Celebi - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle

This is a strategy guide for using Celebi in competitive play for the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, and Held Items to use with Celebi, as well as its strengths and weak points.

Celebi - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Build for Ranked Battle

Basic Information for Celebi

Types and Abilities

Pokemon	Type 1	Type 2
Celebi
Abilities
Natural Cure	All status problem heal when the Pokemon switches out.

Celebi Weaknesses and Resistances

	Type
Takes 4x damage
Takes 2x damage
Takes 0.5x damage
Takes 1/4x damage	-
Takes 0x damage	-

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

HP	Attack	Defense	Sp. Atk	Sp. Def	Speed
100	100	100	100	100	100

Best Nature for Celebi

Best Natures
Timid (+Spd, -Atk)	Bold (+Def, -Atk)

Singles Movesets for Celebi

Life Orb Sweeper Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Timid(+Spd, -Atk)
EV Spread	Sp.Atk 252 / Sp.Def 4 / Spd 252
Final Stat Values	HP 175 / Def 120 / Sp.Atk 152 / Sp.Def 121 / Spd 167
Ability	Natural Cure
Held Item	Life Orb
Moveset	・Energy Ball ・Psychic ・Earth Power ・Recover

Celebi is one of the few Life Orb sweepers that can stay very long in the battle thanks to reliable recovery move.

About Celebi's Moves

Energy Ball and Psychic are Celebi's main STAB moves and hits hard with a Life Orb boost thanks to its great 100 base Special Attack. Earth Power gives it valuable coverage, allowing it to hit Fire and Steel-type Pokemon that can resist its main STAB moves.

Recover is its last move and helps heal the residual damage from Life Orb, allowing Celebi to stay in the battle for a longer time.

About Celebi's EV Spread

We're using a straightforward EV spread with maximum investment in Special Attack and Speed. The remaining EVs are placed in Special Defense since Celebi's typing allows it to better resist special type attacks.

About Celebi's Ability

Natural Cure is Celebi's only ability. It heals any status conditions when Celebi switches out.

About Celebi's Held Item

We're giving Celebi Life Orb to boost all of its attacking moves by 30% at the cost of some residual damage.

Other Viable Moves

Leaf Storm	More powerful than Energy Ball but lowers Celebi's Special Attack by two stages, forcing it to switch out after using the move.
Dazzling Gleam	A good alternative to Earth Power that hits Dark-type Pokemon for super effective damage.
Ancient Power	A weaker alternative to Earth Power but is Celebi's only way to hit Flying-type Pokemon for super effective damage. It also has 10% chance to raise all of its stats by 1 stage.

Nasty Plot Sweeper Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Timid(+Spd, -Atk)
EV Spread	Sp.Atk 252 / Sp.Def 4 / Spd 252
Final Stat Values	HP 175 / Def 120 / Sp.Atk 152 / Sp.Def 121 / Spd 167
Ability	Natural Cure
Held Item	Leftovers
Moveset	・Nasty Plot ・Giga Drain ・Psychic ・Earth Power

Celebi's great mixed bulk give it plenty of chances to switch in, set up, and eventually sweep with its boosted moves.

About Celebi's Moves

Nasty Plot boost Celebi's Special Attack by 2 stages. It's best used when expecting a switch, such as when Celebi is facing a Water-type Pokemon. Giga Drain provides respectable recovery while Psychic is its secondary STAB move.

Earth Power rounds up its coverage, allowing Celebi to hit Fire and Steel-type Pokemon that can resist its main STAB moves.

About Celebi's EV Spread

We're using a straightforward EV spread with maximum investment in Special Attack and Speed. The remaining EVs are placed in Special Defense since Celebi's typing allows it to better resist special type attacks.

About Celebi's Ability

Natural Cure is Celebi's only ability. It heals any status conditions when Celebi switches out.

About Celebi's Held Item

We're giving Celebi Leftovers. The residual recovery on top of Giga Drain allows Celebi to stay in battle for a long time.

Other Viable Moves

Shadow Ball	An alternative to Earth Power that allows Celebi to hit Ghost-type Pokemon for super effective damage.
Dazzling Gleam	A good alternative to Earth Power that hits Dark-type Pokemon for super effective damage.
Ancient Power	A weaker alternative to Earth Power but is Celebi's only way to hit Flying-type Pokemon for super effective damage. It also has 10% chance to raise all of its stats by 1 stage.

Doubles Movesets for Celebi

Doubles Support Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Bold(+Def, -Atk)
EV Spread	HP 252 / Def 156 / Sp.Def 84 / Spd 16
Final Stat Values	HP 207 / Def 154 / Sp.Atk 120 / Sp.Def 131 / Spd 122
Ability	Natural Cure
Held Item	Leftovers
Moveset	・Giga Drain ・Pollen Puff ・Helping Hand ・Thunder Wave

Celebi's natural bulk and wide support movepool make it a great support Pokemon for Doubles.

About Celebi's Moves

Giga Drain is Celebi's main recovery move and allows it to heal damage even after getting hit by Taunt.

Pollen Puff is a great utility move. It does moderate damage on opposing Pokemon but when used on an ally Pokemon, it instead restores their HP up to 50% of their max HP!

The rest of its moves help it support its teammates further. Helping Hand boost its ally Pokemon's next move by 50%, while Thunder Wave cripples fast opposing Pokemon.

About Celebi's EV Spread

We're using a custom EV spread with max HP investment, with 156 Defense EVs and 84 Special Defense EVs to enhance its natural bulk. The 16 Speed EVs allow it to outpace walls and slower sweepers such as Adamant Bisharp and cripple them with Thunder Wave.

About Celebi's Ability

Natural Cure is Celebi's only ability. It heals any status conditions when Celebi switches out.

About Celebi's Held Item

Although Sitrus Berry is the superior healing held item in Doubles, Celebi already has a reliable recovery in Giga Drain. As such, Leftovers is better this time around as it provides gradual recovery at the end of every turn.

Other Viable Moves

Recover	GivesCelebi a stronger heal while also allowing it to run a pinch berry, but makes it more susceptible to Taunt.
Leech Seed	Allows Celebi to deter set-up sweepers and walls, while also getting gradual recovery.
Heal Bell	Allows Celebi to cure its team's status conditions.

How to Use Celebi Effectively

A Bulky Sweeper

Although Celebi doesn't have as wide a movepool as other sweepers, it makes up for it by having great natural bulk and reliable recovery. As a result, it can stay longer in battles and is one of the few set-up sweepers that take little damage from switching into neutral attacks.

It's Natural Cure ability also gives it better longetivity as it simply needs to switch out to cure itself from a crippling status condition.

A Bulky Mixed Wall

Celebi also functions as a bulky wall and support Pokemon in both Singles and Doubles thanks to its great mixed bulk. It's 100 base Speed stat also means it can outspeed slower walls with minimun speed investment.

How to Build a Team with Celebi

Celebi has many team options in both Singles and Doubles depending on the moveset and build.

An Anti-Rain Wall

Celebi's claim to fame in the competitive battling scene was as a bulky anti-rain wall at the height of Generation V's "Weather Wars".

It can still fill the same role in this Generation. While it faces stiff competition from Ferrothorn, another anti-rain veteran of the Weather Wars, it boasts reliable recovery and higher base speed; with the latter allowing Celebi to outpace and threaten slower bulky waters.

Thanks to these traits, Celebi often finds itself in Sun Teams where its great mixed bulk allows it to directly counter Rain Sweepers. Check out our guide below to learn how to build a Sun Team with Celebi.
How to Build a Weather Team

A Bulky Support Pokemon in Doubles

Celebi makes a great support Pokemon in Doubles thanks to its wide support movepool and recovery options. It's a great counter to the ever-present Grassy Surge Rillaboom and can deter Hyper Offense teams with Thunder Wave.

Check out our guide bleow to learn how to build a Doubles Team with Celebi.
How to Build a Doubles Team

Counters for Celebi

Weakness

Outspeed with a Faster Sweeper

Despite its natural bulk and decent speed, there are some Pokemon that can outspeed Celebi and hit it with a super effective attack.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Dragapult	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Outspeeds and KOs Celebi with STAB Shadow Ball Moveset & Best Build for Dragapult
Cinderace	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Outspeeds and KOs Celebi with Libero STAB U-Turn Moveset & Best Build for Cinderace

Use a Strong Attacker

Even with the right investment, it's still possible to take out defensive versions of Celebi with the right Pokemon.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Urshifu Single-Strike Style	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Wicked Blow's guaranteed critical hit always guarantees a KO on Celebi Moveset & Best Build for Urshifu Single-Strike Style
Scizor	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・KOs Celebi with Bug Bite even without a Swords Dance boost Moveset & Best Build for Scizor

Related Links

All Competitive Builds for Ranked Battle

Competitive Guides for Pokemon Sword and Shield

Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides
Tier List		Best Builds		Series 10 List of Contenders
Doubles Tier List		Team Building		Rental Teams

Best Builds for Returning Pokemon

Movesets & Best Builds for Returning Pokemon
Mimikyu	Wash Rotom	Gyarados
Ferrothorn	Aegislash	Excadrill
Tyranitar	Hydreigon	Heat Rotom
Arcanine	Mamoswine	Toxapex
Togekiss	Cloyster	Durant
Snorlax	Charizard	Sylveon
Lucario	Hippowdon	Umbreon
Conkeldurr	Quagsire	Gastrodon
Lapras	Whimsicott	Rhyperior
Goodra	Haxorus	Glaceon
Mow Rotom	Type: Null	Gengar
Milotic	Gardevoir	Flygon
Chandelure	Lanturn	Torkoal
Bisharp	Seismitoad	Silvally
Butterfree	Primarina	Incineroar
Blastoise	Decidueye	Venusaur
Darmanitan	Alolan Ninetales	Gothitelle
Crawdaunt	Clefable	Reuniclus
Kommo-o	Terrakion	Cobalion
Virizion	Noivern	Fan Rotom
Toxicroak	Pelipper	Jellicent
Celebi	Clefairy	Hitmontop
Diggersby	Ditto	Raichu
Hawlucha	Shiftry	Tsareena
Ludicolo