Shadow Reshiram
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
The Shadow boost has given Reshiram a whole new leash on life. This thing was a volcano before, and now it's a solar flare. This thing has the tremendous advantages of a high base stat total, a great Fire Type moveset, and a useful Dragon sub-typing which tends to help more than it hinders. Add to this the Shadow boost, and you've got an absolute monster that is definitely worth adding to any team!
Offense
- Fire Fang is Shadow Reshiram's strongest fast move, and pairs well with Fusion Flare or Overheat to fulfill a Fire-type role.
- Fusion Flare* is Shadow Reshiram's signature move. Its strong parameters makes Shadow Reshiram almost unmatched as a Fire attacker.
- Overheat is worse, but is still a viable choice.
- Dragon Breath isn't too far behind in performance, and can pair with Draco Meteor to fulfill a Dragon-type role if needed.
- Stone Edge sports the fastest damage window and is quite powerful, but lacks STAB.
- Crunch can be used more frequently, but has the worst damage output without STAB.
Dragon Breath is well known for its well rounded, high energy generation performance and neutral coverage, though Fire Fang has its utility as well, hitting very hard and countering Steel and Fairy Types far harder, though the lower energy generation is noticeable. The one issue with Fire Fang is the fact that Reshiram really wants to jump into the game once shields are down so that it can go thermonuclear, and Fire Fang tends to prefer dealing heavy damage through shields, and can be disadvantageous if Shadow Reshiram is caught early against something that resists Fire. In general, stick with Dragon Breath unless you're trying to focus heavily on using Shadow Reshiram specifically to counter something that really doesn't like Fire.
Fusion Flare* is a must-have here. It's relatively cheap with VERY high raw damage per energy, and absolutely nukes some VERY big-names in the meta. In general, Draco Meteor is the backup option here. If something resists Dragon, then it's probably scared to switch in to Shadow Reshiram out of fear of Fusion Flare. If something takes neutral damage from Dragon, then a Draco Meteor will maim or kill it before Reshiram switches out or drops. And if it's weak to Dragon.... RIP.
Backup options are Crunch, which is basically Fusion Flare but worse most of the time unless you luck out and get a Defense drop. Stone Edge can be situationally useful, but the loss of its nuking potential for it isn't worthwhile most of the time. Overheat can occasionally be useful as it's almost definitely going to kill whatever Shadow Reshiram is trying to counter with its higher raw damage output when compared to Fusion Flare, but pairing it with Fusion Flare leaves Shadow Reshiram with nothing but Fire coverage, or pairing it with Draco Meteor leaves Reshiram with no Charged Move options that won't nuke, but lower its Attack as a result. Still, it's situationally worth considering to ensure a key KO.
Shadow Reshiram can't make it into the Great League.
