Honchkrow (Analysis) [QC 0/3]

complete legitimacy

complete legitimacy

is it cold in the water?
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
430.png

Honchkrow




[Overview]
  • The REAL Big Bird
  • A boss with Moxie, no pun intended
  • Can run a mixed set as well
  • Pretty cool offensive typing
  • Slow, and abysmal defenses only mitigated by good HP
  • Easily revenged before Moxie
  • 9 out of 10 can't get past common OU Steels such as Skarmory, Jirachi, and Heatran, as well as Gliscor
[SET]
name: Moxie SubRoost
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Roost
move 3: Brave Bird
move 4: Sucker Punch
item: Life Orb
ability: Moxie
nature: Jolly
evs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Def / 208 Spe


[SET COMMENTS]
  • Set that wreaks havoc in lower tiers, and can do the same in OU
  • Come in on something slower, get a Moxie boost, and kill faster things with Sucker Punch
  • Substitute can scout and blocks status
  • Between Life Orb recoil, Brave Bird recoil, Substitute, Stealth Rock, and Sandstorm, Honchkrow is going to be taking lots of passive damage
  • Roost patches this up
  • Brave Bird is most powerful STAB move, and gets good neutral coverage
  • Sucker Punch revnges faster things to get another Moxie boost and extend sweep
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
  • Max Attack investment to hit hard
  • Jolly nature and 208 Speed EVs outspeed max speed Scizor and the plethora of things perched just on top of max speed Tyranitar
  • 32 HP EVs give a Life Orb number, and the rest are placed in Defense
  • Taunt is an option over Substitute to avoid status and phazing, it can also help Honchkrow's longevity
  • Pursuit can also be used to ensure Honchkrow gets the first kill to get a Moxie boost
  • Common physical walls Gliscor and Skarmory both beat this set
  • Scizor can easily revenge kill with Bullet Punch
  • Magnezone is a great teammate to trap and KO both of these Pokemon
  • Appreciates Rapid Spin support
  • Forretress has good synergy and can also lay down hazards
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Night Slash
move 3: Drill Peck
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fire
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Moxie
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 8 SpA / 248 Spe



[SET COMMENTS]
  • Best used coming in on something that it would outspeed without a Scarf
  • When they send in their revenge killer, you outspeed and pick up a second kill
  • Brave Bird is most powerful STAB move
  • Night Slash is secondary STAB
  • Drill Peck gives you no recoil
  • Hidden Power is a tossup for whatever your team needs
  • HP Grass gives you a way to hit bulky Waters
  • HP Ice breaks through Gliscor
  • HP Fire breaks through Skarmory, as Heat Wave is illegal with Moxie
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
  • With a Scarf, Honchkrow can outspeed positive-nature base 130s
  • Only 248 EVs are needed to do this, so remaining 8 are placed in Sp. Atk
  • Max Attack to make those Brave Birds hurt
  • Naughty nature speed ties with Starmie and other base 115s, so it could be used, however Naive is generally recommended
  • Choice locked Sucker Punch is set-up fodder, and Honchkrow is already fast with a Scarf
  • Forretress is a good teammate for hazards and Rapid Spin
  • Slower Pokemon that can take advantage of faster revenge killers being eliminated work great with this set
  • Heatran takes nothing from any of this set's moves and can beat Honchkrow
[SET]
name: MixKrow
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Superpower
move 4: Heat Wave
item: Life Orb
ability: Insomnia
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 44 SpA / 212 Spe
ivs: 29 HP



[SET COMMENTS]
  • Honchkrow has great mixed attacking potential and this set makes use of it
  • Beats most counters to the SubRoost set, but any Honchkrow set has surprise value
  • Brave Bird is STAB
  • Sucker Punch for fast things
  • Superpower gives you perfect neutral coverage
  • Heat Wave nails Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Jirachi
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
  • Almost the same spread as the SubRoost set, but this one adds 4 EVs to outspeed max speed Modest Heatran
  • Max Attack to wreck with Brave Bird, remaining placed in Sp. Atk
  • An HP IV of 29 gives you an optimal Life Orb number
  • Hidden Power Grass can be used if you have problems with bulky Waters
  • Superpower and Heat Wave are illegal with Moxie, so Insomnia is preferred
  • Roost can also work
  • Drill Peck has no recoil, but the drop in power is significant
  • Gliscor takes minimal damage from this set
  • Physical Attackers that can beat Gliscor, such as Haxorus, Mamoswine, and Scrafty have a field day once Honchkrow's job is done
  • Spin Forretress,spin
[Other Options]
  • Choice Band set
  • Choice Scarf set using Insomnia with Heat Wave and/or Superpower
  • Honchkrow gets Nasty Plot along with Dark Pulse, Psychic, and Shadow Ball
  • Payback is generally a bad option becuase although Honchkrow is slow, its lousy bulk doesn't help
  • Interesting support movepool highlighted by Thunder Wave, Psycho Shift, Haze, Perish Song, and Confuse Ray
[Checks & Counters]
  • Gliscor only fears Hidden Power Ice on the Scarf set
  • Scizor and Mamoswine wreck Honchkrow with STAB Bullet Punch and Ice Shard, respectively
  • Specially defensive Jirachi can paraflinch it to death
  • Terrakion gets a special mention because it can outspeed and KO easily, and can get an Attack boost if Honchkrow uses Sucker Punch
 
Strong mon. I think Leftovers should be slashed on the sub-roost set. The reason Honch could run LO in the lower tiers was the absence of sandstorm. In OU, sand in addition to subing + sr + Brave Bird + LO recoil might be a bit much to manage with Roost. Drill Peck could be mentioned in the AO of the Sub-roost set as an alternative to Beave Bird. It's weaker than BB, but there's no recoil.

Oh and you could mention Wobbufet as a partner to the mixed set. It traps and eliminates Scarf Landorus and Terrakion who will ruin your sweep.
 
Idk how good this is. Moxie is great and all but the stealth rock weakness, low speed, weakness to sand, weak to the ever common volt-turn,negative bulk and it doesnt look like it's beating the top 10 mons(i guess mixcrow beats ferro) with the exception of latios.
 
I've used Honchkrow in OU before, so I can attest to how good it is. Sure, it has no way of hitting Steels, but that's what teammates are for.

I think Adamant would be better for the first set, though. Honchkrow isn't really outspeeding anything significant with base 71 Speed. You should be trying to reach 240 Speed, to outspeed maximum Speed Adamant Breloom, so I think the EV spread should look more like 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Spe with an Adamant nature, just enough to beat said Breloom. That's what I used when I ran it, and it worked well.
 
Pretty sure the mixed-set is outclassed by Tyranitar. Choice Scarf isn't great either due to Scizor preventing Moxie sweeps, weakness to SR, outsped and threatened by Scarf Rotom-W etc. SubRoost is better because it helps circumvent Honchkrow's frailty somewhat and mitigates all of the above issues with good play. Honchkrow + Magnezone+ Dragonite would be pretty cool. If I was QC, I'd approve the SubRoost set but reject everything else, but that's not my call.
 
fancy EV spread on the first set, but is it really worth it? Imo max speed is way better so that you can outspeed breloom and politoed
 
Honchkrow is a terrible Pokemon in OU, and has little merit. Moxie locks it out of its only options for dealing with Steel-types, and it's walled by a number of notable Pokemon. It's slow, it's not especially bulky, it's weak to Stealth Rock, and worst of all, it's essentially utterly outclassed by Tyranitar. Ground immunity doesnt count for much when most attackers that rely on Ground-type moves also pack some kind of super effective move on Flying-types.

Rejecting this Pokemon. It's "okay" in lower tiers, but terrible in OU.

QC REJECTED (1/3)
 
I told SDS I'd post here later so here it goes.

Even though Honckhrow has a very good base Attack stat and good HP and Special Attack, its mediocre defenses and especially its low Speed really let him down. It does have a very nice ability in Moxie, but this ability forces it not to run Superpower and Heat Wave, which means some of the common Steel-types in OU can use it as set-up fodder, while the many faster Pokemon can usually take a Sucker Punch and OHKO in return.

QC REJECTED 2/3
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top