Kecleon

[Private Affair]

lol who would've thought that one GREAT ability would allow him to see some play in the meta game.

Kecleon
Normal
60 / 90 / 70 / 60 / 120 / 40
Color Change / Protean

Notable Moves:
Trick Room
Drain Punch
Ice Punch
Fire Punch
Thunder Punch
Sucker Punch
Rock Slide
Aqua Tail
Shadow Sneak

Other moves:
Nasty Plot
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Shadow Ball

The question is why would anyone ever want to use a subpar Greninja in the name of Kecleon? Well, the reason being is that Kecleon's movepool is more extensive than the swift ninja and has a serviceable attack. We all should know how Greninja "status" propelled him from being subpar to one of the most dynamic Pokemon in the game. The question that remains is whether or not Kecleon nothing more than a gimmick. I would disagree, as with proper backing in his teammates, Kecleon can be a force to reckon with. In my latest doubles testing, Keckleon has been nothing short of a star, after the setup of a trick room. So let's get into a potential moveset and which Pokemon work well with this green lizard:

Kecleon @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spe)
~ Trick Room
~ Drain Punch
~ Shadow Claw
~ Rock Slide / Ice Punch / Fire Punch

So, essentially with a Fighting type move and a Ghost type move, Kecleon has ensured that he would get neutral coverage among all Pokemon types. The last move slot is essentially an open move slot which you can put in any move that you would like as extra coverage. There really isn't much more to explain about this set to be honest. The idea of Rock Slide is that you get STAB which is most important but the second thing is that it hits both opponents. If you disagree with this notion, you can fit in any move that you wish as stated above.

A great member to aid Kecleon on his journey to power and destruction is the newly typed Fairy Pokemon Clefable.

Clefable @ Babiri Berry / Kebia Berry / Lum Berry / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unaware
252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpDef OR 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA (whichever you prefer)
Sassy OR Relaxed Nature (+SpDef, -Spe) OR (+Def, -Spe)
~ Follow Me
~ Heal Pulse
~ Moonblast
~ Flamethrower

Essentially, Clefable will ensure that Kecleon will get to setup the Trick Room. She does nothing more here. She can get an attack in if there aren't any foes that threaten the great Kecleon from wiping out his foes. I chose Clefable over Togekiss because it sports lesser weaknesses and gets access to Moonblast. Togekiss is on my team as well, but I like Clefable better as a support Pokemon. You can choose otherwise.

So, let me know what you think! :]

 

[LordRandomness]

Given that Kecleon's speed is atrocious, Trick Room is definitely his best shot at achieving anything of note. I'd be interested to see a 252 HP/252 Def tank build relying on Protean to predict and resist opposing attacks while still dishing out reasonable damage (you'd likely want a different attack spread though, designed to resist as many types as possible rather than cover). Not sure if steller SpD is sufficient to make that viable though, he might have needed better HP/Def

 

[Level 51]

Instead of trying to sweep with a pitiful 90 Atk stat, Kecleon will more likely be used as TR support if it does see any use in the metagame at all. Notable moves for this role include Fake Out, Trick Room, Thunder Wave and Feint. Following this, the only good use I could see Protean being put to would be if Kecleon manages to Skill Swap it onto its ally; I can imagine traditional Trick Room sweepers like Escavalier (or maybe even Snorlax!) liking the boost Protean could provide while not losing much in terms of losing their own ability.

 

[Mizuhime]

is Kecleon even available yet:S

Arcticblast edit: yes

 

[Laga]

Instead of trying to sweep with a pitiful 90 Atk stat, Kecleon will more likely be used as TR support if it does see any use in the metagame at all. Notable moves for this role include Fake Out, Trick Room, Thunder Wave and Feint. Following this, the only good use I could see Protean being put to would be if Kecleon manages to Skill Swap it onto its ally; I can imagine traditional Trick Room sweepers like Escavalier (or maybe even Snorlax!) liking the boost Protean could provide while not losing much in terms of losing their own ability.

Base 90 Atk is what Scrafty has, and just 5 points under Hitmontop. With neutral (effective) STAB coverage, it won't be hitting like a saggy piece of shit, and Protean is probably best used to predict something like a Return directed at it, so you switch to Ghost-type so it won't hit you. I doubt it is best off running some weird support set with Trick Room and Thunder Wave...

Other than that, yeah it's not that good. It's ability just makes predicting with it pay off very nicely.

 

[Private Affair]

Instead of trying to sweep with a pitiful 90 Atk stat, Kecleon will more likely be used as TR support if it does see any use in the metagame at all. Notable moves for this role include Fake Out, Trick Room, Thunder Wave and Feint. Following this, the only good use I could see Protean being put to would be if Kecleon manages to Skill Swap it onto its ally; I can imagine traditional Trick Room sweepers like Escavalier (or maybe even Snorlax!) liking the boost Protean could provide while not losing much in terms of losing their own ability.

That's actually a great idea. I'll try to fit that in the OP when I have time to get on a computer.

 

[noivern]

And keep in mind that this pokemon might have had a base stat increase this gen, we still don't know!

 

[Arcticblast]

And keep in mind that this pokemon might have had a base stat increase this gen, we still don't know!

No, if Kecleon had a base stat change we would have found out by now, considering it's catchable in Friend Safari.

 

[noivern]

No, if Kecleon had a base stat change we would have found out by now, considering it's catchable in Friend Safari.

There are still more and more pokemon with base stat changes to be discovered, Serebii keeps updating every once in a while

 

[Manibogi]

You forgot about Skill Swap. It's a bit gimmicky, but it could lead to some viable stategies (now if only I could think of one).

 

[Parallel]

I'd also spotten Kecleon's alluring Ghost/ Fight coverage... but i was unaware you could get Drain Punch on a Protean Kecleon.
Unless i'm missing an obvious method?

 

[Kafei-]

I'd also spotten Kecleon's alluring Ghost/ Fight coverage... but i was unaware you could get Drain Punch on a Protean Kecleon.
Unless i'm missing an obvious method?

I tried breed smeargle drain punch with keckleon and he don't passed Drain Punch bad news.

 

[Parallel]

I tried breed smeargle drain punch with keckleon and he don't passed Drain Punch bad news.

Maybe if you get one from the Dream Park in Gen V, it'll be tagged for having its HA?

 

[Blue Charcoal]

to make up for the atrocious speed, maybe shadow sneak is viable? a stab priority move seems pretty good and if you predict right, you can dodge a fighting type move. I don't know much about competetive play though.

 

[Mr. Blinky]

I was trying to come up with Protean + Skill swap combos, and I thought I won life when I thought of this.
Skill Swap with a Telepathy Noivern. The idea was to give him Choice Specs/Life Orb and boomburst everything, while Kecleon is safe with Telepathy. I had major problems getting this actually set up and when I did it failed to KO lots of things, making me sad again. Back to the drawing board...

 

[Joim]

Kecleon definitely needs to be played in Trick Room to shine, if it will shine at all. 60/70/120 defenses aren't extremly bad, but they aren't incredible either. He will be better off in a support role (in which he might be outclassed) or else it must be played by an excellent player capable of chosing good moves to avoid damage or to slowly wear down enemies. All in all, I'd go for a more solid Pokémon stat- and ability-wise.

 

[TippyCup]

Based on my experience, Kecleon has the potential to easily soak enough damage to survive a turn to use TR (+252HP is what I have been using), and from there, can be surprisingly deadly with its versatile movepool. However, that doesn't necessarily stop the current meta from crushing him in Doubles.

If your opponent knows you'll need TR to be even remotely viable, then Kec automatically becomes a priority target. So pairing it with a high-threat mon or a support may alleviate the pressure on Kecleon. Another option is of course to set up TR with another mon and use Kec as a versatile revenge killer or sweeper, I personally go +252Atk, and have found much success when paired with the right partner.

 

[Alakazam100]

All I'm seeing here is offensive TR variants, so I suppose I'll be the first to make a radical suggestion. How about a defensive protean user. People seem to be acting as if this is a slow Greninja, but it has great Special Defense, and with good EV investments, passable HP and defense. Add on access to reliable recovery in recover and leftovers, a great utility movepool with toxic, SR, trick, substitute, and magic coat, and usable priority in STAB shadow sneak and sucker punch. I can't find the best way to put together this into a set, but a lead set seems plausible with SR, magic bounce and protean shadow sneak to turn into a spinblocker. Kecleon also has access to the SubPunch combo, and setting up a sub might be good alongside sucker punch, as the opponent has to directly hit Kecleon to break the sub, easing sucker punch prediction, particularly against weakened sweepers who can't take a sucker punch. Anyone been thinking along the same lines? If so I'd love to see a set or two that don't all use TR.

 

[Stratos]

All I'm seeing here is offensive TR variants, so I suppose I'll be the first to make a radical suggestion. How about a defensive protean user. People seem to be acting as if this is a slow Greninja, but it has great Special Defense, and with good EV investments, passable HP and defense. Add on access to reliable recovery in recover and leftovers, a great utility movepool with toxic, SR, trick, substitute, and magic coat, and usable priority in STAB shadow sneak and sucker punch. I can't find the best way to put together this into a set, but a lead set seems plausible with SR, magic bounce and protean shadow sneak to turn into a spinblocker. Kecleon also has access to the SubPunch combo, and setting up a sub might be good alongside sucker punch, as the opponent has to directly hit Kecleon to break the sub, easing sucker punch prediction, particularly against weakened sweepers who can't take a sucker punch. Anyone been thinking along the same lines? If so I'd love to see a set or two that don't all use TR.

Most of these moves aren't that good. Spinblocking is useless in doubles since nobody unshitty carries spin, and magic coat is equally useless, with SR being only slightly better. A dedicated lead that can't function besides strikes me as pretty useless too. Kecleon is better off abusing its unpredictable offensive coverage or the few good support moves it does have (trick room, thunder wave) to get a matchup advantage versus a team's key threats and do a little supporting on the side. Even then it's basically NU material.