Pokémon Sword and Shield’s Clefable raids are making players rage

Pokémon Sword and Shield’s Max Raid Battles are supposed to be tough: It’s you and up to three other players against a gargantuan Dynamax Pokémon. But one cute, pink monster is proving to be a particular nuisance for players trying to enjoy multiplayer.

Clefable, a fairy-type, doesn’t seem like it would give anyone particular trouble. Clefable isn’t the toughest enemy available during a raid, and it doesn’t have a Gigantamax form. But what Clefable does have is access to is a pesky little move called “Minimize,” which sharply increases Clefable’s evasiveness. And Minimize can stack, meaning that in some nightmare scenarios, you might be stuck in a raid where nobody can land a single hit. Couple this with folks hopping into raids unprepared, or without knowing their type match-ups, Clefable raids are proving to be some of the worst experiences players are having in raids thus far:

Veteran Pokémon players will note that, in the past, some competitive sects have an “evasion clause” to avoid Minimize spam — that’s how bad the experience can be. But it’s not like anyone has a choice as to Clefable’s move set here.

So, what can aggrieved players do?

“Dynamax moves would be the best,” says competitive Pokémon expert Jason Krell. “They can’t miss.”

This might be tricky, though, because only one player can Dynamax in the entire raid, and the mode only lasts three turns. The game also switches up who has the ability to Dynamax with every turn as well.

“If a poison type uses toxic, it can’t miss,” Krell adds.

Players should also note that many steel-types can also learn the move “Smart Strike,” a maneuver that guarantees a hit regardless of accuracy changes — and has a type advantage to boot. The moves Swift and Magical Leaf and also guaranteed to hit, but don’t have a type advantage against Clefable.

Good luck out there!