Shuckle (OU) QC: 0/2

[Aaronboyer]

[OVERVIEW]

• At first glance, Shuckle seems like the ultimate wall with its gargantuan defenses and decent defensive typing, giving it a key resistance to Normal. Upon second inspection, however, Shuckle falters as a wall due to its pitiful HP and lack of reliable recovery options outside of Rest. Shuckle is also susceptible to Water- and Rock-types such as Starmie, Suicune, Vaporeon, Tyranitar, and Golem, forcing Shuckle out.
• While Shuckle has some unique support option such as Wrap and Encore, its pitiful Speed means Shuckle is extremely reliant on predicting correctly to make use of them.
• Most of all, Shuckle requires an immense amount of team support to fully function, and when its fully functioning, it's still relying on stall tactics, whereas most other defensive Pokemon such as Skarmory and Umbreon are self-sufficient.
• Nevertheless, Shuckle is still a fantastic check to Curse Snorlax, one of the tier's most threatening Pokemon.

[SET]
name: Professional Curler
move 1: Defense Curl
move 2: Toxic / Encore
move 3: Flash / Wrap
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

• Defense Curl can be used to boost Shuckle's Defense stat twice before maximizing out and allows Shuckle to take on offensive behemoths such as Snorlax and Heracross
• Toxic badly poisons foes such as Exeggutor and Rhydon as they switch in.
• Encore locks Shuckle's foes such as Rest Raikou and Blissey into their non-attacking moves, allowing Shuckle to switch out freely without fear of its incoming teammate taking a hit.
• Flash lowers Shuckle's foes' accuracy, potentially generating free turns for Shuckle while its foes repeatedly miss and cannot switch out due to Wrap.
• Wrap traps Shuckle's foes and inflicts residual damage against them, and even works well in tandem with Toxic to slowly but surely whittle away at its foes.
• Rest restores Shuckle's health and makes it fall fast asleep, allowing it to continue checking Pokemon such as Exeggutor.
• Leftovers gradually restores Shuckle's health over time, preventing Shuckle from having to use Rest as often, which may otherwise incapacitate it.
• Shuckle's primary purpose is to trap its foes, inflict them with Wrap and Toxic recoil, and restore its health with Rest. Shuckle should avoid conflicts with Pokemon that have Toxic immunities, commonly run Heal Bell, or commonly utilize RestTalk.

Team Options
========

• Shuckle fits on more defensively-inclined teams, so having dedicated physical and special walls such as Skarmory and Raikou can ease pressure off of Shuckle to check all of its foes.
• Heal Bell support from either Blissey or Miltank is important for alleviating the Sleep status from Shuckle and its teammates after they've used Rest.
• Spikes and Rapid Spin support from Pokemon such as Cloyster and Forretress can give Shuckle's team a leg up trying to wear the opposition down.
• Bulky win-cons such as Curse Steelix or Snorlax can take advantage of Shuckle wearing down the opposition to set up and sweep.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Protect could be utilized to further inflict Toxic recoil on opponents and gain additional Leftovers recovery, but Shuckle doesn't have room on its moveset for it.
• A set consisting of Rollout, Defense Curl, Rest, and Sleep Talk could be utilized, but it takes an extremely long amount of time to get the ball rolling, and being locked into Rollout leaves Shuckle open to attacks and getting worn down too quickly.
• Sleep Talk could also theoretically be utilized in combination with Rest, but again Shuckle is already quite strapped for moves as it is.
• A Miracle Berry could alleviate Shuckle from its Sleep status after using Rest, but it only works once, and Shuckle will likely have to Rest multiple times per game. Furthermore, Shuckle would miss the gradual recovery it receives from Leftovers, and it would have to Rest even more often.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Steelix, Skarmory, and Forretress have insane Defense, resist Wrap, are immune to Toxic, and can take advantage of Shuckle's passivity to set up with Curse or Spikes, respectively, although they must watch out for Encore.

**Ghost-types**: Gengar and Misdreavus cannot be trapped by Shuckle due to their immunity to Wrap and can easily trap Shuckle themselves with the combination of Mean Look and Perish Song, although again they must be wary of Encore. In addition, Gengar is also immune to Toxic due to its secondary Poison typing.

**RestTalk Users**: RestTalk users such as Zapdos, Raikou, and Suicune are all unfazed by Toxic and can restore all the health they lose from Wrap recoil. However, they don't appreciate being locked into Rest by Encore, meaning they have to almost immediately switch out against Shuckle after they Rest.

**Poison-types**: Poison-types such as Tentacruel and the aforementioned Gengar are immune to Toxic and take very little from Wrap. Tentacruel in particular has to be careful though about being locked into Substitute or Swords Dance with Encore if it attempts to set up on Shuckle.

**Water-types**: Water-types such as Starmie and the aforementioned Suicune can 3HKO Shuckle with STAB Surf. Starmie doesn't like being badly poisoned, however.

**Tyrantiar**: Tyranitar threatens to 3HKO Shuckle with Rock Slide and can usually get a Curse off while scaring Shuckle away. Offensive Tyranitar doesn't appreciate being induced with Toxic status.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Aaronboyer, 239454]]
- Quality checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]

 

[Earthworm]

I stand to be proven wrong, but my current opinion is that the only really viable set Shuckle can run has Defense Curl. It needs to be able to easily PP stall 1-2 Pokemon to do its job properly, especially Fire/Electric move Snorlax. I also think that Toxic is a must have so that it can pose a realistic threat to Cloyster, Exeggutor, Rock-types, and basically anything that isn't immune. However, the last slot can be whatever. Wrap is fine, Encore is fine, Sleep Talk or Swagger or Mud Slap or Sandstorm or whatever is probably okay too. I think Rollout is probably a bit too situational (being generous here) and having a big button that you probably shouldn't ever be pressing doesn't seem like a great idea.

The viability of the Defense Curl set also depends on boost limits and critical hit mechanics. The current implementation on Showdown is ideal for Shuckle, since it can match the foe's attack boosts with its def boosts. This makes a huge difference when it comes to critical hits:
+5 Snorlax Double-Edge vs. +2 Shuckle on a critical hit: 128-151 (52.6 - 62.1%) -- 99.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+6 Snorlax Double-Edge vs. +6 Shuckle on a critical hit: 74-87 (30.4 - 35.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

Shuckle goes from certain to live through a triple crit to certain to die to a single crit + two non-crits.

If the correct mechanics are that Shuckle can't boost past +2, it loses its only real solid niche and should probably only get a lower tier analysis. I have asked Lavos to check this since he seems to be well-equipped for bug catching.

 

[Earthworm]

[OVERVIEW]

• At first glance, Shuckle seems like the ultimate wall with its gargantuan defenses and decent defensive typing, giving it a key resistance to Normal. Upon second inspection, however, Shuckle falters as a wall due to its pitiful HP and lack of reliable recovery options outside of Rest. Shuckle is also susceptible to Water- and Rock-types such as Starmie, Suicune, Vaporeon, Tyranitar, and Golem, forcing Shuckle out.

• 
  I think it's best to list Pokemon that usually run Rest here -- Shuckle could theoretically tank an attack in exchange for Toxic on the others. Also, Golem rarely uses Rock STAB so it definitely doesn't belong here.
  
  I also think the overall description here doesn't accurately describe why Shuckle falters, which is its lack of ability to inflict any meaningful damage or pressure on the opposing team.
  

  [*]While Shuckle has some unique support option such as Wrap and Encore, its pitiful Speed means Shuckle is extremely reliant on predicting correctly to make use of them.

  Predicting with these is not that important, the speed is a bigger deal for Encore whereas Wrap's primary function is forcing the opponent to use PP and prevent switching to get a teammate in with a favourable matchup.
  

  [*]Most of all, Shuckle requires an immense amount of team support to fully function, and when its fully functioning, it's still relying on stall tactics, whereas most other defensive Pokemon such as Skarmory and Umbreon are self-sufficient.

  Not really accurate; all of these need support against certain threats. The reason Shuckle is less viable is that Shuckle's means of applying pressure are even worse than these other very defensive Pokemon, which can at least Pursuit and phaze. Umbreon also has the threat of carrying MLPass until its set is revealed.
  

  [*]Nevertheless, Shuckle is still a fantastic check to Curse Snorlax, one of the tier's most threatening Pokemon.

This is good and well-positioned in the overview.

[SET]
name: Professional Curler
move 1: Defense Curl
move 2: Toxic / Encore
move 3: Flash / Wrap
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers

This is pretty much perfect in terms of move order imo, good job.

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

• Defense Curl can be used to boost Shuckle's Defense stat twice before maximizing out and allows Shuckle to take on offensive behemoths such as Snorlax and Heracross

• Shuckle doesn't want to face Heracross typically, unless it lands Flash on it or encores Curse. I'd just remove Heracross--it's actually one of Shuckle's biggest problems since it can pressure both Skarm and Shuckle with SToss. You can mention that it is chosen for its high PP though.
  

  [*]Toxic badly poisons foes such as Exeggutor and Rhydon as they switch in.
  [*]Encore locks Shuckle's foes such as Rest Raikou and Blissey into their non-attacking moves, allowing Shuckle to switch out freely without fear of its incoming teammate taking a hit.

  Toxic is all good, just mention that it's particularly good at restricting which Pokemon can come in on Shuckle by deterring Pokemon that don't have Rest. The examples for Encore probably aren't the ideal use cases. It would be best to encore Curse (e.g. Steelix) or an attacking move that one of your sweepers can take advantage of, like Thunder -> Marowak, HP Ice -> Drumlax.
  

  [*]Flash lowers Shuckle's foes' accuracy, potentially generating free turns for Shuckle while its foes repeatedly miss and cannot switch out due to Wrap.

  The two main use cases here are: 1. to foil the efforts of set up sweepers, since many would have a chance of beating Shuckle at max boosts but this is substantially reduced by Flash. Of particular note is the fact it loses to a crit from 999 attack lax if it does not have Flash. 2. Against foes like Gengar or a Zapdos switching in, to make a switch to Drumlax or Machamp a more threatening possibility. Or your spinner. It is also a strong deterrent against Explosion use.
  

  [*]Wrap traps Shuckle's foes and inflicts residual damage against them, and even works well in tandem with Toxic to slowly but surely whittle away at its foes.

  I mentioned Wrap's main purposes earlier. This is still accurate though.
  

  [*]Rest restores Shuckle's health and makes it fall fast asleep, allowing it to continue checking Pokemon such as Exeggutor.
  [*]Leftovers gradually restores Shuckle's health over time, preventing Shuckle from having to use Rest as often, which may otherwise incapacitate it.

  These are fine.
  

  [*]Shuckle's primary purpose is to trap its foes, inflict them with Wrap and Toxic recoil, and restore its health with Rest. Shuckle should avoid conflicts with Pokemon that have Toxic immunities, commonly run Heal Bell, or commonly utilize RestTalk.

Its main purpose is to shut down offense from a variety of typically threatening Pokemon that are difficult to counter. It does this by PP stalling and thanks to its unique quality of Normal-resist with high SpDef.

Team Options
========

• Shuckle fits on more defensively-inclined teams, so having dedicated physical and special walls such as Skarmory and Raikou can ease pressure off of Shuckle to check all of its foes.
• Heal Bell support from either Blissey or Miltank is important for alleviating the Sleep status from Shuckle and its teammates after they've used Rest.
• Spikes and Rapid Spin support from Pokemon such as Cloyster and Forretress can give Shuckle's team a leg up trying to wear the opposition down.
• Bulky win-cons such as Curse Steelix or Snorlax can take advantage of Shuckle wearing down the opposition to set up and sweep.

Shuckle almost requires Rapid Spin support due to its passivity. It will get worn down eventually without this. In terms of win cons, you would probably want one or more of the notoriously difficult to wall long-term Pokemon like Drumlax, Marowak, Machamp, Tentacruel, etc. Steelix might also work but I haven't tried it.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Protect could be utilized to further inflict Toxic recoil on opponents and gain additional Leftovers recovery, but Shuckle doesn't have room on its moveset for it.
• A set consisting of Rollout, Defense Curl, Rest, and Sleep Talk could be utilized, but it takes an extremely long amount of time to get the ball rolling, and being locked into Rollout leaves Shuckle open to attacks and getting worn down too quickly.
• Sleep Talk could also theoretically be utilized in combination with Rest, but again Shuckle is already quite strapped for moves as it is.
• A Miracle Berry could alleviate Shuckle from its Sleep status after using Rest, but it only works once, and Shuckle will likely have to Rest multiple times per game. Furthermore, Shuckle would miss the gradual recovery it receives from Leftovers, and it would have to Rest even more often.

I would not list Protect or Miracle Berry in here. The only other options realistically are Curse (and whatever attacks), Rollout, Sleep Talk, and Attract. Maybe Sandstorm..

Checks and Counters
===================

**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Steelix, Skarmory, and Forretress have insane Defense, resist Wrap, are immune to Toxic, and can take advantage of Shuckle's passivity to set up with Curse or Spikes, respectively, although they must watch out for Encore.

Maybe mention that the Curse Roar combo makes them very dangerous to Shuckle.

**Ghost-types**: Gengar and Misdreavus cannot be trapped by Shuckle due to their immunity to Wrap and can easily trap Shuckle themselves with the combination of Mean Look and Perish Song, although again they must be wary of Encore. In addition, Gengar is also immune to Toxic due to its secondary Poison typing.

I'd mention that without these Shuckle is capable of PP stalling them.

**RestTalk Users**: RestTalk users such as Zapdos, Raikou, and Suicune are all unfazed by Toxic and can restore all the health they lose from Wrap recoil. However, they don't appreciate being locked into Rest by Encore, meaning they have to almost immediately switch out against Shuckle after they Rest.

I wouldn't even bother mentioning Wrap or Encore. I would instead mention that they threaten Shuckle with their STAB attacks but Zapdos and Raikou should keep an eye on their PP.

**Poison-types**: Poison-types such as Tentacruel and the aforementioned Gengar are immune to Toxic and take very little from Wrap. Tentacruel in particular has to be careful though about being locked into Substitute or Swords Dance with Encore if it attempts to set up on Shuckle.

It's not such a big deal to be locked into these attacks against a Shuckle. Tentacruel will just find another opportunity.

**Water-types**: Water-types such as Starmie and the aforementioned Suicune can 3HKO Shuckle with STAB Surf. Starmie doesn't like being badly poisoned, however.

**Tyrantiar**: Tyranitar threatens to 3HKO Shuckle with Rock Slide and can usually get a Curse off while scaring Shuckle away. Offensive Tyranitar doesn't appreciate being induced with Toxic status.

These are good, maybe say Tyranitar without Rest instead of Offensive Tyranitar though.

Heracross should be mentioned with both SToss and Curse variants being able to beat it, maybe Machamp and Marowak for their ability to break through despite being physical sweepers as long as they can avoid Toxic / Flash / Encore (e.g. coming in on a Rest).

Maybe mention Spikes/Spikers as a category? Not sure.