Darmanitan
Old thread written by reyscarface.
Official Pokemon site
Encourage is Sheer Force.
Status: Approved 3/3
[Overview]
<p>Darmanitan's incredible Attack stat, combined with an excellent HP and average Speed make Darmanitan a fearsome sweeper, able to punch holes through even the toughest walls. It has access to a satisfactory physical movepool, which, when coupled with its ability Sheer Force, really helps
- Incredible Attack, with bad defenses balanced by great HP and decent Speed make Darmantian a fearsome sweeper.
- Decent Physical movepool coupled by Encourage, which boosts its Flare Blitz and Fire Punch, really help Darmantian in battle.
- Interesting support options on Encore, Yawn, Taunt, Roar, and Will-O-Wisp.
- Weakness to Stealth Rock and all forms of entry hazards hinders the amount of switching Darmantian can do.
- Its Speed is only decent, meaning it will more often than not be revenge killed.
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: U-Turn
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Superpower / Earthquake
item: Life Orb / Choice Band
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
[set comments]
- Sheer Force gives almost all these moves a 30% boost, as well as negating any Life Orb damage.
- Band lets it hit like a truck, letting it 2HKO Bulky Waters like Vaporeon, Milotic, Burungeru, and also Dragon types like Garchomp, Salamence, and others, while Life Orb is for those who feel that switching attacks is to your advantage
- Must be extremely careful of Stealth Rock and residual damage from Flare Blitz and weather, as it may kill Darmanitan pretty fast.
- Flare Blitz is your main move, as it will 2HKO even stuff that resists it, while U-Turn is an awesome move to scout with, and Rock Slide (which is better than Stone Edge due to the better Accuracy and basically same power because of Encourage) gives the infamous Rock/Earth coverage
- Last spot is between Earthquake and Superpower. Superpower lets you hit Tyranitar and Heatran just like Earthquake, but also smacks Skarmory and levitators like Flygon which would otherwise switch in freely, but comes with the price of lowering Attack.
- This set needs to watch out for revenge killers, as 95 base Speed isn't very much.
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: U-Turn
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Superpower / Earthquake
item: Choice Scarf
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
[set comments]
- This set differentiates itself from the Physical Attacker stat by boosting Darmanitans's mediocre speed to high levels.
- With a Choice Scarf Darmanitan loses some of its attacking prowess but becomes a great scout/revenge-killer
- Flare Blitz and Rock Slide still get a free 30% boost.
- Because this set switches in and out far more often than the Physical Attacker set, Rapid Spin is a good idea.
- Can be used on slow teams which need something to clean up in the end-game.
- if used early-game, beware throwing around Earthquakes or Superpowers without scouting as that can provide many opportunities for opponents to set up.
- Yawn, Encore, and Will-O-Wisp can be used as fillers on some sets, but Darmanitan doesn't have the defenses to play with them on a formal set.
- Fire Punch is useful as a filler if you hate Flare Blitz recoil, but it limits your coverage.
- Nitro Charge is boosted by Sheer Force and the secondary effect is removed, rendering it useless.
- Jolly can be used if you wish to outspeed max + Lucario and Suicune, but isn't very relevant in this metagame.
- Belly Drum will let it destroy after a boost, but Darmantian will get revenge killed or die before it manages to use it often.
- Rock Slide after an encourage boost has 98 base power to Stone Edge's 100, but Stone Edge's poor accuracy makes Rock Slide the best choice for most people.
- In terms of counters, Swampert, Kingdra, bulky Water Pokemon that can take boosted Flare Blitzes are your best options, especially ones with a recovery move.
- Common revenge-killers (such as Randorosu, Salamence, Garchomp) can switch in after a KO, but must beware an incredibly powerful Flare Blitz.
- Status is incredibly annoying to Darmanitan, slowing it down.
- Things that enjoy a lure to kill Bulky Waters and stuff that resists Fire like being with Darmanitan, such as Metagross.
- Ninetails is great as Sun boosts Flare Blitz power incredibly, letting it 2HKO things it usually wouldn't.
- Darmanitan gets Daruma Mode as its Dream World ability. It's a very interesting, although gimmick, ability, as it will transform Darmanitan into a completely different Pokemon when under 50% HP. This new Pokemon can abuse Special Attacks with ease, but the main problem is that usually Darmanitan will be hit by Super Effective moves that will knock it out, leaving no chance for Daruma Mode activation. In addition, Darmanitan is hit neutrally by all-but-two priority attack, and neither form has enough defenses to withstand them.
