[OVERVIEW]
Sceptile’s high speed and solid special attack, coupled with a veritable bevy of coverage moves, make it a potent late-game sweeper in NU. Its typing and powerful STABs allow it to switch into and break through bulkier Ground and Water types, and its diverse movepool allows it to check Pokémon that would otherwise threaten to wall it, namely Goodra, Dragalge, and Copperajah. However, Sceptile is incredibly frail and struggles to withstand even attacks that it resists. Despite its versatile movepool, certain Pokémon can still wall Sceptile with ease, particularly Flying-types like Ninjask, Talonflame and Aerodactyl, all of which also outspeed it. Additionally, Sceptile faces competition as a Grass-type sweeper from Decidueye and Virizion.
[SET]
Name: Special Sweeper
Move 1: Leaf Storm
Move 2: Dragon Pulse
Move 3: Focus Blast/Earthquake
Move 4: Giga Drain/Drain Punch
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Leaf Storm is by far Sceptile’s most powerful Special STAB, and when powered up by a Life Orb, it heavily damages Pokémon that lack Grass type resistance, and can still significantly damage those that don’t. Its raw power also makes it instrumental in breaking through bulky Ground and Water types such as Blastoise, Golurk and Mudsdale. Dragon Pulse allows Sceptile to check Dragon types like Goodra, Dragalge and Tyrantrum, and provides useful neutral coverage. Focus Blast also hits Tyrantrum super effectively, provides coverage against Ice types like Arctozolt and Glastrier, and lets Sceptile threaten Steel types such as Copperajah and Duraludon. Earthquake is a viable alternative that hits Fire and Poison types like Arcanine, Drapion and Salazzle for super effective damage, but is otherwise weaker than Focus Blast. Finally, Giga Drain gives Sceptile a useful means of recovering lost HP, which can help mitigate its poor defenses and Life Orb recoil. Drain Punch is an alternative that provides useful Fighting type coverage if Focus Blast is not used.
Life Orb is preferred to maximize Sceptile’s damage output, particularly as its recoil can be mitigated using Giga Drain or Drain Punch. Overgrow further boosts the damage of Sceptile’s STABs, which both allows its Leaf Storm to potentially OHKO in a vacuum and amplifies the healing effects of Giga Drain. With a Timid nature and maximum investment in its Speed and Special Attack, Sceptile outspeeds Pokémon such as Starmie and Salazzle while dealing solid damage.
Sceptile pairs exceptionally well with entry hazard removers, which greatly help to improve its survivability due to its mediocre defenses and Life Orb recoil. Defoggers like Mantine and Flygon, as well as Rapid Spinners like Blastoise and Starmie, all make great partners for Sceptile, especially as their typings also threaten Poison, Bug, and Fire types that Sceptile would otherwise struggle to break down. Fire types like Arcanine and Salazzle also greatly assist Sceptile by burning through bulky Grass and Steel types such as Bronzong, Celebi and Vileplume, while Rock types like Aerodactyl and Tyrantrum can help mitigate Flying type walls. Sceptile also synergizes well with switch move users such as Dragalge, Ninjask and Rotom-C, which provide Sceptile more opportunities to switch in safely and fire off its attacks without compromising its team’s momentum.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Choice Specs is an alternative to Life Orb that offers additional power and lacks recoil, but limits Sceptile to a single move without switching out, which gimps its ability to sweep if the opponent is able to resist its chosen move appropriately. Sceptile can potentially make use of its hidden ability Unburden using Swords Dance and a Sitrus Berry, though this uses up one of its move slots, prevents Sceptile from switching out and is difficult to set up due to Sceptile’s mediocre defenses. Weakness Policy is an alternative to Sitrus Berry that doesn’t require Swords Dance to set up, but is exceptionally risky, as Sceptile struggles to survive most super effective attacks.
Checks and Counters
====
**Flying Types**: Flying types pose the greatest risk of walling Sceptile, as aside from Dragon Pulse, its moveset leaves it virtually helpless against them. Furthermore, many of the most common Flying types in the tier, such as Aerodactyl, Ninjask and Talonflame, can outspeed it and KO it with their STABs, making it incredibly dangerous to switch into them.
**Poison Types**: Sceptile struggles against Poison types, as they resist all of Sceptile’s special coverage moves and can generally withstand Earthquake due to Sceptile’s middling physical attack. In particular, Dragalge, Salazzle, and Vileplume all doubly resist Sceptile’s STAB attacks, making them difficult to sweep (though Dragalge can be dealt with using Dragon Pulse).
**Bulky Steel Types**: Despite being weak to Sceptile’s Focus Blast and Earthquake, defensive Steel types are generally capable of tanking these attacks and punishing Sceptile in return. Bronzong is possibly the worst offender in this regard, as it takes neutral damage from Focus Blast, can potentially avoid Earthquake using Levitate, and can use Sceptile as setup fodder.
**Other Grass Types**: Many of NU’s other Grass types can resist Sceptile’s coverage attacks, with Celebi, Decidueye and Dhelmise in particular either resisting or being outright immune to Focus Blast and Drain Punch. Others, such as Vileplume and Virizion, also pack powerful STABs that can OHKO Sceptile if it fails to KO them first.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: Doramidoro
- Quality checked by: [username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]
- Grammar checked by: [username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]
Sceptile’s high speed and solid special attack, coupled with a veritable bevy of coverage moves, make it a potent late-game sweeper in NU. Its typing and powerful STABs allow it to switch into and break through bulkier Ground and Water types, and its diverse movepool allows it to check Pokémon that would otherwise threaten to wall it, namely Goodra, Dragalge, and Copperajah. However, Sceptile is incredibly frail and struggles to withstand even attacks that it resists. Despite its versatile movepool, certain Pokémon can still wall Sceptile with ease, particularly Flying-types like Ninjask, Talonflame and Aerodactyl, all of which also outspeed it. Additionally, Sceptile faces competition as a Grass-type sweeper from Decidueye and Virizion.
[SET]
Name: Special Sweeper
Move 1: Leaf Storm
Move 2: Dragon Pulse
Move 3: Focus Blast/Earthquake
Move 4: Giga Drain/Drain Punch
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Details
====
Leaf Storm is by far Sceptile’s most powerful Special STAB, and when powered up by a Life Orb, it heavily damages Pokémon that lack Grass type resistance, and can still significantly damage those that don’t. Its raw power also makes it instrumental in breaking through bulky Ground and Water types such as Blastoise, Golurk and Mudsdale. Dragon Pulse allows Sceptile to check Dragon types like Goodra, Dragalge and Tyrantrum, and provides useful neutral coverage. Focus Blast also hits Tyrantrum super effectively, provides coverage against Ice types like Arctozolt and Glastrier, and lets Sceptile threaten Steel types such as Copperajah and Duraludon. Earthquake is a viable alternative that hits Fire and Poison types like Arcanine, Drapion and Salazzle for super effective damage, but is otherwise weaker than Focus Blast. Finally, Giga Drain gives Sceptile a useful means of recovering lost HP, which can help mitigate its poor defenses and Life Orb recoil. Drain Punch is an alternative that provides useful Fighting type coverage if Focus Blast is not used.
Life Orb is preferred to maximize Sceptile’s damage output, particularly as its recoil can be mitigated using Giga Drain or Drain Punch. Overgrow further boosts the damage of Sceptile’s STABs, which both allows its Leaf Storm to potentially OHKO in a vacuum and amplifies the healing effects of Giga Drain. With a Timid nature and maximum investment in its Speed and Special Attack, Sceptile outspeeds Pokémon such as Starmie and Salazzle while dealing solid damage.
Sceptile pairs exceptionally well with entry hazard removers, which greatly help to improve its survivability due to its mediocre defenses and Life Orb recoil. Defoggers like Mantine and Flygon, as well as Rapid Spinners like Blastoise and Starmie, all make great partners for Sceptile, especially as their typings also threaten Poison, Bug, and Fire types that Sceptile would otherwise struggle to break down. Fire types like Arcanine and Salazzle also greatly assist Sceptile by burning through bulky Grass and Steel types such as Bronzong, Celebi and Vileplume, while Rock types like Aerodactyl and Tyrantrum can help mitigate Flying type walls. Sceptile also synergizes well with switch move users such as Dragalge, Ninjask and Rotom-C, which provide Sceptile more opportunities to switch in safely and fire off its attacks without compromising its team’s momentum.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Choice Specs is an alternative to Life Orb that offers additional power and lacks recoil, but limits Sceptile to a single move without switching out, which gimps its ability to sweep if the opponent is able to resist its chosen move appropriately. Sceptile can potentially make use of its hidden ability Unburden using Swords Dance and a Sitrus Berry, though this uses up one of its move slots, prevents Sceptile from switching out and is difficult to set up due to Sceptile’s mediocre defenses. Weakness Policy is an alternative to Sitrus Berry that doesn’t require Swords Dance to set up, but is exceptionally risky, as Sceptile struggles to survive most super effective attacks.
Checks and Counters
====
**Flying Types**: Flying types pose the greatest risk of walling Sceptile, as aside from Dragon Pulse, its moveset leaves it virtually helpless against them. Furthermore, many of the most common Flying types in the tier, such as Aerodactyl, Ninjask and Talonflame, can outspeed it and KO it with their STABs, making it incredibly dangerous to switch into them.
**Poison Types**: Sceptile struggles against Poison types, as they resist all of Sceptile’s special coverage moves and can generally withstand Earthquake due to Sceptile’s middling physical attack. In particular, Dragalge, Salazzle, and Vileplume all doubly resist Sceptile’s STAB attacks, making them difficult to sweep (though Dragalge can be dealt with using Dragon Pulse).
**Bulky Steel Types**: Despite being weak to Sceptile’s Focus Blast and Earthquake, defensive Steel types are generally capable of tanking these attacks and punishing Sceptile in return. Bronzong is possibly the worst offender in this regard, as it takes neutral damage from Focus Blast, can potentially avoid Earthquake using Levitate, and can use Sceptile as setup fodder.
**Other Grass Types**: Many of NU’s other Grass types can resist Sceptile’s coverage attacks, with Celebi, Decidueye and Dhelmise in particular either resisting or being outright immune to Focus Blast and Drain Punch. Others, such as Vileplume and Virizion, also pack powerful STABs that can OHKO Sceptile if it fails to KO them first.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: Doramidoro
- Quality checked by: [username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]
- Grammar checked by: [username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]
