Aegislash Pokkén Tournament DX Guide

This guide was organized by me, but most of the information was provided by Wingtide and Euclase.

- Overview
- Attributes
- Move list
- Setups

How to play Aegislash in Pokkén - Overview

Aegislash is a dominating force from up close and far away. It has very long reaching attacks in both phases, and it can transition between two different Formes to adapt to the opponent’s playstyle.

Aegislash has two Formes: Sword Forme and Shield Forme. (I think it’s technically called Blade Forme, but no one uses that). These have completely different moves and movement options.

Sword Forme plays mostly like a normal character, but Shield form cannot grab, cannot block, cannot jump, it moves extremely slowly, and it has permanent blue armor. When opponents make contact with this armor, Aegislash does an automatic +5 parry like an auto Guard Impact from Soul Calibur. Aegislash gains an attack buff whenever it transitions into Sword Forme. Aegislash recovers 10 HP when it transitions into Sword Forme.

Safely Transitioning

Shield forme is dangerous to be in up close against opponents because unless you’re performing an attack, Aegislash can get grabbed and punished with a critical hit just for being in that forme. Pressing B is the quickest and safest way to transition back to Sword forme. Shield forme Pokémon moves are another way to transition out, but they are more commitment. Pressing R does a ghost dash out which has lots of recovery and is not recommended. Using a support also puts Aegislash in Sword. Sacred Sword at a slight distance and B are common options players use to get back to Sword Forme. I’ll discuss more transition strategies in the move list.

Sharp vs Dull

Whenever Aegislash has a stat buff it gets access to enhanced moves and gains a visual glow. Most players differentiate between this by calling Aegislash “sharp” or “dull” which I will also do here. While sharp, all of its moves deal chip damage and many of them have improved properties which I’ll show in the move list section.

Attributes

(From Shoryuken)
HP: 510
Synergy Gauge: 200 CC
Burst Mode Duration: 12 Seconds

Aegislash’s low stance avoids both highs and lows.

Move list

Aegislash has way too many moves and variations of them for me to break down every single one, so I’ll focus on the key attacks. Its entire movelist properties in the frame data.

Counter Attack

i39/59. Mid-high. -4 uncharged, +8 charged. Shifts from field phase, otherwise +4 on hit. Fully charged stuns. This move transitions into shield phase on recovery.

6R Parry (fR in field)

Armor frame 1-11. In field phase vs lights it’s +12 and +20 vs heavy attacks. In duel phase it’s +24 vs lights and +16 vs heavy attacks. Unlike many armored moves, this attack only works on physical attacks and can’t get hitstun locked - the parry interrupts the opponent instantly.

Pokémon Moves

Fury Cutter 5A

i23. 5A: -8 (-4 Sharp). 5AA: -8. 5AAA: -12. 5AX: -8. 5AAX: -8. While Dull, you can only do 5A alone, but you get access to all the extensions while Sharp. There is a gap after the first hit, but the X enders counter pierce. This attack has multiple extensions making it very difficult to consistently punish all 3 versions on block. Fury Cutter can be confirmed into from Sword homing attack. In duel phase, it’s a high damage combo ender.

Ultra Flames: This is a good time to mention one of the extra bonuses of transitions. On the 8th transition into Sword forme, Aegislash gets access to Ultra Flames (unofficial name). The character gets a rainbow aura around it, and for the remainder of the round, all transitions into Sword (including this one) grant both a speed and attack buff. 133 to 241 damage if you hit both just frames.

5AAA ender

5AAX ender

Iron Head 6A

i27 (47 charged). -4, +4 uncharged. Special mid (so it can be anti aired like a high or mid-high). Crushes lows frame 5. This attack is the fastest and safest way to enter Shield without commitment. Pressing R before the attack fully starts up transitions into Shield. Of course, you can hop back out of Shield with B which counts towards your 8 total Sword transitions and gives you an attack buff. You can even transition into Shield with R after the attack’s hitbox is no longer active. This is good meaty attack and good for poking through standard counter attacks when canceled into from homing 1.

Sacred Sword 4A

i15. -12. Recovers in Sword, but if grabbed as a punish, this still counts as a critical hit. This move puts out a mist that lasts for 10 seconds. The next time Aegislash goes into Shield with the mist active, it explodes, launching the opponent. This explosion can make certain transitions into Shield Forme completely safe on block like duel 8Y.

Gyro Ball jA

-4 normally. -8 vs opponent with speed down. 0 vs opponent with speed up.

Flash Cannon Shield 6A

i39. -24. Recovers in Sword. Might tag someone being reckless, but it can be blocked or jumped over on reaction.

Shadow Sneak Shield 5A

i43. -8 when uncharged. -4 when charged. Charged version pierces. This attack has a disjointed hitbox allowing you to make it incredibly positive on block when done meaty. Setups at the bottom of this guide. Recovers in Sword.

Field Phase Moves

Homing Attack

Sword: i17. -8, -4, -8. The first hit is special cancelable and cancelable into Shield Forme with R. If you want to do homing 1 then block immediately, after, delay the R.
Shield: i25. -8, -8. Homing 1 is invincible to highs starting frame 1.

Homing 1 Sword

Homing 2 Sword

Homing 3 Sword

Homing 1 Shield

Homing 2 Shield

fY

i11. Dull: -24. Sharp: -8. Sharp fY is incredibly powerful, going over half screen and being safe on block. This move has a giant hitbox which clips preemptive jumps. Being 11 frames it also grab crushes. One of the best moves in the game overall. 18 chip damage while sharp.

Dull fY

Sharp fY

nY

i23, -12. Special cancelable. Usually safe at a distance. Decent poke that can also cancel into fY.

sY

i19. -8. Special cancelable and can be canceled into a dash with R. Good for closing the distance and clipping opponents side walking to avoid fY.

Duel Phase Moves

4Y

i11. Mid (technically ML, M, M). Dull -16. Sharp -4. Juggles aerial opponents. Grab crush. Launches on critical hit. Sharp 4Y is perhaps the best duel phase move in Pokkén. It’s why Aegislash’s risk-reward is so in its favor at close quarters.

2Y

i11. -8. Invincible against highs and lows. Grab crush.

5Y

i15. -8. Mid-low. While sharp, this does more hits and can cancel into 5YY and 5YYX. This attack has a lot of variations and all the info is in the frame data.

8Y

i15. -20. Wide hitbox that hits on both sides. Incredible anti air due to its blue armor. It recovers in Shield, but the mist from Sacred Sword can make it safe.

5X

i19. Dull -16. Sharp -4. Special Cancelable and cancelable into 6R. Excellent lunge that’s safer and more versatile than 6X.

4X

i31. Mid. Dull -16. Sharp -8. Sharp throws a piercing projectile. This move was nerfed to reduce Aegislash’s buff duration and consequently Sharp’s duration when used. As a keepout move, most characters pretty much have to hold it. Super good and of course sharp does chip damage. Even Aegislash’s body itself pierces.

6X

i19. -20. Only cancelable on hit into 6XX. This is a godlike whiff punisher against high recovery moves, but for some reason most of the top Aegislash like to throw it out as a yolo launcher. I guess if it works, it works. This attack leads to obscene damage. Both 6X and 6XX have just frames that increase the damage.

6X

6XX

2X

i15. -8 Dull. -4 Sharp. Starts low, but the final hitbox is a mid-low. Sharp has a lingering hitbox on whiff. Cool oki tool and you can set up some whiff gimmicks with it too.

jY, jYY, jYX

Variable frame data. jYY is usually unsafe but it can juggle and lead to a combo. jYX is around -8, but transitions Aegislash to Shield. Often jY is used alone to pull opponents into 4Y range.

jY

jYY

jYX

Setups

-Charged Iron Head 6A does a lot of chip and shield damage and leaves Aegislash at +4. In duel phase, canceling the end of this attack into Sacred Sword is a true block string. It also does enough pushback so that outside of Burst, most characters cannot punish this sequence on block. It IS punishable by Lucario, Pikachu, Pikachu Libre, Aegislash, Mewtwo, Shadow Mewtwo, Garchomp, Machamp, and Suicune. Many of these punishes are very low damage.

-Shadow Sneak is a useful oki option since it’s disjointed, has lots of active frames and has a giant hitbox so you can use it in scrambles like after an opponent’s air reset. It also pierces armor.

-5X is multi-hit and special cancelable, dash cancelable, and even cancelable into other heavy attacks. It’s safe against every 19 frame reversal since you can special counter into an armored move like King’s Shield. You have to react accordingly to what the opponent mashed while they are stuck in hitstop to punish properly.