[Overview]
<p>The mere availability of other utility Pokemon, most especially Hippowdon, in the OU metagame leaves
the premier physical tank of UU unnoticed and untouched by players quite often. Don't be fooled by Donphan's current placement in UU, however, as it has quite a few perks to support its team and differentiate itself from the competition. Before you consider Donphan among others, keep in mind that your team will have to play to its main attributes,
and be wary of its weaknesses
to special attackers and consisting of low Special Defense and vulnerability to Ghost-type Pokemon (especially Jellicent).</p>
<p>
For starters, Donphan's main function is to eliminate entry hazards with Rapid Spin, and thanks to its fantastic physical bulk and Ground typing, it will most likely achieve this goal with little cost
s. Donphan also sports a base 120 Attack stat, which, paired with STAB Earthquake, makes it a durable, hard-to-ignore offensive tank. As a nice side bonus, its ability, Sturdy, has been improved so it survives attacks at full health, aiding in its survival against powerful OU attackers. Donphan, ideally, should be played with diversity in mind, since it can function well as a utility Pokemon while standing up head to head with major threats, unlike its competition. Overall, if you need a
different defensive buffer not named Skarmory, Ferrothorn, or Forretress, Donphan can be counted on to reliably utilize Rapid Spin and sponge strong physical attacks for its team.</p>
[SET]
name: Defensive Rapid Spin
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Toxic / Roar / Knock Off
item: Leftovers
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>As
previously stated stated beforehand, Donphan is a fantastic user of Rapid Spin
in its own respect due to its Ground-typing, good physical bulk, Sturdy, and ability to stand up against many threats with gusto. After Ghost-type threats have been removed (which
is easily executable thanks to Team Preview and
the use of a Pursuit user), Rapid Spin is an almost
always guaranteed prospect. Donphan also fares well against other hazard users because it typically takes little damage from them, while completely retracting them from their usual duties.</p>
<p>If entry hazards have been successfully removed, and Donphan is healthy enough, it's looking at a few more options; Stealth Rock is always helpful for providing passive damage if your team needs it, while Earthquake is useful for battering foes
such as Terrakion, Tyranitar, and Excadrill (Terrakion, Tyranitar, and Excadrill to name a few) before going down. In the last slot, Toxic is listed primarily to cripple any wall or Ghost-type, especially Jellicent, that might come in Donphan's way. With Toxic, the likes of Hippowdon and Tyranitar are unable to do anything useful while being
repeatedly deteriorated by poison, Earthquake and Rapid Spin (if they so happen to pack Stealth Rock). Roar is available to phaze out troublesome threats, and finally, Knock Off is a lesser option that ensures item-reliant Pokemon are sufficiently crippled,
including which includes holders of Leftovers and Eviolite.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Donphan won't gain too much outside of maximizing its HP and Defense with an Impish nature, but its naturally high Attack shouldn't be ignored either. Ideally, a benchmark spread of 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 Def enables Donphan to
always 2HKO Haxorus with Earthquake
after with Stealth Rock damage.
, and sometimes without. Meanwhile, Donphan sacrifices about 5% in overall defensiveness, which isn't
usually a
exactly significant difference
, depending on your mileage.
Ice Shard is another attacking option, As far as other attacking options go, Ice Shard is notable for stopping specific threats
, most notably such as Dragonite and Landorus. Otherwise, Donphan is better off crippling or shuffling the opposing team with
its the last two moveslots.</p>
<p>Defensively speaking, Donphan appreciates being paired with specially defensive Pokemon with
relative neutralities or
impunities resistances to against Grass- and Water-type moves. For starters, Blissey and Jirachi are good teammates to consider due to their access to Wish (amongst other helpful support options)
., while Celebi should
also be noted for its ability to fend off Rotom-W, Gastrodon, and Jellicent, three popular counters to Donphan. Because Donphan is often easily set up on, Whimsicott, with priority Stun Spore and Encore in its disposal, provides invaluable insurance against cocky set up threats.</p>
<p>As a special mention, Donphan performs wonderfully when used in sunlight
, for a few reasons, mainly being able to remove entry hazards for sun abusers and stand up against common threats in sandstorm. Additionally, Donphan's Water-type weakness is removed, though it shouldn't push its luck against predicted Surfs and Scalds. In return,
its these same Grass- or Fire-type teammates can switch into Will-O-Wisp (and weakened Scalds to an extent) and wreak havoc with colossally powerful attacks.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Rapid Spin
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stone Edge / Fire Fang
move 4: Ice Shard / Stealth Rock
item: Leftovers
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes on a more offensive
approach, taking semblance to take advantage of Donphan's often forgotten, yet undeniably impressive
, Attack
stat. Even with the set's slant towards offense, Donphan retains most of its defense, and the decrease in bulk (albeit a moderate one) is
somewhat neutralised helped by its Stealth Rock resistance and Sturdy.
somewhat Donphan's function, however, remains unchanged,
so using Rapid Spin should still be its main priority if entry hazards are present.</p>
<p>As always, Earthquake is a staple for putting a dent in anything that doesn't resist it. Even Jellicent, one of Donphan's initial counters, is 2HKOed with prior damage. Besides Earthquake and Rapid Spin, Donphan has room for more coverage or support options in the last slots. Stone Edge, paired with Earthquake, provides near-perfect coverage, the two being resisted by only a few choice threats such as Bronzong. Fire Fang is an acceptable replacement,
even if just
simply for threatening certain Steel-types, particularly Scizor and Ferrothorn. The aforementioned two, both of which are popular threats in OU, are enough of a reason to utilize Fire Fang, especially
when Ferrothorn,
which can threaten with Power Whip. In the last slot, Ice Shard should be used to revenge kill weakened threats and targets with weaknesses to Ice-type attacks, especially Dragonite and Haxorus. If your team is lacking in entry hazards, Donphan is certainly bulky enough to utilize Stealth Rock in place of Ice Shard.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Just maximizing Donphan's HP and Attack with an Adamant nature ensures that it stays bulky while hitting hard,
hence fulfilling the purpose of this set. You may also consider placing some EVs from HP into Speed so Donphan can outrun specific threats such as Blissey, although doing so squanders Donphan's bulk quite a bit in return. For other coverage moves, Head Smash can replace Stone Edge for more power (though the recoil can be
detrimental to its bulk disappointing most of the time), while Seed Bomb
deserves is worthy a mention simply for fending off Quagsire and Gastrodon.</p>
<p>Simply put, Donphan isn't as bulky as it is in the previous set, so when placing it in your team, don't expect it to weather too many enormous hits (e.g. Choice Band Haxorus's Outrage). Despite this, and the fact that Donphan still has trouble with certain special attacks and Ghost-types, it should pull through long enough (with defensive planning in mind) to use Rapid Spin and
do inflict damage
to soften up an enemy for another teammate. Victini, for example, appreciates the removal of all entry hazards, and can return the favor by utilizing an incredibly powerful V-Create to badly injure the opponent. Even moreso, both can be utilized with Drought Ninetales and Chlorophyll Venusaur to deal beautiful, catastrophic damage together.</p>
<p>Paralysis support is an
other option to consider, as it allows Donphan to
outspeed and 2HKO its normal checks and counters without fainting beforehand. Defensively-speaking, Celebi, Ferrothorn, and Jirachi can easily spread paralysis while
having maintaining some offensive presence against Donphan's counters. Celebi is the preferred choice out of the three, as the latter two are crippled by burns from Will-O-Wisp or Scald from Rotom-W and Jellicent.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Outside of the Rapid Spin sets delineated above, Donphan shouldn't
bother ventur
eing much further in the offensive department. Choice Band, nevertheless, is worth considering because of the power behind Earthquake and other moves when holding it. Donphan can even run Rapid Spin on the same set
so it doesn't retract itself from to maintain its usual niche. Regarding attacks, Assurance, Seed Bomb, Head Smash, and the other elemental fangs can be used for coverage or power, though Donphan typically won't use anything outside of Earthquake and the other moves mentioned above. However, Superpower is most notable on either set over Stealth Rock, as it allows Donphan to reliably counter certain Dark-types and Balloon users,
such as mainly Scrafty and Excadrill
, respectively.</p>
<p>Counter is also an odd, but creditable option on Donphan. Thanks to its Ground typing, high Defense, and Sturdy, it often weathers enormously powerful physical attacks, such as Choice Band Haxorus's Outrage. Such opportunities are ideal for Counter, enabling Donphan to take out troublesome physical threats before they can touch the rest of its teammates. Counter generally does require some prediction to use effectively,
so be prepared to face
the consequences if the target attempts to play around it with support moves.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Technically, not much can stop Donphan from fulfilling its main duty: eliminating entry hazards. Even Skarmory and Hippowdon, in spite of walling Donphan otherwise,
both can't do anything
else to stop it outside of a weak attack or phazing. However, like all Rapid Spin users, Donphan's job is delayed if the opposing team's Ghost-type Pokémon ha
sve not yet fainted. Most defensive Ghost-types Donphan will meet have Will-O-Wisp (or Scald in Jellicent's case) in their disposal, although they have to stay clear of the occasional Toxic or Knock Off. If Donphan lacks multiple coverage moves
besides Earthquake, it will be unable to
do significant damage
to SubDisable Gengar as well. Generally, unless it has the appropriate tool for the appropriate Ghost-type, don't expect Donphan
to retaliate too effectively.</p>
<p>In terms of attacking though, Donphan can be easily stopped by physical walls if it doesn't pack Toxic or invest significantly in Attack. Its initial attacking power is somewhat hampered by a lack of effective coverage outside of Earthquake and Stone Edge, so some bulky foes with a set up move will
have find little problem
s taking advantage of this. A strong special attack, such as Heatran's Fire Blast or Latias's Dragon Pulse, will typically 2HKO Donphan thanks to its low Special Defense. If Donphan's Sturdy ability remains intact, however, most attacking foes can expect to take a lot of damage or be crippled before the elephant goes down.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Donphan receives Sand Veil as its Dream World ability, which isn't bad at all, considering it is one of the reasons behind Garchomp's ban. Outside of sandstorm teams, however, Donphan does require Sturdy to survive attacks it couldn't survive otherwise in order to successfully use Rapid Spin or set up Stealth Rock. Unless Donphan's team can handle opposing weathers, Swords Dance Gliscor should prove to be a more fruitful choice.</p>
