Pokémon Aegislash

[ArkWelder]

Aegislash #681

Type:

/

Base Stats:
Shield Stance: 60 / 50 / 150 / 50 / 150 / 60
Sword Stance: 60 / 150 / 50 / 150 / 50 / 60

Ability: Stance Change
Stance Change is Aegislash's signature ability, and with thoughtful play it essentially allows Aegislash to change between being a Deoxys-A and a Deoxys-D at will. When Aegislash makes a move, before it completes its move it will change form depending on the type of move used. If it is a damage dealing move, Aegislash will change into its Blade Forme, an extremely powerful but frail mixed attacker. If it uses King's Shield, then it will revert back into Shield Forme, an extremely bulky mixed wall. Other non-damaging moves do not cause a form change. Note that Aegislash is by default in Shield Forme, and will be in Shield Forme when switched in.

Movepool: I'm not sure at what level it learns what, I'll update this when it becomes known, the current list of confirmed moves is:

• Aerial Ace
  
  
  
  
• Autotomize
  
  
  
  
• Frustration
  
  
• Head Smash
  
  
• Hidden Power
  
  
  
  
• Iron Defense
  
  
• Iron Head
  
  
• King's Shield
  
  
• Night Slash
  
  
  
  
• Protect
  
  
• Pursuit
  
  
• Rest
  
  
• Return
  
  
• Sacred Sword
  
  
• Shadow Sneak
  
  
• Sleep Talk
  
  
• Swords Dance
  
  
• Toxic
  
  
• Cut
  
  
• Fury Cutter
  
  
• Metal Sound
  
  
• Power Trick
  
  
• Retaliate
  
  
• Slash
  
  
• Tackle
  
  

A notable move to explain is Aegislash's signature move King's Shield. King's Shield in essence works as protect, blocking a single enemy attack. This allows Aegislash to safely revert back to its Shield Forme the turn after it attacks, ready to take another hit. However, in addition to acting like protect, if the opposing pokemon would make contact with Aegislash when King's Shield is active, its Attack stat harshly drops. This move forces your opponent to think carefully when facing Aegislash with a physical attacker. However, it seems as though King's Shield does not protect against status moves. I have reports that King's Shield failed to protect against Will-o-wisp and pain split.


Potential Movesets

Of course since there is not currently a ladder for Gen 6, I can not speak about these sets with true experience. I have however played many games with experienced Pokemon players and these sets are a collection of our current knowledge.

Brave Fencer Aegislash
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Shadow Sneak
Sacred Sword/Iron Head
King's Shield
Swords Dance

There are many options for EVs and Natures that will be discussed below. For the most part I use 252 HP and 252 in either Attack, Defense or Special Defense, with a Brave, Relaxed or Sassy nature respectively. Brave allows you to be a threat without boosts. Aegislash however has ample opportunities to use Swords Dance, so its Relaxed and Sassy variants give it more staying power. Also I believe that Aegislash will grow to have very specific EVs to deal with certain specific threats, kind of like how Standard Ferrothorn is. Once the ladder is up I'm going to look hard into the best spread for this little guy.

Set Description:
I believe this to be Aegislash's greatest set so far. It best allows Aegislash to abuse its signature ability to great effect. Aegislash's unique typing and amazing bulk allows it to switch into many situations. From there it can threaten physical attackers with King's Shield. If their Attack is dropped, Aegislash is able to use Swords Dance without repercussion. Due to his bulk, he is able to set up on many Pokemon who lack strong moves to threaten him. With +2 attack, Aegislash is able 2HKO many pokemon with a combination of Sacred Sword followed by Shadow Sneak. Due to his low speed, Aegislash will first take damage in his bulky shield forme, before transforming into blade forme to deal out incredibly strong Sacred Swords. In Blade Forme, Aegislash is incredibly frail. King's Shield can be used change back into shield forme, however this can be incredibly predictable and can allow you opponent to set up something, such as a substitute. Aegislash is not a typical sweeper. To utilize Aegislash you must often revert back to Shield forme to absorb hits and retaliate, unlike typical sweepers which usually kill or are killed. In essence, Aegislash fights like a fencer, hence the set's name.
Iron Head is stronger on neutral Pokemon, but you lose out on having perfect coverage, which may end with Aegislash being countered by pokemon such as Pyroar, Heliolisk and Bisharp.

The following sets were taken from here.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change<br />
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA <br />
Quiet / Adamant Nature<br />
- King's Shield<br />
- Shadow Ball / Iron Head<br />
- Shadow Sneak<br />
- Iron Head / Sacred Sword</p>

• Good power, bulk, and coverage makes this set a great tank
• King's Shield helps check physical attackers and allows you to go into Shield Forme
• Shadow Ball allows you to 2HKO physical walls such as Skarmory and Hippowdon and is in general your best nuke
• Iron Head deals with Sylveon, Goodra, Togekiss, Tyranitar and more
• Use 252 Atk / 252 HP if you want to go with Iron Head + Sacred Sword
• Sacred Sword hits Greninja, Tyranitar, and Ferrothorn
• A max HP / max SpD spread is possible to spinblock Starmie
• Chesanught makes for a very good partner that deal with Ground-types and sets up Spikes
• Rotom-W is a good switch-in to Ground and Fire-types that threaten Aegislash

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Autotomize
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Sacred Sword / Iron Head

• Works as a bulky pivot that sweeps late game with the appropriate boosts
• If you face offense, use Autotomize, otherwise using SD is preffered
• Or set up both with Aegislash's excellent bulk and typing
• Unlike the SD + King's Shield set this set can become powerful in a single turn. +2 Shadow Claw does more damage than +4 Shadow Sneak
• Sacred Sword is preferred for its superior super effective coverage, but Iron Head is useful against Fairy-types and is your strongest move against Hippowdon
• Enough Speed to outrun base 130s at +2 Speed
• Likes hazard support
• Usual partners to cover its weaknesses

Aegislash @ Spooky Plate / Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Sacred Sword

• Great wallbreaker
• The usual checks to Aegislash, such as physically defensive Hippowdon and Skarmory, are all easily 2HKOed by Shadow Ball
• Shadow Ball from 150 SpA in general is a nuke due to the lack of durable resists
• Shadow Sneak picks off anything faster that isn't OHKOed by Shadow Ball. Aegislash can take a hit from a ton of Pokemon and 2HKO them with the combo of Shadow Ball + Shadow Sneak
• Iron Head takes care of special walls such as Sylveon, Togekiss, and Goodra
• Sacred Sword covers Tyranitar, Greninja, and Ferrothorn
• Shadow Ball will be your main nuke, so a Quiet nature is preferred, but a Brave nature is a viable alternative to power up your three other attacks
• You can use Life Orb with a Quiet nature, which allows Aegislash to 2HKO specially defensive Hippowdon with a layer of Spikes, 2HKO max HP Vaporeon and SpD Zapdos, and in general gives to Aegislash a bit more power. However, the Life Orb recoil cuts down on Aegislash's bulk a lot
• This set is also a good SmashPass receiver
• Chesanught makes for a very good partner that deal with Ground-types and sets up Spikes

Aegislash @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- King's Shield / Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword / Iron Head

• Two SD sets. One is a mix of tank and sweeper and the other is a mix of wallbreaker and sweeper. The first (King's Shield) trades immediate power and coverage for sweeping potential. Similar to the first set, but relies on SD for offensive pressure. This allows it to do some cleaning late-game with Shadow Sneak and punish physical attackers which get forced out due to the -2 Atk drop from King's Shield. The second (Shadow Claw) uses 3 attacks and LO to have more power and get more OHKOes with Shadow Sneak but is much more prone to physical attackers that it can't OHKO without the defensive buff of King's Shield
• Iron Head is the strongest physical move on Aegislash's arsenal and gets great neutral coverage with Shadow Sneak. On the other hand, Sacred Sword has less power but offers better super effective coverage, covering Pokemon such as Ferrothorn AND Greninja. Iron Head is the better move with King's Shield and Sacred Sword with Shadow Claw but both are very viable and can be used according to your teams needs
• With King's Shield it struggles against physical walls such as Hippowdon and Skarmory so carry strong special attackers and probably a Rapid Spin or a Defog user. Rotom-W and Mega Blastoise are good Pokemon for these jobs
• With Shadow Claw it fails to anything that can take a hit and has a strong move to hit back. Hippowdon is still a good answer, although it should be mentioned that Aegislash can opt to boost twice, tanking an EQ at Shield Forme and OHKOing at +4, in which case Hippowdon should use Whirlwind instead of EQ after switching in. It's kind of a 50-50 situation. Garchomp, Hydreigon, Diggersby, and Zygarder are great checks as they avoid the OHKO from +2 Shadow Sneak and OHKO back.
• Chesnaught makes for a very good partner that deal with Ground-types and sets up Spikes

Aegislash @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 88 Atk / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Rash Nature
- Autotomize
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power Ice
- Iron Head / Sacred Sword

• Good cleaner
• Takes a hit in Shield Forme and then sets up with Autotomize
• Outspeeds everything up to positive-natured base 130s after a boost
• Shadow Blast is your main weapon and very little Pokemon don't take considerable damage from it
• Hidden Power Ice OHKOes Dragonite, Garchomp, Gliscor, and maybe other Pokemon that i am forgetting
• Sacred Sword OHKOs Tyranitar and Greninja, and 2HKOes Ferrothorn
• Iron Head deals with Fairy-types such as Togekiss and Sylveon while also covering Tyranitar
• Needs hazard support. With Sticky Web support Aegislash can outspeed any Choice Scarf Pokemon, being virtually impossible to outspeed. Smeargle and Galvantula can provide the hazards that Aegislash needs but be careful about Defog users. Magnezone support could be appreciated if you are using Sticky Web, in order to trap the best Defog user, Scizor
• Chesanught makes for a very good partner that deal with Ground-types and sets up Spikes

Checks and Counters:
I've limited my search to things that are currently OU in Gen 5. Darkrai can check Aegislash by being fast and putting it to sleep, however I believe Darkrai will swiftly be put back in Ubers where it belongs. So far I have found very few true counters to Aegislash. Due to Aeglislash's dependance on King's Shield, any pokemon with a boosting move or substitute can handle Aegislash if your predictions are 100% correct. However, to counter Aegislash completely a pokemon needs to fit the following criteria, otherwise it is not a reliable, prediction free counter:
1. It must not be threatened by +2 shadow sneak.
2. It must be able to survive a combination of +2 Sacred Sword followed by +2 shadow sneak, or be able to OHKO Aegislash while it is in shield forme.
3. or alternatively have some crazy stuff like Malamar.
4. Be able to deal with all good variants of Aegislash

Counters:
Landorus-T with its typical choice scarf set is able to switch into anything Aegislash has, assuming you have not already allowed it to set up already. With intimidate, Landorus-T is able to bulk a combination of Sacred Sword and Shadow Sneak and get a clean 2HKO with Earthquake even on maximum physical defense Aegislash. It does not need to fear King's Shield as Earthquake is a non-contact move. An interesting choice might be Choice Band Landorus-T, which gets a clean OHKO on Aegislash-Shield.

Donphan counters Aegislash in a similar way to Landorus. While it does not have Intimidate, its superior physical bulk still allows it to tank a combination of +2 Sacred Sword and +2 Shadow Sneak. 252 Attack Donphan with a neutral nature can 2HKO Aegislash even if it is maximum Defense.

Malamar does not counter Aegislash through sheer force, but through a combination of Contrary and Topsy Turvy. Malamar is unable to bulk a +2 Sacred Sword or Iron Head, however Malamar will not allow Aegislash that pleasure. As Malamar outspeeds Aegislash and can survive a Shadow Sneak, it is able to use Topsy Turvy to reverse any attack boosts Aegislash has, most likely forcing it out. Malamar also can use its super effective STAB Night Slash with impunity, if it activates Aegislash's King's Shield it will boost Malamar's Attack due to his ability contary. However, Malamar is weak to the aforementioned Shadow Sneak.

Good checks:
Anything that is sorta bulky and can spam Earthquake or special fire and dark moves can handily take on Aegislash. For instance Banded Garchomp can handily "OHKO" Sassy or Brave Aegislash through a combination of Earthquake and Rough skin, whilst bulking anything Aegislash has at +2. However it loses to a Relaxed Aegislash, who can survive Earthquake + Rough Skin damage. Life Orb Mamoswine can OHKO Relaxed Aegislash after Stealth Rock damage, and can survive a +2 Shadow Sneak. However, unlike his other counters your opponent can predict a switch into mamoswine and KO with an unboosted Sacred Sword.

Synergistic Team Choices:
Flyings types because you are going to get a ton of Earthquakes in your face. Levitating mons could also do well I suppose. Not entirely sure what specific mons go best with him though. Perhaps normal/flying because it is immune to 2/3 of Aegislash's weaknesses.
Stealth Rocks are almost requried on every team, but I'd say even more so with Aegislash. Spikes too. SR and Spikes will allow Aegislash to kill so much more with a combination of Sacred Sword + Shadow Sneak. I'd suggest spikes support is almost neccessary if you want to run Sassy or Relaxed Aegislash, who lack the power of Brave Aegislash. Klefki is an interesting teammate, with prankster spikes and sash it gets a guaranteed layer of spikes against all but prankster taunt, and 2 layers of spikes against most other things. Add SR and you erase a lot of Aegislash's would-be checks. I'll collect some specific examples later.

Personal Opinion of the pokemon and conclusion:hot damn this is one of the most fun pokemon to use ever and it's strong as hell too, it's Free Swords Dance: The Pokemon and Predictioning: The Pokemon.

Topics to discuss (of course this will probably be mainly theorymoning at this point but oh well):
What do you think of Aegislash overall? Do you have an alternative set that you have used?
What are some other solid checks and counters to Aegislash?
What team mates synergise well with Aegislash?
Aegislash best pokemon y/n

 

[ArkWelder]

I can think of a very gimmicky set using power trick. Autotomize could make a double dance set, but running King Shield would mean you only have one attacking move. If Stance Change doesn't activate on a move used by Sleep Talk, there could be a RestTalk set

Why would you use power trick when Aegislash's ability is essentially a free power trick?
Double dance sets could be good. At 60 base speed Aegislash won't be outsped by much save for scarfers at +2, so I could think you could forgo using King's Shield all together and just use Iron head + Coverage move. You use Aegislash's bulk forme to make setting up easy, and then just sweep afterwards. Priority will really hurt if you aren't using King's shield. I want to give this a test.
Sleep talk is very interesting, I don't actually have X or Y yet, could I request someone to find out how Sleep talk affects Stance Change?

 

[halodeoxys]

IMO Autotomize might be better than Swords Dance as Aegislash's attack is already stupid high, and since you start in Shield Mode you can probably get 1-3 in depending on the opposing team. Ghost/Steel is a really solid(pun intended hehhehe) defensive typing, despite the nerfs to steel. Autotomize or not Aegislash is too slow for Ubers, I'm predicting it will end up being OU
Basically I would run a set of
Aegislash@Leftovers
252 Atk 252 Spd 4 HP
Jolly/Adamant nature
-Autotomize
-Shadow Sneak/Shadow Claw(it gets this via TM)
-Kings Shield/Rest
-Sacred Sword
Nature is up to you, Adamant gives absurd power while Jolly lets it outspeed most Tyranitar so you can sacred sword it to death(unless it gets some sexy speed boost with mega evolution), and lets you outspeed/tie with Magnezone who would try to trap you(Idk if sacred sword would be a OHKO however)

Sleep talk is very interesting, I don't actually have X or Y yet, could I request someone to find out how Sleep talk affects Stance Change?

The TM exists but we aren't quite sure where it is yet. if I find it ill check it out as I have an Aegislash(or at least, a Doublade and a Dusk Stone, trying to level it up to get Sacred Sword first), I would imagine though that it would change stance based on which attack it uses from Sleep Talk.

Also does King's Shield have priority? I kinda figured it didn't.

 

[MCBarrett]

ShootinStarmie and I came up with a set to act as a spinblocker that can beat Starmie 1v1 while keeping Aegislash's offensive presence in tact.

Aegislash @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
- Shadow Sneak

So, in Defense Forme Aegislash takes a maximum of 70% from LO Analytic Hydro Pump on the switch-in. From there Aeglisash can OHKO with an unboosted Shadow Sneak after SR damage (or LO recoil) or it can predict the switch out and KO with Pursuit. The rest of the set focuses on boosting Aegislash's attack stat and utilizing it's Steel Type STAB to remove fairy types. Checks and Counters would basically be Aegislash's normal checks and counters such as Bulky Ground Types, Sucker Punch users, Pursuit Trappers and faster Offensive Threats that resist Shadow Sneak.

 

[gvmgvm40]

Ability: Stance Change
Stance Change is Aegislash's signature ability, and with thoughtful play it essentially allows Aegislash to change between being a Deoxys-A and a Deoxys-D at will. When Aegislash makes a move, before it completes its move it will change form depending on the type of move used. If it is a damage dealing move, Aegislash will change into its Blade Forme, an extremely powerful but frail mixed attacker. If it uses a non-damaging move such as Swords Dance or King's Shield, then it will revert back into Shield Forme, an extremely bulky mixed wall. Note that Aegislash is by default in Shield Forme, and will be in Shield Forme when switched in.

The bolded part is wrong.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/pokémon-battle-mechanics-research.3489239/page-6#post-4882411

• Non-damaging moves (besides King's Shield) will not change Forme. Test with Confide, Power Trick, Iron Defense, Autotomize, Swords Dance, and Protect do not change Formes. It will remain in whatever is was on. Tested on both Shield and Blade Formes.

 

[MCBarrett]

Im wondering, assuming Aegis gets shadow ball if a mixed sweeper set with Autotomize is possible.

Really like this set actually, depending on the final movelist for ageis I think this could end up being really good, although I think I might just prefer Swords over pursuit depending on the team, and include Sacred Sword as a replacement.

Yea there are definitely going to be a good number of useable move sets for this thing. I think sets with Autotomize are better suited for moves like Sacred Sword or Night Slash though since Aegislash isn't outspeeding much without a boost.

I didn't realize how good King's Shield was either. Putting your opponent at -2 attack if they attack while you protect is insane. Does it not work twice in a row like Protect as well?

 

[PDC]

Aegislash's ability and niches are very interesting in theory for sure, and that Stance Change ability makes it a bit of a role switcher and can allow it to shine in different ways. Steel Ghost is a pretty unique typing, but it kind of died down a bit due to the recent nerf in steel. It is just a little too limited really, as its speed stat is very lackluster and in its offensive form it loses is defensive merit. SD Shadow Sneak / Iron Head / Pursuit sound cool, but in reality its not really doing much Pursuit wise. It overall is going to be defeated by a majority of the Pokemon it will attempt to Pursuit, and to be honest I don't really like this guy in general. I guess it can be a good "check" to Gengar, but it can't really switch in too safety. It is however a solid check to Psychic and Fairy types like Alakazam and Xerneas, which i'm sure will be very large threats. It also checks MegaLucario and additional fighting types. I think if anything this guy will appreciate a more defensive role, as Swords Dance I just don't see it consistently doing too well. Although it could be pretty dangerous on lighter threats, I don't really see this guy sweeping too often. But the ability to combat Fairy Types and strong Psychic types if something pretty unique. It looks like a cool Jirachi check, but because i'm not exactly 100% how Stance Change works, I may be wrong considering how bad its defenses become when it switches.

 

[MCBarrett]

It looks like a cool Jirachi check, but because i'm not exactly 100% how Stance Change works, I may be wrong considering how bad its defenses become when it switches.

Stance Change makes it turn into the Offensive Form on an attacking move and it remains/ switches back to the Defense Form on non-attacking moves. Plus it has King's Shield which acts like Protect but switches to the Defensive Form and cuts your opponent's Attack Stat in half if they attack on that turn so I don't think it's frailty will be too much of an issue.

Also, even before a boost with LO it can OHKO any Offensive Ghost/ Psychic Type with Shadow Sneak after a bit of prior Damage (71-85% to 72 HP LO Latias, 75% OHKO after SR on 4/0 Latios) so it basically makes it a 50/50 situation to take out your opponent if you have Pursuit depending on if they switch and which move you go for.

 

[ginganinja]

Strictly speaking, this OP breaks one of the golden rules of this forum:

5. In threads discussing the metagame, do not assume any particular Pokémon are banned. Additionally, do not suggest that certain Pokémon should be banned, or that they will probably be banned. Finally, do not post predictions on which Pokémon will be banned. When we'll have enough information on the new games, the OU tiering council will discuss about an initial banlist for the standard OU metagame.

Seriously, don't discuss uber status, it was far 2 early to do this, and I'll prolly end up infracting you. I'll give everyone a free pass because the OP mislead a ton of people into thinking it was ok to discuss it, but its not, so please don't. In addition, don't be this guy please

I tested out Aegislash against my friends on Showdown, but having the unconfirmed moves Shift Gear andEarthquake on it. It is Uber Potential with Shift Gear!!

If its confirmed to have these moves then fine, your post is ok. If its NOT confirmed to have these moves, then don't fucking discuss it please. I am sure Keldeo would be amazing if it got Quiver Dance or whatever, but it doesn't and so is irrelvent to the discussion. Please don't fanboy move combinations if they are not confirmed please, as its a waste of time.

We get it, XY is released, everyones hyping up these new pokemon / moves / abilities / items etc etc. Just read the rules so I won't have to ruin anyones day with an infraction.

 

[skies]

I can see a set of a trapper, that is somewhat similar to MCBarrett :
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- King's Shield
- Iron Head / Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak

It is nice to pick off the Psychic-Types with. Yeah, not too different, but I find that King's Shield aids it well against those threats you mentioned, Landorus and Donphan, as neither of them enjoy the -2 and will most likely switch. Plus, if you predict correctly, a combo of Pursuit + King's Shield could work. We still need to see the whole moveset to see it's full potential.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

According to the research thread 'slash learns gyro ball through the tm, do you think it would be worth using gyro ball over iron head? his speed is pretty low

Not really. Base 60 speed is just too fast to be using Gyro Ball. To put it into perspective, a minimum speed Aegislash will only have a 77 BP Gyro Ball against Terrakion, one of the faster threats in the current OU metagame and one Pokemon that Aegislash might be used to keep in check. Even against Choice Scarf Latios, pretty much the fastest common Scarf user in the current OU metagame, it only has 117 BP. It's honestly not worth it when Iron Head hits harder against everything slower than max speed Starmie.

 

[RoyalBlue]

Aegislash is definitely going to be a top teir threat but maybe not Ubers. It really suffers from 4 moves syndrome imo with an SD set. You need SD, Sneak and KingS to be effective, but I find myself getting torn between Iron Head or Sacred Sword. Sacred Sword is nice for valuable SE coverage against steels like Ferrothorn, but Iron Head is super good to handle Fairies without a boost. I'm currently using a bulky SubSD set. Also, with its low speed, it could function well in TR. Iron Head, Sacred Sword, Night Slash and something else could be super deadly.

 

[Scytha Gang]

Ahhh thank you for the correction! But, if it is not choiced, and it uses U-Turn to escape because obvious switch, won't it take -2? Then it will be at -2, still able to attack with a weak earthquake, or just escape. It is situational, but some sets might shift to take on the new metagame, so it is possible :)

Could leave an opening to hit hard with Pursuit after the -2 Atk Landorus from using King's Shield on U-Turn because an opponent wouldn't wanna stay in with a -2 Atk Landorus, yet would an opponent really use U-Turn on something that quad resists it? Switching out when you have EQ to hit Aegislash super effectively is very situational, cuz the only way i'd see this happening is if your foe has someone immune to EQ, predicts it, then switches in to it either directly or with a switching move

 

[halodeoxys]

Yea there are definitely going to be a good number of useable move sets for this thing. I think sets with Autotomize are better suited for moves like Sacred Sword or Night Slash though since Aegislash isn't outspeeding much without a boost.

I didn't realize how good King's Shield was either. Putting your opponent at -2 attack if they attack while you protect is insane. Does it not work twice in a row like Protect as well?

Now that I've looked into it I think Autotomize might be able to replace Swords completely, its attack is already ridiculous without boosts and Sacred Sword provides good coverage for Aegis, its almost guaranteed to OHKO most TTars and 2HKOs timid Magnezone with just Jolly nature, +0 attack, and no life orb, so as long as Aegis is faster than Mags it can kill it on the switch, getting rid of what otherwise would be a counter. King's Shield I don't know if it has priority like protect or not, if it does then damn thats REALLY good. I do remember hearing that it has a lower chance of working twice in a row like Protect/Detect but I cant confirm this.

TM 44 Rest
TM 88 Sleep talk
are both next to each other at the hotel in Cyllage city. The couple seated at the table give it to you.

Yeah I found that out a little after I posted that and forgot to edit my post, my bad lol.

According to the research thread 'slash learns gyro ball through the tm, do you think it would be worth using gyro ball over iron head? his speed is pretty low

I was thinking about that but I'm not entirely sure. On one hand its a great way to come out of shield stance but then again it looks like a better idea to just go autotomize usually since in Blade form aegis is too frail to be taking many hits. It might work on some sets but Iron Head looks more reliable for a steel move. Not to mention Aegislash's speed isnt abysmal like say Ferrothorn.

 

[Scytha Gang]

Now that I've looked into it I think Autotomize might be able to replace Swords completely, its attack is already ridiculous without boosts and Sacred Sword provides good coverage for Aegis, its almost guaranteed to OHKO most TTars and 2HKOs timid Magnezone with just Jolly nature, +0 attack, and no life orb, so as long as Aegis is faster than Mags it can kill it on the switch, getting rid of what otherwise would be a counter. King's Shield I don't know if it has priority like protect or not, if it does then damn thats REALLY good. I do remember hearing that it has a lower chance of working twice in a row like Protect/Detect but I cant confirm this.

Me myself is into the Sword Dance/Automoblize Set cuz of it's sheer power, yet a simple Automobilize Set with Iron Head, Sacred Sword, and Shadow Sneak will be a dangerous and quick late game sweeper, especially with hazards up!! I doubt anyone at about 50-70% can take a hit from Aegis given they're not a physical wall, nor resist any of it's coverage moves. And would Balloon Sword be a good item choice over Life Orb/Expert Belt/Leftovers (top 3 items for Aegi at the moment)? With Balloon, Aegi could get a safe Auto up since most of its checks are EQ users.

 

[ArkWelder]

All corrections noted in this thread have been edited into the original post (thanks to all who made corrections), including the removal of rule breaking stuff. Sorry ginganinja, I reread the forum specific rules before posting this but I forgot to go over the global rules.

Yes, but what I am saying is that it will obviously know it counters Aegislash, so it will keep up momentum predicting the switch.

I have a feeling how it would go normally is: Lando-T switches in on Aegis. Aegis uses King's Shield and protects itself from Earthquake. Both Lando and Aegis switch out on the next turn, Aegis to save itself and Lando predicting the Aegis switch. Using a choiced uturn on an Aegislash would be silly as it can, and will most likely, use King's Shield to scout your attack. Hrm... I wonder how much damage a -2 ebelt Landorus-T can do to it.
-2 252+ Atk Expert Belt Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 252+ Def (custom): 125-151 (47.89 - 57.85%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth RockPffffft. I might give this set a try if Aegislash proves difficult to kill. Use uturn against it as it obviously uses King's Shield. Get your attack sharply dropped. Let it think "oh it's choiced, he'll have to swap out now. Time for a free swords dance". Then get the 2HKO. This is very silly and gimmicky but it might be fun.

...as its speed stat is very lackluster and in its offensive form it loses is defensive merit. I guess it can be a good "check" to Gengar, but it can't really switch in too safety. ...as Swords Dance I just don't see it consistently doing too well. Although it could be pretty dangerous on lighter threats, I don't really see this guy sweeping too often.

It's poor speed is actually its strength. Under speeding your opponents is useful as it allows you to take a hit in your defensive form, then attack. It's awful defenses in blade forme are almost a moot point because King's Shield's priority lets you swap back to shield forme whenever you need to take a hit. Yes, this is predictable, but a lot of predictable pokemon are still very good.

ShootinStarmie and I came up with a set to act as a spinblocker that can beat Starmie 1v1 while keeping Aegislash's offensive presence in tact.

I like this set as it pulls off the whole "Strong move + Shadow Sneak" combo well, as it has more coverage than my Aegislash set. Of course it doesn't have the staying power that my set does, but I can see this being a set that swaps in and out a lot, which goes will with his SR resistance.

IMO Autotomize might be better than Swords Dance as Aegislash's attack is already stupid high
Aegislash@Leftovers
252 Atk 252 Spd 4 HP
Jolly/Adamant nature
-Autotomize
-Shadow Sneak/Shadow Claw(it gets this via TM)
-Kings Shield/Rest
-Sacred Sword

I think for an autotomize set King's Shield can be dropped completely in favour another coverage move. King's Shield lets you revert back to shield forme yes, but since you will be outspeeding most pokemon after Autotomize this doesn't matter, since they will be hitting you in blade forme. I think this set can certainly work, but it is extremely frail. Anything it can't OHKO can most likely kill it. The swords dance set keeps it slow, which in turn keeps it bulky. Instead of King's Shield I might put in HP Ice. This lets it kill all those ground types that would be spamming EQ against it. 150 base Sp.A is still insane, so it could do really well. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have much of a special move pool confirmed at the moment, hopefully he gets some nice special moves through TM.

And would Balloon Sword be a good item choice over Life Orb/Expert Belt/Leftovers (top 3 items for Aegi at the moment)? With Balloon, Aegi could get a safe Auto up since most of its checks are EQ users.

Heh. Balloon Sword. Yes, this could be devastating. Now, your opponent needs to waste 2 turns, 1st turn popping your balloon, 2nd turn switching to Landorus, in order to kill it with a choiced Landorus. That could be devastating and could potentially allow Aegislash to beat out scarfed Landorus (not banded though) with a combination of Iron Head + Shadow Sneak.

 

[Othesemo]

Now that I've looked into it I think Autotomize might be able to replace Swords completely, its attack is already ridiculous without boosts and Sacred Sword provides good coverage for Aegis, its almost guaranteed to OHKO most TTars and 2HKOs timid Magnezone with just Jolly nature, +0 attack, and no life orb, so as long as Aegis is faster than Mags it can kill it on the switch, getting rid of what otherwise would be a counter. King's Shield I don't know if it has priority like protect or not, if it does then damn thats REALLY good. I do remember hearing that it has a lower chance of working twice in a row like Protect/Detect but I cant confirm this.

The difficulty with that, I'd imagine, is that if you outspeed your opponent and don't KO then they hit you with the Sword Form's defenses, which are pitiful. If you're running Swords Dance or 3 Attacks with those 252 EVs in HP instead, not only are you much bulkier, you also won't have to switch into Sword Form until after your opponent's attacked. During the next turn, you can pick them off with Shadow Sneak or use King's Shield to revert to Shield Form before having to tank another attack. It's the same philosophy as Dive Cats.

 

[Jahordon]

As Halodeoxys stated, his slow speed is useful for letting him take a hit in shield form before using his first attack. Ideally, he comes in to something easy, gets +2 from Sword's Dance, then he uses Sacred Sword. Once he's in attack form, he should be switched out unless you can OHKO the opponent with Shadow Sneak. He switches back in in shield form again.

 

[TwoBit]

Guts Conkeldurr may be a possible check. It out-slows Slash and can hit back with the newly buffed Payback which is now unresisted by steel. It could go either way, depending on the mechanics of King's Shield. It also has Earthquake which isn't a contact move.

 

[Millky95]

The best way to get around Aegislash is with Special moves. You avoid King's Shield's Attack drop so you can still hit hard
252 SpA Life Orb Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD (custom): 164-192 (50.61 - 59.25%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD (custom): 187-222 (57.71 - 68.51%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD (custom): 120-143 (37.03 - 44.13%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

Now lets assuming it's in Blade Mode:
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD (custom): 257-304 (79.32 - 93.82%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD (custom): 402-474 (124.07 - 146.29%) -- guaranteed OHKO

And what does it do back?
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb (custom) Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 208-247 (64.39 - 76.47%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb (custom) Night Slash vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 270-320 (89.7 - 106.31%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb (custom) Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 234-276 (77.74 - 91.69%) -- 31.25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

While yes it does a lot of damage, at times it doesn't have great defenses. I personally believe Slashy is left for late game where it can sweep with Shadow Sneak as that is where it'll be more effective.

 

[silenced]

Type synergy wise, hydreigon pairs up incredibly well with aegislash, being immune to EQ through levitate, while resisting dark, fire and ghost moves that would otherwise harm it, as well as resisting several other potent special attacking types such as electric and water. Meanwhile, Aegislash has no problem tanking bug, dragon, fairy, ice and fighting moves. Hydreigon would offer a number of ways to support aegislash

-Simple wall-breaking abilities to get past problematic pokemon such as heatran, or just weaken things in general to aid in sweeping.
-U-turn support to get aegislash back in safely or to have it tank something hydreigon is weak to.
-Tailwind could offer an interesting gimmick in giving aegislash a few turns to outspeed would be checks and nail them with a move of choice (e.g iron head on mamoswine hitting it before it can EQ you)

Although most of this falls flat against good prediction, or pokemon who have the moves to hit both, but worth a thought anyways.

 

[TEzeon]

This guy really wants Substitute so he can't be turned into a sitting duck by opposing subbers. With Substitute, every single turn comes down to prediction, which will benefit the player who outpredicts more often.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 Spd
Impish Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- King's Shield

The speed can let you get the heads up on enemy Aegislash, as well as a few other neat things in the 60-70 range that don't run speed, so you can Substitute first. I don't think there is any need to run attack EVs on him, since the form change along with Swords Dance will give you all the power you need. He is walled completely by Normal Pokemon, so be aware of that. His biggest strength is that he can block Rapid Spin, cannot be poisoned, and cannot be trapped by Mega Gengar or Magnezone.

A top tier threat for sure, I'm really looking forward to using Aegislash!

 

[Coogrr]

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 152 HP / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow claw
- Sacred Sword
- Automize
- Swords Dance

The lost HP EVs don't lose him all that much, they do allow a slightly easier 2kho from Kyurem-B earth power, but not many other significant OH or 2H ko's that I noticed.

The speed EV's allow him to outspeed up to scarf magnezone after just one boost if I did my calculations right and the perfect fighting/ghost coverage allows him to ko a large portion of the tier after one boost. The loss of king's shield means that he can't return to shield form after switching, but I think this set could be a real threat. It will require some good team synergy to use properly and may not end up being the most useful set, but it could find a place on some teams.

 

[Othesemo]

Aegislash is confirmed to learn Shadow Claw by TM. With that in mind, it might be worthwhile to consider it instead of Shadow Sneak.

Switch in, Swords Dance, Shadow Claw/Sacred Sword. If you predict they're attacking, use King's Shield to repeat, or attack again if they are switching or not attacking.

I dunno, Shadow Sneak has a lot of utility. Having a decently powerful priority attack means that you may be able to KO any pokemon only just able to tank a (possibly +2) Sacred Sword without getting hit first or being forced to spend a turn protecting. It also means that Gengar can't trap and revenge kill you, which it pretty big given how much hype he's getting. For something as slow and powerful as Aegislash, priority might be too useful to pass up.

edit @ below- forgot about that. Gengar can't force you out, then.

 

[BlankZero]

Does that also apply to Pursuit?

I'd wager less offensive sets could and should run minimum speed with 0 EV and IVs to guarantee you go second, thus attacking in Sword form and absorbing the damage in Shield forme.

Inb4 Lagging Tail Aegislash!

In all seriousness though (and maybe it is just me) I feel like Aegislash is going to be one of the few Pokemon that can run the same set in Singles and Doubles and still be viable.

I feel like Automotize sets will tend to lack King's Shield for the most part, instead favoring more of a Hit and Run play style. Something like Max Atk/Spe with Sacred Sword/Shadow Sneak(Night Slash)/Automotize/Iron Head will be very nice coverage with a Priority option should you need it.

SubSD Aegislash is what I am most looking forward to however. With just Shadow Sneak, you threaten a ton of things while having that beautiful 1 attack immunity. Along with its great typing, which will likely force a few switches, gaining free Sub Turns, once it's behind the Sub, you can Dance up and start wrecking with Priority from that lovely base 150 attack. Something that needs confirmation though: does the King's Shield attack drop happen through Substitute? Or does Sub block the stat drop going out as well as ones coming in?

Finally, what's the likelyhood of seeing something like this?

Aegislash @ Choice Band
Trait: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Filler (Explosion could be fun if it learns it)

Depending on what TMs, Tutor Moves and Egg Moves Aegislash receives (WoW and Pain Split from Duskull Line? Unconfirmed Shift Gear?), Aegislash has a ton of potential, a unique typing and ability, multiple viable sets, and it looks super awesome to boot.

Really hoping GF didn't drop the ball on this guy.