Shuckle

[airconditioning]

I was thinking of a good build for Shuckle, and this popped into my head:

Shuckle @ Iron Ball
Relaxed Nature
EVs: 252 HP/ 132 Def/ 126 SDef
-Rest/???
-Substitute
-Power Trick
-Gyro Ball

What I was thinking of with this build was to Substitute, and then use Power Trick to swap Atk and Def. Then, use Gyro Ball to take advantage of Shuckle's extremely low speed (lowered even more, thanks to the Nature) and deal pretty good damage. Any thoughts/critiques/obvious counters?

[sims796]

I'll give you an obvious counter. As soon as you use Sub, with his piss-poor HP, it will be destroyed the turn you use it. Power Trick will then wipe you out, giving him PA-thetic def.

[Syaoran]

http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=107726

[airconditioning]

I'll give you an obvious counter. As soon as you use Sub, with his piss-poor HP, it will be destroyed the turn you use it. Power Trick will then wipe you out, giving him PA-thetic def.

Hm... well, I have no idea how a Substitute works, so I figured that the sub would have the Defense of the original Pokemon, or something like that, meaning it would be safe for a turn or two until Power Trick could be used.

Well, I'll just chalk this up to me being stupid.

[sims796]

No, just ahead of yourself. Ya tried to make a strategy, but overlooked some things.

[Syaoran]

Substitute Shuckle is not that bad. It will not die so easily with it's awesome defences and 252 evs in HP. I'd give him leftovers tho, his speed is low enough to reach the max possible damage on Gyro Ball.

First you Sub, then Power Trick, and the 3rd turn they break your sub, and you get the chance to kill one pokemon. The next one that comes in will kill you.

The entire technique can be countered in many ways, so I wouldn't advise using it.

[airconditioning]

Substitute Shuckle is not that bad. It will not die so easily with it's awesome defences and 252 evs in HP. I'd give him leftovers tho, his speed is low enough to reach the max possible damage on Gyro Ball.

First you Sub, then Power Trick, and the 3rd turn they break your sub, and you get the chance to kill one pokemon. The next one that comes in will kill you.

That was... exactly what I was thinking. When I first thought of this, I figured that the Sub would be pretty resilient, lasting at least two turns.Although with a bit of planning, it might be possible to keep Shuckle alive for a bit longer (Power Trick to revert the Atk and Def, Rest, then start over again, perhaps? Of course, you'd still be wide open for attack on that first turn, so I wouldn't know how it would work without dedicating half of your team to making that Shuckle work.)

[Syaoran]

EDIT Shuckle doesn't learn Trick Room. Rest wouldn't help it since it will be attacked before getting the chance to rest.

[airconditioning]

EDIT Shuckle doesn't learn Trick Room. Rest wouldn't help it since it will be attacked before getting the chance to rest.

Good point. You'd need to have some sort of Trick Room Baton Passer to get any long-term use. And that would be just silly. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v634/Gamerman/yelwacko.gif

Meh, I think I may stick with my staller/SR'er Shuckle.

[Lapras1016]

I recommend two sets for Shuckle, the Power Trick set and the Annoying tank set.

Let's do Power Trick first:

Shuckle @
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Relaxed (-Spd, +Def)
EV's: 252 A, 252 D, 4 SD
Power Trick
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Gyro Ball

I don't know what to give it, so you decide. If you'll give it a Berry, make sure its ability is Gluttony. ;)

Then the Annoying Tank set:

Shuckle @Grip Claw
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Impish (-Sp. Atk/+Def)/Careful (-Sp. Atk/+Sp. Def)
EV's: 176 HP, 80 D, 252 SD (Impish), 176 HP, 252 D, 80 SD (Careful)
Rest
Double Team
Toxic
Wrap

What you do here is to use Double Team to increase your accuracy. Then, use Toxic on the opponent and use Wrap on it. With Grip Claw, Wrap's trapping power is made longer.

[sims796]

Double Team is IILEGAAAAAALLL!

Shuckle fails because he relies too much on the support of its teamates to be somewhat useful.

[Iceman3k]

Personally, Power Trick shouldn't be used unless in conjunction with Rock Polish. And that takes the utmost prediction to work.

[airconditioning]

Double Team is IILEGAAAAAALLL!

True. It's 25 to life for +evasion moves.

On a side note, is Flash illegal? It cuts an opponent's accuracy, which is similar to evasion, so I'm not sure.

[Portujesus]

Your opponent can just switch out, so it isn't.

[PKDante]

Double team is awesome, people just whine about it too much, my shuckle has double team, it's a good move to have in a shuckle set.

If evasion moves really were illegal they wouldn't have been put in the game for people to use :P

DAN!

[sims796]

And to you, PK, the reason it is illegal is because, as I said, it makes you untouchable. With about 4 Double Teams, it is virtually impossible for you to get hit. And with Shuckle's defence, it will make him invincible. Just cause they put it in the game, doesn't make it fair play.

I'm playing Paper Mario. One bad guy can do immense damage, and immobilise you, and attack more that once. Once he hit me, I had to put the controller down, cause there was nothing I could do.

[Shiraishi]

Lol sims is that the huge-arse red Koopa east of toad town? O_o

Power tricking shuckle is MUCH better off in double battles.

[sims796]

No, I meant the X-Yuk in Thousand Year Door. One hit, and you are paralyzed. Then he goes invincible, and attacks in a row. Then you curse, throw the controller on the floor, and wait for game over.