Aegislash Discussion Thread

[TRI Mike]

I think it's better for Aegislash to attack after it's been attacked. I've seen some people try to go for a Swords Dance -> Shadow Sneak strategy with him that, while very nice, can result in someone surviving the attack and hitting it with a super-effective move that will OHKO him because he's still in Blade Mode. So, what I like to do is spend a few EVs on both defenses OR 252HP/252Attack. Endure an attack in Shield Mode and THEN use either Shadow Claw, Iron Head or Sacred Sword. Even if it doesn't kill, the attack will hurt a LOT and he can immediately use King's Shield to block whatever comes at him, including the chance to lower two Attack stages if it blocks a physical move. The same strategy pretty much works for a Special Aegislash, just switch the 252 EVs to SpA and use Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon.

This pokémon is beautiful, definitely one of the best out there.

 

[Divine Retribution]

Honestly, why do people hype King's Shield up so much? Sure, the Attack drop on contact moves is nice, but a lot of his counters don't even use contact moves, instead opting for non-contact moves like Earthquake. In addition, status (most notably Will-O-Wisp) goes right through King's Shield. You can't scout to see whether or not that Dusclops is running WoW with King's Shield. In my eyes it's inferior to Protect in most practical ways.

 

[Zachmac]

Honestly, why do people hype King's Shield up so much? Sure, the Attack drop on contact moves is nice, but a lot of his counters don't even use contact moves, instead opting for non-contact moves like Earthquake. In addition, status (most notably Will-O-Wisp) goes right through King's Shield. You can't scout to see whether or not that Dusclops is running WoW with King's Shield. In my eyes it's inferior to Protect in most practical ways.

Does protect change it back into shield form? I'd assume it does, but I'm not sure. But even if it doesn't, simply the knowledge of that move's existence makes people reluctant to use physical contact moves. If you use protect, you give away that it doesn't have that move, and you're opponent will happily throw out moves like Crunch and Shadow Claw. I haven't actually tried an Aegislash competitively myself, but I know people have messed with me through that move.

...And there are ever times in which Dusclops doesn't run Will-o-Wisp?

 

[KillerDraco]

Honestly, why do people hype King's Shield up so much? Sure, the Attack drop on contact moves is nice, but a lot of his counters don't even use contact moves, instead opting for non-contact moves like Earthquake. In addition, status (most notably Will-O-Wisp) goes right through King's Shield. You can't scout to see whether or not that Dusclops is running WoW with King's Shield. In my eyes it's inferior to Protect in most practical ways.

One word: Novelty. It's new, and thus it gets a lot of hype. Though it can be sometimes be halfway decent (reiterate: sometimes, halfway decent) against some common things like Talonflame, but I digress. It is unreliable due to not protecting against Will-o-Wisp, which physical Aegislash hates... though mixed Aegislash just laughs at burns as it throws a Shadow Ball in your face.

Does protect change it back into shield form? I'd assume it does, but I'm not sure, but simply the knowledge of that move's existence makes people reluctant to use physical contact moves.

It does. Any non-attacking move will switch you back to Shield Form.

 

[Eaglehawk]

One word: Novelty. It's new, and thus it gets a lot of hype. Though it can be sometimes be halfway decent (reiterate: sometimes, halfway decent) against some common things like Talonflame, but I digress. It is unreliable due to not protecting against Will-o-Wisp, which physical Aegislash hates... though mixed Aegislash just laughs at burns as it throws a Shadow Ball in your face.

To be honest, many Pokemon that carry WoW are well known to carry WoW (e.g. Rotom-W), so keeping Aegislash in on those Pokemon in the first place is just the fault of the player's.

 

[Zachmac]

It does. Any non-attacking move will switch you back to Shield Form.

I know from experience that Swords Dance doesn't.

 

[KillerDraco]

I know from experience that Swords Dance doesn't.

Huh. I could've sworn it did. I guess it just doesn't switch you out of Shield Form. Maybe I need to test to double check.

 

[Divine Retribution]

Just a question and I'm not sure if any of you know the answer, but if my Aegislash is paralyzed and in Shield form, and I attempt an attack but it fails due to paralysis, does it still switch to Sword form?

 

[Sparkbeat]

Just a question and I'm not sure if any of you know the answer, but if my Aegislash is paralyzed and in Shield form, and I attempt an attack but it fails due to paralysis, does it still switch to Sword form?

Yes, you change before you attack, so it would change you, then say that you can't attack.

 

[Excitable Boy]

Huh. I could've sworn it did. I guess it just doesn't switch you out of Shield Form. Maybe I need to test to double check.

Most non-attacking moves won't affect its current stance at all; the only one that does is King's Shield, which forces Shield Stance.

 

[Ajduk]

I've heard somewhere that it is important for Aegislash to have 0 IV in speed.
Is that true? Most of my honedges have 31 in speed so I am just checking before breeding.
And what is a good nature for an offensive aegislash?

 

[KillerDraco]

I've heard somewhere that it is important for Aegislash to have 0 IV in speed.
Is that true? Most of my honedges have 31 in speed so I am just checking before breeding.
And what is a good nature for an offensive aegislash?

If you're using Gyro Ball, or going for Trick Room, definitely. Aegislash is slow to the point where it's almost never going to outspeed anything. Plus, by being slower, you (almost) guarantee that they'll hit your shield form before you fire off a frighteningly powerful attack.

Brave/Quiet is good for mixed Aegislash, while Adamant/Brave is obvious for physical sets.

 

[Arceus500]

I've heard somewhere that it is important for Aegislash to have 0 IV in speed.
Is that true? Most of my honedges have 31 in speed so I am just checking before breeding.
And what is a good nature for an offensive aegislash?

Yes, it is important to have 0 speed unless you are using Automize. For nature, there are three choices. If youre running mixed, use Quiet, for physical without Shadow Sneak, use Brave and for physical with Shadow Sneak, use Adamant.

 

[Ajduk]

Alright, thnx
And what is the suggested IV and EV spread for a physical set(besides the obvious 31 in ATK and 252 in ATK)?
I am going to breed brave honedges

 

[The Imposter]

Alright, thnx
And what is the suggested IV and EV spread for a physical set(besides the obvious 31 in ATK and 252 in ATK)?
I am going to breed brave honedges

252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef is the most common.

However, mixed sets are arguably better. Just letting you know.

 

[Murder Doll]

Has anyone tried using a mixed aegislash as a SmashPass reciever? I'm just wondering how well it would do given it's naturaly low speed.

 

[McDanger]

there really is a limited need as aegislash can use a weakness policy and automize for the same effect, but it is really good with faster threats gone

 

[Mr. Timn]

i have been a little hesitant to use autotomize sets on aegislash since it is so slow. even with a positive speed nature, aegislash is still beat in speed by haxorus with a choice scarf and pretty much any choice scarf user that is faster. at least it still outspeeds every common unboosted thing out there besides deoxys-s, and it is pretty resistant of priority since stuff like talonflame, mega lucario, and scizor can't do much of anything to it with their priority moves.

i am a really big fan of the pivot set with an air balloon right now. with an air balloon, aegislash can actually spinblock/beat excadrill if it can come in on rapid spin, earthquake, stealth rock, or swords dance. gliscor and landorus-t don't like air balloon aegislash either, neither do pretty much any pokemon that rely on earthquake to beat aegislash. as a matter of fact, air balloon aegislash shuts terrakion down completely, which is great when so many terrakion are starting to run earthquake now just for aegislash.

edit; oh, and sorry if this is off topic, but i'm wondering if someone can tell me what happened to my post count. it was a lot higher than 4 the last time i signed onto serebii forums. it has been several months since i last posted, so maybe post counts degrade due to inactivity or something?

 

[ccronin]

I enjoy running this set here:

Aegislash
Item: Weakness Policy or Leftovers
252 Sp. Atk, I vary on the rest of the spread though, haven't made up my mind exactly haha.
Modest or Rash, Rash preferred

Shadow Ball
Flash Cannon
Power Trick
Automitize/ Pursuit/ Metal Sound/ Toxic

This is a set that is capable of being a defensive wall and a powerful special attacker at the same time taking advantage of power trick switching attack and defense stats. Shadow ball and Flash cannon are the obvious damage dealing choices when you are only launching off special attacks.
Power Trick is, obviously, completely necessary to swap the stats. The final move slot I feel is up for grabs. Automitize can be used in shield form before the switch so when you do power swap it will be nice and speedy. Pursuit is nice if you run weakness policy, with it raising attack 2 stages pursuit will still deal some decent damage to most any poke, though it lacks STAB I think we can all agree on the usefulness of pursuit in general. Metal sound to weaken opponents special defense while in shield form before power swapping, and toxic is nice if you want to stall a bit in shield form when you have leftovers, but it is definitely not the preferred option.

EDIT: Eh forget I said toxic. Just, pointless completely, basically with his lack of ability to heal.

 

[Gugulug5000]

When I first saw Aegislash on Serebii (right before the release of X and Y), I was initially quite excited. Now that I started playing competitively, I hate Aegislash. Not because it's powerful, but because everyone and their dog uses one. Seems like 75% of people have an Aegislash online and that they're just using it because it is notoriously powerful. In my opinion, people should use pokemon they like, not just powerful ones. It always brings a smile to my face to wipe out someone's predictable Aegislash with my weak, rarely-used Marowak's bonemerang. It works wonders on Aegislash.