Shedinja for A rank [Ghost]
Explanation: Shedinja is a Pokémon that works well with Mega Sableye. The Core walls many pokemon together. Shedinja alone walls many Pokémon like Mega Gardevoir, Manaphy, Azumarill without Knock Off and many more. The ones I listed threathen Mega Sableye, what makes this Pokémon really viable on Ghost. Mega Sableye is usually used on Ghost so that makes Shedinja a good Pokémon. Hazards and Status are good against Shedinja, but since Mega Sableye should be used with it, you got yourself a Check for those Pokémon.
Shedinja @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk
Lonely Nature
IVs: 0 Def / 21 SpD / 10 Spe
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
- Baton Pass
- Shadow Sneak
Set details: This should look like your average Shedinja set. Safety Goggles is the Item of choice because of the Sand and Hail Weather conditions. The Item also helps countering some lesser used Pokémon like Venomoth. The EV's are the to maximize the Attack Stat to make Shadow Sneak deal as much Damage. Lonely Nature decreases the Defense Stat, which helps against Ditto's but always scout their move first with Protect. 252+ Atk Shedinja Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 0- Def Shedinja: 308-366 (102.6 - 122%) (Calculated with 0 Defense IV's and a Base 48 HP stat). 21 Special Defense IV's makes Porygon2 and Porygon-Z get an +1 Attack Boost when it comes in with Download, making the switch in to Mega Sableye much safer, if it happens to have Dark Pulse or Shadow Ball. The 10 Speed makes you underspeed Slowbro, so Baton Pass is slower and you can safely press Baton Pass without worrying of getting burned by a possible Scald coming your way. Will-O-Wisp burns opponent's switching in or staying in. The drop in Attack helps Mega Sableye switch in much safer. Protect is to scout moves. Baton Pass helps for Momentum and can let you switch in a good matchup against whatever switches in. Shadow Sneak is for priority and is your main attacking move.
Why A rank: Shedinja can fit on almost every Ghost team, mainly because Mega Sableye is used alot on Ghost, Mega Sableye is easy support for Shedinja, proving worthy for A rank.
Thimo, you really are an insanely good battler, so
please don't think that what I'm about to say is an insult towards you.
Just because you somehow find a way to make a dreadful pokemon work in competitive battling and somehow get all the way to #3 on the ladder using it, does not mean that particular pokemon is good in general. Trust me, I will be using Shedinja for myself now that you've brought this up, but there is no way Shedinja is A rank material. It forms an interesting core with Mega Sableye, but you need
amazing prediction skills to be 100% certain that all status and hazards stay miles away from Shedinja. If you slip up even once, Shedinja is literal dead weight, especially since there is no viable way for Ghost teams to remove hazards once they're already on the field. Yes, I know you use Defog Drifblim along with Sableye+Shedinja, and it somehow works for you, but it just doesn't work for everyone else.
I'm sorry if this seems blunt. Again, I don't mean this as an insult to you at all. Just the fact that you're able to make these pokemon work is impressive, but there is no way I can support Shedinja for A rank. The
absolute highest I would rank it is C, and I'm even hesitant to do that since Cofagrigus is down in D rank (btw, Cofa should be raised to C imo).
These rank definitions are a little over-quoted sometimes, but I think it's especially relevant in this case.
A Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that have S rank qualities, but need support (which can be easily given) in order for them to be successful. These Pokemon can play a role against most type matchups, but they may be hard walled by 1-2 types. However, these Pokemon are mostly used for one or two of their sets meaning that they can be predictable. These Pokemon influence the Metagame.
Shedinja only fulfills 1 of the qualities listed in this description. The part about support being easily given. There is no way Shedinja has "S rank qualities". As far as I know, it doesn't "play a role against most type matchups". I may be wrong about that, but I can't imagine Shedinja walling that many pokemon considering Fire, Dark, Ghost, and Rock moves are so common, and Flying moves are seen occasionally as well.
TL;DR Shedinja is a niche pokemon that forms a very interesting core with Mega Sableye that I
will be using for myself in the near future to test it out. It has a use, but there is no way Shedinja influences the metagame, and therefore there is no way that it's suitable for A rank.