Dusknoir faces serious competition for the role of spin blocker with Rotom-A. However, Dusknoir is still more than capable of functioning as an effective spin blocker, boasting some significant advantages over the electronic appliance, most notably better defenses and Pain Split. There are four effective Rapid Spin users in the OU metagame: Donphan, Starmie, Forretress and Tentacruel. Tentacruel and Forretress have no hope of breaking Dusknoir's impressive defenses, so only Donphan and Starmie need special care. With the given EV spread, only the rare Choice Band Donphan has a chance to beat Dusknoir, and the far more common defensive minded sets will have to run, or face having their attack power crippled with a burn from Will-O-Wisp. Starmie doesn't threaten Dusknoir much unless it is carrying Choice Specs; otherwise, you can hit it with super effective ThunderPunch STAB Shadow Sneak and leech its HP whilst replenishing your own with Pain Split. Dusknoir also makes a handy counter for many physical attackers, either by burning them with Will-O-Wisp or using the appropriate attack. Earthquake is Dusknoir's strongest attack besides Focus Punch. As well as providing good coverage, it easily deals with Heatran, who would otherwise happily come in for Flash Fire boosts against Will-O-Wisp and Fire Punch. Earthquake also 2HKOes Infernape. Fire Punch prevents Heracross from abusing Guts by coming into a Will-O-Wisp and Pursuiting Dusknoir, and hits Steel-types for super effective damage, especially Forretress and the ever common Scizor. Both are hit for 4x super effective damage, though neither will be OHKOed (Forretress won't even be 2HKOed). Will-O-Wisp and Fire Punch make Weavile much less of a threat too. Other common Pursuit users such as Tyranitar and Metagross can be crippled with a burn. ThunderPunch brings down Gyarados in two hits, while Ice Punch helps with Dragon-types like Salamence and Flygon. Earthquake has great type coverage alongside Ice Punch, resisted only by Bronzong in OU. Shadow Sneak is also a good option here. It bypasses Dusknoir's awful Speed and can help finish off weaker Pokémon, most notably Gengar, who will be 2HKOed. However, its poor damage output means it will do little damage to even frail sweepers unless they are weak to Ghost-type attacks. Pain Split is a rather poor method of healing, but it's all Dusknoir has outside of the very risky Rest. However, you can use his ridiculously low HP and Speed to your advantage by taking hits from Pokemon with high HP and sapping their health while recovering your own. It's one of the main advantages that Dusknoir has over Rotom-A. The EVs are focused in Defense as most of the Pokémon Dusknoir is looking to counter are physical attackers, like Heracross and Gyarados. 28 Atk EVs guarantees a OHKO with Earthquake on 4 HP Heatran with Stealth Rock support. If you have Shadow Sneak to 2HKO Gengar, then you may wish to use a spread of 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD. This guarantees that Dusknoir will survive a Life Orb Shadow Ball from a Timid Gengar. If Tyranitar and Weavile come in on Dusknoir whilst avoiding Will-O-Wisp, the Ghost will be in for a world of pain. Choice Band Tyranitar's Crunch has about a 20% chance to OHKO Dusknoir. Scizor, Machamp, and Thick Fat Hariyama make good backups, resisting Tyranitar's STAB attacks, though Machamp will have to watch for Weavile's Ice Punch. Forretress and Metagross completely wall Weavile, and are at least decent choices against Tyranitar. Bulky Ground-types also work for countering Tyranitar, and Swampert can beat both Tyranitar and Weavile. To cover Scizor, use Heatran or Zapdos. Heracross is very problematic if it gets a Guts boost from Dusknoir's Will-O-Wisp. Your best answer is Gliscor or BulkyGyara, the latter also helping against Weavile and Scizor. Heatran makes another great Scizor counter, and it also walls Weavile, as long as it avoids Superpower and Brick Break respectively. If Earthquake is absent, Dusknoir's biggest problem will be Heatran. A Blissey or bulky Water-type will solve that problem, even if Heatran receives a Flash Fire boost. Against Pursuit users, it is often wise to use double switches to send in your counters to the Pursuit users, so that Dusknoir doesn't have to switch out when your opponent uses Pursuit.
Trick Room sets Dusknoir apart from other Ghost Pokémon. Dusknoir is an excellent user of Trick Room, being both slow and possessing high defenses. The strategy is straightforward enough - simply come in on something that poses little threat to Dusknoir (bulky Fighting-types and most defensive Pokémon), set up Trick Room, and then switch out to a slow sweeper to abuse the three remaining turns of Trick Room. Will-O-Wisp is a great move to have on a Trick Room team. It not only cripples threatening attackers, but also weakens defensive Pokémon with its residual damage so that your sweepers can break past them. Tyranitar is also an extremely common switch into Dusknoir, and Will-O-Wisp allows you to slash its attacking power and reduce the threat it poses to your team. Thanks to Trick Room, you will always use Will-O-Wisp before Tyranitar can use Crunch. Pain Split provides Dusknoir with some instant, albeit unreliable, recovery, and if you choose your Pain Split targets carefully, Dusknoir should be able to stick around for quite a while and set up Trick Room multiple times. There are many options that can go in the last slot. Shadow Sneak's priority is still sometimes useful in Trick Room, and is definitely preferable to Shadow Punch outside of it. However, the increase in base power of Shadow Punch is preferable for use in Trick Room conditions. Earthquake is a solid attacking move, and in particular hits any Heatran coming in to steal a Flash Fire boost from your Will-O-Wisp. As with the Tank set, move 28 Def EVs into Atk if you intend on using Earthquake. If Scizor, Salamence, or Gyarados gives your team trouble, you can use the appropriate elemental punch in that slot to help deal with them. While Pain Split is generally helpful, it isn't vital to the set, and another attacking move can easily be used in its place instead. Just beware, however, that Dusknoir will not last very long without any form of recovery, and may not be able to set up Trick Room more than once. Wish support is a good idea if you choose to forgo Pain Split. With a Relaxed nature and a Speed IV of 0, Dusknoir sits at a very slow 85 Speed, meaning it will outspeed the vast majority of opponents in Trick Room and can get some quick recovery with Pain Split. This set fears the same Pokémon as the Tank set, but only a few Pokémon that can wall them gain a major benefit from Trick Room. With Dusknoir frequently setting up Trick Room, these Pokémon can switch in more easily. Against Heatran, Tyranitar is your best choice. For Tyranitar, Scizor, Machamp or Rhyperior work very well. Against Weavile, once again Scizor and Rhyperior work well (Rhyperior can avoid a 2HKO from Ice Punch with some EV investment). Metagross can survive any of Heracross' attacks and outspeed it thanks to Trick Room, as well as comfortably beating Tyranitar and Weavile.
Gravity is Dusknoir's biggest niche move. Not only is it the only Ghost Pokémon and one of the very few Pokémon that can use Gravity, but it can use it well, especially when Spikes and Toxic Spikes are set up, as they are so much more deadly under Gravity. DynamicPunch is Dusknoir's main attacking move. Under Gravity, it has an 82% accuracy, and therefore a 82% chance to cause confusion backed up by 100 base power. The confusion works well with Will-O-Wisp, which has 100% accuracy in Gravity, as a turn of confusion damage means another turn for Burn damage, even if Burn does half the confusion damage. However, Earthquake is an option over DynamicPunch. Under Gravity, it hits every single Pokémon, and it has double the PP of DynamicPunch. Pain Split is the recommended option to help keep Dusknoir alive. However, Shadow Sneak remains an option to finish off weakened Pokémon and hit frail Psychic- and Ghost-types for decent damage. Shadow Sneak also has perfect type coverage alongside DynamicPunch. The EVs are the same as the Tank set, as most of the opponents that Dusknoir are looking to wall are still physical attackers. Tyranitar and Weavile will have to think twice before switching in thanks to DynamicPunch, but they are still problematic, especially with Dusknoir having to set up Gravity. Heracross and Scizor are even more threatening when you are without Fire Punch. Heatran can take all of the bugs' attacks, save the Fighting-type attacks. However, Dusknoir's typing will make them think twice before being locked into Fighting-type attacks. Blissey can wall Heatran, and Swampert can wall Tyranitar and Weavile. If Shadow Sneak is absent, Dusknoir will never get past other Ghost-types if it uses DynamicPunch, and it can't get past Flying-types or Pokémon with Levitate. Blissey can wall the Ghost-types, unless she gets Tricked a Choice item, or if the Ghost-type carries Rest. Tyranitar can beat the Ghost-types and most Flying-types and Pokémon with Levitate. If Choice Band Tyranitar gets hit by Trick, the Ghost-type is now locked into Trick, and cannot avoid Pursuit. All of the aforementioned teammates work well in Gravity teams in some way or another.
Once again, this is a set that sets Dusknoir apart from its bulky Ghost brethren. This set uses Dusknoir's immunities to easily switch in and Substitute, and then deal large damage to Dusknoir's usual counters from Dusknoir's often underestimated Attack stat and its impressive physical movepool. Focus Punch and Fire Punch hit Tyranitar and Heracross (both common switches into Dusknoir) respectively for huge damage, actually OHKOing Tyranitar and nearly OHKOing Heracross. Fire Punch versus Ice Punch depends on whether you want to beat Heracross, or take on Salamence. Since Heracross almost will never hesitate to switch in, Substitute + Fire Punch can be used to severely cripple it. Substitute will force the frequently Choiced Heracross to reveal its hand, and Fire Punch will nearly OHKO it. On the other hand, Ice Punch OHKOs min/min Salamence even without Stealth Rock, and provides better type coverage alongside Focus Punch. The choice between Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak is difficult. Despite Dusknoir not getting STAB on Sucker Punch, it is still more powerful than his Shadow Sneak. The added power allows you to OHKO opponents like Gengar and Alakazam, something Shadow Sneak will not do. However, Sucker Punch will fail if your opponent chooses not to attack you and has a mere maximum 8 PP. ThunderPunch can be considered as well, if you fear Gyarados setting up on you. Pain Split is also an option if you want to attempt to stall your opponent and can be useful to recover HP lost from creating your Substitutes. 323 Attack is needed to always OHKO 4 HP / 252 Def Blissey with Focus Punch and Stealth Rock, always 2HKO 252 HP / 216 Def Impish Forretress with Fire Punch and Stealth Rock, and always OHKO 4 HP / 0 Def Alakazam with Sucker Punch. It finally allows you to take on Salamence, OHKOing 216 HP / 252 Def Bold Salamence with Ice Punch followed by Shadow Sneak, provided Stealth Rock is in play, before it gets the chance to Roost. This Dusknoir has 328 Attack, but EVs are better invested in Attack than Defense, as this Dusknoir wants to deal as much damage as possible with Focus Punch. One could run 84 Speed EVs to outrun minimum Speed Blissey if you desire to put up a Substitute before Blissey can use Toxic against Dusknoir, hampering her ability to sweep from behind a substitute. This set will never break strong physical walls. Cresselia and bulky Ground- and Water-types laugh at Dusknoir with their gigantic defenses. Tyranitar or Scizor are recommended for the pink duck, and Celebi is recommended for the Ground- and Water-types. Skarmory shrugs off both Focus Punch and Fire Punch, and just sets up Spikes against Dusknoir, so Magnezone support is recommended. Dusknoir has nothing against Gyarados if it does not have ThunderPunch, so Porygon2 and Celebi are helpful. If Fire Punch is absent, Heracross and Forretress will have no problems against this set, but BulkyGyara can beat them both. Without Ice Punch, Salamence is problematic. Porygon2 and Swampert are effective Salamence checks, but they must watch out for Draco Meteor. Swampert also walls the Ground-types that Dusknoir cannot break.
Dusknoir’s movepool and respectable base Attack stat make it a viable user of Choice Band. Although slow, Dusknoir packs quite a punch and has the ability to counter many Pokémon depending on which choice of moves you use. Focus Punch is an easy OHKO on Tyranitar, Weavile, and Heatran, and is Dusknoir's strongest attack, provided you are good at predicting. Brick Break or Earthquake may be used if you don’t like the prediction involved with Focus Punch, but there is a big difference in base power. Shadow Sneak gives Dusknoir a STAB priority move to OHKO Gengar, Azelf, and Alakazam. You may opt to use Sucker Punch, which alongside Focus Punch, will make your opponent struggle to decide whether he should attack or not. However, Sucker Punch's usage is very situational and could easily backfire on you, especially considering its meager 8 PP. The choice of the last two moves is dependent on how you want your Dusknoir to function. The elemental punches will all hit specific targets depending on your needs: Fire Punch will hit Heracross, Forretress, and Scizor; Ice Punch will hit Dragon-types (most notably Salamence) and Gliscor; and ThunderPunch will give you coverage against Gyarados and bulky waters. Trick is also an interesting option that Dusknoir can use to cripple some of its counters, most notably Spiritomb. Seeing as most of Dusknoir’s counters won’t be physical attackers, who fear Will-O-Wisp, many will not enjoy the burden of the Choice Band. Trick also forces switches, which will allow you to fire off a free Focus Punch. Do not feel that you have to use Trick; another elemental punch could still viably go in the last slot. However, it is worth noting that after Dusknoir Tricks his Choice Band onto an opposing pokemon, his power will become weakened. This set possesses more power over the Sub Punch set, but it still can't break physically defensive walls unless it manages to Trick them. Good teammates are, once again, Tyranitar or Scizor for Cresselia, Celebi for bulky Ground- and Water-types, Magnezone for Steel-types, and Porygon2 for Gyarados and Salamence. A Choice item makes Dusknoir very susceptible to Pursuit users, so it's important that you can reliably deal with Pursuit. Have Swampert, Hariyama or Metagross for Tyranitar and Weavile, and Gliscor or BulkyGyara for Heracross. For Metagross, Magnezone or Swampert once again work wonders. Team OptionsStealth Rock is always a nice bonus when using Dusknoir to net some important OHKOs. With Stealth Rock support, 28 Atk EVs guarantee an OHKO on 4 HP Heatran with Earthquake, and 84 EVs net a 2HKO on Azelf with Shadow Sneak. In fact, any entry hazard works well with Dusknoir. Besides the obvious entry damage, Dusknoir blocks Rapid Spin, and it has the bulk to survive a long time. Pain Split will help Dusknoir stall out Toxic Spikes damage. However, keep in mind that Dusknoir will be unable to use Will-O-Wisp on Pokémon that have been hit by Toxic Spikes. Cleric support is great, for Dusknoir hates being Poisoned or Burnt. In the offensive department, Dusknoir's lack of Attack will often mean that it will struggle to defeat many Pokémon. Its purpose is generally not to dish out damage. On the teams that Dusknoir are usually a part of, that damage will been carried out by entry hazards and possibly sandstorm support. However, specific mentions will be given to the Pokémon that Dusknoir can never outstall. Heatran is easily handled by Blissey, any bulky Water-type or Tyranitar, and Rest Cresselia, Rotom-A and Dusknoir are beaten by Tyranitar. They can also be outstalled by Suicune with Calm Mind and Rest thanks to Pressure, or taken advantage of by Celebi's Leech Seed. Tyranitar and Weavile are huge threats if they avoid Will-O-Wisp. Swampert and Hariyama wall both of them, whilst Hippowdon walls Tyranitar and provides sandstorm support that is generally helpful for the stall teams of which Dusknoir is often a part. Heracross possesses both Pursuit and Guts to threaten Dusknoir. Your best answer to it is Gliscor or Sleep Talk Gyarados. Dusknoir is primarily a physical wall, so your opponent may send in special attackers against Dusknoir. Blissey is the best choice for sponging special attacks. Dugtrio can prove to be a great method for removing Heatran, Tyranitar and Heracross, especially through double switches. Trick completely messes up any Dusknoir set save the Choice Bander, so it's worth having a Pokémon on your team that doesn't mind losing its item. If the opposing Pokémon uses Trick on your Choice Tyranitar or Scizor, it cannot avoid a Pursuit to the face. Scizor also keeps Tyranitar at bay. Usually, you won't have a hard time switching Dusknoir in safely. The best way to do so is to use it's two immunities. Blissey is an excellent Pokémon for luring in Fighting attacks, Explosion and Rapid Spin, all of which are free opportunities for Dusknoir to switch in. On the topic of Rapid Spin, entry hazards are the best way to lure out your opponent's spinner, and then send in Dusknoir as they attempt to spin. Heatran is commonly seen alongside Celebi and Scizor. Scizor and Tyranitar can both comfortably deal with the green pixie. Perhaps a better idea is to use Celebi as set up time for your team's entry hazards. There are many Pokémon that wall Scizor: Zapdos, Gliscor, Gyarados, and Hippowdon, to name a few. Tyranitar is commonly seen alongside Ground-types and Steel-types that resist sandstorm. Swampert and Celebi wall all the Ground-types, and Zapdos and Hippowdon can wall the Steel-types. Heracross is frequently seen alongside Salamence, so Bronzong, Porygon2 and/or Swampert are recommended for the mighty dragon. Weavile is normally partnered with Infernape, so Tentacruel or Cresselia is recommended. Double switches are recommended to use Dusknoir to its maximum potential. It greatly fears Heatran and Heracross if it lacks Earthquake / Focus Punch and Fire Punch respectively. A double switch can quickly force these two out, and if you have entry hazards set up, they will have received massive damage in vain. If you double switch to Blissey as your opponent switches to Heatran, you can triple switch to Dusknoir as Heatran uses Explosion. However, such a tactic will be obvious to any smart opponent. Other OptionsDusknoir can use a Rest + Sleep Talk combo to good effect, but Rotom-A boasts better typing, movepool, and stats for this combo. Toxic can take the place of Will-O-Wisp on any of the sets, but Toxic can be used on almost any defensive Pokémon, and Dusknoir really needs Will-O-Wisp to keep opposing physical attackers at bay. Calm Mind is useable, but Spiritomb is more suited for this job thanks to its typing and higher Special Attack. Counter can surprise powerful physical attackers like Heracross who want to 2HKO you — just don't overuse it, as Dusknoir isn't ideal for the move with his pitiful HP. EVsYou'll want to max out that abysmal HP first. While leaving it untouched would make Pain Split more powerful, Dusknoir's base HP is so bad that it'll make little difference. You can split the remaining EVs between the defenses or focus on one. Special Defense helps against Starmie, Azelf and the like while Defense EVs will cushion the blow from physical attackers like Donphan and Heracross. 84 SpD will guarantee survival from a Timid Gengar's Life Orb Shadow Ball. Attack EVs aren't overly helpful, although 243 Attack (28 EVs) will guarantee a OHKO on 4 HP / 0 Defense Heatran with Earthquake and Stealth Rock taken into the equation. 294 Attack (232 EVs) will guarantee Dusknoir a 100% chance to 2HKO 4 HP / 0 Defense Azelf with Shadow Sneak and without Stealth Rock, assuming no Leftovers. If Azelf has a Life Orb, Dusknoir is guaranteed to 2HKO it with Shadow Sneak with 241 Attack (20 EVs). If Stealth Rock is in play, 257 Attack (84 EVs) will 2HKO Azelf without Leftovers. Adamant with max Attack and HP if you're using the Sub Punch or Choice Band set. OpinionProbably the most unnecessary evolution in DPP, Dusknoir is about as good as Dusclops was in ADV. The extra Attack helps in a few places — such as countering Gyarados with ThunderPunch — but Dusknoir sorely misses good STAB. Generally, it is relegated to Dusclops' old duties, namely blocking Rapid Spin, spreading Burn with Will-O-Wisp and countering a few specific sweepers. However, it faces significant competition for the role of an anti-spinner with Spiritomb and Rotom-A running around, and it generally loses to Rotom-H.CountersIt may be able to cripple them with Will-O-Wisp or a super effective attack, but if they get in unscratched, Dusknoir has real trouble with Pursuit users. Tyranitar, Weavile and Heracross are all huge problems. Dusknoir is often without Brick Break or Focus Punch, so Tyranitar can usually get in more safely than others. Heracross can get a Guts boost from Will-O-Wisp and do some serious damage. Houndoom's Pursuit is a lot less threatening, due to a lower Attack stat, but it can absorb Fire attacks and hammer Dusknoir with Dark Pulse, or Flash Fire boosted Fire Blast / Overheat. Heatran is a significant problem, for Dusknoir usually doesn't carry Earthquake or Focus Punch, so Heatran can come in on any attack and deal high damage with its Fire attacks, especially with a Flash Fire boost. Spiritomb won't take much damage from any of Dusknoir's attacks, and easily beats it with Dark Pulse. Beware of Gyarados if you don't have ThunderPunch, as it can Taunt attempts to use Will-O-Wisp, and easily set up with Dragon Dance. In fact, most Pokémon with Taunt can cause problems, provided they aren't weak to Dusknoir's attacks. Toxic and Will-O-Wisp will greatly hinder Dusknoir's tanking capabilities if it doesn't have Rest. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
