Pawniard

[dcae]

Pawniard

Base
45 HP / 85 Atk / 70 Def / 40 SpA / 40 SpD / 60 Spe

Defiant / Inner Focus / Pressure
​

Notable Moves

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Knock Off
Sucker Punch
Iron Head
Brick Break
Swords Dance
Pursuit
Stealth Rock

Pawniard has catapulted into the limelight, becoming arguably the best Pokemon from previous generations that wasn't unbanned due to the new Generation. Proponents to the rapid rise include the massive Dark STAB buff and the huge Knock Off buff, making STAB Knock Off the deadliest move in the Little Cup metagame. Now that Sneasel, the previous top tier user, is banned, Pawniard is the best user of Knock Off, and with its typing and offensive presence, will aid almost any team running it. Also, the rise of Defog makes triggering Defiant quite common and a great play overall, further contributing to Pawniard's greatness.

Common set:

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Pawniard @ Berry Juice
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 Def / 196 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

 

[chimp]

Aw yus. Lets not forget 9 resistances, which lets it fit into teams really easily. Especially since it makes such a great teammate to Swirlix.

I've also noticed that fairy moves are becoming more common in place HP fighting, helping Pawniard counter ghosts and psychics easier than before.

 

[Ash Borer]

I run a life orb on pawniard and it is a damn monster, sticky web can be suicidal against pawniard if you have any kind of sucker punch weak

 

[Ray Jay]

I've seen in a few battles that Defiant Pawniard isn't getting stat boosts upon switching into Sticky Web, has anyone else been getting this issue?

On to the actual Pokemon, Pawniard is absolutely fantastic right now. STAB on Knock Off, as mentioned in the OP, is almost reason enough in and of itself to be run in this metagame, as frankly, we haven't figured out how to actually handle this insane move and we may never actually do so. Pawniard with Stealth Rock is also viable due to the fact that it will force repeated uses of Defog (which it can switch-in on for a quick +2 Attack due to the evasion drop Defog causes, as also mentioned in the OP). Fighting-types are becoming more and more of a necessity because of the prevalence of this Pokemon and how much Porygon and Munchlax are increasing in usage as well.

The thing about Pawniard is that it is quickly becoming one of those Pokemon that, if your team can handle Meditite and Mienfoo, there's not a real reason not to use. It has STAB Sucker Punch, it is a dark-type but its secondary STAB that kills Fairy-types, it has Swords Dance if your team actually wants something to sweep. Gah I love this Pokemon.

 

[prem]

ps will fix the defiant sticky web thing eventually.

anyway biggest part of pawn's sucess is that steel typing which means screw fairies. being able to easily kill snubbull, spritzee, and and swirlix without a care is great. only real counter i can think of is tangela (but honestly what doesnt lose to tangela). it should be noted you are faster than the standard medtits and mienfoo, and can easily oneshot them under the right circumstances (tits is easy, mien you need to knock off).

also its best to use pawniard in a team with hazards. otherwise id try to use scraggy because honestly the threat of pawniard with sr out makes people so reluctant to use defog its amazing

 

[Melons-N-Soda]

Pawniard seems like a good mon this gen.

9 resistances, and being immune to Poison and Psychic, as well as being one of the few Dark-types that can kinda handle Fairies, the others being Stunky (Which I heard is not really that good), and Houndour.

It's best to be caution of Fighting-types, since it's 4x weak to that.

 

[kingmidas]

Pawniard is the quintessential sneasel of this metagame. It forces switches similar to sneasel with knock off, strong priority and amazing coverage. One thing pawniard has over sneasel is the ability to beat bulky sticky web teams, as it may be slowed like sneasel, it gets a free swords dance. Not to mention when it gets going only a burn will shut it down if you try to stall it out since its immune to toxic.

 

[Electrolyte]

Pawniard is definitely still awesome, but I'm feeling as if Sneasel's ban has kind of forced it to watch its step. It did gain an awesome new toy in Knock Off, giving it loads of more viability, but Pawniard is quite weak to a lot of the top tier threats that Sneasel previously checked. Misdreavus, Murkrow, Gligar, Tangela, and Meditite to some extent really give it a lot of trouble, and Pawniard's x4 weakness to Fighting-type attacks don't help it. Also, it's job as a Fairy-killer is mitigated somewhat by the fact that Swirlix and Snubbull, the tier's two main fairies, both typically carry moves that can OHKO Pawniard (Flamethrower and Close Combat, respectively)

Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that Pawniard is not a good Pokemon- Pawniard just requires a lot of support. It does have quite a few valuable niches, however, as a bulky setup sweeper. Pawniard's new toy, Knock Off, makes it extremely viable and capable of screwing with teams just like Sneasel did, as kingmidas pointed out. Knock Off does let Pawniard hit past many of its old threats and many of its new ones, making it very tricky to switch into. Misdreavus is OHKOd by Knock Off on the switch, and Berry Juice Gligar / LO Meditite are KOd by Knock Off + Sucker Punch together. Pawniard's Iron Head is also really useful when it comes to smashing apart slower Fairy-types, especially since few teams actually carry a resist to Steel-type attacks. Also, Dark / Steel is pretty decent offensive coverage in LC, as the Steel-type no longer resists Dark, severely limiting the list of Pokemon that can wall Pawniard easily (I can't even think of anything that resists both of Pawniard's STABs in LC except Houndoom and other Pawniard, the former of which is not used at all and the latter of which can't do anything back to Pawniard heh) Its bulk and resistances give it many opportunities to set up, and the release of Berry Juice really helps it because it grants Pawniard with a lot more chances to attack and set up, seeing that few moves OHKO it.

Pawniard has a lot of new counters and checks, but it also got a lot of new tools and things to cover. It's a great Pokemon this meta.

 

[Liquidocelot]

Honestly in my opinion pawniward right now is the single best pokemon in lc. Having acess to stab knock off is godly in lc and being the only decently viable dark type that can take on fairies is amazing. With darks new buff pawniward can work past steel types thst walled its stab before and now can afford to run an extra dark move/ swords dance. Furthermore the prevalence of sticky web teams is rising turning pawniward that much deadlier by turning there own strategy against them. Add in an amzing defensive typing with 9 resists and it being the only steel type that resists both dark and ghost in this meta makes it that much better. Pawniward is also no slouch defensively either asit can survive offensive gligars eq and offensive tirtougas +2 waterfall and ko back with a combo of knock off+ sucker punch (tirtouga only if its not running aqua jet) thats pretty impressive. Further more with the fighting filled meta game diminishing from last gen to replace a more balanced meta his one big weakness is less daunting then before and when paired with a ghost type can often get fighting types with some prediction. All this being said pawniward is not perfect it still does have a crippling 4x weakness to fighting and weaknesses to ground and fire. Pawniward is also not very specially bulky and will often fall to a strong stab special attack. Pawniward also has a slight case of 4 mss as without swords dance it doesnt have enough power to take out some of lc's best physical walls while without brick break it cant get past other pawniwards or houndour (who admittedly he would have trouble with in the first place) as they wall his stab combo and can kill back with either brick break or fire blast and you need its stabs or else you will lose to a lot more. Furthermore while it offensively loves the eviolite buff defensively it hates it as without eviolite it is rather frail and it can help many fighting types get past a ghost partner. Even with all these faults pawniward in my opinion is still the best poke in lc especially with defog and sticky web everywhere giving it plus 2 on the switches. Thank you for reading this post if you disagree reply and have a nice day.

 

[dcae]

I recently began testing out a Scarf Pawniard set, which is actually quite an interesting set. The key factor is that no one expects it, and due to rather solid speed, it hits 24 Speed after the Scarf boost. Due to Knock Off's drastic buff, Scarf Pawniard can thus take advantage of that and outspeed and weaken the opposing team, or even clean up thanks to a practically 97 BP STAB move that is resisted by very few types thanks to the buff. It also has well rounded coverage, with Steel covering Fairies well, and Iron Head flinch haxing to victory is reminiscent of another age where Parahax Jirachi was a god in OU. Last few slots should include Brick Break to round off coverage and either Sucker Punch or any filler. Personally, I like the extremely fast Sucker Punch, as its utility can be indispensable. Add to all this goodness one of the best typings currently in LC, also notably resisting almost common priority; only Mach Punch/Vacuum Wave threatens it. Overall, Choice Scarf Pawniard is quite an underrated set on a Pokemon that is a true star in this metagame, and I would recommend anyone to try it out.

PS: nothing sweeter than Knock Offing entire teams because they don't understand why its outspeeding them ;)

 

[The Avalanches]

Pawniard was the most improved LC Pokémon of this generation by a wide margin. I can't help but get an evil grin on my face when I switch into a Defog.

I recently began testing out a Scarf Pawniard set, which is actually quite an interesting set. The key factor is that no one expects it, and due to rather solid speed, it hits 24 Speed after the Scarf boost. Due to Knock Off's drastic buff, Scarf Pawniard can thus take advantage of that and outspeed and weaken the opposing team, or even clean up thanks to a practically 97 BP STAB move that is resisted by very few types thanks to the buff. It also has well rounded coverage, with Steel covering Fairies well, and Iron Head flinch haxing to victory is reminiscent of another age where Parahax Jirachi was a god in OU. Last few slots should include Brick Break to round off coverage and either Sucker Punch or any filler. Personally, I like the extremely fast Sucker Punch, as its utility can be indispensable. Add to all this goodness one of the best typings currently in LC, also notably resisting almost common priority; only Mach Punch/Vacuum Wave threatens it. Overall, Choice Scarf Pawniard is quite an underrated set on a Pokemon that is a true star in this metagame, and I would recommend anyone to try it out.

PS: nothing sweeter than Knock Offing entire teams because they don't understand why its outspeeding them ;)

Looks like an interesting set, I do like surprising people with Choice Scarf. I'll have to give it a run.

EDIT: This set has absolutely laid waste to unsuspecting Abra, Misdreavus, and Archen who thought they'd outspeed me.