Urshifu Single-Strike Style Movesets and Best Builds

This is a guide to movesets and best builds for using Urshifu Single-Strike Style in competitive play for the games Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, Tera Type, and Held Items to use with Urshifu Single-Strike Style, as well as its strengths and weaknesses.

Urshifu Single-Strike Style - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Moveset for Ranked Battle	Tera Raid Build

Urshifu Single-Strike Style Base Stats, Type, Ability and Weakness

Nat. Dex #892		Type
Urshifu Single-Strike Style
		Abilities
		Unseen Fist
Weak to:	(4x)
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
	(0.25x)
Immune to:	(0x)

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

Best Nature for Urshifu Single-Strike Style

What are Natures?

Singles Movesets for Urshifu Single-Strike Style

Swords Dance Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	Atk 252 / Def 4 / Spe 252
Final Stat Values	HP 175 / Atk 200 / Def 12` / Sp.Def 80 / Spe 149
Ability	Unseen Fist
Tera Type
Held Item	Focus Sash
Moveset	・ Swords Dance ・ Wicked Blow ・ Close Combat ・ Sucker Punch

Summary

Great dual Fighting and Dark-type STAB Unseen Fist bypasses Protect and Detect Wide physical movepool with many coverage moves

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Unseen Fist	Focus Sash

Unseen Fist is Urshifu's only Ability and allows it bypass protection moves such as Protect, Detect, Spiky Shield, and Obstruct when using a contact move.

Focus Sash allows Urshifu to survive one hit and get at least one attack or one Swords Dance boost.

Moves Breakdown

Swords Dance raises Urshifu Single-Strike Style's Attack by two stages, allowing it to hit even harder with its dual STAB moves.

Wicked Blow is a strong Dark-type STAB that always deals a critical hit, which means it bypasses Defense boosts from Bulk Up or Iron Defense and sceens like Reflect and Aurora Veil.

Close Combat is a strong Fighting-type STAB that lowers Urshifu's Defense and Special Defense by one stage after every use.

Sucker Punch is a priority Dark-type STAB move that only works if the opponent uses an attacking move.

Best Tera Type: Dark

Dark Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Immune to:	(0x)

Dark Tera Type is the best choice for Urshifu Single-Strike to help boost the damage of Wicked Blow and Sucker Punch.

Alternatively, it could use a Stellar Tera Type so that it can also boost the damage of Close Combat. However, in most situations, it would still prefer to use a Dark Tera for more consistent damage boosts.

Best Dark Type Pokemon

EV Spread and Nature

Full Attack and Speed EV investment ensures that Urshifu Single-Strike Style hits as hard and as fast as possible with its moves, while the remaining 4 EVs are placed in Defense to slightly boost its bulk.

A Jolly nature is recommended in order to help Urshifu outspeed Pokemon that are normally faster than it.

Other Viable Moves

Key Damage Calculations

The following calculations take into account Urshifu Single-Strike Style's given EV spread with a Jolly Nature, along with a +2 Attack boost from Swords Dance and a Life Orb boost.

Damage Dealt by Urshifu Single-Strike Style
80 HP｜84 Def No Defensive EV Investment (Jolly) Item: Hearthflame Mask	Tera Type: Wicked Blow 164-194 (105.8 - 125.1%) Guaranteed OHKO
55 HP | 55 Def No Defensive EV Investment (Timid) Item: Booster Energy	Tera Type: Sucker Punch 142-168 (109.2 - 129.2%) Guaranteed OHKO
113 HP | 120 Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP (Modest) Item: Assault Vest	Close Combat 194-230 (88.1 - 104.5%) 25% Chance to OHKO

Game8's Competitive Damage Calculator

Lead Attacker Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Jolly (+Spe, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	Atk 252 / Sp.Def 4 / Spe 252
Final Stat Values	HP 175 / Atk 182 / Def 120 / Sp.Def 81 / Spe 163
Ability	Unseen Fist
Tera Type
Held Item	Life Orb
Moveset	・ Swords Dance ・ Wicked Blow ・ Close Combat ・ Iron Head

Summary

Urshifu Single-Strike Style's great dual STAB and access to Swords Dance make it a great offensive lead, with its Unseen Fist Ability allowing it to take on opposing leads and scouts that rely on Protect, Detect, or contact moves to activate their Abilities.

Great dual Fighting and Dark-type STAB Unseen Fist bypasses Protect and Detect Wide physical movepool with many coverage moves

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Unseen Fist	Life Orb

Unseen Fist is Urshifu's only Ability and allows it bypass protection moves such as Protect, Detect, Spiky Shield, and Obstruct when using a contact move.

Life Orb further boosts the damage of Urshifu's attacks by 30% at the cost of recoil damage.

Moves Breakdown

Swords Dance raises Urshifu Single-Strike Style's Attack by two stages, allowing it to hit even harder with its dual STAB moves.Wicked Blow is a strong Dark-type STAB that always deals a critical hit, which means it bypasses Defense boosts from Bulk Up or Iron Defense.

Close Combat is a strong Fighting-type STAB that lowers Urshifu's Defense and Special Defense by one stage after every use. Iron Head is its main coverage move that hits Fairy-types and gets STAB once it Terastallizes into a Steel-type.

Best Tera Type: Steel

Steel Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Immune to:	(0x)

Steel Tera removes Urshifu Single-Strike Style's 4x weakness to Fairy-type moves and gives it STAB on Iron Head to check Fairy-types.

Best Steel Tera Type Pokemon for Ranked Battle

EV Spread and Nature

Full Attack and Speed EV investment ensures that Urshifu Single-Strike Style hits as hard and as fast as possible with its moves, while the remaining 4 EVs are placed in Special Defense to slightly boost its bulk.

Other Viable Moves

Doubles Movesets for Urshifu Single-Strike Style

Bulk Up + Drain Punch Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Jolly (+Spe, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	Atk 252 / Def 4 / Spe 252
Final Stat Values	HP 175 / Atk 182 / Def 121 / Sp.Def 80 / Spe 163
Ability	Unseen Fist
Tera Type
Held Item	Focus Sash
Moveset	・ Wicked Blow ・ Close Combat ・ Sucker Punch ・ Detect

Summary

While it lacks the upfront offense as a Swords Dance build, this Bulk Up Urshifu boasts more survivability thanks to Drain Punch and can accrue more boosts with proper Redirection support.

Boasts reliable healing with Drain Punch Wicked Blow allows it to check defensive Pokemon that rely on boosts Iron Head allows it to check Fairy-types

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Unseen Fist	Lum Berry

Unseen Fist is Urshifu's only Ability and allows it to bypass protection moves such as Protect, Detect, Spiky Shield, and Obstruct when using a contact move.

Lum Berry instantly cures Urshifu of status like burns and paralysis, and is necessary so that Urshifu can stay on the field against a Will-O-Wisp user and knock it out on the next turn.

Moves Breakdown

Wicked Blow is a strong Dark-type STAB that always deals a critical hit, while Close Combat is a Fighting-type STAB move that deals big damage at the cost of lowering Urshifu's defenses. This is fine if Urshifu is running Focus Sash.

Sucker Punch gives Urshifu a Priority option. And lastly, Detect can protect it from Fake Out on crucial turns.

Best Tera Type: Stellar

Stellar Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:	(4x)
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
	(0.25x)
Immune to:	(0x)

Stellar is a useful Tera Type that Urshifu can use, which can give boosts to both its Dark and Fighting-type attacks.

Do note that even if it's a Stellar Tera Type, it will still keep the defensive properties of its Normal typing.

Stellar Tera Type Match-Ups Explained

EV Spread and Nature

Full Attack and Speed EV investment ensures that Urshifu Single-Strike Style hits as hard and as fast as possible with its moves, while the remaining 4 EVs are placed in Defense to slightly boost its bulk.

Other Viable Moves

Key Damage Calculations

The following calculations take into account Urshifu Single-Strike Style's given EV spread with a Jolly Nature, along with a +1 Attack boost from Bulk Up.

Damage Dealt by Urshifu Single-Strike Style
194 HP｜161 Def Defensive EV Investment: HP 252 | Def 252 (Bold) Item: Leftovers	Wicked Blow 281-330 (144.8 - 170.1%) Guaranteed OHKO
207 HP | 200 Def Defensive EV Investment: HP 252 | Def 252 (Impish) Item: Leftovers	Drain Punch 151-182 (72.9 - 87.9%) Guaranteed 2HKO
202 HP | 128 Def Defensive EV Investment: HP 252 | Def 252 (Bold) Item: Leftovers	Iron Head 252-299 (124.7 - 148%) Guaranteed OHKO

Game8's Competitive Damage Calculator

How to Use Urshifu Single-Strike Style Effectively

Use it as a Setup Sweeper

Leverage Urshifu Single-Strike style's offensive presence by using it as a setup sweeper, preferably as a lead to encourage switches. The free switch allows it to set up with Swords Dance and deal boosted damage with its STAB moves.

An Offensive Check in Doubles

Urshifu Single-Strike Style flourishes in Doubles where protection moves are more common. With Unseen Fist, it can bypass protection moves to continuously wear down its opponents with its STAB moves.

How to Build a Team with Urshifu Single-Strike Style

In both Singles and Doubles, Urshifu is best used in hyper offensive teams that can cover their main weaknesses or provide offensive utility.

Sample Singles Team

Lead Attacker	Offensive Pivot	Special Attacker
Urshifu Single-Strike Style	Gholdengo	Iron Bundle

Leading with Urshifu allows you to check scouts and opposing leads, with it essentially functioning as an Anti-Lead that encourages switches.

Gholdengo synergizes well with Urshifu and is this team's offensive pivot. When faced with an opposing Fighting or Fairy-type Pokemon, Urshifu should switch to Gholdengo to leverage its resistance and immunity and hit back with Make it Rain.

Iron Bundle serves as this team's Special Attacker. With Gholdengo already serving as a Fairy-type check, Iron Bundle is mostly used as a cleaner to deal damage with its Water and Ice-type STAB moves.

Sample Doubles Team

Lead Attacker	Redirection Support
Urshifu Single-Strike Style	Amoonguss
Offensive Support	Special Attacker
Arcanine	Flutter Mane

Urshifu can set up Bulk Up multiple times with Amoonguss as its partner as it provides valuable redirection support with Rage Powder.

Once Urshifu has enough boosts, Arcanine can switch and swap places with Amoonguss to provide Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp support.

Flutter Mane serves as this team's special attacker and boasts great type synergy with Urshifu, switching places with it if the latter encounters a Fighting-type check it can't overcome.

Counters for Urshifu Single-Strike Style

Outspeed it with a Faster Attacker

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Dragonite	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Cannot be OHKO'd through Multiscale. ・Rocky Helmet breaks Focus Sash. ・Threatens massive damage with Flying Tera Blast. ・Extreme Speed is faster than Sucker Punch. ▶️ Dragonite Best Movesets
Alolan Ninetales	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Threatens massive damage with STAB Moonblast. ・Can lock Urshifu into Swords Dance with Encore. ▶️ Alolan Ninetales Best Movesets
Talonflame	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Gale Wings makes its Flying-type moves have a +1 priority while at full health. ・Dual Wingbeat is a super effective STAB move that can bypass Focus Sash. ▶️ Talonflame Best Movesets

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Related Guides

Movesets & Best Builds for Ranked Battle

All Indigo Disk DLC Builds for Ranked Battle

New Indigo Disk Pokemon Builds

New Indigo Disk Pokemon Builds

Snack Legendary Builds

New Indigo Disk Pokemon Builds

Returning Indigo Disk Pokemon Builds

Returning Indigo Disk Pokemon Builds

Blueberry Pokedex: List of All Indigo Disk Pokemon

All Teal Mask DLC Builds for Ranked Battle

All Teal Mask DLC Builds

Kitakami Pokedex: List of All Teal Mask DLC Pokemon

All Pokemon HOME Builds for Ranked Battle

All Pokemon HOME Builds

All Pokemon HOME Transferable Pokemon

All Treasures of Ruin Builds for Ranked Battle

All Treasures of Ruin Builds

Best Treasures of Ruin Builds for Ranked Battle and Raids

All Paradox Pokemon Builds for Ranked Battle

All Paradox Pokemon Builds

Paradox Pokemon Builds for Competitive Battles and Tera Raids

All Other Gen 9 Meta Pokemon Builds for Ranked Battle

All Other Gen 9 Meta Pokemon Builds

Gen 9 Pokemon: All New Pokemon

All Gen 1~8 Meta Pokemon Builds for Ranked Battle

All Gen 1~8 Meta Pokemon Builds

Best Pokemon Tier List

All Off-Meta Builds for Ranked Battle

All Off-Meta Pokemon Builds

Competitive Team Building for Singles Ranked Battle

Banned/Restricted Builds

Banned/Restricted Builds

Ranked Battle Regulation E: Rules and Banned Pokemon