Pokémon Diggersby (Revamp)

[Guidorealmsmc]

Approved by AM
Old thread by Upstart
Old thread found here
Smogon Dex Entry found here

Diggersby #660

Base Stats: 85/56/77/50/77/78


Abilities
Cheek Pouch

Increases HP when this Pokemon consumes a berry.

Pickup

If the wielder has no held item, it gets the last item consumed at the end of the turn. Adds a chance of finding an item after each battle.

Huge power

Boosts the pokemon's attack stat

Useful Moves
Stab in Bold
Return
Earthquake
Quick Attack
Swords Dance
Knock off
Fire punch
U-turn
Ice punch
Agility
Spikes
Wild charge

General Analysis​

Diggersby is a wall breaker that didn't get a lot of attention in XY and that was because it lacked the tools it needed to do so. This all changes now with oras move tutors diggersby now has fire punch and knock off which now give it tools to hit gengar which is immune to it's stabs and can kill it with focus blast or burn it with will-o-wisp and with fire punch it now can lay hurt on ferrothron,skarmory,mega scizor all of which could comfortably take stab moves. However the meta is a bit unkind to diggersby especially since priority is everywhere and diggersby doesn't have the bulk to stomach it. Also more quick attack resists were introduced such as mega diancie and mega gross which both outspeed and ohko. The fact most base 100 speed walls run creep for 70s isn't helping it either and the speed creep wasn't nice. But diggersby does very well against bulkier teams and it's power does it to retain it's niche as a wallbreaker.

Good movesets
All out attacker
Diggersby @ Life orb
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
- Fire Punch/Knock off/Ice Punch
​

This is probably the best set for diggersby in the meta as it allows it to dismantle defensive cores easier. Return is diggersby's best stab move that has good neutral coverage against a good number of threats. Earthquake provides a secondary stab and has good neutral and super effective coverage as it hits most normal resists hard and hurts ghosts not named gengar or gourgeist. Quick attack is to help migitate diggersby's iffy speed tier and it's match up against offense,plus priority is always nice to have. Fire punch is preferred to 2hko skarmory after rocks and always ohko mega scizor and ferrothorn but knock off's utility in removing items can catch gliscor switch ins and it removes leftovers from walls which is always nice, and Ice punch hits the numerous x4 weak mons. Life orb is ti help improve wall breaking capabilities and a standard 252/252 spread is used,jolly is preferred to outrun things that creep jolly bisharp but adamant is also viable if you are not worried about those

Swords Dance
Diggersby @ Life Orb/Lum berry/Silk Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
​

Swords dance trades coverage for the ability to boost diggersby's high attack to insane levels. So swords dance is used to help prepare for a sweep or wall breaking for other sweepers. Return is used as it is a very strong and reliable stab move. Quick attack helps pick off faster targets not resistant to it. Earthquake is another strong stab move that hurts what return isn't able to. Life orb is used again to improve wall breaking abilities but lum berry is helpful to dodge statuses,silk scarf provides a power buff to return and quick attack and doesn't give life orb damage letting you bluff scarf. The same spread and natures are used from the all out attacker set.

Diggersby @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Return
- Knock Off/Wild charge
- U-turn​

This set plays the role of a revenge killer and a momentum grabber. Earthquake and return are the stab moves,while knock off removes items and cripples check s. U-turn grabs momentum and is a fail safe option. This set utilitizes the other set's ev spreads but uses choice scarf to revrnge kill and grab momentum in a similar vein to scarf landoge.

Other options

Agility is an all right cleaner and helps migitate it's matchup against offense.
Spikes is an interesting choice but diggersby has better things to do then set up spikes.
Double dance with agility and swords dance gives better flexibility but it's hard to pull of without screens.

What the above sets look like

Diggersby @ Life orb/Silk scarf/Lum berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Return
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch/Knock off/Fire punch
Diggersby @ Life orb/Silk Scarf/Lum berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake​

Diggersby @ Focus Sash

Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spike
- Endeavor
- Earthquake
- Quick attack​

Diggersby @ Life orb
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spike
- Return
- Earthquake
- Ice punch/fire punch/knock off
.

Discussion topics:
The best diggersby set in the meta.
What trends help or hurt diggersby?
Sets that are good but not on the OP.
Team options for it.
It's advantages over other offensive grounds.




​

 

[pika pal]

I see where some of the Metagame changes hurt Diggersby, but why does Base 100 creeping hurt Diggersby particularly bad? Diggersby is far enough above Base 70 that creeping him would take a decent amount more investment. I could understand the shift to Adamant, but Diggersby himself doesn't seem to be getting creeped more.

I'd say Fire Punch is the preferred Coverage option. It still hits Gengar hard enough on the switch, so avoiding Skarmory walling is probably more important. Diggersby is gonna have to catch Gengar on the switch because of his low speed, and Fire Punch comes so close to a KO anyway that it's probably better to just pull it with hazards/LO recoil than to miss out on Skarmory.

252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 538-634 (207.7 - 244.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Fire Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 208-246 (80.3 - 94.9%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 101-120 (30.2 - 35.9%) -- 40.8% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 159-187 (47.6 - 55.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

I do think Diggersby is hurt a bit by the rise in more bulky walls like Hippowdon, Defensive Lando-T and Mega Slowbro (Balance) do hurt Diggersby with Balance/Stall teams having more options to deal with him. Offense in general is also giving him more trouble since there's more Pokemon on it that, if they can't stomach a STAB, just outspeed him and survive Quick Attack to KO him. He also can't force switches agains Offense like he used to, which makes it harder to nail those problematic Pokemon.
252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 144+ Def Hippowdon: 196-231 (46.6 - 55%) -- 68% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
-1 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-T: 146-173 (38.2 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Slowbro: 133-156 (33.7 - 39.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

 

[BlueLobster]

Diggersby is a very good user of CB and CS, with banded Diggersby having a huge amount of power and Return having good neutral coverage, both resists hit SE by EQ. A scarf helps Diggersby do damage to balanced/offensive teams, allowing it to revenge faster threats like MMeta without being KOed like it normally would. Choiced Diggersby normally utilizes U-Turn, which is the main difference from LO variants, dropping Quick Attack if scarf, where banded chooses if more coverage or priority is more beneficial to the team.

 

[Guidorealmsmc]

Diggersby is a very good user of CB and CS, with banded Diggersby having a huge amount of power and Return having good neutral coverage, both resists hit SE by EQ. A scarf helps Diggersby do damage to balanced/offensive teams, allowing it to revenge faster threats like MMeta without being KOed like it normally would. Choiced Diggersby normally utilizes U-Turn, which is the main difference from LO variants, dropping Quick Attack if scarf, where banded chooses if more coverage or priority is more beneficial to the team.

Adding scarf but what kills does band get life orb can't.

 

[pika pal]

Diggersby is a very good user of CB and CS, with banded Diggersby having a huge amount of power and Return having good neutral coverage, both resists hit SE by EQ. A scarf helps Diggersby do damage to balanced/offensive teams, allowing it to revenge faster threats like MMeta without being KOed like it normally would. Choiced Diggersby normally utilizes U-Turn, which is the main difference from LO variants, dropping Quick Attack if scarf, where banded chooses if more coverage or priority is more beneficial to the team.

I take a bit of an issue with Choice Band on Diggersby because of how exploitable his STABs are if he's locked in. Scarf helps to kill things that stay in because they expect to go first like Mega Gross for example. Band doesn't afford quite the amount of power over LO to afford locking Diggersby into his STABs, both of which have immunities usable by some very dangerous Pokemon. LO works well for Diggersby because while some bulky mons have to take a 2HKO, switching isn't safe because if they go to Talonflame expecting EQ, they could lose the Bird to Return. If Diggersby is Choiced, he becomes an easy switch and set-up bait for the opponents.

 

[Anduril]

Maybe put Wild Charge in Notable Moves, as it allows Diggersby to hit Gengar and Skarmory at the same time. Not sure on this though, but is was used a lot in XY. Also I'd put Scarf in the sets as well.

 

[Guidorealmsmc]

Fire punch hits skarm and gar hard enough while targeting scizor and ferrothorn. Also should o make an agility set in the op? I want opinions on it before i add it

 

[Celticpride]

Agility is passable. Not anything great, you might just want to mention it in an other options section.

 

[MaestroDeSWAG]

I actually like the coverage that knock off provides. It doesn't do that much to Skarm, but it also knocks off shed shell, allowing you to trap it w/ Magnezone, then Skarm dies. I wouldn't say its always the better choice, but it has its uses

 

[pika pal]

I actually like the coverage that knock off provides. It doesn't do that much to Skarm, but it also knocks off shed shell, allowing you to trap it w/ Magnezone, then Skarm dies. I wouldn't say its always the better choice, but it has its uses

Skarmory might be a poor example for your point, because most mons that want Magnezone to trap for them are walled by Skarmory anyway, which is not the case when Diggersby can 2HKO Skarmory itself and will outspeed.

 

[MaestroDeSWAG]

Skarmory might be a poor example for your point, because most mons that want Magnezone to trap for them are walled by Skarmory anyway, which is not the case when Diggersby can 2HKO Skarmory itself and will outspeed.

I know, my point is, Skarm was brought up as a reason to use fire punch, and this is just another way around Skarm.

 

[pika pal]

I know, my point is, Skarm was brought up as a reason to use fire punch, and this is just another way around Skarm.

Fire Punch has a number of other targets for Diggersby, notably Ferrothorn. The difference is that Diggersby can still deal with Gengar about as effectively if he picks Fire Punch, but he can't deal with Skarmory or Ferro as effectively (on his own) if he runs Knock Off. Considering the decent neutral coverage, Diggersby's coverage move, should he run one, is going to be decided based on very specific targets, and I feel like a Wallbreaker being able to get past the premier Physical walls is a more valuable benefit for the coverage than Knock Off to do larger (but inconsequential) damage to a balance breaker/sweeper.

 

[firehusky]

I still think Wild Charge needs a mention under notable moves.
On Jolly sets, it nets the guaranteed 2HKO on Skarmory without SR (Fire Punch only has like a 1.2% chance to 2HKO), and against Gengar, it has a guaranteed OHKO with SR up, and a 25% chance without SR. Fire Punch is only a 2HKO on Gengar, and this is important considering that Gengar is immune to Quick Attack, and can neuter Diggersby with Will-O-Wisp, or take it out with Focus Blast.

edit: Also maybe Spikes? Could be pretty cool to come in on something you threaten like Heatran and then get off a layer of spikes.

 

[Celticpride]

I still think Wild Charge needs a mention under notable moves.
On Jolly sets, it nets the guaranteed 2HKO on Skarmory without SR (Fire Punch only has like a 1.2% chance to 2HKO), and against Gengar, it has a guaranteed OHKO with SR up, and a 25% chance without SR. Fire Punch is only a 2HKO on Gengar, and this is important considering that Gengar is immune to Quick Attack, and can neuter Diggersby with Will-O-Wisp, or take it out with Focus Blast.

I'm generally not too keen on running recoil moves with Life Orb, especially on things that lack recovery. That just speeds up the bleeding out process. Jolly is frankly a bad option on Diggers. It is a wallbreaker with priority, it doesn't need speed. Especially when you have Huge Power as an ability. The small 10% nature increase really adds up at +2, which is really +4 with Huge Power.

 

[firehusky]

For all of his sets, he pretty much has Jolly slashed first, so I was assuming that Jolly is the best option on Diggersby. If Adamant is the better option, then don't add Wild Charge by all means.

 

[Guidorealmsmc]

Jolly is slashed first for all the things that speed creep jolly bisharp. With adamant they outspeed you hence why i slashed jolly first.

 

[Guidorealmsmc]

I bolded huge power as it is the only ability you should use.

 

[Guidorealmsmc]

i understand, but you underlined it as well which makes it confusing considering its right by a title. i'm nitpicking of course, but it's just kinda weird

Fixed this. Also I added what teammates go well with it if in the discussion topics

 

[Yamborski]

I'm generally not too keen on running recoil moves with Life Orb, especially on things that lack recovery. That just speeds up the bleeding out process. Jolly is frankly a bad option on Diggers. It is a wallbreaker with priority, it doesn't need speed. Especially when you have Huge Power as an ability. The small 10% nature increase really adds up at +2, which is really +4 with Huge Power.

Wait what? I don't think having recoil on a coverage move is a huge deal on something with as much bulk as Starmie. Being able to break Skarmory easier, OHKO Gengar, and break through Gyarados / Suicune / Slowbro in one move is pretty useful. It's a coverage move so it isn't going to be spamming it every turn. Not like Diggersby has much longevity anyway lol.

Also Adamant is 10% boost regardless of if it is at +2, +6 or whatever, Huge Power or not. While Huge Power and stat boosts amplify it they are all multiplicative, so regardless it stays as a 10% boost. The question is more if you want a bit more speed or power.

 

[Celticpride]

Also Adamant is 10% boost regardless of if it is at +2, +6 or whatever, Huge Power or not. While Huge Power and stat boosts amplify it they are all multiplicative, so regardless it stays as a 10% boost. The question is more if you want a bit more speed or power.

I meant in terms of actual, real stat points. The difference is 21 Attack points iirc, and at +2 with Huge Power that becomes an 84 point difference. That can be significant with regards to marginal KOs or 2HKOs.

 

[pika pal]

Wait what? I don't think having recoil on a coverage move is a huge deal on something with as much bulk as Starmie. Being able to break Skarmory easier, OHKO Gengar, and break through Gyarados / Suicune / Slowbro in one move is pretty useful. It's a coverage move so it isn't going to be spamming it every turn. Not like Diggersby has much longevity anyway lol.

Even if Diggersby isn't getting hit, that recoil cuts into how many LO turns he has available. Wild Charge's recoil can cost him 1 or 2 turns of LO recoil, which could very well break a match if he needs to 2HKO an important wall.

 

[Yamborski]

I meant in terms of actual, real stat points. The difference is 21 Attack points iirc, and at +2 with Huge Power that becomes an 84 point difference. That can be significant with regards to marginal KOs or 2HKOs.

Regardless of +0 without Huge Power or +2 with Huge Power the boost is the same, 10%. Actual stat differences don't matter compared to the total damage output. For example...

252 Atk Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 97-115 (28.4 - 33.7%)
252+ Atk Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 106-126 (31 - 36.9%)

252 Atk Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 193-228 (56.5 - 66.8%)
252+ Atk Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 211-250 (61.8 - 73.3%)

+2 252 Atk Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 384-453 (112.6 - 132.8%)
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 423-498 (124 - 146%)

In other words each set does 10% more with Adamant than it would with Jolly. Huge Power and +2 just gives it a x2 multiplier each time. The only time Adamant gives you bonus points is with EVs. For example EVs give you +63 in a stat with 252 but with Adamant that amount gets boosted to +70. However Jolly still gets the EV boost so it still ends up being a flat 10% bonus anyway.

tl;dr version don't think about it so much. Jolly is 10% faster, Adamant hits 10% harder.

Even if Diggersby isn't getting hit, that recoil cuts into how many LO turns he has available. Wild Charge's recoil can cost him 1 or 2 turns of LO recoil, which could very well break a match if he needs to 2HKO an important wall.

If you can't OHKO the things you need to OHKO you are going to take a lot more damage than just a little bit of recoil

 

[MaestroDeSWAG]

Regardless of +0 without Huge Power or +2 with Huge Power the boost is the same, 10%. Actual stat differences don't matter compared to the total damage output. For example...

252 Atk Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 97-115 (28.4 - 33.7%)
252+ Atk Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 106-126 (31 - 36.9%)

252 Atk Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 193-228 (56.5 - 66.8%)
252+ Atk Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 211-250 (61.8 - 73.3%)

+2 252 Atk Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 384-453 (112.6 - 132.8%)
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 423-498 (124 - 146%)

In other words each set does 10% more with Adamant than it would with Jolly. Huge Power and +2 just gives it a x2 multiplier each time. The only time Adamant gives you bonus points is with EVs. For example EVs give you +63 in a stat with 252 but with Adamant that amount gets boosted to +70. However Jolly still gets the EV boost so it still ends up being a flat 10% bonus anyway.

tl;dr version don't think about it so much. Jolly is 10% faster, Adamant hits 10% harder.



If you can't OHKO the things you need to OHKO you are going to take a lot more damage than just a little bit of recoil

You're right (that's simple math), but I think the point that is being made is that because of huge power, the difference between jolly and adamant in power is greater. Basically, adamant =1.1, huge power =2, and adamant*huge power =1.1*2=2.2, so rather than increasing the power by an additional 10% of the base attack, it's increased by an additional 20%. I think it's clear that you seem to understand, but for some reason, there is clearly some sort of miscommunication.

Tl;dr Yeah, it's still only 10%, but the stat itself does actually matter, as it is what's used to calculate the damage output.

 

[silver97]

i fuckin love this pokemon, but it just struggles to achieve in this metagame. My favorite set is SD LO, but atm it is kinda uneffective due to the meta becoming bulkier and also speedier; CB is just bad imo because while it hits insanely hard, being locked in one move is really bad for diggersby as it prevents him from wallbreaking since its STABs have common resists/immunities and however LO set is already powerful enough, allowing it to run sd that makes it even scarier for stall teams to face. Atm the most viable set imo is the scarf one that makes it able to deal tons of damage to offensive teams and get a couple of kills if you provide it with enough free turns.
i wouldn't recommend running wild charge on LO sets, it only limits its wallbreaker capabilities, which is the main role for that set, but it is a decent option on choice sets, letting it doing some damage to popular switch-ins like skarm and bro. fire punch is a good option to deal with skarm but lol don't tell me it is needed to deal with ferrothorn
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 368-434 (104.5 - 123.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
i know it is more reliable to get past it but imo it's not worth it to drop any move for a coverage one. Knock off has its merits since knocking off items is always helpful, but again i wouldn't drop any move on the LO set for this one. About nature, adamant is obviously preferred, but being able to outspeed full speed tran, breloom's mach punch and play mindgames with bisharp can be quite important

 

[Yamborski]

You're right (that's simple math), but I think the point that is being made is that because of huge power, the difference between jolly and adamant in power is greater. Basically, adamant =1.1, huge power =2, and adamant*huge power =1.1*2=2.2, so rather than increasing the power by an additional 10% of the base attack, it's increased by an additional 20%. I think it's clear that you seem to understand, but for some reason, there is clearly some sort of miscommunication.

Tl;dr Yeah, it's still only 10%, but the stat itself does actually matter, as it is what's used to calculate the damage output.

I'm honestly not sure if we're arguing anything lol but in the end the way multiplication works it is a 10% bonus regardless of all other factors.

In the end do you want 10% more speed or 10% more attack? Both have speed benchmarks and KOs gained / lost. Either one is viable.