http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/555.shtml
QC: 1/3 (Heysup), 2/3 (Snunch), 3/3 (PK Gaming)
[Overview]
- Outstanding 140 base Attack and very decent 95 base Speed
- Access to Sheer Force
- Amazing STAB in Flare Blitz
- Weak to Stealth Rock
- Great Choice user
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: U-Turn
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Superpower / Fire Punch
item: Choice Scarf
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- Boosts its decent Speed to skyhigh levels, being only outsped by base 100 speed Scarfers
- Flare Blitz is boosted by Sheer Force and packs a lot of power
- U-Turn for scouting and gaining momentum
- Earthquake hits opposing Fire- and Rock-types for super effective damage
- For last, Superpower lets you hit Chansey and Porygon2 very hard, while Fire Punch is a more reliable STAB move and it's normally used to clean up late game.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- Jolly to outspeed Timid Nidoking, Timid Rotom-H and Jolly Heracross, Adamant for greater power.
- Rapid Spin support. Donphan and Hitmontop are good partners
- Hazards support. Roserade and Donphan are good partners
- When using Darmanitan early game, try to avoid using Superpower / Earthquake due to being easily stopped by common immunities
- Rock Slide is also a viable option for the likes of Moltres, Zapdos and Honchkrow.
- Bulky Waters are good checks to Darmanitan, mainly Milotic, Slowbro, Suicune and Alomomola. For that reason, using a Grass-type on your team like Shaymin or Roserade is very helpful
- Sunny Day is very helpful. Sun Boosted Flare Blitz 2HKOs the entire tier with exception for Flash Fire users, all of them get taken out by super effective Rock Slide
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: U-turn
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Superpower / Fire Punch
item: Life Orb / Choice Band
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- Life Orb / Choice Band Sheer Force boosted Flare Blitz decimates everything that does not resist it
- U-Turn for scouting and gaining momentum
- Earthquake for Nidoking, Rock and Fire-types
- Superpower for Chansey and Porygon2 very hard, or Fire Punch as a more reliable STAB move which is commonly used to clean up late game.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- Life Orb to be able to switch moves, Choice Band for more power
- Jolly to make Darmanitan outspeed non Scarf variants of Nidoking, Heracross, Moltres, Roserade and Rotom-H, Adamant for ultimate power
- Rock Slide is also a viable option for the likes of Moltres, Zapdos and Honchkrow.
- Rapid Spin and hazard support, look above
- Needs help to take out Bulky Waters, look above
- Sunny Day, look above
[SET]
name: SubPunch
move1: Substitute
move2: Focus Punch
move3: Fire Punch
move4: Encore
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 212 HP / 120 Atk / 176 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- Base 140 Attack Focus Punch
- Fire Punch is STAB with no drawback and gets boosted by Sheer Force
- Encore lets you set up Substitutes more easily and also stops sweeps. It also helps Darmanitan to set up on walls
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- EV spread lets Darmanitan outspeed Jolly Heracross and Timid Nidoking while letting you set up 101 HP Substitutes
- Leftovers to let Darmanitan set up as more Substitutes as possible
- Hazards and Rapid Spin, look above
- Toxic Spikes are a big help to take out Chandelure and Slowbro
- Darmanitan still needs to be wary of those Water types, even though it can hit them harder with Focus Punch. Grass-types like Roserade and Shaymin are helpful
- Rock Slide hits Chandelure, Moltres, Honchkrow and Zapdos for super effective damage whereas Earthquake hits Chandelure as well, Nidoking and Rhyperior without having to rely on Focus Punch.
- When using Encore, you are totally walled by Chandelure, so you might consider run a counter or a proper check to it. Houndoom resists one STAB and is immune to the other, while also resisting the coverage move Energy Ball to take on Water-types and it can Pursuit trap Chandelure or just defeat it with Dark Pulse and Sucker Punch
[Other Options]
- Yawn, Taunt, and Will-O-Wisp
- Fire Punch over Flare Blitz if you really hate the recoil
- Belly Drum
- Zen Mode, although being very gimmicky, might work with Darmanitan's relatively wide movepool on the Special side
[Checks and Counters]
- Slowbro is Darmanitan's #1 counter, taking only about 50% from super effective Adamant Choice Banded U-Turn, has access to recovery and Regeneration ability.
- Suicune and Alomomola also take Darmanitan's hits very well the former one only having recovery in the form of Rest though.
- Rhyperior can also take Superpower / Earthquake very decently thanks to Solid Rock and strike back with a super effective move like Earthquake
- Carracosta 4x resists Darmanitan's STAB and has Solid Rock ability meaning that both Earthquake and Superpower will not deal that much damage, enabling Carracosta to possibly set up a Shell Smash or just revenge kill Darmanitan with Aqua Jet
- Overall, due to Darmanitan's massive power, the best way to take it down is by revenge killing it. Feraligatr and Azumarill revenge kill Darmanitan with Aqua Jet and Scarf Flygon with Earthquake
