Bisharp

Dark

Bisharp is a great physical attacker for any Dark-type team thanks to its high Attack stat, access to Swords Dance, and priority in Sucker Punch. Sucker Punch in combination with Swords Dance allows Bisharp to be a very potent sweeper, dishing out strong priority attacks against weakened foes. Its access to Knock Off grants Bisharp great utility by removing opposing Pokemon's items such as Eviolite from Chansey and Leftovers from Zapdos. Its ability, Defiant, helps maintain entry hazards on the field against teams that rely on Defog such as Flying, as they fear giving Bisharp a +2 Attack boost. Its secondary Steel typing grants it a valuable neutrality to Fairy, while its STAB Iron Head allows it to take on slower Fairy-types like Clefable and Azumarill. Its typing also grants it a resistance to Rock and Steel, allowing it to take advantage of Choice-locked Pokemon like Excadrill. However, its Steel typing also compounds Dark's weakness to Fighting-types, allowing it to be easily checked by Pokemon such as Keldeo and Breloom. Furthermore, while Bisharp's middling Speed means that it is able to easily outrun slow Pokemon like Azumarill and Mega Venusaur, it is also easily outsped by most offensive Pokemon in the tier such as Hydreigon and Tapu Koko. However, its mediocre Speed is made up with its access to Sucker Punch, which enables it to check many faster foes such as Victini and Alolan Raichu.

Steel

Bisharp is an effective setup sweeper on Steel teams because of its ability to set up using Swords Dance and do massive damage with its STAB attacks. It is extremely useful in matchups such as Poison, where it can threaten to dismantle the entire team using its boosted attacks and Z-Move. Bisharp's Dark-type STAB moves also allow it to hit Psychic- and Ghost-type Pokemon such as Victini and Blacephalon for super effective damage. Defensively, its Dark typing allows it to set up on a wider array of Pokemon such as Latios and Alolan Muk and prevents it from being crippled by Prankster users such as Klefki. Steel teams appreciate Bisharp's access to a strong priority move in Sucker Punch, as it allows Bisharp to pick off threats such as Victini, Alolan Raichu, and Blacephalon that Steel would otherwise have trouble dealing with. Sucker Punch also makes Bisharp a perfect fit on hyper offensive teams that tend to stack priority attacks to keep faster foes in check. Defiant allows Bisharp to pressure Pokemon such as Mantine and Staraptor from using Defog in fear of giving Bisharp an Attack boost, which is particularly good for Steel teams in order to keep Stealth Rock and multiple layers of Spikes on the field; Defiant also comes in handy against Intimidate users and Sticky Web. However, Bisharp's lackluster bulk forces it to set up on weaker Pokemon or resisted attacks, as a strong attack will surely knock it down to the point where it will be too weak to set up later. Furthermore, as a result of its lackluster Speed, Bisharp is overreliant on Sucker Punch to hit faster targets such as Mega Gallade and Zeraora.