[OVERVIEW]
Mega Diancie's movepool may be somewhat limited, but when backed by high base Speed and attacking stats, it is able to propel Mega Diancie to the forefront of the Doubles metagame. Mega Diancie achieves solid mixed attacking coverage between two strong STAB attacks, with Earth Power filling in many of the few holes that are left. Using that coverage, Mega Diancie can take out many relevant threats such as Hydreigon, Heatran, Keldeo, and Mega Charizard Y. Perhaps Mega Diancie's greatest asset is found in its exclusive primary STAB move, Diamond Storm, which has everything a Doubles Pokemon could want: high Base Power, high accuracy, and a helpful secondary effect that gives some protection against physical attackers. Not only that, but Mega Diancie also has a superb ability in Magic Bounce, shielding it from moves that would otherwise severely hinder it such as Thunder Wave or Will-O-Wisp.
Unfortunately, a low HP stat further offset by uninvested defenses and weaknesses to decently common types in Water and Ground leaves Mega Diancie somewhat frail. More specifically, a weakness to the omnipresent Landorus-T's Earthquake makes it difficult for Mega Diancie to perform as well as it could otherwise. Diancie does possess a little bit of flexibility in that its base forme can operate as a Trick Room setter and possesses far more bulk than its Mega counterpart. Unfortunately, although Diancie's low base Speed is an asset for such sets, it holds Mega Diancie back by forcing it to Protect to Mega Evolve safely, reaching only 218 speed before the boost.
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Diamond Storm
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Earth Power
move 4: Protect
item: Diancite
ability: Clear Body
nature: Hasty
evs: 208 Atk / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Diamond Storm functions as Mega Diancie's primary STAB move, dealing significant spread damage to both foes with a 50% chance to raise Mega Diancie's Defense stat for each foe it hits. These boosts can allow Mega Diancie to avoid getting revenge killed, most notably surviving a Landorus-T Earthquake after one Defense boost. With Diamond Storm, Mega Diancie can take out Fire-, Flying-, and Ice-types such as Mega Charizard Y, Zapdos, and Kyurem-B with nearly perfect accuracy. Moonblast stands as a solid option for Mega Diancie's secondary STAB attack, helping it cover many threats that Diamond Storm cannot, including the common Fighting-, Dark-, and Dragon-types such as Keldeo, Hoopa-U, and Latios. Earth Power rounds out Mega Diancie's fantastic coverage, hitting Steel- and Rock-types such as Heatran, Bisharp, and opposing Mega Diancie that would otherwise shrug it off. Protect is a staple move in Doubles, allowing Mega Diancie to stall out various field conditions or shield itself while a threat is eliminated by its partner. It also importantly because it allows Mega Diancie to safely gain its full base 110 Speed.
Set Details
========
Maximum investment in Speed and a boosting nature are needed to outrun many significant threats such as Keldeo, Salamence, and Mega Gardevoir, as well as Speed tie with opposing base 110s such as Gengar and Latios. 48 Special Attack EVs are used to guarantee an OHKO on Bisharp with Earth Power, with the remaining EVs placed in Attack to boost the power of Diamond Storm as much as possible. A Hasty nature is typically chosen over a Naive one, as its lowered Defense stat can be remedied by Diamond Storm boosts. This also allows Mega Diancie to survive an Earth Power from Kyurem-B, Heatran, or opposing Mega Diancie. However, Naive is an option to take more advantage of Diamond Storm boosts. A more specially based spread, using 56 Atk / 200 SpA / 252 Spe, is an option to guarantee the 2HKO on Mega Kangaskhan with Moonblast. However, this sacrifices a lot of Diamond Storm's power, which is the move Mega Diancie will be using a majority of its time on the field.
Usage Tips
========
In general, Mega Diancie should use Diamond Storm in order to deal the most damage possible to the opposing team, filling in any gaps in Diamond Storm's coverage with its other attacks. Protect should be used Diancie's first turn out a majority of the time, since it then only hits 218 Speed, leaving it slower than most of the metagame. This turn of Protect allows Diancie to Mega Evolve safely and gain not only its full Speed but also the useful Magic Bounce. Diancie works quite well as a lead, avoiding any Intimidate Attack drops coming from popular leads thanks to Clear Body and using Magic Bounce to deal with many common disruption tactics after it has Mega Evolved. Since Mega Evolution happens after any Pokemon are switched, Diancie is also able to avoid Intimidate from a Pokemon that switches in on the turn it Mega Evolves. With that in mind, Mega Diancie works at any point of the game, either opening up and clearing the path for a teammate to clean or doing so itself in the mid- or late-game. If Mega Diancie absolutely needs to survive a hit and attack back on its first turn on the field, it can postpone Mega Evolution to stay in its base forme, which has significantly higher defenses. This extra bulk is particularly notable when facing Trick Room teams, as it is not so necessary to get the boost in Speed provided by Mega Evolving, and it can mean the difference between surviving to the end of Trick Room's duration and being knocked out.
Team Options
========
Fire-types such as Talonflame, Heatran, and Volcarona beat many of the Grass- and Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Aegislash, and Venusaur that scare out Mega Diancie. Grass-types such as Breloom and Ferrothorn can remove Water-types for Mega Diancie, resist the Ground-type moves it's weak to, and appreciate the removal of Flying-types. Similarly, Electric-types such as Rotom-W and Thundurus do well against Water-types. Grass- and Electric-types also help ease Mega Diancie's otherwise difficult rain matchup. Strong Dark-type teammates are greatly appreciated as checks to Dark-weak Steel-types such as Aegislash, Jirachi, and Mega Metagross; some examples include Hoopa-U, Bisharp, and Hydreigon. Bisharp also has the advantage of discouraging Intimidate users from switching in with its Defiant ability. They also have the benefit of threatening bulky Psychic- and Ghost-types such as Jellicent and Cresselia that can practically ignore Mega Diancie thanks to their solid bulk. Anything that beats Landorus-T is much appreciated as a teammate by Mega Diancie, including Kyurem-B (especially Choice Scarf variants) and Keldeo. Similarly, a teammate such as Kyurem-B or Raikou that can take care of Thundurus is greatly appreciated, as fast sets with Flash Cannon outrun and OHKO Mega Diancie. Dragon-types, including Hydreigon and Salamence, benefit from Mega Diancie's ability to beat opposing Dragon-types without fearing their moves in return, and they also act as a solid switch-ins to Water- and Grass-type attacks. They also typically perform well against rain teams, which are one of Mega Diancie's weakest matchups. Steel-types have decent synergy with Mega Diancie, mostly appreciating the removal of Fire-types that Mega Diancie is so good at. Aegislash in particular is a great partner, as it can carry Wide Guard to protect Mega Diancie from Muddy Water or Earthquake and take care of Jirachi or Mega Metagross.
[Trick Room setter Diancie goes here]
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Substitute allows Mega Diancie to ignore Intimidate as well as take any one hit and retaliate, and it also becomes decently difficult to break if Mega Diancie accrues many Defense boosts. Hidden Power Ice allows Mega Diancie to take out one of its greatest foes in Landorus-T, usually on the switch or with Tailwind support. However, those three choices all force Mega Diancie to drop either Moonblast or Earth Power, leaving it hard stopped by either Fighting- or Steel-types such as Keldeo, Virizion, and Aegislash.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Typing Advantage**: Steel-types that are not OHKOed by Earth Power, such as Aegislash, Mega Metagross, Ferrothorn, and Jirachi, are solid answers to Mega Diancie, as they can switch in on either STAB move and OHKO it comfortably. Especially bulky or fast Water- and Grass-types also give Diancie trouble, including Suicune, Amoonguss, Kingdra, and Venusaur, as they either outspeed and KO Mega Diancie or tank an attack and KO it.
**Speed**: Choice Scarf users can reliably outspeed and OHKO Mega Diancie, including Landorus-T through Earthquake, Kyurem-B or Genesect using Iron Head, and Rotom-W with Hydro Pump. Some naturally fast Pokemon, such as Deoxys-A, Mega Aerodactyl, Flash Cannon Thundurus, and Steel Wing Talonflame outspeed Mega Diancie and take it out. Diancie is also weak to Bullet Punch users such as Mega Metagross, as the attack outprioritizes any of Mega Diancie's options and easily OHKOes it, assuming that Mega Diancie doesn't have too many Defense boosts.
**Speed Control**: Although Mega Diancie is immune to Thunder Wave through Magic Bounce and non-Mega Diancie is immune to Icy Wind's Speed drops, both Trick Room, from threats such as Cresselia or Jellicent, and Tailwind, from Suicune or Talonflame, take away Mega Diancie's Speed advantage, leaving it almost unsalvageably frail.
**Intimidate and Burns**: Will-O-Wisp is conveniently avoided due to Magic Bounce, but Intimidate users such as Landorus-T and Gyarados can weaken Mega Diancie's main attacking move, leaving it considerably less threatening. Regular Diancie, as it is lacking Magic Bounce, has to fear Will-O-Wisp, which not only cuts its Attack but also lowers its longevity to be able to set Trick Room.
**Taunt**: Taunt users such as Gengar and Keldeo prevent base Diancie from setting Trick Room, which is its main role.
**Wide Guard**: Wide Guard users such as Conkeldurr and Aegislash prevent Diamond Storm from being succesful, and they are commonly used beside Rock-weak teammates due to the prevalence of Rock Slide.
Mega Diancie's movepool may be somewhat limited, but when backed by high base Speed and attacking stats, it is able to propel Mega Diancie to the forefront of the Doubles metagame. Mega Diancie achieves solid mixed attacking coverage between two strong STAB attacks, with Earth Power filling in many of the few holes that are left. Using that coverage, Mega Diancie can take out many relevant threats such as Hydreigon, Heatran, Keldeo, and Mega Charizard Y. Perhaps Mega Diancie's greatest asset is found in its exclusive primary STAB move, Diamond Storm, which has everything a Doubles Pokemon could want: high Base Power, high accuracy, and a helpful secondary effect that gives some protection against physical attackers. Not only that, but Mega Diancie also has a superb ability in Magic Bounce, shielding it from moves that would otherwise severely hinder it such as Thunder Wave or Will-O-Wisp.
Unfortunately, a low HP stat further offset by uninvested defenses and weaknesses to decently common types in Water and Ground leaves Mega Diancie somewhat frail. More specifically, a weakness to the omnipresent Landorus-T's Earthquake makes it difficult for Mega Diancie to perform as well as it could otherwise. Diancie does possess a little bit of flexibility in that its base forme can operate as a Trick Room setter and possesses far more bulk than its Mega counterpart. Unfortunately, although Diancie's low base Speed is an asset for such sets, it holds Mega Diancie back by forcing it to Protect to Mega Evolve safely, reaching only 218 speed before the boost.
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Diamond Storm
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Earth Power
move 4: Protect
item: Diancite
ability: Clear Body
nature: Hasty
evs: 208 Atk / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Diamond Storm functions as Mega Diancie's primary STAB move, dealing significant spread damage to both foes with a 50% chance to raise Mega Diancie's Defense stat for each foe it hits. These boosts can allow Mega Diancie to avoid getting revenge killed, most notably surviving a Landorus-T Earthquake after one Defense boost. With Diamond Storm, Mega Diancie can take out Fire-, Flying-, and Ice-types such as Mega Charizard Y, Zapdos, and Kyurem-B with nearly perfect accuracy. Moonblast stands as a solid option for Mega Diancie's secondary STAB attack, helping it cover many threats that Diamond Storm cannot, including the common Fighting-, Dark-, and Dragon-types such as Keldeo, Hoopa-U, and Latios. Earth Power rounds out Mega Diancie's fantastic coverage, hitting Steel- and Rock-types such as Heatran, Bisharp, and opposing Mega Diancie that would otherwise shrug it off. Protect is a staple move in Doubles, allowing Mega Diancie to stall out various field conditions or shield itself while a threat is eliminated by its partner. It also importantly because it allows Mega Diancie to safely gain its full base 110 Speed.
Set Details
========
Maximum investment in Speed and a boosting nature are needed to outrun many significant threats such as Keldeo, Salamence, and Mega Gardevoir, as well as Speed tie with opposing base 110s such as Gengar and Latios. 48 Special Attack EVs are used to guarantee an OHKO on Bisharp with Earth Power, with the remaining EVs placed in Attack to boost the power of Diamond Storm as much as possible. A Hasty nature is typically chosen over a Naive one, as its lowered Defense stat can be remedied by Diamond Storm boosts. This also allows Mega Diancie to survive an Earth Power from Kyurem-B, Heatran, or opposing Mega Diancie. However, Naive is an option to take more advantage of Diamond Storm boosts. A more specially based spread, using 56 Atk / 200 SpA / 252 Spe, is an option to guarantee the 2HKO on Mega Kangaskhan with Moonblast. However, this sacrifices a lot of Diamond Storm's power, which is the move Mega Diancie will be using a majority of its time on the field.
Usage Tips
========
In general, Mega Diancie should use Diamond Storm in order to deal the most damage possible to the opposing team, filling in any gaps in Diamond Storm's coverage with its other attacks. Protect should be used Diancie's first turn out a majority of the time, since it then only hits 218 Speed, leaving it slower than most of the metagame. This turn of Protect allows Diancie to Mega Evolve safely and gain not only its full Speed but also the useful Magic Bounce. Diancie works quite well as a lead, avoiding any Intimidate Attack drops coming from popular leads thanks to Clear Body and using Magic Bounce to deal with many common disruption tactics after it has Mega Evolved. Since Mega Evolution happens after any Pokemon are switched, Diancie is also able to avoid Intimidate from a Pokemon that switches in on the turn it Mega Evolves. With that in mind, Mega Diancie works at any point of the game, either opening up and clearing the path for a teammate to clean or doing so itself in the mid- or late-game. If Mega Diancie absolutely needs to survive a hit and attack back on its first turn on the field, it can postpone Mega Evolution to stay in its base forme, which has significantly higher defenses. This extra bulk is particularly notable when facing Trick Room teams, as it is not so necessary to get the boost in Speed provided by Mega Evolving, and it can mean the difference between surviving to the end of Trick Room's duration and being knocked out.
Team Options
========
Fire-types such as Talonflame, Heatran, and Volcarona beat many of the Grass- and Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Aegislash, and Venusaur that scare out Mega Diancie. Grass-types such as Breloom and Ferrothorn can remove Water-types for Mega Diancie, resist the Ground-type moves it's weak to, and appreciate the removal of Flying-types. Similarly, Electric-types such as Rotom-W and Thundurus do well against Water-types. Grass- and Electric-types also help ease Mega Diancie's otherwise difficult rain matchup. Strong Dark-type teammates are greatly appreciated as checks to Dark-weak Steel-types such as Aegislash, Jirachi, and Mega Metagross; some examples include Hoopa-U, Bisharp, and Hydreigon. Bisharp also has the advantage of discouraging Intimidate users from switching in with its Defiant ability. They also have the benefit of threatening bulky Psychic- and Ghost-types such as Jellicent and Cresselia that can practically ignore Mega Diancie thanks to their solid bulk. Anything that beats Landorus-T is much appreciated as a teammate by Mega Diancie, including Kyurem-B (especially Choice Scarf variants) and Keldeo. Similarly, a teammate such as Kyurem-B or Raikou that can take care of Thundurus is greatly appreciated, as fast sets with Flash Cannon outrun and OHKO Mega Diancie. Dragon-types, including Hydreigon and Salamence, benefit from Mega Diancie's ability to beat opposing Dragon-types without fearing their moves in return, and they also act as a solid switch-ins to Water- and Grass-type attacks. They also typically perform well against rain teams, which are one of Mega Diancie's weakest matchups. Steel-types have decent synergy with Mega Diancie, mostly appreciating the removal of Fire-types that Mega Diancie is so good at. Aegislash in particular is a great partner, as it can carry Wide Guard to protect Mega Diancie from Muddy Water or Earthquake and take care of Jirachi or Mega Metagross.
[Trick Room setter Diancie goes here]
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Substitute allows Mega Diancie to ignore Intimidate as well as take any one hit and retaliate, and it also becomes decently difficult to break if Mega Diancie accrues many Defense boosts. Hidden Power Ice allows Mega Diancie to take out one of its greatest foes in Landorus-T, usually on the switch or with Tailwind support. However, those three choices all force Mega Diancie to drop either Moonblast or Earth Power, leaving it hard stopped by either Fighting- or Steel-types such as Keldeo, Virizion, and Aegislash.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Typing Advantage**: Steel-types that are not OHKOed by Earth Power, such as Aegislash, Mega Metagross, Ferrothorn, and Jirachi, are solid answers to Mega Diancie, as they can switch in on either STAB move and OHKO it comfortably. Especially bulky or fast Water- and Grass-types also give Diancie trouble, including Suicune, Amoonguss, Kingdra, and Venusaur, as they either outspeed and KO Mega Diancie or tank an attack and KO it.
**Speed**: Choice Scarf users can reliably outspeed and OHKO Mega Diancie, including Landorus-T through Earthquake, Kyurem-B or Genesect using Iron Head, and Rotom-W with Hydro Pump. Some naturally fast Pokemon, such as Deoxys-A, Mega Aerodactyl, Flash Cannon Thundurus, and Steel Wing Talonflame outspeed Mega Diancie and take it out. Diancie is also weak to Bullet Punch users such as Mega Metagross, as the attack outprioritizes any of Mega Diancie's options and easily OHKOes it, assuming that Mega Diancie doesn't have too many Defense boosts.
**Speed Control**: Although Mega Diancie is immune to Thunder Wave through Magic Bounce and non-Mega Diancie is immune to Icy Wind's Speed drops, both Trick Room, from threats such as Cresselia or Jellicent, and Tailwind, from Suicune or Talonflame, take away Mega Diancie's Speed advantage, leaving it almost unsalvageably frail.
**Intimidate and Burns**: Will-O-Wisp is conveniently avoided due to Magic Bounce, but Intimidate users such as Landorus-T and Gyarados can weaken Mega Diancie's main attacking move, leaving it considerably less threatening. Regular Diancie, as it is lacking Magic Bounce, has to fear Will-O-Wisp, which not only cuts its Attack but also lowers its longevity to be able to set Trick Room.
**Taunt**: Taunt users such as Gengar and Keldeo prevent base Diancie from setting Trick Room, which is its main role.
**Wide Guard**: Wide Guard users such as Conkeldurr and Aegislash prevent Diamond Storm from being succesful, and they are commonly used beside Rock-weak teammates due to the prevalence of Rock Slide.
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