Diancie. The very first Event Legend we'll be getting this generation. Now event Legendaries in the past have either gone straight to Ubers or sat in UU. The highest one has ever made it was OU, that being Jirachi. But for every Jirachi we still get a Celebi and a Mew and occationally a Manaphy who becomes alright later on.
Unfortunately Diancie is not a Jirachi or even a Manaphy. Not yet anyway. For now Diancie is going to be one of those Pokemon sitting around UU with Mew and Celebi. But why?
One glaring weakness? Diancie has a nasty 4x weakness to Steel. Other common weaknesses, being Water and Ground, give it a 2x weakness. Its 4th weakness, the less common Grass type. Diancie also has a fairly shallow movepool and stats similar to Carbink but not enough to even be considered above BL.
Diancie
Weakness: 2x - Water, Grass, Ground 4x - Steel
Stats: 50 HP / 100 Atk / 150 Def / 100 SpA / 150 SpD / 50 Spe
Notable moves: Diamond Storm, Moonblast, Gyro Ball, Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, Rest and Sleep Talk
Diamond Storm - Probably one of the best Rock type moves in the game. 100 Power with 95 Accuracy. Also has a 50% chance to raise Diancie's Defense. Raising Diancie's defense +1 every other turn could help with its weakness to Steel and Ground but its not trustworthy enough.
Moonblast - The best released Fairy type move in the game. 95 Power with 100 Accuracy. Also has a 30% chance to lower the opponents Special Attack by a stage. Side effect doesn't help much due to its main weaknesses coming from the physical side of the spectrum.
Gyro Ball - Due to Diancie's Base 50 Speed, this may be one of Diancie's best moves. Best used in combination with Trick Room and a 0 Speed IV. Gyro Ball has varying power and hits 100% of the time.
Light Screen and Reflect - Just going to cover this at the same time. Both barrier type moves will raise the parties Special Defense and Defense respectively by basically 1 stage for 5 turns, 8 if holding a Light Clay.
Trick Room - The one move that Diancie should run if going for maximum attacking potential. Reverses the effects of Speed for 5 turns. As mentioned with the Gyro Ball description above, Trick Room doesn't effect Gyro Ball, therefore Gyro Ball will have the same power with or without Trick Room.
Rest and Sleep Talk - More of a gimmicky set, but given Diancie's slim attacking movepool, the ResTalk set may be one of the more rare sets on Diancie.
Now onto the sets. Diancie really only has 3 sets that it would run, each with a different usage.
Tricky Storm of Balls
Diancie @ Leftovers
Sassy / Relaxed / Brave
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
0 Spd IVs
-Trick Room
-Diamond Storm
-Moonblast
-Gyro Ball
Trick Room is the center of this set. Due to Diancie having the lowest Speed investment, hitting a total of 49 Speed at level 50 and 94 Speed at level 100. Diamond Storm / Moonblast / Gyro Ball all hit extremely hard, but with Gyro Ball and Diamond Storm hitting the hardest due to the Attack investment. Unfortunately Diancie has nothing to combat its weaknesses to Steel. This set is best used in Doubles with a partner such as Reuniclus or Druddigon.
Walls of Kind of Protection
Diancie @ Light Clay
Sassy
4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
-Light Screen
-Reflect
-Diamond Storm
-Moonblast
The poor players Espeon. Or really anything else that can set up Screens. Diamond Storm and Moonblast for STAB usage. Like I said, there are better Pokemon for this. Even in UU.
ResTalk
Diancie @ Leftovers
Brave
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Diamond Storm
-Moonblast / Gyro Ball
Like normal ResTalk sets this probably won't work out too well and Diancie would be gone in a turn or two. Don't even use this set.
Diancie @ Weakness Policy
Quiet/Naive
244 HP/44 Def/220 SpA (Trick Room)
160 Atk/160 SpA/184 Speed (Rock Polish)
~Diamond Storm
~Moonblast
~Hidden Power Ground/Hidden Power Fire
~Rock Polish/Trick Room
Well clearly for now Diancie will rot in lower tiers. It has one decent set and one half decent set. A strong lack of recovery options really hurt Diancie. Hopefully once the next game in Gen 6 comes out Diancie should get some decent moves like Recover. Otherwise there are better Pokemon to use than Diancie. Maybe if you're playing a UU match, but there's still better stuff than Diancie in UU.
Unfortunately Diancie is not a Jirachi or even a Manaphy. Not yet anyway. For now Diancie is going to be one of those Pokemon sitting around UU with Mew and Celebi. But why?
One glaring weakness? Diancie has a nasty 4x weakness to Steel. Other common weaknesses, being Water and Ground, give it a 2x weakness. Its 4th weakness, the less common Grass type. Diancie also has a fairly shallow movepool and stats similar to Carbink but not enough to even be considered above BL.
Diancie
Weakness: 2x - Water, Grass, Ground 4x - Steel
Stats: 50 HP / 100 Atk / 150 Def / 100 SpA / 150 SpD / 50 Spe
Notable moves: Diamond Storm, Moonblast, Gyro Ball, Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, Rest and Sleep Talk
Diamond Storm - Probably one of the best Rock type moves in the game. 100 Power with 95 Accuracy. Also has a 50% chance to raise Diancie's Defense. Raising Diancie's defense +1 every other turn could help with its weakness to Steel and Ground but its not trustworthy enough.
Moonblast - The best released Fairy type move in the game. 95 Power with 100 Accuracy. Also has a 30% chance to lower the opponents Special Attack by a stage. Side effect doesn't help much due to its main weaknesses coming from the physical side of the spectrum.
Gyro Ball - Due to Diancie's Base 50 Speed, this may be one of Diancie's best moves. Best used in combination with Trick Room and a 0 Speed IV. Gyro Ball has varying power and hits 100% of the time.
Light Screen and Reflect - Just going to cover this at the same time. Both barrier type moves will raise the parties Special Defense and Defense respectively by basically 1 stage for 5 turns, 8 if holding a Light Clay.
Trick Room - The one move that Diancie should run if going for maximum attacking potential. Reverses the effects of Speed for 5 turns. As mentioned with the Gyro Ball description above, Trick Room doesn't effect Gyro Ball, therefore Gyro Ball will have the same power with or without Trick Room.
Rest and Sleep Talk - More of a gimmicky set, but given Diancie's slim attacking movepool, the ResTalk set may be one of the more rare sets on Diancie.
Now onto the sets. Diancie really only has 3 sets that it would run, each with a different usage.
Tricky Storm of Balls
Diancie @ Leftovers
Sassy / Relaxed / Brave
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
0 Spd IVs
-Trick Room
-Diamond Storm
-Moonblast
-Gyro Ball
Trick Room is the center of this set. Due to Diancie having the lowest Speed investment, hitting a total of 49 Speed at level 50 and 94 Speed at level 100. Diamond Storm / Moonblast / Gyro Ball all hit extremely hard, but with Gyro Ball and Diamond Storm hitting the hardest due to the Attack investment. Unfortunately Diancie has nothing to combat its weaknesses to Steel. This set is best used in Doubles with a partner such as Reuniclus or Druddigon.
Walls of Kind of Protection
Diancie @ Light Clay
Sassy
4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
-Light Screen
-Reflect
-Diamond Storm
-Moonblast
The poor players Espeon. Or really anything else that can set up Screens. Diamond Storm and Moonblast for STAB usage. Like I said, there are better Pokemon for this. Even in UU.
ResTalk
Diancie @ Leftovers
Brave
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Diamond Storm
-Moonblast / Gyro Ball
Like normal ResTalk sets this probably won't work out too well and Diancie would be gone in a turn or two. Don't even use this set.
Diancie @ Weakness Policy
Quiet/Naive
244 HP/44 Def/220 SpA (Trick Room)
160 Atk/160 SpA/184 Speed (Rock Polish)
~Diamond Storm
~Moonblast
~Hidden Power Ground/Hidden Power Fire
~Rock Polish/Trick Room
Well clearly for now Diancie will rot in lower tiers. It has one decent set and one half decent set. A strong lack of recovery options really hurt Diancie. Hopefully once the next game in Gen 6 comes out Diancie should get some decent moves like Recover. Otherwise there are better Pokemon to use than Diancie. Maybe if you're playing a UU match, but there's still better stuff than Diancie in UU.
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