Type: Rock/Fairy
Base Stats
HP: 50
Attack: 100
Defense: 150
Special Attack: 100
Special Defense: 150
Speed: 50
Abilities
Clear Body: Prevents the Pokémon’s stats from being lowered.
Diancie is an interesting Pokémon, to say the least. It looks like a cross between a geode and a gremlin to me, and its type combination, while not totally unique, is an interesting pair on a Pokémon with legendary stats. Looking at the obvious, it has twin base 150 defensive stats, fairly good Attack and Special Attack (both at 100), and really terrible Speed and HP, both clocking in at a mediocre 50. It has an equally interesting movepool with cool support moves such as Light Screen, Reflect, Stealth Rock and Trick Room. Additionally, while its attacking stats are decent at best and its Speed is Arceus-awful, it can remedy this with boosting moves such as Calm Mind and Rock Polish, respectively. On top of this, it has a signature move: Diamond Storm. It’s a physical Rock-type move with the same base power and PP as Stone Edge, except with better accuracy, which is a nice advantage. Its Ability, Clear Body, while not the best, is good as it eliminates the chance of moves like Shadow Ball lowering its stats.
All this in mind, it has several glaring flaws. Like Carbink, the Pokémon it apparently came from, it has beautiful defensive stats but a low HP stat, and therefore cannot take full advantage of it. Unlike Pokémon like Rotom-W or Cofagrius, it does not have access to Pain Split, where it could be potentially advantageous. Even worse, it has no form of reliable recovery outside of Rest, which is not ideal due to the sleep mechanics this generation. Its attacking stats, while good won't be doing a lot of damage outside of super-effective hits if they aren’t invested in or boosted. Conversely, its Defenses are awesome, but its typing leaves a lot to be desired, being hit super effectively by Water, Grass, Ground, and, most importantly, Steel, with a x4 weakness. All of these allow it be worn down quickly, and it’s just begging to be mauled by Scizor’s Bullet Punch.
All this in mind, I think there are many effective ways to play Diancie. And again, while this is based on information that’s been released, please remember: all of this is purely speculative. Here are various ways I think the Jewel Pokémon could be used:
Bejeweled (Support)
Diancie
Hold Item: Light Clay
Nature: Careful/Calm
EVs: 252 HP, 156 Special Defense, 100 Defense.
Stealth Rock
Reflect
Light Screen
Diamond Storm/Moonblast
Do note that the EV spread on this set is flexible as it's unclear what this Pokémon will be defending against exactly. One thing is for certain, though - it wants all of the HP it can get.
This is a pretty typical dual screens support set. Wielding the Light Clay, Diancie's beefy defenses allow it to set up both screens and clear the way for a sweeper to set up and clean up. For this same reason, it makes an effective Stealth Rock setter. Diamond Storm is a good STAB move that hits with a high power so that it is not total Taunt bait. While generally an inferior option, note that, should this coverage suit your team better, you can switch to a Calm Nature and run Moonblast.
This set works best when paired with two types of Pokémon. With no form of recovery, pairing it with Blissey for Wish support is useful. Additionally, the threat of a Moonblast should intimidate most Fighting types that come in on the Happiness Pokémon. Any set up sweeper will be able to reap the benefits of this set as well. With screens up, Mega Pinsir or Gyarados, Dragonite and, of course, our friends Houndoom and Absol, will all appreciate the Defense boosts when setting up and the Stealth Rock damage for netting those additional OHKOs. However, this is not the only way I suspect you can use Diancie:
The Diamond Drill
Diancie
Hold Item: Weakness Policy
Nature: Hasty
EVs: 252 Speed, 252 Special Attack, 4 Attack
Rock Polish
Diamond Storm
Moonblast
Hidden Power Fire/Ground
Good mixed attacking stats? Great defenses? Low Speed? Diancie just screams a Weakness Policy set. When you carry Diancie on your team, people will assume that you are running some variation on the support set and will attempt to strike you down with powerful moves quickly. However, even uninvested, they should prove strong enough to hold after a super effective hit. You use Rock Polish that turn to get a +2 to Speed and the Weakness Policy gives you +2 to both attacking stats. At this point, Diancie has everything it needs to become a deadly mixed attacker. Fairy and Rock provide great coverage alongside each other, hitting most of the tier for neutral. Hidden Power Fire/Ground is for hitting Steel types that resist the combo.
That being said, as usual, support is always appreciated. Depending on what Hidden Power type you chose, you will get walled to no end by either Heatran or Ferrothorn. As a result, a great partner is none other than our good friend DANGERZONE (Magnezone). Capable of trapping both of these Pokémon and OHKOing either with the HP move of choice, Magnezone can clear the way for a good sweep and thus makes a great partner for the Jewel. Even with Rock Polish and a positive nature, Diancie will still probably be outsped by a lot of threats, and might even benefit from Sticky Web support, if you can safely set it on the battlefield.
While I’d say generally the two sets have different counters, there is one type of Pokemon that will be dangerous to both sets- offensive steel types. Scizor, Magnezone, Mega Mawile, Lucario, and Aegislash all pose a serious threat to the Jewel Pokemon as they can bust their way through its defenses, invested or not. Scizor and Lucario in particular threaten the Weakness Policy set because they can bypass the Speed boost with Bullet Punch while the overwhelming power of Aegislash or Magnezone should be able to bust through more defensive sets. Overall, the best way to work around the support set is with Taunt and a reliable Defogger, although many Defoggers are threatened by Diamond Storm or Moonblast. Bulky Mega Scizor or Skarmory that carry Defog fill this role nicely as they both resist Moonblast and take neutral from Rock.
For the Weakness Policy set, while Diancie is a faster threat after Rock Polish, its naturally low base Speed leaves it open to be revenge killed by fast Choice Scarf users. Scarf Garchomp can hit it with a super-effective Earthquake, as can Terrakion; Keldeo can use Scald, Surf or Hydro Pump. The list goes on. And of course, many defensive Pokemon can stomach a hit and cripple it in return - namely the aforementioned Skarmory, Ferrothorn and Heatran.
These are two sets that I think will work best on Diancie, but of course, this is just my speculation. Also, in the most recent update about Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, we learned that Diancie is getting a Mega evolution, which could change everything. But until we know something like an Ability, that’s up in the air. Of course, once that information is released, I’ll post an updated analysis. Let me know in the comments or on our forums what you think Diancie will be good at.
Signing off for now,
Alltheginjoints
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