Kartana

Using Kartana in a Playthrough

Kartana is a single-stage Grass/Steel Ultra Beast whose ordinary story usefulness is limited by late availability: in Sun and Moon it is part of the postgame Ultra Beast missions and is exclusive to Sun, while Ultra Sun allows repeat encounters through Ultra Forest after Ultra Warp Ride becomes available. When it can actually be used, its base 181 Attack is extraordinary, base 109 Speed is excellent, and base 131 Defense lets it survive many physical hits despite only 59 HP. Grass/Steel supplies a Poison immunity, a 4× Grass resistance, and useful resistances to Dragon, Electric, Fairy, Normal, Psychic, Rock, Steel, and Water, but it also leaves a 4× Fire weakness and a Fighting weakness. Leaf Blade, Smart Strike, Sacred Sword, and later Knock Off give it accurate physical coverage, while Swords Dance can turn an already extreme Attack stat into sweeping power and Choice Scarf sets can exploit its Speed without setup. Beast Boost normally raises Attack after each knockout, allowing Kartana to snowball rapidly, although specialized EV spreads can instead make Speed the boosted stat. Jolly is usually the safest Nature because preserving Kartana's strong Speed tier helps it avoid taking hits at all, while Adamant is a legitimate wallbreaking choice when maximum damage matters more.

Kartana in Competitive Pokémon

Kartana was an OU Pokémon in both Generation VII and Sword and Shield and is one of the clearest examples of an Ultra Beast whose extreme stat distribution translated directly into long-term top-tier singles relevance. In Sun and Moon, base 181 Attack, base 109 Speed, Swords Dance, Leaf Blade, Sacred Sword, Smart Strike, and Z-Moves made it a terrifying wallbreaker, while Choice Scarf sets used Beast Boost to become excellent revenge killers and late-game cleaners. Its physical Defense is also surprisingly high, allowing it to survive some neutral physical attacks despite the low HP, but base 31 Special Defense means virtually any strong special hit is dangerous and Fire attacks are especially devastating because of the 4× weakness. Generation VIII strengthened its utility further through access to Knock Off, and Sword/Shield OU prominently used Swords Dance, Choice Band, and Choice Scarf variants to overwhelm or cripple common checks such as Corviknight and Zapdos. Kartana also had meaningful doubles and VGC relevance, where Tailwind, its huge Attack, and Beast Boost gave it offensive value, although its fragility and Fire weakness made positioning crucial. Its historical limitation has never been lack of damage but rather finding safe entry opportunities and avoiding status or contact-punishing effects such as Flame Body, Static, and Iron Barbs. Kartana is unavailable in standard Scarlet and Violet, so its established main-series singles history currently ends with its Generation VIII OU career.

Kartana in Nuzlockes

Kartana is exceptionally effective in a Nuzlocke when it can move first and secure the knockout, but its defensive profile is one of the most polarized in the series. Its high physical Defense and huge list of resistances create many safe entries against known physical attacks, while Poison immunity removes one common source of long-term attrition. Base 31 Special Defense is the major danger: even resisted or neutral special attacks can deal far more damage than Kartana's physical bulk suggests, and a special Fire move is especially likely to be fatal because of the 4× weakness. Leaf Blade, Smart Strike, Sacred Sword, and Knock Off are accurate and do not impose recoil or defensive penalties, making them excellent permadeath tools compared with riskier alternatives. Swords Dance is often unnecessary because base 181 Attack already secures many knockouts, and spending a setup turn can expose Kartana to an unexpected special coverage move or critical hit. Beast Boost can safely turn one favorable knockout into a sweep, but it is better to earn that momentum through known matchups than to leave Kartana in against an uncertain special attacker merely to chase another boost.

Kartana is an origami-like Ultra Beast native to Ultra Forest whose body is extraordinarily thin and light, resembling a folded sheet of paper with blade-like arms. Aether Foundation research describes essentially every edge of its body as razor sharp, with the arm blades being particularly dangerous and capable of cutting down an attacking opponent in a single stroke. Its extremely thin construction also lets it evade attacks with light, dance-like movements despite the rigid appearance of its body. That same paper-thin physiology creates pronounced environmental vulnerabilities: Kartana is particularly susceptible to both fire and moisture. Animated canon shows one Kartana cutting objects with extraordinary precision, including slicing through large structures, and also depicts the species opening an Ultra Wormhole by cutting through space. It can even imitate human speech in a reversed form, giving the otherwise faceless Ultra Beast one of the stranger documented communication abilities among its group.