Mid-stage Pokemon like Deino rarely see competitive play outside of special formats. It's a waypoint on the road to Hydreigon, which is where the real potential kicks in. Psychic moves can't touch it, which offsets the 5 weaknesses somewhat. Known as the Irate Pokemon.
Deino's spread isn't flashy. Attack leads, Speed trails, 0 stats clear the bar. Tough to catch and worth 1 Attack EV, on a slow 1.25M XP grind.
It can’t see, so its first approach to examining things is to bite them. You will be covered in wounds until a Deino warms up to you.
It nests deep inside a cave. Food there is scarce, so Deino will sink its teeth into anything that moves and attempt to eat it.
Deino Weakness
VulnerableFairy, Ice, Fighting, Bug, and Dragon-type moves hit Deino for super-effective damage. Fairy hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. The upside? Psychic-type moves can't touch it at all. 6 resistances give it solid defensive coverage on top of that.
Deino is the start of a three-stage chain. It evolves into Zweilous first, then eventually reaches Hydreigon. For breeding, takes forever to hatch with plenty of partners via one egg group. The evolved forms gain up to 300 total stats over Deino.
How to Evolve
Breed Deino with 72 breeding partners from the Dragon egg group.
The 50% bulk from Eviolite is no joke. Deino takes hits that fully evolved Pokemon can't, especially with a spread EV build EVs pushing the physical side. Crunch gives it offensive presence.
Best Build
Best Deino Moveset
- Crunch
- Outrage
- Head Smash
- Dragon Tail
Recommended Teammates
Deino develops a solid moveset just through leveling. Hyper Voice and Dragon Rush show up naturally, and the progression handles both STAB and utility without leaning on TMs for the core attacks.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Coverage runs deep. Deino can hit 10 types beyond STAB, including Normal and Ground. The offense anchors on Outrage and Dragon Rush while TMs handle everything else.
Coverage runs deep. Deino can hit 11 types beyond STAB, including Normal and Ghost. The offense anchors on Draco Meteor and Outrage while TMs handle everything else.
Don't skip the egg moves. Deino picks up Assurance and Astonish only through breeding, and both fill gaps the natural movepool can't. STAB runs through Draco Meteor and Outrage while coverage across 8 types adds range.
decent spawn rates across 12 locations for Deino in late-game routes. Scroll the sorted list below and pick whichever spot sits closest to your current route. The rate differences between locations are worth comparing.
Best Locations
Deino won't take long. 12 walking spots from Lv. 36-54 with solid rates across most of them. The top locations at each game stage are listed first.
2 encounter spots for Deino at moderate rates starting from endgame routes. Best and Earliest sort options below help narrow down your approach based on odds vs. Accessibility.
Best Locations
No wild encounters for Deino in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon. It's available in Black, Omega Ruby, or Scarlet and can be transferred over. The details below show where to find it.
Deino is not available as a wild encounter in this game.
Catch in the wild in:
Then trade to Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon.
Also found in:
A few locations for Deino with moderate rates across early-game routes. The sort toggle below swaps between best odds and earliest access, so you can approach it based on where you are in the game.
Best Locations
Deino isn't fully evolved, so it's not built for competitive play. You'll want to evolve it into Zweilous to unlock its full potential. At 300 BST, it's a stepping stone rather than a team anchor.
Watch for Clefable (Fairy), Weavile (Ice), and Conkeldurr (Fighting) when using Deino. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Clefable is the most dangerous since Fairy moves deal 4x damage. Bug and Dragon-type attackers are also a problem. With 5 weakness types, most competitive teams carry at least one counter. At base 38 Speed, Deino won't outrun any of these threats so switching to a resist is usually the safer play.
Deino evolves into Zweilous at level 50. Deino is the base form in a 3-stage evolutionary line.
Hustle strengthens physical moves to inflict 1.5× damage, but decreases their accuracy to 0.8× — that's the one you want on Deino. It's the only ability Deino has.
Deino fills the balanced role. It's a physical attacker with base 65 Attack. Base 38 Speed is low. Priority moves or Trick Room are the way to go. And it's fragile — can't afford to take many hits.
Deino appears in 8 games, including Black & White, Black 2 & White 2, and X & Y.
Introduced in Black & White, Deino has appeared in 8 games across 5 generations. Later debuts mean fewer total appearances, but it's been a consistent presence since its introduction.
- Gen IY
Yellow - Gen IRB
Red & Blue - Gen IIGS
Gold & Silver - Gen IIC
Crystal - Gen IIIRS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen IIIFRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen IIIE
Emerald - Gen IVPt
Platinum - Gen IVHGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen IVDP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen VBWDebut
Black & White - Gen VB2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen VIXY
X & Y - Gen VIORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen VIIUSUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen VIISM
Sun & Moon - Gen VIILGPE
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen VIIISwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen VIIIPLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen VIIIBDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen IXSV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen IXLZA
Legends: Z-A