Bisharp
touched up tstef's writing a lot, but there are still the same main ideas and examples so tons of credit to him, i'm just pushing this through gp.
[Overview]
<p>Before reading this overview, please take a second to see that Bisharp looks like a complete and utter badass. After taking a minute to bask in his glory, we can get to the analysis. Looks aside, Bisharp boasts the coveted Steel typing, granting him resistances to many common attacks. This is a major advantage for Bisharp, as we have seen many times before that a Steel typing can take a bad Pokemon and make it good, and take a good Pokemon and make it great. A high base Attack of 125 makes Bisharp an offensive powerhouse, which when combined with Swords Dance makes him even more menacing. Add a STAB Sucker Punch, one of the strongest priority moves in the game, and Bisharp is a force to be reckoned with.</p>
<p>That being said, Bisharp does have his flaws. Bisharp's low base Speed makes it so that anything that is faster and takes little damage from Sucker Punch can revenge kill him. Sucker Punch, although somewhat making up for this low Speed stat, is fairly unreliable, with many Pokemon being able to avoid it and cripple Bisharp with status, restore their HP, and so on. Bisharp also has unfortunate weaknesses to Fighting, Ground, and Fire, very common types in the UU tier. Bisharp is further harmed by the ever-increasing popularity of Fighting-types in UU, as even the weakest of Fighting-type moves will send him running for cover. Despite these flaws, if a Swords Dance boost is obtained, Bisharp becomes a monster and is very hard to stop if his opponent is not prepared.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Low Kick / Iron Head
item: Leftovers
ability: Defiant
nature: Adamant
evs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 204 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>The goal of this set is simple. Begin by obtaining a Swords Dance boost. Throughout the following few turns, murder everything. It's really that simple. Swords Dance boosts Bisharp's Attack stat to legendary levels, allowing him to power through almost every Pokemon in the tier. Sucker Punch is used as Bisharp's main attack, boasting STAB and priority, as well as hitting extremely hard after a boost. While unreliable, it is an invaluable tool for Bisharp to threaten the many Pokemon that could otherwise revenge kill him.</p>
<p>Substitute partners well with Sucker Punch, letting Bisharp take advantage of the turns where the opponent tries to avoid getting hit with Sucker Punch by using a non-damaging move, hence ending any mind games that may ensue after Bisharp has received a boost. In addition, having a Substitute up encourages the enemy to attack and break it, allowing for more opportunities to use Sucker Punch successfully. Low Kick is the best choice for the last move, achieving almost perfect neutral coverage in UU alongside Sucker Punch, missing out only on Heracross. Iron Head is a possibility for the last moveslot, being just as strong as Sucker Punch after STAB and much more reliable. In addition, after a Swords Dance, Iron Head obtains numerous KOs, assuming the opponent does not resist it and Bisharp outspeeds or is behind a Substitute.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Maximum EVs are invested into Attack to allow Bisharp to obtain the highest possible damage output. An Adamant nature is chosen to hit even harder, especially considering that a Jolly nature does not allow Bisharp to outspeed anything noteworthy, and an Adamant nature achieves many OHKOs and 2HKOs that a Jolly nature does not. 204 Speed EVs are used to outspeed defensive Arcanine and other base 95s, which is a good benchmark to hit. The remaining EVs are thrown into HP so Bisharp can better take advantage of his 100 base Defense and numerous resistances. Alternatively, the Speed EVs can be dropped to 128, which outruns 4 Speed Gligar, or to none, allowing Bisharp to invest more in HP. However, this leaves Bisharp outsped by numerous Pokemon and thus much easier to revenge kill. Low Kick is a better move than Brick Break, as it hits almost all of the Pokemon Brick Break covers for the same or greater damage. Notably, it lets Bisharp OHKO Registeel and Cobalion after a Swords Dance.</p>
<p>Life Orb is a decent item choice, allowing Bisharp to hit even harder than it already does, but Leftovers is usually the better option, as Bisharp will be using Substitute quite often, and Leftovers heals off some of the health lost by each use of Substitute. If Life Orb is used, Night Slash is a solid alternative to Substitute, hitting Pokemon that try to use non-damaging moves with zero risk, though the real reason it is used over Substitute is that Substitute would use up too much HP in conjunction with Life Orb. Crobat and Zapdos are good offensive partners, dealing with the Fighting-types that are troublesome to Bisharp with great ease. Roserade is also a good teammate, being able to deal with opposing bulky Water-types that give Bisharp issues and laying down Spikes that supplement Bisharp's sweep.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Bisharp has a fairly sparse movepool. That being said, he still has a few other tricks up his sleeve. Pursuit is a move that stands out, allowing Bisharp to trap and KO opposing Ghost- and Psychic-types. With access to Stealth Rock, a support set is a viable option. Bisharp should then use a more defensive EV spread along with the moves Stealth Rock, Sucker Punch, and Thunder Wave, among other useful support moves. This sort of set would allow Bisharp to showcase his high Defense stat and many resistances. Psycho Cut might be considered to deal with Fighting-types, but Iron Head deals around as much damage to them. A Choice set might seem a good idea for immediate power, however, a Choice-locked Sucker Punch is never a good idea due to its unreliability.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Cobalion stands out as Bisharp's greatest counter, as it can come in on any move, outspeed, and murder Bisharp with its STAB Close Combat. Bisharp can only OHKO in return if he is at +2 and carries Low Kick. Bulky Water-types, such as Swampert and Milotic, can switch in on Swords Dance, take any one of Bisharp's boosted attacks, and hit hard in return with their attacking move of choice or, alternatively, use Haze or Dragon Tail to get rid of any boosts. Most Fighting-types in the UU tier can outspeed Bisharp or at least use Mach Punch, their super effective STAB moves dealing easily with Bisharp. Notable examples include the aforementioned Cobalion and Heracross. Hitmontop seems like another good choice but needs to be careful, however, as Defiant causes Intimidate to boost Bisharps's Attack rather than dropping it.</p>
