Dondozo: Game Freak’s Biggest Mistake

[@adnagapot]

Annoyingly the best anti dondozo counter is unaware dondozo because it ignores the enemy stat buffs

[@williamdrum9899]

X being weak to itself is bad game design

[@-_-thisnameiscreativeasfuc4734]

Weezing

[@adnagapot]

@@-_-thisnameiscreativeasfuc4734 wheezing isn't in the regional dex

[@adnagapot]

@@williamdrum9899 true

[@Andrew-ch3xj]

​@@williamdrum9899 Dragon and ghost types:

[@RebL3333]

6:49 “By clearing Swords Dance” Proceeds to show a Pokémon that is immune to Clear Smog

[@PlatypusShitposter]

how? Poison is super effective against fairy

[@RebL3333]

@@PlatypusShitposter Kingambit..?

[@Mikman360]

Not if they Tera!

[@PlatypusShitposter]

@@RebL3333 a joke from r/stunfisk

[@daofficerofthenoodles7504]

@@RebL3333yee I think cause it steel

[@RocketPropelledMexican]

I think the correct terminology you're looking for to describe this is "format warping". Dozo-tatsu is a format warper to a degree. Though I would say that Urshifu is more format warping given how it straight up denies a core mechanic.

[@TheNewRobotMaster]

Agree, Urshifu is a bigger mistake

[@garchompelago]

Remember when Prankster Tailwind Murkrow was viable in VGC competitive? Not only it was a viable priority tailwind setter, it was an effective counter against Dozo as it can priority haze the omniboost away. . This is what happens when you dont put all Pokemon in a games. Funky things happen.

[@Connowot387]

I was thinking Murkrow would be a niche pick before SV came out. When it became #1, I was really proud of the Krow. Now, Murkrow has a “Have you used me?” poster.

[@CaptainObliviousV]

Considering Murkrow was viable during a time before Home compatibility even came out, I don’t think the “Bring back National Dex” sounding bit at the end was necessary.

[@XenithShadow]

All pokemon haventbeen in games for 20 years with the relase of saphire and ruby. Regional dex format are always going to be unique.

[@snakecake-mw7vw]

@@Connowot387 . Yes, but here's the deal. There was an awesome counter to Dondozo that was present in most of Water type Pokémon, but it got nerfed and is only present in a few of them. It would be wonderful that Gamefreak and The Pokémon Company didn't treat Pokémon worse than the way that Konami treats Yu-Gi-Oh!

[@Bladius_]

Nah, restricted dexs are fun. They just need to be a little conscious of what they put in each time they expand it. If they would actually start the power level lower and add mons that are good during low power Formats, then slowly expand the scope it would be amazing. An example is my farourite pokémon Scrafty. He was good in early gen5 vgc then fell off, so he's very viable in low power Formats. Issue is when they've finally put him in SV, it's a format with very high power and tons of competition for his role. Tons of mons that could've had a moment to shine, just get added way too late, instead of using the restricted Dex as an opportunity to give less seen mons a chance to shine.

[@nekomarulupin]

I'm sorry, but you can't make me feel sorry for Amoongus and Chin Pao.

[@Milesprowerthegamer]

Y'know, the way this was described, it makes me realise Dondozo (at least in low power formats) is to doubles what baton pass is to singles. In singles, baton pass teams basically play the game in a drastically different, "unfair" way compared to every other team style and generally the only way to beat it is to run suboptimal hyper-specific counter moves. As a result, baton pass is banned or restricted in almost every smogon singles format because it's unhealthy for the meta with how it restricts teambuilding.

[@Ben-zg8xk]

So when bad players can’t counter something smogon bans it? 😂😂😂😂

[@Milesprowerthegamer]

@@Ben-zg8xk what the hell kind of take is that? Are you trolling, or do you not understand competitive at all? Building your team to have enough counters to baton pass to beat baton pass basically makes your team worse against every other team style. Meanwhile the baton pass team itself pretty much either wins for free or immediately crumples depending on whether the opponent has built to counter it or not. Baton pass teams take minimal skill to play, and minimal skill to counter, but countering them makes your team worse against every non-baton pass team.

[@KrizzlerYT]

I don't know about the biggest mistake part because Flutter Mane exists. I actually think its synergy with Tatsugiri is a great addition to the game. Imagine if they introduce the shell that bites slowbro and they gave it and slowbro a similar gimmick

[@incandescence5547]

Flutter Mane is a very strong Pokemon, but it's just an ordinary Pokemon like any other. It's very flexible and can be countered by playing normally, so it's rare to see top players complain about it. I would argue that a potentially bigger mistake is Urshifu, because it completely invalidates any attempts to play defensively or take time to manage your positioning; you need to meet it head-on with brute force immediately, or you just lose

[@lief5957]

@@incandescence5547 Flutter Mane has no reason to have such raw strength. It completely outclasses its Paradox piers to that extent. The fact it's flexible makes it even worse, because now its not just one set that you can work around but a mystery bag of unfun

[@carlosantoniohernandezorti2500]

​@@lief5957 dominating pokemon arent synonym of bad metagames. You can counter mane with other pokemon or even a mane of your own built for that and you'll still have useful pokemon when you arent facing the oposing mane

[@incandescence5547]

@@lief5957 But against Flutter Mane, you can play the game normally. You don't need hyper-specific counters, and it doesn't singlehandedly invalidate any playstyles. Is it stronger than it should be? Yeah, absolutely. If it comes back next gen, I hope it gets a nerf (though knowing GF they'd probably over-nerf it). But it doesn't suck the fun out of the game like Urshifu does

[@aaronreich7]

The shell is already in the game. It's a shellder

[@lischus_]

When I first saw what Dondozo + Tatsugiri does I said "Yep, that's probably something that's gonna get nerfed to +1's across the board next gen"

[@Drixenol86]

You mean the giant catfish that looks like a sushi chef?

[@RandomVideos-se4wx]

Dondozo is the Wailord we wanted.

[@RSanchez111]

Strictly speaking Dondozo and Tatsugiri are not the first pokemon to do this... GF explored team pokemon way back with Plusle and Minun when they first introduced double battles. They just never made team pokemon this good.

[@user-on9rs3yx3s]

i love this style of in-depth Pokemon analysis where you go beyond simply looking at the surface level info from a Pokemon's Teambuilder page. Looking at the stats and moves etc.. is one thing, but how these things all fit in together along with the current metagame is where the interesting key points are made. Your great editing skills (both visually and script-wise) keep the pacing well, whilst not being boring. Keep up the great videos mate :)

[@nickd6303]

I think peachrunt originally worked like tatsugiri for the loyal three, but they changed it at a later point.

[@greenhat8978]

Can you imagine how much of a nightmare it would be in triple battles? With 2 Tatsugiri?

[@NotBamOrBing]

Hell yes i want more of these, i love these sorts of videos as someone who is never going to get into competitive pokemon (chess is my poison when it comes to competitive strategy) but still loves learning about the scene from outside

[@chapus4641]

And that's why I'm so disappointed for them not adding the Tapu's: Fini Haze would have been the best Dozo counter (not counting for Geomancy Xerneas in the uber meta that will eventually come). And Koko would have probably brought more variety within the future paradox meta that is lacking in usage

[@Hawlucha77]

To be fair, Tera is also a huge reason Dondozo is so powerful. But yeah, I always hated how Dondozo forced you to waste a move or even team slot to beat it. I'm feelin that way too with Chien Pao Extreme Speed spam but that may just be skill issue

[@Oreca2005]

Glad iron crown is a thing now Now you can keep the same idea of offensive tail wind

[@fractalisomega9517]

Easiest thing is to nerf the ability Going from a +2 in all stats to just +1 would neuter the strategy and adding a clause that causes it to lose the boost if Tatsugiri faints would mean that sets relying on a Tatsu sacrifice (by Toxic or or Perish Song) after getting the boost would be gone

[@DjPrimeVideos]

There's a lot of pokemon in gen 9 that could be considered mistakes. Kingambit for one...

[@Yomi2012]

i agree and the special Olympics mascot as well

[@yosh9192]

“What could be worse than a pokemon with immunity to status moves?” “Oh, I know! TWO POKEMON WITH IMMUNITY TO STATUS MOVES!”

[@poly_g6068]

For a Pokemon to be able to take only 25 neutral damage from Urshifu close combat is not okay, lol.

[@Rin_husband]

Instead of a Abillity could been a move just for tatsugiri and just +1 boost since "+2" is too much, even the infamous Ultra Necrozma has 1+ boost in all stats. What were they thinking

[@SinYue]

they could also nerve the commander ability. moody, intrepid sword, dauntless shield and protean were was nerved too after all.

[@yaboytony3028]

The problem is, the drawbacks are really rough. If you nerf it too much, it wouldn't be worth using him at all, which would be a shame since they're so cool

[@crisgon9552]

Plus it takes a whole generation to do that

[@MrAndyf92]

Is the simplest answer for future generations just removing Unaware as one of Dondozos abilities? As Oblivious seems useful for Taunt and Intimidate evasion but the issue is surely that you can't boost with Dragon Dance or Swords Dance to counter it which would then mean you dont have to run a specific counter that would be useless elsewhere?

[@Wesker1984]

Guaranteed crit moves like Flower Trick and Vital Throw, Mold Breaker Pokémon, Stored Power, there's a few ways around it.

[@daofficerofthenoodles7504]

Or haze

[@toujounozomi3126]

Mirror Herb Stored Power Espathra on non-tera dark variants

[@N1NF14]

@@Wesker1984 Flower trick does basically nothing if the dozo terra-grass's

[@michaelrosenfeld3941]

Okay, but the TatsuDozo Toxic orb/Drifblim explosion with Flamigo Costar strategy was freaking hilarious.

[@oxjmanxo]

Another option is to buff clear smog and haze. That way they don’t feel like a waisted move if you don’t run into a Dondozo.

[@AsahiMiya]

You know how you can change abilities, use worry seed from Shaymin Sky Forme, and turn his ability from unaware to insomnia. I know it's used to prevent sleep but it also can cancel out other abilities

[@rafaelagustin375]

Waiting for the move that protects the partner but leaves the user vulnerable

[@emmet7459]

i love these videos i dont know a lot about competitive pokemon these videos are so informative and fun

[@toujounozomi3126]

Espathra Opportunist + Mirror Herb. Then switch in a weezing to get rid of unaware.

[@abra_escaped]

This brings up an interesting question to me. How do competitive players feel about the omission of pokemon in recent gens? As a casual player it's potentially sad to have your favorite not included or to be unable to truly "catch em all", but as mentioned here, in high level play, the inclusion or lack of certain mons can potentially have big effects on the meta. I've never played a single online battle, so I'd like to hear the opinions of those who do have experience with it

[@cartergamegeek]

It's a double edged sword. Many things that might warp the meta are often seen as good to be gone but many other things are missed for how they can fill roles that help offset power creep.

[@TylarFischer]

If they wanted to include them in future generations, they could re-work Commander in a few ways- Switch clause stays Maybe tatsu stays outside of Dozo, but can't use Attacking moves / can't be individually targeted. Instead of dozo going +2 all, they both go +1.5 all just some work arounds to keep commander true to it's identity while also toning it down a bit

[@SMBZYT]

How I beat dondozo: hit it really hard

[@jacobmiller9527]

Honestly, the clearest Counter to Dondozo is Meowcarde or Orgepon.. Or really anything that does High crit. It may gain +2 in every stat but Crit ignores that and with 70 speed, Most attackers should out speed it still. Plus your not giving up a Move slot cause most High crit moves are really nice. So in my opinion, Game freak was thinking when they added Dondozo, they were giving a pokemon whose weakness was Crit.

[@bombkirby]

Can't you just use the cat's flower trick and OHKO it?

[@N1NF14]

not when it's terra grass

[@dariuslynard158]

Dozo is definitely something I always respect but I always have issues with it unless I bring specific answers. I was fortunate to be running Hisuian Arcanine, Rillaboom and Zapdos on the Ladder. The fact that I could Intimidate Cycle while threatening damage on the weaker special side and I had Protect/Fake Out spam meant that I could halt their progress. In most other scenarios I'm throwing damage at it and getting OHKO'd or two shot by Wave Crash/Order Up. Dondozo is a matchup fish to me. It's existence isn't problematic but it does give an upper hand to someone experienced with using it.

[@Shiradrenaline]

Great vid! Happy to see the nice thumbnail.

[@MrMcreethan]

This is a great video that goes into such detail. Good job mr. Skraw! :)

[@temerson2]

1:35 “the booststs”

[@Gangar-70]

My whole party is dondozo-

[@mintx1720]

I think the main problem in Dondozo is it breaks the risk reward of slow setup in VGC. In VGC, slow setup is generally a below average strategy, think something like coil Zygarde. But as a result most teams do not actively counter it, meaning if you can position yourself to setup properly, you win against most teams. But Dondozo being unaware and strong means it shuts down slow setup unreasonably easy, making the game worse.

[@swordofstrife1174]

VGC Players: NOOOO YOU CANT JUST GET A 2+ OMNI BOOST ON A POKEMON THAT I NEED TO PLAY DEDICATED ANTI-PLAY TO BEAT Me: Hee Hee funni sushi fish mech go brrrrr

[@Lawrence2525]

who called their Tatsugiri freaking “Angela” at 3.22 ☠️☠️☠️

[@imchips7819]

I just used meowscarda and unaware skelidarge even with a Tera there is skeliderge

[@LuDogg805]

Been playing DOU since the start of Gen 9... I have NEVER EVER lost to this gimmick... at the time, the way I would stop it was with: Sableye: Knock Off, Fake Out, Sunny Day, Wil-O-Wisp Murkrow: U-Turn, Sunny Day, Tailwind, Perish Song I didn't make them to counter Dondozo, I had a Psudo Sun Team since Ninetales and Whimsicotte where not out yet.

[@skrawvgc]

DOU is inherently different because you’re playing 6v6 as opposed to 4v4

[@LuDogg805]

@@skrawvgc For reals! But if it was 4v4 it'd be an even easier win for me.

[@gabrielchee8470]

​@@LuDogg805are you sure? Becuz or dozo my amoonguss is still carrying clear smog to stop it.

[@tezminator]

I don't actually think they need to nerf Dondozo-Tatsugiri combo or do anything. There actually are a handful of ways not mentioned in the video which you can use to counter said duo. Another own Dondozo with Unaware even solo without Tatsugiri don't care about the omni boosts except Speed; Espathra/any Pokemon with Mirror Herb can get the same double omni boost and then just Skill Swap/Entrainment/Gastro Acid away its Unaware to neutralize things; a Weezing with Neutralizing Gas can prevent the boosts altogether; Curse with a Ghost Pokemon that can survive at least one hit from Dondozo's usual moveset (right now literally everyone can be a Ghost with Tera, so this isn't an issue because any Pokemon with good HP and Defense can live at least one hit and use Curse, like Torkoal, Registeel, Dusclops, Garganacl and Orthworm, but in the following games there's Trevenant, which is a Ghost that resists Earthquake and Water moves and able to stall out the Curse turns with Protect + Harvest with a Sitrus + Will o Wisp; Mimikyu literally does not need to care at all about HP and Defense or even crits because Disguise grants it the safest use of Curse on Dondozo; Poltchageist does not learn Curse, but easily can tank hits from Dondozo and recover HP while crippling Dondozo's attack with Strength Sap and even heal its partner when switching in; Brambleghast is frail, but fast, so it can usually move before Dondozo to Curse it and if it survives it can get all HP back with Strength Sap). I know that some options may be somewhat limiting right now due to the Pokemon that can pull this off if we consider the power level of the current format, but in the lower power levels of before literally every single one of the Pokemon mentioned had its place in the meta and some are able to maintain their niche and usability even with/because of the current power creep, like Torkoal, Dusclops, Weezing, Poltchageist, Brambleghast and Registeel.

[@lampdisease]

All of the counterplay you just mentioned has the same issue as the counterplay Skraw mentioned: it’s extremely specific and has far less value in any other matchup.

[@awoooga5857]

@lampdisease Not really, those moves are moves that they already use regardless of dondozo.

[@tezminator]

@@awoooga5857Yeah, that's exactly why I mentioned those last still being viable at least in some way. I'll give it that Torkoal does not usually runs tera Ghost + Curse, as well as Brambleghast also not usually running Curse and Registeel prefering Iron Defense, but if you already have those in a team and want a Dondozo + Tatsugiri answer, that's definetely a possibility to explore because not only it is an effective counter, but it could also have other uses beyond that, like Brambleghast against any of the new dragon paradox mons in which the Grass stab won't do much and they've used booster energy, so the strongest Ghost stab, Poltergeist, literally will do nothing, but Curse will either KO them on a clock or force a switch and waste the Booster Energy, while Registeel might not get the bigger Defense increase that Iron Defense provides, but using Curse outside of tera Ghost still increase one stage in Defense and also Attack, which can buff your Heavy Slam against Ghost or other mons that resist Body Press and Registeel usually already moves last, so the Speed drop wont matter.

[@lampdisease]

Opportunity cost applies to tera types, too. Outside of Dondozo, why would you run Tera Ghost Curse Torkoal or Registeel or what have you when you could be using a set that has, say, more immediate field presence, or a better defensive Tera, or a a better setup move? Team slots are an even greater opportunity cost. Maybe the best Espathra set does use Skill Swap (I don't know, I'm not an Espathra connoisseur), but why are you using Espathra in the first place?

[@tezminator]

@@lampdiseaseLike I said, indeed Torkoal would not have much usage of Curse outside of tera Ghost, although it could be useful to Curse other Pokemon that usually don't like switching much, like Archaludon and setup variants of Raging Bolt. But pretty much every Registeel nowadays already uses Iron Defense to set up, and Curse without tera Ghost is also a set up that increases both Defense and Attack stat, which in turn increases damage for both Body Press and Heavy Slam, that pretty much make the full set along with Protect. In this case, the Tera Ghost would also be useful to be immune instead of taking damage from Fighting moves, specially Sacred Sword that would ignore all defensive setup you've made. As for Espathra, I'm not using it now because it falls in the category I said about Pokemon that are now power crept and nowhere to be seen, but used to have a place in the meta on its own and could also work as a Dondozo counter with a little modification for future games if Dondozo + Tatsugiri make it to the regional dex of the new region, which normally have less powerful Pokemon in the first few formats and allow for not fully min maxed Pokemon to have a spotlight.

[@josephchambers4509]

Wonderful comparison to dredge!

[@wnbradshaw99]

as someone who only plays pokemon casually the high level competitive strategies go completely over my head, still a very fun video though :]

[@daofficerofthenoodles7504]

Same I only really battle for fun

[@ohzenn]

What a level headed take! Love it

[@ragnaricstudios5888]

Dondozo’s the biggest pain in the ass in singles, more than Gen 7-8 Toxapex, with Toxapex, it’s easy, I just didn’t build my team good enough for competitive, with Dondozo, it’s either 2 hit it or bust

[@nonnolento]

haze. all stats return +0. now the enemy have 1 pokemon and cant change. you are welcome.

[@eternalnos2179]

I rather dig this video and the thought behind it

[@mauricegoldstein2461]

Dondozo was well balanced out. Murkrow still exists with prankster, dondozo has to tera grass to avoid amoongus/brute bonnet spore, which, defensively, grass is one of the worst types (including weakness to fire, which, when burned, cripples physical damage), and you can’t switch out. Plus, 1/3 of your overall team will be water type, which poses its own sets of problems; moreover, if you aren’t choosing dondozo, that means tatsugiri is nearly guaranteed to sit out that battle.

[@Henkita2]

it would be a lot more balanced if instead of beinga +2 omniboost it was a + 2 on attacks/defenses/speed depending on the tatsugiri

[@aryshandono3249]

I think Dondozo should have been a new evo for Whiscash

[@prosk8er1995]

I run a dodonzo team and get countered all the time with poison, perish song, urshifu crits that ignore stat boosts, clear smog and haze etc

[@testerwulf3357]

Because Dondozo teams were a problem, people started running counters for it even if it made their teams worse..that’s why you were having trouble. Dondozo teams were so popular counters were necessary

[@SkyNinja759]

Tatsu/Dozo is a great addition to the doubles format. It feels like what other tandem abilities should have been. Oblivious/Unaware is a perfect complementary ability to keep Dozo ahead of the setup mons and keep the enemy guessing. The only bad thing is the lack of Unaware sweepers/breakers. Same thing with the lack of haze in move pools. I think Dozo is perfect, but the lack of tools in the current S/V metagame is what is making people annoyed. When gen 10 comes around people are going to forget about the sushi-whale.

[@drbastianac8252]

next gen gimmick will be pokemon fusions, the dondozo tatsugiri thing was a test

[@kellytibbs3815]

I wish , but it’s probably too close to megas where it might be difficult for every mon to participate.

[@shakeemnba4]

Dragonite and ageslash

[@thecreativy2260]

​@@kellytibbs3815the next gimmick is likely a form change gimmick judgjng by the gimmick patterns so far, so fusions could be likely with a default form or boost for all other pokemon that dont have a special fusion form

[@neri1220]

Being unable to swap out is huge disadventage. Also being focused by 2 pokemon is bad. In a normal 2 v 2 scenario you need to guess wich pokemon protects or if it swaps out. You don't have that issue here vs dozo. You can also use other moves vs dozo that neuter its stats i.e. Acid Sprey or Charm. You can Toxic stall it too or perish song it. Navigator your own protects and wide guards, use Storm drain pokemon with tera fairy or follow me user and just hit it on special side. Chien Pao doesn't even need haze to beat it. Just use sacret sword as it ignore defense boosts and chances are dozo might be tera steel to not get clear smogged - even better for chien pao. You can also utilize skill swap to troll dozo and have mirror herb yourself. I.ve been trying to make perfect dozo team but theres always some counter so trust me its not broken. Its more of a damage check in games. You need to be this tall to ride situation. If your team is too passive then dozo can beat you. Unless you have haze then by all means your stall team can win. And i Kinga hate that. Murkrow is a night mare for dozo just so you know and that thing is useful not just for haze.

[@dokutah7374]

Tbh i was kinda disappointed that Tatsugiri basically had a useless base ability, there are so few double battles in the actual game that it might as well not exist I love Tatsu, especially its design, but damn

[@Raphanobi]

You forgot Malamar Topsy Turvy

[@gabrielchee8470]

I think thats kinda neat but its a bit niche, and then dozo with unaware also stops it.

[@nerdyfalco408]

I don't think a little bit of stall is that bad for the meta (talking about reg F)

[@dam777felover8]

I think flutter mane is game freak biggest mistake but on the opposite side, run 3 same moves plus a 4th move you like and done a very boring pokemon to play against

[@joegunzallezz278]

Im actually not opposed to having a meta game without the gimmick like them removing tatsugiri because solo dozo i feel could be really interesting when its more developed

[@phantom_boii]

Topsy Turvy Malamar: 😎

[@daofficerofthenoodles7504]

Haze spore smergle:

[@testerwulf3357]

@@daofficerofthenoodles7504I thought smeargle wasn’t in Scarlet and Violet??

[@daofficerofthenoodles7504]

@@testerwulf3357 nope he was added in the dlc

[@sketchydude8431]

Gameplay aside, Dondonzo and Tatsugiri have been some of my favorite recent pokemon Dondonzo just feels so goofy yet powerful at the same time And Tatsugiri is literally just a sushi fish, and hes perfect for it.

[@astevini]

Love Dondo. It is normal for a competitive game to have a powerful strategy that drives the meta. I would rather having Dondo or Ape/Mouse over any other strategy that has been around for years. Enough of prankster twailds or bulk trick rooms. Sick of it.

[@skrawvgc]

Dondozo loves to be in tailwind :)

[@iancastro1327]

Me when i haze, me when i have water absorb and critical hits me when i have perish song me whe-

[@andrewarmstrong24]

All my homies hate Dondozo (except Conkledonk)

[@TheOnlyMisterC]

How about just give him one omni boost instead of 2?

[@testerwulf3357]

Pretty much loosing 1 pokemon slot in a double battle is huge, needs a big enough boost to compensate! Just needs an equal counter.

[@elijones1007]

I use simple beam and Dondozo lol 😆

[@SamanthaC641]

Really loved the Mtg analogy.

[@squirrelwithabanana]

Donbozo

[@pawedziedzic3250]

The argument that Dondozo counterplays are somehow fundamentally inflexible seems false. You could make the same argument about any other counter play. You could lament that your Farigiraf has to run Sap Sipper to counter Amoonguss even though in every other matchup it would prefer to have Armor Tail. Donodozo counterplays are like any other counterplays

[@testerwulf3357]

Except in the example you provided that isn’t the ONLY counter to amoongus 💀 You can use another mon to counter it without making your farigiraf run sap sipper and still have a great team! Dondozo however requires you to run specific moves on certain pokemon that all together WEAKENS your team

[@pawedziedzic3250]

@@testerwulf3357 If my Incineroar has to run Safety Goggles so that I can beat Amoonguss, then it doesn't run Sitrus Berry and is overall weaker in all other matchups. Countering anything requires you to run specific moves/items/abilities and overall weakens your team. Thats how counters work. Gastrodon is not viable on it's own, but in a format full of Kyogres Gastrodon is a useful addition even if it "all together weakens" your team. If a counter to something is optimal on it's own anyway then we don't call it a counter we call it "meta"

[@sealblubber]

the answer is topsy turvy malamar

[@talonitex6441]

Or 4 make a Pokémon to counter dondozo that actually every good into everything else

[@egthatyoutubes8094]

Then why isnt it named after me Oh wait its probably because it doesn't suck even if it were a mistake

[@veeetox]

Me with a Weezing (a very good Pokémon in the current format) in the bag

[@tomwatts9822]

my problem with your argument is that you put forth two options as simply outpowering Dondozo's stats. and both of those are already on damn near every team as it is. everyone, practically, already has a counter. as we saw in portland, tatsudozo doesn't automatically net you top spots

[@thecreativy2260]

I remember destoying dondonzo with clear smog spore amoongus in the early days of sv vgc

[@danferah8237]

I say they can just nerf Donodozo. I would say removing Donodozo Unaware ability and replace it with something like Gluttony or something. OR they can make it so commander only last a curtain number of turns (like 3 turns). Either of these would completely stop Donodozo mirror matches from being a stall fest. Also with the second option the Dondozo Player still has time to weaken the opposing team for it's teammates to clean up.

[@daofficerofthenoodles7504]

Give it simple ez

[@danferah8237]

@@daofficerofthenoodles7504 lmao

[@daofficerofthenoodles7504]

@@danferah8237 4 Omni boost ez

[@Predo180]

i dont think dondozo is that broken cuz of haze or clear smog

[@testerwulf3357]

Did you not watch the video? 😅 It’s not good to run those moves, makes you weak for literally every over team you face that isn’t a dondozo one

[@Predo180]

@@testerwulf3357 yea i did and i still think so

[@Predo180]

@@testerwulf3357 also tera fairy clodsire, for example

[@RobertoLuisDelRosario]

Why the ughhh when mentioning MTG😅?

[@Wafflefrieslmdh]

Live haze reaction:

[@trevorpacelli8056]

Another problem with Dondozo was that it was incredibly easy for some players to craft teams that are unfairly overpowered, the most common being toxic orb Tatsugiri with Costar Flamigo. I even once faced a trainer who set up their entire team around giving Dondozo the ability Simple, getting Tatsugiri badly poisoned with the Toxic Orb, and then setting up Flamigo next to Dondozo with 4x boosts in every stat. Pure evil.

[@JustMeSavy]

Not only did you say that using very strong mons is an effective way to beat dozo, but u even showed 2 (flutter and chien pao) who are not only good into dozo, but are excellent on nigh every team Your issue is that Dozo necessitates an answer for it on ur team or risk failure, but practically every metagame in existence requires that. Every team needs an answer to flutter (who I’d argue is much more of a problem) or else you’re dropping your chances of success In lower level formats, we also had Murkrow who was not only a haze user, but was incredibly popular on many teams for prankster tailwind I’m sorry but this entire video seems completely ridiculous as this is not only how metagames in any game work, but Dozo has been proven to not be nowhere as much of a problem as other mons

[@WyGuy2087]

in the end you talk about how gamefreak might adress this but couldn't they just nerf commander to be a single omnibost rather then two? they have nerfed ability's before like mimikyu's disguise used to not cost it 1/10 of its hp

[@frankaxe6700]

Ah I see your a duel link ost fan Right?

[@mintx1720]

Personal Dondozo fix: Moves against Tatsugiri redirects to Dondozo. Make one of Dondozo's ability oblivious + "commanded", preventing it from running unaware. Dondozo only gets boosts at the start of its turn. Fused Dondozo cannot flinch. Allow Dondozo to switch out.

[@gabrielchee8470]

I think id just nerf the boost to 1 stage instead of 2.

[@toujounozomi3126]

"Doubling each stat" - this is more powerful than doubling base stats. IVs are doubled too, and so are the EVs for whatever it's invested in. Basically, Frosmoth with minimal investment in special defense doesn't have an effective base 180 special defense when doubled but a base 198 special defense. Azumarill, with fully invested attack, has an effective base 149 after Huge Power, not 100.

[@lukejensen1222]

Clickbait

[@tomkarate1]

Or nerph their abilities.

[@roaroftime8170]

You did a MTG and Pokemon comparison in a video, take my sub pls

[@timothypickarski5234]

Rage Podwer

[@PapaDalbec]

Remember when Pokémon: let's go pikachu got rid of random Pokémon encounters? That was the downfall.

[@Gnarfledarf]

No, Game Freak's biggest mistake is Dexit.

[@Ankitohyeah.]

Second 😊

[@johnnyboylan]

first

[@AlRa-fm1kq]

two words "inposter ditto " just copy him and his buffs and have a exstra pokemon on the field but with order up it dose nothing thats only loss

[@AlRa-fm1kq]

i never respected Dondozo i just defeat him

[@runko4793]

But that’s what he means when he mentions a hard and costly counter, ditto isn’t very good in other matchups besides small niches

[@HeavyHebi]

That imposter ditto isn't going to be good in like, almost any other situation. This is even more costly than giving up protect for clear smog, or cc for haze

[@mv-jp8ul]

who would win? Dondozo vs. Dondozo with no recovery and half HP

[@Nutleaf420]

imposter ditto doesnt beat dondozo in a 1v1 😭😭😭