Dugtrio Movesets & Competitive Sets

Dugtrio's great Speed tier and access to Stealth Rock and Memento could make it a potent suicide lead, but its low Attack results in it falling short of having any viability at all, with its only niche being outspeeding Alolan Raichu and Lycanroc. As a fast Ground-type, it's outclassed by Alolan Dugtrio, and Lycanroc does a significantly better job at being a Stealth Rock suicide lead. Suicide leads aren't even all that good in the metagame due to the plethora of viable entry hazard removers, so many bulkier Stealth Rock users outclass it due to getting more opportunities to get Stealth Rock up throughout the match.

Putting it bluntly, this set is really bad and there aren't many better options for Dugtrio. Stealth Rock, Memento, and Dugtrio's higher Speed give it a smaller niche over a suicide lead such as Uxie to lay Stealth Rock and prevent Defog with Memento. Earthquake is mainly there because it's a STAB option for Dugtrio. Toxic can be an option to cripple Hippowdon and Landorus-T, while Stone Edge catches Flying-type Pokemon such as Zapdos and Mega Charizard Y.

Dugtrio is really not worth using, but if you must, this is probably the best you're going to do. While Dugtrio is still one of the fastest Pokemon in OU and can conceivably revenge kill Pokemon like Jirachi, Excadrill, and Tyranitar, in most cases Dugtrio won't be strong enough to be effective. Earthquake in sand is only just strong enough to 3HKO 252/48+ Ferrothorn, to give you an idea of what you're working with here (only marginally stronger than maximum Attack Leftovers Landorus-T, for reference). Ultimately, you're probably just best off sacrificing Dugtrio with Memento to provide a setup opportunity for a teammate.

While Dugtrio is certainly fast, there is still a wide array of Choice Scarf users that outspeed the standard set. This set aims to fix this issue. With a Choice Scarf equipped, Dugtrio outruns just about all of UU and most of OU as well. Your attacking moves are virtually the same as those on the standard set; however, they will all suffer a significant drop in power since Dugtrio no longer has the boosts from Choice Band or Life Orb. It will still OHKO the more fragile of sweepers, as well as Pokemon with 2x or 4x weaknesses to Earthquake, such as Houndoom and Nidoking in UU and Heatran, Infernape, and Magnezone in OU; however, you will generally have a much more difficult time scoring OHKOs and 2HKOs on bulkier Pokemon. For example, the standard Chansey will never be 2HKOed if it has Leftovers and can proceed to wear Dugtrio down with Toxic and Soft-Boiled, barring a critical hit. Therefore, Beat Up is again worthy of consideration in Dugtrio's last moveslot. In OU, Earthquake will never OHKO even uninvested Tyranitar, and it can easily dispose of Dugtrio with Crunch. With the loss of power, Dugtrio loses out on many KOs, but the additional Speed gives it a new set of targets. Dugtrio can now safely revenge kill several other Choice Scarf Pokemon, such as Blaziken, Primeape, and Hitmonlee, although the latter two must have taken residual damage or a Defense drop from Close Combat for an OHKO to be guaranteed with Earthquake. Charizard with a Salac boost and Altaria with a Dragon Dance can no longer elude Dugtrio, although Altaria must have taken Stealth Rock and Life Orb damage for Stone Edge to have a chance at OHKOing it. An Adamant nature is a must. Dugtrio will need as much Attack as possible if you want it to reliably revenge kill several of the aforementioned threats. With 212 Speed EVs and a Choice Scarf, Dugtrio will reach 493 Speed, which is enough to always outrun Choice Scarf base 100 Speed Pokemon with a positive nature, such as Typhlosion and Jirachi, as well as Omastar in the rain, Choice Scarf Heatran, Choice Scarf Heracross, and Choice Scarf Jirachi. Using Choice Scarf Dugtrio is somewhat similar to using the standard set. Its weaknesses are very much the same, most notably its Pursuit weakness. While it has gained the ability to more easily counter certain Speed freaks, Pokemon like Chansey and Registeel, in UU, and Tyranitar and Blissey, in OU, need to be sufficiently weakened before Dugtrio can KO them. Choice Scarf Dugtrio is usually played mid- to late-game, when your opposing Pokemon will have received sufficient damage. Try and build up residual damage on the Pokemon you are aiming to bring down. Using U-turn on your Swellow and Mesprit will wear down Registeel and Chansey little by little while also allowing you to sustain your momentum in the battle. Spikes from Pokemon like Roserade and Skarmory will also help a lot. Also, make sure you utilize Dugtrio's gigantic Speed stat. Dugtrio now even outspeeds Electrode, which means that if it dares to use Taunt or Thunderbolt, Dugtrio can easily switch into Electrode and OHKO it before it can set up rain, providing that said Electrode has a Damp Rock instead of a Focus Sash. With a Choice Scarf, Dugtrio can outrun Motor Drive-boosted Electivire and, if you can predict the Thunderbolt, easily beat it. Avoid Hidden Power, though. Dugtrio can now also switch in on a Jolteon's Shadow Ball, but sadly, Hidden Power Grass and Baton Pass are still problematic.

Thanks to its high Speed stat and Arena Trap, Dugtrio has been a very reliable revenge killer since Advance. Earthquake is your primary attack, not only because it is Dugtrio's only STAB move, but also because it can score some useful OHKOs on Pokemon like Houndoom, Blaziken, and Toxicroak. Dugtrio's Dark-type move will enable it to hit Claydol, as well as Ghost-types with Levitate such as Mismagius and Rotom. Which move is better will often depend on the situation. Rotom and Mismagius can easily bypass the threat of Sucker Punch by setting up a Substitute or burning Dugtrio with Will-O-Wisp. However, Sucker Punch will enable Dugtrio to revenge kill weakened enemies that either are faster or use priority moves, such as Choice Scarf Typhlosion and Aqua Jet Azumarill. Stone Edge complements Earthquake quite nicely, hitting the Flying-types that are immune to Dugtrio's Ground-type STAB move. Keep in mind, though, that many of UU's Flying-types are generally too quick for Dugtrio to handle. More often than not, Altaria and Charizard will all be at +1 Speed by the time Dugtrio switches in to revenge kill them, and it is not uncommon to encounter a Scyther or Moltres holding a Choice Scarf. Substitute, Dugtrio's final move, may seem like an odd choice, but it has a very important purpose: to protect Dugtrio from Sucker Punch. Absol, Toxicroak, Houndoom, and Nidoking are all easily KOed by Earthquake, but they each can hit Dugtrio with a powerful Sucker Punch before it can attack. To remedy this, use Substitute on a predicted Sucker Punch. Next turn, Dugtrio can KO its foe while the Sucker Punch will only break the Substitute. As an added bonus, if the foe is weakened enough, Dugtrio can retain its Substitute by KOing it with a Sucker Punch of its own. Take note that an opponent may suspect that you have Substitute and break your Substitute by using another attack instead of Sucker Punch. In such cases, you will have to outpredict your opponent to come out on top. While evading Sucker Punch is the main perk of using Substitute, it has a few other uses. You can use it to avoid Explosion or the occasional Counter from Registeel or Regirock that have not been weakened enough to be KOed by Earthquake. Additionally, if you can switch Dugtrio in on a Choice-locked Electric-type move, you will be able to Substitute for free, which can help ease prediction and protect Dugtrio from being revenge killed itself, especially by priority moves. For those who feel that they cannot predict well enough to use Substitute effectively, or for those who use Choice Band over Life Orb, another option in this slot is Pursuit, which can be used to hit foes like fleeing Shed Shell Chansey or a Choice Scarf Rotom locked into Thunderbolt. Beat Up is also available in the last slot because Chansey is capable of outstalling Dugtrio's Earthquakes with Wish and Protect. However, with Beat Up and a sufficiently healthy team, Dugtrio is guaranteed an OHKO on Chansey. Both natures are viable, but make sure to note the benefits and drawbacks of both. An Adamant Dugtrio will tie with positive-natured base 105 Speed Pokemon, such as Mismagius without Hidden Power Fighting and Manectric, and will fail to outspeed anything faster, such as Ambipom and Espeon. A Jolly Dugtrio, on the other hand, will outspeed all of those and tie with other positive-nature Dugtrio, Alakazam, and Sceptile. The loss of power will not make you lose out on any notable OHKOs or 2HKOs, but be aware that it can be significant in some situations, mostly when taking into account random or residual damage. For example, an Adamant Choice Band Dugtrio has a good chance of 2HKOing a maximum HP / maximum Defense Bold Milotic with two layers of entry hazards laid on the field, whereas a Jolly one has barely any chance of doing so. If you are using a Jolly nature, maximizing Speed is not required, as Dugtrio will only be tying with opposing Dugtrio, a rare scenario to encounter, Alakazam, which can be KOed (albeit unreliably) by Sucker Punch, and Sceptile, which Dugtrio will generally not be trying to revenge kill. You may instead use a spread of 252 Atk / 40 SpD / 216 Spe, which outruns Jolly Ambipom. The 40 Special Defense EVs will give Dugtrio a better chance of surviving a +2 Vacuum Wave from Toxicroak. As with nature, both items are also viable, and the difference in power is again mostly situational. If you use Choice Band, beware that any Pokemon can set up on Dugtrio if it is stuck on the wrong move. Being locked into Earthquake will give Pokemon such as Moltres the opportunity to fire off a powerful attack for free. A Choice-locked Night Slash grants an easy entrance to Blaziken and Drapion, as does Stone Edge to Nidoking and Donphan. Furthermore, if Absol happens to show up after Dugtrio eliminates something with Night Slash, Dugtrio risks being Pursuit trapped and eliminated, unable to do anything in return. One thing to watch out for is your opponent setting up on Dugtrio, even more so if Dugtrio is Choiced. Because of the potency of UU's Flying-types, locking Dugtrio into an Earthquake is one of the most dangerous things to do. If you dare to do so, make sure you can address your opponent's next Pokemon. Milotic can handle a lot of the common Flying-types, such as Moltres, Altaria, and to an extent, Scyther. It also fares well against Ground-types, which will come in on a Choice-locked Stone Edge, as well as most of the Fighting-types, which have no fear of Dugtrio if it is locked into Night Slash. The most dangerous Pokemon, however, are those that can set up on Dugtrio even if it's not Choiced. Torterra is the best example of this. Dugtrio must have Aerial Ace to even touch it, and even with Choice Band, it has a minuscule chance of a 2HKO. Meanwhile, Torterra can threaten a sweep with Rock Polish. Make sure you have a Pokemon like Tangrowth or Mesprit to deal with Torterra and other similar threats like Swords Dance Venusaur and Leafeon. Shed Shell, while rare, can also be an obstacle to Dugtrio, enabling opposing Pokemon to escape the clutches of Arena Trap. It is found mainly on common walls, mostly Chansey and Registeel. To solve this problem, one can use Trick and Knock Off to rob these Pokemon of their items. Chansey will commonly switch into Espeon and Mesprit, expecting to sponge a special attack, only to have its Shed Shell Tricked away. The threat of a Grass attack from Venusaur and Tangrowth will lure Registeel into play, and Knock Off will easily strip it of its Shed Shell.

Set Description Earthquake's primary targets are Tyranitar, Metagross, Jirachi, Magneton, Blissey, and Starmie. Bulky Tyranitar, Metagross, Jirachi, and Starmie fall after a tiny amount of chip damage, Magneton gets OHKOed, and Blissey gets 2HKOed in sand. Earthquake also hits Snorlax and Suicune hard, allowing Dugtrio to revenge kill offensive variants and sometimes take out defensive variants by coming in on a Rest turn. Hidden Power Bug takes out Celebi with some chip damage. Aerial Ace OHKOes Heracross and Breloom. Rock Slide is the generic option in the last moveslot for hitting threatening Flying-types like Zapdos, Salamence, Moltres; this especially strengthens Dugtrio as an emergency pivot into Zapdos. Sunny Day is a common move alongside tanks that are affected by sand, namely defensive Suicune and Snorlax. Beat Up is a niche option on specially offensive teams. It has several advantages over Earthquake in dealing with Blissey. First, many specially offensive partners like Zapdos, Celebi, Suicune, and Raikou have high base Attack, and Beat Up does damage based on the base Attack stats of all team members, so it more often than not does massive damage to Blissey, 2HKOing it comfortably even without sand. Alternatively, a specially offensive Pokemon can lure Blissey in, apply Toxic poison, and switch to Beat Up Dugtrio, which deals enough damage that Blissey won't ever be able to heal. Second, as Beat Up damage is independent of natures and EVs, Dugtrio is free to drop Attack investment in favor of bulk and Speed; the bulk helps Dugtrio survive Blissey's Ice Beam, Jirachi's Ice Punch, and Celebi's Grass-type attacks, increasing its reliability in trapping special walls; the Speed helps it revenge kill offensive Jirachi, offensive Celebi, and Dragon Dance Tyranitar. Third, Counter fails on Beat Up, so Blissey has no way to OHKO bulky Dugtrio back. Note that Beat Up does not necessarily have to be used with a bulky EV spread. Dugtrio usually wants all the Attack it can get to reduce the amount of chip damage needed to KO its targets. Maximum Speed is useful for tying other Dugtrio that might try to revenge kill Dugtrio itself; otherwise, an EV spread of 8 HP / 252 Atk / 20 SpD / 228 Spe with IVs of 30 SpD / 30 Spe lets Adamant / Jolly Dugtrio outspeed neutral / positive nature +1 Dragon Dance Tyranitar, respectively. The extra bulk gives Dugtrio greater odds of surviving attacks like Hidden Power Ice or Grass from specially offensive Pokemon and super effective coverage from Blissey, Celebi, and Jirachi. One should avoid placing the remaining 4 EVs into HP, though it may seem inconsequential, as Dugtrio otherwise faints from four times of switching into three layers of Spikes. This may occur if Skarmory continuously forces Dugtrio in. Note that the above EV spreads more often than not do not apply to Beat Up Dugtrio, which frequently runs bulky spreads to survive Blissey's Ice Beam under various conditions. The most common spread is 80 HP / 252 Atk / 172 SpD / 4 Spe for surviving Blissey's Ice Beam after one layer of Spikes. With a Jolly nature, Dugtrio still outspeeds base 100 neutral-natured Pokemon. A Jolly nature allows Dugtrio to outspeed all +1 Dragon Dance Tyranitar, Starmie, and Salac Berry-boosted Endeavor Swampert. This is the better nature for revenge killing. An Adamant nature, however, ensures the OHKO on uninvested Tyranitar, requires less chip damage to KO many targets, and also gives Dugtrio a good chance to 3HKO defensive Suicune and defensive Snorlax after a Curse. Adamant is really helpful on defensive Suicune teams, where Dugtrio can eliminate bulky Tyranitar as fast as possible before Suicune takes too much damage to set up, and defensive Toxic, Sandstorm, and Spikes (TSS) teams, where Dugtrio provides the sole offensive pressure needed against a late-game Suicune or Snorlax. Occasionally, maximizing the odds of revenge killing a full HP Tyranitar is also useful, such as when Tyranitar OHKOes Jynx after it misses Lovely Kiss and when Charizard uses Focus Punch to stop Dragon Dance Tyranitar from setting up but gets OHKOed by Rock Slide. When using balance teams where every Pokemon fulfills mostly an indispensable role and cannot easily be sacrificed, Dugtrio is best brought in on a predicted switch into the trap target after it has been chipped. On offensive teams, however, in addition to trapping special walls, Dugtrio can be used more as a revenge killer, performing one-for-one trades. Frequently, Baton Pass users like Zapdos and Celebi help ease predictions and guide Dugtrio into Blissey and Tyranitar, for example. Team Options Dugtrio's targets can generally be categorized into physically bulky Pokemon, Calm Mind users, special walls, Fighting-types, bulky setup tanks, and trappers. Dugtrio teams can be broadly categorized into specially offensive teams, Skarmory or Forretress + Dugtrio stall teams, and teams dedicated to setting up bulky tanks. Specially offensive teams with offensive Calm Mind users like Celebi, Jirachi, and Suicune, or special sweepers like Starmie and Rain Dance users Kingdra and Ludicolo, all appreciate special walls removed. A great way of luring in special walls, particularly Blissey, is through using Zapdos, which can use Baton Pass to eliminate prediction involved in safely bringing Dugtrio in. A niche Pokemon that also does the job is lead Jynx, which frequently forces the opponent to go to Blissey right after having a Pokemon slept. As physically bulky Pokemon like Tyranitar, Metagross, and Snorlax are checks to Calm Mind users, Dugtrio removing, or at least weakening, these checks also helps them. Removing Tyranitar also allows Kingdra and Ludicolo to use Rain Dance unimpeded. Sometimes, specially offensive teams carry Gengar, which not only can use Explosion with Dugtrio as follow-up to remove special walls, but can also lure in and eliminate Pursuit Tyranitar to help these Rain Dance users keep rain up. As specially offensive teams frequently use frail Zapdos as a Fighting-type check, Dugtrio helps to revenge kill Heracross and Breloom. One common theme in offensive Dugtrio teams is using two Pokemon that are weak to Dugtrio: one lures in opposing Dugtrio to be counter-trapped, which enables the other. Most prominently, Celebi luring in Dugtrio allows Jirachi free rein. Heracross and Breloom act similarly; although they are not specially offensive, some offensive Dugtrio teams appreciate them pressuring Blissey and hurting Skarmory decently. Breloom also appreciates Dugtrio's trades reducing the game to a small number of Pokemon, making Spore much more devastating. Mixed and Choice Band Tyranitar are also physically offensive presences with good Dugtrio synergy. Mixed Tyranitar has the coverage to nail the Pokemon that Dugtrio cannot trap and eliminate easily—Swampert and Flying-types—and Dugtrio can trap those that it has trouble with—Metagross, Jirachi, and Celebi. Choice Band Tyranitar similarly deters Flying-types with Rock Slide and has Focus Punch to hit Water-types hard; should it mistakenly lock itself with Rock Slide or Double-Edge into Metagross or Jirachi, Dugtrio can revenge kill them. Like Zapdos, the uncommon offensive Vaporeon can lure in special walls and guide Dugtrio safely in, especially against Blissey, with Baton Pass and its 101 HP Substitutes. However, one must be keenly aware of the possible physical weaknesses that come with using both offensive Vaporeon and Dugtrio on the same team. Finally, as a general point, specially offensive teams frequently lack phazers, so they can run into serious trouble should opposing offensive Calm Mind users set up first. In this scenario, having Dugtrio as a revenge killer is very useful too. Skarmory and Dugtrio have amazing synergy on stall teams. Skarmory's Spikes provide the chip damage necessary for Dugtrio to remove Tyranitar, Metagross, Celebi, and Jirachi. In turn, Dugtrio traps Magneton, as well as offensive Starmie after chip damage from Spikes or Toxic to prevent it from spinning. Taking down physical wallbreakers like Tyranitar and Metagross, and letting Skarmory handle them for longer against Magneton teams, protects Water-types that are vulnerable to sand and Spikes like Suicune and Milotic from being overwhelmed or eating an Explosion. Removing Tyranitar also allows one to clear sand, possibly with Sunny Day, extending Suicune's longevity. Dugtrio also mitigates the propensity of these Water-types to be set up on or neutered with Leech Seed by Jirachi and Celebi. Defensive Gengar forms a fantastic core with Skarmory and Dugtrio, as it can spinblock and have Dugtrio severely weaken or remove Pursuit Tyranitar. Spinners are good Dugtrio partners on stall teams, as opposing Skarmory gets to set Spikes freely after a revenge kill, and stall teams frequently lack offensive pressure against Skarmory. Claydol, apart from removing Spikes to ease the pressure on Suicune, Milotic, and Blissey, works with Dugtrio to strengthen the team's defenses against Tyranitar and Aerodactyl. Claydol can also be sacrificed to Heracross for Dugtrio to revenge kill it, since Heracross rarely comes with Spikes. Forretress is another Spiker and spinner that synergizes with Dugtrio. Even though Forretress, unlike Skarmory, can run Earthquake to address Magneton switch-ins, Dugtrio trapping Magneton allows Forretress to use Hidden Power Bug and Explosion simultaneously. Dugtrio also makes up for Forretress's inability to threaten Fighting-types, trapping Heracross and Breloom, or phaze like Skarmory. Dugtrio prevents the opponent from exploiting Forretress's passivity by trapping Calm Mind Celebi and Jirachi, as well as safeguarding against Metagross, which can easily run through Forretress if it has Choice Band, gets a boost from Meteor Mash, or Forretress is previously chipped significantly. Although it is common to overlook the offensive properties of Claydol and Forretress on stall teams, in many cases, their Explosions guarantee a trade when Dugtrio is available for revenge killing. Trading with Tyranitar eases the pressure on Blissey and Suicune and allows sand to be cleared permanently, while trading with Metagross eliminates the potential threat of Explosion to Suicune and Milotic. Finally, there is a small but noteworthy fraction of Skarmory + Dugtrio teams that use Swampert. These are usually Toxic, Spikes and Sandstorm (TSS) teams that don't do well against defensive Suicune if Skarmory is trapped and Spikes are removed; in this case, having Dugtrio to beat Rest Suicune can be important. Teams dedicated to supporting setup tanks like defensive Suicune, defensive Curse Snorlax, and Calm Mind + Wish Jirachi form the remainder of Dugtrio-based teams. Suicune has been explained above, and the arguments pertaining to Snorlax and Jirachi are similar. Once again, Tyranitar, Metagross, Celebi, and Jirachi are prime trap targets. Tyranitar's sand hurts Snorlax's longevity, and Tyranitar walls Snorlax and Jirachi. Metagross also walls Snorlax and can hit it with Explosion, and Jirachi without Fire Punch finds it difficult to get past Metagross. Leech Seed Celebi makes it very difficult for these tanks to set up, while Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi can exploit the lack of early-game pressure from these teams to pass boosts to threatening offensive Pokemon. Opposing Calm Mind Jirachi can set up on Snorlax, and it is never good to get your Jirachi into a Calm Mind war with opposing Jirachi; even if one's Jirachi wins the tussle, there is a good chance that it will be crippled by burn or paralysis. Removing opposing trappers can also be a benefit in rather subtle ways. Opposing Magneton and Dugtrio can keep forcing Snorlax to use Rest until they score a critical hit, and Magneton can also paralyze Jirachi in a pinch, whereas Dugtrio can trap and severely weaken, if not remove, Jirachi. These setup-based teams tend to be weak to Fighting-types, so removing Heracross and Breloom is also important. Finally, if one does not use Spikes, then one needs an alternative way to chip trap targets into range. Defensive Celebi's Leech Seed and Blissey's Toxic are prominent methods of inducing chip damage on stall teams lacking Spikes. Celebi can also lure in Tyranitar and Metagross and use Baton Pass to safely switch to Dugtrio, eliminating the need for prediction. Occasionally, Dugtrio appears on balance teams that do not necessarily use Spikes, but use Pokemon mentioned above and follow similar logic. These include Choice Band Tyranitar, Wish Jirachi, and Claydol.

Boasting the best Speed in the tier, a not-too-shabby base Attack of 80, and a decent movepool, Dugtrio is a serious threat. Its access to a solid STAB move in Earthquake, coupled with its high Speed, means that only Pokemon that can withstand two hits can switch into it safely. Rock Slide as Dugtrio's first coverage move is a necessity. In a tier dominated by Xatu, the capability to hit Flying-types for solid damage is essential for Dugtrio to properly function and threaten foes. The combination of Earthquake + Rock Slide allows Dugtrio to hit everything in the tier for neutral or super effective damage. Screech allows Dugtrio to prevent opponents from stalling it out by constantly dropping their Defense, which can be useful against bulky RestTalk users and Curse users, especially in conjunction with Spikes support and Substitute. Substitute grants the ability to dish out free hits safely when set up on one of the many switches Dugtrio forces. It also gives Dugtrio the opportunity to safely fish for Hidden Power Electric or Rest pulled from Sleep Talk by Octillery and Xatu, allowing it to severely punish them for trying to check Dugtrio when asleep through Screech. It also crucially reduces the need for Dugtrio to guess which Pokemon will switch in or whether the foe will switch at all and forces the opponent to attack Dugtrio directly in fear of giving it free turns. While Dugtrio is the fastest Pokemon in the tier, its base 80 Attack is a far cry from the Attack stats of behemoths like Kingler. To highlight its lack of power, Dugtrio fails to OHKO Ninetales and Rapidash from full health. Furthermore, Weezing and Sudowoodo only take about 54% from Dugtrio's super effective STAB Earthquake. To help bring these Pokemon into Dugtrio's KO range, pairing it with Pineco is essential to making it thrive, as Spikes help wear down roadblocks to Dugtrio such as Octillery and Dewgong and help push its attacks over the line when Dugtrio might otherwise barely miss out on 2HKOes or OHKOes. Powerful attackers such as Kingler, Fearow, and Rapidash are all good teammates given that all three are capable of weakening foes with their powerful hits, which further makes Dugtrio's job easier. Sudowoodo can lure in Water- and Grass-types Dugtrio has trouble with and remove them with Self-Destruct. Chinchou is a great partner to complement Dugtrio's defensive shortcomings, as it can take opposing Surfs and Ice Beams, which Dugtrio is weak to, and hit back with its strong STAB Thunder. The biggest flaw to Dugtrio is its lack of raw power and generally poor bulk, so Pokemon that can take advantage of these deficits make for good checks. Bulky Normal-types such as Wigglytuff and Dunsparce take 30% from Dugtrio's Earthquake on average while hitting back with STAB Normal attacks such as Body Slam, Return, and Double-Edge for between 40% and 67%. Xatu can force Dugtrio out despite its faster super effective Rock Slide if Dugtrio isn't healthy and behind a Substitute. Water-types in general are the best answers to Dugtrio. Octillery takes 31-37% from Earthquake while threatening to OHKO back. Dewgong only takes 28-33% from STAB Earthquake while doing 75-88.6% with STAB Surf and Ice Beam in return. Physically bulky attackers like Kingler can potentially set up a Swords Dance boost against Dugtrio without too much to fear.