What is a good moveset for Sceptile?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Sceptile, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for any of its pre-evolutions can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Sceptile Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

This is a good move set for a Sceptile in XY. At least this is my move set.

Sceptile @ Leftovers
Ability: Unburden
Modest Nature
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
- Leaf Blade
- Dragon Breath
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch

Leaf Blade: Because everyone uses it, STAB
Dragon Breath: Some Dragon Damage, Could get a HAX off and get Paralysis
Swords Dance: Increase Attack
Drain Punch: Gains HP back that you have lost

Comments

use Hasty Nature not Modest oh god

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special attack with swords dance lmao

Answer 2

In case your playin ORAS:

Sceptile (M) @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Swords Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Rock Slide

• Leaf Blade (Good Physical attack)
• Swords Dance (Doubles Attack if used once)
• Dragon Claw (Gets STAB when Mega Evolved)
• Rock Slide (For most of his weaknesses coverage)

For Physical sweeping. Just Mega Evolve and Swords Dance on one turn, and ATTACK!!!

Answer 3

Sceptile @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake

So I thought I'd change things up and use a physical set as Mega Sceptile is better at special. With the absence of type gems in Gen VI, Flying Gem can't be used, so a Sitrus Berry will activate the Unburden, Acrobatics and give you a health boost. Although his speed is high already, Unburden will outspeed scarf sets. Leaf Blade STAB and high crit chance, Acrobatics takes out other Grass and Bug types, and also double in power when item is consumed. Earthquake is powerful and will get Fire and Steel types.

Sceptile @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 6 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Rock]

Switching into a predicted Electric move will give Sceptile a nice boost. I chose Modest because he has crazy speed already and I wanted him to do as much damage as he can't take too many hits. Although Leaf Storm and Focus Blast aren't reliable, they provide high power and Focus Blast gets Ice and Steel types. Dragon Pulse will be your main attack with STAB, and Hidden Power will take down Fire and Flying types like Talonflame.

Answer 4

This is for ORAS only, and whatever Gen comes after 6.

Sceptile @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Dragon Claw
- X-Scissor / Rock Slide
- Earthquake / Swords Dance / Seed Bomb / Thunder Punch

Leaf Blade is STAB. Dragon Claw is STAB when Mega Evolved. X-Scissor is also STAB. Earthquake and Thunder Punch are for coverage. Swords Dance is obvious. Seed Bomb is for more Grass moves. Rock Slide for coverage. I think Sceptile is more of a Physical, but you can make him Special.

SPECIAL Sceptile

Secptile @ Secptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Energy Ball / Giga Drain
- Outrage / Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Rock]

Hidden Power is a MUST HAVE. It covers so many weaknesses. Energy Ball and Giga Drain are STAB. I would prefer Giga Drain, because of health regeration. Focus Blast just has so much power for a special attacker, and it takes out those pesky Steel types. Outrage and Dragon Claw are STAB.

Well, there you go! And thanks for reading =)

Comments

not bad but to outspeed Lopunny and manectric (both which can pose a problem) you would have to run Jolly or Timid. Moreover, a Modest nature and Outrage are two things that should not go together, run Hasty/Naive/ for Outrage.

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Well modest nature increase spk and that makes outrage unstoppable with dragon typing and  high spk

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Sceptile doesn't get STAB on X-Scissor.

Answer 5

Sceptile @ Expert Belt
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Substitute
- Rock Slide

• Swords Dance (O.P Attack Boost)
• Leaf Blade (S.T.A.B)
• Substitute (Good For Setup)
• Rock Slide (Coverage Heaps Of Threats)

Strategy: Basically due to Sceptiles really low health, but high speed you want to be able to hit the enemy first, and with that, hit them hard. So, substitute, then set up swords dance until the substitute dies. Then, destroy Them.

Answer 6

Gen VII
Double/Triple battle Sceptile
Role: Fast Special Sweeper

Sceptile @ Grassinium Z / Power Herb
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Bold / Modest / Timid Nature
- Energy Ball
- Dig / Earthquake
- Magical Leaf / Razor Wind
- Dragon Breath

Energy Ball for STAB, Dig if you're using Power Herb, Earthquake for type coverage. I'd go with Earthquake but if you want Unburden to kick in really fast, you know what to do. Magical Leaf for STAB, Razor Wind as it's Normal type, Dragon Breath for type coverage (remember, this is GEN VII)

Answer 7

Sceptile @ Sceptilite
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpA / 4 HP
Sassy Nature
- Energy Ball
- Dragon Pulse
- Earthquake
- Thunder Punch

• Energy Ball (STAB)
• Dragon Pulse (STAB when Mega Evolved)
• Earthquake (Lots of coverage)
• Thunder Punch (Even more coverage)

Ok so here's what I got:
Sassy Nature because we have horrible Special Defense, so we need better and our Spe is already really good so who cares if we lower it
Sceptilite because once we Mega Evolve, we are getting a free speed boost because of Unburden (Now do you get why I chose Sassy nature?)
Energy Ball is STAB. Dragon Pulse is STAB when Mega Evolved. Earthquake provides coverage to Poison, Steel, Fire, Rock, and Electric types. Thunder Punch is for coverage against Flying types that you can't hit with Earthquake.

Hope This Helps!! :)
<(-_-)>

Comments

Unburden doesn't activate when you Mega Evolve.

Answer 8

Sceptile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake

Physical Sceptile is definitely underrated. Once this thing get's knocked to its Focus Sash, it's a force to be reckoned with. Both Leaf Blade and Acrobatics are upgrated, and Earthquake is a great coverage option. With base 130 speed, Sceptile can set up with Swords Dance.

Comments

What about unburden because it works much better with focus sash due to it being lost when used and will work very well with acrobatics

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Oh I did Overgrow because when it gets to 1hp it gets a grass boost. It’s already really fast. But I see your point- Unburden has a more drastic boost.

Answer 9

Physical set
Sceptile @ Sceptilite
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Ability: Overgrow
Adamant Nature / Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide / Protect
- Swords Dance

Leaf Blade: Good move, STAB, high power, even stronger with Swords Dance.
Earthquake: For Fire types.
Rock Slide or Protect: Rock Slide for Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame, or Protect to predict sets.
Swords Dance: To raise Attack. Be aware of Flying types or Ice types. In doubles, Greninja is a good idea. Mat Block protects both, but Greninja must be very fast, because it has no priority and Mat Block works only on first turn out.

Special set

Sceptile @ Sceptilite
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Ability: Overgrow
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Leaf Storm / Dragon Pulse
- Protect

Giga Drain: Very strong, STAB, and recovery.
Focus Blast: For Ice types.
Leaf Storm or Dragon Pulse: Leaf Storm for extra power, but it lowers Special Attack. Works as a finishing move because it lowers special Attack. Dragon Pulse for great STAB.
Protect: To predict.

Answer 10

This is my Sceptile moveset:

Sceptile @ Sceptilite
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest / Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm / Energy Ball
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Rock]

Leaf Storm is for powerful STAB, but Energy Ball can be used if you don’t want to deal with stat drops. Once Mega Evolved, Dragon Pulse is STAB. Focus Blast is coverage against Ice types, who are 4x super effective against Mega Sceptile, and Hidden Power [Rock¡ is coverage against Flying and weaker Ice types, such as Weavile.

The EVs are dumped into Special Attack and Speed to hit as hard and fast as possible. Sceptilite is needed for Sceptile to Mega Evolve. Finally, a Modest Nature is used to wallbreak more efficiently, however a Timid Nature can be used to outspeed more threats.

Watch out for this Sceptile!

Answer 11

Sceptile @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Natural Gift
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
(In case you don't know, Natural Gift doesn't give Sceptile the Liechi Berry Atk boost)
A] Use Natural Gift immediately and activate Unburden.
B] Consume Liechi Berry normally, activating Unburden.

Comments

252 Defense over 252 Speed?

Also, 252 HP > 252 Defense if you wanna invest in bulk.

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I chose Defense over Speed because Sceptile's already really fast, but it's fine to invest in more of it.
(I'm sorry, I was kinda stupid while determining EV's. HP is obviously better than Defense)

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i don’t think it’s a good idea for training it’s defence, it kinda useless

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If you're gonna have Sceptile know Swords Dance, give it a Focus Sash, as Sceptile is very frail. I'd replace Natural Gift for Leaf Blade for a STAB move.

Answer 12

Sceptile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature / Naughty Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Earthquake
- Acrobatics / Thunder Punch
- Swords Dance

Sash is here because this thing is ridiculously frail. Leaf Blade is powerful STAB with a high critical hit rate, which is nice. Earthquake to patch up Fire and Steel's resistance to Leaf Blade ( I probably missed some other types as well). Acrobatics doubles in power after Sash is destroyed and covers Bug types and hits flying types neutrally, and Thunder Punch is there to hit Bug types neutrally and hit Flying types, especially Skarmory, super effectively.

Sceptile @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature / Naughty Nature
- Energy Ball
- Focus Blast
- Dragon Pulse
- Endure

Energy Ball for STAB, Focus Blast for steels and hitting Fire types neutrally, Dragon Pulse to hit the many Dragon-Flying types super effectively and to hit flying types neutrally. Endure+Petaya is deadly.

Answer 13

Sceptile @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Unburden
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Endure
- Giga Drain
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast

This set revolves around using endure when you think your opponent is going to attack, which gives you the Sp Atk boost from the petaya berry and doubled speed from Unburden. After that, use your moves as needed. Giga Drain is for STAB + Recovery, Dragon Pulse is for opponents that resist Giga Drain, and Focus Blast is just a filler slot.

Answer 14

FEAR the Wood Gecko Treecko
Gen 7

Treecko @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
Level: 1
EVs: 116 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Endeavor
- Quick Attack
- Pursuit

Let the opponent bring you to your sash, then use Endeavor. Then, you can use Quick Attack to finish them off. Pursuit is to punish Pokemon trying to switch out.

Comments

Isn’t this a Sceptile question..?

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But you can post sets for lower evolutions

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"Movesets for any of its pre-evolutions can also be shared on this thread."
Yep you can.

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:O pardon Messrs, I didn’t read that.

Answer 15

Sceptile @ White Herb
Ability: Unburden
Evs: 126 Def / 126 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Cross Poison
- Drain Punch

Basically, use Leaf Storm, and activate the White Herb and Unburden. Now he is extremely fast. It's a mixed set to take advantage of his ability and his Special Attack.

Comments

Dragon Pulse does nothing with 2- SpA. Why physical moves with Timid? This set needs a lot of improvement.

Answer 16

Sceptile @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 6 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor

Leaf Blade is powerful STAB and gets a boost from the Life Orb with a high critical hit ratio. Rock Slide covers 4/5 of its weaknesses. So if you use it against a (example) Ribombee or a Talonflame, you get the win. Eathquake covers its last weakness, poison types. X-Scissor for extra move. Just in case your going against psychic, normal and dark types.

Hope this helps!

Comments

What Ribombees and Talonflames are you expecting to outspeed?

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Which normal types? Also, not judging, but physical tanks use 252 Atk & 252 HP so that at least you have a chance against specially-oriented pokemon.

Answer 17

Sceptile @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Drain Punch / Thunder Punch / Rock Slide / Leaf Blade

The problem with Mega Sceptile is, while it boasts a monstrous Sp. Atk stat, it lacks any meaningful coverage beyond Focus Blast. On the other hand, it's 110 attack is certainly workable and can be terrifying quickly with some setup. This is a pretty standard set. You setup with Dragon Dance and sweep. Outrage/Dragon Claw is useful Dragon STAB. Outrage has a lot more oomph to it, but it has the drawbacks of being locked into the move for 2-3 turns and getting confused afterwards. Meaning that once you press it, you'll likely become a magnet to Fairy or Steel types. But, it is still a great nuke button. Dragon Claw is noticeably weaker but it has the freedom of not being locked into a move nor does it confuse you. Earthquake is physical Mega Sceptiles most valuable coverage move, being able to hit the Steel types that could otherwise wall it, as well as the Fire and Poison types that may be drawn to it before mega evolving. The last moveslot is more flexible. Drain Punch hits bulky Normal and Dark types like Blissey and Tyranitar, and hits Ferrothorn super effectively, and it provides Mega Sceptile with some valuable longevity. Thunder Punch is great for hitting Flying types and bulky Water types at the same time. It notably helps Mega Sceptile deal with Steel/Flying types like Skarmory and Celesteela that could otherwise wall it. Lastly, Rock Slide also hits Flying types super effectively, as well as Bug and Ice types, and the Fire/Flying types that Earthquake can't hit. The flinch chance could also be a nice occasional bonus. Leaf Blade could be used for additional STAB if you really wanted, but I find the lack of overall coverage hurts Mega Sceptile considerably. But, still, it can be useful for Mega Sceptile to hit bulky pivots like Slowbro, and it can be sure to defeat bulky Ground types like Hippowdon, Mega Swampert and Gastrodon. At the end of the day, your final coverage move of choice should depend on what your team needs to hit most.

Comments

Why Unburden, you’re using a Mega Stone which cannot be dropped. At least Overgrow has a chance of working.

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Good point I suppose. I don't think it matters either way unless you're going Leaf Blade which I normally don't. But I'll make that change.

Answer 18

Gen 9 NU Unburden

Sceptile @ Psychic Seed / Grassy Seed
Ability: Unburden
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake / Drain Punch / Low Kick

Since Sceptile can be used in NU, here's an Unburden set it can use on Terrain teams in Gen 9 NU. Swords Dance is used to boost Sceptile's attack stat so it can become a scary sweeper once it gets off a Swords Dance or possibly two. Leaf Blade is Sceptile's strongest physical Grass STAB, being able to threaten Pokemon such as Palossand, Mudsdale, Tauros-Paldea-Aqua, and Iron Thorns. Acrobatics is a powerful move that takes advantage of Sceptile consuming the corresponding speed, allowing Sceptile to hit Pokemon such as Tsareena and Brute Bonnet super effectively, as well as hitting Pokemon who resist Leaf Blade hard. Earthquake is a nice coverage move to hit Steel-types such as Copperajah, Klefki, Duraludon, and Registeel super effectively. Earthquake is also nice against Toxtricity. If you use Sceptile on Grassy Terrain, then you need to use either Drain Punch or Low Kick. Drain Punch lets Sceptile recover HP and wear down Duraludon, though it is a bit worse at breaking through Copperajah and Registeel. If you don't care about breaking past Duraludon easily when using Sceptile on Grassy Terrain teams, then you can use Low Kick to break past Copperajah and Registeel. Psychic Seed is used for Psychic Terrain teams, and Grassy Seed is used for Grassy Terrain teams. Tera Flying is used to make Acrobatics a STAB move, making it more powerful.

252 Attack EVs with an Adamant Nature allow Sceptile to hit as hard as possible. This set uses 240 HP EVs since Sceptile doesn't need that much speed to outspeed every relevant Choice Scarf user in the tier once Sceptile consumes its terrain seed. 16 Speed EVs are used to put Sceptile to 280 speed, making it 560 when Unburden activates. (Plus, 280 speed looks nice on the teambuilder)

Important Note:

Since this set has Tera Flying, you should keep in mind that once Sceptile uses its Tera, it loses the benefits of Psychic Terrain (protection from priority) and Grassy Terrain (a boost to Leaf Blade). Basically, if you want Sceptile to have the terrain benefits, you should try to preserve your Tera unless you absolutely need it to win the game.

Comments

Wait, since my Showdown! life is DOU, isn't that Iron Boulder thing & Pincurchain in NU? If so, there can be a triangle of Sceptile, Boulder thing, and Pincurchain. You will need Electric seed for it, though.

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Honestly any future paradox mon will work, we just need the pincurchain. Edit: I just checked, Pincurchain is in ZU