SS Monotype Spotlight: Aegislash

By DugZa. Released: 2022/01/24.
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SS Monotype Spotlight: Aegislash artwork

Art by useless trainer.

Introduction

Ever since its original introduction to the Pokémon world in Pokémon X and Y in 2013, Pokémon's resident spartan, also known as Aegislash, has been a behemoth to be reckoned with. Thanks to having one of the best typing for Ghost and Steel teams, well-rounded offensive and defensive stats, Stance Change, and King's Shield, Aegislash have been dominant over the years. As a result, due to a lack of reliable counterplay and its ability to successfully pull of a myriad of both offensive and defensive sets, Aegislash was deemed to be unhealthy and subsequently banned in both ORAS and SM Monotype shortly after its release.

Fortunately for Aegislash, the release of Sword and Shield turned a new leaf on its fate. Among the countless number of features that we were blessed with and deprived of—along with everything in between—in Sword & Shield, Aegislash received two significant nerfs: loss of 10 base stat in both Defense and Special Defense (Attack and Special Attack in Sword forme) and King's Shield only dropping Attack one stage instead of the original two-stage drop. This took a major toll on Aegislash's dominance but ironically worked in its favor, as it resulted in Aegislash's release in Monotype for the first time in forever. While the nerfs do seem minor at first glance, it is anything but that. To give some insight: similarly to Monotype, Aegislash always found itself banned in OU and locked away in the depths of Ubers in both ORAS and SM. However, with these nerfs in SS, Aegislash dropped all the way down to UU. This occurrence in a generation with a lower power creep level compared to SM should give some insight on how consequential the nerfs were.

Since its release, Aegislash has been a key fixture on both Ghost and Steel teams, which is apparent by its sky-high usage exceeding 85% on each type and making it the second most used Pokémon across all circuit tournaments in the 2021 Monotype Circuit, with a total of 689 appearances throughout the year. Without further ado, let's dive right into the spartan's role within the tier.

Sets

Despite Aegislash's lacking coverage, it can successfully sport a multitude of both offensive and defensive sets by virtue of its naturally impressive stats and unique typing. Due to Ghost teams' fast-paced offensive nature, Aegislash is primarily equipped with offensive sets on these teams. However, a specially defensive set may see an occasional appearance. On the other hand, Aegislash perfectly complements Steel's defensive core, completing the renowned immunity core with Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, Corviknight, or Celesteela; it serves as the missing piece Steel teams lacked in ORAS and SM Monotype and checks threatening Fighting-types like Galarian Zapdos. Let us take a look at the most frequently used Aegislash sets in Monotype.

Specially Defensive

Specially defensive Aegislash is easily the most prominently used set on Aegislash in Monotype, and rightfully so. It is primarily seen on Steel-type teams and perfectly complements the defensive core of Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, Corviknight, or Celesteela. Specially defensive Aegislash may find itself on Ghost teams from time to time, especially if paired with Galarian Corsola. Its great defensive stats allow Aegislash to switch into and deal with prominent special attackers like Tapu Lele and Thundurus-T; the cherry on top is that it is virtually never OHKOed by any unboosted special attacks. Aegislash can take advantage of common defensive switch-ins like Celesteela and Ferrothorn thanks to Substitute and keep other defensive switch-ins like Swampert and Hippowdon at bay with Toxic. Toxic also makes quick work of offensive Pokémon and can catch common switch-ins like Hydreigon and Galarian Moltres on the switch. While Substitute synergizes extremely well with King's Shield and Toxic, Shadow Sneak in tandem with a Sassy nature for increased damage output has been surging in usage lately to pick off weakened offensive Pokémon like Alolan Raichu and Dragapult. Having said that, Aegislash does fall short in some aspects. The main one being Aegislash is forced to use King's Shield every time it uses Shadow Ball or Shadow Sneak, which leads to countless mind games and setup opportunities for the opponent. Certain Pokémon like Scizor and Corviknight are able to use Aegislash as setup fodder due to their naturally advantageous typings. Aegislash also fails to break past certain defensive Pokémon such as Toxapex and Drapion and is easily taken advantage of by Substitute users like Bulletproof Kommo-o and Galarian Moltres.

Swords Dance

Swords Dance Aegislash is the most straightforward set with one goal in mind: set up and sweep. Air Balloon allows Aegislash to take advantage of a myriad of threats, including Ground-types like Excadrill and Hippowdon. It also gets the better of Pokémon like Choice Scarf Buzzwole and Galarian Darmanitan that are locked into Earthquake. Swords Dance Aegislash is primarily seen on Ghost teams, but seeing it on Steel isn't completely unexpected either. Aegislash's unique STAB combination comfortably deals with majority of the tier, while Fighting-type coverage in Close Combat makes quick work of Steel- and Normal-types like Ferrothorn and Porygon2. Shadow Sneak makes up for Aegislash's lackluster Speed stat, picking off weakened threats like Alolan Raichu, Gengar, and Dragapult after minor chip and dealing with a majority of other offensive threats after a few boosts. However, due to the lack of King's Shield, Swords Dance Aegislash is extremely vulnerable defensively. It is also easily revenge killed by Dark-types like Hydreigon and Zarude, as Shadow Sneak does close to zero damage to them, and is dealt with by most common walls like Toxapex, Mandibuzz, and Mantine.

Choice Scarf

Choice Scarf Aegislash is perhaps the most eccentric set featured in this article and appears exclusively on Steel teams. Its lackluster Speed may leave many question marks regarding its effectiveness as a Choice Scarf user, but Aegislash has proven to be a successful wielder, mostly in part due to the surprise factor it brings to the table. Despite being slow, Aegislash's Speed tier allows it to outspeed Pokémon like Gengar, Victini, Kyurem, and Excadrill among a multitude of other threats. Shadow Ball + Flash Cannon provides much-needed STAB coverage, while Close Combat deals with unsuspecting specially defensive switch-ins like Blissey, Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, and Heatran. Toxic nails other defensive switch-ins like Swampert, Hippowdon, and Mantine and also is beneficial against offensive threats and setup sweepers as a last-ditch option. Despite all the pros, Aegislash's below average Speed stat leaves it outsped by nearly all other Choice Scarf users, and there are innumerable offensive threats that outspeed it even without a Choice Scarf like Tapu Koko and Weavile. Additionally, in most situations, Choice Scarf Aegislash also lacks any wallbreaking power to break through common defensive walls, and being Choice locked does not help its case whatsoever.

Choice Specs

If you need unparalleled raw wallbreaking power, Choice Specs Aegislash is the way to go on both Ghost and Steel teams. In Monotype, all types barring two or three, at most, lack a reliable switch-in to Choice Specs Aegislash's STAB combination of Shadow Ball + Flash Cannon and often have to predict perfectly to avoid having to sack a Pokémon every time Aegislash hits the field. Despite its heavy recoil, Steel Beam is Aegislash's strongest move and can practically OHKO non-resistant targets that are not Blissey. Shadow Sneak is opted for in the last slot to pick off weakened threats. While it is true that Choice Specs Aegislash has an extremely limited number of switch-ins, it is also very reliant on accurately predicting them; there are exceptions to this rule in certain matchups like Fairy and Steel, where a single move can easily be spammed with little to no drawback. Aegislash's non-STAB coverage also leaves much to be desired, which is the primary reason moves like Steel Beam and Shadow Sneak are used; the former sees next to zero usage in competitive Pokémon as a whole, while the latter is not boosted by Choice Specs. Similar to the Choice Scarf set, the lack of King's Shield and subpar Speed stat leave it tremendously vulnerable to revenge killers.

Offensive King's Shield

Of the offensive sets featured in the article, this is the only offensive set that includes King's Shield. The main idea beind this set is to bluff Choice Specs, which is made possible by Spell Tag, and make the opponent believe that Aegislash is Choice locked. Spell Tag boosts the power of Shadow Ball and Shadow Sneak and gives the freedom to switch moves and transform back to Shield forme. A Quiet nature may seem odd at first, but in tandem with the given Speed EVs, Aegislash outspeeds Celesteela, Tyranitar, and base 60s like Clefable and Galarian Weezing while maximizing its damage output. Similarly to other sets, lackluster coverage options and a significantly lowered Speed stat leave Aegislash vulnerable to revenge killers.

Cores

Ghost

Aegislash    Dragapult    Mimikyu

As one of the most prominent offensive types, Ghost is home to some outstanding offensive cores that Aegislash fits right in. Despite Swords Dance being the more common set, Choice Specs synergizes just as well with the rest of the core. Swords Dance Aegislash, Mimikyu, and Dragon Dance Dragapult are able to overpower shared checks like Hippowdon, Toxapex, and Corviknight. Additionally, on top of dealing with Steel-types like Ferrothorn that physical Dragapult and Mimikyu fall short against, Swords Dance Aegislash also makes quick work of Fairy-types like Clefable, which are threatening to Dragapult. Choice Specs Aegislash complements Mimikyu and Dragapult by reliably disposing of physical walls like Skarmory and appreciates them dealing with troublesome special walls like Blissey. Mimikyu also reliably deals with major Dark-types such as Zarude and Tyranitar.

Steel

Corviknight    Heatran    Ferrothorn    Aegislash

As emphasized previously, Aegislash forms one of the most prevalent defensive cores in Monotype on Steel teams when paired with Heatran, Corviknight, and Ferrothorn, the renowned immunity core. Heatran reliably deals with Fire-types like Volcarona and handles defensive Pokémon like Toxapex with Magma Storm + Taunt, while Corviknight acts as the much-needed switch-in to Ground-types like Excadrill and Landorus-T and a great pivot with U-turn. Celesteela or Skarmory is an option over Corviknight to provide Toxic; Celesteela also provides Leech Seed but lacks reliable recovery outside of that, while Skarmory provides Spikes and Whirlwind but has a poor Special Defense stat. Despite lacking an immunity, Ferrothorn provides the important Water- and Electric-resistant wall that Steel teams are in dire need of and Spikes. Last but not least, Aegislash reliably switches into Fighting-type attacks from the likes of Tapu Lele and Galarian Zapdos, which would otherwise comfortably mow through the rest of the team.

Suspect Test

Earlier this year, Aegislash was suspect tested by the Monotype council. Many believed that Steel's defensive core was too overpowering for the metagame and Aegislash was the main culprit. Most of the suspect test was revolved around Aegislash's role on Steel teams, as its role on Ghost was far from broken or banworthy. However, Aegislash remained unbanned at the conclusion of the suspect test after getting a mere 36% in favor of its ban and remains in the tier to this date.

Ban Reasoning

Steel-type teams traditionally revolve around a sturdy defensive core consisting of Heatran, Ferrothorn, Aegislash, and Skarmory, Corviknight, or Celesteela, covering each other's weaknesses perfectly. A uniquely strong typing, King's Shield, and amazing offensive and defensive stats solidify Aegislash's stature as a mighty force in the tier. Providing Steel teams with one of the best Fighting-type immunities and a reliable spinblocker on a type that heavily utilizes hazards made Steel teams overpowered, according to some. It provides Steel teams with one of the best Fighting immunities and reliable spinblockers on a type that heavily utilizes entry hazards, which make the type overpowered. As witnessed throughout this article, Aegislash can sport a multitude of different sets with great success, whether it be the classic Swords Dance, the unique Choice Scarf, or the trademark King's Shield + Toxic that glues together Steel's defensive core. Aegislash is also capable of annoying defensive Pokémon like Toxapex and Ferrothorn thanks to Substitute and Special Defense drops, while threatening other walls like Hippowdon, Swampert, and Mandibuzz with Toxic.

No Ban Reasoning

Just like any other Pokémon, Aegislash has its fair share of weaknesses. Stance Change is often a liability and forcing the use of King's Shield is unappealing to say the least. The overreliance on King's Shield due to Stance Change is easily exploited by Trick and status moves, leading to many mind games. Not to mention that Aegislash's signature King's Shield + Toxic set is also taken advantage of by Substitute users like Soundproof Kommo-o and Galarian Moltres, which force it out. Aegislash's uninspiring Speed stat proves to be another limiting factor, making it much more susceptible to being revenge killed. Its coverage options are also limited, with non-Swords Dance sets being composed of just Ghost and Steel moves. Aegislash also lacks any reliable recovery and can be worn down by entry hazards.

Final Thoughts

It is undeniable that Aegislash is a mighty force to be reckoned with in Monotype and dealing with it is daunting, but it is neither broken nor unhealthy, which is made evident by the results of the suspect test. During a battle, the most important part is to correctly identify the opponent's Aegislash set and strategize your game plan accordingly. Get out there and be sure to try out these sets if you already haven't and innovate your own sets that are longing to be discovered!

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