Competitive Information for Donphan [Black/White]
Ground
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Donphan? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Black/White Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Black/White generation metagame.
Donphan is popular Ground-typed Pokemon. It's a pretty regular sight to see Donphan out in the 5th generation battlefield. Donphan is weak to Grass, Ice, and Water-typed attacks.
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Moveset:
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
Physical Wall Donphan (Popular/Trending)
Donphan is a decent Physical Wall. This moveset attempts to take a hefty amount of physical hits while dealing some decent damage. Leftovers are always a great recovery option to ensure Donphan last longer regaining it's HP every turn. With Sturdy, if Donphan is at full hp it survives one hit with at least 1 hp. immune to ohko.
♦ Ice Shard is a physical priority-increased 40-base power Ice-type move (usually goes first).
♦ Rapid Spin is a physical 20-base power Normal-type move (frees Donphan from hazards, binding, leech seed).
♦ Stealth Rock is a status move (hurts foes on switch-in. factors rock weakness).
Item: Life Orb / Soft Sand
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Earthquake / Bulldoze
- Seed Bomb / Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Poison Jab
Physical Sweeper Donphan (Sand Veil)
Donphan is popular Physical Sweeper. It's primary goal is to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. White Herb will reset Donphan's negative stat changes once (specifically for when it uses Superpower). Focus Sash helps protect Donphan from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. Life Orb boosts the power of Donphan's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Sand Veil, if sandstorm is active Donphan's evasiveness is 1.25x; immunity to sandstorm. Seed Bomb or Rock Slide are added to provide additional threat coverage.
♦ Bulldoze is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Ground-type move (100% chance lower adjacent pkmn speed by 1 stage).
♦ Seed Bomb is a physical 80-base power Grass-type move that deals a hefty amount of damage.
♦ Rock Slide is a physical 75-base power Rock-type move (30% chance to flinch the foes).
♦ Superpower is a physical 120-base power Fighting-type move (lowers your Donphan's attack and defense by 1 stage).
♦ Poison Jab is a physical 80-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Hp / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Moveset:
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Roar
Donphan Physical Wall (Rock Wall Spinner)
Donphan is an outstanding Physical Wall. This moveset is designed to take a substantial amount of physical hits while dealing some decent damage. Leftovers are always a great recovery option to ensure Donphan last longer regaining it's it's vitality every turn. With Sturdy, if Donphan is at full hp it survives one hit with at least 1 hp. immune to ohko. Donphan is my Defensive wall, Stealth Rocker, as well as my Spinner. Stealth Rock is for Entry Hazards, Rapid Spin for taking away My opponents entry hazards, Earthquake is for STAB and finally Roar is to make my opponents Pokemon to switch and take damage from Stealth Rock.
♦ Rapid Spin is a physical 20-base power Normal-type move (frees Donphan from hazards, binding, leech seed).
♦ Earthquake is a physical STAB-boosted 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
♦ Roar is a status move (forces the target to switch to a random ally).
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Donphan? These builds have been optimized for Black/White Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Black/White generation metagame.
Item: Life Orb / Soft Sand
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Earthquake / Bulldoze
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Poison Jab / Seed Bomb
Doubles Physical Sweeper Donphan (Sand Veil)
Donphan is a notable Physical Sweeper. It's purpose is to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. White Herb will reset Donphan's negative stat changes once (specifically for when it uses Superpower). Focus Sash helps protect Donphan from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. Life Orb boosts the power of Donphan's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Sand Veil, if sandstorm is active Donphan's evasiveness is 1.25x; immunity to sandstorm. Poison Jab or Seed Bomb are added to provide additional threat coverage.
♦ Bulldoze is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Ground-type move (100% chance lower adjacent pkmn speed by 1 stage).
♦ Rock Slide is a physical 75-base power Rock-type move (30% chance to flinch the foes).
♦ Superpower is a physical 120-base power Fighting-type move (lowers your Donphan's attack and defense by 1 stage).
♦ Poison Jab is a physical 80-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
♦ Seed Bomb is a physical 80-base power Grass-type move that deals a large amount of damage.
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Donphan learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Donphan can perform in Black/White. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive BW Move and Ability Combos for Donphan
- Moves: Defense curl + Rollout
- Moves: Endure + Flail
- Moves: Endure + Endeavor
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Ability: Sturdy + Move: Endeavor
- Ability: Sturdy + Move: Endeavor
- Move: Assurance + Item: Rocky Helmet
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Move: Endeavor + Item: Focus Sash
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect, Ice Shard
Optimize Donphan's EVs for Black/White
Related Videos
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Here are the best movesets for Donphan. Top rated Donphan Black/White movesets. You can find Donphan builds Black/White. Donphan movesets Black/White are listed here. VGC Donphan Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Donphan in Black/White along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for evolution