Gen 2 Shuckle (NU) [QC 2/2] [GP 1/1]

[Earthworm]

This analysis was QCed by ReeceHughes externally prior to being posted here.

[SET]
name: Rollout
move 1: Defense Curl
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Rollout
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers

[SET COMMENTS]
Shuckle is by far the bulkiest Pokemon available in GSC NU and offers its team a crucial resistance to Normal. Its amazing defenses allow it to act as an answer to virtually any Pokemon that can't boost or hit it super effectively, including major threats like Xatu, Fearow, Weezing, and Stantler. With Defense Curl-boosted Rollout, it can also pose a legitimate threat despite its abysmal Attack. As Rollout locks Shuckle in and prevents it from switching out, it is important to make sure that foes are unable to take it down with STAB Water attacks, so Toxic can be used to force a situation where the foe will need to use Rest or switch out, which can allow Shuckle the opportunity to get rolling. Defense Curl is chosen over Curse because of its high PP count, which allows Shuckle to reliably PP stall Normal-type foes without having to lock itself into Rollout.

One should not bring in Shuckle expecting to be able to immediately sweep, however. Almost all teams have significant threats to it, and in the absence of a measure to eliminate them, Water-types such as Octillery and Dewgong with Rest will be a major long-term pain for Shuckle. Indeed, in some circumstances, Shuckle should expect never to be able to sweep. Nevertheless, Shuckle is exceptionally good at taking attacks for the purpose of PP stalling. To allow it to do this for as long as possible, having a spinner is very helpful, and Spikes will also help Shuckle's team by preventing foes from simply switching to conserve PP. Therefore, Pineco is an excellent partner, and it can even use Explosion to remove Water-types. Rock-types such as Sudowoodo, Graveler, and Pupitar pose a threat to Shuckle with their STAB Rock attacks, especially if they have Curse to boost their Attack. Additionally, Fire-types with Sunny Day or Growth, such as Magmar and Flareon, can boost the power of Fire Blast to a level that can 3HKO Shuckle. To address these threats, it is crucial to pair Shuckle with a Water-type; some examples of good choices include Octillery, Azumarill, and Chinchou. When paired with Reflect and Light Screen users such as Pineco and Azumarill, it should be noted that a Shuckle with maximum defensive stats will have its defenses roll over behind screens, leaving it incredibly vulnerable. Ninetales is useful as a teammate for dealing with Fire-types, and it can also deal with powerful special attackers such as Xatu and Magnemite decently if Shuckle is not in a position to do so. Fighting-types with Meditate such as Primeape and Hitmonlee threaten Shuckle if they catch it at a lower health point without Defense boosts. Pokemon that resist Fighting, such as Xatu, Gloom, Exeggcute, Weezing, and Arbok, make for useful partners to deal with these threats.

[SET]
name: Defensive Pivot
move 1: Toxic
move 2: Encore
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk
item: Leftovers

[SET COMMENTS]
With this set, Shuckle is able to generate opportunities for teammates by locking foes into moves with Encore and spreading poison with Toxic. It retains its ability to switch into a wide variety of threats, and it can better deal with certain foes that set up boosts, such as Kingler and Primeape, thanks to Encore, although it still isn't entirely safe from them. Rest and Sleep Talk allow Shuckle to continue to dissuade foes from setting up or taking advantage of it, with minimal downtime.

Water-types such as Octillery and Chinchou are crucial teammates for Shuckle, as they can handle the majority of foes that threaten it, including Octillery, Sudowoodo, and Sunny Day Magmar. It is important to control entry hazards as much as possible when using this set to prevent the opponent from switching to stop Shuckle from being effective. Teammates that work best when they have free turns, such as Kingler, Primeape, Flareon, Magnemite, and Graveler, make for good partners for Encore Shuckle.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Earthworm, 15210]]
- Quality checked by: [[ReeceHughes, 508601], [cherryb0ng, 421511]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Muk, 33374]]

 

[cherryb0ng]

I suppose it's worth mentioning that Defense curl doubles the initial power of Rollout, as another reason to opt for it over Curse. We're here to let people that might not know how to play learn, after all. (Now I sound nitpicky).

[SET]1



Fighting-types with Meditate such as Primeape and Hitmonlee also threaten Shuckle if they catch it at a lower health point without Defense boosts. Pokemon that resist Fighting, such as Xatu, Gloom, Weezing, and Arbok, make for useful partners to deal with these threats.

Would Exeggcute ever be worth a mention? I happen to have a team with Eggy Arbok and Shuckle and it's not complete garbage. Let me know what you think.

[SET]
name: Defensive Pivot
move 1: Toxic
move 2: Encore
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk
item: Leftovers

As far as Primeape and Kingler are concerned you would still have to scout for their setup moves before you could assess when the opponent is actually going to use a Sub, Meditate or Swords Dance. This leads to another problem. You are forced to make a callout with Shuckle's slow Encore, something which isn't likely to happen more than once in a battle due to this set's complete lack of pressure and if you make the wrong prediction you can become setup fodder. That's not like Shuckle isn't capable of handling it, because it doesn't give a crap about +6 Kingler but your Shuckle may not be able to maintain the pressure for ever so you may eventually end up conceding momentum. Maybe Flash could be worth a slash here over Encore.

Other stupid question but since screens on stall isn't uncommon, it may be relevant. Do you think you should mention the Def and Spdef rolling over if the Shuckle user chooses to run something like Azumarill with light screen or Pineco with reflect?

 

[Earthworm]

I suppose it's worth mentioning that Defense curl doubles the initial power of Rollout, as another reason to opt for it over Curse. We're here to let people that might not know how to play learn, after all. (Now I sound nitpicky).

Added two and a half words to make this clear.

Would Exeggcute ever be worth a mention? I happen to have a team with Eggy Arbok and Shuckle and it's not complete garbage. Let me know what you think.

Added.

As far as Primeape and Kingler are concerned you would still have to scout for their setup moves before you could assess when the opponent is actually going to use a Sub, Meditate or Swords Dance. This leads to another problem. You are forced to make a callout with Shuckle's slow Encore, something which isn't likely to happen more than once in a battle due to this set's complete lack of pressure and if you make the wrong prediction you can become setup fodder. That's not like Shuckle isn't capable of handling it, because it doesn't give a crap about +6 Kingler but your Shuckle may not be able to maintain the pressure for ever so you may eventually end up conceding momentum. Maybe Flash could be worth a slash here over Encore.

I don't think Flash could replace Encore on this set, but I added a concession about Primeape and Kingler not being completely handled just because you have Encore. You don't need to scout for their moves really, you just use Encore when you switch into them and then react accordingly to whatever move got selected.

Other stupid question but since screens on stall isn't uncommon, it may be relevant. Do you think you should mention the Def and Spdef rolling over if the Shuckle user chooses to run something like Azumarill with light screen or Pineco with reflect?

Added. No such thing as a stupid question. Or if there is, this wasn't one of them.

edit: Confirmed with cherryb0ng that this is now QC 2/2.

 

[Muk]

GP 1/1

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[SET]
name: Rollout
move 1: Defense Curl
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Rollout
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers

[SET COMMENTS]
Shuckle is by far the bulkiest Pokemon available in GSC NU and offers its team a crucial resistance to Normal. Its amazing defenses allow it to act as an answer to virtually any Pokemon that can't boost or hit it super effectively, including major threats like Xatu, Fearow, Weezing, and Stantler. With Defense Curl-boosted Rollout, it can also pose a legitimate threat despite its abysmal Attack. As Rollout locks Shuckle in and prevents it from switching out, it is important to make sure that foes are unable to take it down with STAB Water attacks, so Toxic can be used to force a situation where the foe will need to use Rest or switch out, which can allow Shuckle the opportunity to get rolling. Defense Curl is chosen over Curse because of its high PP count, which allows Shuckle to reliably PP stall Normal-type foes without having to lock itself into Rollout.

One should not bring in Shuckle expecting to be able to immediately sweep, however. Almost all teams have threats that will be able to significantly threatens to it, and in the absence of a measure to eliminate them, Water-types such as Octillery and Dewgong with Rest will be a major long-term(add hyphen) pain for Shuckle. Indeed, in some circumstances, Shuckle should expect never to be able to sweep. Nevertheless, Shuckle is exceptionally good at taking attacks for the purpose of PP stalling. To allow it to do this for as long as possible, having a spinner is very helpful, and Spikes will also help Shuckle's team by preventing foes from simply switching to conserve PP. Therefore, Pineco is an excellent partner, and it can potentially even use Explosion to remove Water-types. Rock-types such as Sudowoodo, Graveler, and Pupitar also pose a threat to Shuckle with their STAB Rock attacks, especially if they have Curse to boost their Attack. MoreoverAdditionally, Fire-types with Sunny Day or Growth, such as Magmar and Flareon, can boost the power level of Fire Blast to a level that can 3HKO Shuckle. To address these threats, it is crucial to pair Shuckle with a Water-type; some examples of good choices include Octillery, Azumarill, and Chinchou. It should be noted that wWhen paired with Reflect and Light Screen users such as Pineco and Azumarill, it should be noted that a Shuckle with maximum defensive stats will have themits defenses roll over(add space) behind screens, leaving it incredibly vulnerable. Ninetales is also useful as a teammate for dealing with Fire-types, and it can also deal with powerful special attackers such as Xatu and Magnemite decently well if Shuckle is not in a position to do so. Fighting-types with Meditate such as Primeape and Hitmonlee also threaten Shuckle if they catch it at a lower health point without Defense boosts.; Pokemon that resist Fighting, such as Xatu, Gloom, Exeggcute, Weezing, and Arbok, make for useful partners to deal with these threats.

[SET]
name: Defensive Pivot
move 1: Toxic
move 2: Encore
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk
item: Leftovers

[SET COMMENTS]
With this set, Shuckle is able to generate opportunities for teammates by locking foes into moves with Encore and spreading poison with Toxic. It retains its ability to switch into a wide variety of threats, and it can better deal with certain foes that set up boosts, such as Kingler and Primeape, thanks to Encore, although it still isn't entirely safe from them. Rest and Sleep Talk allow Shuckle to continue to dissuade foes from setting up or taking advantage of Shuckleit, with minimal downtime.

Water-types such as Octillery and Chinchou are crucial teammates for Shuckle, as they can handle the majority of foes that can threaten Shuckle, some of whichit, includeing Octillery, Sudowoodo, and Sunny Day Magmar. It is important to control entry hazards as much as possible when using this set to prevent the opponent from switching to stop Shuckle from being effective. Teammates that work best when they have free turns, such as Kingler, Primeape, Flareon, Magnemite, and Graveler, make for good partners for Encore Shuckle.

 

[Earthworm]

Thank you, Muk!

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