Competitive Information for Kadabra [Sword/Shield]


Psychic
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Kadabra? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Sword/Shield Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Kadabra is a pretty decent Psychic-typed Pokemon. Kadabra is not a Pokemon anyone usually expects sees on the battlefield. Kadabra is weak to Bug, Dark, and Ghost-typed attacks.
Item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 52 Def / 252 SpA / 204 Spe
Moveset:
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Energy Ball / Grass Knot
- Dazzling Gleam / Tri Attack
- Shadow Ball / Night Shade
Special Sweeper Kadabra (Magic Guard)
Kadabra is an extraordinary Special Sweeper. It is meant to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Focus Sash helps protect Kadabra from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. Life Orb boosts the power of Kadabra's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. However, Magic Guard negates the recoil damage from Life Orb while still increasing the damage making it an amazing item for Kadabra. With Magic Guard, Kadabra can only be damaged by direct attacks. Dazzling Gleam was added to provide additional threat coverage.
♦ Psyshock is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Psychic-type move (damages target based on defense, not special defense).
♦ Energy Ball is a special 90-base power Grass-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Grass Knot is a special 0-base power Grass-type move (more power the heavier the target).
♦ Dazzling Gleam is a special 80-base power Fairy-type move (no additional effect. hits adjacent foes).
♦ Tri Attack is a special 80-base power Normal-type move (20% chance to paralyze or burn or freeze target).
♦ Shadow Ball is a special 80-base power Ghost-type move (20% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Night Shade is a special 0-base power Ghost-type move (does damage equal to your Kadabra's level).
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Kadabra? These builds have been optimized for Sword/Shield Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 52 Def / 252 SpA / 204 Spe
Moveset:
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Energy Ball / Grass Knot
- Shadow Ball / Tri Attack
Doubles Special Sweeper Kadabra (Magic Guard)
Kadabra is an interesting Special Sweeper. It is meant to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Focus Sash helps protect Kadabra from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. Life Orb boosts the power of Kadabra's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. However, Magic Guard negates the recoil damage from Life Orb while still increasing the damage making it an amazing item for Kadabra. With Magic Guard, Kadabra can only be damaged by direct attacks. Shadow Ball was added to provide additional threat coverage.
♦ Psychic is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Psychic-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Psyshock is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Psychic-type move (damages target based on defense, not special defense).
♦ Energy Ball is a special 90-base power Grass-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Grass Knot is a special 0-base power Grass-type move (more power the heavier the target).
♦ Shadow Ball is a special 80-base power Ghost-type move (20% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Tri Attack is a special 80-base power Normal-type move (20% chance to paralyze or burn or freeze target).
Item: Life Orb / Room Service
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 96 Hp / 160 Def / 252 SpA
Moveset:
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Energy Ball / Grass Knot
- Dazzling Gleam / Tri Attack
- Trick Room
Offensive Trick Room Kadabra (Magic Guard)
Kadabra is a fabulous Offensive Trick Room. Life Orb boosts the power of Kadabra's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. However, Magic Guard negates the recoil damage from Life Orb while still increasing the damage making it an amazing item for Kadabra. With Magic Guard, Kadabra can only be damaged by direct attacks. Dazzling Gleam was added to provide additional threat coverage.
♦ Psyshock is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Psychic-type move (damages target based on defense, not special defense).
♦ Energy Ball is a special 90-base power Grass-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Grass Knot is a special 0-base power Grass-type move (more power the heavier the target).
♦ Dazzling Gleam is a special 80-base power Fairy-type move (no additional effect. hits adjacent foes).
♦ Tri Attack is a special 80-base power Normal-type move (20% chance to paralyze or burn or freeze target).
♦ Trick Room is a status move (goes last. for 5 turns, turn order is reversed).
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Kadabra learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Kadabra can perform in Sword/Shield. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive SS Move and Ability Combos for Kadabra
- Moves: Swagger + Foul play
- Moves: Swagger + Psych Up
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Substitute + Drain punch
- Ability: Magic Guard + Item: Life Orb
- Move: Fling + Item: King's Rock
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Item: Blunder Policy + Move: Zap Cannon
- Item: Blunder Policy + Move: Dynamic Punch
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect, Magic Coat, Ally Switch
Most notable and possible best moves for Kadabra
- Protect
- Rest
Common Effort Values for Kadabra in Sword and Shield
- Adamant Nature ( 0/252/0/0/0/252 )
- Modest Nature ( 0/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Optimize Kadabra's EV spread for Pokemon Sword and Shield
Related Videos
Here are various how-to-use and competitive moveset analysis video guides for Kadabra in Sword/Shield. These featured videos will most likely contain additional strategies and combos not listed on our site. Disclaimer: All videos belong to their respective owners along with the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the videos. They belong solely to the author and not to us.
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