Statistics
|
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 |
Use Sunny Day and you boost Shiftry’s Speed, give SolarBeam no charge, and power up HP Fire. HP Ice is a decent alternative, as it covers Altaria and various other Flying types, while maintaining coverage on other Grass types. Dark Pulse helps out against Grumpig and Hypno, and hits most Fire types for neutral damage. Explosion should KO anything not resistant to it, almost guaranteeing that Shiftry will kill at least one opponent.
Tear into everything with Leaf Storm, using your other attacks to take out any troublesome Grass resists. Extrasensory hits Poison types like Muk, Toxicroak and Vileplume. HP Ice covers Altaria, Honchkrow and other assorted Flying types. As Dark Pulse hurts most Flying types well enough (except Honchkrow and defensive Altaria), you can drop HP Ice and use Explosion to take Shiftry out with a bang.
Nasty Plot when you have an opportunity to sneak Shiftry in, then blast away with your wide variety of special attacks. HP Ice covers Flying types, especially Altaria and also hurts Cacturne and opposing Shiftry. Extrasensory helps against Fighters and Poison-types.
You must have support from Groudon for this to be even remotely effective. Dark Pulse takes out the Psychics and Giratina, while Grass Knot destroys Groudon and helps to wear down Kyogre. Note that Grass Knot is preferred to SolarBeam, as it has the same base power against most Ubers, and you don't get stuck charging up if Tyranitar, Kyogre or Rayquaza ruin your set up. Hidden Power Ice is highly recommended to hit Rayquaza on the switch, although you can switch to HP Rock if you want to cover Ho-oh too. HP Ground is also an option if you prefer to cover Heatran, Dialga and Metagross. Focus Blast will cover the first two, but only has the same base power as a STAB Dark Pulse against Metagross. Explosion is a worthwhile option as always.
Although this set is capable of doing some respectable damage, those weak defenses mean that switching in safely will not be easy. Even resisted attacks will leave a large dent in Shiftry.
Other Options
Shiftry can Swords Dance to boost its Attack stat, but this begs the question of what physical attacks it would use? In general, its special attacks are more powerful than whatever physical attacks it can muster. For what they are worth, Faint Attack, Razor Leaf, Rock Slide, X-Scissor, Aerial Ace, Payback and Quick Attack are the total of Shiftry's physical attacks. Fake Out is also on offer, but is only really viable in 2 v 2 matches.
Shiftry has some decent Speed and can stall with Leech Seed+Substitute, but this would work best if it has some Sunny Day support from Groudon or a Sunny Day Pokémon equipped with Hot Rock.
EVs
For most sets, max out Special Attack and Speed, and use a Modest nature. If you're using Explosion, then you can switch to a Rash nature. For the Special Sweeper set, a Timid nature is helpful, unless you are planning to give Shiftry some Sunny Day support.
Opinion
Shiftry has a lot of neat options, but its attacking stats aren’t great enough to make a devastating impact with them, and its Speed is also a bit of a let down. However, it has a wide special movepool and with Choice Specs, Nasty Plot or Sunny Day it can cause some respectable damage in UU battles.
Counters
In UU, most Fire types are good counters for Shiftry. Ninetales and Rapidash are good examples, as they outrun any Shiftry without a Chlorophyll boost, so they are not risking a surprise Explosion. Toxicroak resists both STAB moves, although you should beware of Extrasensory and HP Fire. Muk can take hits from everything barring Extrasensory. Vileplume just shrugs off Leaf Storm, but repeated hits from Extrasensory and HP Fire / Ice will take their toll. Altaria and Honchkrow only fear HP Ice.
Blissey, Snorlax and Regice will easily beat any Shiftry that does not carry Brick Break. Once again, Fire types are good switch-ins. Infernape, Blaziken and Heatran are the best of the bunch as they also resist Dark Pulse. Heracross, Breloom and Lucario can handle anything barring HP Fire. The first two should also be wary of Extrasensory.
