1v1 Aegislash

[tondas]

[OVERVIEW]

Aegislash holds a notable place in the 1v1 metagame thanks to its high stats courtesy of Stance Change and its fantastic dual typing, enabling it to easily take hits from common Steel-, Fairy-, and Psychic- types such as Magearna, Kartana, and Mega Gardevoir. In Blade forme, Aegislash's immense bulk carries over to attacking power, allowing it to punch holes through walls like Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn with Metal Sound and Never-Ending Nightmare. Access to King's Shield allows Aegislash to punish physical Pokemon, which even allows it to survive super effect contact moves from Pokemon such as Choice Band Victini and Darmanitan, and is an incredibly useful tool for sponging users of Z-Crystals such as Tapu Fini and Magnezone. Furthermore, access to Shadow Sneak allows Aegislash to pick off targets that survive on low health, namely users of Sturdy like Magnezone and Crustle. Unfortunately, Aegislash struggles between picking moves; as useful as Metal Sound is for weakening bulky Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Mega Altaria, being dependent on Ghost-type moves to deal damage means that Normal-types such as Meloetta and Porygon2 are guaranteed to beat it. Running Flash Cannon also means that Aegislash struggles to break past walls like Mega Venusaur without the aid of Metal Sound. The omnipresence of powerful Ground- and Fire-types like Zygarde-C, Landorus-T, Heatran, Mega Charizard Y, and Donphan can make it tricky for Aegislash to take hits and retaliate, and they are notably unaffected by King's Shield. Stance Change can additionally be exploited by Substitute users such as Mega Metagross and Zeraora to leave Aegislash far more vulnerable to attacks. Metal Sound's low accuracy can prove troublesome against bulkier Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Mega Venusaur, possibly being detrimental if it fails to connect. Lastly, Aegislash is hard countered by Mega Gyarados, one of the most common Pokemon in the 1v1 metagame, due to its resistance to both of Aegislash's STAB moves and immense special bulk.

[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: King's Shield
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Metal Sound
move 4: Shadow Sneak
item: Ghostium Z
ability: Stance Change
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

King's Shield provides protection from attacks, scouts for Z-Moves, reverts Aegislash back into Shield Forme, and punishes physical attackers that make contact, like Victini. Shadow Ball is a powerful STAB move that hits most of the metagame neutrally and is turned into a devastating nuke through Ghostium Z. Metal Sound lowers the target's Special Defense, strengthening Aegislash's matchups versus bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur, as well as powering through users of Calm Mind like Magearna and Tapu Fini. Shadow Sneak picks off targets that survive Aegislash's attacks at low health, particularly users of Sturdy such as Magnezone, as well as bulky targets such as Magearna. Flash Cannon is a viable alternative, operating as a secondary STAB move that deals decent damage to Pokemon that resist or are immune to Shadow Ball such as Meloetta and Choice Scarf Porygon-Z.

Set Details
========

Maximum HP and Special Attack investment allows Aegislash to stomach attacks and hit back as hard as possible with Shadow Ball. 4 Special Defense investment ensures that Genesect doesn't receive a Special Attack boost from Download. A Quiet Nature with 0 Speed IVs is preferred as to increase Aegislash's chance of attacking last, preserving its Shield forme and enabling it to be outpaced by uninvested base 50 Speed Pokemon such as Mega Mawile and Azumarill. Ghostium Z converts Shadow Ball into Never-Ending Nightmare, dealing heavy damage in tandem with Metal Sound.

Usage Tips
========

Keep Aegislash far away from the likes of Mega Gyarados, Mega Charizard X and Y, and Heatran, as these Pokemon outspeed and obliterate Aegislash with their powerful moves. Watch out for Substitute users like Mega Metagross, as they can leave Aegislash open to attacks in Blade forme. Exercise caution when using King's Shield against Pokemon with setup moves, as mispredicting can result in the foe setting up on this turn and beating Aegislash. Feel free to use Metal Sound in advantageous matchups, like against Ferrothorn and Mega Heracross, as these Pokemon have little to hit Aegislash back with, and maintaining Shield forme before attacking increases its chances of surviving. This can also be used against bulkier foes like Mega Venusaur and Magearna, ensuring that Never-Ending Nightmare can net an OHKO. While they're uncommon, be cautious of slower attackers like Avalugg and Mega Sableye, which can take any one hit and fire back with Mirror Coat or Metal Burst, respectively. Use Never-Ending Nightmare turn one against powerful, frail threats that don't resist it, such as Genesect and Necrozma, as Aegislash possesses the bulk to survive one attack from such Pokemon. Shadow Sneak can be used to pick off a target that survives on low health. Metal Sound's high PP count bolsters Aegislash's matchups against passive Normal-types like Chansey and Type: Null, as it's perfectly capable of PP stalling them despite only running mono-Ghost attacks.

Team Options
========

Answers to offensive Normal-types are mandatory, as Aegislash has no way of dealing damage to them. The likes of Mega Lopunny, Blaziken, and Sawk put immense offensive pressure on such Pokemon. These Pokemon are also solid picks against fast, frail threats to Aegislash such as Porygon-Z and Greninja. Bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur and Mega Altaria match up well against Mega Gyarados, a common and otherwise threatening prospect for Aegislash. Mega Gyarados is not only one of Aegislash's greatest counters but also one of its best partners, able to break through troubling users of Sturdy like Donphan and Golem, as well as taking on Fire-types such as Mega Charizard Y and Blaziken lacking Electric-type coverage. Golem, Donphan, Garchomp, and Crustle additionally fare well against the likes of both Mega Charizard, Volcarona, and Heatran. Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini possess the ability to beat Pokemon that threaten Aegislash such as Z-Conversion Porygon-Z and the previously mentioned Mega Charizard.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Physical Swords Dance sets have the option of running moves such as Shadow Claw and Gyro Ball, as well as Sacred Sword for coverage to target Pokemon like Mega Lopunny and Mega Tyranitar. However, Swords Dance is generally inferior to Metal Sound, as it's unaffected by Intimidate and moves like Charm and Will-O-Wisp. Using Steelium Z with Flash Cannon offers solid damage output against Pokemon that take little or nothing from Shadow Ball and Never-Ending Nightmare, like Mega Tyranitar and Porygon-Z, but this trades off doing significant damage to more viable Pokemon like Magnezone and Mega Slowbro. Magnet Rise with 252 Speed EVs allows Aegislash to win against Golem and Donphan, but having to run Speed investment takes away Aegislash's bulk. Moreover, Zygarde-C and Landorus-T are still capable of outspeeding Aegislash and can OHKO it with Tectonic Rage. Occa Berry or Choice Scarf with Head Smash functions as a lure to Pokemon like Mega Charizard X and Volcarona, but this sacrifices the sheer power provided by Ghostium Z and is overall less consistent, Occa Berry especially against Substitute variants. Laser Focus bypasses stat boosts and is perfectly accurate, but it offers less overall damage output compared to Metal Sound.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Dark-types**: The likes of Mega Gyarados, Mega Tyranitar, and Greninja possess a resistance to Aegislash's Ghost-type moves and can retaliate with their respective super effective STAB moves. Mega Gyarados and Greninja resist both Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon, and the former can comfortably take Never-Ending Nightmare thanks to its immense special bulk.

**Normal-types**: Normal-types like Mega Lopunny and Meloetta are immune to Aegislash's mono-Ghost coverage and slowly whittle away at it in return. Type: Null can also shrug off Flash Cannon by virtue of Confide and immense special bulk.

**Fire-types**: Mega Charizard X and Y, Heatran, and Volcarona all annihilate Aegislash with their respective STAB moves. Mega Charizard X must be cautious of King's Shield, however.

**Ground-types**: Pokemon like Landorus-T, Zygarde-C, and Donphan can KO Aegislash with ease, even potentially bursting through King's Shield with a Tectonic Rage.

**Substitute**: Users of Substitute, such as Mega Charizard X and Mega Pinsir, can burn Aegislash's Z-Crystal and ease prediction with King's Shield. Aegislash also has to constantly predict attacking in its favor in order to successfully break through Substitute.

**Slower Pokemon**: Mega Sableye and Avalugg aren't common but can withstand a Never-Ending Nightmare and retaliate with Metal Burst and Mirror Coat, respectively.

**Taunt Users**: Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Kommo-o can prevent the use of Metal Sound and King's Shield through Taunt, which are imperative to Aegislash's success.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[tondas, 442732]]
- Quality checked by: [[motogp, 412409], dom, 280380], [Alakazam, 276708]]
- Grammar checked by: [[JockeMS, 53214], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]

 

[tondas]

This should be ready for checks. Writing up team options and usage tips was a bit awkward for me so if there's important information missing then lmk.

 

[edudittA]

[OVERVIEW]

• Aegislash boasts high defenses and a fantastic dual typing, enabling it to easily take hits from common Steel-, Fairy-, and Psychic- types such as Magearna, Kartana, and Mega Gardevoir before attacking, as well as possessing a useful immunity to Endeavor.
• In Blade Forme, Aegislash's immense bulk carries over to attacking power, allowing it to punch holes through walls like Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn when powered through Metal Sound into Never-Ending Nightmare.
• Exclusivity to King's Shield allows Aegislash to punish physical Pokemon by dropping the foe's Attack stat by 2 stages when hit with a contact move. This includes Choice-locked Pokemon like Kartana and Sawk, as well as all-out attackers such as Mega Lopunny. This even lets it play mind games with the likes of Mega Charizard X, often forcing 50/50 scenarios between attacking and setting up again. This is also an incredibly useful tool for sponging users of Z-Crystals such as Tapu Fini and Magnezone.
• Furthermore, access to Shadow Sneak allows Aegislash to pick off targets that survive on low health, namely users of Sturdy like Magnezone and Crustle.
• Unfortunately, as Aegislash is dependent on Ghost-type moves to deal damage, a lack of Steel-type moves means that Normal-types such as Meloetta and Mega Lopunny are guaranteed to win.
• The omnipresence of powerful Ground- and Fire-types like Zygarde-C, both Landorus forms, Heatran, Mega Charizard Y, and Donphan can make it tricky for Aegislash to take hits and retaliate back. Earthquake is also not a contact move, meaning that King's Shield is less reliable in this specific matchup.
• Lastly, Aegislash is hard countered by Mega Gyarados, a common sight and arguably the best Pokemon in the 1v1 metagame.

[SET]
name: Screeching Sword
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Metal Sound
move 3: Shadow Sneak
move 4: King's Shield
item: Ghostium Z
ability: Stance Change
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Shadow Ball is a powerful STAB move that hits most of the metagame neutrally, turned into a devastating nuke though Ghostium Z.
• Metal Sound lowers the target's special defense, strengthening Aegislash's matchups versus bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur and Magearna.
• Shadow Sneak picks off targets that survive at low health.
• King's Shield provides protection from attacks, most notably to scout for users of Z-Crystals and physical Choiced Pokemon.

Set Details
========

• Maximum HP Special Attack allows Aegislash to stomach attacks and hit back as hard as possible with Shadow Ball.
• A Quiet Nature with 0 Speed IVs is preferred as to increase Aegislash's chance of attacking last, preserving its Shield Forme.
• Ghostium Z converts Shadow Ball into Never-Ending Nightmare, dealing heavy damage in tandem with Metal Sound.
• Stance Change is the only legal ability on Aegislash, but is crucial for allowing Aegislash to change forms when attacking and defending.

Usage Tips
========

• Keep Aegislash far away from the likes of Mega Gyarados, Mega Charizard Y, and Heatran, as these Pokemon outspeed and obliterate Aegislash with their powerful moves.
• Use King's Shield sparingly against Pokemon with setup; mispredicting can result in the foe setting up on this turn and beating Aegislash.
• Feel free to use Metal Sound in advantageous matchups like Ferrothorn and Mega Heracross, as these Pokemon have little to hit Aegislash back with, and maintaining Shield Forme before attacking increases its chances of surviving. This can also be used against bulkier foes like Mega Aggron and Magearna, ensuring that Never-Ending Nightmare can net a OHKO.
• Be cautious of slower attackers like Avalugg and Mega Camerupt, which can live any one hit and put Aegislash in a vulnerable position by being attacked in Blade Forme.
• Use Never-Ending Nightmare against powerful, frail threats that don't resist it such as Genesect and Necrozma. Aegislash possesses the bulk to survive one attack from such Pokemon, so being able to punch through these Pokemon before fainting is essential for winning the match.

Team Options
========

• Answers to Normal-type Pokemon are mandatory, as Aegislash traditionally has no way of dealing damage to them. The likes of Mega Lopunny, Blaziken, and Sawk put immense offensive pressure on these Pokemon. The former two are also solid picks against fast, frail threats to Aegislash such as Porygon-Z and Greninja.
• Bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur and Mega Altaria match up well against Mega Gyarados, an otherwise threatening prospect for Aegislash.
• Mega Gyarados is not only one of Aegislash's greatest counters but also one of its best partners, able to break through troubling users of Sturdy like Donphan and Golem, as well as taking on Fire-types such as Mega Charizard Y and Blaziken.
• Golem, Donphan, and Crustle additionally fare well against the likes of Volcarona and Heatran.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Physical Swords Dance sets have the option of running moves like Sacred Sword and Head Smash to target Pokemon like Mega Lopunny and Dragonite, but this is generally inferior to Metal Sound, as this is unaffected by Intimidate and moves like Charm.
• Air Balloon alongside Hidden Power Ice allows Aegislash to win over against Golem, Donphan, and Landorus-Therian, but this comes at the cost of forfeiting Ghostium Z, and Zygarde-C can burn right through its Air Balloon anyway thanks to Thousand Arrows.
• Using Steelium Z with Flash Cannon as Aegislash's primary STAB offers solid damage output against Pokemon that take either little or nothing from Shadow ball like Meloetta and Mega Tyranitar, but this trades off doing significant damage to Pokemon like Magnezone, Ferrothorn, and Mega Slowbro.
• Electrium Z from Shock Wave functions as a Mega Gyarados lure, 2HKOing it, provided Aegislash predicts King's Shield in its favor. However, this is still fairly situational and offers little utility elsewhere.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Mega Gyarados**: Though sheer bulk, power, and a resistance to Aegislash's moves, Mega Gyarados is free to set up and beat Aegislash.

**Normal-types**: Normal-types like Mega Lopunny and Meloetta are immune to Aegislash's mono-ghost coverage, and slowly whittle away at it in return. The likes of Snorlax and Type: Null must be cautious about being PP stalled, however.

**Fire-types**: Mega Charizard Y, Heatran, and Volcarona all annihilate Aegislash with their respective STAB moves.

**Ground-types**: Pokemon like Landorus-Therian, Zygarde-C, and Donphan can KO Aegislash with ease, even potentially bursting through King's Shield with a Tectonic Rage.

Edit the title to be [QC 0/3] from [WIP]

 

[tondas]

Edit the title to be [QC 0/3] from [WIP]

I also added a couple more things, you might want to requote the analysis.

 

[edudittA]

[OVERVIEW]

• Aegislash boasts high defenses and a fantastic dual typing, enabling it to easily take hits from common Steel-, Fairy-, and Psychic- types such as Magearna, Kartana, and Mega Gardevoir before attacking, as well as possessing a useful immunity to Endeavor.
• In Blade Forme, Aegislash's immense bulk carries over to attacking power, allowing it to punch holes through walls like Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn when powered through Metal Sound into Never-Ending Nightmare.
• Exclusivity to King's Shield allows Aegislash to punish physical Pokemon by dropping the foe's Attack stat by 2 stages when hit with a contact move. This includes Choice-locked Pokemon like Kartana and Sawk, as well as all-out attackers such as Mega Lopunny. This even lets it play mind games with the likes of Mega Charizard X, often forcing 50/50 scenarios between attacking and setting up again. This is also an incredibly useful tool for sponging users of Z-Crystals such as Tapu Fini and Magnezone.
• Furthermore, access to Shadow Sneak allows Aegislash to pick off targets that survive on low health, namely users of Sturdy like Magnezone and Crustle.
• Unfortunately, as Aegislash is dependent on Ghost-type moves to deal damage, a lack of Steel-type moves means that Normal-types such as Meloetta and Mega Lopunny are guaranteed to win. (Not necessarily, as it can run all out Flash Cannon and Steelium Z)
• The omnipresence of powerful Ground- and Fire-types like Zygarde-C, both Landorus forms, Heatran, Mega Charizard Y, and Donphan can make it tricky for Aegislash to take hits and retaliate back. Earthquake is also not a contact move, meaning that King's Shield is less reliable in this specific matchup.
• Lastly, Aegislash is hard countered by Mega Gyarados, a common sight and arguably the best Pokemon in the 1v1 metagame.

(Maybe, mention that it gets Magnet Rise, so slower Ground-type Pokemon like Golem and Donphan can be baited and KOd reliably)

[SET]
name: Screeching Sword
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Metal Sound
move 3: Shadow Sneak
move 4: King's Shield
item: Ghostium Z
ability: Stance Change
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Shadow Ball is a powerful STAB move that hits most of the metagame neutrally, turned into a devastating nuke though Ghostium Z.
• Metal Sound lowers the target's special defense, strengthening Aegislash's matchups versus bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur and Magearna.
• Shadow Sneak picks off targets that survive at low health, particularly users of Sturdy such as Carracosta. (Could you add more used/viable targets?)
• King's Shield provides protection from attacks, most notably to scout for users of Z-Crystals such as Dragonite and physical Choiced Pokemon like Kartana.

Set Details
========

• Maximum HP Special Attack allows Aegislash to stomach attacks and hit back as hard as possible with Shadow Ball.
• A Quiet Nature with 0 Speed IVs is preferred as to increase Aegislash's chance of attacking last, preserving its Shield Forme.
• Ghostium Z converts Shadow Ball into Never-Ending Nightmare, dealing heavy damage in tandem with Metal Sound.
• Stance Change is the only legal ability on Aegislash, but is crucial for allowing Aegislash to change forms when attacking and defending.

Usage Tips
========

• Keep Aegislash far away from the likes of Mega Gyarados, Mega Charizard Y, and Heatran, as these Pokemon outspeed and obliterate Aegislash with their powerful moves.
• Use King's Shield sparingly against Pokemon with setup; mispredicting can result in the foe setting up on this turn and beating Aegislash.
• Feel free to use Metal Sound in advantageous matchups like Ferrothorn and Mega Heracross, as these Pokemon have little to hit Aegislash back with, and maintaining Shield Forme before attacking increases its chances of surviving. This can also be used against bulkier foes like Mega Aggron and Magearna, ensuring that Never-Ending Nightmare can net a OHKO.
• Be cautious of slower attackers like Avalugg and Mega Camerupt, which can live any one hit and put Aegislash in a vulnerable position by being attacked in Blade Forme.
• Use Never-Ending Nightmare against powerful, frail threats that don't resist it such as Genesect and Necrozma. Aegislash possesses the bulk to survive one attack from such Pokemon, so being able to punch through these Pokemon before fainting is essential for winning the match.

Team Options
========

• Answers to Normal-type Pokemon are mandatory, as Aegislash traditionally has no way of dealing damage to them. The likes of Mega Lopunny, Blaziken, and Sawk put immense offensive pressure on these Pokemon. The former two are also solid picks against fast, frail threats to Aegislash such as Porygon-Z and Greninja.
• Bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur and Mega Altaria match up well against Mega Gyarados, an otherwise threatening prospect for Aegislash.
• Mega Gyarados is not only one of Aegislash's greatest counters but also one of its best partners, able to break through troubling users of Sturdy like Donphan and Golem, as well as taking on Fire-types such as Mega Charizard Y and Blaziken.
• Golem, Donphan, and Crustle additionally fare well against the likes of Volcarona and Heatran.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Physical Swords Dance sets have the option of running moves like Sacred Sword and Head Smash to target Pokemon like Mega Lopunny and Dragonite, but this is generally inferior to Metal Sound, as this is unaffected by Intimidate and moves like Charm.
• Air Balloon alongside Hidden Power Ice allows Aegislash to win over against Golem, Donphan, and Landorus-Therian, but this comes at the cost of forfeiting Ghostium Z, and Zygarde-C can burn right through its Air Balloon anyway thanks to Thousand Arrows.
• Using Steelium Z with Flash Cannon as Aegislash's primary STAB offers solid damage output against Pokemon that take either little or nothing from Shadow ball like Meloetta and Mega Tyranitar, but this trades off doing significant damage to Pokemon like Magnezone, Ferrothorn, and Mega Slowbro.
• Electrium Z from Shock Wave functions as a Mega Gyarados lure, 2HKOing it, provided Aegislash predicts King's Shield in its favor. However, this is still fairly situational and offers little utility elsewhere.

(Include a Choice Scarf and Occa Berry set as they usually lure and annihilate Mega Charizards)

Checks and Counters
===================

**Mega Gyarados**: Though sheer bulk, power, and a resistance to Aegislash's moves, Mega Gyarados is free to set up and beat Aegislash.(You could generalise that bulky Dark-types are a threat to Aegislash, and include examples like Mega Tyranitar, and Mega Sableye)

**Normal-types**: Normal-types like Mega Lopunny and Meloetta are immune to Aegislash's mono-ghost coverage, and slowly whittle away at it in return. The likes of Snorlax and Type: Null must be cautious about being PP stalled, however.

**Fire-types**: Mega Charizard Y, Heatran, and Volcarona all annihilate Aegislash with their respective STAB moves.

**Ground-types**: Pokemon like Landorus-Therian, Zygarde-C, and Donphan can KO Aegislash with ease, even potentially bursting through King's Shield with a Tectonic Rage.

AM QC, decent stuff you got there.

 

[tondas]

AM QC, decent stuff you got there.

Implemented all except for the following:

(Maybe, mention that it gets Magnet Rise, so slower Ground-type Pokemon like Golem and Donphan can be baited and KOd reliably) these are often max speed which requires immense investment from Aegislash to outspeed, and even then, it takes away its ability to stomach things like Specs Necroz as well as its ability to 50/50 checks with King's Shield, plus things like Lando and Zygod outspeed it anyway. I made mention of Air Balloon HP Ice since this also checks Lando.

 

[Kentari]

AM

1. Don’t use Metal Sound against Aggron. Switch Aggron with Mega-Venusaur.
2. Max speed Magnet Rise is its second best set, at least on the ladder.
3. It doesn’t always lose to Normal-types, you can run moves other than Ghost-Moves.
4. Your Aegislash set loses to Genesect for no real reason.
5. In general, Aegislash has trouble with the 50/50s Substitute creates. Substitute being a very common move hurts it.
6. Metal Sound is largely the main set because Calm Mind Magearna exists. Perhaps mention this somewhere.
7. Shock Wave is pointless.
8. Sawk isn’t necessarily Choiced, and if it is, it’s not going to use a contact move anyway.
9. “Use King’s Shield sparingly” is a really weird way of explaining the 50/50 between King’s Shield and attacking.
10. An immunity to Endeavor is irrelevant.
11. Shadow Sneak can provide important extra damage against Pokémon that aren’t 1hko’d by Z-Shadow Ball. Greninja, Specs Magearna, and Mimikyu for example. It can also limit the number of Sub mindgames you have to win, as eventually Shadow Sneak kos.
12. Pokemon slower than Aegislash that live Z-Shadow Ball generally counter it.
13. Taunt and Sub are also general problems it has.

 

[tondas]

good stuff, implemented

 

[motogp]

• Aegislash boasts high defenses and a fantastic dual typing, enabling it to easily take hits from common Steel-, Fairy-, and Psychic- types such as Magearna, Kartana, and Mega Gardevoir before attacking.
• In Blade Forme, Aegislash's immense bulk carries over to attacking power, allowing it to punch holes through walls like Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn when powered through Metal Sound into Never-Ending Nightmare.
• Exclusivity Does it really matter that Aegislash is the only Pokemon with this move? You could say access instead. to King's Shield allows Aegislash to punish physical Pokemon by dropping the foe's Attack stat by 2 stages when hit with a contact move. This includes includes in regard to what? Also,Aegislash can't really defeat Mega Lopunny reliably,especially without a single move that can hit it setup Pokemon like Mega Mawile well as all-out attackers such as Mega Lopunny. This even lets it play mind games with the likes of Mega Charizard X, often forcing 50/50 scenarios between attacking and setting up again. This is also an incredibly useful tool for sponging users of Z-Crystals such as Tapu Fini and Magnezone say that this applies because of King's Shield's ability to change Aegislash's form (phrased better obviously).
• Furthermore, access to Shadow Sneak allows Aegislash to pick off targets that survive on low health, namely users of Sturdy like Magnezone and Crustle.
• Unfortunately, as Aegislash is dependent on Ghost-type moves to deal damage, a lack of Steel-type moves means that Normal-types such as Meloetta and Mega Lopunny Mega Lopunny can theoritically lose,but even so,this contradicts with King's Shield's advantages that you mentioned above are guaranteed to win.
• The omnipresence of powerful Ground- and Fire-types like Zygarde-C, both Landorus forms, Heatran, Mega Charizard Y, and Donphan can make it tricky for Aegislash to take hits and retaliate back. Earthquake is also not a contact move, meaning that King's Shield is less reliable I don't think reliable is the word you're looking for in this specific matchup.
• Lastly, Aegislash is hard countered by Mega Gyarados elaborate on how, a common sight and arguably the best Pokemon in the 1v1 metagame.

[SET]
name: Metal Sound Z-Move
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Metal Sound
move 3: Shadow Sneak
move 4: King's Shield
item: Ghostium Z
ability: Stance Change
nature: Quiet
evs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
Flash Cannon needs to be slashed with Metal Sound or included in another set because it literally has more usage than Metal Sound + is sometimes a better move overall.
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Shadow Ball is a powerful STAB move that hits most of the metagame neutrally, turned into a devastating nuke though Ghostium Z.
• Metal Sound lowers the target's special defense, strengthening Aegislash's matchups versus bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur, as well as powering through users of Calm Mind like Magearna and Tapu Fini.
• Shadow Sneak picks off targets that survive at low health, particularly users of Sturdy such as Magnezone, as well as targets that survive Never-Ending Nightmare such as offensive Magearna is there an actual defensive Magearna set? I don't think "offensive" is needed.
• King's Shield provides protection from attacks, most notably to scout for users of Z-Crystals such as Dragonite and physical Choiced Pokemon like Kartana. this needs to be rephrased,it kinda doesn't make sense

Set Details
========

• Maximum HP you don't have maximum HP investment though?and Special Attack investment allows Aegislash to stomach attacks and hit back as hard as possible with Shadow Ball.
• 4 Special Defense investment ensures that Genesect and Porygon-Z don't receive a Special Attack boost from Download.
• A Quiet Nature with 0 Speed IVs is preferred as to increase Aegislash's chance of attacking last, preserving its Shield Forme.
• Are the 4 Atk EVs needed? If so,write a section.If not,remove them.If you do that for Aegislash's HP number (which you probably do),you should also mention that paired with reasoning.
• Ghostium Z converts Shadow Ball into Never-Ending Nightmare, dealing heavy damage in tandem with Metal Sound.
• Stance Change is the only legal ability on Aegislash, but is crucial for allowing Aegislash to change forms when attacking and defending.

Usage Tips
========

• Keep Aegislash far away from the likes of Mega Gyarados, Mega Charizard Y, and Heatran, as these Pokemon outspeed and obliterate Aegislash with their powerful moves.
• Exercise caution when using King's Shield against Pokemon with setup; mispredicting can result in the foe setting up on this turn and beating Aegislash.
• Feel free to use Metal Sound in advantageous matchups like Ferrothorn and Mega Heracross, as these Pokemon have little to hit Aegislash back with, and maintaining Shield Forme before attacking increases its chances of surviving. This can also be used against bulkier foes like Mega Venusaur and Magearna, ensuring that Never-Ending Nightmare can net a OHKO.
• Be cautious of slower attackers like Avalugg and Mega Camerupt Mega Camerupt always OHKOs with Overheat/Fire Blast no matter whether you are in Shield or Blade form which can live any one hit and put Aegislash in a vulnerable position by being attacked in Blade Forme.
• Use Never-Ending Nightmare against powerful, frail threats that don't resist it such as Genesect and Necrozma. Aegislash possesses the bulk to survive one attack from such Pokemon, so being able to punch through these Pokemon before fainting??? is essential for winning the match. I believe this section also needs to be rephrased.

Team Options
========

• Answers to Normal-type Pokemon are mandatory, as Aegislash traditionally thats a misuse of the word even if you don't slash Flash Cannon instead of Metal Sound has no way of dealing damage to them. The likes of Mega Lopunny, Blaziken, and Sawk put immense offensive pressure on these Pokemon. The former two are also solid picks against fast, frail threats to Aegislash such as Porygon-Z and Greninja
• Bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur and Mega Altaria match up well against Mega Gyarados, a common and otherwise threatening prospect for Aegislash.
• Mega Gyarados is not only one of Aegislash's greatest counters but also one of its best partners, able to break through troubling users of Sturdy like Donphan and Golem, as well as taking on Fire-types such as Mega Charizard Y Will-O-Wisp? HP Electric? and Blaziken Thunder Punch?
• Golem, Donphan, and Crustle additionally fare well against the likes of Volcarona and Heatran, utilizing their super-effective Ground- and Rock-type attacks.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Physical Swords Dance sets have the option of running moves like Sacred Sword and Head Smash you should somehow add in Shadow Claw and Iron Head/Gyro Ball to this to target Pokemon like Mega Lopunny and Dragonite, but this is generally inferior to Metal Sound, as this-it is unaffected by Intimidate and moves like Charm.
• Using Steelium Z with Flash Cannon you don't only use Flash Cannon with Steelium-Z as Aegislash's primary STAB offers solid damage output against Pokemon that take either little or nothing from Shadow Ball/Never Ending Nightmare like Meloetta and Mega Tyranitar, but this trades off doing significant damage to Pokemon like Magnezone, Ferrothorn, and Mega Slowbro.
• A Magnet Rise set with speed investment allows Aegislash to win over against Golem, Donphan, and Landorus-Therian no no Landorus-Therian is always faster but having to run maximum speed takes away Aegislash's bulk, and Zygarde-C,possibly the most common Ground-type in the metagame can attack it anyway thanks to Thousand Arrows.
• Occa Berry with Head Smash functions as a lure to Pokemon like Mega Charizard X and Volcarona, but this sacrifices the sheer power provided by Ghostium Z.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Dark-types**: The likes of Mega Gyarados, Mega Tyranitar and Greninja possess a resistance to Aegislash's Ghost-type moves, and can retaliate with their respective super-effective STAB moves. Mega Gyarados specifically resists both Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon, and can comfortably take Never-Ending Nightmare thanks to its immense special bulk.

**Normal-types**: Normal-types like Mega Lopunny and Meloetta are immune to Aegislash's mono-ghost coverage, and slowly whittle away at it in return. Snorlax and Type: Null must be cautious about being PP stalled, however.

**Fire-types**: Mega Charizard Y, Heatran, and Volcarona all annihilate Aegislash with their respective STAB moves.

**Ground-types**: Pokemon like Landorus-Therian, Zygarde-C, and Donphan can KO Aegislash with ease, even potentially bursting through King's Shield with a Tectonic Rage.

**Substitute**: Users of Substitute such as Mega Charizard X and Mega Mawile Substitute Mega Mawile is not a set can burn Aegislash's Z-Crystal and ease prediction with King's Shield, and Aegislash has to constantly predict attacking in its favor in order to successfully break through Substitute.

**Slower Pokemon**: While uncommon, slower Pokemon like Avalugg and Mega Camerupt can withstand a Never-Ending Nightmare and attack last, potentially hitting Aegislash in Blade Forme if it attacks.

tag me when you implement

 

[tondas]

Sup motogp, apologies this took me so long, this sorta flew over my head since I had other things in progress.

 

[motogp]

Hide

[OVERVIEW]

• Aegislash boasts high defenses and a fantastic dual typing, enabling it to easily take hits from common Steel-, Fairy-, and Psychic- types such as Magearna, Kartana, and Mega Gardevoir before attacking.
• In Blade Forme, Aegislash's immense bulk carries over to attacking power, allowing it to punch holes through walls like Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn when powered through Metal Sound and Never-Ending Nightmare.
• Access to King's Shield allows Aegislash to punish physical Pokemon by dropping the foe's Attack stat by 2 stages when hit with a contact move. This even lets it play mind games with the likes of Mega Charizard X, often forcing 50/50 scenarios between attacking and setting up again. This is also an incredibly useful tool for sponging users of Z-Crystals such as Tapu Fini and Magnezone, thanks to King's Shield reverting Aegislash back to Shield Forme.
• Furthermore, access to Shadow Sneak allows Aegislash to pick off targets that survive on low health, namely users of Sturdy like Magnezone and Crustle.
• Unfortunately, Aegislash suffers from four-moveslot syndrome; as useful as Metal Sound is for weakening bulky Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Mega Altaria, being dependent on Ghost-type moves to deal damage means that Normal-types such as Meloetta and Mega Lopunny you don't beat Mega Lopunny unless you King's Shield on their High Jump Kick no matter what you run are guaranteed to win. Running Flash Cannon also means that Aegislash struggles to break past walls like Mega Venusaur.
• The omnipresence of powerful Ground- and Fire-types like Zygarde-C, both Landorus forms, Heatran, Mega Charizard Y, and Donphan can make it tricky for Aegislash to take hits and retaliate back. Earthquake is also not a contact move, meaning that King's Shield is unreliable in this specific matchup.
• Lastly, Aegislash is hard countered by Mega Gyarados, a common sight and arguably the best Pokemon in the 1v1 metagame, due to its resistance to both of Aegislash's dual STAB moves and immense special bulk.

[SET]
name:
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Metal Sound / Flash Cannon
move 3: Shadow Sneak
move 4: King's Shield
item: Ghostium Z
ability: Stance Change
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Shadow Ball is a powerful STAB move that hits most of the metagame neutrally, turned into a devastating nuke though Ghostium Z.
• Metal Sound lowers the target's special defense, strengthening Aegislash's matchups versus bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur, as well as powering through users of Calm Mind like Magearna and Tapu Fini.
• Shadow Sneak picks off targets that survive at low health, particularly users of Sturdy such as Magnezone, as well as targets that survive Never-Ending Nightmare such as Magearna.
• King's Shield provides protection from attacks, scouts for Z-Moves, and punishes physical attackers that make contact like Kartana.
• Flash Cannon operates as a secondary STAB move, dealing decent damage to Pokemon that resist or are immune to Shadow Ball such as Mega Tyranitar and Porygon-Z.

Set Details
========

• Maximum HP and Special Attack investment allows Aegislash to stomach attacks and hit back as hard as possible with Shadow Ball.
• 4 Special Defense investment ensures that Genesect and Porygon-Z don't receive a Special Attack boost from Download.
• A Quiet Nature with 0 Speed IVs is preferred as to increase Aegislash's chance of attacking last, preserving its Shield Forme.
• Ghostium Z converts Shadow Ball into Never-Ending Nightmare, dealing heavy damage in tandem with Metal Sound.
• Stance Change is the only legal ability on Aegislash, but is crucial for allowing Aegislash to change forms when attacking and defending.

Usage Tips
========

• Keep Aegislash far away from the likes of Mega Gyarados, Mega Charizard Y, and Heatran, as these Pokemon outspeed and obliterate Aegislash with their powerful moves.
• Exercise caution when using King's Shield against Pokemon with setup; mispredicting can result in the foe setting up on this turn and beating Aegislash.
• Feel free to use Metal Sound in advantageous matchups like Ferrothorn and Mega Heracross, as these Pokemon have little to hit Aegislash back with, and maintaining Shield Forme before attacking increases its chances of surviving. This can also be used against bulkier foes like Mega Venusaur and Magearna, ensuring that Never-Ending Nightmare can net a OHKO.
• While uncommon, be cautious of slower attackers like Avalugg and Mega Sableye, which can live any one hit and put Aegislash in a vulnerable position by being attacked in Blade Forme.
• Use Never-Ending Nightmare against powerful, frail threats that don't resist it such as Genesect and Necrozma, as Aegislash possesses the bulk to survive one attack from such Pokemon. Shadow Sneak can be used to pick off a target that survives on low health.

Team Options
========

• Answers to Normal-type Pokemon are mandatory if Aegislash is not running Flash Cannon, as it otherwise has no way of dealing damage to them also talk about how Aegislash can PP stall most Snorlax. The likes of Mega Lopunny, Blaziken, and Sawk put immense offensive pressure on these Pokemon. The former two are also solid picks against fast, frail threats to Aegislash such as Porygon-Z and Greninja.
• Bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur and Mega Altaria match up well against Mega Gyarados, a common and otherwise threatening prospect for Aegislash.
• Mega Gyarados is not only one of Aegislash's greatest counters but also one of its best partners, able to break through troubling users of Sturdy like Donphan and Golem, as well as taking on Fire-types such as Mega Charizard Y and Blaziken lacking Electric-type coverage.
• Golem, Donphan, and Crustle additionally fare well against the likes of Volcarona and Heatran, utilizing their super-effective Ground- and Rock-type attacks.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Physical Swords Dance sets have the option of running moves such as Shadow Claw and Gyro Ball as well as useful moves like Sacred Sword and Head Smash to target Pokemon like Mega Lopunny and Dragonite, but this is generally inferior to Metal Sound, as this is unaffected by Intimidate and moves like Charm.
• Using Steelium Z with Flash Cannon offers solid damage output against Pokemon that take either little or nothing from Shadow Ball and Never-Ending Nightmare like Meloetta and Mega Tyranitar, but this trades off doing significant damage to Pokemon like Magnezone, Ferrothorn nothing prevents you from using Metal Sound->Shadow Ball vs Ferrothorn, and Mega Slowbro.
• Magnet Rise with maximum speed investment allows Aegislash to win over against Golem and Donphan, but having to run maximum speed takes away Aegislash's bulk, and Zygarde-C, the most common Ground-type, can attack it anyway thanks to Thousand Arrows.
• Occa Berry with Head Smash functions as a lure to Pokemon like Mega Charizard X and Volcarona, but this sacrifices the sheer power provided by Ghostium Z.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Dark-types**: The likes of Mega Gyarados, Mega Tyranitar and Greninja possess a resistance to Aegislash's Ghost-type moves, and can retaliate with their respective super-effective STAB moves. Mega Gyarados specifically resists both Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon Greninja also does in it's base form,in theory, and can comfortably take Never-Ending Nightmare thanks to its immense special bulk.

**Normal-types**: Normal-types like Mega Lopunny and Meloetta are immune to Aegislash's mono-ghost coverage, and slowly whittle away at it in return. Snorlax and Type: Null must be cautious about being PP stalled, however.

**Fire-types**: Mega Charizard Y, Heatran, and Volcarona all annihilate Aegislash with their respective STAB moves.

**Ground-types**: Pokemon like Landorus-Therian, Zygarde-C, and Donphan can KO Aegislash with ease, even potentially bursting through King's Shield with a Tectonic Rage.

**Substitute**: Users of Substitute such as Mega Charizard X and Mega Pinsir can burn Aegislash's Z-Crystal and ease prediction with King's Shield, and Aegislash has to constantly predict attacking in its favor in order to successfully break through Substitute.

**Slower Pokemon**: Mega Sableye and Avalugg aren't common, but can withstand a Never-Ending Nightmare and attack last, potentially hitting Aegislash in Blade Forme if it attacks.

QC 1/3,sorry for taking so long

 

[tondas]

did this, thanks!

 

[dom]

overview:
- the four moveslot syndrome isn't noteworthy. i'd remove it.
- instead, mention the exploitability of stance change, and how it can get taken advantage of by sub, and relying on 50/50s (bad side of stance change
- lando-i sucks rn (used to love that mon D:) just mention landot

set:
- name it bulky attacker
- id put kings shield as the first move and then bump everything down (yes it matters)

usage tips:
- mention trying to play well around substitute on mons like megagross or zard x
- make mega charizard y -> mega charizard. you can finesse x ofc but it's not preferable.

team options:
- mention chomper with the grounds. it'd be cool to mention how it can counter zard while aegi can beat lele or whatever fairy.
- mention stone edge with gyarados, helps a ton with zard y
- say how mega altaria beats both zard forms

oo:
mention the inconsistency of occa + head smash (wisp, missing)

cc:
- remove snorlax under normals, type null doesn't get pp stalled lol so remove that too
- add zard x to fire types, mention how it has trouble with kings shield tho

tondas looks good. only my 2nd check so ima have yogi stamp this. if he says my check is good, implement it.

 

[yogi]

I'd mention what 0 ivs in speed underspeeds compared to a standard set, seems relevant to be honest. Flash Cannon should be after Metal Sound in moves by the way, not at the bottom; this is just formatting consistency. Apart from that I think the check is gucci, QC stamped.

 

[Uselesscrab]

tondas please implement the above

 

[tondas]

got it

 

[Ginger Princess]

Bolded is additions, strikethrough is stuff that should be removed, underline needs to be edited in some way, red is comments. All information I bring are based on 1630 Usage stats and Calcs.

[OVERVIEW]

Aegislash boasts high defenses and a fantastic dual typing, enabling it to easily take hits from common Steel-, Fairy-, and Psychic- types such as Magearna, Kartana, and Mega Gardevoir before attacking. In Blade Forme, Aegislash's immense bulk carries over to attacking power, allowing it to punch holes through walls like Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn when powered through Metal Sound and Never-Ending Nightmare. Access to King's Shield allows Aegislash to punish physical Pokemon by dropping the foe's Attack stat by 2 stages when hit with a contact move. This even lets it play mind games with the likes of Mega Charizard X often forcing 50/50 scenarios between attacking and setting up again. Don't list 50/50 matchups as like a premier positive of Aegislash, there are much better ways to state this. For example, "This even allows Aegislash to live through super effective contact moves that it would normally fall to, by using King's Shield before being attacked, such as against Choice Band Victini and Darmanitan" As this show's Aegislash can stand up to physical fire attackers but also show's the reader that there are viable mons Aegi can beat without having to predict and potentially lose to. This is also an incredibly useful tool for sponging users of Z-Crystals such as Tapu Fini and Magnezone, thanks to King's Shield reverting Aegislash back to Shield Forme. Furthermore, access to Shadow Sneak allows Aegislash to pick off targets that survive on low health, namely users of Sturdy like Magnezone and Crustle. Unfortunately, Aegislash struggles between picking moves; as useful as Metal Sound is for weakening bulky Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Mega Altaria, being dependent on Ghost-type moves to deal damage means that Normal-types such as Meloetta and Porygon2 are guaranteed to win. Running Flash Cannon also means that Aegislash struggles to break past walls like Mega Venusaur without the aid of Metal Sound. The omnipresence of powerful Ground- and Fire-types like Zygarde-C, Landorus-Therian, Heatran, Mega Charizard Y, and Donphan can make it tricky for Aegislash to take hits and retaliate back. Earthquake is also not a contact move, meaning that King's Shield is unreliable in this specific matchup. Stance Change can additionally be exploited by Substitute users such as Mega Metagross and Zeraora by leaving Aegislash far more vulnerable to attacks. Lastly, Aegislash is hard countered by Mega Gyarados, a common sight and arguably the best Pokemon in the 1v1 metagame, due to its resistance to both of Aegislash's dual STAB moves and immense special bulk. Mention how Metal Sound's 85% accuracy can sometimes be a problem/annoying against spdef bulky/setup mons

[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: King's Shield
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Metal Sound / Flash Cannon flash cannon provides very niche/limited matchups compared to Metal Sound, and is often outclassed in important matchups like against Mega Venusaur and Magearna. I talk about this more elsewhere
move 4: Shadow Sneak
item: Ghostium Z
ability: Stance Change
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

King's Shield provides protection from attacks, scouts for Z-Moves, and punishes physical attackers that make contact like Kartana such as?. Shadow Ball is a powerful STAB move that hits most of the metagame neutrally, turned into a devastating nuke though Ghostium Z. Metal Sound lowers the target's special defense, strengthening Aegislash's matchups versus bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur, as well as powering through users of Calm Mind like Magearna and Tapu Fini. Shadow Sneak picks off targets that survive at low health, particularly users of Sturdy such as Magnezone, as well as targets that survive Never-Ending Nightmare such as Magearna. Flash Cannon operates as a secondary STAB move, dealing decent damage to Pokemon that resist or are immune to Shadow Ball such as Mega Tyranitar and Choice Scarf Porygon-Z. Mega TTar can run bulky to tank multiple and Normalium PZ can 50/50 with z-conversion. Definitely remove Ttar and replace it with a better example if you can

Set Details
========

Maximum HP and Special Attack investment allows Aegislash to stomach attacks and hit back as hard as possible with Shadow Ball. 4 Special Defense investment ensures that Genesect and Porygon-Z don't receive a Special Attack boost from Download. Download PZ is never run except in low ladder. A Quiet Nature with 0 Speed IVs is preferred as to increase Aegislash's chance of attacking last, preserving its Shield Forme and enabling it to be outpaced by uninvested base 50s such as Mega Mawile and Azumarill. Ghostium Z converts Shadow Ball into Never-Ending Nightmare, dealing heavy damage in tandem with Metal Sound. Stance Change is the only legal ability on Aegislash, but is crucial for allowing Aegislash to change forms when attacking and defending.

Usage Tips
========

Keep Aegislash far away from the likes of Mega Gyarados, Mega Charizards, and Heatran, as these Pokemon outspeed and obliterate Aegislash with their powerful moves. Watch out for Substitute users like Mega Metagross Substitute has 6% usage on Metagross; is there a better example? Use that if so as well, as they can leave leave Aegislash open to attacks in Blade Forme. Exercise caution when using King's Shield against Pokemon with setup, as mispredicting can result in the foe setting up on this turn and beating Aegislash. Feel free to use Metal Sound in advantageous matchups like Ferrothorn and Mega Heracross, as these Pokemon have little to hit Aegislash back with, and maintaining Shield Forme before attacking increases its chances of surviving. This can also be used against bulkier foes like Mega Venusaur and Magearna, ensuring that Never-Ending Nightmare can net a OHKO. While uncommon, be cautious of slower attackers like Avalugg and Mega Sableye, which can live any one hit and put Aegislash in a vulnerable position by being attacked in Blade Forme and potentially fire back with moves like Mirror Coat and Metal Burst, respectively. Use Never-Ending Nightmare Turn One against powerful, frail threats that don't resist it such as Genesect and Necrozma, as Aegislash possesses the bulk to survive one attack from such Pokemon. Shadow Sneak can be used to pick off a target that survives on low health. Mention how you can PP stall Normal type stall-Pokemon like Chansey, Type: Null and Blissey, as even you cannot attack them, they cannot damage you and they have much lower PP than you thanks to Shadow Sneak and Metal Sound.

Team Options
========

Answers to Normal-type Pokemon are mandatory if Aegislash is not running Flash Cannon, as it otherwise has no way of dealing damage to them Flash Cannon is not a consistent answer to most Normal Types, besides Choice Scarf Pz. The likes of Mega Lopunny, Blaziken, and Sawk put immense offensive pressure on these Pokemon. The former two Choice Scarf Sawk is vaible and also provides an answer towards these mons-> are also solid picks against fast, frail threats to Aegislash such as Porygon-Z and Greninja. Bulky Pokemon like Mega Venusaur and Mega Altaria match up well against Mega Gyarados, a common and otherwise threatening prospect for Aegislash. Mega Gyarados is not only one of Aegislash's greatest counters but also one of its best partners, able to break through troubling users of Sturdy like Donphan and Golem, as well as taking on Fire-types such as Mega Charizard Y and Blaziken lacking Electric-type coverage. Golem, Donphan, Garchomp, and Crustle additionally fare well against the likes of both Mega Charizards, Volcarona and Heatran, utilizing their super-effective Ground- and Rock-type attacks. Bulky Fairy-types like Mega Altaria and Tapu Finish possess the ability to beat both Mega Charizards.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Physical Swords Dance sets have the option of running moves such as Shadow Claw and Gyro Ball as well as useful moves like Sacred Sword and Head Smash to target Pokemon like Mega Lopunny and Dragonite this doesn't seem right. Shouldn't dnite live any attack thrown at it and 2hko with EQ? quickly Explain to the reader how to play this matchup if its anything more complicated then just attacking, but this is generally inferior to Metal Sound, as this is unaffected by Intimidate and moves like Charm and Will o Wisp. Using Steelium Z with Flash Cannon offers solid damage output against Pokemon that take either little or nothing from Shadow Ball and Never-Ending Nightmare like Meloetta bulky Meloetta simply calm mind's once then attacks with Shadow Ball for the 2hko and Mega Tyranitar, but this trades off doing significant damage to more viable Pokemon like Magnezone and Mega Slowbro. Magnet Rise with maximum speed investment 252 EVs in Speed with a Modest Nature makes it clear you aren't saying "252 speed with a speed boosting nature" allows Aegislash to win over against Golem and Donphan, but having to run maximum speed takes away Aegislash's bulk, and Zygarde-C or faster Ground-Types like Landorus-Therian, the most common Ground-type fluff and implied its important if you're talking about it, can attack it anyway thanks to Thousand Arrows or simply outspeed and OHKO Aegislash with Tectonic Rage. Occa Berry with Head Smash functions as a lure to Pokemon like Mega Charizard X and Volcarona, but this sacrifices the sheer power provided by Ghostium Z and is overall less consistent, and can be unreliable against Substitute variants of each. If they sub until you miss, you're in trouble, occa or not

Checks and Counters
===================

**Dark-types**: The likes of Mega Gyarados, Mega Tyranitar and Greninja possess a resistance to Aegislash's Ghost-type moves, and can retaliate with their respective super-effective STAB moves. Mega Gyarados and base form Greninja resist both Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon, and the former can comfortably take Never-Ending Nightmare thanks to its immense special bulk.

**Normal-types**: Normal-types like Mega Lopunny and Meloetta are immune to Aegislash's mono-ghost coverage, and slowly whittle away at it in return. Mention how some of the bulkier ones will shrug off Flash Cannon's damage as well, and be able to easily beat you before you beat it, like Type: Null

**Fire-types**: Both Mega Charizards, Heatran, and Volcarona all annihilate Aegislash with their respective STAB moves. Mega Charizard X must be cautious of King's Shield, however.

**Ground-types**: Pokemon like Landorus-Therian, Zygarde-C, and Donphan can KO Aegislash with ease, even potentially bursting through King's Shield with a Tectonic Rage.

**Substitute**: Users of Substitute such as Mega Charizard X and Mega Pinsir can burn Aegislash's Z-Crystal and ease prediction with King's Shield, and Aegislash has to constantly predict attacking in its favor in order to successfully break through Substitute.

**Slower Pokemon**: Mega Sableye and Avalugg aren't common, but can withstand a Never-Ending Nightmare and attack last, potentially hitting Aegislash in Blade Forme if it attacks.
Add Taunt users, who can prevent you from reverting back to shield form or using Metal Sound, and thus make you more vulnerable. These include Kommo-o and Taunt Tapu Fini

This was a really solid analysis for the most part, good job. Only noticed a few small issues and one admittedly big one.

Based on the matchups you've listed with Flash Cannon, I'm having trouble seeing any huge benefits to running it over Metal Sound. I talked to some QC people, and they agreed that Flash Cannon should be an Other Option. You had that before, which is good, and I understand it has more usage than Metal Sound, but it really has one matchup use, being against Scarf Porygon Z. It can give better chances against Pokemon like Ttar and Normalium Pz, but they're still not really guaranteed and shouldn't be considered consistent winning matchups.

So yeah, make an other option for Flash Cannon, mention it's matchups but how it's generally outclassed by Metal Sound. Once you do that, tag me so i can look at it, then u can have qc 3/3

 

[Ginger Princess]

oh and i forgot one comment in set my b

edit: put it in

 

[Ginger Princess]

tondas u here fren?

 

[tondas]

hey sry I haven't been keeping up with this, will try to implement your check over the next 48 hours

 

[Ginger Princess]

quick addendum; if you can, add Laser Focus to OO. It does the same thing in bypassing through Pokemon with high SpDef or ways to raise SpDef, while having 100% accuracy. It also can beat Mega Sableye. Cons are that its not stackable, which can be a problem against sub and protect users, or opponents that have excessive spdef like Umbreon. So far its too untested to be main set but it looks promising

 

[tondas]

TDA hey im not sure how this slipped through the cracks??? but I was reminded of this earlier this morning and decided to give this a thorough look. implemented everything in the check but i decided to keep the sub mgross mention because more recent 1630 stats give it a much larger amount of usage, but if that still needs changing then let me know. again, sorry my competencies got in the way of this being done so late but as compensation i'll make this my number one priority whenever you do look this over again.

 

[Ginger Princess]

TDA hey im not sure how this slipped through the cracks??? but I was reminded of this earlier this morning and decided to give this a thorough look. implemented everything in the check but i decided to keep the sub mgross mention because more recent 1630 stats give it a much larger amount of usage, but if that still needs changing then let me know. again, sorry my competencies got in the way of this being done so late but as compensation i'll make this my number one priority whenever you do look this over again.

got it. I'll look over this real quick and see how it is. Thank you

 

[Ginger Princess]

tondas
real quick a few final adjustments:

In the first sentence of Moves:

• King's Shield provides protection from attacks, scouts for Z-Moves, and punishes physical attackers that make contact like Kartana such as?.

You left the Such as there, just be sure to remove that. Also I would change kartana as an example because you don't need to use King's Shield in the matchup, just Z move immediately. A mon like Victini would be a better example. Also, I am unsure how this slipped my mind, but the main purpose of King's Shield in 1v1 is to return Aegislash into the Shield Form after attacking, which basically means you don't autolose to sub and Protect users. You should include that point, my b for forgetting.

In usage tips, last sentence:

• Metal Sound's high PP count bolsters Aegislash's matchups against passive Normal-types like Blissey and Type: Null,

I said this earlier but its a bit inaccurate. Blissey runs Fire Blast in order to bop Steels, a better example would be Chansey.

In Teammates, I would include defensive Tapu Lele, as it can beat a lot of the mons Mega Altaria can, but also beats mons like Z-Conversion Porygon Z.

Z-Laser Focus is an alternative to Metal Sound

No, its just regular Laser Focus used with along with Never Ending Nightmare. The perfect accuracy is why its used.

Also with Other Options, include Choice Scarf Aegislash alongside Occa Berry as a Fire Type Lure. Thats a recent development but it serves the same function as luring mons like Zards and Volcarona.


After these are implemented, QC 3/3

 

[Ginger Princess]

thank you for implementing the changes, but just to clarify what I mean to say, Laser Focus is run in a set like this:
Galahad (Aegislash) (M) @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 1 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- King's Shield
- Laser Focus
- Shadow Sneak
So, its not Z-Laser Focus, its just regular Laser Focus, used with Z-Shadow Ball. The corkscrew crash change wasn't necessary. Sorry if I did not word it properly earlier.