Aegislash Overview Aegislash, the Royal Sword Pokemon. In Generation 5 there were many desired type combinations for the upcoming Gen 6, and one of those was a nice Steel and Ghost typing, so Game Freak gave us this. In Ubers, Aegislash is a great Pokemon, most being known for beating any and all types of GeoXerneas. In Shield Forme, great dual Defenses let it take many hits, while still retaining a strong attacking stat while in Blade Forme. Thanks to its handy Ghost-typing, Aegislash's Ghost moves hit a large number of the Pokemon in the tier quite hard. All sounds nice on Aegislash now, but there are several drawbacks to the Pokemon. It has common type weaknesses in the tier, taking x2 damage from Ground moves (Groudon pretty much), Fire moves (Ho-oh and Blaziken), and the worst of all, Dark moves (Yveltal and Darkrai). Also it has a poor base 60 HP stat, Standard Aegislash (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Stance Change IVs: 0 Spd EVs: 252 HP / 84 Atk / 172 SDef Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd) - Gyro Ball - Shadow Ball / Shadow Sneak - Toxic - King's Shield This standard support set is what you want to use in Ubers, primarily because this job fulfills Aegislash's role the best, which is eliminating Xerneas. The EV spread guarantees a OHKO against most +2 Xerneas with Gyro Ball. You want to run Sassy and 0 Speed IVs to ensure that Gyro Ball will deal maximum damage. Shadow Ball is a nice STAB, dealing hard damage to Lugia, Giratina, and Mewtwo. Shadow Sneak is optional but not recommended, as Shadow Ball does much more damage. Aegislash is one of the few Ghost-types that doesn't get Will-O-Wisp, so the next best option is Toxic. A nice option on any stall-like Pokemon, potentially crippling the recipient for the rest of the game. King's Shield is a staple on Aegislash, allowing it to return to Shield Forme after attacking. Other Options With great typing, Aegislash's movepool is a disappointment, but there are a few other options. Head Smash is the best secondary option for Aegislash, hitting threats such as Ho-oh and Yveltal hard, but it is recommended to use it on the switch as both can OHKO with their respective moves. Swords Dance, which is more commonly used in OU is an option. Although its low speed forces it to run Shadow Sneak which is too weak to sweep especially in Ubers with all of the high-stat Pokemon in the tier. Pursuit is also an option but whatever you're using it against most likely won't take too much damage from it. Destiny Bond is an option for pretty much every Ghost type, but it's a waste of a moveslot to be honest. Checks and Counters With a list of things it walls comes with a list of counters. The biggest being the two common weather starters, Kyogre and Groudon. Kyogre's strong Water-STAB in rain deal a lot of damage to anything that don't resist it (bar Chansey/Blissey or course), and Aegislash doesn't like them either. Groudon's STAB Earthquake is a guaranteed 2HKO . Mega Mewtwo X carries Earthquake specifically for Aegislash, which results in a 2HKO. Mewtwo's other Mega Evolution commonly carries Fire Blast, which also results in a 2HKO. Ho-oh's Sacred Fire is a OHKO out of rain (against 252 / 0 sets), and even if it doesn't OHKO the burn will cripple you/finish you off. The newly introduced Yveltal is a huge threat against Aegislash, as it can switch into any of its moves, and one shot with a Life Orb boosted Dark Pulse. Lastly, the uncommon but very useful Heatran walls it, and can 2HKO with a Lava Plume. Spoiler: Skeleton Overview -Dual Defenses in Shield Forme walls its share of things -One of the few surefire counters to GeoXern -It's Ghost-STAB hits the many Psychic/Ghost types of Ubers hard -Has common weaknesses in the tier (Groudon, Fire, Ghost, Dark) -Poor HP stat -Under-average movepool Standard Aegislash (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Stance Change IVs: 0 Spd EVs: 252 HP / 84 Atk / 172 SDef Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd) - Gyro Ball - Shadow Ball / Shadow Sneak - Toxic - King's Shield -The spread allows a OHKO from Gyro Ball against most +2 Xerneas -Shadow Ball is great STAB, doing moderate damage to things such as Lugia or Mewtwo -Shadow Sneak is priority, but extremely weak -Toxic cripples -King's Shield allows you to return to Shield Forme Other Options -Head Smash/Rock Slide can be used for Ho-oh and Yveltal -Swords Dance is still an option (Sacred Sword, Iron Head, Shadow Claw) -Pursuit can stop things from escaping -Destiny Bond is always an option for Ghost-types Checks and Counters -Kyogre (any form) will do crazy damage to Aegislash, Scald could also burn and cripple -MMY usually carries Fire Blast (even Shadow Ball is seen) -MMX carries Earthquake specifically for Aegislash, some don't so it would best to scout -Ho-oh will OHKO with Sacred Fire, don't both protecting yourself as it doesn't even make contact -Yveltal carries a strong Dark Pulse that will do massive damage -The rare but very useful Heatran walls it completely -Aegislash is just setup bait for Extreme-Killer Arceus, Earthquake does a ton -Groudon's Earthquake will be a 2HKO from defensive sets, while OHKO from offensive ones
Isn't the point of these analyses to stop anyone from using terrible sets like SD Aegislash... This is supposed to be about Ubers though? - Use at least 252 HP / 168 SDef to not die to HP fire in sun - For the defensive spread (which is better) use 12 Atk EVs to kill Xerneas with Gyro + Sneak after rocks every time - Gyro Ball from 252+ Atk doesn't OHKO Xerneas every time, you say it does - Why is Pursuit here and not Head Smash? And why would anyone ever not use Toxic? Eh, you hit Ho-oh (and Yveltal) as they switch in. And Sacred Fire OHKOs Aegislash even with Leftovers... Lol no.
I thought the point was to educate the reader of the Pokemon in the tier, maybe I'm wrong. Noted, my bad e.e Noted again I say it OHKO's at +2, never said anything about it not doing so before a boost. Some variants can take a Gyro Ball even after +2 Speed Eh I was iffy on that part, I've seen many bulky sets that didn't run Toxic, but I have yet to see one Head Smash. True I haven't seen any Pursuits either. 252+ Atk Ho-Oh Sacred Fire vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 254-300 (78.3 - 92.5%) guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery Don't diss it until you try it :]
Needs some work. Overall I think you're overselling Aegis a bit much here. You mention his great base 150 defenses, but completely ignore the fact that he has a poor base 60 Hp stat. He beats the new Geo Xern (if they don't carry sub), but it also loses to the new Yveltal. Is that number '1'? Aegis is very specialised in his role, similarly to Gastrodon for Kyogre. He does about one thing well, beat Xern. Sometimes he can beat other stuff like MMY without Fire Blast, but for the most part he should stick to his assigned role. I have no idea what you're trying to say here. Except Aegis is limited to 1, maybe 2, sets. Maybe in OU, but this is Ubers. Flash Cannon is strictly inferior to Gyro as it hits Xern on the special side. Remove. Bulky Remove the 252hp/252spa spread, it has no merit. Pursuit is also a poor move, as the things that you force out (Xern) take minimal damage from it so take it out as well. Personally I'd have Shadow Ball as the primary slash, since Sneak is so weak they literally have to be on the verge of death for it to kill anything, while Ball does nice damage to things like Lugia and MMX. C&C Kyogre pretty much destroys it, regardless of the set, so I'd add him in for sure. Blaze does a ton with either Knock Off or Flare Blitz and poses a threat of setting up SD while you King's Shield, but he does not enjoy tanking Shadow Balls or Gyro after he gets some speed boosts. OO Not sure if an offensive pivot set of King's Shield/Shadow Claw/Gyro Ball/Head Smash deserves its own set or is just something niche I like to use. Autonomize + Weakness Policy is just bad remove it.