Pursuit my ass...
[Overview]
<p>Shaymin is a Pokemon designed to take on the omnipresent Water-types of OU. Its great all-around stats, useful ability, reliable recovery, and strong STAB all allow Shaymin to do this job effectively throughout the game. Its good coverage means that walling Shaymin is not the easiest task if the opponent lacks a dedicated special wall. While at first glance, Shaymin seems outclassed by the other Grass-type pixie of OU, Celebi, Shaymin has its perks. The lack of a Pursuit weakness allows Shaymin to play with less fear than Celebi when Tyranitar and Scizor are lurking in the shadows. Shaymin also has a powerful STAB attack with an amazing secondary effect, which sometimes enables it to get past would-be counters such as Latias and Ferrothorn in rain. Finally, Shaymin fares better against VoltTurn teams, as its lack of a double Bug weakness makes it able to tank some weak U-turns from the likes of Landorus and Jirachi, while also not fearing Gengar as much as Celebi does.</p>
<p>While all those traits prevent Shaymin from being outclassed, they don't make it an unequivocally better choice. Shaymin faces stiff competition from Celebi for a team slot, and due to its overall better typing and larger movepool, Celebi usually wins. Shaymin is also not so hard to switch into, as Latios, Latias, and special walls such as Jirachi, Chansey, and Blissey all wall it with relative ease. Depending on the Hidden Power it carries, Steel- or Dragon-types will wall Shaymin. Furthermore, because Shaymin relies on Hidden Power Fire to hurt Steel-types, the prevalence of rain often leaves it unable to effectively damage them. To top it off, mono-Grass typing is lackluster in OU, with a lot of weaknesses and poor STAB, leaving Shaymin very dependent on its coverage moves to do any real damage.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Seed Flare
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 224 HP / 188 SpA / 96 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Shaymin serves as a full counter to most Water-type Pokemon, excluding Life Orb Starmie and some Keldeo variants. Upon switching into most Water-types, Shaymin forces them out and tries to do as much damage to the opposition as possible with its coverage moves. Seed Flare is a powerful STAB move with a handy secondary effect that drops the opponent's Special Defense by two stages, occasionally letting Shaymin get past some of its checks and counters. Earth Power provides coverage against Fire- and Steel-type Pokemon, namely Heatran, Ninetales, and Jirachi. Hidden Power Ice gives Shaymin a way to hit the threatening Dragon-type Pokemon of OU, while Hidden Power Fire dents Ferrothorn, Scizor, Forretress, and Skarmory. Rest in tandem with Natural Cure provides reliable recovery, and makes sure that Shaymin will stick around long enough to prevent opposing Water-types from becoming a threat.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs enable Shaymin to OHKO Dragonite after Stealth Rock and outspeed Jolly Mamoswine, and the rest are thrown into HP. If using Hidden Power Fire, use a spread of 172 HP / 140 SpA / 196 Spe with a Modest nature. This spread allows Shaymin to OHKO 248 HP Scizor after Stealth Rock and outspeed Jolly Mamoswine, putting the leftover EVs in HP. Leftovers is the better item overall, aiding in its role as pivot and lessening the need to Rest, but Life Orb greatly improves Shaymin's power and shortens the list of Pokemon that can safely switch into Shaymin. An all out offensive or defensive spread can be used depending on your team's needs, but Shaymin works better as a tank due to its mediocrity as an all out attacker or wall. Air Slash is an option for coverage that hits Grass-types a little bit harder than Hidden Power while having a good flinch chance; it also allows Shaymin to hit Volcarona hard on the switch and OHKOes most Breloom.</p>
<p>Choice Band Tyranitar is a fantastic partner for Shaymin; it traps and weakens or OHKOs several obstacles to Shaymin, such as Latios, Latias, Chansey, and Blissey, while Shaymin easily takes on most Water- and Ground-types that threaten Tyranitar. Scizor can do the same jobs as Tyranitar, but has more difficulty coming in against Latios and Latias; however, it has the added benefit of being able to revenge kill slightly weakened Dragon-types with Bullet Punch. Make sure to pack a strong answer to Volcarona if you use Scizor, as it easily sets up on both Shaymin and Scizor. Any Terrakion variant is an effective way to deal with Chansey, Blissey, and Volcarona, while also taking care of Ferrothorn in rain, which Shaymin cannot break through. Heatran has excellent synergy with Shaymin, defending it from Steel-, Dragon-, and Fire-types, while Shaymin easily takes the Water- and Ground-type attacks that Heatran attracts. Another useful teammate is Gyarados. The offensive sets can switch into Scizor, Jirachi, Volcarona, Blissey, and Chansey and proceed to set up, while the defensive set checks most of Shaymin's switch-ins such as Latias, Volcarona, physical Dragon-types, and Scizor. Last but not least, a Rapid Spinner is always appeciated as a teammate, because Shaymin tends to get set up on by popular hazard setters. Tentacruel is the best option for rain teams, while Starmie is superior for sand and weatherless teams.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>There are a few more options that Shaymin can utilize. Aromatherapy, Tailwind, Healing Wish, Substitute, and Toxic are all viable moves that Shaymin can use over a coverage move or Rest, and each has its value. Aromatherapy is appreciated in any balanced team that has problems with status, Tailwind is good if Shaymin has partners that hit hard but lack Speed, Healing Wish can give a sweeper a second chance to sweep, Substitute makes good use of the switches that Shaymin forces, and Toxic cripples some of Shaymin's usual switch-ins such as Latios, Latias, Kyurem-B, Ninetales, and Volcarona. Shaymin can pull off a set with Leech Seed and Substitute, but this strategy is subpar in OU, and is done better by other Pokemon such as Abomasnow and Venusaur; these Pokemon can hit opposing Grass-types harder, the first due to STAB-boosted Blizzard, and the latter due to sun-boosted Hidden Power Fire.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Chansey and Blissey are the best counters to Shaymin, as they are the only Pokemon that remain relatively safe even if Seed Flare's secondary effect activates. Latias, Kyurem-B, Kyurem, and specially defensive Jirachi are also good counters, as they completely wall Shaymin without a Special Defense drop from Seed Flare, and can either hurt it badly or set up on it. Latios is one the best checks to Shaymin, as the only way that Shaymin can do any significant damage to it is with Hidden Power Ice and Life Orb, and Latios is able to either OHKO Shaymin or force it to use Rest. Volcarona is a very good switch-in as well, provided Stealth Rock is off the field, as it takes little to nothing from any of Shaymin's attacks and procceeds to set up. Likewise, Ninetales is a pretty safe switch-in to Shaymin, as long as Stealth Rock is off the field and it avoids Earth Power. Sun teams in general are problematic for Shaymin, as they are filled with Fire-, Grass-, and Dragon-type Pokemon that can hurt Shaymin greatly and easily take its attacks, while outspeeding it most of the time. The rest of the checks to Shaymin depend on the type of Hidden Power that it runs. If Hidden Power Ice is used, Ferrothorn, Scizor, Forretress, Skarmory, and Bronzong wall it, while with Hidden Power Fire most Dragon-types shut Shaymin down. Skarmory, Broznong, and Ferrothorn don't even mind Hidden Power Fire if rain is in play, making it even harder for Shaymin to get past them. Of course, each of those checks can be beaten if Seed Flare lowers their Special Defense. Lastly, Shaymin is revenge killed by any faster Pokemon that can hit it very hard or OHKO it, such as Choice Scarf Heatran, Choice Band Terrakion, Tornadus, and Victini.</p>
