Pokemon Sword and Shield

Shiftry - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle

Shiftry - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle.png

This is a strategy guide for using Shiftry in competitive play for the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, and Held Items to use with Shiftry, as well as its strengths and weak points.

Shiftry - Related Guides
Pokemon SWSH - Shiftry Evolution and LearnsetEvolution and Learnset Pokemon SWSH - Shiftry Best BuildBuild for Ranked Battle

Basic Information for Shiftry

Types and Abilities

Pokemon Type 1 Type 2
Pokemon Sword and Shield - Grass Type Pokemon Sword and Shield - Dark Type
Abilities
Early Bird The Pokemon awakens quickly from sleep.
Chlorophyll Boosts the Pokemon's Speed in sunshine
Pickpocket (Hidden) Steals an item when hit by another Pokemon.

Shiftry Weaknesses and Resistances

Type
Takes 4x damage
Pokemon Bug Image
Takes 2x damage
Pokemon Fire Image Pokemon Ice Image Pokemon Fighting Image Pokemon Poison Image Pokemon Flying Image Pokemon Fairy Image
Takes 0.5x damage
Pokemon Water Image Pokemon Grass Image Pokemon Electric Image Pokemon Ground Image Pokemon Ghost Image Pokemon Dark Image
Takes 1/4x damage
-
Takes 0x damage
Pokemon Psychic Image

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

HP Attack Defense Sp. Atk Sp. Def Speed
90 100 60 90 60 80

Best Nature for Shiftry

Best Natures
Jolly
(+Spd, -Sp. Atk)
Adamant
(+Atk, -Sp. Atk)

What are Natures?

Singles Movesets for Shiftry

Swords Dance Moveset & Best Build

Shiftry Swords Dance.png

Nature Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
EV Spread Atk 252/ Def 4 / Spd 252
Final Stat Values HP 165 / Atk 167 / Def 81 / Sp.Def 80 / Spd 132
Ability Chlorophyll
Held Item Leftovers
or
Black Glasses
Moveset Substitute
Swords Dance
Leaf Blade
Sucker Punch

Shiftry's high attacking stat makes it a good backup physical sweeper especially after you boost it with Swords Dance. The Grass and Dark-typing makes it so it has a number of options for offensive moves.

About Shiftry's Moves

Substitute is a good move that allows you to use a free Swords Dance at least once.

Swords Dance is the main set-up move for Shiftry. As much as possible, try to get at least one off before attacking as a boosted Shiftry can potentially sweep against certain team builds.

Leaf Blade is going to be your Grass STAB move. With high damage and a high crit-ratio, Leaf Blade counters prominent Pokemon like Tyranitar, Excadrill, Blastoise, etc. It also turns into Max Overgrowth once Dynamaxed, which helps in recovering the HP you loss after Substitute.

Sucker Punch is your Dark STAB move in addition to your priority move. A Swords Dance boosted Sucker Punch can knockout strong Pokemon like Dragapult, Indeedee, Hatterene, and the likes.

About Shiftry's EV Spread

We're going with a standard physical attacker set for the EVs. We maximize attack and speed to make sure we can capitalize on the strong STAB moves Shiftry has as well as to add on to its Adamant nature. The remaining 4 EV will be alloted to defense to give it some form of bulk.

About Shiftry's Ability

Chlorophyll gives Shiftry unmatched speed under the sun. It is recommended to bring out Shiftry after setting the weather to maximize its sweeping capabilities.

About Shiftry's Held Item

Leftovers allows Shiftry to recover loss HP from Substitute. While Black Glasses goes all-in on the offensive side; specifically Sucker Punch.

Other Viable Moves

Throat Chop A good substitute for Sucker Punch. It is stronger although it is not a priority move like Sucker Punch.
Bounce A coverage move that gives Shiftry ways to avoid offensive threats for a turn. It also turns into Max Airstream which boosts Shiftry's speed withour relying on sun.
Low Kick A coverage move against threats like Incineroar as well as other Steel-type Pokemon. It also turns into Max Knuckle once Dynamaxed which benefits Shiftry as it further increases its attack stat.

Mixed Sun Attacker Moveset & Best Build

Shiftry Growth.png

Nature Naughty (+Atk, -Sp.Def)
EV Spread Atk 252 / Sp.Atk 4 / Spd 252
Final Stat Values HP 165 / Atk 167 / Def 81 / Sp. Atk 111/ Sp.Def 72 / Spd 132
Ability Chlorophyll
Held Item Life Orb
Moveset Growth
Solar Blade
Throat Chop
Heat Wave

This is a mixed attacking Shiftry set that relies on sun support. We're going to be taking full advantage of Chlorophyll to out speed most of the opposing Pokemon. It's best used as a backup sweeper on an a sun based team.

About Shiftry's Moves

Growth is the perfect move for this build as it boosts both Shiftry's attack and special attack stat. Under the sun, it is essentially a Swords Dance that boosts both Shiftry's offensive stat.

Solar Blade is your primary Grass STAB move. Under the sun, it does not need to charge and is a physical and stronger variant of Solar Beam.

Throat Chop is going to be your main Dark STAB move. It is a solid physical move that prevents opposing Pokemon from using sound based moves as well.

Heat Wave is going to be your coverage move against Ice, Bug, and Steel-type Pokemon. It gets a major boost from the weather and Growth which makes it a strong special attacking move for Shiftry.

About Shiftry's EV Spread

We're going with a standard attacking EV spread with a little bit of Sp. Atk boost. This spread maximizes Shiftry as a mixed attacking threat with Growth.

About Shiftry's Ability

Chlorophyll makes it so that Shiftry is faster than most Pokemon under sunlight. It ties the whole build up nicely.

About Shiftry's Held Item

Life Orb increases Shiftry's attacking prowess. It allows you to go all-in on the sweeping nature of a sun + Growth boosted Shiftry.

Other Viable Moves

Leaf Storm A stronger move compared to Solar Blade. Use Leaf Storm if you prioritize damage more than accuracy. It is also a better choice if the weather is neutralized.
Lash Out A strong alternative choice to Throat Chop as Lash Out's base power gets doubled from 75 to 150 if any of Shiftry's stats are lowered. Use this if you're running into a lot of Intimidate users.
Dark Pulse A good special attack Dark STAB move which can cause flinching. You can go this route if you want to maximize Shiftry's special attack more than its physical one.

Doubles Movesets for Shiftry

Sun Sweeper Moveset & Best Build

Shiftry Solar Blade.png

Nature Naughty (+Atk, -Sp.Def)
EV Spread Atk 252 / Sp.Atk 4 / Spd 252
Final Stat Values HP 165 / Atk 167 / Def 81 / Sp. Atk 111/ Sp.Def 72 / Spd 132
Ability Chlorophyll
Held Item Life Orb
Moveset Growth
Solar Blade
Throat Chop
Heat Wave

This is the same set as Shiftry's singles build. However, this time you can set up sun easier using Pokemon like Torkoal and Ninetales.

About Shiftry's Moves

Growth is the perfect move for this build as it boosts both Shiftry's attack and special attack stat. Under the sun, it is essentially a Swords Dance that boosts both Shiftry's offensive stat.

Solar Blade is your primary Grass STAB move. Under the sun, it does not need to charge and is a physical and stronger variant of Solar Beam

Throat Chop is going to be your main Dark STAB move. It is a solid physical move that prevents opposing Pokemon from using sound based moves as well.

Heat Wave is going to be your coverage move against Ice, Bug, and Steel-type Pokemon. It gets a major boost from the weather and Growth which makes it a strong special attacking move for Shiftry.

About Shiftry's EV Spread

We're going with a standard attacking EV spread with a little bit of Sp. Atk boost. This spread maximizes Shiftry as a mixed attacking threat with Growth.

About Shiftry's Ability

Chlorophyll makes it so that Shiftry is faster than most Pokemon under sunlight. It ties the whole build up nicely.

About Shiftry's Held Item

Life Orb increases Shiftry's attacking prowess. It allows you to go all-in on the sweeping nature of a sun + Growth boosted Shiftry.

Other Viable Moves

Leaf Storm A stronger move compared to Solar Blade. Use Leaf Storm if you prioritize damage more than accuracy. It is also a better choice if the weather is neutralized.
Lash Out A strong alternative choice to Throat Chop as Lash Out's base power gets doubled from 75 to 150 if any of Shiftry's stats are lowered. Use this if you're running into a lot of Intimidate users.
Dark Pulse A good special attack Dark STAB move which can cause flinching. You can go this route if you want to maximize Shiftry's special attack more than its physical one.
Rock Slide Rock Slide allows you to hit both opponents. It also acts as coverage against Bug, Fire, and Flying-type Pokemon.

How to Use Shiftry Effectively

A Strong Offensive Pivot

Shiftry is a straight up offensive Pokemon. Take advantage of its strong offensive stats by switching in onto favorable situations wherein it can take a hit and trade.

A Mixed Attacking Sweeper

A Shiftry with Chlorophyl is most likely outspeeding its opponents. Fully utilize this by building a team that can support it via sun and defense. If you can set up an attack or special attack boost with Shiftry, it has the potential to sweep the entire opposing team.

How to Build a Team with Shiftry

Shiftry's combination of strong offensive stats and Chlorophyl means you can slap him onto a sun team in which he can be the main sweeper.

Mixed Sweeper for a Sun team

With its access to Growth, Swords Dance, and Nasty Plot, Shiftry has a lot of choices when it comes to set up. However, Growth is the most optimal one when it comes to sun teams as it benefits from the weather change as well.

The following team is dedicated to supporting Shiftry as the main sweeper on a sun team.

Example Sun Team

Weather Setter Mixed Attacking Sweeper Revenge Killler/Utility Counter
Pokemon SWSH - Torkoal ImageTorkoal Pokemon SWSH - Shiftry ImageShiftry Pokemon SWSH - Charizard ImageCharizard

Mixed attacking Shiftry needs the sun to be up in order to properly set up to sweep. This team allows him to do so as Torkoal can come in with Shiftry while Charizard can switch-in in order to tank super effective hits.

Use Growth while the sun is up in order to get a boost in both attack and special attack. Afterwards knocking out a couple of the opposing Pokemon, try and clean up with Charizard as it also benefits heavily from the sun due to it being a Fire-type.

How to Build a Weather Team

Counters for Shiftry

Shiftry
Weakness Pokemon Bug Image Pokemon Fire Image Pokemon Ice Image Pokemon Fighting Image Pokemon Poison Image Pokemon Flying Image Pokemon Fairy Image

Take Advantage of Its Many Weaknesses

Shiftry has low defenses and seven type weaknesses to very common types. This makes it vulnerable to OHKO's.

Without proper group support and defense boosts, Shiftry is vulnerable to getting outsped and knocked out by faster attackers.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon Description
Pokemon SWSH - Scizor ImageScizor Ranking: ★★★★★
・Does quadruple damage with Bug-type moves
・Resists most of Shiftry's moves
Moveset & Best Build for Scizor
Pokemon SWSH - Incineroar ImageIncineroar Ranking: ★★★★★
・Hits with super effective Fire-type moves
・Resists both of Shiftry's typing
Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Incineroar
Pokemon SWSH - Urshifu Single-Strike Style ImageUrshifu Single-Strike Style Ranking: ★★★★
・Super effective Fighting-type moves
・Resists Shiftry's Dark-type moves
Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Urshifu Single-Strike Style
Pokemon SWSH - Togekiss ImageTogekiss Ranking: ★★★★
・Both typing is super effective against Shiftry
・Resists both of Shiftry's dual STABs
Moveset & Best Build for Togekiss
Pokemon SWSH - Dragonite ImageDragonite Ranking: ★★★★
・Hits effectively with its Flying-type moves
・Boasts quadruple resistance to Grass-type moves
Moveset & Best Build for Dragonite)

Related Links

Pokemon Sword and Shield - Best Builds for Ranked Battle

All Competitive Builds for Ranked Battle

Competitive Guides for Pokemon Sword and Shield

Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides
Pokemon SWSH - Tier ListTier List Pokemon SWSH - Best BuildsBest Builds Pokemon Sword and Shield - Ranked Battle Series 10 Contenders.pngSeries 10 List of Contenders
Pokemon SWSH - Doubles Tier ListDoubles Tier List Pokemon SWSH - Competitive Team BuildingTeam Building Pokemon SWSH - Rental TeamsRental Teams

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