Community POTW #32

[Kraleck]

OH MY ****ING GOD DUMB PEOPLE STOP POSTING SETS THAT GIVE SCIZOR EVSPREADS

Fixed. People who don't understand things like Priority and Weaknesses should leave the EV spread mechanics to the experts. Speed is not needed on Scizor due to Bullet Punch and (if you decide to use any of them) Quick Attack, Feint, or Vacuum Wave.

Sp.Def EVs are somewhat a waste due to a QUAD FIRE WEAKNESS and a popularity of having so many Pokemon that learn Flamethrower. One shot without a Focus Sash will ruin you anyway due to low base HP (Base 70 gives you a maximum of 344 HP), but defending against priority attacks (aside from V.Wave) entails pouring on Defense EVs.

Even then, you would be an idiot to try anything except running away from a Fire Type with Scizor. However, this leads into a potential counter-strategy of sending in Zoroark to appear as a Flame Body Ability Fire Type (such as Volcarona or Magmortar) then hitting a fleeing Sciz' with Pursuit.

Tackling a threat like Scizor means you have to know how to properly use it yourself. When you understand the intricacies, you can counter it. Luck plays a very small part unless you can mess with your opponent's head.

 

[ClefairyRox]

I use a physical Scyther in Singles, and a special Scizor in Doubles. No one probably cares about the Doubles set, so I'll just post the Singles one.

Adamant Nature (+Attack -Sp. Attack)
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
252 Attack 252 Speed 6 Sp. Attack

Quick Attack
Swords Dance
Wing Attack/Bug Bite/X-Scissor
Pursuit/Brick Break

Mine currently runs the leftmost move in each row. I'd run Bug Bite but I bred this Scyther in 5th gen so I can't.

Anyways, the main gimmick here is Swords Dance boosted Quick Attacks. They don't pack as much punch as Scizor's Bullet Punches (no pun intended), but can still pull off very respectable damage to most Pokemon. Focus Sash ensures that you can get off at least one Swords Dance, unless there's a Sandstorm or Hailstorm raging.

Wing Attack serves well on Bug and Fighting types, and it benefits from Technician, but a Bug move is better for Psychic and Dark types. Brick Break is there because without it, this set is stopped cold by Steel types. Scyther doesn't get Superpower, so it will have to do. If you don't run Brick Break, the Steels will have to be handled by another Pokemon.

You could also run a bulky Eviolite Scyther with Roost. The other moves could be attacking moves, boosting moves, and/or Baton Pass.

Oh, and I forgot this until I read another post... Scyther HATES rocks. ALWAYS run a Spinner if you use Scyther. I prefer Starmie, but any Spinner will work.

The choice between Scyther and Scizor is completely up to the trainer. If you want something faster with Ground immunity and have something for Rock attacks, go with Scyther. If you would prefer bulkiness, resistances, Poison immunity, a bit more power in exchange for low Speed, and have something to deal with Fire attacks, go with Scizor.

 

[George~©]

Guess i'll do Scyther.

I wish I was a Scizor

Scyther@Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Nature: 252 atk/4 def/252 spd

Quick Attack
Aerial Ace
Pursuit
U-Turn/Bug Bite

Pretty much abusing technician. Aerial Ace is stab and after Technician gets 120 base power. Add that to the choice band and you're wrecking anything. Pursuit catches Psychics unnaware, and technician boosts. Quick attack is scythers only priority move, and gets technician boost also. U-Turn os staple on a CB set, or Bug Bite gets stab and Technician Boost.

Trying to be like my big brother and doing a decent job of it

Scyther@Eviolite
Ability: Technician
Nature: Adamant 156 hp/ 228 atk/ 124 spd

Swords Dance
Aerial Ace
Brick Break
Roost

Aerial Ace and Brick Break will give you the best coverage. Roost and Swords Dance are obvious'. This set is essentially the same as the SD/Roost Scizor set.. only 4x weak to stealth rock and with more general weaknesses.

WHEN USING SCYTHER ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A SPINNER OR MAKE SURE ROCKS ARE NOT SET UP.

 

[HeracrossGod]

Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
Adamant Nature (+Attack -Sp Attack)
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP
-Bullet Punch
-Swords Dance
-X-Scissor/Bug Bite/U-Turn
-Pursuit/Brick Break

 

[WeatherEffectRain]

...Does Pursuit get the Technician boost if the opponent is switching out?

Random question, but it would be a great thing to know. Or put it in the Overview, if it's that good. but I'm not pushing ._.

 

[SpotlessMind]

Sp.Def EVs are somewhat a waste due to a QUAD FIRE WEAKNESS and a popularity of having so many Pokemon that learn Flamethrower. One shot without a Focus Sash will ruin you anyway due to low base HP (Base 70 gives you a maximum of 344 HP), but defending against priority attacks (aside from V.Wave) entails pouring on Defense EVs.

Even then, you would be an idiot to try anything except running away from a Fire Type with Scizor. However, this leads into a potential counter-strategy of sending in Zoroark to appear as a Flame Body Ability Fire Type (such as Volcarona or Magmortar) then hitting a fleeing Sciz' with Pursuit.

Sp. Def. Ev's aren't really a waste if your planning to lure specials, like baiting with a Gliscor or Dragon Type to draw choiced Ice Beams or Draco Meteors for example which Scizor can handle relatively fine with a few investments. Though Im pretty sure if someone used Ember on a mon with a decent Spec Attk they'd murder Scizor none the less. Actually scratch that, Spec Attacks are what light screen + spec. defensive ev's are for, even though you should never try to take a fire attack anyway

Zoroark isn't really a surefire strategy though. If if happens to get hit with a U-Turn on the switch not only does Zoroark take some massive damage, but the illusion is ruined. (which is easy enough to predict on Pokemon Online due to team preview) And unless your switching from Scizor to Jelicent, I dont see Zoroark taking advantage of that situation. Also with some defensive ev's Scizor can take a Pursuit pretty well (Actually Scizor resists dark type moves anyway right? So the Def. ev's probably arent even necessary)

Also never talk about using Vacuum wave with Scizor/Scyther... thats just no good

 

[The Glorious Marr]

Finally!

Scizor has been my all time favourite Pokemon ever since I was first checking out the new Pokemon when Gold and Silver were announced. My first introduction to Steel types (which also immediately became my favourite type) I almost can't even play Pokemon if I can't use Scizor.

Almost.

Anyway, here are my preferred sets:

Voyager (A.K.A. Bulky Band)
Ability: Technician
Nature: Adamant/Careful
Item: Choice Band
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Att/ 4 Sp. Def
Attacks:
Bullet Punch
Superpower
U-turn
Pursuit/Quick Attack

A bulkier version of the standard Choice Scizor, I'm basically assuming that Voyager will only ever be catching opponents on the switch. Obviously U-turn becomes the move of choice until all of his potential counters are accounted for. Bullet Punch and Superpower are there for breaking holes in the party wherever the chance appears. The decision between Pursuit and Quick Attack is a matter of preference, Pursuit is typically expected of a Choice Scizor so Quick Attack sometimes is tempting for a surprise priority attack that isn't resisted by many of Scizor's counters. It's not perfect, but I must mention this DID once survive a Fire attack in Battle Tower.

Giro (A.K.A.Reversal)
Ability: Swarm
Nature: Adamant
Item: Liechi Berry/Focus Sash
Evs: 4 HP/ 252 Att/ 252 Speed
Attacks:
Reversal
X-Scissor
Agility
Endure/Substitute/Bullet Punch/Iron Head/Night Slash

A classic set, passable in 2nd Gen, good in 3rd Gen, much improved by 4th Gen but outclassed by Lucario, but I still like it and this one carried me through Battle Hall. Reversal and Agility are core to the set, and X-Scissor gets in ahead of Bug Bite because the Swarm boost makes it superior. The final move is up to preference. If you use the Liechi Berry then Endure or Substitute are your two choices for getting your HP to 1, obviously neither are options when holding the Focus Sash so you'll want another attack added here, Bullet Punch and Iron Head get stab, without Technician Bullet Punch loses a bit of power but the priority is still tempting, while Night Slash will handle Chandelure which can RUIN you.

In the end, Scizor will likely forever be my favourite whether it's a second rate baton passer in the 2nd Generation or everyone's favourite priority abusing superbug in the the 4th Generation and beyond. I can't wait to send Voyager over to my White Version.

 

[Kraleck]

...Does Pursuit get the Technician boost if the opponent is switching out?

Random question, but it would be a great thing to know. Or put it in the Overview, if it's that good. but I'm not pushing ._.

The double damage on an opponent's switch is a multiplier, not an increase in Base Power, so it does stack with Technician. Similarly, Revenge, Payback, and Avalanche are the same way with it being a multiplier and not a Base Power increase. Any Move that has conditional increases in power do not get an increased Base Power, just a multiplier on the damage dealt.

Short Version - Pursuit will always get a Technician boost.

 

[WeatherEffectRain]

^Alright, I was pretty sure but I wanted another's comfirmation.

 

[jesusfreak94]

Yeah, just a reminder to people to give Scizor a max of 248 HP EVs. This lets him take one less point of damage from Stealth Rock than 252 HP EVs, actually increasing his bulkiness. I'd personally put the remainder in SpD. Keeping them out of Spe will allow you to have a slower U-Turn than other Scizor, which can be an advantage in a few situations. Also, the extra special defense will allow Scizor to check things like Lati@s a little more efficiently.

 

[Kyro12]

Dance Party!
Ability: Technician
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP/252 Att/ 4 Spe
@: Focus Sash

Swords Dance
Bullet Punch
X-Scissor
SuperPower

I love this set, Scizor becomes such a beast.

 

[Aurath8]

Scyther Counters
Compared to it's bigger brother, Scyther is a lot easier to counter thanks to it's worse Defences(bar Eviolite), Attack and typing than Scizor. It does have a huge 105 Speed stat though making it much harder to Revenge kill.
Rock types must be immediately considered thanks to resisting it's STABs and Quick Attack. Regirock, Rhyperior, Golem, Gigalith, Tyranitar, Almardo. As long as it has enough defence to take boosted Brick Breaks and hit back with Stone Edge it can handle Scyther well. Steel types do a similar job, except they resist Pursuit but can't hit it for STAB supereffective damage. Registeel, Forretress, Skarmory, Steelix, Magnezone, Metagross, Bronzong.
All Steel/Rock types get a special mention for dually resisting it's STABs and Quick Attack. Aggron, Bastiodon and Probopass. They have to be careful of boosted Brick Breaks though.
Ghost types like Spiritomb, Prankster Sableye and Dusclops, can come in on any move and Will-o-Wisp Scyther, rendering it useless unless it's a Baton Passer.

 

[Kraleck]

Scyther Counters
Compared to it's bigger brother, Scyther is a lot easier to counter thanks to it's worse Defences(bar Eviolite), Attack and typing than Scizor. It does have a huge 105 Speed stat though making it much harder to Revenge kill.
Rock types must be immediately considered thanks to resisting it's STABs and Quick Attack. Regirock, Rhyperior, Golem, Gigalith, Tyranitar, Almardo. As long as it has enough defence to take boosted Brick Breaks and hit back with Stone Edge it can handle Scyther well. Steel types do a similar job, except they resist Pursuit but can't hit it for STAB supereffective damage. Registeel, Forretress, Skarmory, Steelix, Magnezone, Metagross, Bronzong.
All Steel/Rock types get a special mention for dually resisting it's STABs and Quick Attack. Aggron, Bastiodon and Probopass. They have to be careful of boosted Brick Breaks though.
Ghost types like Spiritomb, Prankster Sableye and Dusclops, can come in on any move and Will-o-Wisp Scyther, rendering it useless unless it's a Baton Passer.

Pranksters with Status Effects are a huge hassle to any Scyther built for offense...so, basically, any non-Baton Passer Scyther. Burns, Toxic Poison, and Paralysis are all factors Scyther hates to see.

Taking maximum percentile damage from Stealth Rock hurts Scyther users a lot, so Pokemon that can soak a hit using it (very likely for Rock and/or Steel Types) will make any Scyther's job (especially Baton Pass Scyther) much harder.

Scyther's high Speed can also be an issue for Gyro Ballers to exploit. A STAB Gyro Ball with low enough Speed (and maybe a Curse or two) can rip into Scyther like a jagged, flaming rock through tissue paper.

Faster Pokemon with Super Effective STAB Moves like Electrode, Aerodactyl, Jolteon, Zebstrika, Swellow, Crobat, Weavile, Froslass, Galvantula, Infernape...stop me at any time because I've got a doozy of a list...anything using a boosted Ice Shard (like Mamoswine or Lapras) or Rock Blast (Tech-Cinccino or Shell Smash Cloyster)...you know what? Just pick something with a huge damage output and smack Scyther upside the head with it. Eviolite can only do so much, after all...

 

[Caetano93]

I don't see any Syther revange killer set so here is.

UU wrost nightmare
Syther@Life orb/Choice band/Choice scarf
Technician
Adamant/Jolly
EV:252 atk/252 speed/4 def
Aerial ace
U-turn
Quick attack
Pursuit

Aerial ace does massive damage thanks to technician. U-turn is cheap with chice band or life orb. Quick attack is neededif if not using jolly or choice scarf. Pursuit if you predict a swith. This set is realy annoying but is easy blocked by stealth rock so a rapid spiner is needed (a bulky Blastoise is amazing in this job).

 

[SpotlessMind]

Pranksters with Status Effects are a huge hassle to any Scyther built for offense...so, basically, any non-Baton Passer Scyther. Burns, Toxic Poison, and Paralysis are all factors Scyther hates to see.

Taking maximum percentile damage from Stealth Rock hurts Scyther users a lot, so Pokemon that can soak a hit using it (very likely for Rock and/or Steel Types) will make any Scyther's job (especially Baton Pass Scyther) much harder.

Scyther's high Speed can also be an issue for Gyro Ballers to exploit. A STAB Gyro Ball with low enough Speed (and maybe a Curse or two) can rip into Scyther like a jagged, flaming rock through tissue paper.

Faster Pokemon with Super Effective STAB Moves like Electrode, Aerodactyl, Jolteon, Zebstrika, Swellow, Crobat, Weavile, Froslass, Galvantula, Infernape...stop me at any time because I've got a doozy of a list...anything using a boosted Ice Shard (like Mamoswine or Lapras) or Rock Blast (Tech-Cinccino or Shell Smash Cloyster)...you know what? Just pick something with a huge damage output and smack Scyther upside the head with it. Eviolite can only do so much, after all...

Yeah, personally this is why I wouldn't use Scyther in OU, and why I wouldn't bother with using Eviolite on Scyther at all. Yes, Eviolite makes its defenses decent, but the 4x weakness to Stealth Rock (which is still common enough) and its many other weakness means that it cant afford to switch around alot, and just about every enemy will be packing a move thats super effective against it. It'll be getting smacked around around so much that eviolite wont really matter, which is why I'd much rather uses an item to boost speed or attack rather than defenses. Scyther's typing is far from defensively minded, so it doesnt make sense to me to try and play him as a defensive pokemon.

Scyther wouldnt last five minutes in OU, even with an extremely surprising gimmick set, as pretty much everything can take what it dishes out and hit it twice as hard in return.

sidenote: why is every other set maxing out HP & attack? Thats bad ev training

 

[irock245]

I use this beast of pwn.
Scizor@lifeorb
Adamant
252hp/252atk/4spd
Techniction
bullet punch
bugbite
swords dance
pursuit.

I actually take advantage of his respectiable bulk and of techniction.

 

[pottsy]

i was just looking at the overall base stats totals (dont ask why i was just bored) and was blown away to see that syther and scizor have the same totals in base stats at 500. now i dont question the fact that half of the sets here are for scyther (doesnt add anything to the sets i know but im still kinda shocked)

 

[Megamence123]

I have a pretty big question. How much Base Power does Scizor's Bullet Punch have? I mean, is it 80 or 90 BP?

That out of the way, let's have some Scizor counters. Heatran. This guy counters Scizor unless it has SD Superpower. Heatran resists U-Turn, Bullet Punch, and Pursuit. If you don't have Heatran, use a bulky water that is not weak to Bug attacks. Stuff like Suicune, Milotic, Jellicent, any Water-type that can take a hit and burn with Scald or Will-o-Wisp. If that's not an option, revenge-kill it. Scizor is rather slow, so any faster Fire or Steel type can take its Bullet Punch and destroy it. This method is not recommended because Scizor almost always has U-Turn in addition to Bullet Punch. If you don't have any of these methods to defeat Scizor, then, good luck and good game.

 

[Darkrai1117]

Quote:
Originally Posted by WeatherEffectRain
...Does Pursuit get the Technician boost if the opponent is switching out?

Random question, but it would be a great thing to know. Or put it in the Overview, if it's that good. but I'm not pushing ._.
The double damage on an opponent's switch is a multiplier, not an increase in Base Power, so it does stack with Technician. Similarly, Revenge, Payback, and Avalanche are the same way with it being a multiplier and not a Base Power increase. Any Move that has conditional increases in power do not get an increased Base Power, just a multiplier on the damage dealt.

Short Version - Pursuit will always get a Technician boost.

I know that this is of no set info or anything, but when building a set, remember this:

Bulbapedia:
Technician increases the base power of all moves which have a base power of 60 or less by 1.5×.
For moves with variable base power, Technician will only apply if the base power is 60 or less when used. Thus, Pursuit will not get a Technician boost if the opposing Pokémon switches and Pursuit's base power doubles to 80. Similarly, if a move like Avalanche is used by a Pokémon previously damaged in the same turn, which doubles Avalanche's base power to 120, then Technician will not be applied.
The effect does not apply to confusion damage, which remains at a base power of 40.