Overview
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Sceptile is an extremely deadly sweeper in NU, largely thanks to its terrific Speed stat and unpredictability. A high Special Attack stat and access to Leaf Storm allows it to be an excellent special sweepe,r while a vast physical movepool and access to Swords Dance allows it to make good use of its acceptable Attack stat as well. Sceptile's main drawback is its frailty, especially physically, taking solid damage from most unresisted hits. Additionally, it faces competition for a teamslot with the many Grass-types in the tier, such as Vileplume, Ferroseed, and Lilligant.
Special Attacker
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name: Special Attacker
move 1: Giga Drain
move 2: Focus Blast
move 3: Hidden Power Ice
move 4: Leaf Storm / Substitute
ability: Overgrow
item: Life Orb / Choice Specs
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
Moves
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Giga Drain is a reliable STAB move that helps increase Sceptile's longevity. Focus Blast is necessary on this set, as it hits Pokemon that would otherwise wall Sceptile, namely Bouffalant, and Steel-types such as Ferroseed, Pawniard, and Klinklang. Hidden Power Ice is used in order to hit most Flying-, Grass-, and Dragon-types super effectively. Leaf Storm is preferred in the last moveslot, as it is Sceptile's strongest attack, dealing a lot of damage to anything that doesn't resist it. On the other hand, Substitute is a viable alternative to ease prediction and help Sceptile drop into Overgrow range so it can deal more damage with Giga Drain.
Set Details
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The EV spread maximizes Sceptile's Special Attack and Speed. Life Orb gives Sceptile flexibility in attacking, as most of the time it will be trying to predict a Pokemon that resists Grass-type moves switching in, but Choice Specs is also usable if the extra power is preferred. A Timid nature is required to outspeed Pokemon such as Pyroar, Archeops, and Tauros, all of which can OHKO Sceptile.
Usage Tips
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If the opponent does not have a Pokemon that resists Grass-type moves, Leaf Storm can be spammed, usually ensuring a kill. Two consecutive Leaf Storms is still more powerful than two Giga Drains, even with the Special Attack drop. Predicting is key with Sceptile, as it will usually require two hits to kill a bulky Pokemon such as Vileplume or Ferroseed. Spamming Sceptile's STAB moves recklessly means that Sceptile's checks are able to switch in, tank a hit, and deal huge amounts of damage to Sceptile next turn. Substitute can be used to mitigate this problem significantly. Additionally, it can be used tactically to obtain KOs Sceptile would normally not be able to obtain, thanks to Overgrow.
Team Options
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Sceptile greatly appreciates entry hazard support from the likes of Accelgor and Crustle to wear down its counters. Sweepers that share similar counters with Sceptile, such as Feraligatr, Slurpuff, and Gurdurr, make for good teammates, as they can usually sweep unhindered while also enjoying the benefits of Spikes and Stealth Rock. In general, Sceptile is fairly self-sufficient, as it has the potential to muscle through its counters with the correct coverage move, and it doesn't require things such as Rapid Spin or Thunder Wave support.
Swords Dance
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name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Leaf Blade
move 3: Acrobatics
move 4: Earthquake
ability: Overgrow
item:
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
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Swords Dance boosts Sceptile's Attack to dangerous levels. Leaf Blade is a reliable attack and will hit most things hard after a boost. Acrobatics can put a huge hole in switch-ins such as Vileplume and Roselia looking to tank a Grass-type attack. Likewise, Earthquake will destroy most Poison- and Fire-types that try to counter Sceptile.
Set Details
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In order to boost the power of Acrobatics, no item is used on this set. A Jolly nature is preferred for outspeeding common threats, but Adamant can be considered because Sceptile's Attack stat is relatively low.
Usage Tips
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A Swords Dance boost is necessary if Sceptile wants to deal any significant damage to the opposing team. This is not hard to achieve due to the large amounts of switches Sceptile can force against common foes such as Seismitoad, Feraligatr, and Rhydon. Additionally, people generally expect specially based Sceptile and won't hesitate to switch out, giving Sceptile a free turn to set up.
Team Options
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This set is effective at luring out checks, such as Vileplume and Dragalge, so, Pokemon that benefit from those Pokemon being removed make for good teammates. Magnet Pull Probopass can remove Ferroseed, a common counter to this set. Entry hazard support helps to push Pokemon such as Steelix and Qwilfish into KO range of a boosted attack.
Other Options
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A SubSeed set can be effective against bulkier counters such as Dragalge amd Hariyama, but Sceptile is better off just beating them with the appropriate coverage move instead of giving up power. There are a few alternative moves that can be used on the Special Attacker set. Hidden Power Fire is an option to hit Ferroseed without fearing the chance to miss, and it still maintains coverage on most Grass-types; however, it misses out on coverage on Flying-types. It also lowers Sceptile's Speed IV, meaning it will lose to opposing Sceptiles running Hidden Power Ice. Dragon Pulse can also be used to hit Dragon-types harder than Hidden Power Ice, but it has few targets in the tier and has little use otherwise. For the Swords Dance set, Life Orb and Rock Slide or Thunder Punch over Acrobatics is possible, but the latter's ability to hit Grass-types is too useful to give up.
Checks & Counters
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**Grass-types**: Bulky Grass-types such as Vileplume and Ferroseed will be able to take at least one coverage move and deal huge amounts of damage back with Sludge Bomb or Gyro Ball, respectively. However, the former—along with most other Grass-types—will have to watch out for a Swords Dance-boosted Acrobatics.
**Poison-types**: Dragalge and Muk can take on the special set, as they are not 2HKOed by any of its moves, other than the rare Dragon Pulse for the former. However, they too have to watch out for the physical set. Weezing does not enjoy getting hit by Leaf Storm, but it will counter any set lacking this move.
**Assault Vest Users**: Bulky Assault Vest users such as Hariyama and Bouffalant can take any attack from the special set and proceed to OHKO back.
**Faster Attackers**: Swellow and Accelgor outspeed Sceptile and can OHKO it with Brave Bird or Bug Buzz, respectively. They do not enjoy switching into any attack, however.
**Choice Scarf Fire-types**: Choice Scarf Typhlosion, Pyroar, and Magmortar are able to switch into a Grass-type attack or Hidden Power and easily OHKO Sceptile with a Fire-type attack.
**Powerful Priority**: Due to Sceptile's low defenses, most priority moves will be able to pick it off after it has been weakened. Sucker Punch from the likes of Pawniard and Liepard will take off more than fifty percent of Sceptile's HP.
**Paralysis**: Paralysis renders Sceptile useless, as it will become extremely vulnerable to revenge killers.
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