If the holder is at full HP and takes a hit that would KO it, it survives with 1 HP instead. Single use.

When to use: On any Pokemon whose role is to get one crucial turn of action — Tailwind setters (Whimsicott, Tornadus), glass-cannon attackers (Dragapult, Chien-Pao), and Trick Room leads. The Sash baits Fake Out, guarantees a setup turn, and flips priority maths on the opening turn. In the current sash-heavy meta, pair Focus Sash with a Fake Out user like Incineroar to strip opposing Sashes before your sweeper comes in.

Restores 1/16 of max HP at the end of every turn, forever.

When to use: On your defensive anchor — Amoonguss, Rotom formes, Milotic, Toxapex, Clodsire, and any Trick Room backline piece. With no Assault Vest in the format, Leftovers is the only consistent passive recovery option in the game. Over a 4-turn stretch, Leftovers effectively cancels one neutral attack per Pokemon. That is an enormous swing in close matches.

Boosts the holder's Speed by 50%, but it can only use the first move it selects until switching out.

When to use: On a Pokemon whose best move is reliably spammable — Garchomp (Earthquake), Gardevoir (Moonblast), Dragapult (Dragon Darts), Urshifu (Wicked Blow). With no Choice Band or Life Orb in Regulation M-A, Choice Scarf is the main source of compressed speed control outside of Tailwind teams. The speed jump turns a base 100 into a base 150, which outspeeds every unboosted threat in the tier list.

Restores 25% of max HP once the holder drops below 50% HP. Single use.

When to use: On Pokemon that need one extra survival buffer but do not want to lean fully defensive — Kingambit, Dragonite (pairs with Multiscale), Tyranitar, Baxcalibur. Sitrus Berry is currently the most-used item on setup sweepers like Sinistcha (over 15% of analytics-tracked builds) because it lets them survive one Sucker Punch or Extreme Speed that a defensive SP spread could not.

Cures any status condition (sleep, paralysis, burn, freeze, poison) immediately. Single use.

When to use: On setup Pokemon that cannot afford a Will-O-Wisp or Spore interrupting them — Salamence, Dragonite, Garchomp with Swords Dance, Tyranitar with Dragon Dance. Amoonguss is a top-usage threat specifically because Spore is still a 100% accurate sleep move in Champions; Lum Berry is the only one-slot answer.

Boosts Special Attack by 50%, locks the holder into its first move until switching.

When to use: On strong special sweepers with reliable spread STAB — Gholdengo (Make It Rain), Iron Moth (Overheat), Chi-Yu (Heat Wave). With Life Orb unavailable, Choice Specs is the highest raw Special damage buff in the format.

Triggers the holder's Protosynthesis or Quark Drive ability, boosting its highest stat by 30% (50% for Speed). Single use.

When to use: Exclusively on Paradox Pokemon (Flutter Mane, Iron Hands, Iron Bundle, Roaring Moon). Using Booster Energy off-weather/off-terrain is the correct play 90% of the time — it is more reliable than setting up sun or Electric Terrain just to proc the ability.

Attackers using a contact move take 1/6 of their max HP as recoil.

When to use: On physically bulky Pokemon that expect to be targeted repeatedly — Garganacl, Clodsire, Ting-Lu, Landorus-T, Skeledirge. Rocky Helmet is a hard counter to multi-hit move users like Urshifu (Surging Strikes hits 3 times = 3 Helmet procs) and frustrates physical Megas that want to mash Earthquake.

Blocks all secondary effects from opposing moves (flinch, stat drops, status procs, Fake Out stun).

When to use: On support Pokemon that get targeted by Fake Out every game — Amoonguss, Indeedee, Farigiraf, Ogerpon. Covert Cloak also blocks Scald burns, Astral Barrage's flinch, and Make It Rain's Sp. Atk drop, making it one of the most flexible defensive items in Regulation M-A.

Cures the holder of Taunt, Encore, Torment, Attract, or Disable. Single use.

When to use: On a dedicated Trick Room setter (Cresselia, Hatterene, Ursaluna) that cannot afford to be Taunted turn 1. In a meta where Whimsicott runs both Taunt and Encore at high frequency, Mental Herb is the only single-slot insurance policy.

Boosts the holder's move accuracy by 10%.

When to use: On Pokemon whose best move is imperfectly accurate — Hydreigon (Draco Meteor, 90% → 99%), Kyurem (Freeze-Dry paired with Blizzard, 70% → 77%), Zoroark (Night Daze, 95% → 100%). Wide Lens also lifts Stone Edge and Focus Blast into the 99% range, which is often the difference between winning and losing in finals.

Boosts Defense and Special Defense by 50% on Pokemon that can still evolve (e.g., Dusclops, Chansey, Porygon2, Gligar).

When to use: The item is format-defining for Dusclops on Trick Room teams and for Chansey in special-heavy metagames. Eviolite Dusclops with max HP and Sp. Def SP effectively cannot be one-shot by a non-super-effective attack.

Prevents the holder's stats from being lowered by an opponent.

When to use: Against Intimidate-heavy teams. A Dragon Dance Dragonite or Gyarados gets shut down by two Intimidate drops turn 1. Clear Amulet lets them set up into Incineroar +2 and Landorus-T, rather than having to run a fourth dance before they can sweep.

Immunity to powder moves (Spore, Sleep Powder, Rage Powder) and to weather chip damage (Sand, Hail).

When to use: On any key threat if Amoonguss usage exceeds 40% in your local meta. Safety Goggles is a hard counter to Rage Powder redirection, which is the backbone of Amoonguss support play.

Restores any lowered stats once. Single use.

When to use: On a Pokemon that wants to spam a high-BP, stat-dropping move — Overheat Mega Charizard Y, Close Combat Urshifu, Draco Meteor Dragapult. White Herb lets you fire the first nuke without downside, which is surprisingly hard to punish.

Halves the damage of a single super-effective hit of the matching type. Single use.

When to use: When a specific Pokemon has a single exploitable 4× weakness — Yache Berry on Mega Garchomp (Ice), Chople Berry on Tyranitar (Fighting), Chilan Berry against Normal-spam teams. These berries are only B-tier if you expect to see the triggering move, otherwise they are dead weight.

Boosts the power of moves of the matching type by 20%.

When to use: On a Pokemon that cannot use Choice Scarf, Choice Specs, or a Mega Stone but still wants a damage buff. Mystic Water Palafin, for example, adds raw damage without the lock-in of Choice Specs. This is the closest Regulation M-A has to Life Orb.

Boosts the damage of super-effective moves by 20%.

When to use: On mixed attackers with broad coverage (Dragapult, Mega Garchomp) that aim to hit for super-effective damage in most matchups. Expert Belt competes with type plates — pick the plate if one STAB type dominates your gameplan, Expert Belt if coverage moves carry the load.

Grants Ground immunity until the holder is hit by any attack. Single use (consumed on first hit).

When to use: On a Pokemon that loses to a single Ground-type threat — Heatran vs. Mega Garchomp, Magnezone vs. Landorus-T. Useful in matchup-specific mode but hard to justify as a default.

Extends Reflect and Light Screen duration from 5 to 8 turns.

When to use: On dual-screens setters (Grimmsnarl, Klefki, Indeedee). Pure archetype tool — only run it on a team that actually has screens as a core plan.

20% chance to move first regardless of Speed.

Why avoid: Ranked is about consistent decisions, not 20% coin flips. Choice Scarf, Tailwind, and priority moves solve the same problem deterministically. In a best-of-three, Quick Claw will cost you more games than it wins.

Reduces incoming move accuracy by 10%.

Why avoid: The 10% evasion boost is non-deterministic and penalises your opponent only sometimes. It is strictly worse than any S-tier item.

Adds a 10% flinch chance to the holder's damaging moves.

Why avoid: Flinch chains work on the Switch ladder, but they do not beat top-100 players — and Covert Cloak completely negates them. You lose more damage than the flinch generates.

Forces a swap on either the holder or the attacker. Single use.

Why avoid: Swap-out items give your opponent control of what comes in. In doubles, that is often worse than just taking the hit and pivoting on your own turn.