Staraptor

[Wynought]

Staraptor

Stats: 85 HP / 120 Atk / 70 Def / 50 SpA / 50 SpD / 100 Spe

OK, obviously not fairly average stat distribution, but may I draw your attention to that beastly Attack stat and average Speed stat. HP is over average, but mediocre defences. Well, it's not as if you want Star taking hits in the first place, used as a scouter, as a hit and run method, you'll be very successful with Staraptor.

Key
Bold = Useful moves. Recommended.
Italic = New aquired moves, not at all sure what the definitions of these moves are because I can't find them D;
Feel free to post what they do. Thanks!

Movepool:
Level up: Start: Tackle, Growl, Quick Attack, Wing Attack. Level 5: Quick Attack. Level 9: Wing Attack. Level 13: Double Team. Level 18: Endeavour. Level 23: Whirlwind. Level 28: Aerial Ace. Level 33: Take Down. Level 34: Close Combat. Level 41: Agility. Level 40: Brave Bird. Level 57: Extreme Risk?

TMs/HMs- TM06 - Toxic, TM10 - Hidden Power, TM11 - Sunny Day, TM15 - Hyper Beam, TM17 - Protect, TM18 - Rain Dance, TM21 - Frustration, TM27 - Return, TM32 - Double Team, TM40 - Aerial Ace, TM42 - Facade, TM44 - Rest, TM45 - Attract, TM46 - Thief, TM48 - Canon, TM49 - Echo Voice,TM67 - Retaliation, TM68 - Giga Impact, TM83 - Cheer Up, TM87 - Swagger, TM88 - Pluck, TM89 - U-turn, TM90 - Substitute, HM02 - Fly!

Egg Moves- Astonish. Double-Edge. FeatherDance. Foresight. Fury Attack. Pursuit. Sand-Attack.

At an assumption you would think Staraptor would have the same old generic movepool as his common Typing bros and hoes, but check again. Staraptor has been blessed with such an offensive moveset to boot his offensive nature and a few new moves to benefit from his high Attack stat.

Typing: Normal / Flying
Resistances: Bug, Grass
Weaknesses: Rock, Electric, Ice
Immune to: Ground, Ghost

I personally think Staraptor has an amazing Typing. Sure, there are many, many, many on the same boat as Staraptor but I fairly like it. Firstly, due to its dual typing it has been granted with 2 common immunities, giving it far more potential to switch in and reek havoc. Sure its Flying type lets it down a bit, seeing as how he is a potent threat of Stealth Rocks and a weakness to BoltBeam. But as an Offensive oriented Pokémon I feel its typing serves it well. + Staraptor has access to Roost, ridding it off his Flying type and making Rock, Electric and Ice attacks Neutral.

Abilities: Intimidate and Reckless (DW)
Intimidate - Intimidate lowers the opponent's Attack stat by one stage upon entering the battle. It is triggered both when a battle begins and when a Pokémon with Intimidate switches into battle. In a double battle, both opponents are affected.
Reckless - Reckless increases the base power of moves which cause recoil or crash damage by 20%.

Intimidate has become quite useful for Staraptor during Gen IV, seeing as how OU was pretty much infested with Physical sweepers, and it couldn't hurt to slightly cripple their chances to sweep. But, Staraptor isn't going to be taking any Physical Attacks any time soon, with or without Intimidate. So, in with the out and in with the new!

Reckless on Staraptor...this is a big deal, are you not aware of the potential? Staraptor moves that benefit from Reckless; Brave Bird and Double-Edge. Oh what's this? Double STAB? What does it mean...
Let's take Brave Bird, Staraptors most fearsome Attack. 120 BP. Brave Bird @ 120 BP + Reckless (20% = 24) + Life Orb (30% = 36) + Stab (50% = 60) = 280 BP Oh yes! But yeah, this is quite impressive and would easily make Staraptor into a force to be reckoned with.
Possible Sets

Name: Even more emo
Nature: Jolly / Adamant
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf / Choice Band
Move 1: Brave Bird
Move 2: Double-Edge / Return
Move 3: Close Combat
Move 4: Pursuit / U-turn / Quick Attack

Choice Band + Adamant = 558 Attack
Choice Band + Jolly = 508 Attack
Choice Scarf + Adamant = 372 Attack
Choice Scarf + Adamant = 429 Speed
Choice Scarf + Jolly = 471 Speed

Force to be reckoned with...Oh yes. This set is primarily a hit and run set. Don't expect a mountain of consistent sweeping potential with this set. You set Staraptor loose either at the mid to end of the game and take out as many Pokémon as you can. Those who doubt Staraptor's potential when it comes to Offense will be missing a Poké very early into the game. Staraptors' good Speed and Attack stats make it very deadly with a Choice Band under his belt, while a Scarf can be used to catch slower Pokémon off guard.

The thing that really sets Staraptor appart from his Normal / Flying type compadres is his superb coverage. Brave Bird and Double-Edge are Stars main weapons and both hit incredibly hard, and even harder with Reckless, while Close Combat hits for at least neutral damage on every Rock- and Steel-type. Close Combat is what Pidgeot, Dodrio and Noctowl need, but Close Combat is what Staraptor got <3

4th Moveslot is a matter of preference. If your team is weak to Ghosts, and you don't particularly like Staraptor being walled by them, then opt for Pursuit to catch those buggers out. While U-turn can be used for Scouting, but with SR being present it makes it less of a viable choice seeing as how it really doesn't want to keep coming in and out alot if SR are in play, it ruins its hit and run stature. Be aware that in Gen 5 Pursuit and Double-edge will be illegal to have together so feel free to replace Double-Edge with Return if you must have Pursuit.

Name: FMLife Orb
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Move 1: Brave Bird
Move 2: Double-Edge / U-turn
Move 3: Close Combat
Move 4: Roost

Now, remember me mentioning that Staraptor won't be on the field for long? Well, this set almost halves its survivability for the exchange of freedom of switch between attacks. Brave Bird and Double-edge have 144 Base Power before STAB when used with Reckless and with a LO, Staraptor can abuse its already high Attack stat and brilliant coverage. Roost is used to heal off all those recoils inflicted by LO, Brave Bird and Double-Edge. I wouldn't opt for Double-Edge > Return for the pure power. Since Staraptor is easily countered by constant switching - by slowly lowering his health while wasting attacks on neutral threats, so, to solve this problem Wish support is overly appreciated. Roost in conjunction with Wish gives it added survivability despite recoil and Stealth Rocks. U-turn can be used on this set for added Scouting abilities because Staraptor does make an excellent Scouter, with or without a Choice item. Over Double-Edge is preferred over Roost, as Brave Bird + Close Combat provide already fantastic coverage; which Double-Edge doesn't add to but you also need the ability to heal off any damage caused by LO recoil, Brave Bird recoil and SR damage caused by switching in and out.

Hide

Jolly Life Orb Reckless Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Blissey: 73.5% - 86.6%
Jolly Life Orb Reckless Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 220 Def Bold Celebi: 105.9% - 125.2%
Jolly Life Orb Reckless Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Neutral Suicune: 74.9% - 88.6%
Jolly Life Orb Reckless Brave Bird vs. 240 HP / 216 Def Relaxed Swampert: 57.6% - 68.1%
Jolly Life Orb Reckless Brave Bird vs. 188 HP / 252 Def Bold Vaporeon: 63.2% - 74.6%
Jolly Life Orb Reckless Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Neutral Gliscor: 67.2% - 79.7%
Jolly Life Orb Reckless Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 168 Def Bold Rotom-H - 34.5% - 41.1%
Jolly Life Orb Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Blissey: 81.5% - 96.1%
Jolly Life Orb Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Neutral Heatran: 94.7% - 111.5%
Jolly Life Orb Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Neutral Jirachi: 46.8% - 55.3%

Name: Anti-Appliance
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Move 1: Foresight
Move 2: Close Combat
Move 3: Double-Edge
Move 4: Roost

Ignoring the hidden text for the thought process behind this set. Since I heard Rotom-As have lost their Ghost typing, and had it replaced by their Appliance typing. Now Rotom-A just became much less of a hassle. But that doesn't give this set less of a purpose, there are still a countless amount of threats that are sporting their Ghost / Dark typing, and Ghost / *Insert resisted Typing here*, who need to be taking down a notch.

Hide

OK. What is Staraptors most hated counter? If you said Rotom-A you deserve a prize. Seriously, Rotom-As completely cock-block any attempt Staraptor makes to sweep successfully, seeing as how most of these sets lack pursuit, but even then, Staraptor doesn't like a burn or Thunderbolt his way. So, how do we solve this problem? Well, with Foresight is how! The idea is simple. Come into an immune attack - it might even be a Shadow Ball from a Scarf'd Rotom-A, no doubt they'll be back for an easy revenge kill. Once behind a Sub, proceed to use Foresight and hit whatever runs in with a STAB Reckless boosted 120 BP Double-Edge. Honestly, only if you're a Steel type will you like that. Staraptor is a great Rotom-A lure, and now it can deal with it effectively. The last slot has to go to Close Combat! Since Ghost types are now able to be struck by Close Combat and Double-Edge, there is no hidding from Staraptor. Close Combat provides coverage for Steel types which resist Double-Edge. You could always replace Substitute with Roost, but you will lose an eased prediction in return for a source of recovery.

Hide

Adamant Life Orb Reckless Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 168 Def Bold Rotom-A - 64.1% - 75.3%
Adamant Life Orb Reckless Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Neutral Rotom-A - 103.3% - 122%

Well there you have it. I am aware I am exaggerating the potential for Staraptor in the future metagame a bit, and I know there are many flaws and possible counters, but, that doesn't stop Staraptor from being useful as a sweeper. See Staraptors potential, open your eyes. Open your eyes and see your eyes are open.

Let's face it, Staraptor has a few new toys to play with that just scream potential. And props to Game Freak for giving Staraptor Reckless. I love the hidden message. Well I'm done. Staraptor, use Fly!

Weeeeeee ;D!​

 

[DDRMaster]

Rotom-A loses its Ghost typing and gains a secondary typing based on the form, so you don't have to worry about it walling Staraptor anymore. If you still want to go with that last set, you should either run Leftovers or use Roost over Forsight. Sub, LO, SR, and recoil from Double-edge are going to kill Staraptor very quickly.

Also, Brave Bird and Double-edge have 144 Base Power before STAB when used with Reckless.

 

[Wynought]

Rotom-A loses its Ghost typing and gains a secondary typing based on the form

Wow, mind = blown. That's fantastic.

Do you know the calculation used to work out what Brave Bird and Close Combat amount to with a Reckless boost?

Thanks for the info c:

 

[moogleking]

On the Life Orb set I tend to run U-Turn (His only other useful move <_<) over Double-Edge; Its not like your coverage is going down or anything.

 

[The Cicada]

Staraptor got a huge push this generation. Reckless will make Staraptor a serious foce to be reckoned with, seeing how it gets dual stabs in recoil moves. The only problem is that Reckless doubles recoil damage, meaning that you can't expect to be living long unless you have roost on your set.

 

[Wynought]

Over Double-Edge? I know you're not really losing coverage but you're losing power and Reckless abusing possibilities over Scouting potential. Yeah, it seems like a fair trade all and all. So, slash'd.

@Cicada; "The only problem is that Reckless doubles recoil damage, meaning that you can't expect to be living long unless you have roost on your set."
I was not aware of this :'(

 

[KurashiDragon]

Brave Bird 120 BP + Recless (20% = 24) + Life Orb (30% = 36) + Stab (50% = 60) = 240 BP

Now keep in mind that I haven't been in school for a while but that's my general idea. If anyone has something to add or fix I'll gladly hear it. Still, that's gonna hit for a fucking truckload of damage. I was about to say that this staraptor was outclassed by #628 Wargle due to overall better stats (Minus Speed) but that dream world ability just put Staraptor over the top. A class above Wargle.

 

[Wynought]

Brave Bird 120 BP + Recless (20% = 24) + Life Orb (30% = 36) + Stab (50% = 60) = 240 BP

Now keep in mind that I haven't been in school for a while but that's my general idea. If anyone has something to add or fix I'll gladly hear it. Still, that's gonna hit for a fucking truckload of damage. I was about to say that this staraptor was outclassed by #628 Wargle due to overall better stats (Minus Speed) but that dream world ability just put Staraptor over the top. A class above Wargle.

Ah yes! Thanks for the calcs, man. And yeah, as soon as I saw Staraptor was getting Reckless I completely ignored all other Normal / Flying types counterparts.

@Plusle, ah yes. Thanks for the spot. All fixed now.

And, should I bother adding a;
Agility Set
Featherdance + Intimidate Set
Defog + U-turn set
Cheer Up set
Cheer Up mixed set
?

 

[GLS]

Unless there's been some change in egg moves in Gen 5 Pursuit and Double-edge will be illegal to have together.

I've loved Staraptor in gen 4, I used him in just about all my OU teams with a scarf. He's a suicide bomber. Reckless helps him do that better. He isn't supposed to live very long, he is meant to do as much damage as possible hopefully taking 2 or 3 of your opponents Pokemon with him.

 

[Wynought]

D:
That's a shame. Thanks for that, I'll add it now.

Does anyone actually know what either Canon, Echo Voice, Retaliation, and Extreme Risk actually do? I can't seem to find them anywhere.

 

[Immaterial]

Level 57: Extreme Risk, TM48 - Canon, TM49 - Echo Voice,TM67 - Retaliation

Canon and Echo Voice are both relatively useless special normal-type moves, so eh. Extreme Risk is also a special move (fighting-type, however).

Retaliation (or Get Even) is a 70 BP Physical Normal-type move which "deals more damage if a teammate was knocked out that turn". The exact mechanics haven't been confirmed yet, but it may just be a doubles/triples gimmick move.

Reckless on Staraptor is a really cool addition. Brave Bird + Double Edge both look pretty nice on it. (Swellow is still the best early-game bird pokémon though!)

 

[AlphaSpade]

Unless there's been some change in egg moves in Gen 5 Pursuit and Double-edge will be illegal to have together.

Dodrio could get Double Edge via 3rd Gen tutor and Pursuit via level up. Pursuit + DE was never illegal in Gen 4 anyway.

 

[Adonzo]

Brave Bird 120 BP + Recless (20% = 24) + Life Orb (30% = 36) + Stab (50% = 60) = 240 BP

There is so much wrong with this thread...

First off, these boosts would be multiplicative, not additive, so
120*1.2*1.3*1.5=280.8 BP

also, reckless DOES NOT double the recoil - the recoil is simply increased because the damage is increased.

 

[shipship]

Ugh, so much info fail in this thread.

Brave Bird 120 BP + Recless (20% = 24) + Life Orb (30% = 36) + Stab (50% = 60) = 240 BP

No, all those boost are multiplicative. It would actually be 280 power.

And Reckless does not boost recoil. It's still proportional to damage.

EDIT: lol ninja'd

Anyway, Staraptor is still a Choice user. Reckless just makes his two STAB moves stronger which is a nice boost. I wouldn't use Life Orb on Staraptor because he'd just die even more quickly.

 

[KurashiDragon]

I thought I said to keep in mind that I havent been to school in a while. Besides, I made that for the sole purpose of hyping up Staraptor as a significant mid-late game offensive threat, not for showing everyone my limited math skills.

The matter of the fact is that I was wrong. It turns out that Brave Bird has EVEN MORE BP than my mathmatics calculated.

 

[DDRMaster]

Wow, mind = blown. That's fantastic.

Do you know the calculation used to work out what Brave Bird and Close Combat amount to with a Reckless boost?

Thanks for the info c:

Close Combat doesn't get powered up by Reckless. As others have said, Brave Bird and Double-edge get 280.8 Base Power after Reckless, LO, and STAB.

I definitely think Staraptor can be used as a mid-game scout with something like Brave Bird/Close Combat/U-turn/Roost, but you wouldn't be able to use Reckless with Roost, sadly, and without Roost, you kill yourself with residual damage. Endeavour could be used over Roost to potentially cripple one last Pokemon before Staraptor goes down, but it's pretty risky.

Also, Extreme Risk KO's the user and deals damage to the opponent equal to the user's HP before being KO'd (so if Staraptor had 100 HP before using it, it would hit the opponent 100 damage and KO itself). It's not really useful on Staraptor with all the residual damage and Endeavour is probably better for it, anyway.

 

[Lee]

I'll stick with Intimidate. It assists him in switching in and brings great utility to any team, even moreso in this seemingly attack-centric metagame.

Reckless just gives a 'meh' boost (20% isn't anything exceptional when you look at some of the other abilities out there) and encourages you to use Double-Edge, a move that I would never, ever use on Staraptor because then you're forced to damn near kill yourself yourself whenever you want to use a STAB attack. Then throw in SR, LO, and SS on top of that? God no. There's a reason Return is standard.

 

[shipship]

I think Double Edge is a decent option simply because of this:

Adamant Choice Band Double Edge vs max/max Zapdos:

558 Atk vs 295 Def & 383 HP (144 Base Power): 292 - 345 (76.24% - 90.08%)

 

[Wynought]

Let's face it, Staraptor wasn't meant to be sticking around all too long as a sweeper, despite its ability to recover its own health. But just look at its defenses. It may not be a glass cannon but it can be used as an effective suicide bomber, like GLS mentioned. Standard is all well and good but it won't move Staraptor out the slumps of BL, and without Reckless it is pretty much outclassed by Wargle.

I'd rather have a hard reliable hitter that last longer than a weaker hitter that stays in longer, any day. Because if consistent you could take out 2-3 Pokémon in one game, while the Standard Staraptor can only assist in weakening Pokémon as a Scout.

There's just no point sticking to a Standard set. We should just keep moving forward. A 'meh' boost is still a boost.

 

[Alexa888]

FMLife Orb - best set name ever.

However, Reckless + LO + SR means Staraptor is going to die before it can actually do anything.

Intimate, Sub/Roost/CC/Brave Bird still looks the most solid Staraptor set.

 

[Venator]

I'm loving the FMLife Orb Set. I'm planning on using that exact set when I battle some friends of mine just so they can wonder how Staraptor is so good.

 

[ungulateman]

I think Double Edge is a decent option simply because of this:

Adamant Choice Band Double Edge vs max/max Zapdos:

558 Atk vs 295 Def & 383 HP (144 Base Power): 292 - 345 (76.24% - 90.08%)

Did you count a +Def nature on Zapdos? Because if so, wow. Staraptor's going high on my list of "highly improved Pokemon to try out".

 

[Sajak]

Reckless set would really benefit from Wish-passing, especially if you opted for U-Turn.

I'm pretty sure Brave Bird would OHKO just about any Ghost types and deal a lot more damage than Pursuit would. Pursuit wouldn't even help that much with Psychic types, because Brave Bird would probably still be a better choice, and Close Combat would work fine on Psychic/Steels (although you'd probably want to U-Turn out of there anyway on any of those).

 

[Parallel]

D:
That's a shame. Thanks for that, I'll add it now.

Does anyone actually know what either Canon, Echo Voice, Retaliation, and Extreme Risk actually do? I can't seem to find them anywhere.

Retaliation is a 70 BP, normal type, physical move. It doubles in power if a team mate fainted last turn, so is literally a revenge killing move :P

Echo Voice doubles in power if used consequitivley, but is special.
Canon is special and its effect only applies in doubles/ triples.


And while Extreme risk is both Special and Fighting, it doesn't matter as it's effect is:
Extreme Risk causes the user to faint after the attack. The target then receives damage equal to the user's lost HP.
And so i doubt thats of much interest either.

 

[Khan!!!]

retaliation could work well, but its not something you'd want to get stuck on.