Shiinotic Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Moonblast is Shiinotic's most spammable move, doing a great deal of damage to Fighting-, Dragon-, and Dark-types such as Gurdurr, Drampa, and Alolan Persian. Giga Drain is Shiinotic's Grass-type STAB move, hitting Ground-, Rock-, and Water-types such as Mudsdale, Regirock, and Lanturn while also providing Shiinotic with semi-reliable recovery. Hidden Power Fire hits Steel-types such as Alolan Sandslash and Metang, which resist Shiinotic's dual STAB moves and would otherwise wall it. Spore cripples switch-ins to Shiinotic such as Audino with sleep, allowing teammates to take advantage and set up. Set Details 164 Speed EVs allow Shiinotic to outspeed uninvested base 50 Speed Pokemon such as Audino and Regirock. Effect Spore lets Shiinotic punish physical attackers like Hitmonchan with a 30% chance to inflict either paralysis, poison, or sleep when a foe makes contact. Usage Tips Switch Shiinotic in on weaker attacks such as Scald from Pokemon like Gastrodon or against Pokemon that can't do much to Shiinotic such as Hitmonchan, Regirock, and Mudsdale. Because of the nature of this set, it's best used as an early-game wallbreaker that spams Moonblast, as it has few drawbacks. Be mindful of what move Shiinotic locks itself into. Locking itself into Giga Drain means that Flying-types such as Dodrio and Oricorio-E can set up on it, whereas locking itself into Hidden Power Fire allows Rock- and Fire-types such as Lycanroc and Simisear to set up as well. You can freely click Spore if you predict a Pokemon such as Audino to come in to take a hit to put it to sleep, but be careful of opposing Grass-types such as Abomasnow and Sap Sipper Drampa, as they are immune to Spore; however, they cannot directly switch in otherwise. Team Options This set works better on balance and offensive teams looking for a hard-hitting wallbreaker as well as a Water- and Fighting-type check. U-turn, Volt Switch, and Parting Shot support from Pokemon such as Lanturn, Scyther, and Alolan Persian pairs well with Shiinotic, allowing it to come in safely. These Pokemon also appreciate Shiinotic's ability to handle Rock-, Ground-, and Fighting-types in return. Entry hazard support from Pokemon such as Regirock, Ferroseed, and Qwilfish make for solid partners for Shiinotic, wearing down its switch-ins and aiding in getting specific KOs. Examples include OHKOing specially defensive variants of Alolan Sandslash with Hidden Power Fire after Stealth Rock and guaranteeing the OHKO on Skuntank with Moonblast after Stealth Rock and a layer of Spikes. Qwilfish can also use Thunder Wave to make up for Shiinotic's low Speed. Regirock appreciates Shiinotic checking Water- and Ground-types for it, while Shiinotic appreciates Regirock checking Flying- and Fire-types such as Dodrio and Simisear. Setup sweepers such as Dodrio and Lycanroc appreciate Shiinotic weakening Rock- and Ground-types for them. The former can check Pokemon such as Scyther, whereas the latter can check Flying-types such as Oricorio-E and Dodrio while weakening Steel-types such as Alolan Sandslash and Metang with Drill Run. These Pokemon also appreciate a free turn of setup if Shiinotic is running Spore. Physical wallbreakers such as Stoutland can break down special walls that Shiinotic struggles to break past such as Type: Null.