Pokémon Galarian Darmanitan

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Galarian Darmanitan
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(Zen)

Base Stats: 105 HP | 140 Atk | 55 Def | 30 SpA | 55 SpD | 95 Spe
105 HP | 160 Atk | 55 Def | 30 SpA | 55 SpD | 135 Spe (Zen)

Abilities: Gorilla Tactics (1) | Gorilla Tactics (2) | Zen Mode (H)

[Notable Moves]
Level Up Moves:
- [00] Icicle Crash
- [01] Icicle Crash
- [01] Powder Snow
- [01] Tackle
- [01] Taunt
- [01] Bite
- [12] Avalanche
- [16] Work Up
- [20] Ice Fang
- [24] Headbutt
- [28] Ice Punch
- [32] Uproar
- [38] Belly Drum
- [44] Blizzard
- [50] Thrash
- [56] Superpower

TMs:
- [TM00] Mega Punch
- [TM01] Mega Kick
- [TM03] Fire Punch
- [TM04] Ice Punch
- [TM08] Hyper Beam
- [TM09] Giga Impact
- [TM11] Solar Beam
- [TM13] Fire Spin
- [TM15] Dig
- [TM21] Rest
- [TM22] Rock Slide
- [TM23] Thief
- [TM24] Snore
- [TM25] Protect
- [TM31] Attract
- [TM34] Sunny Day
- [TM38] Will-O-Wisp
- [TM39] Facade
- [TM43] Brick Break
- [TM48] Rock Tomb
- [TM56] U-turn
- [TM57] Payback
- [TM59] Fling
- [TM64] Avalanche
- [TM67] Ice Fang
- [TM68] Fire Fang
- [TM76] Round
- [TM81] Bulldoze

TRs:
- [TR01] Body Slam
- [TR02] Flamethrower
- [TR05] Ice Beam
- [TR06] Blizzard
- [TR10] Earthquake
- [TR11] Psychic
- [TR13] Focus Energy
- [TR15] Fire Blast
- [TR20] Substitute
- [TR21] Reversal
- [TR26] Endure
- [TR27] Sleep Talk
- [TR30] Encore
- [TR35] Uproar
- [TR36] Heat Wave
- [TR37] Taunt
- [TR39] Superpower
- [TR43] Overheat
- [TR46] Iron Defense
- [TR48] Bulk Up
- [TR52] Gyro Ball
- [TR55] Flare Blitz
- [TR64] Focus Blast
- [TR69] Zen Headbutt
- [TR74] Iron Head
- [TR75] Stone Edge
- [TR77] Grass Knot
- [TR85] Work Up
- [TR99] Body Press

Egg Moves:
- Focus Punch
- Hammer Arm
- Take Down
- Flame Wheel
- Yawn
- Extrasensory
- Freeze-Dry
- Incinerate
- Power-Up Punch
- Icicle Crash
- Belly Drum
- Superpower
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz
- Zen Headbutt
- Iron Head
- Stone Edge

[New Ability]

Gorilla Tactics - Boosts the Pokémon’s Attack stat but only allows the use of the first selected move.

[Pros]
- Extremely high Attack especially when run with a Choice Band, making it very hard to switch into and defensively check.
- Ability to force out a lot of the metagame and pivot on them using U-turn to gain momentum.
- Good coverage in Flare Blitz and Earthquake allows it to threaten much of the metagame.
- Option to run a Choice Scarf to act as a dangerous revenge killer still with an Attack boost.

[Cons]
- Bad defensive typing and weakness to Stealth Rock means it's hard to get Darmanitan in safely.
- Its pivoting with U-turn combined with that hazard weakness and Flare Blitz recoil mean it gets worn down quickly.
- Weakness to common offensive Pokemon and revenge killers means it's easily forced out after claiming a KO.
- Belly Drum sets can be run but are difficult to set up due to entry hazard vulnerability and lack of resistances.

[Dynamax Potential]

Galarian Darmanitan can Dynamax to set hail and chip switch-ins with weather damage, but doing so means it loses access to its Choice item so it is often best to Dynamax a teammate that can make better use of the turns instead.

[Potential Movesets]

:CBCBDARM:
Darmanitan-Galar @ Choice Band
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz

A Choice Band alongside its ability Gorilla Tactics essentially gives Galarian Darmanitan a free 2.25x boost to Attack, which makes it extremely dangerous with such good coverage against a lot of the metagame and a strong STAB move in Icicle Crash. Its ability to pivot out of unfavorable matchups and on predicted switches to checks helps its team by bringing in another offensive threat. It runs a Jolly nature so it can outspeed more of the metagame such as Excadrill outside of sand, as the extra power is not required for it to perform its role. Choice Band Galarian Darmanitan is a very strong wallbreaker that is difficult to defensively check, so use that to your advantage to wear down bulky Pokemon and cores.

Choice Scarf
Darmanitan-Galar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz

The Choice Scarf set does not have as much power as the Choice Band set, but it still has the power boost as if it was running both a Choice Band and a Choice Scarf, making it very threatening when it can outspeed much more of your team such as Dagapult and +1 Gyarados. Its ability to be a strong revenge killer and pivot with U-turn gives its teammates a lot of momentum despite its inability to break through teams as easily. Because it often needs to pivot with U-turn due to the nature of the set, it is worn down easily and is difficult to bring in without a free turn.

A Belly Drum Zen Mode set can be run with Belly Drum / Icicle Crash / Fire Punch / Earthquake, but its poor defensive typing and weakness to hazards means it lacks opportunties to come in and set up. Once Zen Mode has activated, it becomes a lot stronger and faster and can easily sweep unprepared teams.
 
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i think you'd definitely want sub salac with zen darm, but i'll have to agree regular galar darm is definitely looking better at this point in time!

oh and ice punch too. ur so strong anyway idt icicle crash gets any notable koes that ice punch does
 
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One of the most hilarious Pokémon ever released. This thing hits the field with over 800 when it has a band on.
Because the weaknesses of the pokemon are so pronounced though, I imagine it will have a trajectory something like this:

sees a lot of use in early OU as a novel threat
underperforms in OU because of glaring weaknesses
drops to a lower tier
is way too powerful for said lower tier because of absurd strength and reduced ability of the tier to exploit its weaknesses
rots in BL while occasionally seeing use on gimmicky OU teams

Hope I'm wrong and this thing is good in OU or allowed in UU

EDIT: this thing is busted as shit lol
 
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Nugget said:
One of the most hilarious Pokémon ever released. This thing hits the field with over 800 when it has a band on.
Because the weaknesses of the pokemon are so pronounced though, I imagine it will have a trajectory something like this:

sees a lot of use in early OU as a novel threat
underperforms in OU because of glaring weaknesses
drops to a lower tier
is way too powerful for said lower tier because of absurd strength and reduced ability of the tier to exploit its weaknesses
rots in BL while occasionally seeing use on gimmicky OU teams

Hope I'm wrong and this thing is good in OU or allowed in UU
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Definitely possible, but I think that having the ability to give this thing Choice Scarf AND still have it functionally be Choice Banded too gives it enough of an edge over Base Darmanitan that it very well might be solid in OU. It just hits so damn hard, even with Choice Scarf.
 
TURBODERP said:
Definitely possible, but I think that having the ability to give this thing Choice Scarf AND still have it functionally be Choice Banded too gives it enough of an edge over Base Darmanitan that it very well might be solid in OU. It just hits so damn hard, even with Choice Scarf.
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I definitely agree that this Pokémon's viability in OU is VERY dependent on how well it works with Scarf. I will be running calcs as soon as I can to see just how much of the metagame this thing can 2HKO.
 
Since the ability is already a free Choice Band, how about running that boots item? You'll worry much less about hazards that way. It is recommended to have Sticky Web support bc of the lack of scarf.
 
pokemon4eva said:
Since the ability is already a free Choice Band, how about running that boots item? You'll worry much less about hazards that way. It is recommended to have Sticky Web support bc of the lack of scarf.
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honestly i think its a lot better on a pokemon like gyarados that has to make use of its bulk to set up for example. darm doesn't really need it's bulk and the difference in power of a second choice band is actually really huge. so im not sure if boots is worth running here tbh
 
I've tried this in several different matches and I can say Scarf is way better. 95 isn't slow by any means, but due to its low defenses and bad defensive typing means it can't survive even a glancing hit. That said, 140 ATK banded means it already hits like a truck and while it can't break through all walls it does end up being more useful during the match with U-Turn being able to let it switch out of bad matchups.

Zen Mode is gimmicky, but activates after two switch ins if Stealth Rock is on your field. Not getting the free choice band means it usually isn't hitting as hard as either choice set but has the added ability to run other items. Focus Sash is arguably useful as it lets you get to that mode and actually lets you survive a hit.
 
Poppliodorable said:
Not sure if i should post it here, but what are good teammates for this pokemon?
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Well, like mentioned above, you want something to get rid of hazards, preferably without getting rid of your own so you can rack up chip damage. Excadrill is a great candidate for this, as the two cover a large portion of the metagame, while elsegoss can function decently well.

If you run choice scarf, then it’s good on any team that likes an offensive pivots. Once again, sand teams with excadrill and tyranitar work well with this. I find that it also pairs well with specs dragapult to form a voltturn (well, both have uturn, so... uturn^2 core?) core that covers the vast majority of the metagame very well; dragapult, with fire blast/shadow ball/thunderbolt hits the entire tier for neutral damage outside of hydreigon and drampa I believe, which darm-g obviously makes quick work of. (Especially hydreigon, since dragapult’s uturn does a decent chunk of it.)

If choice band or zen mode, it works very well on webs teams. Araquanid and orbeetle are great setters for it, while focus sash galvantula can work as a webs setter if you really hate gyarados or rain teams in general. But with webs up, it needs to worry about speed a lot less, allowing it to get the insane damage output potential that either choice band gorilla tactics or zen mode belly drum let it get.

However, do note that choice scarf darm-g is really easy to slap onto most offensive teams. There’s a lot of things it works well with.
 
martha said:
A Choice Band alongside its ability Gorilla Tactics essentially gives Galarian Darmanitan a free 2.25x boost to Attack,
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I don't know whether this is a common misconception, or it was implemented poorly in pokemon showdown, because Gorilla tactics only increases damage by 33% when compared to zen mode, which means that choice band + gorilla tactics only increases attack by 2.
 
Odd that Sub BD Salac Zendarm hasn't been brought up here yet- that's by far Zen's best set and basically mandates priority (not reliable as I'll explain later) or perfect play from any opponent. If said opponent switches in fear of a Gorilla darm's hits, it may be curtains instantly. Ice Punch or Icicle Crash is a given, and then your choice of EQ for more outright power and coverage for Copperajah or Zen Headbutt for the terrain Max Mindstorm provides, removing its best counterplay option entirely and leading to clean sweeps whenever you manage to set up. Fire STAB's coverage is mostly entirely redundant and leaves you dealt with by pex if you aren't lucky with flinches so don't bother.
 
Just 1 question: does it force it to use Struggle after 1 use of a move when using double Choice, or will it just stack?
 
The twitter post brought me here and asked if I liked double band more than scarf. The answer is that I prefer Jolly scarf because that shit 2kos and outspeeds offensive scarf rotom-w with Icycle Crash.
 
Ticktock said:
In that case, how much is the boost? If it is 50%, then its basically got Huge Power (albeit with a restriction).
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i'm pretty sure with gorilla tactics and a band it's a +2 atk boost (free swords dance but with a choice item), with scarf it's +1 atk and +1 speed (free dragon dance with a choice item)

and yeah gorilla tactics is the way to go, unless you don't want a choiced darm for some reason

also the only pokemon in the no natdex format that gets huge power right now is diggersby
 
What are some great checks to GDarm? both Zen BD and Gorilla Tactics Darm? Pex comes to mind but it can't take eq or zen headbutt. Rotom-Wash could also be an option, but it seems that Darmanitan overwhelms it, Coalossal can take on Darmanitan's STABs, but not its coverage, Milotic maybe? I'd have to calc to make sure it doesn't get 2HKOed, what are some mons that can take on Darmanitan?
 
toninho100% said:
What are some great checks to GDarm? both Zen BD and Gorilla Tactics Darm? Pex comes to mind but it can't take eq or zen headbutt. Rotom-Wash could also be an option, but it seems that Darmanitan overwhelms it, Coalossal can take on Darmanitan's STABs, but not its coverage, Milotic maybe? I'd have to calc to make sure it doesn't get 2HKOed, what are some mons that can take on Darmanitan?
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Not much can really take a hit. Pex can take a hit if it’s resisted (although I believe it has to be full phys def to not be 2hkod by zen belly drum), corsola can survive a single choice band hit to strength sap/wisp back, and a few things can avoid the 2hko on scarf, but it’s really hard to defensively check this thing without dynamaxing.

Instead, the best option is offensively checking it - priority, like mach punch from conk or aqua jet from crawdaunt can put a hefty dent in it, and sand rush exca and swift swim barraskewda both outspeed all sets and proceed to murder it, I believe.
 
GamerOGuy said:
i'm pretty sure with gorilla tactics and a band it's a +2 atk boost (free swords dance but with a choice item), with scarf it's +1 atk and +1 speed (free dragon dance with a choice item)

and yeah gorilla tactics is the way to go, unless you don't want a choiced darm for some reason

also the only pokemon in the no natdex format that gets huge power right now is diggersby
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it's even stronger than +2 atk, as it is 1.5 x 1.5, adding up to a 2.25 x multiplier
 
With respects to how much Gorilla Tactics boosts (50% or 33%) and whether Choice Band has an effect on it (ala the Metagame Discussion thread questions), TPP and I will test that tonight and post our results in the Battle Mechanics thread. In the meantime, it’s probably best to keep discussion here focused on how you’ve been using Galarian Darmanitan in early OU.

Edit: Done, post here. Summary: Gorilla Tactics boosts by 50% and Choice Band boosts in addition to Gorilla Tactics, making CB Gorilla Tactic Darmanitan have 2.25x its base Attack.
 
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Let me make the absurdity of this thing's Zen Mode more concrete. First of all, +1 Darmanitan-Zen-Galar outspeeds Jolly Excadrill in Sand. Anyway, here is your set:

Darmanitan-Galar @ Salac Berry
Ability: Zen Mode
EVs: 4 HP OR 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Belly Drum
- Ice Punch / Icicle Crash
- Earthquake

Important: if you're this on Showdown at Level 100, put the last 4 EVs into HP. If you're using this set in-game at Level 50, put the last 4 EVs into Defense. The reason is that your HP must be divisible by 4 in order for Salac Berry to activate after Sub + Belly Drum.

You don't want to run dual-STAB because even at +6, you don't kill Toxapex who will proceed to use Haze. While not as common, Earthquake also allows you to kill Flash Fire G-Max Centiskorch, G-Max Drednaw, and Coalossal. Pretty much the only thing that this can't guarantee the OHKO on at +6 from losing Fire Punch is max Impish Ferrothorn, but that's a fine tradeoff. Ferrothorn is easier to wear down than Toxapex and if you're running Icicle Crash, that kills max Impish Ferrothorn most of the time. Plus, most people don't even run max Impish, meaning it won't live anyway. Another small perk is that EQ avoids King's Shield mindgames. You're still ridiculous at +5 but you'd rather be at +6.

Why is this set so potent? Regular Darmanitan-Galar with Gorilla Tactics is incredibly strong as everyone knows. It forces a lot of switches because if it's sent in, it's most often able to outspeed and kill the thing in front of it. Your opponent doesn't know whether you're Gorilla Tactics or Zen Mode, but if they switch, you'll get a free Substitute. This isn't the ony way to get a Sub up but it is the most common. After safely using Belly Drum on the next turn and eating your Salac Berry, you will be at 1676 Attack and 607 Speed.

Sure, your opponent will most likely break your Sub on the turn you Belly Drum, leaving you exposed at 25% health. If they have priority or a Sash or one of the very few mons that are somehow even faster (unburdened Hawlucha or Swift Swim Barraskewda, for instance; however, they need to have their abilities activated on the same turn they come out to beat you, as usually they set them up themselves which can't happen vs Darmanitan), they can beat you. But if they don't have any of those left, that's usually game over. You're also susceptible to Ditto after your Sub is broken, but you all should be used to Ditto versus insane offense by now, and the whole concept of not setting up mindlessly if it can countersweep you.

Ice Punch kills most things and is 100% accurate, but there are a couple merits to risking Icicle Crash. Aside from Ferrothorn which I mentioned earlier, most notably physically-defensive Rotom-W is able to survive +6 Ice Punch somewhat comfortably. It survives Icicle Crash too but there will be some scenarios where Crash kills when Punch doesn't. However, Rotom-W doesn't have Pain Split in this generation, so you can just wear it down a bit first and take it out with Punch. Also, there are some scenarios in which you don't even need to set up - remember that this thing has 160 Attack and 135 Speed.

Edit: I realized after posting this that Joey uploaded a moveset video for this Pokemon, and it's a good video. He does mention Earthquake and that Water-types like Pex resist your dual-STAB, but I will respectfully disagree with him and insist that Ice + Earthquake is definitively the best set (rather than just a potential other option) for the reasons I described above.
 
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