Semi-stall Scizor team

[2sly4u]

With D/P Coming to an end, I'm trying out a bunch of new ideas that were bouncing around my head. As the name suggests, Scizor is the basis of this set. The team one masquerades as a stall team until Scizor's counters are killed or weakened, then I bring in Scizor to sweep. It's been pretty effective so far, but any help is always apperciated :)

First off, I knew I wanted Scizor as my main offensive force. I've used a Sword Dance Scizor before to much success, often with 6-0 sweeps. he's super strong; a boosted Bullet Punch can OHKO a lot of things.

Now that I has Scizor, I knew that Stealth Rock was a main priority. Aerodactyl is one of, if not THE best at laying down rocks, if nothing else. If he can survive to wreak havoc later on, then great. if not, then he's still laid down rocks, which is all he needs to do.

Now that I had my lead and sweeper, I needed a way to remove Scizor's counters, notably Fire and Steel-types. At first I picked Omastar in Swampert's place, but quickly switched because of Swampert's better defensive typing. Also, Swampert counters Heatran and Jirachi better, who are always nuisances. I also picked Magnezone for his uncanny ability to kill Skarmory, who would otherwise stop Scizor cold.

Now that I had opened Scizor's way to a sweep, I tried to find a way to make his job easier, mainly with entry hazards. I picked Tentacruel, for his unparalleled ability to lay down Toxic Spikes, as well as remove hazards from my side of the field. With SR and Toxic Spikes down, all I needed was...

a Spiker, and I then had all three entry hazards on the field. I picked Skarmory because he can also shuffle with Whirlwind, as well as kill Infernape on the switch if I predict right. He doesn't have great synergy (3 electric weaknesses), but Swampert can usually cover that.

Now, a more in-depth look at each pokemon.

Skarmory@Lum Berry
Keen Eye
Impish 252HP/252Def/4Spe
Brave Bird
Whirlwind
Spikes
Roost
This is your basic lead Skarmory. Not much to say; set up Spikes, shuffle with Whirlwind, and Roost when I need to. If all the other entry hazards are down, Scizor can come in after just a few shuffles.

Flygon@Choice Scarf
Jolly Nature 252Att/252Spe/4HP
Outrage
Earthquake
U-Turn
Thunderpunch
As per Smith's suggestion, I replaced Aerodactyl with a Choice Scarf Flygon. A great revenge killer, he also checks Gyarados, who otherwise completely destroys me. U-Turn is great for scouting switches, especially with all of the entry hazards up. Thanks, Smith!

Rotom (Oven Form)@Leftovers
Calm Nature 252HP/252SpD/4Sp.A
Thunderbolt
Shadow Ball
Thunder Wave
Pain Split
Also at Smith's suggestion, I added a Spin Blocker, which I was thinking about. I heavily invested in Special defense because without Tentacruel, I have no special sponge. Thunder Wave is also a great way to remove Special Sweepers, almost all of which hate paralysis. Pain Split is the best form of recovery Rotom has, and the two attacks are basic STAB. SpD Rotom is a surefire counter to Starmie among others.

Magenzone@Life Orb
Magnet Pull
Timid Nature 252Sp.A/24Spe/232HP
Thunderbolt
HP Ground
Magnet Rise
Explosion
Magnezone is mainly for trapping Steel-types, especially Skarmory. HP ground is for killing Heatran on the switch. Thunderbolt is STAB, and Explosion removes one pokemon in exchange for Magnezone. Magnet Rise is filler. The only thing he really misses about Choice Scarf is the ability to explode on a few faster threats, but that's basically a non-issue. The Speed EVs are for opposing Magnezone who I can promptly OHKO with HP Ground.

Swampert@Leftovers
Torrent
Adamant Nature 252HP/252Att/4 Sp.D
Aqua Tail
Earthquake
Ice Punch
Stealth Rock
Swampert is my main fire counter, as well as a secondary Steel counter. This started as a standard Swampert set, but became more offensive as I realized Scizor could use a backup attacker. Basically, I come in on an electric attack (I'll draw plenty thanks to 3 electric weaknesses), set up Stealth Rock if needed, and attack with my great coverage. Few people expect an offensive Swampert, and I can grab a few surprise KOs (Notably on other Swampert, who I outspeed).

EDIT:wow that picture is big. :/
Scizor@ Iron Plate
Technician
Adamant Nature 252Att/252HP/4Spe
Bullet Punch
X-Scissor
Roost
Sword Dance
This is it, the crown jewel of the set. Basically, I wait until all the steel and fire-types are dead, then come in, set up as many swords dances as possible, and proceed to sweep with bullet punch. I went for bulkiness over speed because Bullet Punch is the main attacking move, with X-Scissor mostly for filler (Hence Iron Plate over Life Orb) . I Sword Dance when I can (often against other Scizor) and heal if I'm getting low on health. Usually Two swords dances max is all I need if all the Steels are dead.

It's really late and I'm Sleepy, so I'll just list my two biggest counters.

Zapdos: Any Zapdos. Between Heat Wave and Thunderbolt, my whole team save Swampert is dead, and if it has HP Grass, then it's game over.

Taunt Gyarados
I can't force him out before he taunts Skarmory, and if he gets any Dragon Dances in, he is faster than Magneton and can OHKO with Earthquake. I can usually kill it eventually, but not before it destroys half my team.

Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated =)

 

[Smith]

Hey I got your message, interesting team. To be frank, I'm not sure if anybody is going to believe this is a stall team if you lead with Aerodactyl, who is a hyper-offensive lead,so I think it's safe to say that this team is just offense. I'm also not sure if you really need toxic spikes on this team, as they don't particularly benefit Scizor in any way that I can think of. You also suffer from a weakness to electric moves- if the opponent has LO Jolteon, Offensive Zapdos or even CM Raikou, you're dead.

First change would be to replace Tentacruel- as I've said, he isn't really doing anything for you besides holding off Infernape, who can be far more effectively countered. Try using Scarf Flygon instead:

@ Choice Scarf
252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Jolly
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-U turn
-Thunder punch

Flygon helps many of your problems. Firstly, since you currently lack a revenge killer- well, Flygon solves that. Set up sweepers aren't much of a problem any more. He keep Gyarados as well as the annoying electric types from sweeping you, thanks to Thunderpunch and Earthquake. He can also force Zapdos out pretty effectively- basically, he needs to have HP Grass AND Ice to beat a combination of Flygon and Swampert, which is obviously impossible. He handles many of the same threats that Tentacruel did, such as Heatran, Infernape etc. Since Flygon is a much better scarfer than Magnezone, you can use a standard Steel Killer set instead of the scarf set.

Another thing I'm unsure about is Swampert. Swampert's set is... really not going to do much of anything, I'm afraid. Yes surprise value is great and everything, but he's walled to death by Skarmory, for instance. Substitute wears him down too fast. I'd change him to the standard MixPert set, who is a fantastic stealth rocker, especially when paired with a Skarmory (as he is on this team).

Since Aerodactyl no longer needs to be a suicide lead, you can address another problem with the team- you have no spin blocker! If you're running any more hazards than Stealth Rock, you need a ghost to make sure that Starmie or something doesn't spin them away. First, move Skarmory to the lead slot and change his item to a Lum Berry- this makes him a great lead in today's metagame. Next, in the slot that Aerodactyl just opened up, use a Rotom form. I think that SubSplit would be good to help you with stall, to give you a good counter to Gyarados and another electric resistance to help that issue.

You have a lot of work ahead of you, but I think you're on the right track. I hope this helps!

 

[Aerrow]

Hi there, this seems to be an excellent team you have on your hands! After the changes you made from Smith's rate, your team is looking pretty good but I would still like to address a couple of problematic Pokemon as well as a couple of corresponding changes that may help you better combat the aforementioned. First of all, before I get to the larger changes, I'm going to suggest a replacement to your current Scizor; since your team is doing a magnificent job at preparing the field for Scizor to sweep, I don't think it would be a good idea to run Roost on it, rather I would opt for Brick Break along with Bug Bite over X-Scissor while also changing the item to Life Orb as you'll need the additional power for these coverage moves.

Lum Berry Skarmory

Skarmory @ Lum Berry
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Roost
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt

Dragon Dance Dragonite

Dragonite @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP/52 Atk/204 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk,-SpAtk)
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Roost / Fire Blast

Dragon Dance Gyarados

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP/72 Atk/96 Def/184 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk,-SpAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake / Taunt
- Waterfall

Continuing on, I think that Swampert is no more than a dead weight on this team since its not really contributing bar through Stealth Rock. I recommend you replace your lead Skarmory with the one shown above (it is not much of a change from your current variant), as now Skarmory will be able to set up both entry hazards removing the need of using Swampert on this team. With a free team slot, I recommend you add either a dragon dance Gyarados or Dragonite (preferably the latter) to your team. Both of the aforementioned share great synergy with Scizor and do nicely in weakening each others' counters and checks allowing each other to have a relatively easy time sweeping with the time comes. It should be noted that Dragonite appreciates the support from Magnazone significantly more than Gyarados so I think that adding him would be a better option although Gyarados can come in handy in a plethora of occasions due to its ability, Intimidate. I hope this has helped and good luck!