Is Donphan good anymore?

Silver Sea Lugia

Champion Trainer
Member
Whats up guys! :cool:

I have been out of the tcg for a awhile. I have 4x Donphan. I have states coming up.
Wondering if Donphan rouge would be really good or even just decent to play.
Between zeckrom, 6 corners, mewtwo ex, magnezone decks, mewbox, etc. All suggestions and critisims welcomed.



And thank you very much for your time!
 

Cinema

Gyarados Bait
Member
RE: Is Donphan any good anymore?

It's a good card, but it's just lost some of it's luster. 60 damage isn't as powerful as it once was. Although, I could see it making a small comeback since Eel decks are so popular. I would recommend playing it with the dragons, especially Zekrom because Tornadus (which is played as a 4-of in CTM) destroys Donphan. I would also suggest at least two Ruins of Alph since it not only counters CTM's Skyarrow Bridge but also helps you 2HKO Tornadus with Donphan.

Here's a pretty basic skeleton list of what I would expect to be decent.

Pokemon:
4-4 Donphan
2 Zekrom
2 Kyurem
1 Reshiram
1-2 Mewtwo EX

T/S/S:
4 Pokemon Collector/Dual Ball
4 PONT
4 Juniper
2 Pokemon Communication
3 Ruins of Alph

Energy:
4 Rainbow
4 DCE
4 Figthing

Hope I helped :)
 

Silver Sea Lugia

Champion Trainer
Member
RE: Is Donphan any good anymore?

Thanks Cinema. With 4x Rocky Helmet it's almost always 80 damage. The one thing I'm bummed about is that he does not OHKO anybody (mew? lol) but with 2x Earthquakes + Rocky Helmet recoil you can KO anybody back, besides Mewtwo Ex. Max Potions and being able to withstand a Mewtwo/Zeckrom/Reshiram blast I think isn't so bad. It would probable be smart to run a couple of those Ruins of Alph, nice idea.

Darkrai, I am not sure what to run with Donphan. Everybody likes the dragons and that is also what Cinema suggested. Maybe a 3-3 Amoongus to add to his attack?
 

Darkrai909

Professor Oak
Member
RE: Is Donphan any good anymore?

Hmm well if u can set up a donphan with all three energy he can one shot zekrom both of them also regigigas EX and two shot anything else but yeah dragons like donphans abuse as long as you do it right but donphan hasn't rolled out of the format just yet
 

Futa

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Donphan is one my favorite decks, but I'm not seeing it in this format. 60 damage for one Energy isn't stellar anymore, especially now that some decks are having more Fighting Resistances (Tornadus and Zapdos, but I've seen a few decks go as far as teching an Articuno). While Ruins of Alph could solve this problem, you have to be aware of Eviolite (if people are still running it) and Skyarrow Bridge.

If you're going for 90 damage, then I have never been able to quickly attach three Energy on to Donphan.
 

Brendan

Hi there
Member
Here's a piece on what I wrote about Donphan vs EX matchups because Donphan was playable up until around ND.

Mewtwo - Yes it is possible but highly unlikely Donphan runs on one energy typically unless I am 100% positive I can reach three fighting. That'd mean Mewtwo would need six energies under those circumstances. Granted it could happen I would have three fighting and mewtwo would only need four at that point.

Zekrom - Max damage output is 150 and most lists I've seen don't run plus power or anything else of that sort. Donphan is resistant to electric plus pokebody means any attack done to Donphan is reduced by 40 meaning Donphan would be standing with 10 hp after. I just don't see any fear from this with a damage healing/moving engine in play.

Shaymin - I put this above Reshiram because I don't think Reshiram variants are running around as much as they used to compared to how techable Shaymin is into most decks. Shaymin is an interesting card that could offer some trouble considering it is played late game. The maxium damage output by a typical Shaymin would be 150, this without any damage boosting such as plus power. 150 Damage is good enough for a OHKO but anything less is a 2HKO and with that time I can move around the damage hopefully and avoid a KO. Two earthquakes knocks Shaymin out everytime unless they are running eviolite/defender.

Reshiram - Probably one of the worst matchups for Donphan by opposing EXs. Brave Fire for a OHKO or even Glinting Claw for a 2HKO possibility with fliptini. Donphan doesn't resist or attack with weakness backup here so it runs into some trouble. It would take three Earthquakes or two Heavy Impacts to knock out Reshiram without eviolite/defender. Ideally we get the knockout if they cannot get powered up to a OHKO fast enough but I fear this will not be the case most of the time.

Kyurem - Most likely the least played but it still is one of the worst matchups for Donphan. It's first attack could be devastating to Donphan if it is only running a rainbow at the time, ideally we have fighting energy on Donphan though. Anyway, Frozen Wings does 60 and discards a special energy for a water and a DCE. This would be a 2HKO to Donphan or 1HKO with Plus Power. Either way, if rainbow energy is attached, Donphan is left crippled. Typically only dealing 60 back can't compete with Kyurem.

Regigigas - Left for last due to it's high energy costs, retreat costs, and weakness to Donphan. For 3 colorless does 40 without self damage or 60 with it. If a Donphan player is smart and has the option to power up a Heavy Impact, not attacking is the best option for Donphan. With one Heavy Impact it can OHKO the great titan that is Regigigas. Although that being said, if the Donphan player decides to Earthquake for 120, with four energy attached Regigigas can return a whopping damage range between 170-210 depending if self inflicted damage had occurred not at all, once, or twice. Granted it's a favorable matchup if the energy is there but I think Donphan sets up quicker.
 

Silver Sea Lugia

Champion Trainer
Member
Donphan dragon won 7 cities. That was before exs though. But thanks to Brendans analysis, I am having more realization for Donphan. So he definitley needs a counterpart.

As for Donphans worse matchups, mainly exs, I will probable run 3-3 Zoroark, great card against most of them. You can copy Shaymin, Zeckrom, Reshiram and Mewtwo for just a DCE. He's great facing siz corners and Coke. Chandyplume is weak. Reshiram cannot be copied, and this would be the hardest match-up for me, considering they run Kingdra. However, I run 4x Pokemon Catcher and 3x Junk Arm in my skeleton list, so I would just be swinging at Typhlosions the entire game. It's a shame Typhlosion only needs one to retreat out of it with Energy acceleration so I would probable except this as my worst matchup. I'm guessing all my match-ups at states are going to be Magnezone or Zeckrom or Mewtwo or 6 corners. Zoroark is not as potential against Magnezone and Mew, but Donphan runs through them. This is all theory but only playtesting will tell.

As far as Tornadus goes, I can probable just play a Zeckrom or 2, not all the other dragons, to have an edge over Tornadus and Zapdos, both which are weak. I may not need Ruins of Alph. Zoroark has just 10 or 20 less HP then the two but swings at them for 1 DCE. RH kind of evens out Eviolite.

So far I am thinking of a skeleton sort of like this:

Pokemon:17

4x Phanpy - HS
4x Donphan - HS

3x Zorua - BW
3x Zoroark - BW

2x Zeckrom - BW

1x Cleffa - HS

Energy:12

4x DCE
8x Fighting Energy

Trainers:31

4x PONT
4x Proffesor Juniper
4x PETM

4x Rocky Helmet > damage output will always be 80 unless they don't attack at all...
4x Pokemon Catcher
4x Max Potion
3x Junk Arm
2x Pokemon Communication
2x Energy Retrieval

Can it work?
 

Nigel

Extra Spicy
Member
A master here in Minnesota played Donphan/Dragons/Electrode Prime/Machamp Prime as an interesting rogue... They ended up Top Cutting with it. I did notice, though, that Machamp Prime was used much more often as an attacker than Donphan Prime. In other words, I don't think it's really playable anymore. As people have been saying, 60 damage isn't all that it used to be anymore.
 

Brendan

Hi there
Member
I recently tried to mess around with around with Donchamp and it simply was not fast enough against zekeels (pre ND). Had to resort to using my Donphan and zekrom that I had teched in to keep up against my opponents tornadus/zekroms. We played a few games and I lost all of them. I had machamp set up once or twice but still just wasn't good enough. I like Donphan much more.
 

Nigel

Extra Spicy
Member
Brendan said:
I recently tried to mess around with around with Donchamp and it simply was not fast enough against zekeels (pre ND). Had to resort to using my Donphan and zekrom that I had teched in to keep up against my opponents tornadus/zekroms. We played a few games and I lost all of them. I had machamp set up once or twice but still just wasn't good enough. I like Donphan much more.

He faced quite a few of them in Top Cut, and managed to outspeed all of them. How many draw supporters were you running?
 

Brendan

Hi there
Member
Oh wow really? I had atleast 3 of juniper sages and pont each. Electrode probably was huge if he was getting good pops because energy attachment was a problem I was having. Also using landorus felt like it was slowing me down but that again could have been because of my energy situation. I was running between 8 and 10 fighting.
 

Archeops

Aspiring Trainer
Member
You could try donphan in the truth, which is a little hard to pull off, but it can happen.

Let's take a little look at how donphan does against certain cards.

Zekrom EX: you survive a hit from this dude with ten HP left, but if you go first you can usually kill him. But, if donphan is killed, you may want to pair him with terrakion just incase. If you don't feel like it you really don't have to though, as losing one energy and one prize isn't horrible, since usually you can just follow up for a you take two, he takes one, prize exchange.

Eelektrik, zekrom,and Thundurus are all pretty easy to take care of.

MTC Pokemon: this isn't to horrible as usually it will take a mewtwo six energy, and by then it's hopefully dead, if not you still get the better in the prize exchange usually.
Celebi you OHKO so obviously it's easy to take care of.
Tornadus I would suggest using zekrom for, who is a decent partner to donphan.

That's pretty much the best decks.I don't feel like donphan is dead yet, and it can still do well with the right list.

Hope I helped!
 

Slowbro

Aspiring Trainer
Member
RE: Is Donphan any good anymore?

Cinema said:
It's a good card, but it's just lost some of it's luster. 60 damage isn't as powerful as it once was. Although, I could see it making a small comeback since Eel decks are so popular. I would recommend playing it with the dragons, especially Zekrom because Tornadus (which is played as a 4-of in CTM) destroys Donphan. I would also suggest at least two Ruins of Alph since it not only counters CTM's Skyarrow Bridge but also helps you 2HKO Tornadus with Donphan.

Here's a pretty basic skeleton list of what I would expect to be decent.

Pokemon:
4-4 Donphan
2 Zekrom
2 Kyurem
1 Reshiram
1-2 Mewtwo EX

T/S/S:
4 Pokemon Collector/Dual Ball
4 PONT
4 Juniper
2 Pokemon Communication
3 Ruins of Alph

Energy:
4 Rainbow
4 DCE
4 Figthing

Hope I helped :)
Ruins of Alph is terrible. Donphan's resistance lets it survive a strong volt or 3 energy lost burn. With resistance any {L} damage against donphan is reduced by 40. Rainbow isn't needed also. Rocky Helmet is amazing.
 

Futa

Aspiring Trainer
Member
pokemonjoe said:
Ruins of Alph is terrible. Donphan's resistance lets it survive a strong volt or 3 energy lost burn. With resistance any {L} damage against donphan is reduced by 40. Rainbow isn't needed also.

Please stop. Ruins of Alph is for the Tornadus matchup, which you would otherwise lose without (Zekrom isn't enough). Rainbow is needed to quickly fuel more damage for Outrage, and can also work for charging Donphan.
 

Slowbro

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Futachimaru said:
Please stop. Ruins of Alph is for the Tornadus matchup, which you would otherwise lose without (Zekrom isn't enough). Rainbow is needed to quickly fuel more damage for Outrage, and can also work for charging Donphan.
Rainbow isn't needed. Donphan just does fine. Rainbow can be lost removered. If ROA is just for Tornadus, 1-2 will be fine. Tornadus is a lot more manageable with Rocky helmet. You both 2hko each other.
 

Futa

Aspiring Trainer
Member
pokemonjoe said:
Rainbow isn't needed. Donphan just does fine. Rainbow can be lost removered.

Rainbow can be Lost Removered. DCE can be Lost Removered. Prism can be Lost Removered. Does it mean you shouldn't run them? No. Rainbow provides Energy for all of your attackers while fueling Outrage for your Benched Dragons. You are never going to reliably get enough damage on all of your Dragons via Earthquake. It's too slow.
 

Slowbro

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Futachimaru said:
Rainbow can be Lost Removered. DCE can be Lost Removered. Prism can be Lost Removered. Does it mean you shouldn't run them? No. Rainbow provides Energy for all of your attackers while fueling Outrage for your Benched Dragons. You are never going to reliably get enough damage on all of your Dragons via Earthquake. It's too slow.
You run those cards because you need them. Rainbow is not needed, so running 4 is unnecessary. Rocky helmet is more useful, so at least some of those spaces should be filled with Rocky Helmets. 3 ROA is also too much imo. Why? Tornadus is mostly in Zekeels and MTC. Granted, it is run 3-4 in MTC, it is not usually over 2 in Zekeels. Just catcher up {L} pokemon and kill them. When Donphan and Tornadus are attacking, you have access to max potion, and rocky helmet. ROA<Rocky Helmet.
 

Cinema

Gyarados Bait
Member
pokemonjoe said:
You run those cards because you need them. Rainbow is not needed, so running 4 is unnecessary. Rocky helmet is more useful, so at least some of those spaces should be filled with Rocky Helmets. 3 ROA is also too much imo. Why? Tornadus is mostly in Zekeels and MTC. Granted, it is run 3-4 in MTC, it is not usually over 2 in Zekeels. Just catcher up {L} pokemon and kill them. When Donphan and Tornadus are attacking, you have access to max potion, and rocky helmet. ROA<Rocky Helmet.

Why would they be benching {L} Pokemon besides Eels anyway? They will be going Tornadus for days, and you will be 3HKOing them without ROA. What do you go against MTC when they are using Tornadus from T1 until the game ends? Zekrom isn't enough to deal with Tornadus alone.
 
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