Guess which pokemon can also do that with the exact same efficiency? Ninjask.
Stop switching Scolipede's job back and forth from defense+speed to just speed whenever it suits you.
Pretty sure trying to use ID in front of something that can one shot you with a simple flamethrower, even at max spdef investiment, constitutes a blatantly stupid risk. Losing the match trying to get +2 def has a pretty bad risk-reward for the Scolipede. You cant "afford" to ID, just substitute, and the more you sub hoping for a NP instead of protecting, the more health you lose and the less likely it is for your opponent to nasty plot.
Werent you the one who said D-dancing (3 times, no less) in front of a Scolipede, even after it had a substitute up, was not an obvious mistake?
I didnt even say you should be nasty plotting against Scolipede, just that it makes even the gathering of speed boosts or calm minds risky, since the only answer to this is switching smeargle to spore and can only be done once without free subs. Zero if Ninetales had lum berry instead of lefties.
Ninetales is also commonly seen with flamethrower, needing at least 24 turns to outstall, roar, which will need perfect prediction again and substitute, which removes the only "safe" method of dealing with a boosting Ninetales, specially if he has flamethrower/solar beam/NP/sub.
Let me guess : you will not only predict his entire set, but every play during the entire match and manage to safely spore him anyway, right?
For someone who doesnt want anyone using prediction to get an advantage during obvious passes to magic bounce, soundproof to soak perish song or even setting up during protect turns, you sure as hell love using prediction as an argument.
...Are we talking about the same thing? You're not even supposed to have a Gliscor. Did you just trade Sylveon for yet another physical wall just so he can cover Vaporeon's weakness to thunder? Either you have no special walls or you already swapped out at least 1/3 of the team without warning, meaning you can continue to morph Scolipede's team to deal with everything in a heartbeat.
Its also under the rain. Against a team filled with special water and ice moves.
There is absolutely no way this is going to work unless it was a choiced move or you had a sub up/lots of calm minds already, but a subbed Gliscor with infinite speed already means doom to everything not immune to toxic.
Overwhelming support means at least +1~2 speed... and baton pass teams can surely overcome most of its counters with just +1~2 speed...
So the logical solution is banning the best quick passer and not the strategy that needs only +1 speed to be broken. What?
I'm really, really sorry you fail to understand how Scolipede is overwhelmingly more effective, bulky, and supportive than Ninjask. It's futile to pretend Ninjask can do what Scolipede can do. It's foolish to think he is an adequate replacement, despite several people across this entire thread listing exactly why Scolipede outclasses Ninjask in every way, provides far more support, far more reliably. But in one last attempt to inform you:
- Scolipede has superior defensive typing and bulk. This means he can switch in even on Stealth Rock, and come into play multiple times throughout the game. Note: Ninjask cannot even switch into the game on account of abysmal defensive typing (x4 weak to Stealth Rocks, which also break his Focus Sash), and nonexistent bulk. This means, beyond a suicide lead, Ninjask is useless.
- Scolipede simultaneously boosts Defense, where Ninjask cannot. This means the chain is no longer threatened by physical presence.
- Scolipede can support the team many times, reliably and efficiently, over the course of a single match, where Ninjask simply cannot.
So give up comparing Ninjask and Scolipede simply because "SPEEDBOOSTLOL!" and stop pretending Ninjask can provide the same reliability, versatility, and functionality as Scolipede.
If you can threaten Scolipede, like with repeated Sun-boosted Flamethrowers, at best, Scolipede can stay in and acquire max Speed. Very few Pokemon can actually force Scolipede out, and most are helpless to stop Scolipede from obtaining x3 Speed and at least x2 Def. I'm not switching Scolipede's role; his role is Uber-like support for the Baton Pass chain. Get this through your mind.
Understand this: there's next to nothing that stops Scolipede from overwhelmingly supporting the team, scarcely a threat that prevents it from obtaining Speed and Def; it's a trivial affair. Spam Flamethrower, Scolipede is free to Substitute until max Speed, exactly what it needs to do, and Baton Pass. Take the idiotic risk of Nasty Plotting, and with Scolipede then behind a Substitute, it's free to Iron Defence at least once.
Scolipede, between Substitute and Protect, allows the user to scout Ninetales, and virtually any set on any Pokemon. With or without a Substitute, Scolipede can Pass to Smeargle, and with Focus Sash and x4 Speed, can easily Spore Ninetales. Under the threat of Roar and phasing, Ingrain. Otherwise, Quiver Dance. In fear of priority, Pass after Spore. It's not using prediction as an argument, it's using practicality and basic knowledge of the metagame and an optimal set.
Anotherwords, we must logically assume the user of Scolipede knows how to utilize Scolipede.
While Gliscor is not a member of dEnIsSsS's #2 Baton Pass team, he is certainly a viable and useful member, and to dismiss him as unviable or unworthy is ignorant and cowardly. Many Baton Pass teams run him for sheer physical bulk, good typing, ability to SD, or more importantly, Taunt. Gliscor is a common Baton Pass member to help counter one of Baton Pass' most notorious counters with its own move: x4 Speed Taunt. It also helps defeat other Baton Pass teams, in a similar vein as Heart Swap Smeargle.
Support Characteristic
A Pokémon is Uber if, in common battle conditions, it can consistently set up a situation in which it makes it substantially easier for other Pokemon to sweep.
A Pokemon is Uber if, in a given metagame, it is a dominating force and dictates playstyles to such an extent as to be majorly centralizing.
Scolipede has so few counters (not even Prankster Taunt preventing it from at least Speed Boosting once via Protect and Mental Herb). Virtually nothing in the entire metagame can force it out, and fewer can prevent it from doing its job. Virtually nothing stops Scolipede from doing its job many times in a single match.
