[OVERVIEW]
Shuckle is a Pokemon of extremes. Its ridiculously high Defense and Special Defense stats are coupled with other stats that are ridiculously low, which makes it extremely difficult for it to inflict meaningful damage through conventional means. Shuckle's resistance to Normal in combination with its lack of weaknesses to common types, such as Electric, Ground, and Fire, makes it one of the most reliable Snorlax checks in the game. It is unique in that it has high Special Defense alongside its resistance to Normal, meaning it can wall many common Explosion users, such as Gengar and Exeggutor. Its downfalls are its bare movepool and awful attacking stats, which limit its options to spreading poison with Toxic and PP stalling and make it one of the most passive Pokemon in the game.
[SET]
name: PP Stall
move 1: Defense Curl
move 2: Toxic / Encore
move 3: Flash / Wrap
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Shuckle cannot hope to get past any foes by attacking them, so its role is to waste PP and wall a variety of threats. Defense Curl has a massive PP count, which ensures that Shuckle cannot be outdone in terms of PP. Without the ability to boost its Defense, Shuckle would eventually succumb to Curse Snorlax, so Defense Curl is crucial to allow Shuckle to perform its role effectively. Toxic is Shuckle's only damage source and can be used to restrict the number of Pokemon that can switch into it safely to those that are immune to it or have Rest, force Pokemon that have Rest to use it, and punish any Pokemon without Rest that risk staying in against it. As it is a powerful dissuasion tool with limited PP, it is sometimes a good idea to use it sparingly—although, catching dangerous sweepers on the switch can yield significant advantages. Alternatively, Encore can be used to attempt to waste the PP of a particular move or lock the opposing Pokemon into a move, which allows Shuckle's teammates to switch in freely. However, Toxic tends to be preferred because it gives Shuckle a way to punish threatening Pokemon like Cloyster, Machamp, and Tyranitar. Unlike Curse Skarmory, which is at no risk of being defeated by a critical hit from an opposing Curse Snorlax, Shuckle's inability to boost its Defense past +2 and its low base HP mean that it will, on average, be KOed by a critical hit Double-Edge or Earthquake plus two non-critical hits from a +5 Attack Snorlax. Shuckle therefore has Flash to minimize the odds of this situation occurring. Flash is also useful against other setup sweepers such as Steelix, and it contributes to Shuckle's overall goal of ensuring the opponent cannot mount offensive pressure by reducing the threat level of any foe it hits. Wrap is an alternative that forces foes to waste more PP by preventing them from switching out, which can also work well with Encore to attempt to force the opponent to use up more of a particular move. However, forgoing Flash can result in situations where Shuckle is unable to do its job of walling Snorlax effectively. Finally, Rest ensures that Shuckle cannot be worn down by repeated attacks by allowing it to keep itself healthy.
Team Options
========
Shuckle is extremely passive, so it fits best on teams with reliable and sturdy Pokemon such as Skarmory and Blissey. Shuckle is one of the best Pokemon in the game at taking on all manner of mixed, Curse, and Self-Destruct variants of Snorlax, but it struggles against Belly Drum Snorlax due to being outsped by it. It is therefore a good idea to use Skarmory as a check to Belly Drum Snorlax as well as other threats such as Heracross, Machamp, and Marowak, which Shuckle can struggle against. Shuckle can easily be taken advantage of by Pokemon like Growth Vaporeon, so it is a good idea to bring a reliable answer to it such as Zapdos, Roar Suicune, Light Screen Starmie, or Light Screen Blissey. However, it must be noted that Shuckle will be extremely vulnerable to special attacks while Light Screen is active because its Special Defense is so high that Light Screen makes it exceed the stat cap and roll over to a much lower number. Other powerful special attackers like Zapdos also pose a significant threat to Shuckle, especially if Spikes are up. Pokemon such as Blissey, Snorlax, Raikou, and Quagsire make for solid options for taking on Zapdos, and Blissey can also potentially offer Heal Bell support. Due to Shuckle inviting Forretress in, it can be a good idea to pair it with a spinblocker if Shuckle is supported by Spikes and a spinner to prevent Shuckle from being worn down in the long run. Starmie, Golem, and Forretress are common spinners; Starmie is also good against Cloyster and Machamp, Golem boasts a decent Tyranitar matchup and can easily beat both spinblockers, and Forretress has access to Spikes.
Due to Shuckle's passivity, it requires its teammates to be capable of exerting offensive pressure in order to have a chance at winning. This pressure can come from Spikes and Toxic, Belly Drum users and powerful physical attackers like Machamp and Marowak, Growth sweepers like Jolteon, and even teams designed to take advantage of Struggle's infinite PP to create offensive pressure. Shuckle can be used on more offensive teams, but doing so introduces significant risk due to there being dangerous Pokemon that can take advantage of its presence, such as Tentacruel and Vaporeon.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
========
Shuckle can use Rollout with Curse to attempt to sweep the opposing team, but this requires anything that can potentially KO it quickly, phaze it, poison it, or reduce its Attack to be dealt with beforehand and substantially decreases its effectiveness as a defensive wall. Sleep Talk can be used to increase Shuckle's capacity to absorb sleep as well as improve its ability to take on powerful threats that come close to 3HKOing it, although this comes at the expense of a moveslot. Sandstorm can be used to complement Toxic and wear down foes very quickly, although it may also wear down some of Shuckle's teammates. Lastly, Shuckle has the option of running Hidden Power Fire to put pressure on Forretress, which is one of the Pokemon that can take the most advantage of Shuckle by setting and removing Spikes. However, DV requirements mean that Shuckle's already low HP gets reduced even further when using it, and it takes up a valuable moveslot.
Checks and Counters
========
**Forretress**: Forretress is immune to Shuckle's Toxic and can lay down Spikes, which can then be used to pressure Shuckle and its teammates without having to use PP. Forretress can also spin away any Spikes that Shuckle's teammates may have put down.
**Vaporeon**: As Shuckle is often paired with other passive Pokemon like Skarmory and Blissey, Vaporeon can be extremely dangerous, especially if it is a RestTalk or Baton Pass variant with Growth. Shuckle can poison Vaporeon with Toxic on the switch, but Vaporeon is likely to be able to find an opening due to Shuckle having to PP stall other foes and often has Rest to cure itself in the event it gets caught on the switch.
**Tentacruel**: Swords Dance Tentacruel is one of the biggest threats to teams with Shuckle due to their passivity and tendency to rely on Toxic to keep dangerous sweepers from switching in. Shuckle can do nothing to threaten Tentacruel, meaning it can come in at any time to set up and threaten Shuckle and its teammates. This weakness is also compounded by the fact that many of the Pokemon Shuckle pairs well with, such as Skarmory and Blissey, struggle against Tentacruel—there is generally at most only a single reliable counter to Tentacruel on these passive teams, which also makes them a target for Explosion users that Tentacruel is commonly paired with, like Cloyster and Steelix.
**Skarmory and Steelix**: Skarmory and Steelix are both immune to Toxic and can use Curse with a phazing move to prevent Shuckle from walling them with its Defense boosts. However, they can do little to stop it from lowering their accuracy with Flash, so they can sometimes find it difficult to exert pressure despite this advantage.
**RestTalk Suicune, Zapdos, and Raikou**: These Pokemon don't care much about Toxic due to having RestTalk and can threaten Shuckle with their STAB attacks to force it out. However, this doesn't necessarily mean they will be able to create momentum if they are walled by other members of Shuckle's team, unless Spikes are up. Furthermore, being forced to use Rest can result in opportunities for dangerous sweepers that Shuckle may be paired with, such as Belly Drum Snorlax.
**Cloyster**: Cloyster is not immune to Toxic, but its access to Spikes, STAB Surf, and Explosion makes it a dangerous foe for Shuckle and its teammates. Cloyster can take advantage of its threat level against Shuckle to land Explosion on an important target such as Starmie, which may be the only thing preventing Pokemon like Machamp, Charizard, and Tentacruel from sweeping.
**Setup Sweepers**: Belly Drum users such as Charizard, Snorlax, and Quagsire can take advantage of Shuckle's downtime after using Rest to set up a sweep. Belly Drum Snorlax is particularly notable because Shuckle will often switch into it expecting a Curse or Self-Destruct variant but will usually lose to Belly Drum Snorlax unless it lacks Earthquake. Pokemon such as Marowak, Machamp, and Heracross can similarly take advantage of a sleeping Shuckle to set up Attack boosts; Heracross and Machamp notably still outspeed Shuckle after a Speed drop from Curse.
**Seismic Toss**: Seismic Toss 3HKOes Shuckle, so Pokemon such as Heracross and Miltank can potentially use it to threaten both Shuckle and its common partner Skarmory.
**Tyranitar and Rhydon**: Pokemon with STAB Rock Slide such as Tyranitar and Rhydon can threaten Shuckle, although they often lack Rest, so they are fearful of Toxic.
**Nidoking and Gengar**: Nidoking and Gengar are prone to being PP stalled by Shuckle because boosting moves are unviable on them, but they are immune to Toxic and can therefore attempt to beat Shuckle by freezing it, landing a well-timed critical hit, stealing its Leftovers with Thief, or putting it to sleep when it's at low health. Their immunity to Toxic also makes it much easier to press a Spikes advantage or create situations where the Shuckle user must take risks or use up PP in exchange for no gain, and in the absence of Spikes, they are able to use Shuckle to regain health with Leftovers.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Earthworm, 15210]]
- Quality checked by: [[BKC, 52012], [M Dragon, 21345]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073], [deetah, 297659]]
Shuckle is a Pokemon of extremes. Its ridiculously high Defense and Special Defense stats are coupled with other stats that are ridiculously low, which makes it extremely difficult for it to inflict meaningful damage through conventional means. Shuckle's resistance to Normal in combination with its lack of weaknesses to common types, such as Electric, Ground, and Fire, makes it one of the most reliable Snorlax checks in the game. It is unique in that it has high Special Defense alongside its resistance to Normal, meaning it can wall many common Explosion users, such as Gengar and Exeggutor. Its downfalls are its bare movepool and awful attacking stats, which limit its options to spreading poison with Toxic and PP stalling and make it one of the most passive Pokemon in the game.
[SET]
name: PP Stall
move 1: Defense Curl
move 2: Toxic / Encore
move 3: Flash / Wrap
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Shuckle cannot hope to get past any foes by attacking them, so its role is to waste PP and wall a variety of threats. Defense Curl has a massive PP count, which ensures that Shuckle cannot be outdone in terms of PP. Without the ability to boost its Defense, Shuckle would eventually succumb to Curse Snorlax, so Defense Curl is crucial to allow Shuckle to perform its role effectively. Toxic is Shuckle's only damage source and can be used to restrict the number of Pokemon that can switch into it safely to those that are immune to it or have Rest, force Pokemon that have Rest to use it, and punish any Pokemon without Rest that risk staying in against it. As it is a powerful dissuasion tool with limited PP, it is sometimes a good idea to use it sparingly—although, catching dangerous sweepers on the switch can yield significant advantages. Alternatively, Encore can be used to attempt to waste the PP of a particular move or lock the opposing Pokemon into a move, which allows Shuckle's teammates to switch in freely. However, Toxic tends to be preferred because it gives Shuckle a way to punish threatening Pokemon like Cloyster, Machamp, and Tyranitar. Unlike Curse Skarmory, which is at no risk of being defeated by a critical hit from an opposing Curse Snorlax, Shuckle's inability to boost its Defense past +2 and its low base HP mean that it will, on average, be KOed by a critical hit Double-Edge or Earthquake plus two non-critical hits from a +5 Attack Snorlax. Shuckle therefore has Flash to minimize the odds of this situation occurring. Flash is also useful against other setup sweepers such as Steelix, and it contributes to Shuckle's overall goal of ensuring the opponent cannot mount offensive pressure by reducing the threat level of any foe it hits. Wrap is an alternative that forces foes to waste more PP by preventing them from switching out, which can also work well with Encore to attempt to force the opponent to use up more of a particular move. However, forgoing Flash can result in situations where Shuckle is unable to do its job of walling Snorlax effectively. Finally, Rest ensures that Shuckle cannot be worn down by repeated attacks by allowing it to keep itself healthy.
Team Options
========
Shuckle is extremely passive, so it fits best on teams with reliable and sturdy Pokemon such as Skarmory and Blissey. Shuckle is one of the best Pokemon in the game at taking on all manner of mixed, Curse, and Self-Destruct variants of Snorlax, but it struggles against Belly Drum Snorlax due to being outsped by it. It is therefore a good idea to use Skarmory as a check to Belly Drum Snorlax as well as other threats such as Heracross, Machamp, and Marowak, which Shuckle can struggle against. Shuckle can easily be taken advantage of by Pokemon like Growth Vaporeon, so it is a good idea to bring a reliable answer to it such as Zapdos, Roar Suicune, Light Screen Starmie, or Light Screen Blissey. However, it must be noted that Shuckle will be extremely vulnerable to special attacks while Light Screen is active because its Special Defense is so high that Light Screen makes it exceed the stat cap and roll over to a much lower number. Other powerful special attackers like Zapdos also pose a significant threat to Shuckle, especially if Spikes are up. Pokemon such as Blissey, Snorlax, Raikou, and Quagsire make for solid options for taking on Zapdos, and Blissey can also potentially offer Heal Bell support. Due to Shuckle inviting Forretress in, it can be a good idea to pair it with a spinblocker if Shuckle is supported by Spikes and a spinner to prevent Shuckle from being worn down in the long run. Starmie, Golem, and Forretress are common spinners; Starmie is also good against Cloyster and Machamp, Golem boasts a decent Tyranitar matchup and can easily beat both spinblockers, and Forretress has access to Spikes.
Due to Shuckle's passivity, it requires its teammates to be capable of exerting offensive pressure in order to have a chance at winning. This pressure can come from Spikes and Toxic, Belly Drum users and powerful physical attackers like Machamp and Marowak, Growth sweepers like Jolteon, and even teams designed to take advantage of Struggle's infinite PP to create offensive pressure. Shuckle can be used on more offensive teams, but doing so introduces significant risk due to there being dangerous Pokemon that can take advantage of its presence, such as Tentacruel and Vaporeon.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
========
Shuckle can use Rollout with Curse to attempt to sweep the opposing team, but this requires anything that can potentially KO it quickly, phaze it, poison it, or reduce its Attack to be dealt with beforehand and substantially decreases its effectiveness as a defensive wall. Sleep Talk can be used to increase Shuckle's capacity to absorb sleep as well as improve its ability to take on powerful threats that come close to 3HKOing it, although this comes at the expense of a moveslot. Sandstorm can be used to complement Toxic and wear down foes very quickly, although it may also wear down some of Shuckle's teammates. Lastly, Shuckle has the option of running Hidden Power Fire to put pressure on Forretress, which is one of the Pokemon that can take the most advantage of Shuckle by setting and removing Spikes. However, DV requirements mean that Shuckle's already low HP gets reduced even further when using it, and it takes up a valuable moveslot.
Checks and Counters
========
**Forretress**: Forretress is immune to Shuckle's Toxic and can lay down Spikes, which can then be used to pressure Shuckle and its teammates without having to use PP. Forretress can also spin away any Spikes that Shuckle's teammates may have put down.
**Vaporeon**: As Shuckle is often paired with other passive Pokemon like Skarmory and Blissey, Vaporeon can be extremely dangerous, especially if it is a RestTalk or Baton Pass variant with Growth. Shuckle can poison Vaporeon with Toxic on the switch, but Vaporeon is likely to be able to find an opening due to Shuckle having to PP stall other foes and often has Rest to cure itself in the event it gets caught on the switch.
**Tentacruel**: Swords Dance Tentacruel is one of the biggest threats to teams with Shuckle due to their passivity and tendency to rely on Toxic to keep dangerous sweepers from switching in. Shuckle can do nothing to threaten Tentacruel, meaning it can come in at any time to set up and threaten Shuckle and its teammates. This weakness is also compounded by the fact that many of the Pokemon Shuckle pairs well with, such as Skarmory and Blissey, struggle against Tentacruel—there is generally at most only a single reliable counter to Tentacruel on these passive teams, which also makes them a target for Explosion users that Tentacruel is commonly paired with, like Cloyster and Steelix.
**Skarmory and Steelix**: Skarmory and Steelix are both immune to Toxic and can use Curse with a phazing move to prevent Shuckle from walling them with its Defense boosts. However, they can do little to stop it from lowering their accuracy with Flash, so they can sometimes find it difficult to exert pressure despite this advantage.
**RestTalk Suicune, Zapdos, and Raikou**: These Pokemon don't care much about Toxic due to having RestTalk and can threaten Shuckle with their STAB attacks to force it out. However, this doesn't necessarily mean they will be able to create momentum if they are walled by other members of Shuckle's team, unless Spikes are up. Furthermore, being forced to use Rest can result in opportunities for dangerous sweepers that Shuckle may be paired with, such as Belly Drum Snorlax.
**Cloyster**: Cloyster is not immune to Toxic, but its access to Spikes, STAB Surf, and Explosion makes it a dangerous foe for Shuckle and its teammates. Cloyster can take advantage of its threat level against Shuckle to land Explosion on an important target such as Starmie, which may be the only thing preventing Pokemon like Machamp, Charizard, and Tentacruel from sweeping.
**Setup Sweepers**: Belly Drum users such as Charizard, Snorlax, and Quagsire can take advantage of Shuckle's downtime after using Rest to set up a sweep. Belly Drum Snorlax is particularly notable because Shuckle will often switch into it expecting a Curse or Self-Destruct variant but will usually lose to Belly Drum Snorlax unless it lacks Earthquake. Pokemon such as Marowak, Machamp, and Heracross can similarly take advantage of a sleeping Shuckle to set up Attack boosts; Heracross and Machamp notably still outspeed Shuckle after a Speed drop from Curse.
**Seismic Toss**: Seismic Toss 3HKOes Shuckle, so Pokemon such as Heracross and Miltank can potentially use it to threaten both Shuckle and its common partner Skarmory.
**Tyranitar and Rhydon**: Pokemon with STAB Rock Slide such as Tyranitar and Rhydon can threaten Shuckle, although they often lack Rest, so they are fearful of Toxic.
**Nidoking and Gengar**: Nidoking and Gengar are prone to being PP stalled by Shuckle because boosting moves are unviable on them, but they are immune to Toxic and can therefore attempt to beat Shuckle by freezing it, landing a well-timed critical hit, stealing its Leftovers with Thief, or putting it to sleep when it's at low health. Their immunity to Toxic also makes it much easier to press a Spikes advantage or create situations where the Shuckle user must take risks or use up PP in exchange for no gain, and in the absence of Spikes, they are able to use Shuckle to regain health with Leftovers.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Earthworm, 15210]]
- Quality checked by: [[BKC, 52012], [M Dragon, 21345]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073], [deetah, 297659]]
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