Overview
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name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Flash Cannon / Sacred Sword
move 3: Wide Guard / Shadow Sneak
move 4: King's Shield
ability: Stance Change
item: Sitrus Berry / Weakness Policy
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
nature: Quiet
Moves
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name: Substitute
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Shadow Claw
move 3: Sacred Sword / Iron Head
move 4: King's Shield
ability: Stance Change
item: Leftovers
evs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def / 12 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
nature: Brave
Moves
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**Offensive-Type Advantages**
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- A wonderful Ghost / Steel typing allows it to check common Fighting-, Dragon-, and Fairy-types in the tier, as well as the majority of Trick Room setters in the tier
- Thanks to its ability Stance Change, it can effectively switch between dual 150 offenses and 60 / 150 / 150 defenses, giving it great bulk and offensive presence simultaneously and can attack from either side of the spectrum
- Access to Wide Guard allows it to block Heat Waves and Earthquakes that would otherwise ruin its day
- Low speed; this is actually more of a blessing because if it were to move first the opposition would then be able to hit its much weaker Blade Forme.
- Biggest problem it faces it the frequency of Fire-types in the tier; this means it will often need team support to handle threats like Charizard-Mega-Y and Heatran. Ground-, Dark-, and Ghost-type weaknesses don't help it out very much either
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name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Flash Cannon / Sacred Sword
move 3: Wide Guard / Shadow Sneak
move 4: King's Shield
ability: Stance Change
item: Sitrus Berry / Weakness Policy
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
nature: Quiet
Moves
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- Shadow Ball provides Ghost-type STAB, which it particularly useful in that it hits everything except for Dark- and Normal-types at least neutrally
- Flash Cannon is the other STAB move of choice, striking down Fairy-types like Togekiss for your teammates. Sacred Sword is an option if you aren't worried about Fairies, as it has perfect neutral coverage alongside Shadow Ball and can strike Dark-types while doing slightly more damage to Heatran than Shadow Ball
- Wide Guard allows Aegislash to block harmful spread attacks, which is especially useful when you consider that Aegislash's most common weaknesses will be in the form of spread attacks. It also allows it to support any teammates that hate spread attacks, such as Heatran. Shadow Sneak is an option if Wide Guard support isn't something you are in need of, as like all priority attacks it allows you to pick off weakened threats before they can move
- King's Shield is a given on any Aegislash, reverting it back to Shield Forme while also blocking it from harmful attacks. Unfortunately it will not block status moves so be alert for Taunt, Will-O-Wisp, Spore, etc
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- Speed is minimized to help you move last, as Aegislash will tend to work best when it moves after both opponents. It also helps Aegislash counter opposing Trick Room, which thanks to its high offensive stats and prized Ghost-type STAB is a role Aegislash will often fill (i.e. Anti-TR)
- While Aegislash can theoretically run a full physical set with Shadow Claw and Sacred Sword, this is not preferred due to the abundance of Will-O-Wisp and Intimidate in the current metagame
- Sitrus Berry is the preferred item to give Aegislash some much needed healing, but Weaknesses Policy is also an option as it works well with Aegislash's naturally high bulk and allows it to hit even harder
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- This set will typically be used to support other teammates with Wide Guard, protecting them from EQ, Heat Wave, Blizzard, Icy Wind, etc
- It will also typically be the way your team will be taking out Fairy-types, so you'll want to keep it alive if you see things like Togekiss in Team Preview
- Just because you can block Heat Waves and Earthquakes doesn't mean you are untouchable by Fire- and Ground-types. Things like Charizard-Mega-Y may run Overheat to avoid Wide Guard so you'll need to be cautious when around them.
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- Usually you'll be using this set when your teammates are in need of Wide Guard support.
- One of the big partners is Heatran, as it can usually easily get up a Substitute when Aegislash is blocking Earthquakes with Wide Guard. From there Aegislash can either continue to protect the pair from Earthquake or proceed to attack alongside Heatran
- Terrakion is another good ally, as it can eliminate Dark- and Normal-types for Aegislash while Aegislash eliminates Fairy-types for Terrakion and can guard Terrakion from Earthquake and Muddy Water. Several other Fighting-types like Breloom, Virizion, Conkeldurr, and so forth work alongside Aegislash similarly
- Charizard(-Mega-Y) and Landorus-T also appreciate this set's support so they don't have to worry about respective Rock Slides and Icy Wind/Blizzards (Lando-T can also use EQ while Aegi uses Wide Guard which is useful). The pair of Charizard-Mega-Y and Aegislash tends to have trouble with Heatran though, so be aware of that
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name: Substitute
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Shadow Claw
move 3: Sacred Sword / Iron Head
move 4: King's Shield
ability: Stance Change
item: Leftovers
evs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def / 12 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
nature: Brave
Moves
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- Substitute is a great move for Aegislash, blocking WoW, Spore, and Intimidate so it can attack with more safety and use King's Shield without having to fear status. With Aegislash's great Ghost / Steel typing it usually isn't too difficult to set up either.
- Shadow Claw is the STAB of choice, hitting everything but Dark- and Normal-types neutrally
- Sacred Sword rounds off Aegislash's coverage, hitting the aforementioned types super-effectively. If your team has trouble with Fairy-types Iron Head is an option.
- Substitute is a great move for Aegislash, blocking WoW, Spore, and Intimidate so it can attack with more safety and use King's Shield without having to fear status. With Aegislash's great Ghost / Steel typing it usually isn't too difficult to set up either.
- King's Shield is there to revert you to Shield Forme and also functions like Protect, which is a staple move in Doubles. King's Shield works great with this set, as it forces would be counters like Scrafty to switch out if they get their Attack halved by King's Shield, giving you the perfect opportunity to use Substitute.
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- The given EVs make HP divisible by 16 so you get maximum recovery from Leftovers. Remaining EVs are simply dumped evenly into Defense and Special Defense
- Leftovers are the item of choice as they allow you to heal over time so you can set up more Substitutes
- You could potentially use special attacks on this set instead. While it is certainly a perfectly viable option, physical attacks are preferred because A) not fearing burns and Intimidate is one of the advantages this set has over other sets, and B) Snarl, one of the most common methods of weakening Special Attacks, will surpass Substitute, making the use of Substitute with Special Attacks somewhat redundant
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- Setting up a Substitute is pretty easy for Aegislash, though not as easy as it is for the infamous Substitute Heatran. You simply Sub up in front of a Fighting-type, Dragon-type, Fairy-type, Mega Kangashkan, or some other Pokemon that can't do much to it, and then proceed to Attack and use King's Shield accordingly. Aegislash's naturally high bulk means you can even Sub up in front of weaker super-effective attacks, such as a Salamence's Flamethrower/Fire Blast
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- Wide Guard support is a great idea for this set, as Aegislash's Substitutes are much harder to break when to opposition can't hit them with Heat Wave or Earthquake. Hitmontop in particular is a good partner as it can guard Aegislash with Fake Out as well
- Kangashkan-Mega works well with this set too thanks to its ability to use Fake Out to help Aegislash get a Substitute up. The pair can then proceed to attack the opposition
- Not much specific other than that; this set works well with almost anything since its generally very annoying and has great overall coverage alongside a base 150 Attack
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- Lum Berry is useful since status attacks like Will-O-Wisp will not be blocked by King's Shield
- Spooky Plate allows Shadow Ball & Shadow Sneak net some important 2HKOs/OHKOs that couldn't be achieved otherwise and is more reliable than Weakness Policy
- Swords Dance works alongside Aegislash's natural bulk, allowing it to potentially snag a +2 Attack boost. However, practice has proven this ineffective due to the prevalence of Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp in the metagame, as well as the fact that a +2 Shadow Sneak will not be OHKOing much outside of frail Psychic-types (Latios) and Ghost-types (Gengar)
- Gyro Ball is an option and generally hits hard since Aegislash is so slow. Iron Head tends to be more consistent, however
- Reflect can be used if your team really hates physical attackers
- Rock Slide is an option if you have a huge grudge against Talonflame and Charizard-Mega-Y
- Rest w/ Chesto Berry can be used for recovery. Aegislash struggles to find room for such an option in its moveset, unfortunately.
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**Offensive-Type Advantages**
- Ground-types like Landorus-T, Garchomp, Zygarde, and others. They tend to have a bit of trouble doing much against the Wide Guard set, however
- Fire-types like Talonflame, Charizard-Mega-Y, and Heatran. Charizard-Mega-Y will have trouble with the Wide Guard set if it only has Heat Wave, as will Heatran though it can still fall back on Earth Power to hit Aegislash with
- Finally, Ghost- and Dark-types, though they will need to watch out for Shadow Ball/Shadow Claw and Sacred Sword, respectively
- If Aegislash packs Sacred Sword switching in on it will require either skilled prediction or something with a lot of bulk that isn't weak to Ghost- and Fighting-type moves, such as Suicune (maybe Rotom-W but it will still take quite a bit from Shadow Claw/Shadow Ball)
- If it runs a Steel-type move instead it is easier to switch in on and handle defensively. Bisharp can come in on either move and doesn't care about King's Shield's Attack drop thanks to Defiant. Other Dark-types not named Tyranitar also do a pretty good job. Bulky Water-types like Suicune (again) and Gyarados (especially if it has Mega Evolved) also handle it pretty well
- Sableye is a pretty good check, as is can stop Substitute, Wide Guard, and King's Shield with Taunt, then proceed to hit Aegislash with Will-O-Wisp
- Prankster Taunt in general can prevent Aegislash from reverting back to Shield Forme, which is useful.
- Faster Spore, Thunder Wave, and Will-O-Wisp all do a decent job at stopping Aegislash, since it cannot block those respective moves with King's Shield. Since most Aegislash will be Special Attackers Will-O-Wisp isn't as affective as the other two options
- Intimidate can hinder physical and mixed sets somewhat; Scrafty in particular (especially w/ Chople Berry) will completely annoy you as long as it avoids the nasty effects of King's Shield
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