SM OU *clap**clap* TEAM REVIEW- A team oriented around Mega Scizor

[1ammonkey]

Hey guys, I was wondering if I could get your opinion on my current OU team. It is centered around Mega Scizor and I've played it around 15 times, winning 13 of them. I feel like I'm on the right track as I feel that there is good synergy between almost the whole team but I was hoping to get some advice on any further modifications that I could maybe make. Thank you all!

The Selection Process:

The first mon: Mega Scizor

I like Mega Scizor. It looks cool. It is cool. More pokemon should be like Mega Scizor. I decided to make a team around Mega Scizor that was a reboot of an older team that focuses on making this star a showstopper.

A description:

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 104 Def / 152 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- U-turn

This is a relatively standard set that Scizors run from the competitive dex with a couple of variants in the terms of EV placement that further stresses this Pokemon's ability to pressure with even mere stat buffs. Bullet Punch is the main move that this Mon goes to, being a priority move boosted by both STAB and Technician. U-turn is used to help Scizor serve as a pivot in the early game when going up against a neutral type or an opponent who switched in incorrectly and are pressured to switch back out to a stronger matchup. Swords Dance increases the threat that MS provides and also compensates for any switchins to Lando-T from Intimidate. Alternatively, Roost can be used on predicted switchouts in order to remove any potential wear and tear that has been accrued from the battle.

Part 2: Supporters

The next step was to find appropriate partners for Scizor so that the team wouldn't actually suck. From this idea, two obvious steps needed to be taken: 1) provide coverage against fire types and 2) provide entry hazards to make both sweeping and chipping away more effective for Scizor to perform. Additionally, steps had to be taken to ensure that I could deal with other threats such as Zapdos that not only resist Scizor but also frequently carry good coverage options.



Supporter #1:

Garchomp @ Rockium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance

An obvious answer for nearly all of my aforementioned problems laid in Garchomp. Garchomp's offensive stats are more than enough to act as a threat by itself. Chomp is the main backup to Scizor as it serves to eliminate threats such as Heatran (earthquake time), Zapdos (Rock Z), and also set up hazards with stealth rock. If Scizor should fall, then the Chomp is usually the first one to go in as a replacement, especially since Scizor will almost always fall to something Chomp is very strong against, allowing me to set Swords Dance against slower teams and go for a sweep.

Supporter #2:

Tornadus-Therian @ WHAT ITEM SHOULD I USE
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Focus Blast
- Defog

Tornadus serves the main purpose of removing hazards on my team, using it's high speed and decent offensive presence to pressure certain tanks away to let me gain a free turn to defog. Torn-t's ability also allows me to switch into Stealth Rock and not regret it. I'm still uncertain of what item I want it to hold, however. Would a Scarf work so that it could outspeed Greninja due to how common that frog is? Either way, Tornadus is also capable of dealing decent damage against neutral foes, often dealing anywhere from 33-50% damage with STAB-boosted Hurricane on most targets that are neutral (it will ususually OHKO weaker mons)

Supporter #3:

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Substitute
- Glare

Serperior is a bit more of a lone wolf on this team in comparison to the other members of the team, only capable of providing good support through paralyzing targets for the other slower members of the team should Toxapex's toxic spikes not be set or are avoided. Substitute is used to increase Serperior's durability and also allows me to scout a good portion of the tier as it is a relatively fast mon. We all know what Leaf Storm is for. I prefer HP ice as, at +2 SpA, it allows me to OHKO Lando-T, Gliscor, and a few others while dealing heavy damage to 2x weak targets.

Supporter #4:

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

Heatran serves as the premier trapper on the team, and is capable of setting Stealth Rock in situations that Garchomp can't. Taunt is used to break stalls on slower teams, and Magma Storm serves to trap opponents. Earth Power is used to take on other fire types that Scizor would be endangered by. An Air Balloon is used as opposed to a Z-crystal because of Chomp, but is still useful as I can take on more opponents in safety until it pops.

Supporter #5:

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald/ Ice Beam
- Haze
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes

Honestly, I hate Toxapex's durability as much as the next guy. However, the ability to set Toxic Spikes is extremely valuable for Scizor, allowing me to delay it's usage and gain toxic damage on at least a few members of the opposing team. Scald is typically the only offense I opt for as it has an annoyingly high chance to burn, but I sometimes use Ice Beam as well to catch un-banded Lando-T off guard, which Pex can take a hit from and regain a decent amount of damage through its ability.

What do you guys think of the team? I feel like it can support setting up M-Scizor pretty well, but if there are improvements to be made, any advice would be appreciated!

 

[5FingerMachPunch]

Hi, I saw this team and wanted to give it a rate because I'm a general fan of Mega Scizor (though it's not in a particularly great spot rn). While you're generally on the right path with building a team that supports a Mega Scizor sweep, there are some big issues with the team that need to be properly addressed:

1. You lack a proper Flying resist, as Heatran is not really a proper Flying resist as it gets too worn down over time. This is even worse when factoring in that you're not Leftovers Heatran, making the problem more exacerbated.
2. You're also pretty weak to Psychic-types, especially Tapu Lele, which can easily overwhelm both Mega Scizor and Heatran and open the path for something else on your opponent's team to win, but you're certainly prone to others as well. While on paper you look to be good vs them, in practice Heatran is again not a proper Psychic resist, especially since you're Air Balloon > Leftovers on it, and Mega Scizor is already plenty pressured to check stuff while staying healthy enough to sweep.
3. Speaking of Mega Scizor, the fact that its Bullet Punch and Glare support from Serp are the sole forms of speed control are just not good enough to keep everything in check well, and when you consider that not a whole lot on your team actually benefits from Serp's Glare support and it's moreso just there for Serp itself, you're simply hurting your team in the long run.
4. Moving on to more minor problems, you lack a Dark resist on a team that's either very weak to them (Tyranitar and its Mega forme) or are prone to very easily getting worn down over time by them (Ash Greninja with enough Spikes down, especially if Torn-T gets pressured enough to where it can't get a free Defog). While a Dark resist isn't really mandatory if your team can reliably keep them in check, I feel that this team suffers from too bad of a weakness to the common ones that this needs to be addressed.
5. The last issue is that even with the combination of Taunt + Magma Heatran and SD Rocks Garchomp to pressure common Defoggers / Mega Sableye, your stall MU is still pretty iffy. While Garchomp will reliably get rocks up vs stall, Heatran just cannot capitalize well enough on this as a partner, especially since you're also A. using Stealth Rock on both Heatran and Garchomp when it's only necessary on one of them, and B. your Heatran isn't Z-Move, making it even harder to stallbreak.

There are other smaller problems, but they're not worth their own point. The point is, even though this team is on the right track in terms of what it is accomplishing, the multitude of glaring holes in the team are enough to where it'll struggle in a lot of MUs. However, rest assured that my changes to the team will address these issues.

Major Changes
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>

This is the first major change that I'm gonna suggest. Heatran is honestly just really redundant in a lot of ways and its main role is performed much better by Magearna while bringing other qualities to the table that your team will really appreciate a lot. Specifically, the set I'm going to use here is the CM Pain Split set, as that breaks stall very well, especially backed up by SD Garchomp, which can eliminate the things that stand in Magearna's way on stall teams. Since I think that Garchomp should retain the Z-Move, this makes picking the item a little more complicated considering usually CM Pain Split uses Fairium Z. Here, I've opted for Wiki Berry, which may seem like an odd choice, but it allows Magearna to potentially eat a big hit and recover a lot of HP back, being a potential lifesaver. Other items are fine, such as Shuca Berry and even Air Balloon if you're not into Wiki Berry. The EV spread that'll be used allows Magearna to survive one HJK from Mega Medicham after rocks, which gives you another out vs it beyond offensively pressuring it with your faster threats considering it's already a difficult enough mon for your team to switch into, 8 SpDef let's you live 2 Focus Blasts from Mega Zam, and the rest is dumped into SpA to hit as hard as possible.

(Protean) >

The second major change to the team, and probably the most important change since it gives you much needed speed control vs major threats to the team, and more reliably at that than Serp ever was, even if paralysis is much more annoying. Another big thing this change gives you is Spikes, which are very helpful for the rest of the team. The set in question I'll use here is Rock Slide / Ice Beam / U-Turn / Spikes, which gives you the most optimal coverage options for the biggest threats to your team currently, especially with the last mon replacement on this team that I'll be making. With how the team will look in the end, Low Kick > Spikes is definitely a valid option if you feel like DD Mega TTar is giving you too hard of a time. Lastly, it's a very minute detail, but you should ideally use Naive instead of Hasty because it gives a 25% chance for Gren to live +2 Mega Pinsir's QA without any prior chip, and any odds in your favor is good for you here.

>

This last major change is a much smaller one, but one that I think you'll overall appreciate more than what Pex gives you rn. More offensive Ground-types like SD Gliscor and SD Garchomp are a big problem to the team, and while Torn-T can sort of pivot into them + Greninja can revenge kill them with Ice Beam, it's still pretty hard to reliably come in on them multiple times throughout a match. AV Tangrowth still gives you a solid Ash Gren check while allowing you some freedom when it comes to checking Ground-types. This is especially true for SD Gliscor, which can otherwise be problematic to come in on, as well as SD Lando-T which you'll have to scout around regardless of its set. One last cool little thing about Tangrowth is that it actually gives you some slight freedom with Torn-T's moveset as you'll see shortly, at least imo. We'll be using Giga Drain / Knock Off / Hidden Power Ice / Earthquake as the set here, and the EV spread is designed to live 2 +2 Facades from Gliscor after rocks, allowing you to effectively pressure it better, and the rest in your special bulk to take Ash Gren on reliably.

Minor Changes
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The only minor change we'll be making from here will be to Torn-T's set, as the set is honestly pretty suboptimal. As I said above, Tangrowth actually gives some slight leeway with Torn-T's moveset. How, you ask? By allowing us to freely drop Knock Off on Torn-T in favor of Heat Wave. The main reason for this is because Mega Scizor is a pretty big problem, and Heat Wave is also nice for the team because in combination with chip, Heat Wave is safer in a lot of situations than Hurricane is, especially if all you need to do is get enough chip on a mon for something else on the team to take advantage of. Also, Knock Off Torn-T and Knock Off Tangrowth are pretty redundant with each other as both have similar targets, and Tangrowth doesn't really need any other move for the empty slot, so you're better off keeping Knock Off on Tangrowth. You can also feel free to just drop U-Turn / Focus Blast in exchange for Knock Off if you're really paranoid about it. Additionally, I've dropped Focus Blast in lieu of U-Turn for the momentum that it can grab. Generally speaking, Focus Blast isn't used unless it's in conjunction with Fightinium Z. Here's the set that the old set will be replaced with:

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 108 HP / 208 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Defog
- U-turn

The spread outspeeds Timid max speed Serperior by 1 point while giving you the best odds of living CB Kartana's Smart Strike after rocks (only 6.3% odds to be KO'd after rocks). You're free to tinker with the spread, however, if you wish to do so.

Ah whoops, I said that Torn-T was gonna be the only minor change, but I lied about that. Anyways, since you have enough support, the SpDef EVs aren't needed, thus I suggest you to simply change your EV spread to the standard one, which is 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SpD Impish.

Final Team

​

import

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SpD
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost

Garchomp @ Rockium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 108 HP / 208 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Defog
- U-turn

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 176 Atk / 80 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Slide
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
- Spikes / Low Kick

Magearna @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 160 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Pain Split
- Fleur Cannon
- Thunderbolt

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 72 Def / 188 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake

Enjoy, and lmk if you either have any further question or just want to tell me if you like the improvements I made to the team. Would also appreciate any criticism on the rate if any needs to be made. Have a good day!