Level 100 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
90
|
- |
321 |
384 |
- |
| Atk |
100
|
212 |
236 |
299 |
328 |
| Def |
60
|
140 |
156 |
219 |
240 |
| SpA |
90
|
194 |
216 |
279 |
306 |
| SpD |
60
|
140 |
156 |
219 |
240 |
| Spe |
80
|
176 |
196 |
259 |
284 |
Overview
Shiftry is a very straightforward, dangerous Pokemon. Unfortunately, it is often underrated due to its stigma for being just another Sunny Day sweeper. Shiftry, however, has the ability to work both in and out of the sun; and, it has the ability to run both a physical and special sweeper set due to its terrifying boosting moves in Swords Dance and Nasty Plot, making it a force to be reckoned with. It may have poor defenses and a rather limited movepool, but most sweepers aren't meant to take hits and it has enough attacking options to work with, making this tengu sandal wearing, fan wielder a solid Pokemon overall.
This set makes use of Shiftry's higher Attack stat, which it can quickly boost with Swords Dance. Shiftry has six resistances and one immunity, so finding an opportunity to come in and set up shouldn't be too difficult. Using this set will require a decent amount of prediction, however, as Sucker Punch will only work when the opponent is using an attacking move. When your opponent tries to get around Sucker Punch by using non-damaging moves, you should respond either by using one of Shiftry's other attacking options or by further boosting its Attack with Swords Dance.
Shiftry has a rare and powerful tool in its STAB Sucker Punch. Combined with STAB Seed Bomb to hit bulky Water- and Ground-types and Low Kick to hit Steel-types, Shiftry has the ability to hurt both walls and sweepers alike. Still, Shiftry's coverage is somewhat limited by the fact that both Sucker Punch and Low Kick are not consistent. Thanks to Sucker Punch, Shiftry can afford to run an Adamant nature, which allows it to pack quite a punch after a Swords Dance.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Here are some damage calculations to demonstrate Shiftry's power.
- +2 Life Orb Seed Bomb vs 248/252+ Milotic: 132.8% - 156.2%
-
- +2 Life Orb Seed Bomb vs 252/252+ Slowbro: 106.6% - 125.4%
-
- +2 Life Orb Seed Bomb vs 80/252+ Hariyama: 68.2% - 80.2%
-
- +2 Life Orb Sucker Punch vs 4/0 Toxicroak: 71.4% - 84.4%
-
- +1 Life Orb Sucker Punch vs 252/4 Hitmontop: 39.8% - 47%
-
- +2 Life Orb Sucker Punch vs 0/0 Blaziken: 77.1% - 90.7%
-
- +1 Life Orb Sucker Punch vs 252/252+ Arcanine: 50.8% - 59.6%
-
- +2 Life Orb Sucker Punch vs 252/84 Moltres: 80.9% - 95.6%
-
- +2 Life Orb Low Kick vs 252/0+ Steelix: 94.9% - 111.9%
-
While not necessary, sun support will greatly aid this Shiftry, allowing it to reach 518 Speed, outspeeding pretty much anything in the metagame. Only faster Chlorophyll users and Choice Scarf users will outspeed Shiftry in the sun. Of these Pokemon, the most common is Jumpluff, who can outspeed Shiftry and either hit it with a 4x super effective U-turn or Encore Shiftry's Swords Dance. Sun support allows Shiftry to strike first with any of its moves, as opposed to just Sucker Punch. This reduces your reliance on Sucker Punch, so Shiftry can sweep much more reliably against an opponent who is trying to out-predict you with moves like Substitute or Will-O-Wisp. Sunshine will also hurt Toxicroak, who resists every move on this set, due to its Dry Skin ability.
When considering Swords Dance Shiftry, you should evaluate the merits of using it over Absol, who sports a much higher Attack stat and Superpower for coverage. In general, Shiftry's advantages over Absol stem from its Grass typing, which provides key resistances to Water-, Grass-, Electric-, and Ground-type attacks. STAB Seed Bomb is an excellent weapon for taking out UU's physical walls, such as Donphan, Rhyperior, and Omastar. In addition, Shiftry has a much higher HP stat than Absol, giving it more chances to make use of its resistances. The choice between the two Pokemon is largely up to the style of play that you want to use with your Sucker Punch sweeper. If you prefer Absol's raw power and don't mind its frailty, it is usually the better choice. However, if you feel that extra bulk and resistances will be more helpful in setting up consistently, or find that Absol runs into too many problems against bulky Water- and Ground-types, then pick Shiftry.
This set runs into problems against Pokemon who can outspeed it and set up Substitute or use status moves to circumvent Sucker Punch. Such Pokemon include Mismagius, Alakazam, Espeon, and Sceptile. Shiftry can still come out on top against these Pokemon, but it must predict their moves extremely well by using Seed Bomb as they use Substitute and using Sucker Punch when they decide to attack. Note that with Sunny Day support, this becomes a non-issue. Toxicroak resists every move on the set and can hit Shiftry super effectively with either of its STAB moves. Hitmontop is also a nuisance because it resists Sucker Punch and can hit Shiftry with priority moves of its own. However, these Fighting-types can be finished off if they've been somewhat weakened, as a +2 Sucker Punch hits hard even when resisted. Pokemon who resist Seed Bomb and Low Kick but not Sucker Punch, namely Moltres, Altaria, and Venusaur, can still cause this set problems if they avoid attacking Shiftry at predictable moments. Good teammates to counteract Moltres and Altaria are Milotic, Slowking, and Lanturn. Venusaur is difficult to counter outright, however, Registeel and specially-defensive Weezing have an easy time with most versions of Venusaur. Finally, Claydol and Uxie make good teammates to switch into the various Fighting-types of UU and both are excellent choices to provide Sunny Day and Stealth Rock support.
This set is the special version of Swords Dance Shiftry; simply use Nasty Plot to boost Shiftry's Special Attack, and proceed to sweep. With sun support, SolarBeam is the recommended choice; however, if you feel keeping the sun up will be a daunting task, Grass Knot is available as a safe alternative. Be wary, however, as Lanturn takes far less damage from Grass Knot than from SolarBeam. Milotic and Blastoise are easily disposed of with either move, so the choice ultimately comes down to preference. Hidden Power Fire takes care of Steel- and Grass-types, while the final moveslot depends on your play-style. Dark Pulse is the secondary STAB move of choice while Explosion provides Shiftry with the opportunity to go out with a bang. Keep in mind that if the sun runs out, having a reliable STAB move in Dark Pulse makes it the more appealing choice. Dark Pulse also provides Shiftry with a way to bypass Fire-types who would wall the set otherwise.
Although Shiftry is able to OHKO Registeel with a +2 Low Kick from the Swords Dance set, it is unable to do so with a Nasty Plot-boosted Hidden Power Fire, which only deals 72.5% - 85.7% damage in the sun. It is highly recommended that you employ Spikes and Stealth Rock support since Registeel will pose a problem should it survive and proceed to paralyze Shiftry with Thunder Wave.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The same support as the Swords Dance set is needed for this set as well. Sun support is more prevalent to this set's success, so teammates who can reliably set it up are required. Uxie and Ambipom make good Sunny Day leads due to their great Speed. Qwilfish once again is a good choice for Spikes support in order to achieve a possible OHKO on Registeel. Altaria is needed since Shiftry doesn't have a priority move to circumvent Vacuum Wave users such as Blaziken and Toxicroak. Moltres again makes a good partner to switch into any bulky Grass-types who may stand in Shiftry's way; however, Hidden Power Fire should usually be enough to dispose of them.
Shiftry is a useful Attacking Lead in UU due to its ability to KO and cripple many common leads, including Alakazam, Mesprit, Uxie, Cloyster, Omastar, and Qwilfish. Shiftry’s strong offensive movepool, stats, and typing allow it to act as a cleaner as well, granting it superb mid- and late-game usability. Dark Pulse is Shiftry's most consistent STAB attack, and it also allows Shiftry to 2HKO the ever-common Uxie and Mesprit leads. With Leaf Storm being Shiftry's strongest STAB attack, it can effectively KO most Pokemon that don't resist it after a Dark Pulse. Low Kick helps damage Registeel, which would otherwise wall Shiftry completely. There are two possible options in the final moveslot. Explosion allows Shiftry to completely wipe out leads that it can't beat otherwise, such as Moltres and Arcanine. However, using Sucker Punch allows Shiftry to deal with Alakazam leads almost 100% of the time, and it also gives it an option to attack Moltres before dying, should you choose to keep Shiftry in.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Focus Sash is the best item choice for this set because it allows Shiftry to heavily damage a large variety of leads and continue attacking after a potentially fatal blow from the opponent. Holding a Focus Sash also allows Shiftry to use Explosion more assuredly. Early Bird is the best choice for Shiftry's ability, as sleep moves are more common in UU than Sunny Day. The EV spread allows Shiftry to outrun 4 Speed Uxie and max Speed Omastar leads, with the remaining EVs pushed into Attack to increase the power of Low Kick and Explosion (or Sucker Punch). A Rash nature is required for the 2HKO on standard Uxie leads without weakening Explosion or slowing Shiftry down.
The only unfortunate side-effect about using a Shiftry Anti-Lead set is that it has very serious four moveslot syndrome, with many of its lesser options being ousted from the set in favor of the main ones already listed. Protect is an option over Low Kick as it gives Shiftry a chance to beat Ambipom, provided that Shiftry holds a Focus Sash, but Shiftry is usually better off just switching. Extrasensory can hit Venusaur and Fighting-types hard, but there isn't really a place for it. Likewise, Hidden Power Rock can eliminate Moltres and Scyther while dealing heavy damage against any other Fire-type leads, but it doesn’t fit into the set any better than Extrasensory.
Other Options
Energy Ball can be used in the Nasty Plot set as an in-between for Grass Knot or SolarBeam; however, the prospective higher damage output of the other moves is more appealing. Shiftry may use Hidden Power Ice to OHKO Altaria on special attacking sets, but Hidden Power Fire is usually the better choice as it can hit a wider range of opponents. Shiftry's other special attacking moves include Shadow Ball, Extrasensory, and Focus Blast. While all have their uses, Shiftry is pressed for moveslot space as it is. Shiftry also has access to Rock Slide and Hidden Power Rock to help hit Fire-types, most notably Moltres and Arcanine, since the former resists Grass 4x and the latter will force Shiftry out more often than not with Intimidate and ExtremeSpeed. Using Rock Slide or Hidden Power Rock, however, leaves Shiftry susceptible to Fighting-types; therefore, sticking with the recommended movesets is the best idea. Shiftry has access to X-Scissor, Payback, and Bounce as other physical options for the Swords Dance set. X-Scissor is a good way to score a super effective hit on Grass-types, including Tangrowth and Leafeon, but the other moves listed are more useful. Payback and Bounce are both detrimental to Shiftry's cause; Payback requires Shiftry to go last for higher damage output and Bounce requires two turns to use, eating up precious Sunny Day turns. Quick Attack is useful as a reliable way for picking off faster threats, but Sucker Punch is more powerful and has STAB backing it up.
Shiftry can also employ a SubSeeding strategy, especially in the sun when its Speed is doubled, but this role is better left to more defensive Grass-types like Tangrowth since Shiftry is more effective as a sweeper. With Choice Specs and Leaf Storm, Shiftry makes a fearsome hit-and-run Pokemon under the sun as well.
Checks and Counters
Arcanine, Blaziken, Toxicroak, and Hitmontop are the bane of Shiftry's existence. They have the ability to take anything but Explosion and KO Shiftry with super effective STAB attacks. Tangrowth is also a very good counter to the Swords Dance set, due to its colossal base 125 Defense and above-average base 100 HP, as well as a resistance to Seed Bomb and ability to handle Low Kick and then circumvent Sucker Punch by putting Shiftry to sleep with Sleep Powder. However, Tangrowth quickly dies to any special attacking set. Weezing is in the same boat as Tangrowth, but has Haze to erase Swords Dance boosts, and can KO Shiftry with a Fire-type move. The best way to deal with Shiftry is to just hit it outright and not let it set up; its defenses are mediocre at best and a decently powered STAB attack should cripple, if not KO, it.
