[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 7-8 points
**Overview**: Hisuian Braviary is an excellent low-tier sweeper and wallbreaker thanks to its solid Special Attack stat, setup options in Calm Mind, Esper Wing, and Agility, and a decent arsenal of coverage moves. Alongside its access to reliable recovery and having two amazing abilities in Sheer Force and Tinted Lens, this valiant eagle becomes a scary threat that demands respect. However, Hisuian Braviary is held back by its terrible Speed stat and weaknesses to common types in Dark, Electric, Ice, and Rock, and thus faces strong competition from other low-tier setup threats.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Wallbreaker**: Hisuian Braviary can blow past teams with the combination of powerful moves like Hurricane, Psychic, and Heat Wave, which are all boosted by Sheer Force and Life Orb. It often runs Agility on this set to patch its below-par Speed stat.
**Setup Sweeper**: Despite its middling bulk, Hisuian Braviary can be a potent setup sweeper with access to setup moves like Calm Mind and Esper Wing and reliable recovery in Roost.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Esper Wing, Psychic, Psyshock, Psychic Noise, Stored Power, Hurricane, Air Slash
**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind, Agility
**Utility Moves**: Defog, U-turn, Tailwind, Whirlwind
**Coverage**: Dazzling Gleam, Heat Wave, Tera Blast, Shadow Ball, Vacuum Wave
Niche Moves
========
**Future Sight**: Bulkier sets can run Future Sight to assist teammates by pressuring opposing Pokemon.
**Icy Wind**: Icy Wind can be run to slow down opposing Pokemon to enable teammates to revenge them more easily.
Common Items
========
**Life Orb**: Life Orb is the item of choice on sets that run Sheer Force, giving Hisuian Braviary a huge boost in power on moves like Hurricane, Psychic, and Heat Wave.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots patches Hisuian Braviary's weakness to Stealth Rock, saving it from taking any damage when pivoting in.
**Leftovers**: Leftovers can be run on bulky setup sets to provide passive recovery to Hisuian Braviary, bolstering its ability to take hits more easily.
Niche Items
========
**Choice Specs**: Choice Specs is run when the opponent has terrible Psychic- and Flying-resistant Pokemon, enabling Hisuian Braviary to dish out the maximum damage possible. Against teams with no Dark-type Pokemon, the combination of Choice Specs, Tinted Lens, and Esper Wing can snowball really fast.
**Kee Berry / Grassy Seed**: A Kee Berry can be used to gain a boost to Defense and pairs nicely with a bulky Calm Mind set, enabling Hisuian Braviary to take hits on both sides easily as it sets up. A Grassy Seed can be used instead if paired with Rillaboom or Thwackey for a similar effect.
**Resistance Berries**: Hisuian Braviary sports weaknesses to several common types such as Rock, Dark, Electric, and Ice. A resistance Berry can be used to survive a super effective hit and deal massive damage to the opposing Pokemon.
**Sitrus Berry**: Sitrus Berry is used an alternative to Leftovers in certain scenarios where the immediate extra recovery in health can help Hisuian Braviary survive another attack.
**Weakness Policy**: Hisuian Braviary has the bulk to survive non-boosted super effective hits, making it a good recipient to hold a Weakness Policy. Such a set would usually run Agility to fix its Speed.
Tera
========
Hisuian Braviary is an excellent choice for a second Tera Captain, as it complements the primary Tera Captain by not relying on Tera to be a potent threat. However, when given the opportunity, it uses Tera to enable easier setup and gain additional coverage thanks to Tera Blast. Hisuian Braviary makes use of Tera Flying and Psychic to further boost the damage from its STAB moves. Additionally, it can utilize Tera Steel, Fairy, and Electric to have a better defensive typing as it attempts to set up and sweep or wallbreak.
Draft Strategy
========
Hisuian Braviary fits best on offensive teams, providing another valuable offensive tool in a draft's arsenal. As it does not fulfill any important roles, it should only be drafted once all the important pieces have been acquired.
**Physical Wallbreaker**: Physical wallbreakers like Palafin and Urshifu formes make for excellent complementary teammates, breaking past physical and special walls on the opposing team.
**Entry Hazard Support**: As Life Orb is the preferred item of choice on Hisuian Braviary to get the most mileage out of Sheer Force, entry hazard removal from Pokemon like Great Tusk, Iron Treads, and Donphan greatly benefits it, allowing it to avoid taking any damage from Stealth Rock. It also appreciates entry hazard support from the likes of Hisuian Samurott and Diancie, as the chip damage helps it pick up KOs more easily.
**Faster Pokemon**: While it is able to boost speed with Esper Wing and Agility, Hisuian Braviary's Speed stat is low for a wallbreaker. Faster Pokemon like Meowscarada and Iron Valiant are essential to revenge kill opposing fast Pokemon.
**Strong Pivots**: Hisuian Braviary is at its best when it is able to pivot in safely and fire off attacks to deal massive damage to opposing Pokemon. As such, bulky pivots like Rotom-W and Scizor are able to sponge hits for it as well as bring it in safely.
Checks and Counters
========
**Specially Bulky Pokemon**: Specially bulky Pokemon like Ting-Lu, Blissey, and Diancie are able to sponge Hisuian Braviary's STAB moves. However, Blissey has to be wary of Psyshock, and Ting-Lu and Diancie have to be wary of Tera Blast.
**Stealth Rock**: Hisuian Braviary's weakness to Stealth Rock and preference to run Life Orb makes Stealth Rock an effective way of cutting into its health, making it easier to revenge kill.
**Faster Pokemon**: Hisuian Braviary's bad Speed stat leaves it vulnerable to faster Pokemon that are able to outspeed and KO it. Pokemon that are able to outspeed it after an Agility while equipping a Choice Scarf such as Meowscarada, Iron Valiant, and Iron Bundle are especially troublesome.
**Bulky Dark-types**: Bulky Dark-types like Mandibuzz and Umbreon can soft check Hisuian Braviary's setup set and prevent it from getting a Speed boost with Esper Wing. However, they take massive damage from Life Orb + Sheer Force-boosted Hurricane, so they are not always reliable checks.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/professor-shuckle.530941/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sablolol.466715/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 7-8 points
**Overview**: Hisuian Braviary is an excellent low-tier sweeper and wallbreaker thanks to its solid Special Attack stat, setup options in Calm Mind, Esper Wing, and Agility, and a decent arsenal of coverage moves. Alongside its access to reliable recovery and having two amazing abilities in Sheer Force and Tinted Lens, this valiant eagle becomes a scary threat that demands respect. However, Hisuian Braviary is held back by its terrible Speed stat and weaknesses to common types in Dark, Electric, Ice, and Rock, and thus faces strong competition from other low-tier setup threats.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Wallbreaker**: Hisuian Braviary can blow past teams with the combination of powerful moves like Hurricane, Psychic, and Heat Wave, which are all boosted by Sheer Force and Life Orb. It often runs Agility on this set to patch its below-par Speed stat.
**Setup Sweeper**: Despite its middling bulk, Hisuian Braviary can be a potent setup sweeper with access to setup moves like Calm Mind and Esper Wing and reliable recovery in Roost.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Esper Wing, Psychic, Psyshock, Psychic Noise, Stored Power, Hurricane, Air Slash
**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind, Agility
**Utility Moves**: Defog, U-turn, Tailwind, Whirlwind
**Coverage**: Dazzling Gleam, Heat Wave, Tera Blast, Shadow Ball, Vacuum Wave
Niche Moves
========
**Future Sight**: Bulkier sets can run Future Sight to assist teammates by pressuring opposing Pokemon.
**Icy Wind**: Icy Wind can be run to slow down opposing Pokemon to enable teammates to revenge them more easily.
Common Items
========
**Life Orb**: Life Orb is the item of choice on sets that run Sheer Force, giving Hisuian Braviary a huge boost in power on moves like Hurricane, Psychic, and Heat Wave.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots patches Hisuian Braviary's weakness to Stealth Rock, saving it from taking any damage when pivoting in.
**Leftovers**: Leftovers can be run on bulky setup sets to provide passive recovery to Hisuian Braviary, bolstering its ability to take hits more easily.
Niche Items
========
**Choice Specs**: Choice Specs is run when the opponent has terrible Psychic- and Flying-resistant Pokemon, enabling Hisuian Braviary to dish out the maximum damage possible. Against teams with no Dark-type Pokemon, the combination of Choice Specs, Tinted Lens, and Esper Wing can snowball really fast.
**Kee Berry / Grassy Seed**: A Kee Berry can be used to gain a boost to Defense and pairs nicely with a bulky Calm Mind set, enabling Hisuian Braviary to take hits on both sides easily as it sets up. A Grassy Seed can be used instead if paired with Rillaboom or Thwackey for a similar effect.
**Resistance Berries**: Hisuian Braviary sports weaknesses to several common types such as Rock, Dark, Electric, and Ice. A resistance Berry can be used to survive a super effective hit and deal massive damage to the opposing Pokemon.
**Sitrus Berry**: Sitrus Berry is used an alternative to Leftovers in certain scenarios where the immediate extra recovery in health can help Hisuian Braviary survive another attack.
**Weakness Policy**: Hisuian Braviary has the bulk to survive non-boosted super effective hits, making it a good recipient to hold a Weakness Policy. Such a set would usually run Agility to fix its Speed.
Tera
========
Hisuian Braviary is an excellent choice for a second Tera Captain, as it complements the primary Tera Captain by not relying on Tera to be a potent threat. However, when given the opportunity, it uses Tera to enable easier setup and gain additional coverage thanks to Tera Blast. Hisuian Braviary makes use of Tera Flying and Psychic to further boost the damage from its STAB moves. Additionally, it can utilize Tera Steel, Fairy, and Electric to have a better defensive typing as it attempts to set up and sweep or wallbreak.
Draft Strategy
========
Hisuian Braviary fits best on offensive teams, providing another valuable offensive tool in a draft's arsenal. As it does not fulfill any important roles, it should only be drafted once all the important pieces have been acquired.
**Physical Wallbreaker**: Physical wallbreakers like Palafin and Urshifu formes make for excellent complementary teammates, breaking past physical and special walls on the opposing team.
**Entry Hazard Support**: As Life Orb is the preferred item of choice on Hisuian Braviary to get the most mileage out of Sheer Force, entry hazard removal from Pokemon like Great Tusk, Iron Treads, and Donphan greatly benefits it, allowing it to avoid taking any damage from Stealth Rock. It also appreciates entry hazard support from the likes of Hisuian Samurott and Diancie, as the chip damage helps it pick up KOs more easily.
**Faster Pokemon**: While it is able to boost speed with Esper Wing and Agility, Hisuian Braviary's Speed stat is low for a wallbreaker. Faster Pokemon like Meowscarada and Iron Valiant are essential to revenge kill opposing fast Pokemon.
**Strong Pivots**: Hisuian Braviary is at its best when it is able to pivot in safely and fire off attacks to deal massive damage to opposing Pokemon. As such, bulky pivots like Rotom-W and Scizor are able to sponge hits for it as well as bring it in safely.
Checks and Counters
========
**Specially Bulky Pokemon**: Specially bulky Pokemon like Ting-Lu, Blissey, and Diancie are able to sponge Hisuian Braviary's STAB moves. However, Blissey has to be wary of Psyshock, and Ting-Lu and Diancie have to be wary of Tera Blast.
**Stealth Rock**: Hisuian Braviary's weakness to Stealth Rock and preference to run Life Orb makes Stealth Rock an effective way of cutting into its health, making it easier to revenge kill.
**Faster Pokemon**: Hisuian Braviary's bad Speed stat leaves it vulnerable to faster Pokemon that are able to outspeed and KO it. Pokemon that are able to outspeed it after an Agility while equipping a Choice Scarf such as Meowscarada, Iron Valiant, and Iron Bundle are especially troublesome.
**Bulky Dark-types**: Bulky Dark-types like Mandibuzz and Umbreon can soft check Hisuian Braviary's setup set and prevent it from getting a Speed boost with Esper Wing. However, they take massive damage from Life Orb + Sheer Force-boosted Hurricane, so they are not always reliable checks.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/professor-shuckle.530941/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sablolol.466715/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
Last edited:
