Braviary/Wargle Crisis

So I've heard that Braviary is always compared to the famous Staraptor. I decided to take a look at these Pokemon and I fell for Braviary because of of his bulkiness. His speed would be considered his flaw compared to Staraptor. But first, let's take a a look at his possible outcomes as a competitive Pokemon:

(I am bias for this Braviary)

Physical Sweeper:

Moves: Crush Claw/Brave Bird/Super Power/Bulk Up
Nature: Adamant (Jolly is optional)
Ability: Sheer Force
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 252 Atk/Speed + 4 HP

I'm going to point out, I'm not all that Pokemon-smart when it comes to Pokemon like Braviary, but I'd say I'm rather knowledgeable about him.

What seems to be the flaw here is that his moves rather hard to differentiate. But let me say this:

Super Power's stat-reduction AND Brave Bird's recoil CANNOT be negated (canceled) by Sheer Force

So you may need to go for a different strategy then to be extremely reckless.

I thought that Leftovers would be better to use to ensure Braviary stays alive from using Brave Bird. He gets the STAB boost, but is Life Orb boost really necessary? I mean walls (particularly Rock and Steel) are very hard to bypass, but Super Power is what comes into play.

Life Orb is, indeed, optional if you are going for a quick and easy KO. As I said, Life Orb is only needed if you are going to be reckless. IF you are able to somehow recover his health in any way (from using moves such as Brave Bird), then that would be fantastic. Curse you, GameFreak for no egg moves on this amazing Pokemon.

Super Power reduces Atk/Def by 1 stage every use. But with Bulk Up, you can regain those stats one again. Of course you don't get STAB from this move, but remember, you don't need your Base Power to be over 9000.

Crush Claw and Return is the next debate that I've come to conclude for myself. Both moves get STAB boost, but Crush Claw gets a 30% boost from Sheer Force (thus, canceling it's secondary effect, I believe it was 50% chance of reducing the target's Def by 1 stage). Return, I believe had a Base Power (from added boosts) was around 107. Can you ensure that your Braviary is likely to be happy ALL the time? It's possible to maintain it, but in my eyes, difficult (to me).

Tail Wind/Bulk Up/Hone Claws are stat increase-moves that people seem to be arguing about, too.

Tail Wind: Of course you're most likely to attack first every time if this is used so you can quickly take out your target's with ease But remember that Choice Scarf can also be a substitute also. ENSURES YOU GET 1ST ATK!

Bulk Up: This will not only increase your Def and Atk, but if you get the chance to use it without your Braviary fainting, you can use Super Power to your own will. VERY RISKY!

Hone Claws: I'm not quite sure what the deal is with this move. I'm just assuming if you're trying to make sure you take your target's out efficiently, then you may need to go with a much more different moves. Assuming that you'll most likely go with Rock Slide, Return, and Sky Drop. EFFICIENT SWEEPING. ENSURES YOU HIT THEM.

This Pokemon is very mind-boggling, but I finally got what I wanted. If you feel that you may have a better setup for this Pokemon, feel free to state your opinion.

- Zealot740

As a present for a friend, I built one of these beasts. He's actually very impressive once you move past the Staraptor comparison and just let him do what he's supposed to: Come in, mess up a few Pokemon, and go out in a blaze of glory. Bulk Up build is interesting to be sure, but I opted for a Choice Scarf set to get this apple pie-munching, flag-waving behemoth right out of the box and on the go.

Braviary @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252Att/252Spe/4HP
-Brave Bird
-Crush Claw/Return
-Rock Slide/Superpower
-U-Turn

With Choice Scarf, Braviary can net a few surprise kills with a sudden 198 Speed (at 50), a meager 2 points lower than a Jolly/Speed EV'd Aerodactyl. The setup is pretty simple and fun to abuse. Return should be used in lieu of Crush Claw, but because this was for a friend, I didn't want him to have to pamper the thing and get him fat. Other than that, spamming Brave Bird is self-explanatory, and so is U-Turn. However, Rock Slide is an interesting little niche that seems to be working against the random Flying types (particularly Aerodactyl, Staraptor and Archeops) and the occasional smart-alek Ice type, while Superpower's Attack drop is easily soothed by a quick switch. It's really a matter of your comfort in staying in or switching out.

I like this guy, but I agree with you on the whole "no egg moves" deal that he got cut with. Even the capability to Swords Dance or Agility or even just bumping Tailwind up to five turns like Trick Room/Weathers would have made him much more dangerous. Though, to be fair, he does get some of the most desirable flying and normal moves just by leveling, and you could do much worse than a War Bonnet for a design cue.