Shadow Staraptor
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Shadow Staraptor rises to the sky and slams into anything that opposes it with super-sonic speed! Outside of Mega Pidgeot, Shadow Staraptor is the ultimate incarnation of the "basic bird" that we have in the game to date. Its DPS is very competitive with many top Pokemon within the type, making it a decent investment for those who want to shore up their Flying Type team. It would have been a big deal on release, but Shadow Honchkrow hit the scene at the same time, lessening Shadow Staraptor's impact.
Offense
- Wing Attack and Gust* are fairly comparable, with the former offering shorter move windows/easier dodging and the latter offering better damage.
- Quick Attack is theoretically superior, but doesn’t have much practical use.
- Sand Attack isn't doing Shadow Staraptor any favors.
- Either of the Flying Type Fast Moves should be paired with Fly for great Flying DPS.
- Brave Bird is a step down.
- Close Combat and especially Heat Wave perform terribly.
Defense
- Gust* is the clear winner, with extremely high damage output for a fast move and superior energy gains given the way that defenders operate.
- Wing Attack hits harder than Quick Attack and offers better coverage.
- Fly is Staraptor's only 2-bar move and has a relatively early damage window, making it a great move on Defense
- Close Combat and Brave Bird are equally hard to dodge, but the former has better counter coverage.
- Heat Wave is slightly inferior to Close Combat, but its different effectiveness profile gives it some merit.
- Sand Attack isn't great on defense.
Wing Attack is provides the best energy generation and deals decent damage, and is Staraptor's preferred Fast Attack. Gust provides incredible damage, but its energy generation is average at best Quick Attack is not recommended since its typing can't benefit from a Super Effective multiplier.
Fly is Staraptor's primary charge move thanks to its lower energy cost in addition to receiving STAB. Close Combat also has a fairly low cost and provides valuable coverage against Steel- and Rock-type Pokemon. Brave Bird is extremely powerful, but it is rather costly and the debuff is not ideal. Heat Wave is a bad move.
taraptor has a terrifying moveset and is an incredibly potent closer. Its coverage is almost perfect and can easily clean teams up when backed behind shields. However, Staraptor's frailty (ESPECIALLY as a Shadow Pokemon) and high dependence on shields can make it rather unreliable. It also competes with the more meta Flying-type Pokemon such as Talonflame and Skarmory, both of which are more reliable.
