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
Evolution and Learnset	Build for Ranked Battle

Basic Information for Clefairy

Types and Abilities

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

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

Best Nature for Clefairy

What are Natures?

Doubles Movesets for Clefairy

Friend Guard Doubles Support Moveset & Best Build

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

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

Weakness

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
Rillaboom	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Boasts a strong Knock Off coming from a base 125 Attack Moveset & Best Build for Rillaboom
Crawdaunt	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Boasts STAB Adaptability boosted Knock Off Moveset & Best Build for Crawdaunt

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