Rapid Strike Corner

Urshifu, The Wushu Pokémon. It's believed that this Pokémon modeled its fighting style on the flow of a river-sometimes rapid, sometimes calm. This form of Urshifu is a strong believer in defeating foes by raining many blows down on them. Its strikes are nonstop, flowing like a river.

Overview

The Armor of the Master Dojo has arrived to inflict pain to those who have been corrupted by evil. With the arrival of the DLC, Urshifu strikes a new metagame in Sword / Shield. Urshifu has been blessed by a base 130 Attack and a very sizable movepool along with two forms that can determine its type. Positives
A humongous base 130 Attack allows Urshifu to hit very hard along with a great movepool gaining access to coverage moves such as Thunder Punch, Close Combat, Zen Headbutt and Iron Head.
Unseen Fist has the ability of allowing Urshifu hit Pokemon even through Protect, allowing it an easier time to break past walls like Clefable.
Base 100 HP and Defense grants Urshifu decent physical bulk allowing it to switch more comfortably into threats such as Weavile or Scizor.

Negatives
Urshifu tragically falls behind the base 100 speed tier which means that it is unable to revenge kill threats such as Volcarona without a Speed boost advantage.
Its weak Special Defense means that any super-effective hit from powerful special attackers such as Starmie, Magearna, Primarina and Tangrowth will damage it severely.
Urshifu suffers from 4 move slot syndrome, so depending on its moveset, it will be walled by something. Without Thunder Punch, Gyarados and Toxapex prey on it and without Zen Headbutt, Amoonguss and Venusaur wall it.

Movesets

THE FLOW OF THE RIVER

- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Surging Strikes
- Thunder Punch / Zen Headbutt
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs and Nature:
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature

With a Choice Scarf and a decent Speed tier, Urshifu is able to check Pokemon like Weavile and revenge kill Pokemon like Gyarados after a boost. U-turn allows RS-Urshifu to switch out from unfavorable match-ups while gaining momentum for its team. Close Combat is the main STAB Urshifu has on its disposal to shatter Ferrothorn into pieces. Surging Strikes is the strongest STAB Urshifu has on its movepool due to its effect of always being a critical hit. Thanks to this move, Urshifu deals devastating amount of damage on neutral targets while having the ability to break past Disguise, Sturdy and Focus Sash for being a multi-hit move. Finally, Thunder Punch complements its coverage as it allows it to revenge kill Gyarados at +1 while being its strongest move against Toxapex. Zen Headbutt is an option if you wish to hit Venusaur and Amonguss for higher damage while still retaining coverage against Tentacruel and Toxapex.

DYNAMAX:
Urshifu is also a Pokemon that gains a Gigantamax form and with its new G-Max move being capable of hitting even through Max Guard, this makes Rapid Strike Urshifu a massive threat allowing it to damage an opponent that opted to defend itself instead and punish the opponent's passiveness. The ability to hit through Max Guard alone, makes it worthwhile not to use its Dynamax form despite missing the extra boost in rain. Aerial Ace also becomes a viable option for Max Airstream purposes, with a damage boosting item such as Life Orb instead.

EV and Item Description:
Max Attack and Speed make Urshifu as powerful as possible while being able to outspeed Mimikyu. With a Choice Scarf, Urshifu becomes able to outspeed and revenge kill threats such as +1 Gyarados, Dragapult and Cinderace.

Partners

Clefable: Access to Teleport allows it to combine with Urshifu and form a PorTurn core allowing you to swing momentum in your favor while providing crucial Wish recovery since Urshifu is able to deal with Steel types like Excadrill and OHKO them with its STAB moves.
Ferrothorn: Not only provides a solid backbone for Urshifu to fall back and cover its Electric, Psychic, Fairy and Grass weakness but also provides Stealth Rock and Spikes support. Since Urshifu excels on forcing out opponents, it forces them to take more damage from hazards and prepare the team for a sweep.
Hydreigon: It takes advantage of the switches that Urshifu can force and with Nasty Plot, it can definitely weaken some of the strongest Urshifu checks and break past Pokemon like Clefable which is something that the karate bear heavily appreciates.
Zeraora: Its immunity to Electric attacks makes a valuable partner who can take advantage of the momentum regained by U-turn while weakening the opponent.
Magearna: Thanks to its access to Volt Switch and ability to set up on Pokemon like Corviknight, it is a valuable partner.
Rotom-Heat: Its ability to set up and check Pokemon like Togekiss and Amoonguss makes for a fantastic partner.
Alolan Marowak: Its ability to take down Amoonguss and Venusaur is heavily appreciated for Urshifu while it checks Ground types like Hippowdon in return.
Aegislash: Thanks to Urshifu's U-turn, it can freely spam Specs boosted Shadow Ball upon switching which makes it easy for Aegislash to wallbreak.

Other Options

Ice Punch is an option that allows Rapid Strike Urshifu to hit Dragapult harder than anything else on its moveset, but Urshifu can simply just U-turn out of it and send another counter.
Similarly, Fire Punch lets Rapid Strike hit Scizor harder while maintaining coverage vs Amoonguss, but it leaves it hopelessly useless vs Toxapex.

VGC & Double Battle Options

Urshifu is the big new Pokemon introduced with the Isle of Armor DLC, and at a glance it looks like everything about it is set up for huge success in the VGC format. Between its two forms and their powerful signature moves, the Unseen Fist ability, and their respective G-Max moves ignoring Protect entirely, it's hard to imagine Urshifu as anything but an insane top tier threat. However, while we're only in the early stages of this new metagame, Urshifu is not among the Pokemon taking the VGC metagame by storm. All of these traits absolutely make for a competent addition to the Doubles environment, Urshifu is kept in check by a large range of Pokemon, both old and new. While Urshifu outspeeds Togekiss, the fact remains that Togekiss is one of the most dangerous Pokemon in the metagame and with Urshifu's low Special Defense, it suffers quite a bit from the presence of Togekiss in either form. It's still difficult to say exactly where Urshifu's place in the metagame will be, but for the moment it appears that Urshifu may not be the meta breaker that people feared.

Million Rush

- Surging Strikes - Close Combat / Drain Punch
- Ice Punch / Thunder Punch
- Aerial Ace
Item Attached: Assault Vest
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs and Nature:
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Speed
Adamant / Jolly Nature

Urshifu's primary sets may vary as the metagame progresses, but at the moment both forms benefit greatly from Assault Vest to patch up their disappointing Special Defense stat. However, while they both function similarly, they each require different moves due to their typing and coverage needs. apid Strike Urshifu naturally wants to utilize its powerful Surging Strikes move due to the power it provides and its ability to beat Focus Sash users. Close Combat is the most powerful Fighting-type STAB option for both forms, though it conflicts with Assault Vest's purpose in boosting its bulk so Drain Punch can be utilized instead if this is an issue for you. Rapid Strike Urshifu can choose to run Ice Punch to hit Dragapult which it otherwise struggles against, though Thunder Punch is also an option if hitting Gyarados or Primarina is more important for the team. The last slot for both forms is Aerial Ace, which is primarily used for the purpose of providing Max Airstream support if committing the Dynamax slot.

While Assault Vest implies a more bulky approach, an offensive EV spread is recommended so that Urshifu can at least maintain some momentum against Togekiss and threaten with the coverage move in the first place. However, if this isn't a concern then a bulkier spread can be recommended. Adamant nature gives Urshifu more power and gives it slightly more return on the nature investment, though Jolly nature with maximum Speed investment can be used if outspeeding Mimikyu is desired.

Other Options & Team Ideas

- Urshifu can provide support with Helping Hand if using another item besides Assault Vest, the difficulty is finding a moveslot for it.
- Both Urshifu forms have access to priority in the form of Aqua Jet and Sucker Punch respectively, though making room for them can be difficult to justify since they usually want coverage moves instead.
- Obviously, Urshifu wants teammates that can deal with Togekiss effectively so that it doesn't need to lean on its coverage slots so heavily in order to break through Togekiss. Excadrill and Tyranitar are the tried and true Togekiss checks of the past meta and still work now. Likewise Lapras is effective at dealing with Togekiss, though the overlapping Water-type role with Rapid Strike Urshifu can be slightly redundant.
- Amoonguss is another issue for Urshifu, especially Rapid Strike Urshifu, so consider using Pokemon that can threaten it such as Togekiss, Incineroar, Talonflame, and Hatterene. While being slower than Amoonguss would normally be a problem for Hatterene due to Spore, Magic Bounce allows it to bypass this issue while also threatening both foes with Expanding Force under Psychic Terrain.

Checks & Counters

Pokemon that are able to resist its dual STAB combination are usually great options to deal with Urshifu. While Rapid Strike has better resistances, its dual STAB combination is not really spammable since the metagame counts with plenty of Pokemon resistant to its STABs. Toxapex is the prime Rapid Strike Urshifu counter since it can't break past it unless it carried a Choice Band boost. Mantine and Gyarados are fantastic checks if Urshifu misses out on Thunder Punch. Amoonguss will easily stop Urshifu if it lacks Zen Headbutt or Ice Punch and it can either threaten it with sleep or just by using its STAB Grass moves. Dragapult deserves a mention if the Rapid Strike form lacks Ice Punch.

Mandibuzz is a Pokemon that can usually deal with both formes consistently well, although it has to be careful of switching into Surging Strike from the Rapid form or a Choice Band Close Combat from either form.

Locations in Games

Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game

Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Not in game

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game

Colosseum/XD:
Not in game

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game

Black/White:
Not in game

Black 2/White 2:
Not in game

X/Y:
Not in game

Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Not in game

Sun/Moon:
Not in game

Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Not in game

Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game

Sword/Shield:
Evolve Kubfu (Isle of Armor Only)