ORAS Doubles OU Scizor Inc.

[Jorick]

INTRODUCTION

I built a team called Scitar a while ago, centered around a core of Mega Scizor and Tyranitar. While it seemed good on paper, I thought the results were rather poor and I believed I could do better. One by one, new pokemon came and went, many were tried... until I ended up with this. Now, it still has some room for improvement, that's for sure. I can get up to 1400 on the ladder, but that's where it usually ends.

OVERVIEW

​

Personally, I'm very fond of bulky offense on my team. I really like being able to switch around my team without being afraid of getting it knocked out immediately. Shaymin-Sky is the only exception here, but that's not a problem: its awesome coverage, speed and synergy with the rest of the team definitely make up for it.

I think that this team has pretty good coverage, both offensive as defensive. I have at least one move to counter every single type - though obviously some combinations do make things more difficult. For example, I'm lacking a fire-type move, which make Ferrothorn and Mawile a greater threat than they should be. However, from the many battles I've done, I can't really specify exactly which Pokemon tear my team part.

Another thing my team lacks is set-up. It's something that I've deliberately tried to avoid because I don't want to rely on it. But on the other hand, teams that do succeed in setting up are sometimes difficult for my Pokemon to handle.

BUILDS

Meowstic @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 236 HP / 60 Def / 212 SpD
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Charm
- Swagger
- Light Screen

Meowstic is a Pokemon I almost always lead with. It helps me gain momentum and comes in handy all the time. It is very bulky, so it usually gets the chance to Thunder Wave a few opponents, making them a lot less threatening. Charm and Swagger are there to make physical and special attackers, respectively, useless. It will often cause them to switch, which gives me another chance to Thunder Wave. Finally, Light Screen usually just set up as an extra, when Thunder Wave/Charm/Swagger have done their job. However, when people lead with very strong special attackers such as Mega Charizard, I'll definitely put the screen up a lot faster.

Scrafty @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Atk / 12 Def
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch

About 80% of the time, I will lead with Scrafty (together with Meowstic). Fake Out will help Meowstic spreading the Thunder Waves. I like using Knock Off early in battle, because nobody likes losing their items that quickly. Because of STAB, it actually does good damage as well. Drain Punch is a second STAB, which also keeps Scrafty healthy. Finally, Ice Punch tends to surprise dragons, flying types, etc. It will usually last a few turns, so I can switch it out after a few times when Scrafty has done its job. It'll return later for another Fake Out/Knock Off.

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Garchomp is a Pokemon that really doesn't need explaining. It's fast, it's powerful, and its coverage is amazing. Earthquake can be paired with a protect from a teammate, or with Rotom-W or Shaymin-Sky. Rock Slide always comes in handy. And due to its enormous speed, it can usually Dragon Claw a dragon before it gets knocked out itself. Of course Ice is a problem, but it can usually Protect or switch while a teammate gets rid of the threat.

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 136 SpA / 120 SpD
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect

Rotom-W is absolutely a very unoriginal Pokemon, and most teams have a good grass-type move to counter it. Still, it does its job well. It's quite bulky, has good offensive coverage and it can Will-O-Wisp threats that I can't take down easily. I do have to admit that perhaps I should replace it with a Pokemon that has better synergy with the rest of the team. The main reason I put it in is because having a Water and Electric type move is really handy, and Rotom-W is the easiest way to put them on a team. Maybe I should look for something a little more innovative?

Shaymin-Sky @ Life Orb
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Seed Flare
- Air Slash
- Earth Power
- Protect

As I said before, Shaymin is the only frail Pokemon on my team. I like bulky offense, but Shaymin has such great coverage and fast offense that it's worth it. Seed flare is required for taking down Rotom-W, Rain teams in general, and Ground types don't enjoy it either. A fast Air Slash is a solution to the many Fighting-types in the metagame. Earth Power is a no-brainer: Ground type moves are really useful, but I don't always want to have to rely on Garchomp for this. Obviously, Protect is needed as well. The advantages of Serene Grace are definitely welcome as well. The downside of Shaymin-Sky? My team needs its offensive presence and typing, but the defensive synergy isn't good. It shares a weakness to fire with Scizor, and it is afraid of Ice-type moves just like Garchomp. Any input to solve this problem would be helpful!

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Aerial Ace
- Protect

Finally, Scizor. One of the very best bulky offense Pokemon. Its 4x fire weakness is unfortunate with Fire being so widely spread in the metagame, but I still really dig it. Bullet Punch, Bug Bite and Protect are pretty self-explanatory. I used to run Swords Dance, but I found that it's very difficult to get free turns so I ended up never using it. Aerial Ace replaced it, for extra coverage against Fighting types. I will often bring Scizor in as one of the last Pokemon, when I'm sure that fire types have been taken care of. I have to say though that, while Scizor used to be the star and center of the team, it is now more of a great extra. (It is now the CEO overseeing things while others do most of the work, hence the team's name: Scizor Inc.) Maybe I should bring back swords dance and try to make it work some other way? Or maybe it's time to experiment with another Mega which fits the rest of the team better? I'd love to have your input on this.​

 

[shaian]

Well the obvious issue right now is that Meowstic is a liability to the team, as it provides no offensive output and doesn't provide you any sort of defensive backbone with its typing. Individually each of those 3 things are a great asset to any team, however putting them all in 1 basket is a great way to do yourself a disservice as you're now more or less playing 5 on 6. It should honestly have 2 support moves, maybe 3 if you forego Protect, and at least 1 dedicated attack. The idea of a 4 support Mon is intriguing in theory, but come practice, it's honestly not a good idea. For that reason I suggest you swap out at least 1 of the support moves for Psychic, if not outright swap out Meowstic for a different Pokemon. Adding Psychic also lets you free up a move-slot on Scizor, meaning you don't need to run Aerial Ace, which is a bad move choice overall, allowing you to go for options such as U-Turn, Tailwind, Roost (rather unorthodox), Swords Dance, Knock Off, Superpower, all of which are better options. If you do opt out of Meowstic, I recommend looking at Volcarona, who has decent synergy with Garchomp and Shaymin, and handles your existing issues with Mawile and Ferrothorn. Some suggested sets you can try are the Rage Powder set, the QD set (though it's not as commonly used this gen), and the mix RP + QD sets, all of which could seriously help your team.

Another thing is that your team looks weak to standard Rain cores, which isn't a huge issue in itself and can be played around, but you might want to consider swapping Rotom-W for Rotom-M, and swapping out Shaymin for Suicune. Charizard might be a bit stronger against you team, but shouldn't be a major issue with Garchomp on the team, and you can use T-Wind Suicune to ease your time against Rain teams. This gives you a better matchup versus Rain, but also provides you a very solid defensive core. But again, this is a minor weakness, as a team can be rain weak and still be quite potent.

That's all I got, good luck fren, and happy new years :J