Draft Donphan

[Gwanian]

[overview]

**Draft order**: Late round 4 onwards

**Price range**: 10-11 points

**Overview**: Donphan is a solid draft pick for its role as a physically bulky Ground-type with Rapid Spin utility. Sturdy guarantees at least one turn of value from Donphan, and its respectable Attack paired with Ground-type STAB and good coverage helps it wear down opposing Pokemon for the rest of the team. Despite its physical bulk, Donphan’s pitiful Speed and Special Defense cause it to struggle with longevity.

[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Utility**: Donphan’s access to Rapid Spin, Knock Off, and Stealth Rock makes it an incredibly reliable utility Pokemon. You can choose to invest its EVs offense to pressure opposing Pokemon with STAB Earthquake and coverage options or in defense to more reliably check offensive threats.

**Dedicated lead**: Donphan makes for a reliable lead, with Sturdy almost guaranteeing it can get up Stealth Rock turn one. Lead sets can also run Endeavor paired with Ice Shard or Custap Berry, allowing Donphan to pressure almost anything that activates Sturdy.

**Bulky attacker**: With almost all the coverage it could ask for, Donphan has the option to run four attacks to deal good damage early-game. An Assault Vest can provide Donphan with some much-needed Special Defense while not limiting its ability to remove entry hazards with Rapid Spin.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Earthquake, High Horsepower

**Setup moves**: Iron Defense, Curse

**Utility moves**: Rapid Spin, Knock Off, Stealth Rock, Encore, Roar

**Coverage**: Gunk Shot, Poison Jab, Ice Spinner, Ice Shard, Stone Edge, Head Smash, Play Rough, Body Press, Heavy Slam, Gyro Ball, Iron Head, Seed Bomb, Fire Fang


Niche Moves
========
**Endeavor**: Donphan is arguably the best Endeavor user in the format, able to punish most Pokemon for activating Sturdy.

**Counter**: In a similar vein to Endeavor, Counter takes advantage of Sturdy to help Donphan eliminate problematic physical attackers.

**Smack Down**: Smack Down gives Donphan a method of pressuring Steel / Flying types and Steel types with Levitate, such as Skarmory and Bronzong.

Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots allows Donphan to avoid taking chip damage from entry hazards and preserves Sturdy at full health.

**Assault Vest**: With an Assault Vest, Donphan can somewhat reliably take special hits and help soften up the opponent’s team while still being able to remove entry hazards with Rapid Spin.

**Leftovers**: Leftovers gives Donphan longevity in matches, especially against physical attackers that struggle to break through it.

**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet punishes the physical attackers that Donphan excels at checking, especially those using U-turn for momentum.

Niche Items
========
**Custap Berry**: With Sturdy, Donphan is one of the better Custap Berry users, as it appreciates the ability to get off a second hit, especially on lead sets.

**Choice Band**: Choice Band can turn Donphan into a terrifying wallbreaker against teams without a good check to Ground-types.

**Damage-boosting items**: Items such as Soft Sand and Expert Belt, while giving significantly less of a damage boost when compared to Choice Band, allow Donphan to rely less on predictions and take better advantage of its coverage options.

**Red Card**: When paired with Sturdy, Red Card can be a good one-time answer to setup Pokemon without having to sacrifice a move slot to Roar, which is also shut down by Taunt.

**Resistance Berries**: Rindo Berry, Passho Berry, and Yache Berry allow Donphan to take a super effective hit if it is not at full health for Sturdy.

Tera
========
Donphan should never be a Tera Captain—it lacks the resources a Tera Captain would want, and its middling price cuts into the Tera budget significantly. Its lack of Speed and reliable setup options make it undesirable as an offensive Tera user; if used as a Tera Captain, defensive Tera types such as Steel or Poison would work best.

Draft Strategy
========
Donphan is a reliable entry hazard remover for a good price and fits well on drafts that want hazards gone without getting rid of their own. While not a draft's centerpiece, it can provide valuable hazard control, support, and wallbreaking power to enable the rest of the team.

**Specially defensive Pokemon**: While Donphan has fantastic physical bulk, it suffers from low Special Defense, allowing special attackers to take advantage of it. It greatly benefits from a specially defensive partner, especially if that Pokemon covers Donphan’s weaknesses. Pokemon such as Hisuian Goodra and Galarian Slowking make for good Donphan pairings.

**Hazard-weak offensive Pokemon**: Since Donphan provides good entry hazard removal for the team and can weaken opposing Pokemon early on, wallbreakers and sweepers that benefit from hazard removal pair quite well with it. Pokemon such as Chi-Yu, Iron Bundle, and Dragonite all appreciate the support Donphan provides.

Checks and Counters
========
**Special attackers**: Special attackers such as Chi-Yu, Zapdos, Gholdengo, and Sylveon can pressure Donphan easily because of its low Special Defense.

**Ground-immune Pokemon**: While Donphan can threaten most Flying-types with Rock- or Ice-type coverage, most are able to switch in on an incoming Earthquake and outspeed Donphan. Flying-types such as Zapdos and Tornadus-T can threaten it out offensively, while defensive Flying-types such as Skarmory can pressure it out with Taunt. Donphan especially struggles to hit Pokemon with abilities that grant them Ground immunities, such as Rotom formes and Orthworm.

[credits]

Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gwanian.626732/

Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno6377.527276/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/hacker.387847/

Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/

 

[Techno]

Add Remove Notes

average tusk

[overview]

**Draft order**: Late round 4 - round 5 onwards

**Price range**: 10-11 points

**Overview**: Donphan is a coveted draft pick for its role as a physically bulky utility ground type with Rapid Spin at an affordable cost. Sturdy almost guarantees at least one turn of value from Donphan, and its respectable attack stat paired with ground STAB and good coverage helps it wear down opposing Pokémon for the rest of the team. However, Donphan is slower than nearly the entire metagame which makes it struggle with longevity, especially considering its low special defense stat. (there's probably better ways to say this if you want to play around with it) Donphan suffers from a low speed and special defense stat, which limits its ability to make good use of its physical offense and check mixed attackers defensively.


[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Utility:**: Donphan’s access to Rapid Spin, Knock Off, and Stealth Rock to set its own hazards makes it an incredibly reliable utility Pokémon. It can choose to invest in offense to pressure opposing Pokémon with STAB Earthquake and coverage options, or in defense to more reliably check offensive threats.

**Dedicated lead**: Donphan makes for a reliable lead with Sturdy almost guaranteeing it can get up Stealth Rock turn one. Lead sets can also run Endeavor paired with Ice Shard or Custap Berry, allowing Donphan to pressure almost anything that brings it down to Sturdy.

**Bulky Attacker**: With almost all the coverage it could ask for, Donphan can run 4 attacks to deal good damage in the early game. Assault Vest can provide Donphan with some much needed special defense while still being able to provide hazard removal with Rapid Spin.


Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Earthquake, High Horsepower

**Setup Moves**: Iron Defense, Curse, Trailblaze

**Utility moves**: Rapid Spin, Knock Off, Ice Shard, move to coverage Stealth Rock, Encore, Roar

**Coverage**: (why are there so many spaces) Gunk Shot, Poison Jab, Ice Spinner, Stone Edge, Head Smash, Play Rough


Niche Moves
========
**Endeavor**: Donphan is arguably the best Endeavor user in the format, able to punish most Pokémon for bringing it down to Sturdy.

**Curse**: Curse can turn Donphan into a serious threat versus teams that cannot deal with it quickly. move to common moves or completely remove

**Body Press**: Body Press can take advantage ofa Donphan's high defense stat for good damage on Iron Defense sets. move to common coverage

**Iron Defense**: Similarly to Curse, Iron Defense can boost Donphan’s defense for Body Press sets versus teams that cannot KO it quickly. move to common moves

**Counter**: In a similar vein to Endeavor, Counter takes advantage of Sturdy to help Donphan eliminate problematic physical attackers.

**Smack Down**: Smack Down gives Donphan a method of pressuring steel/flying types or steel types with levitate such as Skarmory or Bronzong.

**Heavy Slam**: Heavy Slam can help break bulky fairy types like Clefable or Scream Tail as an accurate alternative to Gunk Shot. move to common coverage


Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots allows Donphan to spin more reliably while also preserving Sturdy. avoid taking chip damage from hazards and preserve Sturdy at full health.

**Assault Vest**: With an Assault Vest, Donphan can somewhat reliably take special hits and help soften up the opponent’s team as it does so, while still being able to remove hazards with Rapid Spin.

**Leftovers**: Leftovers gives Donphan longevity in matches especially against physical attackers that struggle breaking through it. where it is the primary defensive check to certain Pokémon.

Add rocky helmet


Niche Items
========
**Custap Berry**: With Sturdy, Donphan is one of the better Custap Berry users, as it appreciates the ability to get off a second hit, especially on lead sets.

**Choice Band**: Choice Band can turn Donphan into a terrifying breaker versus teams without a good check to ground types.

**Attack-Boosting Items**: Items such as Soft Sand and Expert Belt, while giving significantly less of a damage boost when compared to Choice Band, allow Donphan to rely less on predictions and take better advantage of its coverage options.

**Red Card**: When paired with Sturdy, Red Card can be a good one-time answer to set-up Pokémon, without having to sacrifice a move slot to Roar, which is also shut down by Taunt.

Add resistance berries

Tera
========
Donphan should never be a Tera Captain — it lacks the resources a Tera Captain would want, and its middling price cuts into the tera budget significantly. Defensively, it lacks reliable recovery or a defensive ability such as Thick Fat or Levitate that would make it a good defensive tera for its cost. Its lack of speed and reliable set up options make it undesirable as an offensive tera as well. Its low speed and lack of setup makes it struggle as an offensive tera user. If used as a tera captain, defensive typings such as Steel or Poison would work best.


Draft Strategy
========
Donphan is a reliable hazard remover for a good price and fits well on drafts that want hazards gone without getting rid of their own. While not a draft's centerpiece, it can provide valuable hazard control, support, and breaking power to enable the rest of the team. Pokémon that pair well with Donphan include:

**Specially defensive Pokémon**: As Donphan is a good physically defensive pick, it is good to consider something to cover special defense on the draft. While Donphan has great physical bulk, its Special Defense is very lackluster, allowing many special attackers to take advantage of it. Having a specially bulky Pokemon to pair it with is nice to have, especially if it can handle Donphan's weaknesses. give some examples of good pairings

**Wish passers**: Since Donphan lacks any recovery outside of Rest and Leftovers, it greatly appreciates wish support, especially in matches where Sturdy is important. Kinda niche imo, donphan's meant to be support to the rest of the team & wishers would rather heal other things

Add fast wallbreakers and/or setup sweepers that benefit from hazard removal / rocks

Checks and Counters
========
**Special attackers**: Special attackers can pressure Donphan easily because of its low special defense stat.

**Ghost types**: Ghost types can block Donphan’s attempts to Rapid Spin. While they do fear Knock Off, sets with defense investment and/or a Colbur Berry make it difficult for Donphan to pressure them after the item is removed.

**Ground immunes**: While Donphan can threaten most flying types with rock or ice coverage, steel/flying types, Pokémon with Levitate, and Orthworm with Earth Eater can take advantage of Donphan’s lack of consistent damage output versus them. most are able to switch in on an incoming earthquake and outspeed Donphan. (give examples)

Give about 3 pokemon examples in each section in draft strategy & checks/counters

[credits]

Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gwanian.626732/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno6377.527276/

Grammar checked by:

qc 1/2 - good start, just expand on most points

 

[Gwanian]

Changes have been implemented! Ready for QC2.

 

[Hacker]

qc 2/2

[overview]

**Draft order**: Late round 4 onwards

**Price range**: 10-11 points

**Overview**: Donphan is a coveted draft pick for its role as a physically bulky utility ground type with Rapid Spin at an affordable cost. (reword this sentence. smth like donphan is a solid draft pick for teams looking for a physically bulky ground type with rapid spin utility. its not rly coveted)Sturdy guarantees at least one turn of value from Donphan, and its respectable attack stat paired with ground STAB and good coverage helps it wear down opposing Pokémon for the rest of the team. Despite its physical bulk, Donphan’s pitiful speed and special defense cause it to struggle with longevity.

[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Utility:**: Donphan’s access to Rapid Spin, Knock Off, and Stealth Rock to set its own hazards makes it an incredibly reliable utility Pokémon. It can choose to invest in offense to pressure opposing Pokémon with STAB Earthquake and coverage options, or in defense to more reliably check offensive threats.

**Dedicated lead**: Donphan makes for a reliable lead with Sturdy almost guaranteeing it can get up Stealth Rock turn one. Lead sets can also run Endeavor paired with Ice Shard or Custap Berry, allowing Donphan to pressure almost anything that brings it down to Sturdy.

**Bulky Attacker**: With almost all the coverage it could ask for, Donphan has the option to run 4 attacks to deal good damage in the early game. An Assault Vest can provide Donphan with some much-needed special defense while not limiting its ability to remove with Rapid Spin.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Earthquake, High Horsepower

**Setup Moves**: Iron Defense, Curse, Trailblaze (not real)

**Utility moves**: Rapid Spin, Knock Off, Stealth Rock, Encore, Roar

**Coverage**: Gunk Shot, Poison Jab, Ice Spinner, Ice Shard, Stone Edge, Head Smash, Play Rough, Body Press, Heavy Slam, Gyro Ball (seed bomb, fire fang, iron head)


Niche Moves
========
**Endeavor**: Donphan is arguably the best Endeavor user in the format, able to punish most Pokémon for bringing it down to Sturdy.

**Counter**: In a similar vein to Endeavor, Counter takes advantage of Sturdy to help Donphan eliminate problematic physical attackers.

**Smack Down**: Smack Down gives Donphan a method of pressuring steel/flying types or steel types with levitate such as Skarmory or Bronzong.

Common Items
========
** Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots allows Donphan to avoid taking chip damage from hazards and preserve Sturdy at full health.

*Assault Vest**: With an Assault Vest, Donphan can somewhat reliably take special hits and help soften up the opponent’s team while still being able to remove hazards with Rapid Spin.

**Leftovers**: Leftovers gives Donphan longevity in matches, especially versus physical attackers that struggle to break through it.

**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet punishes the physical attackers that Donphan excels at checking, especially those that use U-Turn for momentum.

Niche Items
========
**Custap Berry**: With Sturdy, Donphan is one of the better Custap Berry users, as it appreciates the ability to get off a second hit, especially on lead sets.

**Choice Band**: Choice Band can turn Donphan into a terrifying breaker versus teams without a good check to ground types.

**Attack Boosting Items**: Items such as Soft Sand and Expert Belt, while giving significantly less of a damage boost when compared to Choice Band, allow Donphan to rely less on predictions and take better advantage of its coverage options.

**Red Card**: When paired with Sturdy, Red Card can be a good one-time answer to setup Pokémon, without having to sacrifice a move slot to Roar, which is also shut down by Taunt.

**Resistance Berries**: Rindo Berry, Pasho Berry, and Yache Berry allow Donphan to take a super effective hit if it is not at full health for Sturdy.

Tera
========
Donphan should never be a Tera Captain — it lacks the resources a Tera Captain would want, and its middling price cuts into the tera budget significantly. Its lack of speed and reliable setup options make it undesirable as an offensive tera user; if used as a Tera Captain, defensive tera types such as steel or poison would work best.

Draft Strategy
========
Donphan is a reliable hazard remover for a good price and fits well on drafts that want hazards gone without getting rid of their own. While not a draft's centerpiece, it can provide valuable hazard control, support, and breaking power to enable the rest of the team.

**Specially defensive Pokémon**: While Donphan has fantastic physical bulk, it suffers from low special defense, allowing special attackers to take advantage of it. It greatly benefits from a specially defensive partner, especially if that Pokémon covers Donphan's weaknesses. Pokémon such as Hisuian Goodra, and Galarian Slowking, Araquanid, and Sylveon make for good Donphan pairings.

**Hazard-weak offensive Pokémon**: Since Donphan provides good hazard removal for the team and can weaken opposing Pokémon early on, breakers and sweepers that benefit from hazard removal pair quite well with it. Pokémon such as Chi-Yu, Iron Bundle, and Dragonite, and Annihilape all appreciate the support Donphan provides.

Checks and Counters
========
**Special attackers**: Special attackers such as Zapdos, Gholdengo, or Sylveon (find a high tier special attacker to mention here) can pressure Donphan easily because of its low special defense stat.

**Ghost types**: Ghost types Such as Sinistcha, Mismagius, or Annihilape can block Donphan’s attempts to Rapid Spin. While many of them fear Knock Off, sets with defense investment and/or a Colbur Berry make it difficult for Donphan to pressure them after the item is removed. (remove this, annihilape is the only good ghost type that spinblocks donphan)

**Ground immunes**: While Donphan can threaten most flying types with rock or ice coverage, most are able to switch in on an incoming earthquake and outspeed Donphan. Flying types like Zapdos and Landorus-Incarnate (find a diff pokemon since lando i is weak to ice shard) can threaten it out offensively, while defensive flying types such as Skarmory can pressure it out with taunt. Donphan especially struggles to hit Pokémon with abilities that grant them ground immunities, such as Rotom forms and Orthworm.

 

[Gwanian]

Implemented! Ready for GP Team

 

[SolarBeam]

Hi, here's a GP amcheck. Feel free to implement whatever you want.

average tusk

[overview]
blue = add
red = remove
(orange) = comment

**Draft order**: Late round 4 onwards

**Price range**: 10-11 points

**Overview**: Donphan is a solid draft pick for its role as a physically bulky ground type Ground-type with Rapid Spin utility. Sturdy guarantees at least one turn of value from Donphan, and its respectable attack stat Attack paired with ground Ground-type STAB and good coverage helps it wear down opposing Pokémon Pokemon (no accent for analyses) for the rest of the team. (RS) Despite its physical bulk, Donphan’s pitiful speed Speed and special defense Special Defense cause it to struggle with longevity.

[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Utility:**: Donphan’s access to Rapid Spin, Knock Off, and Stealth Rock make makes it an incredibly reliable utility Pokémon Pokemon. (RS) It can choose to invest in offense to pressure opposing Pokémon Pokemon with STAB Earthquake and coverage options (RC) or in defense to more reliably check offensive threats (if you're referring to the stat, capitalize "defense", but this reads as more general so leaving it).

**Dedicated lead**: Donphan makes for a reliable lead, (AC) with Sturdy almost guaranteeing it can get up Stealth Rock turn one. (RS) Lead sets can also run Endeavor paired with Ice Shard or Custap Berry, allowing Donphan to pressure almost anything that brings it down to Sturdy.

**Bulky attacker**: With almost all the coverage it could ask for, Donphan has the option to run 4 four attacks to deal good damage in the early-game (AH). An Assault Vest can provide Donphan with some much-needed special defense Special Defense while not limiting its ability to remove entry hazards with Rapid Spin.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Earthquake, High Horsepower

**Setup moves**: Iron Defense, Curse

**Utility moves**: Rapid Spin, Knock Off, Stealth Rock, Encore, Roar

**Coverage**: Gunk Shot, Poison Jab, Ice Spinner, Ice Shard, Stone Edge, Head Smash, Play Rough, Body Press, Heavy Slam, Gyro Ball, Iron Head, Seed Bomb, Fire Fang


Niche Moves
========
**Endeavor**: Donphan is arguably the best Endeavor user in the format, able to punish most Pokémon Pokemon for bringing it down to Sturdy.

**Counter**: In a similar vein to Endeavor, Counter takes advantage of Sturdy to help Donphan eliminate problematic physical attackers.

**Smack Down**: Smack Down gives Donphan a method of pressuring steel/flying types or steel types Steel / Flying types and Steel-types with levitate Levitate, (AC) such as Skarmory or and Bronzong.

Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots allows Donphan to avoid taking chip damage from entry hazards and preserve Sturdy at full health.

**Assault Vest**: With an Assault Vest, Donphan can somewhat reliably take special hits and help soften up the opponent’s team while still being able to remove hazards with Rapid Spin.

**Leftovers**: Leftovers gives Donphan longevity in matches, especially versus physical attackers that struggle to break through it.

**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet punishes the physical attackers that Donphan excels at checking, especially those using U-Turn U-turn for momentum.

Niche Items
========
**Custap Berry**: With Sturdy, Donphan is one of the better Custap Berry users, as it appreciates the ability to get off a second hit, especially on lead sets.

**Choice Band**: Choice Band can turn Donphan into a terrifying breaker wallbreaker versus teams without a good check to ground types Ground-types.

**Attack boosting Damage-boosting items**: Items such as Soft Sand and Expert Belt, while giving significantly less of a damage boost when compared to Choice Band, allow Donphan to rely less on predictions and take better advantage of its coverage options.

**Red Card**: When paired with Sturdy, Red Card can be a good one-time answer to setup Pokémon Pokemon (RC) without having to sacrifice a move slot to Roar, which is also shut down by Taunt.

**Resistance Berries**: Rindo Berry, Pasho Passho Berry, and Yache Berry allow Donphan to take a super effective hit if it is not at full health for Sturdy.

Tera
========
Donphan should never be a Tera Captain — it lacks the resources a tera captain Tera Captain would want, and its middling price cuts into the tera Tera budget significantly. Its lack of speed Speed and reliable setup options make it undesirable as an offensive tera Tera user; if used as a Tera Captain, defensive tera Tera types such as steel Steel or poison Poison would work best.

Draft Strategy
========
Donphan is a reliable entry hazard remover for a good price and fits well on drafts that want hazards gone without getting rid of their own. While not a draft's centerpiece, it can provide valuable hazard control, support, and breaking wallbreaking power to enable the rest of the team.

**Specially defensive Pokémon Pokemon**: While Donphan has fantastic physical bulk, it suffers from low special defense Special Defense, allowing special attackers to take advantage of it. (RS) It greatly benefits from a specially defensive partner, especially if that Pokémon Pokemon covers Donphan’s weaknesses. (RS) Pokémon Pokemon such as Hisuian Goodra and Galarian Slowking make for good Donphan pairings.

**Hazard-weak offensive Pokémon Pokemon**: (RS) Since Donphan provides good hazard removal for the team and can weaken opposing Pokémon Pokemon early on, breakers wallbreakers and sweepers that benefit from hazard removal pair quite well with it. (RS) Pokémon Pokemon such as Chi-Yu, Iron Bundle, and Dragonite all appreciate the support Donphan provides.

Checks and Counters
========
**Special attackers**: Special attackers such as Chi-Yu, Zapdos, Gholdengo, or and Sylveon can pressure Donphan easily because of its low special defense stat Special Defense.

**Ground immunes Ground-immune Pokemon**: While Donphan can threaten most flying types Flying-types with rock Rock or ice Ice coverage, most are able to switch in on an incoming earthquake Earthquake and outspeed Donphan. (RS) Flying types Flying-types such as Zapdos and Tornadus-Therian Tornadus-T can threaten it out offensively, while defensive flying types Flying-types such as Skarmory can pressure it out with taunt Taunt. (RS) Donphan especially struggles to hit Pokémon Pokemon with abilities that grant them ground Ground immunities, such as Rotom forms formes and Orthworm.

[credits]

Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gwanian.626732/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno6377.527276/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/hacker.387847/
Grammar checked by:

 

[Gwanian]

All has been implemented, thanks for the help!

 

[SolarBeam]

All has been implemented, thanks for the help!

No problem, but don't mark it as done- I'm not an official GP checker, so it hasn't been cleared yet.

 

[Gwanian]

No longer marked as done, still GP 0/1

 

[ken]

1/1 GP Team done
same colors except purple for comments
sol did most of it so credit them only

for the mdash html, just remove the bold/color and leave it as is

elephant gang

[overview]

**Draft order**: Late round 4 onwards

**Price range**: 10-11 points

**Overview**: Donphan is a solid draft pick for its role as a physically bulky Ground-type with Rapid Spin utility. Sturdy guarantees at least one turn of value from Donphan, and its respectable Attack paired with Ground-type STAB and good coverage helps it wear down opposing Pokemon for the rest of the team. Despite its physical bulk, Donphan’s pitiful Speed and Special Defense cause it to struggle with longevity.

[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Utility**: Donphan’s access to Rapid Spin, Knock Off, and Stealth Rock makes it an incredibly reliable utility Pokemon. It You can choose to invest its EVs in offense to pressure opposing Pokemon with STAB Earthquake and coverage options or in defense to more reliably check offensive threats.

**Dedicated lead**: Donphan makes for a reliable lead, with Sturdy almost guaranteeing it can get up Stealth Rock turn one. Lead sets can also run Endeavor paired with Ice Shard or Custap Berry, allowing Donphan to pressure almost anything that brings it down to activates Sturdy.

**Bulky attacker**: With almost all the coverage it could ask for, Donphan has the option to run four attacks to deal good damage early-game. An Assault Vest can provide Donphan with some much-needed Special Defense while not limiting its ability to remove entry hazards with Rapid Spin.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB moves**: Earthquake, High Horsepower

**Setup moves**: Iron Defense, Curse

**Utility moves**: Rapid Spin, Knock Off, Stealth Rock, Encore, Roar

**Coverage**: Gunk Shot, Poison Jab, Ice Spinner, Ice Shard, Stone Edge, Head Smash, Play Rough, Body Press, Heavy Slam, Gyro Ball, Iron Head, Seed Bomb, Fire Fang


Niche Moves
========
**Endeavor**: Donphan is arguably the best Endeavor user in the format, able to punish most Pokemon for bringing it down to activating Sturdy.

**Counter**: In a similar vein to Endeavor, Counter takes advantage of Sturdy to help Donphan eliminate problematic physical attackers.

**Smack Down**: Smack Down gives Donphan a method of pressuring Steel / Flying types and Steel types with Levitate, such as Skarmory and Bronzong.

Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots allows Donphan to avoid taking chip damage from entry hazards and preserve preserves Sturdy at full health.

**Assault Vest**: With an Assault Vest, Donphan can somewhat reliably take special hits and help soften up the opponent’s team while still being able to remove entry hazards with Rapid Spin.

**Leftovers**: Leftovers gives Donphan longevity in matches, especially versus against physical attackers that struggle to break through it.

**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet punishes the physical attackers that Donphan excels at checking, especially those using U-turn for momentum.

Niche Items
========
**Custap Berry**: With Sturdy, Donphan is one of the better Custap Berry users, as it appreciates the ability to get off a second hit, especially on lead sets.

**Choice Band**: Choice Band can turn Donphan into a terrifying wallbreaker versus against teams without a good check to Ground-types.

**Damage-boosting items**: Items such as Soft Sand and Expert Belt, while giving significantly less of a damage boost when compared to Choice Band, allow Donphan to rely less on predictions and take better advantage of its coverage options.

**Red Card**: When paired with Sturdy, Red Card can be a good one-time answer to setup Pokemon without having to sacrifice a moveslot (rs) to Roar, which is also shut down by Taunt.

**Resistance Berries**: Rindo Berry, Passho Berry, and Yache Berry allow Donphan to take a super effective hit if it is not at full health for Sturdy.

Tera
========
Donphan should never be a Tera Captain—it lacks the resources a Tera Captain would want, and its middling price cuts into the Tera budget significantly. Its lack of Speed and reliable setup options make it undesirable as an offensive Tera user; if used as a Tera Captain, defensive Tera types such as Steel or Poison would work best.

Draft Strategy
========
Donphan is a reliable entry hazard remover for a good price and fits well on drafts that want hazards gone without getting rid of their own. While not a draft's centerpiece, it can provide valuable hazard control, support, and wallbreaking power to enable the rest of the team.

**Specially defensive Pokemon**: While Donphan has fantastic physical bulk, it suffers from low Special Defense, allowing special attackers to take advantage of it. It greatly benefits from a specially defensive partner, especially if that Pokemon covers Donphan’s weaknesses. Pokemon such as Hisuian Goodra and Galarian Slowking make for good Donphan pairings.

**Hazard-weak offensive Pokemon**: Since Donphan provides good entry hazard removal for the team and can weaken opposing Pokemon early on, wallbreakers and sweepers that benefit from hazard removal pair quite well with it. Pokemon such as Chi-Yu, Iron Bundle, and Dragonite all appreciate the support Donphan provides.

Checks and Counters
========
**Special attackers**: Special attackers such as Chi-Yu, Zapdos, Gholdengo, and Sylveon can pressure Donphan easily because of its low Special Defense.

**Ground-immune Pokemon**: While Donphan can threaten most Flying-types with Rock- or Ice-type coverage, most are able to switch in on an incoming Earthquake and outspeed Donphan. Flying-types such as Zapdos and Tornadus-T can threaten it out offensively, while defensive Flying-types such as Skarmory can pressure it out with Taunt. Donphan especially struggles to hit Pokemon with abilities that grant them Ground immunities, such as Rotom formes and Orthworm.

[credits]

Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gwanian.626732/

Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno6377.527276/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/hacker.387847/

Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/

 

[Gwanian]

All done (for real this time)!

 

[Hacker]

https://www.smogon.com/dex/sv/pokemon/donphan/draft/