Corviknight (QC 1/2)

[The Squash]

[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Body Press
move 2: Brave Bird / Substitute / Taunt
move 3: Iron Defense
move 4: Roost
item: Rocky Helmet / Sitrus Berry / Leftovers
ability: Mirror Armor / Pressure
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

Body Press allows Corviknight to hit other Steel-types for super effective damage while also taking advantage of Iron Defense boosts. When Dynamaxed, it can also grant an Attack boost, buffing other damaging moves. Brave Bird is Corviknight's strongest STAB, dealing significant damage even without any boosts, while also boosting Speed when Dynamaxed. Substitute allows Corviknight to avoid status moves and can also make it difficult to break through after an Iron Defense boost. Taunt can stop sweepers from boosting and is also able to prevent status moves. Iron Defense allows Corviknight to tank hits while also significantly boosting damage dealt by Body Press. Roost gives Corviknight access to reliable recovery. Rocky Helmet allows Corviknight to deal chip damage to physical attackers, allowing it to more effectively beat Mimikyu and physical Dragapult, while a Sitrus Berry gives it burst healing that lets it survive strong attacks and start boosting out of KO range. Mirror Armor is generally the preferred ability since it preventing stat drops from max moves, but when paired with Substitute, Pressure allows Corviknight to stall out low PP moves like Rotom-H Overheat or Dragapult Fire Blast, while also winning PP wars versus other bulky Pokemon like Ferrothorn. The given EV spread maximizes Corviknight's physical bulk, but a spread of 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpDef with a Careful nature can be used so that it can deal with special attackers better and become even more difficult to KO after boosting. Additionally, 12 Spe EVs can be used on Taunt variants to help win the Corviknight mirror.

This set is a potential Dynamax user, as the additional Health boost makes it difficult for Physical attackers to break through Corviknight. Corviknight can also deal good damage with Max Airstream and Max Knuckle, while also boosting its stats even more. It can be difficult to judge when to Dynamax Corviknight compared to other Pokemon as it is a much more reactive Dynamax, being best utilized when you benefit significantly from its enhanced durability and stat boosts. With access to Max Guard it can stall out physical Dynamax users, but does not sweep in the way prominent users such as Gyarados and Mimikyu do. Corviknight pairs well with Dragon-types, such as Haxorus and Dragapult, as it can wall Fairy-types that give them trouble. It also appreciates Ground-types that can deal with Electric- and Fire-types that threaten it. Mimikyu also makes a good partner, as Corviknight can set up on and KO bulky Steel-types that give it trouble with Body Press, while Mimikyu can kill Pokemon such as special Dragapult, which can freely switch in versus Corviknight and KO it.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Body Press / Iron Head
move 3: Bulk Up
move 4: Roost / Substitute
item: Leftovers / Sitrus Berry
ability: Mirror Armor
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe

Body Press allows Corviknight to hit other Steel-types while also taking advantage of its great Defense, especially after a boost. When Dynamaxed, Max Knuckle can further boost its Attack allowing it to sweep. Brave Bird is Corviknight's strongest STAB, dealing significant damage. Max Airstream deals even more damage while also boosting its Speed. Iron Head can be used to hit Fairy-types like Mimikyu harder and can also further boost Corviknight's Defense with Max Steelspike. Bulk Up lets Corviknight become bulkier while also making all its damaging moves more powerful. Roost gives Corviknight access to reliable recovery, while Substitute allows Corviknight to avoid status moves such as Thunder Wave and Will-O-Wisp that would cripple it and prevent a sweep. Leftovers gives Corviknight passive healing while it sets up, allowing it to stay out and boost longer. Mirror Armor prevents Corviknight from having its stats dropped by max moves or Intimidate, but Pressure can be used in conjunction with Substitute to PP stall moves such as Rotom-H Overhear or Dragapult Fire Blast.

Corviknight is a good Dynamax user both offensively and defensively, as it can sweep teams after boosting while also being able to tank hits thanks to the HP boost Dynamax gives. It is worth noting that without Attack boosts Corviknight is more reactive as a Dynamax user compared to other Pokemon, being best utilized when you benefit significantly from its enhanced durability and stat boosts. It can stall out other physical Dynamax users with Max Guard, but does not sweep in the same way prominent users such as Gyarados and Mimikyu do. Pokemon with Volt Switch or U-Turn can bring Corviknight in to start setting up and sweeping. Corviknight appreciates teammates that can deal with Electric- and Fire-types, such as Excadrill and Mamoswine, since it cannot break through them on its own. Dragon-types such as Hydreigon, Dragapult, and Haxorus make excellent teammates, as Corviknight can beat Fairy-types that give them trouble while they can wear down bulky Steel-types with coverage moves in return.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[The Squash, 322004]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]

 

[1_TrickPhony]

For the most part, this looks great for a preview. For the first set, I think Leftovers or Sitrus berry should absolutely be the first slash. Having the (passive) recovery is huge, particularly vs special attackers, whereas small chip from Rocky Helmet doesn't help that much, since you will beat physical attackers anyways. I think Drill Peck can also be slashed in the Brave Bird slot, as you can attack in without risking death on the recoil in some matchups. You should mention that some investment in speed can be helpful for Taunt and Substitute, to avoid status and opposing Taunt from slower Pokemon.

Finally, somewhere here, you should really put a special defensive spread. Corviknight with special defense investment can beat so many things, such as Scarf Special Dragapult, any Mystical Fire user, not full special invested Rotoms, etc.

 

[greilmercenary9]

This is a good start to the writeup but I'm going to suggest several additions/changes. First, Pressure needs to be at least mentioned as an ability on both sets, but especially the Physically Defensive set when running Substitute or Taunt. I actually think it deserves a secondary slash after Mirror Armor at least on the first set if not on both. While Mirror Armor is the more generally useful ability and helps to avoid issues like max moves dropping defense or the like, Pressure has immense utility in several important matchups, allowing Corviknight to stall out low PP moves like Dragapult Fire Blast or Scarf Rotom-H Overheat (especially in concert with Substitute), while also helping Corviknight win PP wars against other bulkier mons like Ferrothorn and Quagsire.

I think the slashes on the items are fine, though I think Rocky Helmet should especially be noted for mono Body Press variants since this allows Corviknight to more effectively beat Mimikyu and full physical Dragapult through passive damage since mono Press can't hit them directly. (It is worth noting on the writeup that mono Body Press is a free switch for any Dragapult with Fire Blast/Flamethrower though, especially special based Dragapults which can 2HKO even Careful variants if Specs, though again Pressure can help Corviknight have a chance of surviving this encounter.) Rocky Helmet also seems to be the most common of those items for Iron Defense Corviknight on the high ladder as well. Sitrus is also especially effective on Iron Defense Corviknight since it can give the burst healing to live strong attacks long enough to boost to nigh invulnerability. Leftovers, on the other hand, is rightfully preferred on the Offensive set since Corviknight tends to be on the field for several turns and the offensive set doesn't get as much out of the one healing burst since it doesn't boost its defense to insane levels as fast, but it also hits harder over a long period if it gets set up and benefits from the passive healing.

It might be worth mentioning that running 12 EVs in Speed for Taunt variants helps to win the mirror. I looked for potential higher benchmarks that made sense, but Corviknight really doesn't want to spend any more EVs on speed especially with its awkward tier and need for investment in its other stats to really perform at its best. The EVs on the sets themselves are fine in both cases though. I do agree with 1TP that at least a mention of SpDef spreads (maybe even just Careful 252 HP + 252 SpDef in the vein of old school Curse set ups) could be useful somewhere on the defensive set since it makes it even harder to kill once set up, but I also think that it should not be a primary spread as it hurts Corviknight's efficacy in checking some of the stuff it is supposed to beat.

On the Offensive set, I strongly disagree with Brave Bird being slashed with anything. This is Corviknight's best STAB move, both in coverage and in BP, and with 87 base attack Corviknight cannot afford to be dropping significant BP on a set that purports to be more offensive. The biggest reason to run a more offensive Corviknight is the significant extra power that Adamant gives Brave Bird, such as the ability to 2HKO more offensive switch-ins like Dragapult and Cinderace while also just generally providing more damage output with its STAB in matchups where its physical defense is overkill and Body Press isn't especially effective. Any set not running Brave Bird would be much better off going fully defensive IMO.

I also think that while Corviknight is a pretty good Dynamax user that it can be a little bit more difficult to judge exactly when to Dynamax with Corviknight compared to more obvious sweepers. Corviknight is a tank, so when Dynamaxing with it you really need to be benefiting significantly from the extra durability (and speed/attack boosts) both immediately and at least in the mid-term if doing so early-to-mid game. In some ways Corviknight can be a bit of a reactive Dynamax user since it will basically always have access to Max Guard and has immense durability when Dynamaxed, so it excels at stalling out opposing physical Dynamax users, but it isn't really a more traditional sweeper in the same vein as other prominent Dynamax mains like Togekiss, Gyarados, and Mimikyu, so it takes careful judgment to weigh when the overall gains make using Dynamax with Corviknight more profitable than saving it for something else.

Given the above paragraph, I think that emphasizing Corviknight as a prominent Dynamax user should be downplayed somewhat. That sentiment is definitely not wrong, but I think that it takes significantly more nuanced strategic judgment to be used well on Corviknight than on most usual Dynamax users.

Once these changes are implemented this is QC 1/2

 

[Theorymon]

Finally going to check this!

I'm fine with the Physically Defensive set, I think you nailed that one. Only thing is that I'd remove the 12 Speed mention because I believe there's actually a rule against encouraging speed creeping like that (though I will admit I myself totally run speed on Corviknight lol). Also, I think it's important to note that Inflitrator on Dragapult is going to ignore Substitute.

Pretty much my main changes are gonna be with the offensive set, I think the set should be rearranged a bit to be like this:

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Bulk Up
move 3: Roost
move 4: Body Press / Iron Head / Taunt / Power Trip
item: Leftovers / Sitrus Berry / Weakness Policy
ability: Mirror Armor
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe

So basically, here's my reasoning:

-Despite being offensive, I think Corviknight should almost always have Roost anyways, its more than capable of walling a lot of stuff even without the investment thanks to Bulk Up.

-I slash in Taunt because its a great anti stall tool, and lets you beat other Corviknight instead of devolving into a PP stall / crit war.

-Weakness Policy and Power Trip go together. Ideally for the full analysis, this would actually be a seperate set, but for now I think it's important we touch upon this a bit. Weakness Policy makes Corviknight a MUCH more direct Dynamaxer than usual, taking advantage of stuff that'd normally be seriously problematic for it like Specially Attacking Dragapult. Power Trip is often on these kinds too since after the Dynamax + Weakness Policy activation, Power Trip will usually become quite powerful.

-To be clear though, even with Weakness Policy I wouldn't compare this to something like Togekiss. It's more like it screws up some of its offensive checks. For example, after a Weakness Policy boost, Max Airstream will OHKO most Dragapult.

-To add to this, an alternate EV spread to consider for Weakness Policy is 252 HP / 124 Atk / 132 Spe, this still gives you decent power while outspeeding up to Jolly Excadrill after one max Airstream.

Finally, just some general teammate mentions that I forgot to mention earlier!

I think Gastrodon and Quagsire are worth mentioning as more defensive teammates, they handle Rotom-W and Rotom-H wonderfully, and provide an important resistance to Electric and Fire moves.

I think Dracozolt is also worth mentioning, its a great check against offensive Rotom formes, and can even use Volt Absorb to block Volt Switch.

Let me know when you implement this stuff, and I'll give it a QC stamp!

 

[1_TrickPhony]

Cool, I was thinking the same comment theorymon made, and it turns out he beat me to it a while ago. Other note is that with weakness policy, you can live a life orb fire blast (and most rolls of specs) from dragapult and KO back with power trip. It doesnt even need to dynamax to punish pokemon in 1 vs 1 scenarios after both players have used their dynamax. Considering the usage level of corviknight, it could warrant a separate set, but at least the mention seems like minimal justice.

 

[Nuke2099]

Something I'm interested in knowing is if 80 or 88 speed EV's are worth it? Some of the previous builds being used were using something like 252 HP / 176 SpD / 80 Spe with a Careful or Impish nature.

 

[Ika Ika Musume]

I really don't like the spread of the offensive corviknight, I think it should be max attack max speed jolly if you are doing a simple spread

 

[1_TrickPhony]

I really don't like the spread of the offensive corviknight, I think it should be max attack max speed jolly if you are doing a simple spread

The whole set is pretty dated now, and the term offensive is pretty misleading. I think first set can be IDBP, second should be a fast taunt, most likely with mono brave bird, bulk up, taunt, roost.

 

[1_TrickPhony]

So we have alluded to the fact that this analysis is a good bit outdated. Here is my personal recommendations for the sets

Set 1
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Body Press
move 2: Brave Bird / Taunt
move 3: Iron Defense
move 4: Roost
item: Sitrus Berry / Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
ability: Mirror Armor
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

Notable changes: substitute no longer included, helmet moved down to a lower option. Helmet should explicitly be mentioned if choosing a mono body press set to beat mimikyu/physical dragapult.

Set 2
name: Fast Taunt
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Taunt / Substitute
move 3: Bulk Up
move 4: Roost
item: Lum Berry / Leftovers
ability: Mirror Armor
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 108 HP / 148 Atk / 252 Spe

Idea is to outspeed and take advantage of slow passive threats with Taunt or Substitute. Probably the most viable set overall at high ladder.

Set 3
name: Weakness Policy
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Bulk Up
move 3: Roost
move 4: Body Press / Power Trip / Iron Head / Taunt
item: Weakness Policy
ability: Mirror Armor
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 132 Spe

Recommendation that Theorymon gave, gets its own set rather than trying to awkwardly combine it into another set

Set 4
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Brave Bird
move 2: Bulk Up
move 3: Roost
move 4: Taunt / Substitute
item: Maranga Berry
ability: Pressure / Mirror Armor
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 244 SpD / 12 Spe

Idea is to stall out special attackers with an immense SpD boost provided by maranga berry. Can use either pressure to stall low pp moves or mirror armor to not get overwhelmed by stat drop moves, such as Max Darkness.