*Originally owned by Arcticblast*
QC Approved: 3/3
GP Checked: 2/2
[Overview]
<p>If Donphan could be described in one word, it would be mediocre. It seems like everything that Donphan does, something else can always do it better. Donphan faces stiff competition as a physically defensive Ground-type from Gliscor, Hippowdon, and even Gastrodon due to their accesses to recovery and more useful typing or abilities. It also faces competition on the offensive side, Landorus-T being the much better choice. To top it off, the plethora of powerful special attackers and the presence of weather does not bode well for Donphan's pathetic base 60 Special Defense, and combined with terrible Speed, Donphan never has a chance to even fight back against them. Its typing leaves it wide open to common Water and Ice attacks, and the only useful resistance it has is against Rock-type moves. Donphan is even outclassed as a Rapid Spinner by Starmie, Forretress, and Tentacruel due to their more useful attributes other than just Rapid Spin.</p>
<p>There is still light at the end of the tunnel for Donphan, however, but it is quite a small light indeed. Donphan has access to Rapid Spin, a move that is commonly sought out for because of its important ability to remove entry hazards from the field. Donphan separates itself from most Rapid Spinners by not only having bulk, but also the ability to be offensive. Sporting a great base 120 Attack and powerful moves such as Earthquake, Stone Edge, and Head Smash, Donphan can function decently as a bulky offensive spinner. Strangely enough, Donphan can even use Ice Shard, which is a useful tool against Dragon-types and Landorus that sets it apart from most bulky spinners. Sturdy is a pretty useful ability that allows Donphan to always survive an attack while at full health, which sort of makes up for its measly Speed stat. Donphan can also be a great check to most variants of Terrakion, capable of taking Close Combats and Stone Edges quite nicely. Its overall great physical bulk lets it function as not only a sponge, but also as a check against Dragon-types, a feat that most spinners fail to achieve. Even though Donphan has a few useful traits, Donphan is by no means a good Pokemon. It is widely out classed by other spinners and finds it difficult to stay alive. Overall, Donphan is a very niche Pokemon, and should always be considered as a last resort if none of the other spinners seem to work on a team.</p>
[SET]
name: Rapid Spin
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Stealth Rock
move 4: Ice Shard
item: Leftovers
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is the only set Donphan should ever be running in this current metagame. The main purpose of this set is to take advantage of Donphan's above average physical bulk in order to take as many hits as possible, which in turn should hopefully keep Donphan alive for a majority of the match. Rapid Spin is the only reason to use Donphan, so it is obligatory on this set. As Donphan is surprisingly bulky, and is quite capable of taking powerful physical moves, Donphan finds it quite easy to come into these attacks in order to use Rapid Spin. Earthquake is Donphan's only STAB move, and coming off of its base 120 Attack, it hits pretty hard. As Donphan is a great Terrakion check, Earthquake is a great move to KO Terrakion with. Donphan is also a really good check to Choice Band Tyranitar, and it is easily capable of 2HKOing Tyranitar with Earthquake. Stealth Rock is the most important move in the game, and Donphan can use it to make itself a little more useful. Ice Shard is another great move to have on Donphan to give it more of an offensive presence instead of just Earthquake alone, and it is a great move to deal solid damage to Salamence, Landorus, and Gliscor. Not only that, but Ice Shard has priority, so it will go first most of the time, which somewhat helps offset Donphan's terrible Speed.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Donphan's EV spread can be tailored to fit your needs, but the given EV spread and an Impish nature are highly recommended in order to keep Donphan alive for as long as possible. With this spread, Donphan can avoid the 2HKO from Choice Band Terrakion's Close Combat and +2 Lucario's Close Combat after Stealth Rock. It is possible to make Donphan more offensive with the simple change of moving its EVs in Defense to Attack and giving it an Adamant nature, but Donphan will become more susceptible to physical attacks. Another strange but viable EV spread Donphan can run is 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe, Adamant Nature with Lum Berry, which allows Donphan to outpace specially defensive Jellicent and 2HKO it with Earthquake. Lum Berry is used to bypass the possible Will-O-Wisp that Jellicent will most likely try to cripple Donphan with. Head Smash is quite a powerful move to use as an alternative to Stealth Rock if you do not need it, and it deals huge damage to Flying-types and easily 2HKOes Gengar. Fire Fang can be used to bait Spikes users, such as Forretress and Ferrothorn, that may try to set up on Donphan. Toxic is an option to cripple common switch-ins such as Politoed and Jellicent, while Roar can be used to prevent set up sweepers from boosting up on Donphan. Odor Sleuth can be used to bypass spinblockers, but Donphan will lose out on a valuable coverage or support move.</p>
<p>Donphan is best used on a sun team, because it can check a great deal of problematic Pokemon, such as Terrakion, Salamence, and physical Landorus, while providing Rapid Spin support. Still, Donphan is still quite viable on other weather based teams, such as hail, sand, and even rain, because of its ability to check Dragon-types so well. Most spinners find it easy to wall Dragon-types, but find it hard to do anything to harm them. Donphan, on the other hand, has priority Ice Shard, which can easily check most of the Dragon-types in the tier including Salamence and Garchomp. As Donphan is the only spinner that's actually vulnerable to Toxic Spikes, a grounded Poison-type partner and or Blissey with Heal Bell can fix that problem quite easily. Due to Donphan's poor Special Defense, Jirachi or specially defensive Jellicent can be great partners for Donphan, Jellicent having the additional bonus of blocking spinners from removing Donphan's Stealth Rock. Volcarona and Victini will greatly appreciate the help from Rapid Spin and the resistance to Rock attacks. Heatran is also a viable partner to protect Donphan from Grass and Ice attacks.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Donphan gets a few other toys in addition to the set listed above. It can augment its nice Attack with a Choice Band, but essentially loses its niche as a user of Rapid Spin. Its physical movepool is actually pretty neat, even including Seed Bomb, which can be used to hit bulky Water-types, such as Gastrodon and Rotom-W on the switch. Stone Edge is always an alternative to Head Smash, as it sacrifices power in exchange for no recoil. Donphan's support movepool is rather nice as well. Toxic and Roar rack up residual damage and mess with many of Donphan's common switch-ins. Counter is surprisingly good on Donphan as well; Donphan's great Defense as well as Sturdy allow it to absorb huge amounts of damage from physical attackers and dish it right back out. Knock Off is very situational, but can be useful against walls carrying Leftovers and Eviolite users such as Chansey.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Donphan is pathetically easy to handle, which is why Donphan is often considered a bad Pokemon. Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Skarmory can all set up on Donphan if it lacks Fire Fang, and can chip Donphan's health away or phaze it out. Rain teams are easily the biggest defense against Donphan, as any rain-boosted Water move will certainly OHKO Donphan once Sturdy is broken. Water-types, such as Politoed, Gastrodon, Rotom-W, and physically defensive Jellicent can easily handle Donphan with their powerful Water moves. Sableye can burn Donphan with Will-O-Wisp, and can also take at least one Head Smash it if has to from the rare Lum Berry variants. Breloom and Celebi laugh at all of Donphan's moves, even Ice Shard, and can OHKO Donphan with their respective STAB Grass moves. Kyurem-B is a great check because it ignores Sturdy with Teravolt and can KO Donphan with Ice Beam. Air Balloon Heatran can actually check Donphan as well, doing massive damage with Fire Blast in the process. Latias can set up Calm Minds on Donphan, as Ice Shard fails to even 5HKO it, and Latias can just recover back the damage anyways. Any powerful special move has the potential to pretty much always 2HKO Donphan.</p>
