Come on Scyther, you can do it!

[TakedaXS]

Come on Scyther, you can do it!

Intro
Hi there, Smogon community! I'm totally new to competitive battling, never played a single online match before, just watched other guys like youtubers battling for quite a while. Finally decided to start playing competitively myself. I've read a ton of guides on Smogon. And when I knew I can't just throw some of my favourite pokes into a team because, well... Tiers, man! I was terribly disappointed :D

So, because OU is too mainstream, I decided to build a team around one of my all time favourite pokemon - Scyther
Here is the team

Scyther(M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aerial Ace
- Roost
- Brick Break

Main sweeper, and I like the idea of him carrying Eviolite, which is I think self-explanatory, I want this particular moveset. Period. Though I feel like I give too much attention and support to him with his teammates which can hinder overall versatility of the whole team. Well, I don't know... Let me know if that's true. Moving on

Lanturn(M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Def / 216 SDef
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Volt Switch
- Heal Bell

Perfect synergy with Scyther, otherwise pretty much standart set. Scald's burn is obviously helpful like always, Volt Switch to keep switch advantage, Ice beam to deal with flying and possibly grass types. And yeah, Heal Bell is crucial, nobody enjoys status. Next up we have...

Sandslash (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic

The most important teammate for Scyther, hands down. Spins away hazard, sets up his own rocks. Made him defensive so that he can stay as healthy as possible throughout a battle, because if faints early on, dead Sandslash = dead Scyther. Toxic over Stone Edge because he is defensive anyway, won't do much damage with it, instead I just try to cripple as many opponent's pokes as possible, which is better I think.

Slowking (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 144 Def / 116 SDef
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
- Thunder Wave

From what I've seen online, this guy is just annoyingly everlasting. Again, Scald to the face, to cripple physical attakers, making switching in Scyther more confident. Slack Off is awesome, it will take forever to take Slowking down. Thunder Wave here is important because my team is generally rather slow, so I might as well use that to slow down opposing fast threats. Also my team kinda has problems with ground types, so Slowking is there to help.

Spiritomb (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 SDef
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Shadow Sneak
- Foul Play/Sucker Punch

Relatively bulky spinblocker, spreads burn, stalls out, common stuff. Although I'm not sure about the last slot. Pain Split is a reliable recovery, and I don't like Rest anyway. Shadow sneak is weak but I won't hurt to have at least some priority.

Drapion (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab

Somewhat a filler guy, don't know if I should replace him with anyone else. Deals with Grass and Psychic types, and potentially can set up a sweep. Can be possibly replaced with Magmortar or Electivire (kinda wanted Electivire to be on this team, another favourite pokemon) or whatever.

Summary
So, that is my team, weak to Ground and Grass, but not much. Also I'm not entirely sure with items on some pokes, and I'm afraid that Drapion is kinda out of place, and could be replaced by something more suitable, especially because my team lacks a special sweeper.

Well, looking at your suggestions, guys, I've updated my team a little.

I also changed Scyther's EV spread to a more offensively oriented, while still using Eviolite (42HP/252Atk/216Spd with Jolly). But It's still difficult for me to decide on the last poke, there are two main candidates:

or

With Electivire my team is faster overall, and I have another useful Electric absorber, and with mixed set I have more possibilities to hit anything for super effective dmg, but with Electivire my team has an extra weakness to ground, and no reliable way to deal with Ghost- and Dark- types (perhaps only with Spiritomb, Idk..)
On the other hand Escavalier gives a ton of extra resistances (Ghost included) and destroys Dark-types. His attack is monstrous indeed but he is too slow, and I have rather slow team already. Besides, unlike with Electivire, with Escavalier I have no resistance to Flying on my team. So I have to decide which is the lesser evil =)

I really want you guys to help me with my team, any criticism and suggestions are welcomed!

 

[Mylo Xyloto]

Hi
Interesting team man, and I love the use of Scyther. I do have some suggestions though. I find having both Lanturn and Slowking redundant. Both of them achieve similar goals but I think Slowking out shines Lanturn on your team. Although Lanturn and Scyther have perfect Synergy, Lanturn lacks reliable recovery and would be worn down easily. You still have a Check to Fire-types, in Slowking, and you still have an Electric immunity, in Sandslash. With Lanturn gone I suggest you use LO Moltres. Moltres adds a Special Sweeps you always wanted. Moltres also roasts unwanted Steel-types that beat Scyther and another Ground Immunity. Moltres really hates pokemon, like Slowking. A nice transition onto my other suggestion, which is changing Spiritomb's Moveset to a more offensive set. This will help Moltres a lot by eliminating Slowking and company. I'm agreeing that Drapion is out of place. Escavalier on the other hand fits this team perfectly. CB Escavalier > Drapion would help you against dangerous threats like Druddigon, Lilligant, Sceptile etc. I hope I help and goodluck ~

Sets:

@ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4SDef / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Hidden Power [Grass] / Substitute

@ Choice Band / BlackGlasses
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 Hp / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak
- Trick / Will-o-Wisp / Return

@ Occa Berry
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 248 Hp / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Sleep Talk

 

[TakedaXS]

The fact that Moltres also has huge weakness to rock still kinda bothers me... basically should my Sandslash go down early, both Moltres and Scyther are pretty much dead too. It's just that I'm trying to make a team that is relatively easy to use, but with two pokemon so weak to Stealth Rock it is difficult to play around and make smart moves.
Now that I think of it, I really don't need Lanturn, should think of somethething to replace it. I mean Moltres is great, but still he is rather unreliable on this team. Well I might be wrong...

 

[jam]

Why is Drapion a Hardy Nature? Hardy Nature is a neutral nature which isn't nearly as effective as someting like Adamant.

 

[TakedaXS]

Why is Drapion a Hardy Nature? Hardy Nature is a neutral nature which isn't nearly as effective as someting like Adamant.

It's a misclick, there should be a jolly nature.

Well I think Moltres is better with choice specs set - more powerful, no recoil, and U-Turn initiative. Yeah I know Roost is good but I think he will die faster, than recover all damage from this recoil and hazards, so if I'll use Moltres it will definitely be specs.

 

[Shuckleking87]

Your team is also very slow besides scyther. While Moltres would be a great poke, you really do not want 2 pokes 4x weak to rocks even with a spinner. I would suggest Scarfed rotom-c or galvantula over lanturn. I also think bug bite would be an interesting move to have on scyther, as it has satb and technitian. But I do not know why you are using brick break. Actually, I have a guess, however, you do not have adequate explanations as to why you picked the moves you did, like not explaining your scyther set. Even though it's on the main site, it would be nice to hear why you picked bulky scyther over say, offensive swords dance, which I think would work better with this team

 

[TakedaXS]

Your team is also very slow besides scyther. While Moltres would be a great poke, you really do not want 2 pokes 4x weak to rocks even with a spinner. I would suggest Scarfed rotom-c or galvantula over lanturn. I also think bug bite would be an interesting move to have on scyther, as it has satb and technitian. But I do not know why you are using brick break. Actually, I have a guess, however, you do not have adequate explanations as to why you picked the moves you did, like not explaining your scyther set. Even though it's on the main site, it would be nice to hear why you picked bulky scyther over say, offensive swords dance, which I think would work better with this team

The offensive Scyther was actually my first idea, but I tested him and because I'm quite unexperienced yet I couldn't play with him effectively, so I decided to make him bulkier to ensure he can switch in at least 2-3 times taking neutral hits relatively well or have the ability to set up more than one SD to guarantee a sweep. Bug bite isn't really doing anything besides dealing with psychic, because there aren't many things that it hits super effectively while other moves don't. Aerial ace already hits grass types for super effective damage, and brick break deals with dark and more importantly rock types. And between them aerial ace and brick break have a pretty good coverage, so I think I'm not changing that as well.
All in all I appreciate much more safer options because I'm still noob, and Galvantula is fast indeed but it's frail and weak BOTH to rocks and ground moves which my team doesn't enjoy already. So I don't really know what to do. But I'm sure galvantula is not an option. Besides I think I can change some other teammates, but I have 3 pokes that are intouchable - scyther, sandslash and slowking absolutely aren't going anywhere from this team.
Looking at the list of fast offensive threats, there are some pokes which are fast and not so frail e. g. Electivire, Entei or Typhlosion. So I might consider adding one of them to my team.

 

[zf]

I recommend using Sigilyph over Drapion on this team. Sigilyph patches your weaknesses to grass, psychic, and ground while maintaining an offensive presence. Sigilyph doesn't take passive damage with Magic Guard, so it doesn't need to worry about hazards, Life Orb recoil, or hail.

The Set:

Sigilyph@Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
4 HP/ 252 Special Attack/ 252 Speed
Timid Nature
-Psyshock
-Heat Wave
-Air Slash/Energy Ball
-Roost

 

[TakedaXS]

I recommend using Sigilyph over Drapion on this team. Sigilyph patches your weaknesses to grass, psychic, and ground while maintaining an offensive presence. Sigilyph doesn't take passive damage with Magic Guard, so it doesn't need to worry about hazards, Life Orb recoil, or hail.

The Set:

Sigilyph@Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
4 HP/ 252 Special Attack/ 252 Speed
Timid Nature
-Psyshock
-Heat Wave
-Air Slash/Energy Ball
-Roost

I wonder if Psyshock is better than Psychic...