RBY 4U (Under3U) Scyther [GP Ready]

Scyther
Type: Bug / Flying
Stats: 70 | 110 | 80 | 55 | 105

Introduction

Scyther is a good revenge killer and can be a very dangerous pokemon at times thanks to its speed, 110 base attack, and access to Swords Dance. It exploits the fact that a bunch of common used pokemon are frail. It’s not easy for it to set up given that a lot of pokemon can pressure it with super effective moves or Thunder Wave but when you manage, your opponent can be in a very difficult position. Scyther doesn’t need a previous paralysis spread to sweep, but just some chipping work that it can do itself with a powerful Slash. The problem with Scyther is that even if its hard counters aren’t extremely common, it’s frail and threatened by a lot of pokemon, and it’s completely crippled by paralysis. It’s still a scary mon that can sometimes completely destroy teams by itself.

Swords Dance

Scyther
- Slash
- Swords Dance
- Hyper Beam
- Substitute / Quick Attack / Agility

Set Details

Slash is an easily spammable move that hits quite hard against a lot of the tier, allowing Scyther to hit-and-run. Swords Dance coupled with Hyper Beam kills almost anything that received prior damage. Substitute creates set-up opportunities, exploiting paralysis or an inaccurate move. Quick-Attack can finish off a Rapidash that ties or anything else if Scyther is paralysed. Unresisted +2 Quick Attacks are doing a lot especially to frailer things such as Abra and Staryu
Agility removes the speed drop of the paralysis Scyther hates.

Other Options

Double-Edge goes with Swords Dance unlike Slash but isn’t as spammable and the recoil damage can put you in some KO ranges. Wing attack 2HKOs the extremely uncommon Gastly at +2. Toxic can be an option against Omastar, the poison damage helps wearing it down, and it also synergizes with Rapidash and Dragonair for partial trapping.

Checks and Counters

Omastar is the best Scyther counter, taking very little damage and 2HKOing in return. Pokémon with good physical bulk and paralysis or a strong super effective STAB make good checks .Porygon, Slowpoke, and Tangela (though it can't do much) are good bets since they can force Scyther out with their threatening Thunder Wave and Stun Spore. Blastoise and Fire types also force it out with their ability to heavily hurt it. Nidoqueen only gets 3HKOed 19.8% of the time by Slash so it can actually switch-in. Nidoking can go one on one and threat to burn with Fire Blast, if it doesn’t it 2HKOs anyway. If Scyther is already revealed, be aware that it might come-in on an Earthquake from those two, so making a risky prediction can pay-off a lot. Venomoth and Staryu can also threat Scyther with paralysis one on one. If you manage to paralyse Scyther, most of the tier have super-effective moves available versus it due to Scyther's poor typing so you can take it down easily.

 

Quick Attack honestly deserves at least a set details mention imo, since one of this mons' biggest issues is being paralyzed not letting it make use of its great speed. It has a great attack stat and at +2, unresisted Quick Attacks are doing a lot especially to frailer things such as Abra and Staryu. At the very very least it's better than Double Edge.

very few damage -> very little damage (grammar point)

In C&C after oma I'd generalise and say generally Pokémon with good physical bulk and paralysis or a strong super effective STAB make good checks.

Note that while Tangela can paralyze scyther it can't really hurt it.

At the end say about if scyther is paralyzed.. say that most of the tier have super-effective moves available versus it due to Scyther's poor typing.

 

About that section: Slash hits much harder than +2 QA, Example:

Scyther Slash vs. Rapidash on a critical hit: 131-155 (39.3 - 46.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 Scyther Quick Attack vs. Rapidash: 78-92 (23.4 - 27.6%) -- 76.8% chance to 4HKO

I mean priority is only needed against Rapidash or when Scyther is paralyzed (which it should never be!), and even then Agility is probably overall better. So idk, QA is so niche... I personally do not feel it should be slashed, maybe put it in OO, but that is really as much as it should get imo.

Just thought of a scenario in which Dash took as much damage as it needs to take to be in range of +2 QA: After taking an EQ from Nidoking, unfortunally +0 QA will never kill is unlikely to kill in this scenario so idk... Not worth a slash...

 

I mean you never really get much use out of the 4th moveslot anyway; any free turns you generate you want to SD, Agility literally only helps with unparalyzed Rapidash, so you might as well use something like Quick Attack for a little extra damage before it goes down if it's paralyzed.