0:00 – Strike Scyther / Event Bugsy / Sawyer
2:44 – Tech Scyther / EX Summer Marnie / BP Morty
5:59 – Support Scyther / EX Brendan / EX Leaf
9:12 – Bonus clear: Strike Scyther / SC Ingo / EX Palentines Bea
I think Scyther is one of the few eggmons where all three have relatively good niches compared to other species, and that’s quite impressive considering that it was one of the first to be released. Azelf is its favorite legendary arena so I decided to use all three here – plus Bugsy’s Scyther, of course.
Here’s how each battle went, and the sync grids used:
Team 1: Strike Scyther / Event Bugsy / Sawyer – https://pokemon-masters-stuff.github.io/#/team-builder/?id1=10045900000&e1=0&o1=750&g1=AAECAwQFBgcRGhwdHiAhIiQmKCot&s1=5&id2=18000040011&e2=60&o2=0&g2=&s2=5&id3=10068010000&e3=0&o3=750&g3=AAECAwQFBggKDQ4QExYaHCYpKyw=&s3=3
Impressively, Strike Scyther is one of the few Bug eggmons who has both physical and special moves, which makes it a fantastic pick against Azelf. Of course he needs a lot of support to get the clear, and he gets it from Bugsy’s Scyther, who completes his offensive buffs and activates type skills, and Sawyer, who provides Sp Atk buffs with both his trainer move and Hype Up as well as some lucky flinches with Dark Pulse Aggravation.
Bugsy’s Scyther was one of the first to combine team-wide buffs with Defense debuffs, and while that’s a lot more common now, its still fantastic role compression that’s useful for a lot of stages. Leer is better for Champion Stadium too.
I think Strike Scyther is the best of the three for this stage, but for Gauntlets without Azelf I would go with one of the two others.
Team 2: Tech Scyther / EX Summer Marnie / BP Morty – https://pokemon-masters-stuff.github.io/#/team-builder/?id1=18000030011&e1=60&o1=0&g1=&s1=1&id2=10245400000&e2=0&o2=750&g2=AAECAwQFCw4QIyUnKissLg==&s2=3&id3=10148000001&e3=0&o3=750&g3=AAECAwQFEhMUFRYZGhweISQmKCot&s3=3
Tech Scyther’s main niche is Struggle Bug, and while it’s a lot less impressive than Viola’s kit, it’s a much more appealing niche in gauntlet. Sp Atk debuffs are rare, and moreso ones that are AOE, which is particularly helpful for Latias. While Mind Games 2 would be the perfect lucky skill since most Devastation and Overpower units are special damage-dealers, I have Defense Crush 2 on CutCut for a similar effect, which is why I run him with Summer Marnie. BP Morty completes the team with his defensive buffs, heals, and flinches.
I think the Lati twins are the only arenas where Tech Scyther is a main consideration because of the sides, and all of the super-effective types there have Devastation and/or Overpower units to take advantage of it. It might be an interesting pick against special damage-heavy arenas like Uxie though.
Team 3: Support Scyther / EX Brendan / EX Leaf – https://pokemon-masters-stuff.github.io/#/team-builder/?id1=18000020011&e1=60&o1=0&g1=&s1=1&id2=10019000000&e2=1&o2=738&g2=AAECAwQFBgcICQoLDBESFBcYGR4hJQ==&s2=5&id3=10017000000&e3=0&o3=750&g3=AAECAwQFExocHyEiJCYpLC4=&s3=5
Support Scyther is one of several that maximizes speed. That might not sound like much, but one thing I noticed when building both of my Gauntlet streaks was how I faced a lot of gauge issues, and there was definitely room for a +6 Speed eggmon like Scyther in some of those team comps. More directly though, Support Scyther is a great partner to Inertia units like Brendan who take quite a while to max their speed on their own. Units like SS Grimsley and Elesa also appreciate SliceSlice’s +2 Attack to complete their buffs. Even if SliceSlice goes down in Azelf’s first HP bar here, getting Brendan to +6 Speed was all he needed to do. Leaf is the tank here for her omni-buffs, heals, and occasional flinches with Tackle Staggering 2.
I think Support Scyther is the one to use for most gauntlets, as there are a lot of Inertia units, Ramming Speed units, and slow units in general that it can support. It even has Fury Cutter as a spam move to help with the countdown without eating up too much gauge, and Endurance to live an extra (non-sync) move.
Bonus clear: Strike Scyther / SC Ingo / EX Palentines Bea – https://pokemon-masters-stuff.github.io/#/team-builder/?id1=10108400000&e1=10&o1=630&g1=AAECAwQFBgcICQoMERITFRobHB0jJCUmJyg=&s1=1&id2=18000040011&e2=60&o2=0&g2=&s2=5&id3=10250400000&e3=0&o3=750&g3=AAECAwQFBggKDRASExQXGhsmKCst&s3=3
Strike Scyther now has SC Ingo to make his moves even more powerful, with his Defense debuffs strengthening the sync move even more. PalBea is the tank here as she gives SnipSnip a lot of offensive buffs, and of course her flinches help keep Azelf from doing too much damage here. That 20k Bug Buzz at the end was worth the resets haha.
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