What is a good moveset for Gallade?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Gallade, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for any of its pre-evolutions can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Gallade Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

Gallade @ Leftovers
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 240 HP / 200 SpD / 64 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch / Night Slash

This is the Gallade that Fear Itself Fears! xD

Late-game sweeper set that relies on sustainability from Leftovers, Drain Punch, and Bulk Up. Substitute helps it set up against status users. Night Slash lets it not be walled by Ghost- and Psychic-types.

Comments

This is the Gallade I fear.

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Fear Itself, fears this Gallade.

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That's how effective and powerful it is.

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Ah my Peanutbutter, making me proud as always.

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This should be called the FEAR Gallade. It's so fearsome that even Fear fears it!

Answer 2

Gallade @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Careful / Impish Nature
- Mean Look
- Encore
- Disable / Torment
- Psycho Cut / Close Combat

The same strategy as my previously posted Gardevoir moveset. First, use Mean Look. Then, use Encore to lock the foe into a move. Next turn, if you resist, use Torment/Disable. The opponent is now forced to use Struggle and you have an automatic KO! The opponent can't escape anymore. Psycho Cut/Close Combat is STAB and is for not being a Taunt bait.

Comments

needs moar speed

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Meh, right.

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gallades sp def is alredy high

Answer 3

Gen 8 SS NU Substitute + Swords Dance

Gallade (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Atk / 188 SpD / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Psycho Cut
- Swords Dance
- Substitute

A bulky Substitute + Swords Dance set for SS NU. Substitute allows you to scout opposing Pokemon as well as dodge status condition such as Burns and Toxic Poisoning. Swords Dance is used to boost your attack so you can deal more damage to opposing Pokemon. Drain Punch is used for the Fighting STAB on this set to let you recover HP. Psycho Cut is used for the Psychic STAB to avoid making contact with Vileplume, Talonflame, and random Rocky Helmet Pokemon. Psycho Cut also doesn't miss, unlike Zen Headbutt.

Leftovers is used as the item to give Gallade a little HP recovery each turn. 56 Speed EVs allow you to outspeed Golurk. 252 HP and 188 SpD EVs allow Gallade's Substitute to not get broken by 1 Scald from Vaporeon, allowing you to use it as setup fodder. The rest of the EVs are dumped into Attack. Adamant Nature is used to give some power to Gallade's attacks.

Answer 4

Role: Tricker / Sweeper

Gallade (M) @ Lagging Tail
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 96 HP / 80 Atk / 252 Def / 80 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Trick
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Zen Headbutt

Trick gives opponents a Lagging Tail to screw their speed up, and let him outspeed easier.
Bulk Up increases physical bulk, and allows an attack boost, while Drain Punch is STAB and recovery, and Zen Headbutt is STAB and Flinching.

Comments

Put fling on instead of trick, give him 0Evs and Ivs in speed and make him a trick room sweeper when trick room runs out use fling

Answer 5

Gallade @ Galladite
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Ice Punch / Shadow Sneak
- Drain Punch
- Psycho Cut

Swords Dance wallbreaker. Shadow Sneak and Drain Punch together give Gallade priority and sustainability that could help it sweep late-game.

Comments

Zen Headbutt is better than Psycho Cut because you can use a different attack if you need something that won't miss. Justified is better than Steadfast because it's a nice way to swap Gallade into defensive mons clicking Knock Off mindlessly.

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Drain punch doesn't give gallade priority

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Shadow Sneak and Drain Punch collectively do, but I'll change the wording.

Answer 6

Mega Gallade

Gallade @ Galladite
Ability: Justified / Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat / Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Psycho Cut / Zen Headbutt / Ice Punch

• Swords Dance boosts it's attack by two stages, making it a terrifying physical sweeper.
• Close Combat is for sheer power at the cost of lowering your defences. Drain Punch is an alternative STAB which recovers health but isn't as strong.
• Knock Off provides almost perfect coverage and is a great move to hit Ghost and Psychic types as well as removing items.
• Psycho Cut or Zen Headbutt can be used for a second STAB option, providing a strong hit on Fighting and Poison types.

As an extra option, Ice Punch can be used over one of the Psychic STAB options to cover Dragon, Flying, Ground and Grass types. Justified is useful before mega evolving as it allows you to have your attack raised. Likewise steadfast is also useful in raising your speed if flinched, but outside of Fake Out it's very situational.

Answer 7

Gallade @ Life Orb / Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off

• Swords Dance: Boosts attack by 2 stages
• Close Combat: High base power, STAB
• Zen Headbutt: Great coverage, hits poison types like Amoongus and weezing effectively, STAB
• Knock Off: More great coverage, hits psychic types like Uxie and Musharna hard

Life Orb gives more damage to Gallade's attacks
Lum Berry is an option that protects Gallade from status attacks

Answer 8

I have noticed that a lot of these posts have no Galladite so here's a moveset WITH the mega stone

Gallade @ Galladite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Psycho Cut
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Night Slash

• Psycho Cut - Sig move+high crit ratio
• Close Combat - STAB (next move you can replace with Reflect for cover)
• Ice Punch - Coverage (against Flying, Grass, Dragon, and Ground)
• Night Slash - Coverage against Ghost and high crit ratio

Comments

What nature? Also, is "SPD" supposed to be special defense or speed?

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I recommend Jolly or Adamant Nature but you can do brave nature if you want and SPD is Speed

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Psycho Cut isn't actually Gallade's signature move. Pokémon like Absol and Mewtwo can learn it. Though I do recommend it over Zen Headbutt. Accuracy>Power

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Why 4HP, I would recomenda 4 SpD because SP Attackers are very common

Answer 9

Gen 7 OU / National Dex Monotype (Psychic and Fighting)

Gallade (M) @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Zen Headbutt
- Drain Punch / Close Combat

Substitute is to protect yourself from status. Swords Dance boosts your attack. Zen Headbutt is STAB. Drain Punch is STAB that heals you. Close Combat can be used for a stronger fighting STAB move.

Answer 10

Gen 8 SS NU Choice Band

Gallade (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Psycho Cut
- Knock Off
- Trick

A Choice Band Gallade set for SS NU. Sirfetch'd and Machamp are banned from SS NU, meaning Gallade has potential in SS NU as a Fighting-type that can beat Vileplume thanks to its part Psychic typing.

Close Combat is Gallade's Fighting STAB since it is pretty powerful. Psycho Cut is used for the Psychic STAB so you don't touch Vileplume and get affected by Effect Spore. Knock Off is useful against Ghost-types such as Decidueye, Dhelmise, Golurk, Psychic-types such as Xatu and Starmie, as well as defensive Pokemon such as Mudsdale by removing their items to cripple them. Trick allows you to cripple a defensive Pokemon by giving them your Choice Band to make them locked into one move. Jolly Nature gives you more speed, while Adamant can be used for more power if your team can handle +speed base 70s Pokemon such as Decidueye, Tsareena, and Tyrantrum.

Answer 11

(Gen 9) National Dex UU Bulky Swords Dance

Gallade (M) @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 116 HP / 140 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Zen Headbutt / Psycho Cut / Triple Axel

Since National Dex UU is currently suspect testing Mega Gallade at the time this was posted, I've decided to post the Bulky Swords Dance set Mega Gallade uses in NatDex UU. Mega Gallade can pull off Bulky Swords Dance set thanks to its bulk and access to Drain Punch to recover HP, helping with Mega Gallade not being revenge killed as easily by its offensive counterplay. For example, Bulky Mega Gallade at full HP has a 44% chance to live a Scarf Moonblast from Enamorus. Swords Dance lets Mega Gallade boost its attack to tear through teams, with the HP investment and Drain Punch allowing Mega Gallade to get off more than one Swords Dance. Drain Punch is the STAB move on this set since it lets Mega Gallade recover HP, which is useful for staying out of range for revenge killers such as Zeraora and Iron Boulder to finish off Mega Gallade. Knock Off provides Mega Gallade with useful coverage to hit checks such as Aegislash and Slowbro super effectively as well as providing utility in removing items. Zen Headbutt provides a Psychic STAB that is useful to hit Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur, Iron Moth, Buzzwole, and Amoonguss super effectively, as well as hitting Clefable for neutral damage. Psycho Cut can be used for the Psychic STAB for a Psychic STAB that doesn't miss and doesn't make contact with opposing Pokemon. Triple Axel is an option to hit Pokemon such as Mega Latias and Hippowdon super effectively. Shadow Sneak is an option to have a priority move to chip faster Pokemon. Justified is the Ability pre Mega Evolution to get an attack boost should it switch into a Dark move.

252 Speed EVs are used to give Mega Gallade as much speed as possible since Bulky Mega Gallade still wants to be fast. 140 Attack EVs allow a +4 Drain Punch to OHKO Celesteela (Celesteela are specially defensive in NatDex UU). The rest of the EVs are used in HP to give Mega Gallade bulk.

Answer 12

Gen 9 National Dex Monotype Bulky Assault Vest (Fighting)

Gallade (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe or 252 HP / 16 Atk / 220 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Sword
- Psycho Cut
- Knock Off / Night Slash
- Leaf Blade

A bulky Assault Vest set Gallade can use on Fighting teams in Gen 9 National Dex Monotype. While most Fighting teams use Mega Gallade, base Gallade has a niche of running Assault Vest to tank special hits, which can be useful for the Psychic and Fairy matchups. By using Assault Vest Gallade, Iron Hands can be freed up to use a wallbreaker set like a Swords Dance set. Sacred Sword and Psycho Cut are used for the STAB moves since they get boosted by Sharpness. Sacred Sword is also useful to avoid the defense boosts from Archaludon and Iron Press Skarmory. Knock Off is usually used for the Dark move on this set due to the utility it has of removing items from opposing Pokemon. Night Slash can be used instead for a Sharpness boosted move that deals more damage to Pokemon such as Mega Latios and Gholdengo holding a Z crystal. Leaf Blade is used as a sharpness boosted coverage move that has a good chance of OHKOing Mega Diancie, a problematic Pokemon for Fighting teams.

0+ Atk Sharpness Gallade Leaf Blade vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Diancie-Mega: 238-282 (98.7 - 117%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

20 Speed EVs allow Gallade to outspeed Mega Venusaur running enough speed EVs to outspeed Pokemon such as Max speed Adamant Azumarill. 252 HP EVs and 236 Special Defense EVs are used to help Gallade tank special hits better combined with Assault Vest. Adamant Nature is used to give Gallade's attacks some power. Alternatively, you can add in 16 EVs in attack to guarantee the Lead Blade OHKO vs Mega Diancie, using the spread of 252 HP / 16 Atk / 220 SpD / 20 Spe. You can consider going Careful for more special bulk, though do keep in mind you miss that good chance of being able to OHKO Mega Diancie (provided Reflect isn't up).

Comments

give him a little more attack and do +SpD instead, it would guarantee the KO on mega-diance.

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Added another EV spread that guarantees the OHKO chance. The point of going Careful Nature is for a bit more special bulk, so going the Careful Nature route with enough attack EVs to OHKO Mega Diancie would just make the EV spread this: 252 HP / 132 Atk / 104 SpD / 20 Spe, which is essentially same as the alternative EV spread I listed of 252 HP / 16 Atk / 220 SpD / 20 Spe

Answer 13

Role: Sweeper / Tank

Gallade (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 96 HP / 144 Atk / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Destiny Bond
- Thunder Wave
- Leaf Blade
- Drain Punch

His speed is pretty bad, but Thunder Wave makes up for that, on top of the fact that it lets him strike first for a Destiny Bond!
Drain Punch is STAB and can keep him going for a while.
Leaf Blade is coverage.

Answer 14

Gallade @ Assault Vest
Ability: Justified
EVs: 202 HP / 54 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
• Drain Punch
• Psycho Cut
• Knock Off
• Shadow Sneak

Uses Gallade's good Special Defence to make it a switch-in against special attackers. Wide coverage including Shadow Sneak for priority gives Gallade options against a range of targets.

Answer 15

Gallade-Mega @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 116 Def / 120 SpD / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Zen Headbutt
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Punch

With this set, you have recovery, boosts, and coverage for flying types! This works well in Pokemon Showdown in addition!

Answer 16

For the newer games this is the Gallade I use to mainly destroy a good amount of damage on other teams.

Gallade @ Life Orb / Muscle Band / Galladite
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Psycho Cut
- Knock Off
- Wonder Room

• Power-Up Punch (raises attack and does damage)
• Psycho Cut (double the chance of a critical hit)
• Knock Off (gets rid of the opponent's item for the battle, but can't knock off mega stones)
• Wonder Room (with the really low defense on my Gallade switch it with the opponents and Gallade's moves do more damage)

Comments

Why does it have a Quiet nature if all its attacking moves are physical, Quiet lowers speed as well so you pretty much gave Gallade one of the worst natures.

Answer 17

Powerhouse set

Warlord
Gallade (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Psycho Cut
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Poison Jab / Night slash

Gallade learns so many punching moves that he should be able to have iron fist as his ability. But this set is a good one for going up against fake out users. Psycho cut is his main STAB move for some good damage on those pesky Gengars and a couple of other things. Drain punch is his second STAB move hitting for some decent and healing up life orb damage and can deal with Ferrothorn leads. Thunder punch is there for flying coverage and possible paralysis although Fire punch could deal with Forretress and Ferrothorn better and Ice punch is just an alternative. Poison Jab and Night slash both cover weaknesses but I find Night slash to work better usually.

Answer 18

Mega Gallade. This thing is an absolute beast. 110 base speed and 165 base attack!!! Huge.
This is what I have on it

Gallade (M) @ Galladite
Ability: Steadfast / Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe or 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Psycho Cut

Mega Ability: Inner Focus (Prevents flinching, good for Fake Out spammers)
- Swords Dance: Boosts Attack to insane levels.
- Drain Punch: STAB, Same Power as Brick Break, but with healing, instead. Better than Close Combat because Defense drops can easily cripple it. Also allows you to heal damage taken on Swords Dance setup turn.
- Ice Punch: Good power, handles Flying type weakness, coverage, and helps with psuedo legendary Dragons.
- Psycho Cut: STAB, more accuracy than Zen Headbutt and only 15 less power, plus high crit chance.

Answer 19

Gallade (M) @ Galladite / Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Atk / 188 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Psycho Cut
- Drain Punch

• Substitute (for strategy I will explain in a bit)
• Focus Punch (also for strategy)
• Psycho Cut (good Psychic STAB and good damage)
• Drain Punch (more STAB and also healing)

So the strategy is: We added the HP EVs because we are going to make a substitute, which takes some of Gallade's HP to make a decoy. Then we use Focus Punch, which takes 1 turn to charge up before it launches the attack, and if the user gets damaged in between, it will fail. That's why we have Substitute, which will take the damage for Gallade so that way Focus Punch will succeed 100% of the time as long as he is behind the substitute. Then we have Psycho Cut for STAB and covers Fighting and Poison types, then Drain Punch for more STAB damage and also healing. So that's it for this, hope you have fun annoying some people with this rage-inducing Gallade loadout. Enjoy!

Answer 20

Gen 9 Monotype Choice Scarf/Band + Sharpness Ability (Fighting)

Gallade @ Choice Scarf / Choice Band
Ability: Sharpness
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Sword
- Psycho Cut
- Night Slash
- Shadow Sneak

A Choice Scarf/Band set with Gallade's new ability for Fighting teams in Gen 9 Monotype. In Gen 9, Gallade gets access to a new Ability called Sharpness, which gives Gallade's slicing moves a 1.5x boost. This Ability is basically a Choice Band for slicing moves. This Gallade set has 3 slicing moves that get boosted by Sharpness: Sacred Sword, Psycho Cut, and Night Slash.

In Gen 9, Gallade gets access to Sacred Sword, which gets boosted by Sharpness. This means that STAB + Sharpness Sacred Sword stronger than STAB Close Combat. Psycho Cut is for Psychic STAB that gets boosted by Sharpness. Night Slash, which gets boosted by Sharpness, is used to deal super effective damage to most of the Ghost-types in the meta. Shadow Sneak is used to revenge kill weakened Pokemon that Gallade can't outspeed with a Choice Scarf if you use Choice Scarf. Choice Scarf allows Gallade to serve as a revenge killer and help with the Ghost matchup, while Choice Band can let Gallade become a more potent wallbreaker.