Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Noticed a lot of Kangaskhan battlers out there.

P_A

P_A

Active Member
Hey, for that matter even I have tried to breed some quint IV Kangaskhans, so I clearly understand how good the Mega form is. However I'm trying to devise a strategy against that. There's the Scizor defense, and the fighting offense with pokemon like Lucario. Ghost pokemon like Trevenant are good alternatives in some instances where the player foolishly doesn't have a Scrappy ability Kangaskhan, but they are few and far between. I can't remember if Blaziken (fire/fight pokemon) is legal in this year's VGC's, but it could be useful with the high attack and SpA stats and the Speed Boost ability. However being weak to a lot of stuff doesn't really help, since mediocre defense and SpD mean it wouldn't take much to damage or faint your one Mega for a match. What options have you found which help you combat this problem?
 
Blaziken is not legal for VGC, as well as all non native Friend Safari pokes. If you want to use Kangaskhan, I would focus on a defensive build with scrappy. To partner up with it, I would use a lead that can setup dual screens. Perhaps Klefki.

Kangaskhan
Nature: Adament
Ability: Scrappy
Item: Mega Stone
EVs: 90 HP, 172 ATK, 124 DEF, 124 SDEF

Sucker Punch
Return
Fake Out/Power-up Punch
Protect

This build is to work with Klefki as its the supporter for the team. You want to pay attention to your opponents team during the preview. If you see any common threats like spore or sleep inducers, you want to lead with Kangaskhan and Klefki. Kangaskhan is pretty bulky with the def EVs so you wont have to worry about it going down in a single round. You can mega evolve and then go for the power-up punch to get the +2. After that you can either sucker punch or return things at +2 at 150 percent damage. You can also mega evolve and go for protect to give Klefki a turn to setup screens or status. Its EV spread is for VGC so there are really no hard number. The def EV will work well with the screens when you mega evolve, putting either def stat about 200, which will increase its staying power.

Klefki
Nature: Impish
Ability: Prankster
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP, 126 DEF, 126 SDEF

Safeguard
Light Screen
Reflect
Thunder Wave

Im not a huge pro with Klefki but it is a really good poke for doubles in my opinion. Its ability prankster allows all status type moves (attacks that dont do damage) to go first as they all get +1 priority. Depending on your opponents lead, you can setup either screen (this depends on your knowledge of common attacker builds) For example, if you opponent leads with a Goodra and Gengar, you can assume 90 percent of the time they will be special attackers so setup Light Screen. If your opponent leads with a status inducer, you'll want to use safeguard right away to prevent the sleep, burn or paralyses, which will take a turn from them and allow you more setup. Thunder Wave is to allow your sweepers to easily outspeed threats your opponent may have and having a Kangaskhan at +2 being faster hitting for a neutral Return can cripple your opponent. Between using protect and thunder way on key turns, you'll have no problem winning.

Just keep in mind electric Pokemon can no longer be paralyzed. Another Pokemon that will pair well with them is a Pokemon that can use heal pulse. It allows you to heal one of your teammates if their health is getting low. There are a number of good Pokemon that learn it that can be used in VGC. I hoped this helped.
 
The best way to deal with kangaskhan is to burn it. That forces them to power up punch to get back to normal damage outputs.
 
AyameHikaru said:
Except you need to be careful, because some are running Facade just to deal with that.
Click to expand...

The converse though is it only powers Facade, it still makes the other moves weakened. So as long as you have something resistant/immune to Facade left, it would still be worth burning it.
 
You guys have given me lots to think about. Some good team strategy and some threat reaction solutions. Both seem worthwhile.

So what's resistant/immune to facade? It's a "normal" physical attack. With the ability Scrappy, Facade should hit Ghost pokemon with Will-o-wisp, so that's not an option. My guess is that your suggesting rock or steel pokemon. Since Scizor doesn't learn any fire attacks it might not be a good fit here. Mawile can learn Flamethrower and Fire Blast, but since both those moves have only a 10% chance of burning Kangaskhan, they aren't a good fit either. You'd have to burn with one pokemon, then switch out to Mawile. Are there any rock pokemon that could do the trick? Not sure, but other steel might. Steelix comes to mind even with its mediocre Atk and SpA stats, since it can learn fire fang but is also only a 10% chance of burn, however it can also Rock Smash (fighting move which Kangaskhan is weak to), Flash Cannon (stab bonus), Gyro Ball (stab bonus and good damage due to a very slow pokemon), Iron Tail (stab bonus - if you can get it to hit, and possible secondary effects), and even Hyper beam for good damage. Are there any other decent pokemon (perhaps Aegislash?)
 
Fling (attack) a Fire Orb at it. Does damage and burns. Mawile Learns Fling. Payback/Sucker Punch will retaliate nicely.

Or:

First turn: Mawile Protect + Mega Evo, partner Pokémon uses Fling with Fire Orb to Burn
Second Turn: Mawile: Sucker Punch/Payback, your partner does whatever.

Sucker Punch Kangas if you think they will Façade, or Payback if you think they will hit Mawile with their other Pokémon.
 
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