Scovillain Movesets & Competitive Sets

Scovillain is one of Fire's best sweepers thanks to Chlorophyll. Under sun, Scovillain outspeeds a multitude of threats such as non-Choice Scarf Greninja and Chien-Pao. Growth is run for Scovillain to boost its damage output while under sun, letting it secure KOs more easily. Giga Drain threatens Pokemon like Ting-Lu, allowing Scovillain's teammates to break through them late-game, and it also aids in improving Scovillain's longevity by recovering its HP. Fire Blast can be used to have a chance of 2HKOing Skeledirge and Clodsire under sun, but Flamethrower is the preferred Fire-type STAB move, since its accuracy is higher than Fire Blast's. Stomping Tantrum hits opposing Fire-types such as Iron Moth. Solar Beam is an alternative to Stomping Tantrum, OHKOing the aforementioned Ting-Lu and Toxapex after Growth in sun. Life Orb and 32 Attack EVs maximize Scovillain's power, letting it 2HKO specially defensive Clodsire with Stomping Tantrum after Stealth Rock damage. If opting for Solar Beam, the remaining EVs go into HP. A Naive nature allows Scovillain to outspeed Choice Scarf users like Great Tusk and Iron Moth under sun while not losing out on Stomping Tantrum damage. Torkoal is a mandatory partner for Scovillain, as its ability to set up sun allows Scovillain to outspeed many faster threats like Iron Treads, Iron Jugulis, and Quaquaval, dealing heavy chip damage or outright KOing them. Scovillain appreciates Torkoal getting rid of entry hazards; in return, Scovillain deals with Water- and Ground-types like Gastrodon, Quagsire, and Sandy Shocks. Paldean Tauros-F is a great offensive partner for Scovillain, granting benefits such as breaking dual screens from Pokemon like Klefki and Grimmsnarl, which impede Scovillain's sweeping ability. Paldean Tauros-F is also able to check specially defensive walls like Blissey; in return, Scovillain breaks past bulky Water-types like Slowking and Toxapex after one Growth under sun. Cinderace can offer alternate entry hazard removal with Court Change, which helps Scovillain's longevity. Furthermore, Cinderace's Speed tier allows it to handle offensive Pokemon that naturally outpace Scovillain outside of sun like Hydreigon and Iron Treads, the former of which Scovillain cannot hit neutrally. Scovillain also appreciates Volcarona as an offensive partner thanks to its non-weather-reliant sweeping potential in Quiver Dance, dealing with Dragon-types such as Hydreigon and Garchomp, while Scovillain can weaken Volcarona's checks like Ting-Lu, Unaware Clodsire, and Toxapex throughout the course of the game.

Scovillain turns up the heat on its Fire Blast with a Choice Specs set, burning up Clodsire and Skeledirge, which usually have no problem with its Growth set. It's notably also strong enough to score a 2HKO on physically defensive Toxapex after minimal chip damage, allowing Scovillain to beat Poison teams if it hits every move. Alternatively, Overheat has better accuracy and still 2HKOes Skeledirge and Clodsire, but the Special Attack drop makes it less spammable. Giga Drain threatens a 2HKO on Pelipper, which may be tempted to come into Scovillain to block Solar Beam, and also provides Scovillain a form of recovery. A Timid nature lets it outspeed threats such as Choice Scarf Gengar and Protosynthesis-boosted Choice Specs Walking Wake to burn them to a crisp, while a Modest nature has better odds of 2HKOing Toxapex with Giga Drain and OHKOing Baxcalibur with Flamethrower at the cost of outspeeding only up to non-Speed boosting Choice Scarf Sandy Shocks. Torkoal is a mandatory teammate, as it sets sun, which Scovillain needs to boost its Speed with Chlorophyll, and provides entry hazard support with its ability to set Stealth Rock and remove entry hazards with Rapid Spin. Other forms of entry hazard support in Defog Talonflame and Court Change Cinderace are also appreciated; they also have access to U-turn, which allows Scovillain to get in more times to wallbreak. Ceruledge packs Shadow Sneak to deal with Flutter Mane, which otherwise outspeeds and dispatches Scovillain with ease. In return, Scovillain obliterates bulky Unaware walls like Quagsire, Dondozo, and Skeledirge, all of which hinder Swords Dance Ceruledge from cutting down Water and Ghost teams. Similarly, Volcarona and Iron Moth love Scovillain's ability to eliminate bulky walls like Clodsire and Ting-Lu, allowing them to clean up Poison and Ground teams late-game.

The metagame's abundance of Unaware Pokemon makes it difficult to maneuver Moody Pokemon in general. On top of that, Scovillain is held back by the powerful Dragon-types that resist its STAB combination. However, Scovillain still carves a niche for itself by being the only Moody Pokemon with excellent recovery moves, Leech Seed and Ingrain, allowing it to win a variety of matchups. Protect and Substitute: Protect and Substitute are mandatory to get the most opportunities to activate Moody. Once you gain enough Defense or Special Defense boosts that Scovillain's Substitute can tank an attack without breaking, it tends to be easy to win the game. Note, however, that Protect, Substitute, and Leftovers's animation make Scovillain very vulnerable to losing via timer. Flamethrower: With enough Moody boosts, Scovillain's Flamethrower tends to be enough to break through an entire team. There are very few Pokemon that are immune or quadruply resistant to Fire, and Flamethrower has good PP and accuracy, which makes it an easy pick. Giga Drain: Unlike Flamethrower, Giga Drain gets shrugged off by a lot of Pokemon, even at +6, notably Corviknight and Dragonite. However, an attacking move that helps recover HP lost from Substitutes gives Scovillain more mileage off of Moody. Giga Drain is also notable to more reliably defeat Dondozo, one of the Unaware Pokemon that would give Scovillain a lot of trouble otherwise. Leech Seed: Leech Seed combined with Protect, Substitute, and Leftovers helps Scovillain restore HP while collecting Moody boosts, as well as chipping Pokemon it'd otherwise have trouble against, such as Clodsire. Ingrain: Ingrain is an alternative recovery option that makes Scovillain impervious to phazing moves. When purely considering recovery, it's more reliable than the inaccurate 90% accurate Leech Seed. Fairy Tera Blast: Tera Blast with Tera Fairy is an excellent option that helps remedy Scovillain's Dragon susceptibility, particularly making the Infiltrator Dragapult and Roaring Moon matchup easier. Tera Types Water: The Water resistance helps Scovillain beat Dondozo. Even though Dondozo ignores Scovillain's Defense boosts via Unaware, with Tera Water, Scovillain's Substitute can tank a Wave Crash. Tera Water also keeps the Scovillain's Steel resistance, unlike Tera Grass, which makes it easier to check Scizor—a common priority user that people attempt to use to check Moody Pokemon. Fairy: Tera Fairy mitigating Scovillain's weakness to Dragon-types is massively helpful. EV Spreads 180 HP / 220 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 100 Spe with Bold: This spread bolsters Scovillain’s physical bulk. Notably, Tera Water Scovillain's Substitute manages to survive Dondozo's Wave Crash with this spread. The Speed allows Scovillain to outspeed slow Baxcalibur and Gholdengo, as well as Dragapult with one Moody Speed boost. The HP is adjusted to make maximum use of Leftovers, with the resulting stat having a remainder of 1 when divided by 16. The remaining EVs are split between Special Attack and Special Defense because, at level 50, investing 8 EVs in either stat has no benefit over investing 4.

Tera Fire Scovillain's damage under sun is absurd, managing to barely KO even Fire-resistant targets. Most notably, its ability to defeat most Pokemon, even powerful Dragon-types, without fearing surprise Terastallizations makes Scovillain a charming offensive option. Overheat and Fire Blast: Overheat combined with Tera Fire and Choice Specs guarantees the KO on Garchomp without bulk EVs, and OHKO offensive Roaring Moon after Stealth Rock damage. Against the frailer Dragapult, Tera Fire and Fire Blast is enough to earn the KO. It's recommended to run both Fire STAB moves because Overheat's added damage can be necessary to guarantee certain KOs, but its stat drop can be fatal. Solar Beam versus Leaf Storm: Solar Beam nails the few bulky Water-types that can survive Scovillain's absurd attacks, most notable examples being notably Gastrodon and Assault Vest Azumarill. However, Leaf Storm can be used in its stead for the ability to OHKO Hippowdon, despite it summoning sand. Flamethrower: Flamethrower is perfectly accurateand is typically more than enough to nip off frailer foes. Substitute: In spite of the type matchup, Scovillain is deceptively weak to Kingambit thanks to Sucker Punch. Additionally, many Pokemon will use Protect in front of Scovillain to waste sun turns— most notably Espathra and Dondozo. Against all of these foes, a well-timed Substitute can guarantee the win. Tera Types Fire: It is almost mandatory to run Tera Fire on this Scovillain set. Tera Fire guarantees KOs on most Dragon-types. Ghost: The abundantly common Dragonite is incredibly strong against Scovillain. Should Stealth Rock support be deemed enough to let Scovillain sweep teams reasonably, even without Tera Fire, using Tera Ghost to gain an immunity to Extreme Speed can be very useful. Rock: Tera Rock with Tera Blast can be a decent alternative to Tera Fire, as it gives Scovillain excellent coverage and also provides a much-needed countermeasure to Dragonite's Extreme Speed.