Doubles Spotlight: Aegislash

By talkingtree and Pastelle. Art by Tikitik.
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History

Since its introduction in XY, Aegislash has always been considered a threat in Doubles. With the new addition of Fairy-types, all Steel-types got a huge buff, since Fairies became the new, exciting way to counter the Dragon-types that were extremely popular in BW. It became essential to have a surefire way to beat said Fairy-types. Enter Aegislash, a Pokémon unlike any previously seen in past generations. It had a unique Steel / Ghost typing, coupled with a new ability in Stance Change and access to great utility moves, so it's no wonder why Aegislash became so widely used in Doubles. To this day, it remains as big of a threat as when it was first introduced, sitting atop the viability rankings, with no signs of dropping anytime soon.

Qualities

There are a lot of things to love about Aegislash, and one of the more apparent is its aforementioned unique typing and ability. Steel / Ghost is a fantastic defensive typing, granting Aegislash a whopping nine resistances and three immunities, many of which are actually useful. Having a Steel-type immune to Fighting and anything immune to Fake Out is always a plus in Doubles. Its signature ability, Stance Change, allows it to take full advantage of its typing, letting Aegislash switch to its Blade forme every time it uses an attacking move while simultaneously switching its offensive and defensive stats. This may not sound like much on paper, but Stance Change means that Aegislash functionally has 150 in both its offensive and defensive stats, making it apparent how threatening Aegislash can be. With great power also comes great utility, as Aegislash's access to a few incredibly useful moves makes it one of the best utility Pokémon in Doubles. For starters, it performs as a fantastic user of Wide Guard, a move that protects its side of the field from spread moves. Doubles is a metagame where spread moves are on nearly every successful team, so Wide Guard will often come in handy. In addition to Wide Guard, Aegislash makes excellent use of Substitute thanks to its defensive capabilities. Setting a Substitute allows Aegislash to stay safe in its extremely frail Blade forme for at least a turn while dishing out huge damage. Protect is a nearly required move on all Pokémon in the Doubles metagame, and Aegislash is lucky enough to have a signature move in King's Shield, which takes Protect to the next level. If the foe attempts to hit Aegislash with a contact move while it uses King's Shield, the foe will suffer a severe drop in its Attack. However, Aegislash does need to be careful, as unlike Protect, King's Shield will not prevent status moves such as Spore and Will-O-Wisp from hitting it. Although Aegislash has a fairly low Speed stat, this generally works to its advantage, ensuring that it will take attacks in Shield forme. If needed, Aegislash even has a way to get around that low Speed with a priority attack, Shadow Sneak. All in all, Aegislash is a very versatile Pokémon that can be both a glass cannon and a tanky utility Pokémon, two things that very seldom go together.

Playing with Aegislash

If you're playing Doubles and you see an Aegislash, it's nearly guaranteed that you are facing one of these two sets. While they're similar in both moveset and EV spreads, they play quite differently from one another.

Wide Guard

Aegislash

The more commonly seen of the two sets is this Wide Guard set with a Weakness Policy equipped. This set turns Aegislash into an offensive pivot, and a pretty great one at that. The main goal of this set is to use its many resistances to switch in, force the threatening Pokémon to switch out, and deal a chunk of damage to the opposing team. In addition to acting as a pivot, Aegislash can also use Wide Guard against Pokémon such as Landorus-T and Heatran that typically rely on spread moves and force them to switch out. Wide Guard also allows Aegislash to protect teammates that may be weak to common spread moves, such as Rock Slide, Heat Wave, and Hyper Voice. Weakness Policy discourages foes from attacking Aegislash with a super effective attack, especially in Shield forme, as it most likely won't OHKO it and will cause them to have to deal with an absolute offensive powerhouse. Once Aegislash's Weakness Policy activates, it transitions from acting as a pivot to being a powerful cleaner, with its newfound power allowing it to OHKO all but the bulkiest Pokémon in the tier should it use a nonresisted attack. If Aegislash's team has no other switch-ins to Spore, Safety Goggles can also work well on this set. This also gives Aegislash the ability to ignore Rage Powder, guaranteeing that its attacks will hit the intended target.

Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon are Aegislash's most reliable STAB moves, and they have decent neutral coverage together. As far as EVs go, all Aegislash needs to invest in are its HP and Special Attack stats. If it runs any less than maximum Special Attack, Aegislash loses the chance to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan after a Weakness Policy boost, which is a fairly important benchmark. However, when it comes to Speed, most players have their own preference. The most common choice is the one listed here, using 0 Speed IVs and a Quiet nature so that Aegislash will be more likely to take attacks in its far sturdier Shield forme. Others run a Modest nature with 4 Speed EVs to Speed creep other Aegislash, while teams with Tailwind support may opt to take 84 Speed EVs from the HP investment in order to outspeed Mega Diancie and any Thundurus set after factoring the Tailwind boost in. How much Speed you decide to run depends on your personal preference and a specific team's needs.

Substitute

Aegislash

The other common set is Substitute and is typically paired with Leftovers. The basic goal of this set is to act as a wincon late-game once Aegislash's threats are removed. Once any opposing threats are taken care of, Aegislash can set up a Substitute with ease and wear down foes with its strong STAB moves. This set should use King's Shield and Leftovers to provide greater longevity and facilitate the setting of another Substitute should its current one be broken. King's Shield is especially important to this set, as the Attack drops that accompany it may allow Aegislash's Substitute to withstand further blows. As with the previous set, Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon are Aegislash's best STAB moves, and a simple EV spread works best. Also, like the last set, the amount of Speed Aegislash runs depends on personal preference and the needs of the team.

Variations

If one of Aegislash's attacks is not particularly needed, the Substitute set can run Wide Guard in its place. While this does leave Aegislash with considerably worse coverage, the ability to use both Wide Guard and Substitute can turn the game in your favor, as opponents generally expect Aegislash to only carry one of those two moves. Conversely, if neither Substitute nor Wide Guard benefits Aegislash's team, it can use Shadow Sneak to pick off weakened foes and get around its low Speed. Sets with Shadow Sneak typically use Weakness Policy or Life Orb to make the attack more threatening. However, generally speaking, one of the two listed sets will be superior to any other options that Aegislash may have.

Playing against Aegislash

While Aegislash is a fantastic Pokémon, it is not perfect. One of its biggest problems stems from Stance Change, which leaves Aegislash extremely vulnerable after attacking. In Blade forme, its offenses swap with its defenses, leaving Aegislash with downright pathetic bulk, surpassed even by many NFE Pokémon, until it uses King's Shield again. If not played carefully, Aegislash can easily faint soon after it's sent out. Due to its weak defenses in Blade forme, Aegislash is nearly required to use King's Shield every other turn to avoid being caught in Blade forme when attacked. This can become very easy to predict and take advantage of. Another issue that Aegislash struggles with is its lackluster base 60 Speed. While this does mean Aegislash has some playability in Trick Room, it won't be outspeeding much on its own without significant Speed investment or some other means of speed control. While this isn't a deal breaker due to its Shield forme's great defenses, it still means that Aegislash will need some support via redirection or speed control should it wish to stay in Blade forme and deal consecutive attacks.

Your best bet against Aegislash is typically a special attacker that is not overly reliant on spread moves, as these foes do not have to fear a potential Wide Guard or Attack drops from King's Shield. Some examples include Heatran, Hydreigon, and Volcanion. Bisharp is particularly notable as an Aegislash answer, as it resists both of Aegislash's STAB attacks and has Defiant, which allows it to ignore any potential drops from King's Shield.

Fitting Aegislash on a Team

As previously mentioned, Aegislash is a very versatile Pokémon. As such, it can fit on a wide variety of teams.

The Wide Guard set pairs fantastically with Pokémon that are weak to common spread moves, such as Mega Diancie's Diamond Storm and Landorus-T's Earthquake. Mega Charizard Y, in particular, really benefits from the Wide Guard support to avoid the very popular Rock Slide, as does Substitute Kyurem-B, which otherwise has very few options to handle Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir, the users of Pixilate Hyper Voice. This set also pairs extraordinarily well with other support Pokémon to assist Aegislash's rampage after Weakness Policy activates. Fast sleep-inducing Pokémon, such as Breloom and Venusaur, can aid Aegislash in this way, as well as Fake Out from teammates like Mega Kangaskhan and redirection from the likes of Amoonguss. In general, this Aegislash set can really fit on any balanced team that has an emphasis on defensive synergy, due to its all-around utility and good defensive typing.

The Substitute set, on the other hand, grants Aegislash more playability against Trick Room teams and slightly more longevity if the team is otherwise quite threatened by a Pokémon that Aegislash beats, such as Mega Diancie or Jirachi.

Get out there!

Aegislash stands as a unique force in the Doubles metagame, granting it a solid place on many teams. Although the Sun and Moon release dates draw ever nearer, Aegislash will almost certainly continue to shine in the generation to come.

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