Honchkrow Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Brave Bird is a very powerful STAB move and breaks holes in the opponent's team. Sucker Punch in conjunction with Darkinium Z allows Honchkrow to have a one-time powerful Dark-type STAB move and not have to rely on prediction, doing massive damage to Brave Bird-resistant Pokemon like Bronzong and Metagross. Sucker Punch on its own is a fantastic priority move to revenge kill Pokemon like Gardevoir and Salazzle and can let Honchkrow clean weakened teams. Superpower gives Honchkrow a way to break past Steel-, Dark-, and Rock-types that can take a Brave Bird and not worry about Sucker Punch like Registeel and Rhyperior. Superpower also hits Mandibuzz hard when it uses Roost. Taunt allows Honchkrow to ease some prediction and stallbreak, disrupting the likes of Umbreon and Registeel and gives Honchkrow a way to stop them from spreading Toxic while also preventing entry hazard removal via Defog. Pursuit can help when reading switches from faster Pokemon that want to predict Sucker Punch and remove Psychic-types, Ghost-types, and weakened Pokemon. Set Details The EVs in Speed and a Jolly nature allow Honchkrow to outspeed most defensive Pokemon like Florges and Mantine, giving it the opportunity to use Taunt to prevent entry hazards from being removed or effectively KO them if sufficiently weakened. Additionally, the EVs let it outspeed the likes of Metagross as well as standard Florges and Cresselia sets. Darkinium Z makes Sucker Punch a one-time attack to break through Bronzong and Metagross without having to rely on Sucker Punch. Z-Sucker Punch also heavily dents Cresselia. Life Orb is a solid option if you have another Pokemon with a Z-Crystal and is a lot more threatening versus teams without Darkinium Z Z-Sucker Punch targets, but this weakens Honchkrow more quickly, giving it less time to wallbreak, and makes it a liability to getting revenge killed. Adamant is an alternative nature and is useful to wallbreak more easier, but Honchkrow will lose the Speed that allows it to threaten Metagross, no longer Speed tie with Tyrantrum, and be unlikely to beat Cresselia. Darkinium Z can also be used for Z-Taunt; it gives Honchkrow +1 Attack immediately and helps in scenarios when using Superpower, as it can lower its Attack and Defense, which Z-Taunt alleviates. However, it's situational, and Black Hole Eclipse is a much better option. Usage Tips Honchkrow is best used early-game to support a different sweeper by punching a massive hole in the opponent's team. Honchkrow can also be used as a late-game cleaner due to the combination of Moxie and Sucker Punch. Sucker Punch-resistant Pokemon like Virizion and Toxicroak need to be removed, and faster Pokemon such as Salazzle and Raikou need to be chipped into range of Sucker Punch before Honchkrow attempts to clean. Bring Honchkrow in with a double switch, with a slow pivot, or after a teammate has been knocked out. It also needs to be kept as healthy as possible, so try to keep Stealth Rock off the field and do not let it get afflicted with any status condition. Toxic puts it on a timer, burns make it lose its offensive presence, and paralysis cuts its Speed and can potentially make it miss out on a crucial KO, so ensure you prevent that as best as you can. Honchkrow should never be switched into strong attacks, as it is rather frail. However, switching into predicted Psychic- and Ground-type moves is alright barring Zygarde-10%'s Thousand Arrows. Decide if conserving Honchkrow's HP for a late-game sweep is worth it because recklessly using Brave Bird or switching into Stealth Rock cuts into Honchkrow's HP a lot, so it might not get to clean late-game. Team Options Some of Honchkrow's best teammates are entry hazard setters and removers; the best example is Donphan, which is effective at spinning and keeping hazards on the opponent's side of the field, and it is an effective check to some faster threats like Zygarde-10% and Raikou. Araquanid is also really good for setting Sticky Web and weakening the opponent's team for Honchkrow to clean more easily. Tsareena is also good, as both it and Honchkrow are really potent wallbreakers, and Tsareena can use Rapid Spin reliably. Honchkrow works best with Pokemon like Mega Blastoise, Virizion, and Barbaracle that can pressure Rock- and Steel-types. Fire-types like Ninetales and Arcanine also threaten Steel-types. Healing Wish users like Gardevoir and Shaymin are great partners as they can heal Honchkrow when it is weakened, allowing more reckless play. Slow pivots like Tsareena and Forretress are extremely important to bring Honchkrow in safely. Fast pivots like Raikou and Flygon work as well, as they can force switches to give Honchkrow opportunities to come in.

Moves Brave Bird can 2HKO nearly anything that doesn't resist it. Sucker Punch slightly makes up for Honchkrow's middling Speed. Pursuit traps Psychic-type Pokemon such as Slowking and causes mind games with Sucker Punch, which can put a lot of pressure on the opponent, especially if Honchkrow has a Moxie boost. Roost mitigates the recoil caused by Brave Bird and Life Orb. Superpower hits Steel- and Dark-types such as Lucario, Aggron, Krookodile, Umbreon, and Hydreigon for super effective damage. Set Details Attack and Speed are maximized so that Honchkrow is as fast and powerful as possible, with the Speed investment allowing it to outspeed uninvested Pokemon with a base Speed of 100. An Adamant nature is used to increase Honchkrow's damage output; however, Jolly can be used to outspeed maximum Speed base 70s if needed. Life Orb helps Honchkrow clean, and its recoil isn't too problematic thanks to Roost. Usage Tips Honchkrow is usually used as a late-game cleaner and shouldn't be on the field much early-game; although it can punch holes in opposing teams, it's better off, in most cases, picking off weakened threats. Honchkrow should usually be trying to clean after faster Pokemon that resist Sucker Punch such as Hydreigon and Krookodile have been removed, as they are reliable bulky offense Pokemon that can take Honchkrow out. Team Options Entry hazard support from Pokemon such as Metagross, Roserade, and Mega Swampert makes it easier for Honchkrow to sweep with Moxie late-game, as this helps wear down some of its common threats. Pokemon that can check Dark-types such as Krookodile and Hydreigon make it easier for Honchkrow to clean, as they can tank Sucker Punches with little trouble; Whimsicott is an especially good partner, as it resists both of Krookodile's and Hydreigon's STAB attacks and can bring in Honchkrow safely with U-turn or support it with Tailwind, Memento, or Stun Spore. In the same token, pivots such as Forretress, Cobalion, and Mega Ampharos are good partners, as they can bring Honchkrow in safely, giving it opportunities to Pursuit trap or wallbreak with Brave Bird. Late-game cleaners that can take advantage of Honchkrow's wallbreaking prowess are also good teammates; Lucario and Cobalion in particular enjoy Honchkrow forcing out and trapping Chandelure and Psychic-types such as Celebi.

This is Honchkrow's flagship set, striking fear into the hearts of every player and threatening offense and stall alike. Once Honchkrow can get a kill or two, it becomes almost impossible to stop as it can destroy every Pokemon that doesn't resist Brave Bird, kill all fast offensive Pokemon with Sucker Punch, and obliterate all Rock- and Steel-types with Superpower. If you can open up a spot on your team to fit Honchkrow, its downfall will be by its own hand most of the time, as opposed to your opponent's. Honchkrow hits brutally hard, and you can't allow it to kill anything on your team, as otherwise, you'll fall prey to the mighty bird. Brave Bird and Sucker Punch are the two main moves on the set, making use of Honchkrow's semi-unique STAB combination. Generally speaking, Brave Bird finds more use against slower opponents, as they tend to be bulkier, while Sucker Punch finds more use against faster ones. Brave Bird is capable of 2HKOing almost all physical walls in UU that don't resist it, with Gligar being the rare exception. Sucker Punch is also a very good move for Honchkrow, as it can KO most faster threats with the move before they can hit, especially the numerous fast Psychic- and Ghost-types in UU such as Azelf and Mismagius. While Brave Bird and Sucker Punch form the core threat of Moxie Honchkrow, Superpower is a fancy toy that is very beneficial as well. What would seem to be solid counters to Honchkrow, such as Empoleon, Rhyperior, Registeel, and Bronzong, are all hit hard by Superpower, leaving them unable to stop Honchkrow's sweep. Superpower is also useful against Snorlax and Porygon2, with the former causing Honchkrow to take ridiculous amounts of recoil if using Brave Bird, and the latter boasting extremely high Defense due to Eviolite. However, Heat Wave is another long-lost friend for Honchkrow, and can be used as well, most notably hitting threats such as Cobalion, Escavalier, and Ferroseed harder. It's generally not necessary though, as the latter two are hit hard by Brave Bird anyway, and Cobalion outspeeds Honchkrow and takes little from Sucker Punch. Instead of Heat Wave, Roost is the preferred option in the last slot. While it will rarely be of use, it is wonderful for healing off the damage taken from Life Orb and Brave Bird, and no other move is generally needed anyway. It is best used when your opponent tries to play around Sucker Punch and tries to lure Brave Bird, but with Roost you can stay one step ahead. Substitute is a good move in Honchkrow's repertoire that works well in conjunction with Roost, as it is good for avoiding status and decreasing Honchkrow's reliance on Sucker Punch. However, Substitute can also be used with Heat Wave to break walls effectively. Heat Wave is the better option in tandem with Substitute because Superpower makes Honchkrow's sweep harder to attain in a shorter period of time, and also makes Honchkrow's already frail Substitutes easier to break. Pursuit is another good option in the last slot as an easy way to get Honchkrow's sweep started, as Honchkrow can trap a weakened Xatu or Slowbro to get its first Attack boost, and then it will be all downhill for your opponent from there. However, if you don't use Roost, then Honchkrow's sweep will often be cut short by Life Orb and Brave Bird recoil. Maximum investment in Attack and Speed is the optimal EV distribution if you're not using Heat Wave; Honchkrow is most effective when it's as fast as possible while hitting as hard as possible. Note that only 196 Speed EVs are needed to outspeed uninvested base 95 Speed Pokemon such as Xatu and Arcanine, but maximum Speed is better as the remaining EVs wouldn't add much bulk, and that way you can avoid the Speed creep with Xatu and Arcanine as well as opposing Honchkrow. However, if using Heat Wave, feel free to subtract EVs from Speed and Special to leave about 60 EVs to be placed in Special Attack, slightly increasing the power of Heat Wave. Life Orb is the preferred item on the set and provides a sizable boost to all of Honchkrow's moves. The added recoil generally isn't an issue thanks to Roost, which makes it an absolute necessity if not using Substitute. If you are going to use Substitute, though, Leftovers is an option to reduce the damage taken from Substitute, Brave Bird, and possibly Stealth Rock. It helps with this problem to some degree, but not enough to drastically enhance the set's performance. Needless to say, Honchkrow has some other moves that it can use on the set from its wide movepool. Taunt is the first thing that can be of some use, and like Substitute, protects Honchkrow from status. It works especially well in combination with Sucker Punch, as it forces the opponent to attack, making the move unavoidable except by switching. However, the health lost in order to create Substitutes can be easily replenished by using Roost, and Substitute allows Honchkrow to shield itself against revenge killers that can take a Sucker Punch, such as Cobalion. Night Slash is another good option that Honchkrow can make use of; it is especially useful against slower Pokemon such as Slowbro that are hit super effectively by it, but can use a status move to avoid Sucker Punch altogether. It doesn't find a place on the set most of the time though, as Honchkrow has more important moves to use. Hidden Power Grass is viable to hit Rhyperior and Swampert, but Rhyperior commonly invests heavily in Special Defense, and Swampert takes a lot of damage from Brave Bird in the first place. Paralysis support is the most important thing that Honchkrow asks of its teammates. Several Pokemon can take a Sucker Punch, but are also naturally faster than Honchkrow, such as Raikou, Cobalion, and Crobat. Therefore, good teammates are those that can inflict paralysis upon them, such as Slowbro, Togekiss, Registeel, and Snorlax. Entry hazards are also appreciated to aid Honchkrow in its sweep; not only does it make several Pokemon much more vulnerable to Sucker Punch, it lessens the recoil taken from Brave Bird against slower opponents. Roserade, Scolipede, Rhyperior, and Qwilfish are all good hazard users, and Honchkrow can help them by trapping Xatu with Pursuit. Of course, a Xatu of your own would be a wise choice, as Honchkrow is weak to Stealth Rock and can't afford to take any more residual damage than it already does. Magneton is a good partner that pretty much eliminates the need for Superpower, because it can trap nearly all of the Steel-types in the metagame, giving Honchkrow a free sweep most of the time. Flygon functions similarly as a partner, as it lures in Steel-types to take an Outrage, but can hit them all hard with Earthquake, or even Fire Punch for Bronzong.

Honchkrow's main problem is that it isn't particularly fast, nor particularly bulky. This makes it very reliant on Sucker Punch to do its dirty work, and sometimes it just can't get the job done before a couple of Attack boosts are gained. This set attempts to fix Honchkrow's Speed problem, as, by holding a Choice Scarf, Honchkrow can outspeed the entire metagame. Honchkrow doesn't function like a typical Choice Scarf user that revenge kills Speed-boosting sweepers, because it's not fast enough to outspeed Pokemon such as Dragon Dance Kingdra, Quiver Dance Venomoth, or anything that's been passed a Shell Smash. This set functions more similarly to other Choice Scarf users with Moxie, such as Krookodile and Heracross, trying to set up a Moxie sweep by outspeeding the opponent and hitting them with a powerful STAB move. For Honchkrow, this move is none other than Brave Bird, its most powerful STAB move. It gets good neutral coverage on most of the metagame, and along with Night Slash as a secondary STAB move, is only resisted by Steel-type Pokemon. To hit Steel-types, look no further than Superpower. It's great for hitting threats such as Empoleon, Cobalion, and Registeel, as well as Rock-types such as Rhyperior. The Attack drop from Superpower is remedied by Moxie; as long as Honchkrow keeps killing things with it, its Attack will never drop. In the last slot, Drill Peck is the primary option to provide Honchkrow with a Flying-type STAB move without recoil, and can be used to clean effectively once Superpower has broken through all of the Rock- and Steel-types. It's as powerful as Brave Bird after only a single Attack boost, and overall is a better move to use late-game so Honchkrow doesn't kill itself with Brave Bird recoil. Pursuit is another good option in that slot, as due to its newfound Speed, Honchkrow can trap several Pokemon that it couldn't before, such as Azelf and Mismagius. However, it doesn't really add to the set's purpose. Hidden Power Grass is another option over Drill Peck, and is more of a revenge killing move, as one of the few Speed-boosting sweepers that Honchkrow can outspeed is Rock Polish Rhyperior, and Hidden Power Grass hits it hard. It serves no other purpose, however, because Swampert and other bulky Water-types take a lot of damage from Brave Bird. Maximum investment in Attack and Speed enable Honchkrow to hit as hard as possible and be as fast as possible. A Jolly nature is necessary here, as with an Adamant nature, Honchkrow can only Speed tie with Pokemon with base 115 Speed such as Azelf and Raikou. On the other hand, a Jolly nature can not only allow Honchkrow to outspeed them, but also to outspeed Weavile and Crobat. Needless to say, if you're going with Hidden Power Grass, use a Naive nature instead. Sucker Punch is typically one of Honchkrow's staple moves, but isn't advised on this set because Honchkrow already outspeeds most of the metagame while holding a Choice Scarf, and being locked into Sucker Punch is a surefire way to allow threats to set up. Heat Wave can be used as a way to hit certain threats harder, such as Cobalion, Bronzong, and Escavalier. However, its uses are more related to wallbreaking as opposed to sweeping, especially when being locked into the move. Hidden Power Ice also finds use on this set, although it's really only good against Gligar; this set can't hope to break the flying scorpion without a couple of Attack boosts, and Hidden Power Ice is a surefire 2HKO. Once again, entry hazard support is critical to this set's success, making KOs easier due to the lack of a Life Orb boost, and reducing the recoil taken from Brave Bird. Qwilfish, Rhyperior, Roserade, and Cobalion are all prime choices to set up Stealth Rock or Spikes. Magneton is another great partner that is more helpful to this set than the previous one, as Honchkrow must be locked into Superpower in order to break through Steel-types and has to switch out again to use its other moves. Magneton can trap and kill almost every Steel-type in the tier, including Bronzong. Because this set doesn't hit as hard as the Life Orb set, Shaymin is a good partner that can switch into UU's many bulky Water-types, such as Blastoise, Milotic, and Suicune, and defeat them for Honchkrow. Stealth Rock is a top priority to get off the field, as Stealth Rock damage and Brave Bird recoil can quickly add up; Blastoise, Kabutops, and Hitmontop are your best choices. Likewise, Wish support can also remedy this issue, with Pokemon such as Umbreon and Togekiss being good choices.