Shadow Sableye
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Shadow Sableye is an interesting little Pokemon, but its performance is poor. As an attacker, it's even below Gastly just to put it into perspective. That said, it looks absolutely amazing with those blood-ruby eyes.
Offense
- Shadow Claw is slightly superior to Feint Attack, offering slightly higher DPS, slightly less energy gains, and similar coverage.
- Foul Play is strictly superior to both Shadow Sneak and Power Gem, offering significantly better damage and more relevant coverage respectively.
- Dazzling Gleam isn't useful on Shadow Sableye.
Defense
- Feint Attack is better than Shadow Claw, with higher damage and energy gains.
- Foul Play is strictly superior to both Shadow Sneak and Power Gem, offering better damage, lower charge times, and an earlier damage window.
- Power Gem can offer better coverage against Dragonite and offending Fairy-type Pokemon.
Shadow Claw is much better than Feint Attack. It deals the same damage and has significantly better energy generation. Additionally, Ghost has much better coverage than Dark does.
Foul Play is Sableye's best charged move. It's cheap, spammy, and has solid coverage. Dazzling Gleam is an excellent coverage option to punish opposing Dark-type Pokemon that would otherwise wall Sableye. Power Gem is now a viable (and good!) option on Sableye thanks to its buff in Pokemon GO: Max Out. Shadow Sneak is terrible.
Sableye is a popular pick in Great League. Taking advantage of a Dark/Ghost typing which only shows a weakness to Fairy-types, and along with a strong moveset, Sableye gives a lot of value after a massive Stardust and Candy investment is made. Just keep in mind that due to its stat distribution, Sableye will lack some bulk in comparison to other top picks in Great League.
Shadow Sableye is a sidegrade option to regular Sableye, sacrificing some bulk and access to Return for the improved ability to break past tanky targets. It generally improves its matchup against Azumarill and Clodsire, for instance.
