By Jill/Redterror117
This is the second out of a series of articles I am currently writing, which takes a close look at a particular Pokemon I use competitively against friends. This time I will be analysing one of my favourites, the Pokemon that always makes its way onto my team: Scizor
Scizor in itself is a rather sleek-looking Pokemon, though unfortunately its base speed stat does not match its look. However being the ‘Scissor Pokemon’, Scizor has a very high base attack stat, something which is hard not to consider. Its steel typing also gives it a great natural boost against physical attacks, and that combined with its Bug type means that it is only weak against one Pokemon type: Fire. Though if you can avoid this, then Scizor is your best friend.
My Scizor’s move set is actually a set that appears on Smogon, a website dedicated to Pokemon battles in from the second to fourth generation. It is referred to as the ‘Uber Swords Dance’ build, as one of the key moves used is ‘Swords Dance’, which gives a larger boost to attack power. The main attack for this particular set is Bullet Punch, an increased priority move which deals Steel-type damage. It is not an overly powerful attack, but if Scizor has the Technician ability and wields a Life Orb, combined with the 1.5x STAB multiplier for using a Steel-typed attack, and Bullet Punch’s power goes up by 130%! And that’s all before Swords Dance is used to boost the attack further. Apart from these two attacks, there is also Roost, which will allow Scizor to recover from any possible damage received, and the life taken from an equipped Life Orb. Finally with U-Turn, Scizor can be used first in battle without having to worry about something potentially dangerous. So breaking down the move set for Scizor, we have the following:
Bullet Punch
Swords Dance
U-Turn
Roost
To make the most out of Scizor’s move set, it is important to focus training toward the HP and Attack, as Speed is not a necessity with the use of Bullet Punch (which will ignore this anyways). This way the maximum potential of Scizor’s attack can be reached, so that even without the helping hand from Swords Dance, Scizor can have the potential to knock out an opponent with one hit. And as stated earlier, a held Light Orb never hurts, especially when the user has the potential to regain the lost health.
Once again, the fun part is always the trial. Changes can always be made to the Pokemon’s move set, and even the basic setup of the Pokemon can be transferred to use on another.
Tags: Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black & White