Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

SV or SW Murkrow in Sabelock

SW Murkrow, by far. The power behind the Honchkrow tech is that it can come out of nowhere. Unless the opponent plays BTS, the SV Murkrow cannot give you that. The SW Murkrow allows for Murkrow->Honchkrow->Bronzong 1 energy to him->Attach the other you need.
 
i like the first one, because of its awesome hp and cool attack. attaching nrg gains to non-sp's is cool.
 
SV hands down. I Switcheroo'd an Expert Belt off my opponent's active to a benched Azelf. Next turn, Flash Bite, double prize Garchomp Snipe.
The self evolution isn't even that good. You're going to need 2 turns to charge it up anyway, unless you run Bronzong in your Sablelock, which I doubt.
A lot of BTS will be running around anyway, because 4 BTS seems to be the staple in Stage 2 decks nowadays, due to turn one Claydol potential.
The only threat is maybe Luxchomp sniping your Murkrow before it evolves, but really, they can probably snipe Honchkrow just as easily, it only has 20 more hit points.
 
The SW one will be banned after August, so you'll have no choice but to play with the SV one. Now if your going to Worlds, then thats a different story.
 
If you are playing DP-on, the murkrow w/ duskstone is the obvious play because it is a come out of no where tech. The SV one shows your opponent that they will be facing a honchkrow next turn and can either snipe it or play around it. The only problem with the SW one is starting with it because it can get donked, but hey, people play unown q and that has less HP...
 
ashinto said:
If you are playing DP-on, the murkrow w/ duskstone is the obvious play because it is a come out of no where tech.
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This surprise factor isn't so amazing imo cause you still need 3 energies to attack with honchkrow (pretty tough to pull that off in a single turn). Its merit is the evolution factor though and allowing you to get rid of cards from your hands more quickly if your holding onto both krow's. This could be a godsend with sablelock seeing as your main/only form of draw will be uxie drops so that extra 1-2 cards you get by playing your krow right away can really be a difference maker.

With that said, I'd still play with other murkrow cause of the significantly better hp and useable attack.
 
I would think in a match against sniping Garchomp, the instant-evolution one would be needed. Either that or very good timing to catch the Garchomp when he can't continue sniping...or Luxray can't bring it up and hit it for weakness.
 
Scipio said:
SW Murkrow, by far. The power behind the Honchkrow tech is that it can come out of nowhere. Unless the opponent plays BTS, the SV Murkrow cannot give you that. The SW Murkrow allows for Murkrow->Honchkrow->Bronzong 1 energy to him->Attach the other you need.
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bronzong in sablelock? never seen that before.
 
xcfrisco said:
This surprise factor isn't so amazing imo cause you still need 3 energies to attack with honchkrow
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The surprise fator is in benching a low hp basic from their discard onto their bench before they can fill the spot with someting else. Once you do that, they aren't going to play out of it when you snipe it FTW with your Garchomp. Has nothing to do with Honchkrow's attacking ability.
 
Prime said:
I would think in a match against sniping Garchomp, the instant-evolution one would be needed. Either that or very good timing to catch the Garchomp when he can't continue sniping...or Luxray can't bring it up and hit it for weakness.
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Against a prospective Garchomp snipe, even with the instant evolution, you're still only one small flash bite away from getting KOd. Same with Luxray. This isn't even a huge factor because you don't even really use it in the Luxchomp match up. It only comes out if they have a Mewtwo teched in. In fact, the snipability of Honchkrow is precisely why it doesn't come out against Luxchomp. You have better ways to get OHKOs against Luxray and Garchomp anyway. The best way for Honchkrow to come out against Luxchomp is for Mutkrow to discard an energy gain with Switcheroo

waynegg said:
The surprise fator is in benching a low hp basic from their discard onto their bench before they can fill the spot with someting else. Once you do that, they aren't going to play out of it when you snipe it FTW with your Garchomp. Has nothing to do with Honchkrow's attacking ability.
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When does that actually happen? You need to have an active that you can Poke Turn (can't be your only Garchomp in play, 'cause you can't level it up in the same turn), a Poke Turn (can't retreat twice in the same turn), and an Unown Q/extra energy to retreat the Honchkrow.

On top of all of that, sniping a Pokemon from the discard is seldom better than sniping something they already have in play! Sniping a benched Luxray is better than bringing a Luxray out of the discard pile specifically so that you can snipe it same turn. There's usually already a target laying around, and even if there isn't, you can usually see that situation coming one turn in advance and bench your Switcheroo Murkrow.
 
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Solid_Like_A_Brock said:
When does that actually happen? You need to have an active that you can Poke Turn (can't be your only Garchomp in play, 'cause you can't level it up in the same turn), a Poke Turn (can't retreat twice in the same turn), and an Unown Q/extra energy to retreat the Honchkrow.
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So, in other words you need a Cyrus's Conspiracy and an Unown Q in your hand and a Garchomp on the bench which was there at the start of your turn. That's not much of a stretch.

Solid_Like_A_Brock said:
On top of all of that, sniping a Pokemon from the discard is seldom better than sniping something they already have in play! Sniping a benched Luxray is better than bringing a Luxray out of the discard pile specifically so that you can snipe it same turn. There's usually already a target laying around, and even if there isn't, you can usually see that situation coming one turn in advance and bench your Switcheroo Murkrow.
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If they have a viable target on the bench to snipe already, it still plays as good strategy to fill their bench with Pokemon that can't evolve and/or have coming in to play powers (pixies) to keep them from benching other more important Pokemon or benching a pixie from their hand and getting to use the Power. Then you can just snipe it at your leisure...

And the SW Murkrow is a much better choice. Until it rotates at least.
 
waynegg said:
So, in other words you need a Cyrus's Conspiracy and an Unown Q in your hand and a Garchomp on the bench which was there at the start of your turn. That's not much of a stretch.


If they have a viable target on the bench to snipe already, it still plays as good strategy to fill their bench with Pokemon that can't evolve and have coming in to play powers (pixies) to keep them from benching other more important Pokemon or benching a pixie from their hand and getting to use the Power. Then you can just snipe it at your leisure...
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Isn't it a stretch? In a deck with little draw or search for non-basics, I find myself expending a lot of energy to get Honchkrow itself, let alone Poke Turn and Unown Q.

They can still bench a Pixie, if you just took a prize. Plus, late enough in the game that there would be suitable targets for Darkness Restore, your opponent probably has BTS in play and/or a full bench and/or control over their discard pile.

90% of the matchups where you want Honchkrow are against BTS heavy decks. Donphan, Machamp, Gyarados. The only exception I can think of is Dialgachomp, and again, it takes 2 turns to charge Honchkrow, especially where your opponent can spray a Galactic Switch.

Most decks against whom Darkness Restoring is a viable option are Stage 1/Stage 2 decks that run BTS. Darkness Restoring does not work against SP decks because of Honchkrow sniping options (Dragon Rush and Bright Look), Power Spray, and the fact that you usually have limited desire to snipe useless Pokemon when there are better targets in play.

And if Honchkrow is really the big "surprise" people boast it is, Stage 1 and 2 deck players will not have the foresight to withhold BTS.

Surprises don't work in Top Cut people.
 
Solid_Like_A_Brock said:
Surprises don't work in Top Cut people.
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Surprises don't work when everyone knows the deck like the back of their hand. Otherwise they work just fine. Especially with something obscure like Honchkrow was. It isn't now, but the question was why the SW Murkrow was better than the SV version, and that's why.

And I said it wouldn't be a stretch to have a Cyrus and an Unown Q in your hand. You read that wrong.
 
the sv one. the deck is called lock for a reason. say ur playing an sp deck well put the e gain on a crobat g or something or if a expert belt is in play put it on a pokemon youl be able to snipe next turn :) lots of fun
 
I'd have to go with the SV Murkrow. Much like Ambipom G, this guy can slap the tool card off of one of your opponent's Pokémon onto another. For the most hillarious results, use that Switcheroo on an Energy Gain and force the discard by attaching it to an Uxie or Azelf.

Oh, and last I checked, the point of having Honchkrow SV was to vill the void in hitting for high damage when needed. The ability to bring up Garchomp bait is a fine idea and all, but it makes even better Riot bait.
 
SW murkrow hands down. You can get the immediate Honchkrow seeing that you don't want them to prepare for it. Tech's are supposed to be surprises, so by showcasing the murkrow, you kill the surprise of the honchkrow...
 
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