Competitive Information for Pawniard [Sword/Shield]
Dark / Steel
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Pawniard? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Sword/Shield Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Pawniard is a phenomenal Dark and Steel-typed Pokemon. Pawniard is not a Pokemon anyone usually expects sees on the battlefield. Pawniard can be quite a contender in the LC tier (Little Cup). Pawniard is weak to Fighting, Fire, and Ground-typed attacks.
Item: Chople Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Foul Play / Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Slash
- Shadow Claw
Physical Sweeper Pawniard (Defiant)
Pawniard is a notable Physical Sweeper for single battles. It is meant to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Life Orb boosts the power of Pawniard's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Defiant, Pawniard's attack is raised by 2 for each of its stats that is lowered by a foe. With a Chople Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective fighting-type attack then the Chople Berry gets consumed.
◆ Knock Off is a physical STAB-boosted 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
◆ Iron Head is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Steel-type move (30% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Slash is a physical 70-base power Normal-type move (high critical hit ratio).
◆ Shadow Claw is a physical 70-base power Ghost-type move (high critical hit ratio).
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Item: Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
Nature: Naughty (+Atk, -SpD)
EVs: 175 Atk / 80 Def / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Psycho Cut
- Night Slash
- Poison Jab
- Torment
Pawniard Physical Sweeper (Tormenting Pawn)
Pawniard is a fabulous Physical Sweeper for single battles. It tries to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Life Orb boosts the power of Pawniard's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Defiant, Pawniard's attack is raised by 2 for each of its stats that is lowered by a foe.
◆ Night Slash is a physical STAB-boosted 70-base power Dark-type move (high critical hit ratio).
◆ Poison Jab is a physical 80-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
◆ Torment is a status move (target can't select the same move twice in a row).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is11a270
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Pawniard? These builds have been optimized for Sword/Shield Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Item: Chople Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Foul Play / Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Slash
- Shadow Claw
Doubles Physical Sweeper Pawniard (Defiant)
Pawniard is a phenomenal Physical Sweeper for double battles. It's designed to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Life Orb boosts the power of Pawniard's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Defiant, Pawniard's attack is raised by 2 for each of its stats that is lowered by a foe. With a Chople Berry equipped to it, halves damage taken from a supereffective fighting-type attack then the Chople Berry gets consumed.
◆ Knock Off is a physical STAB-boosted 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
◆ Iron Head is a physical STAB-boosted 80-base power Steel-type move (30% chance to make the target flinch).
◆ Slash is a physical 70-base power Normal-type move (high critical hit ratio).
◆ Shadow Claw is a physical 70-base power Ghost-type move (high critical hit ratio).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id10a270
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Pawniard learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Pawniard can perform in Sword/Shield. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive SS Move and Ability Combos for Pawniard
- Moves: Swagger + Foul play
- Moves: Swagger + Screech
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Move: Swagger + Item: Mirror Herb
- Move: Assurance + Item: Rocky Helmet
- Move: Fling + Item: King's Rock
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect, Quick Guard, Sucker Punch
- Moves that Break Screens: Brick Break
- Moves that inflict status: Thunder Wave, Toxic
Moves that boost Pawniard's stats
- Hone Claws
- Iron Defense
- Metal Claw
- Power-Up Punch
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
Most notable and possible best moves for Pawniard
- Knock Off
- Protect
- Rest
- Snarl
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Toxic
Common Effort Values for Pawniard in Sword and Shield
- Adamant Nature ( 0/252/0/0/0/252 )
- Modest Nature ( 0/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Optimize Pawniard's EV spread for Pokemon Sword and Shield
Related Videos
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