Very disappointed to find that in the transition, my greatest treasure Scolipede disappeared from the rankings. I request that he be
restored to C- at your convenience.
Here's a quote from my original post nominating Scolipede for the late D Rank:
Don't really have enough time to make a long post, and I made this set a while ago so I'm a bit "rusty," but this Pokemon is pretty fun to use, if a bit unreliable. Speed Boost is a great ability for random Choice Scarf users and beating faster Pokemon like Alakazam and Greninja. (Bug offensive typing is actually decent in 1v1; it also hits Meloetta, Mega Slowbro, Hoopa-U, Mew, and some others.)
I have since improved the set to the following by adding Substitute (thanks Whis and potatopickle):
Scolipede @ SilverPowder
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 228 HP / 252 Atk / 28 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Substitute
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 228 HP / 0 Def Scolipede: 264-312 (83 - 98.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Silver Powder Scolipede Megahorn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kyurem-B: 196-232 (50.1 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
You protect turn 1, then +2 Scolipede outspeeds Scarf Kyurem-B on the third turn.
SilverPowder provides enough of a power boost to get a guaranteed 2HKO on uninvested Kyurem-B (which you live Outrage from, thanks to the EVs) without you dying to LO recoil. Megahorn's accuracy is annoying, but Protect means that you also often get an extra chance to hit Megahorn thanks to Outrage's confusion chance. Mono-Bug-type coverage is pretty horrendous, but the extra moveslot for Substitute is invaluable against stuff like Porygon-Z, Greninja (which loses its Dark typing), random Outrage users who might be difficult to beat otherwise, etc. It also serves as a surefire counter to gimmicky FEAR strategies and status users. Obviously losing Rock Slide and thus losing to Charizards is a bummer, but there are enough Charizard counters in the current meta imo.
I don't actually remember what the 28 Speed is for but rest assured that it does something, and anyway, you're never going to have any shortage of Speed with Speed Boost.
There's probably more I could say here but instead I will just leave you with some replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/1v1-431646297 - Substitute is useful
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/1v1-418179806 - SilverPower
252 Atk Silver Powder Scolipede Megahorn vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gardevoir: 279-328 (100.3 - 117.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Scolipede Megahorn vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gardevoir: 232-274 (83.4 - 98.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/1v1-376191052 - This was with Liechi but is still a pretty cool replay and SilverPowder might achieve the same outcome
Also nominating Talonflame to move up
from C- to C. This extremely brave bird gets a bad name on the 1v1 ladder because of the mindless Brave Bird spam for which it is commonly used. I've had some success recently using a very strange bulky set that can defeat many of the top threats of 1v1.
Talonflame @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 156 Atk / 104 Def
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Brave Bird
- Swords Dance
- Roost
Looks weird, right? Especially with Liechi Berry? Yeah, I know. But take a look at these matchups versus some selected 1v1 staples:
vs.
Scarf Kyurem-B
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 104+ Def Talonflame: 282-332 (78.3 - 92.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 252 HP / 104+ Def Talonflame: 253-298 (70.2 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
demonstration of pp stalling ability:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/1v1-431658926
vs.
Mega Charizard X
252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Outrage vs. 252 HP / 104+ Def Talonflame: 270-318 (75 - 88.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO — guaranteed Liechi activation on the SD
252+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Outrage vs. 252 HP / 104+ Def Talonflame: 295-348 (81.9 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+3 156 Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 297-349 (100 - 117.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
vs.
Mega Mawile - easy win
+1 156 Atk Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile: 320-380 (105.2 - 125%) -- guaranteed OHKO
burn the foe + SD (-1 due to Intimidate)
EDIT: I don't have this move but whatever i still win maybe
vs.
Dragonite - easy win thanks to Will-o-Wisp
252+ Atk Choice Band burned Dragonite Outrage vs. 252 HP / 104+ Def Talonflame: 174-204 (48.3 - 56.6%) -- 90.2% chance to 2HKO
just hope they don't have Stone Edge, which legitimately just happened to me
vs.
Whimsicott - easy win
156 Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Whimsicott: 206-246 (63.5 - 75.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
with Gale Wings
And this is just a small selection, as Talonflame's Fire typing is excellent in a metagame full of Steel- and Fairy-types that it can easily defeat like Mega Metagross, Mega Scizor, Aegislash, Mega Lucario, Mega Gardevoir, Sylveon, and Mega Altaria. STAB Brave Bird helps against Fighting-types like Mega Lopunny (252 Atk Mega Lopunny Giga Impact vs. 252 HP / 104+ Def Talonflame: 267-315 (74.1 - 87.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), Mega Heracross, and Hitmonlee, though I haven't tested those matchups as much.
It can also knock out FEAR users with Will-o-Wisp.
Here are some additional replays (against some skilled players, too):
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/1v1-419470344 Fairy-type matchup
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/1v1-419470002 Charizard Y ideal situation
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/1v1-419462294 Charizard X matchup
Overall, I think these Pokemon are worthy of consideration. I may have messed up the occasional matchup here and there, so let me know if I did something wrong. Now back to semi-inactivity.
edit: By the way, if anyone wants to suggest a third Pokemon to accompany those two, please do. As you can probably tell, I've been using them on a team. Mega Gyarados has been doing pretty well so far, and I actually won a 1v1 tour with the team, but I might be able to improve regardless.