Community POTW #061

[Serebii]

As the next Pokémon is to hit over the new year, we've gone for the newest Pokémon, since we couldn't quite do it over the movie like we normally would

It's Diancie, the cool Rock/Fairy-type Pokémon which is more destructive than people think

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-xy/719.shtml



Also covering Mega Diancie during this

Mega Diancie's increase stats give it a viability it didn't previously have.

Go nuts

 

[Crash & Charm]

Normal Diancie isn't good for much. It is a reliable dual-screener though

Magic rocks make screens

Diancie @ Light Clay
Nature: Impish/Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
~Reflect
~Light Screen
~Diamond Storm/Moonblast
~Explosion/Toxic/stealth rocks

Pretty self explanatory. Reflect and light Screen for set up. Diamond storm is a great move, and it gets rid of pesky flying types. Moon blast is another option here if you want to get rid of dragons. For the last move Explosion might surprise an opponent, but the cost is really high as you loss Diancie. Toxic is a cool move badly poisoning the opponent and slowly draining there health. Stealth Rocks is another set up move. Dancie could pull it off but You have already gotten lucky if you have set up both screens so it may not be the best option right here.

 

[Superteletubbies64]

too bad I missed the diancie code I nver used her neither in-game nor in showdown

classic set
Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpA
Mild Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock

too bad trollfreak gave it little coverage options

 

[Neosonic97]

Here are my two cents about Diancie, first the abilities.

Clear Body: Stats cannot be lowered by your opponent's moves. Useful in case you don't like getting splattered by an Unlucky crunch defense drop or something like that.
Magic Bounce (Mega Diancie): Status moves that target the 'mon with Magic Bounce are reflected. Magic Bounce is a brilliant ability, and on Diancie it's no exception. Not having to worry about Burns, paralysis or sleep is great, nor entry hazards or leech seed.
Then stats...
HP- Base 50: Not good. Base 50 is Equal to Deoxys, meaning it won't be walling anything for ages.
Atk- Base 100: Pretty good. Base 100 isn't stellar by any means but it's still pretty good. Mega- Base 160: Good lord. You don't wanna mess with this thing. While Diamond Storm and Stone Edge are the only two moves Mega Diancie gets that utilize this amazing attack stat, they're still powerful moves.
Def- Base 150: Diancie's low base HP is forgiven. This means that Diancie, while not being able to wall, can solidly take a few hits before going down. Mega- Base 110: While losing a stat as a mega can be Catastrophic to its usability (LOOKING AT YOU, GARCHOMP), the defense drop doesn't actually affect Diancie all that much, considering it's still above base 100, meaning it can still take hits rather well.
SpA- Base 100: Base 100 SpA is basically like Diance's Attack, except it gets much more usage from it with Psychic, Psyshock, Dazzling Gleam, Moonblast and Earth Power. Mega- Base 160: ...And of course, that applies to Diancie's Mega too. Base 160 SpA is stellar, and Diancie has just a good enough movepool to make it work.
SpD- Base 150: See Def. Mega- Base 110: See Def.
Spe- Base 50: In its regular form, it's rare to see a Diancie go first, but then again, it is basically Carbink with better offenses, so that's forgiven. Mega- Base 110: But Mega Diancie's base speed is nothing to laugh at. Considering its stats leaning towards offense, having speed that rivals Latias and Latios is brilliant. just brilliant. It means it outspeeds Garchomp! That's an excellent speed tier to be in.

Now then, onto my set...

Diancie is a Girl's Best Friend

Diancie@Diancite
Nature:Rash, chosen because physical steel-type moves are more common than special ones.
EVs: 252 SpA, 128 Atk, 128 HP, or something similar.
-Diamond Storm
-Moonblast
-Earth Power
-Rock Polish/Calm Mind/Substitute/Protect/Psychic
Offensive Mega Diancie set, preferring Special attacks. Diamond Storm is the obligatory STAB and a pretty good physical move, plus one of the only reasons Diancie actually has to run mixed. It also helps that it has a chance to boost Diance's already great defenses. Moonblast is a Special STAB, and the SpA Drop can help you in the off-chance that you get it. Earth Power is necessary coverage on Diancie as it allows it to demolish most Steel-Types that would otherwise crush it otherwise. The Fourth Slot can be a manner of different moves. If you want to sort Diancie's not-so-good speed (Though i don't see why you'd want to do that on Mega Diancie), Rock Polish is the way to go. If you want to make it hit harder and take hits better, Calm mind is a viable choice. Substitute can only really be used for taking damage. Protect is obvious. Psychic is if you can't decide what you want to run and decide you want that little bit extra neutral coverage.

Counters and checks:
To counter Diancie, just throw a relatively good Steel-type move its way and it falls. It's basically Carbink with better offenses, so most counters to Carbink should work, unless Diancie has coverage moves, like Earth Power. Garchomp threatens to wreck Diancie with its deadly earthquakes, but has to worry about the Fairy STABs, and can't even consider coming in on Mega Diancie, as Mega Diancie *WILL* outspeed and OHKO. Excadrill is another good choice, but, like most Steels not named Skarmory or Ferrothorn, has to worry about Earth Power. Speaking of Ferrothorn, Ferro wrecks Mega Diancie with Gyro Ball, due to Mega Diancie's much higher speed.

 

[Mestorn]

Diancie could almost pass for an evolution of Carbink. They are related to each other, have the same typing, level up moveset (save Diamond Storm) and very similar stats. The only differences are Diancie’s Mega Evolution and the fact that Diancie’s base ATK/SATK is twice as high. That and no hidden ability for Diancie.

If Carbink is an inferior Shuckle, then Diancie is the result when you give Shuckle viable offense. Diancie is every bit as bulky as Carbink, but backs that up with a respectable base 100 in both attack stats. This gives it a significantly larger amount of options as compared to Carbink. With the advent of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Diancie’s support movepool is even larger than before and can make use of its excellent offensive typing. Unfortunately Steel Type attacks are a big threat and likely to be more common than ever with the advent of Mega-Metagross.

A Veiled Dance
Diancie (Clear Body)
Item: Light Clay/Leftovers
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Stealth Rock/Trick Room/Safe Guard/Heal Bell
-Moonblast
Nature: Bold (+DEF, -ATK) or Calm (+SDEF, -ATK)
EVs: 252 HP/128 DEF/128 SDEF

Look familiar? Yeah I ripped my Carbink set. DualScreen Diancie is just as viable as DualScreen Carbink, but has actual offensive presence to scare stuff away. Reflect and Light Screen are great, buffing Diancie’s already impressive defenses as well as its allies. Stealth Rock is the best attack in the game. Trick Room offers great support for Diancie and slow teammates. Safe Guard is nice for the times when you don’t want to be statused and works well with Light Clay. Heal Bell allows Diancie to play cleric. Moonblast is for STAB and scaring away Dragons.

Diancie is one of those few legendaries that received a Mega-Evolution, and boy Mega-Diancie is a different beast from its normal counterpart. Diancie goes from defense to offense when Mega Evolving, gaining a whopping 60 in both attacks and speed at the price of its defenses being reduced by 40. Unfortunately Diancie’s offensive movepool is shallow and a mixed set is all but inevitable in order to take advantage of both STABs. That being said Rock and Fairy are excellent STABs, covering many threats (hits a total of 7 different types for super effective with only 1 type being a common resistance between the two).

Dance of Death
Diancie (Clear Body/Magic Bounce)
Item: Diancite
-Stone Edge/Rock Slide/Diamond Storm
-Moonblast
-Earth Power
-Rock Polish/Psychic
Nature: Hasty (+SPD, -DEF) OR Naïve (+SPD, -SDEF)
EVs: 252 ATK/252 SATK/4 SPD OR 252 SPD/128 ATK/128 SATK

Standard sweeper set. Has good wall breaking power due to both sides of the offense spectrum being covered. Stone Edge and Rock Slide are always good STABs, but Diancie’s signature move Diamond Storm deserves mention, being more accurate than both of the former, and possessing more power than Rock Slide with the side effect on increasing its DEF. Unfortunately, its PP is poor hence why the other 2 moves remain options. Moonblast is Fairy STAB. Earth Power hits steels that otherwise resist both of Diancie’s STABs. Rock Polish kicks Diancie’s dance into high gear, almost always ensuring it gets the first hit, while Psychic is the only other offensive move worth mention.

Countering Diancie
Steel types. Doesn’t matter whether normal or Mega, Diancie hates steel types. Steels resist both of Diancie’s stabs and strike for 4x super effective. Water, Grass and Ground attacks are good alternative to Steel, hitting Diancie hard. Normal Diancie loathes Toxic, but it has Safeguard and Heal Bell to remedy that. Mega-Diancie is all but immune to most conventional status attacks, so offense, especially priority attacks (Bullet Punch and Aqua Jet) are the way to go once Diancie Mega Evolves.

 

[TurtwigAndSquirtle]

Positives:
Very good defenses
Also good offense, especially its mega
Magic Bounce is an awesome ability, and Clear Body can help it switch into a lot more things.

Negatives:
Bad coverage (no Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, or really anything)
Doesn't evolve from Carbink

Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body (Magic Bounce on Mega)
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature (Rash or Mild)
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Stealth Rock (or Psychic, Gyro Ball, etc)
- Earth Power

A mixed tank. Diamond Storm and Moonblast for STAB. Earth Power is amazing coverage. Diancie can also set up rocks or have another offensive move for coverage.

 

[Specialbeamcanon]

Calm Mind sweeper
Diancie@Diancite
Naïve/Timid or Rash Nature
4Atk or HP(if running Timid or Rash and AncientPower)/252SpAtk/252Speed
-Calm Mind
-Diamond Storm/AncientPower
-Moonblast
-Earthpower

AncientPower is the only decent special STAB option it has sadly. Although if your into gambling with the RNG, Diancie would be pretty terrifying if it manages to get Ancientpower's secondary effects(get rid of Bullet Punch users first). You can run Naïve and Diamond Storm if your not into that and want immediate power right off the bat. It also does physical damage leaving a decent chunk to specially defensive opponents.

too bad trollfreak gave it little coverage options

It doesn't need allot of coverage though. The only things that resist Fairy+Ground are weak to Diamond Storm except Skarmory. And you could run Gravity+Earth Power or HP Fire to get past it. Megasaur will give you trouble if you don't run Calm Mind+Psychic/Psyshock for it, but it would be better if you carry a strong Psychic or Flying attacker before putting Diancie in your team. Because that would limit Diancie's great neutral coverage.

 

[Mye]

Ah diancie, what a failed experiment indeed:

Pros:
+50/150/150 defenses are pretty decent, allowing it to take quite a few hits
+Base 100 offenses are pretty good for a defensive pokemon, as it allows it to be something more than just an entry setter
+Access to calm mind and diamond storm allows it to boost its stats pretty effectively, as calm mind increases its special defense wheras diamond storm has a 50% chance of increasing its defense

Cons:
-Base 50 HP is just horrible for a defensive pokemon, as it makes its base 150 sp/def a tad weaker and makes its subs easily destroyed by night shade/seismic toss
-No recovery options outside of rest
-Gamefreak gave it arguably the second-worst typing for a "legendary" (sorry articuno) as it leaves it weak to ground/water while giving it a NAASSTY 4x steel weakness
-the typing also leaves it with 3 resistances and an immunity (2x resist to dark/flying/fire, immune to dragon) with only half of those being common attacking types
-its movepool lets it down quite a bit, as it is one of few mega-evolvable pokemon who doesn't have access to two reliable same-attacking type STAB moves (it lacks a physical fairy-type move and a special rock type move that's over 70BP)
-Base 50 speed combined with the aformentioned above make it almost unusable in non-mega form

Time to try and make a "usable" normal diancie set

Diancie @ Leftovers (Clear Body)
Bold, 252HP/252Def/4SpAtk
-Calm Mind
-Earth Power
-Moonblast
-Protect/Ancientpower

Probably the only "usable" offensive normal diancie set you'll see. Calm mind allows it to boost, Protect allows it to stall for health and at least give it a shot at recovering HP, Moonblast/earth power allow it to hit everything barring Skarmory/Bronzong/Shedinja (lol)/levitating fire types for at least neutral. If you have balls, you can replace protect with ancientpower to get neutral hits on all but bronzong but doing that makes it vulnerable to toxic and limits its overall longevity.

 

[What does the Dephox say?]

Literally the only thing normal Diancie is usable for is a Trick Room lead. It is one of the few Pokemon that can set up Trick Room that isn't decimated by Tyranitar / Charizard / Talonflame. It get get up Stealth Rocks, Trick Room, and Explode fairly reliably. Normal Diancie is completely useless otherwise. Don't even try a Calm Mind set when Mega Sableye / Slowbro exist.

Mega Diancie on the other hand is a great Calm Mind or Rock Polish sweeper. It can even run four attacks and just go to town on like 4/5ths the metagame.

 

[Lord Fighting]

Mega Diancie makes a great attacker and has respectable coverage despite it's few moves.
This is the only set it should be running as of oras:

Diancie @Diancite
Magic Bounce
Naive
252 Sp.atk 252 Spd 4 Atk
-diamond storm
-moonblast
-earth power
-hidden power fire (or psychic if you can't get hp fire)

Mega Diancie has access to earth power and hidden power fire so it can comfortably take on steel types. It just has to make sure it kills its target because of poor defences. Scizor and mega metagross are the biggest threats to Diancie due to stab priorty bullet punch.

 

[philzone]

Mega Diancie makes a great attacker and has respectable coverage despite it's few moves.
This is the only set it should be running as of oras:

Diancie @Diancite
Magic Bounce
Naive
252 Sp.atk 252 Spd 4 Atk
-diamond storm
-moonblast
-earth power
-hidden power fire (or psychic if you can't get hp fire)

Mega Diancie has access to earth power and hidden power fire so it can comfortably take on steel types. It just has to make sure it kills its target because of poor defences. Scizor and mega metagross are the biggest threats to Diancie due to stab priorty bullet punch.

People are switching to earth power > HP fire in ORAS. This is due to the fact that the main use for HP fire was to hit steels, and the only big pokemon it hits harder than earth power is scizor, who OHKOes back with bullet punch.

 

[Mye]

People are switching to earth power > HP fire in ORAS. This is due to the fact that the main use for HP fire was to hit steels, and the only big pokemon it hits harder than earth power is scizor, who OHKOes back with bullet punch.

...and skarmory. And ferrothorn. For lordfighting's set though, Hp fire/stealth rock should be mentioned in the last slot as psychic is next to useless unless you're super-afraid of tentacruel and mega-venusaur for some reason.

 

[Chinonso]

I kinda don't like Diancie since she outclassed Carbink, a Pokemon that I love:

Positives:
+Stats range from good to godly all round except for HP.
+A mix of base 150 defenses and base 100 offensive stats gives Diancie a lot of room for different sets.
+Learns Stealth Rock, which is pretty good.
+Diamond Storm is a cool move, too.
+I really like its design.
+Speed is just about in range of Trick Room teams.

Negatives:
-In Standard format battling, Diancie is banned.
-Bulk is hindered by a poor base 50 HP.
-Wrecked by Steel types that can outspeed it (quite a lot)
-Not much else, since this Pokemon is very, very good.
-Oh, and Carbink is cuter.

Abilities:
Clear Body - This Pokemon's stats cannot be lowered. This does not include self stat drops. This ability is nice because no Intimidaters will affect it or any surprise Special Defense drops.

 

[TheMegaJedi]

Mega Diancie is no pushover. I hear a lot of Bullet Punch jokes, but HP Fire can kill Ferrothorn and Force Palm could kill Heatran, the two most used walls in the OU Metagame. So Mega Diancie is very viable.
Stats: Attack: 160; Defense: 110; Sp. Att: 160; Sp. Def: 110; Speed: 110
So yeah, these stars are fantastic. Decent bulk, insane Attack, and above average speed. I don't know the HP stat, but I believe it's decent as well.
Shine Bright Like a Diamond
Diancite
Modest/Timid
252 SpA/252 Spe/4 HP
~Calm Mind
~Earth Power/HP Fire
~Moonblast
~Ancient Power/Diamond Storm
So, Calm Mind Sweeper Mega Diancie. Earth Power hits Heatran, whereas HP Fire hits Ferrothorn and Scizor on the switch. Moonblast is a STAB coverage move, and it's really powerful, too. Lastly, Diamond Storm hits Special Walls trying to force a switch, but Ancient Power makes you scary if you manage to get the boosts, and is boosted itself by Calm Mind. Whatever floats your boat, I Guess.
Partners
Landorus-T is a good partner to almost any Pokemon. Intimidate, decent typing and bulk, A great switch in to Scizor, etc. Ferrothorn also works, albeit not as well IMO. Greninja and Mew could also help with crippling other Pokemon on your opponets team
Counters
Steel types. Especially ones with Bullet Punch. Specially Defense Ferrothorn works somewhat, assuming they don't run HP Fire. Greninja is always a threat, being able to 2HKO almost anything. Earthquake is also a huge problem, considering every team runs it and how it can kill Mega Diancie with relative ease.
Other
Despite its weaknesses via typing, you saw its stat distribution. You can't tell me this Mega is bad. And while it may not get the best movepool, im sure that'll change in the upcoming Gen 7/Pokemon Z. So just waiting for this Poke's true potential, I give Mega Diancie the honorable rank of Usable

 

[venom1950]

diance...never really used it. as a doubles aficionado i'll post a support set as i saw there is a tutor for after you in ORAS.
150 in defensive stats is pretty impressive,if we ignore the HP BP

Diance
@leftovers
clear body
relaxed
252HP/128def/128spdef
-after you
-helping hands
-heal bell
-endeavor/dazzling gleam/diamond storm

 

[MokKish]

Mega Diancie has perfect stats for a mixed sweeper set. 110 Speed is fast, and 160 on both offences can threaten both special and physical walls.

Diancie @Diancite
Naive nature (+spe, - sp.def)
252 spe, 252 sp.att, 4 att (or better suggestions)
-Diamond Storm
-Moonblast
-Earthpower/Hidden Power Fire
-Substitute

Naive nature because it'll be taking more physical attacks (I'm looking at you Bullet Punch Scizor).

Diamond Storm and Moonblast for STAB and good coverage. Earthpower can destroy Heatran while HP Fire will take care of Scizor and Ferrothorn. Substitute on last slot because Diancie has a poor movepool and it can help with switchins, especially the 3 pokemon mentioned earlier. HP Fire and Earthpower can also both be used instead of Substitute for better coverage.