It’s time again for me to take a look at another one of the game’s various Delta Pokemon, and one who happens to look pretty nice on paper to boot. That being Delta Bisharp.
As with all Deltas, Delta Bisharp has no change to its BST or base state distribution, which is something of a minor problem since the reason it could function as a physically defensive tank before is because Steel/Dark is a fairly solid typing that gives back Steel its Ghost and Dark resistances while really only making its Fighting weakness worse.
Meanwhile, Fighting/Flying is a lackluster defensive typing, leaving it as a slower, bulkier Hawlucha in terms of typing. Granted, this still comes packaged with a handy Ground immunity, but with Delta Bisharp’s lower Sp. Def and its weakness to the Special Attack-heavy Ice, Electric, Fairy, and Psychic types it’s unlikely to survive much in a direct confrontation.
Granted, it retains Defiant as an ability, which lets it turn Intimidates into net Attack boosts. Frisk can be nice to confirm what item a given Pokemon may have, but its usefulness is generally too situational to be of any real use. Its hidden ability, Wind Force, is something I can’t even talk about because I have no idea what it even does.
Move-wise, it gets some interesting choices. Outside of its most powerful STAB of Hi Jump Kick, important moves are Blaze Kick (to some extent,) Drain Punch, Mach Punch, Roost, Stone Edge, Shadow Claw, U-Turn, and X-Scissor. However, STAB Hi Jump Kick is so powerful that it can potentially out-damage super-effective coverage moves, so bear that in mind.
Item-wise, it’s the usual array of Choice Band, Choice Scarf, Life Orb for options. Flying Gem + Acrobatics CAN be useful, but honestly it’s too gimmicky and is only really good for instances where Hi Jump Kick isn’t enough to wipe out everything on its own. Lum Berry can be useful as a ‘get out of status free’ card.
Honestly, I’m not sure why this thing is classified as OU by itself as it loses out on literally everything Bisharp was good for, while its low speed and low Special Defense leaves it wide open to all the threats regular Bisharp could have handled.
Until one considers its Mega Evolution.
Mega Delta Bisharp takes 50 of that 100 BST boost and dumps it right into Speed, pushing its speed tier clear into 120. 30 more of that boost goes into Attack, pushing that up to 155, and… for some inexplicable reason it gets a pointless boost to Special Attack. It’s got a few special attacks to use, yes, but base 80 Sp. Attack is peanuts compared to its base 155 Atk.
Its ability, Technician, is an admittedly odd choice that does make the one non-gimmick physical Flying type move it has usable. That being Aerial Ace. Mach Punch gets a welcome boost as well for when you absolutely have to go first.
Unfortunately, Technician just plain goes to waste for the rest of its moveset as everything one would want to use on Mega Delta Bisharp happens to be in the 70 BP+ range. In fact, the previously mentioned issue of Hi Jump Kick is still relevant here, as Aerial Ace is about the only other offensive move that can rival it if it’s not resisted.
That being said, there are a couple options:
Delta Bisharp, Defiant, @Delta Bisharpite
Jolly Nature (EVs left for the more optimization-capable to suggest.)
- Hi Jump Kick
- Aerial Ace
- Mach Punch
- Roost
General idea is to get hit with an Intimidate or some other stat reduction beforehand to net a +1 Attack boost, then use Mega Evolution to sweep. Roost keeps it healthy and removes its Flying type weaknesses for the turn, which is good when facing Ice or Rock types. Mach Punch is a strong priority option that can net KOs in the event that Delta Bisharp would otherwise be outsped, while Aerial Ace and Hi Jump Kick are going to be your bread and butter damage dealers.
U-Turn can be used instead for pivoting. Substitute can be used in tandem with Roost to help block status and possibly give a teammate a free switch-in. Taunt can shut down the opponent’s ability to boost. Bulk Up can be used in the face of physical attackers to give it even more power to work with. Stone Edge is an option for coverage in the rare instance where neither Aerial Ace nor High Jump Kick are appropriate answers. Protect can give you the turn you need to Mega Evolve if you’re not confident in Delta Bisharp’s ability to survive the turn.
Meanwhile Blaze Kick is an honorable mention, but again it struggles to find a slot on this Pokemon’s moveset.
As for actually dealing with it… Regular Delta Bisharp’s Special Defense lets it down, and its typing invites opponents to exploit that with special attack-heavy types. Its slow speed leaves it susceptible to burns and paralysis from pretty much anything that can take a hit from it, assuming the opponent has nothing that can just KO it outright. Hitting it from the physical side is more of an issue, but any halfway decent Acrobatics or Brave Bird user can either put a huge dent in it or otherwise KO it.
Mega Delta Bisharp, on the other hand, is harder to stop. Despite having all the same defensive weaknesses and being a magnet for Paralysis/Burn, its base 120 speed cuts out much of what could have dealt with it before and its base 155 Attack coupled with Hi Jump Kick makes it dangerous to even switch in. Ghost types aren’t even a solid answer as it still has Technician-boosted Aerial Ace to play with.
However, Pokemon like Thundurus and Zapdos naturally resist both its STAB options and can hit back for super-effective damage, but both are slower than Mega Delta Bisharp and should watch out for Stone Edge if it’s running it. Prankster Thunder Wave cripples its speed and knocks it back down into a range where its previous checks can deal with it again, something Thundurus Incarnate can do rather well. Any Prankster user can give the centaur problems and leave it crippled enough to be dealt with.
Playing mind games is also important, since Hi Jump Kick’s downside can cause Mega Delta Bisharp to hurt itself badly, or even knock itself out for you outright due to its overwhelming power. Predicted Ghost switches, Protect/Detect, and other evasion tricks can take hunks out of it, either forcing it out or forcing it to waste a turn healing off the damage. However, since it’ll likely be running Aerial Ace alongside it, this tactic shouldn’t be counted on.
It goes without saying that Talonflame also gives it issues due to priority Brave Bird spam, but it can’t be switched in safely either.
It’s ultimately up to you as to whether you think the noble bishop is worth the trouble, or worth the Mega slot. It has solid potential and a few problems to watch out for.