Scyther
Mantis Pokémon
It tears and shreds prey with its wickedly sharp scythes. It very rarely spreads its wings to fly.
Base Stats
Type Effectiveness
Abilities
Evolution Chain
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Locations
Details
Sprites
Competitive
Strategy Overview
Scyther has a generic Bug / Flying typing, but its stat spread is very different from other Pokemon of its type. It is a good pivot with access to STAB U-turn coming off of its base 110 Attack, which, when coupled with a Choice Band, can provide free switches for your team. Additionally, Scyther is a nice check to Fighting- and Grass-type Pokemon by virtue of its typing, and it pretty much guarantees that your team won't have to worry about Malamar from the start of the match, as a Choice Band-boosted U-turn is very threatening to Malamar. Scyther possesses a solid base 105 Speed tier, outspeeding all but a few Pokemon in the tier. Defensively, Scyther can pivot into Ground-, Fighting-, and Grass-type moves because of the lack of damage those moves inflict upon Scyther. However, Scyther's 4x weakness to Stealth Rock really stops it from switching in a lot without good entry hazard removal support or a team that applies a lot of offensive pressure on opposing Stealth Rock users. Scyther also has unfortunate weaknesses to common attacking types in Ice, Electric, Rock, and Flying, so it can lack defensive utility in some situations. Additionally, its mediocre 70 / 80 / 80 bulk can limit its ability to pivot in and fire off attacks without slow VoltTurn support, which, when coupled with its weaknesses, can make it a liability defensively at times. Lastly, Scyther doesn't possess the mind-boggling power of Medicham or Hitmonlee as a wallbreaker, so it has a hard time breaking through bulkier teams without proper support and ends up being more of a pivot than anything else.
Most Used Moves
Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc