pkmnlab

Shadow Ball

Ghost · Special · 29 Pokémon in Reg M-B
Ghost
Shadow Ball
TypeGhost
CategorySpecial
Base power80
Accuracy100%
PP15
Priority0
PokémonTypes Its usageCarries it
Sinistcha 26.1% 13.6% Mega Froslass 7.7% 91.4% Gholdengo 7.4% 99.2% Mega Gengar 6.7% 98.4% Dragapult 1.2% 14.3% Chandelure 1.2% 96.6% Aegislash 0.94% 9.4% Zoroark-Hisui 0.81% 34.2% Rotom-Heat 0.61% 1.7% Typhlosion-Hisui 0.57% 98.8% Espathra 0.32% 0.8% Glaceon 0.28% 4.2% Cofagrigus 0.23% 34.2% Basculegion-F 0.18% 80% Rotom-Mow 0.13% 1.6% Gardevoir 0.12% 16.7% Jolteon 0.10% 15% Rotom-Frost 0.10% 8% Reuniclus 0.07% 13.1% Mega Alakazam 0.06% 41.2% Skeledirge 0.05% 27.2% Espeon 0.05% 19.4% Roserade 0.04% 3% Decidueye 0.04% 11%

What it does

Has a 20% chance to lower the target's Special Defense by 1 stage.

At 80 base power it is the 22nd strongest of the 39 damaging special moves that appear in this format.

Who carrys it

29 of the 277 Pokémon measured on the Regulation M-B ladder carry Shadow Ball. The one that matters most is Sinistcha, which is on 26.1% of teams and carrys it on 13.6% of its sets. The full list is above, ordered by how much of the format each one is.

What it hits

As a Ghost move it is super effective against Ghost and Psychic, resisted by Dark, and does nothing at all to Normal. 2 other Ghost moves appear in this format: Shadow Sneak, Poltergeist.

Who could and does not

96 Pokémon legal in this regulation can learn Shadow Ball at all, against the 29 that actually bring it. The gap is the interesting number: it is the set of Pokémon that have the option and decline it. The most-played of those are Basculegion, Sneasler, Whimsicott, Farigiraf, Sylveon and Rotom-Wash — each of them measured on the ladder, each of them leaving this move on the shelf.

How concentrated it is

Across the ladder, Shadow Ball accounts for an expected 0.27 of the six slots on an average team, which makes it the 20th most-brought of the 121 moves this format runs. 13% of that comes from Sinistcha alone, so it is spread across the field rather than propped up by one Pokémon. Its carriers are mostly Ghost (15), Electric (6) and Psychic (6).

Where these numbers come from

Usage is Smogon's published statistics for the Regulation M-B VGC ladder, and the description is the one shipped in the Pokémon Showdown data set. Both are regenerated on every build rather than written by hand, so this page follows the format instead of trailing it. Take any of it to the team builder or the damage calculator.

Where this goes next

Build

Open the builder with Sinistcha seated — Sinistcha brings Shadow Ball to more teams than any of the other 28 Pokémon that carry it.

More

All 121 moves the format runs, ordered by how many copies an average team carries.