[MnM] Kartana

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Haaku

Banned deucer.
Kartana
[QC 2/3]


/
Overview

- Kartana boasts an extremely high 181 Attack that can be increased to insane levels thanks to mega stones like Metagrossite.
- Kartana has a very respectable 109 Speed pre-Mega which allows it to sweep offensive and defensive teams alike.
- It has access to Swords Dance as well as the ability to raise its attack with Beast Boost before Mega Evolving, allowing its already high Attack to increase even more.
- It has a great base 131 Defense, though its HP is quite low at 59. It can survive some strong Physical attacks like Blue Orb Golisopod's First Impression. However, Kartana suffers from a quadruple weakness to Fire, a very common offensive type.
- Kartana has paper thin Special Defense, meaning most unresisted special attacks will OHKO Kartana as well as resisted hits from the likes of Tapu Lele.
- Its offensive typing is not very good, and it has little room for coverage, usually running just Leaf Blade, Smart Strike, and Sacred Sword. This makes Kartana very predictable and prepared teams usually do not find it too difficult to play around it.

Metagrossite Sweeper
Kartana @ Metagrossite
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
- Smart Strike / Return

Moves
- Leaf Blade is Kartana's most powerful move, severely denting any unresisted Pokemon.
- Sacred Sword is the ideal coverage move to maximize Kartana's sweeping capabilities. Most notably, it hits Steel types that may otherwise wall Kartana, like Heatran and opposing Kartana.
- Swords Dance allows Kartana to set up and boost its Attack. This move is especially wanted since Kartana's offensive pressure forces many switches, allowing it many opportunities to set up.
- Smart Strike is Kartana's secondary STAB and now has considerable power. It's used to hit threats like Tapu Bulu and Flying types that resist the combo of Sacred Sword and Leaf Blade.
- Return is a good neutral move that hits the things that Smart Strike cannot: specifically things like Zapdos.

Set Details
- Metagrossite is the preferred item on Kartana as it allows it to reach an insane combination of Attack and Speed, hitting 191 Attack and 149 Speed. Tough Claws is also an excellent ability for Kartana to have, boosting all 3 of its usual attacking moves: Smart Strike, Leaf Blade, and Sacred Sword.
- 252 Attack EVs turn Kartana into a massively powerful wallbreaker and sweeper all in one.
- 252 Speed EVs and a Jolly are used to ensure Kartana outspeeds threats below the max 148 Speed tier, which is fantastic even for Mix and Mega standards, as something will usually OHKO Kartana if it outspeeds it, specifically special attacks. The remaining 4 is placed into Special Defense to slightly increase its bulk.
- Beast Boost actually works very well as an ability before choosing to Mega Evolve if it can come in on a slower target that is finished by one of Kartana's moves to trigger a +1 increase in Attack.

Usage Tips

- Kartana is best used late game once all of the Pokemon that can switch into it or otherwise stop it are fainted.
- It is best not to play recklessly with Kartana, as a lot of relevant threats like Primal Groudon can come in and OHKO it.
- It's best advised to not bring Kartana in on any Steel types that aren't weak to Fighting, such as Magearna and Celesteela.
- Kartana can set up on Pokemon such as Cresselia, Arceus-Water and other support formes.

Team Options

- Kartana's crippling Fire weakness can be a perfect lure for Blue Orb users like Golisopod. Golisopod is also a very good teammate for Kartana thanks to its ability to absorb Fire and Fighting attacks, while Kartana has an Electric and Rock resistance.
- Kartana appreciates entry hazards on the field at all times to ensure some KOs, specifically on Flying and Fire types that will usually take 25% each time they come in. Gyaradosite Deoxys-Speed is a good partner as it is a good Stealth Rock user.
- Sticky Web support is appreciated as the fast nature of Mix and Mega ensures some threats will still outspeed Kartana without it. Variants of Shuckle are good partners.
Primal Groudon shrugs off Fire attacks while being an excellent provider of Stealth Rock.
- Sablenite users like Cresselia and Mew can bounce back Thunder Wave and Will-o-Wisp, which both cripple Kartana.

Other Options
-
Lucarionite gives Kartana more raw power and Adaptability to boost its otherwise weak STAB moves at the cost of Speed.
- Pinsirite gives Kartana a new and vastly superior STAB in Return. However, the Grass/Flying typing is considerably worse defensively.
- Night Slash is a decent coverage option mainly used to hit bulky Psychic types such as Cresselia and Mew.
- An all-out attacking set with Glalitite gives Kartana the coverage to take on more threats, but does not work well in conjunction with Swords Dance. It may also surprise Flying types that would normally switch in on Kartana.

Checks and Counters

**Skarmory & Celesteela**: Both Skarmory and Celesteela can easily take on any kind of Kartana set and proceed to wear it down. Skarmory can additionally phaze it out with Whirlwind, while Celesteela can OHKO Kartana with its Fire moves.

**Faster attackers**: Fast special attackers such as Latios in conjunction with most offensive Mega stones can outspeed and OHKO Kartana.

**Priority attacks**: Common priority attackers such as Weavile with Fake Out/Feint and Extreme Speed users can usually finish off Kartana.

**Bulky Pokemon**: Defensive tanks such as Primal Groudon can stomach any hit from Kartana even after a Swords Dance and proceed to OHKO it with one of its Fire moves. Magearna can also stomach any hit from Kartana and OHKO it back, though it has to be wary of switching in while Kartana is at +2.
 
Last edited:

Haaku

Banned deucer.
Sorry if I am not supposed to do this but I'd like to let the team know that my Kartana analysis is ready for QC check.
 
Kartana
[QC 0/3]

/
Overview
- Kartana boasts an extremely high 181 Attack that can be increased to insane levels thanks to mega stones like Lucarionite.
- Kartana has a very respectable 109 Speed pre-Mega which allows it to sweep offensive and defensive teams alike.
- It has access to Swords Dance as well as the ability to raise its attack with Beast Boost before Mega Evolving, allowing its already high Attack to increase even more.
- It has a great base 131 Defense, though its HP is quite low at 59. It can survive some strong Physical attacks like Pinsirite Dragonite's Extreme Speed and Blue Orb Golisopod's First Impression. However, Kartana suffers from a quadruple weakness to Fire, a very common offensive type.
- Kartana has paper thin Special Defense, meaning most unresisted special attacks will OHKO Kartana as well as resisted hits from the likes of Tapu Lele.
- Its offensive typing is not very good, and it has little room for coverage, usually running just Leaf Blade, Smart Strike, and Sacred Sword. This makes Kartana very predictable and prepared teams usually do not find it too difficult to play around it.

Lucarionite Sweeper
Kartana @ Lucarionite Metagrossite
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
- Smart Strike / Return Swap set order and add return

Moves
- Leaf Blade is Kartana's most powerful move, boosted to 180 BP after Adaptability and severely denting any unresisted Pokemon.
- Smart Strike is Kartana's secondary STAB and now has considerable power. It's used to hit threats like Tapu Bulu and Tapu Lele Tapu Lele is hit perfectly hard by leaf blade, list some flying types like dnite. put this last
- Sacred Sword is the ideal coverage move to maximize Kartana's sweeping capabilities. Most notably, it hits Steel types that may otherwise wall Kartana, like Heatran and opposing Kartana.
- Swords Dance allows Kartana to set up and boost its Attack. This move is especially wanted since Kartana's offensive pressure forces many switches, allowing it many opportunities to set up.
Return Bullet here (hits zapdos+most of smart strike's targets)
- Psycho Cut over Sacred Sword is a feasible option to avoid being walled by Poison types like Toxapex, but outside of that, Sacred Sword is almost always preferred as Steel should be a bigger priority for coverage, added with Sacred Sword's higher BP and better overall coverage. Leaf blade hits toxapex just as hard, cut this

Set Details
- Lucarionite is the preferred item, boosting Kartana's already crazy Attack and Speed combination further, reaching a whopping 216 Attack combined with 131 Speed as well as even higher 59/149 physical bulk. Lucarionite also gives it Adaptability, boosting the BP of its otherwise unimpressive STAB moves. Replace this with metagrossite and emphasize speed+tough claws
- 252 Attack EVs turn Kartana into a massively powerful wallbreaker, reaching a sky-high 531 Attack even with a Jolly nature.
- 252 Speed EVs and a Jolly are used to ensure Kartana outspeeds as many threats as possible list some examples, as something will usually OHKO Kartana if it outspeeds it, specifically special attacks. The remaining 4 is placed into Special Defense to slightly increase its bulk.
- Beast Boost actually works very well as an ability before choosing to Mega Evolve if it can come in on a slower target that is finished by one of Kartana's moves to trigger a +1 increase in Attack.

Usage Tips
- Kartana is best used late game once all of the Pokemon that can switch into it or otherwise stop it are fainted.
- It is best not to play recklessly with Kartana, as a lot of relevant threats like Primal Groudon can come in and OHKO it.
- It's best advised to not bring Kartana in on any Steel types that aren't weak to Fighting, such as Magearna and Celesteela.
* List some stuff it can set up on/force out (supportceus, cress, etc)
* List some things that force it our (pheromosa, etc)


Team Options
- Kartana's crippling Fire weakness can be a perfect lure for Blue Orb users like Golisopod. Golisopod is also a very good teammate for Kartana thanks to its ability to absorb Fire and Fighting attacks, while Kartana has an Electric and Rock resistance.
- Kartana appreciates Stealth Rock on the field at all times to ensure some KOs, specifically on Flying and Fire types that will usually take 25% each time they come in. Primal Groudon shrugs off Fire attacks while being an excellent provider of Stealth Rock.
- Sablenite users like Cresselia and Mew can bounce back Thunder Wave and Will-o-Wisp, which both cripple Kartana.
* Pheromosa check such as Zapdos, Arceus Ghost, Xerneas, and Arceus-Fairy

Other Options
- For coverage moves, Kartana does not have room for many other options.
- Aerodactylite makes it lose the raw power Lucarionite provides in exchange for additional overall bulk and boosting all 3 of its main attacking moves with Tough Claws.

* Pinsirite
* Lucarionite
* Night slash

- An all-out attacking set with Glalitite gives Kartana the coverage to take on more threats, but does not work well in conjunction with Swords Dance. It also makes it able to take on Dragonite head-on.

Checks and Counters
**Skarmory & Celesteela**: Both Skarmory and Celesteela can easily take on any kind of Kartana set and proceed to wear it down. Mention that skarmory can phaze it or use it to set/remove hazards, and that cleesteela ohkoes with fire moves.

**Faster special attackers**: Fast special attackers such as Latios in conjunction with most offensive Mega stones can outspeed and OHKO Kartana. Remove this, change to faster attacks and list like rai+Phero+extreme speed

**Dragonite**: Dragonite can be brought in on a Kartana, especially when Multiscale is active, and easily OHKO it if it has Fire Punch. fire punch isn't a set, fold this into the above because espeed+resists is still a threat

**Primal Groudon**: Primal Groudon can stomach any hit from Kartana even after a Swords Dance and proceed to OHKO it with one of its Fire moves. Expant this into bulky pokemon and add examples, like Magearna or etc
Nice work, implement this and then 1/3.
 

nv

The Lost Age
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
Kartana
[QC 0/3]


/
Overview

- Kartana boasts an extremely high 181 Attack that can be increased to insane levels thanks to mega stones like Lucarionite.
- Kartana has a very respectable 109 Speed pre-Mega which allows it to sweep offensive and defensive teams alike.
- It has access to Swords Dance as well as the ability to raise its attack with Beast Boost before Mega Evolving, allowing its already high Attack to increase even more.
- It has a great base 131 Defense, though its HP is quite low at 59. It can survive some strong Physical attacks like Pinsirite Dragonite's Extreme Speed and Blue Orb Golisopod's First Impression. However, Kartana suffers from a quadruple weakness to Fire, a very common offensive type.
- Kartana has paper thin Special Defense, meaning most unresisted special attacks will OHKO Kartana as well as resisted hits from the likes of Tapu Lele.
- Its offensive typing is not very good, and it has little room for coverage, usually running just Leaf Blade, Smart Strike, and Sacred Sword. This makes Kartana very predictable and prepared teams usually do not find it too difficult to play around it.
  • I would remove the Lucarionite mention and say Metagrossite instead since that is the stone it is using mainly.
Metagrossite Sweeper
Kartana @ Metagrossite
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
- Smart Strike / Return

Moves
- Leaf Blade is Kartana's most powerful move, severely denting any unresisted Pokemon.
- Sacred Sword is the ideal coverage move to maximize Kartana's sweeping capabilities. Most notably, it hits Steel types that may otherwise wall Kartana, like Heatran and opposing Kartana.
- Swords Dance allows Kartana to set up and boost its Attack. This move is especially wanted since Kartana's offensive pressure forces many switches, allowing it many opportunities to set up.
- Return is a good neutral move that hits the things that Smart Strike cannot: specifically things like Zapdos.
- Smart Strike is Kartana's secondary STAB and now has considerable power. It's used to hit threats like Tapu Bulu and Flying types like Dragonite.
  • Swap the Smart Strike and Return points or swap the slashes on the set to be more fluid and make the reading a bit easier.

Set Details
- Metagrossite is the preferred item on Kartana as it allows it to reach an insane combination of Attack and Speed, hitting 191 Attack and 149 Speed. Tough Claws is also an excellent ability for Kartana to have, boosting all 3 of its usual attacking moves: Smart Strike, Leaf Blade, and Sacred Sword.
- 252 Attack EVs turn Kartana into a massively powerful wallbreaker and sweeper all in one.
- 252 Speed EVs and a Jolly are used to ensure Kartana outspeeds threats below the max 148 Speed tier, which is fantastic even for Mix and Mega standards, as something will usually OHKO Kartana if it outspeeds it, specifically special attacks. The remaining 4 is placed into Special Defense to slightly increase its bulk.
- Beast Boost actually works very well as an ability before choosing to Mega Evolve if it can come in on a slower target that is finished by one of Kartana's moves to trigger a +1 increase in Attack.

Usage Tips

- Kartana is best used late game once all of the Pokemon that can switch into it or otherwise stop it are fainted.
- It is best not to play recklessly with Kartana, as a lot of relevant threats like Primal Groudon can come in and OHKO it.
- It's best advised to not bring Kartana in on any Steel types that aren't weak to Fighting, such as Magearna and Celesteela.
- Kartana can set up on Pokemon such as Cresselia, Arceus-Water and other support formes.

Team Options

- Kartana's crippling Fire weakness can be a perfect lure for Blue Orb users like Golisopod. Golisopod is also a very good teammate for Kartana thanks to its ability to absorb Fire and Fighting attacks, while Kartana has an Electric and Rock resistance.
- Kartana appreciates Stealth Rock on the field at all times to ensure some KOs, specifically on Flying and Fire types that will usually take 25% each time they come in. Primal Groudon shrugs off Fire attacks while being an excellent provider of Stealth Rock.
- Sablenite users like Cresselia and Mew can bounce back Thunder Wave and Will-o-Wisp, which both cripple Kartana.
  • I would expand on the Stealth Rock comment by mentioning entry hazards in general and mentioning Gyaradosite Deoxys-Speed / Shuckle as Spikes or Sticky Web support helps Kartana's sweep

Other Options
-
Lucarionite gives Kartana more raw power and Adaptability to boost its otherwise weak STAB moves at the cost of Speed.
- Pinsirite gives Kartana a new and vastly superior STAB in Return. However, the Grass/Flying typing is considerably worse defensively.
- Night Slash is a decent coverage option mainly used to hit bulky Psychic types such as Cresselia and Mew.
- An all-out attacking set with Glalitite gives Kartana the coverage to take on more threats, but does not work well in conjunction with Swords Dance. It also makes it able to take on Dragonite head-on.
  • Remove the Dragonite mention for Glalitite.

Checks and Counters

**Skarmory & Celesteela**: Both Skarmory and Celesteela can easily take on any kind of Kartana set and proceed to wear it down. Skarmory can additionally phaze it out with Whirlwind, while Celesteela can OHKO Kartana with its Fire moves.

**Faster attackers**: Fast special attackers such as Latios in conjunction with most offensive Mega stones can outspeed and OHKO Kartana. Dragonite and other Extreme Speed users can also check Kartana.

**Bulky Pokemon**: Defensive tanks such as Primal Groudon can stomach any hit from Kartana even after a Swords Dance and proceed to OHKO it with one of its Fire moves. Magearna can also stomach any hit from Kartana and OHKO it back, though it has to be wary of switching in while Kartana is at +2.
  • Remove the Dragonite mention in Faster Attackers section and split it into two sections. One for Faster Attackers and one for Priority since Weavile, for example, is slower but it can finish off a weakened Kartana with Fake Out + Feint.
Looks pretty good, had a couple of changes I put in bold.

QC 2/3
 

david0895

Mercy Main Btw
"Smart strike hits flying types like dragonite"
I think this should be changed, now that it's banned
 

Haaku

Banned deucer.
nv Your changes have been implemented and the analysis is now ready for its last QC check.

E: am working on writing it out now.
 
Last edited:
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nv

The Lost Age
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
Kris move this to the archive and put it back up for reservation since the user is a "banned deucer." please :)
 
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