Would this strategy work for Shedinja?

Question

For context, it's doubles on Sw/Sh. This may also work on Scarlet and Violet. I haven't thought a lot about what Pokémon would work or a strategy, just this initial setup.
You send out a Pokémon with Skill Swap and another with Sturdy. You skill swap sturdy, and switch out the original sturdy Pokémon to Shedinja if it hasn't fainted already. You then skill swap on Shedinja. Status moves and weather conditions would still damage it though, so you would send out Pokémon that can stop these with their abilities or moves. Would this make Shedinja practically unstoppable?

Comments

What kind of doubles? VGC, OU, or something else?

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Whatever is the standard mode in Sw/Sh and S/V, if you were playing online multiplayer in those games, not showdown.

Answer 1

The first thing you should know is that there's no such thing as a "practically unstoppable" strategy in competitive Pokemon. Even though Pokemon isn't the most balanced video game out there, the Pokemon Company still organizes multiple tournaments with hundreds of participants each year. If a "practically unstoppable" strategy exists, would you really expect none of those tournament players to know about it?

The second thing you should know is that this wouldn't work in gen 9 because Shedinja isn't obtainable in gen 9.

So let's say you still want to attempt this in gen 8, even though you know it'll eventually fail. Skill swap doesn't work on wonder guard, so you would need either entrainment or gastro acid. No Pokemon learns both gastro acid and entrainment in gen 8, and the only Pokemon that learns gastro acid and skill swap is Mew, which is banned in VGC22.
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You would need to switch after using gastro acid. This effectively gives the opponent 2 opportunities to attack an ability-less Shedinja (1 opportunity with protect, but that costs an entire move slot on Shedinja). So a gastro acid strategy can be stopped by any Pokemon with a non-normal attack.

Entrainment isn't that much better. The only Pokemon that learns entrainment and skill swap is Audino, and the only Pokemon that learn entrainment and role play are Lilligant and Audino. Lilligant's speed won't matter here because it's still slower than almost all the offensive Pokemon in VGC22, so let's use Audino. Audino will need to survive 2 turns in order to transfer sturdy onto Shedinja. This is what happens if Audino attempts to survive 2 turns against the most common offensive threats in VGC22 (ignoring Dynamax).

252 SpA Solar Power Charizard Blast Burn vs. 252 HP / 128+ SpD Audino in Sun: 229-270 (109 - 128.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
156+ SpA Kyogre Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 128+ SpD Audino in Rain: 198-234 (94.2 - 111.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
132+ Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 128 Def Audino: 114-135 (54.2 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 196+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Sacred Sword vs. 252 HP / 128 Def Audino: 196-232 (93.3 - 110.4%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO

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In short, no

Comments

Why would I need both gastro acid and entrainment when they both do what I need them to do? Shouldn't I only need one?

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>you would need either entrainment or gastro acid.

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Thanks!

Answer 2

This COULD work. It would be better in triples though. You can’t Skill Swap Wonder Guard. You would need a Pokémon to first use Gastro Acid, such as Drednaw, to negate Shedinja’s Wonder Guard so you can then Skill Swap. The only Pokémon I could find with Skill Swap and sturdy is Carbink. If you manage to get the Gastro Acid and Skill Swap off without Shedinja dying (Hard in triples and probably impossible in Doubles against anyone decent), I think this set would be pretty decent.

Shedinja @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Wonder Guard
Evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 ?
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- X-Scissors
- Sunny Day

So Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid hazards. Sunny Day to erase dangerous weather. The rest to sweep. If you can get the gimmick off I see this maybe working, although Shedinja would still die to Toxic or Will-O-Wisp, so maybe get an ally to Thunder Wave Shedinja or use Safeguard after Carbink swaps out. I think this would take care of all the threats to your plan.

Comments

Eelectross makes a good 3rd for this strategy, and even allows you to both suppress Wonder Guard and swap in Sturdy in the same turn if you line up the Speed stats correctly.  This also allows you to have ready Thunder Wave to Paralyze Shedinja to block Poison and Burn.

The real question is whether or not you can have a non-Imposter Ditto use Transform on the Shedinja, and also copy Sturdy rather than Wonder Guard.  If that is how it works, swap the Carbink for the Ditto, and have it Transform into a second Shedinja.

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Electross isn’t in the Gen 8 Pokémon roster.

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There's such a thing as triples? I've never played Scarlet and Violet, I thought the only change gameplay wise was the tera types. Also, Eelektross is in Scarlet and Violet apparently.

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Triples may be gone for Gen 8. I thought you wanted an answer for Sw/Sh though.

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I did, but I also said it could work for Scarlet and Violet, but I wasn't sure.

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It wouldn’t work in Gen 9 since Shedinja isn’t in it. I know there’s some kind of triple thing, though I can’t seem to find it. You could do it in Doubles but it would just be a lot harder.

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Triples only existed in Gen 5 and Gen 6. Also I thought you couldn't Skill Swap Shedinja?

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Gastro Acid.

Answer 3

It would still be hit by poison, burn, and weather conditions, but if you send out a pure fire type with skill swap and a shedninja and use burn up it would make it immune to all damage

Comments

You can’t Skill Swap Wonder Guard.

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A typeless Pokemon would still take damage from poison, burn, and weather.

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Wow, nice info, sumwun! It's almost as if the first sentence of the answer says exactly that!

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I thought that was referring to the Shedinja.