QC: YABO / dodmen / Pearl
GP: Recreant & Snobalt / P Squared
[OVERVIEW]
Diancie's typing is unique and backed up by incredible defenses, allowing it to take hits from prominent threats in the tier such as Mega Absol, Hydreigon, and Entei. It also has decent offensive stats and coverage that allow it to not be complete setup bait to most Pokemon, as well as a lot of tools to use to work as an effective Trick Room setter. Diancie's STAB Diamond Storm and access to Stealth Rock give it offensive pressure against common Defoggers. On the downside, some Pokemon still take advantage of it, like Suicune and Feraligatr. Diancie also has low Speed and no priority, allowing it to get picked off quite easily by the likes of Roserade, Mega Sceptile, and Mega Blastoise. Its typing, while unique and useful, leaves it with many weaknesses to Pokemon like Nidoqueen and Roserade, as well as a glaring 4x weakness to Steel-type attacks.
[SET]
name: Offensive Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Explosion / Stealth Rock
move 3: Moonblast
move 4: Diamond Storm
item: Life Orb
ability: Clear Body
nature: Quiet / Brave
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Trick Room allows Diancie and slower teammates to get the edge against faster Pokemon. Stealth Rock gives Diancie another purpose other than Trick Room and gives the team a Stealth Rock setter, allowing it to break Focus Sash and Sturdy and get chip damage in. Explosion allows Diancie to KO itself while doing massive damage to the foe, letting teammates utilize the maximum number of Trick Room turns. Moonblast is a very spammable STAB move that allows Diancie to hit Dark-types such as Mega Absol and Hydreigon. Diamond Storm is Diancie's highest-damaging move and hits Flying-types such as Mandibuzz and Zapdos as well as specially defensive Pokemon such as Florges and Hoopa.
Set Details
========
Life Orb boosts the power of all of Diancie's attacks. Clear Body is Diancie's only ability, but it allows it to not get harmed by random defense drops or Intimidate. A Brave nature boosts the power of Diamond Storm and Explosion and lowers Diancie's Speed, meaning it outspeeds neutral-natured Slowking in Trick Room. Maximum Attack and Special Attack investment allows Diancie to hit as hard as possible. Running 0 Speed IVs makes Diancie as slow as possible, allowing it to outspeed most offensive threats in Trick Room. Mental Herb protects Diancie from Taunt once so it can always set up Trick Room. 252 EVs can be taken from either Special Attack or Attack and added in HP to allow Diancie to take hits better.
Usage Tips
========
Diancie is usually played as a lead for Trick Room teams unless the opponent has a suicide lead, Empoleon, or Tentacruel. Diancie should optimize the order of its moves by using Stealth Rock first and then Trick Room; this way you don't waste a turn of Trick Room. If Diancie cannot take two hits from the opposing Pokemon, it can either switch out or set up Trick Room and use Explosion. Diamond Storm should only be used if it hits the opposing Pokemon super effectively, unless that Pokemon is faster and can OHKO Diancie. Opposing Taunt leads are an exception to not using Diamond Storm; for example, if Diancie is facing Azelf, using Diamond Storm prevents it from wasting a turn if Azelf uses Taunt.
Team Options
========
The main reason to use this set is to support slower, hard-hitting Pokemon such as Pangoro, Crawdaunt, Dragalge, and Machamp. Mega Camerupt and other slow Fire-types help to remove Steel-types that trouble Diancie, while Crawdaunt can deal with Ground-types like Nidoking and Mamoswine. Diancie can apply offensive pressure once it activates Trick Room, but it does like to have Pokemon that back it up. Ground- and Fire-types deal with Diancie's Steel weakness quite well, and the latter can also deal with Grass-types that threaten Diancie. Diancie also likes fellow Trick Room setters such as Porygon2, Cresselia, and Aromatisse to help keep Trick Room up. Bronzong can complement Diancie a lot, resisting Grass- and Steel-type attacks while also being immune to Ground-type attacks thanks to Levitate. Diancie can cover Bronzong's Dark and Fire weaknesses extremely well in return.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Heal Bell
move 3: Diamond Storm
move 4: Moonblast
item: Leftovers
ability: Clear Body
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Stealth Rock allows for chip damage on opposing Pokemon. Heal Bell provides status removal support for Diancie and its team. Heal Bell also allows Diancie to deal with Entei's Sacred Fire better by removing potential burns. Diamond Storm is useful for pressuring Flying-type Defoggers such as Zapdos, Crobat, and Mandibuzz. Moonblast lets Diancie hit Dark-types such as Mega Absol and Hydreigon, as well as Dragon-types and Fighting-types.
Set Details
========
Leftovers is Diancie's only form of recovery and is needed in order to take hits. Maximum HP and Defense investment allows Diancie to take on a lot of physical threats such as Entei and Toxicroak. The EVs can be shifted around to benefit your team better. For example, you can add more Special Defense investment if you already have a bulky Water-type to take on Fire-types. A Relaxed nature boosts Diancie's Defense and doesn't take away from any of its other important stats.
Usage Tips
========
Keeping Diancie healthy so it can check what's needed is really important. This requires keeping entry hazards off the field and making sure that if it does receive damage, it is getting healed back up with Wish from teammates. In most situations, Diancie can switch into Defoggers such as Zapdos and Mandibuzz and continue to apply pressure with Diamond Storm or reset Stealth Rock. If Diancie is not needed for any real important reason later in the match, it can be sent out to try to dish some damage against foes before it goes down. Be careful to not let your opponent take advantage of Diancie, though, as there are some Pokemon that can use that opportunity to set up, like Doublade and Reuniclus.
Team Options
========
Diancie heavily appreciates Wish support due to its lack of reliable recovery. Pokemon that can provide this are Alomomola and Blissey. Diancie's fits well on defensive teams because it can compress many roles. To put it simply, if you need a defensive Fairy-type, a Stealth Rock setter, a Heal Bell cleric, and a Fire-resistant Pokemon all in one, Diancie can fit your team very well. Outside of that, it faces competition from Florges and Whimsicott as a supportive Fairy-type. Diancie also requires Pokemon that take on Steel- and Ground-types, such as Swampert and Chesnaught. It struggles to do anything against the likes of Tentacruel and Empoleon, so having a teammate that can take on both of these Pokemon is excellent. Toxicroak isn't scared of anything they can throw out, Electric-types like Zapdos and Heliolisk can usually scare them off or get a KO, and strong Ground-types (preferably Ground-types that aren't weak to Scald) can also force both of these Pokemon out.
[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Diamond Storm
move 4: Earth Power / Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Clear Body
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Stealth Rock makes Diancie a nice offensive entry hazard setter and can also help it get certain KOs. Moonblast is Diancie's best special STAB move that hits Fighting-, Dark-, and Dragon-types, outright OHKOing Hydreigon. Diamond Storm helps to hit Flying-, Fire-, and Ice-types such as Salamence, Rotom-H, and Froslass. Earth Power is a nice alternative to hit Steel-types that try to switch in, such as Doublade and Aggron, and Fire-types if Diancie gets burned.
Set Details
========
Leftovers is Diancie's only form of recovery outside of Rest and helps with its longevity. Clear Body is Diancie's only ability, but it allows it to not lose any offensive power from Intimidate or random stat drops. 252 HP EVs allow Diancie to take attacks better, which is very important, as Diancie doesn't have reliable recovery. 252 Special Attack EVs in tandem with a Quiet nature allow Diancie to OHKO non-defensive variants of Salamence as well as increase its overall damage output. A Quiet nature is used because Diancie doesn't want to cut away from its bulk or make Diamond Storm weaker, and it already has mediocre Speed anyways.
Usage Tips
========
For the most part, Diancie doesn't have a lot of offensive presence against anything that it doesn't hit super effectively. Don't give up free turns to Pokemon Diancie cannot do too much damage to such as Snorlax and Suicune, as it becomes setup fodder. Earth Power should be used to catch incoming Steel-type switch-ins. Although Diancie can OHKO Salamence, it must be wary of the occasional Iron Tail variants. It should also be wary of Life Orb and Earthquake variants if weakened. Diancie can struggle to find switch in opportunities on occasion, but its best opportunities are on Choice-locked Pokemon such as Hydreigon and Darmanitan.
Team Options
========
Pokemon that have good matchups against Steel-types like Swampert, Cobalion, and Krookodile aid against Diancie's biggest bane. Diancie is very susceptible to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, so having good entry hazard control is key to its longevity. Diancie can handle Fire-types pretty solidly, so teammates such as Mega Abomasnow and Shaymin can come in more safely, and in return, they can remove Water-types that threaten Diancie. Fire-types such as Arcanine and Entei help to remove Grass-types that can punish Diancie. Since Diancie has no recovery outside of Leftovers, which can be removed with Knock Off, Wish support from Pokemon like Alomomola and Blissey can help out. Diancie helps against opposing Dragon-types, so the likes of Salamence, Mega Sceptile, and Kyurem can take advantage of that. Diancie fits best onto bulky offensive teams due to its ability to check and counter a plethora of things. Cleric support helps Diancie, as it doesn't possess reliable recovery and tends to not carry Heal Bell, meaning it gets crippled by status. Pokemon such as Alomomola and Umbreon can perform this role.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Calm Mind and Rest + Sleep Talk can be used, but such a set competes with Florges, which has a less exploitable weakness. However, Diancie does have the perk of being able to take on Entei and Crobat better. A dual screens set can work but is more effectively pulled off by other Pokemon such as Cresselia and Azelf. Rock Polish can be used to attempt a sweep; however, Diancie still has a rather bad Speed tier and only decent attack power, meaning it's not enough to be getting the KOs it would need. A more physically inclined set running Custap Berry with Explosion rather than Earth Power or Protect works on offensive teams. Magnet Rise can be used to avoid Ground-type attacks such as Earthquake and Earth Power; however, Diancie is too slow to pull this trick off effectively. Sharpen can be used to boost the power of Diamond Storm, but with the plentiful Steel-types in the tier, this becomes useless most of the time. Weakness Policy can be used to take advantage of Diancie's high defenses; however, it requires Diancie to take a super effective hit and is only worth using on Trick Room sets due to its low Speed.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Steel-types**: Steel-types often give Diancie the most trouble because of the obvious 4x weakness. They resist all of Diancie's STAB attacks and take little damage from Explosion. The only thing they have to be wary of is Earth Power, which will most likely not OHKO them, and Pokemon threatening Diancie will most likely be faster. Pokemon such as Forretress and Mega Aggron have a much easier time switching into Diancie than Pokemon such as Cobalion and Doublade, which get crippled quite easily.
**Water-types**: Water-types can scare Diancie in a multitude of ways. Offensive Pokemon such as Mega Sharpedo and Feraligatr threaten an OHKO, while some Pokemon like Mega Swampert and Suicune can use it to set up Rain Dance and Calm Mind, respectively.
**Residual Damage**: As Diancie lacks any form of recovery, status effects and entry hazards can wear it down with ease. Toxic Spikes is a real thorn in its side, as it puts a timer on how long Diancie can stay in.
GP: Recreant & Snobalt / P Squared
[OVERVIEW]
Diancie's typing is unique and backed up by incredible defenses, allowing it to take hits from prominent threats in the tier such as Mega Absol, Hydreigon, and Entei. It also has decent offensive stats and coverage that allow it to not be complete setup bait to most Pokemon, as well as a lot of tools to use to work as an effective Trick Room setter. Diancie's STAB Diamond Storm and access to Stealth Rock give it offensive pressure against common Defoggers. On the downside, some Pokemon still take advantage of it, like Suicune and Feraligatr. Diancie also has low Speed and no priority, allowing it to get picked off quite easily by the likes of Roserade, Mega Sceptile, and Mega Blastoise. Its typing, while unique and useful, leaves it with many weaknesses to Pokemon like Nidoqueen and Roserade, as well as a glaring 4x weakness to Steel-type attacks.
[SET]
name: Offensive Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Explosion / Stealth Rock
move 3: Moonblast
move 4: Diamond Storm
item: Life Orb
ability: Clear Body
nature: Quiet / Brave
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Trick Room allows Diancie and slower teammates to get the edge against faster Pokemon. Stealth Rock gives Diancie another purpose other than Trick Room and gives the team a Stealth Rock setter, allowing it to break Focus Sash and Sturdy and get chip damage in. Explosion allows Diancie to KO itself while doing massive damage to the foe, letting teammates utilize the maximum number of Trick Room turns. Moonblast is a very spammable STAB move that allows Diancie to hit Dark-types such as Mega Absol and Hydreigon. Diamond Storm is Diancie's highest-damaging move and hits Flying-types such as Mandibuzz and Zapdos as well as specially defensive Pokemon such as Florges and Hoopa.
Set Details
========
Life Orb boosts the power of all of Diancie's attacks. Clear Body is Diancie's only ability, but it allows it to not get harmed by random defense drops or Intimidate. A Brave nature boosts the power of Diamond Storm and Explosion and lowers Diancie's Speed, meaning it outspeeds neutral-natured Slowking in Trick Room. Maximum Attack and Special Attack investment allows Diancie to hit as hard as possible. Running 0 Speed IVs makes Diancie as slow as possible, allowing it to outspeed most offensive threats in Trick Room. Mental Herb protects Diancie from Taunt once so it can always set up Trick Room. 252 EVs can be taken from either Special Attack or Attack and added in HP to allow Diancie to take hits better.
Usage Tips
========
Diancie is usually played as a lead for Trick Room teams unless the opponent has a suicide lead, Empoleon, or Tentacruel. Diancie should optimize the order of its moves by using Stealth Rock first and then Trick Room; this way you don't waste a turn of Trick Room. If Diancie cannot take two hits from the opposing Pokemon, it can either switch out or set up Trick Room and use Explosion. Diamond Storm should only be used if it hits the opposing Pokemon super effectively, unless that Pokemon is faster and can OHKO Diancie. Opposing Taunt leads are an exception to not using Diamond Storm; for example, if Diancie is facing Azelf, using Diamond Storm prevents it from wasting a turn if Azelf uses Taunt.
Team Options
========
The main reason to use this set is to support slower, hard-hitting Pokemon such as Pangoro, Crawdaunt, Dragalge, and Machamp. Mega Camerupt and other slow Fire-types help to remove Steel-types that trouble Diancie, while Crawdaunt can deal with Ground-types like Nidoking and Mamoswine. Diancie can apply offensive pressure once it activates Trick Room, but it does like to have Pokemon that back it up. Ground- and Fire-types deal with Diancie's Steel weakness quite well, and the latter can also deal with Grass-types that threaten Diancie. Diancie also likes fellow Trick Room setters such as Porygon2, Cresselia, and Aromatisse to help keep Trick Room up. Bronzong can complement Diancie a lot, resisting Grass- and Steel-type attacks while also being immune to Ground-type attacks thanks to Levitate. Diancie can cover Bronzong's Dark and Fire weaknesses extremely well in return.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Heal Bell
move 3: Diamond Storm
move 4: Moonblast
item: Leftovers
ability: Clear Body
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Stealth Rock allows for chip damage on opposing Pokemon. Heal Bell provides status removal support for Diancie and its team. Heal Bell also allows Diancie to deal with Entei's Sacred Fire better by removing potential burns. Diamond Storm is useful for pressuring Flying-type Defoggers such as Zapdos, Crobat, and Mandibuzz. Moonblast lets Diancie hit Dark-types such as Mega Absol and Hydreigon, as well as Dragon-types and Fighting-types.
Set Details
========
Leftovers is Diancie's only form of recovery and is needed in order to take hits. Maximum HP and Defense investment allows Diancie to take on a lot of physical threats such as Entei and Toxicroak. The EVs can be shifted around to benefit your team better. For example, you can add more Special Defense investment if you already have a bulky Water-type to take on Fire-types. A Relaxed nature boosts Diancie's Defense and doesn't take away from any of its other important stats.
Usage Tips
========
Keeping Diancie healthy so it can check what's needed is really important. This requires keeping entry hazards off the field and making sure that if it does receive damage, it is getting healed back up with Wish from teammates. In most situations, Diancie can switch into Defoggers such as Zapdos and Mandibuzz and continue to apply pressure with Diamond Storm or reset Stealth Rock. If Diancie is not needed for any real important reason later in the match, it can be sent out to try to dish some damage against foes before it goes down. Be careful to not let your opponent take advantage of Diancie, though, as there are some Pokemon that can use that opportunity to set up, like Doublade and Reuniclus.
Team Options
========
Diancie heavily appreciates Wish support due to its lack of reliable recovery. Pokemon that can provide this are Alomomola and Blissey. Diancie's fits well on defensive teams because it can compress many roles. To put it simply, if you need a defensive Fairy-type, a Stealth Rock setter, a Heal Bell cleric, and a Fire-resistant Pokemon all in one, Diancie can fit your team very well. Outside of that, it faces competition from Florges and Whimsicott as a supportive Fairy-type. Diancie also requires Pokemon that take on Steel- and Ground-types, such as Swampert and Chesnaught. It struggles to do anything against the likes of Tentacruel and Empoleon, so having a teammate that can take on both of these Pokemon is excellent. Toxicroak isn't scared of anything they can throw out, Electric-types like Zapdos and Heliolisk can usually scare them off or get a KO, and strong Ground-types (preferably Ground-types that aren't weak to Scald) can also force both of these Pokemon out.
[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Diamond Storm
move 4: Earth Power / Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Clear Body
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Stealth Rock makes Diancie a nice offensive entry hazard setter and can also help it get certain KOs. Moonblast is Diancie's best special STAB move that hits Fighting-, Dark-, and Dragon-types, outright OHKOing Hydreigon. Diamond Storm helps to hit Flying-, Fire-, and Ice-types such as Salamence, Rotom-H, and Froslass. Earth Power is a nice alternative to hit Steel-types that try to switch in, such as Doublade and Aggron, and Fire-types if Diancie gets burned.
Set Details
========
Leftovers is Diancie's only form of recovery outside of Rest and helps with its longevity. Clear Body is Diancie's only ability, but it allows it to not lose any offensive power from Intimidate or random stat drops. 252 HP EVs allow Diancie to take attacks better, which is very important, as Diancie doesn't have reliable recovery. 252 Special Attack EVs in tandem with a Quiet nature allow Diancie to OHKO non-defensive variants of Salamence as well as increase its overall damage output. A Quiet nature is used because Diancie doesn't want to cut away from its bulk or make Diamond Storm weaker, and it already has mediocre Speed anyways.
Usage Tips
========
For the most part, Diancie doesn't have a lot of offensive presence against anything that it doesn't hit super effectively. Don't give up free turns to Pokemon Diancie cannot do too much damage to such as Snorlax and Suicune, as it becomes setup fodder. Earth Power should be used to catch incoming Steel-type switch-ins. Although Diancie can OHKO Salamence, it must be wary of the occasional Iron Tail variants. It should also be wary of Life Orb and Earthquake variants if weakened. Diancie can struggle to find switch in opportunities on occasion, but its best opportunities are on Choice-locked Pokemon such as Hydreigon and Darmanitan.
Team Options
========
Pokemon that have good matchups against Steel-types like Swampert, Cobalion, and Krookodile aid against Diancie's biggest bane. Diancie is very susceptible to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, so having good entry hazard control is key to its longevity. Diancie can handle Fire-types pretty solidly, so teammates such as Mega Abomasnow and Shaymin can come in more safely, and in return, they can remove Water-types that threaten Diancie. Fire-types such as Arcanine and Entei help to remove Grass-types that can punish Diancie. Since Diancie has no recovery outside of Leftovers, which can be removed with Knock Off, Wish support from Pokemon like Alomomola and Blissey can help out. Diancie helps against opposing Dragon-types, so the likes of Salamence, Mega Sceptile, and Kyurem can take advantage of that. Diancie fits best onto bulky offensive teams due to its ability to check and counter a plethora of things. Cleric support helps Diancie, as it doesn't possess reliable recovery and tends to not carry Heal Bell, meaning it gets crippled by status. Pokemon such as Alomomola and Umbreon can perform this role.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Calm Mind and Rest + Sleep Talk can be used, but such a set competes with Florges, which has a less exploitable weakness. However, Diancie does have the perk of being able to take on Entei and Crobat better. A dual screens set can work but is more effectively pulled off by other Pokemon such as Cresselia and Azelf. Rock Polish can be used to attempt a sweep; however, Diancie still has a rather bad Speed tier and only decent attack power, meaning it's not enough to be getting the KOs it would need. A more physically inclined set running Custap Berry with Explosion rather than Earth Power or Protect works on offensive teams. Magnet Rise can be used to avoid Ground-type attacks such as Earthquake and Earth Power; however, Diancie is too slow to pull this trick off effectively. Sharpen can be used to boost the power of Diamond Storm, but with the plentiful Steel-types in the tier, this becomes useless most of the time. Weakness Policy can be used to take advantage of Diancie's high defenses; however, it requires Diancie to take a super effective hit and is only worth using on Trick Room sets due to its low Speed.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Steel-types**: Steel-types often give Diancie the most trouble because of the obvious 4x weakness. They resist all of Diancie's STAB attacks and take little damage from Explosion. The only thing they have to be wary of is Earth Power, which will most likely not OHKO them, and Pokemon threatening Diancie will most likely be faster. Pokemon such as Forretress and Mega Aggron have a much easier time switching into Diancie than Pokemon such as Cobalion and Doublade, which get crippled quite easily.
**Water-types**: Water-types can scare Diancie in a multitude of ways. Offensive Pokemon such as Mega Sharpedo and Feraligatr threaten an OHKO, while some Pokemon like Mega Swampert and Suicune can use it to set up Rain Dance and Calm Mind, respectively.
**Residual Damage**: As Diancie lacks any form of recovery, status effects and entry hazards can wear it down with ease. Toxic Spikes is a real thorn in its side, as it puts a timer on how long Diancie can stay in.
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