Shinboraa
Dex Entry
- work in progress -
[Overview]
- Magic Guard - A terrific ability that ignores the damage taken from secondary effects: burns, poison, leech seed, sand & hail, life orb and entry hazard damage.
- Excellent Support Movepool - With moves such as Relect, Light Screen, Tailwind, Gravity, and Whilrwind, Shinboraa works well as team support.
- Recovery - Roost is a reliable recovery that can negate its weaknesses to Rock, Ice, and Electric attacks thanks to its good speed.
- Toxic/Flame Orb & Psycho Shift - The only pokemon to learn Psycho Shift without being damaged by the negative effects of Poison/Burn.
- Set-Up Options - Access to Calm Mind and Cosmic Power give Shinboraa the option for offensive or defensive movesets.
- Offense - 58/103/97 - Able to outspeed base 95's with sufficient special attack options. Timid nature with an EV investment of 244 outspeeds positive Gliscor & Electivire, and ties with neutral Gengar.
- Defense - 72/80/80 - Base defenses are mediocre, which isn't helped by weaknesses to five very common types. On the positive side, an immunity to Ground and a nifty 4x resistance to Fighting attacks means it can switch in to a host of common offensive attacks.
[SET]
name: Psycho Shifter
move 1: Psycho Shift
move 2: Roost
move 3: Air Slash / Whirlwind
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting / Cosmic Power
item: Flame Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 12 SpA / 244 Spe
Set Comments
<p> Shinboraa is one of the best status-inducers around, sporting a 90% accurate burn move after Flame Orb activates. Absorbing status and ignoring Stealth Rock and weather, Shinboraa gets plenty of chances to switch-in and spread burn. Air Slash gets STAB and has a chance to flinch, while Whirlwind helps spread burns more quickly. HP Fighting checks many of Shinboraa's counters and gets good coverage with Air Slash. Cosmic Power, in tandem with burns, stalls opponents and renders Pursuits from burned Scizor or Tyranitar useless. </p>
Other Options
- Toxic Orb can be used over Flame Orb for better stall options, which work well in tandem with the nice 30% flinch rate from Air Slash. Cosmic Power is preferred over HP Fighting on a poison-based set.
[SET]
name: Patient Piñata
move 1: Cosmic Power
move 2: Assist Power
move 3: Roost
move 4: Psycho Shift
item: Flame Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 12 SpA / 244 Spe
Set Comments
<p> This set looks similar to the standard Psycho Shifter, but its method is quite different. Although a bit gimmicky, Shinboraa's ability to switch into slower walls and sub-seeders really make this moveset dangerous. By boosting its defenses and Roosting to heal off damage and removing its burdensome Flying-type, Shinboraa stalls and takes hits surprisingly well. Assist Power is an uncommon Psychic-type move that increases by 20 basepower with every stat boost, but it is a crucial attack on Shinboraa. After 2 boosts, Assist Power is a solid base 100; After 6 boosts it becomes base 260, a STAB move more powerful than Explosion. Granted Shinboraa is not able to hit Dark-types, Pyscho Shifting a burn leaves a mark on Tyranitar, Waruvial and Weavile. Shinboraa can even stall Dark-types with enough Cosmic Powers under its belt. This set works especially well mid-to-late game, especially after enemy phazers have been dealt with. </p>
Other Options
- HP Fighting can be incorporated and hits Tyranitar & Heatran, but Shinboraa sacrifices its burn option.
- Running Calm Mind over Cosmic Power is certainly a viable change, as it boosts Assist Power's potency quickly, and can take down even the heaviest of special walls.
[SET]
name: Life Orb
move 1: Charge Beam
move 2: Psycho Shock
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting / Roost
item: Life Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 8 HP / 252 SpA / 248 Spe
Set Comments
<p> With maximum EV investment, Shinboraa reaches a solid 305 Special Attack and gets good coverage with Charge Beam and Ice Beam. Although Charge Beam is weak, it has the added bonus of picking up some extra Special Attack, and works especially well when predicting a switch or setting up on an unaware Nattorei or Forretress. Psycho Shock gets STAB and hits special walls nicely. Roost is a great recovery move, but HP Fighting hits its common switch-ins Tyranitar and Heatran. This set is a great alternative to Psycho Shift variations and can really throw opponents off, but without Cosmic Power or the ability to burn foes, Shinboraa is not going to be taking many hits. </p>
<p> EVs here can be shifted to max Speed on the Roost variant to tie with fast Ononokusu, the only other notable base 97. On this set Shinboraa can take out Roohbushin, Machamp, Breloom, Skarmory, Dragonite and Gliscor with ease while checking walls like Nattorei and Burungeru. Just be sure to stay away from paralysis, as the drop in speed ruins Shinboraa entirely. Coming in on a Toxic or Will-o-wisp is ideal; Absorb a status and stay healthy thanks to Magic Guard, while also preventing Thunder Wave.</p>
Other Options
- EVs can definitely be tweaked between bulk and Special Attack, but make sure to keep the Speed investment high to make sure you're able to beat out positive max base 95s.
- Calm Mind can be used over Charge Beam to guarantee a boost, but some EVs will have to be given to HP to give Shinboraa extra survivability. Overall, wasting time with Calm Minds makes this set a bit clunky.
[SET]
name: Dual Screens
move 1: Reflect
move 2: Light Screen
move 3: Roost
move 4: Air Slash / Thunder Wave
item: Light Clay
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 12 SpD / 244 Spe
Set Comments
<p> With access to recovery, Shinboraa makes a decent user of Reflect and Light Screen. With good speed, it can set up a screen, roost off damage, then set up another one when the opponent switches out. Air Slash gets STAB and makes Shinboraa a threatening counter to Roobushin and especially Breloom or a rare Heracross. Shinboraa also makes great use on this set with Thunder Wave, boosting team defenses while cutting enemy speed, thus allowing your sweepers to come in and set up effectively. The downside of using Thunder Wave is Shinboraa's inability to perform after being taunted.</p>
Other Options
- Virtually any move can be substituted into moveslot 4, depending on your team's dynamic. Psycho Shock would be a nice choice, allowing Shinboraa to hit special walls.
- Equipping Flame Orb and bluffing a Psycho Shift set can be a nasty trick. Heatran and Blaziken, who commonly switch into Psycho Shift variations, absolutely hate being paralyzed with Thunder Wave. Of course, you will be sacrificing screen duration when using Flame Orb over Light Clay.
