Base Stats
Shield Forme/Blade Forme
HP: 60/60
Attack: 50/150
Defense: 150/50
Sp. Attack: 50/150
Sp. Defense: 150/50
Speed: 60/60
Abilities
Stance Change: The Pokémon changes forme depending on how it battles.
Aegislash, along with Talonflame and Greninja, remains one of the most popular new Pokémon to be released in the sixth generation, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a ghostly animated sword and shield. That’s pretty cool. Ever since I laid eyes on this thing I knew it would be great in battle, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Aegislash has the ability Stance Change, which lets it alter its form during battle. As it turns out, this form change also inverts its stats: Shield Forme has high Defense and Special Defense, while Blade Forme has crazy Attack and Special Attack. Aegislash is capable of using its great signature move, King’s Shield, to change formes at will during battle. This move not only protects it from all damaging moves during the turn, but also applies a -2 Attack drop to anything trying to hit it with a contact move. Due to its stats and ability to potentially shift formes multiple times in battle, the phantom blade has the potential for a lot of different playing styles.
By far the most common set that I used to run into was this one:
Be My Sword and Shield!
Aegislash
Hold Item: Leftovers/Air Balloon
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Brave
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Attack, 4 Defense/Special Defense
King’s Shield
Swords Dance
Shadow Sneak
Sacred Sword
Between Ghost and Fighting-type coverage, Aegislash was able to boost up all day in Shield-forme and Slash the opponent to ribbons. This set is what most people anticipate Aegislash to be, but is stopped pretty quickly with appropriate prediction and status application. Also worth noting is that Shadow Sneak has a low base 40 power (60 after STAB), which isn’t going to do much to anything that resists it, even with Swords Dance boosts. Its item could have been just about anything - Leftovers allowed it to recover a little HP while boosting, while Air Balloon protected it from the vicious Earthquakes that were destined to be aimed at it (Earthquake isn’t a contact move, and also hits it super-effectively).
Its HP is the one thing that holds it back from being a super-tank at a paltry 60, which limits its hit-taking ability. However, don’t let that be too much of a downer, because 150 Defense and Special Defense is a lot. Backed by its phenomenal Steel/Ghost typing, Aegislash has a ton of handy resistances, including immunities to Normal, Fighting, and Poison.
At least, that would normally be the case. This, unfortunately, is not so for an Inverse Battle.
Losing out on several of its immunities hurts Aegislash’s chances of stopping various common threats in the Inverse metagame, including Talonflame and Mega Kangaskhan, while neither of them particularly enjoy taking the -2 to their Attack stat from King’s Shield. Kangaskhan generally doesn’t care about that -2, since it can just destroy the Inverse Sword from its STAB Return, now that Aegislash is no longer immune to its rage.
Ironically, the Steel type becomes the weakest type defensively in an Inverse Battle, with a whopping total of 11 weaknesses. This works spectacularly alongside the hold item Weakness Policy, which provides Aegislash with a +2 boost to both Attack and Special Attack when hit by a super-effective attack (with so many weaknesses, Aegislash is basically guaranteed to get the boost), and with huge defenses in Shield Forme, you can count on it to survive an unboosted attack at least once, barring any quad-weaknesses (Normal, Fighting) coming off of full power and STAB.
Aegislash is still a nasty threat that should be prepared for, as its versatility is something to be feared. Your opponent will be wary of it as well, and will likely edge around the playing field in order to determine what set you’re running before attacking. Here are two of my favorites:
The Ghostly Broken Mirror
Aegislash
Hold Item: Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Brave/Quiet
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Attack/252 Special Attack, 4 Sp. Attack/4 Attack
King’s Shield
Shadow Ball
Flash Cannon
Shadow Sneak
The idea of this one is pretty simple. This is a lead Aegislash. Depending on what your opponent leads with, you either need to use King’s Shield to protect yourself from getting obliterated by a quad-weakness and scout, or attack if you predict a switch. Since you are running minimum speed, you’ll go last on the next turn, probably taking a super-effective hit and activating the Weakness Policy. Then it’s a matter of sweeping via prediction, which can be tricky business, but extremely rewarding. The EVs are there for whatever you decide to do with it - if you run Brave, you want 252 Attack, while a Quiet nature would require the 252 Special Attack EVs for maximum damage output. Ultimately, it depends on what you want Aegislash to hit harder with. I recommend maximum Attack, since Shadow Sneak isn’t that strong and could use the boost, but it’ll still hit like a truck regardless of whether you invest in it or not.
Good partners for this Aegislash set consist of things that can take advantage of the holes the ghostly sword punches in the opposing team. This includes setup sweepers such as a Dragon Dancing Salamence or Gyarados, or a Choice Band wielder, like Garchomp. Talonflame is also a great wielder of the Choice Band with its priority Brave Bird.
Mega Kangaskhan is definitely the biggest counter to this Aegislash set, but with good enough prediction, you can force it to take a King’s Shield Attack drop, tank a Return, and OHKO back with Shadow Ball.
-2 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 126-150 (75.4 - 89.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 0 SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 254-302 (141.1 - 167.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
The Ghost Train Cometh
Aegislash
Hold Item: Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Naughty/Lonely, or Rash/Mild
EVs: 252 Attack/Special Attack, 252 HP, 4 Attack/Special Attack
Autotomize
Shadow Claw/Shadow Ball
Shadow Sneak
Iron Head/Sacred Sword/Flash Cannon
Rather than relying heavily on prediction, such as the prior set, this one aims to outright sweep the opposing team. This set also works best as a lead, using Autotomize right off the bat, not caring what the opponent throws at you (since Aegislash is likely to force switches, or at least tank a super-effective hit). Afterward, it can sweep with mixed attacking boosts and stats.
Out of the choices listed above, you want at least one STAB. Ghost is the better offensive one, even in an Inverse Battle, due to its impressive neutral coverage. Fighting-type Sacred Sword can be used for nearly perfect offensive coverage, or you could run a secondary STAB in Iron Head or Flash Cannon.
Even at +2, Aegislash isn’t particularly fast, so you might want to find a way to incorporate Sticky Web or Tailwind support into your team. Galvantula is a reliable setter of Sticky Web with the Focus Sash, and Talonflame can use Tailwind as a last-ditch effort to support its teammates.
This set could also work as a late-game sweeper, after faster or more deadly threats have been eliminated. Just be careful of faster priority users (cough*TALONFLAME*cough) that can hit you for super-effective damage.
The nature for this set depends largely on whether you want to invest in Attack or Special Attack, and which defense you want to be weaker. Honestly, any neutral hit in Blade-forme will probably put an end to the sword's sweep, so defenses don't matter - especially since you're not using King's Shield to revert to Shield-forme.
The Indestructible Aegis Lives On
Aegislash
Hold Item: Leftovers/Rocky Helmet
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Special Defense, 4 Defense
King’s Shield
Shadow Ball/Shadow Sneak/Flash Cannon
Destiny Bond
Toxic/Iron Defense
Just like the legendary Greek shield it is named after this Aegislash set is made to tank hits as well as possible. Defensive investment isn’t necessary, as King’s Shield will lower the Attack of anything trying to hit you with contact moves. Rather than trying to deal as much damage as possible like the other sets, this one aims to whittle away at the foe as much as possible before going down itself.
Toxic is there to prevent enemies from setting up on you for too long. King’s Shield is for stalling out foes. Destiny Bond is there for a last-ditch effort of taking down a dangerous foe (such as Mega Kangaskhan - it’s probably not expecting you to run Destiny Bond!). Choose one attack to prevent you from being Taunt bait, and go to town.
This set could also probably run a Rest/Sleep Talk set with Leftovers to optimize recovery, but you might accidentally use an attack and leave yourself vulnerable in Blade Forme with pitiful defenses. Due to this, you could run full support, but you would be leaving yourself wide-open to Taunt. It should be mentioned, though, that Taunt is only really used on leads in the Battle Spot, such as Whimsicott, Talonflame, Aerodactyl, and Mandibuzz.
As for counters, you really need to know what set Aegislash is running before you can successfully counter it. Unfortunately, if it’s not setting up on you, it’s probably mixed, and will be more difficult to stop. Scout with a Pokémon that knows Protect in order to find out what set it’s using. If it Swords Dances, it’s the standard set and is far easier to deal with. Status can really ruin its day, such as a well-timed burn, or maybe even Toxic, now that it’s not immune to it.
Some Pokémon have priority attacks that are now super-effective against Aegislash. Talonflame’s Brave Bird hits it super-effectively, as well as Mega Pinsir’s Quick Attack.
Another thing you might try to use is a physically bulky Pokémon with the Assault Vest - that way, you’ll be on the offensive and defensive at the same time while fighting Aegislash. Unfortunately, counters for Aegislash are few and far between, as Ghost still retains its spectacular neutral coverage, which is augmented by its secondary STAB, Steel.
There are several Pokémon that resist both of Aegislash’s STAB attacks, such as Gardevoir, Froslass, and Chandelure, but none of them really want to take a boosted Sacred Sword. However, something they can do is slap it with a Will-o-Wisp burn to mitigate the amount of physical damage the haunted sword can inflict. This, combined with maximum physical EV investment allows them to take several hits from Aegislash.
If you can strike it while it's in Blade-forme, just about any strong neutral hit with STAB will take it out. The problem is getting it into Blade-forme without it destroying your entire team! If used well, Aegislash can rip opposing teams to shreds. All it takes is some good prediction for the Inverse Sword to be used well.
- J.
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