[OVERVIEW]
With high Attack and Speed stats, a great offensive typing, and a useful ability in its arsenal, Marshadow has all the tools it needs to thrive in Doubles. The STAB combination of Ghost / Fighting is unresisted in the metagame and notably provides strong hits on every Trick Room setter, which is crucial for a fast attacker that could otherwise struggle against the archetype. Technician boosts Shadow Sneak to give Marshadow a way to clean up weakened foes that naturally outspeed it; the ability is also crucial in legitimizing Hidden Power Ice as a coverage option despite Marshadow's lower Special Attack. Spectral Thief offers yet another boon to Marshadow's effectiveness, as the move's boost-stealing effect turns Marshadow into an easy check to slow setup of any kind. Despite all of these assets, the ubiquity of Intimidate and Fairy-types keeps Marshadow in check. Although Marshadow has the tools to take on more threats than most other Pokemon in Doubles, fast or bulky Pokemon that aren't weak to Marshadow's attacks are somewhat common, so it's not likely to run through the opposition unimpeded.
[SET]
name: All-out Attacker
move 1: Spectral Thief
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Shadow Sneak / Hidden Power Ice
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Marshadium Z
ability: Technician
nature: Jolly / Hasty
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Marshadow's signature move, Spectral Thief, provides a tremendous amount of utility by bypassing a potential Substitute, stealing any of the target's stat raises, and then attacking using the stolen boosts in the damage calculation. Even without this utility, Spectral Thief is a reasonably strong 90-Base Power STAB attack, useful for taking out Psychic- and Ghost-types that would otherwise threaten Marshadow. Close Combat offers a strong hit on any non-resistant targets, even OHKOing some foes like Mega Diancie and Hoopa-U that are neutrally effected by Fighting-type moves. Between Spectral Thief and Close Combat, Marshadow is able to hit every Pokemon in the metagame at least neutrally. Thus, Marshadow's last attacking move is dedicated to taking on specific threats by taking advantage of its ability, Technician. Shadow Sneak allows Marshadow to take on faster Pokemon such as Mega Gengar, Deoxys-A, and Choice Scarf Tapu Lele provided that Psychic Terrain is not set. With the boosts from Technician and Life Orb, it guarantees an OHKO on each of those three threats and greatly improves Marshadow's ability to clean. However, if Mega Salamence or Landorus-T are a particular issue for Marshadow's team, Hidden Power Ice is another solid option that, despite the lack of investment in Special Attack, can OHKO offensive variants of each. Finally, Protect improves Marshadow's ability to control positioning, stall out field effects, and shield itself from damage while its ally takes out a threat.
Set Details
========
Marshadow's focus is dealing lots of damage as quickly as possible, so its Attack and Speed EVs should be maximized. A Jolly nature is typically Marshadow's best option, ensuring that it outspeeds Mega Metagross and other Pokemon near that Speed tier. If Marshadow is running Hidden Power Ice, a Hasty nature should be used instead, which guarantees that the attack can OHKO uninvested Mega Salamence. A Life Orb allows Marshadow to OHKO Mega Gengar with Shadow Sneak and deal respectable damage with Hidden Power Ice. Alternatively, Marshadium Z allows Marshadow to use Soul-Stealing 7-Star Strike, an absurdly powerful STAB move that helps it break through bulkier foes. Technician boosts the power of both Shadow Sneak and Hidden Power Ice to respectable levels.
Usage Tips
========
Marshadow can be effective throughout the match, though Life Orb sets are slightly better suited to cleaning late-game and Marshadium Z sets are more equipped to break through teams early-game. Marshadow's effectiveness is primarily measured by the amount of pressure it is able to apply—as a strong and fast attacker with great offensive typing, it should be easy to find times that Marshadow can make life hard for the opposition. Spectral Thief's ability to steal boosted stats is invaluable, so unless Close Combat is Marshadow's only way to take out a set-up threat, it should use Spectral Thief to take advantage of said threat. Intimidate cuts Marshadow's ability to punch through the opposition, so it is important to switch out to reset Attack drops whenever possible. Despite its passable defenses, Marshadow typically works best when it only has to switch in on fairly weak resisted attacks such as Landorus-T's Rock Slide. If the opponent has a slow setup Pokemon such as Coil Milotic or Curse Ferrothorn, be cautious with Marshadow until that threat is removed to retain the ability to prevent a sweep. Shadow Sneak's priority prevents it from being used in Psychic Terrain, so either switch in a different Terrain setter to nullify its effects or avoid using Shadow Sneak.
Team Options
========
Marshadow has a variety of qualities that make it usable on most teams, provided that such teams are equipped to handle its checks. At the forefront of these are Fairy-types, especially Tapu Fini. Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Mega Metagross work well in this role, as they typically have the bulk to work as a switch-in to it and also appreciate Marshadow taking on opposing Steel-types. Steel-types also help against Tapu Lele + Deoxys-A teams, which are otherwise a troubling matchup for Marshadow. Amoonguss and Landorus-T also tend to take Marshadow's attacks pretty well, so teammates such as Volcanion and Kyurem-B are important to keep Marshadow from being stuck. Island Guardians that can remove Psychic Terrain are helpful for similar reasons, and all three have decent synergy with Marshadow. Dark-types, primarily Hoopa-U and Tyranitar, take on Mega Gengar quite well, which easily takes out non-Shadow Sneak variants of Marshadow. On the other hand, Shadow Sneak variants lack Hidden Power Ice and thus any ability to deal with Mega Salamence, so those sets need teammates to fill that gap. Zapdos is particularly notable, as it has the bulk and recovery to check these threats throughout the match and provides Tailwind support to help Marshadow deal with the few Pokemon that would otherwise outspeed it. Other methods of dealing with these faster Pokemon, such as Tapu Koko, Shaymin-S, and Choice Scarf users, including Icy Wind support from Kyurem-B or a Choice Scarf attacker of your own are also invaluable. Stealth Rock from teammates like Landorus-T and Ferrothorn helps Marshadow fulfill its role as a cleaner by knocking many foes into range of its attacks. Rain teams appreciate Marshadow's ability to take on Ferrothorn without relying on a Fire-type move; however, Marshadow only adds to their tendency to struggle with breaking through Tapu Fini. Any teammate that struggles with opposing Steel-types, including Mega Diancie, Mega Salamence, and Tapu Lele, can benefit from Marshadow's support.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Focus Sash is an item typically dedicated to especially frail attackers; though Marshadow doesn't fall into this category, Focus Sash has a different form of utility for Marshadow in allowing it to get off a near-guaranteed Spectral Thief on a boosted foe. Without Life Orb or Marshadium Z, Marshadow's offenses are slightly less threatening, but the extra insurance against setup threats can come in handy. Feint provides a different form of Technician-boosted priority than Shadow Sneak. Though the move is significantly less powerful, the ability to break Protect or Wide Guard for a teammate can make up for this deficit.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fairy-types**: Every Island Guardian has some way to take on Marshadow—Tapu Lele's Choice Scarf set outruns and OHKOes Marshadow without fear of Shadow Sneak, Tapu Koko naturally outspeeds it, and Tapu Bulu and Tapu Fini have the bulk to take a hit and retaliate. Though Diancie isn't resistant to Close Combat, it has the bulk to be able to take one hit and either OHKO with Moonblast or set up Trick Room.
**Flying-types**: Without Hidden Power Ice, Marshadow can't do much to Mega Salamence and is easily OHKOed by Aerilate-boosted Double-Edge. Intimidate as a pre-Mega ability further helps Mega Salamence take on Marshadow. Zapdos takes Marshadow's attacks fairly easily and uses Roost to heal any damage. Shaymin-S naturally outspeeds Marshadow and does significant damage with Air Slash.
**Faster Pokemon**: Choice Scarf Tapu Lele is immune to Shadow Sneak thanks to its summoned Terrain and OHKOes Marshadow with Psychic or Moonblast. Deoxys-A is typically used with Psychic Terrain support to prevent Shadow Sneak and easily takes out Marshadow with Psycho Boost. Mega Gengar, though OHKOed by Shadow Sneak, outspeeds Hidden Power Ice variants of Marshadow and OHKOes them with Shadow Ball. Weather sweepers like Kingdra, Excadrill, and Mega Swampert all threaten Marshadow with a hard hit. Faster setup users like Mega Salamence, Zygarde, and Volcarona outspeed Marshadow after a boost and knock it out before Marshadow can steal their boosts.
**Intimidate**: Marshadow is a primarily physical attacker, so Intimidate greatly lowers its ability to exert offensive pressure. With Hidden Power Ice, Marshadow is unable to hit Landorus-T and Mega Salamence, and though Marshadow always has a winning matchup against Scrafty, the drop in Attack makes it easier for other foes to take it on.
**Speed Control**: One of Marshadow's strongest traits is its high Speed; take that away, through Tailwind users like Zapdos, Trick Room setters like Hoopa-U, which are typically used with Amoonguss support, or Icy Wind users like Milotic, and Marshadow becomes far less potent.
With high Attack and Speed stats, a great offensive typing, and a useful ability in its arsenal, Marshadow has all the tools it needs to thrive in Doubles. The STAB combination of Ghost / Fighting is unresisted in the metagame and notably provides strong hits on every Trick Room setter, which is crucial for a fast attacker that could otherwise struggle against the archetype. Technician boosts Shadow Sneak to give Marshadow a way to clean up weakened foes that naturally outspeed it; the ability is also crucial in legitimizing Hidden Power Ice as a coverage option despite Marshadow's lower Special Attack. Spectral Thief offers yet another boon to Marshadow's effectiveness, as the move's boost-stealing effect turns Marshadow into an easy check to slow setup of any kind. Despite all of these assets, the ubiquity of Intimidate and Fairy-types keeps Marshadow in check. Although Marshadow has the tools to take on more threats than most other Pokemon in Doubles, fast or bulky Pokemon that aren't weak to Marshadow's attacks are somewhat common, so it's not likely to run through the opposition unimpeded.
[SET]
name: All-out Attacker
move 1: Spectral Thief
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Shadow Sneak / Hidden Power Ice
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Marshadium Z
ability: Technician
nature: Jolly / Hasty
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Marshadow's signature move, Spectral Thief, provides a tremendous amount of utility by bypassing a potential Substitute, stealing any of the target's stat raises, and then attacking using the stolen boosts in the damage calculation. Even without this utility, Spectral Thief is a reasonably strong 90-Base Power STAB attack, useful for taking out Psychic- and Ghost-types that would otherwise threaten Marshadow. Close Combat offers a strong hit on any non-resistant targets, even OHKOing some foes like Mega Diancie and Hoopa-U that are neutrally effected by Fighting-type moves. Between Spectral Thief and Close Combat, Marshadow is able to hit every Pokemon in the metagame at least neutrally. Thus, Marshadow's last attacking move is dedicated to taking on specific threats by taking advantage of its ability, Technician. Shadow Sneak allows Marshadow to take on faster Pokemon such as Mega Gengar, Deoxys-A, and Choice Scarf Tapu Lele provided that Psychic Terrain is not set. With the boosts from Technician and Life Orb, it guarantees an OHKO on each of those three threats and greatly improves Marshadow's ability to clean. However, if Mega Salamence or Landorus-T are a particular issue for Marshadow's team, Hidden Power Ice is another solid option that, despite the lack of investment in Special Attack, can OHKO offensive variants of each. Finally, Protect improves Marshadow's ability to control positioning, stall out field effects, and shield itself from damage while its ally takes out a threat.
Set Details
========
Marshadow's focus is dealing lots of damage as quickly as possible, so its Attack and Speed EVs should be maximized. A Jolly nature is typically Marshadow's best option, ensuring that it outspeeds Mega Metagross and other Pokemon near that Speed tier. If Marshadow is running Hidden Power Ice, a Hasty nature should be used instead, which guarantees that the attack can OHKO uninvested Mega Salamence. A Life Orb allows Marshadow to OHKO Mega Gengar with Shadow Sneak and deal respectable damage with Hidden Power Ice. Alternatively, Marshadium Z allows Marshadow to use Soul-Stealing 7-Star Strike, an absurdly powerful STAB move that helps it break through bulkier foes. Technician boosts the power of both Shadow Sneak and Hidden Power Ice to respectable levels.
Usage Tips
========
Marshadow can be effective throughout the match, though Life Orb sets are slightly better suited to cleaning late-game and Marshadium Z sets are more equipped to break through teams early-game. Marshadow's effectiveness is primarily measured by the amount of pressure it is able to apply—as a strong and fast attacker with great offensive typing, it should be easy to find times that Marshadow can make life hard for the opposition. Spectral Thief's ability to steal boosted stats is invaluable, so unless Close Combat is Marshadow's only way to take out a set-up threat, it should use Spectral Thief to take advantage of said threat. Intimidate cuts Marshadow's ability to punch through the opposition, so it is important to switch out to reset Attack drops whenever possible. Despite its passable defenses, Marshadow typically works best when it only has to switch in on fairly weak resisted attacks such as Landorus-T's Rock Slide. If the opponent has a slow setup Pokemon such as Coil Milotic or Curse Ferrothorn, be cautious with Marshadow until that threat is removed to retain the ability to prevent a sweep. Shadow Sneak's priority prevents it from being used in Psychic Terrain, so either switch in a different Terrain setter to nullify its effects or avoid using Shadow Sneak.
Team Options
========
Marshadow has a variety of qualities that make it usable on most teams, provided that such teams are equipped to handle its checks. At the forefront of these are Fairy-types, especially Tapu Fini. Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Mega Metagross work well in this role, as they typically have the bulk to work as a switch-in to it and also appreciate Marshadow taking on opposing Steel-types. Steel-types also help against Tapu Lele + Deoxys-A teams, which are otherwise a troubling matchup for Marshadow. Amoonguss and Landorus-T also tend to take Marshadow's attacks pretty well, so teammates such as Volcanion and Kyurem-B are important to keep Marshadow from being stuck. Island Guardians that can remove Psychic Terrain are helpful for similar reasons, and all three have decent synergy with Marshadow. Dark-types, primarily Hoopa-U and Tyranitar, take on Mega Gengar quite well, which easily takes out non-Shadow Sneak variants of Marshadow. On the other hand, Shadow Sneak variants lack Hidden Power Ice and thus any ability to deal with Mega Salamence, so those sets need teammates to fill that gap. Zapdos is particularly notable, as it has the bulk and recovery to check these threats throughout the match and provides Tailwind support to help Marshadow deal with the few Pokemon that would otherwise outspeed it. Other methods of dealing with these faster Pokemon, such as Tapu Koko, Shaymin-S, and Choice Scarf users, including Icy Wind support from Kyurem-B or a Choice Scarf attacker of your own are also invaluable. Stealth Rock from teammates like Landorus-T and Ferrothorn helps Marshadow fulfill its role as a cleaner by knocking many foes into range of its attacks. Rain teams appreciate Marshadow's ability to take on Ferrothorn without relying on a Fire-type move; however, Marshadow only adds to their tendency to struggle with breaking through Tapu Fini. Any teammate that struggles with opposing Steel-types, including Mega Diancie, Mega Salamence, and Tapu Lele, can benefit from Marshadow's support.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Focus Sash is an item typically dedicated to especially frail attackers; though Marshadow doesn't fall into this category, Focus Sash has a different form of utility for Marshadow in allowing it to get off a near-guaranteed Spectral Thief on a boosted foe. Without Life Orb or Marshadium Z, Marshadow's offenses are slightly less threatening, but the extra insurance against setup threats can come in handy. Feint provides a different form of Technician-boosted priority than Shadow Sneak. Though the move is significantly less powerful, the ability to break Protect or Wide Guard for a teammate can make up for this deficit.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fairy-types**: Every Island Guardian has some way to take on Marshadow—Tapu Lele's Choice Scarf set outruns and OHKOes Marshadow without fear of Shadow Sneak, Tapu Koko naturally outspeeds it, and Tapu Bulu and Tapu Fini have the bulk to take a hit and retaliate. Though Diancie isn't resistant to Close Combat, it has the bulk to be able to take one hit and either OHKO with Moonblast or set up Trick Room.
**Flying-types**: Without Hidden Power Ice, Marshadow can't do much to Mega Salamence and is easily OHKOed by Aerilate-boosted Double-Edge. Intimidate as a pre-Mega ability further helps Mega Salamence take on Marshadow. Zapdos takes Marshadow's attacks fairly easily and uses Roost to heal any damage. Shaymin-S naturally outspeeds Marshadow and does significant damage with Air Slash.
**Faster Pokemon**: Choice Scarf Tapu Lele is immune to Shadow Sneak thanks to its summoned Terrain and OHKOes Marshadow with Psychic or Moonblast. Deoxys-A is typically used with Psychic Terrain support to prevent Shadow Sneak and easily takes out Marshadow with Psycho Boost. Mega Gengar, though OHKOed by Shadow Sneak, outspeeds Hidden Power Ice variants of Marshadow and OHKOes them with Shadow Ball. Weather sweepers like Kingdra, Excadrill, and Mega Swampert all threaten Marshadow with a hard hit. Faster setup users like Mega Salamence, Zygarde, and Volcarona outspeed Marshadow after a boost and knock it out before Marshadow can steal their boosts.
**Intimidate**: Marshadow is a primarily physical attacker, so Intimidate greatly lowers its ability to exert offensive pressure. With Hidden Power Ice, Marshadow is unable to hit Landorus-T and Mega Salamence, and though Marshadow always has a winning matchup against Scrafty, the drop in Attack makes it easier for other foes to take it on.
**Speed Control**: One of Marshadow's strongest traits is its high Speed; take that away, through Tailwind users like Zapdos, Trick Room setters like Hoopa-U, which are typically used with Amoonguss support, or Icy Wind users like Milotic, and Marshadow becomes far less potent.
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