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Community POTW #015

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Serebii

And, as if by magic, the webmaster appeared...
Staff member
Admin
Time for the next Pokémon and this week we have our first Ultra Beast

This week, we're dealing with Kartana

798.png


Go nuts

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-sm/798.shtml
 
Papercut
Kartana @ Life Orb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Ability: Beast Boost
Jolly Nature(Need that extra speed)
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Night Slash/Smart Strike/Psycho Cut
- Sacred Sword

Update: The third move slot totally depends upon your team. There are some Pokemon that give Kartana trouble and to deal with said Pokemon you need one of these moves. If Alolan Marowak/Alowak is giving you trouble then go for Night Slash, otherwise it can completely wall Kartana. If you are having trouble dealing with the likes Toxapex and Mega-Venu then go for Psycho Cut. Smart Strike on the other hand is a STAB move, not the Kartana needs it but it can help Kartana deal with Fairies like Tapu Lele more effectively and efficiently. Overall this small cannon deals with the four move slot syndrome. It can't cover everything so choose the moves according to your team.
 
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MetalSonic

Orderan' Defendan'
This paper cut has many sets in her fold, but this here's one of her more popular.
*unsheathes kartana*

This is kartana. She's got my back.

kartana.gif

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


Kartana! The wallbreaker!
With an extravagant 181 base attack, Kartana really has very little trouble breaking through the tiers bulkiest after an SD and also has the added bonus of getting past the most popular Unaware users due to those peculiar STABS as well. Sacred Swords Fightnium-Z is there for a hard-hitting Fighting move that allows her to at +2, immediately muscle past checks such as Celesteela, Skarm, and Scizor. Her defensive typing is excellent, allowing her to come in to many types of neutral physical hits. I specify neutral and physical because in regards TO defenses, her only saving graces are her 131 defense and typing. Otherwise, she is quite paper thin regarding her sp.def. Things like Koko's LO Terrain T-Bolt will OHKO it from full, and that's a resist. Do NOT expect Kart to take STAB Special moves from the tiers strongest Special Attackers even resisted well at all.

Still though, this set is an absolute beast against more balanced teams! It rips through fatter teams and the thing about beast boost is that saccing is a scary endeavor as its Atk will only keep increasing for this set in particular. Checking this Kartana is a lot easier as due to its odd speed tier of 109, things like Lati and Gengar can cut its life short. Pretty much any faster special attacker with a high powered STAB can, actually. So do take your time to cut those out of the equation. Let's not forget stab PHYSICAL attackers. SE hits from those'll prolly spell doom as well simply because of Karts disappointing 59 base HP.

Kartanas a quirky little mon, id say. Very high attack, but the attacks she gets can be a little lacking in base power and coverage. I believe Steelium-Z can be used to insta work over other mons that'll make use of its low BP Steel type STAB such as Amoongus/Venu so its a viable option should your team require it.

Another hard part about Kartana is the sets! One wrong move and you'll find yourself down 2 mons cause you thought you'd outspeed for a revenge! Choice Scarf sets her up much better against offense. However, those SD speed boosting sets can function very similarly at the cost of a much lower attack. They do get more bulk though! Lastly, Adrenaline Orb is a thing for Kartana as well, I believe. As Lando-T is normally thrust into the fray to make switching in a lot easier for other mons, but with the Ad-Orb in action, it actually boosts her speed as well. So if you SD whilst they switch it in, it's probably gonna work VERY well for you.

*sheathes kartana*

She's fun to use though! Cuttin down foes like mowin the lawn.
 
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Mestorn

Wandering Battler
Kiting Kartana

Special moves. 59/31 Special bulk is horrendous. Even heavily resisted attacks will still do serious damage. Of course comes the problem of living long enough to fire off such an attack. Base 109 speed is hard to overcome and Kartana boasts higher attack than freakin' Attack Deoxys. Do not let it KO a single pokémon, or it will steamroll your team. Super effective priority users like Breloom, Machamp, Conkeldurr, can all do considerable damage and will pick off a weakened (50% HP) Kartana. Other priority users like Golisopod, Bisharp, Ash-Greninja, etc. can achieve similar results with their attacks.

Dedicated Physical walls can withstand Kartana's blistering assaults (at least the Choice Scarf varients). Skarmory, Buzzwole, (Mega) Scizor, Mega-Metagross, etc. can all withstand several of Kartana's attacks and KO it before it KO's them.

Another option is to outspeed it. Base 109 is difficult to outspeed, but pokémon like Gengar, Lati@s, Greninja, (Mega) Alakazam, can all outspeed and strike with a special attack for massive damage, though a Choice Scarf on Kartana can flip the matchup around and none of them can come in safely.

Prankster Thunderwave or Will-o-Wisp can shutdown Kartana hard, depriving it of its greatest strengths.

Trick room teams are very troublesome for Kartana once setup. In trick room, Kartana is slow as molasses, and many Trick Room pokémon are bulky enough to take a hit and reliably 2HKO (or OHKO) back.
 
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ampfire101

Well-Known Member
Super popular in VGC, high attack and nice speed with decent Defense and middling SpD, nice offensive typing. General set you will always see is:

Kartana
-Smart Strike
-Leaf Blade
-Sacred Sword
-Night Slash/Protect
Ability: Beast Boost
Item: Focus Sash/Assault Vest/Choice Scarf/Grassium Z
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 SpD

Okay, first three moves are mandatory to satisfy STAB coverage, and Sacred Sword to better hit Porygon2 and Celesteela. Protect is if you're running Grassium Z or Focus Sash, Night Slash helps against Marowak-A if you're running AV or Scarf. Must run Jolly unless you have a choice scarf, then run Adamant. Max attack and speed are to be expected to pick up many KOs. There are options for bulkier sets, like Cybertron's set in San Jose, so feel free to experiment! Whatever helps your team.
 

MegaMeganium

Dropping Bloom Dooms
Ah, Kartana. This monstrosity carries a massive base 181 attack stat, with the only other Pokemon having a higher attack stat being Mega Heracross and Mega Mewtwo X. Yeah, this thing has a higher attack stat than even the demigods of Primal Groudon and Mega Rayquaza, and he has a solid defence stat as well. His ability doesn't make things easier for the opponent either, as Beast Boost is an effective Moxie, further boosting his massive attack stat that even physical walls shudder at, put all those on top of a 109 base speed and he'll be outspeeding the likes of Garchomp and non-speed invested Mega Metagross. However, he does have very noticeable drawbacks, with a massive weakness to fire, and with a base 31 special defense, any Special Attack or Fire type move is going to send him right to the graveyard.

Sweep the Loose Paper
Kartana @ Life Orb/Choice Scarf/Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 SpD, 252 SpD, 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
-Sacred Sword
-Night Slash
-Smart Strike
-Leaf Blade

This is the set I personally run, designed to outspeed and shred the opposing team. This set provides perfect coverage, with options to deal with different situations. Leaf Blade is your main STAB damage output, while Smart Strike is more for coverage with STAB and taking out anyone who might try to be cheeky in Battle Spot and use Minimize. Night Slash is also for coverage, and Sacred Sword is your tank buster. Use it for tanks who have already set up or have started setting up to get past those defence boosts and shred them. This set is only made deadlier if you can take out one of your opponents sweepers, as it means more power for the tanks. Each item is different for each, Life Orb provides a consistent increase in power, Choice Scarf guarantees an outspeed, making him a solid revenge killer, or Fightinium Z to get in a clean first takedown or to shred a wall before you have a Beast Boost up.
 
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Ask

cringelord
I'm surprised nobody has said this yet, but Kartana makes a surprisingly good defogger, despite its pitiful special bulk. It forces switches quite easily and can also function as a late-game cleaner if needed.

Kartana @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Defog
- Night Slash / Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade

This is a set I've used on Pokemon Showdown to decent success. Fightingnium Z Sacred Sword allows you to start up a late-game sweep much easier due to its good coverage and high base power, though Sacred Sword makes for a good coverage move by itself. Leaf Blade is Kartana's strongest move and best STAB option. Defog was already mentioned before; it can be easy to get off at times, unless your opponent simply doesn't have something that Kartana can hit. The last move is your preferred coverage. Smart Strike is typically the preferred option from the amount of Fairies in the current metagame, while Night Slash hits Alolan Marowak, Mega Metagross, Jirachi and a few other threats hard.
 

BlackKyurem3DS

Active Member
Time for Ultra Beasts!

Ability:
Beast Boost: Boosts the pokemons highest stat by one when it defeats a pokemon. This ability is a godsend on all ultra beasts, and just allows Kartana to boost it's attack stat right up.

Felt like a short one, so time for pros and cons.

Pros
Base 181 Attack, 131 Defense, and 109 Speed is amazing. 181 Attack gives it the third highest attack, beaten by Mega Heracross and Mega Mewtwo X.
Grass/Steel type only gives it 2 weaknesses and a decent number of resistances, including 1 immunity.
Has access to great physical attacks, including leaf blade, sacred sword, psycho cut, and more.

Cons
Grass/Steel leaves it with a 4x fire weakness, which will usually murder it.
Base 59 HP and 31 Special Defense pretty much means special attackers will murder it. Even a resisted special attack will still do quite a bit. Plus that 59 HP does not do it's defense of 131 any good favors.
Base 59 special attack, but then again, it only knows 5 special attacks (At the time this was made. Maybe gamefreak will release move tutors in the future.)
Oh yeah. The only steel type attack it can learn is Smart Strike, a 70 base attack that never misses. While good, it lacks literally any other steel type moves.
 

Missingno. Master

Poison-type Trainer
Gore-igami
Kartana@Life Orb
Jolly nature
Beast Boost
252 Attack/252 Speed/6 HP
~Leaf Blade
~Smart Strike
~Sacred Sword
~X-Scissor/Night Slash

Kartana is pretty cool. Would likely be my favorite Ultra Beast were it not for Nihilego. So yeah, you got Leaf Blade and Smart Strike as your STAB moves of choice. Sacred Sword is very nice coverage, and the last slot, you could go either way, be it Night Slash or X-Scissor. Pick the one that suits your needs best.

Item powers up Kartana's moves. Ability is the only option, but as it's essentially Moxie, there's really no room to complain, is there?


Other options:
*Obviously, Kartana's got Swords Dance- I'd be very surprised if it didn't- and if you can find room for it in its moveset, then by all means. There's no kill like overkill.
*Kartana gets Calm Mind, which does in theory help its lacking Special Attack and Special Defense, but... its special movepool is rather lacking. And when I say it's rather lacking, I mean Vacuum Wave, Air Cutter, Air Slash, Hidden Power, and Round. That's literally it. No Energy Ball, no Flash Cannon, no Giga Drain, none of that good stuff. I would say pass on Calm Mind, honestly- Kartana's got way better options.

Abilities:
*Beast Boost: When Kartana KOs an enemy, Kartana's highest stat goes up one stage. Only takes into account what the stat is at the start of the battle, so buffing another stat higher than the highest stat won't make it get buffed by Beast Boost instead. In Kartana's case, this will always function as Moxie, only buffing its Attack, barring something ridiculous like an Attack-reducing nature and no Attack EVs. Its Attack is that high.

Partners:
If it's got good Special Defense and/or doesn't mind switching into a Fire attack, odds are it's a good partner for Kartana. Tailwind/Sticky Web support could also work- 109 Speed is great, but there is some stuff that outspeeds it.

Counters:
Chandelure and Alolan Marowak can switch in with impunity, unless Kartana's running Night Slash, and their Fire moves are gonna rip through Kartana like the tissue paper it is. Fire-types in general, actually, generally do pretty well against Kartana.

Opinion:
I like Kartana. Cool design, nice stats, really gets the job done in battle.

Prediction for next week:
Wobbuffet.
 

Razor Shiftry

Cynthia = Porn Star
Abilities:
*Beast Boost: When Kartana KOs an enemy, Kartana's highest stat goes up one stage. Only takes into account what the stat is at the start of the battle, so buffing another stat higher than the highest stat won't make it get buffed by Beast Boost instead. In Kartana's case, this will always function as Moxie, only buffing its Attack, barring something ridiculous like an Attack-reducing nature and no Attack EVs. Its Attack is that high.

Kartana's maximum speed at lvl 100 is 348 - with a minimum attack and hindering nature the absolute minimum attack is 330. While not as impressive as max attack neutral nature 461, its still pretty damn decent. While certainly riskier and a lot less powerful, if your wincon is to surprise sweep late game - bring Kartana in on a weakened opponent only for it to get a speed boost to certainly put your opponent in a tricky situation.

Its a shame about the low base power moves it has. But hey I love that its PAPERCUT OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION (and its only 1ft tall! what the hell. Its tiny and evil!)
 

Psynergy

Strong Winds
Staff member
Super Mod
I'm going to settle this real quick before someone starts trashing it but yes, Assault Vest Kartana is actually very good in VGC this year. Yes, it does work and has very consistent results, though that doesn't mean it's any good outside of VGC. Similarly, Guillotine and Razor Leaf are both viable moves on said Kartana which are both way better than the popular Night Slash.
 

Black Murder Heavangelon

Ow! Ow! Harder! Ow!
If I remember correctly, Kartana Attack remains it's highest stat even when uninvested and with a neutral attack Nature. Would there be any merit to maxing out HP and Speed with the role of Defogger?
 

Karxrida

Lost in the Waves
Kartana's maximum speed at lvl 100 is 348 - with a minimum attack and hindering nature the absolute minimum attack is 330. While not as impressive as max attack neutral nature 461, its still pretty damn decent. While certainly riskier and a lot less powerful, if your wincon is to surprise sweep late game - bring Kartana in on a weakened opponent only for it to get a speed boost to certainly put your opponent in a tricky situation.

Its a shame about the low base power moves it has. But hey I love that its PAPERCUT OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION (and its only 1ft tall! what the hell. Its tiny and evil!)
The 19 IV Timid set is bad. Kartana lacks good spammable STABs and is already fast enough, so increasing Speed does little when you want to snowball only to find yourself easily walled. You also handicap Kartana's damage output for what's ultimately a gimmick set. I think the last time it was seriously used in a Smogon tourment (which was recently iirc) it accomplished nothing because at that point people knew how to deal with it.

Life Orb's also not good item choice. Kartana's aforementioned lack of good STABs leads it to hit for piddling damage due to being easily switched into, which just costs HP and compromises its good physical bulk. Too easy to play around.
 
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neoschu42

Member
I don't know if anyone has thought of or mentioned this yet but choice scarf flash fire chandelure is literally the perfect partner for kartana
It' immune to both of kartana's weaknesses is a special attacker strong enough to effectively take out most things that would completely wall kartana
and it can even get a flash fire boost on those annoying willow wispers that plague physical attackers such as kartana
 
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