Bisharp, The Sword Blade Pokémon. The pitiless Pokémon commands a group of Pawniard to hound prey into immobility. It then moves in to finish the prey off. Bisharp pursues prey in the company of a large group of Pawniard. Then Bisharp finishes off the prey.
Overview
Ah Bisharp. You used to be a rather average but this generation, you have had a ridiculously awesome boost, largely in part to Knock Off combined with the ability of Defiant. It's not without faults, as it does have a glaring 4* weakness to Fighting-type moves, which are relatively common in the current metagame, but its ability teamed with Knock Off, Sucker Punch and other classic moves means that if you get hit by Bisharp, you're already dead.
Positives
+ It has a great Ability in Defiant
+ It has a ridiculously beastly attack
+ Above average defense
+ It is rather an amazing late game sweeper
+ Its typing gives it a myriad of resistances: Normal, Grass, Ice, Flying, Rock, Ghost, Dragon, Dark and Steel, plus two immunities: Psychic and Poison.
Negatives
- Poor Hp , SpD , and Spe. It's just a total glass cannon due to having base 65 / 70 / 70 respectively.
- Its typing leaves it incredibly vulnerable to fighting type moves.
Abilities
Defiant: Attack is raised by two stages when the Pokémon has its stats lowered. Doesn't work on self inflicted stat drops or drops from allies - This is the ability you always want to use. It's basically like giving you a free sword's dance every time you get struck by intimidate or defog or something. It owns.
Inner Focus: This Pokémon will not flinch. Does not prevent flinching with Focus Punch. - Not a bad ability for sure , but it's completely outclassed by Defiant.
Hidden Ability (Available):
Pressure : When this Pokémon is hit by a move, the opponent’s PP lowers by 2 rather than 1. Not ideal due to the fact that it's so frail, but it can ruin a couple of strategies, especially on Choice Pokémon if you team it with Protect.
Movesets
Bisharp to King's Rook 3
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
Item Attached: Assault Vest
Ability: Defiant
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 192 HP / 220 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
It's hindered by its poor base HP , so this ev spread gives it some much needed padding so it's not a total glass cannon and with Assault Vest its Special Defense becomes passable. Knock Off is its main stab. It goes well with Bisharps beastly attack and makes your opponent even more scared to switch into this thing for fear of getting stripped of their items as well as taking alot of damage. Iron Head is a solid secondary move for things that resist Dark types. Sucker Punch pretty much has to be baseline on all Bisharp sets due to its poor speed, and Pursuit is great for trapping things like Gengar and the Lati twins and taking them out.
Slice em and dice em!
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
Item Attached: Blackglasses / Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
The item and nature choice are up to you , but I prefer Blackglasses and Adamant Nature. Very rarely will you not be using anything but dark type moves with Bisharp, so it's one of the few mons that can actually get away with using Blackglasses and with Adamant nature to maximize its offensive potential this thing is a monster. Other than that the moves are pretty much the same as the other set with the exception of Sword's Dance. I mean it's called the Sword Blade Pokémon for a reason so why not let it do what it do it's thing and carve through your opponent's team. It's particularly deadly as a late game sweeper with this set and it's the one I find myself using the most because it's so just much fun wrecking people with this.
Other Options
Assurance, Brick Break, Dual Chop, Hone Claws, Low Sweep, Payback, Poison Jab, Psycho Cut, Rock Polish, Shadow Claw, Stealth Rock, Stone Edge, X-Scissor
Assurance is a strong STAB move that depends on Bisharp being hit earlier that turn (and with that Speed stat, it's pretty likely to happen).
Brick Break is an alternative to Low Kick as it provides consistent damage while Low Kick is based off of weight.
Dual Chop is useful for breaking Substitutes as well as hitting Dragon types super effectively.
Hone Claws is an alternative boosting move, although it is outclassed by Swords Dance as Bisharp has no need for an accuracy boost.
Low Sweep is another alternative to Low Kick, and can be very useful as it lowers the Speed of the opponent, making it easier for Bisharp to deal with them.
Payback is similar to Assurance, though it depends on whether the opponent has made a move rather than having hit Bisharp, making it more viable.
Poison Jab gives decent neutral coverage, although it doesn't help to solve Bisharp's Steel type problems any.
Psycho Cut is also a good neutral coverage move, but again Steel types just laugh it off, though it does hit Fighting types pretty hard.
Rock Polish is Bisharp's only way to boost its Speed, and thus deserves to be mentioned as it allows Bisharp to set up and then use its base 125 Attack to sweep on its own.
Shadow Claw is the same as Poison Jab and Psycho Cut, although it provides redundant coverage that's less powerful than Bisharp's Dark STAB.
Stealth Rock can be run on Bisharp if you don't want to run other Pokemon better suited for it, but it can be used as an effective surprise tactic.
Stone Edge is a good coverage move, although the accuracy is shaky as well as it not hitting anything particularly useful for super effective damage.
X-Scissor is another decent coverage move, although it suffers the same fate as the rest in the fact that it doesn't really hit anything useful.
Double & Triple Battle Options
Considering Bisharp's Speed and Defences, Bisharp has never been one for Double Battles, but thanks to the Knock Off buff and the fact it finally received Knock Off again in the Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire tutors, Bisharp has definitely become a force to be reckoned with, and often sits in the Top 12 most used Pokémon in Doubles Battle Spot.
Fool's Gambit
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Protect
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Adamant Nature
This is a pretty standard Bisharp set. Knock Off is the key thing here, ruining many strategies and getting double power when it hits a Pokémon with item, plus STAB so that's always useful. Iron Head is another move of STAB that can go through and destroy Fairy-types with ease and Sucker Punch provides priority, but does have the risk of not hitting if the target was setting itself up with a Status move. Finally, Protect is used to protect, obviously, as well as scout for possible threats against Bisharp.
Why Defiant? Intimidate is so ridiculously common in the Doubles metagame that you'll want to take the hit. While it wouldn't boost Attack as much as if any other stat was lowered, it still boosts it by one stage above what it was, and any boost is still a boost!
Bisharp in Pokemon, Bishop in Chess, both play similar roles in their respective games. Both put various opponents in check, both have astounding power (usually enough to OHKO its targets), and both are usually knocked out in one hit.
Bisharp is an insane threat to every defensive Psychic and Ghost type, alongside anything that has weaker defenses. The reason? two moves in particular that should be considered on every Bisharp - Sucker Punch and Knock Off
Checkmate
Sucker Punch
Knock Off / Assurance
Iron Head
Protect
Item Attached: Focus Sash / Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Adamant Nature
Your defensive game goes down the drain if you've only Cresselia to rely on while they still have Bisharp, your offensive game withers away when you're just one Sucker Punch away from being KOed, even more so if you triggered Bisharp's Defiant with Intimidate or Icy Wind. Bisharp can be very difficult to dance around and often will deal heavy damage before being knocked out itself. Focus Sash is so Bisharp won't be Knocked out immediately by one attack, unless it's Double Kick or Parental Bond Low Kick/Power Up Punch, but Life Orb's Power and versatility shouldn't be ignored either. When Bisharp KOs something, its something like Landorus-T, Aegislash, Charizard, Cresselia, which no team wants to lose early.
Sucker Punch is to Bisharp what Hyper Voice is to Sylveon. Without Sucker Punch, Bisharp wouldn't be nearly as big a threat as it is now. Knock Off ruins any defensive Pokemon, but especially Cresselia and Aegislash. Aegislash's King's Shield won't stop Bisharps onslaught because of Defiant. Assurance on the other hand is especially powerful when combined with a team member's faster Rock Slide, just about guaranteeing the KO on anything that doesn't resist it. Iron Head is the secondary STAB and is what makes slower Intimidators like Scrafty an unreliable check because of Iron Head's 30% flinch rate. Protect is a valuable move on frail Pokemon like Bisharp, and allows more mind games to be played.
Partners for Bisharp include things that don't like being Intimidated, like Kangaskhan or Salamence as they are great threats by themselves, but with Bisharp it can be difficult to find an angle to attack. Taunt users work well with Bisharp to ease predicting with Sucker Punch.
Bisharp is a prediction heavy Pokemon, meaning all is well if it's able to land its attacks successfully, but if Bisharp targets the wrong Pokemon with Sucker Punch then it usually results in one less Bisharp for the battle. And teams are currently finding creative ways to deal with Bisharp through the likes of Cobalion and Double Kick Terrakion. Very much the epitome of a High Risk, High Reward Pokemon.
Countering Bisharp
Countering Bisharp? Well that's easy. Fighting-type moves. Bisharp has a barely adequate Defense stat, and with Fighting-type moves being predominantly physical, it's wide open. Going for Pokémon like Hitmonchan, Conkeldurr, Lucario, Terrakion etc., and their Fighting-type moves, would do you well as they resist one of the STABs and can hit hard. Alternatively, go in with the Burn. If you can set up a Will-o-Wisp on Bisharp, you have shut it down considerably, so Milotic with Scald is a good option, or Rotom-W with Will-O-Wisp. Alternatively, Ground-type moves or Fire-type moves will make quick work of it
Pre-Evolution Corner - Pawniard
Pawniard takes Rook
-Knock Off
-Sucker Punch
-Iron Head
-Stealth Rock / Brick Break / Swords Dance
Item Attached: Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpDef / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
Much like its evolution, Pawniard is widely regarded as one of the best Pokemon where it is used. In the Little Cup, Pawniard has the combination of bulk, power, and utility to make it a top tier threat. It's so good that even with its nemesis, Mienfoo, being on literally every other team, it still continues to remain among the top three Pokemon most used in the metagame. In an item-dependent metagame such as the Little Cup, one of the scariest things in the tier is Knock Off. And when that Knock Off is STAB and coming off of 17 attack, not many things like switching into it. Knock Off is so good that you can honestly spam it with reckless abandon, since almost nothing likes eating a Knock Off. Pawniard may not be too slow, but there's still a number of things faster than it. For this reason, Sucker Punch is vital, and can pick off a lot of very fast and deadly Pokemon such as Abra or Gastly if they try to stay in. Iron Head hits things like Spritzee, Mienfoo, and Snubbull a bit harder, given they all resist both Sucker Punch and Knock Off (although most of them don't particularly enjoy having their item knocked off regardless). For the final slot, Pawniard has a few choices. It makes a surprisingly good Stealth Rock setter, given the pressure it puts on Defoggers thanks to Defiant, and due to Pawniard's good bulk and ability to force switches regardless. However, if you'd like a more offensive approach, Brick Break can be used, which notably deals with opposing Pawniard pretty well, in addition to hitting a few other things such as Tirtuga a little bit harder. Finally, Swords Dance can give Pawniard a boost, making its already nasty attacks frighteningly powerful to switch into.
Also like it's evolution, Defiant is always, ALWAYS the ability of choice. The ability to turn Defog, Intimidate, and Sticky Web (among other less common stat drops) into a free +2 attack boost is absolutely huge, and with respect to Defog specifically, puts an enormous amount of pressure on your foe's hazard control if they rely on Defogging. Eviolite is standard Pawniard's item of choice, which with its naturally good defense and solid typing, can make it pretty bulky. The given EVs and nature allow Pawniard to reach 16 speed, which outspeeds things such as Magnemite, Scraggy, and offensive Vullaby, in addition to speed tying with an unboosted Dwebble. The EVs also maximize Pawniard's bulk with Eviolite factored in, while the rest is put into attack to reach 17 attack, which hits plenty hard and more investment doesn't necessarily net any significant KOs.
Locations in Games
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:
Route 11
Black 2/White 2:
Evolve Pawniard
X/Y:
Evolve Pawniard
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Trade from X & Y
Animé Appearences
