[OVERVIEW]
Mega Diancie is a good anti-metagame Pokemon in the 1v1 metagame with its unique Rock / Fairy typing that, in combination with its good Speed tier, allows it to reliably beat metagame staples such as Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Gyarados and serve as a good check to the ubiquitous Dragonite, only fearing Choice item variants. Furthermore, its pre-Mega ability Clear Body nullifies the effects of Intimidate from Pokemon like Mega Gyarados, while its post-Mega ability Magic Bounce protects it from status moves directed at it, ensuring wins against certain stall Pokemon like Whimsicott and fast sleep users like Jumpluff, Vivillon, and Smeargle. Diancie's excellent bulk prior to Mega Evolution allows it to delay Mega Evolution to beat Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y, Porygon-Z, and Mega Gyarados. Mega Diancie's EVs are stretched thin, however, so it is unable to consistently beat Mega Gyarados and simultaneously outspeed fast offensive Pokemon such as Garchomp, Kartana, and Durant. Furthermore, the prominence of Steel-types in the metagame hurts Mega Diancie, as its 4x weakness to Steel is easily exploited by threats such as Heatran, Mega Aggron, and Celesteela.
[SET]
name: Speedy Offensive Diancie
move 1: Moonblast
move 2: Diamond Storm
move 3: Magnet Rise / Rock Tomb
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Rock Tomb
item: Diancite
ability: Clear Body
nature: Naive
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Moonblast is Mega Diancie's main STAB move and hits extremely hard due to Mega Diancie's high Special Attack stat. Diamond Storm is a secondary STAB attack that hits Fire-types like Volcarona and Mega Charizard X and Y while giving Mega Diancie a chance to beat some physical attackers such as Mega Gyarados due to the move's 50% chance to raise Defense by two stages. Magnet Rise is used to beat Ground-types like non-Choice Scarf Landorus-T and Donphan that Mega Diancie outspeeds. It also allows Mega Diancie to evade Earthquake from physical Dragonium Z variants of Dragonite. Hidden Power Fire hits foes 4x weak to it such as Kartana and non-Choice Scarf Genesect that would otherwise tank any of Mega Diancie's attacks and KO it in return. Rock Tomb allows Mega Diancie to consistently beat Porygon-Z as well as non-Choice item Dragonite and bulky Mega Gyarados. Calm Mind can be used to beat Type: Null, but it is rarely useful outside of this matchup and causes Mega Diancie to lose the important matchup against Kartana.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed investment with a Speed-boosting nature ensures that Mega Diancie is able to outspeed Kartana. Maximum Special Attack investment allows Mega Diancie to hit as hard as possible with Moonblast. 4 Attack EVs grant some extra power on Mega Diancie's Diamond Storm. A Naive nature is used so that Mega Diancie doesn't lose power on Diamond Storm or Rock Tomb and has a better chance to beat Mega Gyarados if it gets Defense boosts from Diamond Storm.
If running Rock Tomb, use an alternative EV spread of 68 HP / 208 SpA / 232 Spe with a Naive nature to ensure that Diancie beats maximum Attack Dragonite by tanking Earthquake in its base forme in addition to Extreme Speed after Mega Evolving.
Usage Tips
=========
Mega Diancie should be mainly be used against prominent metagame threats like non-Choice item Dragonite, Mega Charizard X and Y, Kommo-o, Porygon-Z, and Meloetta that it can reliably beat, as opposed to a catch-all against unknown matchups. Against most Ground-types, like non-Choice Scarf Landorus-T, immediately Mega Evolve and use Magnet Rise so as to avoid their powerful Ground-type STAB moves. After this, simply use the move that will do the most damage to them, which is often Moonblast. However, against Garchomp, simply use Moonblast immediately to OHKO it. Against Donphan, after using Magnet Rise, use Diamond Storm first to avoid losing to Endeavor sets. This will be unnecessary if they use Head Smash, however, as this will break Sturdy and allow Moonblast to be used immediately for the KO. Against Zygarde, if predicting Tectonic Rage to be used, Mega Diancie should use Magnet Rise to avoid being OHKOed, but if predicting Thousand Arrows, Mega Diancie should use Moonblast to 2HKO Zygarde; note that Moonblast sometimes OHKOes it as well, easing the pressure of the mind game. Against Porygon-Z, bulky Mega Gyarados, and non-Choice item Dragonite, Mega Diancie can win if running Rock Tomb. After using Rock Tomb turn one without Mega Evolving against Porygon-Z, the play depends on what Porygon-Z has done. If Porygon-Z has used Breakneck Blitz, Mega Evolving and using Moonblast wins the matchup, while if Porygon-Z has used Z-Conversion, use Moonblast without Mega Evolving, and use Moonblast again while Mega Evolving this time to win. Against Dragonite, just use Rock Tomb, and Mega Evolve and use Moonblast to secure the KO, assuming you're running the alternative EV spread to ensure that Diancie can tank Dragonite's attacks. Against bulky Mega Gyarados, not Mega Evolving and using Rock Tomb turn one followed by Mega Evolving and using Moonblast turn two will almost always let Mega Diancie win. If you encounter an offensive Mega Gyarados, Diancie should immediately Mega Evolve and use Diamond Storm, as if the chance for a Defense boost activates, it will win with Moonblast. However, this coinflip situation makes the matchup extremely unreliable, unlike with bulky Mega Gyarados.
Team Options
==========
Since fast Mega Diancie loses to many Water- and Grass-type Pokemon such as Tapu Fini, Primarina, and Tapu Bulu and has an inconsistent matchup against Mega Gyarados and Zygarde, Pokemon that can consistently beat these threats like Mega Venusaur work well with it. In exchange, Mega Diancie can beat non-Choice item Dragonite, Mega Charizard Y, Garchomp, and Meloetta for Mega Venusaur. Steel-types with good matchups against Water-types like Kartana and specially defensive tanks like Meloetta synergize well with Mega Diancie, as they can beat Mega Gardevoir, Tapu Lele, Tapu Fini, and Primarina, all of which Mega Diancie struggles with. Mega Diancie can, in return, beat Fire-types like both formes of Mega Charizard, Victini, and Mega Blaziken for Kartana and Dark-types like Scrafty, Incineroar, and Mega Sableye for Meloetta. Fast Mega Diancie's general weakness to speedier offensive Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Choice Specs Deoxys-S, and Zeraora means that stall Pokemon capable of taking hits from them, such as Type: Null and Kee Berry Mew, make for good partners. In exchange, Mega Diancie can beat fast sleep users like Jumpluff and Vivillon and certain stallbreakers like Incineroar and Kommo-o that these Pokemon struggle with.
[SET]
name: Bulky Offense
move 1: Moonblast
move 2: Rock Tomb
move 3: Magnet Rise / Diamond Storm
move 4: Diamond Storm / Calm Mind
item: Diancite
ability: Clear Body
nature: Rash
evs: 224 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpA / 28 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Moonblast is Mega Diancie's strongest move and hits Mega Gyarados, Kommo-o, Dragonite, and Krookodile hard. Rock Tomb gives Mega Diancie a secondary STAB attack to hit Volcarona and Mega Charizard X and Y while providing an important method of speed control that lets it beat Mega Gyarados and non-Choice item Dragonite. Magnet Rise allows Mega Diancie to beat some slow Ground-types like Groundium Z Donphan, Groundium Z Golem, and Mega Camerupt. Diamond Storm allows Mega Diancie to consistently beat some specially bulky Pokemon like Meloetta and Togekiss. Calm Mind can be run over Diamond Storm to beat certain stall Pokemon such as Type: Null, non-Amnesia Kee Berry Mew, and Porygon2.
Set Details
========
224 HP EVs and 52 Defense EVs allow Mega Diancie to tank bulky Mega Gyarados's Waterfall in its Mega forme and maximum Attack Mega Gyarados's Waterfall in its base forme. 28 Speed EVs ensure that Mega Diancie outspeeds maximum Speed Adamant Mega Gyarados as well as base 70 Speed Pokemon after Mega Evolving. The remaining EVs are put into Special Attack to maximize Mega Diancie's damage output, notably almost guaranteeing the KO on bulky Mega Gyarados when Mega Diancie is played correctly. A Rash nature is used so that the damage output of Rock Tomb is not reduced, as its low Base Power makes this necessary.
Usage Tips
=========
If you predict that Mega Gyarados is running a bulky spread, then Mega Evolve immediately and use Rock Tomb turn one, as Mega Gyarados will then be unable to OHKO Mega Diancie with Waterfall. After this, simply use Moonblast turn two for the KO. Note that most Mega Gyarados run bulky spreads, so if you are unsure about what the foe's spread is, this is the safest option. However, if you predict that Mega Gyarados is running a more offensive spread, do not Mega Evolve, and use Rock Tomb turn one to get chip damage and to prevent Mega Gyarados from outspeeding you if it uses Dragon Dance; on turn two, Mega Evolve and use Moonblast for the KO. Against Mega Charizard X and Y, use Diamond Storm if you are running it or Rock Tomb and refrain from Mega Evolving turn one to ensure the win, as Mega Evolving will cause Mega Diancie to be outsped and subsequently OHKOed by Solar Beam from Mega Charizard Y. Against Ground-types that Mega Diancie can't immediately KO, like Donphan and bulky Landorus-T, Mega Evolve and click Magnet Rise turn one in order to evade their powerful STAB attacks like Tectonic Rage and Earthquake. Note, however, that Landorus-T can potentially use Rock Tomb followed by repeated uses of Substitute to stall out Mega Diancie's Magnet Rise turns before outspeeding and KOing it with its Ground-type moves, so if you suspect this play to come out, it is better to remain non-Mega-Evolved the first turn so as to avoid the Speed drop from Rock Tomb with Clear Body. Against Donphan, use either Rock Tomb or Diamond Storm turn two to avoid losing to Endeavor sets, unless it has already broken its Sturdy with Head Smash. After this, use Moonblast repeatedly to ensure the win. Against fast sleep users and stall Pokemon that use status moves such as Leech Seed, Spore, Sleep Powder, and Toxic such as Jumpluff, Smeargle, Vivillon, and Chansey, Mega Evolve right away to invalidate these moves. Against Meloetta, first use Diamond Storm without Mega Evolving, then Mega Evolve and use Diamond Storm to secure the win. If not running Diamond Storm, refrain from sending Mega Diancie out against Meloetta, as it will have a losing matchup.
Team Options
==========
Since bulky Mega Diancie has poor matchups against Steel-types like Magearna, Heatran, Genesect, Magnezone, Kartana, and Celesteela, Pokemon that reliably beat these threats, such as Mega Charizard X and Y, Mega Blaziken, Golem, and other Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-types, make for good partners. In exchange, Mega Diancie can beat Mega Gyarados, Kommo-o, and Donphan for these Pokemon. Since bulky Mega Diancie struggles against Water-types such as Primarina, Tapu Fini, and Manaphy, Electric- and Grass-types like Zeraora and Serperior make for good partners. Zeraora also has an excellent matchup against most of the aforementioned Steel-types that threaten Mega Diancie. In exchange, Mega Diancie can beat Flyinium Z Dragonite and Mega Charizard X and Y for Serperior and Donphan and Whimsicott for Zeraora. If not running Calm Mind, Mega Diancie struggles to break through stall Pokemon like stall Deoxys-S, Type: Null, and Kee Berry Mew. This makes stallbreakers like Incineroar and Kommo-o good partners. In exchange, Mega Diancie can beat Donphan, Golem, and special Dragonite for Incineroar, and non-Choice item Dragonite, Mega Charizard X, and Whimsicott for Kommo-o.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
===========
On either Mega Diancie set, Skill Swap can be used with Earth Power to lure and defeat non-Air Balloon Magnezone. It can also be used to let Mega Diancie wall Zeraora with its own Volt Absorb ability, to remove Mega Gardevoir's Pixilate if running fast Mega Diancie, to steal Clefable's Unaware to use against it, and to steal Crustle's Sturdy when not running Rock Tomb.
Checks and Counters
=================
**Steel-type Attackers and Steel-type Coverage**: Steel-types like Heatran, Genesect, Magnezone, Mega Metagross, and Celesteela are able to tank any of Mega Diancie's moves, with the exception of Genesect being OHKOed by fast Mega Diancie's Hidden Power Fire, and OHKO Mega Diancie back with their STAB moves, exploiting its crippling 4x weakness to Steel. Additionally, Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Dragonite and Choice Scarf Haxorus can outspeed Mega Diancie and OHKO it with their Steel-type coverage moves such as Iron Head and Iron Tail.
**Ground-types**: Many Ground-types such as Landorus, Garchomp, Choice Scarf Diggersby, and Choice Scarf Landorus-T can outspeed bulky Mega Diancie and KO it with their powerful STAB moves. Mega Diancie's access to Magnet Rise can potentially neutralize some of these Pokemon, but some bulky Ground-types like Rockium Z Golem and Mega Swampert can take advantage of their other STAB options to still hit Mega Diancie hard, while Quagsire can make use of Z-Stockpile and Recover to set up before whittling away at Mega Diancie's health with Scald.
**Strong Special Attackers**: Due to being forced to run a Naive or Rash nature, Mega Diancie's special bulk is diminished. This can be taken advantage of by Pokemon such as Mega Gardevoir, Tapu Lele, and Normalium Z Porygon-Z, although Mega Diancie has ways to mitigate this, like with Skill Swap against Mega Gardevoir and Rock Tomb against Porygon-Z.
**Offensive Grass- and Water-types**: Pokemon like Tapu Bulu, Greninja, and Primarina can OHKO Mega Diancie with their STAB moves, while Mega Diancie is either unable to significantly damage them in return or unable to outspeed them.
**Walls**: Pokemon with extremely high defensive stats such as Mega Slowbro, Clefable, Registeel, Kee Berry Mew, and Stored Power Necrozma can render Mega Diancie's attacks mostly ineffective, allowing these Pokemon to beat Mega Diancie before it can significantly damage them in return.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Notater, 485303]]
- Quality checked by: [[Alakazam, 276708], [pqs, 425798], [Osra, 239997]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
Mega Diancie is a good anti-metagame Pokemon in the 1v1 metagame with its unique Rock / Fairy typing that, in combination with its good Speed tier, allows it to reliably beat metagame staples such as Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Gyarados and serve as a good check to the ubiquitous Dragonite, only fearing Choice item variants. Furthermore, its pre-Mega ability Clear Body nullifies the effects of Intimidate from Pokemon like Mega Gyarados, while its post-Mega ability Magic Bounce protects it from status moves directed at it, ensuring wins against certain stall Pokemon like Whimsicott and fast sleep users like Jumpluff, Vivillon, and Smeargle. Diancie's excellent bulk prior to Mega Evolution allows it to delay Mega Evolution to beat Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y, Porygon-Z, and Mega Gyarados. Mega Diancie's EVs are stretched thin, however, so it is unable to consistently beat Mega Gyarados and simultaneously outspeed fast offensive Pokemon such as Garchomp, Kartana, and Durant. Furthermore, the prominence of Steel-types in the metagame hurts Mega Diancie, as its 4x weakness to Steel is easily exploited by threats such as Heatran, Mega Aggron, and Celesteela.
[SET]
name: Speedy Offensive Diancie
move 1: Moonblast
move 2: Diamond Storm
move 3: Magnet Rise / Rock Tomb
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Rock Tomb
item: Diancite
ability: Clear Body
nature: Naive
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Moonblast is Mega Diancie's main STAB move and hits extremely hard due to Mega Diancie's high Special Attack stat. Diamond Storm is a secondary STAB attack that hits Fire-types like Volcarona and Mega Charizard X and Y while giving Mega Diancie a chance to beat some physical attackers such as Mega Gyarados due to the move's 50% chance to raise Defense by two stages. Magnet Rise is used to beat Ground-types like non-Choice Scarf Landorus-T and Donphan that Mega Diancie outspeeds. It also allows Mega Diancie to evade Earthquake from physical Dragonium Z variants of Dragonite. Hidden Power Fire hits foes 4x weak to it such as Kartana and non-Choice Scarf Genesect that would otherwise tank any of Mega Diancie's attacks and KO it in return. Rock Tomb allows Mega Diancie to consistently beat Porygon-Z as well as non-Choice item Dragonite and bulky Mega Gyarados. Calm Mind can be used to beat Type: Null, but it is rarely useful outside of this matchup and causes Mega Diancie to lose the important matchup against Kartana.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed investment with a Speed-boosting nature ensures that Mega Diancie is able to outspeed Kartana. Maximum Special Attack investment allows Mega Diancie to hit as hard as possible with Moonblast. 4 Attack EVs grant some extra power on Mega Diancie's Diamond Storm. A Naive nature is used so that Mega Diancie doesn't lose power on Diamond Storm or Rock Tomb and has a better chance to beat Mega Gyarados if it gets Defense boosts from Diamond Storm.
If running Rock Tomb, use an alternative EV spread of 68 HP / 208 SpA / 232 Spe with a Naive nature to ensure that Diancie beats maximum Attack Dragonite by tanking Earthquake in its base forme in addition to Extreme Speed after Mega Evolving.
Usage Tips
=========
Mega Diancie should be mainly be used against prominent metagame threats like non-Choice item Dragonite, Mega Charizard X and Y, Kommo-o, Porygon-Z, and Meloetta that it can reliably beat, as opposed to a catch-all against unknown matchups. Against most Ground-types, like non-Choice Scarf Landorus-T, immediately Mega Evolve and use Magnet Rise so as to avoid their powerful Ground-type STAB moves. After this, simply use the move that will do the most damage to them, which is often Moonblast. However, against Garchomp, simply use Moonblast immediately to OHKO it. Against Donphan, after using Magnet Rise, use Diamond Storm first to avoid losing to Endeavor sets. This will be unnecessary if they use Head Smash, however, as this will break Sturdy and allow Moonblast to be used immediately for the KO. Against Zygarde, if predicting Tectonic Rage to be used, Mega Diancie should use Magnet Rise to avoid being OHKOed, but if predicting Thousand Arrows, Mega Diancie should use Moonblast to 2HKO Zygarde; note that Moonblast sometimes OHKOes it as well, easing the pressure of the mind game. Against Porygon-Z, bulky Mega Gyarados, and non-Choice item Dragonite, Mega Diancie can win if running Rock Tomb. After using Rock Tomb turn one without Mega Evolving against Porygon-Z, the play depends on what Porygon-Z has done. If Porygon-Z has used Breakneck Blitz, Mega Evolving and using Moonblast wins the matchup, while if Porygon-Z has used Z-Conversion, use Moonblast without Mega Evolving, and use Moonblast again while Mega Evolving this time to win. Against Dragonite, just use Rock Tomb, and Mega Evolve and use Moonblast to secure the KO, assuming you're running the alternative EV spread to ensure that Diancie can tank Dragonite's attacks. Against bulky Mega Gyarados, not Mega Evolving and using Rock Tomb turn one followed by Mega Evolving and using Moonblast turn two will almost always let Mega Diancie win. If you encounter an offensive Mega Gyarados, Diancie should immediately Mega Evolve and use Diamond Storm, as if the chance for a Defense boost activates, it will win with Moonblast. However, this coinflip situation makes the matchup extremely unreliable, unlike with bulky Mega Gyarados.
Team Options
==========
Since fast Mega Diancie loses to many Water- and Grass-type Pokemon such as Tapu Fini, Primarina, and Tapu Bulu and has an inconsistent matchup against Mega Gyarados and Zygarde, Pokemon that can consistently beat these threats like Mega Venusaur work well with it. In exchange, Mega Diancie can beat non-Choice item Dragonite, Mega Charizard Y, Garchomp, and Meloetta for Mega Venusaur. Steel-types with good matchups against Water-types like Kartana and specially defensive tanks like Meloetta synergize well with Mega Diancie, as they can beat Mega Gardevoir, Tapu Lele, Tapu Fini, and Primarina, all of which Mega Diancie struggles with. Mega Diancie can, in return, beat Fire-types like both formes of Mega Charizard, Victini, and Mega Blaziken for Kartana and Dark-types like Scrafty, Incineroar, and Mega Sableye for Meloetta. Fast Mega Diancie's general weakness to speedier offensive Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Choice Specs Deoxys-S, and Zeraora means that stall Pokemon capable of taking hits from them, such as Type: Null and Kee Berry Mew, make for good partners. In exchange, Mega Diancie can beat fast sleep users like Jumpluff and Vivillon and certain stallbreakers like Incineroar and Kommo-o that these Pokemon struggle with.
[SET]
name: Bulky Offense
move 1: Moonblast
move 2: Rock Tomb
move 3: Magnet Rise / Diamond Storm
move 4: Diamond Storm / Calm Mind
item: Diancite
ability: Clear Body
nature: Rash
evs: 224 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpA / 28 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Moonblast is Mega Diancie's strongest move and hits Mega Gyarados, Kommo-o, Dragonite, and Krookodile hard. Rock Tomb gives Mega Diancie a secondary STAB attack to hit Volcarona and Mega Charizard X and Y while providing an important method of speed control that lets it beat Mega Gyarados and non-Choice item Dragonite. Magnet Rise allows Mega Diancie to beat some slow Ground-types like Groundium Z Donphan, Groundium Z Golem, and Mega Camerupt. Diamond Storm allows Mega Diancie to consistently beat some specially bulky Pokemon like Meloetta and Togekiss. Calm Mind can be run over Diamond Storm to beat certain stall Pokemon such as Type: Null, non-Amnesia Kee Berry Mew, and Porygon2.
Set Details
========
224 HP EVs and 52 Defense EVs allow Mega Diancie to tank bulky Mega Gyarados's Waterfall in its Mega forme and maximum Attack Mega Gyarados's Waterfall in its base forme. 28 Speed EVs ensure that Mega Diancie outspeeds maximum Speed Adamant Mega Gyarados as well as base 70 Speed Pokemon after Mega Evolving. The remaining EVs are put into Special Attack to maximize Mega Diancie's damage output, notably almost guaranteeing the KO on bulky Mega Gyarados when Mega Diancie is played correctly. A Rash nature is used so that the damage output of Rock Tomb is not reduced, as its low Base Power makes this necessary.
Usage Tips
=========
If you predict that Mega Gyarados is running a bulky spread, then Mega Evolve immediately and use Rock Tomb turn one, as Mega Gyarados will then be unable to OHKO Mega Diancie with Waterfall. After this, simply use Moonblast turn two for the KO. Note that most Mega Gyarados run bulky spreads, so if you are unsure about what the foe's spread is, this is the safest option. However, if you predict that Mega Gyarados is running a more offensive spread, do not Mega Evolve, and use Rock Tomb turn one to get chip damage and to prevent Mega Gyarados from outspeeding you if it uses Dragon Dance; on turn two, Mega Evolve and use Moonblast for the KO. Against Mega Charizard X and Y, use Diamond Storm if you are running it or Rock Tomb and refrain from Mega Evolving turn one to ensure the win, as Mega Evolving will cause Mega Diancie to be outsped and subsequently OHKOed by Solar Beam from Mega Charizard Y. Against Ground-types that Mega Diancie can't immediately KO, like Donphan and bulky Landorus-T, Mega Evolve and click Magnet Rise turn one in order to evade their powerful STAB attacks like Tectonic Rage and Earthquake. Note, however, that Landorus-T can potentially use Rock Tomb followed by repeated uses of Substitute to stall out Mega Diancie's Magnet Rise turns before outspeeding and KOing it with its Ground-type moves, so if you suspect this play to come out, it is better to remain non-Mega-Evolved the first turn so as to avoid the Speed drop from Rock Tomb with Clear Body. Against Donphan, use either Rock Tomb or Diamond Storm turn two to avoid losing to Endeavor sets, unless it has already broken its Sturdy with Head Smash. After this, use Moonblast repeatedly to ensure the win. Against fast sleep users and stall Pokemon that use status moves such as Leech Seed, Spore, Sleep Powder, and Toxic such as Jumpluff, Smeargle, Vivillon, and Chansey, Mega Evolve right away to invalidate these moves. Against Meloetta, first use Diamond Storm without Mega Evolving, then Mega Evolve and use Diamond Storm to secure the win. If not running Diamond Storm, refrain from sending Mega Diancie out against Meloetta, as it will have a losing matchup.
Team Options
==========
Since bulky Mega Diancie has poor matchups against Steel-types like Magearna, Heatran, Genesect, Magnezone, Kartana, and Celesteela, Pokemon that reliably beat these threats, such as Mega Charizard X and Y, Mega Blaziken, Golem, and other Fire-, Fighting-, and Ground-types, make for good partners. In exchange, Mega Diancie can beat Mega Gyarados, Kommo-o, and Donphan for these Pokemon. Since bulky Mega Diancie struggles against Water-types such as Primarina, Tapu Fini, and Manaphy, Electric- and Grass-types like Zeraora and Serperior make for good partners. Zeraora also has an excellent matchup against most of the aforementioned Steel-types that threaten Mega Diancie. In exchange, Mega Diancie can beat Flyinium Z Dragonite and Mega Charizard X and Y for Serperior and Donphan and Whimsicott for Zeraora. If not running Calm Mind, Mega Diancie struggles to break through stall Pokemon like stall Deoxys-S, Type: Null, and Kee Berry Mew. This makes stallbreakers like Incineroar and Kommo-o good partners. In exchange, Mega Diancie can beat Donphan, Golem, and special Dragonite for Incineroar, and non-Choice item Dragonite, Mega Charizard X, and Whimsicott for Kommo-o.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
===========
On either Mega Diancie set, Skill Swap can be used with Earth Power to lure and defeat non-Air Balloon Magnezone. It can also be used to let Mega Diancie wall Zeraora with its own Volt Absorb ability, to remove Mega Gardevoir's Pixilate if running fast Mega Diancie, to steal Clefable's Unaware to use against it, and to steal Crustle's Sturdy when not running Rock Tomb.
Checks and Counters
=================
**Steel-type Attackers and Steel-type Coverage**: Steel-types like Heatran, Genesect, Magnezone, Mega Metagross, and Celesteela are able to tank any of Mega Diancie's moves, with the exception of Genesect being OHKOed by fast Mega Diancie's Hidden Power Fire, and OHKO Mega Diancie back with their STAB moves, exploiting its crippling 4x weakness to Steel. Additionally, Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Dragonite and Choice Scarf Haxorus can outspeed Mega Diancie and OHKO it with their Steel-type coverage moves such as Iron Head and Iron Tail.
**Ground-types**: Many Ground-types such as Landorus, Garchomp, Choice Scarf Diggersby, and Choice Scarf Landorus-T can outspeed bulky Mega Diancie and KO it with their powerful STAB moves. Mega Diancie's access to Magnet Rise can potentially neutralize some of these Pokemon, but some bulky Ground-types like Rockium Z Golem and Mega Swampert can take advantage of their other STAB options to still hit Mega Diancie hard, while Quagsire can make use of Z-Stockpile and Recover to set up before whittling away at Mega Diancie's health with Scald.
**Strong Special Attackers**: Due to being forced to run a Naive or Rash nature, Mega Diancie's special bulk is diminished. This can be taken advantage of by Pokemon such as Mega Gardevoir, Tapu Lele, and Normalium Z Porygon-Z, although Mega Diancie has ways to mitigate this, like with Skill Swap against Mega Gardevoir and Rock Tomb against Porygon-Z.
**Offensive Grass- and Water-types**: Pokemon like Tapu Bulu, Greninja, and Primarina can OHKO Mega Diancie with their STAB moves, while Mega Diancie is either unable to significantly damage them in return or unable to outspeed them.
**Walls**: Pokemon with extremely high defensive stats such as Mega Slowbro, Clefable, Registeel, Kee Berry Mew, and Stored Power Necrozma can render Mega Diancie's attacks mostly ineffective, allowing these Pokemon to beat Mega Diancie before it can significantly damage them in return.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Notater, 485303]]
- Quality checked by: [[Alakazam, 276708], [pqs, 425798], [Osra, 239997]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
Last edited by a moderator: