Well, I actually got this done really quickly. Chalk that up to being bored on a snow day.
Mega Scizor (Bulky SD)
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Atk / 176 SpD
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off / Superpower / U-Turn
Role: Physical Sweeper, Tank
What It Does: This version of Mega Scizor is less a setup sweeper than a tank that happens to have the capability to set up for a physical sweep. Mega Scizor's impressive 70 / 140 / 100 bulk and excellent defensive typing enables it to take surprising amounts of punishment, while base 150 Atk makes it very powerful even with little or no investment. Swords Dance is pretty self-explanatory. Even just one Swords Dance boost can turn Scizor into a huge physical threat, and it isn't exactly without power as it is. Roost gives Scizor a way to heal off any damage taken, which is necessary since one of this Scizor's jobs is to switch into some attacks teammates wouldn't want to take. Bullet Punch is your main attacking move, packing priority and being boosted by Technician. The final slot goes to whatever coverage move your team benefits the most from. Knock Off is generally the best choice, as it provides great coverage with Bullet Punch, and has the utility of removing held items from the target. Superpower is another good option for the last slot, giving it the ability to take on the Steel types that would usually be a dead stop to Scizor, such as Heatran and Ferrothorn. Another option for the final slot would be a Bug attack to gain dual STAB. However, Bug does not get a lot of coverage with Steel, somewhat limiting Scizor's offensive capabilities. If choosing a Bug move, both Bug Bite and U-Turn can work. Bug Bite is a little bit more powerful, but doesn't do much else to help Scizor. U-Turn can allow Scizor to function as an offensive physical pivot, but this limits its ability to set up for a sweep. The HP EVs give it as much bulk as possible while hitting a Stealth Rock number. 176 SDef EVs enable it to avoid getting 2HKO'd by Mega Gardevoir's Focus Blast, ensuring that Scizor can counter it reliably. An Impish nature is used to avoid the 2HKO from Max Atk Adamant Landorus-T's Earthquake. The remaining EVs go into Atk. Scizorite is naturally going to be your item of choice here, as Scizor greatly benefits from the significantly increased bulk from Mega Evolving, giving it a major advantage over non-mega Scizor that try to run similar sets. Light Metal is generally recommended as the pre-Mega ability, as it reduces damage from Low Kick and Grass Knot should Scizor need to switch in on either of those attacks before Mega Evolving. While it is extremely situational, especially since neither of those attacks are all that common in OU at the moment, Scizor will generally be Mega Evolving immediately, making Swarm and Technician
completely useless to the base form
.
Good Teammates: Since Scizor hates Fire attacks, something capable of taking on fire types effectively is required. Keldeo, Azumarill, Rotom-W, Starmie, both forms of Landorus, and Garchomp are all good partners in this regard. However, the best anti-fire partner is possibly Heatran, as it is completely immune, will gain a big power boost if switching into a fire attack aimed at Scizor, and is capable of hitting back at fire types with Earth Power. Heatran is particularly helpful against Talonflame which can really do a number on Scizor if left unchecked. Heatran also helps against the Steel types Scizor can have problems breaking through if not running Superpower, such as Ferrothorn, Magnezone, Skarmory, and opposing Scizor and Heatran. Magnezone itself is useful against many of the same opponents. Kyurem-Black can form an excellent offensive core with Scizor. Kyurem-B can break through the Water, Electric, Fire, and (some) Steel types Scizor gets walled by thanks to access to Fusion Bolt and Earth Power. Of particular note is its ability to hit Rotom-W, who Scizor can normally do pretty much nothing to, with Earth Power thanks to Teravolt. In return, Scizor can easily take the Dragon, Fairy, and Steel attacks that would take out Kyurem-B, and can easily take out most fairies with Bullet Punch. Scizor can also take most Fighting hits aimed at Kyurem-B pretty well thanks to its amazing Defense stat. Scizor appreciates hazard support, as it is very useful in racking up damage against opponents due to Scizor's tendency to cause switches. Lando-T, Heatran, Clefable, Garchomp, and Mamoswine are some examples of hazard setters that work well with Scizor. Hazard removal is also recommended. Both Latis are reliable defoggers that share good type synergy with Scizor. Latios is also a decent offensive partner, while Latias can provide Healing Wish support if Scizor gets burned. Alternately Starmie and Excadrill are good Rapid Spinners that work well with Scizor. Since Scizor absolutely hates getting burned, status absorbers and clerics such as Magic Guard Clefable are useful as well.
What Counters It: Scizor's 4x weakness to fire means pretty much anything that can learn (and reliably use) a fire attack can easily take out Scizor, especially since Scizor is slow and fire types resist Scizor's priority move. Charizard Y, Talonflame, and Heatran fare particularly well against Scizor. Magnezone is arguably the best counter to Scizor, as it can trap Scizor with Magnet Pull, outspeed Scizor and kill it with HP Fire before it can use Superpower or Knock Off, and has a 4x resistance to Bullet Punch, making its use against Scizor nearly foolproof unless Scizor's owner predicts the switch-in and is able to switch out to a Magnezone counter, or use Superpower. Rotom-W is another excellent counter, as it can also outspeed Scizor, can burn it with Will-O-Wisp, uses special moves which target Scizor's weaker defense, and is again 4x resistant to Bullet Punch, and is typically run as physically defensive to boot. Bulky Water types in general have little to fear from Scizor. Keldeo has no fear of any of Scizor's attacks, and can do heavy damage and have a good chance to burn with Scald. Steel types can also be a problem if not running Superpower, though Knock Off is at least able to hit Jirachi, Mega Metagross, Bronzong, and Doublade super effectively. Like all setup sweepers, Scizor can be ground to a halt by any Pokemon with Unaware. While Unaware Clefable poses less of a problem to Scizor thanks to Bullet Punch, it can still cause problems by slowing its offensive momentum. Unaware Quagsire is a much greater problem, as its typing makes it resistant to Bullet Punch, its defenses are good enough to withstand Scizor's other attacks, and it can hit back and potentially burn Scizor with Scald. Unaware Quagsire can absolutely ruin Scizor's attempted sweep, and force the player to go through a lot of trouble in order to take it out efficiently.
Any Additional Info: While Scizor's role as a tank means that it is quite able to come out and go to work mid-game, no sweep should be attempted until all of its checks and counters are either down or heavily weakened, just like any setup sweeper. Also, I cannot stress this enough:
do not let Scizor get burned. If Scizor gets burned, it can be very difficult to make a comeback and win the battle, even
with Heal Bell support.
