With a high Speed stat and Arena Trap, Dugtrio generally has been a very reliable revenge killer since Advance. Earthquake is your primary attack, not only because it is Dugtrio's only STAB move, but because it can score some useful OHKOs against Heatran, Magnezone, and sometimes Tyranitar. Due to Dugtrio's mediocre Attack stat, you will need to score as many super effective hits as possible with your remaining moves. Stone Edge is needed to hit those Flying-types who are immune to Earthquake. Rock Slide is an option for higher accuracy and a 30% flinch rate complemented by Dugtrio's excellent Speed; however, Stone Edge is generally the superior option, as its higher base power will always net important 2HKOs on minimum Defense Gyarados, Zapdos, and Salamence. Sucker Punch's priority will allow you to beat the occasional Alakazam. It will also OHKO Gengar and do upwards of 86% to Azelf, though they can easily switch out since they have Levitate. Sucker Punch's low PP can also be easily abused by these two Pokémon, as both often pack non-attacking moves, so you may wish to opt for Night Slash instead. Aerial Ace is in your last slot as it is your only reliable method for revenge killing Heracross and Breloom. However, since neither are that common, Pursuit is also a viable option as it will grant you a kill against Azelf and Gengar. Night Slash also can be used in the last slot to hit bulky Psychic and Ghost-types that commonly carry moves that aren't punished by Sucker Punch, such as Celebi, Rotom-H, and Cresselia. Jolly nature is preferred, as you will be able to outspeed everything up to positive natured base 115 Speed Pokémon with the given EVs. This will allow you to get that crucial revenge kill on several Pokémon, most notably Infernape, Choice Scarf Magnezone, and Tyranitar with a single Dragon Dance boost. Adamant is only needed if you want to 2HKO max HP/Def Bold Blissey and with Stealth Rock factored in or guarantee a OHKO on max HP Tyranitar. Jolly Earthquake will still OHKO, but only 53.85% of the time. An Adamant nature will still outspeed positive natured base 100 Speed Pokémon. Choice Band provides you with enough power to get that crucial 2HKO against Blissey as well as an OHKO against most Tyranitar, with Stealth Rock factored in. However, any Pokémon with Pursuit can easily revenge kill Dugtrio if it is stuck on the wrong move. If you use Life Orb, this is no longer a problem, and your attacks will still have enough power to finish off frailer Pokemon, but you will no longer be able to reliably 2HKO Blissey or OHKO Tyranitar, even with Stealth Rock on the field. If you are having trouble deciding, then you may refer to this discussion thread to determine the viability of a Life Orb. Pursuit is arguably the biggest threat to Dugtrio. The five most common Pursuit users are Tyranitar, Scizor, Weavile, Metagross, and Heracross. Unless you really need to net a KO with Dugtrio, it is best to wait until your opponent reveals these Pokémon to you (and usually, they will be revealed early if they carry Pursuit). Tyranitar can be trapped after it kills something, as well as Metagross and Heracross, though Scizor is harder to remove thanks to Bullet Punch and its escape tool, U-turn. It may also use Pursuit to finish off Dugtrio should it try to flee. If Scizor doesn't use U-turn, you can trap it with Magnezone. Weavile is difficult to remove. If Weavile is a Choice variant, Dugtrio can trap it if it is locked into Pursuit, which is the only attack that cannot OHKO Dugtrio, and proceed to OHKO with Earthquake. If Weavile is holding any other item, you'll need to use another Pokémon. Scizor and Forretress resist Weavile's STAB moves and pose a OHKO threat with Bullet Punch and Gyro Ball respectively. Opposing Dugtrio can also revenge kill Dugtrio. Be careful when switching Dugtrio in on Blissey. Ice Beam easily 2HKOes Dugtrio, and whilst he can switch in on Thunder Wave, Toxic variants can outstall Dugtrio until it dies of poison damage. It’s probably a good idea to weaken opposing Blissey and find out her moveset before attempting to switch in. If you manage to Trick a Choice item on Blissey with a teammate, removing her with Dugtrio will be far easier.
While Dugtrio is certainly fast, there is still a wide array of Choice Scarf users that outspeed the standard Revenge set. With 212 Speed EVs and a Choice Scarf, however, Dugtrio will reach 493 Speed, which will always outrun Scarfed base 100 Speed Pokémon with a positive nature, as well as Scarfed Heatran, Scarfed Heracross, and Jolly Salamence after a Dragon Dance. Your attacking moves are virtually the same as those on the Revenge set. However, since you no longer have the boosts from Choice Band or Life Orb, you will generally have a much more difficult time scoring OHKOs. Earthquake will still OHKO Heatran, Infernape, and Magnezone, but will never OHKO min HP / min Def Tyranitar. Since you outspeed all neutral Speed natured Salamence and Gyarados after 1 Dragon Dance, you can catch a surprise hit with Stone Edge, though you will very rarely ever OHKO them without Stealth Rock support. For instance, 0 HP/Def Salamence takes 62.84% - 74.32% damage from a Stone Edge, which is a likely KO after Stealth Rock and Life Orb damage, making this Dugtrio an excellent revenge killer to a Salamence locked into Outrage. Night Slash is used over Sucker Punch, primarily because you will never need the priority as you outspeed almost everything, save the occasional Timid Scarf Gengar or Azelf. Keep in mind that they are not OHKOed by either of these moves. Aerial Ace is there for Choice Scarf Heracross, but it will rarely KO unless Stealth Rock is in play. Adamant nature is a must. You will need as much Attack as possible if you want to reliably revenge kill several of the aforementioned threats. Using Choice Scarf Dugtrio is somewhat similar to using the Revenge set. His weaknesses are very much the same as the Revenge set, most notably his Pursuit weakness. While he has gained the ability to more easily counter certain Speed freaks, Tyranitar and Blissey need to be sufficiently weakened before Dugtrio can KO them. Choice Scarf Dugtrio is usually played middle to late game, when your opposing Pokémon will have received sufficient damage. Make sure you utilize Dugtrio’s gigantic Speed stat. With a Choice Scarf, you can outrun Motor Drive Electivire, and if you can predict the Thunderbolt, easily beat it. Avoid Hidden Power, though. Dugtrio can now also switch in on a Jolteon’s Shadow Ball, but sadly, Hidden Power Grass and Baton Pass are still problematic. Team OptionsBecause Dugtrio is so easily KOed, it is important that Dugtrio can OHKO the opposing Pokémon when he traps them. Dugtrio is best used on offensive teams that can quickly wear down the HP of many Pokémon; that is to say, he is well paired alongside Pokémon like Salamence, Infernape, and Tyranitar. Stealth Rock support is a must when using Dugtrio for putting opponents into your OHKO range, most notably max HP Tyranitar. Sandstorm support helps to more quickly shift your opponent's Pokémon into Dugtrio's KO range. Tyranitar is preferred over Hippowdon because the latter shares the same typing as Dugtrio and lacks Tyranitar's raw offensive power. Abomasnow' Hail is beneficial to Dugtrio for the same reason as Sandstorm. Dugtrio doesn't mind taking Hail damage, for it will die to almost any attack anyway. Dugtrio's Stealth Rock resistance will help minimize passive damage when switching in, which helps when Dugtrio is under assault from Hail. Spikes support is more than welcome, but it generally isn’t a good idea on offensive teams. Pokémon that are immune to Arena Trap, that is to say all Flying-types and Pokémon with Levitate, cannot be trapped by Dugtrio, and are therefore the Pokémon that Dugtrio has the hardest time dealing with. Since most Pokémon with Levitate possess a Psychic or Ghost type, Tyranitar and Weavile make excellent partners in the offensive department by trapping them with STAB Pursuit, while hitting Flying-types, who can also escape Dugtrio's Arena Trap, with super effective STAB Rock-type and Ice-type attacks respectively. Tyranitar also laughs at Zapdos or Togekiss without Nasty Plot, and Weavile stops Salamence, Flygon and Gliscor. Physically defensive Ground-types and Water-types like Swampert, Hippowdon and Suicune will need to have taken a considerable amount of damage before Dugtrio can trap and KO them. Roserade and Celebi can take them all of them, but the latter will need Leech Seed for Vaporeon and Suicune. Gengar and Porygon-Z will also work due to their naturally high Special Attack and in Gengar's case, Levitate and Thunderbolt for Ground-types and Water-types respectively. Getting Dugtrio into play is tricky thanks to its fragility. Try to make use of Dugtrio's Electric immunity. Pokémon like Gyarados are great for luring in Electric attacks. Skarmory deserves special mention for drawing in Electric attacks thanks to Spikes. U-turn is a great move for team allies, enabling Dugtrio to switch in safely, provided your Pokémon moved last. It also works great for scouting for Pokémon that Dugtrio can trap and kill. U-turn Azelf, Celebi and Zapdos, whilst uncommon, is a great method to lure out Tyranitar, and safely send out Dugtrio to trap the dinosaur. Jolteon's dry Baton Pass can be helpful, though many of the common switch-ins to Jolteon are Ground-types that don't fear Dugtrio. The same is true for Scizor's U-turn; most of its switch ins are immune to Dugtrio's Arena Trap. As far as Dugtrio's threats go, they cannot prevent Dugtrio from securing a KO thanks to Arena Trap. But after that KO, they can safely switch in. Many opponents use Will-O-Wisp or Toxic immediately after it has killed something to hit your switch in. Heatran and Pokémon with Guts can take advantage of both of these moves. Pursuit threats have been mentioned in the Revenge set comments. Scizor can be trapped by Magnezone, whilst Tyranitar and Weavile both fear a Scizor of your own. Priority moves are another threat to Dugtrio. Scarf Magnezone can switch into Lucario as it uses ExtremeSpeed, trapping it in the process, and Mamoswine fears Bronzong, Skarmory and Scizor. Celebi and Zapdos can counter the Water-types that generally accompany Scizor. Zapdos deserves special mention, because once Dugtrio removes Tyranitar and Blissey, Zapdos will have an easy time finishing off your opponent. Lucario is usually paired alongside Salamence, Heatran and one of Scizor's most common partners, Gyarados. Scizor, Jirachi and Bronzong serve as Salamence checks, Gyarados is dealt with by Celebi and Vaporeon, and Heatran is OHKOed by Dugtrio. Mamoswine is generally seen with a Magnezone of its own, and Dugtrio can easily handle the magnet. The usual partners to the physical defensive Ground-types and Water-types that wall Dugtrio to no end are specially defensive, like Blissey and Tyranitar. Ironically, Dugtrio loves to prey upon them. Dugtrio has a niche for Gravity Teams. In Gravity, Dugtrio traps every Pokémon not holding a Shed Shell, expanding the range of Pokémon it can trap and KO, most notably Zapdos, Rotom-A, and Gengar, who are now vulnerable to a super-effective Earthquake. Zapdos and Bold max HP / 136 Def Rotom-A are always OHKOed by Choice Band Earthquake with Stealth Rock, two of Scizor's generic counters. On Gravity teams, Scizor's U-turn can be used as they switch in, and then Dugtrio can trap them and annihilate them with no risk whatsoever. Also, Spikes and Toxic Spikes are a much more practical option on Gravity Teams when paired up with Dugtrio. Other OptionsBeyond the moves already listed, Dugtrio's physical movepool is pretty barren. Dugtrio can potentially be used as a lead if it runs Stealth Rock and Protect while holding a Focus Sash, though its use is very limited when compared to the other two sets. EVs252 Attack EVs on all sets is a no brainer, especially when considering Dugtrio's less than stellar Attack. While you may just as easily dump 252 EVs into Speed, 40 EVs in HP are useful because they will give you a high chance of survival from an ExtremeSpeed from an Adamant Lucario with Life Orb. This will leave you with 216 Speed EVs, which is still enough to outspeed base 115 Speed Pokémon if you are running a Jolly nature. Although this means you will no longer have the chance to tie other base 120s, the only one remotely common in OU is Alakazam, which is easily OHKOed by Sucker Punch. For the Choice Scarf set, 212 Speed EVs are enough to outrun scarfed positive Speed natured base 100 Pokémon. OpinionDugtrio has not changed very much since Advance, as it is still one of the best revenge killers in the game, if not, the best. However, there are also many factors that have hampered Dugtrio's usefulness. Several Pokémon now have access to Physical Pursuit, most notably Tyranitar, Weavile, Scizor, and Metagross. Due to the effects of the Choice items Dugtrio commonly carries, it is often a sitting duck after it gets its kill. This also means that Dugtrio faces serious competition as far as revenge killing goes, as all of the previously mentioned Pokémon have much better Attack and defensive stats. Worse yet, there is also an abundance of priority users that can prey on Dugtrio's terrible defenses, such as Scizor and Lucario. Lastly, the prevalence of Trick and Choice Scarf has reduced the number of Pokémon that Dugtrio can reliably revenge kill, which sometimes forces it to use a Choice Scarf of its own at the cost of putting up with its mediocre Attack. However, despite these issues, Dugtrio's revenge killing abilities can be a great asset for most teams in the currently fast-paced and offensive metagame. Teams that need specific threats removed, such as Tyranitar, Blissey, Heatran, Infernape and Tentacruel, can find Dugtrio's Arena Trap the perfect way to permanently remove them. Dugtrio makes a good addition on rain, sun and hail teams for this reason alone, and a surprisingly good counter for stall teams. Even just one surprise kill from Dugtrio can stop your opponent's sweep, or create an opening for a sweep of your own. While Dugtrio is helpful in this regard, you will need to be cautious. CountersDue to Arena Trap, Dugtrio counters do not exist. However, after Dugtrio makes its kill, it is very easily stopped with a revenge killer of your own thanks to its pitiful defenses. Scizor can easily OHKO it with Bullet Bunch and an item boost if it decides to stay in. Choice Band Pursuit, with Stealth Rock, has a 79.49% chance to OHKO Dugtrio should he stay in. Weavile is also a great contender for similar reasons. It can OHKO Dugtrio with Pursuit if it switches out, or it can finish it off with Ice Punch if it stays in. However, Pursuit will not OHKO Dugtrio if it stays in, and even Life Orb Earthquake will OHKO Weavile with Stealth Rock in play. Even Tyranitar and Metagross can trap it with Pursuit, if it is locked onto any attack besides Earthquake. Porygon2 can Trace Arena Trap and KO it with Ice Beam. Even a Dugtrio of your own can work if your opponent's Dugtrio is stuck on Stone Edge. If you manage to inflict a burn on Dugtrio, its damage output will be laughable. |
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