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Psych Up Clefable?

5
Posts
15
Years
  • Seen Dec 16, 2014
So I'm a big fan of a set I like to call Swagsire, it's Quagsire featuring the use of Swagger made possible thanks to his ability, Unaware. In case you don't know, Unaware makes it so the stat changes of the opponent do not affect the pokemon, only the opponent. For example, if they use Dragon Dance, their speed boost will affect turn order still, but the damage increase will not take effect when targetting a pokemon with Unaware. You can see the benefit when combined with Swagger. Swagger increases their attack, and confuses them. The attack increase is only registered when they hurt themselves, not when they attack the pokemon.

So when I heard about the move Psych Up, I thought it would stack really well combined with a pokemon with Unaware. Lo and behold, Clefable's hidden ability is Unaware and it learns Psych Up. So I started building a set. Unfortunately, Clefable cannot learn the Special Attack version of Swagger, Flatter, which would've worked much better, but I figured, what the hell. Let's go physical. So here's the set I came up with. Unfortunately I haven't been able to test it because for whatever reason, Smogon banned Swagger.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Def
Adamant Nature
- Psych Up
- Swagger
- Moonlight
- Knock Off

I find Leftovers to be almost necessary on an unaware pokemon. Their job is to wall setup sweepers not through sheer tankiness, but from ignoring their stat boosts. Leftovers allows them to stay in fights longer and continue to stall, which is typically how they fight. Clefable does not, however. Clefable uses Swagger to maximize the target's attack (if they haven't done/been doing that themselves) then uses Psych Up to steal that stat increase and uses Knock Off to full effect. The fact that the opponent then begins to hurt themselves with great effect is an added bonus. I chose Knock Off because I felt it had the best coverage out of all of Clefable's available moves and does great damage. Clefable has plenty of other options, Brick Break, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Zen Headbutt. Unfortunately, Clefable knows no physical Fairy type moves, which would obviously take priority over any of these other moves. Clefable also learns Iron Tail, but I figured the chance of lowering the target's defense would be counterproductive with Psych Up.

Now this set has some immediate eyebrows. First one that came to my mind is "Clefable's SpA is much higher than its Atk, why go for a physical Clefable?" Well, Psych Up isn't really worth taking a slot in unless the opponent is either definitely setting up, or you can force them to up their stats. Clefable can do the latter with Swagger, and stealing Attack is useless if Clefable is going Special. Secondly, Clefable cannot wall quite as well as fellow Unaware wall, Quagsire. I agree, however Clefable plays differently. While Quagsire wears an opponent down with Toxic and Swagger, Clefable goes more offensive taking matters into her own hands, allowing for quicker take downs. This is also one of the reasons why I think Clefable is a more all around version of Quagsire. While Quagsire is definite tauntbait, Clefable can respond to a taunt with her offensive move of choice. While she won't be hitting quite as hard until Psych Up has been used, she still isn't completely helpless when taunted.

So, what do you think of this set? Are there any ways you would improve it? Is it complete garbage? Let me know!
 

PlatinumDude

Nyeh?
12,964
Posts
13
Years
Psych Up Clefable is a terrible gimmick, simply because it's matchup-dependent. Some of Clefable's checks/counters don't rely on setup moves at all, such as Heatran or Mega Venusaur; the latter doesn't even give a crap about Knock Off, as it's holding a Mega Stone by default.

Having Knock Off as a sole offensive attack off of 70 Attack is seriously underwhelming as well; this also deprives Clefable of its strongest attack, Moonblast. Not to mention that its physical move pool is barren, only having Knock Off, Return/Frustration, Brick Break and Double-Edge as options, and these lack STAB as of Gen VI.

And as an FYI, Swagger is banned under Smogon rules.
 
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