Scizor or Houndoom in Pokemon Soulsilver?

Question

• Meganium
• Crobat
• Donphan
• Espeon
• Kingdra

I'm going to use this team in-game, and for local battles. Which one of the two provides the best coverage? Houndoom or Scizor? And what move set would be best for them?

Answer 1

I say go for Scizor.

Scizor @Choice Band
Adamant Nature
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 Spe (if you want EVs at all that is)
Moves:
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Superpower
U-turn

This Pokemon has stayed overused for the whole time it has been created. Also your team has some weaknesses that it covers (or tries to cover), so you might want that in local battles.
Your team is very weak to Ice types, Fire types and has very few counters for Dragon types, so I guess this one works.

In-game it can also use cut instead of U-turn / Bug Bite, which might prove useful later on.

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Houndoom also does well though:

Houndoom @Life Orb
Modest Nature
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Sp.Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Atk
Moves:
Dark Pulse
Shadow Ball
Fire Blast
Sucker Punch

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Let's see the in-game part though:

Gyms:

• (Johto) Flying, Bug, Normal, Ghost, Steel, Fighting, Ice, Dragon

• (Kanto) Rock, Water, Electric, Grass, Poison, Psychic, Fire, Mixed

In this,
Scizor covers 5 of these (with the given set) and 2 of Blue's Pokemon (3 during rematch)
Houndoom covers 7 of these (with the given set) and 2 of Blue's Pokemon (1 during rematch)

I'm telling you Whitney and Clair will be a menace (so will Blue and Sabrina), so I guess Scizor triumphs here.

Elite Four: Psychic, Poison, Fighting, Dark, Dragon.

Scizor covers 3 of these
Houndoom covers 1 of these

Well, so your best bet in-game might be Scizor, and your other alternative could be Houndoom.

Hope I helped!

Comments

Scizor for the win!

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Thanks, I'm going with Scizor. Kinda like his design a little more, too!

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Life Orb wasn't available until Gen 5 xD

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In Serebii says Gen 4. I didn't know that. xD

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Oh lol
Didn't know that, edit right awai

Dang SoulSilver IS a Gen IV. Don't confuse me XD

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Wut, I didn't know that!

Answer 2

Go for Scizor!

Scizor has 70 HP / 130 Attack / 100 Defense / 55 Sp. Attack / 80 Sp. Defense / 65 Speed.
Houdoom has 75 HP / 90 Attack / 90 Defense / 110 Sp. Attack / 90 Sp. Defense / 95 Speed.

Scizor weak to - x4 Fire /
Houdoom weak to - x2 Water / x2 Fight / x2 Ground / x2 Rock

Scizor (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Acrobatics
- Superpower
- Bug Bite
- Bullet Punch

Houndoom (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

Let's see what are some differences:

- Scizor has more Attack (130) while Houndoom have Sp. Attack (110) but Houndoom has Nasty Plot.
- The two have balanced defenses/sp. defenses.
- Houndoom have more Speed.
- You don't have any Fire-Move in your team (I think).
- Scizor has 1 weak. Houndoom has 4.

I would go for Scizor, because I like Pokemons with few weakness.
If you want Scizor you will have a more defensive one with only 1 weakness and more Attack but beware of the fire-types, you can switch into Donphan or Kingdra.

Also Scizor's bug-types are good in Elite Four. Bug-type do x2 damage to Psychic and Dark Types.

Hope this helps!

Comments

Actually Houndoom covers more weaknesses than Scizor does, bar the Dragon problem

Answer 3

If I were you, I'd go with Houndoom because you are lacking a Fire-type.

Set-
-Flamethrower
-Dark Pulse
-Solarbeam
-any friggin' coverage move that you like

You NEED Houndoom. Fire-types are the most used Pokemon, regardless of in-game or competitive. They are really useful.

If you can, try and get a Blaziken. I used one, and it is awesome.

Set-
-Flare Blitz
-Brave Bird
-Thunder Punch
-Sky Uppercut

If this set is above Lv.90, it can destroy Red like he is Ash Ketchum.

Answer 4

Houndoom [either would do]

1. Crobat can learn X-Scissor and U-turn by TM and Wing Attack by level up (moves that Scizor might have in a play-through).
2. Houndoom is a special sweeper (of which you already have 3) but in a play-through you can give all of your Pokemon moves that are special and physical and a 90 BST for attack is perfectly fine for a play-through. A good level-up moveset for a casual play-through can be Crunch, Flamethrower, Thunder Fang and Fire Fang. You can then replace the moves you don't want with HMs, TMs or moves taught via a move tutor.

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I wouldn't use a play-through team for competitive battles

due to random EVs, no access to egg moves (unless you want to waste a load of time in-game breeding) and random IVs. Either Houndoom or Scizor would be fine in-game but Scizor is much better competitively.

Answer 5

Scizor

It is much easier to get, with the Bug Catching contest available for use, and getting a Metal Coat later in the game. Houndoom is much harder to get, being found only in Kanto and at night. I've spent hours trying to find a Houndour on the correct Route (7) and at night. No luck. Plus Scizor resists Ghost in Gen 4, so Morty won't be a problem. And I see you have a major Ice weakness on your Pokemon. Meganium, Crobat, and Donphan(which is not available in SS btw) are all weak to ice. Scizor takes care of that problem with a STAB Iron Head and a STAB Bullet Punch(boosted by Technician) to take care of Pryce. So to make a long story short, Scizor is the way to go

Hope I helped!

And here's the set:

Scizor@Lefties
Trait: Technician
Adamant Nature
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Spd
Moves:
• Bullet Punch
• X-Scissor
• Iron Head
• Roost

Comments

Yeah Scizor for the win!