POKÉMON Scarlet and Violet Ranked Battles are now open, so players can challenge themselves by facing up against other people online.
A number of Pokémon are already making up the meta. A combination of Gholdengo, Meowscarada, Maushold, and Tastugiri/Dodonzo find themselves on almost every team.
Murkrow are easy to find.
Right now Murkrow is one of the most popular Pokémon in online play, and it’s surprisingly effective in battle.
Here’s why people are choosing Murkrow for Ranked Battles in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: What types of Ranked Battles are there?
There are two types of Ranked Battles that are available to the public: single and double battles.
Double battles are the most popular, and the type seen in official tournaments.
This is because there are a lot of ways Pokémon interact with each other, which can only be achieved with two Pokémon on the field.
The current ruleset does not allow legendary or paradox Pokémon, but this will change at a later date.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: What are the most popular Pokémon for Ranked Battles?
There are three types of Pokémon needed in every team for Ranked Battle.
The first type is set up sweepers. These are strong and fast Pokémon with moves that increase their stats such as Swords Dance, Dragon Dance, or Nasty Plot.
Pokémon that are currently popular in this category include: Meowscrada, Salamence, Garchomp, Mimikyu, Hydreigon, Annhilape, and the Tatsugiri/Dodonzo pair.
The second type are stall Pokémon. These are Pokémon with high defences, abilities like Unaware or Good as Gold that protect them, and moves that cause status, or stall turns.
Popular stallers include: Skeledirge, Clodsire, Gholdengo, Glimmora and Garganacl.
The final category is support Pokémon. These Pokémon come with moves that help their partners such as screens, and stat boosting moves, and often have helpful abilities too.
Current popular Pokémon in this category include: Maushold, Indeedee, Grimmsnarl, Breloom, and Murkrow.
You can think of competitive Pokémon like Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Sweepers usually beat support ‘mons, support ‘mons beat stallers, and stallers beat sweepers.
A team will usually need a mix of all three in order to out play the opponent.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: Why is Murkrow a popular support Pokémon?
It may seem unusual for someone to bring an unevolved Pokémon to a competitive match, but it’s actually been popular for a while.
The item Eviolite raises the defence and special defence of any unevolved Pokémon, often making them a better choice than their evolved counterpart.
Murkrow has two advantages over its evolution Honchkrow. Firstly, the Eviolite boosts its defences so they are better than its evolved form.
Honchkrow still has better speed and attack, but as a support Pokémon the defences are the only stat we really care about.
Murkrow’s hidden ability is Prankster, which is what makes it so powerful as a support Pokémon. When it evolves Prankster changes to Moxie, which is another great ability but more useful in a sweeper role.
Prankster allows any move that doesn’t deal damage to become a higher priority. This means that often Murkrow’s support moves will move before the opponent gets a turn.
Murkrow learns a lot of great support moves, but the most important two are Tailwind and Haze.
Tailwind almost always guarantees that your team goes first, which can be vital when both teams are close to death.
The second move is Haze, which erases all stat changes from the field. This is a powerful move which can greatly weaken set-up sweepers, in particular Dodonzo.
Finally, Murkrow is a Dark-type which prevents other Prankster users from using their ability.
Murkrow usually doesn’t survive long on the field, but it is often long enough to disrupt play and sway battle in your favour.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
