Kartana build: Grass/Steel damage and low-HP survival

What to do

• Current original: physical ×1.7, special ×1.02; Defense 131, Special Defense 31. Physical support affects physical moves only; Nasty Plot affects special moves. Single-type Pokémon get ×1.2 on matching moves; dual-types do not. Enter actual active stacks and target defenses in the planner.
• Acquisition: Kartana is rarity 4 in Alola, not a rarity-5 legendary in this game’s playable data. Unlock it from the Alola gacha before selecting it; a higher base attack does not make it a free starter.
• 0 Bonds: keep Vine Whip active. Its level-1 base damage is 19, cooldown 0.62 s and radius 85. Work around pack edges; active melee reduces ordinary received damage by 25%, but the 97-HP reserve still makes repeated contact dangerous.
• Card priority: upgrade the active Vine Whip and take Power for its evolution. If health is already unsafe, immediate healing or Vigor (+20 maximum HP) comes before a speculative extra move. Armor reduces incoming damage; Reflexes increases attack frequency but does not fulfill the Power recipe.
• 1 Bond: learn Metal Claw when offered and fuse it with Vine Whip after earning a Bond. The intermediate preset uses level-3 Vine Whip plus level-1 Metal Claw, without item, cards or evolution. Until the Bond exists, keep one damage slot active and switch for the target rather than expecting both to strike.
• Two evolutions: raise Vine Whip and Metal Claw to level 5. One Power run card satisfies both recipes, but choose gold Power Whip and gold Iron Head separately. Two level-5 moves plus the card are prerequisites, not two automatically completed evolutions.
• 2 Bonds and survival: add Harden with the second earned Bond and keep all three moves in the active group. If defense is urgent and Steel has not appeared, Vine Whip + Harden is a legal first-Bond alternative. The completed preset assumes both attack evolutions, all three moves at level 5 and one each of Power, Reflexes, Vigor and Armor.
• Choose damage type for the target: against single types, Grass gets ×1.6 on Water/Ground/Rock; Steel gets ×1.6 on Ice/Rock/Fairy. Both get ×0.6 on Fire, so Steel is not a Fire counter. Check dual types in the matchup tool rather than importing main-series immunity values.
• Missing Steel or unsafe melee: continue upgrading Vine Whip; Razor Leaf offers a legal ranged Grass option, while Flash Cannon is a legal Steel beam with a different Armor evolution recipe. Learning either changes this route and may require switching or another Bond; do not mark their evolutions as completed in the existing preset.
• Equipment tradeoff: found Leftovers helps recovery; Assault Vest is a defense alternative and Quick Claw improves frequency. No recommended drop is required to keep playing. Life Orb adds ×1.3 attack but spends HP on casts, and Choice Band locks switching: neither is a free damage increase for this fragile opening. Finish Bond opportunities before 28:00 and dodge Arceus at Judgment after 30:00.

Requirements

Strengths

• A ×1.70 base attack multiplier strengthens both legal damage types; Grass/Steel offers different target coverage from the same active group after fusion.
• One Power card serves both attack recipes, while active melee and the later Harden support give concrete defensive benefits.

Trade-offs

• 97 base HP leaves less room for contact errors; ×1.70 is an attack multiplier, not measured DPS or a guarantee of the best run.
• Both Grass and Steel lose damage against Fire; the completed preset costs two earned Bonds, two gold selections and four kinds of run card.

Kecleon Shop: natures, abilities & TMs

Choose your Pokémon’s nature and ability, then add only moves it has learned. Kecleon Shop explains how to change these traits and learn TM moves.