[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Leaf Blade
move 3: Sacred Sword
move 4: Giga Impact / Knock Off
item: Normalium Z / Fightinium Z
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Kartana is a menacing presence due to its magnificent Attack, high Speed, a great ability in Beast Boost, and Swords Dance. On top of that, Kartana also has a very good offensive and defensive typing. Defensively, its many resistances and good physical bulk aid Kartana in setting up against the likes of Gliscor, Landorus-T, and Ferrothorn. Offensively, Kartana's typing and coverage are also very good, as it is capable of pressuring common bulky Water- and Steel-types, such as Tapu Fini, Slowbro, Heatran, and Ferrothorn, with Leaf Blade and Sacred Sword, respectively. Giga Impact alongside Normalium Z allows Kartana to overwhelm some of its best checks in Zapdos and physically defensive Tangrowth after a Swords Dance boost. On the other hand, Fightinium Z can be used to easily remove Mega Scizor, Skarmory, and Corviknight, with Knock Off in the fourth slot to cripple Pokemon like Volcarona, Zapdos, and Moltres.
Kartana fits best on balance and bulky offensive teams that are capable of providing it with proper support it needs to break open teams. Mega Tyranitar is extremely useful for Kartana, as it is capable of removing many roadblocks to Kartana's sweep with Pursuit, such as Mega Latias and Mega Latios, and heavily pressures Zapdos in case Kartana needs to preserve its Z-Move for another target. It can also set Stealth Rock, which is particularly important for Knock Off variants, as it allows Kartana to punish Zapdos more effectively after removing Heavy-Duty Boots. In a similar vein, Magnezone is a potent teammate due to its ability to trap Mega Scizor, Corviknight, and Skarmory, which are some of the very few hard-checks to Normalium Z Kartana. Pokemon that can pressure Kartana's other common checks in Tangrowth and Landorus-T such as Garchomp, Greninja, Mega Lopunny, and Mega Mawile are great partners. In turn, Kartana can heavily pressure some of their checks in Tapu Fini, Slowbro, and Heatran. Kartana requires a good defensive backbone, as it is quite specially frail and prone to being revenge killed by the likes of Mega Lopunny, Ash-Greninja, and Mega Latias. As a result, the likes of Tapu Fini, Toxapex, and Mega Tyranitar make for good teammates. Given Kartana’s poor special bulk, Pokemon that can pivot Kartana into battle such as Mega Lopunny, Rotom-W, and Landorus-T are useful teammates. Lastly, late-game cleaners appreciate Kartana's wallbreaking prowess such as Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, Ash-Greninja, and Mega Lopunny and make for good teammates as well.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Leaf Blade
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: Sacred Sword
move 4: Return / Smart Strike
item: Choice Band
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Choice Band Kartana harshly pressures most of its usual checks without having to dedicate a turn to set up. After the boost from Choice Band, Leaf Blade 2HKOes almost every single neutral target in the metagame, making it a very risk-free and spammable move once Kartana's checks have been weakened. A strong Knock Off is another draw of this set, allowing Kartana to greatly damage checks in Mega Latias and Mega Latios and punish sturdier checks such as Zapdos, Corviknight, and Tangrowth by removing their item. Sacred Sword takes care of Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Heatran, as well as some other Grass-resistant Pokemon in Hydreigon and Kyurem. Return gives Kartana a strong neutral hit on Pokemon like Zapdos, Tangrowth, and Moltres that would otherwise tank its attacks. Alternatively, Smart Strike can be used to hit the likes of Mega Mawile and Tangrowth harder than anything else, while almost always OHKOing physically defensive Clefable.
Kartana fits well on balance and bulky offensive teams as a fearsome wallbreaker that can make great amounts of progress throughout the game if it predicts correctly. Stealth Rock setters are very important, since they allow Kartana to heavily pressure Zapdos and Moltres after removing Heavy-Duty Boots. Thus, the likes of Mega Tyranitar, Heatran, Clefable, and Landorus-T pair well with Kartana. Weavile and Mega Tyranitar can trap and weaken or dispose of Mega Latias, Heatran, and Zapdos, making Kartana's job easier and less prediction-reliant. Magnezone is a notable partner due to its ability to trap some of the best checks to Kartana in Mega Scizor, Corviknight, and Skarmory. Other wallbreakers that can pressure Kartana's checks in Zapdos, Tangrowth, and Mega Scizor can also prove to be good teammates. Examples include Heatran and Ash-Greninja. Pivoting support from the likes of Tapu Koko, Mega Lopunny, and Landorus-T can greatly increase the amount of opportunities for Kartana to break walls by granting it safe ways to enter a match. Lastly, late-game cleaners that can wrap up the game after Kartana has done its job such as Mega Lopunny, Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, and Swords Dance Weavile are good options as well.
[SET]
name: Synthesis Utility
move 1: Leaf Blade
move 2: Synthesis
move 3: Knock Off / Sacred Sword
move 4: Defog
item: Grassium Z
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Jolly
evs: 136 HP / 120 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
With Synthesis, Kartana can reliably check the metagame's dangerous Ground-types in Garchomp, Landorus-T, Mega Swampert, and Gliscor, as well as Mega Tyranitar lacking Fire Punch. Leaf Blade alongside Grassium Z allows Kartana to properly threaten the Ground-types it checks, taking them out after little-to-no chip with Bloom Doom. Knock Off gives Kartana additional utility in punishing common switch-ins such as Zapdos and Corviknight, as well as removing items from the likes of Ferrothorn and Heatran. Alternatively, Sacred Sword may be used to directly threaten Ferrothorn and Heatran, but dropping the utility of Knock Off is undesirable. Defog enables Kartana to fully check Garchomp, Landorus-T, Mega Tyranitar, and Ferrothorn by nullifying their attempts at setting up entry hazards. 120 Attack EVs allow Kartana to OHKO Garchomp with Bloom Doom. The remaining EVs are allocated to HP so that Kartana can check Ground-types more consistently.
Kartana fits best on balance and bulky offensive teams in need of a sturdy check to Ground-types. As such, Pokemon that appreciate Ground-types out of the picture such as Heatran, Mega Mawile, and Toxapex can prove to be good teammates. Pursuit support from Mega Tyranitar and Weavile is useful, as it pressures Mega Latias and weakens Zapdos, which are some of Kartana's best checks, especially for non-Knock Off variants. However, when pairing Kartana with Mega Tyranitar, be careful with your timing and positioning, as Synthesis recovers less HP in sand. Kartana is easily forced out by special attackers or faster threats such as Ash-Greninja, Mega Latias, and Mega Lopunny. As such, it requires a sturdy defensive backbone to take these threats on, which may consist of Pokemon such as specially defensive Heatran, Slowbro, and Toxapex. All of these bar Slowbro are susceptible to entry hazards due to the amount of times they are required to pivot into various threats throughout a match and therefore appreciate Kartana’s Defog support. Lastly, Kartana has the tendency to force Knock Off on Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Heatran, Toxapex, and Tangrowth, so partners like Calm Mind Clefable and Tapu Lele are good options to consider as well.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Leaf Blade
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: Sacred Sword
move 4: Smart Strike / Defog
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Choice Scarf Kartana functions as a revenge killer early on in games by outpacing common offensive Pokemon such as Mega Lopunny, Ash-Greninja, Tapu Koko, +1 Mega Gyarados, and Weavile and either defeating them or forcing them out. Once the opponent's team has been weakened sufficiently, Kartana can then clean up late-game with the assistance of its enhanced Speed and Beast Boost. Knock Off is a great move that punishes checks such as Zapdos, Corviknight, and Moltres. It is also Kartana's best option against Mega Latias and Mega Latios. Sacred Sword is a crucial coverage move, enabling Kartana to hit opposing Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and Heatran, as well as almost always OHKOing Mega Lopunny. Smart Strike rounds out the set as a reliable secondary STAB move that provides the strongest hit against threats such as Clefable and Kyurem. Defog may be used instead to remove entry hazards for more offensive teams.
Kartana fits best in offensive teams in need of a revenge killer and late-game sweeper in one. As Kartana is a good late-game cleaner once the opposing team has been weakened, it is a good idea to pair it with early-game wallbreakers that can threaten or take advantage of Kartana's checks in Zapdos, Mega Latias, Tangrowth, and Corviknight. Good examples include Garchomp, Kyurem, Weavile, Mega Medicham, and Tapu Lele. Pursuit support from the likes of Mega Tyranitar and Weavile is appreciated in order to trap the likes of Mega Latias, Mega Latios, and Heatran, as this allows Kartana to spam Leaf Blade late-game. Mega Tyranitar also provides Stealth Rock support, which is important to pressure Zapdos and Moltres once Kartana has removed their Heavy-Duty Boots. Similarly, Magnezone is a notable partner due to its ability to trap Steel-types such as Mega Scizor, Corviknight, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory. Kartana is incapable of revenge killing a healthy Mega Mawile, Mega Scizor, and Volcarona, so running Pokemon that can deal with them such as Heatran and Toxapex is very advisable.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Darkinium Z along with a Swords Dance boost enables Kartana to remove Mega Latios and a Mega Latias in its base form on the switch. However, forgoing both Normalium Z and Fightinium Z means Kartana will be unable to adequately pressure its two most common checks in Zapdos and Mega Scizor. Toxic can be used on Choice Scarf sets to cripple checks like Zapdos and Tangrowth, but it’s undesirable to lock into due to the number of Pokemon in the tier that are immune to poison. Swords Dance Kartana can explore other item options, such as Life Orb for more power or Salac Berry with Endure to beat Pokemon like Mega Lopunny, Tapu Koko, and Choice Scarf Magnezone. However, these options often need to forgo too much of Kartana’s longevity or coverage. A Swords Dance set with 19 Attack EVs and a Timid nature to boost Kartana’s Speed with Beast Boost may seem desirable, as it allows Kartana to outspeed checks such as Weavile, Mega Latias and Latios as well as Tapu Koko, Mega Lopunny and Greninja. However, it can struggle to properly wallbreak, and can often feel outclassed by Swords Dance and Choice Scarf sets.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying-types**: Corviknight, Zapdos, Moltres, Skarmory, and Mega Charizard Y are some of the best checks to Kartana due to their resistance to Leaf Blade. On top of that, Zapdos can heavily cripple Kartana with Static. However, Corviknight and Skarmory must be cautious of boosted Sacred Swords and Zapdos, Moltres, and Mega Charizard Y are pressured heavily by Normalium Z variants and Choice Band-boosted Return. On top of that, none of Zapdos, Moltres, Skarmory, or Corviknight appreciate their item being removed by Knock Off. Landorus-T can soft-check Kartana for a while as well, but its lack of reliable recovery makes it prone to being worn down in the long run.
**Mega Latias and Mega Latios**: Both Mega Latias and Mega Latios can stomach all of Kartana's attacks relatively easily, bar a Choice Band-boosted Knock Off or the rare Black Hole Eclipse. As they outspeed non-Choice Scarf variants, they can both proceed to use Kartana as setup bait or force it out with strong moves, respectively. However, they must be wary of taking too much damage, as Knock Off from Choice Scarf sets can rip through them.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types that aren't weak to Sacred Sword such as Mega Scizor and Mega Mawile are capable of checking Kartana to a degree. However, they can all be overwhelmed by +2 All-Out Pummeling. Other Steel-types can prevent Choice variants of Kartana from spamming Leaf Blade, but they need to be wary of its coverage.
**Grass-types**: The likes of Tangrowth and Amoonguss can easily scout any of Kartana's attacks and force it out while keeping healthy with Regenerator. Neither of them appreciate a boosted Breakneck Blitz, however. Serperior cannot switch into Kartana, but it can revenge kill all variants without a Choice Scarf.
**Magnezone**: Choice Scarf Magnezone is able to trap every non-Choice Scarf Kartana set courtesy of Magnet Pull and Hidden Power Fire. A healthy non-Choice Scarf Magnezone is also capable of surviving non-Choice Band Sacred Sword and finishing Kartana off.
**Faster threats**: Although they cannot switch into Kartana safely, many offensive Pokemon that can outspeed non-Choice Scarf Kartana will more than likely force it out. Examples include Ash-Greninja, Mega Lopunny, Hawlucha, and Choice Scarf Victini.
**Contact Items/Abilities**: Kartana is easily worn down by contact effects such as Tangrowth, Corviknight and Landorus-T's Rocky Helmet, Ferrothorn's Iron Barbs, Tank Garchomp's Rough Skin as well as Volcarona and Moltres' Flame Body and Zapdos' Static. The highest threat would be status effects and therefore Kartana should be very careful if it's a non-z variant.
[CREDITS]
- Quality checked by: [[Sputnik, 475916], [username2, userid2], [Milo, 540138]]
- Grammar checked by: [[UT, 523866]]
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