Hello! I've been working on a team for VGC. I got tired of using my Gigas+Weezing team, Coallossal is fun but dies to everything, and I didn't want to use Celesteela. I figured I may as well try to build around my favorite pokemon, Sceptile, even if it's not neccesarily optimal. I built this team yesterday and I have been playing a lot of showdown with it, and it's been fun. I'd say maybe a ~40% winrate, but that's just because Sceptile, imo, is probably not the best meta call. I would appreciate help to make it better, though! I have been using it on Smogon, and my rating has dropped from 1300ish to about 1100ish, but I'm after fun even if I don't win.
https://pokepast.es/89ac325278840e62
Sceptile @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Unburden
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Rock Slide
- Thunder Punch
- Swords Dance
I love Sceptile! That's the whole point of the team. Sceptile is not very defensively powerful, but it can take a couple of hits when dynamaxed, so despite my hate for the mechanic in general, I love Sceptile as a dynamax target/win con. I chose to go physical because the movepool is better, it's less expected, and it has Swords Dance. Leaf Blade is the obvious STAB, then I like Rock Slide because outside of Dynamax, it's effective to hit both foes. It also hits Glastrier, Torkoal, and flying types pretty hard as Max Rockfall. My last team was weak to Celesteela, and Sceptile is normally walled by Steela, so I wanted to run Thunder Punch to get the KO on Steela and others. I considered EQ, but it doesn't go very well with Ninetales. With unburden, timid nature would be very redundant, so I chose Adamant to maximize power. Almost nothing outspeeds Sceptile after unburden, even with boosts.
Ninetales-Alola @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Shard
- Blizzard
- Dazzling Gleam
- Aurora Veil
After deciding to use weakness policy Sceptile, I needed a way to guarantee a self-proc for the policy. Ninetales-Alola is probably one of the better utility mons that gets ice shard, and it has Aurora Veil to shore up Sceptile's low defenses. I wanted it to also be an offensive threat, so I gave it max special attack EVs and Blizzard. Dazzling Gleam hits Kingdra for at least a little bit of chip, and is really good against Urshifu. In play, I found that if I predicted properly, I can outplay the opponent's weather with Ninetales, and that's another piece of utility. Unfortunately, Ninetales is a huge defensive liability besides giving the team Aurora Veil, but I couldn't think of a better support mon for Sceptile.
Generally, if I lead Sceptile-Ninetales, I look to see if they might KO Sceptile immediately. If not, I use SD and Aurora Veil. If they might, then I immediately dynamax Sceptile, Ice Shard, then try to KO the threat with Sceptile's max moves.
With those two mons, I tried to think of what would stop them most effectively. Steel types are not easy to kill, Incineroar is good against us, and weather does pretty well. I thought if I had a ground type, fire type, and electric type, it would help discourage the use of my counters.
Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 116 Atk / 36 Def / 76 SpD / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Fly
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
Landorus-Therian has always been a good Pokemon, and is great both to set up for Sceptile with Intimidate and U-turn, and to remove checks with Earthquake. It also works great as an alternate Dynamax target if Sceptile is poorly positioned to sweep. Fly helps it dodge moves for a turn, and gives it a good Max Airstream, then Rock Slide is a great spread move that doesn't damage teammates.
Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 76 Def / 188 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Parting Shot
- Protect
Incineroar is the best pivot in the format, in my opinion, and Parting Shot helps set up for Sceptile to sweep effectively. The set is pretty standard, except for the Protect, which is there specifically so that Landorus doesn't hurt it with Earthquake. I like Flare blitz over Darkness Lariat because it hits Celesteela for super-effective damage, and generally is more effective.
Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability: Static
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Detect
I really wanted an electric type to be able to check rain and hit the other flying types in the format. I considered using a Rotom form, but decided that something more offensive would be more effective. Zapdos is perfect here, as it does really well against things that Sceptile struggles with, like Venusaur/Torkoal. Thunderbolt hits hard as STAB, Hurricane is a good max move if needed and does well in rain. Heat wave is a classic spread move that hits steel types hard. Detect is just to dodge attacks when neccesarry.
For the last slot in my party, I thought a water type would be good. I originally had Urshifu Rapid-Strike, but found that the shared weakness to flying with Sceptile wasn't optimal. I tried Pelliper and Gyarados, but they weren't very effective. That led me to my final team member, Tapu Fini:
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Muddy Water
- Calm Mind
- Protect
I wanted to maximize the offensive potential of the Fini, so I chose to maximize special attack, and 124 speed EVs gets it to 124, outspeeding neutral base 70s. Moonblast does more damage as a single target move, and I already had Dazzling Gleam as a spread move on my Ninetales. Muddy Water is the best water spread move. Calm mind turns Fini into a potent win con, and protect saves it from EQ and helps stall out Dynamax.
So I like the team so far, Sceptile is nice to use, Ninetales is interesting, the rest are bog-standard meta builds that do well against Sceptile's checks. Tips/suggestions (other than getting rid of Sceptile) welcome!
https://pokepast.es/89ac325278840e62
Sceptile @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Unburden
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Rock Slide
- Thunder Punch
- Swords Dance
I love Sceptile! That's the whole point of the team. Sceptile is not very defensively powerful, but it can take a couple of hits when dynamaxed, so despite my hate for the mechanic in general, I love Sceptile as a dynamax target/win con. I chose to go physical because the movepool is better, it's less expected, and it has Swords Dance. Leaf Blade is the obvious STAB, then I like Rock Slide because outside of Dynamax, it's effective to hit both foes. It also hits Glastrier, Torkoal, and flying types pretty hard as Max Rockfall. My last team was weak to Celesteela, and Sceptile is normally walled by Steela, so I wanted to run Thunder Punch to get the KO on Steela and others. I considered EQ, but it doesn't go very well with Ninetales. With unburden, timid nature would be very redundant, so I chose Adamant to maximize power. Almost nothing outspeeds Sceptile after unburden, even with boosts.
Ninetales-Alola @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Shard
- Blizzard
- Dazzling Gleam
- Aurora Veil
After deciding to use weakness policy Sceptile, I needed a way to guarantee a self-proc for the policy. Ninetales-Alola is probably one of the better utility mons that gets ice shard, and it has Aurora Veil to shore up Sceptile's low defenses. I wanted it to also be an offensive threat, so I gave it max special attack EVs and Blizzard. Dazzling Gleam hits Kingdra for at least a little bit of chip, and is really good against Urshifu. In play, I found that if I predicted properly, I can outplay the opponent's weather with Ninetales, and that's another piece of utility. Unfortunately, Ninetales is a huge defensive liability besides giving the team Aurora Veil, but I couldn't think of a better support mon for Sceptile.
Generally, if I lead Sceptile-Ninetales, I look to see if they might KO Sceptile immediately. If not, I use SD and Aurora Veil. If they might, then I immediately dynamax Sceptile, Ice Shard, then try to KO the threat with Sceptile's max moves.
With those two mons, I tried to think of what would stop them most effectively. Steel types are not easy to kill, Incineroar is good against us, and weather does pretty well. I thought if I had a ground type, fire type, and electric type, it would help discourage the use of my counters.
Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 116 Atk / 36 Def / 76 SpD / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Fly
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
Landorus-Therian has always been a good Pokemon, and is great both to set up for Sceptile with Intimidate and U-turn, and to remove checks with Earthquake. It also works great as an alternate Dynamax target if Sceptile is poorly positioned to sweep. Fly helps it dodge moves for a turn, and gives it a good Max Airstream, then Rock Slide is a great spread move that doesn't damage teammates.
Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 76 Def / 188 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Parting Shot
- Protect
Incineroar is the best pivot in the format, in my opinion, and Parting Shot helps set up for Sceptile to sweep effectively. The set is pretty standard, except for the Protect, which is there specifically so that Landorus doesn't hurt it with Earthquake. I like Flare blitz over Darkness Lariat because it hits Celesteela for super-effective damage, and generally is more effective.
Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability: Static
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Detect
I really wanted an electric type to be able to check rain and hit the other flying types in the format. I considered using a Rotom form, but decided that something more offensive would be more effective. Zapdos is perfect here, as it does really well against things that Sceptile struggles with, like Venusaur/Torkoal. Thunderbolt hits hard as STAB, Hurricane is a good max move if needed and does well in rain. Heat wave is a classic spread move that hits steel types hard. Detect is just to dodge attacks when neccesarry.
For the last slot in my party, I thought a water type would be good. I originally had Urshifu Rapid-Strike, but found that the shared weakness to flying with Sceptile wasn't optimal. I tried Pelliper and Gyarados, but they weren't very effective. That led me to my final team member, Tapu Fini:
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Muddy Water
- Calm Mind
- Protect
I wanted to maximize the offensive potential of the Fini, so I chose to maximize special attack, and 124 speed EVs gets it to 124, outspeeding neutral base 70s. Moonblast does more damage as a single target move, and I already had Dazzling Gleam as a spread move on my Ninetales. Muddy Water is the best water spread move. Calm mind turns Fini into a potent win con, and protect saves it from EQ and helps stall out Dynamax.
So I like the team so far, Sceptile is nice to use, Ninetales is interesting, the rest are bog-standard meta builds that do well against Sceptile's checks. Tips/suggestions (other than getting rid of Sceptile) welcome!
