[overview]
**Draft order**: Round 4 onward
**Price range**: 12-13 points
**Overview**: Scream Tail serves as a great support option with its incredible Speed, solid bulk, and typing. It has access to a wide variety of support moves that can help shut down powerful threats on opposing teams, helping and enabling its own teammates. However, its very low Attack makes it overly reliant on its disruption moves, meaning it must rely on other teammates to deal damage.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Fast disruption**: Scream Tail's excellent Speed combined with its natural bulk allows it to outspeed opposing threats and disrupt them with Encore or Thunder Wave. Its natural bulk allows it to easily take hits even with a lot of Speed investment. Booster Energy can be used to outspeed and disrupt Speed-boosting Pokemon such as Dragon Dance users.
**Bulky support**: With its fast Speed and solid defenses, Scream Tail is an excellent switch-in for opposing wallbreakers. It can disrupt and take advantage of them with Encore as well, especially since it can outspeed many Pokemon even with minimal investment. It can support teammates with its own Wish, set up entry hazards with Stealth Rock, and can use STAB moves or coverage to deal damage to foes.
**Setup sweeper**: Scream Tail can set up physically or specially with Bulk Up or Calm Mind, respectively. Its low offensive stats require lots of setup to deal real damage, but its defenses can allow it to take hits from many Pokemon.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Dazzling Gleam, Play Rough, Psychic, Psyshock, Psychic Noise, Psychic Fangs, Stored Power
**Setup moves**: Bulk Up, Calm Mind
**Utility moves**: Encore, Wish, Protect, Stealth Rock, Roar, Light Screen, Reflect, Thunder Wave, Baton Pass
**Coverage**: Crunch, Drain Punch, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Focus Blast, Grass Knot, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Stomping Tantrum, Thunderbolt, Thunder Punch
Niche Moves
========
**Trick**: Scream Tail can utilize Trick with Choice items to stop setup sweepers in their tracks or hinder incoming checks. It can also use items such as Lagging Tail or Sticky Barb in niche scenarios.
**Imprison**: Imprison can mainly be used on Scream Tail to stop foes from setting Stealth Rock or providing Wish support.
**Fake Tears**: Fake Tears weakens incoming special walls, allowing Scream Tail to break through them more easily despite its below average Special Attack.
**Misty Explosion**: Misty Explosion serves as a way to deal a solid amount of damage while also knocking out Scream Tail, allowing you to quickly pivot into a different Pokemon.
**Trick Room**: While Scream Tail does not benefit from Trick Room, it can be used to support slower threats that appreciate it more.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: In matchups where Scream Tail frequently switches in to counter opposing wallbreakers, Heavy-Duty Boots is valuable to avoid entry hazard damage.
**Leftovers**: Leftovers is good for passive recovery, especially on a Pokemon that takes very little damage from many attacks. It also synergizes well with Protect, which is often run on Scream Tail alongside Wish.
**Booster Energy**: Booster Energy can give Scream Tail a Speed boost to outspeed opposing setup sweepers or a Defense or Special Defense boost to counter wallbreakers that would otherwise be problematic.
**Rocky Helmet**: Scream Tail can use Rocky Helmet to deal additional chip damage to physical wallbreakers and pivots.
Niche Items
========
**Resistance Berry**: Resistance Berries, such as Kebia and Babiri Berries, serve as a one-time check to specific attacks.
**Eject Button**: Eject Button lets Scream Tail take an attack and quickly pivot to maintain momentum. It can also prevent foes from pivoting on it and maintaining their own momentum.
**Red Card**: Red Card can force out a setup sweeper without having to rely on Encore or Thunder Wave to hinder or disrupt it.
**Mental Herb**: While it typically outspeeds most Taunt and Encore users, being disrupted renders Scream Tail useless against most Pokemon. Mental Herb can be valuable, as Scream Tail heavily relies on its support moves to be a valuable teammate.
Tera
========
As Scream Tail is relatively weak and serves mostly as a support Pokemon, it does not benefit very much from being a Tera Captain. It would most often utiliize a defensive Tera type, such as Tera Water or Steel, to counter wallbreakers or setup sweepers and shut them down with Encore or other forms of disruption. It could utilize more offensive Tera types, like Tera Fighting, in matchups where a setup set seems viable.
Draft Strategy
========
Scream Tail serves best as a defensive wall that stops opposing threats and supports the rest of its team. It will not gain very many KOs on most teams and should not be the main focus of a draft; rather, it should be drafted to support current teammates and cover their weaknesses.
**Wallbreakers**: Scream Tail lacks offensive power, meaning it relies on strong wallbreakers to back it up. This can include faster Pokemon, like Meowscarada and Greninja, or slower, bulky wallbreakers like Iron Hands and Great Tusk.
**Fighting- and Ground-types**: Scream Tail's STAB combination gets walled by Steel-types, forcing it to either run Fire-type coverage, taking away from its support movepool, or become a sitting duck against it. Being able to bring in a Fighting-type like Urshifu-S or a Ground-type like Ursaluna-B helps keep offensive pressure against Steel-types.
**Entry hazard support**: Scream Tail frequently switches into wallbreakers and wants to be as healthy as possible, meaning it's important to have a good hazard removal option, such as Terapagos or Great Tusk, to avoid entry hazard chip damage.
Checks and Counters
========
**Steel-types**: Steel-types can completely wall Scream Tail's STAB moves, forcing it to run weak coverage or switch out to deal any damage back. Examples include Corviknight and Heatran.
**Bulky Walls**: Scream Tail cannot deal very much damage, allowing many bulky walls to take advantage of it, such as Galarian Slowking and Ting-Lu.
**Poison-types**: While Scream Tail can hit Poison-types with super effective STAB coverage, it does not want to run Psychic-type coverage very often, considering all the support it would rather have. Additionally, Poison-types can weaken it with strong attacks, and most can put it on a timer with Toxic. Notable Poison-types include Glimmora, Clodsire, and Overqwil.
**Status**: Scream Tail relies on being healthy to take strong hits while being able to recover with Wish and Protect. Toxic specifically puts it on a timer and forces it to switch out while also taking away from its healing power. Burn and poison also deal passive damage that Scream Tail does not like, and Thunder Wave can severely hinder its Speed, making it harder to utilize Encore or other forms of support.
**Mental Herb**: Scream Tail very frequently uses Encore to stop setup sweepers, especially if they take little damage from its own attacks. Mental Herb can allow these sweepers another turn to set up if they're faster or to switch out of their setup move if they're slower. Examples include Gouging Fire, Baxcalibur, and Ursaluna-B.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno6377.527276/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/hacker.387847/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sablolol.466715/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/ken.594478/
**Draft order**: Round 4 onward
**Price range**: 12-13 points
**Overview**: Scream Tail serves as a great support option with its incredible Speed, solid bulk, and typing. It has access to a wide variety of support moves that can help shut down powerful threats on opposing teams, helping and enabling its own teammates. However, its very low Attack makes it overly reliant on its disruption moves, meaning it must rely on other teammates to deal damage.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Fast disruption**: Scream Tail's excellent Speed combined with its natural bulk allows it to outspeed opposing threats and disrupt them with Encore or Thunder Wave. Its natural bulk allows it to easily take hits even with a lot of Speed investment. Booster Energy can be used to outspeed and disrupt Speed-boosting Pokemon such as Dragon Dance users.
**Bulky support**: With its fast Speed and solid defenses, Scream Tail is an excellent switch-in for opposing wallbreakers. It can disrupt and take advantage of them with Encore as well, especially since it can outspeed many Pokemon even with minimal investment. It can support teammates with its own Wish, set up entry hazards with Stealth Rock, and can use STAB moves or coverage to deal damage to foes.
**Setup sweeper**: Scream Tail can set up physically or specially with Bulk Up or Calm Mind, respectively. Its low offensive stats require lots of setup to deal real damage, but its defenses can allow it to take hits from many Pokemon.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Dazzling Gleam, Play Rough, Psychic, Psyshock, Psychic Noise, Psychic Fangs, Stored Power
**Setup moves**: Bulk Up, Calm Mind
**Utility moves**: Encore, Wish, Protect, Stealth Rock, Roar, Light Screen, Reflect, Thunder Wave, Baton Pass
**Coverage**: Crunch, Drain Punch, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Focus Blast, Grass Knot, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Stomping Tantrum, Thunderbolt, Thunder Punch
Niche Moves
========
**Trick**: Scream Tail can utilize Trick with Choice items to stop setup sweepers in their tracks or hinder incoming checks. It can also use items such as Lagging Tail or Sticky Barb in niche scenarios.
**Imprison**: Imprison can mainly be used on Scream Tail to stop foes from setting Stealth Rock or providing Wish support.
**Fake Tears**: Fake Tears weakens incoming special walls, allowing Scream Tail to break through them more easily despite its below average Special Attack.
**Misty Explosion**: Misty Explosion serves as a way to deal a solid amount of damage while also knocking out Scream Tail, allowing you to quickly pivot into a different Pokemon.
**Trick Room**: While Scream Tail does not benefit from Trick Room, it can be used to support slower threats that appreciate it more.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: In matchups where Scream Tail frequently switches in to counter opposing wallbreakers, Heavy-Duty Boots is valuable to avoid entry hazard damage.
**Leftovers**: Leftovers is good for passive recovery, especially on a Pokemon that takes very little damage from many attacks. It also synergizes well with Protect, which is often run on Scream Tail alongside Wish.
**Booster Energy**: Booster Energy can give Scream Tail a Speed boost to outspeed opposing setup sweepers or a Defense or Special Defense boost to counter wallbreakers that would otherwise be problematic.
**Rocky Helmet**: Scream Tail can use Rocky Helmet to deal additional chip damage to physical wallbreakers and pivots.
Niche Items
========
**Resistance Berry**: Resistance Berries, such as Kebia and Babiri Berries, serve as a one-time check to specific attacks.
**Eject Button**: Eject Button lets Scream Tail take an attack and quickly pivot to maintain momentum. It can also prevent foes from pivoting on it and maintaining their own momentum.
**Red Card**: Red Card can force out a setup sweeper without having to rely on Encore or Thunder Wave to hinder or disrupt it.
**Mental Herb**: While it typically outspeeds most Taunt and Encore users, being disrupted renders Scream Tail useless against most Pokemon. Mental Herb can be valuable, as Scream Tail heavily relies on its support moves to be a valuable teammate.
Tera
========
As Scream Tail is relatively weak and serves mostly as a support Pokemon, it does not benefit very much from being a Tera Captain. It would most often utiliize a defensive Tera type, such as Tera Water or Steel, to counter wallbreakers or setup sweepers and shut them down with Encore or other forms of disruption. It could utilize more offensive Tera types, like Tera Fighting, in matchups where a setup set seems viable.
Draft Strategy
========
Scream Tail serves best as a defensive wall that stops opposing threats and supports the rest of its team. It will not gain very many KOs on most teams and should not be the main focus of a draft; rather, it should be drafted to support current teammates and cover their weaknesses.
**Wallbreakers**: Scream Tail lacks offensive power, meaning it relies on strong wallbreakers to back it up. This can include faster Pokemon, like Meowscarada and Greninja, or slower, bulky wallbreakers like Iron Hands and Great Tusk.
**Fighting- and Ground-types**: Scream Tail's STAB combination gets walled by Steel-types, forcing it to either run Fire-type coverage, taking away from its support movepool, or become a sitting duck against it. Being able to bring in a Fighting-type like Urshifu-S or a Ground-type like Ursaluna-B helps keep offensive pressure against Steel-types.
**Entry hazard support**: Scream Tail frequently switches into wallbreakers and wants to be as healthy as possible, meaning it's important to have a good hazard removal option, such as Terapagos or Great Tusk, to avoid entry hazard chip damage.
Checks and Counters
========
**Steel-types**: Steel-types can completely wall Scream Tail's STAB moves, forcing it to run weak coverage or switch out to deal any damage back. Examples include Corviknight and Heatran.
**Bulky Walls**: Scream Tail cannot deal very much damage, allowing many bulky walls to take advantage of it, such as Galarian Slowking and Ting-Lu.
**Poison-types**: While Scream Tail can hit Poison-types with super effective STAB coverage, it does not want to run Psychic-type coverage very often, considering all the support it would rather have. Additionally, Poison-types can weaken it with strong attacks, and most can put it on a timer with Toxic. Notable Poison-types include Glimmora, Clodsire, and Overqwil.
**Status**: Scream Tail relies on being healthy to take strong hits while being able to recover with Wish and Protect. Toxic specifically puts it on a timer and forces it to switch out while also taking away from its healing power. Burn and poison also deal passive damage that Scream Tail does not like, and Thunder Wave can severely hinder its Speed, making it harder to utilize Encore or other forms of support.
**Mental Herb**: Scream Tail very frequently uses Encore to stop setup sweepers, especially if they take little damage from its own attacks. Mental Herb can allow these sweepers another turn to set up if they're faster or to switch out of their setup move if they're slower. Examples include Gouging Fire, Baxcalibur, and Ursaluna-B.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno6377.527276/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/hacker.387847/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sablolol.466715/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/ken.594478/
Last edited:
