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Scrafty
- Thread starter LudicoloGuy
- Start date
Whenever I see / use this guy, I keep on thinking to myself that Zen Headbutt or Taunt can be used in that last slot. Zen Headbutt gets more damage on Fighting and (less importantly) Poison types that can potentially resist his STABs. Taunt so you can't get sent out by roar, which can be a problem for it. I've done fine without rest since you have Drain punch for healing and Shed Skin for status. Rest seems like overkill to me. I guess it may personal choice.
hmm taunt sounds good i was about too sweep until my opponent roared me out.
I've personally been liking Chople ScrafDD (yeah, I like awesome names too).
I found that the thing that was screwing him over the most before was LO recoil, because there were times where I could've swept an entire team, but I couldn't because of LO. I feel that Chople Berry gives a nice compromise, because this way he can even survive Jolly LO Terrakion's Close Combat and Drain Punch him to hell, getting most of his health back. He also doesn't feat TTar's Superpower with Chople Berry on, and he can recover most of the health off with his Drain Punch. This also lets him be a good check to Gengar and Reuniclus. 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly with DD/Drain Punch/Crunch/Ice Punch seems to destroy teams for me.
While his bulk isn't the greatest without investment (about 5% better than 0/0 Landrus), he's still able to live through a shitload of hard-hitting attacks and haymaker his way back to full health. The only problem is that he sometimes has trouble OHKOing Gliscor with Ice Punch after a DD since Gliscors seem to be running more and more defense every time I see them. But if Gliscor comes in after he's taken prior damage, or if something's already been killed after a DD (Moxie), then he has little to no chance of surviving a +2 Ice Punch.
I found that the thing that was screwing him over the most before was LO recoil, because there were times where I could've swept an entire team, but I couldn't because of LO. I feel that Chople Berry gives a nice compromise, because this way he can even survive Jolly LO Terrakion's Close Combat and Drain Punch him to hell, getting most of his health back. He also doesn't feat TTar's Superpower with Chople Berry on, and he can recover most of the health off with his Drain Punch. This also lets him be a good check to Gengar and Reuniclus. 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly with DD/Drain Punch/Crunch/Ice Punch seems to destroy teams for me.
While his bulk isn't the greatest without investment (about 5% better than 0/0 Landrus), he's still able to live through a shitload of hard-hitting attacks and haymaker his way back to full health. The only problem is that he sometimes has trouble OHKOing Gliscor with Ice Punch after a DD since Gliscors seem to be running more and more defense every time I see them. But if Gliscor comes in after he's taken prior damage, or if something's already been killed after a DD (Moxie), then he has little to no chance of surviving a +2 Ice Punch.
I love this Pokemon. I've been using Bulk Up and Dragon Dance, lately.
Zuruzukin @ Leftovers | Shed Skin | Impish
252 HP | 40 Def. | 216 Sp. Def.
Rest | Bulk Up | Hi Jump Kick | Crunch
Zuruzukin @ Leftovers | Intimidate | Adamant
4 HP | 252 Atk. | 252 Spd.
Dragon Dance | Drain Punch | Crunch | (Zen Headbutt / Ice Punch)
I wish Zuruzukin had Sucker Punch.
Zuruzukin @ Leftovers | Shed Skin | Impish
252 HP | 40 Def. | 216 Sp. Def.
Rest | Bulk Up | Hi Jump Kick | Crunch
Zuruzukin @ Leftovers | Intimidate | Adamant
4 HP | 252 Atk. | 252 Spd.
Dragon Dance | Drain Punch | Crunch | (Zen Headbutt / Ice Punch)
I wish Zuruzukin had Sucker Punch.
To the guy who was posting damage calcs, how much damage is Zuru taking from these attacks? How many of these WOULD ohko with residual damage?
Also LO DD Zuru with HJK really? Forgive my bluntness, but you might as well cross your fingers and hope that there are no ghosts, SS/Hail, Swift Swim, priority users, moderately speedy or scarfed pokemon carrying flying or fighting attacks, or Ditto. In OU.
Also, thank you for doing the work for everyone and getting some damage numbers. It's a job I suspect nobody likes doing.
Also LO DD Zuru with HJK really? Forgive my bluntness, but you might as well cross your fingers and hope that there are no ghosts, SS/Hail, Swift Swim, priority users, moderately speedy or scarfed pokemon carrying flying or fighting attacks, or Ditto. In OU.
Also, thank you for doing the work for everyone and getting some damage numbers. It's a job I suspect nobody likes doing.
You don't need to "hope" when you have Team Preview and can easily predict their switch... Hi Jump Kick isn't entirely necessary but it really helps plow through teams. Sometimes +1 Drain Punch doesn't get the job done.
But it helps maintain bulk through healing, making Scrafty incredibly hard to take down without SE attacks. Both are good, but DP eases prediction and gives healing properties.
HJK is nearly double the base power of Drain Punch. Honestly speaking, Zuruzukin doesn't have remotely near as much aptitude for DD sweeping without it. It really is a tough situation, because with it he has the attack power he needs, but he's also vulnerable to residual damage, Ghosts, and the ever-present chance of LOL THE ATTACK MISSED.
Also, it is still a matter of hope. With Team Preview, you see that your opponent might have X pokemon, but it still comes down to a game of rock paper scissors. For example, you see that your opponent's team includes a Roopushin and Burungeru, Roopushin switches in on the turn you DD, SS and SR are in play on both sides of the field. Do you go for the kill with HJK? If you do he might switch to Burun and you'll lose half your health, if you predict switch and crunch/icepunch he can just Drain Punch you dead. 'Predictions' imply a lack of failure, but in reality it's just a fancy word for 'guess'. Also, what kind of Roopushin are we talking about here? Guts Orb, I assume? Forgive my being skeptical, but I just find the idea that base Zuruzukin survives a SE 90 power physical attack coming from Roopushin far-fetched, especially if you factor in at least 2 turns of SS damage (switch in and set-up) and SR damage beforehand, and another turn of SS along with LO recoil afterward.
Furthermore, if Politoed is one of the most used pokemon, why is he the one to be calced? Politoed is the backbone for Rain teams, there is no feasible reason why he'd be sent in on a setting-up Zuru over something like Kingdra or Skarm. Politoed vs Zuru implies that Zuru is the one who was sent in, meaning he could have taken an attack on switch, (or not if Politoed and Zuru switch in together, or Politoed KO'd something.) taken an attack on setup, and taken an attack in response to the HJK/Drain Punch. You said it takes Politoed 2 hits right?
There is a lot more context to pokemon teams than "Here's the most used OU Pokemon. Every team consists of these pokemon slapped together in different orders."
Also, it is still a matter of hope. With Team Preview, you see that your opponent might have X pokemon, but it still comes down to a game of rock paper scissors. For example, you see that your opponent's team includes a Roopushin and Burungeru, Roopushin switches in on the turn you DD, SS and SR are in play on both sides of the field. Do you go for the kill with HJK? If you do he might switch to Burun and you'll lose half your health, if you predict switch and crunch/icepunch he can just Drain Punch you dead. 'Predictions' imply a lack of failure, but in reality it's just a fancy word for 'guess'. Also, what kind of Roopushin are we talking about here? Guts Orb, I assume? Forgive my being skeptical, but I just find the idea that base Zuruzukin survives a SE 90 power physical attack coming from Roopushin far-fetched, especially if you factor in at least 2 turns of SS damage (switch in and set-up) and SR damage beforehand, and another turn of SS along with LO recoil afterward.
Furthermore, if Politoed is one of the most used pokemon, why is he the one to be calced? Politoed is the backbone for Rain teams, there is no feasible reason why he'd be sent in on a setting-up Zuru over something like Kingdra or Skarm. Politoed vs Zuru implies that Zuru is the one who was sent in, meaning he could have taken an attack on switch, (or not if Politoed and Zuru switch in together, or Politoed KO'd something.) taken an attack on setup, and taken an attack in response to the HJK/Drain Punch. You said it takes Politoed 2 hits right?
There is a lot more context to pokemon teams than "Here's the most used OU Pokemon. Every team consists of these pokemon slapped together in different orders."
It's your job as the player to discover from the beginning of the match to mid-late game if your opponent is an aggressive or conservative player. If he's the former, he'll probably switch out to Jellicent on HJK. If he's the latter, he'll probably stay in to Mach Punch or Drain Punch. I'm not saying it isn't risky, but it is definitely worth it.
That doesn't seem right. Assuming the skill of both players is at the level where it comes to predicting your opponent's moves, then they're going to be making moves based on what they think you're going to do, just like you'll be making moves based on what you think they're going to do. Why would they do anything else? Any kind of excuse for knowing what your opponent is going to do next means a mismatch in skill, in which case choice of pokemon loses it's importance. The fact of the matter is that if you're playing against someone who's as good as you are, then you don't know what they're going to do because either neither of you might not be as good at reading opponents or you both can read eachother, and are aware you're being read, meaning you'll try to counter said readings. Either way, saying "I'll know what to do" against anyone other than an opponent who's flat-out worse is irresponsible.
Obviously the solution is to put the iocaine powder into both cups.
That is an amazing movie reference. You've earned my respect.
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But seriously, Scrafty suffers the same problem that Nite did in the Gen Mence metagame.
Nite was good, but you had to make sure sure that Salamence wouldn't do the job better. In the same way, you have to make sure that your Scrafty isn't a worse Roobushin or a worse DD'er. That makes sense to everyone else, right?
Well, Scrafty doesn't have to use such risky STABs. Blaziken's STAB moves are suicude.
In addition, Scrafty doesn't die to a slight breeze. Blaziken does.
Furthermore, Scrafty has superior type coverage.
Lastly, Scrafty is less predictable. Blaziken is one of the most obvious pokemon ever.
Blaze Kick isn't suicidal, Scrafty can also use HJK, and if you're really worried about that Blaziken can use Sky Uppercut.
Fair point about Scrafty's superior bulk.
Scrafty may have better STAB coverage, but Blaziken still gets excellent coverage with Stone Edge or Shadow Claw (which hit hard anyway thanks to Blaziken's higher base attack and stronger boosting move), and can often simply punch through its counters anyway.
Predictable? Sure, almost all Blaziken are SD, but it can do a mixed set fairly well, and even the SD set is countered by very different things depending on its fourth move. Scrafty's unpredictability is mostly limited to DD vs BU.
DD Zuru is basically like a slightly bulkier but much slower and weaker Blaziken. Is the extra bulk worth it when you need to waste 1 turn just to get on a level of strength comperable to Blaziken, and then another to be stronger? Blaziken only takes 1 turn to set-up to a level that would take Zuru 3 turns to reach. It's so strong that it can afford to run Wide Lens so you don't have to worry about just randomly dying when you're trying to attack. With either set you're basically going to be doing the same thing, hoping the opponent doesn't priority or outspeed you or that your HJK doesn't connect. The only thing I can really chalk up to DD Zuru is Ice Punch, which may or may not be important to your team. Stab Crunch isn't much better than non-stab Night Slash when it's coming from a massive Attack disadvantage.
They're both going to be dying to a light breeze, especially if you're running a LO DD Zuru with HJK.
As soon as your opponent knows the kind of Zuru you're running, there is little to no reason why an SD Blaziken wouldn't be better.
Also note that Blaziken isn't weak to Fighting.
They're both going to be dying to a light breeze, especially if you're running a LO DD Zuru with HJK.
As soon as your opponent knows the kind of Zuru you're running, there is little to no reason why an SD Blaziken wouldn't be better.
Also note that Blaziken isn't weak to Fighting.
@ voodoo
That's all true. I was just providing things Scrafty has that Blaziken doesn't. I never said Scrafty>Blaziken.
Anyone who says that Zuru is frail should play the game.
Is he a wall? Heck no. Is he bulky? Yes.
That's all true. I was just providing things Scrafty has that Blaziken doesn't. I never said Scrafty>Blaziken.
lolololololololololol
Anyone who says that Zuru is frail should play the game.
Is he a wall? Heck no. Is he bulky? Yes.
Conkeldurr can never outclass BU Scrafty at least. STAB neutral coverage + Shed Skin + great Special Defense means Scrafty occupies a different niche than Conkeldurr. Conkeldurr's longevity is nowhere near that of Scrafty, which gives Scrafty an edge against defensive teams. The only pokemon that seriously competes with BU Scrafty is CM Reuniclus.
I've never not used Zuru on my team for months. His defenses really aren't all that you play them out to be, especially if you 100% bank on him NOT TAKING HITS by giving him an Orb and HJK. The fact that he might be able to take a hit that Blaziken can't is basically nullified by the fact that Blaziken probably wouldn't take those hits in the first place.
If you give Zuru Drain Punch so he can self-support a little bit you end up with a weird semi-bulky DD sweeper that can't deal enough damage to keep itself healed or break anything before it goes down. if someone just sits back and lets you fire off the 2 or 3 DDs you need to actually KO something with DP then chances are they were incompetent and would have gotten sweeped in the same situation by a Blaziken.
The point is that DD HJK Zuru is basically an inefficient version of Blaziken, while DD DP Zuru is basically an even less efficient middle ground between HJK Zuru and BU Zuru. A little defense to give DD Zuru some room to be inefficient doesn't make him better.
If you give Zuru Drain Punch so he can self-support a little bit you end up with a weird semi-bulky DD sweeper that can't deal enough damage to keep itself healed or break anything before it goes down. if someone just sits back and lets you fire off the 2 or 3 DDs you need to actually KO something with DP then chances are they were incompetent and would have gotten sweeped in the same situation by a Blaziken.
The point is that DD HJK Zuru is basically an inefficient version of Blaziken, while DD DP Zuru is basically an even less efficient middle ground between HJK Zuru and BU Zuru. A little defense to give DD Zuru some room to be inefficient doesn't make him better.
^^^
His defenses aren't as bad as you play them to be.
Will he be a stop to sweepers? No.
Will he take a hit or two? Yes.
The only way that he's as frail as you say is if you try to set up on a Machamp or Tornelos.
Also, BU is more out-classed by Roob than DD is by Blaziken.
Blaziken definitely has an advantage there, but I wouldn't choose it in every situation no matter what.
His defenses aren't as bad as you play them to be.
Will he be a stop to sweepers? No.
Will he take a hit or two? Yes.
The only way that he's as frail as you say is if you try to set up on a Machamp or Tornelos.
Also, BU is more out-classed by Roob than DD is by Blaziken.
Blaziken definitely has an advantage there, but I wouldn't choose it in every situation no matter what.
My point is that he can take a hit or two, but that loses it's point when he takes more hits because of how much slower/weaker he is, and then it just gets silly when people start trying to compromise his defenses for the sake of better attack with sets like LO HJK. They're just trying to turn Zuruzukin into something it's not.
BU Roob doesn't have Shedrest or Dragon Tail, so that's actually quite arguable.
Still, I will say Ice Punch is a very nice asset and I'll probably end up running DD Zuru some time or another on my team specifically because Gliscor is such an asshole.
BU Roob doesn't have Shedrest or Dragon Tail, so that's actually quite arguable.
Still, I will say Ice Punch is a very nice asset and I'll probably end up running DD Zuru some time or another on my team specifically because Gliscor is such an asshole.
I'll concede this point.
ShedRest isn't that good. You only have ~50% chance of waking up early.
Why would someone use Dragon Tail and what would they replace it with?
Yeah.
Sorry, Lhardes, this was a bad post. I didn't really argue and I didn't really say anything. I'll get back to you in the morning.
Payback in Trick Room? Uhhhhh....