QC Approved 3/3
*PttP wrote [most of] the Dragon Dance set, I (Delta 2777) wrote the Bulk Up set as well as the overview/counters/etc. Please be sure to give him partial credit.
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[Overview]
<p>Blessed with Dark / Fighting typing and decent stats all around, Scrafty lives up to its reputation of being a bad-ass ghetto lizard. Sporting good defenses, decent Attack, and two different boosting moves in Bulk Up and Dragon Dance, Scrafty is a versatile threat, viable on both balanced and offensive teams. The combination of Rest and Shed Skin is another neat perk of Scrafty's that allows it to heal itself somewhat reliably and distinguish itself from similar Pokemon. While its low Speed and weakness to Fighting-type moves hold it back from being a top-tier threat, Scrafty has just the right moves, stats, and typing to find a niche in the standard metagame.</p>
[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Hi Jump Kick / Drain Punch
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Ice Punch / Taunt
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Moxie / Shed Skin
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Although its less-than-stellar Speed and average Attack make it an odd choice, Scrafty makes an excellent user of Dragon Dance. It is blessed with Dark- and Fighting-type STABs in Hi Jump Kick and Crunch that are resisted by only Heracross and Toxicroak, neither of which is extremely common. It also has the choice of two fantastic abilities in Moxie and Shed Skin. Moxie is preferred as it gives a +1 Attack boost after each kill, boosting Scrafty’s modest Attack to intimidating levels. On the other hand, Shed Skin allows Scrafty to set up on Pokemon that it otherwise could not, such as Will-O-Wisp Jellicent and Thunder Wave Ferrothorn, although this comes at the price of needing more boosts to sweep efficiently. Drain Punch is an acceptable option over Hi Jump Kick as it gives Scrafty some much-needed recovery and has a 100% hit rate, although there is a notable difference in power as Scrafty can no longer 2HKO physically defensive Hippowdon after a Dragon Dance. Ice Punch allows Scrafty to dispose of certain bulky Flying-types, such as Gliscor, Zapdos, and Dragonite. Taunt is useful when Moxie is used, as it prevents Scrafty from getting hit with status moves. Life Orb makes Scrafty an immediate power threat, while Leftovers can potentially allow him to gain more Dragon Dances under his belt.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With a Jolly nature and maximum Speed investment, Scrafty is able to outrun up to positive-natured base 111s, most notably Thundurus and Tornadus, and obliterate them with Ice Punch. An alternate spread of 140 HP / 176 Atk / 192 Spe with an Adamant nature is usable as it actually makes Scrafty stronger and bulkier, but at the cost of Speed. For example, after one Dragon Dance it will only be able to outspeed neutral-natured base 100s at best, making Scrafty more susceptible to Pokemon such as Infernape and Terrakion. Even with no investment in defenses, Scrafty makes great use of its 65 / 115 / 115 base defenses in withstanding common priority, as even a Mach Punch from an Adamant Conkeldurr will never OHKO Scrafty.</p>
<p>Scrafty doesn't have many options other than the ones listed already. It can use Stone Edge for Gyarados, but other than that, Ice Punch vastly outclasses it. Scrafty can run a moveset of Dragon Dance / Rest / Drain Punch / Crunch with Shed Skin to reliably set up on weaker Pokemon, such as Gliscor, but it is susceptible on the turns Shed Skin does not activate. Scrafty faces much competition from other Dragon Dance users, such as Dragonite and Salamence, so it is important to make sure when you are making your team that you are fully utilizing Scrafty for its niche to hit many Pokemon with its great STAB attacks; otherwise you are probably better off using something else. Finally, Chople Berry deserves a special mention as an alternative item choice. This allows Scrafty to survive an otherwise fatal blow such as Terrakion's Close Combat or Conkeldurr's Drain Punch, provided that Scrafty has a reasonable amount of health left. However, it is situational, and in other instances you may miss out on valuable Leftovers recovery or the power boost provided by Life Orb.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulk Up
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Drain Punch
move 3: Crunch / Dragon Tail
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers
ability: Shed Skin
evs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 248 SpD
nature: Careful
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Scrafty's impressive bulk, in conjunction with its typing and ability, make it a fine user of the move Bulk Up. Drain Punch and Crunch, both of which recieve STAB, have excellent coverage together, hitting all but Heracross and Toxicroak for at least neutral damage. Drain Punch also has the advantage of restoring Scrafty's HP while simultaneously dishing out damage, making Scrafty even more difficult to KO. After accumulating enough boosts, Scrafty can simply use Rest to completely restore its HP, and thanks to Shed Skin, potentially wake up immediately after using the move with no consequences. The EVs maximize Scrafty's ability to take special attacks, as its Defense will be boosted by Bulk Up.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Payback is an option over Crunch; while it has 100 Base Power when going second, it no longer doubles in power on the switch and only hits for a meager 50 Base Power against notable threats such as Reuniclus and Cofagrigus. Dragon Tail is another viable option over Crunch, allong Scrafty to beat opposing stat boosters such as Conkeldurr, Salamence, and Suicune. Dragon Tail also has the advantage of hitting all Pokemon bar Shedinja for at least neutral damage alongside Drain Punch, although Dragon Tail will generally not hit as hard as Crunch.</p>
<p>Scrafty can also be EVed to outspeed certain threats such as Metagross, Scizor, and Vaporeon; however, you are usually better off simply investing in its defenses. While Scrafty's Special Defense is very good, it will still fold to powerful special attacks such as Virizion's Focus Blast, so exercise caution when setting up.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>An anti-lead set can work effectively, as Fake Out can be used to break any Focus Sash that the opposing Pokemon may hold, while having the rest of Scrafty's movepool to eliminate the opposing threat. However, with the advent of team preview, designated leads are practically non-existent.</p>
<p>In addition to what has been previously listed, Scrafty also has access to Head Smash, Stone Edge, Fire Punch, and ThunderPunch (among other moves). However, Scrafty is better suited to using Ice Punch on the Dragon Dance set, as it otherwise has difficulty defeating the omnipresent Gliscor, Dragonite, and Salamence. Finally, Hi Jump Kick is an option on the Bulk Up set for a boost in power, but is generally not worth the lack of reliability and self-healing.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Physically bulky Pokemon that can phaze Scrafty out, such as Hippowdon, Skarmory, and Swampert can force Scrafty out as long as it isn't the last Pokemon on its team. Powerful Flying- and Fighting-type moves can inflict serious damage on Scrafty, as long as it hasn't yet accumulated numerous Bulk Up boosts, or if they're special. Good users of these moves are Terrakion, Virizion, Staraptor, and Conkeldurr. Users of Trick and Encore will also cripple most Scrafty sets, as they can lock Scrafty into Bulk Up or Dragon Dance. While Scrafty has decent defenses, boosted hits from certain powerhouses such as Latios will often be too much for Scrafty to handle.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Scrafty gets Intimidate as an alternative ability from Dream World; while still a great ability, it is often overshadowed by either either Moxie or Shed Skin, depending on the set. However, Intimidate is still viable on any set, as it may come in handy in some situations, particularly when trying to prevent a sweep by a physical attacker.</p>
