[Pros]
<ul>
<li>It is an amazing tank thanks to its ability.</li>
<li>It has a great typing and STAB moves which get almost perfect neutral coverage together.</li>
<li>It is a good sweeper, and has access to moves such as Swords Dance, Autotomize, and Shadow Sneak.</li>
<li>It is a good spinblocker.</li>
<li>It is a great check to an array of physical attackers thanks to great bulk and King's Shield.</li>
<li>Mixed sets are great wallbreakers.</li>
</ul>
[Cons]
<ul>
<li>It is slow.</li>
<li>It is reliant on King's Shield to go into Shield forme, which can be taken advantage of.</li>
<li>It is weak to common offensive types, namely Fire and Ground. Furthermore, Earthquake, the most common physical Ground-type attack, doesn't activate King's Shield's Attack-dropping effect.</li>
[Set Recommendations]
<p>name: King's Shield<br />
move 1: King's Shield<br />
move 2: Shadow Ball<br />
move 3: Shadow Sneak<br />
move 4: Iron Head / Sacred Sword<br />
ability: Stance Change<br />
item: Leftovers<br />
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA<br />
nature: Quiet</p>
<p>With King's Shield, it is almost like you are playing with a 720 BST Pokemon. Aegislash has great bulk when tanking hits and great power when it attacks, while being able to avoid taking hits in its frailer forme either with judicious use of King's Shield or by switching. Aegislash also has great coverage, as only a few Pokemon resist its STAB moves alone, and nothing resists the combination of Ghost- and Fighting-type moves. Shadow Ball 2HKOes physical walls such as Skarmory and Hippowdon, and can be used repeatedly thanks to its power and the lack of Pokemon resistant or immune to Ghost-type moves in OU. Shadow Sneak is a useful move to pick off faster Pokemon, while Iron Head 2HKOes at worst most of the special walls that can tank Shadow Ball in OU, such as Sylveon, Florges, Togekiss, and Tyranitar. Sacred Sword is Aegislash's strongest option against Greninja, Tyranitar, Excadrill, and Bisharp, and while those Pokemon can be 2HKOed by other moves as well, Sacred Sword is a better option on teams that struggle with those Pokemon.</p>
<p>The EV spread maximizes bulk and power. If one wants to use both Iron Head and Sacred Sword, move the 252 EVs from SpA to Atk and use an Adamant nature. Doing so also makes Shadow Sneak significantly stronger, but leaves Aegislash walled against physical walls such as Hippowdon and Skarmory. If one wants Aegislash to reliably spinblock against offensive Starmie, move the 252 EVs from SpA to SpD and use a Careful nature. Chesnaught is a very good partner that can deal with Ground-types such as Excadrill and Diggersby, and also sets up Spikes, which Aegislash can protect. Rotom-W is a good switch-in to Ground- and Fire-types that threaten Aegislash and can also deal with Mandibuzz, Aegislash's best counter.</p>
<p>name: Double Dance<br />
move 1: Swords Dance<br />
move 2: Autotomize<br />
move 3: Shadow Claw<br />
move 4: Sacred Sword / Iron Head<br />
ability: Stance Change<br />
item: Leftovers<br />
evs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe<br />
nature: Adamant</p>
<p>This set plays similarly to Double Dance Landorus-T in the 5th generation. It is both a bulky pivot and a late-game sweeper, and can choose its boosting move depending on the kind of team it is facing (Autotomize against offensive teams, Swords Dance against defensive teams). Or it can even set up both boosts if given the chance, which is not that hard to find with its impressive bulk. In the last slot, Sacred Sword is preferred for its superior super effective coverage, but Iron Head is useful against Fairy-types and is Aegislash's strongest move against most Ground-types, such as Hippowdon, Garchomp, and Zygarde.</p>
<p>The EV spread generates enough Speed to outrun positive-natured base 130s, such as Mega Gengar and Jolteon, and the rest of the EVs are put into HP to enhance Aegislash's role as a pivot. Rotom-W, Ferrothorn, and Greninja are all great partners, as they can set up hazards to aid Aegislash's sweep (Greninja and Ferrothorn) or can beat Ground-types and Fire-types (Rotom-W and Greninja).</p>
<p>name: Mixed Attacker<br />
move 1: Shadow Ball<br />
move 2: Shadow Sneak<br />
move 3: Iron Head<br />
move 4: Sacred Sword<br />
ability: Stance Change<br />
item: Spooky Plate / Life Orb<br />
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpA<br />
nature: Quiet</p>
<p>This set is one of the best wallbreakers in OU. Aegislash's Ghost-type STAB, amazing attacking stats, and solid coverage make sure that there is almost no completely safe switch-in. Shadow Ball 2HKOes the majority of the OU metagame, and when coupled with Shadow Sneak can 2HKO a ton of faster Pokemon, such as Excadrill, Garchomp (after one layer of Spikes), Talonflame, and Volcarona. Iron Head takes care of special walls such as Sylveon, Togekiss, and Goodra, while Sacred Sword covers Tyranitar, Greninja, and Hydreigon.</p>
<p>Spooky Plate is the preferred item because it doesn't undermine Aegislash's great bulk, but Life Orb is nice for the extra power which allows it to get past walls such as specially defensive Hippowdon and Mandibuzz more easily. Choice Specs is another option as with it Shadow Ball has tremendous power, but the inability to switch moves makes Aegislash much easier to play around. Flash Cannon can be used to 2HKO Chesnaught, which otherwise walls Aegislash, but Iron Head hits most Fairy-types harder and is the superior option. This set makes for a great receiver of Shell Smash from Pokemon such as Gorebyss or Smeargle, as it can OHKO almost everything after a boost, resists most priority attacks, and has its own priority as well. Pokemon that can take advantage of the holes that Aegislash creates work well with it, such as Swords Dance Talonflame and Swords Dance Pinsir. Also, one layer of Spikes helps Aegislash 2HKO specially defensive Hippowdon with Shadow Ball, so Chesnaught or Skarmory are good partners.</p>
<p>name: Swords Dance<br />
move 1: Swords Dance<br />
move 2: King's Shield / Shadow Claw<br />
move 3: Shadow Sneak<br />
move 4: Sacred Sword / Iron Head<br />
ability: Stance Change<br />
item: Leftovers / Life Orb<br />
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe<br />
nature: Adamant</p>
<p>This set can be played in two ways. The first is as a slow booster and bulky pivot, with King's Shield and Leftovers. The goal here is to accumulate as many Swords Dance boosts as possible, while fending off any physical attacker with contact moves with a well-timed King's Shield. With Aegislash's fantastic bulk and a Swords Dance boost, it is easy to take one hit from many offensive Pokemon and 2HKO them with the combo of Sacred Sword / Iron Head and Shadow Sneak. King's Shield also allows Aegislash to revert to Shield forme, so it does not have to take a counterattack in its frailer Blade forme. The second way is to play this set as an all-out late-game sweeper, or a mid-game wallbreaker so that other sweepers can clean up, in which case Aegislash should use Shadow Claw and Life Orb. After a Swords Dance, Shadow Sneak can OHKO many offensive Pokemon despite its low Base Power, such as Blaziken, Excadrill, and Lucario, with the help of Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes in the case of the latter two. Sacred Sword offers perfect neutral coverage with Aegislash's Ghost-type attacks and hits important Pokemon such as Excadrill, Tyranitar, Greninja, and Ferrothorn hard. On the other hand, Iron Head still covers Tyranitar and also Togekiss and Azumarill, while being Aegislash's strongest move, hitting Pokemon neutral to all of its moves, such as Hippowdon, Gliscor, Heracross, and Garchomp, harder than everything else.</p>
<p>This set struggles in general with physical walls such as Hippowdon and Skarmory, so strong special attackers and a Rapid Spin or Defog user are good teammates. Rotom-W and Mega Blastoise fit those criteria perfectly. It should be mentioned, however, that if Aegislash is using Shadow Claw, Hippowdon and Skarmory are not perfect counters anymore, just good checks, as a +2 Shadow Claw can do a lot of damage back. In addition to Shadow Claw, if Aegislash also carries Iron Head and is facing Hippowdon, Aegislash can opt to boost twice, once as Hippowdon switches in and again while tanking an Earthquake in Shield Forme, and then OHKO Hippowdon at +4. It should be noted that Hippowdon can use Whirlwind instead of Earthquake after switching in, but in doing so it risks losing more than half of its life from a +2 Iron Head while not doing any damage back. It's a a 50-50 situation. Finally, this set appreciates Spikes and Stealth Rock support more than any other to get crucial OHKOs with Shadow Sneak after boosting, so suicide lead Forretress, suicide lead Smeargle, and Ferrothorn make great teammates on heavy offense teams. Chesnaught is also an option for Spikes on more balanced teams and can handle the Ground-types that Aegislash fears.</p>
<p>name: Autotomize<br />
move 1: Autotomize<br />
move 2: Shadow Ball<br />
move 3: Hidden Power Ice<br />
move 4: Iron Head / Sacred Sword<br />
ability: Stance Change<br />
item: Life Orb / Weakness Policy<br />
evs: 88 Atk / 252 SpA / 168 Spe<br />
nature: Rash</p>
<p>This is a simple late-game sweeping set. With this EV spread, Aegislash outruns every common unboosted Pokemon in OU after setting up (namely everything up to base 130s), hits hard, and has great coverage. Aegislash uses its fantastic bulk in Shield Forme to set up, and if Choice Scarf users and Pokemon that can take a hit and OHKO back have been removed, it sweeps. Shadow Ball is your main source of power. Hidden Power Ice OHKOes Garchomp, Zygarde, Diggersby, Gliscor, and Dragonite, while Iron Head deals with Sylveon, Florges, Tyranitar, and Togekiss. On the other hand, Sacred Sword is useful to OHKO Tyranitar, Excadrill, and Greninja.</p>
<p>Life Orb vs Weakness Policy is a matter of consistency vs better sweeping potential. Life Orb always works and doesn't depend on what Aegislash's opponent will do, but Weakness Policy makes Aegislash a monster after an Autotomize and it's fairly easy to attract and survive unSTABed super effective hits thanks to Aegislash's incredible bulk. As with most sweepers, entry hazard support is appreciated. Sticky Web ensures that Aegislash can outspeed even Choice Scarf users after setting up, which makes Smeargle and Galvantula good partners. Smeargle can also set up Stealth Rock and Spikes, and is a good suicide lead on offensive teams. However, be careful of Defog users, the most popular one being Scizor, which Magnezone can trap and KO (only use it with Smeargle rather than Galvantula, as having two Electric-types is not a very good idea). Roserade is a good offensive Spikes user and can deal with Rotom-W, a Pokemon that can take one hit from Aegislash and OHKO it back.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Mandibuzz is the best and only true counter to Aegislash there is, only fearing Head Smash, a rare move on Aegislash. She avoids the 2HKO from any set, is faster, 2HKOes with Foul Play or OHKOes if Aegislash used Swords Dance, doesn't care about King's Shield, and has reliable recovery. Specially defensive Hippowdon is the next best check to Aegislash, walling even mixed sets, but needs to go into dangerous 50-50 prediction games against Swords Dance sets that carry Iron Head or Shadow Claw. Rotom-W checks physically offensive variants as it can burn Aegislash with Will-O-Wisp, but gets 2HKOed by invested Shadow Ball. Chesnaught walls any set without Swords Dance or Hidden Power Ice, as it's immune to Shadow Ball and has excellent physical bulk to take unboosted physical attacks, such as Iron Head and Shadow Claw. Physical walls such as Hippowdon and Skarmory deal with the purely physical sets fine, but fail to wall any set with Shadow Ball. Strong Ground-types are great checks, especially bulky ones such as Garchomp and Zygarde, as they can take a couple of hits from Aegislash and threaten it with Earthquake. Diggersby deserves a special mention, as it is immune to Ghost-type attacks and OHKOes back with Earthquake, although it is frail and needs to be careful of Iron Head and Sacred Sword. Hydreigon, Bisharp, and Greninja can also switch into Aegislash's Ghost attacks and deal great amounts of damage with STAB Dark-type attacks, making for good checks as long as they avoid Sacred Sword on the switch; furthermore, Bisharp doesn't care about King's Shield because of Defiant and Sucker Punch. Mega Aggron is a good check to physical sets, thanks to its titanic physical bulk and its ability to retaliate back with Earthquake, which 3HKOes 252 HP Aegislash in Shield Forme. Lastly, Fire-types, especially specially based ones, can usually outspeed Aegislash and OHKO or dent it with their STABs; physical Fire-types can potentially be screwed by King's Shield though.</p>
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