Klefki (DONE)

Stratos

Banned deucer.
I DONT REMEMBER WHICH KEY IT IS

[Pros]

<p>Klefki's usefulness comes from its Prankster-boosted support movepool: Imprison, Safeguard, Swagger, Reflect, Light Screen, and Thunder Wave. The last three are the best, with the dual screens increasing the lifespan of a teammate the opponent hoped to KO and Thunder Wave ruining Pokemon that rely on their Speed. While Meowstic has Prankster, all of these, higher Speed, and Fake Out, Klefki is still the better choice for a pure support Pokemon due to its much better defensive stats and typing. In addition to the plethora of resistances conferred by its Steel typing, Klefki is the one of the only Fairy-types to fear neither Steel- nor Poison-type attacks, and can be useful for confounding the typical partners to Dragon-types.</p>

[Cons]

<p>Unfortunately, Klefki is also often dead weight. Its base 80 Special Attack is beaten by even Amoonguss, and it is susceptible to Gyarados's Taunt. Though its typing lets it beat common Fairy-type counters, it makes it ironically weak to Dragon-types themselves who can easily exploit its weakness to Fire. If Klefki is not using a setup move, it's a sitting duck, so it can be very awkward to play with.</p>

[Set Recommendations]

<p>Klefki @ Sitrus Berry / Occa Berry<br />
Ability: Prankster<br />
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD<br />
Bold Nature<br />
- Thunder Wave<br />
- Light Screen<br />
- Reflect<br />
- Dazzling Gleam / Flash Cannon</p>

<p>Klefki's best bet is to cripple faster Pokemon by dampening their blows and slowing them down, which this set does as well as any. Thunder Wave, Reflect, and Light Screen work in tandem to slow the momentum of offensive teams and allow Klefki's partner breathing room to set up or launch a counterattack. Dazzling Gleam and Flash Cannon are run mostly for when Klefki is Taunted, but can be used to target weakened or frail Pokemon that carry a weakness, or when Klefki simply has nothing better to do. Dazzling Gleam is recommended for its ability to beat common Pokemon like Hydreigon and Scrafty, and for being a spread move, but Flash Cannon beats other Fairy-types and Rhyperior. The given EVs allow Klefki to survive Hydreigon's unboosted Fire Blast, with the rest dumped into Defense so Klefki can better wall physical threats such as Tyranitar and Scizor. Sitrus Berry is recommended to maximize Klefki's life span, but Occa Berry will let it survive all boosted non-STAB and some boosted STAB Fire-type attacks, removing one of its biggest fears.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>An easy way to beat Klefki is to hammer at its Fire- and Ground-type weaknesses, since its bulk is not great enough to keep it afloat for too long. Bonus points are given to Chandelure, whose Infiltrator pierces Light Screen, and Rhyperior, who can use Lightningrod to redirect a Thunder Wave aimed at its partner. In theory, Taunt can also handle Klefki quite well, but most Taunt users mind being paralyzed. Another way to minimize Klefki's effectiveness is to challenge it with bulky Pokemon that can force a stalemate. Sterling among these is Amoonguss, who can redirect Thunder Waves with Rage Powder or simply put Klefki to sleep.</p>

[Pros]
  • fairy type without either fairy type weakness
  • only prankster twave with no thund
  • prankster screens nice to screw up damage calcs
  • perhaps prankster imprison
  • if you didnt get the picture: great support
[Cons]
  • terrible stats
  • low attacking power and basically taunt bait
  • outclassed by thundurus in a lot of ways once it's released
  • is weak to flamethrower, so maybe one of the easiest fairies for dragons to bust through
  • low statistical bulk too, has to get by on resists
[Set Recommendations]

Klefki @ Sitrus Berry / Occa Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Dazzling Gleam / Flash Cannon
  • Thunder Wave + Prankster should give you boners
  • Prankster Screens are incredibly nifty because they keep some opponent on life support who the opponent plans to just barely kill
  • also they're nifty because they're screens and they're fast
  • STAB of choice to avoid being taunt bait; dazzling gleam if you're using this to beat dragons and flash cannon if you're using this to beat fairies/rocks
  • EVs are to safely switch in on every dragon (live hydrei fire blast), rest phys def because you wall shit like ttar and scizor
[Checks and Counters]
  • Fire Types (esp chandelure since infiltrator)
  • Taunt—especially from things that don't mind being paralyzed—which isn't any good released taunt users. best bet is gyara i guess
  • Ground Types—rhyperior can even redirect thunder wave
  • Bulky support mons like Amoonguss won't really care if klefki is there but it's more of a stalemate than a 'win'
 
Last edited:
Just as a note, Swagger is usually used to troll special attackers, because bad things happen when that physical attacker manages to attack (or even worse snaps out of confusion).

I'm in support of the second set since it aims to be disruptive rather than supportive (different playstyle entirely). Substitute should find room as an alternative move somewhere (and I guess with Lefties as a side item to use w/ Substitute), though. The sort of set I had in mind was:

Klefki @ Leftovers / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD (tbh I can't really come up w/ anything better; 252 HP conveniently enough hits a Lefties number)
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave / Light Screen / Reflect (no shame in some extra bulk, it probs needs it)
- Swagger
- Foul Play
- Substitute / Safeguard

As for first set items, I'm assuming Occa Berry is needed to survive a Hydreigon Fire Blast, so that should come first. After that, Sitrus Berry, and just close it off there. Light Clay isn't all that effective and Mental Herb isn't going to work very well regardless (its not like you can counter-Taunt or anything, so one turn of set up won't be all that great).
 

Stratos

Banned deucer.
Occa Berry is NOT needed for dgem hydreigon fire blast but it lets you live all boosted non-stab attacks and LO boosted stab attacks (more relevant with things not running gems this gen, so no fire or dragon gems means probably lots of LO), so idk if that affects the decision
 
Occa Berry is NOT needed for dgem hydreigon fire blast but it lets you live all boosted non-stab attacks and LO boosted stab attacks (more relevant with things not running gems this gen, so no fire or dragon gems means probably lots of LO), so idk if that affects the decision
Just switch the item order to Sitrus Berry / Occa Berry then imo (I'm also surprised Klefki can live that w/o Occa, wow)
 

Mizuhime

Did I mistake you for a sign from God?
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I'm not sure on the 2nd set, those seems like other options to me; for when we can do a real analyses that is. Other than that your first set looks about right and for checks and counter you could probably add bulkier Pokemon like Slowbro/King, Musharna things along the lines of that, they don't exactly counter each other per say, but they can't do anything to each other
 

Audiosurfer

I'd rather be sleeping
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mentioning specific mons for taunt + ground type + bulky support parts would be nice. Also when you're talkin about Stabs you say iron head when you mean flash cannon. Also when talkin about ev spread say putting the rest in def instead of saying you max defense cuz you don't invest in it fully so it might be confusing for some readers .
 

Stratos

Banned deucer.
ok i added examples for all of them and other stuff; its hard tho because i swear every single best example is some unreleased legend, pokebank can't get here soon enough
 

Nix_Hex

Uangaana kasuttortunga!
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Pretty bad mon overall, can't really suggest anything more than previous comments. go ahead and write this but make sure it doesn't suck.

[QC 1/1]
 

bugmaniacbob

Was fun while it lasted
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[Pros]

<p>Klefki's usefulness comes from its Prankster-boosted support movepool: Imprison, Safeguard, Swagger, Reflect, Light Screen, and Thunder Wave. The last three are the best, with the dual screens providing surprise longevity to increasing the lifespan of a teammate the opponent hoped to KO and Thunder Wave ruining Pokemon that rely on their Speed. While Meowstic has Prankster, all of these, higher Speed, and Fake Out, Klefki is still the better choice for a pure support Pokemon due to its much better defensive stats and typing. In addition to the plethora of resistances conferred by its Steel typing, Klefki is the only Fairy-type to fear neither Steel- nor Poison-type attacks, and can be useful for confounding the typical partners to Dragon-types.</p>

[Cons]

<p>Unfortunately, Klefki is also often dead weight. Its base 80 Special Attack is beaten by even Amoonguss, and it is susceptible to Gyarados's Taunt. Though its typing lets it beat common Fairy-type counters, it makes it ironically weak to Dragon-types themselves who can easily exploit its weakness to Fire. If Klefki is not using a setup move, it's a sitting duck, so it can be very awkward to play with.</p>

[Set Recommendations]

<p>Klefki @ Sitrus Berry / Occa Berry<br />
Ability: Prankster<br />
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD<br />
Bold Nature<br />
- Thunder Wave<br />
- Light Screen<br />
- Reflect<br />
- Dazzling Gleam / Flash Cannon</p>

<p>Klefki's best bet is to cripple faster Pokemon by dampening their blows and slowing them down, which this set does as well as any. Thunder Wave, Reflect, and Light Screen work in tandem to slow the momentum of offensive teams and allow Klefki's partner breathing room to set up or launch a counterattack. Dazzling Gleam and Flash Cannon are run mostly for when Klefki is Taunted, but can be used to target weakened or frail Pokemon that carry a weakness, or when Klefki simply has nothing better to do. Dazzling Gleam is recommended for its ability to beat common Pokemon like Hydreigon and Scrafty, and for being a spread move, but Flash Cannon beats other Fairy-types and Rhyperior. The given EVs allow Klefki to survive Hydreigon's unboosted Fire Blast, with the rest dumped into Defense so Klefki can better wall things physical threats such as Tyranitar and Scizor. Sitrus Berry is recommended to maximize Klefki's life span, but Occa Berry will let him survive all boosted non-STAB and some boosted STAB Fire-type attacks, removing one of his biggest fears.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>An easy way to beat Klefki is to hammer at its Fire- and Ground-type weaknesses, since its bulk is not great enough to keep it afloat for too long. Bonus points are given to Chandelure, whose Infiltrator pierces Light Screen, and Rhyperior, who can use Lightningrod to redirect a Thunder Wave aimed at its partner. In theory, Taunt can also handle Klefki quite well, but most Taunt users mind being paralyzed. Another way to minimize Klefki's effectiveness is to challenge it with bulky Pokemon that can force a stalemate. Sterling among these is Amoonguss, who can redirect Thunder Waves with Rage Powder or simply put Klefki to sleep.</p>


Not much to say

GP 1/1
 
I am still kind of a noob but I have seen a lot of Safeguard + Swagger set ups. Also, Meowstic may seem inferior but it does tend to be faster and it has access to Quick Guard, which blocks all of Klefki's Swaggers and Thunderwaves. Also, Quick Guard no longer fails after multiple uses as it did in past generations.
 
I am still kind of a noob but I have seen a lot of Safeguard + Swagger set ups. Also, Meowstic may seem inferior but it does tend to be faster and it has access to Quick Guard, which blocks all of Klefki's Swaggers and Thunderwaves. Also, Quick Guard no longer fails after multiple uses as it did in past generations.
Are you sure that Quick Guard blocks Prankster now? It didn't in gen 5.
 

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