Competitive Information for Kirlia [Sword/Shield]
Psychic / Fairy
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Kirlia? 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.
Kirlia is an interesting Psychic and Fairy-typed Pokemon. Kirlia is not a Pokemon anyone usually expects sees on the battlefield. Kirlia is weak to Ghost, Poison, and Steel-typed attacks.
Item: Throat Spray / Life Orb
Ability: Synchronize
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 152 Hp / 104 Def / 252 SpA
Moveset:
- Psychic / Expanding Force
- Dazzling Gleam / Draining Kiss
- Thunderbolt / Charge Beam
- Hyper Voice / Round
Special Sweeper Kirlia (Synchronize)
Kirlia is a pretty decent Special Sweeper. It tries to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Throat Spray activates when a Pokemon uses a sound-based move (in this case Hyper Voice or Round) and increases Kirlia's special attack stat by 2 stages. Life Orb boosts the power of Kirlia's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Synchronize, if another pokemon burns/poisons/paralyzes Kirlia it also gets that status.
♦ Expanding Force is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Psychic-type move (Kirlia on psychic terrain: 1.5x power, hits foes).
♦ Dazzling Gleam is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Fairy-type move (no additional effect. hits adjacent foes).
♦ Draining Kiss is a special STAB-boosted 50-base power Fairy-type move (Kirlia recovers 75% of the damage dealt).
♦ Thunderbolt is a special 90-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
♦ Charge Beam is a special 50-base power Electric-type move (70% chance to raise your Kirlia's special attack by 1 stage).
♦ Hyper Voice is a special 90-base power Normal-type move (no additional effect. hits adjacent foes).
♦ Round is a special 60-base power Normal-type move (power doubles if others used round this turn).
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Kirlia? 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: Throat Spray / Life Orb
Ability: Synchronize
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 152 Hp / 104 Def / 252 SpA
Moveset:
- Dazzling Gleam / Draining Kiss
- Hyper Voice / Round
- Psychic / Expanding Force
- Icy Wind
Doubles Special Sweeper Kirlia (Synchronize)
Kirlia is a fabulous Special Sweeper. It is primarily designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Throat Spray activates when a Pokemon uses a sound-based move (in this case Hyper Voice or Round) and increases Kirlia's special attack stat by 2 stages. Life Orb boosts the power of Kirlia's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Synchronize, if another pokemon burns/poisons/paralyzes Kirlia it also gets that status.
♦ Draining Kiss is a special STAB-boosted 50-base power Fairy-type move (Kirlia recovers 75% of the damage dealt).
♦ Hyper Voice is a special 90-base power Normal-type move (no additional effect. hits adjacent foes).
♦ Round is a special 60-base power Normal-type move (power doubles if others used round this turn).
♦ Psychic is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Psychic-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Expanding Force is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Psychic-type move (Kirlia on psychic terrain: 1.5x power, hits foes).
♦ Icy Wind is a special 55-base power Ice-type move (100% chance to lower the foes speed by 1 stage).
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Synchronize
Nature: Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 252 Hp / 208 Def / 48 SpD
Moveset:
- Toxic
- Pain Split
- Defense Curl
- Trick Room
Defensive Trick Room Kirlia (Synchronize)
Kirlia is a sensational Defensive Trick Room. Focus Sash helps protect Kirlia from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Synchronize, if another pokemon burns/poisons/paralyzes Kirlia it also gets that status.
♦ Pain Split is a status move (shares hp of Kirlia and target equally).
♦ Defense Curl is a status move (raises your Kirlia's defense by 1 stage).
♦ Trick Room is a status move (goes last. for 5 turns, turn order is reversed).
Note: This moveset is considered Taunt bait! It is highly recommended you typically have atleast one move that does actual damage!
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Kirlia 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 Kirlia 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 Kirlia
- Moves: Mimic + Imprison
- Moves: Swagger + Psych Up
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Pain Split + Toxic
- Moves: Pain Split + Will-O-Wisp
- Moves: Stored Power + Psych Up
- Move: Fling + Item: King's Rock
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect, Magic Coat, Helping Hand, Shadow Sneak, Ally Switch
Most notable and possible best moves for Kirlia
- Protect
- Rest
Common Effort Values for Kirlia in Sword and Shield
- Adamant Nature ( 0/252/0/0/0/252 )
- Modest Nature ( 0/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Optimize Kirlia's EV spread for Pokemon Sword and Shield
Related Videos
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