While competitive players keep plumbing Pokemon scarlet and violetstrategic depth and teasing out its tactical folds, one creature has gotten a shocking amount of playtime in the last month: Murkrow. The unevolved flying dark-type isn’t a heavyweight and its stats suck, but it has a unique advantage over any other Pokémon in the game that sent it straight into play at the top of the competition charts.
Browse social media, hang out on the Smogon message boards, or climb the leaderboards and you won’t be able to escape Murkrow. The little black bird that was introduced first Pokemon Gold
The first is Tailwind, a move that the Gen 2 Bird has had since leaping, but is extremely important in the current landscape as it grants bonus speed to all other Pokémon on the team for four turns. The second is Prankster, a passive ability that gives Murkow’s non-damaging attacks, like Tailwind, increased turn priority during combat, allowing her to strike first. In scarlet and violet‘s Gen 9, Murkrow is the only Pokemon that has both and guarantees a crucial speed boost on turn one.
But why Murkrow and not his evolved form of Honchkrow? Well, Murkrow’s evolved form loses Prankster in exchange for the damage-focused passive Moxie, ruining the entire strategy. Additionally, players can mitigate some of Murkrow’s disadvantages by equipping the held item Eviolite, which boosts the normal and special defenses of Pokemon that aren’t fully evolved.
“Don’t get me wrong, Prankster’s combo is really good, but that’s not the only reason Murkrow is so popular,” WolfeyVGC added in his recent TikTok. “Murkrow also gains the Haze attack, which removes all status changes from the battlefield. This is relevant because one of the most powerful newly added Pokemon is Dondozo, which has a chance to boost all of its stats by 2.” Haze completely negates that, making Murkrow a perfect counter against Dondozo, in addition to being an important useful choice, to empower the rest of your team.
That was enough to make Murkrow second most selected Pokemon in the competitive game for December, just a percentage point behind All Star Cryptocoin Mascot Gholdengo. As WolfeyVGC wrote in a Twitter thread a few weeks agoGholdengo’s dual Spirit/Steel-type makes it a great defensive choice, while its Make it Rain signature ability deals a ton of damage.
Swords-dance-wielding Garchomp and bulk-up defensive tank Annihilape are also top contenders, as is Hydreigon, which can finally take advantage of the new game’s Terastalization mechanic to mitigate its traditional 4X weakness to Fairy-type attacks. The Mushroom Bug Amoonguss, meanwhile, has been tearing things up thanks to Rage Powder, which forces opponents to attack him instead of buffing themselves.
