credit to Sunfished for the amazing art
[SET]
name: Offensive Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Bullet Punch
move 3: Bug Bite
move 4: Superpower / Knock Off / Aerial Ace
item: Life Orb / Scizorite
ability: Technician / Light Metal
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Swords Dance boosts Scizor's Attack to incredible levels, allowing it to hit even harder with its fully invested, item-boosted STAB and coverage moves. Bullet Punch allows Scizor to revenge kill faster foes such as Mega Altaria, Stratagem, and Syclant, as well as clean up weakened offensive teams after grabbing a Swords Dance boost. Bug Bite is Scizor's strongest wallbreaking tool, as it hits impressively hard with the STAB and Technician boosts. Bug Bite hits physically defensive foes that are neutral to Bug, such as Cyclohm, Rotom-W, and Mega Sableye, for massive damage after a Swords Dance boost, and it is great for breaking past bulky foes that are weak to Bug such as Slowbro and Mega Latias. Superpower provides the best overall coverage with Scizor's STAB moves by hitting Steel-types like Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Naviathan super effectively. Alternatively, Knock Off may be used to prevent Kitsunoh from walling the set while also hitting Jirachi harder, and it still provides a decent neutral option against most Steel-types. Aerial Ace demolishes defensive behemoths such as Pyroak, Mega Venusaur, Arghonaut, and the omnipresent Tomohawk, but it leaves Scizor vulnerable to Steel-types. Acrobatics is an alternate option for Life Orb sets to ensure that Scizor still has strong Flying-type coverage in the event that its Life Orb is removed by Knock Off. Acrobatics still achieves many of the same KOs that Aerial Ace gets, but the power drop is notable against physically defensive Tomohawk, as +2 Acrobatics is not a guaranteed OHKO.
Set Details
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Life Orb, an Adamant nature, and maximum Attack investment are used so that Scizor hits as hard as possible. Maximum Speed investment is preferred on this set so that Scizor can outspeed as many defensive threats as possible, including Rotom-W, Cyclohm, Tomohawk, and Mega Venusaur, as well as Speed tie with opposing Adamant Scizor. Scizorite may be used instead if your team needs a Mega Evolution; the increased bulk and lack of Life Orb recoil ease Mega Scizor's setup, and the higher base Speed allows Mega Scizor to strike bulky Mew with Bug Bite before it can use Will-O-Wisp. It is worth noting that Mega Scizor's damage output is slightly lower than that of Life Orb Scizor. For instance, unboosted Bullet Punch is no longer a guaranteed OHKO on Mega Crucibelle. Technician is the ability of choice for Life Orb sets to boost the power of Bullet Punch, Bug Bite, and Aerial Ace. If opting for Scizorite, Light Metal should be used instead, as Scizor's ability will become Technician upon Mega Evolution anyway, and Light Metal can help base Scizor in a few scenarios, such as switching into Crucibelle's Low Kick.
Usage Tips
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With Scizor's offensive capabilities, it's quite diverse in the ways it can be played, as it can function as a revenge killer, wallbreaker, or even late-game cleaner depending on the situation. A lot of the time, Scizor will be functioning as a fearsome revenge killer with its strong Bullet Punch. When Scizor finds itself up against physically frail foes, such as Mega Gardevoir, Syclant, and Stratagem, that it can force out, you can use the opportunity to set up Swords Dance on the predicted switch and apply heavy pressure to the switch-in. By weakening physically defensive switch-ins such as Cyclohm, Pyroak, and Rotom-W, Scizor can support its offensive teammates that appreciate having these threats weakened or removed. Late-game, Scizor has the potential to clean up offensive teams with +2 Bullet Punch if the appropriate checks, namely faster Pokemon that resist Steel, have been sufficiently weakened or removed first. Scizor is perhaps most effective when played aggressively and by setting up Swords Dance on forced switches; just be especially wary of Pokemon like Clefable and Stratagem that commonly run Fire-type coverage.
Team Options
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Scizor's best partners are Pokemon that appreciate having physical walls heavily weakened or removed. Fast offensive Steel-types such as Mega Metagross, Cawmodore, and Kitsunoh fall into this category, as they share similar checks with Scizor. Serperior also appreciates Scizor's wallbreaking, as it enjoys having Tomohawk and Pyroak weakened before attempting to clean up with Leaf Storm. Heatran is a good teammate for Scizor, as it provides Stealth Rock support, a switch-in to the Fire-type attacks that force Scizor out, and a decent check to Steel-types, which is especially important for Aerial Ace Scizor. Tank Garchomp also provides Stealth Rock support and a check to Heatran and Talonflame. Opposing bulky Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Garchomp are annoying for Scizor to deal with, as they can check it and cause Life Orb recoil and Rocky Helmet damage to pile up on it quickly. Having a strong special attacker such as Syclant or Keldeo to check these Pokemon is important. Luring them works nicely as well; this can be accomplished by the likes of Hidden Power Ice Plasmanta and Natural Gift + Ganlon Berry Talonflame, paving the way for a Scizor sweep late-game. Offensive Electric-types such as Mega Manectric and Thundurus can serve as offensive checks to opposing Keldeo, which checks Scizor, as well as hit opposing Landorus-T and Garchomp 4x super effectively. If Scizor is running Aerial Ace, it will really struggle to deal with Steel-types, so Magnezone is a helpful partner in this case to trap and remove these threats. Support Pokemon such as Thunder Wave Clefable, Thunder Wave Slowbro, Tailwind Fidgit, and Sticky Web Necturna can help Scizor take on faster foes that resist Bullet Punch thanks to their various methods of speed control.
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