[OVERVIEW]
The first thing that jumps out when looking at Kartana is its absolutely massive Attack stat that trumps even that of Deoxys-A. Access to Swords Dance and its ability Beast Boost allow Kartana to become a monstrous sweeper under the right conditions. In addition to resisting most commonly seen priority moves such as Extreme Speed and Water Shuriken, Kartana's typing also allows it to deal with common threats on stall, including Unaware walls like Clefable and Quagsire. With base 109 Speed, Kartana outpaces plenty of threats in the OU tier, including common Pokemon like Landorus-T, Tapu Lele, and Keldeo. Unfortunately, Kartana falls just short of Speed tying with base 110s such as Latios and Gengar. Although Kartana's Attack stat is sky-high, it has relatively low Base Power moves, with its strongest Steel-type STAB move having only 70 Base Power. Its coverage moves are also equally weak; for example, Sacred Sword isn't more than 85 Base Power. Even after a Swords Dance boost, Kartana is unable to break through bulkier threats such as Skarmory and Celesteela due to the low Base Power of these moves. Because of this, a Z-Move nuke is almost mandatory in order to facilitate a possible sweep. Despite access to a fair number of coverage moves, Kartana still manages to be completely walled by Pokemon such as Zapdos, which takes a pittance from any of its moves even after a Swords Dance boost and can OHKO it back with Heat Wave. Kartana's excellent Defense stat is completely undermined by its abysmal Special Defense stat and average HP stat, which means that it is blown back by even resisted special hits and cannot hope to switch in on anything other than a neutral physical hit or Poison-type attack. Although it requires plenty of team support, Kartana can successfully function as a early-game breaker or late-game cleaner.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Leaf Blade
move 3: Smart Strike
move 4: Sacred Sword
item: Fightinium Z
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Swords Dance boosts Kartana's already ridiculously high Attack stat to astronomical levels and allows it to break through most non-defensive Pokemon with its relatively low Base Power moves. Leaf Blade and Smart Strike are Kartana's main STAB moves and hit a large portion of the tier for neutral or super effective damage, barring Steel- and Fire-types such as Celesteela and Heatran. Sacred Sword rounds off Kartana's coverage and hits the majority of what Leaf Blade and Smart Strike do not, such as Magnezone and Ferrothorn, with the exception of Steel-types that are neutrally hit by Fighting-type moves, such as Celesteela and Skarmory, and Pokemon like Zapdos and Volcarona that resist all three of Kartana's moves.
Set Details
========
A Jolly nature along with maximum investment in Speed and Attack allows Kartana to hit as hard as possible while outspeeding as many threats as possible, such as Keldeo, Terrakion, Garchomp, Mega Pinsir, Nihilego, Volcarona, and other threats in the base 100 Speed tier. Investment in some bulk in order to more easily capitalize on setup opportunities may seem attractive due to Kartana's good Defense stat and already very high Attack stat, but because of its low Base Power moves and poor special bulk, this is a highly inferior option to full offensive investment. Fightinium Z is by far the best item option on Kartana, as it allows Kartana to break through the bulky Steel-types that attempt to wall it after a Swords Dance boost, such as Skarmory, Mega Scizor, and Celesteela. It is also worth noting that +2 All-Out Pummeling is capable of OHKOing offensive Volcarona without risking a Flame Body burn.
Usage Tips
========
Finding setup opportunities isn't as difficult as one might think; however, it is making use of Kartana's accumulated boosts successfully that is more challenging. Kartana naturally forces out Pokemon that cannot touch it, such as Ferrothorn, Tapu Fini, Mimikyu, and Mega Venusaur lacking Hidden Power Fire, so try to set up a Swords Dance upon forcing the switch. Early-game, it may be better to use one of Kartana's attacking moves instead of using Swords Dance when forcing a switch, as it may wear down Kartana's switch-ins for a sweep late-game. Alternatively, using Swords Dance early-game and netting a crucial KO or heavily weakening defensive threats such as Celesteela, Skarmory, and Mega Scizor may also be worth sacrificing Kartana for. While Kartana is naturally quite fast, it still fails to outspeed threats at the base 110 Speed range and above, such as Latios and Gengar. Try to eliminate or weaken these threats before attempting to set up, as otherwise they can come in with impunity and proceed to KO Kartana. When equipped with Fightinium Z, Kartana is capable of OHKOing or nearly OHKOing premier defensive threats such as Skarmory, Celesteela, and Mega Scizor after a Swords Dance boost. Don't shy away from using Kartana's Z-Move on its intended target, as opposing teams will not likely have another answer to +2 Kartana, so switching out will only hurt them in the long run. Once Kartana gains a +3 Attack boost from the combination of Swords Dance and a KO thanks to Beast Boost, it is nearly impossible to stop outside of strong, unresisted priority and faster Pokemon. Kartana also has the capability to demolish stall teams due to its inability to be poisoned, ease of setting up, and ability to break through Unaware walls like Clefable and Quagsire by virtue of its typing.
Team Options
========
Because Kartana's moves have such low Base Power, entry hazards are essential for KOing extremely bulky Steel-types; for example, +2 All-Out Pummeling has a decently high chance to OHKO physically defensive Skarmory after Stealth Rock damage. Greninja is one of the best Spikes setters in the tier, and it can easily wear down or even KO threats to Kartana with its fantastic coverage and Protean ability. Heatran is immune to Fire-type moves, and while it shares a Fighting-type weakness with Kartana, it can easily get up Stealth Rock multiple times during the match due to its excellent natural bulk and tendency to force switches. Landorus-T is also a great teammate to set up Stealth Rock, as it resists Fighting-type moves, has a good offensive presence, and can get Kartana in safely via a slower U-turn. Kartana excels when faster threats are removed, so strong priority users such as Zygarde, Weavile, and Mawile can help eliminate them. Weavile has the added benefit of being able to Pursuit trap Pokemon faster than Kartana like Latios and Gengar. Other trappers like Magnezone are able to eliminate bulky Steel-types such as Skarmory, Celesteela, and Mega Scizor, allowing Kartana to preserve its Z-Move nuke for another threat.
Other than damaging entry hazards like Stealth Rock and Spikes, Sticky Web is one of the most effective ways to set up a Kartana sweep, as many of its faster enemies are grounded and unable to outspeed Kartana after the Speed drop without a Choice Scarf equipped. Smeargle and Shuckle are both viable users of the move and can provide additional Stealth Rock support.
Because Kartana offers such little defensive synergy, it is best paired with offensive Pokemon that can create holes in the opposing team for Kartana to eventually clean up. Ash-Greninja, Keldeo, Tapu Lele, Tapu Koko, and Gengar are all excellent examples of offensive threats that can easily force the opponent on the defensive and pave the way for a Kartana sweep. Defensively oriented teammates can also be helpful to serve as a pivot for Kartana or to absorb special hits that Kartana is unable to take. Tapu Fini in particular gains special mention for its resistance to Kartana's two weaknesses, Fire and Fighting. It can also halve a foe's HP with Nature's Madness or wear it down with Moonblast and Scald. Additionally, while Kartana isn't extremely susceptible to entry hazards, Tapu Fini can also utilize Defog to prevent Kartana from being worn down every time it enters the battlefield. Specially defensive Zygarde can easily tank most neutral special hits for Kartana and takes on Fire-types for it, while Kartana deals with the Fairy-types that give Zygarde issues.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Kartana is a fairly one-dimensional Pokemon, meaning that it does not have a wide variety of viable sets; however, there are several other niche options available to it. Choice Scarf is a decently viable option but is inferior to the Swords Dance sweeper set, as its low Base Power moves and poor offensive typing leave it unable to KO setup sweepers that it is meant to check, such as Mega Charizard X and Volcarona. Steelium Z is a useful option to nab the KO on bulky Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Venusaur, but it is inferior to a Fightinium Z set due to the latter's ability to break through more common threats like Mega Scizor and Celesteela. Adrenaline Orb is an interesting option to mess with Landorus-T switch ins, as Kartana will gain a +1 Speed boost from Adrenaline Orb and +1 Attack from Swords Dance + Intimidate, and then it gains the ability to sweep the opposing team by obtaining additional Attack raises from Beast Boost. However, this is a rather gimmicky option, as Kartana will still take considerable damage from Earthquake and Rocky Helmet recoil. Kartana has access to Defog, but its frailty means that it will rarely have the chance to utilize the move more than once, and it takes up a valuable moveslot for Swords Dance or a coverage move. Psycho Cut and Night Slash are very situational coverage options, with the former hitting Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss harder than any other move Kartana has with the exception of a +2 Corkscrew Crash and the latter hitting Alolan Marowak without expending Kartana's Z-Move. Lastly, a set consisting of Swords Dance, Leaf Blade, Sacred Sword, and Vacuum Wave along with Grassium Z can function on defensive teams as a decent stallbreaker due to its ability to remove common stall staples such as Dugtrio, Toxapex, and Skarmory with the correct plays. Another benefit of running Grassium Z is the ability to KO Alolan Marowak at +2 and KO all variants of Zapdos after a bit of prior damage.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Attackers**: Anything that possesses base 110 Speed or higher outspeeds Kartana and can KO it with the proper move. Despite its good Defense stat, Kartana still falls to super effective Fighting- and especially Fire-type moves.
**Faster Special Attackers**: Kartana drops to nearly any decently powerful special attack, even when resisted, due to its paltry base 31 Special Defense. For example, Tapu Koko's Electric Terrain- and item-boosted Thunderbolt has a good chance to OHKO Kartana from full health, and most resisted special attacks land a 2HKO on Kartana at worst.
**Bulky Steel-types**: Although Fightinium Z provides Kartana with the means to possibly break through bulky Steel-types that attempt to wall it, Kartana cannot hope to break through them without first setting up, and Skarmory in particular is able to eat a boosted hit from full health and phaze it out with Whirlwind. Celesteela can take an unboosted All-Out Pummeling and OHKO Kartana with Flamethrower or Fire Blast, but it falls to a +2 All-Out Pummeling.
**Bulky Grass-types**: Bulky Grass-types such as Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss can tank any hit bar the rare +2 Corkscrew Crash or boosted Psycho Cut and proceed to threaten Kartana with Hidden Power Fire. Physically defensive Tangrowth functions similarly but still takes a decent amount of damage from +2 All-Out Pummeling, as it does not resist Fighting-type moves.
**Defensive Zapdos and Volcarona**: With proper defensive investment, both of these Pokemon can easily tank a boosted hit from Kartana by virtue of their typing and OHKO with their Fire-type moves in return.
**Alolan Marowak**: Alolan Marowak is decently physically bulky and can take a boosted STAB move from Kartana as well as being immune to Fighting-type moves, only fearing the rare Night Slash.
The first thing that jumps out when looking at Kartana is its absolutely massive Attack stat that trumps even that of Deoxys-A. Access to Swords Dance and its ability Beast Boost allow Kartana to become a monstrous sweeper under the right conditions. In addition to resisting most commonly seen priority moves such as Extreme Speed and Water Shuriken, Kartana's typing also allows it to deal with common threats on stall, including Unaware walls like Clefable and Quagsire. With base 109 Speed, Kartana outpaces plenty of threats in the OU tier, including common Pokemon like Landorus-T, Tapu Lele, and Keldeo. Unfortunately, Kartana falls just short of Speed tying with base 110s such as Latios and Gengar. Although Kartana's Attack stat is sky-high, it has relatively low Base Power moves, with its strongest Steel-type STAB move having only 70 Base Power. Its coverage moves are also equally weak; for example, Sacred Sword isn't more than 85 Base Power. Even after a Swords Dance boost, Kartana is unable to break through bulkier threats such as Skarmory and Celesteela due to the low Base Power of these moves. Because of this, a Z-Move nuke is almost mandatory in order to facilitate a possible sweep. Despite access to a fair number of coverage moves, Kartana still manages to be completely walled by Pokemon such as Zapdos, which takes a pittance from any of its moves even after a Swords Dance boost and can OHKO it back with Heat Wave. Kartana's excellent Defense stat is completely undermined by its abysmal Special Defense stat and average HP stat, which means that it is blown back by even resisted special hits and cannot hope to switch in on anything other than a neutral physical hit or Poison-type attack. Although it requires plenty of team support, Kartana can successfully function as a early-game breaker or late-game cleaner.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Leaf Blade
move 3: Smart Strike
move 4: Sacred Sword
item: Fightinium Z
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Swords Dance boosts Kartana's already ridiculously high Attack stat to astronomical levels and allows it to break through most non-defensive Pokemon with its relatively low Base Power moves. Leaf Blade and Smart Strike are Kartana's main STAB moves and hit a large portion of the tier for neutral or super effective damage, barring Steel- and Fire-types such as Celesteela and Heatran. Sacred Sword rounds off Kartana's coverage and hits the majority of what Leaf Blade and Smart Strike do not, such as Magnezone and Ferrothorn, with the exception of Steel-types that are neutrally hit by Fighting-type moves, such as Celesteela and Skarmory, and Pokemon like Zapdos and Volcarona that resist all three of Kartana's moves.
Set Details
========
A Jolly nature along with maximum investment in Speed and Attack allows Kartana to hit as hard as possible while outspeeding as many threats as possible, such as Keldeo, Terrakion, Garchomp, Mega Pinsir, Nihilego, Volcarona, and other threats in the base 100 Speed tier. Investment in some bulk in order to more easily capitalize on setup opportunities may seem attractive due to Kartana's good Defense stat and already very high Attack stat, but because of its low Base Power moves and poor special bulk, this is a highly inferior option to full offensive investment. Fightinium Z is by far the best item option on Kartana, as it allows Kartana to break through the bulky Steel-types that attempt to wall it after a Swords Dance boost, such as Skarmory, Mega Scizor, and Celesteela. It is also worth noting that +2 All-Out Pummeling is capable of OHKOing offensive Volcarona without risking a Flame Body burn.
Usage Tips
========
Finding setup opportunities isn't as difficult as one might think; however, it is making use of Kartana's accumulated boosts successfully that is more challenging. Kartana naturally forces out Pokemon that cannot touch it, such as Ferrothorn, Tapu Fini, Mimikyu, and Mega Venusaur lacking Hidden Power Fire, so try to set up a Swords Dance upon forcing the switch. Early-game, it may be better to use one of Kartana's attacking moves instead of using Swords Dance when forcing a switch, as it may wear down Kartana's switch-ins for a sweep late-game. Alternatively, using Swords Dance early-game and netting a crucial KO or heavily weakening defensive threats such as Celesteela, Skarmory, and Mega Scizor may also be worth sacrificing Kartana for. While Kartana is naturally quite fast, it still fails to outspeed threats at the base 110 Speed range and above, such as Latios and Gengar. Try to eliminate or weaken these threats before attempting to set up, as otherwise they can come in with impunity and proceed to KO Kartana. When equipped with Fightinium Z, Kartana is capable of OHKOing or nearly OHKOing premier defensive threats such as Skarmory, Celesteela, and Mega Scizor after a Swords Dance boost. Don't shy away from using Kartana's Z-Move on its intended target, as opposing teams will not likely have another answer to +2 Kartana, so switching out will only hurt them in the long run. Once Kartana gains a +3 Attack boost from the combination of Swords Dance and a KO thanks to Beast Boost, it is nearly impossible to stop outside of strong, unresisted priority and faster Pokemon. Kartana also has the capability to demolish stall teams due to its inability to be poisoned, ease of setting up, and ability to break through Unaware walls like Clefable and Quagsire by virtue of its typing.
Team Options
========
Because Kartana's moves have such low Base Power, entry hazards are essential for KOing extremely bulky Steel-types; for example, +2 All-Out Pummeling has a decently high chance to OHKO physically defensive Skarmory after Stealth Rock damage. Greninja is one of the best Spikes setters in the tier, and it can easily wear down or even KO threats to Kartana with its fantastic coverage and Protean ability. Heatran is immune to Fire-type moves, and while it shares a Fighting-type weakness with Kartana, it can easily get up Stealth Rock multiple times during the match due to its excellent natural bulk and tendency to force switches. Landorus-T is also a great teammate to set up Stealth Rock, as it resists Fighting-type moves, has a good offensive presence, and can get Kartana in safely via a slower U-turn. Kartana excels when faster threats are removed, so strong priority users such as Zygarde, Weavile, and Mawile can help eliminate them. Weavile has the added benefit of being able to Pursuit trap Pokemon faster than Kartana like Latios and Gengar. Other trappers like Magnezone are able to eliminate bulky Steel-types such as Skarmory, Celesteela, and Mega Scizor, allowing Kartana to preserve its Z-Move nuke for another threat.
Other than damaging entry hazards like Stealth Rock and Spikes, Sticky Web is one of the most effective ways to set up a Kartana sweep, as many of its faster enemies are grounded and unable to outspeed Kartana after the Speed drop without a Choice Scarf equipped. Smeargle and Shuckle are both viable users of the move and can provide additional Stealth Rock support.
Because Kartana offers such little defensive synergy, it is best paired with offensive Pokemon that can create holes in the opposing team for Kartana to eventually clean up. Ash-Greninja, Keldeo, Tapu Lele, Tapu Koko, and Gengar are all excellent examples of offensive threats that can easily force the opponent on the defensive and pave the way for a Kartana sweep. Defensively oriented teammates can also be helpful to serve as a pivot for Kartana or to absorb special hits that Kartana is unable to take. Tapu Fini in particular gains special mention for its resistance to Kartana's two weaknesses, Fire and Fighting. It can also halve a foe's HP with Nature's Madness or wear it down with Moonblast and Scald. Additionally, while Kartana isn't extremely susceptible to entry hazards, Tapu Fini can also utilize Defog to prevent Kartana from being worn down every time it enters the battlefield. Specially defensive Zygarde can easily tank most neutral special hits for Kartana and takes on Fire-types for it, while Kartana deals with the Fairy-types that give Zygarde issues.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Kartana is a fairly one-dimensional Pokemon, meaning that it does not have a wide variety of viable sets; however, there are several other niche options available to it. Choice Scarf is a decently viable option but is inferior to the Swords Dance sweeper set, as its low Base Power moves and poor offensive typing leave it unable to KO setup sweepers that it is meant to check, such as Mega Charizard X and Volcarona. Steelium Z is a useful option to nab the KO on bulky Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Venusaur, but it is inferior to a Fightinium Z set due to the latter's ability to break through more common threats like Mega Scizor and Celesteela. Adrenaline Orb is an interesting option to mess with Landorus-T switch ins, as Kartana will gain a +1 Speed boost from Adrenaline Orb and +1 Attack from Swords Dance + Intimidate, and then it gains the ability to sweep the opposing team by obtaining additional Attack raises from Beast Boost. However, this is a rather gimmicky option, as Kartana will still take considerable damage from Earthquake and Rocky Helmet recoil. Kartana has access to Defog, but its frailty means that it will rarely have the chance to utilize the move more than once, and it takes up a valuable moveslot for Swords Dance or a coverage move. Psycho Cut and Night Slash are very situational coverage options, with the former hitting Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss harder than any other move Kartana has with the exception of a +2 Corkscrew Crash and the latter hitting Alolan Marowak without expending Kartana's Z-Move. Lastly, a set consisting of Swords Dance, Leaf Blade, Sacred Sword, and Vacuum Wave along with Grassium Z can function on defensive teams as a decent stallbreaker due to its ability to remove common stall staples such as Dugtrio, Toxapex, and Skarmory with the correct plays. Another benefit of running Grassium Z is the ability to KO Alolan Marowak at +2 and KO all variants of Zapdos after a bit of prior damage.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Attackers**: Anything that possesses base 110 Speed or higher outspeeds Kartana and can KO it with the proper move. Despite its good Defense stat, Kartana still falls to super effective Fighting- and especially Fire-type moves.
**Faster Special Attackers**: Kartana drops to nearly any decently powerful special attack, even when resisted, due to its paltry base 31 Special Defense. For example, Tapu Koko's Electric Terrain- and item-boosted Thunderbolt has a good chance to OHKO Kartana from full health, and most resisted special attacks land a 2HKO on Kartana at worst.
**Bulky Steel-types**: Although Fightinium Z provides Kartana with the means to possibly break through bulky Steel-types that attempt to wall it, Kartana cannot hope to break through them without first setting up, and Skarmory in particular is able to eat a boosted hit from full health and phaze it out with Whirlwind. Celesteela can take an unboosted All-Out Pummeling and OHKO Kartana with Flamethrower or Fire Blast, but it falls to a +2 All-Out Pummeling.
**Bulky Grass-types**: Bulky Grass-types such as Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss can tank any hit bar the rare +2 Corkscrew Crash or boosted Psycho Cut and proceed to threaten Kartana with Hidden Power Fire. Physically defensive Tangrowth functions similarly but still takes a decent amount of damage from +2 All-Out Pummeling, as it does not resist Fighting-type moves.
**Defensive Zapdos and Volcarona**: With proper defensive investment, both of these Pokemon can easily tank a boosted hit from Kartana by virtue of their typing and OHKO with their Fire-type moves in return.
**Alolan Marowak**: Alolan Marowak is decently physically bulky and can take a boosted STAB move from Kartana as well as being immune to Fighting-type moves, only fearing the rare Night Slash.
[OVERVIEW]
[SET]
name: BreakDance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Leaf Blade
move 3: Smart Strike
move 4: Sacred Sword
item: Fightinium Z
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
========
========
Team Options
========
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Checks and Counters
===================
- Hella high attack
- Kinda fast-ish, still outsped by 110+
- Ass special defense
- Ass base power moves
- Swords Dance is op
- Breaks through Unaware users because typing
[SET]
name: BreakDance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Leaf Blade
move 3: Smart Strike
move 4: Sacred Sword
item: Fightinium Z
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Use Swords Dance to break shit
- Leaf Blade + Smart Strike are strongest (weakass) STAB moves
- Sacred Sword covers everything else for the most part, still weak af tho
========
- Jolly cuz you don't wanna lose to Keldeo and below lul
- Beast Boost still gives you Attack boost with Jolly because 181 Atk l0l
- Fight Z + Sacred Sword poops on Steels at +2 like Skarm and Metagross
- Max / max Atk and Speed because duh
========
- Get safe switch ins when possible because Kartana is literally frail as a card on the special side
- Can force out and then set up on things like Tapu Fini and Ferrothorn (watch out for t wave I guess)
- Absolutely wrecks stall with typing and Swords Dance
- Getting a KO grants more power so even revenge killing with Kartana despite not boosting can be very effective in a late-game sweep
- Has actually good defense but not HP so it still shouldn't be switched in if possible
- Faster threats are hard to deal with, eliminate those before trying to set up
Team Options
========
- Entry hazards = easier sweeping
- Greninja is the best Spikes user and is fast and can eliminate many threats to Kartana
- Basically Water-types that attack like Keldeo / Gyarados etc good synergy
- Magnezone traps steels
- Something to sponge special hits like Tapu Fini
- Kartana excels on webs teams, shuckle / smeargle can be good teammates for this reason
- Something to kill Zapdos and Volcarona since they resist the entire moveset... Nihilego takes both on
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
- no
- jk defog
- and steelium-z
- and *sigh* scarf
Checks and Counters
===================
- Literally anything faster than it
- Any special attack
- Fat Grasses and Steels (latter can be punished with +2 All-Out Pummeling tho)
- Zapdos and Volcarona
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