Research Week is a fen reason to get out of my comfort zone and experiment with new things. Practice with teambuilding is always good!
I briefly tried out SubToxic Suicune, but found it pretty miserable and moved on after a couple games. Spent most of the week (36 games, peaked at 1300) messing around with several variants of this team:
Scarf Celebi
Scarf Celebi is ok. It's not terrible, it's not great. As other people have mentioned, it has surprise on its side - there's a wide variety of threats it stays in against that normal Celebi doesn't. To take advantage of this though, you definitely have to run another common scarfer - in my case Latias. The surprise OHKOs on Infernape are great.
The trouble though, is that it doesn't hit hard enough. Giga Drain is unimpressive - most water types in the format can work around it to some extent, and it's resisted by much of the tier. Moonblast doesn't hit hard enough to take out most dragons in one hit, which is fine if you catch them on the switchin, but I never managed that. Honestly, I'd rather just use Scarf Hydreigon. It feels somewhat similar, with fewer weaknesses and more attack. Bulky Fairies counter both to an equal extent.
Assault Vest Scizor
Now here's something I can get behind. I've been running bulky swords dance Scizor a lot recently, and this sort of feels like an improved version. Due to the prevelence of Scizor, most teams run multiple answers, leaving it hard to find opportunities to Swords Dance or Roost. While the AV variant does get chipped down more readily, I've been enjoying how the combination of power and bulk (without giving up speed) lets me Knock Off and U-Turn on such a wide variety of threats.
I briefly tried out SubToxic Suicune, but found it pretty miserable and moved on after a couple games. Spent most of the week (36 games, peaked at 1300) messing around with several variants of this team:
Celebi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- U-turn
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
Terrakion @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
Scizor @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Primarina @ Choice Specs
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 92 HP / 252 SpA / 164 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Scald
- Psychic
- Hydro Pump
Steelix-Mega @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Atk / 48 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Curse
Latias @ Electrium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- U-turn
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
Terrakion @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
Scizor @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Primarina @ Choice Specs
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 92 HP / 252 SpA / 164 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Scald
- Psychic
- Hydro Pump
Steelix-Mega @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Atk / 48 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Curse
Latias @ Electrium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
Scarf Celebi
Scarf Celebi is ok. It's not terrible, it's not great. As other people have mentioned, it has surprise on its side - there's a wide variety of threats it stays in against that normal Celebi doesn't. To take advantage of this though, you definitely have to run another common scarfer - in my case Latias. The surprise OHKOs on Infernape are great.
The trouble though, is that it doesn't hit hard enough. Giga Drain is unimpressive - most water types in the format can work around it to some extent, and it's resisted by much of the tier. Moonblast doesn't hit hard enough to take out most dragons in one hit, which is fine if you catch them on the switchin, but I never managed that. Honestly, I'd rather just use Scarf Hydreigon. It feels somewhat similar, with fewer weaknesses and more attack. Bulky Fairies counter both to an equal extent.
Assault Vest Scizor
Now here's something I can get behind. I've been running bulky swords dance Scizor a lot recently, and this sort of feels like an improved version. Due to the prevelence of Scizor, most teams run multiple answers, leaving it hard to find opportunities to Swords Dance or Roost. While the AV variant does get chipped down more readily, I've been enjoying how the combination of power and bulk (without giving up speed) lets me Knock Off and U-Turn on such a wide variety of threats.