DONDOZO AND TATSUGIRI STRATEGY IN COMPETITIVE POKÉMON

Today we bring a very special guide, with a mechanic introduced in the ninth generation for Competitive Pokémon exclusively for VGC, since it is about two Pokémon that interact when they are together on the field. Dondozo and Tatsugiri , the hot new pairing that is making waves in the Doubles metagame , have a combo that can win games on its own. We also bring you their individual strategies for Singles players.

Once this couple is on the field, they become one, greatly empowering Dondozo, which becomes a Legendary Pokémon, with a good number of movements that make it very difficult to deal with, reaching the point that if there is no answer, it will be able to to destroy the rival.

? DONDOZO AND TATSUGIRI STATS

Dondozo has really high stats and a very efficient cast:

Health: 150.
Attack: 100.
Defense: 115.
Special Attack: 65.
Special Defense: 65.
Speed: 35.

His statistics add up to 530 points , good statistics, although an irregular distribution. Dondozo has a very good Health stat, at 150 base points he is able to absorb a lot of damage and his Defense of 115 is fantastic, but his Special Defense is very weak at 65. His Speed stays at 35, which makes him very good in Trick Room, but we won’t be using him that way, as his stats are very different when his best friend Tatsugiri is on the field. When both Pokémon join, Tatsugiri disappears from the field, being immune to everything and unable to use moves. Dondozo gains +2 to all of his stats except Health. He becomes quite the Raid Boss .

Although Tatsugiri’s role is to boost our Dondozo’s stats , he will also be out on the field without it sooner or later. These are his stats:

Health: 68.
Attack: 50.
Defense: 60.
Special Attack: 120.
Special Defense: 95.
Speed: 82.

Statistically, Tatsugiri is a Pokémon with good damage thanks to its Special Attack and relatively decent Speed, but defensively it is very weak. Be very careful that it is not weakened before its time.

TYPE, RESISTANCES AND WEAKNESSES

Dondozo is a unitary Water Type just like Palafin or Inteleon . Let’s see its resistances and weaknesses:

It is resistant to Water, Fire, Ice and Steel.
It is weak to Electric and Grass.

Defensively being a unitary Water type is very good, with only 2 weaknesses and 4 resistances. Also, the latter are very common types, especially after the changes to the Ice type.

Just two guys with very effective damage against our fish. Let’s look at some examples of dangerous Pokémon to watch out for:

Electric : Many Pokémon of this type are special attackers, our worst stat , so be very careful. Rotom Wash or Kilowattrel are very good opponents.
Plant : It is a very hard weakness, which will also affect our favorite teratype. Pokémon like Meowscarada and Rillaboom can do us a lot of damage.

Tatsugiri is a Water Dragon Type . Let’s see its resistances and weaknesses:

It is resistant to Water, Fire and Steel.
It is weak to Dragon and Fairy.

Only 3 resistances, although to very good types. Also in singles it will be an immunity with his ability and in Doubles he will not receive damage when he is with his soulmate.

Just two guys with very effective damage against our fish. Let’s look at some examples of dangerous Pokémon to watch out for:

Dragon : You must be careful with very fast Pokémon that can weaken us before enabling our combo, such as Dragapult or Dragonite .
Fairy : Be very careful with fairies, especially Pokémon like Tinkaton or Togekiss .

DONDOZO AND TATSUGIRI’S ABILITIES

Let’s start with Dondozo:

IGNORANT

This ability makes the Pokémon ignore changes in the opponent’s stats when dealing and receiving damage. That is to say, if the rival has his Defense or Special Defense increased we will hit him without taking this improvement into account and if he has the Attack or Special Attack increased we will also ignore that when receiving damage. It is a good ability that can help us against Pokémon that increase Defense a lot, such as Corviknight .

OVERSIGHT

The Pokémon is immune to Charm, Allure, Great Charm, Taunt, and Intimidate. Being immune to Taunt and Intimidate is tremendously useful. It is the best ability for Dondozo.

VEIL WATER

Prevents the Pokémon from being Burned. It’s a good ability, but we have an item that covers this for us and the Blunt ability is superior.

Tatsugiri for his part has these two abilities, although it is one that we will use.

COMMAND

This ability is unique to Tatsugiri. When the Pokémon is on the field with an ally Dondozo, it enters it and increases its stats by +2 levels . This is the ability we will use.

MANIFOLD

When a Pokémon with the Collector Ability is on the field, all single-target Water-type attacks used by opponents or partners are directed at the Pokémon possessing this Ability regardless of the selected target. The Pokémon being attacked is immune to Water damage and instead of the damage, it will increase its Special Attack by one level. This is your Singles ability.

IVS, EVS AND NATURE

For Dondozo the perfect Iv’s and with the Ev’s I recommend this calculation that I explain below:

EV’s : 68 Health, 252 Attack, 4 Defense, 132 Special Defense and 52 Speed.
Nature : We will carry Firm nature (+Attack, -Special Attack), we need all the damage possible when we are 2 v 1.

For Tatsugiri we will have the perfect IVs and in EVs we will boost that good Special Attack damage to the maximum:

EV’s : 4 Health, 252 Special Attack, 252 Speed.
Nature : We will carry Modest nature (+Special Attack, -Attack).

KITCHEN EAR: DONDOZO EXCLUSIVE MOVEMENT

Type: Dragon.
Physical.
Power: 80.
Precision: 100.
Effect: When Tatsugiri is inside Dondozo and he deals damage with Cooking Ear, an effect is produced depending on Tatsugiri’s form:
- If Tatsugiri is in his curved form (orange), his attack is increased by one level.
- If Tatsugiri is in his languid (pink) form, his defense is increased by one level.
- If Tatsugiri is in his straight form (yellow), his speed is increased by one level.

This move is fantastic and creates a snowball effect that will make Dondozo unstoppable.

BEST MOVES FOR DONDOZO AND TATSUGIRI

These are the best moves for Dondozo:

Ear Cooking : Great move that does very effective damage to Dragon Pokemon. It will be our best option against Pokemon like Garchomp or Dragapult .
Earthquake : Earth, 100 power and 100% accuracy. Hit both Pokémon in Doubles. It is very effective damage against Steel, Electric, Rock, Poison and Fire types. It’s an excellent coverage for Pokemon like Gholdengo , Armarouge , Tinkaton , Pawmot .
Water Bash : Water STAB, Physical, 120 power and 100% accuracy. Our Pokémon receives 1/3 of the damage produced. It will do very effective damage to Fire, Rock and Earth. It’s our best answer for Pokemon like Arcanine , Tyranitar , or Volcarona .
Avalanche : Rock, Physical, 75 power and 90% accuracy. Has a 30% chance to fear the target and hits both opponents in Doubles. Very effective damage against Bug, Fire, Ice and Flying. It is the coverage against Kilowattrel , Galar Darmanitar or Baxcalibur .
Substitute : Normal, Status, and 100% Accuracy. The Pokémon loses 25% of its maximum Health to create a substitute of the same type, ability and characteristics whose Health is that lost 25% that will receive the blows from our Pokémon. Fantastic move to defend ourselves in the 2 v 1.
Rest : Normal, Status, and 100% Accuracy. The Pokémon is put into an Asleep state and recovers its full health. Below I explain how to combar with this movement.

For Tatsugiri I recommend:

Muddy Water : Water STAB, Special, 90 power and 85% accuracy. Has a 30% chance to lower the opponent’s accuracy by one level.
Wind Ice : Ice, Special, 55 power and 95% accuracy. Hit both Pokémon in Doubles and lower the Speed of the opponents. It’s a great Speed control move, as well as great damage for Pokemon like Salamence .
Draco’s Comet : Dragon STAB, Special, 130 power and 90% accuracy. After hitting, our Pokémon reduces its Special Attack by 2 levels. It is a good coverage for Dragons.
Stamina : Normal, Status and 100% Accuracy (But can miss if used consecutively). Allows the Pokémon to resist with 1 Health when it is about to be knocked out. This movement will allow us to use the most broken combo of all.
Protection : Normal, Status and 100% Accuracy (But can fail if used consecutively). Prevents all damage or status moves to the Pokémon using it.

DONDOZO AND TATSUGIRI STRATEGIES

Here we leave you how to play these great Pokémon, both together and in Singles. Be attentive to the tricks that we leave you:

DONDOZO SWEEPER 2 V 1 – TERROR OF THE SEAS (VGC DOUBLES)

IVs: Perfect.
EVs: 68 Health, 252 Attack, 4 Defense, 132 Special Defense and 52 Speed.
Nature: Firm.
Object: Leftovers/Ziuela Berry.
Skill: Disappointment.
Movements:
- Ear Kitchen
- Earthquake.
- Aquatic Rush.
- Substitute/Rest/Protection.

With this set the objective is clear: place Dondozo and Tatsugiri on the field and destroy the rivals . By adding +2 to its stats it will not only become very resistant and with high Attack, it will also be a really fast Pokémon, so our objective will be to hit the most dangerous opponent for Dondozo as hard as possible (in the end you have ways to counteract Dondozo, so that you can identify their weaknesses). Earthquake is a great option, but remember that Cooking Ear will increase a stat when using it, for which we recommend using Tatsugiri with its curved form.

This set has a trick, thanks to the use of the Ziuela Berry. In addition to covering our Pokémon from being burned, if we use the Rest movement we will heal all our Health, entering the Asleep state and the berry will be consumed to remove this state, being able to continue hitting with our false dragon.

TATSUGIRI SUPPORT WITH TRICK – THE TRAP (VGC DOUBLES)

IVs: Perfect.
EVs: 252 in Special Attack, 4 in Health and 252 in Speed.
Nature: Modest.
Object: Toxisphere.
Skill: Command.
Movements:
- Muddy Water.
- Wind Ice.
- Draco comet.
- Stamina / Protection.

This set has a spectacular trick, capable of breaking a game. Either by holding a hit or using Hold, we will leave our Tatsugiri low on Health and Poisoned before placing Dondozo on the field, so that once he joins it and improves his stats he falls weakened, allowing us to place another Pokémon . And this in itself is already quite good, but we can also use Flamingo, who thanks to his Unison ability will copy the stat modifications of the Pokémon that is in the field with him, obtaining +2 to all his stats . Beastly right?

DONDOZO TANK WITH STAMINA – WALL FOR STALL (SINGLES)

IVs: Perfect.
EVs: 108 Health, 252 Attack, 68 Defense, 76 Special Defense, and 4 Speed.
Nature: Firm.
Object: Leftovers/Ziuela Berry.
Skill: Disappointment.
Movements:
- Substitute / Body Iron
- Earthquake.
- Aquatic Rush.
- Rest.

Dondozo’s offensive power drops in Singles, but that doesn’t stop him from being dangerous. With the Ziuela Berry we can avoid those annoying Wildfire, as well as enable the combo to use Dense without falling asleep .

We take Dismissal so they don’t throw Mofa at us, which would be a disaster.

TATSUGIRI SWEEPER (SINGLES)

IVs: Perfect.
EVs: 252 in Special Attack, 4 in Health and 252 in Speed.
Nature: Modest.
Object: Election Scarf.
Skill: Collector.
Movements:
- Muddy Water.
- Draco comet.
- Dragon pulse.
- Wind Ice.

This set can surprise more than one clueless player. With its Collector Ability, Tatsugiri is perfect for protecting our Fire-, Rock-, and Ground-type Pokémon from a Water-type attack. It will absorb the attack, taking no damage and increasing its Special Attack by one level. From here he will hit very hard and will be fast thanks to the Election Scarf.

The most important thing is to take into account in which movement we are going to lock ourselves , because Comet Draco will reduce our Special Attack each time we use it. Keep in mind which Pokémon the opponent has and don’t use a move that could make you useless against their team.

DONDOZO TERACRYSTALLIZATION

Teracrystallization Earth .

By teracrystallizing our Dondozo to Ground we will make it immune to one of its weak types, Electric, but most importantly we will boost the damage of our Earthquake, the best move to hit both opposing Pokémon in those 2 v 1s.

TATSUGIRI TERACRYSTALLIZATION

Teracrystallization Water .

The Water unit type is fantastic defensively and we will boost our damage a lot with Muddy Water. Few Pokémon will be able to hold out if we have the Special Attack increased with our ability.

HOW TO DEFEAT DONDOZO + TATSUGIRI AND COUNTERS

We are facing a Pokémon that is very difficult to eliminate and with options to cover itself. But let’s see some ways to kill it:

Fog / Clear Fog : These moves remove all stat mods from the target, removing the +2 that Tatsugiri provides and keeping it inside Dondozo, making it useless. It is the best way to neutralize Dondozo + Tatsugiri. We recommend using Amoonguss with Clear Fog.
Trick Room : Once Tatsugiri enters Dondozo it will be very fast, so setting up a good Trick Room will be very awkward for him. Hatterene is great at this, as well as being immune to his Cooking Ear attack.

DONDOZO AND TATSUGIRI STRATEGY IN COMPETITIVE POKÉMON

? DONDOZO AND TATSUGIRI STATS

TYPE, RESISTANCES AND WEAKNESSES