SS OU Mega Kick Diggersby (Suggestions wanted!)

Introduction:
Hey guys, it's been a while since I have posted an RMT, and I have been getting more involved in the scene, so I thought it was about time. For this team I really wanted to build around Diggersby, more specifically Mega Kick Diggersby. Its a really uncommon surprise factor, and is able to do some pretty incredible feats, more on that later. I haven't been able to refine this team as much as I wanted too before I posted it, so that's hopefully what you can help me with!


The Team:
https://pokepast.es/a5604da0c0e268d0


diggersby.gif


Diggersby @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Mega Kick
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack

This mon is amazing, and is what the whole team is built around. Huge Power doubles its attack stat, with max attack it reaches 464 UNBANDED. Swords dance boosts this to a ridiculous attack. Earthquake is extremely spammable stab move, and at +2 can disassemble stall teams with ease. Quick attack is priority and deal with extremely weak glass cannons like Pheromosa with ease. As a side benefit, it is boosted by silk scarf. Now for the champ of all moves, Mega Kick. This move has 120 BP, is stab boosted, and is boosted by silk scarf. The only drawback is that this move has 75 percent accuracy. At +2 Diggersby with Mega Kick 75% of the time can 100% of the time KO any of the bulkier birds, like Mandibuzz. Landourus-T comes in after swords dance? Gone! Even supposed counters like Corvinight take up to 83%! This mon is crazy! I run silk scarf over life orb to increase Diggersby's longevity, it also doesn't change any OHKO's
+2 252+ Atk Silk Scarf Huge Power Diggersby Mega Kick vs. 248 HP / 160+ Def Mandibuzz: 457-538 (108 - 127.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Silk Scarf Huge Power Diggersby Mega Kick vs. 252 HP / 184+ Def Zapdos: 517-610 (134.6 - 158.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Silk Scarf Huge Power Diggersby Mega Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Moltres: 468-552 (121.8 - 143.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Silk Scarf Huge Power Diggersby Mega Kick vs. 252 HP / 28 Def Corviknight: 283-333 (70.7 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Silk Scarf Huge Power Diggersby Mega Kick vs. 252 HP / 112+ Def Landorus-Therian: 402-474 (105.2 - 124%) -- guaranteed OHKO

slowbro.gif


Slowbro @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Teleport
- Future Sight
- Slack Off
- Scald

For a while in DLC 1, I thought Slowbro was overrated, but now I realize with the combo of Teleport and Future Sight, it is one of the best ways to wall break through bulky teams. For example, If I use future sight then teleport, and bring in Diggersby, normal counters such as Buzzwole, can't swap in to a Mega Kick + Future Sight combo. I could see Slowbro being replaced by its brother Slowking, or its cousin Galar Slowking. Slack Off for health, Scald for chip damage and chance to burn against most mons. Min speed for slowest possible pivot with Teleport

cinderace.gif


Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Court Change
- U-turn
- High Jump Kick
- Sucker Punch

Cinderace in general, is a really good pivot with Heavy Duty Boots. This set is a little out of the ordinary as it carries no fire move. I knew I wanted to try Court Change Cinderace, as I think it has a lot of potential, but found myself losing to spectrier and other faster mons. To solve this problem I replaced Pyro Ball with Sucker Punch, because I found my self clicking HJK more than Pyro Ball anyway. U-turn is there to keep momentum.

magnezone.gif


Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Body Press

I am going to be honest, this mon does very little for the team. I had it originally had specs to pair it with Diggersby, to counter Corvinight, Skarmory, ect. I am not sure if I should even worry about that if I have Zapdos. I found my self lacking a lot (if any) speed control. I tried to solve this with max speed scarf, but this thing is dismally slow, so it only hits 360, but I am still lacking the speed control. The only reason it is still on this team, is because I really didn't know what to replace it with. Hopefully you guys can help me with this!

zapdos.gif


Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Roost
- Hurricane
- Defog

At this point I am looking at my team and I realize I have no Defogger or Stealth Rocker, so that's what these last two slots are going to fill. I also realize I lose to Rillaboom, so I chose to fill this slot with Zapdos. It resists Rillaboom's attacks (except for Knock Off) and provides Defog. It also has the added benefit of (kinda) dealing with rain teams, which this team REALLY struggles with. Static overall is extremely hard to deal with, and can help with speed control, same with Discharge. Roost there for recovery, Hurricane there to help fight rain teams and Landorus-T, and Defog for obvious reasons.

hippowdon.gif


Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic


This mon is admittedly is a little bit of an odd choice. I needed some form of weather control (which this helps with everything but rain) and a stealth rocker. I also realized that I otherwise get 6-0d by Urshifu-S. This mon in reality is my only special wall, and it loses to rain. I think this and Magnezone are really in need of replacement to help balance out the team a little better. Earthquake for stab, Slack Off for recovery, and Toxic for chip.

Threats:
Unfortunately, this team kinda has a lot of threats, a lot of them relating to Landorus-T and rain.

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Slowking-Galar and Landorus-T are huge threats for this team, with regenerator and intimidate, it makes dealing with this core miserable.
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Landorus-T paired with either Ferro, Pex, or both is miserable to deal with. Without Pyro Ball, Cinderace is pretty much useless against this. Diggersby also has a lot of trouble dealign with this. Future Sight can help against Pex, but Ferro is definitely a problem.
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Rain in general is an actual nightmare, with my best spdef mon being hippowdown, meaning I just straight up lose. Zapdos can kinda deal with it, but specs pretty much OHKOs everything.

I bet there is other threats, but I find these one are the most common ones I fight against.


Conclusion:
I really tried to put some more effort into this RMT, so hopefully it pays off. I generally think that the first 3 form a good core, but the last three feel out of place, and don't do their job good enough. I wish I had time to prepare the team more, but I am looking forward to any and all suggestions, so thank you in advance!
 

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Hey so i would just replace the Diggersby with excadrill with sand rush and swords dance and leftovers or life orb.
Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Shadow Claw
- Swords Dance
 
Hey so i would just replace the Diggersby with excadrill with sand rush and swords dance and leftovers or life orb.
Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Shadow Claw
- Swords Dance

As much as I appreciate the suggestion, the whole point of this team was to build around Diggersby. Excadrill doesnt even provide much help towards the team. What is even shadow claw for? Maybe you should try too look a little more at the team before commenting. I have think of replacing mag, hippo, and or Zapdos. I have been experimenting with replacing these with things like Zarude that help my threats a little more.
 
If you want a replacement for your Magnezone, I would suggest something like Jirachi with a scarf moveset. It could cover ferrothorn with fire punch and it also has a chance of paralyzing the Kingdra and ohko the Pelipper.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Thunder Punch
- Fire Punch
 
If you want a replacement for your Magnezone, I would suggest something like Jirachi with a scarf moveset. It could cover ferrothorn with fire punch and it also has a chance of paralyzing the Kingdra and ohko the Pelipper.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Thunder Punch
- Fire Punch

I really like this suggestion, Jirachi provides a lot of coverage, and deals with the things I wanted mag to deal with, if not better. With elemental punches + u-turn you can really play around any team. And obviously, you can cheese out wins by spamming Iron Head, or burn and paralyzing from the punches. Its crazy how such a versatile mon gets placed down in UU. When using this mon, I found that replacing zap with a utility spdef Hydreigon and hippo with a stealth rocker that beats Urshifu, like clef, the team becomes really balanced and fun to play. If your interested the team looks like this:
https://pokepast.es/f98ecbe10a6631fc
Not sure if I should change the original post down the road, but if I have more success with this team (and I am not lazy) I might.
 
i knew the team was based around diggersby but its not great.sorry
Again thank you for your reply, but I think your missing the point here. Diggersby is surprisingly good, able to achieve things excadrill could never achieve. If you look at the calcs you can see that it 2hkos most of the meta, and OHKOs all the bulky birds. The whole point of the team was to support Diggersby’s weakness, not to build a standard sand balance. The set you provided isn’t even a good excadrill set, what does shadow claw even hit? Spectrier? Latios? Those things are so frail you don’t need that coverage. Here is a suggestion for you, maybe run rock slide on exca to help hit the things it gets walled by. It’s obvious you are new to Smogon or maybe Pokémon, and I am all for helping new players in the scene, but you should become more experienced with the format of both before suggesting on someone else’s team. Sorry
 
Again thank you for your reply, but I think your missing the point here. Diggersby is surprisingly good, able to achieve things excadrill could never achieve. If you look at the calcs you can see that it 2hkos most of the meta, and OHKOs all the bulky birds. The whole point of the team was to support Diggersby’s weakness, not to build a standard sand balance. The set you provided isn’t even a good excadrill set, what does shadow claw even hit? Spectrier? Latios? Those things are so frail you don’t need that coverage. Here is a suggestion for you, maybe run rock slide on exca to help hit the things it gets walled by. It’s obvious you are new to Smogon or maybe Pokémon, and I am all for helping new players in the scene, but you should become more experienced with the format of both before suggesting on someone else’s team. Sorry
Diggersby doesn't have enough speed to sweep opponents and can be punished by lot of priority like grassy glide or aqua jet, or just something that outspeeds it with stab super effective, also how can you setup sd if this thing goes down so quickly, would replace this with excadrill to make use of sand and can provide speed control
 
Diggersby doesn't have enough speed to sweep opponents and can be punished by lot of priority like grassy glide or aqua jet, or just something that outspeeds it with stab super effective, also how can you setup sd if this thing goes down so quickly, would replace this with excadrill to make use of sand and can provide speed control
Thank you for your comment, I am going to try and clear up any confusion behind Diggersby right now. Yes Diggersby isn't the fastest mon in the world, but its power more than makes up for it. As I mentioned earlier in the post, it reaches 464 unbanded. That is a crazy high attack stat. It also has priority, which helps make up for its low speed tier. Swords dance boosted quick attack easily deals with most HO teams, and other very frail teams. Not only can it sweep frailer teams, it can also easily dismantle most stall teams, because it is generally faster than every mon on that type of team. I thought this was common knowledge, but I will explain anyway. This thing isn't bulky enough to set up swords dance on a stab attack, it was never supposed too. You try to outplay your opponents and set up a swords dance on a turn they switch out or defog ect. FOR EXAMPLE, if you bring Diggersby in on a Pex, they will likely switch out because they fear Earthquake, this would be the turn to click swords dance. They might bring in a mon like defensive Zapdos, to take no damage from the earthquake. This is where you would then click mega kick and OHKO them. Your right priority can be a struggle. However, if both mons click a +1 priority move, which ever one has a faster speed stat goes first. Against aqua jet crawdaunt (the most common aqua jet user), Diggersby would still go first. Rillaboom however is faster, so grassy glide would go first. This is where you swap out to the Rillaboom counter on the team, Zapdos in this case, or the soft counter, magnezone. One mon can't be the fastest the strongest and the bulkiest, that's what the beauty of Pokemon is, your supposed to build a team around each mons weaknesses and strengths.
 
Thank you for your comment, I am going to try and clear up any confusion behind Diggersby right now. Yes Diggersby isn't the fastest mon in the world, but its power more than makes up for it. As I mentioned earlier in the post, it reaches 464 unbanded. That is a crazy high attack stat. It also has priority, which helps make up for its low speed tier. Swords dance boosted quick attack easily deals with most HO teams, and other very frail teams. Not only can it sweep frailer teams, it can also easily dismantle most stall teams, because it is generally faster than every mon on that type of team. I thought this was common knowledge, but I will explain anyway. This thing isn't bulky enough to set up swords dance on a stab attack, it was never supposed too. You try to outplay your opponents and set up a swords dance on a turn they switch out or defog ect. FOR EXAMPLE, if you bring Diggersby in on a Pex, they will likely switch out because they fear Earthquake, this would be the turn to click swords dance. They might bring in a mon like defensive Zapdos, to take no damage from the earthquake. This is where you would then click mega kick and OHKO them. Your right priority can be a struggle. However, if both mons click a +1 priority move, which ever one has a faster speed stat goes first. Against aqua jet crawdaunt (the most common aqua jet user), Diggersby would still go first. Rillaboom however is faster, so grassy glide would go first. This is where you swap out to the Rillaboom counter on the team, Zapdos in this case, or the soft counter, magnezone. One mon can't be the fastest the strongest and the bulkiest, that's what the beauty of Pokemon is, your supposed to build a team around each mons weaknesses and strengths.
I can see the point, however any ghost or steel type that outspeeds will make a dent in it
 
To add to a few things, I have to say from personal experience this team is quite underwhelming. Diggersby's STAB with its moveset even with Huge Power isn't enough to take out the threats it needs to check, and although it is a good answer for Spectrier I feel like Diggersby should be do a lot more in this team than occasionally switch in. Plus, I don't see any solid coverage for Rillaboom outside of Kapdos, which will still get trouble from Rillaboom's common partners. Rillaboom's grassy terrain + STAB on Grassy Glide / Wood Hammer is an issue. I don't see any solid answers besides Magnezone / Kapdos for Barraskewda either (which for Magnezone isn't even guaranteed coverage), another powerful check. Its strength on Waterfall / Liquidation / Flip turn / Aqua Jet is obviously a problem for this team. Not even to mention that it's movepool is threatening as well, even with answers like Slowbro or Magnezone (now this is a point that you spoke, issues with rain teams), Barra can still check with Close Combat and Crunch, which I have seen a bit with rain teams since it deals with walls like Blissey and Slowbro so well when paired with LO or CB. Also, one thing I almost forgot to mention is how strong Barra stabs Kapdos in the rain, Flip Turn (and if your Zapdos is low enough) Liquidation make anything from a decent dent to it, to getting donutted right through when played well (as it usually is). Now on top of this, we need to add Diggersby's relatively poor Speed, Defense, SpD, and HP. Although it can hit like a truck, many physical mons can do the same and tend to severely outclass it. Consider Scale Shot EQ Swords Dance Garchomp, what I would consider the better alternative to Diggersby in this team. Access to higher Speed, Defense, SpD, and HP as well as its ability make it far more of a punching bag / sweeper than Diggersby has the potential to be. Overall, it is evident Diggersby at one point made a dent in the OU for its strength, but it now has lackluster and other mons in the OU generally make a far better choice than Diggersby will (and typically fit better for team construction both as a core and supporting mon), at least as of the moment.

P.S.

I don't even have to go into other current OU Meta situations and typing to explain Diggersby's lack of recovery, attack, and overall lack to be a threat. Again, I am sure that you had fun with the team and I don't doubt Diggersby has some use cases as many mons outside of the OU do, but as most teams go I would not consider Diggersby material to be making teams out of if you are looking for success. However, I wish you good luck playing your teams and I hope constructive criticisms are helpful in improving both yours and my team building skills overall :).
 
To add to a few things, I have to say from personal experience this team is quite underwhelming. Diggersby's STAB with its moveset even with Huge Power isn't enough to take out the threats it needs to check, and although it is a good answer for Spectrier I feel like Diggersby should be do a lot more in this team than occasionally switch in. Plus, I don't see any solid coverage for Rillaboom outside of Kapdos, which will still get trouble from Rillaboom's common partners. Rillaboom's grassy terrain + STAB on Grassy Glide / Wood Hammer is an issue. I don't see any solid answers besides Magnezone / Kapdos for Barraskewda either (which for Magnezone isn't even guaranteed coverage), another powerful check. Its strength on Waterfall / Liquidation / Flip turn / Aqua Jet is obviously a problem for this team. Not even to mention that it's movepool is threatening as well, even with answers like Slowbro or Magnezone (now this is a point that you spoke, issues with rain teams), Barra can still check with Close Combat and Crunch, which I have seen a bit with rain teams since it deals with walls like Blissey and Slowbro so well when paired with LO or CB. Also, one thing I almost forgot to mention is how strong Barra stabs Kapdos in the rain, Flip Turn (and if your Zapdos is low enough) Liquidation make anything from a decent dent to it, to getting donutted right through when played well (as it usually is). Now on top of this, we need to add Diggersby's relatively poor Speed, Defense, SpD, and HP. Although it can hit like a truck, many physical mons can do the same and tend to severely outclass it. Consider Scale Shot EQ Swords Dance Garchomp, what I would consider the better alternative to Diggersby in this team. Access to higher Speed, Defense, SpD, and HP as well as its ability make it far more of a punching bag / sweeper than Diggersby has the potential to be. Overall, it is evident Diggersby at one point made a dent in the OU for its strength, but it now has lackluster and other mons in the OU generally make a far better choice than Diggersby will (and typically fit better for team construction both as a core and supporting mon), at least as of the moment.

P.S.

I don't even have to go into other current OU Meta situations and typing to explain Diggersby's lack of recovery, attack, and overall lack to be a threat. Again, I am sure that you had fun with the team and I don't doubt Diggersby has some use cases as many mons outside of the OU do, but as most teams go I would not consider Diggersby material to be making teams out of if you are looking for success. However, I wish you good luck playing your teams and I hope constructive criticisms are helpful in improving both yours and my team building skills overall :).

Thank you so much for spending your time to do this. I do agree that this team is lackluster currently, Diggersby usually just stay in the back of the team until it inevitably gets sacked, but the only time it has truly shines is against stall. Diggersby I feel could be great with the right support from a different team in the future, maybe after the Pheromosa ban. But for now it is hard to play with. As you said Rillaboom and Rain are huge threats, and unfortunately that's kinda where the metas at though. I made variations of the team, but most of them have the same problem. On a side note, I have faced a surprising amount of rain teams with this team, and every single one of the Barraskewda's didn't have crunch, I think that might be because they run Liquadation, Flip Turn, CC, and Psychic Fangs for Toxapex instead, but if it did it would be a pretty much insta lose. I have been wanting to run scale shot Garchomp for a while, so I might make that my next team. Constructive criticism is the best way for all of us to learn and improve, especially for me! Once again, I appreciate you taking time to play and respond to this team. I have somehow created a lot of controversy with Diggersby, but for now, I think I need to put this team to rest.
 
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Resident Diggersby stan here!

First I wanted to express my gratitude for you showing some love to my big boy Diggersby.

Mega kick was actually a set that was running around pre-dlc back when the meta had a limited pool and it could afford to do such things. As with all games the meta shifts and unfortunately so much Diggersby. Right now our boy is the lowest he’s been (at least in my recent memory) and I think if you REALLY wanna see Diggersby put in work you’ll take advantage of his currently low tiering.

But I know you’re here to make Diggy work in OU so I won’t stray too far from that point!! I think the unfortunate thing with this set is the fact that the attacking move you are putting all your faith and calcing into has a 25% chance to miss. Unfortunately with Diggersby’s lack of recovery and and overall bulk, one missed move will cause most of your game plan to go out the window. I can see Diggersby having a pretty niche role in the current mega but I don’t think SD Mega Kick is it. I list of calcs can only get you so far and only cover so much of real game experience.

As far as the team overall is concerned, as you already point out rain is very difficult for you. One giant hole I see right off the bat as well is Banded Wicked Blow tearing through your enter team. There are more threats that are not limited to Dragapult, Spectrier, and Rillaboom.

I think if you truly want to make Diggersby work in the current meta it could possibly run a scarf turn set on a volt turn team? There seems to be something nice about scarf Diggersby, as it’s the set I’ve appreciated the most over time with it.

Id say the most important thing is that you’re using a mon you want to and figuring out a way to make it work! This team will definitely have matchups where Diggersby can come in and get KO after KO I just don’t know that it’s not worth just doing it easier in lower tiers or using a set more fit to the current meta.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck, I’m probably gonna grab a few games and see if there’s anything specific I can see with the team!

Best of luck to your future big rabbit endeavors!
 
Ummm... Hi! I think Diggersby has some lackluster stats, but it can sweep if set-up correctly.
I would like to share with you guys my experience with Diggersby...
Specifically,
Yesterday I got swept by Diggersby that DESTROYED, AND DECIMATED MY TEAM 6-0.

Thought it was gonna set up Spikes or smth. It had a very surprising set- I've never seen it before-

Diggersby @ Focus Sash
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Flail
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack

I lead with Landorus-T, and I set-up rocks, but he used Agility. I was like: ok... sure? I switched into phero and clicked close combat, then he used agility again... Diggersby held on with its focus sash! Welp- he kept on spamming flail and destroyed me...
 
Resident Diggersby stan here!

First I wanted to express my gratitude for you showing some love to my big boy Diggersby.

Mega kick was actually a set that was running around pre-dlc back when the meta had a limited pool and it could afford to do such things. As with all games the meta shifts and unfortunately so much Diggersby. Right now our boy is the lowest he’s been (at least in my recent memory) and I think if you REALLY wanna see Diggersby put in work you’ll take advantage of his currently low tiering.

But I know you’re here to make Diggy work in OU so I won’t stray too far from that point!! I think the unfortunate thing with this set is the fact that the attacking move you are putting all your faith and calcing into has a 25% chance to miss. Unfortunately with Diggersby’s lack of recovery and and overall bulk, one missed move will cause most of your game plan to go out the window. I can see Diggersby having a pretty niche role in the current mega but I don’t think SD Mega Kick is it. I list of calcs can only get you so far and only cover so much of real game experience.

As far as the team overall is concerned, as you already point out rain is very difficult for you. One giant hole I see right off the bat as well is Banded Wicked Blow tearing through your enter team. There are more threats that are not limited to Dragapult, Spectrier, and Rillaboom.

I think if you truly want to make Diggersby work in the current meta it could possibly run a scarf turn set on a volt turn team? There seems to be something nice about scarf Diggersby, as it’s the set I’ve appreciated the most over time with it.

Id say the most important thing is that you’re using a mon you want to and figuring out a way to make it work! This team will definitely have matchups where Diggersby can come in and get KO after KO I just don’t know that it’s not worth just doing it easier in lower tiers or using a set more fit to the current meta.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck, I’m probably gonna grab a few games and see if there’s anything specific I can see with the team!

Best of luck to your future big rabbit endeavors!
Happy to see a OG Diggersby fan, my boy deserves it. Scarf is an interesting pick, and I never really experimented it, as mentioned in other reply’s, yeah Diggersby is at an all time low, so maybe making this before the potential pheromosa bam might have been a bad idea! I ran mega kick once or twice in dlc 1 and it was significantly better than it is now. Anyway thanks for the feedback! I have this team too with Diggersby, it solves some of the problems you mentioned, but not all:
https://pokepast.es/f98ecbe10a6631fc
 
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