Klang Discussion

[Cherub Agent]

OK folks, we're here to discuss Klang. This is my second thread here, so I hope it goes OK (other one was on Gurdurr). Klang on the surface doesn't look like such a big deal. It doesn't have any stats over 100, and has one of the smallest movepools of all evolved Pokemon that aren't complete crap like Metapod. But let's take a deeper look. Klang has more resistances than ANY Pokemon in NU (12) which enables him to set up with impunity against Pokemon such as Skuntank, Amoonguss, Haunter, etc. Basically if you don't pack a Fire-, Ground- or Fighting- type move or don't have really strong Water- or Electric-type moves; you're walled. Klang has deviously good defenses with an Eviolite boost, and can put them to good use.​

Now let's take a look at the little guy's movepool. It gets two incredible signature moves in Gear Grind and Shift Gear, without which it would be as bad as many people think it is. Gear Grind is essentially a 100 BP STAB move with 85% accuracy that can break Substitutes. Shift Gear is like Dragon Dance on Steroids, granting Klang +1 Att and +2 Spe. However, Steel, while an incredible defensive typing, isn't really known for great offensive coverage. Thankfully, Klang has just the right moves to make up for this defect. Return provides wonderful coverage together with Gear Grind, only missing out on other pure Steel-types (Bastiodon and Probopass are neutral to Gear Grind), in other words other Klang and Metang. Wild Charge is Klang's only other offensive move of note, but it only really serves to hit these two and Frillish, and generally is an inferior option to Substitute, which can grant it loads of setup opportunities. Klang's Substitute isn't broken even by a Flying Gem boosted Acrobatics from Driflbim, a Pokemon notorious for its fiendishly strong Acrobatics. This is the set:​

Klang @ Eviolite
Plus - Adamant
EVs: 78 HP / 252 Att / 180 Spe
- Shift Gear -
- Substitute -
- Gear Grind -
- Return -​

Klang effectively has 280 / 339 / 309 defenses after Eviolite. The EVs make sure that Klang outspeeds max Cinccino after a Shift Gear, and Attack is maximised for damage output. The rest are thrown into HP so that Klang can take hits better. Klang's easily able to act as the "bird-check" for your team, as Swellow won't be able to break through it in a million years, and Braviary has to use Superpower to get through, which can be abused by Ghost-type teammates, or Substitute. One of the only truly common NU Pokemon that doesn't care about anything Kalng throws at it is Quagsire. This can easily be exploited by teammates such as Specs Exeggutor, as Quagsire certainly won't attempt to Toxic Klang and Exeggutor gets the opportunity to fire off one of its nuclear Leaf Storms. Other good teammates obviously include Dragon-types, with whom Klang has excellent defensive synergy; Pokemon such as Fraxure and Zweilous benefited immensely from B2W2 with the addition of Superpower and Aqua Tail to their movepools, whereas Altaria resists every type in the game together with Klang, with the exception of Electric.​

 

[Full2Half]

Something tells me molk blackmailed you into making this thread, but all kidding aside, klang can be a fairly good poke on some teams. Although I've had limited success with it, I've heard great things about other people's use of it. It's typing is fantastic and would often end up on my team soly for the typing itself. If it can set up a few times, it can potentially sweep if the oponant doesnt have a somewhat bulky fire/water/steel/electric type. You're best bet is to try to take it out before it sets up, which is usually easier than afterwards due to it's nice bulk and granted speed. All in all, its an underrated mon, but it takes a certain touch to use it right.

 

[Molk]

There was no blackmailing involved in the creation of this thread, cherub and i just built a team around swoobat that did well with klang on it :P.

Anyways, i would probably call Klang THE Anti metagame pokemon in a way, all the new things in BW2 that are getting more popular such as swoobat, serperior, cincinno, amoonguss, and shitmola are all setup bait for this pile of gears. its a great pivoty sort of thing on offensive teams to take some powerful attacks your teammates cant.

The main support i always like giving Klang is entry hazards support, with Stealth Rock+1 layer of spikes, klang becomes incredibly threatening, especially when forcing switches using its typing. Garbodor is great for this because it can take sawk CCs all day and has utility in breaking down substitutes with klang. They share a ground weakness though, so watch out!

All in all, try out klang if your offensive team needs a check to common threats such as amoonguss, cincinno, and swellow is all i have to say :)

 

[Rizen]

I really wish Klang got Levitate for it's ground immunity and the set looks nice, but rather then dreaming here I go.

My only debate would be, Thunder Wave may be a better option over Substitute because it can aid to stunning a team that doesn't have Heal Bell later on, in addition since it's a niche Pokemon you have to be careful when you use it, because it does not want to come in on a Life Orb Sawk, because even with Eviolite included it's a OHKO from Close Combat (136.07%-159.64%), or Muscle Band Sawk has a 62.5% chance of OHKOing Eviolite'd Klang, dealing 94.29%-111.43% from Close Combat assuming no drops.

 

[jake]

Anyways, i would probably call Klang THE Anti metagame pokemon in a way, all the new things in BW2 that are getting more popular such as swoobat, serperior, cincinno, amoonguss, and shitmola are all setup bait for this pile of gears. its a great pivoty sort of thing on offensive teams to take some powerful attacks your teammates cant.

Definitely agreeing with this statement. Klang is surprisingly versatile as an anti-meta Pokemon, as it outright sets up on some really powerful and likely to be common Pokemon like non-HP Fire Amoonguss, Cinccino (especially now since it will never carry Wake-Up Slap), and Swellow. Its checks are likely to go down in number, too, since the new prevalence of Amoonguss / Serperior / Cincy will force down Quagsire usage, and stuff like Samurott that could tank a hit or too will definitely be dropping as well. Klang will probably be one of the most underrated Pokemon of the new shifts, but it'll definitely be one of the best to use.

I really wish Klang got Levitate for it's ground immunity and the set looks nice, but rather then dreaming here I go.

My only debate would be, Thunder Wave may be a better option over Substitute because it can aid to stunning a team that doesn't have Heal Bell later on, in addition since it's a niche Pokemon you have to be careful when you use it, because it does not want to come in on a Life Orb Sawk, because even with Eviolite included it's a OHKO from Close Combat (136.07%-159.64%), or Muscle Band Sawk has a 62.5% chance of OHKOing Eviolite'd Klang, dealing 94.29%-111.43% from Close Combat assuming no drops.

Substitute is the best option in almost any given situation. If you're afraid of Sawk coming in, you can simply Substitute and Gear Grind / Shift Gear accordingly depending on whether or not Sawk is Scarfed / you have the opportunity to go for a lategame sweep. Gear Grind will break Sawk's Sturdy as well, so there's no use worrying about it. You should never be switching Klang into Sawk anyway.

 

[Renelia]

Adding to the original post: Klang recently got Clear Body (for B2W2 DW users). It is infinitely superior to its other two abilities. This will obviously be the main ability it'll be useing from this point onward.

 

[gali]

Definitely agreeing with this statement. Klang is surprisingly versatile as an anti-meta Pokemon, as it outright sets up on some really powerful and likely to be common Pokemon like non-HP Fire Amoonguss, Cinccino (especially now since it will never carry Wake-Up Slap), and Swellow. Its checks are likely to go down in number, too, since the new prevalence of Amoonguss / Serperior / Cincy will force down Quagsire usage, and stuff like Samurott that could tank a hit or too will definitely be dropping as well. Klang will probably be one of the most underrated Pokemon of the new shifts, but it'll definitely be one of the best to use.

Quagsire's RU.

Seriously though, Klang is looking very good right now. I might swap Gurdurr for it.

 

[Freshke]

klang is a very good pokemon in the nu tier, its basically a klinklang with lower attack but higher defense. I really like using the pokemon, and i usually run him with a grumpig to counter the fire and to a degree fighting attacks and a levitating/flying pokemon. Thats the moveset i use for it but I have also seen volt switch replace return. Plus the steel typing in NU is a blessing

 

[Vost]

I really like Klang, I just baton pass my +2 speed from Ninjask lead, switch, set-up and proceed to destroy all the things. Its a solid pokemon overall and the toxic+t spikes immunity is SUCH a blessing.

 

[ebeast]

written alongside Molk :3

Bumping this to say that this discussion was not all hype, after a month or so of testing Klang is a legitimate, possibly Top Tier threat in the current NU metagame.


As mentioned before, Klang is a very good antimetagame pokemon by nature, essentially a Dragon Dancing Steel-type that breaks Substitutes with its STAB is basically the definition of antimetagame, especially in NU. A lot of top threats in NU have trouble breaking through Steel-types (part of the reason why they are in NU). For this reason a big portion of the metagame is set-up bait for Klang, which doesn't even need its counters completely removed to grind an opponents gears. To put the ease of klang's set up into perspective, heres a list of all the common pokemon klang sets up on in the NU tier.

Amoonguss

Alomomola

Cincinno

Serperior

Swellow

Haunter

Tangela

Misdreavus (bar Wisp)

Choice Locked Braviary

Defensive Probopass

Armaldo

Exeggutor

Cacturne (watch out for encore!)

Musharna (is DANK)

Skuntank

Ninjask

Cradily

Defensive Carracosta

Lickilicky

Garbodor

Swoobat

Articuno

Defensive Gardevoir

Drifblim

As you can see, thats a pretty long list! Some people run moves on their pokemon just to hit Klang, but its actually very hard to OHKO thanks to Eviolite's defense boosts.


TL;DR: Klang is an excellent Pokemon in NU thanks to the many things it can set up on. Use it more people!!

 

[Annoyer]

Klang is a very antimeta poke like SubSD Lickilicky except that he has resistances and can easily setup. The one thing that deters me from using Klang on every team is it's lack of Lefties which makes sweeping much harder. Also, Klang is essentially useless on teams that lack those pokemon in ebeast's list (Drifblim should be added to that's as well) because it has little chance to setup and fails to do much damage unboosted. I'm just saying this to show some of Klang's faults as a sweeper. Other than setting up, it's also an excellent pivot against the likes of Zangoose to bait out the obvious CC. Also Volt Switch should not be used on Klang since it provides little coverage and is counterproductive to Shift Gear and Substitute. It might be useful on maybe a defensive Klang, but otherwise has little use.

"Klang is a faget"

 

[Flashrider57]

I've been exclusively testing out Klang, and I've found it makes an excellent lure for Fighting-types that Shadow Tag Gothielle can switch into. So I think the two of them make a great pair together. Just my two cents…

 

[ebeast]

I've been exclusively testing out Klang, and I've found it makes an excellent lure for Fighting-types that Shadow Tag Gothielle can switch into. So I think the two of them make a great pair together. Just my two cents…

Yeah pretty much. Specs Gothi + Klang make a really great combo since Gothitelle can trap and kill things that would annoy Klang such as Gurdurr, Alomomola (Even though Klang can set up on it, +6 Return still does only about 44% max), Throh, Emboar, Eeelektross, and Torterra. On the other hand the Skuntanks that would want to Pursuit trap Gothitelle are easy Pokemon for Klang to either set up or accumulate damage on the switch in. Another great partner for Klang is Haunter, who is immune to the Ground- and Fighting-type attacks aimed at Klang and can defeat the powerful Zangoose that would give Klang and Gothitelle trouble.

 

[BlackLightAttack]

I've been using Klang for a while now, with mixed success, usually dependent on miss hax from Gear Grind or the occasional Static hax. Imagine my surprise when I take a break from Pokemon for a while, and then come back to find my hidden gem on the front page of NU with everyone saying it's a top tier threat -_-

Ah well, might as well pitch in my 2 cents!

Never forget that, if you sacrifice his sub/twave moveslot, you can attain perfect coverage with Klang. Wild Charge is now learnable by BW2 move tutors, and gives him something to neutrally hit opposing Steel-types. This isn't that handy as Mawile and Wormadam-S aren't that big of a threat <_<. The only Steel-type this might come in handy for is opposing Klang.

The real advantage to carrying Wild Charge is hitting Water-type switch-ins that resist Gear Grind and threaten Klang with powerful, neutral-hitting water attacks. It's mostly useful for stopping offensive Water-types like Gorebyss in their tracks, as Alomomola still only takes ~1/3 from Wild Charge after a Gear Shift.

Overall Substitute is definitely better, but don't forget it as an option to provide surprise coverage! Klang has a tiny movepool and needs to take advantage of what few gifts he receives as often as he can.

As for checks, Ground types tend to be the ones that give me the most issue. Torterra sticks out. If you have 1 Shift Gear up, he can live a Gear Grind with around 50%, set up a rock polish which puts his speed above Klang's, and OHKO with EQ. Even with a Super Effective +6 STAB Gear Grind, Klang only has a 6.25% chance to OHKO physically defensive Golem. Golem can take +1 hits from Klang all day and 2HKO with an uninvested EQ. Stunfisk takes +1 retuns like a champ, threatening Static all the while, and 2-3HKOs with uninvested EP. I haven't seen Camerupt in a dog's age but I image he'd be a nightmare for Klang with any set. Seismitoad might offer similar troubles.

Substitute can help mitigate all of these Pokemon, but it can be tough to keep up since Klang requires a setup turn to outspeed anything. Personally I think I'm done with testing Wild Charge and will get back to using Substitute. I'll let you know how I do with a more cookie cutter build.

 

[ebeast]

I've been using Klang for a while now, with mixed success, usually dependent on miss hax from Gear Grind or the occasional Static hax. Imagine my surprise when I take a break from Pokemon for a while, and then come back to find my hidden gem on the front page of NU with everyone saying it's a top tier threat -_-

Ah well, might as well pitch in my 2 cents!

Never forget that, if you sacrifice his sub/twave moveslot, you can attain perfect coverage with Klang. Wild Charge is now learnable by BW2 move tutors, and gives him something to neutrally hit opposing Steel-types. This isn't that handy as Mawile and Wormadam-S aren't that big of a threat <_<. The only Steel-type this might come in handy for is opposing Klang.

The real advantage to carrying Wild Charge is hitting Water-type switch-ins that resist Gear Grind and threaten Klang with powerful, neutral-hitting water attacks. It's mostly useful for stopping offensive Water-types like Gorebyss in their tracks, as Alomomola still only takes ~1/3 from Wild Charge after a Gear Shift.

Overall Substitute is definitely better, but don't forget it as an option to provide surprise coverage! Klang has a tiny movepool and needs to take advantage of what few gifts he receives as often as he can.

As for checks, Ground types tend to be the ones that give me the most issue. Torterra sticks out. If you have 1 Shift Gear up, he can live a Gear Grind with around 50%, set up a rock polish which puts his speed above Klang's, and OHKO with EQ. Even with a Super Effective +6 STAB Gear Grind, Klang only has a 6.25% chance to OHKO physically defensive Golem. Golem can take +1 hits from Klang all day and 2HKO with an uninvested EQ. Stunfisk takes +1 retuns like a champ, threatening Static all the while, and 2-3HKOs with uninvested EP. I haven't seen Camerupt in a dog's age but I image he'd be a nightmare for Klang with any set. Seismitoad might offer similar troubles.

Substitute can help mitigate all of these Pokemon, but it can be tough to keep up since Klang requires a setup turn to outspeed anything. Personally I think I'm done with testing Wild Charge and will get back to using Substitute. I'll let you know how I do with a more cookie cutter build.

Substitute is definitely the way to go as Klang's main nice is setting up on a multitude of NU Pokemon such as Tangela, Amoonguss, Musharna, Skuntank, Haunter etc that can't do much once behind a Substitute. Thanfully Physically Defensive Golem, Stunfisk, and Camerupt aren't used at all (Golem's will all be Standard Bulky Offensive sets and Camerupt probably Specs nowaways) Most offensive teams's answer to Klang are usually Water-types such as Samurott, Seismitoad (With SR and Water Absorb this has been getting more popular), and Ludicolo or Emboar. All of these are good checks and can put Klang in its place, but they all have thing in common. They are wore down easily by Spikes (Spikes stacking is very key to have when using Klang) and don't enjoy visits from Gothitelle. If you want to get right back up with a Klang core you can try this:

Klang @ Eviolite
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 136 HP / 252 Atk / 120 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Shift Gear
- Gear Grind
- Return

This was enough speed to hit 332 speed after a Shift Gear, enough to outspeed Simipour, Modest Zebstrika, and Charizard.

Gothitelle (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Shadow Tag
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Signal Beam
- Trick

Specs Gothi can really put Klang's main checks into a checkmate position and still be very useful even if the opponent has nothing specific for Gothitelle to revenge kill; base 95 SpA with Specs is no laughing matter. This has Signal Beam to hit Psychic-types and Absol if needed while hitting Torterra that would give Klang trouble otherwise thanks to its good bulk and access to Synthesis to negate damage from Spikes.

Cacturne (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Encore
- Bullet Seed
- Sucker Punch

Best Spiker in the tier and has the ability to soften Ground-types such as Golurk up before Klang sets up