Community POTW #32

[Serebii]

Reno's busy writing the last one so here's the next one



This week we'll be doing Scizor, one of the Johto Pokémon

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/212.shtml

Scizor is a great Pokémon and has a LOT of possibilities so go nuts.

HOWEVER, that is not all. As Scizor's pre-evolution is incredibly viable on its own, this week we're also doing Scyther



http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/123.shtml


Reno wont be writing the Scyther one, but others will so can you please not include Scizor and Scyther sets in the same posts so it's easier for us to read. This does not mean you can double post.

[Lancewest01]

Choice-Zor
Choice Band
Adamant/Jolly
Technichian
-Bullet Punch
-Pursuit
-Superpower
-U-Turn
252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 Hp

[UsernameSayWha?]

Scizor @ Life Orb
Technician
252 Atk/252 HP
Adamant
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Swords Dance
- Pursuit?

[Ghosts of the Forums]

This is a Scizor set I use.

I'll add more as I think of them.

Scizor @Focus Sash
Adamant
Technician
252Atk, 252Spe, 4Hp
-Bug Bite
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Swords Dance
Bug Bite and Bullet Punch are for STAB, and get pretty high power thanks to Technician's 50%
power boost, Superpower handles steel types like Ferrothorn and Skarmory, and Swords Dance
Boosts my power even further.

[Ghosts of the Forums]

Specially Bulky Scizor
Scizor @Leftovers
Technician
Careful Nature
252 HP, 4 Atk, 252 Sp.Def

-Bug Bite
-Bullet Punch
-Swords Dance
-Roost
Specially bulky Scizor, oh yeah! Works kind of like life orb Scizor. Bug Bite is STAB, and works quite well with Technician. Bullet Punch is priority STAB, and also makes good use of Technician. Swords Dance allows Scizor to hit 594 attack after one use, and Roost is there for HP recovery. EVs designed to maximise Scizor's bulk, and works nice in rain teams, allowing Scizor to be 2HKOED by life orb Salamence's Fire Blast, and Poison Heal Gliscor's Swords Dance boosted Earthquake, for example.

[b1234]

Scizician
- Bug Bite
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Swords Dance / Aerial Ace / Fling
Item Attached: Choice Band / Choice Scarf / Eject Button
Ability: Technician
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Ah, the standard Technician Scizor. Bug Bite as a 135 base power move should be a given. Bullet Punch becomes a 90 base power priority attack, which is delicious and overcomes Scizor's slight speed disadvantage. Pursuit is for killing Psychic and Ghost types should the former two moves not get the job done, as well as injuring anything trying to make a switch.

The last move is a matter of what suits your needs. Swords Dance doubles attack at a sacrifice of another attacking move. Aerial Ace functions for 90 base power and an attacking move that might catch your opponent off guard thinking they can safely switch in, like a Fighting-type trying to use Fire Punch. Fling is reliant of what item you choose. Choice Band or Choice Scarf can absolutely cripple certain opponents if flung at the right time, but otherwise boost your own stats. Eject Button, should you use Fling on the opponent before it hits you physically (which they shouldn't try, really, given its physical bulk), will instantly force a switch out. Doing so can really mess their strategy up by following with Pursuit, given how they might want to try switching back to their previous Pokemon.

[TVSmasher66]

SCIZOR!!!! FINALLY!!!!
Scizor is one of my favorite Pokemon, so of course I'm gonna mention it here! It can work with any team, whether it be Sandstorm, Rain, Sun, or HAIL! He's stuck in OU, and can even be a threat in minor uber!

Abilities:
Swarm: BOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Technician: Move 60 base power or less are increased 1.5%!
Light Metal: BOOOOOOOOOOO. Halvs user's weight.

Supa Powa!!!!
Scizor@Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Technician
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
-U-Turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Pursuit

This is the "You're f***ed" move set. STAB U-Turn and Bullet Punch coming off a 130 Base Attack is gonna screw you over. The other two oves are powerful, but sadly are not raised by Technician. But that means it's so powerful on there own.

[multi-scale]

Shadow Tag Chandelure is a HUGE threat to Scizor, as it can switch in and OHKO easily. This makes Shed Shell a good idea (if it works, I'm not really sure) because any Scizor that stays in on Chandelure is dead. Ninetales can bring in the sun and can kill Scizor with a STAAB move. Arcanine and Darmanitan can destroy Scizor with their Flare Blitz. Heatran helps absorb Fire moves, and it can also beat Scizor. Luckily, Tyranitar is excellent at wiping out Chandelure and Heatran. Stealth Rock also helps against Chandelure, as well as benefiting Scizor as a sweeper. The 5th Gen brought some new pokes to beat Scizor, as well as new boosts to older pokes.

Scyther is 4x weak to Stealth Rock, so it becomes much easier to beat. Rock, Fire, and Ice moves are all standard to beat Scyther. Since Scyther doesn't have Bullet Punch, you won't see so much priority abuse, but don't let your your guard down. It is MUCH faster than Scizor, and Technician gives it powerful STABs. Swords Dance lets it rip through teams. Not really sure what tier it's in (is it UU?) but be wary of it in the lower tiers.

[Kiyoshi]

Okay, this set is what I used on my Scyther (who forever will be my favorite Bug type) in my Platinum:

Vacuum Wave
Night Slash
X-Scissor
Wing Attack

Night Slash and X-Scissor are here for good, reliable attacks, Wing Attack gets the Technician boost (if I recall correctly) as well as Stab (plus the extra PP serves as insurance should you need to fight something with Pressure). Now, you're probably wondering why I gave my Scyther Vacuum Wave, a Special Attack on a Physical sweeper. 1, while both this and Quick Attack are walled by Ghosts, Vacuum Wave gets a super-effective hit on Steels, who otherwise would be a fine counter. 2, even if Scyther had access to a Physical Fighting priority move, Vacuum Wave would still hit most would-be Steel Walls just a bit harder, due to a common lower Special Defense most Steels share. 3, it gets the Technician boost alongside Wing Attack. 4, it gets near-perfect coverage with Night Slash (and the only Pokemon off the top of my head that resist this coverage fear Wing Attack). And finally, despite working off of a Base 55 Special Attack stat, it is capable of doing real damage; case in point would be my fight against Cynthia in Platinum. Yes, I took this Scyther to the Elite Four. Anyways, I sent out this guy against her Lucario; I hit first with Vacuum Wave, knocked off about 1/3 of it's health. Lucario used Stone Edge, but missed. I hit again, knocked it's health into the yellow, possibly 1/3 HP left. Lucario used Stone Edge again, and I'm still convinced that had that second Stone Edge missed, my mantis would've 3KO her Lucario.

For items, I personally recommend Expert Belt; Scyther's Defenses are good enough to consider Leftovers, while Life Orb...yeah, I think it's downsides have been covered already. Technician is the ability to go with (what my Scyther has, and what you should have), and I suggest you use a Lonely (+Attack, -Defense) or a Hasty (+Speed, -Defense) Nature with this moveset; not like it can survive an un-Stabed Rock attack anyways. EV spread...I'm still new at it, & I find it more trouble than it's worth. Still, go for max Speed, about half-max on Special Attack to give Vacuum Wave more bite, half-max Attack (Base 110 is still going to hurt most Pokemon), and dump the rest wherever you'd like.

To the coolest Bug Pokemon (and it's deadly evolution) ever created!

[Kraleck]

For Scyther...

Ability Analysis:
-Swarm - Boosts 1 Move Type at low health. You likely won't see anything higher than 0 at low health thanks to Stealth Rock. Crap.
-Technician - Many of Scyther's Moves can use this quite well, including Bug Bite, Wing Attack, Aerial Ace, Pursuit, and Double Hit. Great.
-Steadfast - The only flinches you'll see, if any, come from Fake Out. It's too fragile, Type-wise, to use this. Crap.

Move Analysis:
-The Moves listed under "Technician" above are great choices - Aerial Ace, Bug Bite, and Wing Attack gain Technician and STAB, Pursuit catches some Pokemon for a decent clip of damage, and a Tech-boosted Double Hit can smash a non-Ghost Type's Substitute faster.
-Knock Off has some novelty, plus Tech-boost.
-Rock Smash isn't too useless for Scyther after Tech-boost, plus a 50% chance to drop Defense is quite nice.

Stat Analysis:
-Its Speed allows it to outrun Garchomp with the same Speed and Item investments.
-Its Attack is not too shabby, comparable to Snorlax, Swampert, and Arcanine. Sp.Atk is completely forgettable, so don't push your luck.
-Scyther has Defenses comparable to Glalie. Not great, but not too bad, considering...
-...HP is where Scyther lacks most. Base 70 is a death sentence to any Pokemon with a common quad weakness, especially when Stealth Rock falls into said jurisdiction.

Despite the glaring weaknesses (mediocre defenses, crap HP, quad weakness to Rock), I still love using Scyther. Great Speed and Attack mean you can ignore most defensive strategies with it and go on the offensive.

[b1234]

Surprise Bulk
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor / Aerial Ace
- Pursuit
- Roost
Item Attached: Evolite
Ability: Swarm / Technician
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 212 HP / 148 Def / 148 SDef
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

Alright, this set heavily relies on getting a set up on the opponent to turn Scyther into what is almost a tank. Evolite is needed to bring your defenses up to 349 each with 334 HP, which I do not think anyone will expect from something that screams "sweeper". Using this bulk, along with Roost to heal any damage you take, Scyther can Swords Dance his Attack all the way into a range of 1204, which, paired with those defenses and its decent speed, becomes deadly.

From then on, you get down to Pursuit and the choice between your STAB and ability. X-Scissor when combined with Swarm can be useful given Scyther's new bulk, as it gets a 150% boost when it has low health. And, thanks to Scyther's impressive speed, it even gets a choice between using that STAB or Roost, so one doesn't even feel pressure when it has such low health. On the other hand, Aerial Ace paired with Technician is a solid 135 base power move with no drawbacks and the added benefit of never missing.

As for Scyther's reliability in this set, it honestly depends on the situation. On one hand, Scyther is weak to Fire, Ice, Flying, and Electric types, and dual weak to Rock types. On the other hand, it gets immunity to Ground types, dual resistances to Fighting and Grass types, and an extra resistance to Bug types. This being the case, it will not like setting up against something with access to moves it is weak to, but will love how common place Ground and Fighting type moves won't even dent it.

[Kraleck]

For Scizor...

Ability Analysis:
-Swarm - Same crap as Scyther.
-Technician - Great for Scizor, probably moreso than Scyther.
-Light Metal - The only way this helps is against Grass Knot and Low Kick, both of which are less than Super Effective already. It also makes Heavy Slam and, God help you, Heat Crash do MORE damage. Absolute crap.

Move Analysis:
-Many of the Moves Scyther can use well mesh quite well with Scizor.
-Bullet Punch is a godsend - Priority, STAB, AND Tech-boost is the trifecta your opponent will dread.
-Roost gives you an option to recover that Scyther can't use for beans.

Stat Analysis:
-The only change from Scyther's Stats to Scizor's is 40 Base Speed lost and 20 (each) Base Attack and Base Defense gained. Great for Physical Walling, despite a quad Fire weakness.

Scizor has issues completely seperate from Scyther, but similar in many ways. Slower Speed makes you a little more predictable, but an Attack Stat equivalent to Machamp, Breloom, and Ursaring is pretty decent compensation. A quad weakness to a blockable Type (via a Flash Fire partner) makes protecting your investment much simpler.

[Skyart]

One of my favourite Pokemon and one I have trained and used, I have to post something here even if it's of no use to anybody. The Scizor I use is as follows:

Scizor
Item: Life Orb/Muscle Band
Adamant 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Def
Ability: Technician
Swords Dance
Bug Bite
Bullet Punch
Brick Break

I usually use Muscle Band as I use Life Orb on my Flygon, but Life Orb is good as Scizor resists Sandstorm and is neutral to Stealth Rock. Leftovers is good as well, or you could use a Lum Berry as Scizor is very vulnerable to burn or paralysis.

Adamant nature and max Atk give it as much power as possible. I use max HP as Bullet punch gets around the low speed and Scizor isn't weak to any priority moves. Leftover EVs I put in defence but they could go anywhere really.

Technician is almost always Scizor's best ability as it can make great use of it. The only use for Swarm would be an Endure/Reversal/Salac set with a Bug move to take advantage of the low HP.

Swords Dance brings Scizor's Atk to tanker-sinking levels though you have to be careful when you use it, as with any stat boosting move. Bug Bite is a tutor move from HGSS and is boosted to power 135 with STAB and Technician. Bullet Punch is a priority move with nothing immune to it and is also boosted by STAB and Technician. Brick Break provides wide coverage. I prefer Brick Break to Superpower as it has more PP, is adequately powerful in most cases and doesn't cause you to lose the Atk boost from Swords Dance. Pursuit is another great option to catch things running from your deadly Bullet Punch.

Scizor has always been a great Pokemon since it was made, though it has (in my eyes) fallen a little in Gen V due to the addition of 3 more Bug/Steel types as well as Ferrothorn, meaning not only does it have more competition, but also a lot more Pokemon are carrying Fire moves now to deal with this greater threat. It's still in my top 6 though without question.

[Soperman]

I love this guy so much. He has massive Attack, a great ability, and a nice move pool. Technician is such a good ability. It is the best ability for Scizor. Bullet Punch means that instead of apathetic power of 40, Technician and STAB give it a base power of 90. Bug Bite has a power of 135, Aerial Ace has a power of 90, and even Quick Attack gets boosted.

I'm not just any Scizor. I'm also a Technician!
- Bug Bite
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Ariel Ace / Pursuit
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs and Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

One of the most popular Scizor movesets. Bug Bite gets a massive power, paired up nicely with that incredible base 130 Attack stat. Bullet Punch is excellent priority STAB. Ariel Ace takes advantage of Technician and takes out those pesky Fighting types Steels fear so much. Pursuit to prevent switch-ins. Swords Danced makes his already massive Attack more powerful than should be legal. EV spread for hitting hard and faster than something.

What do you mean I'm fired?
- X-scissor
- Night Slash
- Iron Head
- Agility / Swords Dance
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Swarm
EVs and Natures: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk) or Jolly (+Spd, -Sp. Atk)
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd

I dunno... I guess if you don't have Technician, this is the other option... Pretty self explanatory. Just his strongest physical attacks...

Other Options
Double Hit has a power of 105 with Technician.
Quick Attack takes advantage of Technician
Brick Break is his only defense against Steel types.

Double and Triple options
No. Just... No. He's absolutely useless in Doubles and Triples.

Partners
This guy is so afraid of fire, it's not even funny. One hit and he's down. Take out Fire types. Don't even bother trying to make it rain to halve Fire attacks. No. Just make sure he doesn't even see a Fire type.

Countering Scizor
Fire types. Heatran is excellent, because unless he's running Brick Break he can't hurt you. And there's that Fire STAB bonus. Any Fire type can basically out-speed Scizor, and any Fire attack can kill Scizor.

Scizor is more-or-less a one-trick pony. Use Technician for priority STAB, Bug Bite, bla bla bla... However, that doesn't make him weak. His impressive base 130 Attack stat makes him really powerful with Bullet Punch and Bug Bite. And whatever else he uses.

Pre-Evo Section: Scyther
First time I've done this before. But hey, there's a first time for everything. Scyther has been shadowed by Scizor ever since the 2nd generation for his superior Attack and Defense stats. However, with the addition of the Eviolite, Scyther seems to have more potential. Base 105 Speed is also nice, and base 110 Attack isn't too bad either. And it has different typing. So without further ado, let's see what we can do with this guy.

Scyolite
- Bug Bite
- Aerial Ace
- Swords Dance
- Double Hit / Quick Attack / Pursuit
Item: Eviolite
Ability: Technician
EVs and Natures: Jolly
56 Atk / 100 Def / 100 Sp. Def / 252 Spd

This set takes advantage of Eviolite and Technician. Bug Bite and Aerial Ace are both Technician STAB. Swords Dance to boost Attack. Double hit takes advantage of Technician, givint it a nice base 105 power. Quick Attack is priority. Pursuit for switch-ins. The EV spread is kind of weird on this set. Jolly and 252 Speed for Speed, and Swords Dance will boost Attack, but why the 100 Defense and Special Defense? Well, with Eviolite, Scyther has base 120 Defenses, which is actually pretty good. Might as well take advantage of that.

Other options
Brick Break works against Rock types
Steel Wing works, too.
Baton Pass could work.
Agility for speed?

Double and Triple options
He's even worse than Scizor. Weak to Rock Slide is really bad. Do not use him in Doubles and Triples.

Partners
He needs peopel to take out Stealth Rocks and Rock types in general. The destroy him. 50 percent health every time you switch in makes the Eviolite useless.

Countering Scyther
Not that hard, considering about half of all physical attackers know Stone Edge or Rock Slide. Setting up Stealth Rocks is also nice.

Scyther isn't better or worse than Scizor, just different. Scyther has better Speed, and with Eviolite defenses as well. Scizor has great attack and typing. It's up to you what you choose.

[Meowmeow]

Scizor is awesome. Just use Technician always.

Baton Passer
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 atk and spd, 4 hp
@: Leftovers

Baton Pass
Swords Dance
Agility/Iron Defense/Bullet Punch/Bug Bite
Bullet Punch/Bug Bite

Scizor makes a great Baton Passer.

Fear the Sword
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 atk and spd, 4 hp
@: Leftovers/Life Orb

Swords Dance
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Brick Break/Aerial Ace/Pursuit

Simplicity at its finest.

Like a Ninja
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 atk and spd, 4 hp
@: Leftovers/Life Orb

Agility
Bug Bite
Brick Break/Aerial Ace/Pursuit
Iron Head/Bullet Punch

A little different because of the lack of Bullet Punch.

When Swords are Band
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 atk and spd, 4 hp
@: Choice Band

Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Brick Break/Pursuit
Aerial Ace

Simple to see.

Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 atk and spd, 4 hp
@: Choice Scarf

Bug Bite
Aerial Ace
Brick Break/Pursuit
Iron Head/Bullet Punch

Gotta love simple.

[Wrave]

Ah Scyther one of my favorite UU threats.

Scyther @ Life Orb
Adamant/Jolly
252 Atk/252 Speed/4 HP
Technician
-Bug Bite
-Quick Attack
-Wing Attack
-Swords Dance/Brick Break

After one Swords Dance, not much can take a Bug Bite (resisted or not). Wing Attack is for STAB but also gets the boost. Quick Attack is for priority. For the last slot you have the option of being able to hit harder and get walled by Rock Types or go for Brick Break. Choice Band could be used here but Scyther has real problems with rocks so it is not recommended.

[Vandslaux]

Scizor is one of the scariest pokemon in the game. The standard sets:

CB Scizor @Choice Band
Adamant
Technichian
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Speed
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Superpower/Brick Break
Pursuit

Basic CB Scizor.

SD Scizor @Life Orb
Adamant
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Speed
Technichian
Swords Dance
Bug Bite
Bullet Punch
Superpower

If you let this guy set up, he will literally rip your team apart. SD Scizor is, quite literally, one of the scariest pokemon in the game.

[Kheytoo]

i just thought i would point out that cb adamant u-turn will NOT ohko max/max reuniclus. it has to use bugbite for that.

[windsong]

CB SCIZOR DOESN'T NEED MAX SPEED
Also, CB/Scarf Scizor should always always always use U-Turn...the fact that people are posting Bug Bite/BulletPunch/Superpower/filler CB sets makes me sad. ;_;

Just gonna say that.

Anyhow, CB Scizor, as posted a couple times earlier, with the spread that it should have usually:

Scizor@Choice Band
Adamant | Technician
248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpDef

- U-Turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit / Quick Attack

CB Scizor has been the most commonly used Scizor set in the most recent two generations, and one can easily see why. It works beautifully on most teams, providing a solid switch in to a wide number of threats whilst being a pretty solid anti meta Pokemon, dealing with a large portion of the common Pokemon in the metagame right now.

U-Turn and Bullet Punch are easily the crux moves of the set. U-Turn lets you gain valuable momentum by pivoting out against stuff like Tyranitar, Reuniclus, and, well, basically anything that you threaten enough for it to switch out. Bullet Punch is capable of revenging a solid amount of common metagame threats, such as Haxorus, Terrakion, and weakened Dragonite. Superpower fills in the third slot, though it has pretty limited use. The last slot is given over to either Pursuit, for some damage on switching stuff, such as Blissey or Latias, while Quick Attack offers an option for hitting Thunderous.

248 HP/252 Atk/8 SpDef is the most efficient EVspread for choiced Scizor, minimizing damage from Stealth Rock and Spikes (you essentially gain one extra switch in to Rocks due to the odd HP stat), while max attack is a given. No EVs are put into speed, since there's nothing particularly important for you to outspeed, and it's best to go second in a situation where both you and your opponent have Scizor out, since you'll get to U-Turn out after they do and gain the momentum of the match.

[Cataclyptic]

Well, although I do think that Eviolite Scyther is a pretty good addition, I'll go with Scizor because I like it just a bit more...

Abilities:
Swarm: Could be good... maybe... he really lacks the speed to back it up though...
Technician: An Awesome Ability that works very well with this Pokemon.
DW:Light Metal: It... halves your weight? So you take less damage from Grass Knot and Low Kick? Yeah... pretty useless in my opinion considering no one would use these on Scizor in the first place.

4th Gen. strikes back
Adamant @ Life Orb
Technician
252Atk, 252Def, 4Hp

- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Pursuit/Knock Off

The most common set for Scizor in the 4th gen metagame, and for a good reason. Technician boosts boosts anything below 60 base power by 1.5x, meaning a 60BP Bullet Punch and more importantly a 90BP Bug Bite, which would make it more effective than X-scissor.

The set is simple to use. Come in on something that you can resists and set up a swords dance. After that, go nuts with Bullet Punch and Bug Bite. Pursuit if you can predicts a switch out, and Knock Off just in case your opponent has an annoying item.

In Soviet Russia, the bugs squish you
Adamant @ Choice Band
Swarm/Technician
252Atk, 252Def, 4Hp

- Zoom Out
- Bullet Punch
- Iron Head
- Aerial Ace

Zoom Out gets a Stab from Scizor which makes it a very effective scouting move. Bullet Punch for priority, Iron Head if you want more power, and Aerical Ace to take out the bugs. Choice Band boosts everything for you, simple enough.

Partners: It needs someone who can take care of the fire types pretty easily, so ground or dragon types would be good for it. Most notable, Garchomp for being able to do it best of all for its dual typing in this regard.

Weaknesses: FIRE. FIRE. And coming at number three... FIRE. It has an 80 base special defence stat and a quadruple weakness to fire, which is mostly special attacking. Figure out a way to remove these things before sending Scizor out or it will faint unless you have the focus sash or something.

In particular, Volcarona. This thing resists all of its STAB moves and the only thing Scizor can harm it with would be Aerial Ace, which is risky since you can almost be certain it has a higher speed. Not to mention you run the risk of activating flame body which will burn the bug...

Burning is also effective against Scizor, as with any other physical sweeper. Burning can and will cripple the bug if left unchecked by adittional swords dancing.