SM OU My Boy Scrafty

[Earl of Whales]

Introduction​

I miss Scrafty. That little punk doesn't get enough love now that fairies are running amok. And I'm not gunna lie, it's hard out here for a young man with baggy pants. However, I'm stubborn and I've been slowly morphing this team in a way to make Scrafty viable late game. This isn't final, and I'm definitely open to suggestions, but I just can't let my boy get done dirty like this sitting down.

The Team​

Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Rest
​

The boy with the baggy pants. I've always liked this bulky set-up moveset for Scrafty, and if you can get a few Bulk Ups off he becomes really tough to wear down late game. Opting for the HP/SpD investment and a tiny bit of Atk, he has a good match up against a lot of the top of OU (minus Fairy-types). Our boy can survive hits from special glass cannons like Mega-Alakazam, Blacephalon, and Ash-Greninja and OHKO them right back at +1 (Blaceph at neutral even). He can laugh at anything Heatran, Chansey, Tyranitar, or Kyurem-Black could do to him and set-up in their faces. The recovery from Drain Punch ramps up quickly as you get buff, and Rest is used when things start getting a little hairy. Shed Skin is the ability of choice for Rest synergy, and it's also handy to prevent getting burned/toxic'd adding to his survivability. The only drawback is the RNG of getting Shed Skin to proc, so you might go a few turns with DOT effects or asleep, but when it works it works well.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
​

Since I'm building this around Scrafty, I needed a good Fairy resist to switch in to. Few are better at that than Ferrothorn. Fearing a Play Rough from Mimikyu or Mega-Mawile? Go Ferro. Think that Tapu Lele or Clefable are gunna Moonblast you? Go Ferro. You know what this spikey boy does. It's job is to survive, and make your opponents' life miserable in the process. My Ferro is mostly utility, and is the only hazard setter on the team with Stealth Rock to pressure any Flying-types that could challenge Scrafty. Leech Seed+Toxic is a classic combo for wearing a bulky opponent down while increasing your own recovery. I went with Power Whip over Gyro Ball to help deal with pesky Water- and Ground-types that give Ferro a hard time otherwise, like Mega-Swampert or Lando-T.

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Brave Bird
​

I wanted some speed control and momentum building, therefore Tapu Koko was the obvious choice. There isn't much that scarfed Koko doesn't outspeed, and it has excellent coverage. U-turn over Volt Switch to guarantee that I'm able to switch out when I want to. T-bolt SMACKS most pokemon that don't resist it in E-Terrain, making it very spammable. The last two moves are more to catch switch-ins than anything: HP-Ice for Lando-T and Zygarde, and Brave Bird to hit Grass- and Bug-types harder (has a chance to OHKO Volcarona, and 2HKOs Tapu Bulu after recovery).

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
​

A nice, lightly mixed Life Orb Chomper. My team can have a tough time against Steel-types, and this set does a decent job dealing with them. All out Spe and Atk to hit hard and fast, and Fire Blast to catch Ferro, Mega-Scizor and Kartana off guard. Nothing too revolutionary here.

Tornadus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Hurricane
- Taunt
- U-turn
​

A pseudo-utility Z-Hurricane Tornadus-T. I wanted hazard control, and also something fast and bulky, so this was a no-brainer. Taunt+Defog to deal with hazard setters and mitigate threats from boosting up on it. U-turn to build up momentum and get the Regenerator heal is pretty standard and every Tornadus-T set. Z-Hurricane is a pretty solid all around nuke, hitting most things outside of Toxapex pretty hard if not out right OHKOing them.

Greninja (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Dark Pulse
​

Protean Greninja is never something to underestimate, especially with Choice Specs. I feel like this set is pretty standard and has really great coverage/resistances because of Protean. Hydro Pump at least 2HKOs a ton of pokemon, and should be spammed when there aren't any resistances left. Ice Beam deals with Lando-T and Zygarde pretty easily (provided Zygarde hasn't set up too much already). HP-Grass is chosen over Grass Knot because it hits Rotom-Wash harder, while sacrificing some damage on Mega-Gyarados. Dark Pulse is used to hit Psychic- and Ghost-types a little harder, and can take advantage of flinch-hax to take out serious threats to your team.

Conclusion​

Ultimately, the main aim of the team is to eliminate threats to Scrafty so that you can set up and win. Unless they hit you with a Fairy move, chances are high that Scrafty can survive a hit from most pokemon in OU, so it all comes down to picking a good one to set up against. Ferrothorn without Leech Seed, Heatran, Chansey, and several others are great choices for this. The biggest threats you want to take out before attempting this are literally any Fairy-type your opponent has because Scrafty can't touch them: Magearna, Mimikyu, the Tapus, Mega-Mawile, and Clefable. The pokemon I chose for the team all do a pretty good job at taking them on, but nothing's perfect so be prepared to play around a little. Toxapex and other Haze users are also a problem, neutering any sort of damage you could do to your opponent, so watch out for those. Koko (and Garchomp situationally) are the most effective of taking them down. It can be a lot of work, but letting my beautiful mohawk rocking boy wreck shop late game is always really satisfying. Tell me what you think, and if you think there's any way to make this better let me know!

On a side-note: while I haven't actually faced too many stall teams with this, I feel like on paper it has a great match up against it. This obviously needs further testing tho.

Importable

Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Rest

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Brave Bird

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge

Tornadus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Hurricane
- Taunt
- U-turn

Greninja (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Dark Pulse

 

[Gross Sweep]

Hi - I'm locking your RMT for the time being since you're only allowed to post one team every two weeks. This is stated in the forum rules. I'll reopen this thread on Nov 27th upon request.