[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 6-7 points
**Overview**: Dondozo can serve as a bulky Water-type with sweeping potential and the ability to stop most physical setup sweepers with Unaware. However, Dondozo suffers from being linear, with its responsibility usually apparent even before the battle begins. It often doesn't have the power to pull off its own sweeps, and the setup sweepers it may try to stop can usually use Tera or other techs to get around it. Additionally, its low Speed and lack of reliable recovery can mean that over the course of a game, even Pokemon that it intends to counter can slowly wear it down and make it ineffectual.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Common Roles
========
**Unaware Wall**: While its Special Defense stat limits Dondozo from blocking special setup sweepers, Unaware, alongside Dondozo's Defense stat, can prevent any physical setup sweeper from making meaningful progress.
**Setup Sweeper**: Using Curse, Dondozo can transform a middling Attack stat into something that packs a punch. Should special attackers be eliminated and a team sufficiently weakened, Dondozo can sweep with only a few boosts.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Liquidation, Wave Crash
**Setup Moves**: Curse, Substitute
**Utility Moves**: Rest, Sleep Talk, Yawn
**Coverage**: Avalanche, Body Press, Crunch, Earthquake, Heavy Slam, Outrage, Rock Slide, Zen Headbutt
Niche Moves
========
**Facade**: Should Dondozo expect to be statused as an opponent's primary method of dealing with it, Facade can allow it to boost its damage output.
**Endure**: When paired with Custap Berry, Endure can allow Dondozo to survive a hit that would've knocked it out and ensure one more attack.
Common Items
========
**Leftovers**: Without any reliable recovery, Leftovers provides longevity and limited recovery to Dondozo to allow it to accomplish its tasks throughout a match.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Dondozo has no natural immunity to any entry hazard and appreciates being able to switch in multiple times during the course of a game without worrying about taking damage.
**Sitrus Berry**: Should Dondozo need to switch in and out frequently, or take only a few significant hits, Sitrus Berry can provide more useful recovery than Leftovers.
**Rocky Helmet**: Dondozo will frequently find itself switching in on physical attackers, holding Rocky Helmet will allow it to punish those attackers each time it takes a hit.
Niche Items
========
**Resistance Berries**: Dondozo can use targeted resistance berries to take a hit that would normally KO it, reversing the tides on a dangerous foe.
**Assault Vest**: Without wanting to run many status moves, Dondozo can run an Assault Vest to take hits from special attackers that it otherwise could not.
**Choice Band**: More offensive-oriented Dondozo can use Choice Band to deal quick damage without needing to boost up ahead of time with Curse. This allows Dondozo to punish Pokemon that want to take advantage of it being a momentum sink or needing multiple turns before it can start outputting significant damage.
**Eject Button / Red Card**: With enough Defense and HP, Dondozo can often take a hit, allowing it to either safely bring a teammate in or force out an opponent.
**Chesto Berry**: With Rest as Dondozo's only meaningful recovery move, Chesto Berry allows Rest to become a one-time free full heal.
**Mental Herb**: Taunt can prevent Dondozo from using crucial moves like Curse or Rest, but Mental Herb enables Dondozo to get off those moves on key turns.
Tera
========
Dondozo's type is already one of the better ones in the game, and physical attackers that can deal STAB super-effective damage to it are few without using Tera themselves. While Dondozo can use targeted Tera types like Fairy, Steel, or Poison to counter threats, for the most part it gains very little from the mechanic even as a secondary or tertiary captain.
Draft Strategy
========
Dondozo is a late-draft option for teams that find themselves weak on the physical side and could benefit from a Water-type. As such, Dondozo should be drafted based on what it adds to the team, rather than with the expectation that other teammates will provide coverage for its weaknesses.
**Special Walls**: Dondozo is very much geared towards taking physical attacks, and a light breeze on the special side can deal significant damage. Dondozo is best paired with a Pokemon that can take those hits, such as Fezandipiti or Latias.
**Entry Hazard Control**: With entry hazards up, Dondozo can make it harder for Pokemon to switch out for later opportunities to sweep, while also widening the range of KOes it can get reliably. On the other hand, being vulnerable to every hazard means that Dondozo appreciates the removal provided by Pokemon like Corviknight and Iron Treads to avoid taking chip every time it enters.
**Wish / Healing Wish**: As it is unabble to heal itself reliably, Dondozo appreciates support from Pokemon like Jirachi or Gardevoir to stay healthy throughout a game.
Checks and Counters
========
**Special Attackers**: Dondozo much prefers a physically defensive role, needing much more investment on the special side for similar defensive benchmarks. While pure special attackers like Darkrai and Latios are major threats, even mixed attackers or Pokemon that can reliably threaten on both sides of the split like Iron Valiant and Enamorus-I can make Dondozo struggle.
**Grass- and Electric-types**: Whether by Terastallization or via natural users like Zarude or Iron Hands, Dondozo can struggle against powerful attacks that it is weak to, even on the physical side. Terastallization ssurprises especially can turn what would normally be a matchup strongly in Dondozo's favor into one that it seriously struggles against, such as a Tera Blast Electric from Iron Boulder or similar wallbreakers.
**Chip Damage**: Dondozo has incredibly limited recovery, so entry hazards, moves like U-turn and Pain Split, and continued hits on the physical side each time Dondozo switches in can eventually wear it down to the point where it can be pushed through and finally KOed.
**Taunt**: Taunt entirely prevents many Dondozo sets from being able to do much, whether by preventing Dondozo from setting up with Curse, or by stopping it from preparing for future fights by healing up with Rest. While the list of moves blocked is not expansive, Dondozo intensely relies on being able to use these moves to accomplish its goal, and the duration of a Taunt can render it entirely ineffective.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-fairy.57965/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/theuncultured.629845/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sunny004.197240/
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 6-7 points
**Overview**: Dondozo can serve as a bulky Water-type with sweeping potential and the ability to stop most physical setup sweepers with Unaware. However, Dondozo suffers from being linear, with its responsibility usually apparent even before the battle begins. It often doesn't have the power to pull off its own sweeps, and the setup sweepers it may try to stop can usually use Tera or other techs to get around it. Additionally, its low Speed and lack of reliable recovery can mean that over the course of a game, even Pokemon that it intends to counter can slowly wear it down and make it ineffectual.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Common Roles
========
**Unaware Wall**: While its Special Defense stat limits Dondozo from blocking special setup sweepers, Unaware, alongside Dondozo's Defense stat, can prevent any physical setup sweeper from making meaningful progress.
**Setup Sweeper**: Using Curse, Dondozo can transform a middling Attack stat into something that packs a punch. Should special attackers be eliminated and a team sufficiently weakened, Dondozo can sweep with only a few boosts.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Liquidation, Wave Crash
**Setup Moves**: Curse, Substitute
**Utility Moves**: Rest, Sleep Talk, Yawn
**Coverage**: Avalanche, Body Press, Crunch, Earthquake, Heavy Slam, Outrage, Rock Slide, Zen Headbutt
Niche Moves
========
**Facade**: Should Dondozo expect to be statused as an opponent's primary method of dealing with it, Facade can allow it to boost its damage output.
**Endure**: When paired with Custap Berry, Endure can allow Dondozo to survive a hit that would've knocked it out and ensure one more attack.
Common Items
========
**Leftovers**: Without any reliable recovery, Leftovers provides longevity and limited recovery to Dondozo to allow it to accomplish its tasks throughout a match.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Dondozo has no natural immunity to any entry hazard and appreciates being able to switch in multiple times during the course of a game without worrying about taking damage.
**Sitrus Berry**: Should Dondozo need to switch in and out frequently, or take only a few significant hits, Sitrus Berry can provide more useful recovery than Leftovers.
**Rocky Helmet**: Dondozo will frequently find itself switching in on physical attackers, holding Rocky Helmet will allow it to punish those attackers each time it takes a hit.
Niche Items
========
**Resistance Berries**: Dondozo can use targeted resistance berries to take a hit that would normally KO it, reversing the tides on a dangerous foe.
**Assault Vest**: Without wanting to run many status moves, Dondozo can run an Assault Vest to take hits from special attackers that it otherwise could not.
**Choice Band**: More offensive-oriented Dondozo can use Choice Band to deal quick damage without needing to boost up ahead of time with Curse. This allows Dondozo to punish Pokemon that want to take advantage of it being a momentum sink or needing multiple turns before it can start outputting significant damage.
**Eject Button / Red Card**: With enough Defense and HP, Dondozo can often take a hit, allowing it to either safely bring a teammate in or force out an opponent.
**Chesto Berry**: With Rest as Dondozo's only meaningful recovery move, Chesto Berry allows Rest to become a one-time free full heal.
**Mental Herb**: Taunt can prevent Dondozo from using crucial moves like Curse or Rest, but Mental Herb enables Dondozo to get off those moves on key turns.
Tera
========
Dondozo's type is already one of the better ones in the game, and physical attackers that can deal STAB super-effective damage to it are few without using Tera themselves. While Dondozo can use targeted Tera types like Fairy, Steel, or Poison to counter threats, for the most part it gains very little from the mechanic even as a secondary or tertiary captain.
Draft Strategy
========
Dondozo is a late-draft option for teams that find themselves weak on the physical side and could benefit from a Water-type. As such, Dondozo should be drafted based on what it adds to the team, rather than with the expectation that other teammates will provide coverage for its weaknesses.
**Special Walls**: Dondozo is very much geared towards taking physical attacks, and a light breeze on the special side can deal significant damage. Dondozo is best paired with a Pokemon that can take those hits, such as Fezandipiti or Latias.
**Entry Hazard Control**: With entry hazards up, Dondozo can make it harder for Pokemon to switch out for later opportunities to sweep, while also widening the range of KOes it can get reliably. On the other hand, being vulnerable to every hazard means that Dondozo appreciates the removal provided by Pokemon like Corviknight and Iron Treads to avoid taking chip every time it enters.
**Wish / Healing Wish**: As it is unabble to heal itself reliably, Dondozo appreciates support from Pokemon like Jirachi or Gardevoir to stay healthy throughout a game.
Checks and Counters
========
**Special Attackers**: Dondozo much prefers a physically defensive role, needing much more investment on the special side for similar defensive benchmarks. While pure special attackers like Darkrai and Latios are major threats, even mixed attackers or Pokemon that can reliably threaten on both sides of the split like Iron Valiant and Enamorus-I can make Dondozo struggle.
**Grass- and Electric-types**: Whether by Terastallization or via natural users like Zarude or Iron Hands, Dondozo can struggle against powerful attacks that it is weak to, even on the physical side. Terastallization ssurprises especially can turn what would normally be a matchup strongly in Dondozo's favor into one that it seriously struggles against, such as a Tera Blast Electric from Iron Boulder or similar wallbreakers.
**Chip Damage**: Dondozo has incredibly limited recovery, so entry hazards, moves like U-turn and Pain Split, and continued hits on the physical side each time Dondozo switches in can eventually wear it down to the point where it can be pushed through and finally KOed.
**Taunt**: Taunt entirely prevents many Dondozo sets from being able to do much, whether by preventing Dondozo from setting up with Curse, or by stopping it from preparing for future fights by healing up with Rest. While the list of moves blocked is not expansive, Dondozo intensely relies on being able to use these moves to accomplish its goal, and the duration of a Taunt can render it entirely ineffective.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-fairy.57965/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/theuncultured.629845/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sunny004.197240/
Last edited:
