What is a good LC moveset for Galarian Darumaka?

Question

If you have a good Little Cup moveset for Galarian Darumaka, post an answer below and upvote the best ones.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g items, abilities, natures, and EVs. Some explanation is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Galarian Darumaka Pokedex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

Darumaka-Galar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Hustle
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Punch
- Power-Up Punch / Brick Break / Superpower
- U-turn
- Zen Headbutt

With mediocre speed, it relies on a Choice Scarf to outspeed threats such as not Scarfed G-Farfetch’d. Hustle increases its damage output, at the cost of lowering its accuracy. Maxed out Attack and Speed are important for this set. Jolly increases it’s speed. Ice Punch is STAB. The second slot is for Steel coverage, mostly Pawniard. Power-Up Punch is for the Attack boosts since you’re locked into one move anyway, Brick Break does more damage off the bat, and Superpower is for maximum damage with the side effect of lowering your Attack and Defense. U-Turn is for pivoting, which is good with the Choice Scarf. Zen Headbutt is Fighting coverage, and it hits G-Farfetch’d super effectively.

Comments

Good set! But superpower kind of sucks, superpower will lower the user’s Atk and Defence

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It actually doesn’t since you’ll be switching out a lot with the Choice Scarf anyway.

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I agree with Crystal.mad.Edison, even IF you can OHKO most Pokémon, there's a chance you'll run into a bulky Pokémon that can faint you. You won't be able to switch out all the time, not to mention abilities like Arena Trap and moves like Mean Look.

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the only two pokemon in the tier with arena trap are weak to ice, and one of them (diglett) is super frail and still will get OHKO'd by Superpower
mean look is also super uncommon

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I doubt those situations would occur, but if you’re worried about a trapping move/ability, you can always opt for Power Up Punch/Brick Break.

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Yes, I get what you mean, those moves and abilities are uncommon, but that was not mainly what I was talking about.

>there's a chance you'll run into a bulky Pokémon that can faint you.

What I meant by that was a Pokemon like Bronzor, which I found and lost to. Who are bulky and can survive longer than most Pokemon. :P

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Fire Punch is always viable for hitting bulky steel types, if that’s what you’re going for.

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I tried that, it didn't work. It all depends I suppose, there's no way to be 100% prepared for every single Pokemon.

Answer 2

Darumaka-Galar (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 100 HP / 100 Atk / 100 Def / 100 SpD / 110 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Punch
- Brick Break
- Fire Punch
- Zen Headbutt

Adamant Nature boosts Attack stats by 10%. Raises Defense and Special Defense with the Eviolite. Giving it a boost of +75.5 (6 at level 5) Defense and Special Defense and a total of 226.5 (18 at level 5) Defense and Special Defense. Ice Punch for STAB, Brick Break as a reliable Fighting type move (also Steel, Dark, Normal, Ice, and Rock coverage). Fire Punch as an alternative for Steel types, also Grass and Bug type coverage and an alternative Ice coverage (since it can't learn any moves for Fire types). And finally, Zen Headbutt for Fighting and Poison coverage. Darumaka can already take out most Pokémon with this set, and it'll work even better with a team (and, the gender is just for my preference).

Replay for "proof" that it's a good set (with the help of some of my other Pokémon of course).

Comments

this EV spread doesn't work in LC
the most HP you are getting out of it is with 36 EVs, the other 64 EVs do nothing.
the 100 attack EVs again don't do anything unless you invest in 116 Attack EVs (36 Attack EVs give as much of a stat boost as 100 Attack EVs)
You gain as much of a stat boost with 76 Defense/Special Defense EVs
You gain as much of a stat boost with 36 Speed EVs
These spreads are ok? in regular Level 100 formats, but definitely not in LC

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Perhaps. But either way I did win some battles with Darumaka and various other Pokemon.

Answer 3

Darumaka-Galar (M) @ Berry Juice / Focus Sash / Eviolite
Ability: Hustle
Level: 5
EVs: 28 HP / 196 Atk / 156 Def / 128 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Hammer Arm
- Gyro Ball
- Avalanche
- Zen Headbutt / U-Turn
This set works well and works easily.
Hammer Arm has high power of 100, but lowered the Speed by one stage, which seems bad, but it’s not. Because Gyro ball, which has higher power when you are slow, and hammer arm covers rock, steel type weakness and Gyro ball covers rock type weakness.
Avalanche is it’s best ice type move for its low speed that cause by hammer arm, it’s power will be 120 which is super big stab, Zen headbutt covers fighting type weakness with a good power, U-turn if met some strong counters on it.

Answer 4

Darumaka-Galar @ Choice Band / Life Orb / Wide Lens / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature

• Ice Punch / Icicle Crash
• Superpower
• U-turn
• Flare Blitz / Zen Headbutt

This set focuses on Galarian Darumaka's wallbreaking ability. Wide Lens can be used over an offensive boost (in that case, you should probably use Icicle Crash and Zen Headbutt), but the boost is not super big. Still, it does help. The first slot is STAB that obliterates almost everything, including Grookey and Vullaby. Superpower is used as coverage for Rock and Steel types. U-turn is for getting out of bad matchups and does quite a lot of damage. Flare Blitz is coverage for Steel types, but Zen Headbutt can be used instead for Fighting types, most notably Mienfoo. Heavy-Duty Boots can be used, because with U-turn and Superpower, Darumaka is going to be switching out quite a lot.