Shuckle [QC 0/4]

[The Shellder Smuggler]

Overview
########

• Base 230 for both Defenses
• Tanks hits from any pokemon without a super effective move or STAB
• Is cursed with Base 10 Offenses
  
• Can only cause Passive Damage
• Has great support moves, including Stealth Rock and Sticky Web
• Works well as lead
• Currently the best Sticky Web user in OU because of its high defenses.

Lead Support
########
name: Lead Support
move 1: Sticky Web
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Encore
move 4: Infestation
ability: Sturdy
item: Mental Herb
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def
nature: Calm

Moves
========

• Stealth Rock and Sticky Web are his entry hazards.
  
• Encore phazes other leads and pokemon setting up, and puts pressure on pokemon such as Zapdos.
  
• Infestation traps pokemon that can be encore'd.
• Infestation stops Shuckle from being taunt bait.

Set Details
========

• 252 SpD EVs with a Calm nature maxes out Shuckle's Special Defense, allowing him to take neutral special moves well
• 252 HP EVs max out Shuckle's lackluster health
• Mental Herb stops Shuckle from being Taunt Bait
  
• Sturdy guarantees that Shuckle can set up either Stealth Rock or Entry Hazards

Usage Tips
========

• There are not many complexities with this set, although it is tricky to decide when it is best to use certain moves, requiring predicitions.
• Encore should be used when you predict a set up against shuckle like Dragon Dance or Swords Dance.
  
• Another smart use of Encore is when Rapid Spin or Defog is predicted.
  
• Infestation should be used before Encore.
• Shuckle is best used as a lead, but can function later in the match if Defog or Rapid Spin is used.

Team Options
========

• Shuckle can work with Manaphy, as Manaphy resists two of three of Shuckle's weaknesses - Steel, and Water. After Shuckle sets up Sticky Web, Manaphy can sweep with Max Speed with a Timid Nature.
  
• However, most sweepers that are generally to slow to sweep can be a great partner to Shuckle, such as Crawdaunt.
  
• Crawdaunt especially deserves a mention as it resists both Water and Steel, and neutrally resists Rock, and benefits from the Sticky Web speed drop
  
• Bisharp can also be a great partner, who gets the Defiant Attack Boost from those who try to defog Stealth Rock and Sticky Web away.
• Mega Heracross defeats other Bisharp that try to get a defiant boost from sticky web
• Belly Drum Azumarill and Nasty Plot Thundurus are great for being able to outspeed sticky web bait.
• Aegislash can block Rapid Spin.

Other Options
########

• Shuckle gets a wide movepool, but his low offenses stop him from using it correctly.
• Leftovers can be another option in cooperation with Toxic to create a Stall Set.
• Knock is a great utility move.

Checks & Counters
########

• Shuckle is walled to hell and back by any user that has Taunt, especially Prankster Sableye.
  
• Trick users render Shuckle useless once again, as Shuckle with a scarf can't outspeed uninvested Conkeldurr.
  
• Any Steel Type pokemon walls Shuckle, as Encore is the only thing that Shuckle can do.
  
• Recovery against Shuckle is also a big problem, as Toxic damage will take a long time to stack against Shuckle.
• Magic Bounce/Magic Coat Walls Shuckle
• Bisharp gains a boost from Defiant when switching into Sticky Web

 

[Magnemite]

This needs to be in bullet points before you've received 3 QC checks. Also, it should be QC 0/4 now, not 0/3.

 

[The Shellder Smuggler]

This needs to be in bullet points before you've received 3 QC checks. Also, it should be QC 0/4 now, not 0/3.

Thanks :] Will add/change

EDIT: Everything in bullet points?

 

[Alter]

Thanks :] Will add/change

EDIT: Everything in bullet points?

Yeah, all of the section paragraphs should be in bullet points. You can preserve your paragraphs for later, though. After that, the QC team will look through your analysis.

edit: to clarify, what i meant by 'preserving' your paragraphs is saving them in a notepad file just in case you want to refer to it when you get to the actual writing stage. good luck.

 

[The Shellder Smuggler]

Alright edited. This is my first QC, so I apologize :]

 

[deepbluejeer]

Could probably use a mention of Bisharp in Team Options - it gets Defiant to punish defoggers who try to remove Sticky Web/SR. Having a partner that resists Shuckle's weaknesses doesn't seem that imperative IMO since Shuckle will rarely, if ever, get KO'd by super effective attacks before it can do its job.

 

[horyzhnz]

You should also probably mention his outstanding base 20 HP in the overview cause that's pretty much the only reason he's not walling everything to hell.
Also, you should probably remove Empoleon from the Team Options and replace it with literally any other sweeper. I mean, Keldeo resists all of those and has so much more sweeping potential than Empoleon, but basically everything appreciates Sticky Web support.

 

[s_aman]

I am not qc so take it with a grain of salt.

Shuckle's shitty base HP should get a mention in the overview. I think the set that QC team agreed on was

Shuckle @ Mental Herb
ability : Sturdy
nature : careful
evs : 248hp / 252spD / 8def
- stealth rock
- sticky web
- encore
- infestation

Without mental herb you become a sitting duck against any taunter. With mental herb, they use taunt, mental herb cures you and you get at least one guaranteed layer of hazards. Rest is not good as after resting you can't do anything for 2 turns and this thing would be used generally on HO teams. Thus, making it a huge momentum killer. Not so sure about toxic.
Infestation while being situational, can sometimes come in handy. I have used it sometimes and it can provide very good setup oppurtunities.

 

[kokoloko]

ctrl+f mental herb = 0 results

?????????????????????????

do i really need to explain why mental herb should be the staple of the set? leftovers is shit lol even lum berry is better.

rocks/web/encore are definitely staples, but the last move is kind of a tossup. rest is kinda bad, though. i'd keep it as toxic / knock off / rock tomb (if i gets it).

bisharp and keldeo should be mandatory partners for obvious reasons

 

[horyzhnz]

Shuckle gets rock tomb. Also, i reckon c&c should include deoxys-s and deoxys-d; non-mental herbs get taunted then setup on and deoxys-d has magic coat.

 

[Jukain]

I am not qc so take it with a grain of salt.

Shuckle's shitty base HP should get a mention in the overview. I think the set that QC team agreed on was

Shuckle @ Mental Herb
ability : Sturdy
nature : careful
evs : 248hp / 252spD / 8def
- stealth rock
- sticky web
- encore
- infestation

Without mental herb you become a sitting duck against any taunter. With mental herb, they use taunt, mental herb cures you and you get at least one guaranteed layer of hazards. Rest is not good as after resting you can't do anything for 2 turns and this thing would be used generally on HO teams. Thus, making it a huge momentum killer. Not so sure about toxic.
Infestation while being situational, can sometimes come in handy. I have used it sometimes and it can provide very good setup oppurtunities.

Do this but max HP, this is the agreed set (slash Knock Off with Infestation, that's it for slashes)

 

[The Shellder Smuggler]

Alright I edited guys :]

 

[Ash Borer]

a spinblocker needs to be somewhere in team options. You can simply encore rapid spin users then switch to your ghost pretty safely. I suppose Aegislash is the best choice, it can also benefit from Sticky WEb pretty well.

And yes, giving Bisharp a free +2 must be seriously accomodated for, teammates that give Bisharp free momentum are not recommended, as well, you need a hard counter or at least a sturdy fighting-type like Keldeo, Mega Heracross, or what have you.

 

[Colonel M]

On a side note why wasnt this PMed to me first?

 

[The Shellder Smuggler]

On a side note why wasnt this PMed to me first?

Now that you mentioned it, I completely forgot. Should I take this down, PM it to you, and put it back up?

I really do apologize.

 

[Colonel M]

It's already up. It's fine.

The set should be as follows:

@ Mental Herb
- Infestation
- Encore
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
Calm yada yada just max HP first

 

[The Shellder Smuggler]

It's already up. It's fine.

The set should be as follows:

@ Mental Herb
- Infestation
- Encore
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
Calm yada yada just max HP first

Ok :]

 

[Unowninator]

Why is Rock Tomb listed? Shuckle is literally the slowest Pokémon, and its Speed is only 46; it's not going to help him outspeed anything. If you still want to lower your foe's Speed, then I'd recommend String Shot, because it was buffed (but also illegal with Contrary).

And IMO, Encore is really hard to use right w/ something this slow, and I feel it should be at least slashed w/ 1 other move.

 

[Jukain]

Why is Rock Tomb listed? Shuckle is literally the slowest Pokémon, and its Speed is only 46; it's not going to help him outspeed anything. If you still want to lower your foe's Speed, then I'd recommend String Shot, because it was buffed (but also illegal with Contrary).

And IMO, Encore is really hard to use right w/ something this slow, and I feel it should be at least slashed w/ 1 other move.

Encore is used so crap can't set up on you. If you don't have Encore, you get set up on. It's that simple. Compulsory for Shuckle to succeed against a competent player.

 

[Unowninator]

Oh wow, TC edited the post 3 minutes before mine & removed Rock Tomb.

Encore is used so crap can't set up on you. If you don't have Encore, you get set up on. It's that simple. Compulsory for Shuckle to succeed against a competent player.

Point taken.

 

[The Shellder Smuggler]

Oh wow, TC edited the post 3 minutes before mine & removed Rock Tomb.

It's a tough life, man. Rock Tomb was suggested so I just took the safe way out.

 

[LightningLuxray]

Ok so I'm not QC, but here are some changes I think should be made.

• Careful should get a second slash if using Knock Off.
• Sticky Web and Knock Off need mentions in the moves section, as they're on the main set.
• Empoleon should be removed from team options; offensive Empoleon is non-existent in OU. I'd replace him with mentions of Manaphy, Mega Medicham, and Mega Charizard X/Y, as they all really appreciate the opponents speed being lowered.
• You should also mention Thundurus alongside Bisharp as another Pokemon who can absorb Defog using Defiant.
• You talk about how Steel-types can wall Shuckle due to Shuckle not being able to Toxic them, but Toxic isn't even on the main set. You should probably remove this.
• Also I'm confused by the last bullet point. You say "Toxic damage will take a long time to stack against Shuckle." Do you mean the opponent's Toxic damage will take a long time to stack? Because once again, Shuckle isn't running Toxic on the main set.
• Mention Espeon/Mega Absol as counters, as they takes minimal damage from Shuckle's moves and prevent hazards/Encore. They can also both set up on Shuckle quite easily.

Otherwise as long as you makes the changes the QC members have brought up, then this looks pretty good. :)

 

[Agent Gibbs]

You should probably make a quick note in Usage Tips advising players to be careful about tossing around Knock Off if you're pairing Shuckle with a more powerful Knock Off user. This doesn't sound like a big deal at first, but it really does kinda suck to have Bisharp or something lose that initial 50% power boost on an opponent because Shuckle already removed their item (with a really weak Knock Off, might I add).

 

[Jukain]

Since Knock Off-using Pokemon (Bisharp mainly) are almost always paired with Shuckle, and Shuckle's Knock Off is so weak, and Infestation gets such useful chip damage and gives free switch-ins to other stuff, Infestation should be slashed alone IMO. Knock Off is really just not that useful most of the time, and can be detrimental to Bisharp. This is from extensive Shuckle experience, Infestation is really the only good filler.

I'm really surprised that you don't mention anti-Bisharp partners (Mega Heracross works particularly well because Sticky Web, as well as stuff like the normal Keldeo and w/e Fighting-types). They are 100% necessary to carry because Sticky Web teams are threatened so much by Bisharp. Not doing so means you will get swept.

 

[Unowninator]

I'd like to say that not everyone uses Bisharp, so if you're not using it, go ahead & Knock Off.