[OVERVIEW]
Despite having no legs that we know of, Diglett is the ultimate bullet-dodger: while Arena Trap saw a global ban in Gens 6 onwards,
Gen 5 couldn't get a unanimous decision and had to settle for rising Dugtrio to Uber. As a result, all of the playstyles Dugtrio enabled
are still available albeit to a much lesser extent through Diglett. Diglett's role in OU is to use Arena Trap to remove grounded Pokemon that are
weak to Diglett's main attacking moves (preferably accompanied by partners that would function better once those Pokemon are gone). Sadly, while Dugtrio was all-around a good Pokemon with a great ability, Diglett possesses Arena Trap as his only saving grace. As such, he is far less reusable
and loses a lot of the targets Dugtrio was relied on to get rid of- Terrakion (without sash), bulky Jirachi builds, Chansey, and low-health
grounded Pokemon below 120 base speed that absolutely need to go.
But don't let all of that fool you into thinking Diglett is by any means a bad Pokemon. While there exist borderline-broken
Pokemon that stay in the tier bound only by the likes of Heatran and Tyranitar, our red-nosed consigliere will never go out of business.
The job may be messy with the base 55 Attack, but when all that's over with the opponent is faced with daunting prospects- the neutering of
their weather-dependents, the inability to break past the super-walls, and having to decide who dies to the next Draco Meteor or Fire Blast.
Underestimate any member of the mole family at your peril- you think all of those U-turners in Ubers got there by themselves?
[SET]
name: Assassin
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Reversal
move 3: Substitute/ Rock Slide
move 4: Stealth Rock/ Toxic/ Sucker Punch
item: Focus Sash
ability: Arena Trap
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
ivs: 4 HP
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
===============
Diglett relies on Focus Sash and Reversal to achieve certain kills and bypass faster Pokemon. Substitute allows potentially defeating
Chansey and Blissey, and a buffer against Will-o-Wisp from Ninetales. If the blobs aren't a problem, Rock Slide semi-deters Volcarona, Dragonite, and Thundurus-T from setting up on you (or at least sets them up to die from priority). Rock Tomb can be used over it, but it's unreliable and doesn't do much from 209 Attack. The important calcs are as follows:
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 176-210 (43.5 - 51.9%) -- 11.3% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Chople Berry Tyranitar: 236-278 (58.4 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Heatran: 364-432 (94.5 - 112.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 120 Def Ninetales: 210-248 (60 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 288-342 (79.7 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 384-454 (106.3 - 125.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 4 HP / 252 Def Blissey: 504-594 (77.3 - 91.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 338-398 (48 - 56.5%) -- 89.1% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 56 HP / 0- Def Kyurem-Black: 282-334 (69.6 - 82.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 28 HP / 0 Def Toxicroak: 270-320 (85.9 - 101.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 108 Def Jirachi: 170-204 (42 - 50.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 244 Def Tentacruel: 200-236 (55 - 65%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO after Rain Dish recovery and Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 48+ Def Ferrothorn: 176-208 (50 - 59%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
The last slot is for when you have nothing left to do. Stealth Rock is Stealth Rock, and you can throw it out against anybody slower later
in the game assuming you're not at 1 HP and have rocks on your side as well. Toxic's most important job is to guarantee poison against Taunt
Mew and death to Chansey, but also allows you to harass slow Hydro Pump users (see: Politoed, Rotom-W) and even attempt to stall them out with Substitute. Sucker Punch, well...
252 Atk Diglett Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Alakazam: 192-226 (76.4 - 90%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Starmie: 109-130 (41.7 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Diglett Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Starmie: 118-140 (45.2 - 53.6%) -- 34.4% chance to 2HKO
Other than that, you won't get much mileage out of Diglett. Memento is usable, but the enemy's first priority after Diglett gets a kill is
to prevent the Stealth Rock that happens afterwards meaning you'll barely get the chance to use it.
Set Details
================
Along these lines is the only Diglett set you should consider. Undoubtedly you have many questions, one of which may be "why not Adamant?"
and another being "how do I get to 1 HP against the pink blobs?". For the former question, Adamant means you don't get to trap Excadrill
(who is often Jolly) and Ninetales (who typically creeps up to Jolly Landorus-T) but also you lose the ability to hit Jirachi twice.
For the latter, the IV spread allows you to take a Seismic Toss and set up a Substitute on either Toxic or the next Seismic Toss leaving you
with exactly 1 HP. If you have it still up by then, or if they're weakened, go nuts with Reversal until they die.
Usage Tips
================
If you can get it in correctly, Diglett will consistently remove Tyranitar, Heatran, Ninetales (watch out for Will-o-Wisp and Eject Button),
Excadrill, Magnezone, Toxicroak, the Kyurems, and Blissey. Furthermore, barely any Jirachi runs more than positive-natured 212 Speed EVs
which means you can usually hit it twice with Earthquake, and if you're willing to take a chance you have a 70% percent chance to take out
Tentacruel. You don't just throw Diglett into a team, using him entails a responsibility. You have to have a method of discerning Tyranitar
sets, breaking Heatran and Excadrill balloons, and scouting Heatran's set. Scarf Tyranitar can't be removed except by Reversal, so beware of that.
Don't try to set-up Stealth Rock against Chople Berry Tyranitar, you won't get the kill unless they're at 58% or less. Speaking of which,
support Tyranitar tends to throw out Stealth Rock when at high HP in front of a Diglett, which Xatu can easily take advantage of. Diglett
cannot switch into Magma Storm, so scout for that. If it's Fire Blast, you can directly switch in Diglett with its Focus Sash (Lava Plume
too, but the risk is big). Same principle applies to Excadrill, however Rapid Spin deprives you of Reversal which may prevent you from
getting the kill.
Team Options
================
Diglett is strictly a support Pokemon, albeit one that fits on any playstyle, and as such you should be thinking of who it can assist before
providing it assistance of its own. Nonetheless, it appreciates slow pivots like Rotom-W, Forretress, and Xatu as they help bring in Diglett
while preserving its Focus Sash. Xatu is an especially valued partner due to Magic Bounce preventing hazards from breaking Diglett's sash
and luring in and weakening/ de-ballooning Tyranitar and Heatran with U-turn, Rocky Helmet, and Night Shade.
Bulky Psychic types like Latias and Reuniclus appreciate the removal of Tyranitar, Heatran, and Excadrill so that they can sweep. However,
the Psychic type that benefits the most from Diglett's support is Cresselia in Sun who does not even need to sweep but can wall almost the
whole tier once Diglett does his job. Beyond bulky Psychic types, fast Choice Specs users such as Latios, Tornadus, and Moltres appreciate
Dugtrio removing resists to their nukes. All of the weather inducers love Diglett too: Politoed benefits from the loss of Tyranitar and Ninetales,
Tyranitar benefits from getting to chip for the Psychic-types under his wing, and Ninetales (and by extension Volcarona) appreciates the
loss of Heatran and Tyranitar. Abomasnow cashes in on Diglett as well, but you have to be careful as Focus Sash is still the best set under Hail
which will chip it into unusability. Breloom and Ferrothorn breathe easier with Toxic Diglett's guaranteed poison on Mew.
Just because Diglett can kill its counters doesn't mean he's a good teammate. The teammate it supports has to be sufficiently fool-proof
and robust that it can pull the weight of at least two Pokemon, because Diglett is just lousy stat-wise. Conversely, don't make a team that
over-relies on Diglett's trapping ability. He's still just an LC Pokemon with base 55 Attack in the end, never forget that.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
================
Diglett can be used on a team without hazard control through Endure+ Custap. However, if you have to resort to this for Diglett then it's
usually not worth the trouble. Ground Gem+ Adamant gets certain kills (like Toxicroak and Tentacruel), but loses the ones that Reversal gets.
Checks and Counters
================
If in front of a grounded Pokemon, none, as nothing can switch in. However, Diglett is soundly beaten by all of the OU Pokemon it doesn't trap.
Diglett is Spikes bait for Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Forretress, and any physical wall can basically outright ignore Diglett. Shed Shell makes
Diglett useless (unless you count Shed Shell as lack of Leftovers recovery) and U-turn can either let one of his targets escape or break his
Focus (Sash). Priority moves such as Aqua Jet, Mach Punch, and Ice Shard all get the kills on him as well, and Scarfers prevent 1HP Diglett from
laying rocks as well as harshly punish any Diglett that comes in without knowing about them. Air Balloon provides momentary resistence to Diglett trapping, which is sometimes more than enough to wreak the havoc the opponent needs.
Despite having no legs that we know of, Diglett is the ultimate bullet-dodger: while Arena Trap saw a global ban in Gens 6 onwards,
Gen 5 couldn't get a unanimous decision and had to settle for rising Dugtrio to Uber. As a result, all of the playstyles Dugtrio enabled
are still available albeit to a much lesser extent through Diglett. Diglett's role in OU is to use Arena Trap to remove grounded Pokemon that are
weak to Diglett's main attacking moves (preferably accompanied by partners that would function better once those Pokemon are gone). Sadly, while Dugtrio was all-around a good Pokemon with a great ability, Diglett possesses Arena Trap as his only saving grace. As such, he is far less reusable
and loses a lot of the targets Dugtrio was relied on to get rid of- Terrakion (without sash), bulky Jirachi builds, Chansey, and low-health
grounded Pokemon below 120 base speed that absolutely need to go.
But don't let all of that fool you into thinking Diglett is by any means a bad Pokemon. While there exist borderline-broken
Pokemon that stay in the tier bound only by the likes of Heatran and Tyranitar, our red-nosed consigliere will never go out of business.
The job may be messy with the base 55 Attack, but when all that's over with the opponent is faced with daunting prospects- the neutering of
their weather-dependents, the inability to break past the super-walls, and having to decide who dies to the next Draco Meteor or Fire Blast.
Underestimate any member of the mole family at your peril- you think all of those U-turners in Ubers got there by themselves?
[SET]
name: Assassin
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Reversal
move 3: Substitute/ Rock Slide
move 4: Stealth Rock/ Toxic/ Sucker Punch
item: Focus Sash
ability: Arena Trap
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
ivs: 4 HP
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
===============
Diglett relies on Focus Sash and Reversal to achieve certain kills and bypass faster Pokemon. Substitute allows potentially defeating
Chansey and Blissey, and a buffer against Will-o-Wisp from Ninetales. If the blobs aren't a problem, Rock Slide semi-deters Volcarona, Dragonite, and Thundurus-T from setting up on you (or at least sets them up to die from priority). Rock Tomb can be used over it, but it's unreliable and doesn't do much from 209 Attack. The important calcs are as follows:
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 176-210 (43.5 - 51.9%) -- 11.3% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Chople Berry Tyranitar: 236-278 (58.4 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Heatran: 364-432 (94.5 - 112.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 120 Def Ninetales: 210-248 (60 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 288-342 (79.7 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 384-454 (106.3 - 125.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 4 HP / 252 Def Blissey: 504-594 (77.3 - 91.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 338-398 (48 - 56.5%) -- 89.1% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 56 HP / 0- Def Kyurem-Black: 282-334 (69.6 - 82.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 28 HP / 0 Def Toxicroak: 270-320 (85.9 - 101.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 108 Def Jirachi: 170-204 (42 - 50.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 244 Def Tentacruel: 200-236 (55 - 65%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO after Rain Dish recovery and Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Diglett Reversal (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 48+ Def Ferrothorn: 176-208 (50 - 59%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
The last slot is for when you have nothing left to do. Stealth Rock is Stealth Rock, and you can throw it out against anybody slower later
in the game assuming you're not at 1 HP and have rocks on your side as well. Toxic's most important job is to guarantee poison against Taunt
Mew and death to Chansey, but also allows you to harass slow Hydro Pump users (see: Politoed, Rotom-W) and even attempt to stall them out with Substitute. Sucker Punch, well...
252 Atk Diglett Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Alakazam: 192-226 (76.4 - 90%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Diglett Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Starmie: 109-130 (41.7 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Diglett Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Starmie: 118-140 (45.2 - 53.6%) -- 34.4% chance to 2HKO
Other than that, you won't get much mileage out of Diglett. Memento is usable, but the enemy's first priority after Diglett gets a kill is
to prevent the Stealth Rock that happens afterwards meaning you'll barely get the chance to use it.
Set Details
================
Along these lines is the only Diglett set you should consider. Undoubtedly you have many questions, one of which may be "why not Adamant?"
and another being "how do I get to 1 HP against the pink blobs?". For the former question, Adamant means you don't get to trap Excadrill
(who is often Jolly) and Ninetales (who typically creeps up to Jolly Landorus-T) but also you lose the ability to hit Jirachi twice.
For the latter, the IV spread allows you to take a Seismic Toss and set up a Substitute on either Toxic or the next Seismic Toss leaving you
with exactly 1 HP. If you have it still up by then, or if they're weakened, go nuts with Reversal until they die.
Usage Tips
================
If you can get it in correctly, Diglett will consistently remove Tyranitar, Heatran, Ninetales (watch out for Will-o-Wisp and Eject Button),
Excadrill, Magnezone, Toxicroak, the Kyurems, and Blissey. Furthermore, barely any Jirachi runs more than positive-natured 212 Speed EVs
which means you can usually hit it twice with Earthquake, and if you're willing to take a chance you have a 70% percent chance to take out
Tentacruel. You don't just throw Diglett into a team, using him entails a responsibility. You have to have a method of discerning Tyranitar
sets, breaking Heatran and Excadrill balloons, and scouting Heatran's set. Scarf Tyranitar can't be removed except by Reversal, so beware of that.
Don't try to set-up Stealth Rock against Chople Berry Tyranitar, you won't get the kill unless they're at 58% or less. Speaking of which,
support Tyranitar tends to throw out Stealth Rock when at high HP in front of a Diglett, which Xatu can easily take advantage of. Diglett
cannot switch into Magma Storm, so scout for that. If it's Fire Blast, you can directly switch in Diglett with its Focus Sash (Lava Plume
too, but the risk is big). Same principle applies to Excadrill, however Rapid Spin deprives you of Reversal which may prevent you from
getting the kill.
Team Options
================
Diglett is strictly a support Pokemon, albeit one that fits on any playstyle, and as such you should be thinking of who it can assist before
providing it assistance of its own. Nonetheless, it appreciates slow pivots like Rotom-W, Forretress, and Xatu as they help bring in Diglett
while preserving its Focus Sash. Xatu is an especially valued partner due to Magic Bounce preventing hazards from breaking Diglett's sash
and luring in and weakening/ de-ballooning Tyranitar and Heatran with U-turn, Rocky Helmet, and Night Shade.
Bulky Psychic types like Latias and Reuniclus appreciate the removal of Tyranitar, Heatran, and Excadrill so that they can sweep. However,
the Psychic type that benefits the most from Diglett's support is Cresselia in Sun who does not even need to sweep but can wall almost the
whole tier once Diglett does his job. Beyond bulky Psychic types, fast Choice Specs users such as Latios, Tornadus, and Moltres appreciate
Dugtrio removing resists to their nukes. All of the weather inducers love Diglett too: Politoed benefits from the loss of Tyranitar and Ninetales,
Tyranitar benefits from getting to chip for the Psychic-types under his wing, and Ninetales (and by extension Volcarona) appreciates the
loss of Heatran and Tyranitar. Abomasnow cashes in on Diglett as well, but you have to be careful as Focus Sash is still the best set under Hail
which will chip it into unusability. Breloom and Ferrothorn breathe easier with Toxic Diglett's guaranteed poison on Mew.
Just because Diglett can kill its counters doesn't mean he's a good teammate. The teammate it supports has to be sufficiently fool-proof
and robust that it can pull the weight of at least two Pokemon, because Diglett is just lousy stat-wise. Conversely, don't make a team that
over-relies on Diglett's trapping ability. He's still just an LC Pokemon with base 55 Attack in the end, never forget that.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
================
Diglett can be used on a team without hazard control through Endure+ Custap. However, if you have to resort to this for Diglett then it's
usually not worth the trouble. Ground Gem+ Adamant gets certain kills (like Toxicroak and Tentacruel), but loses the ones that Reversal gets.
Checks and Counters
================
If in front of a grounded Pokemon, none, as nothing can switch in. However, Diglett is soundly beaten by all of the OU Pokemon it doesn't trap.
Diglett is Spikes bait for Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Forretress, and any physical wall can basically outright ignore Diglett. Shed Shell makes
Diglett useless (unless you count Shed Shell as lack of Leftovers recovery) and U-turn can either let one of his targets escape or break his
Focus (Sash). Priority moves such as Aqua Jet, Mach Punch, and Ice Shard all get the kills on him as well, and Scarfers prevent 1HP Diglett from
laying rocks as well as harshly punish any Diglett that comes in without knowing about them. Air Balloon provides momentary resistence to Diglett trapping, which is sometimes more than enough to wreak the havoc the opponent needs.
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