I HAVE TOO MANY OPTIONS, AND I MUST SCREAM
[SET]
name: Stealth Rock Support
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Thunder Wave / Fling
move 3: Encore / Perish Song
move 4: Perish Song / Rock Tomb / Dazzling Gleam
item: Mental Herb / Sitrus Berry / Light Ball / Booster Energy
tera type: Normal / Steel / Fairy
ability: Protosynthesis
nature: Calm / Timid
evs: 180 HP / 156 SpD / 172 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
* Scream Tail's incredible support movepool and bulk makes it a fine Stealth Rock supporter.
* **Thunder Wave versus Fling**: Thunder Wave is the easiest form of paralysis to fit in, but with Light Ball, Fling can paralyze Ground-types such as Great Tusk and Garchomp, and Gholdengo that lack Covert Cloak, at the cost of leaving Scream Tail extremely vulnerable to Encore. Fling can also get rid of devastating Choice items from Trick users such as Rotom-W.
* **Encore**: Scream Tail's great Speed tier makes it an especially effective user of Encore, letting it punish foes that attempt to set up, such as Roaring Moon.
* **Perish Song**: Perish Song is another way for Scream Tail to threaten setup sweepers such as Dragonite, and it can become a win condition late in the game. It's also a fantastic response to Baton Pass foes such as Espathra and opposing Scream Tail.
* **Rock Tomb**: Rock Tomb's additional Speed control is helpful against threats that boost their Speed, such as Dragonite and Baxcalibur.
* **Dazzling Gleam**: While a rather weak STAB move, Dazzling Gleam threatening to 2HKO offensive Great Tusk can make it a good way to punish Rapid Spin use.
Other Options
========
* **Flamethrower**: Flamethrower 2HKOes Scizor, though it does not 2HKO Gholdengo, making Recover sets still problematic.
* **Disable**: Disable is particularly apt at ruining Choice item foes that need a specific move to 2HKO Scream Tail, such as Scizor, though compared to Encore, it's less useful against support moves.
* **Psychic Fangs**: In addition to 2HKOing Iron Moth, Psychic Fangs breaking dual screens can be extremely useful, though this doesn't work against Grimmsnarl.
Tera Types
========
* **Normal**: Tera Normal might seem like an underwhelming defensive option, but taking on Ghost-type attacks while avoiding a 2HKO from Gholdengo can be valuable.
* **Steel**: Tera Steel gives a vital Steel resistance and is a great defensive typing in general.
* **Fairy**: Tera Fairy improves Scream Tail's matchup against Dark-types such as Hydreigon.
* **Fire**: If using Flamethrower, Tera Fire Scream Taill will have a 97.3% chance to 2HKO Tera Steel Scizor, making it an effective lure.
Items
========
* **Mental Herb**: Blocking the first use of Taunt makes Scream Tail an extremely reliable setter of Stealth Rock.
* **Sitrus Berry**: Sitrus Berry is the safest way to increase Scream Tail's longetivity, and it can avoid certain 2HKOs depending on the EV spread, such as that from Choice Specs Iron Bundle's Hydro Pump with specially defensive spreads.
* **Light Ball**: Light Ball is a requirement when using Fling, ensuring Scream Tail can inflict paralysis once and get rid of Choice items with one move.
* **Booster Energy**: Booster Energy being instantly consumed makes Scream Tail less flexible, but boosting Speed lets it outspeed key threats such as Dragapult. This item can also be used with bulkier EV spreads to make Scream Tail even bulkier, pulling off incredible stunts such as surviving Timid Choice Specs Gholdengo's Make It Rain.
EV Spreads
========
* Scream Tail has an incredible number of viable EV spreads at its disposal: consider these as mere examples rather than all of its viable EV spreads!
* **180 HP / 156 SpD / 172 Spe with Calm or Careful**: This EV spread outspeeds Baxcalibur and Great Tusk and survives Timid Choice Specs Iron Moth's Sludge Wave 93.7% of the time.
* **180 HP / 124 SpD / 204 Spe with Calm or Careful**: The Speed investment outspeeds Jolly Annihilape, and Scream Tail avoids OHKOs from Timid Gholdengo and Choice Specs Flutter Mane.
* **220 HP / 220 Def / 68 SpD with Calm or Careful**: This EV spread avoids an OHKO from Timid Gholdengo's Make It Rain after Stealth Rock damage, and Scream Tail has a 93.7% chance of surviving Tera Steel Scizor's Choice Band Bullet Punch. If outspeeding Baxcalibur and Great Tusk is a must, a Speed-boosting nature and 68 Speed EVs can be used instead.
* **252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with Timid or Jolly**: With maximum Speed investment, Scream Tail outspeeds not only Iron Moth, but also major Encore targets such as Garchomp and Annihilape.
[SET]
name: Baton Pass
move 1: Baton Pass
move 2: Bulk Up / Calm Mind
move 3: Encore / Sing
move 4: Play Rough / Dazzling Gleam / Substitute / Sing
item: Mental Herb / Blunder Policy / Sitrus Berry
ability: Protosynthesis
Nature: Careful / Jolly
tera type: Normal / Steel
Evs: 220 HP / 220 Def / 68 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
* Scream Tail's diverse setup options and bulk make it one of the most unpredictable Baton Pass Pokemon in the metagame.
* **Encore**: Encore is perfect for punishing passive play, giving Scream Tail many new setup opportunities.
* **Sing**: Sing is a high-risk, high-reward option to set up in otherwise impossible situations, and it is especially effective with Blunder Policy.
* **Substitute**: Not only is Substitute useful to pass with Baton Pass, but it makes weak Pokemon such as Garganacl into easy setup bait.
Other Options
========
* **Flamethrower**: When using Calm Mind, Flamethrower can threaten Gholdengo and Scizor.
* **Psychic Fangs**: Psychic Fangs 2HKOes Clodsire and, after a Bulk Up boost, can OHKO Iron Moth that don't invest in Defense. However, Grimmsnarl holds back its dual screens-breaking potential.
* **Drain Punch**: Drain Punch gives Scream Tail some offensive presence against Kingambit.
* **Stored Power**: When combined with Calm Mind and Blunder Policy, Stored Power can threaten Unaware walls such as Skeledirge.
Tera Types
========
* **Normal**: Tera Normal gets rid of Scream Tail's key weakness to Steel, and it performs well against Flutter Mane and Gholdengo in particular.
* **Steel**: Tera Steel gives Scream Tail a fantastic defensive typing, resisting Scizor's Bullet Punch in particular.
* **Dark**: If Grimmsnarl is particularly problematic for your team, Tera Dark will block its Prankster Taunt from stopping Scream Tail.
Items
========
* **Mental Herb**: Mental Herb is the most reliable option for getting Baton Pass off against faster Taunt users.
* **Blunder Policy**: When paired with Sing, Scream Tail can pass Speed when Sing misses.
* **Sitrus Berry**: A burst of recovery from Sitrus Berry eases setup in general.
* **Booster Energy**: While it's impossible to pass Protosynthesis boosts via Baton Pass, either outspeeding disruptive foes such as Iron Bundle, or surviving Choice Specs holders like Iron Moth and Gholdengo, can be a deadly surprise.
General EV Spreads
========
* **220 HP / 220 Def / 68 SpD with Careful or Calm**: This EV spread gives Scream Tail enough bulk to survive Timid Gholdengo's Make It Rain after Stealth Rock damage, and it has a 93.7% chance of surviving Tera Steel Choice Band Scizor's Bullet Punch.
* **180 HP / 124 SpD / 204 Spe with Calm or Careful**: This spread outspeeds Jolly Annihilape, and with Blunder Policy, it can even outspeed Booster Energy Iron Bundle after missing Sing. The bulk lets Scream Tail survive a hit from Timid Gholdengo and Choice Specs Flutter Mane after Stealth Rock damage.
* **252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with Jolly or Timid**: Maximizing Speed lets Scream Tail outspeed high-profile targets such as Iron Moth and Garchomp.
Blunder Policy-Specific EV Spreads
========
* **220 HP / 220 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 60 Spe with Careful or Calm**: This spread gives Scream Tail enough bulk to usually survive Tera Steel Choice Band Scizor's Bullet Punch, and it also outspeeds Booster Energy Iron Valiant after missing Sing. The remaining 8 EVs can only boost Special Defense and an offensive stat of your choice.
* **180 HP / 212 SpD / 116 Spe with Jolly or Timid** and **180 HP / 100 SpD / 228 Spe with Careful or Calm**: These functionally identical stat spreads let Scream Tail outspeed even Choice Scarf Dragapult after missing Sing! The Special Defense investment lets Scream Tail survive a hit from Timid Gholdengo and Choice Specs Flutter Mane after Stealth Rock damage.
[SET]
name: Dual Screens
move 1: Reflect
move 2: Light Screen
move 3: Encore / Perish Song
move 4: Perish Song / Stealth Rock / Dazzling Gleam
item: Light Clay / Mental Herb
ability: Protosynthesis
Nature: Timid
Evs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Normal / Dark
[SET COMMENTS]
* Scream Tail's bulk and impressive Speed make it a great dual screens setter.
* **Encore**: Encore punishing setup is extremely valuable considering Scream Tail's passive nature compared to other dual screens setters.
* **Perish Song**: Perish Song can ruin Baton Pass attempts from the likes of Espathra or opposing Scream Tail, and it does well against most setup sweepers, except Gholdengo.
* **Light Clay versus Mental Herb**: Light Clay is the preferred choice, but Mental Herb can save Scream Tail from some particularly difficult users of Taunt such as Corviknight and Annihilape.
Tera Types
========
* The extreme support focus of this set means that Terastallization should only be used as a last resort, or when it can clearly lead to a win.
* **Normal**: In emergencies, Tera Normal can let Scream Tail set up dual screens against Flutter Mane and Gholdengo. Note that Scream Tail is completely passive against Gholdengo, though.
* **Dark**: Tera Dark is a niche answer to Prankster Taunt users such as Grimmsnarl.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Theorymon, 29010]]
- Quality checked by: [[Butch Hardnight, 265677], [DerpySuX, 528485]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Adeleine, 517429]]
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