While competitory players proceed to plumb Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s strategical depth and tease retired its tactical wrinkles, 1 carnal has gotten a shocking magnitude of playtime implicit the past month: Murkrow. The unevolved flying acheronian benignant isn’t a dense hitter and its stats are implicit trash, but it does person a unsocial vantage implicit each different Pokémon successful the crippled that’s sent it consecutive to the top of the competitory charts.

Browse societal media, bent retired connected the Smogon connection boards, oregon ascent the ranked ladder and you won’t beryllium capable to flight Murkrow. The tiny achromatic vertebrate archetypal introduced successful Pokémon Gold and Silver is yet backmost successful the spotlight, and erstwhile Pokémon World Champion Wolfe “WolfeyVGC” Glick explained the reasons wherefore in a caller TikTok:

The archetypal is Tailwind, a determination the Gen 2 vertebrate has had from the jump, but which is supremely important successful the existent landscape, providing each different Pokémon connected the squad bonus velocity for 4 turns. The 2nd is Prankster, a passive quality that lets Murkow’s non-damage-dealing moves, similar Tailwind, instrumentality accrued crook precedence during battles, frankincense allowing it to onslaught first. In Scarlet and Violet’s Gen 9, Murkrow is the only Pokémon who has both, guaranteeing a match-defining velocity boost connected crook one.

But wherefore Murkrow and not its evolved signifier of Honchkrow? Well, Murkrow’s evolved signifier loses Prankster successful speech for the damage-oriented passive quality Moxie, ruining the full strategy. Plus, players tin mitigate immoderate of Murkrow’s drawbacks by equipping the held point Eviolite which boosts the mean and peculiar defence of Pokémon who aren’t afloat evolved.

“Don’t get maine wrong, the operation of Prankster is truly bully but it isn’t the lone crushed that Murkrow is popular,” WolfeyVGC added successful his caller TikTok. “Murkrow besides gets the onslaught Haze which removes each stat changes from the battlefield. This is applicable due to the fact that 1 of the astir almighty caller Pokémon added is Dondozo who has a mode to boost each of its stats by 2.” Haze wholly nullifies that, making Murkrow a cleanable antagonistic to Dondozo successful summation to being a large inferior prime for boosting the remainder of your team.

That’s been capable to marque Murkrow the second astir picked Pokémon successful competitory play for December, conscionable 1 percent constituent down all-star crypto coin mascot Gholdengo. As WolfeyVGC wrote successful a Twitter thread a mates of weeks ago, Gholdengo’s dual ghost/steel benignant marque it a large antiaircraft pick, portion peculiar quality Make it Rain does a ton of damage.

The Swords-Dance-wielding Garchomp and Bulk Up antiaircraft vessel Annihilape are besides apical contenders, arsenic is Hydreigon who tin yet usage the caller games’ Terastalization mechanic to mitigate its accepted 4X weakness to Fairy-type moves. The mushroom bug Amoonguss, meanwhile, has been tearing things up acknowledgment to Rage Powder which forces opponents to people it alternatively than buff themselves.