Poison Point
30% chance to poison when struck by a contact move.
Quick Feet
Speed is increased by 50% when afflicted with status.
Type Tier
Bug / Poison NU
Level 5 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
Min- Min Max Max+
- 22 25 -
13 15 18 19
13 15 18 19
10 12 15 16
11 13 16 17
15 17 20 22


Scolipede is the second fastest user of Spikes in the tier, but it unfortunately gets a lot of competition from Accelgor, which has much higher Speed. Scolipede also has a fairly poor defensive typing, as it is weak to Stealth Rock and Fire-type moves, and its bulk in general is pretty mediocre. From an offensive perspective, it faces a lot of competition from one of the most common Pokemon in the tier, Heracross, which has a lot more power and also has a STAB Megahorn.

However, by combining all of these traits, Scolipede has a niche in UU as a fast, offensive user of Spikes, thanks to its high Speed and powerful Megahorn to scare off foes. While its typing is mediocre in many respects, 4x resistances to Fighting and Grass, as well as a resistance to Bug, help it combat many Pokemon in UU, especially considering its Speed allows it to outspeed threats such as Tornadus and Mienshao. Although it isn't common, Scolipede is still a great addition to teams that need its role fulfilled.

Name Item Ability Nature

Spikes + 3 Attacks

Focus Sash / Life Orb Swarm Jolly
Moveset EVs
~ Spikes
~ Megahorn
~ Earthquake
~ Rock Slide
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

This set uses almost every niche Scolipede has—Spikes, a fairly high Speed, and a good offensive move in Megahorn to pose an offensive threat. UU is not lacking in Spikes users, but its advantage over Accelgor, which is faster, is that Scolipede's Megahorn is stronger than anything that Accelgor can muster, and it also defeats Tornadus one-on-one due to a slight advantage in Speed. In general, Spikes is useful on all kinds of teams, as it helps wear down opponents on defensive teams and turns 2HKOs into OHKOs for offensive Pokemon, and due to its high speed, Scolipede will almost always get two layers of Spikes down.

The other moves listed increase Scolipede's offensive presence. Megahorn is a powerful STAB move, and when combined with a Life Orb, it can OHKO almost everything that is weak to it, such as Mew and Shaymin, which can let Scolipede set up a layer of Spikes if these or other Pokemon weak to Megahorn switch out. Earthquake gets good coverage with Megahorn and hits Fire-types that resist Bug, such as Darmanitan and Chandelure, super effectively, and also a few Steel-types, such as Empoleon and Registeel. Rock Slide rounds off Scolipede's coverage, hitting Tornadus and Togekiss hard. However, be warned that it is rarely a good idea to stay in on most Flying-types unless they are weakened, as most can easily OHKO Scolipede while Scolipede only 2HKOes them back.

Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Name Item Ability Nature

Swords Dance

Life Orb Swarm Jolly
Moveset EVs
~ Swords Dance
~ Megahorn
~ Earthquake
~ Aqua Tail / Rock Slide
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Swords Dance Scolipede may seem like an odd choice, especially considering Heracross is available with more Attack, Guts, Fighting STAB, and mostly similar moves. However, Scolipede has two advantages: the ability to quickly defeat Gligar with Aqua Tail and a higher Speed that allows it to outspeed Pokemon such as Mew, Roserade, and Shaymin. After a Swords Dance, it hits 558 Attack, which is enough to finish off weakened teams. Megahorn is the STAB move of choice, flattening anything that doesn't resist it. Earthquake covers most of what Megahorn cannot, wrecking Fire-, Poison-, and Steel-types that could otherwise take a Megahorn. While Aqua Tail may seem a bit redundant with Earthquake, it hits Gligar very hard, which is a Pokemon that Heracross cannot reliably defeat. It also lets Scolipede get past Rhyperior, which is capable of taking even a +2 Earthquake due to its high Defense and OHKOing back. However, Rock Slide is still a decent option, hitting Flying-types such as Tornadus, Zapdos, and Crobat hard, although one should note that catching Crobat on the switch can be difficult.

Team Options & Additional Comments >>>

Other Options

An interesting strategy to use with Scolipede is a Swords Dance set with Substitute, Swarm, and a Salac Berry to make its Megahorn nearly impossible to switch into, even with resists, while giving it +1 Speed to make it harder to revenge kill. Aqua Tail rounds out the coverage on this set. While the payoff can be large, finding a turn to set up both a Substitute and Swords Dance is difficult. Scolipede has Baton Pass and can pass Swords Dance or Agility, but with Ninjask available, using a different Bug-type Baton Passer isn't worth the trouble. Unlike Megahorn, X-Scissor won't miss, but Megahorn is so much more powerful than X-Scissor that to pass up on it is almost never a good idea. Scolipede has access to the always cool Pursuit, but with an average Attack and its tendency to attract Ghost-types more than scare them away, it is a mediocre user of the move. Finally, Scolipede has Superpower to hit Snorlax and Ferroseed very hard, but the former is already hit fairly hard by Megahorn and the latter is rare in UU, making it a lackluster option.

Checks and Counters

Not surprisingly, the best way to take down Scolipede is a resistance to Megahorn, and not being weak to Earthquake also helps. Due to this, Crobat is the best counter, as its 4x resistance to Megahorn and immunity to Earthquake allows it to take hits with ease, and it can retaliate with a powerful STAB Brave Bird before Scolipede can use Rock Slide, which doesn't hit it very hard. It even has Taunt to prevent Scolipede from setting up Spikes or Swords Dance. Cofagrigus has a high defense and resists Megahorn and can either wall and burn it or use Trick Room to make Scolipede's Speed a liability. Hitmontop has an easy time with Scolipede thanks to Intimidate and a resistance to Megahorn it can hit it hard with Stone Edge or spin its Spikes away. Unless Scolipede has Aqua Tail along with Swords Dance boosts, Gligar completely walls Scolipede thanks to instant recovery and its insane physical defense; like Crobat, it also has Taunt, a resistance to Megahorn, and an immunity to Earthquake. Rhyperior is capable of OHKOing Scolipede easily, possibly even through a Focus Sash, thanks to Rock Blast, and its massive Defense means that even though it is weak to Earthquake, it will not take much damage from it—be aware that Aqua Tail does hit it for a lot more damage, however. Azelf can switch into an Earthquake, outspeed Scolipede, and OHKO it with Psychic, but it needs to be extremely careful of Megahorn, which easily OHKOes back. Finally, there is a host of Choice Scarf revenge killers, including Darmanitan, Victini, Rotom-H, Honchkrow, and Chandelure, which can OHKO Scolipede with ease. Chandelure, Darminitan, and Rotom-H can switch into Megahorn while Honchkrow and Rotom-H can switch into Earthquake, but all of these Pokemon must be careful of the appropriate coverage move.