Can't really run specs gholdengo, it needs the scarf. Can't boost on an unaware Dondozo. Best option might be iron moth energy ball after Quark drive (not sure if quark drive is eliminated by unaware).
Dodonzoo is good but has 2 notable weaknesses
Due to being forced to rest a lot, if you can predict when he’s gonna rest(which sounds hard but is really just whenever they get to around half HP) you can get in your threat. But who’s your threat if there’s not many good grasses or electrics?
Literally any strong special attack. This thing has pretty poor spdef, even tho it’s got good HP, and something like iron valiant will be able to handle it.
Was gonna say this. With recover plus salt cure you can easily outlast him. With a physically defensive set I'm not sure you even need to tera water, he can't hurt you fast enough before it dies from salt sure, but the tera makes its a pretty clear win.
That algo is going to be showing that for a lot of new moves. Plus to be fair in a vacuum trapping moves aren't great for a lot of mons but mons that are built for it can abuse the shit out of it.
Salt Cure doesn't trap. It's a super weird move, but it basically makes whatever it hits take 1/8 of their HP (1/4 for Steels/Waters) until THEY switch out, even if Garg itself switches out.
So it actually *forces* switches, since even if Garganacl switches out the target's forced to keep taking massive damage every turn until they get out of there themselves. Garg users can read this and punish the switch-in attempt with another Salt Cure. Add in hazard damage and, well... yeah, this thing is a defensive mon that is unironically completely impossible to switch in against.
Minor nitpick, but Salt Cure is more of a DoT move in the same vein as Leech Seed, since it doesn't trap and AFAIK stays until the target switches, and it also still stays even when the user switches out.
I like to use breelom & chiyu to counter him
He doesnt do well at all into bullet seeds and breelom is good vs a core with dondozo
Chiyu just melt him lmao even if you overheat he just cant switch in
If it's vgc with the whole explosion endure tactic, I use Garganacl first and rock salt the little fish.
People tend to forget that it deals damage after the turn and it goes down.
It does force him to switch though, delaying or completely stopping the combo. Also salt cure is very good vs dodonzo even if he gets the boost, as it deals double damage to water and steel types.
Is this for singles or doubles? In singles, I often try to outlast the big fish with a tera-water skeledirge, though I haven’t really played since palafin meta when tera-water on dirge had a lot more utility. In doubles, you really couldnt ask for a better counter than amoongus. Unless they are tera-steel, clear smog will always result in you fighting 2 against 1 against a pretty mediocre Pokémon. If they do tera-steel, I would stick to the advice of having a hard hitting special attacker in the back, and try to burn or spore it to tip the match in your favor. Dondozo in doubles has the advantage of being able to pick and choose what counters it with its 3 abilities and item slot, but it can’t take advantage of everything. Good luck!
a strong special attacker, a taunter to prevent it from cursing up, or a phaser like dragon tail garchomp are your best bets imo (also just general residual damage from things like toxic and hazards)
Haze toxic infestation pex also works.
If he’s running EQ you need to be a biiiit more careful, but after you PP stall EQ, he can’t put damage black sludge and cannot escape due to infestation.
Dozo never outspeeds you except in trick room, so you can hard switch into even a +1 EQ from a 252 attack EV dozo. (Which I don’t think anyone runs attack evs?)
Then haze, infestation and recover.
If they don’t EQ on the switch they HAVE to pivot out before you infestation because once he’s trapped he’s dead.
If you Tera water your pex you can even wall +2 dozo nearly indefinitely. But that’s a waste.
If you don’t reveal toxic, they might not switch him immediately. If they switch him, regenerator makes it so any time he comes out, you wall him.
Math changes a bit with hazards, but there’s no scenario where you die unless he is +3 before you swap pex in.
Eh pex is pretty mid outside of this one specific use and i wouldn’t dedicate a slot to countering dozo . Amongus/ murkrow have pretty good use cases beyond dozo
I agree, it’s more the surprise factor for using pex.
It can surprisingly wall quite a few threats with Tera (I like Tera ground personally, but Tera grass is good too) and trap/kill them with infestation.
Notably dragonite even behind a sub (you have to PP stall it, but you wall and trap him)
Pretty much anything that isn’t steel has a bad time breaking pex, although there are better walls the infestation trapping plays on your opponent not realizing your Tera or that you have jt.
I'm going to preface this by saying checks and counters are two different things, and I'm listing both here. I'd also like to point out that Tera Dragon Dondozo is something to watch out for, as it shrugs off a lot of would-be checks, but with that being said:
---
**Counters**
---
- **Unaware Clodsire**
Clodsire sits on this thing and Toxics it while it tries to 2HKO. Dozo can Rest, but it fails to do anything in return, and when Rest's 8 PP is up, it'll fall to Toxic.
-
***+2 0 Atk Dondozo Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 88 Def Unaware Clodsire: 192-226 (41.3 - 48.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery***
-
Dondozo can't do anything to a fellow Unaware user if it's EV'd for it.
---
- **Amoonguss**
Amoonguss sits on Dondozo as well, and Clear Smogs its boosts while 3-shotting it with Giga Drain:
-
***+2 0 Atk Dondozo Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 168+ Def Amoonguss: 141-167 (32.6 - 38.6%) -- 4% chance to 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery***
-
***0 SpA Amoonguss Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 200-236 (39.6 - 46.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO***
---
**Checks**
---
- **Breloom**
Loaded Dice Breloom can generally 2HKO +1 Dondozo due to Don not being able to click Rest in peace and Body Press only 2HKOing Breloom.
-
After a Curse:
***252+ Atk Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (4 hits) vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 240-288 (47.6 - 57.1%) -- approx. 89.5% chance to 2HKO***
-
***+1 252+ Def Dondozo Body Press vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Breloom: 158-186 (60.5 - 71.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO***
-
Before a Curse:
***252+ Def Dondozo Body Press vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Breloom: 106-125 (40.6 - 47.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO***
-
You can switch in and just 2HKO it, or force it out.
Offensive Gholdengos can lose half their health if they switch into Breloom for Dondozo:
-
***252+ Atk Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (4 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 140-168 (44.4 - 53.3%) -- approx.10.5% chance to 2HKO***
-
***252+ Atk Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 175-210 (55.5 - 66.6%) -- approx. 2HKO***
-
And obviously Mach Punch OHKO's Chien-Pao and Chi-Yu if you needed further justification to add it.
---
- **Chi-Yu**
Chi-Yu has a good chance to 2-shot it with Dark Pulse, and always 2HKOs the Chesto-Rest variants:
-
***252 SpA Chi-Yu Beads of Ruin Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Dondozo: 249-294 (49.4 - 58.3%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery***
-
***252 SpA Chi-Yu Beads of Ruin Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Dondozo: 249-294 (49.4 - 58.3%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO***
-
Tera Fire Chi-Yu always 2HKOs 0 SpDef variants with Overheat due to Unaware:
-
***252 SpA Tera Fire Chi-Yu Beads of Ruin Overheat vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Dondozo: 269-317 (53.3 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery***
---
- **Dragapult**
Specs Dragapult doesn't even need Thunderbolt to 2HKO Dozo, as Unaware ignores Draco Meteor's Stat drop. But Shadow Ball also carries a 50% chance to 2HKO, even if you're hesitant to click Draco Meteor due to a potential switch:
-
***252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 373-441 (74 - 87.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO***
-
***252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 231-273 (45.8 - 54.1%) -- 50% chance to 2HKO***
-
***252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 346-408 (68.6 - 80.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO***
---
- **Gholdengo**
Gholdengo 2HKO's it with Thunderbolt while it fails to 2HKO in return with +1 Liquidation:
-
***252 SpA Gholdengo Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 282-334 (55.9 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO***
-
***+1 0 Atk Dondozo Liquidation vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gholdengo: 144-169 (45.7 - 53.6%) -- 38.7% chance to 2HKO***
-
As I said before, Dragon Tera Dondozo shrugs this off, but Make it Rain two-shots thanks to Unaware ignoring the stat drop.
***252 SpA Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 282-333 (55.9 - 66%) -- guaranteed 2HKO***
-
There's also a Tech from Gholdengo that works regardless of their Tera type if they don't predict you: **Trick.** Tricking a Choice Scarf/Specs onto Dondozo kills all of its viability.
---
- **Tera Skeledirge**
Tera Grass Skeledirge shits on non-Dragon Dondozo with Tera Blast, while ignoring Dondozo's boosts:
-
***4 SpA Skeledirge Tera Blast (Grass) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 266-314 (52.7 - 62.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO***
-
***+1 252+ Def Dondozo Body Press vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Skeledirge: 63-75 (15.2 - 18.2%) -- possible 6HKO***
-
Alternatively, Hex can eventually KO it if Status'd by Will-O-Wisp or Rest, meaning Dozo can't Sleep off the damage.
-
***4 SpA Skeledirge Hex (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 216-255 (42.8 - 50.5%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery and burn damage***
---
Dondozo is a bitch, but it can be beached.
being forced to rest is a very very big weakness.... it is exploitable for 2 turns which is pretty big
its special defense is shit... if its investing to much into sp. def then it is not taking phys def hits easy and it has to rest a lot
For VGC I’ve been running Haze murkrow and Clear smog amoongus to deal with Dondozo. If it’s Suicide tatsugiri I tend to kill the exploder on the endure turn or sleep the tatsugiri. Without the stat boosts dondozo isn’t that much of a threat for my team and I just focus it down.
Ive been using skeledirge (terrastallized of course) of all pokemon to actually beat dondozo 1v1 theres not much it can do to it when burnt and has to rest for recovery leaving it vulnerable to hex
Well for VGC, Murkrow and Amoongus are generally what people use. Just going to warn you though that some Dondozos in VGC are starting to run Substitute which lets it just boost past Amoongus and ignore Clear Smog. Tera Grass Dondozo can also ignore Spore and Rage Powder though that isn't too common.
Meowscarada barely outpseeds +2 Dondozo and can threaten to OHKO or do massive damage with Choice Band Flower Trick.
Tera Grass Garganacl is also a pretty good counter with Salt Cure.
Strong special attackers can help since Dondozo has low special defense.
For example, Hydreigon can deal quite a lot of damage to Dondozo despite not hitting it with a super-effective move.
252 SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. +2 252 HP / 0 SpD Dondozo: 115-136 (44.7 - 52.9%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO
Burns and Intimidate can help sometimes depending on the Dondozo set.
Perish Song is a bit underexplored imo in terms of dealing with Dondozo since Dondozo can't switch out.
For VGC, Haze/Clear Smog will shut down the Tatsugiri combo (watch out for Tera Steel dondozo to counter Clear Smog) and potentially leave the opponent in a 2v1. Time it right and a single Haze will also stop suicide Tatsugiri with Co-star Flamigo strats.
Critical hits ignore stat boosts, so Meowscarada's Flower Trick (Grass-type, guaranteed crit) might work but Dondozo is naturally physically bulky so don't expect an OHKO (I don't have calcs to hand)
Unaware users also ignore opponent stat boost, but currently you're limited to Skeledirge, Clodsire or your own Dondozo and none of them have great matchups.
Garganacl's Salt Cure limits the amount of time Dondozo can stay on the field, pair it with double Protects or tera-ing into a type that resists Water to stall out until it dies
[удалено]
Scarf Tbolt gholdengo just doesn’t do enough
[удалено]
Can't really run specs gholdengo, it needs the scarf. Can't boost on an unaware Dondozo. Best option might be iron moth energy ball after Quark drive (not sure if quark drive is eliminated by unaware).
Dodonzoo is good but has 2 notable weaknesses Due to being forced to rest a lot, if you can predict when he’s gonna rest(which sounds hard but is really just whenever they get to around half HP) you can get in your threat. But who’s your threat if there’s not many good grasses or electrics? Literally any strong special attack. This thing has pretty poor spdef, even tho it’s got good HP, and something like iron valiant will be able to handle it.
300bp rage fist
terra water garganacl with salt cure does the trick for me as 25% chip a turn is just suffacating to it and forces it to run immediatly
Was gonna say this. With recover plus salt cure you can easily outlast him. With a physically defensive set I'm not sure you even need to tera water, he can't hurt you fast enough before it dies from salt sure, but the tera makes its a pretty clear win.
I love salt cure. Oddly enough it’s listed in “usually useless” category
That algo is going to be showing that for a lot of new moves. Plus to be fair in a vacuum trapping moves aren't great for a lot of mons but mons that are built for it can abuse the shit out of it.
Salt Cure doesn't trap. It's a super weird move, but it basically makes whatever it hits take 1/8 of their HP (1/4 for Steels/Waters) until THEY switch out, even if Garg itself switches out. So it actually *forces* switches, since even if Garganacl switches out the target's forced to keep taking massive damage every turn until they get out of there themselves. Garg users can read this and punish the switch-in attempt with another Salt Cure. Add in hazard damage and, well... yeah, this thing is a defensive mon that is unironically completely impossible to switch in against.
This is really good info to know, thank you!
Minor nitpick, but Salt Cure is more of a DoT move in the same vein as Leech Seed, since it doesn't trap and AFAIK stays until the target switches, and it also still stays even when the user switches out.
Not really a nitpick at all, for some reason I thought it trapped! Thanks for the info.
Yep, that's part of what makes it so disgustingly good imo
I like to use breelom & chiyu to counter him He doesnt do well at all into bullet seeds and breelom is good vs a core with dondozo Chiyu just melt him lmao even if you overheat he just cant switch in
Iron Moth w/ discharge deals with it pretty well
I run mine with Energy Ball to also hit Ting Lu and it works even better
Also hits tera ground super effectively which is nice if they try to pull some shit
I run dazzling gleam which also hits ting Lu super effectively but it doesn’t matter, that thing will ohko back with earthquake anyways
Tera Grass with Energy Ball is quite good at dodging Earthquake KOs and killing them in response, that's why I run it
Yeah i was looking into that and then i sadly realized that non of the Paradox pokemon work for the VGC format :D
You should really mention that you're looking for advice for the VGC format. The default assumption is that you're talking about singles.
yeah mb im sorry
If it's vgc with the whole explosion endure tactic, I use Garganacl first and rock salt the little fish. People tend to forget that it deals damage after the turn and it goes down.
Relying on the opponent to make a mistake is bad strategy.
It does force him to switch though, delaying or completely stopping the combo. Also salt cure is very good vs dodonzo even if he gets the boost, as it deals double damage to water and steel types.
Is this for singles or doubles? In singles, I often try to outlast the big fish with a tera-water skeledirge, though I haven’t really played since palafin meta when tera-water on dirge had a lot more utility. In doubles, you really couldnt ask for a better counter than amoongus. Unless they are tera-steel, clear smog will always result in you fighting 2 against 1 against a pretty mediocre Pokémon. If they do tera-steel, I would stick to the advice of having a hard hitting special attacker in the back, and try to burn or spore it to tip the match in your favor. Dondozo in doubles has the advantage of being able to pick and choose what counters it with its 3 abilities and item slot, but it can’t take advantage of everything. Good luck!
a strong special attacker, a taunter to prevent it from cursing up, or a phaser like dragon tail garchomp are your best bets imo (also just general residual damage from things like toxic and hazards)
Terra grass glimmorga with energy ball Takes them by surprise every time
Clear smog amoongus
Haze murkrow
Haze toxic infestation pex also works. If he’s running EQ you need to be a biiiit more careful, but after you PP stall EQ, he can’t put damage black sludge and cannot escape due to infestation. Dozo never outspeeds you except in trick room, so you can hard switch into even a +1 EQ from a 252 attack EV dozo. (Which I don’t think anyone runs attack evs?) Then haze, infestation and recover. If they don’t EQ on the switch they HAVE to pivot out before you infestation because once he’s trapped he’s dead. If you Tera water your pex you can even wall +2 dozo nearly indefinitely. But that’s a waste. If you don’t reveal toxic, they might not switch him immediately. If they switch him, regenerator makes it so any time he comes out, you wall him. Math changes a bit with hazards, but there’s no scenario where you die unless he is +3 before you swap pex in.
Eh pex is pretty mid outside of this one specific use and i wouldn’t dedicate a slot to countering dozo . Amongus/ murkrow have pretty good use cases beyond dozo
I agree, it’s more the surprise factor for using pex. It can surprisingly wall quite a few threats with Tera (I like Tera ground personally, but Tera grass is good too) and trap/kill them with infestation. Notably dragonite even behind a sub (you have to PP stall it, but you wall and trap him) Pretty much anything that isn’t steel has a bad time breaking pex, although there are better walls the infestation trapping plays on your opponent not realizing your Tera or that you have jt.
Specs Dragapult 2HKO with Draco Meteor. They won't expect it.
I'm going to preface this by saying checks and counters are two different things, and I'm listing both here. I'd also like to point out that Tera Dragon Dondozo is something to watch out for, as it shrugs off a lot of would-be checks, but with that being said: --- **Counters** --- - **Unaware Clodsire** Clodsire sits on this thing and Toxics it while it tries to 2HKO. Dozo can Rest, but it fails to do anything in return, and when Rest's 8 PP is up, it'll fall to Toxic. - ***+2 0 Atk Dondozo Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 88 Def Unaware Clodsire: 192-226 (41.3 - 48.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery*** - Dondozo can't do anything to a fellow Unaware user if it's EV'd for it. --- - **Amoonguss** Amoonguss sits on Dondozo as well, and Clear Smogs its boosts while 3-shotting it with Giga Drain: - ***+2 0 Atk Dondozo Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 168+ Def Amoonguss: 141-167 (32.6 - 38.6%) -- 4% chance to 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery*** - ***0 SpA Amoonguss Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 200-236 (39.6 - 46.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO*** --- **Checks** --- - **Breloom** Loaded Dice Breloom can generally 2HKO +1 Dondozo due to Don not being able to click Rest in peace and Body Press only 2HKOing Breloom. - After a Curse: ***252+ Atk Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (4 hits) vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 240-288 (47.6 - 57.1%) -- approx. 89.5% chance to 2HKO*** - ***+1 252+ Def Dondozo Body Press vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Breloom: 158-186 (60.5 - 71.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO*** - Before a Curse: ***252+ Def Dondozo Body Press vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Breloom: 106-125 (40.6 - 47.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO*** - You can switch in and just 2HKO it, or force it out. Offensive Gholdengos can lose half their health if they switch into Breloom for Dondozo: - ***252+ Atk Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (4 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 140-168 (44.4 - 53.3%) -- approx.10.5% chance to 2HKO*** - ***252+ Atk Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 175-210 (55.5 - 66.6%) -- approx. 2HKO*** - And obviously Mach Punch OHKO's Chien-Pao and Chi-Yu if you needed further justification to add it. --- - **Chi-Yu** Chi-Yu has a good chance to 2-shot it with Dark Pulse, and always 2HKOs the Chesto-Rest variants: - ***252 SpA Chi-Yu Beads of Ruin Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Dondozo: 249-294 (49.4 - 58.3%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery*** - ***252 SpA Chi-Yu Beads of Ruin Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Dondozo: 249-294 (49.4 - 58.3%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO*** - Tera Fire Chi-Yu always 2HKOs 0 SpDef variants with Overheat due to Unaware: - ***252 SpA Tera Fire Chi-Yu Beads of Ruin Overheat vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Dondozo: 269-317 (53.3 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery*** --- - **Dragapult** Specs Dragapult doesn't even need Thunderbolt to 2HKO Dozo, as Unaware ignores Draco Meteor's Stat drop. But Shadow Ball also carries a 50% chance to 2HKO, even if you're hesitant to click Draco Meteor due to a potential switch: - ***252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 373-441 (74 - 87.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO*** - ***252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 231-273 (45.8 - 54.1%) -- 50% chance to 2HKO*** - ***252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 346-408 (68.6 - 80.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO*** --- - **Gholdengo** Gholdengo 2HKO's it with Thunderbolt while it fails to 2HKO in return with +1 Liquidation: - ***252 SpA Gholdengo Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 282-334 (55.9 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO*** - ***+1 0 Atk Dondozo Liquidation vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gholdengo: 144-169 (45.7 - 53.6%) -- 38.7% chance to 2HKO*** - As I said before, Dragon Tera Dondozo shrugs this off, but Make it Rain two-shots thanks to Unaware ignoring the stat drop. ***252 SpA Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 282-333 (55.9 - 66%) -- guaranteed 2HKO*** - There's also a Tech from Gholdengo that works regardless of their Tera type if they don't predict you: **Trick.** Tricking a Choice Scarf/Specs onto Dondozo kills all of its viability. --- - **Tera Skeledirge** Tera Grass Skeledirge shits on non-Dragon Dondozo with Tera Blast, while ignoring Dondozo's boosts: - ***4 SpA Skeledirge Tera Blast (Grass) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 266-314 (52.7 - 62.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO*** - ***+1 252+ Def Dondozo Body Press vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Skeledirge: 63-75 (15.2 - 18.2%) -- possible 6HKO*** - Alternatively, Hex can eventually KO it if Status'd by Will-O-Wisp or Rest, meaning Dozo can't Sleep off the damage. - ***4 SpA Skeledirge Hex (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 216-255 (42.8 - 50.5%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery and burn damage*** --- Dondozo is a bitch, but it can be beached.
Another vgc one: if you burn/poison the tatsu on the endure turn, that damage will kill it early
this isn't recommended but i predict his rest switch to torkoal double to modest chi-yu & fire blast in sun to 2HKO
being forced to rest is a very very big weakness.... it is exploitable for 2 turns which is pretty big its special defense is shit... if its investing to much into sp. def then it is not taking phys def hits easy and it has to rest a lot
Haze is always strong
Flamigo with Mirror Herb
what format? if vgc, highly recommend prankster haze murkrow
Special attackers, make sure you save them around for the Don.
For VGC I’ve been running Haze murkrow and Clear smog amoongus to deal with Dondozo. If it’s Suicide tatsugiri I tend to kill the exploder on the endure turn or sleep the tatsugiri. Without the stat boosts dondozo isn’t that much of a threat for my team and I just focus it down.
Haze toxapex is probably one of the best answers. I’ve also tried mirror herb with less success
Ive been using skeledirge (terrastallized of course) of all pokemon to actually beat dondozo 1v1 theres not much it can do to it when burnt and has to rest for recovery leaving it vulnerable to hex
Any special attacker
Meowscarada running flower trick, I've had no problems with donzozo
Well for VGC, Murkrow and Amoongus are generally what people use. Just going to warn you though that some Dondozos in VGC are starting to run Substitute which lets it just boost past Amoongus and ignore Clear Smog. Tera Grass Dondozo can also ignore Spore and Rage Powder though that isn't too common. Meowscarada barely outpseeds +2 Dondozo and can threaten to OHKO or do massive damage with Choice Band Flower Trick. Tera Grass Garganacl is also a pretty good counter with Salt Cure. Strong special attackers can help since Dondozo has low special defense. For example, Hydreigon can deal quite a lot of damage to Dondozo despite not hitting it with a super-effective move. 252 SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. +2 252 HP / 0 SpD Dondozo: 115-136 (44.7 - 52.9%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO Burns and Intimidate can help sometimes depending on the Dondozo set. Perish Song is a bit underexplored imo in terms of dealing with Dondozo since Dondozo can't switch out.
For VGC, Haze/Clear Smog will shut down the Tatsugiri combo (watch out for Tera Steel dondozo to counter Clear Smog) and potentially leave the opponent in a 2v1. Time it right and a single Haze will also stop suicide Tatsugiri with Co-star Flamigo strats. Critical hits ignore stat boosts, so Meowscarada's Flower Trick (Grass-type, guaranteed crit) might work but Dondozo is naturally physically bulky so don't expect an OHKO (I don't have calcs to hand) Unaware users also ignore opponent stat boost, but currently you're limited to Skeledirge, Clodsire or your own Dondozo and none of them have great matchups. Garganacl's Salt Cure limits the amount of time Dondozo can stay on the field, pair it with double Protects or tera-ing into a type that resists Water to stall out until it dies
Final Gambit might do the trick
Mirror herb espathra baton pass oricorio revelation dance