SS UU Spotlight: Aegislash

By Bandkrook. Released: 2021/09/07.
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SS UU Spotlight: Aegislash artwork

Art by Zephyri.

Introduction

On July 1st, 2020, during the first stages of UU's Isle of Armor metagame, Aegislash dropped from OU to UU. Its incredible versatility made it so players had to run multiple different answers to a multitude of sets on the same team, and, despite having its stats and signature move nerfed, it was still too much for the tier. Three days later, the council held a vote on the spooky sword and Aegislash was banned from UU. It moved to OU the next month and dropped back to UUBL in November when the Crown Tundra dropped, right as the council decided to free all of UUBL in hopes of creating a brand new metagame from scratch. During November, Aegislash was already proving itself to be quite the formidable foe, and with the December shift, UU lost Hydreigon and Hippowdon, two of Aegislash's greatest checks. Once again, Aegislash proved itself too much for UU, and by a close vote, it was banned by the council.

Following the Latias and subsequent Terrakion and Victini bans during February and March of 2021, the council decided it was time to revisit Aegislash. Its potential made people shiver in fear of it wreaking havoc in the tier for a third time. During suspect phases, before the Light Clay ban, it shined in hyper offense teams with dual screens support as a terrifying setup sweeper. However, stacking checks to it like Kommo-o, Krookodile, and Amoonguss was much easier, and the tier itself was more stable after big hitters like Volcarona, Tapu Lele, and Galarian Zapdos had left. Scizor ran rampant at the time as the tier's best Steel-type. Aegislash's typing also held it back this time, leaving it vulnerable to common Pokémon in the tier, namely Krookodile, and other checks like Zarude and Chansey were starting to see a rise in usage. Its Speed also didn't favor it at all, falling behind a lot of offensive Pokémon in the tier, like Keldeo and Nidoqueen. After the suspect test ended, with an extremely close vote, Aegislash was unbanned with a 51.5% majority.

After the initial spook it caused, Aegislash settled as a major defensive and offensive force in UU, providing teams with unmatched versatility both offensively and defensively. Let's take a look at what has made Aegislash the powerhouse it is today in UU!

Traditional Sets

Specially Defensive

Aegislash's huge defenses let it act as a mixed wall against the likes of Lycanroc-D and Nihilego, and its offensive stats when in Blade forme give the offensive presence walls like Amoonguss lack. Substitute makes use of Aegislash's typing to set up in front of foes that can't do much to it like Chansey. It also serves as a way to pressure rain offense teams by stalling rain turns, and it gives Aegislash a safe way to deal with answers like Moltres, Tangrowth, and Krookodile by using Substitute as they switch in and stalling them with Toxic. This set has very few downsides aside from its lack of reliable recovery, vulnerability to Toxic switch-ins like Zarude and Amoonguss, and inability to break through Teleport Chansey.

Mixed King's Shield

Aegislash's incredible stats let it choose a mixed set that still manages to pressure the opposing team without the aid of a boosting item. Close Combat destroys Dark-types like Zarude and Toxic lets Aegislash surpass checks like Tangrowth more easily, but Flash Cannon can be used to hit switch-ins like Nihilego and Kommo-o very hard. Because this set runs King's Shield in place of a boosting move, Aegislash can afford to play a bit more risky. King's Shield is also great to scout for Choice-locked foes like Keldeo, lower the Attack of foes that try to land a contact move like Lycanroc-D, and rack up Leftovers recovery.

Choice Specs

I've seen players complain about Aegislash's lack of coverage, but let me tell you this: Aegislash's coverage is Shadow Ball. UU's lack of sturdy Ghost-type answers outside of Pokémon like Zarude, Chansey, and Umbreon quite literally lets Aegislash simply click Shadow Ball with zero to no drawbacks. The tier's most popular Dark-types, Zarude and Krookodile, are pressured by Aegislash's secondary STAB move, and Generation 8's gift of Close Combat granted it the amazing neutral coverage of Ghost + Fighting to hit foes like Chansey super effectively too. Shadow Sneak is useful for picking off weakened foes like Nihilego and Azumarill. Still, playing with this Aegislash set requires good prediction against foes like Chansey and Zarude.

Swords Dance

With an Air Balloon, Aegislash takes advantage of Pokémon like Rhyperior and Buzzwole, which are forced to delay using Earthquake to pop its Air Balloon, giving Aegislash a free turn of setup. Aegislash's amazing neutral Ghost + Fighting coverage takes care of most of the tier, hitting Ghost-resistant foes like Chansey and Umbreon with a powerful Close Combat. This set is very common in hyper offense teams given its fast setup nature, useful immunity compression, and great coverage. However, Intimidate users like Salamence and Krookodile are extremely common and thwart Aegislash's Shadow Sneak, while Dark-types like Zarude and Galarian Moltres severely threaten Aegislash due to its low Speed and their resistance to its priority.

Unconventional Sets

Autotomize + Weakness Policy

This set manages to take advantage of Aegislash's huge defenses when in Shield forme to take a super effective hit and activate its Weakness Policy. On that same turn, it uses Autotomize to boost its Speed, letting it outspeed foes otherwise capable of revenge killing it, like Nidoking. However, finding the right opportunity to pull off this set is tricky, as you have to ensure Aegislash can survive said super effective hit. For example, setting up against foes like Moltres and Rhyperior is not a good idea, as Aegislash is either OHKOed or comes very close to being KOed, leaving it as an easy target to priority users like Azumarill. It can usually set up on targets like a chipped Tangrowth and Nihilego, which may try to use Knock Off on it. This set is great to force damage on walls like Umbreon and Tangrowth, giving its teammates the ability to apply more pressure.

Choice Band

Choice Band pumps up Aegislash's power, enabling to immediately threaten foes without needing to set up. Shadow Claw is a neutral hit on foes like Moltres and Rotom-H, Iron Head stings others like Kommo-o and Primarina, and Close Combat nails Zarude and Chansey. Shadow Sneak is a strong form of priority, picking off foes like Azumarill. The icing on top of the... shield? that players can opt for is Head Smash. Switch-ins like Galarian Moltres and Salamence are torn to shreds if at the cost of some of Aegislash's health too, but this makes Aegislash unable to defeat faster foes with Shadow Sneak, which hurts its usefulness overall. Choice Band Aegislash also risks getting crippled by Moltres's Flame Body and Rotom-W's Will-O-Wisp, and it is severely held back by popular Intimidate users like Krookodile and Salamence. It shares these problems with the Swords Dance set, unlike the Choice Specs set, which is a lot more free to spam Shadow Ball.

Common Partners

Aegislash Chansey Amoonguss

Chansey's immunity to Ghost means it has little trouble dealing with opposing Aegislash and can take on troublesome Fire- and Ground-types like Rotom-H and Nidoking. Aegislash in return blanket checks Fighting-types and Pokémon with Fighting-type coverage, like Buzzwole and Lycanroc-D, for Chansey and can beat Jirachi and Tapu Bulu one-on-one for it too. Aegislash can also scout for Choice Specs Keldeo's Secret Sword. However, this core hates Knock Off, and that's when Amoonguss comes in. It absorbs Knock Off from foes like Krookodile, Tangrowth, and Mienshao and acts as a catch-all check to Pokémon that can overwhelm the other two, like Azumarill and Rhyperior.

Aegislash Umbreon

A core of Umbreon + Aegislash makes for an extremely synergetic duo. Umbreon takes on foes like Zarude, Mamoswine, and Krookodile for Aegislash, passes Wish to keep Aegislash healthy so it can more easily check Buzzwole, Lycanroc-D, and Tapu Bulu after losing its Leftovers, and prevents Salamence and Gyarados from getting out of control with Foul Play. Aegislash in return checks Fairy- and Fighting-types like Azumarill, Primarina, and Mienshao for Umbreon, scouting their moves with King's Shield to help its partner.

Aegislash Thundurus-Therian Lycanroc-Dusk

By opening up holes in foes like Amoonguss and Chansey with Psychic + Focus Blast and defeating others like Celesteela and RestTalk Primarina with Thunderbolt, Thundurus-T softens foes for Aegislash, and they go very well together in Stick Web teams alongside Ribombee. In return, Aegislash can check Lycanroc-D and Nihilego while also overwhelming walls like Tangrowth together with Thundurus-T. Lycanroc-D complements this core by acting as a cleaner, helping pressure Chansey, and providing powerful priority in the form of Accelerock.

Aegislash Keldeo

Keldeo helps Aegislash by highly pressuring Fire- and Dark-types like Moltres, Krookodile, and Zarude. It also helps Aegislash to overwhelm Amoonguss and Assault Vest Tangrowth, and it's a special attacker that can deal with Chansey easily if Aegislash is not running Close Combat.

Counterplay

Zarude Chansey Kommo-o Tangrowth

Aegislash's most reliable form of counterplay lies in the tier's Dark-types. Jungle Healing Zarude, Umbreon, and RestTalk Guzzlord are the most sturdy answers and completely shut down the Toxic set, and with the right predictions, they can also take on the Choice Specs set well. Another popular form of counterplay is Chansey, which doesn't care about Toxic and Shadow Ball and can stall their PP. Chansey does this even better if it has Teleport, preserving teammates from taking hits and Toxic. Miscellaneous forms of counterplay like Bulletproof Kommo-o, Toxic-immune Pokémon like Amoonguss, and mixed walls such as Tangrowth and Celesteela also take on Aegislash's sets.

Conclusion

Aegislash has cemented itself as one of the best Pokémon in UU, and, although it has its flaws, those are minimal and it can't be understated how much of a pillar it is to the tier. I encourage you to experiment with Aegislash and find out the sets you like the most, so go out there and try using it!

HTML by Ryota Mitarai.
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