[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 1 onwards
**Price Range**: Banned or 19-18 points
**Overview**: Rather than overwhelming strength or versatility, Shaymin-Sky is typically banned for its ability to land powerful secondary attack effects. Its amazing Speed stat and access to Serene Grace enable frequent flinches and Special Defense drops with STAB Air Slash and Seed Flare, granting it its infamous ability to muscle through foes. However, Shaymin-Sky’s reliance on luck gives it both a high ceiling and a low floor. It usually needs to score multiple secondary effects to secure KO’s, and with its frail defenses, it’s easily forced out or KO’d itself if these ever fail to activate. Shaymin-Sky’s movepool is supplemented by strong utility like Leech Seed and Healing Wish, but its inconsistency as an attacker means it frequently feels obligated to run them to guarantee value in a game.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Revenge Killer**: With a Choice Scarf, Shaymin-Sky outspeeds the vast majority of the metagame. It can make use of its STAB moves, coming off a respectable Special Attack stat, to threaten KOs on frail or weakened foes. While Shaymin-Sky’s attack movepool is limited, said STAB moves and Earth Power are often enough to hit most Pokémon.
**Offensive Utility / Support**: Shaymin-Sky’s natural Speed in combination with Leech Seed and Substitute allow it to take advantage of bulky walls, forcing them to take significant damage over multiple turns without it being threatened back. These sets often choose Leftovers to maximize recovery while using Substitute.
**Fast Wallbreaker**: Shaymin-Sky pressures opposing teams by taking advantage of its amazing Speed tier and the secondary effects of its main STAB moves in Air Slash and Seed Flare. Should Shaymin-Sky’s usefulness begin to look limited, it can use a fast Healing Wish to restore a teammate and maintain momentum.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Air Slash, Seed Flare, Energy Ball, Giga Drain
**Setup Moves**: Growth, Trailblaze, Swords Dance
**Utility Moves**: Leech Seed, Healing Wish, Substitute, Synthesis
**Coverage**: Earth Power, Psychic, Dazzling Gleam
Niche Moves
========
**Tailwind**: Although Shaymin-Sky is already fast, Tailwind lets it outspeed practically all foes or bolster its teammates, especially with Healing Wish.
**Endeavor**: Bulky walls will often attempt to stifle Shaymin-Sky, but it can use Endeavor to weaken them for a teammate. This pairs best with Substitute.
Common Items
========
**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf bolsters Shaymin-Sky’s already-great base Speed, letting it better threaten flinches and act as a revenge killer even against boosted foes.
**Leftovers**: Leftovers gives Shaymin-Sky an additional source of recovery on Leech Seed + Substitute sets, allowing it more turns to accrue damage on walls or slower attackers.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Shaymin-Sky’s weakness to Stealth Rock is alleviated by Heavy-Duty Boots, keeping it out of range of attacks and allowing it multiple switches throughout a game.
**Choice Specs**: Shaymin-Sky can enhance its breaking potential with Choice Specs, dealing significantly more damage and reducing its reliance on secondary effects.
Niche Items
========
**Other Damage-boosting Items**: Items like Life Orb or Metronome can give Shaymin-Sky a needed power boost without locking it to one move.
**Salac Berry**: Shaymin-Sky can use this with Endure to gain a speed boost without being choice-locked, potentially allowing it to outspeed an opposing revenge killer or clean a game.
**Lum Berry**: Lum Berry can buy Shaymin-Sky a free turn versus support-oriented foes trying to limit it with status moves like Toxic or Thunder Wave.
Tera
========
While Shaymin-Sky is usually banned from Terastallizing, if allowed, it can choose Tera Ground to boost Earth Power and flip its Stealth Rock weakness or Tera Fairy to gain a strong resist profile and grant Dazzling Gleam a STAB bonus. Tera Electric can offer both valuable coverage and a good defensive typing against foes that Shaymin-Sky’s usual movepool struggles with. It can also use STAB Tera typings to boost its abilities as a breaker and revenge killer.
Draft Strategy
========
**Entry Hazard Control**: Entry hazard setters such as Ting-Lu, Garchomp, and Glimmora rack up chip damage to help Shaymin-Sky KO foes, especially those holding Covert Cloak rather than Heavy-Duty Boots. Shaymin-Sky likewise appreciates Stealth Rocks staying off its own field, as its weakness to them can severely limit its switch-ins and the hits it can take. Hazard removers like Great Tusk and Iron Treads can help keep it healthy.
**Knock Off Users**: Bulky foes will often run Covert Cloak to negate Shaymin-Sky’s secondary attack effects; Pokemon that can pressure them with Knock Off, such as Weavile and Tinkaton, are highly appreciated. While all Knock Off users are helpful, the best can ideally force in and hit the same bulky Pokémon that check Shaymin-Sky.
**Physical Wallbreakers**: Foes will often invest in Special Defense against Shaymin-Sky, so physical wallbreakers like Roaring Moon, Urshifu-R and Ogerpon-W can pressure them and leave holes in the opposing team for Shaymin-Sky to clean up.
**Pivots**: Shaymin-Sky's frailty can make it difficult to find switch-in opportunities. Pokemon like Rotom-W, Cinderace or Galarian Slowking can help bring it on the field safely.
Checks and Counters
========
**Covert Cloak**: Shaymin-Sky is highly reliant on secondary effects to break foes, so Covert Cloak heavily cuts into its effectiveness as an attacker. Bulky walls like Galarian Slowking or Jirachi can use this item to check Shaymin-Sky much more comfortably.
**Stealth Rock**: Shaymin-Sky’s natural Stealth Rock weakness makes it take sizable damage upon entering the field. Items other than Heavy-Duty Boots are often desired for Shaymin-Sky, meaning Stealth Rock can severely limit the frequency of its switch-ins.
**Priority**: Powerful or super effective priority attacks from Pokemon like Weavile, Dragonite and Scizor bypass Shaymin-Sky’s Speed, targeting its weak defenses to land a KO.
**Bulky Flying-types**: While many Flying-type walls must run Heavy-Duty Boots rather than Covert Cloak, their natural bulk or resistances let them take multiple of Shaymin-Sky’s attacks while threatening it back with super effective STAB moves. These Pokemon include Zapdos, Corviknight and Moltres.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/agentflane.679988/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user2.200000
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.300000
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.400000
**Draft Order**: Round 1 onwards
**Price Range**: Banned or 19-18 points
**Overview**: Rather than overwhelming strength or versatility, Shaymin-Sky is typically banned for its ability to land powerful secondary attack effects. Its amazing Speed stat and access to Serene Grace enable frequent flinches and Special Defense drops with STAB Air Slash and Seed Flare, granting it its infamous ability to muscle through foes. However, Shaymin-Sky’s reliance on luck gives it both a high ceiling and a low floor. It usually needs to score multiple secondary effects to secure KO’s, and with its frail defenses, it’s easily forced out or KO’d itself if these ever fail to activate. Shaymin-Sky’s movepool is supplemented by strong utility like Leech Seed and Healing Wish, but its inconsistency as an attacker means it frequently feels obligated to run them to guarantee value in a game.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Revenge Killer**: With a Choice Scarf, Shaymin-Sky outspeeds the vast majority of the metagame. It can make use of its STAB moves, coming off a respectable Special Attack stat, to threaten KOs on frail or weakened foes. While Shaymin-Sky’s attack movepool is limited, said STAB moves and Earth Power are often enough to hit most Pokémon.
**Offensive Utility / Support**: Shaymin-Sky’s natural Speed in combination with Leech Seed and Substitute allow it to take advantage of bulky walls, forcing them to take significant damage over multiple turns without it being threatened back. These sets often choose Leftovers to maximize recovery while using Substitute.
**Fast Wallbreaker**: Shaymin-Sky pressures opposing teams by taking advantage of its amazing Speed tier and the secondary effects of its main STAB moves in Air Slash and Seed Flare. Should Shaymin-Sky’s usefulness begin to look limited, it can use a fast Healing Wish to restore a teammate and maintain momentum.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Air Slash, Seed Flare, Energy Ball, Giga Drain
**Setup Moves**: Growth, Trailblaze, Swords Dance
**Utility Moves**: Leech Seed, Healing Wish, Substitute, Synthesis
**Coverage**: Earth Power, Psychic, Dazzling Gleam
Niche Moves
========
**Tailwind**: Although Shaymin-Sky is already fast, Tailwind lets it outspeed practically all foes or bolster its teammates, especially with Healing Wish.
**Endeavor**: Bulky walls will often attempt to stifle Shaymin-Sky, but it can use Endeavor to weaken them for a teammate. This pairs best with Substitute.
Common Items
========
**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf bolsters Shaymin-Sky’s already-great base Speed, letting it better threaten flinches and act as a revenge killer even against boosted foes.
**Leftovers**: Leftovers gives Shaymin-Sky an additional source of recovery on Leech Seed + Substitute sets, allowing it more turns to accrue damage on walls or slower attackers.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Shaymin-Sky’s weakness to Stealth Rock is alleviated by Heavy-Duty Boots, keeping it out of range of attacks and allowing it multiple switches throughout a game.
**Choice Specs**: Shaymin-Sky can enhance its breaking potential with Choice Specs, dealing significantly more damage and reducing its reliance on secondary effects.
Niche Items
========
**Other Damage-boosting Items**: Items like Life Orb or Metronome can give Shaymin-Sky a needed power boost without locking it to one move.
**Salac Berry**: Shaymin-Sky can use this with Endure to gain a speed boost without being choice-locked, potentially allowing it to outspeed an opposing revenge killer or clean a game.
**Lum Berry**: Lum Berry can buy Shaymin-Sky a free turn versus support-oriented foes trying to limit it with status moves like Toxic or Thunder Wave.
Tera
========
While Shaymin-Sky is usually banned from Terastallizing, if allowed, it can choose Tera Ground to boost Earth Power and flip its Stealth Rock weakness or Tera Fairy to gain a strong resist profile and grant Dazzling Gleam a STAB bonus. Tera Electric can offer both valuable coverage and a good defensive typing against foes that Shaymin-Sky’s usual movepool struggles with. It can also use STAB Tera typings to boost its abilities as a breaker and revenge killer.
Draft Strategy
========
**Entry Hazard Control**: Entry hazard setters such as Ting-Lu, Garchomp, and Glimmora rack up chip damage to help Shaymin-Sky KO foes, especially those holding Covert Cloak rather than Heavy-Duty Boots. Shaymin-Sky likewise appreciates Stealth Rocks staying off its own field, as its weakness to them can severely limit its switch-ins and the hits it can take. Hazard removers like Great Tusk and Iron Treads can help keep it healthy.
**Knock Off Users**: Bulky foes will often run Covert Cloak to negate Shaymin-Sky’s secondary attack effects; Pokemon that can pressure them with Knock Off, such as Weavile and Tinkaton, are highly appreciated. While all Knock Off users are helpful, the best can ideally force in and hit the same bulky Pokémon that check Shaymin-Sky.
**Physical Wallbreakers**: Foes will often invest in Special Defense against Shaymin-Sky, so physical wallbreakers like Roaring Moon, Urshifu-R and Ogerpon-W can pressure them and leave holes in the opposing team for Shaymin-Sky to clean up.
**Pivots**: Shaymin-Sky's frailty can make it difficult to find switch-in opportunities. Pokemon like Rotom-W, Cinderace or Galarian Slowking can help bring it on the field safely.
Checks and Counters
========
**Covert Cloak**: Shaymin-Sky is highly reliant on secondary effects to break foes, so Covert Cloak heavily cuts into its effectiveness as an attacker. Bulky walls like Galarian Slowking or Jirachi can use this item to check Shaymin-Sky much more comfortably.
**Stealth Rock**: Shaymin-Sky’s natural Stealth Rock weakness makes it take sizable damage upon entering the field. Items other than Heavy-Duty Boots are often desired for Shaymin-Sky, meaning Stealth Rock can severely limit the frequency of its switch-ins.
**Priority**: Powerful or super effective priority attacks from Pokemon like Weavile, Dragonite and Scizor bypass Shaymin-Sky’s Speed, targeting its weak defenses to land a KO.
**Bulky Flying-types**: While many Flying-type walls must run Heavy-Duty Boots rather than Covert Cloak, their natural bulk or resistances let them take multiple of Shaymin-Sky’s attacks while threatening it back with super effective STAB moves. These Pokemon include Zapdos, Corviknight and Moltres.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/agentflane.679988/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user2.200000
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user3.300000
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/user4.400000
Last edited: