Shedinja Team

[deathville]

So I decided to make a team based on my favorite pokemon; Shedinja! The whole team is based on working around his major weaknesses (Entry Hazards, Weather), and Setting up my entry hazards (Because Shedinja causes a TON of switching)

I've had a lot of people forfeit against me, I think because my team has such aspects of unpredictability. And especially when the opponent has nothing against Shedinja. Xatu falls under that category as well; so many people are unaware that he has Magic Bounce because the only one commonly seen is Espeon. Here's my new edited team.

Tentacruel (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Toxic
- Scald
- Protect
- Rapid Spin

I swapped out Toxic Spikes for Toxic because I kept finding that I never had the opportunity to set them down, or at least set two layers down. Using Scald or switching always was the better option for me rather than laying down toxic spikes. Protect is to stall for Black Sludge/Leftovers recovery, as well as catch any unpredictable moves the opponent might use to kill me. And rapid spin is to get rid of the entry hazards that absolutely decimate Shedinja.

Shedinja @ Focus Sash
Trait: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
- Protect
- X-Scissor

The star of the team. Originally I had Swagger instead of Will-O-Wisp because it gave me more of a chance to stay in a fight against something that could kill me. But I found Swagger wasn't really helping much because I'd never have as many entry hazards as I'd wanted set up for the constant switching caused by the opponent to be worth it. Shadow Sneak and X-Scissor are key STAB attacks for Shedinja. Shadow Sneak has saved my butt so many times its crazy. And Protect is to scout on what the opponent is going to do as well as rack up burn damage.

The idea with Shedinja is that he will cause a lot of switches, racking up entry hazard damage. And I can burn the switch in with Will-O-Wisp, and protect, racking up some crazy residual damage.

Dugtrio (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
IVS: 0 Def/0 Sp. Def
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Sucker Punch
- Stone Edge

The main purpose of Dugtrio is to get rid of Tyranitar, who otherwise completely destroys Shedinja. I can switch in on any attacking move, survive with Focus Sash, and destroy it with Reversal. He's also good to trap other fast weak Pokemon that might be troubling my team.

Gave him 0 Def/0 Sp. Def IVs to really increase the chance of Focus Sash activating and powering my Reversal. Originally I had Stealth Rock instead of Sucker Punch, got rid of Stealth Rock for Sucker Punch, but I found that in many cases I'd already have Stealth Rock on the field thanks to them being Magic Bounced from my Xatu.

Politoed (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Focus Blast
- Hydro Pump

This is an offensive Politoed, to dish out as much damage as that froggy possibly can. My reasoning is that when the opponent switches in Tyranitar, I switch in Dugtrio, kill off Tyranitar, and then switch in Politoed to get rid of the sandstorm. After that, Politoed's survival isn't really that important, so he might as well inflict as much hurt as he can. Just switched Surf for Scald for increased burn percentage. When I really need a powerful attack I use Hydro Pump.

Xatu (M) @ Light Clay
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 156 Def / 104 SDef
Careful Nature (+Sp. Def, -SAtk)
- Light Screen
- U-turn
- Roost
- Night Shade

This guy. His magic bounce ability has been a godsend. Since most of the Stealth Rockers are very predictable, I've had much success in switching him into opposing Stealth Rocks and claiming them for my own. Since I have three Pokemon who can possibly inflict burn and cripple physical attackers, I got rid of Thunder Wave for Light Screen, to not conflict with statuses and cover Special attacks. The EVs are designed so that Xatu has slightly less Def than Sp. Def, giving Genesect a Download Attack boost and not Special Attack. Light Clay is there in order to extend Light Screen's duration. U-turn is very useful for scouting and getting another Pokemon switched in safely and Night Shade for consistent damage.

Ferrothorn (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock

This guy works amazing on my team. He can switch into a lot of attacks, and set up a ton entry hazards pretty easily. The constant rain halves fire attack damage, which is incredibly useful for his survivability. Leech Seed is to increase healing even more. Gyro Ball for an attacking move. The EVs/Nature ensure that again, Genesect doesn't obtain a special attack boost. Ferrothorn's Def becomes 328 and his Sp. Def becomes 331.


Sample battles

Here's some sample battles of my new team on Pokemon Online. Some of the attacks might be slightly different from little tweaks I'd made, but the core team remains intact. I thought it'd be useful if people could see it in action to know how it'll play.

WINS

ButterToast vs. Deathville

Duncan! vs. Deathville

NeonX vs. Deathville

meow7 vs. Deathville

Millenium Earl vs. Deathville

LOSSES

db_325 vs. Deathville

Noob slayer vs. Deathville

 

[undisputed]

Hey!

Solid looking team, and your idea has a lot of potential. Shedinja is a pretty unexplored Pokemon in OU, and it's mainly due to Sand Storm. Tons of offensive Rain teams can't even touch Shedinja which is pretty cool. The big thing I notice about your team is it's pretty defensive, but I don't think it's defensive enough. You're way to centralized on killing Tyranitar and keeping hazards off the field. Obviously you're going to need to do that with Shedinja on your team, but if you can't actually kill stuff, you're not going to last very long.

My first suggestion for you would be to change your Xatu slot to a Blissey or Chansey. My personal preference is Blissey because I like Leftovers. Sand can't beat me on switches that way. I'd use Stealth Rock / Softboiled / Seismic Toss / Toxic for your moves. Stealth Rock will help you get some more hazards because it frees up Ferrothorn to use Spikes. Blissey will also be your big Special wall. You're currently kind of weak to Tornadus, and Blissey can take on at least the Specs version. Blissey will just be a great all around special wall to take all Status using Special attackers (like Rotom-w).

Next, as I mentioned earlier, you should put Spikes on Ferrothorn. The extra hazards will help capitalize on switches, which is imperative for a Defensive team. If Shedinja works, it will certainly make the opponent switch, so hazards will be a big deal in that regard too.

After that, I'm not a huge fan of Dugtrio on this team. I can't really see the point. You'll definitely be able to wear down Tyranitar with hazards. I'm torn between suggesting a Ghost or some all purpose wall. Shedinja can certainly do the Spin Blocking in any weather that isn't Sand. I'm thinking that will be enough, but if it's not, you can certainly try Jellicent. Instead of Dugtrio, I'm thinking you could try Defensive Rotom-w. It's kind of a forgotten Pokemon these days as everyone opts for Specially Defensive, but it's still very good at annoying Sand Teams and checking weaker defensive threats. Additionally, you'll have a better chance to beat Tornadus-t and Keldeo without having to do a bunch of guessing.

Finally, you should definitely make Politoed a Defensive variant. It will be able to support you with Rain much longer, and on a Rain Stall team, that's about all you can ask for. You don't need to smack things around with boosted Hydro Pumps because your defensive Pokemon should be walling all the other Pokemon anyway.

Good luck!