[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Thunder / Flamethrower
move 4: Soft-Boiled
item: Life Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Calm Mind Clefable is one of the best wincons in National Dex due to its large movepool, great defensive typing, passable bulk, and especially amazing ability in Magic Guard, which allows Clefable to find many setup opportunities against some of the best Pokemon in the metagame, such as Slowbro, Corviknight, and Zapdos. Calm Mind makes it an extremely potent Pokemon against bulky teams that do not have a way of preventing it from setting up freely. Thunder is largely preferred over Thunderbolt because of its extremely high paralysis chance, letting Clefable cripple Pokemon such as Heatran, and its ability to easily 2HKO Toxapex without any Calm Mind boosts. Alternatively, Flamethrower hits Steel-types that annoy Clefable like Excadrill, Mega Mawile, Melmetal, and Mega Scizor, but Clefable's easily walled by Heatran and Toxapex without Thunder. A Bold nature is preferred so Clefable can more easily check Pokemon such as Mega Lopunny and Mega Latias.
Calm Mind Clefable best fits on balance teams, as its defensive utility is very helpful there. Pokemon that struggle a lot with Kyurem and Mega Latias such as Heatran, Blissey, and Zapdos appreciate Clefable's ability to check them. Calm Mind Clefable can struggle quite a lot to beat Fire- and Steel-types such as Heatran, Volcarona, Mega Mawile, and Mega Scizor, and they can limit its opportunities to set up Calm Mind; as such, checks to them such as Toxapex, Heatran, Slowking, Landorus-T, and Garchomp work as excellent teammates. Spikes support from Ferrothorn is very important for Clefable, as it wears down Toxapex and Heatran, two of Clefable's most prominent answers.
[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Moonblast
move 2: Soft-Boiled
move 3: Stealth Rock / Knock Off / Thunder Wave
move 4: Knock Off / Thunder Wave
item: Leftovers
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Clefable is an outstanding utility Pokemon due to its amazing defensive typing, decent bulk, and ability in Magic Guard, allowing it to check dangerous Pokemon such as Mega Lopunny, Kommo-o, Hawlucha, Garchomp, and Kyurem while not fearing passive damage. Stealth Rock is a great option for Clefable because it can cripple entry hazard removers such as Zapdos and Corviknight with its utility moves and be relatively unaffected by them in return. Knock Off allows Clefable to cripple a vast majority of Pokemon, such as Zapdos, Ferrothorn, opposing Clefable, and Heatran. Alternatively, Thunder Wave provides speed control and still lets Clefable cripple Pokemon that want to switch in, such as Mega Scizor and Heatran. Calm Mind is a much more niche option that can be used to make Clefable a much bigger threat and potential wincon while also allowing it to threaten Defoggers such as Zapdos and Tapu Fini more effectively to keep Stealth Rock up. A Bold nature allows Clefable to more easily check Mega Lopunny and Garchomp, which it would otherwise struggle with, but special investment can be useful in checking Kyurem.
Clefable is a staple on balance teams due to its unrivalled utility and great role compression. Clefable can cripple Pokemon like Corviknight, Ferrothorn, Heatran, Toxapex, and Zapdos with Thunder Wave and Knock Off, supporting Pokemon like Volcarona, Rillaboom, Kartana, Mega Mawile, and Weavile. Although it has decent bulk, Clefable can be easily overwhelmed by Pokemon such as Heatran, Mega Mawile, and Mega Scizor, so checks such as Slowking, Heatran, and Zapdos are great teammates. Pokemon that heavily struggle versus Mega Lopunny and Garchomp such as Kyurem, Mega Mawile, and Heatran enjoy Clefable's ability to easily check them. Clefable appreciates Water-type checks such as Toxapex and Ferrothorn, as they allow it to more easily check Ash-Greninja, while Clefable's Dark-type resistance can be very helpful for the aforementioned Pokemon in keeping Ash-Greninja in check.
[SET]
name: Unaware
move 1: Moonblast
move 2: Calm Mind
move 3: Soft-Boiled
move 4: Flamethrower / Heal Bell / Wish
item: Leftovers
ability: Unaware
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Unaware Clefable is a very important part of stall teams, as its Fairy typing alongside its large movepool allows it to support its team in many ways, mainly comfortably checking prominent setup sweepers such as Garchomp, opposing Clefable, Mega Gyarados, Hydreigon, Hawlucha, and Volcarona. Calm Mind allows Clefable to be a potential wincon for stall teams. Flamethrower allows Clefable to hit Pokemon that resist Moonblast such as Mega Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Corviknight very hard. However, it can be replaced by Heal Bell, which makes Clefable very self sufficient and lets it support teammates such as Bulk Up Corviknight and Alomomola. Wish can also be considered, as Clefable's great defensive typing and decent bulk grant it opportunities to pass Wishes to another teammate. However, it's generally worse than Alomomola because its ability, bulk, and typing give it more opportunities to pass Wishes.
Unaware Clefable fits exclusively on stall teams, as its ability to shut down sweepers is very valuable and prevents these teams from being overwhelmed as easily. Mega Sableye and Corviknight are very important partners, as Unaware Clefable is vulnerable to both entry hazards and especially Toxic, which Mega Sableye and Corviknight are able to deter. Bulk Up Corviknight in particular is notable, as it can PP stall Toxapex's Haze with Pressure, allowing Calm Mind Clefable to more easily break past it late-game. Chansey and Alomomola are great partners for Clefable because they can free up more important moves for it; for example, Chansey can run Heal Bell for it and Alomomola can run Wish.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Utility and Calm Mind Clefable can use an EV spread of 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD with a Calm nature to survive a +2 Tectonic Rage from Nasty Plot Hydreigon, but it loses the ability to comfortably check Mega Lopunny, making this spread somewhat undesirable. Wish can be used on utility sets to give Pokemon that lack reliable recovery such as Heatran and Ferrothorn tons of needed support; however, Wish sets are extremely passive and easy for Pokemon to overwhelm. A Clefable set using Moonblast / Wish / Protect / Teleport makes it even easier to pass Wishes; unfortunately, it's very easy for Clefable to get overwhelmed by a plethora of dangerous Pokemon such as Mega Scizor, Landorus-T, Rillaboom, and Tapu Lele, which can make it hard to pass Wish and keep Clefable healthy at the same time. Ice Beam can be used on Calm Mind Clefable to always KO Landorus-T and especially Gliscor, but it loses the ability to hit Heatran and Mega Scizor for neutral damage.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Mega Scizor, Melmetal, and Mega Mawile all pose threats to Clefable because they resist Moonblast and can easily overwhelm it. However, they are all very susceptible to Calm Mind Clefable with Flamethrower.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Heatran, Volcarona, and Mega Charizard Y are very good checks to Clefable; their STAB attacks are able to overwhelm and force Clefable to recover multiple times versus them. However, none of them want to be hit by Knock Off or Thunder Wave.
**Strong Attackers**: Clefable's average bulk can leave it easily overwhelmed by neutral hits and attackers such as Choice Specs Tapu Lele, Tapu Koko, and Kyurem; however, they all lack longevity, meaning that Clefable can outlast them.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Zneon, 487629]]
- Quality checked by: [[Sputnik, 475916], [Aurodian, 483087]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073]]
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