What to use.
Scolipede @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Megahorn
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake
- Protect / Swords Dance / Baton Pass
Role: Revenge Killer/Physical Sweeper
What it does: Scolipede has a good physical movepool to work with, a reasonable attack stat, and Speed Boost, with a high enough base speed to use an Adamant nature and outspeed the whole unboosted OU tier at +1. Offensive Scolipede is less common than dedicated Baton Pass users, but makes for an excellent revenge killer, that can OHKO several top tier OU threats. The most common combination of attacks is Megahorn, Poison Jab and Earthquake. Megahorn is the strongest STAB Scolipede has, and the effective 180 base power makes up for Scolipede's middling attack. Latios and Latias have very high usage in OU, and Scolipede can comfortably OHKO both of them. Scolipede even has a 50% to OHKO Slowbro if Stealth Rocks are up. Poison Jab and Earthquake are reliable and accurate coverage options. Clefable is extremely common in OU and difficult to take out, but Scolipede can 2HKO it 1v1 with Poison Jab, while surviving 2 rounds of Life Orb Recoil, along with 1 unboosted Flamethrower. Poison Jab also OHKOes every Azumarill set, including the Assault Vest set with Max HP if Stealth Rocks are up. Earthquake is primarily useful for Steel and Rock types, particularly Heatran and Excadrill.
Rock Slide is also a possible option, but Charizard-Y is OHKOed by Poison Jab if Stealth Rocks are up, and Mega Pinsir, and Talonflame both have access to priority, and so need to be hit on a predicted switch. Superpower seems super powerful, but it's main use is for hitting Ferrothorn and Tyranitar harder and more reliably than Megahorn. The attack drop can also stop a sweep short. Aqua Tail is also a possibility, but it's slightly inaccurate, and even if super effective, only hits marginally harder than a neutral Megahorn, so it's a very situational move.
If Scolipede is only running 3 attacks, there are a few options for the 4th slot. Protect is a safe choice, as it guarantees that Scolipede will receive the initial speed boost, and is the best choice if Scolipede is being used as a revenge killer. Swords Dance is a riskier option, as Scolipede has to take a hit in order to set up, however at +2, with 656 attack and Life Orb, it can easily sweep through a weakened team. Baton Pass is another option, as if there's a target that Scolipede has trouble with, it can Baton Pass speed boosts to either a wallbreaker or sweeper to help finish the job. Two attacks, Baton Pass and Swords Dance is also an option, although Life Orb Scolipede will not be able to pass boosts as reliably as a Focus Sash or Mental Herb Scolipede would, and that set also has the option of passing a Substitute.
Life Orb is the best item to hold this set to use, as it needs as much power as possible to assist its middling attack stat. 29 HP IVs hit a Life Orb number, while the EVs maximise attack, use an Adamant nature for more power and then maximise speed to speed tie with other Scolipedes. Scolipede outspeeds positive base speed 95's without a boost, and the whole unboosted tier after a boost, and every OU viable pokemon at +2, including those with Sand Rush, Swift Swim or Chlorophyll.
Good Teammates: Life Orb Scolipede fits onto teams that appreciate its ability to remove Psychic and Fairy types. Rotom-W is able to Will-O-Wisp or hit many of Scolipede's best counters super effectively and can check Flying types. Mega Charizard Y and Keldeo can wallbreak for Scolipede by removing the slower pokemon that it struggles with, while Scolipede can remove Latios, Latias and Azumarill. Starmie has reasonable type synergy with Scolipede, and can Rapid Spin away hazards, and can threaten ground types. If running Baton Pass, Mega Medicham, with Ice Punch for Landorus-T is a great receiver.
What counters it: Scolipede has trouble breaking through healthy physically defensive Ground and Steel types, such as Landorus-T, Hippowdon, Skarmory and Ferrothorn. Priority users can also revenge kill Scolipede. Phasing Scolipede is an option, especially if Stealth Rocks are up, as it will be very quickly worn down. In general, Scolipede can't sweep through a team without prior damage, so as long as one pokemon is healthy and not weak to any of Scolipede's moves, it won't be able to sweep. Scolipede lacks priority, and is vulnerable to being revenged killed or statused by a Prankster pokemon such as Thundurus. Talonflame will always be able to revenge kill Scolipede, while the following are benchmarks at which Scolipede will become vulnerable to other priority users.
252 Mega Pinsir Quick Attack - 83.3 - 98%
252+ Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch - 76.8 - 90.7%
252+ Choice Band Scizor Bullet Punch - 68.7 - 81%
252+ Life Orb Lucario Extreme Speed 47.1 - 55.5%
44+ Mega Scizor Bullet Punch - 44.4 - 52.5%
252 Life Orb Mamoswine Ice Shard - 36.6 - 43.6%
252+ Azumarill Aqua Jet - 33.9 - 40.5%
Any additional info: [Note: This is not the same EV spread as the one that's currently in the Smogon Dex, but from looking at the most recent usage statistics, most people are running 252 Speed Scolipede, so I decided that that was the best spread to go with, to be able to speed tie with other Scolipedes.]
Edit: Is a moderator able to give someone else control of the OP?
Scolipede @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Megahorn
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake
- Protect / Swords Dance / Baton Pass
Role: Revenge Killer/Physical Sweeper
What it does: Scolipede has a good physical movepool to work with, a reasonable attack stat, and Speed Boost, with a high enough base speed to use an Adamant nature and outspeed the whole unboosted OU tier at +1. Offensive Scolipede is less common than dedicated Baton Pass users, but makes for an excellent revenge killer, that can OHKO several top tier OU threats. The most common combination of attacks is Megahorn, Poison Jab and Earthquake. Megahorn is the strongest STAB Scolipede has, and the effective 180 base power makes up for Scolipede's middling attack. Latios and Latias have very high usage in OU, and Scolipede can comfortably OHKO both of them. Scolipede even has a 50% to OHKO Slowbro if Stealth Rocks are up. Poison Jab and Earthquake are reliable and accurate coverage options. Clefable is extremely common in OU and difficult to take out, but Scolipede can 2HKO it 1v1 with Poison Jab, while surviving 2 rounds of Life Orb Recoil, along with 1 unboosted Flamethrower. Poison Jab also OHKOes every Azumarill set, including the Assault Vest set with Max HP if Stealth Rocks are up. Earthquake is primarily useful for Steel and Rock types, particularly Heatran and Excadrill.
Rock Slide is also a possible option, but Charizard-Y is OHKOed by Poison Jab if Stealth Rocks are up, and Mega Pinsir, and Talonflame both have access to priority, and so need to be hit on a predicted switch. Superpower seems super powerful, but it's main use is for hitting Ferrothorn and Tyranitar harder and more reliably than Megahorn. The attack drop can also stop a sweep short. Aqua Tail is also a possibility, but it's slightly inaccurate, and even if super effective, only hits marginally harder than a neutral Megahorn, so it's a very situational move.
If Scolipede is only running 3 attacks, there are a few options for the 4th slot. Protect is a safe choice, as it guarantees that Scolipede will receive the initial speed boost, and is the best choice if Scolipede is being used as a revenge killer. Swords Dance is a riskier option, as Scolipede has to take a hit in order to set up, however at +2, with 656 attack and Life Orb, it can easily sweep through a weakened team. Baton Pass is another option, as if there's a target that Scolipede has trouble with, it can Baton Pass speed boosts to either a wallbreaker or sweeper to help finish the job. Two attacks, Baton Pass and Swords Dance is also an option, although Life Orb Scolipede will not be able to pass boosts as reliably as a Focus Sash or Mental Herb Scolipede would, and that set also has the option of passing a Substitute.
Life Orb is the best item to hold this set to use, as it needs as much power as possible to assist its middling attack stat. 29 HP IVs hit a Life Orb number, while the EVs maximise attack, use an Adamant nature for more power and then maximise speed to speed tie with other Scolipedes. Scolipede outspeeds positive base speed 95's without a boost, and the whole unboosted tier after a boost, and every OU viable pokemon at +2, including those with Sand Rush, Swift Swim or Chlorophyll.
Good Teammates: Life Orb Scolipede fits onto teams that appreciate its ability to remove Psychic and Fairy types. Rotom-W is able to Will-O-Wisp or hit many of Scolipede's best counters super effectively and can check Flying types. Mega Charizard Y and Keldeo can wallbreak for Scolipede by removing the slower pokemon that it struggles with, while Scolipede can remove Latios, Latias and Azumarill. Starmie has reasonable type synergy with Scolipede, and can Rapid Spin away hazards, and can threaten ground types. If running Baton Pass, Mega Medicham, with Ice Punch for Landorus-T is a great receiver.
What counters it: Scolipede has trouble breaking through healthy physically defensive Ground and Steel types, such as Landorus-T, Hippowdon, Skarmory and Ferrothorn. Priority users can also revenge kill Scolipede. Phasing Scolipede is an option, especially if Stealth Rocks are up, as it will be very quickly worn down. In general, Scolipede can't sweep through a team without prior damage, so as long as one pokemon is healthy and not weak to any of Scolipede's moves, it won't be able to sweep. Scolipede lacks priority, and is vulnerable to being revenged killed or statused by a Prankster pokemon such as Thundurus. Talonflame will always be able to revenge kill Scolipede, while the following are benchmarks at which Scolipede will become vulnerable to other priority users.
252 Mega Pinsir Quick Attack - 83.3 - 98%
252+ Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch - 76.8 - 90.7%
252+ Choice Band Scizor Bullet Punch - 68.7 - 81%
252+ Life Orb Lucario Extreme Speed 47.1 - 55.5%
44+ Mega Scizor Bullet Punch - 44.4 - 52.5%
252 Life Orb Mamoswine Ice Shard - 36.6 - 43.6%
252+ Azumarill Aqua Jet - 33.9 - 40.5%
Any additional info: [Note: This is not the same EV spread as the one that's currently in the Smogon Dex, but from looking at the most recent usage statistics, most people are running 252 Speed Scolipede, so I decided that that was the best spread to go with, to be able to speed tie with other Scolipedes.]
Edit: Is a moderator able to give someone else control of the OP?
