http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/shuckle
[Overview]
<p>Shuckle has the highest Defense and Special Defense stats in the game, making it a one-of-a-kind wall in both areas. With sandstorm in play, this little turtle is by no means easily KOed. Not even Alakazam, which boasts the highest Special Attack in the UU tier, can get past Shuckle in a sandstorm. Although Shuckle's sky-high defensive stats make it seem like a great Pokemon, there are a number of factors stopping it from being as efficient as it should, such as its crippling Stealth Rock weakness, its pathetic HP stat, lack of instant recovery, lack of a useful ability, and incredibly limited movepool. However, with the right support, Shuckle can wall most Pokemon lacking a super effective attack into oblivion.</p>
[SET]
name: Toxic Stall
move 1: Encore
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Rest
move 4: Knock Off / Protect / Stealth Rock
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Although Shuckle's movepool is incredibly limited, it has all the assetsit needs to be a great Toxic staller. Shuckle's titanicdefensive stats make it extremely hard to KO, and setting up on it with stat-up moves is not an option due to Encore. Once Shuckle's HP is low, it can fully heal itself with Rest. Knock Off is the best choice for the last slot; a lot of Pokemon hold Leftovers, granting them effective immunity to sandstorm, and Knock Off forces them to take sandstorm damage. It is also great for removing Choice items from Pokemon that would try to Trick them onto Shuckle. Protect is another option to use in the last slot, as it allows Shuckle to get a free turn of Toxic stalling, and grants it free Leftovers recovery. Stealth Rock is a good move on Shuckle since it is almost guaranteed to set it up unless it is Taunted, but if you are using a sandstorm team, youshould have another Pokemon with Stealth Rock on your team. Shuckle must never use maximum HP EVs because without them, Shuckle can switch into Stealth Rock more times.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Shuckle can use a specially defensive EV spread of 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Def and a Careful nature. With that EV spread, Shuckle isn't even 5HKOed by Alakazam's Psychic. In the last slot, Substitute can be used when predicting a specific switch-in. Shuckle can then safely Toxic the opponent from behind the Substitute without fear of being KOed.</p>
<p>Shuckle requires support against Steel- and Poison-types due to their immunity to Toxic. Dugtrio can trap and kill most Poison- and Steel-types, and has immunity to sandstorm as a bonus. Shuckle also appreciates Toxic Spikes support so that it can run Protect in Toxic's place. Wish support helps Shuckle out as well due to Rest's unreliability. Clefable is probably the best choice to supply this since it is immune to sandstorm, allowing it to gain Leftovers recovery. Cleric support from Leafeon and Clefable is also very helpful, although with Rest, Shuckle shouldn't really have to worry about status. Still, cleric support can wake Shuckle up if it has to switch out while sleeping.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Hippopotas is required for setting up permanent sandstorm, which increases Shuckle's Special Defense by 50% and deals 6.25% damage each turn against the foe (bar Rock-, Ground-, and Steel-types), combining excellently with Shuckle's Toxic. Additionally, it can set up Stealth Rock (if Shuckle isn't using it already), which is helpful because Shuckle's Encore almost always forces the opponent to switch out. When combined with other entry hazards, Stealth Rock is devastating to your opponent due to Shuckle's ability to stall.</p>
<p>The main factor holding Shuckle back is its Stealth Rock weakness, so you will want to have a Rapid Spinner on your team. Hitmontop is the best Rapid Spinner to use because it can switch into Rock-type attacks directed at Shuckle, and then spin away Stealth Rock easily. Another good Rapid Spinner is Blastoise because of its Water resistance. Blastoise and Hitmontop both can use Foresight and Rapid Spin, enabling them to spin on Ghost-types. Still, spinblockers can give your Rapid Spinners trouble, so Spiritomb can be used to trap and KO them with Pursuit.</p>
<p>When using Shuckle, you need to cover up its weakness to Water-types, so bulky Waters are good teammates for Shuckle. Quagsire resists all of Shuckle's weaknesses and can use Toxic and Encore, making it a good choice. Milotic has the best defensive stats of all of the bulky Waters and is able to strike opposing Water-types down with Hidden Power Grass off base 100 Special Attack, so it is a good teammate as well. Grass-types such as Venusaur and Leafeon are also great teammates because they resist Water and can strike Water-types super effectively with their STAB Grass attacks.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Shuckle has a very poor movepool, so there aren't many sets it can run. It can use an Acupressure set, but Shuckle's Attack stat at +6 will only reach 520, and it's outclassed by Drapion, who has higher Attack and Speed. Another niche that Shuckle has is a Power Trick set while in Trick Room. Once Shuckle uses Power Trick, its Attack stat will raise to 614, but its Defense and Special Defense stats will suffer, meaning that Shuckle will be OHKOed by common priority attacks. Also, Rhyperior makes a much better Rock-type Trick Room sweeper than Shuckle due to Swords Dance and having great bulk and a deadly Attack stat, making Power Trick Shuckle worthless. Wrap seems like a good option at first with its ability to trap Pokemon, but Shuckle will usually end up facing a Pokemon it doesn't want to trap, thus essentially wasting a turn.</p>
[Counters]
<p>One of the best ways to counter Shuckle is with hard hitting Rock-types such as Rhyperior, Aggron, or Kabutops. These Pokemon are also capable of setting up Stealth Rock, which makes Shuckle easier to counter. Another way to counter Shuckle is by using Steel- and Poison-types since they are immune to Toxic,Shuckle's only way of damaging opponents. Any Pokemon with Taunt can stop Shuckle since the only attacking move Shuckle will ever be using is Knock Off. A great strategy for beating Shuckle is changing the weather. If you change the weather, Shuckle will lose its Special Defense boost, and your Pokemon will no longer lose 6.25% health each turn. Players rarely keep their Hippopotas alive throughout the match, so once you change the weather, sandstorm will likely not be set back up.</p>
