Hey y'all! Looking through the analysis of X/Y I noticed that non have troubled themselves with making one for Shuckle. Which is of course understandable, since it has been one of the most useless pokemon since forever. But with this new generation Shuckle has received a new toy, one which it only share with Galvantula: Sticky Web. None can argue that Sticky Web har a lot of potential, although not being as game changing as one would first think.
At first I thought that the electric spider must be the best user of this new entry hazard and I got semi-satisfying results using it. But as an experiment I tried reinventing my team using Shuckle instead, mainly because it allowed me to put both my hazards, SWeb and SR, on the same pokemon, and I found the result much more satisfying. So without further ado, here is the Shuckle set I have been using in OU:
Shuckle
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name: Sticky Worm
move 1: Sticky Web
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Toxic
move 4: Power Split
ability: Sturdy
item: Leftovers
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP/ 4 Def/ 252 SpD
ivs: 0 Atk/ 0 SpA
The one thing that Shuckle can do is take some hits. With insanely humongous 230/230 defences it takes very little damage from most neutral hits and even with super effective attacks it is seldom 2HKO'ed. Unfortunately is base 20 HP ridiculously low and will forever keep Shuckle from being a wall. Sturdy is an amazing ability, giving you at least 1 turn of hazards should you misjudge the opponents power. Sticky Webs is the reason to use Shuckle, giving your team the ability to outspeed grounded pokes, and since SR is a must on most teams there is no reason to not give it to Shuckle. With 10/10 offensive stats, Toxic is the only way Shuckle will ever do damage to anything, but these pathetic offensive stats can be used with Power Split to cut the enemys offense in half and act like a pseudo-phazer.
This is the set I have been using with some success. Because of the popularity of Defog and Rapid Spin I try not using Shuckle as a suicide lead, but rather keep him alive with Wish support (Vaporeon is amazing for this as she resist steel and absorbs water attacks) until I can KO the opposing hazard removers, and then sweep the weakened team with help from Sticky Web.
If this was a real analysis I would add some slashes:
move 1: Sticky Web
move 2: Stealth Rock / Toxic
move 3: Toxic / Knock Off
move 4: Power Split / Knock Off / Infestation / Encore
If only SWeb is needed, Toxic should replace SR. Knock Off would then be the prefered option in the third slot as Shuckle is absolutely vurnerable to Taunt otherwise (a problem I am facing right now) and for this reason it can also replace Power Split in the fourth slot. The same goes for Infestation, although I'm not sure how good that would actually be.
Pros:
-Access to Sticky Web, which it only shares with Galvantula, Smeargle and some few idiotic bugs (Ariados is TERRIBLE and Leavanny and Masquerain aren't much better)
-Also access to Stealth Rock, which it only share with Smeargle of the above mentioned pokemon
-INSANE defencive stats
-Sturdy to insure at least putting up the web
Cons:
-NO offensive presence whatsoever
-Abysmal HP and no good resistances, somehow making its good defences mediocre
-Without Knock Off, it is completely shut down by taunt
-Nonexisting speed
Team Options:
-Vaporeon; Covers weaknesses and provide Wish support
-Slow offensive threats such as Tyranitar, Breloom and Azumarill who can take advantage of Sticky Web to sweep
-Fast pokemon who can benefit from SWeb to eliminate some faster pokes who would otherwise be checks (for example can Latios with hp fire punish Scarf Genesect who think U-Turn is the shit)
-Latios; generally appreciate Sticky Web as it can now outspeed some of the few pokes it couldn’t before, like Greninja, and outright sweep the remains of a weakened team without strong priority
I think that with the right set, Shuckle can have a niche in OU as the defensive counterpart to Galvantula, for more balanced teams build around Sticky Web. I you agree with me on this, I will be glad to work on finding this set (which will of course take true form as the meta develops) and write a full analysis at the time :)
Ideas, suggestions, comments???
