Competitive Builds (G6): Aegislash

[CrazyElf]

Aegislash is a ghost sword...DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN! Anyways, this Pokemon was introduced in Gen 6, which is in fact, the newest generation (no...REALLY? ) Aegislash is constantly used in competitive play, and to all you Smogon players, it is considered "OU", but of course, Smogon became meanies and banned Aegislash into "Ubers." Although, that didn't stop me from creating a build . Anyways, this Pokemon is very strong. It can have 2 formes- Blade Forme and Shield Forme. Blade Forme is the offensive side of Aegislash, while Shield Forme is the defensive side of Aegislash. Shield Forme can be used to tank hits, while Blade Forme is used to deal massive amounts of damage. Also, Aegislash has a signature move called "King's Shield", which is like Protect, but way better. If a move makes contact with Aegislash while it used King's Shield, the opponent's Attack lowers by 2 stages! Basically, Aegislash is a very powerful Pokemon, and it is constantly used in competitive. Below are some sets most Aegislash's use:

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Stance Change
EVs: 252 Attack / 252 HP / 4 Defense
Adamant
- King's Shield
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword/Iron Head
This is a standard Aegislash set, and is also the most known and used. Anyways, pretty self-explanatory.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Stance Change
EVs: 252 Attack / 252 HP / 4 Sp. Attack
Brave
- King's Shield
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Ball/Flash Cannon
Mixed set right here (obviously). Not really a known set, but it still is used. Shadow Ball is for the more, powerful Ghost type move. While Flash Cannon is another STAB, so you don't get screwed by a Normal type when having Shadow Ball. Otherwise, pretty self-explainatory set.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Stance Change
EVs: 252 Sp. Attack / 252 HP / 4 Sp. Defense
Modest
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- HP Fighting
- King's Shield/Substitute
You'd wonder why people don't use a special Aegislash when it has a base 150 Sp. Attack stat. Then all of a sudden, you see that it has access to Swords Dance and King's Shield, and its barren special movepool. Yep. That's why Aegislash almost never runs a special set. Anyways, why not try something new? This set is used to offer as much coverage you can. Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon are decent STABS, while HP Fighting is used for coverage.

Anyways, this is all I got. If you have one Aegislash set, post it below. See y'all later.

 

[532]

I also use Aegislash quite commonly on my team.
Although he can be a tank or a sweeper, he is INSANELY predictable. The opponent will know when you will Swords Dance, and when you will King's Shield. It also gets hurt badly by any Pokemon that can use Will-o-Wisp
I sometimes use a Special build on my Aegi, that uses Flash Cannon, Shadow Ball, Kings Shield, and Focus Blast. It surprises everyone and works well, because no one is expecting it

 

[Artisan]

There may be certain standard STAB moves that can OHKO an Aegislash but it is definite if you can get an offensive stat boost and predict a King's Shield. If Aegi is a Special Attack variant there is no real hope for it since it cannot learn Nasty Plot (as far as I know) so you might need to use some proper judgment dealing with them (and if a Physical variant make sure you have a WoWer). Very useful when in the right hands but it can be a double edged sword if your opponent has Foul Play.

Edit: Brave isn't my favorite nature and should always be replaced with Adamant imo because it get's King Shield Priority and what more can you ask for if it is slower and gets hit twice leading to the fail of a set over a sweep (because you never know when those Normal/Flying types are gonna come and git ya).

 

[CrazyElf]

There may be certain standard STAB moves that can OHKO an Aegislash but it is definite if you can get an offensive stat boost and predict a King's Shield. If Aegi is a Special Attack variant there is no real hope for it since it cannot learn Nasty Plot (as far as I know) so you might need to use some proper judgment dealing with them (and if a Physical variant make sure you have a WoWer). Very useful when in the right hands but it can be a double edged sword if your opponent has Foul Play.

Edit: Brave isn't my favorite nature and should always be replaced with Adamant imo because it get's King Shield Priority and what more can you ask for if it is slower and gets hit twice leading to the fail of a set over a sweep (because you never know when those Normal/Flying types are gonna come and git ya).

You do have a point, but I'm just putting down the most known sets on Aegislash, or at least the decent ones. For the 2nd set, you can always go for a Naughty nature instead of Brave if you don't like the Speed decrease. Naughty doesn't make the set better, but it gives you a little boost of Speed, but with a risk of losing more Sp. Defense. Aegislash's Defense is more important then its Sp. Defense IMO.