Competitive Pokemon: Comfey

Now as you all know, not all of the competitive Pokemon that I raise are offensive attackers. People (mostly the non-competitive trainers) who battle with Pokemon typically think that the only way to win battles is through sheer offensive power. Little do they know or realize that there is more than way to win battles than just going with brute force. Enter support Pokemon! Support can have a myriad of different roles; some can function as walls and block your opponent's Pokemon's attacks with super high defenses, others can be stalls and inflict opponent's Pokemon with any sort of status condition or entry hazards and effectively reduces their offensive presence and benefits your team, or they can be clerics who are charged with healing allies of status and restoring their HP. In Generation 6 we saw Florges and Sylveon competing with one another to be the best cleric, Calm Mind user, and utility Pokemon. Now in Generation 7, the new challenger Comfey has entered the ring (get it? Cause it's like a ring? I know, bad joke)! Now let's be real, when Comfey was first revealed, I'm sure a lot of you thought it was going to be a pretty bad Pokemon. Though it is still pretty cute though, in the Sun and Moon anime they're seen with Nurse Joys in Alola and they even went as far as giving them little first aid hats to wear. X3 However, upon closer inspection, it was found that Comfey actually has 2 amazing abilities being Natural Cure and Triage it can use effectively and interchangeably. What's more is that Comfey looks to be a pretty niche utility Pokemon in the metagame being outclassed (sorta) by Clefable, Chansey and Tapu Fini. Despite the odds, Comfey still has decent defenses with 51/90/110 to compliment its incredible support movepool and base 100 Speed (after all, not a lot of support Pokemon are fast). However Comfey could have just have been a decent offensive presence as well with that base 82 special attack, but it lacks the offensive movepool to do so. Base 51 HP is also rather low for a Pokemon centered around utility as well. Needless to say, despite the gaps in its stride, Comfey still performs its job as a cleric very well and is a always a good option to consider using if your competitive team needs a healer.



Here’s my Comfey's summary.
Nature: Bold
Held Item: Big Root or Leftovers
Ability: Triage
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpDef
-Calm Mind
-Draining Kiss / Dazzling Gleam
-Floral Healing
-Leech Seed / Aromatherapy

This is a standard cleric set for a Comfey though it also functions as a decent attacking set as well. Calm Mind raises Comfey's special attack as well as its special defense enabling it to hit harder and tank special hits better. Draining Kiss can be used in conjunction with Triage for priority while Dazzling Gleam can be used if you seek more power (but priority healing attack move is simply too god to pass up). Floral Healing is Comfey's signature move, though it pretty much just acts like Heal Pulse where it is able to restore the HP of its partner in battle (what's more is that it also gets priority thanks to Triage). Leech Seed gives Comfey some additional form of recovery while whittling down its foes. What's more is that it'll gain back even more HP when it holds the Big Root. Though Aromatherapy can be run so that Comfey is able to heal both itself and its allies of any inflicted status conditions.

The EV investment I gave helps remedy Comfey's low base HP and helps amps up its Defense since Calm Mind will boost its Special Defense already (which is also why I gave it a Bold nature). Triage is the ability of choice because it gives Comfey priority healing to both itself as well as allies. Leftovers can be used so that Comfey has a means of further maintaining its health. But since its already got the means to keep itself healthy thanks to its movepool and Triage, you could just as well have it hold a Big Root so that its able to regain more HP when it uses Draining Kiss (which already becomes priority thanks to Triage). 

Of course Comfey can run a variety of other moves. Here are some suggestions: 
-U-Turn lets Comfey keep momentum by pivoting out into another Pokemon if it find itself in a bad situation or if another Pokemon can take advantage of Comfey's opponent better than it can.
-Comfey has a trait that most other win conditions do not have... access to Taunt alongside reliable (and also priority) recovery which should give it a very solid niche in the metagame. Taunt is great because it effectively shuts down opposing support Pokemon, which a lot of them Comfey actually is able to outspeed.
-Comfey can utilize Tailwind to further increase its own speed as well as the speed of its teammates for a few turns. 
-Defog is a good option to remove entry hazards your opponent placed on your side of the field. 
-Toxic is always a good option for practically every support Pokemon. 
-Amnesia gives Comfey a faster means of raising its special defense, but I personally prefer Calm Mind to the additional boost it gives to special attack. 
-Grassy Terrain is an interesting option. It raises the power of Grass-type moves, cuts the power of Earthquake in half, any Pokemon on the ground will regain a little HP every turn. What's more is that it increases the amount of HP will be restored when Comfey uses Floral Healing. This terrain affects both you and your opponent, so of course they're going to receive the benefits from this move's effects just as much as you will. 
-Synthesis gives Comfey a reliable means of recovery outside of Draining Kiss and Leech Seed. What's more is that the move will have priority thank to Triage. 
-This is kind of stretching it, but despite having such a high speed stat, you could run Comfey on a Trick Room team. This is primarily due to its Triage ability making all of its healing moves priority (this includes its only attack Draining Kiss). So despite being otherwise slow in Trick Room, Comfey would actually be able to perform quite well under it thanks to its ability enabling it to still perform efficiently. 
     

Do you have your own Comfey moveset and strategy? Comment below with your moveset!