| Stat | base | min- | min | max | max+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP | 60 | N/A | 22 | 25 | N/A |
| Att | 85 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 19 |
| Def | 42 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 14 |
| Sp.A | 85 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 19 |
| Sp.D | 42 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 14 |
| Spe | 91 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 19 |
SET 1
name: All-out Attacker
move 1: Sucker Punch
move 2: Pluck / Drill Peck
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Dark Pulse / Pursuit
item: Choice Band / Life Orb
ability: Insomnia
nature: Hasty
evs: 236 Atk / 192 Spd / 36HP / 24 SpD
SET COMMENTS
Murkrow makes a decent Choice Bander, with the focus of the set being on the incredibly useful STAB Sucker Punch. Pursuit nails things trying to flee from your Sucker Punch, whilst Drill Peck is Murkrow's next best physical move, gets STAB and surprisingly good coverage with Dark, as few steels are viable for Little Cup play. Hidden Power Fighting in the last slot is for coverage purposes; Murkrow doesn't get any other good physical moves, and it hits two of the resists of Murkrow's STAB attacks (Aron and Shieldon) for 4x, as well as Larvitar and Magnemite for Super Effective. Life Orb eases up your prediction woes if you're not overly keen on the idea of being locked into Sucker Punch or Pursuit; which can unfortunately make Murkrow easy set-up bait for the likes of Cranidos. Pluck is recommended over Drill Peck due to the prevalence of berries in the Little Cup; if you can steal an Oran Berry from the likes of Bronzor, or, even better, a Salac Berry which could allow a sweep. I could recommend using Pluck with Life Orb and Drill Peck with Choice Band; the lesser consistency of Pluck makes it an inferior option on a Choiced set, whilst stealing a Salac or Liechi boost would be of much more value on a set where you have the freedom to switch attacks.
SET 2name: Taunt
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Pursuit
move 4: Pluck / Drill Peck
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
nature: Jolly
evs: 236 Atk / 188 Spd / 36 HP / 20 Def / 20 SpD
SET COMMENTS
This set is quite difficult to utilise properly, due to Murkrow's sub-standard defenses, but it's certainly workable. Murkrow's great base 91 speed allows it to get the jump on a lot, Taunting the status attempts from the likes of Misdreavus, Ponyta, Gastly and Drifloon, or anything trying to stat up. Then, they're either forced to switch or attack you, making them easy pickings with Sucker Punch or Pursuit. Drill Peck provides another decent STAB attack, which is useful at times for when you're faster anyway and don't want to predict, and it also stops Fighting types such as Mankey and Riolu walling you.
On this set, I'd go so far as to say that either ability is viable. Insomnia makes coming into Gastly and Drifloon a lot easier, and can greatly help your team out if you struggle to deal with sleep inducers. However, Super Luck, whilst inconsistent, could net you some lucky kills. Insomnia is the more reliable option, but both are perfectly useable. Jolly is a necessity; allowing you to outspeed Gastly, Misdreavus and Meowth, all of whom commonly carry status attacks.
Taunt Murkrow has great value as a lead; the combined threat of a potent priority move, a powerful STAB Pursuit and the ability to shut down any form of set-up such as Stealth Rock or status makes it a solid choice to lead your team. If using Murkrow for this role, then Focus Sash would probably be the better item choice. Otherwise, Life Orb is recommended.
OTHER OPTIONSMurkrow's most intriguing other option is Psycho Shift. Being immune to sleep, Murkrow can get some good use as a status taker with Psycho Shift, throwing burns and paralysis back at your opponent. You could use a bulky set built around it, or use it over Hidden Power Ground on the Choice Band set if you can't breed for Hidden Power. Murkrow does have a very good SpA stat, so a Specs set would be a possibility if his special movepool wasn't so bad; his viable choices are limited to Dark Pulse, Psychic and Hidden Power. Screech is a good choice; with Pursuit, you can hit potential counters hard as they switch. Unfortunately, Murkrow doesn't really have the bulk to pull it off.
Thunder Wave can cripple a switch-in, if you're into that. However, it's synergy with Sucker Punch leaves a lot to be desired. Perish Song, Roost and Haze are good moves, but unfortunately not really suitable for Murkrow due to his frailty. He can Calm Mind if you want, but you'll run into problems with his special movepool and his defensive capabilities. Swagger could be used in conjunction with Psych Up and Substitute to boost Murkrow's already decent Attack stat. Hidden Power Grass gets pretty decent coverage, hitting potential counters such as Kabuto, Omanyte and Larvitar harder. You lose coverage against Magnemite, Aron and Shieldon though. You could try running Super Luck on the first two sets if it's more to your liking, but losing the ability to come in on sleep moves is pretty significant. If you do this on the Choice Bander, Sleep Talk can go over Hidden Power Fighting so that you can still absorb sleep to a degree.
EVsMurkrow will pretty much always benefit most from Attack and Speed; despite doing most damage with a priority move, defensive EVs aren't going to make much of a difference at all, and a quick Drill Peck would be useful for the likes of Gastly, Ponyta and Misdreavus, who might not go for the quick kill. 192 Speed is required to achieve this taking the 30 IV required for Hidden Power Fighting into account. 236 EVs will max out your attack; from there you can either stick the rest in SpA (If you are running a mixed set) or, if running a purely physical set,you can put 36 in HP and the rest in SpD to get a bonus point in each stat.
OPINIONMurkrow's movepool is what really limits it. Whilst it does get some interesting options in STAB Sucker Punch, Taunt, Pursuit and Psycho Shift, it's generally going to be relatively predictable. However, it's a potent powerhouse, and is capable of doing damage to any team. Murkrow's general reliance on Sucker Punch to do lots of damage means that using Murkrow can involve quite a lot of prediction. If you don't mind that, Murkrow is a fantastic choice.
COUNTERSAron and Shieldon are the best counters where Hidden Power Fighting is not present; resisting both STAB moves with Super Effective STAB attacks to hit Murkrow back with. Larvitar can come in on any physical attack, isn't scared of status thanks to Guts, and can hit it with powerful Stone Edges. Omanyte can come in for free on anything not named Hidden Power Ground or a Specs set with his fantastic defense, and hit Murkrow with powerful Surfs or Hydro Pumps, or just get some form of Spikes down. The latter is particularly effective as it breaks any Focus Sashes the opponent's team has, and it prevents Murkrow from hitting you with neutral Sucker Punches.
Kabuto works in a similar way to Omanyte, but sacrifices the ability to lay spikes for a powerful STAB Rock Slide to take Murkrow down with. Bonsly can switch in for free as well, and makes short work of Murkrow. Magnemite resists both STAB moves, has good defense to take hits well, and can bombard Murkrow with Thunderbolt. Whilst not technically a counter, Stealth Rock really helps to wear Murkrow down. Constant switching will quickly wear out Sucker Punch's 8 PP as well, if you lack a suitable Dark resist to take it on.
2:56 AM Nov 27
