Introduction
In a meta with Torkoal to set harsh sunlight, Shiftry has risen up in January as one of the three available chlorophyll sweepers. Its workable 100 Attack and 90 Special Attack, as well as great Grass/Dark offensive typing, make it a staple on sun teams as an almost impossible to switch into wallbreaker.
Life Orb is Shiftry's most used item, as the flexibility of move choice is more valuable this meta than the increased power offered by choice band. With an Adamant nature, Solar Blade hits like a truck by OHKOing Slowbro, and 2HKOing defensive Fairy types. Knock Off is Shiftry's secondary STAB move of choice, most notably hitting Sap Sipper Goodra for large amounts of damage. Heat Wave is a nice option that flips the matchup against Scyther and physically defensive Shaymin on its head, although a Naughty or Lonely nature is preferred if this move is run. Lastly, Growth turns Shiftry into a devastating sweeper, making it able to annihilate almost any Pokémon in the metagame save for Unaware Clodsire and Donphan if it still has Sturdy intact. Aerial Ace is also niche option that lets Shiftry beat Virizion, but this isn't used that much since most sun teams run Vileplume which completely walls Virizion. Special Shiftry is also a niche option, giving it more power on Heat Wave and more consistent Dark STAB in Dark Pulse. However, this is usually not as good as a physical set due to being walled by very common specially defensive Pokémon, such as Goodra which it can no longer touch, and Clodsire which shrugs off Solar Beams pretty easily.
Flaws
Although Shiftry is excellent offensively, it's a liability defensively. The only defensive merit it has is being able to hard wall non-Flamethrower Slowbro, which is pretty good, but it's not much. It's weak to Fairy and Poison moves, meaning that Clodsire, Dachsbund, Comfey, and Alcremie could 1v1 Shiftry if they're already on the field before Shiftry has used a move. Shiftry's paper-thin defenses exacerbate this issue even more, ensuring that getting hit by any super-effective move will spell doom for the Wicked Pokémon.
Written by mmtaccoss