In-battle formes
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| HP: | 100 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Attack: | 100 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Defense: | 100 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sp. Atk: | 100 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sp. Def: | 100 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Speed: | 100 |
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Formes
- Base
- Sky
Overview
Shaymin distinguishes itself from other offensive Grass-types like Celebi and Mega Sceptile with its access to Z-Celebrate, which boosts all of its stats by one stage. The boosted bulk and Speed can make Shaymin fairly difficult to revenge kill due to its neutrality to Scizor's Bullet Punch and ability to outspeed Mega Aerodactyl and Choice Scarf Hydreigon with boosts. Shaymin also finds easy opportunities to set up on common Pokemon such as Krookodile and Slowbro due to its decent Speed and bulk, which further defines its niche as the only viable user of Z-Celebrate in the tier. Access to the devastating Seed Flare can make common counters such as Mega Aggron and Moltres possibly lose if they immediately switch in and have their Special Defense dropped. Shaymin’s biggest flaw that it has only one opportunity to set up, which makes it confined to late-game as a cleaner. It needs to ensure that it doesn’t set up prematurely to where its checks can still reliably wall and remove it. Its mono-Grass typing can also be a burden due to the lack of a secondary typing that could give it leverage against checks such as Mega Aggron and Moltres. Shaymin also requires strenuous team support and the rest of the team to work together to remove or chip away at its checks to let it sweep late-game. Shaymin cannot circumvent special walls such as Blissey and Amoonguss, unlike other offensive Grass-types like Celebi and Decidueye. Because of this, Shaymin faces major competition from Celebi, which can reliably set up Nasty Plot far more throughout the match and can bust through common counterplay with Z-Moves.
Z-Celebrate
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Moves
Dazzling Gleam is Shaymin’s first coverage option to nail Dragon-types that cannot be harmed by Seed Flare such as Hydreigon, Latias, and Mega Altaria. Hidden Power Fire is Shaymin’s way of removing Scizor while hitting other Steel-types such as Mega Aggron, Doublade, and Bronzong.
Set Details
Natural Cure can be decently useful to Shaymin, as it can pivot in for its teammates on status moves from Alomomola and Klefki. Normalium Z boosts all of Shaymin's stats by one stage when used in tandem with Celebrate, which increases its bulk and lets it outspeed Choice Scarf users like Hydreigon and Krookodile.
Usage Tips
Shaymin should only be brought in late-game once its checks and counters have either been chipped down or removed. Because of this, Shaymin should stay as healthy as possible and should never be brought in on anything unless it is a last resort scenario. Shaymin can set up on Pokemon such as Krookodile and Slowbro, as they fail to do any significant damage to it. However, Shaymin should avoid setting up on Pokemon that can still deal a significant amount of damage even if Shaymin can beat them, as Shaymin takes a longer time to break through them. Mega Steelix and Gligar are defensive Pokemon that fall under this criteria. Avoid Toxic and paralysis while setting up, as they can either hinder or neutralize Shaymin completely and waste its one opportunity at sweeping. Seed Flare is useful in fishing for possible Special Defense drops on Pokemon that take it neutrally such as Nihilego and Mega Steelix in order to break through them much more smoothly. Seed Flare can also place Pokemon such as Latias and Amoonguss in range of Shaymin’s coverage moves, but avoid spamming the move too much due to its very limited PP.
Team Options
Shaymin fits best on specific bulky offense teams that offer constant support in order to let it clean up effectively. Shaymin easily takes advantage of the support offered from Pursuit, so Pokemon like Mega Aerodactyl, Scizor, and Krookodile can scare out and weaken Blissey, Bronzong, and Moltres. Moltres and Rotom-H are effective stops to bulky Steel-types such as Mega Aggron and Doublade so Shaymin won't have to rely too much on Hidden Power Fire. Terrakion and Infernape offensively pressure teams as powerful wallbreakers that can muscle through bulky Steel-types, take advantage of special walls like Blissey, and can possibly set up entry hazards. Overall, Stealth Rock is mandatory to chip down Grass-type switch-ins like various Fire- and Flying-types. Entry hazard setters like Nihilego and Rhyperior are good partners for this reason and they can also switch into Fire- and Flying-type moves aimed at Shaymin. Furthermore, Klefki can stack Spikes to constantly chip away the opposition, softening up bulky Steel-types for Shaymin to break more easily. Pivoting can also be used to get Shaymin in safely before attempting a sweep. Scizor is a great pivot, as it can lure in bulky Ground-types like Hippowdon and Gligar for Shaymin to take advantage of while also fulfilling the role as a Pursuit trapper.
Other Options
Earth Power is stronger than Hidden Power Fire, so it allows Shaymin to nail bulky Steel-types for greater damage and hits Poison-types like Nihilego and Alolan Muk more reliably. However, Shaymin now fails to defeat bulkier Scizor sets, and Hidden Power Fire is sufficient to handle other Steel-types.
Checks and Counters
Special Walls: Special walls such as Blissey, Amoonguss, and Alolan Muk tank anything that Shaymin can throw at them despite them risking possible Special Defense drops. They still wall Shaymin indefinitely and can slowly but steadily beat it.
Fire-types: Fire-types such as Chandelure and Mega Houndoom threaten Shaymin drastically with their primary STAB attack, while Choice Scarf Infernape outspeeds it. Rotom-H and Moltres are also immune to the rare Earth Power from Shaymin.
Steel-types: Shaymin’s Hidden Power Fire lacks much firepower behind it, which makes Mega Aggron and Bronzong respectable walls unless they’ve taken considerable damage beforehand.
Flying-types: Flying-types like Moltres and Togekiss cannot be seriously harmed by any of Shaymin’s moves if they are still healthy.
