[SET]
name: Choice Item
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Sucker Punch / Memento / Stealth Rock
item: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
ability: Tangling Hair
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Ground / Steel
[SET COMMENTS]
Alongside Alolan Dugtrio's amazing typing, great Speed, and decent Attack, Choice items make it a more immediate offensive threat compared to support items such as Heavy-Duty Boots. Stone Edge is Alolan Dugtrio's best coverage option, hitting the few Pokemon that resist its STAB combination like Rotom-S and Charizard. Sucker Punch can also situationally be used alongside Choice Scarf to move before foes like Aqua Jet Basculin. Memento is good late-game, allowing Alolan Dugtrio to provide momentum and offer potential setup opportunities for teammates. Stealth Rock is a niche option on Choice Scarf sets if a team has no space for it otherwise, and, although it is a bad move to be locked into, it can also be used to fake being non-Choice Scarf. Jolly is by far the preferred nature to outspeed threats such as Basculin and Pyroar, but Adamant can be used with Choice Band to further Alolan Dugtrio's wallbreaking capabilities. Tangling Hair is situational but can punish moves such as Skuntank's Sucker Punch and Choice Scarf Sawsbuck's Horn Leech. Tera Ground and Steel power up Alolan Dugtrio's STAB moves to harder hit select targets, such as Earthquake against Whiscash and Lumineon and Iron Head against Gogoat and Misdreavus. They also offer defensive perks, such as Tera Ground making Alolan Dugtrio lose the weakness to Gabite's Earthquake and Tera Steel the weakness to Basculin's Aqua Jet. Choice Band makes Alolan Dugtrio a threatening wallbreaker, and Choice Scarf provides speed control for fast threats such as Alolan Persian, Dugtrio, and +1 Quiver Dance Masquerain. Alolan Dugtrio is notably one of the fastest Choice Scarf users, outspeeding not only other Choice Scarf users such as Rotom-F and Haunter but also Speed-boosting setup move users such as Dragon Dance Charizard and Agility Wyrdeer. This also means that even without the extra Speed, Choice Band Dugtrio still makes for solid Speed control, especially alongside Sucker Punch.
Alolan Dugtrio makes for great glue on balance and offensive teams, being flexibly able to swap Choice items based on the team's need of either a wallbreaker or speed control while also being a last resort option for roles such as Stealth Rock setter and Volt Switch immunity if need be. Due to being Choice-locked, Alolan Dugtrio is very prediction reliant, which means an incorrect prediction could allow common threats such as Dragon Dance Charizard and Bulk Up Gogoat to use it as setup fodder. Bulky teammates with utility moves can stop this from getting out of hand, such as Haze Mareanie, Thunder Wave or Will-O-Wisp Misdreavus, and Roar Dachsbun. Being Choice-locked will inevitably also lead to a lot of switches, and while Alolan Dugtrio's typing allows it to switch into a handful of moves such as Lycanroc's Stone Edge and Rotom-F's Volt Switch or Discharge, its common weaknesses and frailty leave it at risk of being OHKOed by attacks such as Close Combat and Blizzard. Pivots such as Alolan Persian, Raichu, and Lumineon can help take away this risk and increase Alolan Dugtrio's overall longevity. Alolan Persian and Raichu can also run Nasty Plot sets, which benefit from Alolan Dugtrio's Memento making setting up easier. Alolan Dugtrio can be paired with other Choice item users like Haunter and Basculin to create mind games as to which the wallbreaker and Choice Scarf user are while also helping one another weaken foes and clean up the match, respectively. An alternative option to Alolan Dugtrio is its Kantonian form, Dugtrio. Dugtrio's higher Speed allows it to naturally outspeed Alolan Persian and Raichu, although lack of secondary STAB makes it worse with Choice items and is overall better used as a setup sweeper or wallbreaker. Alolan Dugtrio should be used if seeking immediate power as a wallbreaker with Choice Band or reliable speed control with Choice Scarf.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/uberskitty.355061/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/uhbella.567483/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/wrathoftheleopard.511181/
Last edited:
