Taking advantage of Shedinja's only passable stat, Attack, this set aims to increase it to higher levels courtesy of Swords Dance. Thanks to Shedinja's variety of immunities and its knack for forcing switches, it is more than likely you will be able to at least raise your attack once before switching out. Shadow Sneak and X-Scissor are STAB moves chosen for priority purposes and high base power, respectively. 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.
A simple Choice Bander, it gets in somewhat easily thanks to Wonder Guard, then hits whatever comes in next as hard as it can. Choose your pick for the last slot.
Baton Pass, even with nothing to pass, is a viable move on Shedinja as it allows it to scout for counters, and then immediately follow up with a slower switch-in, giving you a more favorable match up. Without Swords Dance to boost Shedinja's barely passable Attack stat, Toxic is its best way of dealing damage outside of any entry hazards caused by Shedinja's knack for forcing switches. Heal Block in conjunction with Toxic will make sure your opponent does not simply stall you out of PP by Resting off any damage accumulated by Toxic. However, Poison or Steel-type Pokemon, 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 or X-Scissor may be used in its place if you are afraid of Taunt. However, any move, even specialized Hidden Powers, can be used to counter specific Taunters (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. Protect allows Shedinja to scout for moves that would otherwise be fatal to it, and works nicely in tandem with Will-O-Wisp to quickly reduce the opponent's health. Ubers is a fast-paced game, and as such some rely on pinch berries to set them up. Bug Bite can ruin their plans quickly. 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. EVsMax Speed and Attack. EVs placed in Defense are only useful if Shedinja is passed a Substitute, but they have no use elsewhere. 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 it's 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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