Competitive Pokemon History - Shaymin Quiz

Answer: High chance to reduce the target's Special Defense drastically

Shaymin had an 40% chance to drop the target's Special Defense by two stages, halving it. This meant that trying to deal with Shaymin with bulky but passive threats, such as Blissey, would be a fruitless effort most of the time. Even Grass resistant Pokémon were shaky switch-ins if they didn't have naturally high Special Defense, or high offenses with the capability of OHKOing Shaymin right on the spot.

Answer: Natural Cure

Natural Cure automatically removes any status afflictions Shaymin might have had as soon as it switches out of play. This made Shaymin even more beastly against defensive teams, as it could easily afford to launch Seed Flares, try to soften the opponent's Special Defense, and could trade said efforts for a Toxic or Thunder Wave from, say, Blissey. Switching out would just remove the status, so statusing Shaymin was a useless endeavor, unless it was the last Pokémon on its team.

Answer: No

There were a whole swath of Pokémon who could achieve this, but not reliably. Seed Flare deterred any and all walling threats, preventing them from reliably countering Shaymin. Earth Power kept Heatran at bay, which was rather unique since Heatran is known for countering a host of prominent Grass types within the tier. Finally, Shaymin's third moveslot would be dedicated to the user's choice of Hidden Power Ice or Hidden Power Fire.

The decision between the two was critical, because it was essentially choosing what could and what could not counter Shaymin. Selecting HP Ice meant Shaymin could stop Dragonite, Zapdos and Flying types in general from easily dealing with it.

However, HP Ice left Shaymin wide open to Jirachi, Scizor and to a lesser extent Forretress, who could now switch into it effortlessly and win. To rectify that problem, HP Fire could let Shaymin take them out if they tried haphazardly switching in.

Unfortunately, Dragonite, Zapdos and the majority of Flying types would now counter Shaymin once it revealed its hand with HP Fire. Given that none of these threats can counter Shaymin unless it has a certain moveset, it does not have any counters in the strictest sense.

However, depending on its chosen moveset, Shaymin would need team support for whatever counters it did find itself being plagued by.

Answer: Roserade

Roserade and Shaymin had so much in common, that it should be clear to see how and why they competed with one another. However, Roserade was very slightly superior in most ways to Shaymin. Roserade's support movepool was far superior, mainly due to its access to Spikes and Sleep Powder, which made it a better pick for most balanced and some stall teams than Shaymin. Roserade's significantly higher Special Attack and secondary Poison typing also meant it was mostly more threatening offensively than Shaymin was. Roserade also possessed the Technician ability, amplifying its coverage moves and making it difficult to wall.

This meant that Shaymin's ability to wallbreak with Seed Flare was less consistent and generally less effective overall than Roserade, making it generally superior on offense and support as well. Thus, the existence of Roserade made using Shaymin somewhat questionable most of the time.

This was unfortunate, as Shaymin otherwise had the tools to be a no doubt top tier threat in fifth generation UnderUsed.

Answer: 100

Like many mythical Pokémon, these stats are simply good enough to not be bad, but they aren't good enough to stand out. Thankfully, Shaymin has other positive traits on the side that help it to not be plainly mediocre.

Answer: RarelyUsed's banned list

Shaymin was once again a very solid pick for UU at the generation's beginning. However, due to the strong competition it received along with the state of the meta, Shaymin did not receive enough usage to be natively UU, so it dropped to RarelyUsed. There, heated debate constantly took place regarding whether or not Shaymin was balanced enough to remain in RU.

It was hands-down the best Pokémon in the tier, and Seed Flare exponentially reduced the reliable counterplay towards it by letting Shaymin sometimes defeat would-be checks with luck.

As luck is inherently uncompetitive, this was the main basis in arguing against Shaymin being allowed in the tier. Not long after "Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire" came out, a formal suspect test was held.

The end result was Shaymin being voted out of RU by a 60.22% majority, the closest result in competitive Pokémon history since a 60% majority is needed for a Pokémon to end up getting banned. In UU, Shaymin was a generally good Pokémon that definitely had a place in the tier.

Answer: Goodra

Goodra had a stupidly high Base 150 Special Defense accompanied by a decent Base 90 HP. However, the real kicker to the matchup stems from Goodra's ability Sap Sipper. Sap Sipper makes Goodra totally immune to Seed Flare and Leech Seed, meaning Shaymin can never hope to ever prevail against Goodra under any feasible scenario. Whether or not Stealth Rock is up, Shaymin has some field condition giving it an advantage, it does not matter. Goodra will eat any hit Shaymin could feasibly throw at it. Goodra could afford to stand there and do nothing for a few turns before using any attacking move, probably Sludge Wave or Fire Blast, maybe Outrage, and wiping the floor with Shaymin. You get the idea: the presence of a Goodra on the opposing team meant Shaymin instantly became a liability until something else could deal with Goodra.

Answer: Celebrate

Pairing Normalium-Z with Celebrate would raise all of Shaymin's stats by one stage immediately, allowing it to become a large threat in the blink of an eye, capable of crushing unprepared teams easily. Unfortunately, it was only usable one time, so picking the time to sweep became quite important. Get Alolan Muk, Goodra, Scizor, Togekiss and Moltres out of the way before boosting!

Answer: 190

This is the strongest Grass Z-Move in the entire game. The idea of running this is unfortunately held back severely by a few things. First, Z-Seed Flare or, Bloom Doom, cannot reduce the target's Special Defense meaning that bulky Grass resistant foes can switch in on it a bit easier. Additionally, Grassium-Z stops Shaymin from using a Life Orb, meaning its shaky coverage moves will now be quite underwhelming, again hindering it against bulky Grass-resistant assailants. Finally, Seed Flare was already strong enough with a 120 base power, meaning the necessity of the arrangement is highly questionable. Thus, Grassium-Z was usually a subpar idea, though it certainly had its pros.

Answer: Yes

Fortunately, Shaymin had cemented itself as a solid mid-tier Pokémon in prior generations anyway, so it thankfully was not placed on life support by not being allowed to resume its competitive momentum in the meta.