Pokémon Aegislash

[Tryinnottofail]

The best Aegislash counter I have found is indeed, (Drumroll please) Aegislash. It works as a defensive wall and an Counter to both choice band and swords dance Aegislash. The set is
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Calm Nature
- Shadow Ball
- King's Shield
- Substitute
- Toxic

The idea of this set is switch in to any opposing aegislash. Unless they are a sub varient they are going to either go for the shadow sneak or swords dance on the switch. When your own aegislash switches in 9 times out of 10 the opponent will go for either another swords dance or the king sheild the turn after the switch. You can use this opportunity to set up a sub. Then you can ohko aegislash with a shadow ball when they are in attack forme. (which they will eventually have to go for an attack in order to break your sub). I use shadow ball in order to avoid the opposing kings shield. I recomend having a flying or pokemon with levitate on your team in order to avoid earthquakes from ttar,which is a hard counter to this set) The set needs work but its the best counter I have found to almost all aegislash. Feel free to leave Renovations to the set. Im new to competitive battling so I appreciate your input :) (first post Ftw XD)

 

[Goldenratt]

I've been using mixed Aegis. It's been catching a lot of people off guard. HP Ice helps to deal with Lando/Gliscor who tend to be some of his more common counters.
244 spd was to outspeed lando after an Autotomize. Pairing it with something that has similar counters and using it to punch holes has proven to be pretty effective. It's also more of a pivot and not meant to sweep.
Aegislash @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 244 Spd / 252 SAtk / 12 Atk
Naive Nature
- Autotomize
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword

 

[AOPSUser]

The best Aegislash counter I have found is indeed, (Drumroll please) Aegislash. It works as a defensive wall and an Counter to both choice band and swords dance Aegislash. The set is
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Calm Nature
- Shadow Ball
- King's Shield
- Substitute
- Toxic

The idea of this set is switch in to any opposing aegislash. Unless they are a sub varient they are going to either go for the shadow sneak or swords dance on the switch. When your own aegislash switches in 9 times out of 10 the opponent will go for either another swords dance or the king sheild the turn after the switch. You can use this opportunity to set up a sub. Then you can ohko aegislash with a shadow ball when they are in attack forme. (which they will eventually have to go for an attack in order to break your sub). I use shadow ball in order to avoid the opposing kings shield. I recomend having a flying or pokemon with levitate on your team in order to avoid earthquakes from ttar,which is a hard counter to this set) The set needs work but its the best counter I have found to almost all aegislash. Feel free to leave Renovations to the set. Im new to competitive battling so I appreciate your input :) (first post Ftw XD)

+2 252+ Atk Aegislash (Blade) Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Aegislash (Shield): 189-223 (58.33 - 68.82%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

If you switch in on a +2 Shadow Sneak, you have to use King's Shield or die, in which case your opponent can predict you and go to a counter or set up another Swords Dance (in which case you are even more screwed). This Aegislash is also completely useless against almost everything else, and it doesn't even counter what you want it to counter. I guess it can beat Latios, but regular SD Aegislash does it better with Shadow Sneak...

Hippowdon can beat Aegislash relatively easily:

+2 252+ Atk Aegislash (Blade) Sacred Sword vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 153-181 (36.42 - 43.09%) -- 98.63% chance to 3HKO

Spiritomb (lol) can beat Aegislash, albeit with a bit of physical defensive investment:

+2 252+ Atk Aegislash (Blade) Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Spiritomb: 135-160 (44.4 - 52.63%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Skarmory can Whirlwind it out, but it's not exactly the best way to deal with Aegislash. Although it should be noted that Whirlwind goes through King's Shield.

+2 252+ Atk Aegislash (Blade) Sacred Sword vs. 224 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 136-161 (41.59 - 49.23%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Note that these above "counters" flat out fail if Aegislash has a Life Orb instead of Leftovers.

Sableye burns it, and can Foul Play it.

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb burned Aegislash (Blade) Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Sableye: 131-155 (43.09 - 50.98%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Sableye Foul Play vs. 252 HP / 0 Def BURNED Aegislash (Blade): 714-841 (243.68 - 287.03%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Malamar trolls King's Shield with Contrary, and is faster than Aegislash.

Bisharp has Defiant and doesn't care about King's Shield, and can pick off Aegislash with Sucker Punch, but requires the tiniest bit of prior damage first:

252+ Atk Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash (Shield): 216-255 (73.72 - 87.03%) -- guaranteed 2HKO, 93.75% chance to OHKO after SR, 1 layer of Spikes, and one round of Life Orb damage.
252+ Atk Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash (Blade): 526-619 (179.52 - 211.26%) -- guaranteed OHKO
If it switched into Sticky Web then it's good to go.

Azumarill can do something against Aegislash. Maybe.

+2 252+ Atk Aegislash (Blade) Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 193-228 (47.77 - 56.43%) -- 84.38% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 252 HP / 0 Def (custom): 225-265 (76.79 - 90.44%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

A little bit of prior damage is all you need, and you outslow Aegislash unless the latter uses 0 speed IVs with a Brave nature.

I would advise using one of those if you're having trouble with Aegislash.

 

[zferolie]

So, if one was going to run Swords dance... would would they remove? Currently my set is.

Kings Shield
Iron Head
Shadow Sneak
Sacred Sword.
Relaxed Nature. 252 in Attack and HP.

I noticed I couldn't OHKO a Mega Gengar a friend had with Shadow sneak(got him to near dead, like 5 HP left. maybe I just was unlucky), but that cost me the match.

Anyway, if i wanted to run SD, what would I replace? these 3 attacks seem to do massive damage to most pokemon. I bet if I had an attack boosting nature I wouldn't need swords dance... but I feel bad getting rid of this guy just for that. he has gotten me through so much...

 

[AOPSUser]

So, if one was going to run Swords dance... would would they remove? Currently my set is.

Kings Shield
Iron Head
Shadow Sneak
Sacred Sword.
Relaxed Nature. 252 in Attack and HP.

I noticed I couldn't OHKO a Mega Gengar a friend had with Shadow sneak(got him to near dead, like 5 HP left. maybe I just was unlucky), but that cost me the match.

Anyway, if i wanted to run SD, what would I replace? these 3 attacks seem to do massive damage to most pokemon. I bet if I had an attack boosting nature I wouldn't need swords dance... but I feel bad getting rid of this guy just for that. he has gotten me through so much...

You definitely want a Brave or Adamant nature on that thing, to do as much damage as possible. Even with that, however:
252+ Atk Aegislash (Blade) Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gengar: 194-230 (74.04 - 87.78%) -- guaranteed 2HKO, OHKO after SR+2 layers of Spikes
So you should have just switched out. Or, alternatively,
252+ Atk Life Orb (custom) Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 252-299 (96.18 - 114.12%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
use a Life Orb.

As for replacing something, you will be NEEDING Shadow Sneak, so that's out of the question. Iron Head+Shadow Sneak is decent, but leaves Aegislash open to a lot of things, like Bisharp, Skarmory, and other stuff I can't seem to remember. Shadow Sneak+Sacred Sword has perfect neutral coverage and hurts at +2, but you have a chance to miss out on 2HKOing Hippowdon (fixed with a layer of Spikes), and likely misses some other crucial OHKOes that I can't bother to calc.

So in the end:

Aegislash
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Adamant/Brave
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
IVs: 0 Spd if using Brave
Item: Life Orb/Leftovers
-King's Shield
-Swords Dance
-Shadow Sneak
-Sacred Sword/Iron Head

Those slashes are really up to you to decide.

 

[zferolie]

You definitely want a Brave or Adamant nature on that thing, to do as much damage as possible. Even with that, however:
252+ Atk Aegislash (Blade) Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gengar: 194-230 (74.04 - 87.78%) -- guaranteed 2HKO, OHKO after SR+2 layers of Spikes
So you should have just switched out. Or, alternatively,
252+ Atk Life Orb (custom) Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 252-299 (96.18 - 114.12%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
use a Life Orb.

As for replacing something, you will be NEEDING Shadow Sneak, so that's out of the question. Iron Head+Shadow Sneak is decent, but leaves Aegislash open to a lot of things, like Bisharp, Skarmory, and other stuff I can't seem to remember. Shadow Sneak+Sacred Sword has perfect neutral coverage and hurts at +2, but you have a chance to miss out on 2HKOing Hippowdon (fixed with a layer of Spikes), and likely misses some other crucial OHKOes that I can't bother to calc.

So in the end:

Aegislash
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Adamant/Brave
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
IVs: 0 Spd if using Brave
Item: Life Orb/Leftovers
-King's Shield
-Swords Dance
-Shadow Sneak
-Sacred Sword/Iron Head

Those slashes are really up to you to decide.

All i had left was her and Vivillon, so I took my bets on her. I did not get a life orb yet, so will probably grab that. For now, till i get it, I'll use a Spell tag to boost shadow sneak.

Hmm... I don't know how easy it will be to get Brave or Adamant on her... and i feel bad not using her after everything I went through with her... but this is my cart team. for my smogon/simulator team, I'll probably go with Brave. Being as slow as possible seems best for her. If she is super slow, She can switch in, go last and get a swords dance with the defense boost, then use kings shield to resist damage again, then go last for another sowrds dance boost. After that nothing will stand in your way. And with Life orb... GG.

I can't use leftovers due to item clause(Chesnaught uses it), so Life Orb seems to be the ideal choice. Sadly he will be hurting every turn, but His high defences should keep her alive to kill things.

 

[N1ght123]

Personally my favorite Aegislash counter, other than Shadow Ball from my Aegislash, is Quagsire. Quagsire works really well against the most popular Aegislash set, the Swords Dance King's Shield set.

252+ Atk (custom) Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def (custom): 58-70 (28.71 - 34.65%) -- possible 4HKO

252+ Atk (custom) Sacred Sword vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def (custom): 51-60 (25.24 - 29.7%) -- possible 4HKO

252+ Atk (custom) Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def (custom): 34-42 (16.83 - 20.79%) -- possible 7HKO

Quagsire can come in off of a KO when Aegislash is in Sword Forme and not be close to KO range, taking 4 hits more from any physical attack Aegislash runs or switch in and take 3 more. Also Quagsire is far slower than Aegislash so it can't freely attack without switching to Sword Forme. Quagsire can threaten Aegislash out with non-contact Earthquakes, 0HKOing while in Sword Forme and 2-HKOing in Shield

0 Atk (custom) Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def (custom): 170-204 (125.92 - 151.11%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 Atk (custom) Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def (custom): 72-86 (53.33 - 63.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Furthermore Quagsire is resistant to Stealth Rocks so it won't get worn down by switching in to them like Talonflame will. Quagsire's ability (Unaware) means that no matter how many Sword's Dances Aegislash sets up it will never beat Quagsire. Quagsire can also check the Automize set but not nearly as well as the physical set. Shadow Ball is a 2-HKO so Quagsire will have to come in after a KO and then tank one and return with an Earthquake.

252 SpA (custom) Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD (custom): 108-127 (53.46 - 62.87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Although if Aegislash ops to use the Life Orb then:
252+ SpA Life Orb (custom) Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD (custom): 296-348 (75.12 - 88.32%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


(Not to mention Quagsire beats Talonflame, Blaziken, Shell Smash sweepers)

 

[anubite]

The best counter to Aegislash is anything with defense investment and the ability to hit with a special move, or earthquake. Hell, just having haze is good enough. Without swords dance, the thing doesn't hit that hard with shadow sneak, and thanks to all the idiots using speed decreasing natures, you're always going to go first against it if it tries anything else but a predictable priority move.

It's a solid pokemon but everyone is using it - it's not nearly as good as everyone seems to be treating it. It's easy to predict and a good chunk of pokemon can easily counter it.

Like, whirlwind? Or roar. Or haze. Or a special move. Or taunt. Or burn/paralyze.

 

[zferolie]

The best counter to Aegislash is anything with defense investment and the ability to hit with a special move, or earthquake. Hell, just having haze is good enough. Without swords dance, the thing doesn't hit that hard with shadow sneak, and thanks to all the idiots using speed decreasing natures, you're always going to go first against it if it tries anything else but a predictable priority move.

It's a solid pokemon but everyone is using it - it's not nearly as good as everyone seems to be treating it. It's easy to predict and a good chunk of pokemon can easily counter it.

Like, whirlwind? Or roar. Or haze. Or a special move. Or taunt. Or burn/paralyze.

idiots? You do know that if it used kings Shield last turn, it will keep it's Sheild form till it attacks, even if you attacked first, it will take the hit and retaliate how it sees fit.

 

[MasterRyuga]

to be honest alot of these sets are the same. and i dont think its a good wall at all just because it doesnt have enough HP or recovery outside of rest but of course we wont know if it gets any good egg moves until the rest of the pokemon are released and is thoroughly checked but i can say it might get nasty plot but at the same time even with 150 atk / sp atk it does not have moves with strong base power to begin with and at that those strong moves dont get stab shadow ball is its strongest attack besides head smash or whichever move it gets that does very good damage. for this pokemon imo a good partner would be a light screens user so it can have a longer existence to setup without getting earthquaked and its weak to spikes. a good pokemon to go up against it would be Landorus T imo. in my sets i usually run shadow ball no matter what since the risk of getting burned is high. but i feel if your running automotize you dont need shadow sneak but this is a very interesting pokemon indeed.

 

[N1ght123]

I agree on an Automatize set extra coverage is better than Shadow Sneak. Since you aren't boosting your Attack it won't hit hard whatsoever and you'll hopefully be outspeeding most things. Extra coverage is needed to get off a sweep Hp Ice to kill Gliscor, Chomp, etc., Sacred Sword to kill Steels, Tyranitar, Normals, and Shadow Ball for it's powerful STAB.

 

[MegaKick]

Best counter IMO is either talonflame, to revenge it, or lando-t / excadrill. Mainly lando.

Talonflame takes a lot from +2 shadow sneak, and runs the risk of having it's attack dropped from kings shield so it needs to play mindgames with swords dance

The best counter right now is gliscor, who can set up a swords dance and ko with earthquake. excadrill is also a good counter provided aegislash has some prior damage and he doesnt switch in on sacred sword. If you're playing pokebank, lando and heatran also make good counters.

 

[TorchicBlaziken]

Would Iron Ball be a good item to use? It halves Aegislash's speed to 56.

 

[Time Mage]

Would Iron Ball be a good item to use? It halves Aegislash's speed to 56.

No. Just for the sake of being outsped by a few more pokémon, and making Gyro Ball a bit more usable you don't forego Leftovers, Spooky Plate, Life Orb, or a Choice Band/Specs. If you're using Iron Ball to survive by taking a hit with better defenses, you'd better switch out and get leftovers recovery. If you're using it to increase your Gyro Ball damage, you're powering up one move at the cost of having the rest of its moves, which are usually more used, totally unboosted.

 

[cinderkitteh]

Best counter IMO is either talonflame, to revenge it, or lando-t / excadrill. Mainly lando.

The best counter I've seen is hydreigon. Of coursr it has a little issue switching in, but if it predicts right it can get in safely and it always outspeeds aegislash. It can then proceed to use dark pulse or fire blast and KO aegislash, with aegislash only being able to use king's shield or a resisted weak shadow sneak.

 

[alexwolf]

The best counter I've seen is hydreigon. Of coursr it has a little issue switching in, but if it predicts right it can get in safely and it always outspeeds aegislash. It can then proceed to use dark pulse or fire blast and KO aegislash, with aegislash only being able to use king's shield or a resisted weak shadow sneak.

Hydreigon is not a counter but a good check. It can switch into Shadow Sneak, Shadow Ball, Swords Dance, and King's Shield and deal 80% minimum with Modest LO Dark Pulse against 252 HP Aegislash in Shield Forme. Just watch out for Sacred Sword and you will be fine.

 

[nyczxjay]

On the mixed set, is it better to run a 0 speed IV or 31 speed IV?

 

[UltiMario]

31, if you're not running King's shield on a set there's no reason to go min speed. Even if you wanted to try and shoehorn King's Shield on you still end up losing to like Hippo or Azu when you run min speed.

 

[Mocha]

I've been seeing Aegislash get killed by Klefki's Foul Play a lot lol, even in Shield Forme.

 

[TheUltimateStorm]

I've been seeing Aegislash get killed by Klefki's Foul Play a lot lol, even in Shield Forme.

That's likely because Foul Play uses the opponents Attack Stat rather then your own, and in Blade Form a super effective Dark move coming off Aegislash's 150 Attack and frail defenses is a death sentence. Interesting that Aegislash dies in it's Shield Form, but Stuff like Swords Dance does boost Foul Play, so it's not too far fetched that it'd still die to it.

 

[S0L1D G0LD]

That's likely because Foul Play uses the opponents Attack Stat rather then your own, and in Blade Form a super effective Dark move coming off Aegislash's 150 Attack and frail defenses is a death sentence. Interesting that Aegislash dies in it's Shield Form, but Stuff like Swords Dance does boost Foul Play, so it's not too far fetched that it'd still die to it.

They just said even in shield forme, so why aren't you acknowledging that?

 

[Mocha]

The beauty of it too is that even if Aegislash bothered to King's Shield the Foul Play, it won't matter because Klefki's own attack makes no difference on the damage output, so Klefki has nothing to fear from the attack drop.

 

[TheUltimateStorm]

They just said even in shield forme, so why aren't you acknowledging that?

Ahem, I did mention It's Shield Form, and I said it's interesting that It'd die in Shield Form even with it's 150 Defense 50 Attack in that form, and so I assumed it'd be because of Swords Dance boosting it's Attack even while in Shield Form, and if my math is right at +2 Aegislash has 100 Attack in Shield Form because of Swords Dance, and a Super Effective Attack using that Attack is still gonna dent it.

 

[Mocha]

Not to mention the fact that I rarely see Aegislash use any significant Defense investment, since most are focused on Hp and Attack - or Special Attack and Speed for your Automatize sets.

 

[MasterRyuga]

Taunt Gliscor counters the usual Aegislash set so hard. Resists Sacred Sword, Shadow Sneak does next to nothing... and not being able to switch back to defense = EQ to the face.

true thats why i put the HP Ice option in my set to counter gliscor and also landorus T 2huge threats