Grass
100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 (600 BST)
Natural Cure
Notable moves:
- Air Slash
- Bullet Seed
- Dazzling Gleam
- Earth Power
- Energy Ball
- Facade
- Giga Drain
- Grass Knot
- Grassy Glide
- Growth
- Healing Wish
- Leaf Storm
- Play Rough
- Psychic
- Rest
- Seed Flare
- Synthesis
- Trailblaze
- Zen Headbutt
- Seed Flare is a 120 BP move with a 40% chance of lowering the opponent's Special Defense by two stages, meaning that even resists and bulky Pokémon aren't necessarily safe switchins
- Good bulk, and while its offensive stats aren't impressive in this powercrept meta they aren't too shabby either
- Decent coverage; Grass/Ground/Flying covers everything that isn't Flying, a levitator, or Orthworm
- Natural Cure is a good ability, meaning Toxic isn't as much of a threat to it as other Pokémon and Rest isn't a terrible option to run on defensive sets
- While there are many physical Grass-types that clearly outclass Shaymin (Ogrepon, Meowscarada, Rillaboom, etc.) we don't have a lot of good special Grass-types right now, so it can try to carve a niche there
- Grass is a mediocre offensive and defensive typing, meaning it's more reliant on Tera than most Pokémon
- Offensive sets suffer from major 4MSS, especially if you want to fit Growth or Trailblaze
- Since Growth is its only way of boosting Special Attack, and it's usually not worth running outside of sun, it can be reliant on Seed Flare drops to break through bulky Pokémon
- Seed Flare's low PP and 85% accuracy can hinder wallbreaking efforts
- Although it's not commonly run, Covert Cloak can be a problem to it
- 100 Speed is outsped by a lot nowadays, and while it does have Trailblaze once again that's hard to fit
- Fire and Rock compliment Grass/Ground coverage really well, with the former covering Corviknight as well as the occasional Bronzong or Orthworm while the latter blows through Moltres and Rotom Heat
- Offesive sets can also go with a type that has good neutral coverage, like Dark or Ghost
- For defensive sets, Poison and Steel are both immune to Toxic Spikes, which is still a problem to it despite Natural Cure. The former shares no weaknesses with Grass while the latter has more resistances overall. Water and Fairy are also always solid defensive Teras.
Specs (Shaymin) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Natural Cure
Tera Type: Fire / Rock
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Tera Blast
- Rest / Air Slash
This set takes advantage of Seed Flare's wallbreaking potential. This is perhaps the best generation for Grass-type wallbreakers, as stall doesn't run many Grass resists nowadays and if you can force them to Tera, the door is open to start breaking major holes in the opponent's team. Rest may seem weird on a Specs set, but it greatly helps your longevity as you recover from sleep upon switching out thanks to Natural Cure. Air Slash is an alternative if you want to try flinch hax (lol) or to help break bulky grasses like Amoongus (if Tera Rock is run over Tera Fire).
Setup (Shaymin) @ Life Orb / Miracle Seed
Ability: Natural Cure
Tera Type: Fire / Rock
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power / Air Slash
- Tera Blast
- Trailblaze / Growth
If you want to match up better against offensive teams, Trailblaze can help, while Growth can give it major power especially on sun teams. Sadly, if you run them both, you will have major coverage issues no matter which move you choose (if you're not running Seed Flare, there is little to no reason to run Shaymin). Earth Power is the more consistent option, but fast flinch hax can make Air Slash tempting.
Subseed (Shaymin) @ Leftovers / Heavy Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
Tera Type: Poison / Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Synthesis / Rest
Get it before it's outclassed by Serperior! I chose to make it physically defensive, as having a good Great Tusk matchup (pre-Tera) will help it make progress against many teams. Rest is a solid option due to Natural Cure, but it can sap your momentum in certain cases so be careful.
Verdict: Shaymin probably won't make it in OU. While it has decent potential, its exploitable weaknesses and inconsistencies mean that it will rarely live up to it. It might drop to NU or even PU due to power creep, but who knows? Tera could be a big enough deal for it to keep it hanging on.
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