Zygarde (Revamp) [QC 2/3] Written

DennisEG

Civil Engineer
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Taken over from Cheryl.

QC: bludz / p2 /
GP: /

[OVERVIEW]

Thanks to its great natural bulk and a decent Speed tier, Zygarde serves to be the only viable Coil user in the OU metagame and a solid Dragon Dancer. Its STAB moves enables Zygarde to hit most of the metagame for at least neutral damage. Its access to Extreme Speed make it a decent setup Pokemon, preventing revenge killers such as Talonflame or Weavile from revenge killing it easily after a Dragon Dance. Furthermore, its typing gives it an immunity to Thunder Wave, which is crucial against Thundurus and Klefki, as most offensive teams rely on them to be an emergency stop to set-up sweepers. Sadly, Zygarde's Dragon-type STAB attack is limited to Outrage, making it susceptible to Fairy- and Steel-type once it becomes locked in. Zygarde's typing also leaves it 4x weak to Ice-type attacks. Despite these flaws, Zygarde can still prove to be a decent sweeper when given the right support.

[SET]
name: Dragon Dance
move 1: Dragon Dance
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Extreme Speed
move 4: Outrage / Stone Edge
item: Lum Berry / Life Orb
ability: Aura Break
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========
Dragon Dance boost Zygarde's Speed and Attack by x1.5, making it a decently powerful sweeper. Earthquake is Zygarde's most reliable STAB, having good neutral coverage on the tier and offering solid damage even when unboosted. Extreme Speed can pick off weakened Pokemon and outpaces the priority moves of Talonflame and Weavile. Outrage provides complimentary STAB coverage and hits very hard after a boost; however, it locks Zygarde into the move and confuses it afterward, making it somewhat vulnerable when using it. Stone Edge hits Flying-type and Levitating Pokemon that are immune to Earthquake such as Togekiss and Gengar which otherwise wall the whole set, without locking into Outrage, but lacks the immense power that a boosted Outrage has and is unreliably due to its accuracy..


Set Details
========
Maximum Attack investment with an Adamant nature allows Zygarde to hit as hard as possible while also giving it greater sweeping potential after a Dragon Dance. Maximum Speed investment lets Zygarde Speed tie with none plus Speed nature Kyurem-B, and outspeed base 81 Speed such as Gyarados. A Jolly nature can be used to outspeed Mega Alakazam and Mega Aerodactyl after a Dragon Dance at the cost of a significant drop in power. Lum Berry helps Zygarde avoid status, especially Scald burns, when setting up. Life Orb offers a well needed extra power, but makes it harder to take advantage of Zygarde's great bulk due to Life Orb recoil. Yache Berry is an alternative item that can help against Ice Shard users such as Weavile, and also allows Zygarde to survive some other non-STAB Ice attacks, such as Hidden Power Ice from Mega Manectric.


Usage Tips
========
This Zygarde set wants to have its counters worn down early game so it can have an easier time sweeping late-game. While Outrage provides strong complementary coverage, the locking effect can be very unhelpful especially in early game stages. Teams with Fairy-type can even use this locking effect to their advantage, so Zygarde must be careful about using Outrage. Extreme Speed is useful to pick off some weakened targets if needed, such as a weakened Latios or Keldeo. Zygarde should be saved for late game situations if you intend to sweep with it, as it needs to be as close to full HP as possible to abuse its bulk.


Team Options
========
Teammates that can beat Landorus-T and other bulky Ground-type are very helpful as Zygarde has trouble dealing with those, such as Keldeo and Rotom-W. Keldeo also can threaten most Steel-type that can check Zygarde, like Skarmory and Mega Scizor, as well as checking Weavile, a big threat to Zygarde. Wallbreakers that can break down bulkier teams can be very helpful in supporting a Zygarde sweep; Choice Band Azumarill and Manaphy are examples of teammates in this vein. Mega Medicham is an example of a wallbreaker who can threaten bulkier teams, and it also has access to Bullet Punch to beat Mega Diancie, and with Thunder Punch or Ice Punch can lure in and defeat many checks to Zygarde, such as Slowbro and Landorus-T. Lures for Zygarde checks, such as Icy Wind Expert Belt Jirachi for Landorus-T or Grass Knot Thundurus for Hippowdon, can be quite helpful in weakening Zygarde's answers and ensuring a sweep late-game.

[SET]
name: Subsititute + Coil
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Dragon Tail
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Coil
item: Leftovers
ability: Aura Break
nature: Careful
evs: 200 HP / 252 SpD / 56 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========
Earthquake is Zygarde's most reliable STAB attack and provides a solid damage even unboosted. Dragon Tail helps Zygarde phaze out opposing phazers mainly Skarmory and cause passive damage to other Pokemon, hits airbone Pokemon that are immune to Earthquake, and also forces out opposing setup Pokemon, such as Curse Quagsire. Substitute guards Zygarde against status and weaker attacks, such as Slowbro's Scald, while also helping out Zygarde against revenge killers. Coil boosts Zygarde's Attack, Defense, and accuracy, making it more powerful and more physically tanky, while also giving it a perfectly accurate Dragon Tail.

Set Details
========
An 56 Speed EVs allow Zygarde to outspeed Adamant Bisharp and hit it with Earthquake or set up Coil before Bisharp can hit Zygarde with Knock Off. The rest of the EVs are used to maximize Zygarde's special bulk, which can prevent weaker special attacks such as Tangrowth's Giga Drain from breaking Zygarde's Substitute, while Coil makes up for Zygarde's Defense. The HP investment is enough for Zygarde to make 101 HP Substitutes, allowing them to survive two Seismic Tosses before breaking. Leftovers is the essential item for this set, allowing Zygarde to recover HP lost from Substitute.

Usage Tips
========
SubCoil Zygarde has a great matchup against defensive teams, setting up easily on passive Pokemon commonly found on those types of teams such as Ferrothorn, Amoonguss, Tangwroth, and Slowbro. Zygarde can set up a Substitute against the many Pokemon mentioned before that are unable to break it, and then start boosting with Coil, making the Substitute much harder to break with physical attacks as well making Zygarde decently powerful offensive threat. Zygarde can phaze out any problematic Pokemon that can trouble it with Dragon Tail, sometimes even bringing out a Pokemon used as setup fodder. Doing this repeatedly allows Zygarde to effectively wear down its checks combined with hazards.


Team Options
========
Fairy-type Pokemon such as Clefable can prove to be a problem to this set by being immune to Dragon Tail's phazing while also taking Earthquakes decently well. Togekiss deserves an especial mention because it full wall this set being inmune to both STAB moves, using Zygarde as a setup fodder, so Pokemon that can threaten fairies are good partners; Mega Scizor, Heatran, and Mega Venusaur are good choices for this role, keep in mind that the latter is weak to Togekiss Flying STAB move. Pokemon that can resist Dragon and Ice-type moves that threaten Zygarde, such as Mega Scizor and Azumarill, are also good partners. Entry hazard users make for effective teammates, as they can maximize the effectiveness of Zygarde's Dragon Tail, Pokemon such as Heatran and Klefki can even cover for Zygarde's type weaknesses. Spinblockers or Pokemon with the ability Defiant are also helpful to help keep the hazards up for Zygarde; Bisharp is very useful for this role as it deters Defog usage with Defiant and can also take on Fairy-type for Zygarde as well Pursuir trap most of the hazard control Pokemon such as Latios, Latias, and Starmie. Teammates that function well against offensive teams that prevent Zygarde from setting up, such as Thundurus and Mega Lopunny, help to threaten those types of teams while Zygarde helps with bulkier teams.


[STRATEGY COMMENTS]

Other Options
=============
Coverage options such as Iron Tail to hit Fairy-type are possible, but they can have trouble fitting in Zygarde's already strapped moveset, also this move is very unreliably due to its accuracy. A bulky Glare set can be used to cripple checks while also using Dragon Tail to phaze out opponents, but it has siginificantly less utility than other bulky Ground-type due to Zygarde's lack of Stealth Rock or recovery moves aside of Rest, forcing another member on the team to utilize it, thus making it usually inferior to other options such as TankChomp or Hippowdon. A Dragon Dance + Rest set utilizing a Chesto Berry can be used to set up on an opponent and heal Zygarde's health back once it is worn down, but it is mostly outclassed by the offensive Dragon Dance set.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Skarmory**: Thanks to Skarmory's fantastic defense and typing, it resists Outrage and Extreme Speed and is immune to Earthquake, leaving Zygarde nearly helpless against it. It can Roost up the small amount of damage taken or phaze Zygarde out with Whirlwind, removing its Dragon Dance boosts. It can still wall SubCoil sets, but has a much harder time against them due to Dragon Tail outpacing Whirlwind, phazing Skarmory out before it can do anything to Zygarde.

**Ground-types**: Bulky Ground-type such as Landorus-T and Hippowdon can effectively check Dragon Dance sets by using their high physical bulk to survive Zygarde's attacks and strike back with their STAB moves, Toxic it, or set up Stealth Rock. Hippowdon can even phaze out Zygarde with Whirlwind, removing all its boosts and having reliable recovery in Slack Off to continually check Zygarde.

**Water-types**: Bulky Water-types such as Slowbro and Suicune effectively check Dragon Dance sets with their high physical bulk letting them survive Zygarde's attacks. They can threaten non-Lum Berry sets with a Scald burn, crippling Zygarde offensively. While non-Calm Mind Slowbro can be set up on by the SubCoil set, Suicune can utilize Roar to phaze out Zygarde should it try to set up on Suicune.

**Unaware users**: Thanks to Unaware, Clefable and Quagsire walls both Zygarde sets easily, as Zygarde relies on setting up to become a big offensive threat. Clefable can threaten Zygarde with its STAB Moonblast and is immune to Dragon Tail, while Quagsire can set up Curse on the Dragon Dance set, however is a shaky answer to SubCoil sets as it can barely touch Zygarde due to its bulk and Dragon Tail phaze Curse variants.

**Choice Scarf users**: Choice Scarf users that can outspeed a +1 Dragon Dance Zygarde, such as Keldeo, Garchomp, Landorus-T(If it is Adamant nature), and Latios, can potentially stop Zygarde in its tracks, as their powerful attacks can heavily weaken or HKO Zygarde.

**Ice-type Moves**: Ice-type such as Weavile can check Zygarde as they have super effective priority in Ice Shard to pick off Zygarde even when its Speed is boosted and lacks Extreme Speed, and when it isn't Weavile can use its Ice STAB move of choice. Electric-types with Ice coverage are decently answer to unboosted Zygarde such as Thundurus and Mega Manectric, however, they need to watch out for Yache Berry variants.
 
Last edited:
Not QC.

On the Dragon Dance set, just run Adamant. It isn't worth Zygarde giving up significant amount of power just so it can outspeed a few threats. However, leave the information that you already have in Set Details and why Jolly Nature should be run.

All and all, everything else looks solid.

:]
 

DennisEG

Civil Engineer
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Not QC.

On the Dragon Dance set, just run Adamant. It isn't worth Zygarde giving up significant amount of power just so it can outspeed a few threats. However, leave the information that you already have in Set Details and why Jolly Nature should be run.

All and all, everything else looks solid.

:]
oh yeah i saw your comment in the past post. Thanks :DD
 
oh yeah i saw your comment in the past post. Thanks :DD
Fren!

I forgot to mention Dual Screeners in Team Options in the DD set. Although it's not required, it gives Zygarde an easier chance to setup, especially; since it has good bulk.

It's up to you if you want to implement these changes.

:]
 

Martin

A monoid in the category of endofunctors
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Disagree with dual screens mention considering that there are basically 0 viable dual screeners to choose from. Dual Screens Klefki is a shit set, and the only other semi-ok-ish users are either limited to suicide roles (Latios, Azlef, Uxie) or are unranked (Uxie, Espeon, Xatu) while in all cases barring non-BP-recipient Espeon and maybe Uxie being suboptimal sets.
 

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