This set takes advantage of Shedinja's only decent stat, Attack, and aims to increase it to higher levels courtesy of Swords Dance. Because of Shedinja's various immunities, it can often manage to pull off a Swords Dance or two, hopefully causing problems for the opponent before switching out. X-Scissor is a good STAB move, and makes use of Swords Dance well. Shadow Sneak is a weaker move with STAB and has a stage one priority. However, Sucker Punch may be used for its higher base power over Shadow Sneak, and will hit Normal-types (scoring an OHKO on Swellow for example), but it is much less reliable. Due to Shedinja's limited movepool, a status move, either Toxic or Will-O-Wisp makes an appearance to cripple any incoming pokemon that might be carrying a super effective attack. Toxic is generally the superior move against walls that carry a move capable of swatting Shedinja while Will-O-Wisp can effectively neuter any physical threat including what is arguably Shedinja's greatest threat: Pursuit-users such as Metagross and Scizor.
Shedinja with Trick can be quite a surprise, and can really stop the opponent's Pokémon. Trick means you can cripple many of its common switch-ins. Heatran and Skarmory won't enjoy Choice Band, nor will Giratina in Ubers. While it doesn't stop them using super effective attacks on Shedinja, it makes them much more predictable, and easy to play around. X-Scissor provides a STAB move that will hurt a few Pokémon when Choice Band is attached, and can be utilized after. Shadow Sneak is again, a reliable move but it falls short of a guaranteed OHKO on Gengar and Azelf when Shedinja holds Choice Band, something Sucker Punch will manage. The last slot depends on what you need. Aerial Ace will hammer any Heracross coming in for a Guts boost, Pursuiting Shedinja away. Will-O-Wisp gives Shedinja the opportunity to threaten the opponent even more, Tricking one Pokémon then Will-O-Wisping the next switch in. However, Swords Dance can be useful after Trick, and it will offer Shedinja more of a chance of sweeping. Even though it may seem a gimmick, Protect can also be used on this set. It works brilliantly well in conjunction with Trick, as it furthermore makes it easier to switch in a team mate to counter the opponent. It also means that Shedinja will be able to see if the opponent is predicting a switch and doesn't use a super effective move, which means Shedinja can then stay in with impunity until they switch, due to the choice item.
Even with nothing to pass, Baton Pass is a completely viable move on Shedinja as it allows it to scout for counters, and also the chance to offer a safe switch-in for a team mate, giving you a more favorable match up. Toxic is a good way for Shedinja to cause damage, without it, Shedinja may struggle outside of using entry hazards, causing damage due to Shedinja's knack for forcing switches. Heal Block with Toxic means the opponent cannot use Rest or any other healing more, and therefore cannot stall Shedinja out of PP. However, Poison or Steel-type Pokémon, as well as those with the Immunity ability, will be unaffected by Toxic, effectively stopping Shedinja cold. With Baton Pass, Shedinja can immediately retreat and bring in a suitable counter for free, such as Dugtrio or Magnezone. This pair can come in handy as Magnezone can trap and kill most Steel-types, while Dugtrio's STAB Earthquake hits Poison and Steel-types for super effective damage. Will-O-Wisp is an option over Toxic for the aforementioned Steel and Poison-types but the process will be much longer and more arduous as a burn's damage is constant. However any offensive move, particularly Shadow Sneak, Sucker Punch or X-Scissor may be used in its place if you are afraid of Taunt. Even specialized Hidden Powers can be used to deal damage to specific users of Taunt (such as Hidden Power Electric for Gyarados). Other OptionsShedinja has a couple of other nifty tools at hand, but many of these are situational. Natural Gift with the appropriate berry is a very workable option for Shedinja, considering its limited movepool. For example, Natural Gift with a Ganlon Berry is almost a guaranteed OHKO on an incoming no HP / Defense Rayquaza, provided that you predict correctly. However, this means it won't be able to hold a Lum Berry or Focus Sash, meaning that it will only be likely to work as Rayquaza switches in to Shedinja. Protect can also work on other sets bar Trick, although generally there are better options. It means Shedinja can scout for moves that would otherwise be fatal to it, and works nicely in tandem with Will-O-Wisp or Toxic, to quickly reduce the opponent's health. Bug Bite can ruin any Pokémon planning on using pinch berries, especially in Ubers where it is commonly used. With a Jolly nature, Shedinja achieves enough Speed to make use of Agility. From this point on it can attempt to sweep, or it can Grudge away one important attack. Note that Shedinja can only have Agility, Swords Dance, OR Baton Pass on a set at the same time. Any combination of the three is impossible to obtain and is therefore illegal. EVsDue to Shedinja having 1 HP, most of the time you will be using Attack, Special Attack, or Speed EVs. Generally, you shouldn't be using special attacks on Shedinja, so maxing out Attack and Speed EVs is all but required. The extra 4 EVs should go into one of the defenses to strengthen a Baton Passed Substitute. The only reason that Lonely and Hasty are recommended is the rare case that a Porygon2 or Porygon-Z with Download switches in, it will receive an Attack boost instead of a Special Attack boost. This situation is only theoretical, and as such, Adamant and Jolly are both perfectly acceptable. OpinionThe metagame most people play in is not particularly kind to Shedinja, especially considering the addition of Stealth Rock to many Pokémon’s arsenals, the now-more-popular physical Pursuit, and Hippowdon's Sand Stream. But Shedinja does have one niche where it can thrive: the Uber metagame! Tyranitar is uncommonly seen there thanks to the presence of Kyogre and Groudon, and bringing in a Hippowdon or Abomasnow would be foolish. Plus, there are quite a few Pokémon there whose standard movesets can’t hit Shedinja at all, particularly Kyogre, Palkia, and Blissey—perhaps even a Rayquaza locked into Outrage. Still, one must be careful with Shedinja even in Ubers, because Shedinja happens to be weak to Ghost and Dark, move types that many other Ubers are weak to and therefore will be common. Furthermore, some tricky trainers will equip their Kyogre and Palkia with moves that can actually hit Shedinja—typically Toxic. There are still Pursuit users too; usually it will be Metagross or Scizor but Deoxys can learn it too. So pick your targets wisely! Perhaps the best way to use Shedinja is to save its appearance for the endgame. If you keep Shedinja hidden, you can take out whatever on your unsuspecting opponent's team is capable of hurting Shedinja. If you reveal it too early, however, they will fight to keep their Shedinja-swatters alive, and that defeats the point of Shedinja's immunities. CountersLet’s go through the complete list of everything that can kill Shedinja. Fire / Flying / Dark / Ghost / Rock moves, non-Fighting / Normal attacks from a Mold Breaker Pokémon, Poison, Burn, Leech Seed, Confusion damage, Sandstorm, Hail, Spikes / Stealth Rock, Nightmare, Darkrai’s Bad Dreams, Life Orb recoil, Double-Edge recoil, Struggle, Struggle recoil, Destiny Bond, Perish Song, Aftermath, Rough Skin, Future Sight / Doom Desire, Ghost-type Curse, Jaboca/Rowap Berry recoil, and absorbing health against a Pokémon with Liquid Ooze. In OU-level play, Heatran can threaten Shedinja with a super effective fire attack while resisting both of Shedinja's STAB moves and absorbing Toxic and Will-O-Wisp. Skarmory can also come in on ease, threaten with a flying attack (Brave Bird or Drill Peck) or simply setting up Spikes or Stealth Rock forbidding Shedinja from coming back in. Finally, Tyranitar can switch in on support moves like Heal Block and Swords Dance but will be troubled by either Will-O-Wisp, Toxic or X-Scissor. Also, as long as Shedinja doesn't Baton Pass away during the turn Sandstream activates, it will instantly faint regardless of a Focus Sash. In Uber-level play, Darkrai, Groudon and Giratina are the most threatening Pokemon to any Shedinja-user. Darkrai can come in freely on a Shadow Sneak or support move, then immediately threaten with Dark Void and its unique trait, Bad Dreams. Groudon's high Defense and Speed (in proportion to Shedinja's at least) allows it to threaten with Fire Punch or Toxic, while setting up Stealth Rock preventing from Shedinja coming back in. Giratina, threatens Shedinja by combining a status effect in Will-O-Wisp as well as sky-high defensive prowess. Incidentally, Giratina can also use Rest to alleviate it of any status condition (barring a Heal Block) while simultaneously blocking Rapid Spin if any entry hazards are on the field. Anything with Pursuit is an automatic death sentence for Shedinja, unless it has a Substitute Baton Passed to it to protect it. In fact, this is a useful tactic for it to protect it from status and Leech Seed as well. |
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