[Overview]
<p>Bisharp really seems like an unassuming Pokemon at first. His typing leaves him with weaknesses to Fire, Ground, and Fighting, which is horrible when they're the most common attacking types in UU. Bisharp's Speed leaves much to be desired, as many dangerous Pokemon can outspeed him. His Special Defense is similarly flawed, making it quite hard to switch in on neutral special attacks. Bisharp also suffers from a so-so movepool. Don't get me wrong, it's not Raikou-level shallow, but having to rely on Brick Break for coverage is just terrible. Even if you shove away all these flaws, there is one that is impossible to refute: Bisharp is just plain hard to use. All these setbacks seem to culminate into a decidedly medicore Pokemon.</p>
<p>However, Bisharp's perks are more than enough to turn the Kamen Rider look-alike into a potent sweeper. Bisharp is blessed with Sucker Punch, which helps circumvent his medicore Speed, and hits hard with 125 base Attack and STAB. Bisharp is also the only Pokemon aside from Absol with access to Swords Dance + Sucker Punch. Unlike Absol, Bisharp has a much easier time with setting up thanks to his typing. It grants Bisharp a wide array of resistances, which also makes setting up on Choice-locked Pokemon much easier. 100 base Defense also helps a lot in this, allowing Bisharp to really abuse those resistances. Defiant is really the cherry on top, turning Intimidate from a hindrance into something Bisharp welcomes, giving him a free Attack boost. While it may not fit on every team, Bisharp is a deadly force in UU.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Brick Break / Iron Head
move 4: Night Slash
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Defiant
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>It seems next to impossible for Bisharp to set up a Swords Dance because of his weaknesses and medicore Speed; while this isn't completely false, it's far from true. Bisharp's typing offers an excellent list of resists and two important immunities to Psychic and Poison to abuse. The fact that a good chunk of the types that Bisharp resist often find their way onto Choice sets just makes it even better. Base 100 Defense also helps with setting up on weaker physical attacks and tanking weak Earthquakes.</p>
<p>Sucker Punch offers a ton of use beyond sweeping. You can use it for revenge killing weakened or frail sweepers, or as a method for procuring a Swords Dance. The power that Bisharp holds with a Swords Dance under his belt is just ridiculous. For example, after a Swords Dance, Sucker Punch can cleanly KO Hearcross with a layer of Spikes and Stealth Rock. Brick Break hits the Fighting-, Dark-, and Steel-types that would attempt to tank Sucker Punch. Iron Head cleanly OHKOes Hitmontop and Machamp, while also hitting Hippowdon and Rhyperior harder than Bisharps othet options. While it seems redundant to use Night Slash along side Sucker Punch, it allows Bisharp to eviscerate bulky Psychic- and Ghost-types that would much rather stall out Bisharp's Sucker Punch PP than attack. Night Slash also helps immensely when facing defensive teams because it has 24 PP compared to Sucker Punches pitiful 8.</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The EVs are standard fare: max Attack for power, and max HP for bulk. Life Orb gives even more power to Bisharp for sweeping and revenge-killing. However, Leftovers makes Bisharp into more of a bulky sweeper, abusing his great resistances much more. Lum Berry can be used if you're deathly afraid of status, but unless you're up against a defensive team, it ends up useless. Bisharp can invest in his Speed to outspeed certain walls and slower sweepers, but he loses some bulk in return. Honestly, Bisharp's EV spread can be customized to fit the needs of the user's team, so don't be afraid to experiment. As for move options, Bisharp's a bit starved, but there are a few choices. Psycho Cut can be used if you really want Hitmontop out of the picture, and it hits other Fighting-types and Weezing hard. Low Sweep seems good to catch faster Pokemon on the switch, but in reality, even with the Speed drop, the majority of faster Pokemon will still outspeed Bisharp unless he runs Speed EVs. It's also weaker than Brick Break, which makes sweeping even harder for Bisharp.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, Bisharp finds entry hazards to be invaluable to wear down the opponent's team and score key KOes. For setting up Stealth Rock, it honestly depends on whether you would prefer an offensive setter such as Azelf, Mamoswine, or Rhyperior, or a more defensive setter such as Registeel, Hippowdon, or Empoleon. Spikes are much more limited, the only options being Deoxys-D, Roserade, or Froslass. Bisharp also appreciates some offensive support from strong special attackers to destroy the physical walls that he attracts. Choice Specs Raikou works greatly, and it has Volt Switch to further abuse entry hazards and help Bisharp get in safely. Roserade is another great choice, as she can use Sleep Powder to incapacitate potential obstacles to Bisharp's sweep. In return, Bisharp rewards these special attackers by setting up on and destroying most of the walls that can take them on.</p>
<p>With such a reliance on Sucker Punch, it should come as no surprise that Bisharp hates non-attacking moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Substitute, the former heavily crippling Bisharp, and the latter giving the opponent a free KO on Bisharp. Milotic is perhaps the greatest Bisharp counter, being able to Haze away Bisharp's Swords Dance, Recover off damage, and potentially burn Bisharp with Scald. Hippowdon also walls Bisharp quite easily, and can bury him with Earthquake. Cobalion is the best check you can find, 4x resisting Sucker Punch, and his massive Defense allows him to shrug off a predicted Brick Break, and OHKO with Close Combat or Focus Blast. Fighting-types in general work well against Bisharp, but they are required to be at high HP, or they risk being KOed by Brick Break. Of course, if you can manage to stop Bisharp from setting up a Swords Dance, he becomes much easier to handle.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>A Choice Band set with Pursuit is viable, but Bisharp has no good move that he can be Choice-locked into, and Choiced Sucker Punch is the embodiment of set-up bait. Thunder Wave can ruin the usual switch-ins to Bisharp and provides team support. Stealth Rock sounds appealing, but unfortunately it is illegal with Sucker Punch. Rock Polish boosts Bisharp's medicore Speed, but he manages well enough with Sucker Punch. Taunt helps against stall teams, but it cuts into Bisharps already limited coverage, and forces Bisharp to use Sucker Punch to hit Pokemon not weak to Fighting. Stone Edge hits Zapdos and Moltres, but unless you hit either one on the switch, they'll just OHKO Bisharp. Substitute is a good move for helping ease prediction with Sucker Punch, but once again, relying on an 8 PP move as your main sweeping move is foolish. X-Scissor is an option for 2HKOing Tangrowth at +2, but it has no use outside that.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Bisharp is annoyingly hard to counter with that incredibly strong Sucker Punch and Defiant stopping Intimidate from working, but there are Pokemon that can stop him. For defensive teams, Milotic is one of the greatest counters, Hazing away Bisharps boosts, Recovering off any damage, and potentially burning Bisharp with Scald. Hippowdon isn't far behind, stomaching a +2 Night Slash easily and either Roaring Bisharp out, or just shattering him with Earthquake. Tangrowth can also go toe-to-toe with Bisharp, only being 3HKOed by a +2 Night Slash and disabling Bisharp with Sleep Powder, or hitting back with Earthquake. For more offensive answers, Cobalion is really your best bet, taking around 50% from a predicted Brick Brick Break, 4x resisting Sucker Punch, and OHKOing with Focus Blast or Close Combat. Rhyperior can take a +2 Brick Break at full health and demolish Bisharp with Earthquake. Bulky Fighting-types such as Hitmontop and Machamp are also able to take a hit at full health, and retaliate with Close Combat and DynamicPunch, respectively. Bisharp's reliance on Sucker Punch does mean that faster Substitute users can throw up a Substitute as Bisharp futilely Sucker Punches, and then score a KO. Faster Will-O-Wisp users such as Mismagius, Mew, Sableye and Rotom-A can heavily cripple Bisharp, but both Mew and Mismagius will still get torn open by a +2 Night Slash.</p>
