I may not be able to help you with "all common tactics" but I've been playing the 4-4-2 diamond and recently wrote a thread about my sort of quest to make a young fantasista shine behind the 2 strikers of the 442 diamond, but since then and from watching how my team plays over the time I feel I have a better understanding now.
I guess you can make a list of strengths and weaknesses to assess every formation out there, but regarding the 4-4-2 diamond here's something:
Pros:
Passing options
Numbers advantage in midfield
Compact when defending
Attacking formation
Versatile formation due to the possible combinations
Cons:
Lack of width
Central midfielders wide or out of position
Full backs being doubled down at times
Fitness/Stamina of some players like the full backs
Vulnerable to counters
By experience here's something I learnt, not saying this is the only way it can work but it has been working for me at least...
Fullbacks/Wingbacks are your only natural source of width both defensively as offensively, you need to balance this out.
Your shape (the diamond shape) is key to build up attacks and sitting back and defending, so pressing more urgent or roaming can at times dismantle your diamond shape and might cause more harm than good.
You need a connection between the midfield and the front 2, so again, roaming, move into channels and so on must be carefully considered.
Feel free to give your inputs because I'm still playing this save and always looking to improve my tactic.