Braviary

[DTC]

Braviary
Traits: Keen Eye | Sheer Force | Defiant
100 | 123 | 75 | 57 | 75 | 80
​

With 123 Attack, Flying STAB, fantastic coverage, and above-average bulk for an offensive Pokemon, Braviary is one of the most feared attackers in NU. Before it was always seen as a powerful choice attacker other than the occasional noob using Life Orb Braviary, now with bw2, it got Roost as a tutor move, opening up more set possibilities. Roost Braviary is still fairly unexplored with most people still clinging on to the old Choice Band Braviary, but nevertheless it's still an interesting new option.

Braviary @ Choice Band
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- U-turn

CB Braviary can basically 2HKO everything. It's the reason why a Flying-type resist is almost mandatory in NU if you're not running some kind of HO team, otherwise you just get destroyed by CB Brave Bird. It's fairly easy to check however with its mediocre base Speed, the inability to switch moves, Stealth Rock, and Brave Bird and Superpower's negative effects.

Braviary @ Life Orb
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- Roost

3 attacks + Roost Braviary is my favorite Roost Braviary. It uses its ability to threaten Pokemon out and more than usable bulk to Roost off damage when it's weakened. It may not have the firepower that CB has, but it's still a very potent set.

Braviary @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- U-turn

Braviary's depressingly weak power without LO/CB can easily be seen through Scarf Braviary; as such, most users hardly use Scarf Braviary. Nevertheless it's still a good set when you need a Choice Scarf user in a pinch and Braviary fits your team, but most of the time the fast Flying-type niche can be done better by Swellow. I have gotten a few "sweeps" with this set before, though.

Braviary @ Leftovers
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up / Substitute
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Superpower

I haven't tested this set much yet, but from my experiences using and facing it, it has been fairly mediocre so far. Return is always a very useful move for Electric-types and the fact that it has no negative effect at all is nice too. Also, the lack of LO/CB makes this set quite weak. Still, this Braviary can survive a lot longer than other Braviary sets, and Bulk Up has the potential to sweep weakened bulky teams as long as it avoids status.


So what do you guys think of Braviary? How much of a threat is it in this meta? What sets utilizing Roost have you been using to success lately?
Discuss; I can't wait to see the discussion that comes out of this!

 

[WingedKnight]

I'm liking the look of 3 attacks + Roost. I was disappointed with Bulk Up because of BB's recoil and Superpower's drops. It can work under the proper circumstances, but it's not the best option in my opinion. As you said, the powerful, no-downsides reliability of Return is tough to part with. With the two STABs, Superpower, and Roost on the same set, you have a range of options that allow you to deal with most opponents. Is it better than Choice Band? Not necessarily. Is it worse? Not at all. Both options are very powerful and Braviary can perform them admirably. I think the main thing that Roost gifts him with isn't more inherent danger or power, but instead it provides him with additional, equally powerful options that are now viable, increasing his overall versatility and unpredictability. Combine that with his natural positives, and you've got really solid Pokemon on your hands.

 

[Incon]

I have recently been testing the last set using substitute over bulk up and have found it quite underwhelming. Braviary's survivability with substitute is terrible even with roost because of the recoil from bb, superpower drops, as well as a stealth rock weakness. I found it hard to set up a sub in the first place because of his lack of bulk and the aforementioned sr weakness. I found myself trying to roost off damage more than i was actually attacking. To go along with that, his attack power is quite lacking without an attack boosting item and doesnt seem to hit as hard as id like. Basically, there are better sets than this one.

 

[NuclearMedicineT]

The only set I would really use on Braviary is the CB set. Because despite really powerful STABs a base 123 attack isn't that impressive, but with a Choice Band though, dear God. LO + Roost may have potential but I just don't see Braviary stay in safely and Roost right now with pretty much every team running a scarfer and all the Cincinnos running around. I think it's a hit and run poke. But of course bulkier versions may be good when some things moves up idk.

 

[PrimeMinister]

This set gets less appealing every time I look at it... Is it any good.......?

It's unorthodox, but useable, perhaps?

Name: Ghidra
Move 1: Brave Bird
Move 2: Rock Slide
Move 3: Roost
Move 4: Crush Claw
Item: Life orb
Ability: sheer force
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe


Weird, I know, but come on. Here's the run-down-

Ok, so the first move, Brave Bird, won't gain any Sheer force boost, choice banded STAB brave bird coming off Braviary... We all know the sickening 270 base power of that move. Rock Slide, while certainly no stone edge, still provides super effective coverage against annoying ice and other flying types, as well as fire types. Roost is simply used to heal off life orb damage, and any other damage such as BB recoil. Although many of you say you'll need to roost too frequently, remember that sheer force negates life orb damage on moves with secondary effects. This means that only Brave Bird will cause LO damage. This is my reasoning for using crush claw over return-crush claw will have no life orb recoil.

Ok, yes I get it, life orb= un-roost-offable damage. Well I don't think that's the case with the sheer force + life orb combo I mentioned above. This will significantly decrease the amount of roosts you'll have to use to keep this big bird alive.

Evs and natures- max speed, max attack, you know this shit already.

 

[shnen]

I honestly don't get why you wouldn't just use Return when you have Roost.
Also not using superpower on Braviary is a sin, Rock Slide barely provides any additional coverage anyway. Not worth it in my opinion.

Braviary is one of the best Pokemon in NU at the moment in my opinion, I've mainly been toying with 3 attacks and roost and while it doesn't last too long it's definitely really good; LO Brave Bird is just a nuke in Pokemon form. I haven't tried Bulk Up but I can't see it being too good to be honest, as pokemon that beat it are everywhere and a hit and run mentality is much more effective with Braviary at the moment, due to Carracosta, Cinccino, Eelektross, Scarf Electric-types etc being extremely common. That said I will probably give it a shot at some point, it definitely warrants testing.

 

[Yonko7]

I think U-Turn can be used on the LO set. I find that Return doesn't really hit hard enough to do anything. BB and Superpower hits what it needs to.

 

[DTC]

I think U-Turn can be used on the LO set. I find that Return doesn't really hit hard enough to do anything. BB and Superpower hits what it needs to.

Return has much more utility than U-turn on LO Braviary. Return is Braviary's only attacking move that doesn't have any drawback and it also hits Electric-types the hardest out of any of Braviary's moves. U-turn is often counter-productive to what Braviary wants to do, including even on CB sets. I honestly hardly ever use U-turn on any Braviary set.

 

[WingedKnight]

Return has much more utility than U-turn on LO Braviary. Return is Braviary's only attacking move that doesn't have any drawback and it also hits Electric-types the hardest out of any of Braviary's moves. U-turn is often counter-productive to what Braviary wants to do, including even on CB sets. I honestly hardly ever use U-turn on any Braviary set.

I'm with DTC on this one. Braviary really likes Return, especially on the LO set. The luxury of changing to that reliable, no-downsides move and still packing a serious punch is hard to pass up. U-turn has it's uses, but 3 attacks+Roost prefers BB, Superpower, and Return.

 

[DTC]

Bumping because I'd like to talk about Braviary a little more, specifically the SubBU set and whether it is a bit too powerful for NU.

Braviary @ Leftovers
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 HP / 192 SDef / 64 Spd
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Roost
- Bulk Up
- Brave Bird / Return

I've been using this set a lot lately and jesus, it's so fantastic. Stall teams (these are actually viable despite what many people think) and more bulky teams struggle with Braviary because it can easily set-up on them and kill stuff. It's very hard to stop once it gets a few boosts in so the best way to beat it is offensive pressure - which bulkier teams have trouble providing. Rock-types, the best Choice Braviary check, are easily set-up on, making this set is a great Rock-type lure. Most bulky Electric-types can beat this Braviary easily if it's using Brave Bird and Ghost-types completely wall it if it's using Return. SubBU Braviary truly capitalizes on Braviary's good bulk and offensive prowess.

This set is so great that I'm considering to nominate it as a suspect when the time comes around. Choice Band was already very difficult to deal with and now that SubBU is starting to become more popular, you now have more things to think about when dealing with Braviary. Rock-types, the best Braviary check before this set was uncovered, are easily set-up on. Do you guys share similar sentiments? Or do you think Braviary is manageable enough?

 

[viol and bass]

I can vouch for that Braviary set. I've tended to run Return over Brave Bird because, well, removing Ghost-types is easy and you don't get screwed over by the ubiquitous Electrics.

 

[watashi]

That Braviary set is nearly impossible to stop. Players usually have to choose between having their Rock-type severely hurt early game while setting up Stealth Rocks—and therefore losing the game to Braviary—or not getting hazards up at all. It can set up on nearly every wall in the game and is ridiculously hard to take down once it sets up. Electric-types are usually pretty frail on the Physical side and generally take a lot from a boosted Brave Bird.

 

[Annoyer]

I haven't seen this set in action at all, but I will start testing it to see if it is truly this amazing. It seems to struggle against offensive teams, especially considering offensive teams are the most common atm, where it's low speed (outsped by emboars and such) and mediocre bulk can be punished very easily with strong attacks from the likes of Emboar, Zangoose, Swellow and more powerful hitters. CB Braviary has been pretty managable with all of my teams even though it it can be a huge threat. Hopefully, Champion Stunfisk will get more usage as one of the best walls to beat this thing (STATIC!!!!!) and it can also possibly live 2 CB Returns. SubDisablers such as Haunter, Kanga, and Seadra may see more use since one more mono-attacker has been added to the list of big threats.

 

[A Critical Hit]

I've ran into a Bulk-Sub set (last night in fact) that i was totally unprepared for (since Braviary either running scarf or band) w/lefties for recovery. It was using Roost as well and Brave Bird as the sole attacking move. The trainer predicted my switch into Regirock by putting up a sub. Since it was faster, all i could do is break the sub with the shaky Stone Miss as it buffed it's stats further. Since Stone Edge missed several times, it kept bulking up and proceeded to sweep my team.

 

[jake]

I'm still somewhat mad that DTC posted this. >:(

I've been using this set on both my alt Grounded and Zebraiken for a long while (and I'll be posting a RMT with it sometime in the near future) and it's so incredibly fucking good. Regirock troubles? Just Sub + Roost and stall out their Stone Edge PP, then continue to boost on them because you can't do anything else. Amoonguss can't break your Sub with Sludge Bomb, and Alomomola does even less with Scald. You think you can beat it with offensive pressure? I set up Brav on CB Ice Punch Golurk in an earlier match. Think you've got it checkmated with Rotom-S? Nah, it OHKOes after SR at +3 with a resisted move, and lives your Thunderbolt with a good chunk of health to spare. It's definitely my go-to Pokemon to shred through defensive cores now, because every common defensive core simply cannot handle it.

That said, I don't think it's as all-powerful as people make it out to be - people are just handling it wrong and need to adjust their teams (or at least try to!). Power Gem + Toxic Probopass is guaranteed to beat it if you can outpredict them just once. If you get Rock Blast Cinccino or the like in before it gets many boosts, you can kill it that way. SubDisable users like Haunter are a guaranteed win. I was playing against doomvendingmachine on the ladder earlier when he set up zeBrav (tee hee) on my Golem, but I killed it with a mix between Taunting it with Skuntank and allowing Aftermath to take a chunk out of its health and kill itself with Brave Bird. If it gets much more popular, I'm really interested in using Toxic Skuntank (over Poison Jab or Crunch), as it outspeeds and can Taunt + Toxic Brav and effectively neuter it for the rest of the match. More than anything, it really encourages not relying solely on Alomomoongus for all of your defensive needs. I'd really like to explore and see what defensive options can deal with this set and which can't.