CQ: Henry / Jukain / TheEnder
GP: P Squared / GatoDelFuego
Overview
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Although Diggersby might not look impressive with its generally low stats, its great ability Huge Power doubles its Attack stat, making it a great wallbreaker. Immunities to Ghost- and Electric-type attacks give it opportunities to set up and an immunity to Thunder Wave. Access to great boosting moves in Swords Dance and Agility and surprisingly great STAB coverage backed up by the elemental punches and Knock Off make Diggersby a fearsome Pokemon that all teams should prepare for. However, Diggersby is not without flaws; weaknesses to common Grass-, Ice-, and Fighting-type moves make it somewhat hard for Diggersby to effectively sweep. Lackluster Speed and bad bulk also hold Diggersby back, as it is easily revenge killed by anything that can survive a Quick Attack. Fast Pokemon such as Mega Metagross make this flaw noticeable. Diggersby's weaknesses to common priority moves such as Aqua Jet, Mach Punch, and Ice Shard are also annoying for it.
Swords Dance
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name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Return
move 4: Quick Attack
ability: Huge Power
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant / Jolly
Moves
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Swords Dance boosts Diggersby's already high Attack stat to even greater levels and makes it a great wallbreaker that can sweep slow or weakened teams as well. Earthquake is Diggersby's best STAB move, hitting five types for super effective damage and being quite spammable in general. Return is a secondary STAB move that has good neutral coverage with Earthquake, as it hits most Pokemon that are immune to Ground very hard. Quick Attack is a mandatory priority attack, because without it Diggersby fares very badly against offensive teams.
Set Details
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252 Attack EVs maximize the damage Diggersby can do. 252 Speed EVs let Diggersby outspeed most defensive Pokemon, allowing it to hit them before they can inflict status or attack it. A Life Orb is the preferred item to hit even harder while still being able to switch moves, but a Focus Sash can prevent Diggersby from being revenge killed or help it set up against offensive teams. It also makes Diggersby a pretty effective lead that can do a lot of damage right off the bat and potentially get some surprise KOs. An Adamant nature is preferred to do as much damage as possible and thus maximize Diggersby's wallbreaking potential. A Jolly nature can, however, be used to improve Diggersby's matchup against offensive teams by making it capable of outspeeding Breloom, Jolly Bisharp, Adamant Excadrill, most Mew variants, Timid Heatran, Adamant Dragonite, Adamant Gyarados, and Jolly Mega Tyranitar, among others.
Usage Tips
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This set works best early- or mid-game to weaken or just defeat walls for teammates to sweep later. Do not set up on anything offensive except for Choice-locked Electric- or Ghost-types, because with Diggersby's bulk it simply won't work, unless it has a Focus Sash. It is, however, easy to set up on passive Pokemon such as Chansey. A +2 Return 2HKOes Skarmory after Stealth Rock damage, and a +2 Quick Attack can OHKO or come close to OHKOing a lot of offensive Pokemon, including Mega Sceptile, Mega Gallade, Thundurus, and Tornadus-T. Even without a Swords Dance boost, a Life Orb-boosted Quick Attack can revenge kill less bulky Pokemon.
Team Options
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Skarmory is Swords Dance Diggersby's best check on defensive teams, so Magnezone is a great teammate to remove it. Mega Pinsir and Diggersby weaken each other's counters and checks, and together with Magnezone they form a great core. If using this core, teammates with Knock Off are necessary because Skarmory always has a Shed Shell to escape from Magnezone. Examples of these would be Azumarill, Bisharp, Mamoswine, and Scizor. Pokemon that can switch into Mach Punch, Aqua Jet, and Ice Shard users such as Breloom, Crawdaunt, and Mamoswine are good teammates. Examples of these are Azumarill, Mega Venusaur, and Keldeo. While not necessary, Pursuit support from Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Bisharp, and Weavile is useful to remove Gengar, which hard counters this set. Healing Wish support is amazing, as it lets Diggersby get a second attempt at sweeping. With it, Diggersby can wallbreak for itself early-game, and then clean up late-game. Latias is easily the best user of Healing Wish.
Choice Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Return
move 3: Knock Off / Wild Charge
move 4: U-turn
ability: Huge Power
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly / Adamant
Moves
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Earthquake is Diggersby's primary STAB move and the move it should be using the most outside of U-turn. Return is a secondary STAB move that hits a lot of Pokemon that are immune or resistant to Earthquake, and it is one of the reasons to use Choice Scarf Diggersby over Choice Scarf Landorus-T, the other reason being access to Wild Charge to hit Skarmory with. Knock Off hits Gengar, which is immune to both of Diggersby's STAB moves, as well as the occasional Bronzong, and is a generally good utility move with which to remove items, most notably Shed Shell from Skarmory. Wild Charge removes the need to Knock Off Skarmory's Shed Shell, as Diggersby has a good chance of 2HKOing Skarmory on the switch with Stealth Rock up. U-turn is mandatory to take advantage of any switches Diggersby causes to gain momentum. It also OHKOes Celebi, which can survive a Return.
Set Details
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252 Attack EVs maximize Diggersby's damage output. 252 Speed EVs let Diggersby outspeed the majority of the unboosted metagame with a Choice Scarf, with the few relevant exceptions being Mega Alakazam, Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Beedrill, and Mega Sceptile. A Jolly nature is preferred to outspeed Mega Lopunny, Mega Manectric, and some slower Choice Scarf users such as Magnezone and Tyranitar. An Adamant nature is definitely viable though if your team does not struggle with those Pokemon, because Diggersby still outspeeds Tornadus-T and the majority of the metagame. A Choice Scarf is the chosen item for this set, as it makes Diggersby capable of outspeeding a lot of offensive threats.
Usage Tips
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Diggersby does not like being locked into either one of its STAB moves, so predict well and use U-turn a lot to prevent it from becoming setup fodder for a foe such as Mega Sableye or Landorus and to wear down Diggersby's checks and counters so it can clean up late-game with its powerful moves. With a Choice Scarf, Diggersby can be a decent revenge killer, but it is not exactly the best choice for this role, because its Speed is still not high enough to revenge kill Speed-boosting sweepers such as Gyarados and Mega Altaria, and it is defeated by strong priority attacks from Pokemon such as Azumarill and Dragonite.
Team Options
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If using Wild Charge, this set baits Skarmory pretty well, so Pokemon that appreciate it being weakened or removed, such as Excadrill, Mega Lopunny, and Mega Metagross, are good teammates. Other Volt Switch and U-turn users such as Raikou and Talonflame can form a VoltTurn core with Diggersby and keep the momentum on your side. Entry hazard setters such as Heatran, Mamoswine, and Ferrothorn force foes to take hazard damage every time they switch in, making them easier to wear down for Diggersby to clean up late-game. As Choice Scarf Diggersby fails to revenge kill Speed-boosting sweepers, Pokemon such as Thundurus and Talonflame are good partners to revenge kill them instead. Powerful wallbreakers such as Kyurem-B, Mega Heracross, and Mega Pinsir can help soften up the opposing team for Diggersby to clean up. Magnezone is an obvious teammate that can remove Skarmory, one of Diggersby's best checks, once Skarmory's Shed Shell has been Knocked Off.
All-Out Attacker
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name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Return
move 3: Fire Punch / Knock Off
move 4: Quick Attack
ability: Huge Power
item: Life Orb
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant / Jolly
Moves
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Earthquake is Diggersby's best and most spammable STAB move, hitting five types for super effective damage and hitting a lot of other ones for neutral damage. Return is a secondary STAB move that hits a lot of Pokemon that Earthquake does not hit for neutral damage hard, such as Zapdos, Chesnaught, and Talonflame. Fire Punch 2HKOes Skarmory on the switch, OHKOes standard Ferrothorn, and has a decent chance to 2HKO Chesnaught if Diggersby is using an Adamant nature, but Jolly Diggersby needs Stealth Rock up to 2HKO Skarmory. Knock Off hits Ghost-types, most notably Gengar, which is immune to both Earthquake and Return, for super effective damage. It also has the added benefit of removing Skarmory's Shed Shell. Quick Attack is a necessary priority move to threaten the plethora of faster attackers in the tier, such as Latios, Thundurus, and Keldeo.
Set Details
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252 Attack EVs maximize Diggersby's wallbreaking potential. 252 Speed EVs allow Diggersby to outspeed most defensive Pokemon and some slower offensive ones such as Bisharp. An Adamant nature is preferred because it helps Diggersby KO walls such as Hippowdon and Slowbro. A Jolly nature is definitely an option, however, because it improves Diggersby's matchup against offensive teams by allowing it to outspeed threats such as Breloom and Adamant Excadrill, as well as Metagross before and on the turn it Mega Evolves. Life Orb is the best item for this set, because without it Diggersby fails to break through a lot of walls.
Usage Tips
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An all-out attacking set is not really common, so the extra coverage can surprise Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Gengar and OHKO both with the appropriate move. Try to lure them in and OHKO them. Don't make Diggersby take more residual damage than you need to, because it's already getting worn down fast enough with Life Orb recoil. This set requires careful prediction to work.
Team Options
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This set lures in and deals with common answers to the most popular Swords Dance set pretty well, so Pokemon that appreciate the removal of Gengar, Skarmory, and others are nice team options. Examples would be Mega Metagross, Mega Pinsir, and most Fighting-types in general. Ghost-types, most notably Gengar as it fits the best in the team archetypes Diggersby is usually found in, pair well with Diggersby, covering its Fighting-type weakness while Diggersby covers their Ghost-type weakness. They can also potentially take care of opposing Ghost-types that trouble Diggersby. Fairy-types such as Azumarill and Mega Gardevoir have nice offensive synergy with Diggersby, because Diggersby hits Steel-, Poison-, and Fire-types which resist their STAB moves, while they can cover its Fighting-type weakness; Azumarill covers its Ice-type weakness too. They can also defeat Mega Sableye and Fighting-types, which check Diggersby. Tailwind support, while not necessary, is very helpful to outspeed almost anything on offensive teams. Good users of this move are Mew, Talonflame, Latios, and Zapdos. If using Knock Off over Fire Punch, Magnezone is a great teammate because it can remove Skarmory, one of Diggersby's best checks, from the game once Diggersby has Knocked Off its Shed Shell.
Other Options
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A double dance set with Agility, Swords Dance, Earthquake, and Return could be used, but although Diggersby has good STAB coverage to make it work, it lacks the bulk to effectively pull it off without dual screens support. A Choice Band set could be used with the same moves as the Choice Scarf set, but it's mostly outclassed as a wallbreaker by the Swords Dance set. Diggersby can use an offensive Spikes set that takes advantage of the switches it forces to lay down Spikes and wear the opponent down. Ice Punch can be used to lure in and OHKO offensive variants of Landorus-T, while defensive variants come very close to getting OHKOed. However, variants with no HP or Defense investment already get 2HKOed by Return anyway, which is why Ice Punch is not a preferred option. Substitute is a useful move to protect Diggersby from status and could be used over Swords Dance, Fire Punch, or Knock Off. Jolly Diggersby can easily set up a Substitute on Pokemon such as Mega Sableye, Ferrothorn, and Mew, but the move requires it to hold Leftovers for longevity, limiting Diggersby's offensive capabilities.
Checks & Counters
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**Ghost-types**: As it is immune to Diggersby's STAB moves, Gengar can freely switch in against the Swords Dance set and do whatever it wants. It also puts a lot of pressure on the Choice Scarf set because Gengar gets free switches against Diggersby's STAB moves. Mega Sableye cannot safely switch in against Diggersby, but if it has not yet Mega Evolved, it can burn Diggersby with a priority Will-O-Wisp and proceed to stall it out.
**Strong Priority Attacks**: Because of Diggersby's lackluster bulk, it struggles to survive strong priority attacks such as Crawdaunt and Azumarill's Aqua Jet, Mamoswine and Weavile's Ice Shard, Breloom and Conkeldurr's Mach Punch, and Talonflame's Gale Wings Brave Bird.
**Faster Pokemon**: Fast Pokemon that resist Quick Attack, such as Mega Aerodactyl, Choice Scarf Heatran, and Choice Scarf Tyranitar, can take a +2 Quick Attack pretty well and KO Diggersby rather easily in return. It should be noted that Diggersby's Choice Scarf set actually outspeeds the latter two and takes care of them very easily with a STAB Earthquake.
**Defensive Pokemon**: Although Diggersby breaks through a lot of walls, there are some defensive Pokemon Diggersby struggles with. Base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Mew and Celebi can outspeed Diggersby and burn it or use Giga Drain, respectively. Landorus-T can switch into the all-out attacker and Choice Scarf sets and do huge damage back. Landorus-T is, however, not hard to wear down due to its lack of reliable recovery. Skarmory resists both of Diggersby's STAB moves, but it needs Counter to actually defeat it. Skarmory also fails to wall Fire Punch variants and can be trapped by Magnezone if its Shed Shell has been taken away. Physically defensive Mega Slowbro and Alomomola can also come in for free and can threaten Diggersby with Scald, though Alomomola cannot come in safely against Swords Dance Diggersby.
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