a huge hit. It also faces competition with Flamingo due to it getting STAB fighting moves and Scrappy allowing it to OHKO Goldengo.

 

[Eeveeto]

With the presence of Corviknight and more notably Goldengo and to a lesser extent Garganacle, Staraptor while very powerful has a very challenging time breaking through most teams. It's speed also isn't what it used be and also priority such as sucker punch/Ice Shard take a huge hit. It also faces competition with Flamingo due to it getting STAB fighting moves and Scrappy allowing it to OHKO Goldengo.

I agree that this guy is not going to see much use, but the other day I tried (and failed, deleted team after one battle) to build with it, so I naturally made some calcs, and standard Gholdengo has a big chance to be 2HKOd by Jolly Band Brave Bird without even taking hazards. So, in reality Gholdengo is not that much of a problem and if it's banned, situation for Staraptor will be worse, since Corvi will skyrocket usage (though Magnezone also will as a result, being a good Staraptor partner).

 

[pika pal]

I wonder if with all the Speed Creep, Staraptor would be better off running an Adamant Nature over Jolly. Its design is basically to hit things and hope it kills 1-2 while killing itself, and even with a Scarf it's pretty limited in what it can outrun to Revenge Kill with one Nature over the other thanks to Booster Energy or a lot of fast Scarfers aiming for stuff like Dragapault. Main things it seems to miss at that point is outrunning +1 Great Tusk/Iron Treads (from Rapid Spin's Boost), Neutral BE Speed Iron Moth, and tying +1 Positive Volcarona and Chi-Yu, most of which seem uncommon and the ties not seeming something it'd be trying for anyway.

Realistically his best hope is that UU power creep is enough to actually let him drop out of BL

 

[STEELDRAGON]

I agree that this guy is not going to see much use, but the other day I tried (and failed, deleted team after one battle) to build with it, so I naturally made some calcs, and standard Gholdengo has a big chance to be 2HKOd by Jolly Band Brave Bird without even taking hazards. So, in reality Gholdengo is not that much of a problem and if it's banned, situation for Staraptor will be worse, since Corvi will skyrocket usage (though Magnezone also will as a result, being a good Staraptor partner).

Yeah we will see how the metagame develops. I have been running into a lot of Scarf and more defensive Gholdengo that have presented a additional challenge. I have also tried swapping out Flamingo for Staraptor and it actually performs better so there's that to