Alolan Dugtrio Movesets & Competitive Sets

Earthquake is Alolan Dugtrio's strongest move and boasts immense power under sand, OHKOing offensive Jellicent and having a good chance to 2HKO Quagsire after Stealth Rock. Iron Head is a secondary STAB move that slams many Pokemon resistant or immune to Ground, such as Eldegoss and the aforementioned Ribombee. Sucker Punch is a good option to pick off faster Pokemon that would otherwise revenge kill Alolan Dugtrio, such as Cinccino and Lycanroc. Memento can be used to help a teammate such as Sandslash set up and potentially sweep. Rock Slide hits Flying-types such as Charizard and Levitate users such as Vikavolt. Gigalith is a mandatory partner for Alolan Dugtrio because it provides sand as well as Stealth Rock to help chip down some of Alolan Dugtrio's checks, such as Cinccino, into range for its attacks. Other Pokemon that pair well with it include Sand Rush sweepers such as Sandslash, as well as Doublade, since it can switch into physical attackers that may try to revenge kill Alolan Dugtrio.

Moves Sucker Punch is used to hit fast threats such as Lycanroc, Choice Scarf Haunter, and Choice Scarf Jynx super effectively. Pursuit is used to get damage on frail Pokemon Alolan Dugtrio threatens out such as Cryogonal and Alolan Raichu. Memento can grant a free setup opportunity to a teammate when Alolan Dugtrio is weak or has no other use in the rest of the battle. Set Details Tangling Hair lowers the Speed of Alolan Dugtrio's foe by one stage if it is struck by a contact move. While Sand Force can be chosen if Alolan Dugtrio is used in conjunction with Sandstorm, its use over Tangling Hair is situational. Usage Tips Alolan Dugtrio is usually useless versus bulkier teams, so it should switch out versus Pokemon like Oricorio-E and Gastrodon that wall it. Use Alolan Dugtrio to revenge kill threats such as Simisear and Aurorus. Alolan Dugtrio can be preserved for late-game use in case its Sucker Punch is needed to stop setup sweepers, such as Normalium Z Jynx and Alolan Raichu. Alolan Dugtrio should use Memento at the right opportunity to ease setup for another teammate. Additionally, if it's not using Memento, Alolan Dugtrio can be sacrificed in battles with unfavorable matchups by switching directly into physical attacks that would KO it to lower the Speed of its foe via Tangling Hair, which allow its teammates to revenge kill the threat in question more easily. Team Options Strong wallbreakers like Drampa and Aurorus can open opportunities for Alolan Dugtrio to clean late-game, since they are able to break past most of Dugtrio's common checks like Tangela and Torterra. Bulky Water-type checks such as Hitmonchan and Ludicolo also work well with Alolan Dugtrio. Ludicolo also appreciates Alolan Dugtrio's Memento support, which eases its setup. Alolan Dugtrio pairs well with Fighting-type checks such as Spiritomb and Qwilfish, since a common way of revenging it is by using Mach Punch or Choice Scarf Primeape. Qwilfish's Toxic Spikes wears down many of Alolan Dugtrio's natural checks as well as bulky Pokemon with the ability to switch into Alolan Dugtrio's STAB-boosted moves, like Ludicolo and Tangela, respectively.

Moves Toxic is used to put bulky Water-types that Alolan Dugtrio lures in such as Gastrodon and Poliwrath on a timer. When coupled with Toxic, Substitute is used to ease prediction and wear down teams. When this set is used in conjunction with Toxic Spikes support, Toxic can be replaced with Stone Edge, which expands Alolan Dugtrio's coverage and allows it to hit Pokemon like Swanna and Oricorio-E super effectively. Set Details Leftovers gives Alolan Dugtrio passive recovery, which allows it to use Substitute more often. Tangling Hair is the preferred ability because it lowers the foe's Speed by one stage if Alolan Dugtrio is hit by a contact move, and its other abilities are generally more situational. Usage Tips Alolan Dugtrio should use Toxic to wear down bulky Water-types such as Gastrodon and Jellicent and other Pokemon that can wall its STAB moves like Oricorio-E and Eelektross. Generally, Alolan Dugtrio should use Substitute against poisoned foes in order to rack up poison damage. It can acquire Substitutes against Pokemon that can't break its Substitute like Clefairy lacking Seismic Toss and against Pokemon that Alolan Dugtrio can force out like Lanturn and Simisear. Substitute can also force 50/50s with Sucker Punch users like Absol and Skuntank. Lastly, try to avoid switching in Alolan Dugtrio even on resisted hits because it's very frail. Team Options Entry hazard users such as Omastar and Clefairy make for good teammates because hazards make it easier for Alolan Dugtrio to clean, since its Attack stat is mediocre. Alolan Dugtrio wears down bulky Water-types such as Jellicent and Poliwrath with Toxic, so Pokemon like Combusken make for decent teammates because they appreciate their similar checks being crippled. Additionally, Electric-types such as Alolan Raichu and Lanturn appreciate Alolan Dugtrio's ability to cripple opposing Ground-types like Mudsdale and Golurk with Toxic. Strong physical attackers like Lycanroc and Stoutland make good partners because they appreciate Toxic wearing down their defensive answers like Regirock and Tangela. Additionally, Kangaskhan also appreciates Normal-type checks weakened, and it can rack up poison damage from Alolan Dugtrio's Toxic via Fake Out. Finally, Fighting-type checks such as Qwilfish and Roselia pair well with Alolan Dugtrio because they can set up entry hazards to further wear down the opposing team.