[DISCUSSION] All Our Favorite Dark Pokémon!

[0kamii]

Hey, everybody! It's 0kamii, and you all requested Dark-Types to be the next type covered in my 'All Our Favorite' series.

What's there to say about the omnious nature of the mysterious Dark-Types? They never had a gym, most are associated with evil, malfeasance, and other putrid things from which most trainers would stay away. However, there is a select few that see the potential in all Dark-Types. Their inner demons intrigued us, and stimulates our desire to prod at them like domestic cattle. They lurk in the shadows, in the ick of the thickest swamp, and high in the caves of foreboding mountains. Though sometimes they're prowling in the grass, our animated children constantly under the gaze of these vengeful critters. Is there no greater reward for a trainer than to find an elusive beast and break its will to your own? Dark-Types relish this, and every once in a while, they seek out a trainer worthy of their malign nature. Their cruelty, their savagery, and their loyalty betray the stoick facade these beasts come spouting, only to eventually succumb to the light (of Fairy-Types that is).

Whew! Pardon the tangent, not sure where that came from. But anyway, the reason all of you love these posts is because we all get to talk about our favorite mons of the specified type, and I'm going to kick things off with a few of my personal favorite Dark-Types. My favorite Dark-Type is:
 

 

 

Yep, my favorite Dark-Types come from Gen 5. People really seem to forget about Bisharp, but I could never forget this darkly dreaming disaster walking! Dark/Steel, despite being 4x weak to Fighting-Types, is a very fitting type for this bladed chess piece, and since I'm such a avid chess player, I instantly took to this pokémon. Its stat distribution could be a bit better, mainly more Speed, but that doesn't mean Bisharp is unusable. Honestly, if you think a little Speed will slow me down you guys don't know me well enough yet. Bisharp was also one of very first pokémon I Shiny hunted, and I got him after 283 eggs. I named him Gardez le Reine, "Keep the Lady!" Fitting that a chess piece gets a chess term for a name!

 

Set 1 - Weakness Policy Sweeper

Bisharp @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Night Slash/Psycho Cut

 

This is my personal favorite set, as Bisharp is usually bulky enough to survive one hit, activating the Weakness Policy and becoming a devastating sweeper. In higher tiers of play though, like OU, I wouldn't think Bisharp is a good choice because of the abundance of pokémon like Landorus, Heatran, Charizard, and Excadrill, all of which easily OHKO Bisharp. As with most of my recreational sets, this is very much a high right high reward set. But it's fun nonetheless, and besides, this isn't a forum for VGC, so I can afford to be a little crazy!

Instead of posting a second set, this time I'm going to open it up to all of you! Which Bisharp sets do you love? Whether it be in OU, Ubers, or VGC 2015 or 2016 when it was legal. In the meantime, other Dark-Type pokémon I adore are:

 

 

I've loved Zoroark from the moment I saw it, and to this day it's one of the earlier pokémon I Shiny hunted, right up there with Bisharp. The Illusionary Fox remains one of my abslute favorite pokémon, and probably will be for a long time. Weavile is my favorite of the Gen 4 evolutions to older pokémon, and I've been dying to find a way to make Weavile usable in VGC 2017. Though Worlds is coming up in a month, so it looks like I may have ran out of time. I still love it, though. And Alolan Persian. No one realy seems to like it, but I think it's absolutely charming, and seeing VGC player Sebastian Escalante bringing one to the Melbourne Internationals as well as the Indianapolis Internationals this past weekend was really exciting! Don't listen to them Persian, you're classically handsome!

As always, I put it to my fellow users to tell me what their favorite Dark-Types are. Today, let's ask: @LittleFoxS, @Reis, @iimlF4nT4Sy, @SenpaisLittleEevee, and @Corrosion2424.

What are your favorite Dark-Types, and what is your favorite set to use on them?

Thanks for reading everyone, and I'll be back on Wednesday with a long awaited VGC analysis of Drifblim! Read you all soon, battle onwards friends!

- 0kamii

P.S. Bonus points to anyone that comments on the two references I hid in this post. See if you can spot them both!

[wartty]

Lol something in there sounded familiar doesn't really count though since I had to look it up and double check xP geeez love your work cous' !! Bisharps never been my cup of tea either tbh I always had this image in my head of some sorta utility Bisharp... He looks like he'd have some tricks up his sleeve, but idk how I'd go about it...... My favorite dark types always gonna be Tyranitar >:D I'll never forget how many times I had to beat the elite four in original silver to evolve that pupitar <3

[0kamii]

@wartty

Ah, Tyranitar. A classic of Dark-Types. Not a bad choice by any means, and I'm definitely a fan, I just like to be a bit more creative with my picks to stir up conversation. I never thought to use Bisharp in a utility position, but maybe there's some merit to that? Anyway, I can't give you points until you tell me which reference you recognize. So, sorry wartty. As of now, no points for you...

- 0kamii

P.S. Thanks for the upvote. I appreciate it.

[croissant]

(Jul 3, 2017, 08:56 AM)0kamii Wrote:  

Set 1 - Weakness Policy Sweeper

Bisharp @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Night Slash/Psycho Cut

 
]This is my personal favorite set, as Bisharp is usually bulky enough to survive one hit, activating the Weakness Policy and becoming a devastating sweeper.

This is probably going to sound rude, but this set is really, really sub optimal. How are you going to activate the Weakness Policy if Bisharp isn't even bulky enough to live most super effective hits, even from defensive Pokémon? Not to mention that wearing down Bisharp is very easy to do in general, especially with entry hazards (I'm assuming that it is for singles since it is not VGC legal).

0 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 270-320 (99.6 - 118%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

0 Atk Hippowdon Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 236-282 (87 - 104%) -- 25% chance to OHKO (keep in mind chip damage is very easy to get.)

These calcs show that even defensive Pokémon can take it out due to its mediocre bulk, and its even worse versus faster and stronger threats that are common such as Charizard X/Y, offensive Garchomp, and others.

Bisharp is also way too slow to pull off a Rock Polish set since it will still get outsped by most common Choice Scarf users, and since you don't have Swords Dance, which is a much more viable option, you won't be able to take them out with Sucker Punch since you have to rely on either Defiant, which is not that easy to activate since no good player will send in an Intimidate mon versus a Bisharp, or on Weakness Policy, which is a very unreliable option like I mentioned previously. Also, I don't see the point of running Night Slash in the last slot over Knock Off since Knock Off brings some utility to the table as well in exchange for a small power drop after the item was knocked off/if the opponent's item can't get removed or doesn't exist, unless you are using it for the higher crit ratio, which is a pretty bad reason since relying on luck is never a good idea. In short, you would be much better off running a set like this:

Bisharp @ Darkinium Z/Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

(Jul 3, 2017, 08:56 AM)0kamii Wrote: I wouldn't think Bisharp is a good choice because of the abundance of pokémon like Landorus

lol? Landorus' Intimidate boosts Bisharp's attack because of Defiant, so if anything, Landorus should stay away from Bisharp since it could get hit by a +1 Sucker Punch and potentially die.

Sorry again if I come across as rude in this post, this post's intent is to provide constructive criticism. Have a nice day.

PS:

(Jul 3, 2017, 08:56 AM)0kamii Wrote:  
I named him Gardez le Reine, "Keep the Lady!" Fitting that a chess piece gets a chess term for a name!
 

Yeah so I'm a native french speaker and this should actually be "Gardez la Reine" lol.

[0kamii]

@"écarlate"

Gees. It seems I've been had. I guess I should've been more specific in my post, it was only a matter of time before someone ran the calcs. Well, écarlate, I appreciate the constructive criticism, but upon second glance it seems you're right. I forgot to account for the fact that most of the people with which I have these 'recreational' battles don't have IV bred, EV trained teams. Usually, I can just pull six mons out of my boxes and win, and since most of my friends love fast, Special Attackers like Alakazam, Bisharp was a logical choice.

Honestly, I didn't run the calcs for this because it was labelled 'recreationals,' not OU, or Ubers. Guess I should've been more careful. But anyway, I didn't include Knock Off because Knock Off is only accessible by transfer, and I was going off of a Gen 7 legal Bisharp only, which doesn't naturally get Knock Off. So, yeah. That was that.

Also, that set you pulled looks like the same one featured on the Smogon Bisharp page. I wanted to steer away from that because I didn't want people thinking I was lazy and stole sets. But no, I didn't find your post rude or negative. In fact, I appreciate the bluntness. Next time I make a set for recreationals, I'll be sure to quantify it as a personal usage set only. Thanks for the analysis.

- 0kamii

P.S. Oi, this is why I hesitate to use any of the foreign words I know. I always get something wrong...

[RetroTyphlosion]

@0kamii My favorite dark type? Well, I've got a few...
I like Murkrow. He's cool. I just wish he was a bit more powerful, because that cute lil raven sadly can't do any damage. I think the guy's just cool, that's all. I first encountered him in the good 'ol Silver days, at the hands of Elite Four Karen, a little surprised that I had to fight a Pokémon I had never seen before. 
I also like Darkrai. I know, I know, normal opinion, just another guy in the bandwagon, but the truth is, the dude is a pretty neat Pokemon. Heck, they even have him his own movie. Also., he puts people to sleep, and then torments them with nightmares. The dude is so shady (pun not intended) that he's cool. I love the Pokémon so much, that when a friend if mine gave me one, I nearly started crying, and I jumped around my house yelling like a madman, even though it was super late at night. Not even ashamed to admit it.
Umbreon is also one of my favorite Darks. Another popular opinion, but he is also my favorite Eveelution, though Sylveon is close. He is strong, he is powerful, he dishes out damage and is just all-around legit. I remember getting my first one, back in the sweet times of Pokemon Silver, and doing everything I could to get enough experience to make my sweet little Eevee into this beast. Also, he has a great shiny.

[LittleFoxS]

@0kamii  A favorite Dark type?  Well, I guess my favorite has always been Mightyenna.  Despite being virtually useless in competitive battle, I just love the dark wolf Pokemon for some reason.  I guess it was because I ran the whole "wolf pack" gimmick team when I was a kid.  I caught six Poochyenna and they were all I used for my Emerald game.  Of course I was nearly swept in Brawly's Gym, but I didn't care.  I had fun with the darn wolf.

[0kamii]

@RetroTyphlosion I love Murkrow too. I've been trying to work it onto a VGC team since I noticed that it was on the tier list. It gets Perish Song too, so that's wuite nifty. A bit gimmicky, but I've made more unconventional strategies work, haven't I? Darkrai is cool too, but Dark Void...

@LittleFoxS I have a soft spot for Mightyena as well. I was really upset when I had to replace him with Absol, the arguably better Dark-Type, but nonetheless I missed my poochy.

- 0kamii

[Reis]

I like Darkrai because he was by far the best villain in any pokemon game to date, since he makes you go through 24 floors while mind controlling someone, than go through another 30 floors while, than you have to keep Cresselia alive along with your partner, against a Rhyperior, an Aggron, a Mismagius, a Magmortar, an Arbok and a Magcargo, all while you are getting ruthlessly ganged up on.
I don't know why I like him, since I should hate him but he made the hardest game I've ever played happen.
all while the best song plays

[0kamii]

@Reis

Premise-wise, I agree that Darkrai is one of the coolest Dark-Types. He's so well-designed and scary, and prior to Dark VOid being nerfed he was dangerous. I never played the Mystery Dungeon games past Red Rescue Team, but judging from the music is sounds atmospheric and absorbing. Glad you had fun with it, and I'll always cherish the Darkrai I got from my friend. He's just that cool.

 

- 0kamii