Right now I'm more concerned about content, I haven't swept through looking for grammar problems yet so don't do that yet. If you could just look at the team options section and see if I'm missing anything. This is my first Team Options write up and I wasn't exactly too great with it imo.
Some notable things: Dropped Nasty Plot, choiced sets and Lead set...pretty much it.
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/honchkrow
[SET]
name: Life Orb Mob Boss
move 1: Drill Peck
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Superpower
move 4: Night Slash / Pursuit
item: Life Orb
ability: Super Luck
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Honchkrow is one of the premier physical attackers and wall breakers in all of UU, sporting an impressive 125 base Attack and amazing type coverage. While base 71 Speed is actually quite unimpressive, Honchkrow makes up for this by packing some priority heat in the form of STAB Sucker Punch. While this in turn may lead the Honchkrow user into some extremely tricky Sucker Punch guessing games, more often than not it limits your opponent's ways in which they can deal with Honchkrow. Flying and Dark provide Honchkrow with almost unresisted type coverage in UU. The only common Pokemon in UU that resist the combination are Registeel and Steelix, both of which take heaps of damage from Life Orb Superpower.</p>
<p>Night Slash is the preferred option over Pursuit because dropping Night Slash makes Honchkrow's job of breaking down the opponent's defenses a much more difficult task. While you may be able to catch a switching Chansey or Mismagius, it hardly seems worth it over Night Slash, which can provide surefire heavy damage against Psychics such as Slowbro who threatens to Thunder Wave you and, with its 25% critical hit rate, can often give you a "Plan B" against several walls such as Milotic and Spiritomb. The simple fact is that, given the difficulty at which Honchkrow is effectively walled, you're often much better hitting your opponent's switch-in than you are damaging what they're switching out. Though if it's important for your team to Pursuit a defensive threat that Honchkrow scares off, it is a viable choice over Night Slash. Just be warned that you'll eventually begin to miss Night Slash</p>
<p>Super Luck is listed as the ability of choice over Insomnia for a few simple reasons. First of all, Night Slash with a 25% critical hit rate is almost too good to pass up, while the increase to 12.5% on the other attacks is also welcome. Secondly, sleep moves are not all too common in UU. While Venusaur and Roserade often carry Sleep Powder, switching Honchkrow in on either one of these Pokemon is not recommended. Both can hit Honchkrow with a powerful STAB Sludge Bomb and even their resisted Grass moves combined with Stealth Rock damage can put a hurting on Honchkrow that will essentially leave it crippled for the remainder of the match. So it becomes quite clear that the benefit from running Super Luck far outweighs any benefit Insomnia could potentially provide.</p>
<p>As mentioned above, Honchkrow does most of its own work, though he is met with the same problem that Mixmence has in OU: he is essentially running on a timer. The best way to alleviate this problem is by running a Rapid Spinner which can easily keep Stealth Rock off the field. In UU this pretty much amounts to Hitmontop or Donphan. Honchkrow also loves entry hazard support as it makes almost anything hard-pressed to switch in and take two hits of a Honchkrow onslaught. This makes Donphan, who learns Stealth Rock, stand above Hitmontop as Honchkrow's preferred partner in crime.</p>
[SET]
name: Scarf Honchkrow
move 1: Drill Peck
move 2: Night Slash
move 3: Pursuit
move 4: Superpower
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Super Luck
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Honchkrow donning a pretty scarf plays a much different role than a bare necked Honchkrow. Honchkrow surprisingly maintains its ability to sweep with Choice Scarf instead of Life Orb, however how you go about doing so is much different. The moveset is essentially the same, however Sucker Punch is no longer needed which opens up room for both Night Slash and Pursuit to be run on the same set. Early on in the match you should be looking for opportunities to nab free guaranteed kills with Pursuit on Pokemon such as Mismagius. Your main goal is to open yourself up for a late game spree with either Drill Peck or Night Slash</p>
<p>Adamant is the recommended option because of how little there is between the 361 you sit at with Adamant and the 397 provided by Jolly, however there are some notable Pokemon that may make it worth running Jolly. First of all, Adamant Scarf brings you to 361, which is a tie with Ambipom. Plus Speed Sceptile and Dugtrio are the biggest names past that mark, both at 372. If you feel these Pokemon are important for Honchkrow to outspeed, then Jolly is the clear choice. With Jolly you're best off using a spread of 56HP/252Atk/200Spe.</p>
<p>Like any Choice set in comparison to a Life Orb set, this requires much more support. Throwing around Scarfed Superpowers isn't exactly recommended and the loss of power from the lack of Life Orb means that the dent you put into Steelix and Registeel isn't really anything that can't be buffed out. Therefore, you definitely want the support of a Pokemon that can consistently switch into the two of those and threaten them away while also being able to get rid of Stealth Rock that they probably laid down while you were switching. So this set clearly likes the partnership of Hitmontop and Donphan much more than the last. Also you'll probably want a Pokemon that can catch Steelix and Registeel off guard since constantly forcing them out isn't really getting closer to KOing them, unless you're confident enough to use Superpower every time you bring Honch in. Something like Choice Band Kangaskhan can catch both with a Hammer Arm or an Earthquake or you could even go as far as running PerishTrap Mismagius.</p>
[TEAM OPTIONS]
<p>Besides what was mentioned above, Honchkrow absolutely loves entry hazards. Stealth Rock and Spikes go a long way in helping Honchkrow. A few Pokemon, such as Moltres and, most notably, Milotic can weather a Honchkrow storm as long as the field is devoid of entry hazards. Moltres can be easily dealt with by getting Stealth Rock down as early as possible. Milotic on the other hand, requires spikes to beat. This makes Roserade a great teammate for Honchkrow, being able to come in on any Milotic set and lay down Spikes with ease.</p>
<p>If running both Spikes and Stealth Rock, making sure they don't get spun off the field by a hyperactive Donphan may be a good investment. In UU, there are several viable spinblockers. Mismagius is your best bet for an offensive spinblocker, being able to block spin and at the same time set up offensively, while taking advantage of the entry hazards. It can also go a more defensive route with Will-O-Wisp and Pain Split. Rotom can also be an offensive spinblocker by running either Choice Scarf or Subcharge and it can be defensive with a Rest/Sleep Talk set.</p>
[OTHER OPTIONS]
<p>Honchkrow has access to Nasty Plot, a fairly decent 105 base Special Attack and a good Special movepool that includes Dark Pulse and Heat Wave. However, Honchkrow is definitely not built to be a setup Pokemon. It doesn't even serve as a good lure for Steelix, since any intelligent player knows that when Honchkrow plots something nasty, a wave of heat is sure to follow. All you end up doing is making it even easier for Milotic to wall you. You may be able to catch a Donphan here and there with a Plot Dark Pulse, but in the long run, you're definitely better off recklessly using Honchkrow's physical movepool.</p>
[EVs]
<p>Honchkrow is one of the easiest Pokemon in the game to EV. You never want anything other than 4/252/252 no matter what set you're running. Unless you fall prey to a fit of insanity and decide you want to run a defensive Roost Honchkrow, you shouldn't deviate from those EVs, except in the case of Jolly Scarf, as explained above.</p>
[OPINION]
<p>Honchkrow is definitely a scary Pokemon to see come out of your opponent's Pokeball, especially if you're running stall, although the addition of Donphan to the tier alleviated the problem a bit. Offensive teams will usually have to sacrifice something to the Boss, but luckily for them, Honchkrow has a lot of trouble switching into anything short of Choiced Earthquake. Honchkrow is definitely a good addition to a balanced team that makes use of entry hazards while having one or two offensive Pokemon to take advantage of the hazards.</p>
<p>One of the big questions surrounding Honchkrow is "Why not use Absol?" Absol has access to Swords Dance and takes neutral damage from Stealth Rock, which on the surface makes it seem like Absol is clearly the better choice for Physical Dark Sweeper. However, Honchkrow has a few distinct advantages that go a long way in making it generally superior to Absol. First, the same thing that makes it Stealth Rock weak, its Flying type, also grants it an Immunity to Earthquake, makes it neutral to Bug and above all, makes it neutral to Fighting. With all the Fighting Priority flying around in the form of Vacuum Wave and Mach Punch, it helps to not take Super Effective damage from Fighting. Also in regards to the Fighting type, Honchkrow also packs a STAB Drill Peck to deal with those pesky ruffians. Absol's best way of dealing with defensive fighters such as Hitmontop and Hariyama is the base 70 Psycho Cut, which really doesn't cut it.</p>
[COUNTERS]
<p>Countering Honchkrow is a tricky endeavor. Glancing over the most used Pokemon in the Underused metagame, it becomes clear that not too much can safely switch into Honchkrow. Milotic is probably your best bet, considering it beats Honchkrow every time barring a critical hit. Donphan can also come in on any attack and threaten it out with a strong Ice Shard or Stone Edge. However, with a lack of recovery that plagues most Honchkrow counters, Donphan can't do that job forever. Steelix is the better Steel type for taking on Honchkrow, considering a Life Orb Superpower does a lot less to Steelix and his whopping Base 200 Defense than it does to Registeel. Regirock, for the same reason as Steelix, can handle Honchkrow. However the lack of a Dark resist makes switching into Night Slashes and their 25% critical hit rate a riskier endeavor. Your main goal in dealing with Honchkrow is to get Stealth Rock up right away and do your best to keep it up and hope you can get it down with Life Orb recoil. Also the surprise Substitute on a faster Pokmon can really catch a Sucker Punching Honchkrow off guard.</p>
Some notable things: Dropped Nasty Plot, choiced sets and Lead set...pretty much it.
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/honchkrow
[SET]
name: Life Orb Mob Boss
move 1: Drill Peck
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Superpower
move 4: Night Slash / Pursuit
item: Life Orb
ability: Super Luck
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Honchkrow is one of the premier physical attackers and wall breakers in all of UU, sporting an impressive 125 base Attack and amazing type coverage. While base 71 Speed is actually quite unimpressive, Honchkrow makes up for this by packing some priority heat in the form of STAB Sucker Punch. While this in turn may lead the Honchkrow user into some extremely tricky Sucker Punch guessing games, more often than not it limits your opponent's ways in which they can deal with Honchkrow. Flying and Dark provide Honchkrow with almost unresisted type coverage in UU. The only common Pokemon in UU that resist the combination are Registeel and Steelix, both of which take heaps of damage from Life Orb Superpower.</p>
<p>Night Slash is the preferred option over Pursuit because dropping Night Slash makes Honchkrow's job of breaking down the opponent's defenses a much more difficult task. While you may be able to catch a switching Chansey or Mismagius, it hardly seems worth it over Night Slash, which can provide surefire heavy damage against Psychics such as Slowbro who threatens to Thunder Wave you and, with its 25% critical hit rate, can often give you a "Plan B" against several walls such as Milotic and Spiritomb. The simple fact is that, given the difficulty at which Honchkrow is effectively walled, you're often much better hitting your opponent's switch-in than you are damaging what they're switching out. Though if it's important for your team to Pursuit a defensive threat that Honchkrow scares off, it is a viable choice over Night Slash. Just be warned that you'll eventually begin to miss Night Slash</p>
<p>Super Luck is listed as the ability of choice over Insomnia for a few simple reasons. First of all, Night Slash with a 25% critical hit rate is almost too good to pass up, while the increase to 12.5% on the other attacks is also welcome. Secondly, sleep moves are not all too common in UU. While Venusaur and Roserade often carry Sleep Powder, switching Honchkrow in on either one of these Pokemon is not recommended. Both can hit Honchkrow with a powerful STAB Sludge Bomb and even their resisted Grass moves combined with Stealth Rock damage can put a hurting on Honchkrow that will essentially leave it crippled for the remainder of the match. So it becomes quite clear that the benefit from running Super Luck far outweighs any benefit Insomnia could potentially provide.</p>
<p>As mentioned above, Honchkrow does most of its own work, though he is met with the same problem that Mixmence has in OU: he is essentially running on a timer. The best way to alleviate this problem is by running a Rapid Spinner which can easily keep Stealth Rock off the field. In UU this pretty much amounts to Hitmontop or Donphan. Honchkrow also loves entry hazard support as it makes almost anything hard-pressed to switch in and take two hits of a Honchkrow onslaught. This makes Donphan, who learns Stealth Rock, stand above Hitmontop as Honchkrow's preferred partner in crime.</p>
[SET]
name: Scarf Honchkrow
move 1: Drill Peck
move 2: Night Slash
move 3: Pursuit
move 4: Superpower
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Super Luck
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Honchkrow donning a pretty scarf plays a much different role than a bare necked Honchkrow. Honchkrow surprisingly maintains its ability to sweep with Choice Scarf instead of Life Orb, however how you go about doing so is much different. The moveset is essentially the same, however Sucker Punch is no longer needed which opens up room for both Night Slash and Pursuit to be run on the same set. Early on in the match you should be looking for opportunities to nab free guaranteed kills with Pursuit on Pokemon such as Mismagius. Your main goal is to open yourself up for a late game spree with either Drill Peck or Night Slash</p>
<p>Adamant is the recommended option because of how little there is between the 361 you sit at with Adamant and the 397 provided by Jolly, however there are some notable Pokemon that may make it worth running Jolly. First of all, Adamant Scarf brings you to 361, which is a tie with Ambipom. Plus Speed Sceptile and Dugtrio are the biggest names past that mark, both at 372. If you feel these Pokemon are important for Honchkrow to outspeed, then Jolly is the clear choice. With Jolly you're best off using a spread of 56HP/252Atk/200Spe.</p>
<p>Like any Choice set in comparison to a Life Orb set, this requires much more support. Throwing around Scarfed Superpowers isn't exactly recommended and the loss of power from the lack of Life Orb means that the dent you put into Steelix and Registeel isn't really anything that can't be buffed out. Therefore, you definitely want the support of a Pokemon that can consistently switch into the two of those and threaten them away while also being able to get rid of Stealth Rock that they probably laid down while you were switching. So this set clearly likes the partnership of Hitmontop and Donphan much more than the last. Also you'll probably want a Pokemon that can catch Steelix and Registeel off guard since constantly forcing them out isn't really getting closer to KOing them, unless you're confident enough to use Superpower every time you bring Honch in. Something like Choice Band Kangaskhan can catch both with a Hammer Arm or an Earthquake or you could even go as far as running PerishTrap Mismagius.</p>
[TEAM OPTIONS]
<p>Besides what was mentioned above, Honchkrow absolutely loves entry hazards. Stealth Rock and Spikes go a long way in helping Honchkrow. A few Pokemon, such as Moltres and, most notably, Milotic can weather a Honchkrow storm as long as the field is devoid of entry hazards. Moltres can be easily dealt with by getting Stealth Rock down as early as possible. Milotic on the other hand, requires spikes to beat. This makes Roserade a great teammate for Honchkrow, being able to come in on any Milotic set and lay down Spikes with ease.</p>
<p>If running both Spikes and Stealth Rock, making sure they don't get spun off the field by a hyperactive Donphan may be a good investment. In UU, there are several viable spinblockers. Mismagius is your best bet for an offensive spinblocker, being able to block spin and at the same time set up offensively, while taking advantage of the entry hazards. It can also go a more defensive route with Will-O-Wisp and Pain Split. Rotom can also be an offensive spinblocker by running either Choice Scarf or Subcharge and it can be defensive with a Rest/Sleep Talk set.</p>
[OTHER OPTIONS]
<p>Honchkrow has access to Nasty Plot, a fairly decent 105 base Special Attack and a good Special movepool that includes Dark Pulse and Heat Wave. However, Honchkrow is definitely not built to be a setup Pokemon. It doesn't even serve as a good lure for Steelix, since any intelligent player knows that when Honchkrow plots something nasty, a wave of heat is sure to follow. All you end up doing is making it even easier for Milotic to wall you. You may be able to catch a Donphan here and there with a Plot Dark Pulse, but in the long run, you're definitely better off recklessly using Honchkrow's physical movepool.</p>
[EVs]
<p>Honchkrow is one of the easiest Pokemon in the game to EV. You never want anything other than 4/252/252 no matter what set you're running. Unless you fall prey to a fit of insanity and decide you want to run a defensive Roost Honchkrow, you shouldn't deviate from those EVs, except in the case of Jolly Scarf, as explained above.</p>
[OPINION]
<p>Honchkrow is definitely a scary Pokemon to see come out of your opponent's Pokeball, especially if you're running stall, although the addition of Donphan to the tier alleviated the problem a bit. Offensive teams will usually have to sacrifice something to the Boss, but luckily for them, Honchkrow has a lot of trouble switching into anything short of Choiced Earthquake. Honchkrow is definitely a good addition to a balanced team that makes use of entry hazards while having one or two offensive Pokemon to take advantage of the hazards.</p>
<p>One of the big questions surrounding Honchkrow is "Why not use Absol?" Absol has access to Swords Dance and takes neutral damage from Stealth Rock, which on the surface makes it seem like Absol is clearly the better choice for Physical Dark Sweeper. However, Honchkrow has a few distinct advantages that go a long way in making it generally superior to Absol. First, the same thing that makes it Stealth Rock weak, its Flying type, also grants it an Immunity to Earthquake, makes it neutral to Bug and above all, makes it neutral to Fighting. With all the Fighting Priority flying around in the form of Vacuum Wave and Mach Punch, it helps to not take Super Effective damage from Fighting. Also in regards to the Fighting type, Honchkrow also packs a STAB Drill Peck to deal with those pesky ruffians. Absol's best way of dealing with defensive fighters such as Hitmontop and Hariyama is the base 70 Psycho Cut, which really doesn't cut it.</p>
[COUNTERS]
<p>Countering Honchkrow is a tricky endeavor. Glancing over the most used Pokemon in the Underused metagame, it becomes clear that not too much can safely switch into Honchkrow. Milotic is probably your best bet, considering it beats Honchkrow every time barring a critical hit. Donphan can also come in on any attack and threaten it out with a strong Ice Shard or Stone Edge. However, with a lack of recovery that plagues most Honchkrow counters, Donphan can't do that job forever. Steelix is the better Steel type for taking on Honchkrow, considering a Life Orb Superpower does a lot less to Steelix and his whopping Base 200 Defense than it does to Registeel. Regirock, for the same reason as Steelix, can handle Honchkrow. However the lack of a Dark resist makes switching into Night Slashes and their 25% critical hit rate a riskier endeavor. Your main goal in dealing with Honchkrow is to get Stealth Rock up right away and do your best to keep it up and hope you can get it down with Life Orb recoil. Also the surprise Substitute on a faster Pokmon can really catch a Sucker Punching Honchkrow off guard.</p>
