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This is a guide to movesets and best builds for using Donphan in competitive play for the games Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, Tera Type, and Held Items to use with Donphan, as well as its strengths and weakness.
List of Contents
Paldea #123 | Type | |
---|---|---|
Donphan | ||
Abilities | ||
Sturdy Sand Veil (Hidden) |
||
Weak to: | ||
(2x) | ||
Damaged Normally By: |
(1x) | |
Resists: | (0.5x) | |
Immune to: | (0x) |
Ability Name | Description | |
---|---|---|
Sturdy | The user cannot be knocked out with one hit and cannot be knocked out by One hit KO moves, causing the Pokemon to have 1 HP remaining. | |
Sand Veil (Hidden) |
Increases the user's Evasion by one stage during a Sandstorm. |
Stat | Value | Rank |
---|---|---|
HP | 90 | 168 |
Atk | 120 | 78 |
Def | 120 | 44 |
SpAtk | 60 | 471 |
SpDef | 60 | 503 |
Speed | 50 | 568 |
Total | 500 | 271 |
Stat | Max | 0Nat | 0EV | -Nat | Min |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
HP | 197 | 197 | 165 | 165 | 150 |
Atk | 189 | 172 | 140 | 126 | 112 |
Def | 189 | 172 | 140 | 126 | 112 |
SpAtk | 123 | 112 | 80 | 72 | 58 |
SpDef | 123 | 112 | 80 | 72 | 58 |
Spd | 112 | 102 | 70 | 63 | 49 |
Best Natures | ||
---|---|---|
Impish (+Def, -Sp. Atk) |
Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk) |
Build Name | Recommendation |
---|---|
Hazard Setter Donphan | ★★★★★ |
Physical Wall Donphan | ★ |
Nature | Impish (+Def, -Sp. Atk) |
---|---|
EV Spread | 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def |
Final Stat Values | 197 HP / 141 Atk / 189 Def / 80 Sp. Def / 70 Spe |
Ability | Sturdy |
Tera Type | |
Held Item | Leftovers |
Moveset | ・
Knock Off
・ Stealth Rock ・ Rapid Spin ・ Earthquake |
Donphan's natural bulk allows it to be a great utility Pokemon to set up hazards and disrupt the enemy team. The ability Sturdy allows Donphan to survive longer, especially against setup sweepers.
Stealth Rock and Knock Off are Donphan's utility moves, with Stealth Rock offering offensive pressure, while Knock Off allows you to weaken your opponent by getting rid of its held item.
Rapid Spin is a damaging move that allows Donphan to remove any hazards while boosting its Speed.
Ice Spinner | An alternative move to Rapid Spin. Acts both as a coverage move and utility, allowing it to deal 2x damage against Grass-types, and removing any terrain in the process. |
---|---|
Encore | An alternative utility move that allows Donphan to disrupt hazard setters or stat boost setups. |
Damage Received by Donphan |
|
---|---|
Item: Choice Band | Dragon Darts 84 ~ 102 (42.6 ~ 51.7%) Guaranteed 3-Hit KO |
Item: Choice Band | Flower Trick 152 ~ 182 (77.1 ~ 92.3%) Guaranteed 2-Hit KO |
Nature | Impish (+Def, -Sp. Atk) |
---|---|
EV Spread | 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def |
Final Stat Values | 197 HP / 141 Atk / 189 Def / 80 Sp. Def / 70 Spe |
Ability | Sturdy |
Tera Type | |
Held Item | Leftovers |
Moveset | ・
Knock Off
・ Iron Defense ・ Body Press ・ Earthquake |
Donphan has a high Attack and Defense stat, making it a reliable tank against Physical Pokemon. Its Special Defense and Speed are relatively low, so the ability Sturdy and held item Leftovers helps keep Donphan in battle.
Iron Defense and Body Press together gives Donphan both defensive and offensive power, since Body Press deals damage based on the users Defense. Having Earthquake allows Donphan to dish out decent damage on its own, since it benefits from STAB.
Knock Off is Donphan's utility move, allowing it to remove your opponent's held item. This can be very useful for your team, especially against Pokemon that rely on Choice items to boost their damage outputs.
Since Donphan already has a high Defense stat, the Fighting Tera type allows you to get STAB on Body Press, dealing even more damage while still being extremely tanky.
Stealth Rock | Alternative utility move that gives additional offensive pressure. |
---|---|
Rapid Spin | Alternative utility move to remove entry hazards for your team. |
Damage Dealt by Donphan |
|
---|---|
Knock Off 110 ~ 130 (67.4 ~ 79.7%) Guaranteed 2-Hit KO |
|
+2 Body Press Tera Type: 192 ~ 228 (92.7 ~ 110.1%) 50% Chance to OHKO |
|
Damage Received by Donphan |
|
Item: Choice Band | Dragon Darts 84 ~ 102 (42.6 ~ 51.7%) 2.7% Chance to 2-Hit KO |
Item: Choice Band | Flower Trick 152 ~ 182 (77.1 ~ 92.3%) Guaranteed 2-Hit KO |
Donphan has a high Attack and Defense stat, allowing it to trade attacks with heavy hitters such as Dragapult and Meowscarada.
Donphan's bulk and access to utility moves makes it a good lead tank to set up, disrupt, and offer offensive pressure during the early game.
Lead Tank | Special Attacker | Physical Attacker |
---|---|---|
Donphan | Wash Rotom | Dragonite |
Similar to its Paradox counterparts, Donphan can also be used as a Defensive Pivot that can soak hits from Physical Attackers.
Physical Attacker | Defensive Pivot | Special Attacker |
---|---|---|
Meowscarada | Donphan | Glimmora |
This team uses Meowscarada as a lead, since it can easily scout the opponent's team thanks to its naturally high speed. It can also easily switch out to Donphan, thanks to U-Turn.
Donphan can then act as your defensive pivot, soaking hits and dealing damage against the enemy team to make it easier for your Attackers to sweep later on.
Donphan's weakness lies in its very low Special Defense stat. By using fast Special Attackers, you can easily knock out Donphan in 1~2 hits.
Pokemon | Description |
---|---|
Wash Rotom | Ranking: ★★★★★
・Immunity to Ground-type moves thanks to Levitate. ・Can hit Donphan with 2x STAB Hydro Pump. ▶️ Wash Rotom Best Movesets |
Arboliva | Ranking: ★★★★
・Can hit Donphan with 2x STAB Grass-type moves. ・Can outlast Donphan thanks to healing from Giga Drain. ▶️ Arboliva Best Movesets |
Gholdengo | Ranking: ★★★★
・Naturally immune to Fighting-type moves, and commonly built with Air Balloon for Ground-type immunity. ・Can OHKO Donphan after a Nasty Plot setup. ▶️ Gholdengo Best Movesets |
Movesets & Best Builds for Ranked Battle
New Indigo Disk Pokemon Builds |
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New Indigo Disk Pokemon Builds |
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Returning Indigo Disk Pokemon Builds |
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Blueberry Pokedex: List of All Indigo Disk Pokemon
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Kitakami Pokedex: List of All Teal Mask DLC Pokemon
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All Pokemon HOME Transferable Pokemon
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Best Treasures of Ruin Builds for Ranked Battle and Raids
All Paradox Pokemon Builds |
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Paradox Pokemon Builds for Competitive Battles and Tera Raids
All Other Gen 9 Meta Pokemon Builds |
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Gen 9 Pokemon: All New Pokemon
All Gen 1~8 Meta Pokemon Builds |
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All Off-Meta Pokemon Builds |
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Competitive Team Building for Singles Ranked Battle
Banned/Restricted Builds |
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Donphan Movesets and Best Builds
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