Competitive Pokemon History - Murkrow & Honchkrow Quiz

Answer: Bad stats

Murkrow's bulk, if you can even call it that, was pathetic. With a Base 60 HP and 42/42 Defenses, Murkrow had trouble taking even a resisted hit, much less a neutral or even super effective one. Unfortunately, while it may have been made of glass, the 'cannon' part that usually follows was definitely missing here. Having average 85 Attacking stats meant Murkrow struggled to KO particularly bulky Pokemon.

This meant that it was KOed way too easily and didn't have the chance to realistically achieve enough before easily going down.

This meant Murkrow was just a bad Pokemon in the second generation, not even finding any real use in NeverUsed, a joke of a tier at the time that was the franchise's lowest.

Answer: Insomnia

Insomnia renders the user immune to being put to sleep. Murkrow's pathetic bulk meant switching straight into something always carried a considerable degree of risk, but it now had a couple of avenues to switch in to Grass types with; coming in for free on a predicted Sleep Powder or Spore, or leveraging its resistance to Grass to at least survive a hit of that typing and threaten the user with a decently strong STAB Flying type attack.

Pidgeot was generally preferred to Murkrow in third generation NU, due to the simple fact that Pidgeot's stats were far superior, making it a good bit bulkier and a little bit more hard-hitting. However, Murkrow's ability to harmlessly absorb sleep-inducing attacks is something Pidgeot could not do, giving it a minor but existent niche.

Answer: 125

Improving 40 whole points upon evolving from Murkrow, Honchkrow can hit extremely hard. Access to strong physical moves like Brave Bird and Sucker Punch furthers this distinction. Honchkrow's bulk was still pretty bad, so it would often be best to not leave it out for too long, lest something Honchkrow cannot handle eventually comes in to deal with.

A 'hit-n-run' strategy is perfectly embodying of the Al Capone lookalike, and it gave Honchkrow a standard play niche of being a frightening wallbreaker.

Answer: Speed

Dropping ten points from Murkrow's 80 to a 70, Honchkrow came to realize that the young blood have more energy in them and are generally more able-bodied and quicker, prompting it to recruit Murkrow to help it out with performing get-away operations. This unfortunately meant Honchkrow was a bit reliant on Sucker Punch in the face of deadly offensive threats, which could become problematic if the Honchkrow user is unable to out-predict the opponent.

Answer: Super Luck

Super Luck grants Honchkrow a +1 to its critical hit ratio. When making a dramatic get-away, Super Luck can help Honchkrow do important things, like correctly arm a time bomb, get off a lucky shot against pursuing law enforcement, or make that last-second turn inside the get away vehicle before it would have driven off a cliff or into a road trap set by the police.

It can also help Honchkrow break down bulky Pokemon with a little bit of luck and its immensely strong Brave Birds. So while it was inconsistent, it could come in handy.

Answer: Moxie

Moxie grants the user a free +1 to their Attack stat whenever the opposing target is KOed while they are on the field. It's akin to playing Grand Theft Auto and recovering a little bit of health after fighting off that police officer and remaining behind cover for a little while, then maneuvering to steal whatever high quality weapon the officer happened to be using.

This meant that Honchkrow could potentially snowball out of control, as its massive Attack stat could inflate to out-of-control heights.

Answer: Skarmory

Honchkrow with Superpower can normally beat down defensive Steel and Rock types that resist Brave Bird and try to stand up against it. Skarmory happened to be a particularly notable exception, boasting a massive 140 for Defense and being only neutral to the attack. Thus, Skarmory was one of few Pokemon that could essentially just sit there and absorb hits from Honchkrow, barring the unviable Heat Wave being used on an overtly gimmicky mixed-offensive Honchkrow variant.

Answer: Prankster

Prankster grants +1 priority to all status inducing moves. Believe it or not, an Eviolite Murkrow could use Prankster to make a bulky sweeping set of all things quite possible. Access to Featherdance, a move that halves the target's Attack stat, could let Murkrow quickly neuter physically offensive threats, where it could then boost in front of them with priority Calm Mind and stay healthy with a priority Roost. Prankster was key to making the set work in sixth generation PartiallyUsed, making Murkrow a rare but effective threat for the tier.

Answer: Darkium-Z

Darkium-Z boosted Sucker Punches not only hit devastatingly hard, but gave Honchkrow a way to freely threaten opponents with its Dark STAB without having to play a guessing game. Notably, this gave a high chance of netting at least one KO, triggering Moxie, and potentially twirling a sweep with the ability's snowball potential. Thus, Honchkrow became a lethal wallbreaker in seventh generation RarelyUsed.

Answer: Brave

It simply wouldn't do for a mafia lord to be quiet, definitely not timid, and certainly not docile, in the face of a deadly opposition. In order to keep its wits about it and effectively deal with the threat, Honchkrow needed to nut up or shut up, which is why the Brave nature was most fitting for it on Trick Room teams.

The Brave nature improves Honchkrow's Attack at the expense of its Speed. Considering Trick Room inverts the speed of combatants on the field, it is best to have as low a Speed stat as possible while it is active. Brave also amplifies Honchkrow's naturally massive Attack stat, and enables the trainer to take what would have been Speed investment and place said investment into Honchkrow's poor bulk, letting it take a hit or two more effectively.