Honchkrow

Looks can be deceiving, but that's not the case with Honchkrow. Being the mob boss-looking bird that it is, it looks like it would have some pretty high stats to take advantage of. Honchkrow's base 125 Attack stat is the best thing about it, and when used in combination with powerful STAB moves such as Brave Bird and Sucker Punch, it makes life very difficult for those who play against it. Dropping down from BL last generation, Honchkrow has only gotten better in this generation because of its Dream World ability: Moxie. Honchkrow can also use moves such as Superpower and Heat Wave with Moxie, making it even more threatening. This is nothing but good news for Honchkrow, but bad news for the rest of the metagame, as the Rock- and Steel-types that were once strong checks to Honchkrow, such as Registeel and Rhyperior, now fare much worse against it. Sacrificing Pokemon to Honchkrow is now much more dangerous, because it can completely sweep teams after it gets an Attack boost or two.

That being said, Honchkrow has some pretty crippling flaws. While it boasts one of the most powerful priority attacks in the game in STAB Sucker Punch, it is extremely reliant on the move to hit faster opponents, of which there are many in the UU metagame. Zapdos, Raikou, Shaymin, Cobalion, and others are all faster than Honchkrow, and have enough bulk to take a Sucker Punch and hit Honchkrow back hard. While this issue can be somewhat fixed with paralysis support, Honchkrow's over-reliance on the move makes it rather predictable. Also, Honchkrow's only noteworthy defensive stat is its high HP; while it helps to mitigate Brave Bird recoil, Honchkrow's poor defenses leave it unable to take a hit, and it will fall to most decently-powered STAB attacks. This means that Honchkrow has to KO everything in its path in order to sweep, which is a tough task before any Attack boosts are attained. While Honchkrow has a very threatening movepool, it suffers heavily from four-moveslot syndrome, making it unable to use all the right moves in all the right places. Nevertheless, Honchkrow is a major threat in today's metagame that every team should have a solid answer to.