Is Delibird actually useful in Sw/Sh?

Question

Delibird seems like a fun Pokemon to use, especially with that Santa moveset someone suggested which seems to be removed from Pokebase... Shame. But aside from that, is it actually useful in competitive play?

Comments

no.it has a decent move pool, but horrible stats. Which format? If you're playing in ZU, it can (maybe) be a decent spiker.

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Are you talking about competitive or a playthrough?

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Try putting Delibird as a tag.
And yes, that was a fun moveset :) too bad it’s not there anymore.

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It is a very bad Pokemon to use, low stats, outclassed by a lot of other pokemons

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Competitive. I just said that.

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What format/rules?

Answer 1

Ingame: No. There are better Ice types in Sword and Shield, like Mamoswine, Weavile, Galarian Darmanitan. It faces competition as a flying type from Corviknight and Salamence. Stats suck, typing sucks, overall not good.

Competitive: Delibird is hilariously awful in competitive. 4x Stealth Rock weakness, offenses suck, speed is not good, pitiful defenses. Only thing it has got going for it is Spikes, which a lot of good Pokemon can lay down. Rapid Spin is nice but it faces huge competition as a hazard remover, since everything and its mother gets Defog. But honestly, what would you expect from a Pokemon that has never been higher than NU, and has been Untiered 4 gens straight?

Delibird is outclassed by all other leads in the PU metagame. While it can both set and remove entry hazards with Spikes and Rapid Spin, respectively, it has mediocre Speed and poor offenses and defenses, leaving most teams capable of outspeeding and 2HKOing it, limiting it to a single layer of Spikes. It also has a poor matchup versus other dedicated leads such as Crustle, Golem, and Glalie thanks to its terrible defensive typing; however, it is faster than most other leads and is sometimes capable of setting two layers of Spikes or nabbing a surprise KO with Destiny Bond, which is made easier thanks to its frailty. If you desparately need a lead capable of removing entry hazards, you're better off using Smeargle.

Delibird is an atrocious Pokemon, being outclassed by virtually every other lead in the game due to its abysmal Speed and defenses, meaning it will rarely ever be able to set up more than one layer of Spikes. Even though it's able to run Rapid Spin in an attempt to win the hazard game, Qwilfish is more effective at keeping entry hazards off the field due to its superior Speed, Intimidate and access to Taunt while Roselia can utilize Eviolite and has access to reliable recovery options; both have more defensive utility overall, making them far more reliable options.

Source 1, Source 2

Answer 2

No
Delibird is not viable in Sh/Sw. It's Defenses aren't good at all. It can't really hit that hard. Most of the moves it gets that actually deal damage are physical. It gets some special moves, but having lots of physical moves on a Pokemon with a measly 55 base Attack just isn't that great. It's Special Attack isn't as great either, only having a base 65 Special Attack. It's best stat is its speed, which is 75. However, 75 base Speed isn't really that great. It isn't good to have a fast Pokemon that can't hit hard. You could try to run Focus Sash, Destiny Bond on it, but it's better to have a Pokemon that can KO an opponent without getting taken out too.

Additionally, there are just better options out there. There are Ice types like Mamoswine, who can deal massive damage, or Zen mode Galarian Darmanitan, who has massive HP, is speedy, and and hits hard. Of course, you need to get a Galarian Darmanitan with it's Hidden Ability, but it sure pays off. Also, there is Arctovish and Arctozolt. They can take some hits and hit back with power. They might not be as fast as Delibird, but the have the bulk to make up for that.

In conclusion: Don't use Delibird. Just don't. It has bad stats, and there are just better options out there. Why use Delibird when you have another Pokemon that is faster and can hit harder or a Pokemon that hits hard and has the bulk to take a few hits. As for competitive, Never use Delibird. You could try to, but the same things from above apply here. There are just better options, and it's stats aren't the best to have.

Hope I helped.

Comments

Well, looks like I’m going to showdown to use Delibird!