Scrafty [QC 3/3][GP 2/2]

Checkmater

Checkmater

It’s just us kittens left, and the rain is coming
is a Tiering Contributor
[OVERVIEW]

Scrafty is a common pick for Trick Room teams, providing both Fake Out and Intimidate support. Its low base Speed lets it underspeed most of the metagame, including slower Pokemon such as Aegislash. With good coverage between its Dark- and Fighting-type STAB moves, Scrafty is a strong option that helps Trick Room teams tremendously versus Mega Kangaskhan and Steel-types such as Heatran and Aegislash. In addition, Scrafty has excellent typing synergy with Trick Room setters, resisting the Dark- and Ghost-type attacks they are often weak to. On the other hand, Scrafty is extremely weak to Fairy-types, such as Mega Diancie and Sylveon, as well as Fighting-types such as Keldeo, and its base 90 Attack is rather underwhelming. Opposing faster Fake Out users such as Mega Kangaskhan and Quick Guard users such as Keldeo also nullify Scrafty's ability to effectively provide Fake Out support to a team.

[SET]
name: Trick Room Attacker
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Drain Punch / Low Kick
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Head Smash / Ice Punch / Detect
item: Life Orb
ability: Intimidate
nature: Brave
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Fake Out helps immobilize an opposing Pokemon, giving Scrafty's partner room to attack set up Trick Room. Drain Punch is Scrafty's primary Fighting-type STAB move, hitting common threats to Trick Room teams such as Heatran and Kangaskhan while also recovering HP. Another option, Low Kick, does more damage against certain threats, such as Mega Kangaskhan, Kyurem-B, and Heatran, but does not provide recovery and is much weaker against lighter threats (such as?). Knock Off covers Ghost-types such as Aegislash, makes Scrafty difficult to switch into, and provides valuable utility in removing the opposing Pokemon's item, such as Safety Goggles to help sleep inducers on your team. Head Smash is a powerful move that allows Scrafty to hit Flying- and Fairy-types, such as Mega Charizard Y, Thundurus, Togekiss, and Sylveon, which it struggles to do any real damage against otherwise. Ice Punch is an option to cover Landorus-T. Protect is an all-around good move for Pokemon in Doubles to avoid taking damage while a partner deals with a threat. In addition, it is often unexpected on Scrafty, giving it a surprise factor and letting Scrafty avoid what would otherwise be free double targets.

Set Details
========

Scrafty's Intimidate lets it weaken opposing physical attackers, such as Mega Kangaskhan and Landorus-T. The EV investment lets Scrafty maximize its damage output and bulk. Minimizing Speed makes Scrafty underspeed most threats, including those in the critical base 60 Speed tier, under Trick Room while also giving it the potential to hit Aegislash with Knock Off after it transforms into its vulnerable Blade forme outside of Trick Room. If Scrafty is used on a non-Trick Room team, an Adamant nature is better.

Usage Tips
========

Scrafty's Fake Out utility should be used to help a teammate set up Trick Room. Keep in mind that opponents may predict Fake Out, so be conscious of opponents taking advantage of this for free switches; sometimes it can be better to just attack. Avoid status moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Spore, which neuter Scrafty's ability to contribute to its team. Preserve Scrafty when necessary, even when it is burned: its Intimidate and Fake Out utility is still incredibly valuable. Opposing Pokemon with Defiant or Competitive such as Bisharp and Milotic, respectively, may take advantage of Intimidate to get free boosts, so avoid bringing Scrafty in on these Pokemon.

Team Options
========

Trick Room setters such as Cresselia, Mega Diancie, Jellicent, and Reuniclus, which can take advantage of Scrafty's utility and also synergize well with its typing, make for good partners. Steel-types such as Heatran resist and can switch into Fairy-type attacks that Scrafty wishes to avoid. Talonflame is a big threat to Scrafty and Trick Room teams in general, so Talonflame checks such as Heatran and Rhyperior help Scrafty by switching into and threatening Talonflame. Amoonguss is a huge check to Trick Room teams, so Pokemon that are immune to Spore or can KO Amoonguss, such as Safety Goggles users and Fire-types such as Heatran and Talonflame, respectively, can remove Amoonguss to help Scrafty.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Despite the increased damage output and offensive presence Life Orb gives Scrafty, other items such as Safety Goggles, Assault Vest, Sitrus Berry, and Lum Berry can be considered to help Scrafty combat Amoonguss or give it more bulk and staying power. Taunt allows Scrafty to combat Amoonguss outside of Trick Room and can also stop opposing Pokemon from crippling a Trick Room setter with their own Taunt. Iron Head allows Scrafty to OHKO Mega Diancie while also doing significant damage to other Fairy-types such as Mega Gardevoir and Sylveon. Poison Jab provides coverage on Fairy-types and also has a chance to inflict poison. Super Fang deals a consistent 50% of an opposing Pokemon's current HP, letting Scrafty play around burns and Intimidate, both of which drop its damage output. High Jump Kick deals consistently higher damage and hits harder than the other Fighting-type move options, but Scrafty then must fear Protect and Ghost-type switch-ins, and it also has a chance to miss completely, causing Scrafty to take 50% of its HP in recoil damage.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Typing Advantage**: Fairy-types such as Sylveon resist Scrafty's STAB combination and threaten to easily OHKO it. Fighting-types such as Keldeo likewise threaten Scrafty. Powerful Flying-type STAB moves threaten Scrafty as well, and Talonflame's Brave Bird even has priority to move before Scrafty under Trick Room.

**Intimidate and Burns**: Scrafty can do little to stop Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Jellicent from burning it and halving its Attack. Intimidate from Pokemon such as Gyarados and Landorus-T reduces Scrafty's damage output and subsequenty the important offensive pressure it provides.

**Miscellaneous**: Defiant and Competitive users such as Bisharp and Milotic take advantage of Intimidate by gaining free offensive boosts. In particular, this makes Bisharp an even larger threat to Trick Room teams.

**Utility**: Not running Protect leaves Scrafty with little counterplay to an opposing Fake Out user, which will almost always be faster than Scrafty's Fake Out. In addition, Quick Guard users such as Keldeo can stop Scrafty from using Fake Out.
 
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AM check coming through, mainly nitpicks and not naming specific examples (which I think you're supposed to) - remember to check with QC before implementing.

OVERVIEW
  • Having good coverage in Dark- and Fighting-type STABs, Scrafty is a strong option which helps Trick Room teams (pretty sure you just missed this :P) tremendously versus Kangaskhan and Steel Types such as Heatran and Aegislash.
  • Scrafty is extremely weak to Fairy-types such as Mega Diancie and Sylveon, as well as Fighting-types such as Keldeo.
  • Opposing, faster Fake Out users such as Mega Kangaskhan or Quick Guard users such as Keldeo can nullify Scrafty's utility.
Moves
  • Drain Punch is Scrafty's primary fighting-type STAB, hitting common threats to Trick Room such as Heatran and Kangaskhan while also recovering HP. (you want say the benefits of using it over Low Kick)
  • Low Kick does more damage to certain Pokemon, notably allowing Scrafty to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan, Heatran and Kyurem-B, (these are pretty important benefits) but lacks recovery and hits much weaker on lighter threats. being easy to switch into
  • Head Smash is a powerful move that allows Scrafty to hit Flying- and Fairy-types such as Charizard-Y, Thundurus, Sylveon, and Togekiss, which it lacks strong coverage options for struggles to do any real damage against otherwise.
  • Super Fang is an option that lets Scrafty play around burns and Intimidates while also ignoring type effectiveness (bar Ghost-types).
  • Protect is often unexpected on Scrafty, giving it surprise factor while also being an all-around good move for Pokemon in Doubles to prevent taking damage while a partner deals with a threat.
Set Details
  • Scrafty's Intimidate lets it severely weaken the strength of opposing physical attackers such as Kangaskhan or Landorus-Therian, and so helps Scrafty fulfill it's support role.
  • The EV investment lets Scrafty maximize its damage while putting the rest into bulk (maybe look for a slightly more efficient spread possibly, idk, -1 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Superpower vs. 208 HP / 48 Def Scrafty: 273-322 (84.5 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO))
  • Minimizing speed makes Scrafty underspeed most threats, including the important base 60 Speed tier, under Trick Room while also having the potential to hit Aegislash with a Knock Off after it Stance Changes into its vulnerable Blade Forme outside of Trick Room.
Usage Tips
  • Opposing Pokemon with the abilities Defiant or Competitive (listing the more common one first is better I think) such as Bisharp and Milotic respectively may take advantage of your Intimidate giving free boosts, so avoid bringing Scrafty in on these Pokemon.
  • Avoid being hit by Fairy and Fighting-type attacks (this is an extremely basic point where you need to explain how these attacks are different from other super effective types and tbh idk why is here :P)
Team Options
  • Steels such as Heatran and Aegislash resist and can switch in-to Fairy-type attacks, with Aegislash also offering Wide Guard support to protect Scrafty from Hyper Voice.
  • Talonflame checks such as Heatran or Rhyperior help Scrafty avoid (not the right word lol :B) by being able to switch in and threaten Talonflame.
  • Spore immunities and Amoonguss killers, such as Pokemon with the item Safety Goggles, such as Cresselia, or Fire types such as Heatran or Talonflame all help switch in and remove Amoonguss to help Scrafty out.
Other Options
  • Items such as Safety Goggles, Assault Vest or Sitrus Berry help Scrafty combat Amoonguss or give it more bulk Despite the offensive power Life Orb brings Scrafty, other items can be used to increase its utility. Safety Goggles gives a vital immunity to Rage Powder and Spore, Assault Vest lets Scrafty take special hits better, while Sitrus Berry gives a slight boost to Scrafty's overall bulk. (you make the effects of each item a bit ambiguous here :P)
  • Taunt allows Scrafty to combat Amoonguss outside of Trick Room, and can also be used to catch opposing Taunt users off-guard as you use Protect on your Trick Room setter.
  • Iron Head allows Scrafty to OHKO Diancie, and also do significant damage to other Fairy-types which would otherwise cause problems such as Mega Gardevoir and Sylveon.
  • High Jump Kick has more higher consistent damage and hits harder than the other Fighting-type coverage move options, but fears Protect and Ghost-type switch ins while also having a chance to just miss completely.
Checks and Counters
  • **Typing Advantage**: Fairy types such as Sylveon resist Scrafty's dual STABs and threatens to easily OHKO Scrafty. Fighting types such as Keldeo threaten to OHKO Scrafty, however after Intimidate most physical Fighting-types cannot outright KO Scrafty from full.
  • **Intimidate and Burns**: Scrafty has little to stop Pokemon such as Rotom-Wash or Jellicent from burning it and halving Scrafty's damage. Intimidate greatly reduces Scrafty's damage and so reduces the important offensive pressure it upholds.
  • **Misc**: Defiant and Competitive users such as Bisharp and Milotic take advantage of Intimidate and get by gaining free boosts, with Bisharp in particular becoming an even more massive threat to the Trick Room team.
 
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^ do everything in Yoda2798's check. When checking though, I'd just tell them what to do / add / omit instead of totally spoonfeeding them exact text, just to let the writer provide his own voice to the analysis

On another note, add some of these more obvious stuff:
  • in the Overview, say that Scrafty's Attack is a tad bit underwhelming / weak.
  • Lum in OO yn
  • Mention crash damage along with the chance-to-miss mention of HJK.
I'll probs look this over again once you implement the check above. With a stamp too :)!
 
QC :)!

Overview
  • "Scrafty is a common pick for Trick Room teams, providing both Fake Out and Intimidate support" and "Low base speed lets it underspeed most of the other Trick Room attackers, as well as slower Pokemon in the meta, such as Aegislash and Sylveon" should be condensed together. Low base Speed is what makes Scrafty a pick for TR in the first place.
  • "Sleep users such as Amoonguss or Breloom pressure Scrafty under Trick Room, and out of it, respectively" this is true for most pokemon, so this is not worth mentioning in the overview.
Moves
  • Mention Kyu-B too imo in Low Kick's targets.
  • "Super Fang is an option that lets Scrafty play around burns and Intimidates" how? Say that it deals consistent damage of half the target's HP, which is what lets it ignore Attack control.
  • I'd rephrase the Protect mention to say the actual use first then the surprise factor.
Set Details
  • For Intimidate, try to look for a lighter adjective than "severely"
  • [09:33] @ shaian:id go brave with adamant in set details ---> Adamant in set details
Usage Tips
  • "Preserve Scrafty when necessary, even when burned: its Intimidate and Fake Out utility are still incredibly valuable" You should also add a bit somewhere about NOT GETTING BURNED
Team Options
  • "Trick Room setters such as Chandelure, Diancie, Jellicent, or Reuniclus which can take advantage of Scrafty's utility also synergize well with Scrafty's typing" Mention CRESSELIA, first example. Also imo 5 examples is a lot so take something out like Reun I guess?
  • "Spore immunities and Amoonguss killers" Why do you want Amoong killers? Because Amoong is an asshole to TR teams. Mention that. Also I'd refrain from using the term "killers" and instead use "Pokemon that can beat / KO / <w/e> Amoonguss"
Checks and Counters
  • Mention examples of Intimidate Pokemon (Landorus-T, Gyarados)
Good enough. Let's go 1/3
 
You should elaborate why your using Head Smash over Stone Edge. 50% recoil + Life Orb recoil is huge, particularly for something that is meant to take a hit. Stone Edge always OHKOes 248 HP / 64 Def Mega Zard Y even when Intimidated, and Stone Edge and Head Smash both 2HKO Togekiss where as Scrafty is only OHKOed by Air Slash after both Head Smash + LO recoil. Admittedly Head Smash OHKOes Thundurus where as Stone Edge doesn't, and Head Smash is superior against Sylveon since that's OHKOing you no matter what and the extra damage may help an ally KO it before it attacks.

Personally I would choose Stone Edge.
 
head smash ohkos toge after fake out (ie you fake out t1 set t1 then ohko togekiss so you can burn/hit toge's partner)
also ohkos bulky thundurus and -1 ohkos offensive thundurus
Also recoil can be a good thing in many situations where scrafty is dead weight versus opps (or burned/intimidated) to get it out of the way without having the awkwardness of being forced to predict if they'll predict a switch etc
Also hits fairies that the other two can't hit for more damage
also -2 252+ Atk Life Orb Scrafty Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 64 Def Charizard: 411-489 (114.1 - 135.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO (applies to burn or 2 rounds of intimidate

Basically more damage is better

Kang uses double edge sometimes for 17.6% gain in damage and 33% recoil
Scrafty can use head smash for 50% gain in damage and 50% recoil
obviously not the same thing but analogy of extra damage for recoil is applicable
before someone says "oh but there are people that ev for kang return" there are people that ev for diancie dstorm and head smash does just enough over that to get those ohkos
 
checkmater75 said:
head smash ohkos toge after fake out (ie you fake out t1 set t1 then ohko togekiss so you can burn/hit toge's partner)
also ohkos bulky thundurus and -1 ohkos offensive thundurus
Also recoil can be a good thing in many situations where scrafty is dead weight versus opps (or burned/intimidated) to get it out of the way without having the awkwardness of being forced to predict if they'll predict a switch etc
Also hits fairies that the other two can't hit for more damage
also -2 252+ Atk Life Orb Scrafty Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 64 Def Charizard: 411-489 (114.1 - 135.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO (applies to burn or 2 rounds of intimidate

Basically more damage is better

Kang uses double edge sometimes for 17.6% gain in damage and 33% recoil
Scrafty can use head smash for 50% gain in damage and 50% recoil
obviously not the same thing but analogy of extra damage for recoil is applicable
before someone says "oh but there are people that ev for kang return" there are people that ev for diancie dstorm and head smash does just enough over that to get those ohkos
Click to expand...

252+ Atk Life Orb Scrafty Fake Out vs. 248 HP / 192 Def Togekiss: 43-51 (11.5 - 13.6%) -- possible 8HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Scrafty Head Smash vs. 248 HP / 192 Def Togekiss: 312-369 (83.6 - 98.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
355 - 420. Not guaranteed but likely 2HKO with Fake Out + Head Smash

At least OO Stone Edge


Also not sure if this has changed, so QC should double check, I thought it's standard practice to use Detect > Protect cause of the never-seen Imprison being more likely than running out of PP.
 
implemented detect>protect
don't think stone edge is worth the OO, might elaborate into a assault vest set which would use stone edge
 
I think this might be the first time I've agreed with checkmater, but Head Smash is a good idea and Stone Edge really isn't. Traditionally I'd use Poison Jab or Iron Head to hit Fairies.

252+ Atk Life Orb Scrafty Poison Jab vs. 56 HP / 200 Def Sylveon: 213-252 (61.7 - 73%)
252+ Atk Life Orb Scrafty Poison Jab vs. 164 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 234-276 (61.2 - 72.2%)
252+ Atk Life Orb Scrafty Poison Jab vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gardevoir: 276-325 (99.2 - 116.9%)
obviously Iron Head OHKOs Diancie (but does shit to Azu)

That's been enough damage to scare away the most obvious switchins to Scrafty, except the super bulky Fairy Togekiss.

Stone Edge just doesn't do nearly enough to these Fairies to get mentioned imo. Head Smash on the other hand has 150 power compared to PJab/IHead's 160 after SE calculation, so it does nearly as much, while also picking up Togekiss, Charizard-Y, and Thundurus as targets.

And I don't think Scrafty dying quickly should be a big concern. TR wants power and maximizing the use of its turns. The only downside is maybe losing specifically your Fake Out user faster, and Fake Out can be essential sometimes to reset TR. But losing a mon to recoil in general isn't a big deal.
 
Not seeing the point of Super Fang as Ice Punch will hit Lando and Fighting moves hit opposing Scrafty. I know there's Gyarados but you have Head Smash for that. And if it's for Burns, use Facade tbh - but no don't actually use Facade or Super Fang. Both are inefficient. The set minus Super Fang looks good though.

In the overview, I wouldn't say it's slower than most TR attackers. It's faster than Mega Camerupt, Rhyperior, Mega Abomasnow, and Azumarill for example. It does however have a neat speed tier as you pointed out for the enormous amount of base 60 mons that are seen as "slow."

In set details, idk if I'd even mention Adamant or non-TR use. Scrafty barely has a niche outside of TR. There are plenty of other better fast Fake Out users. And even then I'd use Brave to check opposing TR.

Fix these 3 pretty minor things and it's 2/3
 
The set still has some use in a non-TR teams as an okay role-compressor for Fake Out + Intimidate if both are desired, so Adamant is still usable tbh.

If for some reason we have to axe Super Fang from the set, put it in OO with the same reasoning that's already there.
 
ok implemented, writeup will be done when I get home, thanks for the check
 
[Overview]
Remove Sylveon from things which Scrafty can underspeed, as, even though it is factually true, it's not like Scrafty can do much to Sylveon to threaten it out

[Usage Tips]
Remove "Avoid being hit by Fairy and strong Fighting-type attacks, most of which easily OHKO Scrafty" since something like that should be considered common knowledge, as it is essentially "avoid taking super-effective hits" which applies universally to every pokemon

[Other Options]
Mention Poison Jab, it actually is pretty nifty in that it can ohko 4 hp mega gardevoir 99.3% of the time, and 2hkos sylveon without recoil, it also has a slick 30% chance to poison shit for chip damage so it's not entirely useless after a burn or something

Checks & Counters
Under Typing Advantage mention Talonflame as well. I know the set has Head Smash, but talonflame can bypass that with Gale Wings

other than that 3/3
 
GP 1/2
add remove comment
[OVERVIEW]

Scrafty is a common pick for Trick Room teams, providing both Fake Out and Intimidate support. Its low base Speed lets it underspeed most of the metagame, including slower Pokemon in the meta, such as Aegislash. Having With good coverage in between its Dark- and Fighting-type STAB moves, Scrafty is a strong option that which helps Trick Room teams tremendously versus Kangaskhan and Steel-types such as Heatran and Aegislash. In addition, Scrafty has brings excellent typing synergy with Trick Room setters, resisting the which are often weak to Dark- and or Ghost-type attacks, which Scrafty resists they are often weak to. On the other hand, Scrafty is extremely weak to Fairy-types, such as Mega Diancie and Sylveon, as well as Fighting-types such as Keldeo, and its base 90 Attack stat is rather underwhelming. When facing oOpposing faster Fake Out users that are faster than Scrafty or and Quick Guard users such as Keldeo, these threats also nullify Scrafty's ability to effectively provide Fake Out support to a team.

[SET]
name: Trick Room Fake Out Attacker
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Drain Punch / Low Kick
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Head Smash / Ice Punch / Detect (shouldn't this be Protect)
item: Life Orb
ability: Intimidate
nature: Brave
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Fake Out helps immobilize an opposing Pokemon, giving Scrafty's partner room to breathe or providing sufficient support to set up Trick Room. Drain Punch is Scrafty's primary Fighting-type STAB move, hitting common threats to Trick Room teams such as Heatran and Kangaskhan while also recovering HP. Another option, Low Kick, does more damage against certain threats, such as Kangaskhan, Kyurem-Black, (AC) and Heatran, but does not provide lacks recovery and is hits much weaker on against lighter threats. Scrafty's Dark-Type STAB, Knock Off, (RC) covers Ghost-types such as Aegislash, (RC) and provides valuable utility in removing knocking off the opposing Pokemon's items, such as Safety Goggles to help sleep inducers on your team, and making it difficult to switch into, and also possibly removing an opposing Safety Goggles for sleep-users on the team. Head Smash is a powerful move that allows Scrafty to hit Flying- and Fairy-types, such as Mega Charizard Y, Thundurus, Togekiss, and Sylveon, which it struggles to do any real damage against otherwise. Ice Punch is an option to cover Landorus-Therian. Protect is an all-around good move for Pokemon in Doubles to prevent avoid taking damage while a partner deals with a threat. In addition, it is often unexpected on Scrafty, giving it a surprise factor and letting Scrafty avoid what would otherwise be free double targets.

Set Details
========

Scrafty's Intimidate lets it weaken the strength of opposing physical attackers, such as Kangaskhan or and Landorus-Therian, providing team support. The EV investment lets Scrafty maximize its damage output while putting the rest into bulk. Minimizing Speed makes Scrafty underspeed most threats, including the critical base 60 Speed tier, under Trick Room while also giving it having the potential to hit Aegislash with a Knock Off after it Stance Changes into its vulnerable Blade forme outside of Trick Room. If Scrafty is used on a non-Trick Room team, an Adamant nature is better.

Usage Tips
========

Scrafty's Fake Out utility should be used to help a teammate set up Trick Room be set up. Keep in mind that sometimes opponents may predict Fake Out, so be conscious of opponents taking advantage of this for free switches; sometimes it can be better to just attack with Scrafty. Avoid status moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Spore, which neuters Scrafty's ability to contribute to its team. Preserve Scrafty when necessary, even when it is burned: its Intimidate and Fake Out utility are still incredibly valuable. Opposing Pokemon with the abilitiesy Defiant or Competitive such as Bisharp and Milotic respectively may take advantage of your Intimidate to get giving free boosts, so avoid bringing Scrafty in on these Pokemon.

Team Options
========

Trick Room setters such as Cresselia, Diancie, Jellicent, or and Reuniclus, (AC) which can take advantage of Scrafty's utility and also synergize well with its Scrafty's typing, (AC) are good partners for Scrafty. Steel-types such as Heatran resist and can switch into Fairy-type attacks that which Scrafty wishes to avoid. Talonflame is a big threat to Scrafty and Trick Room in general, so Talonflame checks such as Heatran or and Rhyperior help Scrafty by switching into and threatening Talonflame. Amoonguss is a huge check to Trick Room teams, so Spore-immune Pokemon immunities and Pokemon that can KO Amoonguss, such as Pokemon with the item Safety Goggles users and or Fire-types such as Heatran or and Talonflame, (AC) can remove Amoonguss to help Scrafty. (AP)

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Despite the increased damage output and offensive presence Life Orb gives Scrafty, other items such as Safety Goggles, Assault Vest, Sitrus Berry, or and Lum Berry can be considered to are choices that help Scrafty combat Amoonguss or give it more bulk and staying power. Taunt allows Scrafty to combat Amoonguss outside of Trick Room and can also stop opposing Pokemon from Taunting a Trick Room setter. Iron Head allows Scrafty to OHKO Diancie while also doing significant damage to other Fairy-types such as Gardevoir and Sylveon. Poison Jab provides coverage on Fairy-types and also has a chance to inflict poison. Super Fang could be used as it deals a consistent 50% of an opposing Pokemon's current HP, letting Scrafty play around burns and Intimidates, (AC) both of which drop its damage output for other coverage moves, but not Super Fang. High Jump Kick has higher consistent damage and hits harder than the other Fighting-type move options, but you then must fears Protect and Ghost-type switch-ins, and it while also having has a chance to miss completely. If High Jump Kick fails, it causes, causing Scrafty to take 50% of its HP in recoil damage.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Typing Advantage**: Fairy-types such as Sylveon resist Scrafty's dual STABs STAB combination and threaten to easily OHKO Scrafty. Fighting-types such as Keldeo threaten to OHKO Scrafty (replace this with something else; it's too repetitive). Powerful Flying-type STAB moves, such as Talonflame's Brave Bird, threaten Scrafty, (AC) and Talonflame's Brave Bird even has also have priority to move before Scrafty even under Trick Room.

**Intimidate and Burns**: Scrafty has can do little to stop Pokemon such as Rotom-Wash or and Jellicent from burning it and halving its Attack Scrafty's damage. Intimidate from Pokemon such as Gyarados and Landorus-Therian reduces Scrafty's damage output and so reduces thus the important offensive pressure it provides.

**Miscellaneous**: Defiant and Competitive users such as Bisharp and Milotic take advantage of Intimidate by gaining free boosts. In particular, this makes Bisharp an even larger threat to Trick Room teams.

**Utility**: Not running Protect leaves Scrafty with little counterplay to an opposing Fake Out, which will almost always be faster than Scrafty's Fake Out. In addition, Quick Guard users such as Keldeo can stop Scrafty from using Fake Out.
 
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Add Remove Comment
[OVERVIEW]

Scrafty is a common pick for Trick Room teams, providing both Fake Out and Intimidate support. Its low base Speed lets it underspeed most of the metagame, including slower Pokemon such as Aegislash. With good coverage between its Dark- and Fighting-type STAB moves, Scrafty is a strong option that helps Trick Room teams tremendously versus Mega Kangaskhan and Steel-types such as Heatran and Aegislash. In addition, Scrafty has excellent typing synergy with Trick Room setters, resisting the Dark- and Ghost-type attacks they are often weak to. On the other hand, Scrafty is extremely weak to Fairy-types, such as Mega Diancie and Sylveon, as well as Fighting-types such as Keldeo, and its base 90 Attack is rather underwhelming. Opposing faster Fake Out users (such as?) and Quick Guard users such as Keldeo also nullify Scrafty's ability to effectively provide Fake Out support to a team.

[SET]
name: Trick Room Fake Out Attacker (long set name if you ask me)
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Drain Punch / Low Kick
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Head Smash / Ice Punch / Detect
item: Life Orb
ability: Intimidate
nature: Brave
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Fake Out helps immobilize an opposing Pokemon, giving Scrafty's partner room to breathe or (too casual for an analysis) set up Trick Room. Drain Punch is Scrafty's primary Fighting-type STAB move, hitting common threats to Trick Room teams such as Heatran and Kangaskhan while also recovering HP. Another option, Low Kick, does more damage against certain threats, such as Mega Kangaskhan, Kyurem-Black, and Heatran, but does not provide recovery and is much weaker against lighter threats (such as?). Knock Off covers Ghost-types such as Aegislash, makes Scrafty difficult to switch into, and provides valuable utility in removing the opposing Pokemon's items, such as Safety Goggles to help sleep inducers on your team, and making it difficult to switch into. Head Smash is a powerful move that allows Scrafty to hit Flying- and Fairy-types, such as Mega Charizard Y, Thundurus, Togekiss, and Sylveon, which it struggles to do any real damage against otherwise. Ice Punch is an option to cover Landorus-T. Protect is an all-around good move for Pokemon in Doubles to avoid taking damage while a partner deals with a threat. In addition, it is often unexpected on Scrafty, giving it a surprise factor and letting Scrafty avoid what would otherwise be free double targets.

Set Details
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Scrafty's Intimidate lets it weaken opposing physical attackers, such as Mega Kangaskhan and Landorus-T, providing team support. The EV investment lets Scrafty maximize its damage output while putting the rest into and bulk. Minimizing Speed makes Scrafty underspeed most threats, including those in the critical base 60 Speed tier, under Trick Room while also giving it the potential to hit Aegislash with a Knock Off after it Stance Changes transforms into its vulnerable Blade forme outside of Trick Room. If Scrafty is used on a non-Trick Room team, an Adamant nature is better.

Usage Tips
========

Scrafty's Fake Out utility should be used to help a teammate set up Trick Room. Keep in mind that opponents may predict Fake Out, so be conscious of opponents taking advantage of this for free switches; sometimes it can be better to just attack with Scrafty. Avoid status moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Spore, which neuter Scrafty's ability to contribute to its team. Preserve Scrafty when necessary, even when it is burned: its Intimidate and Fake Out utility are is still incredibly valuable. Opposing Pokemon with the ability Defiant or Competitive such as Bisharp and Milotic, respectively, may take advantage of Intimidate to get free boosts, so avoid bringing Scrafty in on these Pokemon.

Team Options
========

Trick Room setters such as Cresselia, Mega Diancie, Jellicent, and Reuniclus, (AC) which can take advantage of Scrafty's utility and also synergize well with its typing, make for are good partners for Scrafty. Steel-types such as Heatran resist and can switch into Fairy-type attacks that which Scrafty wishes to avoid. Talonflame is a big threat to Scrafty and Trick Room teams in general, so Talonflame checks such as Heatran and Rhyperior help Scrafty by switching into and threatening Talonflame. Amoonguss is a huge check to Trick Room teams, so Spore-immune Pokemon and Pokemon that are immune to Spore or can KO Amoonguss, such as Safety Goggles users and Fire-types such as Heatran and Talonflame, respectively, can remove Amoonguss to help Scrafty.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Despite the increased damage output and offensive presence Life Orb gives Scrafty, other items such as Safety Goggles, Assault Vest, Sitrus Berry, and Lum Berry can be considered to help Scrafty combat Amoonguss or give it more bulk and staying power. Taunt allows Scrafty to combat Amoonguss outside of Trick Room and can also stop opposing Pokemon from Taunting crippling a Trick Room setter with their own Taunt. Iron Head allows Scrafty to OHKO Mega Diancie while also doing significant damage to other Fairy-types such as Mega Gardevoir and Sylveon. Poison Jab provides coverage on Fairy-types and also has a chance to inflict poison. Super Fang deals a consistent 50% of an opposing Pokemon's current HP, letting Scrafty play around burns and Intimidate, both of which drop its damage output for other coverage moves. High Jump Kick has higher deals consistently higher damage and hits harder than the other Fighting-type move options, but you Scrafty then must fear Protect and Ghost-type switch-ins, and it also has a chance to miss completely, causing Scrafty to take 50% of its HP in recoil damage.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Typing Advantage**: Fairy-types such as Sylveon resist Scrafty's STAB combination and threaten to easily OHKO Scrafty it. Fighting-types such as Keldeo likewise threaten Scrafty. Powerful Flying-type STAB moves(space)threaten Scrafty as well, and Talonflame's Brave Bird even has priority to move before Scrafty even under Trick Room.

**Intimidate and Burns**: Scrafty can do little to stop Pokemon such as Rotom-W(space)and Jellicent from burning it and halving its Attack. Intimidate from Pokemon such as Gyarados and Landorus-T reduces Scrafty's damage output and thus subsequenty the important offensive pressure it provides.

**Miscellaneous**: Defiant and Competitive users such as Bisharp and Milotic take advantage of Intimidate by gaining free offensive boosts. In particular, this makes Bisharp an even larger threat to Trick Room teams.

**Utility**: Not running Protect leaves Scrafty with little counterplay to an opposing Fake Out user, which will almost always be faster than Scrafty's Fake Out. In addition, Quick Guard users such as Keldeo can stop Scrafty from using Fake Out.
GP 2/2
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