Scizor [OU Revamp]

[skies]

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[Overview]

• Only one weakness – Fire.
• Access to Swords Dance can turn it into a threat.
• Easily prepared for, with random Pokemon carrying Fire-type moves.
• Lack of powerful STAB moves.
• Steel-types like Steelix outclass Scizor for the most part.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Steel Wing
move 3: Hidden Power Bug / Hidden Power Rock
move 4: Substitute / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers

[Set Comments]

• This Scizor can be a threat should opposing Steel-types be taken out of the picture.
• Steel Wing and Hidden Power Bug are Scizor's main STAB moves.
• Hidden Power Rock hits Fire- and Flying-type Pokemon.
• Substitute aids it against Pokemon with Counter and allows it an easier time to set up.
• Baton Pass can get Scizor out in a hurry and also pass along any boosts it has attained.
• Leftovers gives Scizor reliable recovery.

[Additional Comments]

• Hidden Power Fire can be used to hit other Scizor, along with Steelix.
• Cloyster is a good teammate because it can take on Fire-types and set Spikes.
• Tyranitar resists Fire-type moves as well.
• Spikes are an absolute must, making Forretress a decent partner; be warned, however, as they stack weaknesses.

[Other Options]

• Light Screen can be used, but Scizor prefers attacking.
• Agility can be used alongside Baton Pass and Swords Dance to pass boosts to a teammate, although this is extremely difficult to pull off.
• Counter can surprise physical attackers.
• Endure + Reversal could be of use, although Scizor is too slow to effectively pull it off.
• Metal Claw has a slight chance to raise Scizor's Attack, but Steel Wing is much more reliable.

[Checks and Counters]

• Steel-types like Steelix and Forretress.
• Suicune can take on most of its attacks.
• Fire-types and Fire-type moves all decimate Scizor.
• Misdreavus can trap and kill it effectively.

 

[Bedschibaer]

Idk who is even in charge of quality checks for gsc at the moment, or if there even are people who do it, but i might as well dump some of my thoughts on this.

I personally think Baton Pass is Scizors only niche in GSC OU, regardless of my opinion it is its main niche. Set 1 should be the Baton Pass set (Agility/Swords Dance, Baton Pass, Hidden Power Bug, Agility/Swords Dance/Steel Wing/Substitute?). Scizor is in fact the only thing that can pass Swords Dances in OU (apart from Smeargle) and it does that actually pretty well. As a Swords Dance sweeper it is not so great because it is hugely outclassed by many things there (Druidcruel, Marowak, pretty much every offensive curser and drummer). The thing is that passing a Swords Dance is the best thing Scizor can do in OU, using those boosts yourself is a possibility, but pulling off a Scizor sweep is in fact way harder to pull off than a Baton Pass.
Ok, onto certain things i disagree with:

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[Overview]

• Only one weakness – Fire.
  
• Access to Swords Dance can turn it into a threat.
• Easily prepared for, with random Pokemon carrying Fire-type moves. I'd rather add here that Scizor is easily prepared for as its checks and counters are staples on many GSC OU teams. Nobody puts Fire type moves onto mons randomly, they always aim to hit something (example given Fire Blast lax hits EQ Lax counters). The fact that most of those fire coverage moves OHKO Scizor isn't intended neccessarily, but only makes Scizors life harder.
  
• Lack of powerful STAB moves.
• Steel-types like Steelix outclass Scizor for the most part.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Steel Wing
move 3: Hidden Power Bug / Hidden Power Rock
move 4: Substitute / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers

I already said it, set is what is in the current analysis, but it should not be considered the main set.
[Set Comments]

• This Scizor can be a threat should opposing Steel-types be taken out of the picture. Not only Steel-types. More about that in the checks and counters section
  
• Steel Wing and Hidden Power Bug are Scizor's main STAB moves.
• Hidden Power Rock hits Fire- and Flying-type Pokemon.
• Substitute aids it against Pokemon with Counter and allows it an easier time to set up.
• Baton Pass can get Scizor out in a hurry and also pass along any boosts it has attained. Since Scizor has a ton of hard stops in the GSC OU metagame this is what makes it good.
  
• Leftovers gives Scizor reliable recovery. I don't think a comment on the item is included in GSC analyses, unless Marowak etc of course.

[Additional Comments]

• Hidden Power Fire can be used to hit other Scizor, along with Steelix.
• Cloyster is a good teammate because it can take on Fire-types and set Spikes. First of all, what are the fire types in OU? Typholosion? Moltres? Entei? All of them are niche pokemon and not commonly seen at all.
  Moltres Fire Blast vs. Cloyster: 239-282 (78.8 - 93%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery - not a solid check at all. Apart from that it even struggles to come in on fire type coverage moves from Lax and the likes constantly as it lacks reliable recovery (Rest Cloyster is really bad)
  
• Tyranitar resists Fire-type moves as well.
• Spikes are an absolute must, making Forretress a decent partner; be warned, however, as they stack weaknesses. Spikes does partner well because of the mediocre damage output. Not so sure about the absolute must.

[Other Options]

• Light Screen can be used, but Scizor prefers attacking.
• Agility can be used alongside Baton Pass and Swords Dance to pass boosts to a teammate, although this is extremely difficult to pull off.
• Counter can surprise physical attackers.
• Endure + Reversal could be of use, although Scizor is too slow to effectively pull it off. You could add that you might as well use Scyther for that. If it's even worth a mention.
  
• Metal Claw has a slight chance to raise Scizor's Attack, but Steel Wing is much more reliable.

[Checks and Counters]

• Steel-types like Steelix and Forretress. Forretress is not a check at all. What does it realistically do? Curse up? Huge setup fodder, you should never bring in your Forry into Scizor. Hp fire Forry is a gimmick and doesn't deserve a mention. Here you should something along the lines of "Steel-type Phazers Skarmory and Steelix"
  
• Suicune can take on most of its attacks.
• Fire-types and Fire-type moves all decimate Scizor.
• Misdreavus can trap and kill it effectively. +2 Scizor Steel Wing vs. Misdreavus: 250-294 (77.3 - 91%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery I have no idea where you got that from.
  
  Absolutely add the Electrics Zapdos and Raikou - solid checks to various Scizor sets. Raikou can phaze, reflect and has a chance to 2hko Scizor whereas Scizor needs +2 to 2hko (and doesn't outspeed). Thunder accuracy can be a bitch here. Zapdos wins against every Scizor that doesn't have HP rock 1on1. Scizor doesn't even 3hko at 999 attack while Thunder is a guaranteed 2hko. It also has the possibilities of Reflect and Whirlwind.

rework those things. I can look if people who do quality checks for GSC are still alive in the meantime.

 

[magic9mushroom]

No mention of Skarmory at all bad. Mention Skarmory. Skarmory is a bigger deal than Steelix, let alone the rare Forry.

"Substitute helps against Pokemon with Counter" - wut, who has Counter in GSC?

Mention of Fire-types is retarded, the only one you're seeing in OU is Charizard so mention it by name. And it's not like you need STAB to OHKO Scizor.

I disagree with Bed about the Electrics being good counters; Zapdos almost never Whirlwinds and you need phazing vs. a Baton Passer (which Scizor should ALWAYS be doing, there should be NO option other than Baton Pass let alone preferred over it) to ensure it doesn't just pass the boost to something like Rhydon/Ttar/Marowak, while Raikou doesn't like +2 STAB HP Bugs and therefore Scizor can play mindgames (Raikou wants to Roar if Scizor Baton Passes, but has to attack if Scizor attacks or it dies). The real hardcounters are Skarmory and Steelix, which ignore everything Scizor can do and just Roar. And yeah Charizard or anything else faster with Fire Blast is at least going to stop it passing Swords Dance (though not Agility).

Also Spikes aren't an absolute must, they're useful to have for literally every Pokemon but Scizor needs them less than most since it's typically walled by hard counters (as opposed to the soft counters that Spikes helps wear down) and one of those hard counters is the Spikes-immune Skarmory.

 

[Jorgen]

Did not see until now. Set is bad, Scizor needs to use Baton Pass.

• HP Bug/Swords Dance/Baton Pass/Agility is the only set.
• HP Bug is the best attack, it gets STAB and nails Tyranitar for SE damage and Roaring doggies for neutral.
• This is especially great after a SD boost to punish them as they Phaze you. SD also means that, unlike other Baton Passers like Jolteon and Smeargle, Scizor does a good job of keeping Curselax out of its face.
• Agility is a second stat to pass that can be potentially dangerous, handy for getting past Zapdos and Gengar in the event the opponent shifts gears and decides to just wail on you instead of Phazing. You're passing either this or Swords Dance, realistically you'll never get both.
• Best teammates are those that like boosts. Machamp, Snorlax, and Marowak love both Speed and Attack boosts. Nidoking, Dnite, and Ttar are all kind of mediocre with Speed boosts, but really appreciate the Attack boosts.
• Scizor is countered by Steel phazers: Skarmory and Steelix. He can't touch them. There's not a ton you can do to free him up, you can try to use Seismic Toss Heracross to wear them down, but realistically, Scizor is an off-beat mon that's mostly effective for when your opponent fails to bring a Steel Phazer. Also, Rhydon and Suicune take neutral damage, but are both tanky enough to absorb HP Bugs pretty nicely. Roar Raikou is questionable, it struggles to tank +2 HP Bugs. Fire Blast Nido/Dragonite/Fire Punch Gengar can outspeed after a SD and OHKO with their SE move, although they fail to prevent Agility pass.
• As for other move options, Substitute is a second thing to pass, but it's not very strong. It's mostly handy on other BPers because it's useful for messing up Exeggutor, which Scizor already does very well. Still, it could stop LK Snorlax from ruining your fun. There's also Light Screen, which does a lot of what Agility can do: helps Marowak deal with the Waters it'd normally want to just outspeed, and it allows Scizor to tank Special attackers you'd want to outspeed with Agility. It's interesting, especially if you want Scizor to still provide some sort of support when a Steel Phazer is preventing Baton Pass. Counter is interesting, but it's illegal with Baton Pass, so isn't really an option. Please don't use EndRev, please don't try to use coverage or dual STAB.

 

[Borat]

point being, passing needs to be done. agility is the thing you want to pass, usually to snorlax, marowak, quagsire, charizard, or poliwrath, who then themselves have 1-turn 999 attack boosts to hopefully win the game instantly. the issue is you need sd to be able to do shit yourself. imo, if you had to choose 1 attack, i'd go with double edge over hp bug. at least you hit skarm for "some" damage this way.

alternatively, you can run scizor with de, hp bug, swords dance, bp to get suicune coverage.

doing sd passes aren't that great comparably (read: won't instantly win the game), but it's still something.

 

[Mr.E]

"Substitute helps against Pokemon with Counter" - wut, who has Counter in GSC?

One time I used Counter Scizor and it swept the opponent from 1-5 to victory. \m/

 

[Oglemi]

The OP expressed they were no longer interested in working on this, moving to L&O