Swamp-Rocket
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The Next Best Thing
- Thread starter scorpdestroyer
- Start date
- Status
Molk: 8
Celever: 0
atomicllamas: 2
The Leprechaun: 0
Swamp-Rocket: 11
NfskMjmMal: 0
Explorer: 6
EonX-: 5
srk1214: 0
Cabol: 0
And so the winner of this round is Swamp-Rocket's Mixed Emboar set! (I don't care, I'm naming it like so even if half of the entries are mixed Emboar sets)
Celever: 0
atomicllamas: 2
The Leprechaun: 0
Swamp-Rocket: 11
NfskMjmMal: 0
Explorer: 6
EonX-: 5
srk1214: 0
Cabol: 0
And so the winner of this round is Swamp-Rocket's Mixed Emboar set! (I don't care, I'm naming it like so even if half of the entries are mixed Emboar sets)
By request, the next Pokemon is...
Scyther
Scyther
phantom
Banned deucer.
Why do you guys pick things that don't have any moves lol
*cough*pick smeargle, clefable, or lanturn*cough*
Scyther@Eviolite
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Substitute
-Roost
-Toxic
-Aerial Ace
I figure with Scyther's great bulk (factoring in eviolite) and access to a few cool support moves, it can be an effective Toxic stall user. Substitute allows Scyther to dodge crippling status afflictions, and with its great speed, Scyther can outrun pretty much set up a Substitute in the face of said moves. Toxic allows Scyther to potentially outstall the likes of Druddigon and Spritomb. Aerial Ace is Scyther's best STAB so that it can target Poison-types such as Amoongus and Qwilfish. I suppose this Scyther makes a good check to Fighting-types and the like.
*cough*pick smeargle, clefable, or lanturn*cough*
Scyther@Eviolite
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Substitute
-Roost
-Toxic
-Aerial Ace
I figure with Scyther's great bulk (factoring in eviolite) and access to a few cool support moves, it can be an effective Toxic stall user. Substitute allows Scyther to dodge crippling status afflictions, and with its great speed, Scyther can outrun pretty much set up a Substitute in the face of said moves. Toxic allows Scyther to potentially outstall the likes of Druddigon and Spritomb. Aerial Ace is Scyther's best STAB so that it can target Poison-types such as Amoongus and Qwilfish. I suppose this Scyther makes a good check to Fighting-types and the like.
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Here, let me chime in.
Scyther (M) @ Salac Berry
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
- Aerial Ace
- Reversal
This set aims to get Scyther down as low on HP as possible, so that it can fire a maximum powered Reversal. Substitute weakens Scyther so it can get to low HP more quickly, while also giving it turns to grab Swords Dance boosts. If it gets low, a Salac Berry can be placed to speed it up while having powerful Reversals, especially with SD boosts, Reversal coming from Scyther can hit very hard and allow it to sweep teams. Aerial Ace is a strong and reliable STAB move to use against targets before you get into reversal levels while having excellent coverage with Reversal, hitting threats such as Tangrowth and Scolipede who could otherwise handle Reversal quite well. This is a pretty cool set that can definitely pull off a sweep in a rare way.
Scyther (M) @ Salac Berry
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
- Aerial Ace
- Reversal
This set aims to get Scyther down as low on HP as possible, so that it can fire a maximum powered Reversal. Substitute weakens Scyther so it can get to low HP more quickly, while also giving it turns to grab Swords Dance boosts. If it gets low, a Salac Berry can be placed to speed it up while having powerful Reversals, especially with SD boosts, Reversal coming from Scyther can hit very hard and allow it to sweep teams. Aerial Ace is a strong and reliable STAB move to use against targets before you get into reversal levels while having excellent coverage with Reversal, hitting threats such as Tangrowth and Scolipede who could otherwise handle Reversal quite well. This is a pretty cool set that can definitely pull off a sweep in a rare way.
Scyther @ Heat Rock/Eviolite
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sunny Day
- Morning Sun
- U-turn
- Brick Break
There isn't much to do in the way of Scyther so let's work with what we have here... this variant of Scyther aims to set of Sunny Day and switch out with a strong-ish U-turn. Although it doesn't have prankster or an amazing speed, it still outspeeds most of the metagame even without maximum speed and its U-turn is a LOT stronger than other Pokemon that have both moves (weaksicott, weakpard, volweak, and illuweakse), resulting in it being better for teams in need of offensive support. Scyther gets Morning Sun from XD when it is purified, which results in a ton of free healing for Scyther. U-turn is to gtfo and switch into a sweeper, and because Morning Sun + Technician isn't a thing Brick Break is used in case it wants to do some damage to Aggron or Rock-types (hint: it will almost never use its fourth move). Although it has that massive weakness to Stealth Rock, which holds it back a bit, a Sun team would already be benefited from a Rapid Spinner in the first place due to a reliance on Fire-types which appreciate the lack of Stealth Rock.
EVs are nothing special - you outspeed Rotom, you maximize attack, and you dump the rest into HP. Heat Rock is preferred because its a Heat Rock and that helps sun teams, but an Eviolite allows it to take hits if you are more into that (Morning Sun in the sun = staying power)
EDIT: Shoot Technician and Morning Sun isn't a thing. I'll just put... something down.
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Okay, personally I think Scyther's coolest set is the bulky swords dance w/ or w/o baton pass. So, I propose the following.
Agilipass Scyther
Scyther @ Eviolite
Trait: Technician
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Baton Pass
- Roost
- Agility
This is a really cool support mon for sweepers on offensive teams, as Scyther is actually surprisingly bulky with eviolite, and still maintains a nice attacking stat. 136+ Scyther outspeeds positive nature base 90's, and outspeeds all relevant RU threats at +2 besides +2 Sceptile or (lol) +2 Ninjask. The other thing about this set that I think is nicer than the swords passing set, is that swords dance really only benefits physical attackers, where as agility benefits every pokemon on your team, whether they are physical attackers, special attackers, or even support mons. Obviously this Scyther won't be sweeping any teams, but flying STAB does grant pretty good neutral coverage, and Scyther will be impossible to revenge kill without ice shard, as he can just baton pass away from threats he can't handle. With Spikes support, this is a decent late game cleaner as well, allowing this Scyther to fill multiple roles on a team if it is needed.
Wow, Scyther has a really shallow move pool that is actually usable.
Agilipass Scyther
Scyther @ Eviolite
Trait: Technician
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Baton Pass
- Roost
- Agility
This is a really cool support mon for sweepers on offensive teams, as Scyther is actually surprisingly bulky with eviolite, and still maintains a nice attacking stat. 136+ Scyther outspeeds positive nature base 90's, and outspeeds all relevant RU threats at +2 besides +2 Sceptile or (lol) +2 Ninjask. The other thing about this set that I think is nicer than the swords passing set, is that swords dance really only benefits physical attackers, where as agility benefits every pokemon on your team, whether they are physical attackers, special attackers, or even support mons. Obviously this Scyther won't be sweeping any teams, but flying STAB does grant pretty good neutral coverage, and Scyther will be impossible to revenge kill without ice shard, as he can just baton pass away from threats he can't handle. With Spikes support, this is a decent late game cleaner as well, allowing this Scyther to fill multiple roles on a team if it is needed.
Wow, Scyther has a really shallow move pool that is actually usable.
ScraftyIsTheBest, why not run endure instead of sub on that set? You'll have an easier time getting down to 1 hp this way rather than relying on your opponent to give you a free turn to sub up. Also 4 hp EVs makes you die to 2 rock switch ins and prevents your 4th sub, btw.
But anyway, here's a set I just came up with:
Swarm Sweeper/Tailwind Utility Scyther
Scyther @ Salac Berry
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Endure
- X-Scissor
- Tailwind
This set has two purposes: to sweep with +2 swarm boosted X-scissors at +1 speed, or to reliably set up tailwind for your other pokemon to sweep. The idea is to set up an SD on something that doesn't threaten you, endure as your opponent tries to kill you off with their check, then start firing off what are essentially +4 X-scissors. In the case that you can't set up an SD, you can set up tailwind reliably by enduring to get your salac berry, and then tailwinding as your opponent kills you off. The great thing about this pseudo-prankster tailwind is that you actually get all 3 turns to use it if they kill you off, and if not, you can hit them with a swarm boosted attack before you die. Once you sacrifice Scyther to get tailwind up, you can go into a wallbreaker or powerhouse of your choice, such as banded Druddigon. This set is intended for late game use, as if used without hazards or some prior damage on your opponent's team, chances are they have something that can live a hit. Pretty much only bulky resists or 4x resists can take a hit from this; a resist like Rotom-N is not a counter. This set needs to watch out for priority, as it'll often be sweeping at 1 hp. If only trying to set up tailwind though, priority should not be an issue as long as rocks are off your side, as Scyther is bulky enough to live most priority moves in the tier.
Some calcs against resists and bulky mons:
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Entei: 53.63 - 63.34% (dies if rocks are up, and you endure its flare blitz)
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Typhlosion: 71.71 - 84.84%
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 48.68 - 57.43% (ok you can't beat this without prior damage lol)
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Rotom: 89.25 - 105.37%
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 105.94 - 125.24%
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 240 HP / 16 Def Amoonguss: 106.52 - 125.4%
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Omastar: 102.12 - 120.21%
At +1 speed, Scyther outspeeds the entire metagame except for scarfed Galvantula and Cinccino (not very common) and Manectric (speed ties). Moltres and Emboar are the two most common things that wall this to hell, but there's also Aggron, Poliwrath, Qwilfish, and Magneton. Sure, mono-bug isn't very good coverage, but +2 and swarm boosted, most resists still take over 50% from an X-scissor, requiring little weakening to get past. And even if you can't get past Scyther's counters, you can get an almost guaranteed tailwind up with endure + salac, paving the way for the rest of your team to clean up.
But anyway, here's a set I just came up with:
Swarm Sweeper/Tailwind Utility Scyther
Scyther @ Salac Berry
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Endure
- X-Scissor
- Tailwind
This set has two purposes: to sweep with +2 swarm boosted X-scissors at +1 speed, or to reliably set up tailwind for your other pokemon to sweep. The idea is to set up an SD on something that doesn't threaten you, endure as your opponent tries to kill you off with their check, then start firing off what are essentially +4 X-scissors. In the case that you can't set up an SD, you can set up tailwind reliably by enduring to get your salac berry, and then tailwinding as your opponent kills you off. The great thing about this pseudo-prankster tailwind is that you actually get all 3 turns to use it if they kill you off, and if not, you can hit them with a swarm boosted attack before you die. Once you sacrifice Scyther to get tailwind up, you can go into a wallbreaker or powerhouse of your choice, such as banded Druddigon. This set is intended for late game use, as if used without hazards or some prior damage on your opponent's team, chances are they have something that can live a hit. Pretty much only bulky resists or 4x resists can take a hit from this; a resist like Rotom-N is not a counter. This set needs to watch out for priority, as it'll often be sweeping at 1 hp. If only trying to set up tailwind though, priority should not be an issue as long as rocks are off your side, as Scyther is bulky enough to live most priority moves in the tier.
Some calcs against resists and bulky mons:
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Entei: 53.63 - 63.34% (dies if rocks are up, and you endure its flare blitz)
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Typhlosion: 71.71 - 84.84%
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 48.68 - 57.43% (ok you can't beat this without prior damage lol)
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Rotom: 89.25 - 105.37%
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 105.94 - 125.24%
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 240 HP / 16 Def Amoonguss: 106.52 - 125.4%
+2 252 Atk Swarm Scyther X-Scissor vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Omastar: 102.12 - 120.21%
At +1 speed, Scyther outspeeds the entire metagame except for scarfed Galvantula and Cinccino (not very common) and Manectric (speed ties). Moltres and Emboar are the two most common things that wall this to hell, but there's also Aggron, Poliwrath, Qwilfish, and Magneton. Sure, mono-bug isn't very good coverage, but +2 and swarm boosted, most resists still take over 50% from an X-scissor, requiring little weakening to get past. And even if you can't get past Scyther's counters, you can get an almost guaranteed tailwind up with endure + salac, paving the way for the rest of your team to clean up.
Scyther @ Eviolite
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spd or
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
- Swords Dance
- Roost
I posted this set on a while on the Project Rarelyused, this set is a Bulky Scyther set standard but with a twist. U-turn is a better option so far over Bug Bite, Bug Bite is strong because Eviolite but U-turn gives momentum on early-mid games like a Choice Scyther while that this Scyther works like a pseudo choice mon, bluffer the item while that you can catch off some opponents on late game (mostly on last mon). On the Evs spreads, you can run 252 evs on Atk over in HP if you need more offensive Scyther but with a less bulk and looks better like a Choice Scarf users on a calc because the exact damage w/ 252 evs on HP. This set works similar like Scizor Iron Plate / Lum Berry or Occa Berry in Over Used tier.
Scyther @ Eviolite
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 Spd / 248 HP / 8 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Light Screen
- Roost
- Tailwind
- U-turn
Fast bulky support Scyther. I wish he learned reflect but he doesn't, but either way this Scyther can help your frail sweepers set up on special attackers and with tailwind this Scyther would partner brilliantly with something such as Aggron, since there would be few physical pokemon able to out-speed and the Light Screen weakens blows from the special attackers. Brief explanation since I am on holiday but there you go ;)
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 Spd / 248 HP / 8 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Light Screen
- Roost
- Tailwind
- U-turn
Fast bulky support Scyther. I wish he learned reflect but he doesn't, but either way this Scyther can help your frail sweepers set up on special attackers and with tailwind this Scyther would partner brilliantly with something such as Aggron, since there would be few physical pokemon able to out-speed and the Light Screen weakens blows from the special attackers. Brief explanation since I am on holiday but there you go ;)
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Scyther @ Lum Berry/Salac Berry
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature:
- Swords Dance
- Endure
- X-Scissor
- Reversal/Baton Pass
My take on the Endure Scyther that's floating around. Swords Dance for the boost, Endure to bring you down to 1 HP for active Swarm, decimate with X-Scissor and Reversal, Lum Berry to to prevent burn/toxic that would kill you off at 1 HP. If you wanted to be fancy, you could swap out Lum Berry for Salac Bery and Reversal for Baton Pass to pass on your boost(s) if you know you're in an unfavorable battle.
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature:
- Swords Dance
- Endure
- X-Scissor
- Reversal/Baton Pass
My take on the Endure Scyther that's floating around. Swords Dance for the boost, Endure to bring you down to 1 HP for active Swarm, decimate with X-Scissor and Reversal, Lum Berry to to prevent burn/toxic that would kill you off at 1 HP. If you wanted to be fancy, you could swap out Lum Berry for Salac Bery and Reversal for Baton Pass to pass on your boost(s) if you know you're in an unfavorable battle.
Scyther @ Eviolite
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Spd / 8 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Tailwind
- Aerial Ace
- U-turn
- Bug Bite
A simpler tailwind set more focused on getting up tailwind and supporting the rest of the team than setting up a sweep, which scyther can do well with STAB u-turn. I gave it the same spread as the bulky SD set which sacrifices power for reliability.
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Spd / 8 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Tailwind
- Aerial Ace
- U-turn
- Bug Bite
A simpler tailwind set more focused on getting up tailwind and supporting the rest of the team than setting up a sweep, which scyther can do well with STAB u-turn. I gave it the same spread as the bulky SD set which sacrifices power for reliability.
Alright, so voting begins! You have 9 different sets to vote for, gogogo
HotnCold
Hmmm, there are a lot of "interesting" sets, but I guess my vote goes to Celever (if only his EVs were 248 HP/8 Atk/252 Spe)
Goutland
Oh God did I mess up my EVs? Ugh I feel rotten now, can I change it? Pwetty pwease?
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