In all honestly, I’m a skeptic when it comes to this turtle, but this comment is affected by the fact I spend most of my time in Double Battles. I can only recall seeing a Shuckle in Doubles use Gastro Acid on my Serene Grace Togekiss, and maybe it using Power Split on my Garchomp. But then again, both of those instances don’t sound like the best use of Shuckle. Anyways...
Base 20 HP is horrible, but the insane base 230 Defense and Special Defense does balance things out a bit more. However, base 10 Attack and Special Attack and base 5 Speed means that under normal circumstances this thing isn’t really going to do much outside of being a wall.
Abilities:
Sturdy – With full health, Shuckle can’t be OHKO’ed. A very nice ability, this is one of the best choices.
Gluttony – Shuckle eats its held Berry earlier than usual. Being that Leftovers are far better to choose for healing Shuckle with, this ability won’t see any use.
Contrary – Reverses the positive and negative effects of stats done to Shuckle (both by itself and others). This is one of the coolest abilities around, but it’s a shame that Shuckle doesn’t have any moves to take advantage of this. This ability would work best in Doubles and Triples as its allies could assist it in activating its effects.
;213;
Power Trick
Item: Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Def / 252 Sp. Def / 4 HP
Nature: Relaxed (+Def, - Spd) / Sassy (+Sp. Def, -Spd)
- Power Trick
- Stone Edge/Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Return?
Let’s get one thing out of the way:
yes, this set is insane to use.
Power Trick swaps Shuckle’s Defense with its Attack, meaning it will now have base 230 Attack but base
10 Defense. This means that you are the most delicate glass cannon
in the universe. If you can pull it off, you will deal some massive damage. No matter what,
you need, NEED Trick Room support if you ever hope for Shuckle to even attempt surviving with base 5 Speed. This cannot be stressed enough.
Anyways, in the way of offense,
Stone Edge and
Earthquake form the famous Edgequake combo;
Rock Slide can be used for better accuracy. The fourth slot could have
Return as a maxed happiness Shuckle will surely overkill anything that doesn’t resist its power.
I decided the
Rocky Helmet may come in handy in case your opponent takes advantage of Shuckle’s now terrible Defense with a direct Physical attack; dealing passive damage for direct attacks could potentially break an opponent’s Focus Sash or Sturdy.
You definitely want
Sturdy as the ability option so you can survive a lethal hit.
;213;
Toxic staller
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Def / 252 Sp. Def / 4 HP
Nature: Relaxed/Sassy
- Toxic
- Protect/Rest/Substitute
- Stealth Rock
- Struggle Bug
Drain away your opponent’s health with
Toxic while Shuckle stands tall with its huge bulk.
Protect allows more stalling for Toxic damage and
Leftovers recovery.
Rest could also be used to recover health, although having to sleep for two turns may not be so appealing.
Substitute could add even more bulk as well as protect Shuckle from status conditions and Leech Seed.
Stealth Rock can deal extra damage on opponents switching in. Finally, so that you have something to use in case Taunt is thrown your way,
Struggle Bug is recommended more for how it lowers the target’s Special Defense, meaning Shuckle in a sense can provide Special Attack “boosts” to its allies.
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Contrary doesn't affect stat changes CAUSED by you, it only affects stat changes against you.
You're confusing Contrary with Defiant.