My favorite bug type is Scolipede. It basically catapulted the bug type back into relevancy back in gen 5, after several generations of underwhelming bug types.
Design wise it's a 10. I mean it's this badass centipede with a great color scheme, cool pattern to signify how venomous it is and one of the best shinies to ever exist. Even its pre-evolutions are cool when it comes to lower stage bugs. I love how Whirlipede just spins around and Venipede is strangely fascinating. But the moment you get that Scolipede the first reaction is always 'oh shi-'
Stats wise it's a sweeper. 90 base attack (later buffed to 100) with 112 speed, a great speed tier that allows it to outspeed threats like the Latis and other pokemon sitting at 110. A defensive spread of 60/89/69 won't make it survive many hits at all. Especially with its atrocious defensive typing of Bug/Poison. Having 4 weaknesses to 4 of some of the most common offensive typings never does it any good. It shares the type with some others like Beedrill and Dustox, to put it in perspective.
Scolipede in game is a badass but on the competitive scene it wouldn't be that viable right? Well you would be correct, until we take a closer look at its toolkit. Nice powerful abilities in, uh, poison point and swarm? Oh wait what's that? Speed Boost as the hidden ability? Oh now we're talking. With already a great speed tier Scolipede now becomes a giant threat after just a single turn, being able to outrun almost any scarfer, and being faster than everything after 2 turns. Given how protect or substitute can literally buy you a turn it's not hard to get to that point. On top of that it has access to Swords Dance, making it that much more terrifying. Megahorn as stab is also just almost too much, I mean just ask Heracross what you can pull off with that move. But that's not even the worst part. Because while Scolipede can run a nasty offensive set with Megahorn, Poison Jab and coverage in stuff like Rock Slide an Earthquake, its real dangerous role isn't even that of a sweeper. For some stupid reason they thought giving it Baton Pass was a good idea. Baton Pass allows you to pass all your stat boosts to a teammate. So Scolipede can pass a Swords Dance boost, coupled with some Speed Boosts and maybe even a substitute, all to an even more dangerous sweeper on your team. This strategy was so lethal that Scolipede actually got it banned from the most competitive tier in the Smogon format, Overused. Where all the scariest Pokemon live. Scolipede was too good for that place. To this day generation in and out, it's one of the biggest reasons why Baton Pass is just not allowed or heavily nerfed.
Even without Baton Pass though it still holds his own. It recently got banned from the second highest tier in Underused because it was too polarizing for the metagame there. Talk about a glowup.
I've loved this Pokemon ever since I used one my first time playing through Black and White. My friends all said Leavanny was cooler but nothing can change my mind.
My favorite bug type is Scolipede. It basically catapulted the bug type back into relevancy back in gen 5, after several generations of underwhelming bug types.
Design wise it's a 10. I mean it's this badass centipede with a great color scheme, cool pattern to signify how venomous it is and one of the best shinies to ever exist. Even its pre-evolutions are cool when it comes to lower stage bugs. I love how Whirlipede just spins around and Venipede is strangely fascinating. But the moment you get that Scolipede the first reaction is always 'oh shi-'
Stats wise it's a sweeper. 90 base attack (later buffed to 100) with 112 speed, a great speed tier that allows it to outspeed threats like the Latis and other pokemon sitting at 110. A defensive spread of 60/89/69 won't make it survive many hits at all. Especially with its atrocious defensive typing of Bug/Poison. Having 4 weaknesses to 4 of some of the most common offensive typings never does it any good. It shares the type with some others like Beedrill and Dustox, to put it in perspective.
Scolipede in game is a badass but on the competitive scene it wouldn't be that viable right? Well you would be correct, until we take a closer look at its toolkit. Nice powerful abilities in, uh, poison point and swarm? Oh wait what's that? Speed Boost as the hidden ability? Oh now we're talking. With already a great speed tier Scolipede now becomes a giant threat after just a single turn, being able to outrun almost any scarfer, and being faster than everything after 2 turns. Given how protect or substitute can literally buy you a turn it's not hard to get to that point. On top of that it has access to Swords Dance, making it that much more terrifying. Megahorn as stab is also just almost too much, I mean just ask Heracross what you can pull off with that move. But that's not even the worst part. Because while Scolipede can run a nasty offensive set with Megahorn, Poison Jab and coverage in stuff like Rock Slide an Earthquake, its real dangerous role isn't even that of a sweeper. For some stupid reason they thought giving it Baton Pass was a good idea. Baton Pass allows you to pass all your stat boosts to a teammate. So Scolipede can pass a Swords Dance boost, coupled with some Speed Boosts and maybe even a substitute, all to an even more dangerous sweeper on your team. This strategy was so lethal that Scolipede actually got it banned from the most competitive tier in the Smogon format, Overused. Where all the scariest Pokemon live. Scolipede was too good for that place. To this day generation in and out, it's one of the biggest reasons why Baton Pass is just not allowed or heavily nerfed.
Even without Baton Pass though it still holds his own. It recently got banned from the second highest tier in Underused because it was too polarizing for the metagame there. Talk about a glowup.
I've loved this Pokemon ever since I used one my first time playing through Black and White. My friends all said Leavanny was cooler but nothing can change my mind.