Shieldon Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Shieldon's bulk and resistances, as well as Sturdy, allow it to reliably set up Stealth Rock. Heavy Slam is a STAB attack that is decently powerful against most of the tier, given Shieldon's high weight; unlike Iron Head, it always 2HKOes Spritzee, one of the main Pokemon Shieldon is called on to check. Rock Blast is used as a secondary STAB move, and is notably super effective against the most common Defog users, Archen and Vullaby. The last move is mainly filler; Earthquake provides coverage on Steel-types such as Pawniard, while Roar can phaze setup sweepers attempting to take advantage of Shieldon. Set Details Sturdy and Berry Juice are obvious choices, ensuring that Shieldon takes at least two hits before going down. The EVs on this set allow Shieldon to hit 21 HP for optimized recovery from Berry Juice, with most of the remaining EVs invested in Shieldon's defenses, as investing heavily in its meager offenses or Speed is wasteful. Usage Tips Take advantage of Sturdy + Berry Juice to set up Stealth Rock as soon as possible, as this should be Shieldon's first priority. However, sacrificing Shieldon may not be wise if you rely on Shieldon to wall something on the opposing team, such as Fletchling. Team Options Ghost-types such as Frillish are not only able to spinblock for Shieldon, but are also immune to Fighting, though they will have trouble switching into Fighting-types due to Knock Off. Rapid Spin support is a good option to preserve Shieldon's Sturdy, and Drilbur and Staryu are the most notable spinners in the tier. Foongus and Cottonee have great synergy with Shieldon, being able to switch in on Shieldon's biggest counter in Drilbur, while Shieldon takes on Flying-types for them. Shieldon forms a decent defensive core with Spritzee. Eviolite is a viable item choice if Shieldon is used in this core, as Spritzee provides Wish support for it.

Thanks to Sturdy, which was improved this generation, Shieldon is almost guaranteed to survive long enough to set up Stealth Rock. When not setting up Stealth Rock, Shieldon can use Metal Burst to punish opponents who may have been able to OHKO him last generation. Fire Blast is used for its high chance to OHKO Ferroseed and Magnemite and 2HKO Eviolite Cottonee. Earthquake can be used for Aron and opposing Shieldon. An Oran Berry helps prevent residual damage from rendering Sturdy useless. It's important to note that the Oran Berry will never get Shieldon back to Sturdy range once he has taken an attack, but it is still an asset to get around residual damage from hail or entry hazards. An Eviolite can give Shieldon more bulk, but with the abundance of Fighting-type priority from Croagunk and Timburr, Shieldon usually won't be lasting very long anyway. Taunt is another option in the second or fourth slot, but due to Shieldon's low Speed, it should only be used for opponents that are switching in or for Trick Room users. 0 Speed IVs and a Sassy nature make Shieldon's Speed as low as possible, which is necessary due to Metal Burst's lack of negative priority. Natu is a good teammate as it can reflect opposing entry hazards and status that could break Shieldon's Sturdy ability on the switch in. Hippopotas gets rid of Snover's hail, but be aware that he cannot take a Blizzard or Giga Drain. Diglett is another great partner, as he gets rid of Magnemite and Nosepass, who can trap Shieldon with Magnet Pull.

Shieldon's sturdy defenses and access to a great supporting move, Stealth Rock, allow it to effectively play the role of a supporter on most Little Cup teams. Shieldon can also check many strong and common threats of the Little Cup metagame, such as Dragon Dance Dratini, and this should definitely be taken into account when deciding whether or not to reserve a spot for Shieldon on your team. Although Stealth Rock is usually found as a staple on supporting variants of Shieldon, it should be noted that Stone Edge can be used over Stealth Rock if if you want Shieldon to do decent damage to Snover, who would otherwise wall the entire set. Flamethrower can be used for the same reason and possesses better accuracy, but it isn't boosted by STAB. Earthquake is used to easily KO even the bulkiest of Houndour, and the EVs guarantee that Shieldon will survive a combination of Crunch and Fire Blast from the standard MixDour set. Earthquake also takes down Magnemite, who will often switch into Shieldon, expecting an easy kill. Ice Beam allows Shieldon to take down offensive variants of Dratini and Thunderbolt is used to super effectively hit Water-types as well as forming the deadly BoltBeam combination with Ice Beam. It should be noted though that Magnet Rise is a viable option over Thunderbolt as it will allow dealing with Diglett much easier. Oran Berry is the recommended item, as it will help extend Shieldon's longevity, but a Shed Shell can be used if Shieldon fears being trapped by Diglett and Wynaut. Shed Shell can also help Shieldon evade Magnemite, although it is easily dealt with even without the use of Shed Shell.