Donphan
Armor Pokémon
It has sharp, hard tusks and a rugged hide. Its TACKLE is strong enough to knock down a house.
Base Stats
Type Effectiveness
Abilities
Held Items
Evolution Chain
Moves
Details
Sprites
Competitive
Strategy Overview
With its solid typing and great Attack and Defense, Donphan is a reliable tank in RarelyUsed that can check top threats in the tier such as Zygarde-10%, Noivern, and Tyrantrum. Donphan is also unique in that it has access to Rapid Spin to clear away entry hazards and Ice Shard as a priority move to pick off weakened threats such as Zygarde-10%, Roserade, and Noivern. Despite these solid traits, Donphan's biggest issue is that it is easy to wear down with weak attacks and status conditions thanks to a lack of reliable recovery. This is especially bad considering Donphan has to repeatedly switch into Pokemon it is supposed to check and entry hazards to clear them away, breaking its Sturdy ability every time. Donphan may have a high Attack, but it has issues breaking common defensive Pokemon such as Slowbro, Mandibuzz, and Mantine. Donphan's low Speed and Special Defense are easily exploited by Pokemon that can hit it with super effective attacks such as Mega Blastoise, Roserade, and Milotic. While Donphan's typing and bulk allows it to check Rock-, Ground-, and Steel-types, it still receives tough competition from other entry hazard removers such as Mega Blastoise, Mandibuzz, and Mantine thanks to either stronger offensive presences with Mega Blastoise or better resistances and recovery with Mandibuzz and Mantine. It also has competition as an offensive Ground-type from the likes of Zygarde-10% and Rhyperior. Zygarde-10% is much faster and has a better STAB move with Thousand Arrows, while Rhyperior has a higher Attack and better typing both offensively and defensively.
Most Used Moves
Common Teammates
Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc