Scrafty (Analysis)

[Bugbot]

First [SET COMMENTS]: there is a mention of High Jump Kick.

 

[jc104]

<p>Although its less-than-stellar Speed and average Attack make it an odd choice, Scrafty makes an excellent user of Dragon Dance. It is blessed with Dark- and Fighting-type STABs in High Jump Kick and Crunch that are resisted by only Heracross and Toxicroak, neither of which is extremely common. It also has the choice of two fantastic abilities in Moxie and Shed Skin. Moxie is preferred as it gives a +1 Attack boost after each kill, boosting Scrafty’s modest Attack to intimidating levels. On the other hand, Shed Skin allows Scrafty to set up on Pokemon that it otherwise could not, such as Will-O-Wisp Jellicent and Thunder Wave Ferrothorn, although this comes at the price of needing more boosts to sweep efficiently. Drain Punch is an acceptable option over Hi Jump Kick as it gives Scrafty some much-needed recovery and has a 100% hit rate, although there is a notable difference in power as Scrafty can no longer 2HKO physically defensive Hippowdon after a Dragon Dance. Ice Punch allows Scrafty to dispose of certain bulky Flying-types, such as Gliscor, Zapdos, and Dragonite. Taunt is useful when Moxie is used, as it prevents Scrafty from getting hit with status moves. Life Orb makes Scrafty an immediate power threat, while Leftovers can potentially allow him to gain more Dragon Dances under his belt.</p>

Sorry for the nitpick. I just happened to spot it while reading the analysis for its content.
Anyone considered running both hjk and drain punch together on dd?

 

[Masterfxx1]

Scrafty is the Pokemon I like to use the most. Because of it´s typing, good defenses and access to dragon dance, it can survive a hit, and then proceed to d.dance, and with moxie it gains a boost when it takes the opponent down. I like to use a 2522 attack 252 speed, adamant nature with d.dance, Drain Punch, Crunch and Ice punch. It works really well, and I´ve swept with it many times.

 

[kawaiiestkatana]

I feel like the Dragon Dance set should be the only one. Saying he doesn't automatically lose to Reuniclus is lying on the Bulk Up set. Focus Blast is still a 2hko when Scrafty is maxed out in defenses and HP meanwhile Crunch isn't going to 2hko at +1 when maxed out in bulk. To be fair Focus Blast doesn't always 2hko(or hit two times in a row) either but the chances are decent. Honestly though what really stops this guy from being OU is his fighting weakness.

I've grown tired of constant Gliscors trolling my Conkledurr and such have given this guy a go via Dragon Dance and once he gets going he's really something. It's kind of hard to pull off but better than Conkledurr anymore.

Anyone considered running both hjk and drain punch together on dd?

Kind be hard to fit in, eh? You'd lose to Gliscor which is something invaluable.

 

[K1ngdra]

It's amazing how underrated the bulk up set is. I use it a lot and I have 6-0'ed a lot of guys with it. What makes this set so good is that it has no special weaknesses, so after a few bulk ups it becomes impossible to kill (especially with screan support). With shed skin it doesn't care about status and has reliable recovery.

In my opinion, bulk up Scrafty is the best pokemon in OU.

 

[kawaiiestkatana]

Focus Blast is a special weakness and a few oddballs like Togekiss and Raikou get Aura Sphere. Lucario also gets Aura Sphere but is just going to waste his life on a full health Scrafty. Hurricane(Air Slash too) which is equally as rare as Aura Sphere if not worse is another special weakness. Conkledurr does Bulk Up better.

 

[K1ngdra]

Focus Blast is a special weakness and a few oddballs like Togekiss and Raikou get Aura Sphere. Lucario also gets Aura Sphere but is just going to waste his life on a full health Scrafty. Hurricane(Air Slash too) which is equally as rare as Aura Sphere if not worse is another special weakness. Conkledurr does Bulk Up better.

Conkeldurr doesn't do Bulk Up better. It gets 2hko'ed by every respectable special attacker, it has no way of healing himself besides drain punch, and while he does have guts, poison damage will hurt him in the long way. Add to that that fighting/dark STAB is nearly unresisted in OU (Toxicroak).

 

[Arceusderp]

I think DD Scrafty is the best pokemon in OU but whatever. Though I am flipping between Dpunch and HJK, which do you guys like better?

 

[Murderface]

Now saying Scrafty is the best Pokemon in OU is somewhat of an overstatement, because Sheer Force Nidoking is amazing too, but also not the best. Drain Punch is better than HJK because it gives Scrafty a chance to survive longer in battle and you don't have to worry about getting the miss recoil from HJK. And Moxie > Shed Skin or Intimidate IMO, same goes for Dragon Dance > Bulk Up. I think the only things that can stop DD Scrafty are a few well placed priority moves, i.e. Mach Punch or Trick Room users, that is if the Trick Room users get a chance to pull off Trick Room.

 

[November Blue]

[Other Options]

<p>An anti-lead set can work effectively, as Fake Out can be used to break any Focus Sash that the opposing Pokemon may hold, while having the rest of Scrafty's movepool to eliminate the opposing threat. However, with the advent of team preview, designated leads are practically non-existent.</p>

<p>In addition to what has been previously listed, Scrafty also has access to Head Smash, Stone Edge, Fire Punch, and ThunderPunch (among other moves). However, Scrafty is better suited to using Ice Punch on the Dragon Dance set, as it otherwise has difficulty defeating the omnipresent Gliscor, Dragonite, and Salamence. Finally, Hi Jump Kick is an option on the Bulk Up set for a boost in power, but is generally not worth the lack of reliability and self-healing.</p>

I'm not completely sure, but wouldn't amongst be a better choice of words here? Also, Salamence is omnipresent? Nobody uses it anymore.

 

[jc104]

Among and amongst mean exactly the same thing. That sentence could be interpreted as only Gliscor being omnipresent, and besides, Salamence is common enough that no change is needed anyway.

 

[November Blue]

That sentence could be interpreted as only Gliscor being omnipresent,

Fresh eyes say that you're right. Now that you point it out, it does read that way.

 

[darkie]

Among and amongst mean exactly the same thing. That sentence could be interpreted as only Gliscor being omnipresent, and besides, Salamence is common enough that no change is needed anyway.

Fresh eyes say that you're right. Now that you point it out, it does read that way.

to clarify I would change it to "...has difficulty defeating Dragonite, Salamence, and the omnipresent Gliscor."