Mega Scizor does one thing with exceptional reliability: Bullet Punch. Technician boosts the power of any move with 60 base power or less by 1.5×. Bullet Punch has 40 base power, which becomes 60 after Technician. Add Steel STABSTABmechanicSame-Type Attack Bonus: a move deals ×1.5 damage when its type matches one of the user's types.Click to read more → and the effective power reaches 90 — from a priority move that always goes before the opponent, regardless of Speed.
PriorityPrioritymechanicMove priority brackets determine turn order before Speed is checked — +3 Fake Out always moves first, −7 Trick Room always moves last.Click to read more → moves change which Pokémon moves first. Most attacks go in order of Speed, but priority moves like Bullet Punch have +1 priority, meaning they go before all standard-priority attacks. Mega Scizor’s Bullet Punch is not just a strong move — it’s a guaranteed first-mover, making it the premier revenge kill tool for handling fast sweepers.
Why Steel priority is exceptional
Steel as a type has very few weaknesses — only Fire and Ground hit Steel super-effectively. Nearly everything else hits for neutral or resists. A Bullet Punch from Mega Scizor threatens:
- Fairy-type Pokémon (Steel is super-effective against Fairy)
- Ice-type Pokémon (Steel hits Ice for 2×)
- Rock-type Pokémon (Steel hits Rock for 2×)
Several of the most common setup sweepers and frail special attackers in the meta carry at least one of these typings. Mega Scizor becomes a reliable answer to them just by clicking Bullet Punch.
Defensive profile
Steel/Bug is an excellent defensive typing. Steel resists Normal, Grass, Ice, Flying, Rock, Bug, Steel, Psychic, Dragon, Fairy, and Poison. That’s a massive list of resists. In practice, Mega Scizor can switch into many common attacks safely.
The weaknesses are Fire (4× — extra vulnerable since both Steel and Bug are weak to Fire) and Ground (2×). Fire-type coverage is extremely common in Reg M-A, so positioning Mega Scizor carefully and keeping it away from Fire moves is essential.
Coverage options
Beyond Bullet Punch, Mega Scizor typically runs Bug Bite (Technician-boosted Bug STAB at 90 effective power), Iron Head (strong Steel STAB, non-priority), and a coverage move like Superpower, Knock Off, or U-turn for repositioning. U-turn is particularly useful because Mega Scizor can pivot out while dealing chip damage, keeping momentum without committing Scizor to unfavorable matchups.
What stops it
- Fire-type moves — The 4× weakness to Fire is significant. Any Fire-type attack, even neutral base power ones, puts Mega Scizor in danger.
- Heatran — The most common Fire-type Steel in the game explicitly counters Scizor: Heatran resists Steel, is immune to Fire, and can use Flamethrower or Magma Storm to remove Scizor cleanly.