[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 4-6 points
**Overview**: With its unique typing and access to three incredible abilities, Grafaiai distinguishes itself from the many cheap Neo-Impressionist speed control options by virtue of its sheer versatility and disruptive capabilities. Usable offenses and a colorful disruptive movepool offer Grafaiai near-infinite ways to make its mark in battle, whether it's by disrupting foes with Encore and Switcheroo, generating momentum with U-turn and Parting Shot, or turning the enemy team into an abstract piece with Gunk Shot, Low Kick, and Acrobatics. Grafaiai's sets aren't even limited to a specific ability: nothing's stopping Unburden sets from running Encore for extra setup time, or stopping Poison Touch sets from running Switcheroo to shut down a potential wall! The possibilities with Grafaiai are truly endless, but that endlessness is also one of its greatest weaknesses, just behind its poor bulk. Though Grafaiai has a colorful palette of roles to choose from, it has to get crafty to excel at any of them: Grafaiai's ultimately a Prankster Pokemon lacking dual screens, a poison spreader without Toxic Spikes, a sweeper with barebones coverage and a bad offensive type, and a frail Posion-type that doesn't resist Fighting. It can be difficult to justify drafting Grafaiai over more linear and consistent budget picks, but Grafaiai trainers see those downsides as little more than creative limitations — it's still got more sets than most five-pointers can count, and in the right hands, Grafaiai can always find a way to paint the town red!
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Disruptor**: Grafaiai has a number of ways to vandalize the enemy team, be it with Encore, Switcheroo, Taunt, or Toxic! Prankster allows Grafaiai to subvert the fastest of threats, but even Dark-types have to be wary of Grafaiai's tricks, as that high base Speed means it doesn't always need priority to get its job done. And Grafaiai's still not one to be ignored after its target has been dealt with: Super Fang and Knock Off allow these bulkier Grafaiai sets to deal damage, and Parting Shot lets it both disrupt the opponent and get momentum in one move.
**Offensive Pivot**: High speed, decent Attack, and Poison Touch allow Grafaiai to play as a menacing fast pivot and status spreader. Though its offensive typing isn’t amazing, its monstrous STAB moves of Double-Edge and Gunk Shot can more than make up for that. Poison Touch U-turn makes Grafaiai very reliable when it comes to baiting in Steel- and Poison-types, and Grafaiai's ever-deep status movepool means this graffiti artist is no stranger to messing with those walls all by itself.
**Setup Sweeper**: With one Swords Dance and one Unburden boost, Grafaiai can use its powerful STAB moves and acceptable coverage to sweep entire teams. Unburden makes Grafaiai near-impossible to outspeed, its powerful coverage options make it near-impossible to tank, and its disruptive movepool means it’ll rarely have a hard time making setup opportunities for itself.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Gunk Shot, Poison Jab, Double-Edge, Facade
**Setup Moves**: Swords Dance, Trailblaze
**Utility Moves**: Taunt, Encore, Switcheroo, Super Fang, Knock Off, Foul Play, Parting Shot, U-turn, Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Substitute, Protect
**Coverage**: Acrobatics, Low Kick, Shadow Claw, Tera Blast, Throat Chop, X-Scissor
Niche Moves
========
**Fling**: Fling paired with a Big Nugget is an easy way to activate Unburden and deliver nothing but pain to whatever sorry foe is in front of Grafaiai!
**Swagger**: Grafaiai can run Swagger while holding a Mirror Herb, boosting its Attack and activating Unburden with style.
**Copycat**: Copycat lets Grafaiai perform some obscenely strong attacks like Poltergeist and Outrage with Prankster priority, letting it act as a surprise revenge killer.
**Giga Impact**: Giga Impact is Grafaiai's strongest move, scoring some OHKOs it'd otherwise miss, but poor bulk means Giga Impact will often be Grafaiai's last move as well.
**Endure**: Paired with a Weakness Policy or stat-increasing berry, Grafaiai can live hits, use the item of choice, and activate Unburden.
**Poison Fang**: Poison Fang lets Grafaiai potentially spread Toxic while dealing damage, ignoring pesky Taunt users and Prankster-immune foes. When it's paired with Poison Touch, Poison Fang can quickly make things pretty dire for the opponent.
**Dig**: Grafaiai can use the power of a Power Herb to thwart bulky Ground-weak foes and easily activate Unburden.
Common Items
========
**Black Sludge**: Black Sludge boosts Grafaiai's lackluster longevity to an appropriate level, doubling as a potent Switcheroo item for unsuspecting threats.
**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf boosts the speed of Poison Touch speed to near-unpunishable levels while still keeping the threat of Switcheroo over the head of any would-be wall.
**Lagging Tail**: No switch-in nor sweeper will like being handed one of these through a Switcheroo, while Prankster priority means Grafaiai couldn't care less about the Speed drop!
**Terrain Seed**: Paired with the appropriate terrain, Grafaiai can use terrain seeds to both activate Unburden and patch up its lower defenses as soon as it switches in.
Niche Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: With Heavy-Duty Boots, Grafaiai can pivot in and out of a hazardous field without worrying about chip damage.
**Air Balloon**: Air Balloon Grafaiai sets put despair into the hearts of all Ground-types, making them wary of using their STAB moves in fear of setup or an Encore. And oftentimes, if any foe does manage to pop it, they'll find all they've done is activate Unburden.
**Flame Orb**: Flame Orb makes for a deadly but risky Switcheroo item, a debilitating Fling tool, and on occasion, an easy way to boost the power of Facade.
**Mirror Herb**: Swagger sets aside, Mirror Herb multiplies the pressure Grafaiai puts on setup sweepers, as it can switch into the right move to activate Unburden and lock the poor foe in place with Encore.
**Focus Sash**: Grafaiai can use Focus Sash as a lead, doing as it pleases—be that Prankster disruption or Unburden sweeping—without fear of a KO.
**Iron Ball / Ring Target / Sticky Barb**: These items can be tricky to justify over Lagging Tail, but with Iron Ball grounding Ground-immune foes, Ring Target offering Grafaiai a chance to beat Steel-types, and Sticky Barb punishing bulky Poison-types, they can all make for menacing Switcheroo items in the right setting.
**Heat Rock / Damp Rock**: Prankster and pivoting moves allow Grafaiai to act as a pseudo-weather setter for its teammates, and weather rocks only amplify Grafaiai's capabilities in this role.
**Normal Gem**: With a Normal Gem, Grafaiai's only one Double-Edge away from dealing massive damage and getting that sweet, sweet Unburden boost.
**Weakness Policy**: Paired with Endure, Grafaiai can take any super effective hit, activate Unburden, and begin a sweep instantly.
**Pinch Berries**: Wiki and Liechi Berries pair excellently with Endure, the former healing Grafaiai out of priority's way and the latter giving a free Attack boost without waiting for a super effective hit. Grafaiai can also run Sitrus Berry to heal and activate Unburden without needing to run Endure.
Tera
========
While Grafaiai's pricing and access to Unburden make it look like an appealing Tera Captain, Poison Touch and especially Prankster sets couldn't care less about Terastallization, as Grafaiai neither has the bulk nor the recovery to make much use of a defensive Tera. This makes Grafaiai a rather niche secondary Tera Captain, as access to Tera compels Grafaiai to run its most inconsistent ability much more than usual, but there's no denying how much Tera enhances the power of Unburden sets. Indeed, with Tera Flying and Fighting boosting its strongest coverage, Tera Dark and Ghost making it harder to revenge with its newfound immunities, Tera Ground sealing the fates of opposing Poison- and Steel-types, and Tera Poison leaving no doubt in Gunk Shot's capabilities, the Tera Captain role can make Grafaiai quite the sweeper and cleaner to behold!
Draft Strategy
========
Grafaiai works best on offensive teams looking for a cheap and fast pivot and disruptor, especially when they can make use of its Poison / Normal typing. Grafaiai’s Unburden sets can be very strong, but unless given Tera, it shouldn’t be drafted with the intention of being a fully-fledged secondary wincon—think of Unburden more as a surprise tool for certain matchups!
**Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-types**: Steel-types are often more than eager to switch into Grafaiai, considering how they fare against its STAB moves, but they'll think twice about that once Grafaiai pivots into teammates like Volcarona, Iron Hands, and Excadrill, all of which eat Steel-types for breakfast. Fighting-types in particular can also punish Dark-type foes trying to deal with Prankster, while Ground-types make light work of any bulky Poison-types that are not afraid of Poison Touch.
**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types, especially more setup-intensive ones like Necrozma and Iron Crown, love having Grafaiai around. They can switch into any opposing Psychic-type attacks and scare out Poison-types trying to deal with Poison Touch, and in return, Grafaiai can cripple opposing disruptors and punish Ghost-types that use their STAB moves.
**Hazard Setters**: Though Grafaiai's no spinblocker, thanks to its access to a fast Knock Off and Encore, good entry hazard setters like Sandy Shocks and Ting-Lu appreciate what Grafaiai brings to the table nonetheless.
**Hazard Control**: Hazards are some of Grafaiai's greatest enemies—with all the pivoting it'll often perform, entry hazard chip can add up very quickly for the little guy. A good hazard remover like Iron Treads or Mandibuzz is a must if you plan on keeping your Grafaiai in good condition!
**Slow Pivots**: Some foes see slow, bulky pivots like Bellibolt and Mesprit and think that now's the time for them to set up. But with those slow pivots letting Grafaiai enter the field safely, any opposing attempts to set up will find themselves quickly thwarted by Taunt or Encore.
Checks and Counters
========
**Chip Damage**: Grafaiai, with its poor bulk and nonexistent recovery, is extremely liable to getting worn out through chip damage. When it's standing on entry hazards, taking Rocky Helmet chip, or just switching into too many attacks, Grafaiai can quickly find itself without the HP to do any of its jobs for very long!
**Steel-types**: Steel-types like Heatran and Iron Treads can really stifle Grafaiai's creativity, as they resist its STAB moves and are immune to Poison Touch. Though they have to watch out for Low Kick, they'll often have no problem repeatedly checking an unboosted Grafaiai and forcing it out one way or another.
**Clear Amulet and Mental Herb**: With the former nullifying Parting Shot and the latter granting a one-time immunity to Encore and Taunt, these items are the perfect tools for setup sweepers to lure Grafaiai in and keep it in place for a swift KO.
**Priority**: Without the ability to use Parting Shot to get out of the way of any attack, Unburden and Poison Touch sets can easily find themselves outpaced and picked off by priority attackers like Scizor and Dragonite.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/big-pharma.657717/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/olivia.620359/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sunny004.197240/
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 4-6 points
**Overview**: With its unique typing and access to three incredible abilities, Grafaiai distinguishes itself from the many cheap Neo-Impressionist speed control options by virtue of its sheer versatility and disruptive capabilities. Usable offenses and a colorful disruptive movepool offer Grafaiai near-infinite ways to make its mark in battle, whether it's by disrupting foes with Encore and Switcheroo, generating momentum with U-turn and Parting Shot, or turning the enemy team into an abstract piece with Gunk Shot, Low Kick, and Acrobatics. Grafaiai's sets aren't even limited to a specific ability: nothing's stopping Unburden sets from running Encore for extra setup time, or stopping Poison Touch sets from running Switcheroo to shut down a potential wall! The possibilities with Grafaiai are truly endless, but that endlessness is also one of its greatest weaknesses, just behind its poor bulk. Though Grafaiai has a colorful palette of roles to choose from, it has to get crafty to excel at any of them: Grafaiai's ultimately a Prankster Pokemon lacking dual screens, a poison spreader without Toxic Spikes, a sweeper with barebones coverage and a bad offensive type, and a frail Posion-type that doesn't resist Fighting. It can be difficult to justify drafting Grafaiai over more linear and consistent budget picks, but Grafaiai trainers see those downsides as little more than creative limitations — it's still got more sets than most five-pointers can count, and in the right hands, Grafaiai can always find a way to paint the town red!
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Disruptor**: Grafaiai has a number of ways to vandalize the enemy team, be it with Encore, Switcheroo, Taunt, or Toxic! Prankster allows Grafaiai to subvert the fastest of threats, but even Dark-types have to be wary of Grafaiai's tricks, as that high base Speed means it doesn't always need priority to get its job done. And Grafaiai's still not one to be ignored after its target has been dealt with: Super Fang and Knock Off allow these bulkier Grafaiai sets to deal damage, and Parting Shot lets it both disrupt the opponent and get momentum in one move.
**Offensive Pivot**: High speed, decent Attack, and Poison Touch allow Grafaiai to play as a menacing fast pivot and status spreader. Though its offensive typing isn’t amazing, its monstrous STAB moves of Double-Edge and Gunk Shot can more than make up for that. Poison Touch U-turn makes Grafaiai very reliable when it comes to baiting in Steel- and Poison-types, and Grafaiai's ever-deep status movepool means this graffiti artist is no stranger to messing with those walls all by itself.
**Setup Sweeper**: With one Swords Dance and one Unburden boost, Grafaiai can use its powerful STAB moves and acceptable coverage to sweep entire teams. Unburden makes Grafaiai near-impossible to outspeed, its powerful coverage options make it near-impossible to tank, and its disruptive movepool means it’ll rarely have a hard time making setup opportunities for itself.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Gunk Shot, Poison Jab, Double-Edge, Facade
**Setup Moves**: Swords Dance, Trailblaze
**Utility Moves**: Taunt, Encore, Switcheroo, Super Fang, Knock Off, Foul Play, Parting Shot, U-turn, Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Substitute, Protect
**Coverage**: Acrobatics, Low Kick, Shadow Claw, Tera Blast, Throat Chop, X-Scissor
Niche Moves
========
**Fling**: Fling paired with a Big Nugget is an easy way to activate Unburden and deliver nothing but pain to whatever sorry foe is in front of Grafaiai!
**Swagger**: Grafaiai can run Swagger while holding a Mirror Herb, boosting its Attack and activating Unburden with style.
**Copycat**: Copycat lets Grafaiai perform some obscenely strong attacks like Poltergeist and Outrage with Prankster priority, letting it act as a surprise revenge killer.
**Giga Impact**: Giga Impact is Grafaiai's strongest move, scoring some OHKOs it'd otherwise miss, but poor bulk means Giga Impact will often be Grafaiai's last move as well.
**Endure**: Paired with a Weakness Policy or stat-increasing berry, Grafaiai can live hits, use the item of choice, and activate Unburden.
**Poison Fang**: Poison Fang lets Grafaiai potentially spread Toxic while dealing damage, ignoring pesky Taunt users and Prankster-immune foes. When it's paired with Poison Touch, Poison Fang can quickly make things pretty dire for the opponent.
**Dig**: Grafaiai can use the power of a Power Herb to thwart bulky Ground-weak foes and easily activate Unburden.
Common Items
========
**Black Sludge**: Black Sludge boosts Grafaiai's lackluster longevity to an appropriate level, doubling as a potent Switcheroo item for unsuspecting threats.
**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf boosts the speed of Poison Touch speed to near-unpunishable levels while still keeping the threat of Switcheroo over the head of any would-be wall.
**Lagging Tail**: No switch-in nor sweeper will like being handed one of these through a Switcheroo, while Prankster priority means Grafaiai couldn't care less about the Speed drop!
**Terrain Seed**: Paired with the appropriate terrain, Grafaiai can use terrain seeds to both activate Unburden and patch up its lower defenses as soon as it switches in.
Niche Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: With Heavy-Duty Boots, Grafaiai can pivot in and out of a hazardous field without worrying about chip damage.
**Air Balloon**: Air Balloon Grafaiai sets put despair into the hearts of all Ground-types, making them wary of using their STAB moves in fear of setup or an Encore. And oftentimes, if any foe does manage to pop it, they'll find all they've done is activate Unburden.
**Flame Orb**: Flame Orb makes for a deadly but risky Switcheroo item, a debilitating Fling tool, and on occasion, an easy way to boost the power of Facade.
**Mirror Herb**: Swagger sets aside, Mirror Herb multiplies the pressure Grafaiai puts on setup sweepers, as it can switch into the right move to activate Unburden and lock the poor foe in place with Encore.
**Focus Sash**: Grafaiai can use Focus Sash as a lead, doing as it pleases—be that Prankster disruption or Unburden sweeping—without fear of a KO.
**Iron Ball / Ring Target / Sticky Barb**: These items can be tricky to justify over Lagging Tail, but with Iron Ball grounding Ground-immune foes, Ring Target offering Grafaiai a chance to beat Steel-types, and Sticky Barb punishing bulky Poison-types, they can all make for menacing Switcheroo items in the right setting.
**Heat Rock / Damp Rock**: Prankster and pivoting moves allow Grafaiai to act as a pseudo-weather setter for its teammates, and weather rocks only amplify Grafaiai's capabilities in this role.
**Normal Gem**: With a Normal Gem, Grafaiai's only one Double-Edge away from dealing massive damage and getting that sweet, sweet Unburden boost.
**Weakness Policy**: Paired with Endure, Grafaiai can take any super effective hit, activate Unburden, and begin a sweep instantly.
**Pinch Berries**: Wiki and Liechi Berries pair excellently with Endure, the former healing Grafaiai out of priority's way and the latter giving a free Attack boost without waiting for a super effective hit. Grafaiai can also run Sitrus Berry to heal and activate Unburden without needing to run Endure.
Tera
========
While Grafaiai's pricing and access to Unburden make it look like an appealing Tera Captain, Poison Touch and especially Prankster sets couldn't care less about Terastallization, as Grafaiai neither has the bulk nor the recovery to make much use of a defensive Tera. This makes Grafaiai a rather niche secondary Tera Captain, as access to Tera compels Grafaiai to run its most inconsistent ability much more than usual, but there's no denying how much Tera enhances the power of Unburden sets. Indeed, with Tera Flying and Fighting boosting its strongest coverage, Tera Dark and Ghost making it harder to revenge with its newfound immunities, Tera Ground sealing the fates of opposing Poison- and Steel-types, and Tera Poison leaving no doubt in Gunk Shot's capabilities, the Tera Captain role can make Grafaiai quite the sweeper and cleaner to behold!
Draft Strategy
========
Grafaiai works best on offensive teams looking for a cheap and fast pivot and disruptor, especially when they can make use of its Poison / Normal typing. Grafaiai’s Unburden sets can be very strong, but unless given Tera, it shouldn’t be drafted with the intention of being a fully-fledged secondary wincon—think of Unburden more as a surprise tool for certain matchups!
**Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-types**: Steel-types are often more than eager to switch into Grafaiai, considering how they fare against its STAB moves, but they'll think twice about that once Grafaiai pivots into teammates like Volcarona, Iron Hands, and Excadrill, all of which eat Steel-types for breakfast. Fighting-types in particular can also punish Dark-type foes trying to deal with Prankster, while Ground-types make light work of any bulky Poison-types that are not afraid of Poison Touch.
**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types, especially more setup-intensive ones like Necrozma and Iron Crown, love having Grafaiai around. They can switch into any opposing Psychic-type attacks and scare out Poison-types trying to deal with Poison Touch, and in return, Grafaiai can cripple opposing disruptors and punish Ghost-types that use their STAB moves.
**Hazard Setters**: Though Grafaiai's no spinblocker, thanks to its access to a fast Knock Off and Encore, good entry hazard setters like Sandy Shocks and Ting-Lu appreciate what Grafaiai brings to the table nonetheless.
**Hazard Control**: Hazards are some of Grafaiai's greatest enemies—with all the pivoting it'll often perform, entry hazard chip can add up very quickly for the little guy. A good hazard remover like Iron Treads or Mandibuzz is a must if you plan on keeping your Grafaiai in good condition!
**Slow Pivots**: Some foes see slow, bulky pivots like Bellibolt and Mesprit and think that now's the time for them to set up. But with those slow pivots letting Grafaiai enter the field safely, any opposing attempts to set up will find themselves quickly thwarted by Taunt or Encore.
Checks and Counters
========
**Chip Damage**: Grafaiai, with its poor bulk and nonexistent recovery, is extremely liable to getting worn out through chip damage. When it's standing on entry hazards, taking Rocky Helmet chip, or just switching into too many attacks, Grafaiai can quickly find itself without the HP to do any of its jobs for very long!
**Steel-types**: Steel-types like Heatran and Iron Treads can really stifle Grafaiai's creativity, as they resist its STAB moves and are immune to Poison Touch. Though they have to watch out for Low Kick, they'll often have no problem repeatedly checking an unboosted Grafaiai and forcing it out one way or another.
**Clear Amulet and Mental Herb**: With the former nullifying Parting Shot and the latter granting a one-time immunity to Encore and Taunt, these items are the perfect tools for setup sweepers to lure Grafaiai in and keep it in place for a swift KO.
**Priority**: Without the ability to use Parting Shot to get out of the way of any attack, Unburden and Poison Touch sets can easily find themselves outpaced and picked off by priority attackers like Scizor and Dragonite.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/big-pharma.657717/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/olivia.620359/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sunny004.197240/
Last edited:
