Scyther has naturally high Attack and Speed, and Swords Dance and Life Orb complement that to make Scyther one of the most vicious physical sweepers in UU. After a Swords Dance (usually on an opponent that is guaranteed to switch out, such as Hypno or a Choice-locked Fighting-type), very little will block its rampage considering its good physical movepool and excellent type coverage. Aerial Ace is Scyther's most powerful STAB attack since Technician boosts its mediocre 60 base power to a terrific 90 and is Scyther's main form of attack. X-Scissor is a useful secondary STAB move in an environment pullulated with Psychic and Dark-type Pokemon and can often deal sufficient damage to Pokemon resistant to Aerial Ace. However, such Pokemon are usually better handled with a Fighting move, a type that when combined with Flying hits everything but Zapdos and Rotom at least neutrally; Brick Break is the more generic choice and tends to be more reliable because of its constant base power, but Reversal is more potent when Scyther's HP is at 34.4% or less (Life Orb and Stealth Rock make it easy for Scyther to drop to such a low HP). There is a multitude of options Scyther can use instead of various moves on this set. Night Slash is acceptable over X-Scissor for hitting Rotom while maintaining type coverage against Psychics, but it doesn't do anything else of note and loses a huge amount of power; in fact, Aerial Ace does a minimum of 87% to the standard Rotom after a Swords Dance anyways. Quick Attack can function in either of the latter two moveslots and receives a Technician boost, so it is exceedingly efficacious at picking off weakened versions of the few UU Pokemon that are naturally faster than Scyther and offers insurance against Choice Scarf users. Quick Attack also has another major advantage against Sucker Punch users (chiefly Absol, Toxicroak, and Cacturne): if Scyther uses Quick Attack while the opponent uses Sucker Punch simultaneously, and if Scyther is faster than the opponent, which it most likely is, Quick Attack will hit first and behave normally, while Sucker Punch completely fails. Baton Pass is also viable, especially if one intends to use this Scyther early in the game and has other Pokemon that would benefit greatly from a Swords Dance. Preferably, Scyther's recipients should be capable of destroying many of Scyther's counters; some of the best choices are Fighting-types like Primeape and Hitmontop.
Scyther frequently won't have time to Swords Dance and doesn't particularly appreciate Life Orb's recoil in tandem with Stealth Rock damage, so Choice Band is available as a slightly more powerful but restricting alternative to Life Orb. Aerial Ace and X-Scissor are still Scyther's best STAB attacks, Brick Break remains a perfect auxiliary attack, and Quick Attack is ever helpful. However, a couple more options become available to Scyther, the more consequential of which is Pursuit, which can OHKO a fleeing Rotom; given, Rotom is unlikely to switch from a Scyther, but Pursuit is also utile against terrified Psychics such as Grumpig and Claydol, and OHKOs Jynx even if it doesn't switch. The other new choice, which also involves switching, is U-turn, which when used over X-Scissor trades 10 base power for the ability to scout the opponent's team. U-turn is best used early in the game, when its scouting function is most useful and before Stealth Rock, which severely curtails Scyther's power, is set up. Scyther can actually take advantage of Stealth Rock, though, since this set is EVed so that it can switch into Stealth Rock twice, after which it will have 1 HP remaining, ideal for Reversal. The EVs are structured so that Scyther has an odd HP for switching into Stealth Rock; additionally, the EVs allow Scyther to survive an unboosted Adamant Life Orb Toxicroak's Sucker Punch after switching into Stealth Rock once, and to survive such a Sucker Punch after a Swords Dance when at maximum HP. The Speed is just enough to outrun all Pokemon with 95 base Speed or less and allows Scyther to catch Jumpluff and Froslass in case they neglect to use a Speed-boosting nature. This means Scyther is outsped by Ninetales, but it's not very significant as Scyther can't OHKO Ninetales with Aerial Ace anyways, and a well-constructed UU team shouldn't rely on Scyther to trump Ninetales.
Many Pokemon that Scyther would normally annihilate, such as Hitmonlee, can counter by holding a Choice Scarf. By using a Choice Scarf itself, Scyther becomes the fastest commonly used Pokemon available and a particularly effective finishing sweeper, removing any potential apprehension about the opposition's Speed. Most of the attack choices are the same as on the Choice Band set, except with the removal of Quick Attack, which is unnecessary because Scyther is so fast. However, Reversal becomes much more viable thanks to Scyther's increased Speed, and U-turn's scouting function is also more effectively utilized. The power drop is notable since Scyther doesn't have any Attack boosters, though, as evidenced by the fact that U-turn has a bare 2.6% chance at OHKOing Grumpig as opposed to 79.5% for X-Scissor. The EVs here are largely the same as for the Choice Band set; the Speed is sufficient to outspeed Adamant Choice Scarf Primeape and Sharpedo and Modest Choice Scarf Jynx, beating Nidoking, Hitmonlee, and Rotom on the way. Theoretically Jolly nature could be used, but in practice Scyther is loathe to lose Adamant's power.
Sweeping isn't the limit of Scyther's abilities; it can make an excellent dedicated Baton Passer, too. Substitute helps Scyther scout the opponent's team at little risk to itself and is great Baton Pass fodder, even if Scyther hasn't used a boosting move yet, as if Scyther encounters an adversary it can't beat, it can safely Baton Pass to a suitable counter while the Substitute takes a hit in transition. Swords Dance is the preferred boosting move for Scyther to Baton Pass because it aids a wide range of Pokemon enormously, but Agility is also viable in case the recipient is powerful but very slow, like Relicanth. Aerial Ace serves as the STAB attack and is quite powerful even with this set's lack of significant Attack investment. The Speed EVs give allow Scyther to outrun all Pokemon with 100 base Speed or less, including Ninetales. The 80 Attack EVs give it enough power to OHKO the standard Ninetales with Aerial Ace after a single Swords Dance, while most of the rest is put into HP to give Scyther's Substitutes a bit more stability; however, 4 are diverted to Defense to ensure that Scyther has an odd HP.
The premise of this set is simple: use Substitute or Endure to lower Scyther's HP, Swords Dance along the way if possible, and attack as appropriate. Aerial Ace has good type coverage in tandem with Reversal and obliterates most Ghosts and Psychics that stand in Scyther's way, though Rotom poses a quandary. The question of whether to use Substitute or Endure is, in essence, a question of potential power versus reliability. Substitute makes it easier for Scyther to find an opportunity to use Swords Dance, but if Scyther takes some damage other than from Stealth Rock or Substitute, such as from a priority attack, its entire strategy might be ruined because it may become incapable of descending to a low enough HP. Endure functions well against all opponents, including those faster than Scyther, but is simpler for the opponent to play around than Substitute, because Endure is entirely reliant on the opposing Pokemon's actions.
This set is similar to the Salac Reversal set, but is intended to wreak havoc early in the game, before Stealth Rock quashes the entire strategy. Under perfect circumstances, this Scyther is pitted against something it is guaranteed to win against, such as Hypno, and uses Swords Dance on the switch to a likely physical counter like Steelix. As at this point Scyther has revealed no clues whatsoever that it is not the common Life Orb sweeper, the counter will probably attack directly, at which point Counter will OHKO it. Since Scyther's likely foremost counter has been eradicated, it is often unfettered to sweep the opposition. If one finds that Scyther frequently confronts Pokemon that attack it immediately so it doesn't get a chance to use Counter pursuant to a Swords Dance, Night Slash is an option over Counter so Scyther isn't walled by Rotom. Hasty is used for the nature instead of Jolly so Scyther takes as much damage as possible from physical attacks, to better use Counter and trigger Focus Sash. Other OptionsRoost is in general a decent move, but Scyther doesn't quite have adequate defenses to use it effectively. Double Hit gets a Technician boost, so it's useful for breaking Substitutes. Thief also gets a Technician boost, but its power is still a paltry 60, and it may snag an item that is useless to Scyther. EVs176 Speed EVs is a good guideline for Scyther, regardless of nature. With Adamant, it hits 290, which means Scyther can outrun Sharpedo, Jynx, and Primeape without Speed-boosting natures, while with Jolly it attains 319, which outruns all Pokemon with 95 base Speed or less period. In Jolly's case, an extra 4 EVs allows Scyther to outrun Speed-neutral base 110 Speed Pokemon. Besides some specifics noted in the sets, aim for maximizing Attack and Speed. Ensure that Scyther's HP is odd, so it can switch into Stealth Rock twice. OpinionOutside of UU, Scyther is outclassed by a variety of stronger or faster sweepers, such as Garchomp and Weavile. Within UU, though, it is one of the most redoubtable sweepers available, one capable of puncuturing even its sturdiest counters. Technician is a fantastic ability for Scyther, boosting mainly its Aerial Ace, but also its auxiliary attacks like Quick Attack and Pursuit. Stealth Rock is hostile to Scyther, shaving off a substantial 50% of its HP, but considering Scyther's extreme power, it's something that can be worked around. CountersStealth Rock, as mentioned numerous instances prior, will destroy Scyther quickly, but there are also several Pokemon that can weather its assaults. Torkoal is one of the best Scyther counters, with its high Defense allowing it to survive even a Swords Dance boosted Reversal while it replies with a Fire attack. Steelix is weak to Brick Break and faints to a Swords Dance boosted Reversal, but its high Defense lets it take two Swords Dance boosted Brick Breaks while it OHKOs Scyther with Stone Edge. It can even Roar out the Baton Pass set. Quagsire is quite sturdy and also sports Stone Edge. Rotom resists all of Scyther's attacks except for the Dark-typed ones to OHKO with Thunderbolt. Choice Scarf users will shut Scyther down if they're powerful enough; examples include Nidoking and Rotom. Additionally, the few Pokemon that are naturally faster than Scyther can also work out well, although they will all have to predict and avoid switching into a move that will OHKO them. Froslass, Swellow, and Electrode all sport super effective STAB attacks, while Jumpluff can come into a support move like Substitute or Swords Dance and use Encore to stall Scyther while it switches to an offensive Pokemon. Priority moves such as Mach Punch, Fake Out, and Sucker Punch will beat the sets that focus on Reversal. |
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