[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Bullet Punch
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Knock Off
item: Life Orb
tera type: Fire
ability: Technician
nature: Adamant
evs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
Scizor fills a unique role on fast-paced offensive teams with its combination of solid defensive typing, strong priority, Knock Off, and Swords Dance. STAB- and Technician-boosted Bullet Punch offers some of the most consistent revenge killing in the tier, especially against physically frail or Steel-weak sweepers like Roaring Moon, Iron Valiant, and Kyurem. Swords Dance enables Scizor's other two main functions, allowing it to wallbreak early in the battle or clean a weakened team later on, with +2 Bullet Punch OHKOing many offensive Pokemon like Dragapult and Meowscarada. Close Combat is Scizor's strongest option against neutral targets, most notably Skarmory and Corviknight, which are always 2HKOed by +2 Close Combat after Stealth Rock damage. Unboosted Close Combat also OHKOes Kingambit and Hisuian Samurott, which resist both of Scizor's other attacking moves. Knock Off primarily allows Scizor to threaten Gholdengo, OHKOing offensive variants before a Swords Dance and OHKOing all Gholdengo lacking Colbur Berry at +2. The combination of Knock Off and Swords Dance also makes Scizor efficient at removing items from bulky defensive Pokemon like Dondozo and Alomomola because many of the tier's Knock Off absorbers like Clefable and Gliscor cannot sustain taking boosted attacks. The EVs aim to maximize Scizor's damage output while outspeeding Adamant Kingambit and most defensive variants of Heatran while distributing the remaining EVs to take minimum Life Orb recoil. Tera Fire is the preferred choice for most teams, inverting Scizor's one weakness and providing Scizor with a burn immunity, flipping the matchup against Pokemon like Moltres, Cinderace, Dragapult, and Darkrai. Tera Steel and Tera Fighting are more niche but provide relevant benefits for some teams. Tera Steel aids in revenge killing and cleaning, allowing Scizor to OHKO Pokemon like Kyurem unboosted with Bullet Punch and to OHKO Iron Moth at +2 after Stealth Rock. Tera Fighting gives Scizor much higher immediate damage, notably OHKOing Ogerpon-W unboosted and having a chance to OHKO Alomomola at +2 with Close Combat.
Scizor fits best on hyper offense structures. It both benefits greatly from entry hazards and improves their efficacy with its powerful Knock Off, so it should generally be on teams with a hazard-setting lead like Glimmora, Landorus-T, Deoxys-S, or even Ribombee for Sticky Web's speed control. It makes a good offensive pairing with anything that forces in Fairy-types like Roaring Moon and Zamazenta, as Scizor can then use the Fairy-type as a setup opportunity. Kingambit is one of Scizor's best partners for a myriad of reasons; the dual-priority combination of Bullet Punch and Sucker Punch greatly threatens opposing offense, while Scizor's boosted Knock Off and Kingambit's Supreme Overlord-boosted attacks can overwhelm defensive teams. Scizor is a deterrent to Encore Iron Valiant, a common roadblock for Kingambit, while Kingambit can force in and chip Great Tusk and Zamazenta for Scizor to clean up late-game. Kingambit's ability to force in Zamazenta early also makes Zamazenta waste Dauntless Shield. Scizor struggles most against bulky Pokemon that can take Bullet Punches and deal heavy damage in return. Some common examples are Gouging Fire and Raging Bolt, which can also outspeed Scizor. The best teammates to help against these Pokemon are choices like Great Tusk and the aforementioned Roaring Moon that can immediately threaten Scizor's answers and potentially switch in on a good prediction or come in after Scizor is sacrificed to keep up the offensive pressure. Alomomola and Dondozo are very hard for Scizor to wear down without heavy entry hazard support, so Ogerpon-W is a great teammate, as it can come in on and threaten both while benefitting from the Knock Off support that Scizor provides. Zamazenta is similarly hard to wear down for Scizor and can use it as a setup opportunity, so choices like Encore Iron Valiant and Gholdengo can help to alleviate that issue. In summary, Scizor is primary used to provide heavy pressure against key threats to hyper offense like Iron Valiant, Enamorus, Kyurem, and Roaring Moon, at the cost of requiring considerable support against physically bulky attackers like Gouging Fire, Raging Bolt, and Zamazenta.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sp0on1ord.513254/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/veti.612907/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/fayawizard.616497/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Bullet Punch
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Knock Off
item: Life Orb
tera type: Fire
ability: Technician
nature: Adamant
evs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
Scizor fills a unique role on fast-paced offensive teams with its combination of solid defensive typing, strong priority, Knock Off, and Swords Dance. STAB- and Technician-boosted Bullet Punch offers some of the most consistent revenge killing in the tier, especially against physically frail or Steel-weak sweepers like Roaring Moon, Iron Valiant, and Kyurem. Swords Dance enables Scizor's other two main functions, allowing it to wallbreak early in the battle or clean a weakened team later on, with +2 Bullet Punch OHKOing many offensive Pokemon like Dragapult and Meowscarada. Close Combat is Scizor's strongest option against neutral targets, most notably Skarmory and Corviknight, which are always 2HKOed by +2 Close Combat after Stealth Rock damage. Unboosted Close Combat also OHKOes Kingambit and Hisuian Samurott, which resist both of Scizor's other attacking moves. Knock Off primarily allows Scizor to threaten Gholdengo, OHKOing offensive variants before a Swords Dance and OHKOing all Gholdengo lacking Colbur Berry at +2. The combination of Knock Off and Swords Dance also makes Scizor efficient at removing items from bulky defensive Pokemon like Dondozo and Alomomola because many of the tier's Knock Off absorbers like Clefable and Gliscor cannot sustain taking boosted attacks. The EVs aim to maximize Scizor's damage output while outspeeding Adamant Kingambit and most defensive variants of Heatran while distributing the remaining EVs to take minimum Life Orb recoil. Tera Fire is the preferred choice for most teams, inverting Scizor's one weakness and providing Scizor with a burn immunity, flipping the matchup against Pokemon like Moltres, Cinderace, Dragapult, and Darkrai. Tera Steel and Tera Fighting are more niche but provide relevant benefits for some teams. Tera Steel aids in revenge killing and cleaning, allowing Scizor to OHKO Pokemon like Kyurem unboosted with Bullet Punch and to OHKO Iron Moth at +2 after Stealth Rock. Tera Fighting gives Scizor much higher immediate damage, notably OHKOing Ogerpon-W unboosted and having a chance to OHKO Alomomola at +2 with Close Combat.
Scizor fits best on hyper offense structures. It both benefits greatly from entry hazards and improves their efficacy with its powerful Knock Off, so it should generally be on teams with a hazard-setting lead like Glimmora, Landorus-T, Deoxys-S, or even Ribombee for Sticky Web's speed control. It makes a good offensive pairing with anything that forces in Fairy-types like Roaring Moon and Zamazenta, as Scizor can then use the Fairy-type as a setup opportunity. Kingambit is one of Scizor's best partners for a myriad of reasons; the dual-priority combination of Bullet Punch and Sucker Punch greatly threatens opposing offense, while Scizor's boosted Knock Off and Kingambit's Supreme Overlord-boosted attacks can overwhelm defensive teams. Scizor is a deterrent to Encore Iron Valiant, a common roadblock for Kingambit, while Kingambit can force in and chip Great Tusk and Zamazenta for Scizor to clean up late-game. Kingambit's ability to force in Zamazenta early also makes Zamazenta waste Dauntless Shield. Scizor struggles most against bulky Pokemon that can take Bullet Punches and deal heavy damage in return. Some common examples are Gouging Fire and Raging Bolt, which can also outspeed Scizor. The best teammates to help against these Pokemon are choices like Great Tusk and the aforementioned Roaring Moon that can immediately threaten Scizor's answers and potentially switch in on a good prediction or come in after Scizor is sacrificed to keep up the offensive pressure. Alomomola and Dondozo are very hard for Scizor to wear down without heavy entry hazard support, so Ogerpon-W is a great teammate, as it can come in on and threaten both while benefitting from the Knock Off support that Scizor provides. Zamazenta is similarly hard to wear down for Scizor and can use it as a setup opportunity, so choices like Encore Iron Valiant and Gholdengo can help to alleviate that issue. In summary, Scizor is primary used to provide heavy pressure against key threats to hyper offense like Iron Valiant, Enamorus, Kyurem, and Roaring Moon, at the cost of requiring considerable support against physically bulky attackers like Gouging Fire, Raging Bolt, and Zamazenta.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sp0on1ord.513254/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/veti.612907/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/fayawizard.616497/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
Last edited:
