National Dex AG
Suicide Lead
Excadrill Wannabe ( Donphan ) @ Custap Berry / Protective Pads / Red Card
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 164 HP / 140 Def / 204 Spe
IVs: 0 SpD
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Bulldoze / Earthquake
- Endeavor / Rock Tomb
If any of you guys play NDAG, then you know that Its Infested with Excadrill HO, and its pretty easy to see why. It has all the tools a Suicide lead could ask for: Mold Breaker / Decent Speed / Solid Defensive Typing;
It even has Steel beam if you wanna be creative.
Its p much the only one possessing All this + Rapid Spin.
Now Mirror Excadrill MU is p much RNG Dependent: Whoever wins the Speed tie is almost always destined to win. And you can't do anything about it. :/
So I looked for an alternative that can somehow do what Excadrill does while still denying Hazards from
Itself / Deo-S / and Shuckle, and look who I found. Donphan.
- The Speed EVs allows it to outspeed Fully Invested Base 90's with a Speed Boosting Nature at +1.
- The Bulk EVs is Specific: It allows Donphan to live a +1 Sunsteel Strike from LO Offensive Dusk Mane.
It also Guarantees Donphan's Survival against Scale Shot ( 5 Hits ) from LO Ada MRay while eating 3 Koff / Fplay from SpDef Yveltal and Unboosted Cloyster's Icicle Spear.
- Stealth Rock, with Rapid Spin is p self-explanatory. Bulldoze is your "Rock Tomb" but STAB, P useful in Keeping Threats like DD Dusk-Mane and Non-Airborne Dynamax Sweepers in Check.
Earthquake is another Option that sports more power at the costs of checking the said threats.On the Bright Side, it allows Donphan to KO Lead Excadrill and Slurpuff with EQ after a Rapid Spin if High Roll; thats all there is to it, and many times its inferior.
- If Custap, 0 SpD IVs allows Neutral Uninvested Judgment from Support Arceus Formes to always put Donphan In Custap Range, p much dependent on roll though.
Endeavor allows you to chip whatever your facing after being damaged severely and has great synergy with Custap Berry, Opening opportunities for its hard hitting teammates such as Caly-S to set-up a Sub / NPlot by threatening a KO. It employs mind games between You and Support Arceus Formes too. Rock Tomb is another option that allows you to punish Yveltal / Ho-Oh and airborne threats like MRay better than Endeavor but at this point, your p much better off with Excadrill as Donphan more often than not, Prefers having Endeavor more.
Donphan's Niche ( I believe ) lies in its ability to hold an item other than Focus Sash: Custap Berry has great Synergy with Endeavor, Dealing heavy damage to opponents once you've received major chip. Can act as a "last ditch effort to set up rocks" too. Protective Pads is another option meant specifically to counter Helmet Dusk-Mane, which can kill Donphan by chipping it every time it spins its rocks away. Red Card is yet another option, allowing you to put a halt to set-up sweepers trying to take advantage of you.
Other Options:
- If Custap, 21 SpD IVs can be run to ensure that you will live Modest Moongeist Beam from Lunala while still allowing neutral Judgments to put you in Custap Range, Still dependent on roll though.
- Safety Goggles is yet another option, Allowing Donphan to stand fearlessly against sleep inducers like Smeargle, But its an Inferior option sometimes due to how uncommon it is and its teammates' tendency such as Caly-S to pack Substitute.
- 42 SpD EVs can be run to eat a LO DMeteor from Mixed Zekrom ( 42 = 4 SpA EVs Iirc ) but its not Recommended as this means taking EVs from Def, which Donphan doesn't appreciate. Zekrom is p rare too and Mixed Zekrom is even rarer.
- Roar is an option over Endeavor / Rock tomb, but it leaves Donphan unable to punish common defoggers, and double-switching can be risky at times.
- A Mono Attacking Donphan with Rock Tomb / Rocks / Spin / Endeavor is an option, but losing your Ground STAB means your Excadrill / Slurp MU will be p weird.
- An Alternate Set of EQ / Rocks / Spin / Rock Tomb is another option But this is done better by Excadrill and its only useful on certain scenarios, for Donphan at least.And its walled to Death By Bulky Defog Arceus Formes.
- Toxic is yet another option that allows Donphan to Punish Most of Its Stops and Setup Sweepers trying to take advantage of it better than Endeavor or Rock Tomb alike but you will find yourself walled by the rare Skarmory and Celesteela.
Notes:
- Donphan is the complete definition of "Passive", Especially if running Endeavor. Its setup fodder for Airborne Threats like MRay without Rock Tomb and can bypass its Sturdy with a boosted Scale Shot. Thus Having Revenge Killers such as Marshadow and Ditto is always appreciated.
- Toxic Variants of Shuckle can outlast Donphan with ease, allowing it to setup its hazard/s without fear of being spinned, and Smart Players can Encore it to an Exploitable move and Switch to its Abusers ( e.g Encore Rapid Spin for Caly-S ). Underspeeding Donphan also means that Shuckle can get at least a key hazard, Webs to be exact then switch into a Spin Blocker to maintain it. Thus, leading with a different lead if facing Shuckle can sometimes be beneficial.
- Threats Like Special Reshiram / Kyurem-W / Kyurem-B / Boosted Cloyster / Specs Lunala / Band Scale Shot MRay can all bypass Donphan's Sturdy and Can KO it with ease
- Caly-S is a thorn for Donphan, as it shuts down even Custap variants courtesy of Unnerve and can taunt it. Thus playing around it is crucial, Partnering it with Extreme Killer or Having a Solid Revenge killer like Ditto is recommended as one wrong misplay can cost you rocks, or even the game itself.
- Ferrothorn is Shuckle V2 for Donphan, not fearing anything it can throw at it par Endeavor and can proceed to lay spikes while wearing it down through Iron Barbs and Leech Seed. Pads Variant can circumvent this, but underspeeding Donphan means it will almost always setup at least one layer of Spikes.
- The Rare Magnet Rise Zekrom can setup on Donphan with little to no fear if not partnered with Ditto or if not Running Rock Tomb.
- Players can play around Endeavor by scouting for it, Thus not revealing it until its really necessary is optimal, as its success heavily relies on surprise factor.
- Magic Bounce Users is A BIG Headache. Keeping Donphan alive until the MBouncer is dead can be p nifty at times but more often than not, having a Magic Bounce User par MDiancie usually Means your gonna have to play without Rocks.
- Zygarde, Like Excadrill is Donphan's worst Nightmare. Every set Zyg can run Punishes Donphan. Thus Weighing whether leading with Donphan or not against such a team would be Optimal is recommended as the best thing it can do in return is to lull Zyg into thinking its helpless, then surprise it with Endeavor. This doesn't always work though.
- Despite all these Cons, Donphan can still considerably play the game its supposed to. It can set up rocks while making Sure Some Variants of Shuckle / Excadrill / Deo-S / Galvantula / Lycanroc / Aerodactyl / Ribombee never gets their hazards up.
- Without Endeavor / Toxic, Defog Arceus Formes can Stop Donphan in its tracks. Playing Aggressively in this Situation Is Recommended.
- Both the Giratina Formes are Immune or take pitiful damage to whatever Donphan throws at them par Toxic and can Exhaust Donphan's Stealth Rock PP through Pressure + Defog. Should you encounter one, This means your gonna have to wreak havoc without rocks. Playing Aggressively in this situation is recommended.
Best Partners:
Ditto: Ditto is by far its best partner, Preventing the Opponent from exploiting Donphan.
But being in a HO team, Ditto Sometimes doesn't fit on some HO Archetypes.
Caly-S: Offers alot to the table: Speed Control with W/O Scarf / Halt to Sleep-Inducers with Substitute / Taunt while also threatening every relevant Magic Bounce Users. It can also, with Baton Pass position Donphan and its other teammates such as Xerneas to good results courtesy of its tendency to lure in its Best Friend, Yveltal.
Overall, Donphan is the best example of "Having the tools but fell short" kind of Suicide Lead. Its p good, or should I say Decent in what it Does but is Outclassed by Excadrill in the Job and Cloyster in countering it.
Its Cons outweighs the Pros more often than not, but its definitely useful; In Ladder at least.
