Aegislash

[Furai]

Name: Aegislash
Type: Ghost / Steel
Ability: Stance Change (changes forme depending on its last move)
Base Stats:

Sword Stance: 60 / 150 / 50 / 150 / 50 / 60
Shield Stance: 60 / 50 / 150 / 50 / 150 / 60​

Stats and movepool unconfirmed

General Description:
The unique typing and excellent stat spread (when factoring in Stance Change) makes Aegislash a top contender in the official metagame. It's capable of checking both Mewtwo and Xerneas, two out of only three ubers in this metagame. The lack of recovery hurts, though, as does the awkwardly fast yet slow speed that prevents the use of Gyro Ball. Regardless, it has an interesting movepool including boosting moves like Swords Dance and Automize and can even attempt Choice Band or Assualt Vest sets as Aegislash will revert to Shield forme every time it switches out.

Level-Up Movepool
Lv<45 - Fury Cutter
Lv<45 - Pursuit
Lv<45 - Automize
Lv<45 - Slash
Lv<45 - Iron Defense
Lv<45 - Night Slash
Lv<45 - Power Trick
Lv<45 - Head Smash
Lv<45 - Swords Dance
Lv<45 - King's Shield
Lv<45 - Sacred Sword

TM & HM Compatibility
TM06 Toxic
TM10 Hidden Power
TM11 Sunny Day
TM15 Hyper Beam
TM17 Protect
TM18 Rain Dance
TM21 Frustration
TM27 Return
TM30 Shadow Ball
TM31 Brick Break
TM32 Double Team
TM33 Reflect
TM40 Aerial Ace
TM42 Facade
TM44 Rest
TM45 Attract
TM48 Round
TM54 False Swipe
TM65 Shadow Claw
TM67 Retaliate
TM68 Giga Impact
TM74 Gyro Ball
TM75 Swords Dance
TM80 Rock Slide
TM87 Swagger
TM88 Sleep Talk
TM90 Substitute
TM91 Flash Cannon
TM94 Rock Smash
TM100 Confide
HM01 Cut

Egg Moves
---

Remember that this thread is for the Official metagame.

 

[ImJacky]

So, this is now officially uber, right?
Sorry for the newbie question but i'm new here

 

[Trinitrotoluene]

So, this is now officially uber, right?
Sorry for the newbie question but i'm new here

no. this thread is up because aegislash is viable in the current ubers meta.

also, a disclaimer: i have no ubers experience, so if i assume something wrong, please correct me on it.

to keep the thread on-topic, i think that a mixed autotomize set would work wonders right now, since aegislash can hit hard on both ends of the spectrum and threaten every mewtwo forme and xerneas w/ its stabs. you probably don't even need to max/max aegislash's offenses and speed because the fastest relevant unboosted threat at the moment (as far as i know) is mega mewtwo-y.

 

[Temporaryanonymous]

Aegislash is very viable in Ubers. One reason for this is as a counter to Xerneas and Mewtwo. Its steel type resists fairy, and it's bulkier than Skarmory or Ferrothorn while in shield form. Slow, compared to Xerneas, it can use Gyro Ball or Iron Head, and attempt to finish Xerneas off with Shadow Sneak. It also has enough bulk to be able to survive a super effective hidden power from Xerneas even if Xerneas is +2 and 252 modest.

Aegislash's Shadow Sneak priority is great in ubers, helping to pick off Mewtwo and Blaziken. King's shield also does great with good prediction in that it can severely cripple Blaziken or Talonflame or any other physical attackers.

 

[Haruno]

Best mon in the tier by miles. Beats Xgod and ygod among other things while also being a huge offensive threat. A absolute must have on every team

 

[Ascension]

Yeah, I sorely underestimated this guy. I've been extremely successful after implementing him on my team. Here is the set I use, but the credit goes to "Sweep" for showing me the set.

Aegislash
Leftovers
Brave (0 speed IVs)
252 HP/252 Atk/4 SpD

- Toxic
- Gyro Ball
-Kings Shield
-Shadow Sneak

This thing is a SOLID counter to Xerneas, and toxic helps it handle Lugia as well. It can serve as a pretty decent check to Mewtwo, especially if he isn't carrying a fire move. He works incredibly well in this current metagame. My only advice is to not get overconfident with Aegislash, especially if you only have one or two checks to Xerneas. I've only lost a couple of times, and it has always been because I got too arrogant and let my Aegislash die, and thus let Xerneas set up.

 

[Annabeth]

I am running the same set that Ascension's, but with max SpD (Sassy nature) on my Aegislash (very good for tanking HP Fire from +2 Xerneas under sun or Mewtwo's Fire Blast).
But it does have a small chance to miss the KO with Gyro Ball + Shadow Sneak on some Xerneas spreads at full life.

So let's take the worst plausible Xerneas spread for Aegislash : 204Def/252SpA/52Spd (enough to outspeed all base 100 scarfers).
Giving it a huge 278 def and "only" 494 speed after Geomancy (so base 111 Gyro Ball).

With this, I need 383 atk to 100% KO it from full health with Gyro Ball + Shadow Sneak.
So Aegislash spread should be 252HP/188Atk/68SpD with Sassy nature, giving it 383 atk and 388 SDef, which is still enough to take HP Fire from +2 Xerneas under sun, making it the perfect Xerneas counter.
Going full attack with this set isn't very good in my opinion, as it can't really take fire type special attacks, which are common.

 

[MMII]

Or, if for whatever reason, you miss the OHKO you just use KS and Gyro again because Xerneas is doing piss to max spdef Aegislash.

 

[Annabeth]

Or, if for whatever reason, you miss the OHKO you just use KS and Gyro again because Xerneas is doing piss to max spdef Aegislash.

Xerneas have a small chance to 2HKO with +2 HP Fire in neutral weather even considering two turn of leftovers (and easily 2HKO with at least first HP Fire in sun).
If Xerneas invest in Def instead of HP, you actually have a chance to lose. Actually, I've experienced this once.
Well, you have to be unlucky with Gyro Ball damage. Max spdef is still winning like 95% of the time.

 

[Mercurial Burst]

I have tried out a few matches using Aegislash. I used a variant of a set I found on a forum here.

Aegislash@Air Balloon
Nature: Brave
IVs: Spd=0, All else=31
EVs: 252 Atk/128 Def/128 Sp. Def
Moves:
Shadow Sneak: Priority and Clean up, STAB
Sacred Sword: STAB, Major Damage
King's Shield: Priority Defense, Swap to Shield
Swords Dance: Attack Buff, Instant Double attack

This set as far as I can tell focuses on getting off a sword dance or two. After that, just use Sacred Sword and Shadow Sneak to kill. The Air Balloon grants some ability to delay any Earthquakes from destroying it. This set is great with pokemon that support it with spikes, and cover fire and ground. Any thoughts?

 

[kingmidas]

I have tried out a few matches using Aegislash. I used a variant of a set I found on a forum here.

Aegislash@Air Balloon
Nature: Brave
IVs: Spd=0, All else=31
EVs: 252 Atk/128 Def/128 Sp. Def
Moves:
Shadow Sneak: Priority and Clean up, STAB
Sacred Sword: STAB, Major Damage
King's Shield: Priority Defense, Swap to Shield
Swords Dance: Attack Buff, Instant Double attack

This set as far as I can tell focuses on getting off a sword dance or two. After that, just use Sacred Sword and Shadow Sneak to kill. The Air Balloon grants some ability to delay any Earthquakes from destroying it. This set is great with pokemon that support it with spikes, and cover fire and ground. Any thoughts?

It doesn't get stab on sacred sword

 

[Mercurial Burst]

It doesn't get stab on sacred sword

Your right, my mistake. Sacred Sword provides coverage against a lot of types, and ignores defensive buffs to boot. I probably should have checked Aegislash's type again.

 

[Haruno]

I have tried out a few matches using Aegislash. I used a variant of a set I found on a forum here.

Aegislash@Air Balloon
Nature: Brave
IVs: Spd=0, All else=31
EVs: 252 Atk/128 Def/128 Sp. Def
Moves:
Shadow Sneak: Priority and Clean up, STAB
Sacred Sword: STAB, Major Damage
King's Shield: Priority Defense, Swap to Shield
Swords Dance: Attack Buff, Instant Double attack

This set as far as I can tell focuses on getting off a sword dance or two. After that, just use Sacred Sword and Shadow Sneak to kill. The Air Balloon grants some ability to delay any Earthquakes from destroying it. This set is great with pokemon that support it with spikes, and cover fire and ground. Any thoughts?

KS + SD is a horrible combination. Aegis lacks the bulk, recovery and most importantly speed to sucessfully sweep teams. Not to mention you're actually using aegis and turning it into a mon that ygod/xgod/mewtwo really gives no shits about. Ditch swords dance, you'll never have time to use it and for the times that you do, you're better off just using a coverage move. Hell I'm tempted to say all out attacker is viable with hp fire/gyro/head smash/shadow ball or claw.

 

[Garchompi]

I'm pretty sure Mewtwo is more than a little scared of a +2 STAB Shadow Sneak.
But yeah SD+KS is a horrible set anyways, especially in ubers.
In fact I'm skeptical about KS being useful in ubers at all since it's extremely predictable, contact moves are actually uncommon up there and a single misprediction can spell disaster.

 

[Blue Jay]

In fact I'm skeptical about KS being useful in ubers at all since it's extremely predictable, contact moves are actually uncommon up there and a single misprediction can spell disaster.

It may only reduce Attack against contact moves, but it still protects it from any and all damaging moves. Moreover, it is necessary for Aegislash to safely (aside from status moves and such) transition from its frail offensive stance into the defensive stance. It also pairs nicely with Toxic.

I have tried out a few matches using Aegislash. I used a variant of a set I found on a forum here.

Aegislash@Air Balloon
Nature: Brave
IVs: Spd=0, All else=31
EVs: 252 Atk/128 Def/128 Sp. Def
Moves:
Shadow Sneak: Priority and Clean up, STAB
Sacred Sword: STAB, Major Damage
King's Shield: Priority Defense, Swap to Shield
Swords Dance: Attack Buff, Instant Double attack

This set as far as I can tell focuses on getting off a sword dance or two. After that, just use Sacred Sword and Shadow Sneak to kill. The Air Balloon grants some ability to delay any Earthquakes from destroying it. This set is great with pokemon that support it with spikes, and cover fire and ground. Any thoughts?

In addition to what Haruno said about the set being ineffectual, I'm not sure why you would use 0 speed IVs when you're not using Gyro Ball, and 252 HP EVs provide more overall bulk than trying to split the EVs between defenses (especially since its HP stat is so low compared to the defensive stance's defenses).

 

[Cheeze Ballz]

I always thought that Aegislash would Uber right away with being Iv'ed in no speed whats so ever, so that way it would go last next turn after a kings shield that put it in defense mode then use swords dance and then change into attack mode after the opponent does minimizing damage to hit and attack. With 4 ATK/ 252 DEF/ 252 SP.D I thought it would be impossible. I have trouble with this mon not just becuase I run all Fairys but it's just so annoying and immpossible to beat after 1 or 2 Dances then spamming Shadow Sneak. How do you beat this thing without x4 damage? Better not be anyworse than Excadrill. Would Mold breaker prove useful?

 

[Annabeth]

I always thought that Aegislash would Uber right away with being Iv'ed in no speed whats so ever, so that way it would go last next turn after a kings shield that put it in defense mode then use swords dance and then change into attack mode after the opponent does minimizing damage to hit and attack. With 4 ATK/ 252 DEF/ 252 SP.D I thought it would be impossible. I have trouble with this mon not just becuase I run all Fairys but it's just so annoying and immpossible to beat after 1 or 2 Dances then spamming Shadow Sneak. How do you beat this thing without x4 damage. Better not be anyworse than Excadrill.

+2 Sneak is not powerful enough in ubers and missing the KO with Sneak usually means Aegislash will die.
Groudon have absolutely nothing to fear from Swords Dance Aegislash for example.
The Toxic set with maximum Sdef is way better.

 

[Mercurial Burst]

KS + SD is a horrible combination. Aegis lacks the bulk, recovery and most importantly speed to sucessfully sweep teams. Not to mention you're actually using aegis and turning it into a mon that ygod/xgod/mewtwo really gives no shits about. Ditch swords dance, you'll never have time to use it and for the times that you do, you're better off just using a coverage move. Hell I'm tempted to say all out attacker is viable with hp fire/gyro/head smash/shadow ball or claw.

Actually, the lack of speed is what makes this set work. When they opponent attacks they do lower than normal damage due to defenses, and then Sacred Sword makes mincemeat of most things. True it doesn't exactly shine in Uber's, but it works quite well in Overused.

 

[Mercurial Burst]

It may only reduce Attack against contact moves, but it still protects it from any and all damaging moves. Moreover, it is necessary for Aegislash to safely (aside from status moves and such) transition from its frail offensive stance into the defensive stance. It also pairs nicely with Toxic.


In addition to what Haruno said about the set being ineffectual, I'm not sure why you would use 0 speed IVs when you're not using Gyro Ball, and 252 HP EVs provide more overall bulk than trying to split the EVs between defenses (especially since its HP stat is so low compared to the defensive stance's defenses).

I'll try it with the 252 hp EVs instead of defenses, and the speed at 0 IVs grants it the maximum time in Shield Forme. What this set covers, it covers well.

 

[Haruno]

Actually, the lack of speed is what makes this set work. When they opponent attacks they do lower than normal damage due to defenses, and then Sacred Sword makes mincemeat of most things. True it doesn't exactly shine in Uber's, but it works quite well in Overused.

this isn't ou though...... and even in ou, that set is ass since again aegis lacks speed/longevity/healing. It needs at least one of the three in order to be an effective setup sweeper which it isn't. Also 150 base atk doesn't make up for sneak having horrendous base power not to mention you insta lose to anything with will o wisp.

 

[Haruno]

But this is ubers beta. Not pokebank... .-. Toxic realistically hits nothing relevant. You're better off just going as an all out attacker with

Aegislash @ life orb
252hp/252atk/4SpA
Brave nature
- head smash
- hp fire
- shadow claw
- gyro ball

Nothing can realistically switch into aegis without massive reprecussions. Nails anything relevant. Blaze fears the ks/HJK miss since unlike pokebank/dw ubers, the whole tier isn't heavy which forces it to use HJK.

 

[GarchompPit]

But this is ubers beta. Not pokebank... .-. Toxic realistically hits nothing relevant. You're better off just going as an all out attacker with

Aegislash @ life orb
252hp/252atk/4SpA
Brave nature
- head smash
- hp fire
- shadow claw
- gyro ball

Nothing can realistically switch into aegis without massive reprecussions. Nails anything relevant. Blaze fears the ks/HJK miss since unlike pokebank/dw ubers, the whole tier isn't heavy which forces it to use HJK.

And with the support of TR it can be even more of a threat

 

[D-Rock16]

Wouldn't giving Aegislash Sacred Sword and Shadow Sneak/Claw give it perfect neutral coverage? I was thinking:

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Trait: Stance Change
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak
- King's Shield
- Swords Dance

I know there's not a lot of physical attackers in Ubers, but King's Shield also acts like Protect and gives it a chance to recover some HP.

 

[RandysRage]

I would not rely on Aegislash's defenses alone to protect it; I've OHKOed more than my fair share of them in Shield Forme just with Yveltal's Dark Pulse, LO Garchomp's Earthquake, or MegaZard Y's Flamethrower while they were trying to set up Swords Dance. Also, while Shadow Sneak does have STAB priority, it just doesn't pack enough punch to hit anything very hard, even those weak to it (unless than have crappy Def, but that's beside the point) AND it leaves Aegislash a sitting duck in Blade Forme. I would recommend Shadow Claw/Ball over Sneak, as well as replacing SD with something along the lines of either Iron Head to hit Fairies hard, or Rock Slide/Head Smash to deal with pesky Fire-types.

 

[Haruno]

Haven't we've been through why the KS + SD set sucks already?