Donphan

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Base Stats: 90 HP / 120 Atk / 120 Def / 60 SpA / 60 SpD / 50 Spe

Abilities: Sturdy, Sand Veil (HA)

Notable Moves:
Stealth Rock
Rapid Spin
Earthquake
Ice Shard
Body Press
Knock Off
Play Rough
Gunk Shot
Encore(?)

Overview:
Donphan is a great lead pokemon with great physical bulk, access to Stealth Rock, and Rapid Spin, which are its highlighting characteristics. Donphan has good lead matchups against pokemon like Tinkaton, Noivern, and Toedscruel, which it can threaten with Earthquake and Ice Shard respectively. Access to Rapid Spin and a positive matchup against the tier's common ghost type in Gengar, makes it an effective hazard remover. The niche Gunk Shot allows it to hit pokemon like Hatterene, which could be lead to stop it from setting up Stealth Rock, while body press can punish Hydreigon, making use of its high defense stat. Donphan is also one of the few remaining pokemon with Knock Off, which is a constant pressure source for the opponent. This is also not mentioning its valuable role on the team as a pokemon with sturdy, being able to come in and revenge kill almost any setup sweeper in the game.

Potential Sets

Lead Donphan

Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Def / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake

This set is a lead with decent matchups all around, from HO to BO, Noivern and Tinkaton respectively. Rapid Spin allows Donphan to clear hazards and break sashes, while its own stealth rock is ready to be used at any moment, forcing a switch to a Defogger or Rapid Spinner on the opponent's team. And, If you are willing to use your tera, this set 2hkos Hatterene, one of the premier Magic Bounce pokemon in the tier. Donphan's high defenses and leftovers also let it retain its Sturdy when switching in on Stealth Rocks. Toedscruel is threatened by Ice Shard on this set, but can easily put Donphan to sleep for an easy setup. Often times though, the Toedscruel goes for Spikes turn 1, and Ice Shard is an easy 2hko on it.

Knock Off Phys Bulk Support

Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Body Press

This set can be a lead, but is most often used as a bulky support pokemon with access to knock off. With a lot of pokemon losing knock off, Donphan has a quite valuable niche created for itself, as it can remove items very effectively with its high bulk. Body Press also lets it make use of its insanely high defense stat, while tera fighting gives stab on it. Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin are necessities on almost every set, and once again, leftovers helps Donphan retain its sturdy while switching in on stealth rocks. Another pro of this set is that it has a better Brambleghast matchup compared to most other Donphan sets, which allows it to both threaten it and deny Spikes.

Pros:
Good matchup against Gengar
High physical bulk
Ice Shard provides great priority and coverage
Knock Off niche
Hits common frail and fast pokemon
Is able to revenge kill close to everything with Sturdy
Stealth Rock

Cons:
Can become setup fodder if used incorrectly
Weak to other priority

Final Thoughts:
There are a lot of different Donphan sets, but they all fill the role of Rapid Spin, set Stealth Rocks, and punish spin blockers like Gengar and Brambleghast.
 
Hot take but I don't like running Rocks on Donphan. I feel it cramps up its moveset and IMO you partially give up a reason to use it over other bulky Grounds like Hippowdon, and that is its surprisingly excellent coverage movepool and access to Knock Off. Running Rocks means compromising on one or the other which I'm not too big a fan of.

This is the set I prefer using:

Donphan @ Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Shard

I like pairing it with another Rocker like Tinkaton who helps against Ice and Grass types.
 
Donphan provides a of lot utility with being a Spinner, having Knock Off, priority and can be a emergency check with Sturdy. Compared to the other ground types though it's longevity is much lower and will not out last things like Gastrodon. It generally performs okay though and great for role compression. It also hits pretty hard and has good overall coverage.
 

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