If Scizor is used on approximately 30% of teams on Shoddy, that just means he's not used on 70% of team, and 70% of people can't be wrong. This team wasn't designed to counter Scizor, although 4 of the 6 resist his main attack. This team does assemble some of the games most powerful strikers, excluding the big metal bug.
My criminal assailants are as follows:
And now for the team itself. And Leading things off is...
Starmie
Spenny @ Leftovers
Timid/ 4 HP/ 252 Spe/ 252 SpA
Natural Cure
-Surf
-T-Bolt
-Rapid Spin
-Ice Beam
Still the best spinner in the OU tier IMO. Mainly because he's not always a spinner. This lead variant packs a lot more power than my last Starmie, and with the type coverage I get, I can greatly cripple or take out many of the popular leads including Metagross, T-tar, Infernape, Gliscor, and Roserade. I can handle defensive versions of Swampert, but Azelf gives me the creeps. I'd rather not take a chance that it's special attack is T-bolt, and if it is, it just alows my Jolteon a free switch-in and a shadow ball right to the face.
Gyarados
Gyro @ Life Orb
Jolly/ 76 HP/ 108 Atk/ 156 Def/ 168 Spe
Intimidate
-Ice Fang
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Stone Edge
As often as my previous Gyarados set lead to sweeps, this set has easily doubled that amount. Mainly because instead of being a lead, I can switch him in on something like a CB Scizor stuck on bullet punch, and the additional defense allows me to get two or three DD's off with still about half health and the sweeping commences, unless I run into a Suicune who is a 3HKO with stone edge, that is if I can hit with three stone edges in a row. This set has also helped me with a pokemon that previously destroyed my Gyro, Latias who I can now OHKO with +2 DD Ice Fang on any set that doesn't run max defense.Stone edge has helped too by preventing other Gyaradoses from setting up on me and ice fang stops grass pokemon from having impunity.
Jolteon
Happy @ Leftovers
Timid/ 4 HP/ 252 Spe/ 252 SpA
Volt Absorb
-Substitute
-Shadow Ball
-T-Bolt
-HP Grass
The most obvious teammate for a team with three electric weaknesses would be someone who could not only resist the gratuitous electric attacks that are thrown my team's way, but could also heal from those attacks. Enter Jolteon. Jolteon is the bread and butter of my team. Even without a scarf, he acts as a reliable revenge killer, unless spikes are present, and he's just a general wall for electric attacks. The HP grass is a very safe bet 99% of the time because when I come in on a water pokemon and I know the team already has a grounder ready to halt a T-bolt, I can just grass them for a guaranteed super effective on either, unless they throw a change up in there, or if their grounder is Flygon, in which case I just send in Gyarados to have a field day. The sub is really helpful when I can predict the switch as it allows me to get two hits on their Jolteon counter which will kill many earthquake carriers such as Salamence. I chose leftovers over life orb because I really need Happy to stay alive being that he's my only electric counter and added damage from my attacks won't help my situation.
Skarmory
Metalfenix @ Leftovers
Impish/ 252 HP/ 176 Def/ 16 Spe/ 64 SpD
Keen Eye
-Stealth Rock
-Brave Bird
-Roost
-Whirlwind
Like I said earlier, entry hazards are the biggest deal in the metagame. I think a phazer is important on just about any team because 99% of the time, the other team will have at least one pokemon who can set-up, maybe not necessarily on a few of your team, but better safe than sorry.He can, however, come in on a LO boosted Draco meteor from Salamence or Dragonite and it does slightly more than half from Sally, and slightly less than half from Dragonite, which gives you a perfect opportunity to roost off the damage the next turn when they most likely switch. And generally I can manage to pull off the whirlwind shenanigans when they have only stallers and physical dragons remaining. Since the only means of damage inducing status my team has is a burn from fire blast, I elected to remove spikes and replace it with brave bird which effectively kills any chance a whirlwind sweep, but it does provide me a rare opportunity to win a one on one with Skarmory, even though it's very rare.
Gengar
Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Timid/ 4 HP/ 252 Spe/ 252 SpA
Levitate
-Shadow Ball
-T-Bolt
-Focus Blast
-HP Ice
Jolteon is my team's pseudo revenge killer because of his higher speed, but the true pokemon with a vendetta is Gengar with a blistering Spe of 525 with specs and a respectable SpA of 359. I dropped the specs for the scarf because of the Gyro revamp which makes taking out Latias less of a hassle for my team so I no longer have to sacrifice speed for power and Gengar to Latias in general. I chose HP Ice because of Jolteon's HP grass and I didn't go with fire because Gyro can already handle the Scizors that come my way by resisting three of his main attacks.
Salamence
Sallie @ Life Orb
Mild/ 84 Atk/ 204 Spe/ 216 SpA
Intimidate
-Draco Meteor
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast
Good 'ol Mixmence. What can this thing not kill? No pokemon resists all three types and only Ludicolo even resists two of them. With the adjustment of the Jolteon set, I no longer am aloud a speed boost to this dragon, but even with the boost, it didn't stop the #1 threat to Sallie's existence, ice shard. However, Sallie's sacrifice betters the entire team by giving it one more weapon, prolonging the life of my electric counter, and Sallie doesn't lose that much value at all. Scarf Flygon and Latias are the only dragons I have to fear coming in and being a threat to Sallie speed wise, seeing that most ice type carry ice shard anyway.
And there you have it, my solution for a team that doesn't require Scizor and could bottle him up too. I've used it for a while as my main team with other tests here and there, but I haven't really made many changes to it since its conception, the main one being the Gyrados item switch, and I feel its a good team but is just lacking a little push to be a great team. So, as usual, any helpful advice will be gratefully appreciated and any changes I decide to make will be posted in bold italics. Thanks again.
Thank you to those who've contributed so far. The changes have made the team much more successful in situations that I previously failed in.
My criminal assailants are as follows:
And now for the team itself. And Leading things off is...
Starmie
Spenny @ Leftovers
Timid/ 4 HP/ 252 Spe/ 252 SpA
Natural Cure
-Surf
-T-Bolt
-Rapid Spin
-Ice Beam
Still the best spinner in the OU tier IMO. Mainly because he's not always a spinner. This lead variant packs a lot more power than my last Starmie, and with the type coverage I get, I can greatly cripple or take out many of the popular leads including Metagross, T-tar, Infernape, Gliscor, and Roserade. I can handle defensive versions of Swampert, but Azelf gives me the creeps. I'd rather not take a chance that it's special attack is T-bolt, and if it is, it just alows my Jolteon a free switch-in and a shadow ball right to the face.
Gyarados
Gyro @ Life Orb
Jolly/ 76 HP/ 108 Atk/ 156 Def/ 168 Spe
Intimidate
-Ice Fang
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Stone Edge
As often as my previous Gyarados set lead to sweeps, this set has easily doubled that amount. Mainly because instead of being a lead, I can switch him in on something like a CB Scizor stuck on bullet punch, and the additional defense allows me to get two or three DD's off with still about half health and the sweeping commences, unless I run into a Suicune who is a 3HKO with stone edge, that is if I can hit with three stone edges in a row. This set has also helped me with a pokemon that previously destroyed my Gyro, Latias who I can now OHKO with +2 DD Ice Fang on any set that doesn't run max defense.Stone edge has helped too by preventing other Gyaradoses from setting up on me and ice fang stops grass pokemon from having impunity.
Jolteon
Happy @ Leftovers
Timid/ 4 HP/ 252 Spe/ 252 SpA
Volt Absorb
-Substitute
-Shadow Ball
-T-Bolt
-HP Grass
The most obvious teammate for a team with three electric weaknesses would be someone who could not only resist the gratuitous electric attacks that are thrown my team's way, but could also heal from those attacks. Enter Jolteon. Jolteon is the bread and butter of my team. Even without a scarf, he acts as a reliable revenge killer, unless spikes are present, and he's just a general wall for electric attacks. The HP grass is a very safe bet 99% of the time because when I come in on a water pokemon and I know the team already has a grounder ready to halt a T-bolt, I can just grass them for a guaranteed super effective on either, unless they throw a change up in there, or if their grounder is Flygon, in which case I just send in Gyarados to have a field day. The sub is really helpful when I can predict the switch as it allows me to get two hits on their Jolteon counter which will kill many earthquake carriers such as Salamence. I chose leftovers over life orb because I really need Happy to stay alive being that he's my only electric counter and added damage from my attacks won't help my situation.
Skarmory
Metalfenix @ Leftovers
Impish/ 252 HP/ 176 Def/ 16 Spe/ 64 SpD
Keen Eye
-Stealth Rock
-Brave Bird
-Roost
-Whirlwind
Like I said earlier, entry hazards are the biggest deal in the metagame. I think a phazer is important on just about any team because 99% of the time, the other team will have at least one pokemon who can set-up, maybe not necessarily on a few of your team, but better safe than sorry.He can, however, come in on a LO boosted Draco meteor from Salamence or Dragonite and it does slightly more than half from Sally, and slightly less than half from Dragonite, which gives you a perfect opportunity to roost off the damage the next turn when they most likely switch. And generally I can manage to pull off the whirlwind shenanigans when they have only stallers and physical dragons remaining. Since the only means of damage inducing status my team has is a burn from fire blast, I elected to remove spikes and replace it with brave bird which effectively kills any chance a whirlwind sweep, but it does provide me a rare opportunity to win a one on one with Skarmory, even though it's very rare.
Gengar
Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Timid/ 4 HP/ 252 Spe/ 252 SpA
Levitate
-Shadow Ball
-T-Bolt
-Focus Blast
-HP Ice
Jolteon is my team's pseudo revenge killer because of his higher speed, but the true pokemon with a vendetta is Gengar with a blistering Spe of 525 with specs and a respectable SpA of 359. I dropped the specs for the scarf because of the Gyro revamp which makes taking out Latias less of a hassle for my team so I no longer have to sacrifice speed for power and Gengar to Latias in general. I chose HP Ice because of Jolteon's HP grass and I didn't go with fire because Gyro can already handle the Scizors that come my way by resisting three of his main attacks.
Salamence
Sallie @ Life Orb
Mild/ 84 Atk/ 204 Spe/ 216 SpA
Intimidate
-Draco Meteor
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast
Good 'ol Mixmence. What can this thing not kill? No pokemon resists all three types and only Ludicolo even resists two of them. With the adjustment of the Jolteon set, I no longer am aloud a speed boost to this dragon, but even with the boost, it didn't stop the #1 threat to Sallie's existence, ice shard. However, Sallie's sacrifice betters the entire team by giving it one more weapon, prolonging the life of my electric counter, and Sallie doesn't lose that much value at all. Scarf Flygon and Latias are the only dragons I have to fear coming in and being a threat to Sallie speed wise, seeing that most ice type carry ice shard anyway.
And there you have it, my solution for a team that doesn't require Scizor and could bottle him up too. I've used it for a while as my main team with other tests here and there, but I haven't really made many changes to it since its conception, the main one being the Gyrados item switch, and I feel its a good team but is just lacking a little push to be a great team. So, as usual, any helpful advice will be gratefully appreciated and any changes I decide to make will be posted in bold italics. Thanks again.
Thank you to those who've contributed so far. The changes have made the team much more successful in situations that I previously failed in.
