Pokemon Sword and Shield

Clefairy - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle

Clefairy - Movesets and Counters
This is a strategy guide for using Clefairy 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 Clefairy, as well as its strengths and weak points.

Clefairy - Related Guides
Pokemon SWSH - Clefairy Evolution and LearnsetEvolution and Learnset Pokemon SWSH - Clefairy Best BuildBuild for Ranked Battle

Basic Information for Clefairy

Types and Abilities

Pokemon Type 1 Type 2
Pokemon Sword and Shield - Fairy Type
Abilities
Magic Guard Protects the Pokemon from indirect damage.
Cute Charm Contact with the Pokemon may cause infatuation.
Friend Guard (Hidden) Reduces damage done to allies.

Clefairy Weaknesses and Resistances

Type
Takes 4x damage
-
Takes 2x damage
Pokemon Poison Image Pokemon Steel Image
Takes 0.5x damage
Pokemon Fighting Image Pokemon Bug Image Pokemon Dark Image
Takes 1/4x damage
-
Takes 0x damage
Pokemon Dragon Image

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

HP Attack Defense Sp. Atk Sp. Def Speed
70 45 48 60 65 35

Best Nature for Clefairy

Best Natures
Bold
(+Def, -Atk)

What are Natures?

Doubles Movesets for Clefairy

Friend Guard Doubles Support Moveset & Best Build

Friend Guard Doubles Support Clefairy.png

Nature Bold(+Def, -Atk)
EV Spread HP 252 / Def. 192 / 64 Sp.Def.
Final Stat Values HP 177 / Def. 101 / Sp.Atk. 80 / Sp.Def. 93 / Spd. 55
Ability Friend Guard
Held Item Eviolite
Moveset Follow Me
Helping Hand
Life Dew
Icy Wind

Although often outclassed by its evolution, Clefable, Clefairy has a niche in the Doubles Metagame as a bulky redirection supporter thanks to its Eviolite held item.

About Clefairy's Moves

Follow Me is Clefairy's most important move, redirecting attacks away from its teammates and towards it instead. Helping Hand is its secondary support move that boosts the power of its ally's next move by 50%

Life Dew is Clefairy's recovery move. Although it's generally weaker than other recovery moves, it also heals Clefairy's teammate. It's last move is Icy Wind, which is a nice support move that lowers the the speed of both opposing Pokemon by 1 stage.

About Clefairy's EV Spread

We're using a standard mixed defensive EV spread with full investment in HP. 192 Defense EVs and 64 Special Defense EVs allows Clefairy to take more hits on both sides with an Eviolite boost.

About Clefairy's Ability

We're using Friend Guard for this Clefairy. This ability reduces the damage its partner Pokemon receives by 25%!

About Clefairy's Held Item

We're giving Clefairy the Eviolite held item. When a Pokemon that's not fully evolved holds this item, its Defense and Special Defense is increased by 50%.

With the given EV spread and Nature, Clefairy has an effective 152 Defense and 140 Special Defense when holding this item!

Other Viable Moves

Heal Pulse An alternative to Life Dew that recovers more HP but only targets allies.
Aromatherapy An alternative to Helping Hand that allows Clefairy to function as a cleric, healing status conditions its teammates may have.
Draining Kiss An alternative to Icy Wind that deals damage and restores Clefairy's HP.

How to Use Clefairy Effectively

Keep Eviolite Safe

Clefairy relies on Eviolite to have passable bulk, so it's important to keep its held item safe. Avoid keeping it in battle against a Pokemon with Knock Off; although it resists the move, it gets rid of Clefairy's Eviolite, weakening it drastically for the rest of the battle.

How to Build a Team with Clefairy

Clefairy faces stiff competition from other Pokemon that provides redirection support. It's semi-exclusive ability and held item, however, give it a niche in certain teams.

Friend Guard Support for Hyper Offense

Clefairy is virtually outclassed by its evoluton and Togekiss, but its Friend Guard ability gives it a unique niche in Doubles. It's a popular choice for support Pokemon in Hyper Offense Doubles Teams as a flat 25% reduction in damage helps frailer Pokemon take hits as long as Clefairy is with them in battle.

Check out our article below to learn how to build a Doubles team with Clefairy.
How to Build a Doubles Team

Counters for Clefairy

Clefairy
Weakness Pokemon Poison Image Pokemon Steel Image

Get Rid of Eviolite with Knock Off

Clefairy relies on Eviolite to improve its low bulk to passable levels. Although Knock Off isn't as common as it was in the previous generation, certain Pokemon still have it in their movepool.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon Description
Pokemon SWSH - Rillaboom ImageRillaboom Ranking: ★★★★★
・Boasts a strong Knock Off coming from a base 125 Attack

Moveset & Best Build for Rillaboom
Pokemon SWSH - Crawdaunt ImageCrawdaunt Ranking: ★★★★★
・Boasts STAB Adaptability boosted Knock Off

Moveset & Best Build for Crawdaunt

Related Links

Pokemon Sword and Shield - Best Builds for Ranked Battle

All Competitive Builds for Ranked Battle

Competitive Guides for Pokemon Sword and Shield

Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides
Pokemon SWSH - Tier ListTier List Pokemon SWSH - Best BuildsBest Builds Pokemon Sword and Shield - Ranked Battle Series 10 Contenders.pngSeries 10 List of Contenders
Pokemon SWSH - Doubles Tier ListDoubles Tier List Pokemon SWSH - Competitive Team BuildingTeam Building Pokemon SWSH - Rental TeamsRental Teams

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