[Overview]
- Highest defense/special defense stats in the game
- Horrid attack
- Tied for slowest pokemon in game
- Reasonable support movepool
- Recieved a godsend in Power Split
- Sturdy now prevents it from ever being OHKO'd
- Stealth Rock weakness
- Becomes a near-unbreakable wall is Sandstorm
- No reliable recovery outside of rest
name: Power Split
move 1: Power Split
move 2: Earthquake / Gyro Ball
move 3: Stone Edge / Gyro Ball
move 4: Toxic / Rest
item: Leftovers
ability: Sturdy
nature: Impish / Relaxed
ivs: 0 Atk / 0 SpA / 0 Spe
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
- Power Split is this set's main move
- Power Split evens out Shuckle and its opponent's attacking stats, much like Pain Split does with HP
- 0 attack ivs takes full advantage of Power Split's effect
- After Power Split, Shuckle will have much more usable offensive stats
- Earthquake is good for pounding away at opponents
- Stone Edge hits Flying-types and also get STAB
- Gyro Ball can be used over either attacking move to take advantage of Shuckle's pathetic speed
- If using Gyro Ball, run 0 speed ivs and a Relaxed nature
- Toxic is always good for stalling, but Rest could also be used so it can heal and continue to cripple the opponent with Power Split
- Wrap can be used in the second or third slot to trap the opponent after they are crippled by Power Split
- If you opt to run Rest, a Chesto Berry is viable
- One can run both Toxic and Rest over one of the attacking options if desired
- Shuckle is generally best on a Sand Team for the Special Defense boost, but if it is being used outside of sand, then an ev spread of 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def with a Careful or Sassy nature could be used
- Because of its Stealth Rock weakness, Shuckle enjoys Rapid Spin support. Starmie is a good choice, as it can use Thunderbolt to take care of Waters and Surf to beat Rocks that threatan Shuckle, and it also resists Steel. Tentacruel is also a good choice, as it can absorb the Toxic Spikes that would otherwise cripple Shuckle if it isn't running Rest, and can also set up its own T-Spikes, freeing up Shuckle's last moveslot, plus it can also beat Scizor, something Starmie cannot do because of its Bug weakness
name: Wall
move 1: Toxic
move 2: Rest
move 3: Encore / Power Split
move 4: Wrap / Earthquake
item: Leftovers
ability: Sturdy
nature: Impish
ivs: 0 Atk / 0 SpA
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
- A less offensive version of Shuckle
- Toxic is its main move, it's a very immpressive Toxic Staller
- Encore can lock opponent into a support move, giving you a free switch or a safe turn to Toxic
- Wrap can prevent opponent from switching, allowing Shuckle to Toxic them to death or force them into a support move
- Rest is its only form of recovery
- Power Split is a very good choice over Encore, as it is the one thing that really makes Shuckle stand out in OU. If using Power Split, than it is an option to use Earthquake over Wrap, as after a Power Split it will do reasonale damage, and will prevent Shuckle from becoming Taunt fodder
- A Chesto Berry is still viable with Rest, although since Shuckle is acting as more of a Wall here it will miss out on Leftovers recovery
- Again, if used outside of Sandstorm, an ev spread of 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def can be used
- The aformentioned Specially Defensive spread could be used in Sandstorm if you'd like Shuckle to be a major special wall
- Earthquake / Stone Edge could be used, although wthout Power Split, Shuckle will be doing minimal damage to anyhing
- Knock Off could be used in one of the last 2 slots to remove Choice Items, Eviolites, etc.
- Shuckle still requires the same Rapid Spin support on this set because of its SR weakness and so that its Sturdy stays intact
- Sweepers such as Scizor or Rotom-W are good partners for Wall Shuckle as they can take its weaknesses and enjoy finishing off trapped, Toxic-weakened Pokemon with Choiced U-turn or Volt Switch
- Shuckle as a shallow movepool without many other options
- It can set up Stealth Rock if your team really need it
- Rock Blast can be used over Stone Edge / Rock Slide if you worry about Substitute users
- Shuckle can attempt to run a Toxic stalling set with Substitute and Protect, though this is generally outclased by Gliscor
- Gastro Acid combined with Wrap can cripple Pokemon that rely on thier abilities, such as Poison Heal Gliscor or Serene Grace Jirachi
- Body Slam could be used for its paralysis chance, but it's not reccomended
- An Accuprssure set can be run, although it's a gimmick at best
- Finally, a set utilizing Bide and Wrap could work, but it's not that good
- Because of its sky-high defenses, Shuckle counters are few and far between
- On the Power Split and Wall sets, Toxic is the best move if Shuckle doesn't know Rest, as it will be crippled for the Rest of the match. The same goes for Will-o-Wisp on the Power Split set
- Skarmory is amongst one of the best Shuckle counters, as it has resists / immunities to all of Shuckle's attackes, and can phaze it away with Whirlwind to rack up Stealth Rock / Spikes damage
- Multiscale Dragonite is also a good counter, as it can severly damage shuckle with a bossted Waterfall, although it fears Stone Edge
- Shuckle's dream world ability is Contrary. While this could be useful to gain a boost from a move with a stat-lowering chance such as Shadow Ball, Sturdy is usually the better option as it acts as a built-in Focus Sash, something Shuckle really enjoys.
