Hilomilo
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[OVERVIEW]
* With amazing Speed and offensive stats, Sceptile is capable of threatening offensive and defensive playstyles alike and is thus a great offensive Pokemon.
* Its diverse movepool gives it ways of breaking past several of its paper checks, such as Delphox with Earthquake and Guzzlord with Focus Blast.
* A good ability in Overgrow also immensely benefits Sceptile, as it can boost its already powerful STAB Leaf Storm to extreme levels if low on health.
* However, Sceptile is extremely frail, and often folds to priority, faster threats, and Choice Scarf users as a result.
* Its poor defensive typing further complicates its opportunities to switch in, due to its weaknesses to common types in Ice, Flying, Fire, and Bug.
* Sceptile can also struggle at times to fit all of its needed coverage options onto a set, which can leave it walled by various threats, including Xatu, Golbat, and Virizion.
* This often results in heavy competition from Whimsicott, which has better coverage, a greater amount of utility, and an additional Fairy typing.
[SET]
name: Life Orb
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Giga Drain
move 4: Focus Blast / Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb
ability: Overgrow
nature: Naive
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Leaf Storm is an immensely powerful STAB attack that Sceptile can use to deal heavy damage to any foe that doesn't resist the attack.
* Earthquake is mostly important for hitting Delphox, which otherwise walls Sceptile, for an OHKO after Stealth Rock most of the time. It also hits Toxicroak and Skuntank super effectively.
* Rock Slide is also an option that while less powerful and accurate than Earthquake, still hits Delphox hard in addition to covering the likes of Xatu, Golbat, and Vikavolt.
* Giga Drain is a decently powerful STAB attack that while not comparable to Leaf Storm in terms of damage output, lacks drawbacks and restores health for Sceptile.
* Focus Blast nails a few Pokemon that would otherwise wall Sceptile, such as Guzzlord and Type: Null.
* Hidden Power Ice, however, is another option in the fourth slot for covering Flying-types like Xatu and Sigilyph, Grass-types like Virizion and Whimsicott, and Dragon-types like Guzzlord and Druddigon.
Set Details
========
* Full investment in Speed with a Naive nature, which is preferred so as not to lower the power of Earthquake or Rock Slide, allows Sceptile to boast as much Speed as possible. It's important to note, however, that with a Naive nature Sceptile's ability to switch into attacks like Psychic from Choice Specs Whimsicott and Scald from Slowbro is slightly compromised, as both of these attacks will very notably do more damage.
* Full investment in Special Attack is also quite important, as it allows Sceptile to break through the majority of the tier with its special attacks.
* The remaining 4 EVs are invested in Attack in order to boost the power of Earthquake or Rock Slide.
* Life Orb puts more power behind Sceptile's attacks, while Overgrow is preferred as the ability in order to power up its Grass-type attacks once its HP is lowered.
Usage Tips
========
* Sceptile mainly functions as a wallbreaker that attempts paving way for the sweep of a teammate. Due to this, it should find an opportunity to switch in, such as against a foe like Vaporeon or Blastoise, and begin offensively pressuring foes from there.
* Due to its frailty, Sceptile should look to come into play with support from a pivot or after a teammate has fainted if it can't switch into a resisted attack.
* Firing off as many Leaf Storms as possible is often optimal, due to the fact that even resisted targets often take a large amount of damage from the attack. However, Sceptile should try catching some of its switch-ins that take super effective damage from coverage, such as Guzzlord, on the switch with an attack that hits them harder so as not to drop its Special Attack.
Team Options
========
* Entry hazard support from the likes of Garbodor, Piloswine, and Steelix can be useful for allowing Sceptile to wallbreak more easily while punishing switches.
* Entry hazard removal is also quite important, as it can keep Sceptile from being worn down by both Life Orb and Stealth Rock damage. Examples of entry hazard removers to pair with Sceptile include Cryogonal, which can aid Sceptile in dealing with Flying-types and opposing Grass-types, and Golbat, which deals with Bug- and Grass-type Pokemon for Sceptile. It's worth noting that in supporting Sceptile with a Defog user, it may become harder to consistently keep entry hazards up on the opposing side of the field.
* Slow pivots like Vikavolt and Uxie are capable of safely bringing Sceptile into play, which it appreciates due to its frailty. Faster pivots that can force switches to bring Sceptile in safely, such as Heliolisk, Passimian, and Rotom, are also appreciated as partners.
* Setup sweepers such as Toxicroak, Delphox, and Nasty Plot + Trick Room Slowking appreciate Sceptile's ability to weaken opposing teams for them to finish off in the late-game.
* Fire-types like Incineroar and Houndoom make particularly good partners for Sceptile, due to their appreciation of its ability to handle Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types while dealing with Grass-, Bug-, and Ice-types themselves.
* Sceptile enjoys Flying-type checks like Rotom, Steelix, and Rhydon on its team, as they can come in on Pokemon that heavily threaten it such as Braviary and Dodrio.
* Ice-resistant Pokemon such as Silvally-Steel, Vaporeon, and Piloswine can take on the Ice-types like Sneasel and Choice Scarf Vanilluxe that can apply heavy pressure to Sceptile.
* Fire-resistant Pokemon such as Magmortar, Slowbro, and Rhydon are also useful for their ability to switch into and pressure most opposing Fire-types for Sceptile.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Sceptile can run a Choice Specs set due to the immense amount of power it will put behind Leaf Storm. However, none of Sceptile's attacks are particularly desirable to be locked onto.
* A Swords Dance + Liechi Berry or Sitrus Berry set is also plausible due to Unburden, though this is often situational due to the prevalence of priority and more consistent physical sweepers such as Incineroar and Toxicroak existing.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Pokemon**: Sceptile's extreme fragility allows faster Pokemon such as boosted Klinklang and Accelgor to easily force it out with powerful STAB attacks. Choice Scarf users like Delphox, Dodrio, and Vanilluxe also trouble Sceptile, as their held items will allow them to outspeed and OHKO it.
**Flying-types**: The likes of Braviary, Sigilyph, Xatu are all capable of tanking a hit and OHKOing Sceptile in return, while also recovering off any damage taken with Roost. All must be wary of coming in on Hidden Power Ice, however.
**Fire-types**: Although they must be wary of Earthquake and can take hefty damage from Leaf Storm, Delphox, Houndoom, and Incineroar are all capable of OHKOing Sceptile with super effective STAB attacks, though the latter two should be wary of Focus Blast as well.
**Poison-types**: Poison-types resist both Sceptile's STAB attacks and Focus Blast, and are often bulky enough to take an Earthquake while in return doing heavy damage with STAB attacks. Examples include Vileplume, which is particularly troublesome due to its 4x resistance to Grass and neutrality to Earthquake, and Golbat, which either 4x resists or is immune to all of Sceptile's attacks bar Rock Slide. Choice Scarf Haunter is also troublesome due to its ability to easily outpace and OHKO Sceptile.
* With amazing Speed and offensive stats, Sceptile is capable of threatening offensive and defensive playstyles alike and is thus a great offensive Pokemon.
* Its diverse movepool gives it ways of breaking past several of its paper checks, such as Delphox with Earthquake and Guzzlord with Focus Blast.
* A good ability in Overgrow also immensely benefits Sceptile, as it can boost its already powerful STAB Leaf Storm to extreme levels if low on health.
* However, Sceptile is extremely frail, and often folds to priority, faster threats, and Choice Scarf users as a result.
* Its poor defensive typing further complicates its opportunities to switch in, due to its weaknesses to common types in Ice, Flying, Fire, and Bug.
* Sceptile can also struggle at times to fit all of its needed coverage options onto a set, which can leave it walled by various threats, including Xatu, Golbat, and Virizion.
* This often results in heavy competition from Whimsicott, which has better coverage, a greater amount of utility, and an additional Fairy typing.
[SET]
name: Life Orb
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Giga Drain
move 4: Focus Blast / Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb
ability: Overgrow
nature: Naive
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Leaf Storm is an immensely powerful STAB attack that Sceptile can use to deal heavy damage to any foe that doesn't resist the attack.
* Earthquake is mostly important for hitting Delphox, which otherwise walls Sceptile, for an OHKO after Stealth Rock most of the time. It also hits Toxicroak and Skuntank super effectively.
* Rock Slide is also an option that while less powerful and accurate than Earthquake, still hits Delphox hard in addition to covering the likes of Xatu, Golbat, and Vikavolt.
* Giga Drain is a decently powerful STAB attack that while not comparable to Leaf Storm in terms of damage output, lacks drawbacks and restores health for Sceptile.
* Focus Blast nails a few Pokemon that would otherwise wall Sceptile, such as Guzzlord and Type: Null.
* Hidden Power Ice, however, is another option in the fourth slot for covering Flying-types like Xatu and Sigilyph, Grass-types like Virizion and Whimsicott, and Dragon-types like Guzzlord and Druddigon.
Set Details
========
* Full investment in Speed with a Naive nature, which is preferred so as not to lower the power of Earthquake or Rock Slide, allows Sceptile to boast as much Speed as possible. It's important to note, however, that with a Naive nature Sceptile's ability to switch into attacks like Psychic from Choice Specs Whimsicott and Scald from Slowbro is slightly compromised, as both of these attacks will very notably do more damage.
* Full investment in Special Attack is also quite important, as it allows Sceptile to break through the majority of the tier with its special attacks.
* The remaining 4 EVs are invested in Attack in order to boost the power of Earthquake or Rock Slide.
* Life Orb puts more power behind Sceptile's attacks, while Overgrow is preferred as the ability in order to power up its Grass-type attacks once its HP is lowered.
Usage Tips
========
* Sceptile mainly functions as a wallbreaker that attempts paving way for the sweep of a teammate. Due to this, it should find an opportunity to switch in, such as against a foe like Vaporeon or Blastoise, and begin offensively pressuring foes from there.
* Due to its frailty, Sceptile should look to come into play with support from a pivot or after a teammate has fainted if it can't switch into a resisted attack.
* Firing off as many Leaf Storms as possible is often optimal, due to the fact that even resisted targets often take a large amount of damage from the attack. However, Sceptile should try catching some of its switch-ins that take super effective damage from coverage, such as Guzzlord, on the switch with an attack that hits them harder so as not to drop its Special Attack.
Team Options
========
* Entry hazard support from the likes of Garbodor, Piloswine, and Steelix can be useful for allowing Sceptile to wallbreak more easily while punishing switches.
* Entry hazard removal is also quite important, as it can keep Sceptile from being worn down by both Life Orb and Stealth Rock damage. Examples of entry hazard removers to pair with Sceptile include Cryogonal, which can aid Sceptile in dealing with Flying-types and opposing Grass-types, and Golbat, which deals with Bug- and Grass-type Pokemon for Sceptile. It's worth noting that in supporting Sceptile with a Defog user, it may become harder to consistently keep entry hazards up on the opposing side of the field.
* Slow pivots like Vikavolt and Uxie are capable of safely bringing Sceptile into play, which it appreciates due to its frailty. Faster pivots that can force switches to bring Sceptile in safely, such as Heliolisk, Passimian, and Rotom, are also appreciated as partners.
* Setup sweepers such as Toxicroak, Delphox, and Nasty Plot + Trick Room Slowking appreciate Sceptile's ability to weaken opposing teams for them to finish off in the late-game.
* Fire-types like Incineroar and Houndoom make particularly good partners for Sceptile, due to their appreciation of its ability to handle Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types while dealing with Grass-, Bug-, and Ice-types themselves.
* Sceptile enjoys Flying-type checks like Rotom, Steelix, and Rhydon on its team, as they can come in on Pokemon that heavily threaten it such as Braviary and Dodrio.
* Ice-resistant Pokemon such as Silvally-Steel, Vaporeon, and Piloswine can take on the Ice-types like Sneasel and Choice Scarf Vanilluxe that can apply heavy pressure to Sceptile.
* Fire-resistant Pokemon such as Magmortar, Slowbro, and Rhydon are also useful for their ability to switch into and pressure most opposing Fire-types for Sceptile.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Sceptile can run a Choice Specs set due to the immense amount of power it will put behind Leaf Storm. However, none of Sceptile's attacks are particularly desirable to be locked onto.
* A Swords Dance + Liechi Berry or Sitrus Berry set is also plausible due to Unburden, though this is often situational due to the prevalence of priority and more consistent physical sweepers such as Incineroar and Toxicroak existing.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Pokemon**: Sceptile's extreme fragility allows faster Pokemon such as boosted Klinklang and Accelgor to easily force it out with powerful STAB attacks. Choice Scarf users like Delphox, Dodrio, and Vanilluxe also trouble Sceptile, as their held items will allow them to outspeed and OHKO it.
**Flying-types**: The likes of Braviary, Sigilyph, Xatu are all capable of tanking a hit and OHKOing Sceptile in return, while also recovering off any damage taken with Roost. All must be wary of coming in on Hidden Power Ice, however.
**Fire-types**: Although they must be wary of Earthquake and can take hefty damage from Leaf Storm, Delphox, Houndoom, and Incineroar are all capable of OHKOing Sceptile with super effective STAB attacks, though the latter two should be wary of Focus Blast as well.
**Poison-types**: Poison-types resist both Sceptile's STAB attacks and Focus Blast, and are often bulky enough to take an Earthquake while in return doing heavy damage with STAB attacks. Examples include Vileplume, which is particularly troublesome due to its 4x resistance to Grass and neutrality to Earthquake, and Golbat, which either 4x resists or is immune to all of Sceptile's attacks bar Rock Slide. Choice Scarf Haunter is also troublesome due to its ability to easily outpace and OHKO Sceptile.
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