How to counter Dondozo and Tatsugiri in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet VGC

As with every new generation, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet introduced a lot of interesting new species, moves, and Abilities. A handful of these new additions have found their way into the competitive VGC meta, including Gholdengo, the many Paradox Pokémon, and the Tatsugiri/Dondozo duo. 

In particular, the sushi fish duo has been a dominant force in competitive play thanks to Tatsugiri’s signature Ability, Commander. With this Ability, Tatsugiri hops into Dondozo’s mouth and boosts all of the catfish’s stats by two stages. Dondozo can then continue to boost either its Attack, Speed, or Defense with the move Order Up, depending on which Tatsugiri form is inside its mouth.

With many players opting to run Tatsugiri and Dondozo on their teams, it’s a good idea to come prepared with a way to counter them. Luckily, there are a few different ways to make it out alive against the powerful duo.

Haze will eliminate Dondozo’s stat boosts

It can be scary to face a Dondozo once Tatsugiri jumps into its mouth because of all the stat boosts it gets. However, all of those boosts can quickly be nullified with the move Haze, which eliminates all stat changes on the field. Murkrow, for example, has proven to be one of the best Haze users in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet so far with its Prankster Ability allowing it to strike first with status moves. Once Murkrow uses Haze, Dondozo will be at a severe disadvantage because it’ll only be as strong as it was without Tatsugiri in its mouth, and it won’t have an ally next to it, either.

The main drawback to Haze is that it will also reset any stat boosts on your side of the field. It’s important to keep this in mind if you plan on setting up against your opponent.

Intimidate is another option for lowering Dondozo’s Attack

Intimidate has always been a strong Ability in VGC because it automatically lowers the opponent’s Pokémon by one stage when the user enters the battle. This comes in clutch against any physical attacker but especially against a stat-boosted Dondozo. Intimidate users like Arcanine or Tauros can be cycled in and out of battle to get multiple Intimidates off while the Dondozo is on the field. Players will usually try to reset the Attack reduction by swapping their Intimidated Pokémon in and out, but Dondozo cannot be swapped out once Tatsugiri’s Commander Ability is activated.

To lower the threat of Intimidate users, Dondozo could be holding a Clear Amulet to prevent it from having its stats dropped. Alternatively, a Dondozo team might also be running a Defiant Kingambit or Annihilape to discourage you from bringing your Intimidate users to the battle.

Perish Song puts Dondozo on a timer

Perish Trap teams can be very dangerous in VGC if executed correctly as seen in Wolfe Glick’s big win at Orlando Regionals. The idea is to combine Shadow Tag with Perish Song, a move that makes every Pokémon on the field faint in three turns if they don’t switch out before then. Having a Shadow Tag user like Gothitelle on the field will prevent the opponent’s Pokémon from switching out to avoid fainting from Perish Song.

When you’re dealing with a Tatsugiri/Dondozo duo, however, it isn’t actually necessary to have a Pokémon with Shadow Tag because Tatsugiri’s Commander Ability already prevents Dondozo from switching out. Simply using Perish Song against Dondozo will guarantee it’ll be off the field in three turns or less unless it’s able to sweep the rest of your team before then. To prevent the sweep, Dondozo can be stalled out with the help of Fake Out and Protect.

Dondozo can actually counter itself

Sometimes the best way to deal with Tatsugiri and Dondozo is to use the duo yourself. With all the stat boosts Dondozo gets, it can be hard to find a Pokémon strong enough to dish out damage while also taking hits from it. Interestingly enough, the duo is an excellent option to counter itself because of Dondozo’s Ability, Unaware. This Ability allows Dondozo to ignore all of the opponent’s stat changes, meaning all the boosts gained from Commander and Order Up are essentially useless in a mirror matchup.

From there, Terastallizing your Dondozo can be the difference between winning or losing the mirror matchup. If your Dondozo happens to have a Tera Type that gives it the upper hand against the opposing Dondozo, you have a good chance of beating the sushi fish duo at their own game.