[Overview]
<p>Despite rarely seeing the limelight in OU due to being overshadowed by Scizor, in RU, Scolipede is a great Pokemon thanks to its excellent Speed and good Attack stats. These allow it to function superbly as both an entry hazard setter, with access to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, or as a sweeper, utilizing its good STAB typing to batter the opposition. Scolipede can often be considered a physical Accelgor; they function similarly as supporters, while Scolipede attempts to sweep through the means of Swords Dance as opposed to Accelgor's great coverage. Unfortunately, Scolipede suffers from poor defenses overall, although it does have a fairly respectable 90 base Defense stat to work with. Its sub-par bulk is further hindered by its poor defensive typing, Bug / Poison, which gives it many weaknesses and makes it quite vulnerable to entry hazards. That said, its ability to absorb Toxic Spikes and 4x resistance to Fighting is a godsend for Scolipede. Scolipede is capable of taking on a number of utility roles and will almost always be an excellent selection for your team.</p>
[SET]
name: Hazard Lead
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Toxic Spikes
move 3: Megahorn
move 4: Rock Slide / Earthquake
item: Focus Sash / Leftovers
ability: Swarm
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Scolipede is an excellent choice in RU for laying entry hazards, due to its access to both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, as well as its naturally great speed. The choice of entry hazard to set will depend on which will irritate the opposition more; Spikes is usually more detrimental to offense, while Toxic Spikes more often hampers balanced teams. Megahorn is Scolipede's obligatory STAB move; its 120 base power gives Scolipede no trouble OHKOing weaker Rapid Spinners, such as Cryogonal. Rock Slide and Earthquake offer additional coverage, both hitting Fire-types, but Rock Slide is able to cover Flying-types, while Earthquake hits Poison-types that can absorb your Toxic Spikes.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Although Scolipede's main purpose is to set entry hazards, it lacks sufficient bulk to invest defensively; full investment in Attack and Speed along with a Jolly nature optimizes Scolipede's offensive abilities while also ensuring the best chance of setting its entry hazards. Focus Sash is the preferred item for the guaranteed survival of at least one attack. Leftovers is an option as well, being of more use against stall teams, and against Pokemon with weaker attacks. Swarm is an excellent ability, especially alongside Focus Sash, as it boosts Megahorn's power to immense levels.</p>
<p>Several different teammates benefit from either Spikes or Toxic Spikes. Pokemon such as Swellow or Sceptile are excellent partners when using Spikes as they greatly appreciate the accumulated residual damage on their walls. When using Toxic Spikes, wallbreakers such as Magmortar, or set up sweepers such as Gallade, are superb choices as they benefit greatly from the continual health loss of their counters.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Megahorn
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Earthquake
item: Life Orb
ability: Swarm
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 ATK / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set attempts to utilize Scolipede's good attack and great Speed in order to pull off a sweep after a Swords Dance. After one boost, Scolipede reaches a massive 558 attack, which gives it huge power on its coverage options, as well as making Megahorn extremely deadly. Rock Slide and Earthquake are the preferred coverage options, providing the famed QuakeSlide combo, providing great neutral coverage and hitting many types that resist Megahorn super effectively. This set can easily catch teams off guard, as a Swarm boosted Megahorn is a huge game changer.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Life Orb is the preferred item in order to make up the power where Scolipede's attack stat falls short, as well as occasionally being used to self-activate Swarm. Focus Sash can also be used to guarantee Swarm activation, although Scolipede's vulnerability to entry hazards makes this difficult to pull off. This set is a typical sweeper set, so Jolly is preferred over Adamant in order to outrun threats such as Durant and Archeops. Given its niche as a hazard setter, Scolipede appreciates entry hazard support itself, notably Spikes and Stealth Rock, the former to weaken opposing Pokemon to the point where Megahorn will finish them off, and the latter to ensure KOs on the Fire- and Flying-types in the tier with the QuakeSlide combo.</p>
<p>With Scolipede's lack of defensive prowess, dual screen support is recommended, and Rapid Spin support is essential, to enable an easier setup and to keep it from taking hazards damage, respectively. Scolipede itself can help provide team support, however, absorbing opposing Toxic Spikes for its teammates. Baton Pass is a useful option over one of its coverage moves, allowing Scolipede to run away from a threatening enemy and provide a teammate with its accumulated boosts.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Scolipede is fairly capable of running a Choice Band set, but Scolipede's lack of U-Turn and the large number of Bug-type resistors in the tier make it difficult to use effectively. Poison Point is an interesting alternate ability, particularly for inflicting Poison status on Fighting-type Pokemon that Scolipede can switch in to, but is generally less useful than Swarm. Scolipede is capable of using a Baton pass set, with access to Swords Dance, Iron Defense and Agility as potential stat boosters to pass. Screech is an interesting choice to try and force switches but is generally inferior to Swords Dance. However, it can be used in tandem with Pursuit, which is otherwise lacking in utility. Scolipede has other options for its Bug-type STAB, X-Scissor being the most notable, but the drop in power is usually too significant to warrant the accuracy increase. Double-Edge is interesting for the high base power and good neutral coverage but doesn't hit much outside of what the main set covers.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Despite Scolipede's good power, there are several Pokemon that cause it troubles. First and foremost, Gligar completely counters Scolipede, taking a pittance from a boosted Rock Slide and Roosting off the damage all day. Steelix is also capable of tanking its attacks despite a weakness to Earthquake, and will respond with a full powered Gyro Ball in return. Bulky Ghost- and Fighting-types are able to switch into Scolipede's STAB moves and burn it with Will-O-Wisp or threaten it out, respectively. Anything with a Choice Scarf can outspeed and OHKO Scolipede. Honchkrow and Entei are prime revenge killers, able to come in on a Megahorn and Earthquake respectively and KO Scolipede with Sucker Punch and Extremespeed.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Scolipede receives the ability Quick Feet through Dream World, which doubles its Speed when inflicted with a status condition. Although it can use a gimmicky set involving Facade if it can manage to switch in to Thunder Wave, it is fairly useless due to Scolipede's immunity to Poison and has little use over Swarm.<p>
<p>Despite rarely seeing the limelight in OU due to being overshadowed by Scizor, in RU, Scolipede is a great Pokemon thanks to its excellent Speed and good Attack stats. These allow it to function superbly as both an entry hazard setter, with access to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, or as a sweeper, utilizing its good STAB typing to batter the opposition. Scolipede can often be considered a physical Accelgor; they function similarly as supporters, while Scolipede attempts to sweep through the means of Swords Dance as opposed to Accelgor's great coverage. Unfortunately, Scolipede suffers from poor defenses overall, although it does have a fairly respectable 90 base Defense stat to work with. Its sub-par bulk is further hindered by its poor defensive typing, Bug / Poison, which gives it many weaknesses and makes it quite vulnerable to entry hazards. That said, its ability to absorb Toxic Spikes and 4x resistance to Fighting is a godsend for Scolipede. Scolipede is capable of taking on a number of utility roles and will almost always be an excellent selection for your team.</p>
[SET]
name: Hazard Lead
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Toxic Spikes
move 3: Megahorn
move 4: Rock Slide / Earthquake
item: Focus Sash / Leftovers
ability: Swarm
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Scolipede is an excellent choice in RU for laying entry hazards, due to its access to both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, as well as its naturally great speed. The choice of entry hazard to set will depend on which will irritate the opposition more; Spikes is usually more detrimental to offense, while Toxic Spikes more often hampers balanced teams. Megahorn is Scolipede's obligatory STAB move; its 120 base power gives Scolipede no trouble OHKOing weaker Rapid Spinners, such as Cryogonal. Rock Slide and Earthquake offer additional coverage, both hitting Fire-types, but Rock Slide is able to cover Flying-types, while Earthquake hits Poison-types that can absorb your Toxic Spikes.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Although Scolipede's main purpose is to set entry hazards, it lacks sufficient bulk to invest defensively; full investment in Attack and Speed along with a Jolly nature optimizes Scolipede's offensive abilities while also ensuring the best chance of setting its entry hazards. Focus Sash is the preferred item for the guaranteed survival of at least one attack. Leftovers is an option as well, being of more use against stall teams, and against Pokemon with weaker attacks. Swarm is an excellent ability, especially alongside Focus Sash, as it boosts Megahorn's power to immense levels.</p>
<p>Several different teammates benefit from either Spikes or Toxic Spikes. Pokemon such as Swellow or Sceptile are excellent partners when using Spikes as they greatly appreciate the accumulated residual damage on their walls. When using Toxic Spikes, wallbreakers such as Magmortar, or set up sweepers such as Gallade, are superb choices as they benefit greatly from the continual health loss of their counters.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Megahorn
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Earthquake
item: Life Orb
ability: Swarm
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 ATK / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set attempts to utilize Scolipede's good attack and great Speed in order to pull off a sweep after a Swords Dance. After one boost, Scolipede reaches a massive 558 attack, which gives it huge power on its coverage options, as well as making Megahorn extremely deadly. Rock Slide and Earthquake are the preferred coverage options, providing the famed QuakeSlide combo, providing great neutral coverage and hitting many types that resist Megahorn super effectively. This set can easily catch teams off guard, as a Swarm boosted Megahorn is a huge game changer.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Life Orb is the preferred item in order to make up the power where Scolipede's attack stat falls short, as well as occasionally being used to self-activate Swarm. Focus Sash can also be used to guarantee Swarm activation, although Scolipede's vulnerability to entry hazards makes this difficult to pull off. This set is a typical sweeper set, so Jolly is preferred over Adamant in order to outrun threats such as Durant and Archeops. Given its niche as a hazard setter, Scolipede appreciates entry hazard support itself, notably Spikes and Stealth Rock, the former to weaken opposing Pokemon to the point where Megahorn will finish them off, and the latter to ensure KOs on the Fire- and Flying-types in the tier with the QuakeSlide combo.</p>
<p>With Scolipede's lack of defensive prowess, dual screen support is recommended, and Rapid Spin support is essential, to enable an easier setup and to keep it from taking hazards damage, respectively. Scolipede itself can help provide team support, however, absorbing opposing Toxic Spikes for its teammates. Baton Pass is a useful option over one of its coverage moves, allowing Scolipede to run away from a threatening enemy and provide a teammate with its accumulated boosts.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Scolipede is fairly capable of running a Choice Band set, but Scolipede's lack of U-Turn and the large number of Bug-type resistors in the tier make it difficult to use effectively. Poison Point is an interesting alternate ability, particularly for inflicting Poison status on Fighting-type Pokemon that Scolipede can switch in to, but is generally less useful than Swarm. Scolipede is capable of using a Baton pass set, with access to Swords Dance, Iron Defense and Agility as potential stat boosters to pass. Screech is an interesting choice to try and force switches but is generally inferior to Swords Dance. However, it can be used in tandem with Pursuit, which is otherwise lacking in utility. Scolipede has other options for its Bug-type STAB, X-Scissor being the most notable, but the drop in power is usually too significant to warrant the accuracy increase. Double-Edge is interesting for the high base power and good neutral coverage but doesn't hit much outside of what the main set covers.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Despite Scolipede's good power, there are several Pokemon that cause it troubles. First and foremost, Gligar completely counters Scolipede, taking a pittance from a boosted Rock Slide and Roosting off the damage all day. Steelix is also capable of tanking its attacks despite a weakness to Earthquake, and will respond with a full powered Gyro Ball in return. Bulky Ghost- and Fighting-types are able to switch into Scolipede's STAB moves and burn it with Will-O-Wisp or threaten it out, respectively. Anything with a Choice Scarf can outspeed and OHKO Scolipede. Honchkrow and Entei are prime revenge killers, able to come in on a Megahorn and Earthquake respectively and KO Scolipede with Sucker Punch and Extremespeed.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Scolipede receives the ability Quick Feet through Dream World, which doubles its Speed when inflicted with a status condition. Although it can use a gimmicky set involving Facade if it can manage to switch in to Thunder Wave, it is fairly useless due to Scolipede's immunity to Poison and has little use over Swarm.<p>
