7* Raid Event: Tera Dragon Sceptile (June 28th - 30th, July 5th - 7th)

[Vengeance417]

Expand your Bronzongers!

 

[doipy hooves]

Honestly I thought Serperior would be Dragon, but I guess it still can be or just go all in on Grass spam.

I don't really see how Sceptile can touch Sap Sipper Azumarill other than with Thunder Punch, but I would expect Rock Slide over it as better coverage.

 

[Vengeance417]

I can see this going Mixed or Physical. Despite having a higher Special Attack, Sceptile's Special movepool is abysmal on the coverage side, with Focus Blast being the only worthwhile coverage move it has beyond its STABs. Meanwhile, its physical movepool is colorful (Earthquake, Thunder Punch, Rock Slide, Throat Chop just to name a few) and it has Swords Dance. Notably, Sceptile doesn't get any Steel-type moves, and therefore can't hit Fairy-types super effectively.

 

[R_N]

Was going to say maybe it'd get Dragon Cheer, but I misinterpreted it's effect as affecting the user too.

Could still see a physical set with Dragon Dance? It'll probably have Leaf Blade anyway, so can just go in on that with Dragon Claw, Throat Chop, Earthquake, Rock Slide, etc etc etc

 

[MeepBard]

i'd wager it has 4 coverage moves and dragon dance as an extra move - if it doesn't have thunder punch i think sap sipper azu just sits on this thing effortlessly!

would be fun if it had an item to go with unburden but i doubt it

 

[Vengeance417]

Weezing-Galar @ Wide Lens / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
Tera Type: Fairy
IVs: 0 Atk
- Acid Spray
- Strange Steam
- Protect (if it has Earthquake)
- Will-o-Wisp / Taunt / Clear Smog

Levitate Galarian Weezing hard walls Dragon Sceptile. Resists Grass, immune to both Dragon and Ground, and Sceptile's other coverage moves hardly do anything to it, even after Dragon Dance.


Azumarill @ Shell Bell
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Protect
- Chilling Water

or


Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Charm
- Chilling Water
- Helping Hand / Misty Terrain / Protect
- Fake Tears / Protect

Offensive and supportive Sap Sipper Azumarill will do well here, although boosted Thunder Punch is something to worry about. No Huge Power means it'll be a bit weak even at +6, though, so keep that in mind.


Ribombee @ Light Clay
Ability: Shield Dust
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Reflect
- Lunge
- Fake Tears
- Draining Kiss

I'm deadass, yo. The only thing you'll need to worry about is Acrobatics, but if Sceptile isn't running it, Ribombee hard walls it, too. Shield Dust even prevents Thunder Punch para.

 

[MeepBard]

Weezing-Galar @ Wide Lens / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
Tera Type: Fairy
IVs: 0 Atk
- Acid Spray
- Strange Steam
- Protect (if it has Earthquake)
- Will-o-Wisp / Taunt / Clear Smog

Levitate Galarian Weezing hard walls Dragon Sceptile. Resists Grass, immune to both Dragon and Ground, and Sceptile's other coverage moves hardly do anything to it, even after Dragon Dance.


Azumarill @ Shell Bell
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Protect
- Chilling Water

or


Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Charm
- Chilling Water
- Helping Hand / Misty Terrain / Protect
- Fake Tears / Protect

Offensive and supportive Sap Sipper Azumarill will do well here, although boosted Thunder Punch is something to worry about. No Huge Power means it'll be a bit weak even at +6, though, so keep that in mind.


Ribombee @ Light Clay
Ability: Shield Dust
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Reflect
- Lunge
- Fake Tears
- Draining Kiss

I'm deadass, yo. The only thing you'll need to worry about is Acrobatics, but if Sceptile isn't running it, Ribombee hard walls it, too. Shield Dust even prevents Thunder Punch para.

these are great! to add to this i think whimsicott could be a cool bring too, it's got a great type and movepool into this raid and really only fears acrobatics. its general frailty does make it a risky pick but it has one of the best defensive options for raids like this imo in cotton guard, so if sceptile only wipes stats once at the beginning (which seems to be a trend?) whismicott can probably manage :)

 

[doipy hooves]

Azumarill @ Shell Bell
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Protect
- Chilling Water

I do not believe that Protect will be necessary for Sap Sipper Azumarill's success under most circumstances. Based on past Grass raids, when the reset happens on a time gate or by another player, the boss's move is already decided for the turn, so it won't be able to pick a new move based on the removed ability until the next turn where the ability is back and just hits into Sap Sipper. If it happens on a damage threshold by attacking the boss, then the ability reset will be removed at the end of the same turn, and the boss will just use the move that it already selected at the start of the turn. So Azumarill should not be taking a Grass move on a turn without Sap Sipper, unless it's so early that the boss hasn't visibly revealed Sap Sipper yet to know not to pick a Grass move (like Hisuian Decidueye), or it comes late enough for a random second attack to trigger, which at that point Azumarill should be tera Fairy, or the slim chance that Sceptile has no moves that can damage Azumarill normally (maybe if it has Earthquake and a buff) and just picks something random anyway. Though there's not much in competition for the 4th moveslot, I would probably consider run Tail Whip/Tickle or even Liquidation with damage and time being a potential bottleneck.

As an example, this happened consistently in my Marill clear of the Chesnaught raid both at the 81% time remaining and 49% HP remaining thresholds.

 

[Terimas]

Sceptile's movepool doesn't have too many surprises. I could see a scripted Breaking Swipe being an option, which would make Annihilape an even stronger option. As long as Sceptile doesn't go crazy with Swords Dance or Acrobatics, Ape should be as dominant as ever.

 

[Worldie]

The main thing is that Sceptile's moveset (on both sides) is kinda whatever... to be fair, physical side it actually has quite some variation, so I would expect it to be fully phisical with Sword Dance (could have either of Thunder Punch, Earthquake and Rock Slide as coverage, maybe a dark one too but that one doesn't really do anything).
Leaf Blade used to be its signature I think?
Might have a scripted Leaf Storm i suppose.

Funnily it has literally *nothing* to hit fairies supereffectively (no steel, no poison), so looking into fairy/x Pokemon may be a solid choice for offensive since your stab will be relatively unpunished.

 

[doipy hooves]

From another perspective, I think the worst thing Sceptile can do to stall out the battle like Primarina is bring out Double Team for the first time since Greninja, maybe Dragon Breath for paralysis and Leech Seed on top for constant damage. At the least I can see game freak either doubling down on a gimmick since they can't cover everything, or at least EQ/fighting to hit regular steels. But there are just too many full resists to be threatening.

I'm not too worried about Azumarill's damage output after actually looking at Sceptile's bulk unless they crank up the HP to compensate following Emboar's 40x, or use the occasionally speculated Grassy Seed Unburden combo or something. SE with Sap Sipper is basically the same as neutral from Huge Power anyway.

 

[Original Dragon Arkvelza]

I suppose this can work if you have Intimidate CPUs and someone who can (hopefully) get off burn in the case of crits from Leaf Blade


Shell Bell
Pixilate
Tera Fairy
252 SpA / 252 Def / 6 HP
Bold Nature

Hyper Voice / Hyper Beam
Draining Kiss
Charm / Reflect / Mud Slap
Calm Mind

 

[Vengeance417]

This’ll depend on whether or not Sceptile has Acrobatics, but I want to bring up Ribombee again, this time an offensive variant:


Ribombee @ Metronome
Ability: Shield Dust
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA
Timid / Modest Nature
- Lunge
- Fake Tears
- Quiver Dance / Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss

Being part Bug-type means Sceptile won’t go for Leaf Blade pre-tera, and will use other moves instead. Having Lunge lets Ribombee lower Attack through shield, and Calm Mind / Quiver Dance covers SpDef in the event of a mixed set or a timed Leaf Storm or something. The choice between Quiver Dance or Calm Mind will depend on Sceptile using Dragon Dance at any point during the raid. Otherwise, Calm Mind takes less time to set up. Notably, neutral Leaf Blade crit never kills you from full once you Tera Fairy.

 

[DougJustDoug]

I haven't checked all the past 7* starter raids, but it seems kinda hit or miss if GF decides to give starters their signature moves. I'm guessing Sceptile is going to be one of those times, and it'll get Leaf Blade and some physical boosting move. Heck it may even get both dances (Swords Dance and Dragon Dance) as scripted moves or something. I pray to god we don't get a boost in the regular moveset, but anything can happen. I think a mixed set is more likely than not, but it might be something like a scripted Leaf Storm followed by a boss stat reset.

 

[Worldie]

I see your Butterfly and reply with Turtle

Enamorus-Therian (F) @ Shell Bell / Fairy Plate / Metronome / Covert Cloak (if Rock Slide and want to not risk flinches)
Ability: Overcoat
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 something
Bold Nature
- Draining Kiss
- Iron Defense
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast

No support here, just damage (probably better for solo)

0 Atk Tera Dragon Sceptile Leaf Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Enamorus-Therian on a critical hit: 43-51 (12.2 - 14.4%) -- possible 7HKO
0 SpA Tera Dragon Sceptile Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Enamorus-Therian: 72-86 (20.4 - 24.4%) -- guaranteed 5HKO

0 Atk Tera Dragon Sceptile Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Enamorus-Therian: 66-78 (18.7 - 22.1%) -- possible 5HKO

Rock slide is probably the scariest attack to deal with, and honestly still gets neutered by the Iron defense boosts anyway. Toss in intimidate support and you should be fine.
Could tecnically run Agility over Moonblast to outspeed but I hardly doubt Draining Kiss would have enough PPs.

If it doesn't have rock slide I don't think it gets free-er than this honestly.

 

[Vengeance417]

I see your Butterfly and reply with Turtle

Enamorus-Therian (F) @ Shell Bell / Fairy Plate / Metronome / Covert Cloak (if Rock Slide and want to not risk flinches)
Ability: Overcoat
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 something
Bold Nature
- Draining Kiss
- Iron Defense
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast

No support here, just damage (probably better for solo)

0 Atk Tera Dragon Sceptile Leaf Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Enamorus-Therian on a critical hit: 43-51 (12.2 - 14.4%) -- possible 7HKO
0 SpA Tera Dragon Sceptile Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Enamorus-Therian: 72-86 (20.4 - 24.4%) -- guaranteed 5HKO

0 Atk Tera Dragon Sceptile Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Enamorus-Therian: 66-78 (18.7 - 22.1%) -- possible 5HKO

Rock slide is probably the scariest attack to deal with, and honestly still gets neutered by the Iron defense boosts anyway. Toss in intimidate support and you should be fine.
Could tecnically run Agility over Moonblast to outspeed but I hardly doubt Draining Kiss would have enough PPs.

If it doesn't have rock slide I don't think it gets free-er than this honestly.

Glad to see a good Turtle set :)

Covert Cloak will probably be the most consistent item in theory. Dodges Rock Slide flinches and Thunder Punch para.

 

[Original Dragon Arkvelza]

Online support


Leftovers
Shell Armor
Tera Steel (For a resistance against both STABs)
252 Def / 252 SpD / 6 HP or 252 Def / 252 HP / 6 SpD
Bold Nature

Chilling Water
Acid Spray
Bulldoze / Dragon Pulse
Life Dew

 

[a blue banana]

I'm not too worried about Azumarill's damage output after actually looking at Sceptile's bulk unless they crank up the HP to compensate following Emboar's 40x…

I think Emboar's HP was inflated more than other 7-star raids only because most of its base moveset used Reckless-boosted recoil moves.

 

[flamewizzy21]

Just based on past trends: Due to Sceptile’s middling bulk, I expect a 35x HP multiplier. Due to Sceptile’s underwhelming offensive stats/moves and mediocre offensive typing, I fully expect either turn 0 swords dance OR dragon dance within the moveset. I also think mixed is quite likely. and mutually exclusive with dragon dance in the moveset.

For Dragon Dance, Skill swap Malamar might be the play here for randos to counter dragon dance. Also, the AI tends to stop boosting if one of the boosted stats is maxed, so charm might be way to go. T0 SD sceptile is easy to handle with charm. He’ll need to consistently boost to be a real threat.

In terms of coverage, dragon/grass is ass coverage, hard walled by steels. I would expect focus miss coverage because that handles both steels that resist the dual stab AND ice types which would be effective attackers. Sceptile could go for full physical with broader edgequake coverage, but that low atk stat and no atk boost spam will make any set like that really easy to handle.

tl;dr My bet is on either mixed-tile (with T0 SD) or DD-spam physical with EQ. They are much harder go handle than other proposed sets.

 

[Vengeance417]

On the subject of Charm, Meowscarada could serve as a neat rando support:


Meowscarada @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Protean
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold / Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Charm
- Pollen Puff
- Chilling Water
- Fake Tears

Turning Fairy-type by using Charm grants it turn 1 Dragon-immunity, Fighting-resistance, and a neutrality to Acrobatics if it's running it, which should greatly improve survivability. It helps that it's naturally faster than Sceptile unless it uses Dragon Dance.

 

[wenddy18]

I can see this going Mixed or Physical. Despite having a higher Special Attack, Sceptile's Special movepool is abysmal on the coverage side, with Focus Blast being the only worthwhile coverage move it has beyond its STABs. Meanwhile, its physical movepool is colorful (Earthquake, Thunder Punch, Rock Slide, Throat Chop just to name a few) and it has Swords Dance. Notably, Sceptile doesn't get any Steel-type moves, and therefore can't hit Fairy-types super effectively.

You're right that Sceptile's special movepool is limited, but its physical movepool is more diverse and has some great options. The lack of Steel-type moves is a big drawback, though.

 

[Worldie]

Regardless of which moveset they opt into, the main staple is that it has absolutely nothing to hit fairy type supereffectively, whereas you are able to hit him back.

So at least as far as solo options go, I would recommend looking into any Draining Kiss user who can safely setup.

 

[formula4speed]

I'll probably put together some kind of Unaware Clefable as support, not the bulkiest thing out there but a solid movepool.

Defense Curl (assuming physical attacking set)
Chilling Water
Life Dew
Reflect

Also has access to Charm, Fake Tears, Misty Terrain and Icy Wind if speed control matters.

 

[Terimas]

Alolan Ninetales is also a solid support option, especially if Sceptile is mixed. 92 Speed EVs or a Timid nature is enough to outspeed Sceptile (both are needed if Sceptile is +Speed nature) with the rest going to bulk.

The defence boost from Snow combined with Aurora Veil makes it incredibly tanky against physical attacks. You also have access to both Charm and Chilling Water for debuffs.

Fake Tears is also an option, as well as Nasty Plot for a more offensive approach. Both Moonblast and Draining Kiss are solid STABs.

The main thing holding Ninetales-A back is that you can't fit all these moves in one set, especially if you want to renew Snow with manual Snowscape. The other thing is that Ninetales benefits most from Ice type teammates that can also utilize the defensive boost from Snow but most of the good options seem to be Fairy types.

 

[Worldie]

The main thing holding Ninetales-A back is that you can't fit all these moves in one set, especially if you want to renew Snow with manual Snowscape. The other thing is that Ninetales benefits most from Ice type teammates that can also utilize the defensive boost from Snow but most of the good options seem to be Fairy types.

Realistically speaking, if the boss isn't mixed, I don't think you actually care of Snow after the start. Reflect and Aurora Veil are basically same if the boss is phisical only, sure you miss out on the snow boost, but you probably can EV yourself to live long enough to set up the chilling waters.

I would personally go

Ninetales-Alola @ Covert Cloak / Fairy Plate / Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Nature either Timid or Bold depending on speed threshold
- Reflect / Light Screen
- Nasty Plot / Calm Mind (if special)
- Chilling Water (or another support move if special)
- Draining Kiss

If you want a pure supportive option and don't care of actually doing damage (or the boss is mixed), you can just replace Nasty Plot with Snowscape, roll Aurora Veil, and go for Stellar tera instead