Clefable in BW OU.
Hello friends, Brian here. (Some may know me as Brn or Brine)
I don’t really post on the forums, like, at all. But I’m active in the BW discord, feel free to say hi to me if you’re in there.
Today I want to talk a little about Clefable. I felt like, with gems now banned, this would be the perfect time to look at Clefable.
Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave/Knock Off/Counter/Healing Wish/???
The set I believe to have the most potential is the stealth rock set. It makes good use of its 95/90 special bulk, bolstered by Magic Guard to come onto the field vs special attackers and passive, status spreader type mons alike.
Item:
Leftovers are almost non-negotiable in my opinion. You want Clefable to switch into things like scalds from bulky waters and Rotom Volt Switch. Leftovers allow it to do so with relative ease.
Ability:
Magic Guard is controversial for a reason, this ability is strong. Clefable would not cross anyone’s mind if it didn’t have access to this absurd ability. You all know what Magic Guard does, immune to burn and poison, immune to spikes, immune to rocks. This means, in tandem with leftovers, Clefable will gain health if it is double switched upon and has to switch out again, making it tough to wear down.
EVs & Nature:
252 HP & 252 SpD boosted by a Calm nature means Clefable is as specially bulky as it can possibly be. This is useful for, once again, getting on the field by shrugging off weak scalds and volt switches so it can start being annoying. It can even switch in on something like Heatran magma storm if it is at full HP, Magic Guard really makes Clefable deceptively bulky. Going this hard on SpD EVs is by no means necessary, I personally like having some Def EVs, so you withstand hits from the likes of Ferrothorn and Pursuit Tyranitar.
The first three move slots:
Seismic Toss, Soft-Boiled and Stealth Rock are all required for Clefable to function as a stealth rocker. Seismic Toss means it isn’t passive in the face of anything bar ghost types. Soft-Boiled allows it to stay healthy throughout long games, or just when stalling out a paralyzed opponent. Stealth Rock is what you want to get Clefable on the field for in the first place. It throws them up on just about anything not called Excadrill, who admittedly is near impossible for Clefable to handle if it isn’t running Knock Off in its final move slot.
The final move slot:
Clefables support move pool is… extensive to say the least. It gets just about any support move you could think of. Thunder Wave, Knock Off, Counter (for the aforementioned Excadrill, but just generally nice to keep physical attackers off your back), Healing Wish, it’s all there. I’m sure there’s a lot of other options with potential that I simply haven’t looked at yet. Look at what your team needs and Clefable will probably have access to it.
In short, the good:
- Gets on the field easily, due to;
- Decent bulk, bolstered by Magic Guard;
- Immune to hazards, status chip and weather chip, due to Magic Guard;
- Access to Stealth Rock and so many support moves that it can deal with any spinner that tries to get those rocks off the field after Clefable has put them down.
Other options:
I have seen talk of using Clefable as an offensive breaker with Life Orb or as a Calm Mind setup sweeper. The thing is, in my opinion anyway, Reuniclus does both of these better than Clefable every could. I would love to be proven wrong on this though and see someone come up with a niche for offensive Clefable.
That’s about all I have to say about Clefable currently, I hope this post has motivated you to atleast try and make use of Clefable in BW OU.
If I said anything stupid or just straight up forgot to mention something that you feel is worth mentioning, feel free to ping me on Discord.
Thanks guys :).
Bonus muffin pic for your time: