OU Spotlight: Dugtrio

By GMars.
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hngmnDuggy

Art by h_n_g_m_n.

Introduction

From a first glance, Dugtrio is a surprising Pokémon to see in OU. Even with the Attack buff it received in SM, it has a seemingly underwhelming stat distribution with only a bright spot in Speed, leaving it with a BST of only 425. Despite this, its ability Arena Trap gives it an extremely powerful niche. Arena Trap prevents most opposing grounded Pokémon from switching out, allowing Dugtrio to eliminate stallbreakers like Heatran to support stall teams or eliminate defensive roadblocks like Chansey and Toxapex. Dugtrio also has access to an expansive movepool that carries a number of tools that enable it to handle specific threats, such as Pursuit to hit Ghost-types as they switch out and Sucker Punch to finish off weakened faster threats like Choice Scarf Latios or to play around opposing Sucker Punch users, in addition to options like Memento and Stealth Rock to give it role compression. A good chunk of its other options are otherwise virtually unseen in OU, including oddities such as Screech, Reversal, and Aerial Ace. Dugtrio was suspected in February for its trapping ability and narrowly escaped a ban. During the suspect test, other Arena Trap users like Diglett were used effectively on stall teams, and because trapping is overall still a concern to many players, Arena Trap may itself be looked at for a suspect test in the near future.

Hot Sets

Dugtrio
  • Dugtrio @ Groundium Z
  • Ability: Arena Trap
  • EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
  • Jolly Nature
  • - Earthquake
  • - Screech
  • - Substitute
  • - Toxic / Stone Edge / Reversal

Groundium Z improves Dugtrio's offensive prowess, removing the reliance it had on Focus Sash in previous generations. This set is most often seen on offensive teams to eliminate Pokémon like Chansey and Toxapex, allowing partners such as Mega Charizard Y, Ash-Greninja, and Volcarona to wreak havoc. This Dugtrio set is also seen on double Defog variants of stall, as it has an easier time trapping troubling Pokémon like Clefable, Toxapex, Mega Medicham, Magearna, and Mega Mawile than Focus Sash sets do thanks to Tectonic Rage. Screech allows Dugtrio to beat Chansey one-on-one. Substitute protects Dugtrio from status and allows it to play around Sucker Punch. When paired with Reversal, Substitute also allows Dugtrio to bring itself down to 1 HP to maximize Reversal's power. Toxic can be used in place of Reversal to allow Dugtrio to weaken typical answers of Landorus-T and Tangrowth, further supporting its team. Stone Edge is another viable possibility to help pressure Mega Charizard Y.

  • Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
  • Ability: Arena Trap
  • EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
  • IVs: 21 HP
  • Jolly Nature
  • - Earthquake
  • - Reversal
  • - Screech
  • - Sucker Punch / Pursuit / Stone Edge / Memento

This is last generation's bread-and-butter Dugtrio set, which has since been usurped by Groundium Z. Focus Sash Dugtrio is most often seen on stall, since hazard support is a requirement, and it gives stall teams a consistent way around threats like Heatran, Tyranitar, and opposing Chansey. Dugtrio's HP IVs are reduced to allow two uses of Seismic Toss to bring it to 1 HP, maximizing Reversal's power, letting it consistently handle Chansey. Reversal also lets Dugtrio handle Kartana, Kyurem-B, and Ferrothorn. Screech further helps against Toxic variants of Chansey and allows Dugtrio to trap Clefable. Pursuit may seem odd as an option, since Dugtrio should trap most of the Pokémon it comes in on, but it is important for damaging Ghost-types, which are immune to trapping, and Shed Shell users. Pokémon like Alolan Marowak and Shed Shell Tapu Lele can be huge threats to stall without Pursuit. Other options include Sucker Punch to beat other Sucker Punch users and to pick off weakened Pokémon, Stone Edge to handle Volcarona and to threaten Mega Charizard Y, and Memento to help versus Swords Dance Landorus-T variants that come in after Dugtrio has trapped its target.

  • Dugtrio @ Choice Scarf
  • Ability: Arena Trap
  • EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
  • Jolly Nature
  • - Earthquake
  • - Stone Edge
  • - Memento
  • - Pursuit / Toxic

While Choice Scarf is rarer on Dugtrio, it is a viable option on offensive teams to take advantage of Dugtrio's Speed tier. This provides great role compression between revenge killing and trapping, and it enables Dugtrio to trap faster U-turn users like Tapu Koko. Stone Edge allows Dugtrio to revenge kill +1 Volcarona. Memento is almost always used on Choice Scarf Dugtrio, as it becomes extremely reliable with Dugtrio's high Speed. Additionally, since Choice Scarf Dugtrio outspeeds most weather sweepers like Swift Swim Kingdra and Mega Swampert, it can safely use Memento on them or pick them off with Earthquake without having to worry about the weather. Memento allows partners a chance to set up or allows partners like Mega Charizard Y a bit of breathing room to recover health. Dugtrio's fourth moveslot is less important on Choice Scarf sets and will rarely see use, but Pursuit allows it to punish opposing Ghost-types like Gengar and Alolan Marowak, whereas Toxic prevents Dugtrio from being complete deadweight against typical answers like Landorus-T and Tangrowth.

Other Options

While Dugtrio rarely uses other items, it has a few other options for moves in its toolbox. Aerial Ace can be used if Dugtrio's team is exceptionally weak to Mega Heracross. Sludge Wave is a very rare option that may seem absurd at first due to Dugtrio's base 50 Special Attack, but it allows Dugtrio to handle Tapu Bulu. Stealth Rock can be used on most Dugtrio sets to provide role compression.

Good Cores

Dugtrio + Stall

Dugtrio mega-sable

Dugtrio is critical on almost any serious stall team. It removes nearly every relevant stallbreaker and can use Pursuit to damage Alolan Marowak as well as Shed Shell users like some variants of Tapu Lele. In addition, Dugtrio is the primary wincon stall teams have against opposing stall teams—removing opposing Chansey, Clefable, or Toxapex is a huge advantage in the matchup. Mega Sableye in particular provides great support for Dugtrio by preventing entry hazards from being set, letting Dugtrio keep its Focus Sash intact. Dugtrio's ability to remove stallbreakers makes it the glue to SM's current iteration of the stall archetype, and its contribution to stall's current prevalence cannot be overstated.

Dugtrio + Mega Charizard Y

Dugtrio charY

Apart from stall, Dugtrio has seen a lot of usage on offense paired with Pokémon like Mega Charizard Y. Dugtrio can trap and remove Charizard's primary defensive answers in Toxapex and Chansey, allowing Charizard to get a KO nearly every time it switches in from that point on. Dugtrio's ability to remove Heatran and Tyranitar also gives Charizard the ability to run Hidden Power Ice, allowing it to handle Zygarde and Garchomp that switch in; however, Focus Blast is still an option to lessen the overall burden on Dugtrio. The prevalence of this core has spawned an increase of the use of Eject Button even on Pokémon like Latios to bring in Dugtrio safely, and it has caused Shed Shell to become a primary item on Toxapex, necessitating the use of Knock Off lures.

Final Thoughts

Despite Dugtrio's underwhelming first appearance, its trapping ability allows it to be a destructive force that has shifted and shaped the SM metagame. While it narrowly escaped a ban when it was last suspect tested, the continued effect of Arena Trap on the metagame is prompting many to call for a suspect test of the ability itself. Until then, enjoy using Dugtrio, and have fun innovating new cores and teams with it!

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