[STABmons] Diggersby [QC 0/3]

[EV]

>:3

QC 0/3: | |
GP 0/2: |
​

[OVERVIEW]

• Huge Power and access to double priority in FakeSpeed turns Diggersby into the metagame's single best revenger available
• Its secondary Ground STAB helps it break down the Rock and Steel-types that resist Normal
• It can run an effective Swords Dance set which puts huge pressure on the opponent and helps it break past its typical checks and counters
• Access to the right coverage means usual checks which are immune to one or both of its STABs such as Landorus-T and Gengar are no longer safe
• It makes a great wincon due to its ability to pick off enemy threats with FakeSpeed
• It's not fast even if invested and often relies on an Adamant nature meaning it can be outsped easily
• Poor bulk and so-so typing means it can't switch in safely most the time and usually has to rely on revenge killing after your team has lost a Pokemon
• The standard revenge set will always have Fake Out, Extreme Speed, and Ground STAB, leaving only one slot open for coverage
• Diggersby is over-prepared for so the opponent often has multiple answers to it and without any form of recovery for itself it will eventually get worn down by chip damage or retaliatory attacks from decently bulky Pokemon

[SET]
name: Revenge: The Meta
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Extreme Speed
move 3: Precipice Blades
move 4: U-turn / Ice Punch / Knock Off
item: Silk Scarf
ability: Huge Power
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========​

• Fake Out + Extreme Speed is a 2-turn equivalent of 120 BP attack that hits before the target can attack
• Precipice Blades gives excellent coverage alongside Normal and hits many neutral targets very hard
• U-turn keeps up momentum due to all the switching Diggersby causes
• Ice Punch is there for Landorus-T almost exclusively
• Knock Off removes Rocky Helmets and is needed to hit things like Gengar, also helps break down walls holding Eviolite or Leftovers
• Baton Pass to avoid Rocky Helmet/Rough Skin/Iron Barbs chip damage but it may pass Intimidate drops

Set Details
========​

• Huge Power is mandatory on Diggersby
• The EVs make it hit has hard as possible as most times it will be spamming priority
• The rest go into Speed / 4 anywhere
• Adamant is preferred for higher damage output but Jolly beats other Diggersby
• Silk Scarf is chosen over Life Orb to power up Diggersby's Normal STAB without causing recoil
• Most opponents will use chip damage to wear down Diggersby and LO adds to that
• However, Life Orb does guarantee some important KOs, such as OHKOing Sableye on the switch with Precipice Blades 62.5% of the time (100% w/ hazards)

Usage Tips
========​

• FakeSpeed should be used in most scenarios to remove threats that have setup, such as NP Thundurus, or any target without a defensive investment as most are 2HKO'd by the combo
• Avoid spamming Fake Out if the opponent carries a Pokemon with Rough Skin/Iron Barbs/Rocky Helmet because they will use it to chip away at your health
• Use a coverage move instead if you expect the above scenario or Knock Off the item so you can spam Fake Out with less fear
• Also, sometimes using Espeed/Pblades is the best option if you expect the opponent to switch out because then you have a better chance to 2HKO the target (I'll clarify this more in the full write-up but basically sometimes FakeSpeed won't guarantee a 2hko on a target but 2 Espeeds will)
• If you know Diggersby can't 2HKO the target with Fake Out+Attack and the opponent has a SE/status move, it's best to save Diggersby for later as its a fantastic wincon
• I.E. don't try to 2HKO a healthy bulky Rotom-W because you risk Scald/Wisp, etc
• As mentioned, save Diggersby if you know you can just pick off the remaining few targets with FakeSpeed
• Sometimes that means sacking something else so Diggersby can just come in for free to FakeSpeed and KO the target

Team Options
========​

• A special nuke such as Keldeo can remove physical walls that come into Diggersby often
• Getting hazards up will help Diggersby break down its checks
• Stealth Rock hurts Landorus-T, Skarmory, and other things immune to Ground such as Rotom-W while Spikes do more to Garchomp and Ferrothorn
• Heatran can set SR and has a good matchup versus Skarmory and Ferrothorn

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Extreme Speed
move 3: Precipice Blades
move 4: Protect / Fake Out
item: Life Orb / Lum Berry
ability: Huge Power
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========​

• Swords Dance turns Diggersby into a fearsome threat and mitigates the Attack drop from Intimidate users such as Landorus-T
• Extreme Speed bypasses Diggersby's poor Speed and thanks to its doubled Attack will KO many frail targets in one hit
• Precipice Blades provides a strong secondary STAB that damages the Steel or Rock types that resist Normal
• Protect is a good option to burn enemy Fake Outs and give you a 50/50 shot to KO opposing Adamant Diggersby with Espeed the next turn
• Running Fake Out in the fourth slot still allows Diggersby to act as your FakeSpeed user
• Lovely Kiss is an option as well to disable slower walls and buy you a turn to setup Swords Dance

Set Details
========​

• Huge Power is mandatory because it doubles Diggersby's otherwise bad Attack stat
• 252 EVs are placed into Attack and Speed while the last 4 can go into a defensive stat of your choice
• Adamant is preferred to do the most damage as possible and the higher Speed isn't as necessary due to Espeed's priority
• However, Jolly can eliminate the risk of tying with other Adamant Diggersby
• A Life Orb boosts Diggersby's power output even further and puts your chance at OHKOing Sableye on the switch with Precipice Blades at 62.5%
• It also allows you to guarantee a OHKO against Ferrothorn at +2, for example
• A Lum Berry is needed to avoid a Prankster Will-O-Wisp from Sableye if you don't run Life Orb, as it will come in and try to burn you before you're able to KO it

Usage Tips
========​

• Use Swords Dance as your opponent switches to their Diggersby check, allowing you to either KO it the next turn with the appropriate move, or in the case of Landorus-T, 2HKO it as it fails to KO Diggersby in time
• Outright attack on Sableye in hopes of KOing
• Scout with Protect if a Sableye gets in safely or to see how your opponent responds to your Diggersby
• Also use Protect to burn enemy Fake Outs so they can't revenge you as efficiently
• Use your own Fake Out + Extreme Speed combo to check the opponent's team when setting up isn't available

Team Options
========​

• Similar to the standard FakeSpeed set, this Diggersby needs certain walls removed before it can begin setting up
• However it is less reliant on team support due to its potential to unleash huge amounts of damage on its own
• A special attacker that threatens its common checks such as Keldeo is still a valuable ally
• It does appreciate a cleric in case it gets statused, so running Heal Bell on Sylveon or Lunar Dance Latios gives it another shot at sweeping
• Getting hazards down is important to nab important KOs
• Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Heatran are good Stealth Rock setters
• A double Normal core can overpower the opponent if they only have one or two answers to Diggersby
• Fellow FakeSpeeders such as Mega Altaria, Stoutland, Defiant Braviary, or even Azumarill (which doesn't fear Landorus-T so much) are good examples

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============​

• Head Charge can be run alongside Diggersby's normal Fake Out/Extreme Speed/Pblades combo to do more damage and wear down its traditional checks faster at the cost of recoil
• Earthquake is a perfectly accurate but weaker version of Precipice Blades. Running it will miss out on important KOs at times, however
• Explosion is notable for removing just about any non-Ghost, Rock, or Steel Pokemon from the game and works well on Normal Spam teams (50% chance to OHKO Landorus-T at -1 w/ LO!)
• Choice Band sets deal huge amounts of damage at the opportunity cost of removing your ability to attack with the FakeSpeed combo. It's worth noting that a CB Espeed deals the same damage as the FakeSpeed combo, however
• Wild Charge/Fire Punch can grant SE hits on certain Steel-types such as Skarmory and Ferrothorn, but Wild Charge often times doesn't even 2HKO Skarmory and Ferrothorn already takes sizeable damage from Precipice Blades. Other coverage moves or the momentum-granting U-turn are generally preferred

Checks and Counters
===================
​

• **Bulky Defensive Pokemon**:
  • Landorus-T is one of the most common checks to Diggersby due to Intimidate
  • Skarmory resists Normal and is immune to Ground and has the bulk to take coverage moves, it can threaten SD sets with WW
  • Ferrothorn punishes FakeSpeed with Iron Barbs and can generally stomach a non LO Precipice Blades then heal it off with Synthesis/Leech Seed or threaten with Spore/Power Whip
  • Rotom-W isn't quite as bulky as the others but it's immune to Ground and has Scald to threaten, can live 1 FakeSpeed at full health

• **Normal/Ground Immunity**:
  • Gengar is notable for being immune to both STABs, only fearing Knock Off most of the time, can burn back with WOW, Disable coverage moves
  • Sableye is immune to Normal and has the benefit of priority status meaning if it gets in alive it can threaten with WOW or gain momentum with Parting Shot

• **Chip Damage**:
  • Due to the ubiquity of FakeSpeed many Pokemon will carry a Rocky Helmet to wear down Diggersby.
  • Garchomp, Ferrothorn, Tangrowth, and Landorus-T are all common holders
  • Certain Grass-types can even run Spiky Shield, but this is generally not seen outside Ferrothorn or Tangrowth

 

[EV]

Go go go

 

[skies]

fine, fine

Overview:

• "It's not fast even if invested and often relies on an Adamant nature meaning it can be outsped easily" This seems moot when its main tools are FakeSpeed. Earthquake targets (primarily Heatran) are slower than it anyways.
• The final point can be refuted because Diggersby also wears down its counters in return.

Set:

• Earthquake > Precipice Blades imo. Is there anything significantly hit harder by Blades than Earthquake that makes the subpar accuracy worthwhile? I've not seen Blades on much Diggersby either, always Earthquake.
• I'd change order of last slot to Knock Off / U-turn only, then put Ice Punch in Moves. Will expand on Ice Punch in next part.

Moves:

• Remove Baton Pass, it's really situational compared to U-turn.
• Put Ice Punch / Wild Charge here. The two hit Landorus-T and Skarmory, plus both are solid coverage options either way.

Set Details:

• Jolly doesn't really beat other Diggersby, but it ties with them. I'd say it outspeeds Adamant, but also can tie with Jolly lessening its susceptibility to opposing Diggersby etc.

Usage Tips is fine.

Team Options:

• Mention which entry hazard users (Klefki!!!).
• Put in the bunny combo. Mega Lopunny / Azumarill. You know the deal.
• Magnezone traps and removes Skarmory, so mention it.

You have Mega Altaria mentioned in the Swords Dance set. Other than that... I really don't see anything to change.

Other Options:

• Mention my Spikes set :3.

Checks & Counters:

• Honestly I'd make Gengar its own bullet. It's the best Diggersby counter for offensive teams imo.

QC 1/3

 

[EV]

Booooooooo