Checks:
QC:
alexwolf |
TheEnder | ---
GP: --- | ---
Overview
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At first glance, Mega Sceptile may not seem that impressive. For starters, it has bad bulk and a typing that leaves it vulnerable to various priority users, including Talonflame, Mamoswine, Weavile, Bisharp, and Mega Scizor. Furthermore, its Special Attack is only 145; combine this with its lack of a powerful and reliable STAB move, and it's easy to see how most defensive teams barely struggle to handle it. However, Mega Sceptile's niche in OU comes from its ability to handle offensive teams. With its base 145 Speed, it is the fastest Dragon-type available. This is immensely useful in OU, a tier with numerous extremely threatening Dragon-types, such as Latios, Latias, Garchomp, and Mega Charizard X, as Mega Sceptile is able to revenge kill all of them, barring Mega Altaria. Additionally, despite its relatively average Special Attack, it has access to Leaf Storm, which, thanks to its high base power, allows Mega Sceptile to revenge kill frailer threats such as Mega Lopunny. Also, its Grass STAB move of choice, along with its four times Water resistance, allows Mega Sceptile to check all of the various bulky waters in OU, including Slowbro, Manaphy, and Rotom-W. Finally, thanks to its access to Lightning Rod, Mega Sceptile is also able to check most of the various Electric-types in OU, including Rotom-W, Mega Manectric, and Thundurus, the latter of which cannot even paralyze Mega Sceptile, again thanks to Lightning Rod.
You contradict yourself saying it doesn't have a powerful STAB yet has a high base power Leaf Storm. Yes, I know you meant Leaf Storm isn't powerful and reliable at once, but it still sounds confusing. I think it would also sound better to say 145 is technically a great SpA stat, but may feel lacking in practice without a boosting item or Calm Mind/Nasty Plot.
All-out Attacker
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name: All-out Attacker
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Dragon Pulse
move 3: Earthquake / Protect
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Focus Blast
ability: Overgrow
item: Sceptilite
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Naive / Timid
Moves
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Leaf Storm is a very strong move that lets Mega Sceptile OHKO and 2HKO many Pokemon that its other Grass STAB move choices cannot. Leaf Storm has a decent chance to 2HKO physically defensive Magic Guard Clefable and OHKO Landorus, Scarf Landorus-T, Assault Vest Azumarill after Stealth Rock, and Mega Manectric. However, Leaf Storm does tend to force Mega Sceptile out after using it because of the Special Attack drop it induces. Energy Ball can be used over Leaf Storm if you want a more consistent STAB move. Energy Ball's main utility comes from the lack of a Special Attack Drop; it, unlike Leaf Storm, does not allow for Pokemon, namely ones that would otherwise be OHKOed, such as Mega Slowbro, from switching in on a Mega Sceptile at -2 Special Attack and abusing the situation. Both moves allow Mega Sceptile to check the bulky Water-types it's supposed to, such as Rotom-W and Keldeo. Dragon Pulse is a great secondary STAB move. It's only resisted by Steel-types and only Fairies are immune to it, and it hits Dragon-types super effectively, and allows Mega Sceptile to effectively revenge kill Dragon-types such as Latias and Garchomp. There are three main roads you can go with the remaining two moveslots. The first of these routes involves you using two different moves to handle the Steel-types that handle Grass / Dragon coverage. Earthquake is used to handle Heatran, Klefki, Jirachi, and Magnezone, with the added bonus of hitting Tentacruel, and Hidden Power Fire is used to cover Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory. Another route you can take with Mega Sceptile's last two moveslots involves using Protect. Protect is a nice move that allows Mega Sceptile to safely Mega Evolve, and thus gain a better speed tier so that it can revenge kill Mega Manectric, Greninja, and Lopunny without having to deal with having only base 120 Speed for one turn. Additionally, it lets Mega Sceptile avoid Mega Lopunny's Fake Out. If using Protect you only have one slot with which to cover Steel-types; in this scenario, you should use Focus Blast, as it hits all Steel-types except for Doublade neutrally. The last possible route you could go is by using Focus Blast and Dragon Pulse as well as two Grass STAB moves: Leaf Storm and Giga Drain. Leaf Storm is used in scenarios when the power is needed, and Giga Drain is used whenever a consistent STAB move is needed. For example, when facing a Keldeo at half its health, you have a chance to lose if using Leaf Storm, but no chance if using Giga Drain. Going this route forgoes having exceptional coverage against Steel-types, the utility provided by Protect, and the utility provided by Substitute, so it's only recommended if team support renders all of those unnecessary.
120 speed is actually fantastic as is for even a mega to have. Sceptile's need for Protect is not very great, as its based speed is so crazy high compared even before megavolving that outside of priority or choice scarf from the enemy they are essentially facing Mega Sceptile itself because Sceptile will likely move first that turn. It can actually megavolve in front of numerous offensive threats like Keldeo, Terrakion, Latios, Garchomp, etc. So this is actually in Sceptile's favor as opposed to, say, Metagross or Beedrill. Speaking of mention that running HP Fire means you don't speed tie Mega Beedrill.
Set Details
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145 Base Speed, Lightning Rod, and Dragon STAB are all integral to Sceptile's success in OU, so it needs to be used with Sceptilite. Maximum Speed EVs with a Speed boosting nature are used in order to get the best of Mega Sceptile's revenge killing ability; in using a Special Attack boosting nature, for example, you lose out on being able to revenge kill Mega Lopunny and Mega Manectric. Even though Hidden Power Fire lowers Mega Sceptile's Speed IVs to 30, maximum Speed should still be used so that you can at least Speed tie other Mega Sceptile with Hidden Power Fire. A Naive nature is chosen on sets with Earthquake so that you don't drop either of Mega Sceptile's offensive stats. If you're only using Focus Blast for coverage against Steel-types, you should use a Timid nature to prevent any unnecessary hindrance to your Special Defense. Maximum Special Attack investment is used to ensure it hits with its STAB moves as hard as possible.
Usage Tips
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Mega Sceptile's base 120 Speed before Mega Evolving is decent, but not fantastic, as it doesn't allow Mega Sceptile to revenge kill Greninja, Mega Lopunny, or Mega Manectric. It's thus very important to Mega Evolve early on when playing against offensive teams. One method by which you could bring Mega Sceptile in is with a slow Volt Switch or U-Turn; this ensures Mega Sceptile gets in unscathed. After Mega Sceptile Mega Evolves and acquires Lightning Rod, you can pivot in on Electric-types attacks from the likes of Thundurus, Manectric, Raikou, and Rotom-W, get a Special Attack boost, and subsequently fire off extremely powerful attacks. Do beware that some of these Electric-types may carry Hidden Power Ice, or in Thundurus's case Hidden Power Flying, which does severe damage to Mega Sceptile. Thanks to its 4x Water resistance, Mega Sceptile can also pivot in on various Water-types, such as Slowbro, Quagsire, Keldeo, and Alomomola, and destroy them with a STAB Leaf Storm. Again beware that some of these may carry Ice Beam or Icy Wild, both of which demolish Mega Sceptile. A perk of Mega Sceptile is that, unlike with other sweepers, you don't have to be cautious when playing against a team with Thundurus, as Mega Sceptile's sweep cannot be stopped by Thunder Wave.
Sceptile's 120 speed IS fantastic. It's tied for second with Alakazam for fastest pokemon before megavolving after Aerodactyl. At the beginning of a game, Sceptile is still faster than Lopunny or Manectric before they megavolve. Obviously the Greninja part will be omitted when Greninja is gone. It's really better than you are making it out to be, as Sceptile can actually megavolve in front of numerous offensive threats because of its speed and STABs, so it has more opportunity than most megas before megavolving.
Team Options
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Defensively, Steel-types, such as Klefki, Bronzong, and Jirachi, and Poison-types, such as Amoonguss, Dragalge, and Gengar, can handle the Fairy-types that Mega Sceptile has trouble with, including Clefable, Altaria, Togekiss, and Sylveon. Togekiss especially gives Mega Sceptile headaches, so checks to it, such as Rotom-W and Thundurus, make good teammates to Mega Sceptile. Mega Sceptile also hates Talonflame's priority Brave Bird, so Talonflame switch ins, such as Heatran, Rhyperior, and Rotom-W are helpful. Heatran deserves a special mention for also beating the bulky Grass-types, such as Amoonguss, that Mega Sceptile hates. Rotom-W also deserves a special mention for being able to provide a slow Volt Switch to get Mega Sceptile in safely.
Offensively, Mega Sceptile makes a good partner with Talonflame, as Mega Sceptile beats Rotom-W, Rhyperior, Tyranitar, and Heatran, all Pokemon that counter Talonflame. Gyarados hates Rotom-W for its ability to wall it and OHKO it with Volt Switch. Mega Sceptile can OHKO Rotom-W for Gyarados, and in switching in on a Volt Switch, can even get a Special Attack boost. In turn, Gyarados with Bounce beats the bulky Grass-types that Mega Sceptile cannot, such as Amoonguss. Mega Sceptile, which struggles greatly against stall, appreciates powerful wallbreakers to break the walls that it cannot. Choice Specs Sylveon, Choice Specs Dragalge, Swords Dance Diggersby, and Swords Dance Crawdaunt can all help break defensive teams for Mega Sceptile.
Substitute
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name: Substitute
move 1: Dragon Pulse
move 2: Giga Drain / Leaf Storm
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Substitute
ability: Overgrow
item: Sceptilite
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
Moves
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Substitute is a great move for using on a predicted switch to a potential check; it greatly eases prediction throughout the match. Substitute also allows Mega Sceptile to evade Bisharp and Mega Absol's Sucker Punch. Giga Drain goes extremely well with Substitute, as it heals Mega Sceptile's health and therefore allows it to make more Substitutes. It hits super effective targets hardly
(hard), and thus allows Mega Sceptile to check various Water-types, such as Rotom-W. However, it is relatively weak against neutral targets. If a stronger Grass STAB move is desired, Mega Sceptile has two options. Leaf Storm is an exceptionally powerful move that lets Mega Sceptile OHKO and 2HKO many Pokemon that Giga Drain cannot. Leaf Storm has a decent chance to 2HKO physically defensive Magic Guard Clefable and OHKO Landorus, Scarf Landorus-T, Assault Vest Azumarill after Stealth Rock, and Mega Manectric. However, Leaf Storm will often force Mega Sceptile out after using it thanks to the Special Attack drop it induces. Energy Ball can be used over Leaf Storm if you want more power than Giga Drain but aren't willing to settle for Leaf Storm's unreliability. Dragon Pulse is a great secondary STAB move. It's only resisted by Steel-types and only Fairies are immune to it, and it hits Dragon-types super effectively. It thus and allows Mega Sceptile to effectively revenge kill Dragon-types such as Latios and Dragonite. Focus Blast is used as the final move as it gives Mega Sceptile the best coverage against Steel-types possible with only one moveslot; it hits both Heatran and Ferrothorn super effectively. However, if you're willing to forgo hitting Heatran and the OHKO on Bisharp, Hidden Power Fire is viable for its increased accuracy over Focus Blast and its hitting of Scizor super effectively.
Double Grass STAB needs a big mention here. It's not just that Leaf Storm can miss, but if you're behind a Substitute and use Leaf Storm you immediately become non-threatening and essentially wasted a turn making a Sub that you'll likely have to switch out. Leaf Storm and Energy Ball aren't meant to replace Giga Drain, they're meant to replace Substitute. Leaf Storm and Substitute should never be run together.
Set Details
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145 Base Speed, Lightning Rod, and Dragon STAB are all integral to Sceptile's success in OU, so it needs to be used with Sceptilite. Maximum Speed EVs with a Timid nature are used in order to get the best of Mega Sceptile's revenge killing ability; in using a Modest nature, for example, you lose out on being able to revenge kill Mega Lopunny and Mega Manectric. Mega Sceptile is a special sweeper, so 252 of its remaining EVs are placed into Special Attack.
Usage Tips
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Sceptile's base 120 Speed before Mega Evolving is decent, but not fantastic, as it can't revenge kill Greninja, Mega Lopunny, or Mega Manectric. It's thus very important to Mega Evolve very early on when playing against offensive teams. One method by which you could bring it in is with a slow Volt Switch or U-Turn; this ensures Mega Sceptile gets in unscathed. After you Mega Evolve and acquire Lightning Rod, you can pivot in on Electric-types attacks from the likes of Thundurus, Manectric, Raikou, and Rotom, get a Special Attack boost, and subsequently either fire off an extremely powerful attack or set up a Substitute. Use Substitute whenever the situation calls for it; instead of having to predict whether or not the opponent will switch, and thus possibly costing a game, just use Substitute. The worst that could happen is Mega Sceptile wasting 25% of its HP; the potential benefit of being protected by a Substitute against a Pokemon that Mega Sceptile can 2HKO far outweighs this risk. When behind a Substitute, Mega Sceptile becomes very hard to deal with for offensive teams, as few Pokemon used on offensive teams can outspeed and or avoid the 2HKO from Mega Sceptile. Emergency checks to Mega Mega Sceptile such as Weavile do not work when it is behind a Substitute, as its Ice Shard simply breaks the Substitute as Mega Mega Sceptile swiftly faints Weavile with Focus Blast.
Team Options
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Defensively, Steel-types, such as Klefki, Bronzong, and Jirachi, and Poison-types, such as Amoonguss, Dragalge, and Gengar, can handle the Fairy-types that Mega Sceptile has trouble with, including Clefable, Altaria, Togekiss, and Sylveon. Togekiss especially gives Mega Sceptile headaches, so checks to it, such as Rotom-W and Thundurus, make good teammates to Mega Sceptile. Mega Sceptile also hates Talonflame's priority Brave Bird, so Talonflame switch ins, such as Heatran, Rhyperior, and Rotom-W are helpful. Heatran deserves a special mention for also beating the bulky grasses, such as Amoonguss, that Mega Sceptile hates. Rotom-W also deserves a special mention for being able to provide a slow Volt Switch to get Mega Sceptile in safely.
Offensively, Mega Sceptile makes a good partner with Talonflame, as it beats Rotom-W, Rhyperior, Tyranitar, and Heatran, all Pokemon that counter Talonflame. Gyarados hates Rotom-W for its ability to wall it and OHKO it with Volt Switch. Mega Sceptile can OHKO Rotom-W for Gyarados, and in switching in on a Volt Switch, can get a Special Attack boost. In turn, Gyarados with Bounce beats the bulky Grass-types that Mega Sceptile cannot, such as Amoonguss. Mega Sceptile, which struggles greatly against stall, appreciates powerful wallbreakers to break the walls it can't. Choice Specs Sylveon, Choice Specs Dragalge, Swords Dance Diggersby, Swords Dance Crawdaunt, and more can all help break defensive teams for Mega Sceptile.
Other Options
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Mega Sceptile boasts a Thunder Wave immunity, an impeccable 145 base Speed, a usable 110 base Attack, and a solid physical movepool. A Swords Dance set set with Leaf Blade, Low Kick / Earthquake, and Outrage / Dragon Claw is therefore plausible. Any standard set Mega Sceptile can run leaves it walled by Fairies; Iron Tail can be a good solution. Likewise, almost all bulky Flying-types wall Mega Sceptile; Rock Slide can be used to remedy this problem.
Checks & Counters
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**Fairies**: Mega Altaria is one of the best counters to Mega Sceptile, as it resists its Grass STAB move of choice, Focus Blast, and Hidden Power Fire; is immune to Dragon Pulse; and takes little to nothing from Earthquake. It can use Mega Sceptile as setup bait or just go for the OHKO with Return or Hyper Voice. Sylveon sets easily can tank a hit and subsequently OHKO with Hyper Voice, potentially through Mega Sceptile's Substitute. Mega Gardevoir can switch into any move bar Leaf Storm and OHKO with Hyper Voice even through a Substitute. Clefable with mixed bulk and a Calm nature avoids the 2HKO from all moves, can use Mega Sceptile as Stealth Rock fodder, and can recover constantly with Wish.
**Flying-types:** Mandibuzz avoids the 2HKO from Dragon Pulse, can Roost off any damage taken, and can threaten Mega Sceptile with Foul Play and use it as Defog fodder. Specially defensive Talonflame avoids the 2HKO from Dragon Pulse and can OHKO with Brave Bird. Assault Vest Tornadus-T easily avoids the 2HKO from Dragon Pulse and can OHKO with Hurricane. All Togekiss sets counter Mega Sceptile, but offensive sets are especially good for being able to use Mega Sceptile as Nasty Plot setup bait.
**Select Bulky Steel Types**: Klefki can easily switch in on Grass- and Dragon-type moves, take a Hidden Power Fire well, use Mega Sceptile as Spikes fodder, and 2HKO Mega Sceptile with Play Rough. It must however be wary of Earthquake. Bronzong takes very little from all of Mega Sceptile's attacks and can do decent damage with Gyro Ball. Specially defensive Jirachi spreads wall Mega Sceptile sets lacking Earthquake. Mega Scizor beats all sets lacking Hidden Power Fire. Specially defensive Doublade avoids the 2HKO from all of Mega Sceptile's moves. Mega Metagross can switch in on either of Mega Sceptile's STAB moves and KO in return with Meteor Mash.
**Bulky Grass-types**: Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, and Celebi can all switch on any move Mega Sceptile has repeatedly throughout a match and force it out.
**Chansey and Blissey**: Both Chansey and Blissey easily switch in on any move Mega Sceptile may possess.
**Revenge Killers**: Mega Sceptile's typing and bad bulk leave it vulnerable to priority. Talonflame revenge kills with Brave Bird, Mamoswine and Weavile revenge kill with Ice Shard, and Mega Aerodactyl revenge kills with Aerial Ace or Ice Fang. Choice Band Scizor can revenge kill with Bullet Punch easily, and can even check it thanks to its typing that resists Dragon and Grass.