[Overview]
Aegislash is a formidable wallbreaker in the OU metagame with its outstanding offensive stats and access to in Stance Change. Aegislash has the unique ability to pressure standard Ghost-type checks with its secondary Steel-type STAB and Close Combat. Aegislash excels at breaking common defensive Pokemon such as Clefable, Corviknight, Blissey, and Slowbro. It can switch into most of these Pokemon with little to no risk due to its great defensive profile but needs to be wary of Knock Off and coverage from Clefable. Furthermore, its Shield forme provides added defensive utility before attacking, allowing it to take a few hits before attacking faster Pokemon like Tapu Koko, Tapu Fini and Buzzwole; even allowing it to soft check Tapu Lele, and Hawlucha. However, a middling speed tier limits its ability to force progress against more offensive builds and leaves it prone to being revenge killed. Aegislash also faces strong competition from Blacephalon as a Dragapult partner on Ghost-spam; Blacephalon has a more explosive offensive profile with Fire STAB and a higher speed tier than Aegislash.
[SET]
name: Mixed Wallbreaker
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Shadow Sneak
item: Choice Specs / Spell Tag
ability: Stance Change
nature: Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Close Combat allows Aegislash to threaten Shadow Ball switch-ins like Blissey, Tyranitar and Heatran; this compliments Aegislash in that it allows Shadow Ball to be used far more frequently. Shadow Sneak enables you to revenge kill faster Pokemon like Dragapult and safely pick off chipped foes. Choice Specs are used over Spell Tag for raw breaking power, although the latter makes Aegislash more threatening to Shadow Ball switch-ins because it can switch moves.
Dragapult is a good offensive partner for this set, forming a Ghost-spam core and helping to overwhelm shared checks such as Heatran, Ferrothorn, Melmetal and Toxapex. Slowbro and Galarian Slowking can help Aegislash break Toxapex by providing Future Sight support. Aegislash synergises with Fairy-types such as Tapu Fini, Tapu Koko and Clefable, which benefit from it breaking Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Heatran. Additionally, these Fairy-types can switch in and threaten the Dark-types which Aegislash forces onto the field. Urshifu can further pressure Toxapex when paired with Aegislash, and it pivots Aegislash in against Tapu Fini and Slowbro while forcing the Dark types off the field.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Aegislash can run a SubToxic set with Leftovers and the moves Shadow Ball and Kings Shield. This enables it to check Tapu Lele and Hawlucha much more consistently, all the while spreading status on the field against its usual checks of Mandibuzz, Hydreigon and Tyranitar, but also means it struggles to retain any breaking power the Choice Specs set provides. The prevalence of Infiltrator Dragapult can hit it behind its Substitute, but Aegislash can scout it using Kings Shield, and pivot into an appropriate Ghost-type resist. A Swords Dance set with Weakness Policy can also be run; a natural fit on Screens HO with Aegislash's bulk in its Shield Forme and its ability to serve as a short term check to Hawlucha and Tapu Lele. This and how it can take advantage of and set up on Corviknight sets it apart from competition in Bisharp. It can run a Choice Band set for increased breaking power and to hit specially defensive Toxapex and Hippowdon hard, at the expense of becoming highly prediction reliant, the reason being Shadow Claw is a far less spammable STAB compared to Shadow Ball due to its lower base power and the presence of Corviknight and Landorus-Therian in the metagame.
Checks and Counters
====
**Toxapex**: Toxapex can avoid a 2HKO on every move unboosted from Aegislash, punishing it with either Scald or a Knock Off It can also scout what move Aegislash has used and heal it off thanks to Regenerator after switching accordingly. This can render Aegislash almost useless in such matchups without adequate offensive partners due to Toxapex's dominance as a check.
**Steel Types**: Ferrothorn and Heatran can both switch in and force Aegislash out with a Knock Off in Ferrothorn's case and a Magma Storm/Earth Power from Heatran. However, these are soft checks as they can be chipped down very easily and can not switch in repeatedly.
**Ghost Resists**: Mandibuzz and Hydreigon check Aegislash, avoiding a KO from all of its moves and KOing it back with Dark STABs. Blissey can threaten Aegislash with Thunder Wave, and Teleport into a faster revenge killer to force it out. Mandibuzz can do the same with its access to U-Turn. In addition, offensive Dark Types like Weavile can pivot into a Shadow Ball and threaten Aegislash with a revenge kill, or force it off the field.
**Revenge Killers**: Revenge Killers like Garchomp, Weavile, Landorus-T and Dragapult can be brought in safely by the multitude of slow pivots in the meta, or after a KO to force Aegislash out, KO it or use it as setup fodder. This is mainly due to Aegislash's poor speed tier and Stance Change ability which leaves it vulnerable after attacking.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[simp, 544656]]
- Quality checked by: [[airfare, 513717], [Stareal, 481219]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
Aegislash is a formidable wallbreaker in the OU metagame with its outstanding offensive stats and access to in Stance Change. Aegislash has the unique ability to pressure standard Ghost-type checks with its secondary Steel-type STAB and Close Combat. Aegislash excels at breaking common defensive Pokemon such as Clefable, Corviknight, Blissey, and Slowbro. It can switch into most of these Pokemon with little to no risk due to its great defensive profile but needs to be wary of Knock Off and coverage from Clefable. Furthermore, its Shield forme provides added defensive utility before attacking, allowing it to take a few hits before attacking faster Pokemon like Tapu Koko, Tapu Fini and Buzzwole; even allowing it to soft check Tapu Lele, and Hawlucha. However, a middling speed tier limits its ability to force progress against more offensive builds and leaves it prone to being revenge killed. Aegislash also faces strong competition from Blacephalon as a Dragapult partner on Ghost-spam; Blacephalon has a more explosive offensive profile with Fire STAB and a higher speed tier than Aegislash.
[SET]
name: Mixed Wallbreaker
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Shadow Sneak
item: Choice Specs / Spell Tag
ability: Stance Change
nature: Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Close Combat allows Aegislash to threaten Shadow Ball switch-ins like Blissey, Tyranitar and Heatran; this compliments Aegislash in that it allows Shadow Ball to be used far more frequently. Shadow Sneak enables you to revenge kill faster Pokemon like Dragapult and safely pick off chipped foes. Choice Specs are used over Spell Tag for raw breaking power, although the latter makes Aegislash more threatening to Shadow Ball switch-ins because it can switch moves.
Dragapult is a good offensive partner for this set, forming a Ghost-spam core and helping to overwhelm shared checks such as Heatran, Ferrothorn, Melmetal and Toxapex. Slowbro and Galarian Slowking can help Aegislash break Toxapex by providing Future Sight support. Aegislash synergises with Fairy-types such as Tapu Fini, Tapu Koko and Clefable, which benefit from it breaking Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Heatran. Additionally, these Fairy-types can switch in and threaten the Dark-types which Aegislash forces onto the field. Urshifu can further pressure Toxapex when paired with Aegislash, and it pivots Aegislash in against Tapu Fini and Slowbro while forcing the Dark types off the field.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Aegislash can run a SubToxic set with Leftovers and the moves Shadow Ball and Kings Shield. This enables it to check Tapu Lele and Hawlucha much more consistently, all the while spreading status on the field against its usual checks of Mandibuzz, Hydreigon and Tyranitar, but also means it struggles to retain any breaking power the Choice Specs set provides. The prevalence of Infiltrator Dragapult can hit it behind its Substitute, but Aegislash can scout it using Kings Shield, and pivot into an appropriate Ghost-type resist. A Swords Dance set with Weakness Policy can also be run; a natural fit on Screens HO with Aegislash's bulk in its Shield Forme and its ability to serve as a short term check to Hawlucha and Tapu Lele. This and how it can take advantage of and set up on Corviknight sets it apart from competition in Bisharp. It can run a Choice Band set for increased breaking power and to hit specially defensive Toxapex and Hippowdon hard, at the expense of becoming highly prediction reliant, the reason being Shadow Claw is a far less spammable STAB compared to Shadow Ball due to its lower base power and the presence of Corviknight and Landorus-Therian in the metagame.
Checks and Counters
====
**Toxapex**: Toxapex can avoid a 2HKO on every move unboosted from Aegislash, punishing it with either Scald or a Knock Off It can also scout what move Aegislash has used and heal it off thanks to Regenerator after switching accordingly. This can render Aegislash almost useless in such matchups without adequate offensive partners due to Toxapex's dominance as a check.
**Steel Types**: Ferrothorn and Heatran can both switch in and force Aegislash out with a Knock Off in Ferrothorn's case and a Magma Storm/Earth Power from Heatran. However, these are soft checks as they can be chipped down very easily and can not switch in repeatedly.
**Ghost Resists**: Mandibuzz and Hydreigon check Aegislash, avoiding a KO from all of its moves and KOing it back with Dark STABs. Blissey can threaten Aegislash with Thunder Wave, and Teleport into a faster revenge killer to force it out. Mandibuzz can do the same with its access to U-Turn. In addition, offensive Dark Types like Weavile can pivot into a Shadow Ball and threaten Aegislash with a revenge kill, or force it off the field.
**Revenge Killers**: Revenge Killers like Garchomp, Weavile, Landorus-T and Dragapult can be brought in safely by the multitude of slow pivots in the meta, or after a KO to force Aegislash out, KO it or use it as setup fodder. This is mainly due to Aegislash's poor speed tier and Stance Change ability which leaves it vulnerable after attacking.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[simp, 544656]]
- Quality checked by: [[airfare, 513717], [Stareal, 481219]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
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