OU Spotlight: Clefable

By False.. Art by Tikitik.
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Art by Tikitik

Introduction

Clefable is a member of the original 151 Pokémon and has been around for over 20 years. Currently considered by many to be the single best Pokémon in ORAS OU, Clefable sits alone atop the Viability Rankings as the only S-ranked Pokémon. However, it hasn't always been the fearsome Pokémon that it is today. Before Generation VI, Clefable was just another one of a slew of generic Normal-types with a wide movepool. It saw a some usage in DPP specifically on defensive teams acting as an answer to Pokémon like Rotom, Suicune, and Empoleon. However, for the most part Clefable was unimpressive and struggled to make a niche for itself. Then, with the release of Pokémon X and Y in late 2013, Clefable was gifted with the brand new Fairy typing and quickly rose to stardom. Since then, Clefable has only continued to improve, successfully adapting to remain influential regardless of metagame trends and showing no indication that it will drop off any time in the foreseeable future.

Clefable's qualities

Clefable possesses one of the best typings in the game in pure Fairy, sporting only two weaknesses, to the less common Steel and Poison types. This fantastic typing combined with above average mixed bulk and reliable recovery allows Clefable to consistently wall many threatening Pokémon such as Mega Lopunny and Kyurem-B.

Alongside great typing and bulk, Clefable possesses Magic Guard and Unaware, both of which are top tier abilities. Magic Guard is the more commonly used ability and grants Clefable an immunity to any source of passive damage such as status and entry hazards, meaning it can only be damaged via direct attacks. On the other hand, Unaware allows Clefable to ignore all the foe's stat modifiers when taking or dealing damage and allows Clefable to more reliably handle boosting threats such as Swords Dance Garchomp or Calm Mind Slowbro.

The positives don't stop there. Clefable's former life as a Normal-type means that its movepool is expansive with many options such as Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Stealth Rock, Ice Beam, Thunder Wave, and Heal Bell to name a few. Clefable also has reliable recovery in Soft-Boiled and access to Wish, which lets it act as an effective Wish passer.

Clefable has no single defining trait that makes it a good Pokémon. Instead it is the combination of all the aforementioned characteristics that together culminate to make Clefable the metagame-defining Pokémon that it is.

Playing with Clefable

Calm Mind + Magic Guard

Clefable

Calm Mind + Magic Guard Clefable is far and away the most common Clefable set, with its good mixed bulk and access to Calm Mind and Thunder Wave turning Clefable into one of the premier wincons in OU. An immunity to hazards and other passive damage thanks to its incredible Magic Guard ability makes Clefable a fantastic defensive Pokémon that provides excellent role compression for most balance teams. Clefable reliably checks a plethora of threatening Pokémon such as Mega Alakazam, Latios, Kyurem-B, Mega Manectric, Mega Lopunny, and Mega Sableye, even using many of them as setup fodder.

Clefable's Defense investment allows it to almost always avoid the 2HKO from Mega Lopunny's Return and Latios's Life Orb-boosted Psyshock, whilst the Special Defense investment in combination with a positive nature allows Clefable to take hits from the likes of Thundurus, Mega Manectric, and Mega Alakazam.

Moonblast is Clefable's main STAB move, boasting decent power and perfect accuracy. Soft-Boiled is utilized as a means of reliable recovery and keeps Clefable healthy throughout the match. As mentioned before, the combination of Calm Mind and Thunder Wave turns Clefable into a premier wincon in the tier, with Thunder Wave crippling many common switch-ins such as Heatran, Mega Metagross, Gengar, Talonflame, Mega Venusaur, and Volcarona, amongst others. One of the best things about Clefable is how easily it manages to find setup opportunities on such a large number of Pokémon thanks to the combination of great bulk, reliable recovery, and Thunder Wave.

Clefable's movepool is vast, so there are many viable alternatives that can be run in the second moveslot if Thunder Wave is not the preferred option. Flamethrower is by far the most common of these, and it can be used to nail Steel-types such as Mega Scizor, Mega Metagross, Bisharp, and Ferrothorn as they switch in. Thunderbolt can be used to catch Talonflame and Skarmory, and Ice Beam catches Gliscor. Clefable can even utilize a 'BoltBeam' coverage with both Thunderbolt and Ice Beam as the attacking options in order to surprise an even wider range of Pokémon at the cost of a STAB move. Other more utility-based moves such as Encore, Knock Off, and Healing Wish also have viable niches.

Stealth Rock

Clefable

Although usually sporting identical EVs to Calm Mind + Thunder Wave variants, Stealth Rock Clefable drops Calm Mind for Stealth Rock and takes on a more supportive role. Clefable's ability to beat Mega Sableye makes it one of only a handful of Pokémon that are able to set up Stealth Rock even in the face of Mega Sableye.

Since Stealth Rock and Calm Mind Clefable have identical EV spreads, they both hit the same benchmarks, with the Defense investment almost always avoiding the 2HKO from Mega Lopunny and Latios and the Special Defense investment allowing Clefable to better stomach special hits from the likes of Mega Manectric and Mega Alakazam.

Stealth Rock is arguably the best move in the game and is the focal point of this set. Thunder Wave provides speed control and, similarly to the Calm Mind variant, allows Clefable to cripple common Steel- and Fire-type switch-ins. Stealth Rock Clefable's lack of a boosting move can be of detriment to it in certain situations, as it can be relatively passive and unable to pressure bulkier Pokémon. Thunder Wave is used to somewhat remedy this by crippling switch-ins, but it often isn't enough on its own to completely mask Clefable's lack of offensive presence.

Unaware

Clefable

Unaware is a unique and rare ability that allows the user to ignore the foe's stat changes when taking and dealing damage. Unaware Clefable is used almost exclusively on stall teams, where it utilizes its above average bulk in combination with reliable recovery to answer dangerous boosting sweepers such as Swords Dance Mega Heracross, Belly Drum Azumarill, Dragon Dance Mega Altaria, and Swords Dance Garchomp that can otherwise be big threats to the playstyle. If boosting physical threats are already accounted for, Unaware Clefable can also run an effective specially defensive set in order to wall the likes of Tail Glow + Rain Dance Manaphy, stallbreaker Togekiss, Serperior, and Substitute + Calm Mind Keldeo more reliably. A tailored moveset consisting of Moonblast, Calm Mind, Sleep Talk, and Rest is also a viable option on some stall teams that require a reliable answer to threats to stall such as Tail Glow + Rain Dance Manaphy but don't want to have to rely on another cleric such as Chansey to constantly be healing Clefable from status effects.

Moonblast acts as Clefable's ever-reliable STAB move, with the choice between Heal Bell and Calm Mind coming down to whether one would prefer Clefable to act as a cleric or to be able to boost up to defeat bulkier Pokémon with access to recovery, which may otherwise be able to PP stall Clefable's Moonblasts. Wish + Protect is the chosen means of recovery, as the combination of Unaware and Soft-Boiled is illegal on Clefable.

Playing against Clefable

Nidoking Excadrill Heatran Magnezone Talonflame Mega Metagross Slowking

Access to coverage moves such as Flamethrower and Thunderbolt and status moves like Thunder Wave makes finding a surefire Clefable switch-in a difficult task.

Pokémon such as Excadrill, Magnezone, and Nidoking boast an immunity to Thunder Wave and a resistance to Clefable's main STAB and are usually solid answers, as they are able to switch into the standard Calm Mind set and retaliate with their powerful Steel-, or Poison-type STAB moves. In general, most Steel-, Fire-, and Poison-types such as Mega Metagross, Talonflame, Volcarona, Jirachi, and Gengar will be able to reliably beat Clefable one-on-one by hitting it hard with their STAB moves or, in the case of Talonflame and Volcarona, utilizing their resistance to Fairy to use Clefable as setup fodder, even if they do end up being paralyzed by Thunder Wave in the process. Heatran deserves special mention here; whilst it does dislike Thunder Wave, Heatran has a 4x resistance to Moonblast and will usually be able to deal with Clefable via moves such as Taunt, Flash Cannon, and Roar.

Bulky Calm Mind users that are able to hit for physical damage via Psyshock such as Slowbro, Slowking, and Reuniclus are also relatively solid answers to Clefable, since they are able to boost up alongside it and then hit hard on Clefable's unboosted Defense. Calm Mind + Roar Suicune also gets a mention here for being able to set up alongside Clefable, phazing it with Roar when necessary.

Fitting Clefable on a team

Magic Guard Clefable fits best on balanced or semistall teams, where it provides not only fantastic role compression as a defensive Pokeémon but also a reliable, effective, and threatening wincon against almost all teams from stall to hyper offense. Calm Mind Clefable is often paired with Spikes, as its ability to wall a large portion of the metagame will help it force many switches, forcing the opponent to switch around on hazards. Spikes damage chipping away at the opposing team combined with Clefable's immunity to hazards is able to make up slightly for Clefable's initial passivity, as it is a relatively weak Pokémon and will not deal much damage without a boost.

Unaware Clefable, on the other hand, is used almost exclusively on full stall teams, where it can best take advantage of its Unaware ability to support its team by walling threatening boosting sweepers whilst also acting as a cleric. Its lack of special bulk is covered by special sponges such as Chansey, and in general it will provide good support for stall builds if it itself is also supported sufficiently.

Get out there!

Clefable is arguably the best Pokémon in the entirety of ORAS OU, and between its effectiveness as a wincon, reliability as a Stealth Rocker, and sturdiness as a wall, one would be hard pressed not to find some use for it in one capacity or another. So be sure to try it out if you haven't already!

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