Blog Iron Crushing the Format: An In-Depth Mega Scizor Review

I'm surprised by not including Magearna. Magearna fits like a glove in this deck and can help you run less Pokemon Ranger or zero at all, though I wouldn't consider it if you're running Garbodor. Registeel (AOR 51) could also be a good alternative attacker for EX hate as you can discard any kind of energy, not just Special Energy. :)
 
matthewbny said:
I'm surprised by not including Magearna. Magearna fits like a glove in this deck and can help you run less Pokemon Ranger or zero at all, though I wouldn't consider it if you're running Garbodor. Registeel (AOR 51) could also be a good alternative attacker for EX hate as you can discard any kind of energy, not just Special Energy. :)
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The main reason you don't run Magearna is, of course, Garbodor. Also, with Trevenant BREAK no longer relevant in the format, the only relevant effect of an attack that Mystic Heart blocks is Damage Change. We actually don't want to block Damage Change because it will never OHKO Scizor. It will OHKO everything else in the deck, but your opponent needs Lysandre to do that. Basically, we don't want them getting a "free" heal. If Iron Crusher didn't discard a Stadium, dropping Magearna-EX would result in an auto-loss since they could just heal the damage we do every turn.

Regarding Registeel, it's not a terrible suggestion, but Cobalion can do more than twice the damage for a lesser cost.
 
matthewbny said:
I'm surprised by not including Magearna. Magearna fits like a glove in this deck and can help you run less Pokemon Ranger or zero at all, though I wouldn't consider it if you're running Garbodor. Registeel (AOR 51) could also be a good alternative attacker for EX hate as you can discard any kind of energy, not just Special Energy. :)
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Magearna is definitely interesting however, what effects are you particularly worried about that Magearna would stop? I think Ranger is the real tech in the deck, it stops Early Giratinas from hindering Spirit Links.

Magearna would be interesting to stop Bench Damage from BKT Yveltals but considering most use Special Energy it's not worth one IMO.

Mew is perhaps the most beneficial tech, because you can OHKO Mewtwo EX,/MMewtwo Hoopa and gives you a free retreat option to use the Basic Scizzor-EXs attack. If Garb isn't in play Mew can wreck, he can even OHKO off a Cobalion/Ninja Boy late game.
 
Outsidevil said:
Magearna is definitely interesting however, what effects are you particularly worried about that Magearna would stop? I think Ranger is the real tech in the deck, it stops Early Giratinas from hindering Spirit Links.

Magearna would be interesting to stop Bench Damage from BKT Yveltals but considering most use Special Energy it's not worth one IMO.

Mew is perhaps the most beneficial tech, because you can OHKO Mewtwo EX,/MMewtwo Hoopa and gives you a free retreat option to use the Basic Scizzor-EXs attack. If Garb isn't in play Mew can wreck, he can even OHKO off a Cobalion/Ninja Boy late game.
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Mystic Heart doesn't stop direct damage; it's useless against Yveltal BKT.

I would like Mew better if Garbodor wasn't Mega Mewtwo's BFF. Scizor can function just fine under Ability lock, but using Mew requires you to focus on taking Garbodor down so you can do those clutch plays. Mew is also useless outside of the Mewtwo matchup, so I don't believe it's worth the space. If you want a free retreat option, use your own Garbodor or just attach Float Stone to Cobalion.
 
Serperior said:
You've gotta be kidding me. I wrote an article on Mega Scizor too and sent it to @Machamp The Champion literally 26 hours ago. This'll be weird.
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M Scizor is an easy topic to write about. It's generally bulky with a good resistance, its attack w/ Crushing Hammer makes it effective at Energy donking, and Garbodor at this point in time is failsafe. It's definitely going to be high on the list of potential threats.

If you want, you can probably write an article about Garbodor and its influence.
 
Serperior said:
You've gotta be kidding me. I wrote an article on Mega Scizor too and sent it to @Machamp The Champion literally 26 hours ago. This'll be weird.
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I'm not too worried about our articles looking too similar, especially with your writing style. I'm not saying there won't be overlap, but I believe there will be points unique to your article, and vice versa. Looking forward to reading it :)
 
PMJ said:
I'm not too worried about our articles looking too similar, especially with your writing style. I'm not saying there won't be overlap, but I believe there will be points unique to your article, and vice versa. Looking forward to reading it :)
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At least he didn't submit an article to Camoclone. Seriously, who takes three weeks just to answer a PM for an article submission?!
 
Awesome, @PMJ, I appreciate it! I know I was still able to take away a few points I wish I'd mentioned (forgotten Fairy/Giratina existed) and Pokémon Center Lady were interesting points for sure. Great read as always. I threw a subtle jab at you in my article, be on the lookout. ;)
 
Nice article! I have been loving my scizor deck and have been playing around with it a lot, and I have ultimately found dropping garb to be better in place of less costly tech and more consistency, I'm finding garb to just be to clunky, and I can never get him out when I need to, and when I do it just gets lysandred out and rekt. This is the deck list I have settle on, and so far it handles everything quite well, and I cannot live without 3 parallel city because most decks love to snipe my shaymin out of desperation to win and I have been able to consistently deny them that option.

4x Scizor EX
3x MScizor EX
2x Shaymin EX
1x Hoopa EX
1x Magearna EX
1x Cobalion

4x Sycamore
2x N
2x Lysandre
2x Hex Maniac
1x Team Flare Grunt
1x Olypia
4x Scizor Spirit Link
4x VS Seeker
4x Crushing Hammer
4x Puzzle of time
3x Ultra Ball
3x Parallel City
2x Trainers Mail
2x Mega Turbo
1x Super rod

8x Metal Energy
1x Shield Energy
 
The reason I believe Garbodor is a necessity is because Mega Scizor can't OHKO Giratina-EX. You have to Hex twice in a row and that won't happen every time you need it to. Granted, you can Hex one turn, attack with Iron Crusher, and then retreat for a Scizor-EX for the follow-up hit, but you should be preparing for that regardless of whether or not you run Garbodor.

I would advise against running Magearna. There is nothing relevant left for Mystic Heart to block and running it just makes the Mewtwo matchup harder than it needs to be. It's hard enough without giving them free turns.

I don't think I covered Olympia in my article but it's a decent tech option. Being able to move to the Bench without losing your Energy for a boosted Gale Thrust can be clutch.
 
@PMJ I am also running the heavy energy denial though so giratina doesn't bother me much, whether they run fairy or dark I can either hex like you mentioned or just snipe there bench. Yeah I chose to go with olympia for my switch tech because of how tight the space is and because its a supporter I gain access to it with vs seeker and the 30 heal can come in clutch some times turning a lot of 2hko into 3hko. I agree with magearna, very little that it does rn but I decided to play around with it mostly because if cards like mega beedrill become a thing for the future, and any rogue decks like ampharos and yeah I wouldn't play it in the mewtwo match, the way I typically win that match-up is in the late game wearing there resources thin, once you kill the one mewtwo they finally manage to power up after all your energy denial its basically over for them.
 
SpoonLarry said:
@PMJ I am also running the heavy energy denial though so giratina doesn't bother me much, whether they run fairy or dark I can either hex like you mentioned or just snipe there bench. Yeah I chose to go with olympia for my switch tech because of how tight the space is and because its a supporter I gain access to it with vs seeker and the 30 heal can come in clutch some times turning a lot of 2hko into 3hko. I agree with magearna, very little that it does rn but I decided to play around with it mostly because if cards like mega beedrill become a thing for the future, and any rogue decks like ampharos and yeah I wouldn't play it in the mewtwo match, the way I typically win that match-up is in the late game wearing there resources thin, once you kill the one mewtwo they finally manage to power up after all your energy denial its basically over for them.
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Mega Beedrill isn't a thing now, so you don't have to tech for it. You don't really need to tech for rogue decks. Olympia seems like it would do just fine protecting you. Even if you don't block the poison, it's not even a 2HKO.

Mystic Heart also doesn't block Shocking Light.

Energy denial against Mega Mewtwo can be kinda tricky because of Mega Turbo, but it does work.
 
PMJ said:
Mega Beedrill isn't a thing now, so you don't have to tech for it. You don't really need to tech for rogue decks. Olympia seems like it would do just fine protecting you. Even if you don't block the poison, it's not even a 2HKO.

Mystic Heart also doesn't block Shocking Light.

Energy denial against Mega Mewtwo can be kinda tricky because of Mega Turbo, but it does work.
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We both agree that magearna isn't that useful and it's not shocking light but the paralysis but I agree that Olympia should be good enough. In tournament play I would switch out magearna for pokemon ranger.

Mega Tubro isn't that big a deal, let me explain my experiences thus far when up against mewtwo. The game typically starts off with the mewtwo player doing what it does, he starts to setup his mega exhausting resources getting the spirit links and energy, with my 3 parallel city and my iron crusher rendering there shrine of memories useless they quickly realize that mega evolving isn't going to work for them so they opt out of doing so in the late game realizing that all or 1 of there shrines are left in play making mega turbo a non issue in the battle for resources, this happens literally every match I have had thus far, and I have had some close matchups so I agree with your 55-45 but with my version of the deck its more 70-30 because shaymin sniping is less of a problem, energy denial is a bigger thing and I don't have 4 dead cards in this matchup. Tbh I personally don't feel that garb is worth it, it only helps you In the giratina and greninja matchup, valcanion is an auto loss even with it so doesn't matter either. I guess it just depends on what you see being popular at your locals, if you see a lot of those decks than run it, otherwise in general it doesn't really do all that much. Another deck worth mentioning is primal kyogre, this is a tough match up for scizor and the answer to it is parallel city as it reduces the bench damage, garb can help by shutting down manaphy but lysandre is the quicker more effect option that nets you 2 prizes.
 
The Mewtwo VS Scizor matchup really comes down to hammer flips. I do agree on the assessment of Garbodor. I don't really think these decks can use them effectively because you don't have the cards when you need them. Garbodor pretty much auto wins you Greninja but it takes a lot just to get one out.

I still want too discard though...
 
Can I just interject for a minute and say that I disagree that Mystic Heart is not that useful or relevant in the new rotation? Below is a list of common Pokemon with effects:

Articuno - Chilling Sigh
Darkrai - Abyssal Sleep
Froakie - Bubble
Gengar - Sinister Fog
M Scizor EX - Iron Crusher
Malamar - Entangling Control
Regice - Ice Beam
Registeel - Forbidden Iron Hammer
Sceptile EX - Sleep Poison
Zorua - Moonless Madness

These are all pokemon that I have come across since the inception of the new rotation. I'm sure there are others as well. I'm not currently running any metal decks, but if I were, I'd definitely tech Magearna into it. I am running Magearna with my Rainbow Road deck that has won 13 of its last 17 matches.

If it's good enough for Shintaro, it's good enough for me.
 
21times said:
Can I just interject for a minute and say that I disagree that Mystic Heart is not that useful or relevant in the new rotation? Below is a list of common Pokemon with effects:

Articuno - Chilling Sigh
Darkrai - Abyssal Sleep
Froakie - Bubble
Gengar - Sinister Fog
M Scizor EX - Iron Crusher
Malamar - Entangling Control
Regice - Ice Beam
Registeel - Forbidden Iron Hammer
Sceptile EX - Sleep Poison
Zorua - Moonless Madness
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Magearna-EX's Mystic Heart Ability is a good Ability but it's only as good as the effects that it blocks.

Currently none of the "top tier" decks rely on blockable effects as part of their core strategy*.

From your list, the Pokemon I'd expect to come across semi-regularly are Articuno, Froakie, M Scizor-EX, Regice, Sceptile-EX and Zorua. From these Pokemon, only Zorua and M Scizor-EX have effect-based attacks that are used as the main attack (and even then, you don't find Zorua attacking all that often).

Personally, I do not think it is worth benching a 2 prize liability in order to block the effects of peripheral Pokemon's secondary attacks.

Furthermore, PRC-STS is rife with Garbodor.

21times said:
If it's good enough for Shintaro, it's good enough for me.
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Shintaro played Magearna-EX in the XY-STS metagame. Going into Worlds, I'm sure a lot of players were looking at Jirachi as a splashable tech for improving the Night March and Vespiquen matchups. As Shintaro was also playing DCE in his deck, it was a brilliant move to use Metal Energy and Magearna-EX to prevent his DCEs from being discarded.

Furthermore, Greninja (therefore Froakie) and Trevenant were popular choices and Magearna-EX added a bit more protection in these matchups.

I'm not convinced that Shintaro's reasons for playing Magearna-EX transfer to the PRC-STS era and I'm even less convinced that his reasons apply to a M Scizor-EX deck.

* With the exception of M Scizor-EX and M Mewtwo-EX. However, in the case of M Scizor-EX, the blockable effect is the one that discards Special Energy. Magearna-EX would only be paired with decks running Metal Energy and, as the only meta deck running Metal Energy at present is M Scizor-EX itself, this effect is only relevant when it discards your Shield Energy. Even then, in most cases M Scizor-EX is paired with Garbodor. In the case of M Mewtwo-EX, @PMJ has covered the reasons for not wanting to block Damage Change if you're playing M Scizor-EX.

Perhaps the one deck that might benefit from Magearna-EX and Metal Energy is M Rayquaza-EX but even then, that would only really be useful in the M Scizor-EX matchup to prevent DCEs from being discarded by Iron Crusher; when most of the time the opponent's M Scizor-EX is probably discarding your Sky Field anyway.
 
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Couldn't have said it better myself. The fact is, no deck needs Magearna-EX in Standard right now, let alone Scizor. It could only really help you in the mirror and only if you run two or more Shield Energy and only if you have two attached to a Scizor to stop the Iron Crusher 2HKO and only if they don't also play Giovanni.

Sure, it's nice to block Moonless Madness, but retreating is not an issue for this deck. If it is, tech in an Olympia and call it a day.
 
When it comes to Megearna EX, I'm the type of player that would like to have one in the deck and then avoid shenanigans. If a Frokie paralyses two times in a row, thats two turns of setup or snipe damage they get. Its more of a safety guard for me because I hate losing to randomness. I feel any deck that can use at least 1 should if you worry about attack effects.
 
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