[OVERVIEW]
Kecleon holds it's place in the NU tier being a reliable wallbreaker thanks to it's spectacular coverage add movepool, along with Ability Protean. These allow it to break past many common normal type checks, making Kecleon a great addition to normal spam archetypes. Kecleon also sports the 4th strongest sucker punch in NU, and this powerful priority helps mitigate it's abysmal speed. Don't let these upsides fool you though, as along with them come a handful of tremendous downsides, such as an abysmal speed stat, making it invest heavily in speed simply to outspeed walls, and relying on only partially invested sucker punch to damage anything faster, making it nearly useless against faster teams. Kecleon also has subpar bulk which makes opportunities to switch Kecleon in extremely rare, as even moderately powerful neutral special attacks will leave a dent in kecleon.
[SET]
name: Mixed Breaker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Iron Tail
move 4: Knock Off / Grass Knot
item: Life Orb
ability: Protean
nature: Mild
evs: 192 Atk / 200 SpA / 116 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Fire blast is Kecleon's strongest coverage move allowing it to beat many defensive pokemon such as Steelix and Vileplume after stealth rock damage, as well as Gourgeist, and 2hko'ing bulky poison types. Sucker Punch is very strong priority which aids Kecleon in deterring faster, frailer pokemon who might attempt at revenge killing Kecleon. Iron Tail is a strong coverage which is able to break past many pokemon who are otherwise able to beat Kecleon 1v1 such as Audino, Rhydon and Cradily. Knock Off is a reliable and spammable STAB, which provides Kecleon the excellent utility of removing items such as eviolite and leftovers. Knock also hits Musharna and Lanturn who might otherwise attempt to pivot in on some of Kecleon's other attacks. Grass Knot allow Kecleon to beat Quagsire and Rhydon, also ensuring that Omastar and Barbarcle are not able to set up on Kecleon. Stealth Rock is a great utility move that Kecleon can easily make use of due to the fact it forces so many switches due to raw power and coverage. Shadow Sneak is priority that can act as a last -ditch spinblocker, although it can't switch into rapid spin.
Set Details
========
116 Speed EVs allow Kecleon to outspeed Gourgeist-XL, as to not get Wil-O-Wisped although it is able to run 164 speed for 0 Speed Weezing, allowing Kecleon to deal heavy damage with Knock off before being burnt. 200 Special Attack investment with a life orb allows Kecleon to OHKO common switch ins such as Gourgeist, and Vileplume and Steelix with Stealth Rock up. Fire Blast is also able to significantly weaken bulky poison types such as Weezing and Garbodor. The remaining 192 EVs are dumped into attack, which power up the physical moves immensely, allowing for a 75% to ohko Swellow after Stealth Rock damage with as well as having a good chance to 2hko Mega Audino after Stealth Rock damage
Usage Tips
========
Kecleon has decent power in it's moves, and uses this power to break down defensive cores. When facing offensive teams, Kecleon should be used more aggressively, predicting threats like hariyama and using the appropriate coverage move. Although due to the low speed, Kecleon will mostly be clicking Sucker Punch to dole out damage to these teams. When facing balanced, slower teams, Kecleon needn't predict such threats, as these balance teams tend to carry slower pokemon such as Mega-Audino, Gourgeist and Vileplume all of which are outsped and dealt with by Kecleon. Kecleon should abuse Protean's ability to effectively create mindgames, such as clicking dark type attacks on psychic type pokemon in order to evade their STABs, and also clicking Fire Blast on Weezing to avoid being burnt by Will-o-Wisp. Knock Off is a staple move that is useful for dealing great damage as well as removing items such as eviolite and leftovers. Kecleon's physical frailty means that it should only be switched in on weaker special attacks, or pivoted in via a slow volt/turn or on a double down. Kecleon's reliance on priority to hit anything faster means fast status users such as rotom and mismagius are able to avoid sucker punch and cripple kecleon with will o wisp.
Team Options
========
Pokemon that appreciate defensive staples such as Audino and Steelix being severely weakened by Kecleon's various coverage options. Pokemon like this can include Tauros, Archeops, Kangaskhan and Swellow. Pokemon with speed control option are also viable partners as they are able to mitigate Kecleon's horrendous speed stat, allowing Kecleon to fair much better against offensive teams, albeit only for a few turns. Slow baton pass and voltturn users are also great options to get Kecleon into battle as they can bring Kecleon in after the opponent attacks so that Kecleon does not take damage. Hazard-Stacking cores such as Garbodor+Steelix make excellent partners because of the extra damage accumulated, helping assure kos on certain targets such as vileplume and steelix. Omastar also makes a great partner by having access to three entry hazards, as well as checking common threats to kecleon such as archeops, kangaskhan, physical charizard and tauros. Mesprit and Audino are able to slow down threats significantly with Thunder Wave, and the former is able to support Kecleon with Healing Wish, should Kecleon acquire too much life orb recoil, or stealth rock to nab kos on vileplume steelix and swellow after rocks damage.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
An assault vest Power-up-punch Kecleon set with Knock Off, Sucker Punch and Drain Punch is able to turn Kecleon into a bulky sweeper; this set also provides a good pivot into the likes of magmortar and charizard. A Facade set is able to abuse burn and thunder wave, which are commonly applied to Kecleon in order to give it a base 140 power STAB attack; able to dent many pokemon. A lum full-physical set is able to take advantage of many many lead sleeper pokemon or will-o-wisp pokemon such as Jynx and gourgeist respectively.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Physical Attackers**: Pokemon that can take a hit and kill, or can out-prioritize Kecleon and kill it, these include Kangaskhan and Skuntank due to their good natural bulk and Sucker Punch resistance respectively
**Mixed Defensive Pokemon**: Pokemon such as Hariyama, Musharna, Mantine and Pelipper, are all able to pivot in on Kecleon and force it to take life orb rounds, ohko it, or heal up and then kill kecleon due to good natural bulk. Musharna is able to abuse Knock Off-less Kecleon to freely set up calm minds, and shrug off the damage with Moonlight, Barrier variants are also able to beat Kecleon 1v1. Mantine and Pelipper are able to come in on anything but knock off, and can scare out kecleon with the prospect of scald burns, halving it's attack, and wearing it down extremely quickly
**Bulky Revenge Killers**: Pokemon such as Tauros and Kangaskhan are easily able to shrug off Kecleon's priority and easily KO back without much worry
**Faster Priority**: Pokemon with faster priority such as Kangaskhan's fake out+Sucker Punch or Hitmonchan's Mach punch can revenge kill Kecleon as they outpace Kecleon, thus going before it with their priority attacks
Kecleon holds it's place in the NU tier being a reliable wallbreaker thanks to it's spectacular coverage add movepool, along with Ability Protean. These allow it to break past many common normal type checks, making Kecleon a great addition to normal spam archetypes. Kecleon also sports the 4th strongest sucker punch in NU, and this powerful priority helps mitigate it's abysmal speed. Don't let these upsides fool you though, as along with them come a handful of tremendous downsides, such as an abysmal speed stat, making it invest heavily in speed simply to outspeed walls, and relying on only partially invested sucker punch to damage anything faster, making it nearly useless against faster teams. Kecleon also has subpar bulk which makes opportunities to switch Kecleon in extremely rare, as even moderately powerful neutral special attacks will leave a dent in kecleon.
[SET]
name: Mixed Breaker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Iron Tail
move 4: Knock Off / Grass Knot
item: Life Orb
ability: Protean
nature: Mild
evs: 192 Atk / 200 SpA / 116 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Fire blast is Kecleon's strongest coverage move allowing it to beat many defensive pokemon such as Steelix and Vileplume after stealth rock damage, as well as Gourgeist, and 2hko'ing bulky poison types. Sucker Punch is very strong priority which aids Kecleon in deterring faster, frailer pokemon who might attempt at revenge killing Kecleon. Iron Tail is a strong coverage which is able to break past many pokemon who are otherwise able to beat Kecleon 1v1 such as Audino, Rhydon and Cradily. Knock Off is a reliable and spammable STAB, which provides Kecleon the excellent utility of removing items such as eviolite and leftovers. Knock also hits Musharna and Lanturn who might otherwise attempt to pivot in on some of Kecleon's other attacks. Grass Knot allow Kecleon to beat Quagsire and Rhydon, also ensuring that Omastar and Barbarcle are not able to set up on Kecleon. Stealth Rock is a great utility move that Kecleon can easily make use of due to the fact it forces so many switches due to raw power and coverage. Shadow Sneak is priority that can act as a last -ditch spinblocker, although it can't switch into rapid spin.
Set Details
========
116 Speed EVs allow Kecleon to outspeed Gourgeist-XL, as to not get Wil-O-Wisped although it is able to run 164 speed for 0 Speed Weezing, allowing Kecleon to deal heavy damage with Knock off before being burnt. 200 Special Attack investment with a life orb allows Kecleon to OHKO common switch ins such as Gourgeist, and Vileplume and Steelix with Stealth Rock up. Fire Blast is also able to significantly weaken bulky poison types such as Weezing and Garbodor. The remaining 192 EVs are dumped into attack, which power up the physical moves immensely, allowing for a 75% to ohko Swellow after Stealth Rock damage with as well as having a good chance to 2hko Mega Audino after Stealth Rock damage
Usage Tips
========
Kecleon has decent power in it's moves, and uses this power to break down defensive cores. When facing offensive teams, Kecleon should be used more aggressively, predicting threats like hariyama and using the appropriate coverage move. Although due to the low speed, Kecleon will mostly be clicking Sucker Punch to dole out damage to these teams. When facing balanced, slower teams, Kecleon needn't predict such threats, as these balance teams tend to carry slower pokemon such as Mega-Audino, Gourgeist and Vileplume all of which are outsped and dealt with by Kecleon. Kecleon should abuse Protean's ability to effectively create mindgames, such as clicking dark type attacks on psychic type pokemon in order to evade their STABs, and also clicking Fire Blast on Weezing to avoid being burnt by Will-o-Wisp. Knock Off is a staple move that is useful for dealing great damage as well as removing items such as eviolite and leftovers. Kecleon's physical frailty means that it should only be switched in on weaker special attacks, or pivoted in via a slow volt/turn or on a double down. Kecleon's reliance on priority to hit anything faster means fast status users such as rotom and mismagius are able to avoid sucker punch and cripple kecleon with will o wisp.
Team Options
========
Pokemon that appreciate defensive staples such as Audino and Steelix being severely weakened by Kecleon's various coverage options. Pokemon like this can include Tauros, Archeops, Kangaskhan and Swellow. Pokemon with speed control option are also viable partners as they are able to mitigate Kecleon's horrendous speed stat, allowing Kecleon to fair much better against offensive teams, albeit only for a few turns. Slow baton pass and voltturn users are also great options to get Kecleon into battle as they can bring Kecleon in after the opponent attacks so that Kecleon does not take damage. Hazard-Stacking cores such as Garbodor+Steelix make excellent partners because of the extra damage accumulated, helping assure kos on certain targets such as vileplume and steelix. Omastar also makes a great partner by having access to three entry hazards, as well as checking common threats to kecleon such as archeops, kangaskhan, physical charizard and tauros. Mesprit and Audino are able to slow down threats significantly with Thunder Wave, and the former is able to support Kecleon with Healing Wish, should Kecleon acquire too much life orb recoil, or stealth rock to nab kos on vileplume steelix and swellow after rocks damage.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
An assault vest Power-up-punch Kecleon set with Knock Off, Sucker Punch and Drain Punch is able to turn Kecleon into a bulky sweeper; this set also provides a good pivot into the likes of magmortar and charizard. A Facade set is able to abuse burn and thunder wave, which are commonly applied to Kecleon in order to give it a base 140 power STAB attack; able to dent many pokemon. A lum full-physical set is able to take advantage of many many lead sleeper pokemon or will-o-wisp pokemon such as Jynx and gourgeist respectively.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Physical Attackers**: Pokemon that can take a hit and kill, or can out-prioritize Kecleon and kill it, these include Kangaskhan and Skuntank due to their good natural bulk and Sucker Punch resistance respectively
**Mixed Defensive Pokemon**: Pokemon such as Hariyama, Musharna, Mantine and Pelipper, are all able to pivot in on Kecleon and force it to take life orb rounds, ohko it, or heal up and then kill kecleon due to good natural bulk. Musharna is able to abuse Knock Off-less Kecleon to freely set up calm minds, and shrug off the damage with Moonlight, Barrier variants are also able to beat Kecleon 1v1. Mantine and Pelipper are able to come in on anything but knock off, and can scare out kecleon with the prospect of scald burns, halving it's attack, and wearing it down extremely quickly
**Bulky Revenge Killers**: Pokemon such as Tauros and Kangaskhan are easily able to shrug off Kecleon's priority and easily KO back without much worry
**Faster Priority**: Pokemon with faster priority such as Kangaskhan's fake out+Sucker Punch or Hitmonchan's Mach punch can revenge kill Kecleon as they outpace Kecleon, thus going before it with their priority attacks
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